diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:54:56 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:54:56 -0700 |
| commit | 088f3afe7b923aedca55a81a651893d31a4215bb (patch) | |
| tree | b9fef797c59bb5621a89b0272f2f24a9383b058d /19104-0.txt | |
Diffstat (limited to '19104-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 19104-0.txt | 20259 |
1 files changed, 20259 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/19104-0.txt b/19104-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..916296c --- /dev/null +++ b/19104-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,20259 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Secret Societies And Subversive Movements, by +Nesta H. Webster + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Secret Societies And Subversive Movements + +Author: Nesta H. Webster + +Release Date: August 23, 2006 [EBook #19104] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET SOCIETIES *** + + + + +Produced by Dave Maddock, Curtis A. Weyant and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +SECRET SOCIETIES and SUBVERSIVE MOVEMENTS + +by + +NESTA H. WEBSTER + + +CHRISTIAN BOOK CLUB OF AMERICA + + + + +BY THE SAME AUTHOR + +_The Chevalier de Boufflers_ +_The French Revolution_ +_World Revolution_ +_The Socialist Network_ +_The Surrender of an Empire_ +_Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette: Before the Revolution_ +_Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette: During the Revolution_ +_Spacious Days_ + + * * * * * + +"There is in Italy a power which we seldom mention in this House ... I +mean the secret societies.... It is useless to deny, because it is +impossible to conceal, that a great part of Europe--the whole of Italy +and France and a great portion of Germany, to say nothing of other +countries--is covered with a network of these secret societies, just as +the superficies of the earth is now being covered with railroads. And +what are their objects? They do not attempt to conceal them. They do not +want constitutional government; they do not want ameliorated +institutions ... they want to change the tenure of land, to drive out +the present owners of the soil and to put an end to ecclesiastical +establishments. Some of them may go further...." (DISRAELI in the House +of Commons, July 14, 1856.) + + + + +PREFACE + + + +It is a matter of some regret to me that I have been so far unable to +continue the series of studies on the French Revolution of which _The +Chevalier de Boufflers_ and _The French Revolution, a Study in +Democracy_ formed the first two volumes. But the state of the world at +the end of the Great War seemed to demand an enquiry into the present +phase of the revolutionary movement, hence my attempt to follow its +course up to modern times in _World Revolution_. And now before +returning to that first cataclysm I have felt impelled to devote one +more book to the Revolution as a whole by going this time further back +into the past and attempting to trace its origins from the first century +of the Christian era. For it is only by taking a general survey of the +movement that it is possible to understand the causes of any particular +phase of its existence. The French Revolution did not arise merely out +of conditions or ideas peculiar to the eighteenth century, nor the +Bolshevist Revolution out of political and social conditions in Russia +or the teaching of Karl Marx. Both these explosions were produced by +forces which, making use of popular suffering and discontent, had long +been gathering strength for an onslaught not only on Christianity, but +on all social and moral order. + +It is of immense significance to notice with what resentment this point +of view is met in certain quarters. When I first began to write on +revolution a well-known London publisher said to me, "Remember that if +you take an anti-revolutionary line you will have the whole literary +world against you." This appeared to me extraordinary. Why should the +literary world sympathize with a movement which from the French +Revolution onwards has always been directed against literature, art, and +science, and has openly proclaimed its aim to exalt the manual workers +over the intelligentsia? "Writers must be proscribed as the most +dangerous enemies of the people," said Robespierre; his colleague Dumas +said all clever men should be guillotined. "The system of persecution +against men of talents was organized.... They cried out in the sections +of Paris, 'Beware of that man for he has written a book!'"[1] Precisely +the same policy has been followed in Russia. Under Moderate Socialism in +Germany the professors, not the "people," are starving in garrets. Yet +the whole press of our country is permeated with subversive influences. +Not merely in partisan works, but in manuals of history or literature +for use in Schools, Burke is reproached for warning us against the +French Revolution and Carlyle's panegyric is applauded. And whilst every +slip on the part of an anti-revolutionary writer is seized on by the +critics and held up as an example of the whole, the most glaring errors +not only of conclusions but of facts pass unchallenged if they happen to +be committed by a partisan of the movement. The principle laid down by +Collot d'Herbois still holds good: "Tout est permis pour quiconque agit +dans le sens de la révolution." + +All this was unknown to me when I first embarked on my work. I knew that +French writers of the past had distorted facts to suit their own +political views, that a conspiracy of history is still directed by +certain influences in the masonic lodges and the Sorbonne; I did not +know that this conspiracy was being carried on in this country. +Therefore the publisher's warning did not daunt me. If I was wrong +either in my conclusions or facts I was prepared to be challenged. +Should not years of laborious historical research meet either with +recognition or with reasoned and scholarly refutation? But although my +book received a great many generous and appreciative reviews in the +press, criticisms which were hostile took a form which I had never +anticipated. Not a single honest attempt was made to refute either my +_French Revolution_ or _World Revolution_ by the usual methods of +controversy; statements founded on documentary evidence were met with +flat contradiction unsupported by a shred of counter evidence. In +general the plan adopted was not to disprove, but to discredit by means +of flagrant misquotations, by attributing to me views I had never +expressed, or even by means of offensive personalities. It will surely +be admitted that this method of attack is unparalleled in any other +sphere of literary controversy. + +It is interesting to notice that precisely the same line was adopted a +hundred years ago with regard to Professor Robison and the Abbé Barruel, +whose works on the secret causes of the French Revolution created an +immense sensation in their day. The legitimate criticisms that might +have been made on their work find no place in the diatribes levelled +against them; their enemies content themselves merely with calumnies and +abuse. A contemporary American writer, Seth Payson, thus describes the +methods employed to discredit them: + + The testimony of Professor Robison and Abbé Barruel would doubtless + have been considered as ample in any case which did not interest + the prejudices and passions of men against them. The scurrility and + odium with which they have been loaded is perfectly natural, and + what the nature of their testimony would have led one to expect. + Men will endeavour to invalidate that evidence which tends to + unveil their dark designs: and it cannot be expected that those who + believe that "the end sanctifies the means" will be very scrupulous + as to their measures. Certainly he was not who invented the + following character and arbitrarily applied it to Dr. Robison, + which might have been applied with as much propriety to any other + person in Europe or America. The character here referred to, is + taken from the American _Mercury_, printed at Hartford, September + 26, 1799, by E. Babcock. In this paper, on the pretended authority + of Professor Ebeling, we are told "that Robison had lived too fast + for his income, and to supply deficiencies had undertaken to alter + a bank bill, that he was detected and fled to France; that having + been expelled the Lodge in Edinburgh, he applied in France for the + second grade, but was refused; that he made the same attempt in + Germany and afterwards in Russia, but never succeeded; and from + this entertained the bitterest hatred to masonry; and after + wandering about Europe for two years, by writing to Secretary + Dundas, and presenting a copy of his book, which, it was judged, + would answer certain purposes of the ministry, the prosecution + against him was stopped, the Professor returned in triumph to his + country, and now lives upon a handsome pension, instead of + suffering the fate of his predecessor Dodd."[2] + +Payson goes on to quote a writer in _The National Intelligencer_ of +January 1801, who styles himself a "friend to truth" and speaks of +Professor Robison as "a man distinguished by abject dependence on a +party, by the base crimes of forgery and adultery, and by frequent +paroxysms of insanity." Mounier goes further still, and in his pamphlet +_De l'influence attribuée aux Philosophes, ... Francs-maçons et ... +Illuminés_, etc., inspired by the Illuminatus Bode, quotes a story that +Robison suffered from a form of insanity which consisted in his +believing that the posterior portion of his body was made of glass![3] + +In support of all this farrago of nonsense there is of course no +foundation of truth; Robison was a well-known savant who lived sane and +respected to the end of his days. On his death Watt wrote of him: "He +was a man of the clearest head and the most science of anybody I have +ever known."[4] John Playfair, in a paper read before the Royal Society +of Edinburgh in 1815, whilst criticizing his _Proofs of a +Conspiracy_--though at the same time admitting he had himself never had +access to the documents Robison had consulted!--paid the following +tribute to his character and erudition: + + His range in science was most extensive; he was familiar with the + whole circle of the accurate sciences.... Nothing can add to the + esteem which they [i.e. "those who were personally acquainted with + him"] felt for his talents and worth or to the respect in which + they now hold his memory.[5] + +Nevertheless, the lies circulated against both Robison and Barruel were +not without effect. Thirteen years later we find another American, this +time a Freemason, confessing "with shame and grief and indignation" that +he had been carried away by "the flood of vituperation poured upon +Barruel and Robison during the past thirty years," that the title pages +of their works "were fearful to him," and that although "wishing calmly +and candidly to investigate the character of Freemasonry he refused for +months to open their books." Yet when in 1827 he read them for the first +time he was astonished to find that they showed "a manifest tendency +towards Freemasonry." Both Barruel and Robison, he now realized, were +"learned men, candid men, lovers of their country, who had a reverence +for truth and religion. They give the reasons for their opinions, they +quote their authorities, naming the author and page, like honest people; +they both had a wish to rescue British Masonry from the condemnation and +fellowship of continental Masonry and appear to be sincerely actuated by +the desire of doing good by giving their labours to the public."[6] + +That the author was right here in his description of Barruel's attitude +to Freemasonry is shown by Barruel's own words on the subject: + + England above all is full of those upright men, excellent citizens, + men of every kind and in every condition of life, who count it an + honour to be masons, and who are distinguished from other men only + by ties which seem to strengthen those of benevolence and fraternal + charity. It is not the fear of offending a nation amongst which I + have found a refuge which prompts me to make this exception. + Gratitude would prevail with me over all such terrors and I should + say in the midst of London: "England is lost, she will not escape + the French Revolution if the masonic lodges resemble those I have + to unveil. I would even say more: government and all Christianity + would long ago have been lost in England if one could suppose its + Freemasons to be initiated into the last mysteries of the sect."[7] + +In another passage Barruel observes that Masonry in England is "a +society composed of good citizens in general whose chief object is to +help each other by principles of equality which for them is nothing else +but universal fraternity."[8] And again: "Let us admire it [the wisdom +of England] for having known how to make a real source of benefit to the +State out of those same mysteries which elsewhere conceal a profound +conspiracy against the State and religion."[9] + +The only criticism British Freemasons may make on this verdict is that +Barruel regards Masonry as a system which originally contained an +element of danger that has been eliminated in England whilst they regard +it as a system originally innocuous into which a dangerous element was +inserted on the Continent. Thus according to the former conception +Freemasonry might be compared to one of the brass shell-cases brought +back from the battle-fields of France and converted into a flower-pot +holder, whilst according to the latter it resembles an innocent brass +flower-pot holder which has been used as a receptacle for explosives. The +fact is that, as I shall endeavour to show in the course of this book, +Freemasonry being a composite system there is some justification for +both these theories. In either case it will be seen that Continental +Masonry alone stands condemned. + +The plan of representing Robison and Barruel as the enemies of British +Masonry can therefore only be regarded as a method for discrediting them +in the eyes of British Freemasons, and consequently for bringing the +latter over to the side of their antagonists. Exactly the same method of +attack has been directed against those of us who during the last few +years have attempted to warn the world of the secret forces working to +destroy civilization; in my own case even the plan of accusing me of +having attacked British Masonry has been adopted without the shadow of a +foundation. From the beginning I have always differentiated between +British and Grand Orient Masonry, and have numbered high British Masons +amongst my friends. + +But what is the main charge brought against us? Like Robison and +Barruel, we are accused of raising a false alarm, of creating a bogey, +or of being the victims of an obsession. Up to a point this is +comprehensible. Whilst on the Continent the importance of secret +societies is taken as a matter of course and the libraries of foreign +capitals teem with books on the question, people in this country really +imagine that secret societies are things of the past--articles to this +effect appeared quite recently in two leading London newspapers--whilst +practically nothing of any value has been written about them in our +language during the last hundred years. Hence ideas that are +commonplaces on the Continent here appear sensational and extravagant. +The mind of the Englishman does not readily accept anything he cannot +see or even sometimes anything he can see which is unprecedented in his +experience, so that like the West American farmer, confronted for the +first time by the sight of a giraffe, his impulse is to cry out angrily: +"I don't believe it!" + +But whilst making all allowance for honest ignorance and incredulity, it +is impossible not to recognize a certain method in the manner in which +the cry of "obsession" or "bogey" is raised. For it will be noticed that +people who specialize on other subjects are not described as "obsessed." +We did not hear, for example, that the late Professor Einstein had +Relativity "on the brain" because he wrote and lectured exclusively on +this question, nor do we hear it suggested that Mr. Howard Carter is +obsessed with the idea of Tutankhamen and that it would be well if he +were to set out for the South Pole by way of a change. Again, all those +who warn the world concerning eventualities they conceive to be a danger +are not accused of creating bogeys. Thus although Lord Roberts was +denounced as a scaremonger for urging the country to prepare for +defence against a design openly avowed by Germany both in speech and +print, and in 1921 the Duke of Northumberland was declared the victim of +a delusion for believing in the existence of a plot against the British +Empire which had been proclaimed in a thousand revolutionary harangues +and pamphlets. People who, without bothering to produce a shred of +documentary evidence, had sounded the alarm on the menace of "French +Imperialism" and asserted that our former Allies were engaged in +building a vast fleet of aeroplanes in order to attack our coasts. They +were not held to be either scaremongers or insane. On the contrary, +although some of these same people were proved by events to have been +completely wrong in their prognostications at the beginning of the Great +War, they are still regarded as oracles and sometimes even described as +"thinking for half Europe." + +Another instance of this kind may be cited in the case of Mr. John +Spargo, author of a small book entitled _The Jew and American Ideals_. +On page 37 of this work Mr. Spargo in refuting the accusations brought +against the Jews observes: + + Belief in widespread conspiracies directed against individuals or + the state is probably the commonest form assumed by the human mind + when it loses its balance and its sense of proportion. + +Yet on page 6 Mr. Spargo declares that when visiting this country in +September and October 1920: + + I found in England great nation-wide organizations, obviously well + financed, devoted to the sinister purpose of creating anti-Jewish + feeling and sentiment. I found special articles in influential + newspapers devoted to the same evil purpose. I found at at least + one journal, obviously well financed again, exclusively devoted to + the fostering of suspicion, fear, and hatred against the Jew ... + and in the bookstores I discovered a whole library of books devoted + to the same end. + +It will be seen then that a belief in widespread conspiracies is not +always to be regarded as a sign of loss of mental balance, even when +these conspiracies remain completely invisible to the general public. +For those of us who were in London during the period of Mr. Spargo's +visit saw nothing of the things he here describes. Where, we ask, were +these "great nation-wide organizations" striving to create anti-Jewish +sentiments? What were their names? By whom were they led? It is true, +however, that there were nation-wide organizations in existence here at +this date instituted for the purpose of combating Bolshevism. Is +anti-Bolshevism then synonymous with "anti-Semitism"?[10] This is the +conclusion to which one is inevitably led. For it will be noticed that +anyone who attempts to expose the secret forces behind the revolutionary +movement, whether he mentions Jews in this connexion or even if he goes +out of his way to exonerate them, will incur the hostility of the Jews +and their friends and will still be described as "anti-Semite." The +realization of this fact has led me particularly to include the Jews in +the study of secret societies. + +The object of the present book is therefore to carry further the enquiry +I began in _World Revolution_, by tracing the course of revolutionary +ideas through secret societies from the earliest times, indicating the +rôle of the Jews only where it is to be clearly detected, but not +seeking to implicate them where good evidence is not forthcoming. For +this reason I shall not base assertions on merely "anti-Semite" works, +but principally on the writings of the Jews themselves. In the same way +with regard to secret societies I shall rely as far as possible on the +documents and admissions of their members, on which point I have been +able to collect a great deal of fresh data entirely corroborating my +former thesis. It should be understood that I do not propose to give a +complete history of secret societies, but only of secret societies in +their relation to the revolutionary movement. I shall therefore not +attempt to describe the theories of occultism nor to enquire into the +secrets of Freemasonry, but simply to relate the history of these +systems in order to show the manner in which they have been utilized for +a subversive purpose. If I then fail to convince the incredulous that +secret forces of revolution exist, it will not be for want of evidence. + +Nesta H. Webster. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + +PREFACE + +PART I _THE PAST_ + + I. THE ANCIENT SECRET TRADITION + II. THE REVOLT AGAINST ISLAM + III. THE TEMPLARS + IV. THREE CENTURIES OF OCCULTISM + V. THE ORIGINS OF FREEMASONRY + VI. THE GRAND LODGE ERA + VII. GERMAN TEMPLARISM AND FRENCH ILLUMINISM +VIII. THE JEWISH CABALISTS + IX. THE BAVARIAN ILLUMINATI + X. THE CLIMAX + +PART II _THE PRESENT_ + + XI. MODERN FREEMASONRY + XII. SECRET SOCIETIES IN ENGLAND +XIII. OPEN SUBVERSIVE MOVEMENTS + XIV. PAN-GERMANISM + XV. THE REAL JEWISH PERIL + +CONCLUSION + +APPENDIX: + I. JEWISH EVIDENCE ON THE TALMUD + II. THE "PROTOCOLS" OF THE ELDERS OF ZION + +INDEX + + + + +PART I + +_THE PAST_ + + + + +1 + +THE ANCIENT SECRET TRADITION + + + +The East is the cradle of secret societies. For whatever end they may +have been employed, the inspiration and methods of most of those +mysterious associations which have played so important a part behind the +scenes of the world's history will be found to have emanated from the +lands where the first recorded acts of the great human drama were played +out--Egypt, Babylon, Syria, and Persia. On the one hand Eastern +mysticism, on the other Oriental love of intrigue, framed the systems +later on to be transported to the West with results so tremendous and +far-reaching. + +In the study of secret societies we have then a double line to +follow--the course of associations enveloping themselves in secrecy for +the pursuit of esoteric knowledge, and those using mystery and secrecy +for an ulterior and, usually, a political purpose. + +But esotericism again presents a dual aspect. Here, as in every phase of +earthly life, there is the _revers de la médaille_--white and black, +light and darkness, the Heaven and Hell of the human mind. The quest for +hidden knowledge may end with initiation into divine truths or into dark +and abominable cults. Who knows with what forces he may be brought in +contact beyond the veil? Initiation which leads to making use of +spiritual forces, whether good or evil, is therefore capable of raising +man to greater heights or of degrading him to lower depths than he could +ever have reached by remaining on the purely physical plane. And when +men thus unite themselves in associations, a collective force is +generated which may exercise immense influence over the world around. +Hence the importance of secret societies. + +Let it be said once and for all, secret societies have not always been +formed for evil purposes. On the contrary, many have arisen from the +highest aspirations of the human mind--the desire for a knowledge of +eternal verities. The evil arising from such systems has usually +consisted in the perversion of principles that once were pure and holy. +If I do not insist further on this point, it is because a vast +literature has already been devoted to the subject, so that it need only +be touched on briefly here. + +Now, from the earliest times groups of Initiates or "Wise Men" have +existed, claiming to be in possession of esoteric doctrines known as the +"Mysteries," incapable of apprehension by the vulgar, and relating to +the origin and end of man, the life of the soul after death, and the +nature of God or the gods. It is this exclusive attitude which +constitutes the essential difference between the Initiates of the +ancient world and the great Teachers of religion with whom modern +occultists seek to confound them. For whilst religious leaders such as +Buddha and Mohammed sought for divine knowledge in order that they might +impart it to the world, the Initiates believed that sacred mysteries +should not be revealed to the profane but should remain exclusively in +their own keeping, although the desire for initiation might spring from +the highest aspiration, the gratification, whether real or imaginary, of +this desire often led to spiritual arrogance and abominable tyranny, +resulting in the fearful trials, the tortures physical and mental, +ending even at times in death, to which the neophyte was subjected by +his superiors. + + + +The Mysteries + + +According to a theory current in occult and masonic circles, certain +ideas were common to all the more important "Mysteries," thus forming a +continuous tradition handed down through succeeding groups of Initiates +of different ages and countries. Amongst these ideas is said to have +been the conception of the unity of God. Whilst to the multitude it was +deemed advisable to preach polytheism, since only in this manner could +the plural aspects of the Divine be apprehended by the multitude, the +Initiates themselves believed in the existence of one Supreme Being, the +Creator of the Universe, pervading and governing all things, Le +Plongeon, whose object is to show an affinity between the sacred +Mysteries of the Mayas and of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Greeks, +asserts that "The idea of a sole and omnipotent Deity, who created all +things, seems to have been the universal belief in early ages, amongst +all the nations that had reached a high degree of civilization. This was +the doctrine of the Egyptian priests."[11] The same writer goes on to +say that the "doctrine of a Supreme Deity composed of three parts +distinct from each other, yet forming one, was universally prevalent +among the civilized nations of America, Asia, and the Egyptians," and +that the priests and learned men of Egypt, Chaldea, India, or China +"...kept it a profound secret and imparted it only to a few select among +those initiated in the sacred mysteries."[12] This view has been +expressed by many other writers, yet lacks historical proof. + +That monotheism existed in Egypt before the days of Moses is, however, +certain. Adolf Erman asserts that "even in early times the educated +class" believed all the deities of the Egyptian religion to be identical +and that "the priests did not shut their eyes to this doctrine, but +strove to grasp the idea of the one God, divided into different persons +by poesy and myth.... The priesthood, however, had not the courage to +take the final step, to do away with those distinctions which they +declared to be immaterial, and to adore the one God under the one +name."[13] It was left to Amenhotep IV, later known as Ikhnaton, to +proclaim this doctrine openly to the people. Professor Breasted has +described the hymns of praise to the Sun God which Ikhnaton himself +wrote on the walls of the Amarna tomb-chapels: + + They show us the simplicity and beauty of the young king's faith in + the sole God. He had gained the belief that one God created not + only all the lower creatures but also all races of men, both + Egyptians and foreigners. Moreover, the king saw in his God a + kindly Father, who maintained all his creatures by his goodness.... + In all the progress of men which we have followed through thousands + of years, no one had ever before caught such a vision of the great + Father of all.[14] + +May not the reason why Ikhnaton was later described as a "heretic" be +that he violated the code of the priestly hierarchy by revealing this +secret doctrine to the profane? Hence, too, perhaps the necessity in +which the King found himself of suppressing the priesthood, which by +persisting in its exclusive attitude kept what he perceived to be the +truth from the minds of the people. + +The earliest European centre of the Mysteries appears to have been +Greece, where the Eleusinian Mysteries existed at a very early date. +Pythagoras, who was born in Samos about 582 B.C., spent some years in +Egypt, where he was initiated into the Mysteries of Isis. After his +return to Greece, Pythagoras is said to have been initiated into the +Eleusinian Mysteries and attempted to found a secret society in Samos; +but this proving unsuccessful, he journeyed on to Crotona in Italy, +where he collected around him a great number of disciples and finally +established his sect. This was divided into two classes of +Initiates--the first admitted only into the exoteric doctrines of the +master, with whom they were not allowed to speak until after a period of +five years' probation; the second consisting of the real Initiates, to +whom all the mysteries of the esoteric doctrines of Pythagoras were +unfolded. This course of instruction, given, after the manner of the +Egyptians, by means of images and symbols, began with geometrical +science, in which Pythagoras during his stay in Egypt had become an +adept, and led up finally to abstruse speculations concerning the +transmigration of the soul and the nature of God, who was represented +under the conception of a Universal Mind diffused through all things. It +is, however, as the precursor of secret societies formed later in the +West of Europe that the sect of Pythagoras enters into the scope of this +book. Early masonic tradition traces Freemasonry partly to Pythagoras, +who is said to have travelled in England, and there is certainly some +reason to believe that his geometrical ideas entered into the system of +the operative guilds of masons. + + + +The Jewish Cabala[15] + + +According to Fabre d'Olivet, Moses, who "was learned in all the wisdom +of the Egyptians," drew from the Egyptian Mysteries a part of the oral +tradition which was handed down through the leaders of the +Israelites.[16] That such an oral tradition, distinct from the written +word embodied in the Pentateuch, did descend from Moses and that it was +later committed to writing in the Talmud and the Cabala is the opinion +of many Jewish writers.[17] + +The first form of the Talmud, called the Mischna, appeared in about the +second or third century A.D.; a little later a commentary was added +under the name of the Gemara. These two works compose the Jerusalem +Talmud, which was revised in the third to the fifth centry[A]. This +later edition was named the Babylonian Talmud and is the one now in use. + +The Talmud relates mainly to the affairs of everyday life--the laws of +buying and selling, of making contracts--also to external religious +observances, on all of which the most meticulous details are given. As a +Jewish writer has expressed it: + + ... the oddest rabbinical conceits are elaborated through many + volumes with the finest dialectic, and the most absurd questions + are discussed with the highest efforts of intellectual power; for + example, how many white hairs may a red cow have, and yet remain a + _red_ cow; what sort of scabs require this or that purification; + whether a louse or a flea may be killed on the Sabbath--the first + being allowed, while the second is a deadly sin; whether the + slaughter of an animal ought to be executed at the neck or the + tail; whether the high priest put on his shirt or his hose first; + whether the _Jabam_, that is, the brother of a man who died + childless, being required by law to marry the widow, is relieved + from his obligation if he falls off a roof and sticks in the + mire.[18] + +But it is in the Cabala, a Hebrew word signifying "reception," that is +to say "a doctrine orally received," that the speculative and +philosophical or rather the theosophical doctrines of Israel are to be +found. These are contained in two books, the _Sepher Yetzirah_ and the +_Zohar_. + +The _Sepher Yetzirah_, or Book of the Creation, is described by +Edersheim as "a monologue on the part of Abraham, in which, by the +contemplation of all that is around him, he ultimately arrives at the +conclusion of the unity of God"[19]; but since this process is +accomplished by an arrangement of the Divine Emanations under the name +of the Ten Sephiroths, and in the permutation of numerals and of the +letters of the Hebrew alphabet, it would certainly convey no such +idea--nor probably indeed any idea at all--to the mind uninitiated into +Cabalistic systems. The Sepher Yetzirah is in fact admittedly a work of +extraordinary obscurity[20] and almost certainly of extreme antiquity. +Monsieur Paul Vulliaud, in his exhaustive work on the Cabala recently +published,[21] says that its date has been placed as early as the sixth +century before Christ and as late as the tenth century A.D., but that it +is at any rate older than the Talmud is shown by the fact that in the +Talmud the Rabbis are described as studying it for magical purposes.[22] +The Sepher Yetzirah is also said to be the work referred to in the Koran +under the name of the "Book of Abraham."[23] + +The immense compilation known as the _Sepher-Ha-Zohar_, or Book of +Light, is, however, of greater importance to the study of Cabalistic +philosophy. According to the Zohar itself, the "Mysteries of Wisdom" +were imparted to Adam by God whilst he was still in the Garden of Eden, +in the form of a book delivered by the angel Razael. From Adam the book +passed on to Seth, then to Enoch, to Noah, to Abraham, and later to +Moses, one of its principal exponents.[24] Other Jewish writers declare, +however, that Moses received it for the first time on Mount Sinai and +communicated it to the Seventy Elders, by whom it was handed down to +David and Solomon, then to Ezra and Nehemiah, and finally to the Rabbis +of the early Christian era.[25] + +Until this date the Zohar had remained a purely oral tradition, but now +for the first time it is said to have been written down by the disciples +of Simon ben Jochai. The Talmud relates that for twelve years the Rabbi +Simon and his son Eliezer concealed themselves in a cavern, where, +sitting in the sand up to their necks, they meditated on the sacred law +and were frequently visited by the prophet Elias.[26] In this way, +Jewish legend adds, the great book of the Zohar was composed and +committed to writing by the Rabbi's son Eliezer and his secretary the +Rabbi Abba.[27] + +The first date at which the Zohar is definitely known to have appeared +is the end of the thirteenth century, when it was committed to writing +by a Spanish Jew, Moses de Leon, who, according to Dr. Ginsburg, said he +had discovered and reproduced the original document of Simon ben Jochai; +his wife and daughter, however, declared that he had composed it all +himself.[28] Which is the truth? Jewish opinion is strongly divided on +this question, one body maintaining that the Zohar is the comparatively +modern work of Moses de Leon, the other declaring it to be of extreme +antiquity. M. Vulliaud, who has collated all these views in the course +of some fifty pages, shows that although the name Zohar might have +originated with Moses de Leon, the ideas it embodied were far older than +the thirteenth century. How, he asks pertinently, would it have been +possible for the Rabbis of the Middle Ages to have been deceived into +accepting as an ancient document a work that was of completely modern +origin?[29] Obviously the Zohar was not the composition of Moses de +Leon, but a compilation made by him from various documents dating from +very early times. Moreover, as M. Vulliaud goes on to explain, those who +deny its antiquity are the anti-Cabalists, headed by Graetz, whose +object is to prove the Cabala to be at variance with orthodox Judaism. +Theodore Reinach goes so far as to declare the Cabala to be "a subtle +poison which enters into the veins of Judaism and wholly infests it"; +Salomon Reinach calls it "one of the worst aberrations of the human +mind."[30] This view, many a student of the Cabala will hardly dispute, +but to say that it is foreign to Judaism is another matter. The fact is +that the main ideas of the Zohar find confirmation in the Talmud. As the +_Jewish Encyclopædia_ observes, "the Cabala is not really in opposition +to the Talmud," and "many Talmudic Jews have supported and contributed +to it."[31] Adolphe Franck does not hesitate to describe it as "the +heart and life of Judaism."[32] "The greater number of the most eminent +Rabbis of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries believed firmly in +the sacredness of the Zohar and the infallibility of its teaching."[33] + +The question of the antiquity of the Cabala is therefore in reality +largely a matter of names. That a mystical tradition existed amongst the +Jews from remote antiquity will hardly be denied by anyone[34]; it is +therefore, as M. Vulliaud observes, "only a matter of knowing at what +moment Jewish mysticism took the name of Cabala."[35] Edersheim asserts +that-- + + It is undeniable that, already at the time of Jesus Christ, there + existed an assemblage of doctrines and speculations that were + carefully concealed from the multitude. They were not even revealed + to ordinary scholars, for fear of leading them towards heretical + ideas. This kind bore the name of Kabbalah, and as the term (of + Kabbalah, to receive, transmit) indicates, it represented the + spiritual traditions transmitted from the earliest ages, although + mingled in the course of time with impure or foreign elements.[36] + +Is the Cabala, then, as Gougenot des Mousseaux asserts, older than the +Jewish race, a legacy handed down from the first patriarchs of the +world?[37] We must admit this hypothesis to be incapable of proof, yet +it is one that has found so much favour with students of occult +traditions that it cannot be ignored. The Jewish Cabala itself supports +it by tracing its descent from the patriarchs--Adam, Noah, Enoch, and +Abraham--who lived before the Jews as a separate race came into +existence. Eliphas Lévi accepts this genealogy, and relates that "the +Holy Cabala" was the tradition of the children of Seth carried out of +Chaldea by Abraham, who was "the inheritor of the secrets of Enoch and +the father of initiation in Israel."[38] + +According to this theory, which we find again propounded by the American +Freemason, Dr. Mackey,[39] there was, besides the divine Cabala of the +children of Seth, the magical Cabala of the children of Cain, which +descended to the Sabeists, or star-worshippers, of Chaldea, adepts in +astrology and necromancy. Sorcery, as we know, had been practised by the +Canaanites before the occupation of Palestine by the Israelites; Egypt +India, and Greece also had their soothsayers and diviners. In spite of +the imprecations against sorcery contained in the law of Moses, the +Jews, disregarding these warnings, caught the contagion and mingled the +sacred tradition they had inherited with magical ideas partly borrowed +from other races and partly of their own devising. At the same time the +speculative side of the Jewish Cabala borrowed from the philosophy of +the Persian Magi, of the Neo-Platonists,[40] and of the +Neo-Pythagoreans. There is, then, some justification for the +anti-Cabalists' contention that what we know to-day as the Cabala is not +of purely Jewish origin. + +Gougenot des Mousseaux, who had made a profound study of occultism, +asserts that there were therefore two Cabalas: the ancient sacred +tradition handed down from the first patriarchs of the human race; and +the evil Cabala, wherein this sacred tradition was mingled by the Rabbis +with barbaric superstitions, combined with their own imaginings and +henceforth marked with their seal.[41] This view also finds expression +in the remarkable work of the converted Jew Drach, who refers to-- + + The ancient and true Cabala, which ... we distinguish from the + modern Cabala, false, condemnable, and condemned by the Holy See, + the work of the Rabbis, who have also falsified and perverted the + Talmudic tradition. The doctors of the Synagogue trace it back to + Moses, whilst at the same time admitting that the principal truths + it contains were those known by revelation to the first patriarchs + of the world.[42] + +Further on Drach quotes the statement of Sixtus of Sienna, another +converted Jew and a Dominican, protected by Pius V: + + Since by the decree of the Holy Roman Inquisition all books + appertaining to the Cabala have lately been condemned, one must + know that the Cabala is double; that one is true, the other false. + The true and pious one is that which ... elucidates the secret + mysteries of the holy law according to the principle of anagogy + (i.e. figurative interpretation). This Cabala therefore the Church + has never condemned. The false and impious Cabala is a certain + mendacious kind of Jewish tradition, full of innumerable vanities + and falsehoods, differing but little from necromancy. This kind of + superstition, therefore, improperly called Cabala, the Church + within the last few years has deservedly condemned.[43] + +The modern Jewish Cabala presents a dual aspect--theoretical and +practical; the former concerned with theosophical speculations, the +latter with magical practices. It would be impossible here to give an +idea of Cabalistic theosophy with its extraordinary imaginings on the +Sephiroths, the attributes and functions of good and bad angels, +dissertations on the nature of demons, and minute details on the +appearance of God under the name of the Ancient of Ancients, from whose +head 400,000 worlds receive the light. "The length of this face from the +top of the head is three hundred and seventy times ten thousand worlds. +It is called the 'Long Face,' for such is the name of the Ancient of +Ancients."[44] The description of the hair and beard alone belonging to +this gigantic countenance occupies a large place in the Zoharic +treatise, Idra Raba.[45] + +According to the Cabala, every letter in the Scriptures contains a +mystery only to be solved by the initiated.[46] By means of this system +of interpretation passages of the Old Testament are shown to bear +meanings totally unapparent to the ordinary reader. Thus the Zohar +explains that Noah was lamed for life by the bite of a lion whilst he +was in the ark,[47] the adventures of Jonah inside the whale are related +with an extraordinary wealth of imagination,[48] whilst the beautiful +story of Elisha and the Shunnamite woman is travestied in the most +grotesque manner.[49] + +In the practical Cabala this method of "decoding" is reduced to a +theurgic or magical system in which the healing of diseases plays an +important part and is effected by means of the mystical arrangement of +numbers and letters, by the pronunciation of the Ineffable Name, by the +use of amulets and talismans, or by compounds supposed to contain +certain occult properties. + +All these ideas derived from very ancient cults; even the art of working +miracles by the use of the Divine Name, which after the appropriation of +the Cabala by the Jews became the particular practice of Jewish +miracle-workers, appears to have originated in Chaldea.[50] Nor can the +insistence on the Chosen People theory, which forms the basis of all +Talmudic and Cabalistic writings, be regarded as of purely Jewish +origin; the ancient Egyptians likewise believed themselves to be "the +peculiar people specially loved by the gods."[51] But in the hands of +the Jews this belief became a pretension to the exclusive enjoyment of +divine favour. According to the Zohar, "all Israelites will have a part +in the future world,"[52] and on arrival there will not be handed over +like the _goyim_ (or non-Jewish races) to the hands of the angel Douma +and sent down to Hell.[53] Indeed the _goyim_ are even denied human +attributes. Thus the Zohar again explains that the words of the +Scripture "Jehovah Elohim made man" mean that He made Israel.[54] The +seventeenth-century Rabbinical treatise Emek ha Melek observes: "Our +Rabbis of blessed memory have said: 'Ye Jews are men because of the soul +ye have from the Supreme Man (i.e. God). But the nations of the world +are not styled men because they have not, from the Holy and Supreme Man, +the Neschama (or glorious soul), but they have the Nephesch (soul) from +Adam Belial, that is the malicious and unnecessary man, called Sammael, +the Supreme Devil.'"[55] + +In conformity with this exclusive attitude towards the rest of the human +race, the Messianic idea which forms the dominating theme of the Cabala +is made to serve purely Jewish interests. Yet in its origins this idea +was possibly not Jewish. It is said by believers in an ancient secret +tradition common to other races besides the Jews, that a part of this +tradition related to a past Golden Age when man was free from care and +evil non-existent, to the subsequent fall of Man and the loss of this +primitive felicity, and finally to a revelation received from Heaven +foretelling the reparation of this loss and the coming of a Redeemer who +should save the world and restore the Golden Age. According to Drach: + + The tradition of a Man-God who should present Himself as the + teacher and liberator of the fallen human race was constantly + taught amongst all the enlightened nations of the globe. _Vetus et + constans opinio_, as Suetonius says. It is of all times and of all + places.[56] + +And Drach goes on to quote the evidence of Volney, who had travelled in +the East and declared that-- + + The sacred and mythological traditions of earlier times had spread + throughout all Asia the belief in a great Mediator who was to come, + of a future Saviour, King, God, Conqueror, and Legislator who would + bring back the Golden Age to earth and deliver men from the empire + of evil.[57] + +All that can be said with any degree of certainty with regard to this +belief is that it did exist amongst the Zoroastrians of Persia as well +as amongst the Jews. D'Herbelot, quoting Abulfaraj, shows that five +hundred years before Christ, Zerdascht, the leader of the Zoroastrians, +predicted the coming of the Messiah, at whose birth a star would appear. +He also told his disciples that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, +that they would be the first to hear of Him, and that they should bring +Him gifts.[58] + +Drach believes that this tradition was taught in the ancient +synagogue,[59] thus explaining the words of St. Paul that unto the Jews +"were committed the oracles of God"[60]: + + This oral doctrine, which is the Cabala, had for its object the + most sublime truths of the Faith which it brought back incessantly + to the promised Redeemer, the foundation of the whole system of the + ancient tradition.[61] + +Drach further asserts that the doctrine of the Trinity formed a part of +this tradition: + + Whoever has familiarized himself with that which was taught by the + ancient doctors of the Synagogue, particularly those who lived + before the coming of the Saviour, knows that the Trinity in one God + was a truth admitted amongst them from the earliest times.[62] + +M. Vulliaud points out that Graetz admits the existence of this idea in +the Zohar: "It even taught certain doctrines which appeared favourable +to the Christian dogma of the Trinity!" And again: "It is incontestable +that the Zohar makes allusions to the beliefs in the Trinity and the +Incarnation."[63] M. Vulliaud adds: "The idea of the Trinity must +therefore play an important part in the Cabala, since it has been +possible to affirm that 'the characteristic of the Zohar and its +particular conception is its attachment to the principle of the +Trinity,'"[64] and further quotes Edersheim as saying that "a great +part of the explanation given in the writings of the Cabalists resembles +in a surprising manner the highest truths of Christianity."[65] It +would appear, then, that certain remnants of the ancient secret +tradition lingered on in the Cabala. The _Jewish Encyclopædia_, perhaps +unintentionally, endorses this opinion, since in deriding the +sixteenth-century Christian Cabalists for asserting that the Cabala +contained traces of Christianity, it goes on to say that what appears to +be Christian in the Cabala is only ancient esoteric doctrine.[66] Here, +then, we have it on the authority of modern Jewish scholars that the +ancient secret tradition was in harmony with Christian teaching. But in +the teaching of the later synagogue the philosophy of the earlier sages +was narrowed down to suit the exclusive system of the Jewish hierarchy, +and the ancient hope of a Redeemer who should restore Man to the state +of felicity he had lost at the Fall was transformed into the idea of +salvation for the Jews alone[67] under the ægis of a triumphant and even +an avenging Messiah.[68] It is this Messianic dream perpetuated in the +modern Cabala which nineteen hundred years ago the advent of Christ on +earth came to disturb. + + + +The Coming of the Redeemer + + +The fact that many Christian doctrines, such as the conception of a +Trinity, the miraculous birth and murder of a Deity, had found a place +in earlier religions has frequently been used as an argument to show +that the story of Christ was merely a new version of various ancient +legends, those of Attis, Adonis, or of Osiris, and that consequently the +Christian religion is founded on a myth. The answer to this is that the +existence of Christ on earth is an historic fact which no serious +authority has ever denied. The attempts of such writers as Drews and +J.M. Robertson to establish the theory of the "Christ-Myth," which find +an echo in the utterances of Socialist orators,[69] have been met with +so much able criticism as to need no further refutation. Sir James +Frazer, who will certainly not be accused of bigoted orthodoxy, observes +in this connexion: + + The doubts which have been cast on the historical reality of Jesus + are, in my judgement, unworthy of serious attention.... To dissolve + the founder of Christianity into a myth, as some would do, is + hardly less absurd than it would be to do the same for Mohammed, + Luther, and Calvin.[70] + +May not the fact that certain circumstances in the life of Christ were +foreshadowed by earlier religions indicate, as Eliphas Lévi observes, +that the ancients had an intuition of Christian mysteries?[71] + +To those therefore who had adhered to the ancient tradition, Christ +appeared as the fulfilment of a prophecy as old as the world. Thus the +wise men came from afar to worship the Babe of Bethlehem, and when they +saw His star in the East they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. In +Christ they hailed not only Him who was born King of the Jews, but the +Saviour of the whole human race.[72] + +In the light of this great hope, that wondrous night in Bethlehem is +seen in all its sublimity. Throughout the ages the seers had looked for +the coming of the Redeemer, and lo! He was here; but it was not to the +mighty in Israel, to the High Priests and the Scribes, that His birth +was announced, but to humble shepherds watching their flocks by night. +And these men of simple faith, hearing from the angels "the good tidings +of great joy" that a Saviour, "Christ the Lord" was born, went with +haste to see the babe lying in the manger, and returned "glorifying and +praising God." So also to the devout in Israel, to Simeon and to Anna +the prophetess, the great event appeared in its universal significance, +and Simeon, departing in peace, knew that his eyes had seen the +salvation that was to be "a light to lighten the Gentiles" as well as +the glory of the people of Israel. + +But to the Jews, in whose hands the ancient tradition had been turned to +the exclusive advantage of the Jewish race, to the Rabbis, who had, +moreover, constituted themselves the sole guardians within this nation +of the said tradition, the manner of its fulfilment was necessarily +abhorrent. Instead of a resplendent Messiah who should be presented by +them to the people, a Saviour was born amongst the people themselves and +brought to Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord; a Saviour moreover +who, as time went on, imparted His divine message to the poor and humble +and declared that His Kingdom was not of this world. This was clearly +what Mary meant when she said that God had "scattered the proud in the +imagination of their hearts," that He had "put down the mighty from +their seats, and exalted them of low degree." Christ was therefore +doubly hateful to the Jewish hierarchy in that He attacked the +privilege of the race to which they belonged by throwing open the door +to all mankind, and the privilege of the caste to which they belonged by +revealing sacred doctrines to the profane and destroying their claim to +exclusive knowledge. + +Unless viewed from this aspect, neither the antagonism displayed by the +Scribes and Pharisees towards our Lord nor the denunciations He uttered +against them can be properly understood. "Woe unto you, Lawyers! for ye +have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and +them that were entering in ye hindered.... Woe unto you, Scribes and +Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: +tor ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are +entering to go in." What did Christ mean by the key of knowledge? +Clearly the sacred tradition which, as Drach explains, foreshadowed the +doctrines of Christianity.[73] It was the Rabbis who perverted that +tradition, and thus "the guilt of these perfidious Doctors consisted in +their concealing from the people the traditional explanation of the +sacred books by means of which they would have been able to recognize +the Messiah in the person of Jesus Christ."[74] Many of the people, +however, did recognize Him; indeed, the multitude acclaimed Him, +spreading their garments before Him and crying, "Hosanna to the Son of +David! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!" Writers who +have cited the choice of Barabbas in the place of Christ as an instance +of misguided popular judgement, overlook the fact that this choice was +not spontaneous; it was the Chief Priests who delivered Christ "from +envy" and who "moved the people that Pilate should rather release unto +them Barabbas." _Then_ the people obediently cried out, "Crucify Him!" + +So also it was the Rabbis who, after hiding from the people the meaning +of the sacred tradition at the moment of its fulfilment, afterwards +poisoned that same stream for future generations. Abominable calumnies +on Christ and Christianity occur not only in the Cabala but in the +earlier editions of the Talmud. In these, says Barclay-- + + Our Lord and Saviour is "that one," "such a one," "a fool," "the + leper," "the deceiver of Israel," etc. Efforts are made to prove + that He is the son of Joseph Pandira before his marriage with Mary. + His miracles are attributed to sorcery, the secret of which He + brought in a slit in His flesh out of Egypt. He is said to have + been first stoned and then hanged on the eve of the Passover. His + disciples are called heretics and opprobrious names. They are + accused of immoral practices, and the New Testament is called a + sinful book. The references to these subjects manifest the most + bitter aversion and hatred.[75] + +One might look in vain for passages such as these in English or French +translations of the Talmud, for the reason that no complete translation +exists in these languages. This fact is of great significance. Whilst +the sacred books of every other important religion have been rendered +into our own tongue and are open to everyone to study, the book that +forms the foundation of modern Judaism is closed to the general public. +We can read English translations of the Koran, of the Dhammapada, of the +Sutta Nipata, of the Zend Avesta, of the Shu King, of the Laws of Manu, +of the Bhagavadgita, but we cannot read the Talmud. In the long series +of Sacred Books of the East the Talmud finds no place. All that is +accessible to the ordinary reader consists, on one hand, in expurgated +versions or judicious selections by Jewish and pro-Jewish compilers, +and, on the other hand, in "anti-Semitic" publications on which it would +be dangerous to place reliance. The principal English translation by +Rodkinson is very incomplete, and the folios are nowhere indicated, so +that it is impossible to look up a passage.[76] The French translation +by Jean de Pauly[B] professes to present the entire text of the Venetian +Talmud of 1520, but it does nothing of the kind.[77] The translator, in +the Preface, in fact admits that he has left out "sterile discussions" +and has throughout attempted to tone down "the brutality of certain +expressions which offend our ears." This of course affords him infinite +latitude, so that all passages likely to prove displeasing to the +"Hébraisants," to whom his work is particularly dedicated, are +discreetly expunged. Jean de Pauly's translation of the Cabala appears, +however, to be complete.[78] But a fair and honest rendering of the +whole Talmud into English or French still remains to be made. + +Moreover, even the Hebrew scholar is obliged to exercise some +discrimination if he desires to consult the Talmud in its original +form. For by the sixteenth century, when the study of Hebrew became +general amongst Christians, the antisocial and anti-Christian tendencies +of the Talmud attracted the attention of the Censor, and in the Bâle +Talmud of 1581 the most obnoxious passages and the entire treatise +Abodah Zara were suppressed.[79] + +In the Cracow edition of 1604 that followed, these passages were +restored by the Jews, a proceeding which aroused so much indignation +amongst Christian students of Hebrew that the Jews became alarmed. +Accordingly a Jewish synod, assembled in Poland in 1631, ordered the +offending passages to be expunged again, but--according to Drach--to be +replaced by circles which the Rabbis were to fill in orally when giving +instruction to young Jews.[80] After that date the Talmud was for a time +carefully bowdlerized, so that in order to discover its original form it +is advisable to go back to the Venetian Talmud of 1520 before any +omissions were made, or to consult a modern edition. For now that the +Jews no longer fear the Christians, these passages are all said to have +been replaced and no attempt is made, as in the Middle Ages, to prove +that they do not refer to the Founder of Christianity.[81] + +Thus the _Jewish Encyclopædia_ admits that Jewish legends concerning +Jesus are found in the Talmud and Midrash and in "the life of Jesus +(Toledot Yeshu) that originated in the Middle Ages. It is the tendency +of all these sources to belittle the person of Jesus by ascribing to Him +illegitimate birth, magic, and a shameful death."[82] + +The last work mentioned, the _Toledot Yeshu_, or the _Sepher Toldos +Jeschu_, described here as originating in the Middle Ages, probably +belongs in reality to a much earlier period. Eliphas Lévi asserts that +"the Sepher Toldos, to which the Jews attribute a great antiquity and +which they hid from the Christians with such precautions that this book +was for a long while unfindable, is quoted for the first time by +Raymond Martin of the Order of the Preaching Brothers towards the end +of the thirteenth century.... This book was evidently written by a Rabbi +initiated into the mysteries of the Cabala."[83] Whether then the +Toledot Yeshu had existed for many centuries before it was first brought +to light or whether it was a collection of Jewish traditions woven into +a coherent narrative by a thirteenth-century Rabbi, the ideas it +contains can be traced back at least as far as the second century of the +Christian era. Origen, who in the middle of the third century wrote his +reply to the attack of Celsus on Christianity, refers to a scandalous +story closely resembling the Toledot Yeshu, which Celsus, who lived +towards the end of the second century, had quoted on the authority of a +Jew.[84] It is evident, therefore, that the legend it contains had long +been current in Jewish circles, but the book itself did not come into +the hands of Christians until it was translated into Latin by Raymond +Martin. Later on Luther summarized it in German under the name of _Schem +Hamphorasch_; Wagenseil in 1681 and Huldrich in 1705 published Latin +translations.[85] It is also to be found in French in Gustave Brunei's +_Evangiles Apocryphes_. + +However repugnant it is to transcribe any portion of this blasphemous +work, its main outline must be given here in order to trace the +subsequent course of the anti-Christian secret tradition in which, as we +shall see, it has been perpetuated up to our own day. Briefly, then, the +Toledot Yeshu relates with the most indecent details that Miriam, a +hairdresser of Bethlehem,[86] affianced to a young man named Jochanan, +was seduced by a libertine, Joseph Panther or Pandira, and gave birth to +a son whom she named Johosuah or Jeschu. According to the Talmudic +authors of the Sota and the Sanhedrim, Jeschu was taken during his +boyhood to Egypt, where he was initiated into the secret doctrines of +the priests, and on his return to Palestine gave himself up to the +practice of magic.[87] The Toledot Yeshu, however, goes on to say that +on reaching manhood Jeschu learnt the secret of his illegitimacy, on +account of which he was driven out of the Synagogue and took refuge for +a time in Galilee. Now, there was in the Temple a stone on which was +engraved the Tetragrammaton or Schem Hamphorasch, that is to say, the +Ineffable Name of God; this stone had been found by King David when the +foundations of the Temple were being prepared and was deposited by him +in the Holy of Holies. Jeschu, knowing this, came from Galilee and, +penetrating into the Holy of Holies, read the Ineffable Name, which he +transcribed on to a piece of parchment and concealed in an incision +under his skin. By this means he was able to work miracles and to +persuade the people that he was the son of God foretold by Isaiah. With +the aid of Judas, the Sages of the Synagogue succeeded in capturing +Jeschu, who was then led before the Great and Little Sanhedrim, by whom +he was condemned to be stoned to death and finally hanged. + +Such is the story of Christ according to the Jewish Cabalists, which +should be compared not only with the Christian tradition but with that +of the Moslems. It is perhaps not sufficiently known that the Koran, +whilst denying the divinity of Christ and also the fact of His +crucifixion,[88] nevertheless indignantly denounces the infamous legends +concerning Him perpetuated by the Jews, and confirms in beautiful +language the story of the Annunciation and the doctrine of the +Miraculous Conception.[89] "Remember when the angels said, 'O Mary! +verily hath God chosen thee and purified thee, and chosen thee above the +women of the worlds.' ... Remember when the angels said, 'O Mary! verily +God announceth to thee the Word from Him: His name shall be Messiah, +Jesus the son of Mary, illustrious in this world, and in the next, and +one of those who have near access to God.'" + +The Mother of Jesus is shown to have been pure and to have "kept her +maidenhood"[90]; it was the Jews who spoke against Mary "a grievous +calumny."[91] Jesus Himself is described as "strengthened with the Holy +Spirit," and the Jews are reproached for rejecting "the Apostle of +God,"[92] to whom was given "the Evangel with its guidance and light +confirmatory of the preceding Law."[93] + +Thus during the centuries that saw the birth of Christianity, although +other non-Christian forces arrayed themselves against the new faith, it +was left to the Jews to inaugurate a campaign of vilification against +the person of its Founder, whom Moslems to this day revere as one of the +great teachers of the world.[94] + + + +The Essenes + + +A subtler device for discrediting Christianity and undermining belief in +the divine character of our Lord has been adopted by modern writers, +principally Jewish, who set out to prove that He belonged to the sect of +the Essenes, a community of ascetics holding all goods in common, which +had existed in Palestine before the birth of Christ. Thus the Jewish +historian Graetz declares that Jesus simply appropriated to himself the +essential features of Essenism, and that primitive Christianity was +"nothing but an offshoot of Essenism."[95] The Christian Jew Dr. +Ginsburg partially endorses this view in a small pamphlet[96] containing +most of the evidence that has been brought forward on the subject, and +himself expresses the opinion that "it will hardly be doubted that our +Saviour Himself belonged to this holy brotherhood."[97] So after +representing Christ as a magician in the Toledot Yeshu and the Talmud, +Jewish tradition seeks to explain His miraculous works as those of a +mere healer--an idea that we shall find descending right through the +secret societies to this day. Of course if this were true, if the +miracles of Christ were simply due to a knowledge of natural laws and +His doctrines were the outcome of a sect, the whole theory of His divine +power and mission falls to the ground. This is why it is essential to +expose the fallacies and even the bad faith on which the attempt to +identify Him with the Essenes is based. + +Now, we have only to study the Gospels carefully in order to realize +that the teachings of Christ were totally different from those peculiar +to the Essenes.[98] Christ did not live in a fraternity, but, as Dr. +Ginsburg himself points out, associated with publicans and sinners. The +Essenes did not frequent the Temple and Christ was there frequently. The +Essenes disapproved of wine and marriage, whilst Christ sanctioned +marriage by His presence at the wedding of Cana in Galilee and there +turned water into wine. A further point, the most conclusive of all, Dr. +Ginsburg ignores, namely, that one of the principal traits of the +Essenes which distinguished them from the other Jewish sects of their +day was their disapproval of ointment, which they regarded as defiling, +whilst Christ not only commended the woman who brought the precious jar +of ointment, but reproached Simon for the omission: "My head with oil +thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed My feet with +ointment." It is obvious that if Christ had been an Essene but had +departed from His usual custom on this occasion out of deference to the +woman's feelings, he would have understood why Simon had not offered Him +the same attention, and at any rate Simon would have excused himself on +these grounds. Further, if His disciples had been Essenes, would they +not have protested against this violation of their principles, instead +of merely objecting that the ointment was of too costly a kind? + +But it is in attributing to Christ the Communistic doctrines of the +Essenes that Dr. Ginsburg's conclusions are the most misleading--a point +of particular importance in view of the fact that it is on this false +hypothesis that so-called "Christian Socialism" has been built up. "The +Essenes," he writes, "had all things in common, and appointed one of the +brethren as steward to manage the common bag; so the primitive +Christians (Acts ii. 44, 45, iv. 32-4; John xii. 6, xiii. 29)." It is +perfectly true that, as the first reference to the Acts testifies, some +of the primitive Christians after the death of Christ formed themselves +into a body having all things in common, but there is not the slightest +evidence that Christ and His disciples followed this principle. The +solitary passages in the Gospel of St. John, which are all that Dr. +Ginsburg can quote in support of this contention, may have referred to +an alms-bag or a fund for certain expenses, not to a common pool of all +monetary wealth. Still less is there any evidence that Christ advocated +Communism to the world in general. When the young man having great +possessions asked what he should do to inherit eternal life, Christ told +him to follow the commandments, but on the young man asking what more he +could do, answered: "If thou wilt be perfect go and sell that thou hast +and give to the poor." Renunciation--but not the pooling--of all wealth +was thus a counsel of perfection for the few who desired to devote their +lives to God, as monks and nuns have always done, and bore no relation +to the Communistic system of the Essenes. + +Dr. Ginsburg goes on to say: "Essenism put all its members on the same +level, forbidding the exercise of authority of one over the other and +enjoining mutual service; so Christ (Matt. xx. 25-8; Mark ix. 35-7, x. +42-5). Essenism commanded its disciples to call no man master upon the +earth; so Christ (Matt. xxiii. 8-10)." As a matter of fact, Christ +strongly upheld the exercise of authority, not only in the oft-quoted +passage, "Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's," but in His +approval of the Centurion's speech: "I am a man under authority, having +soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to +another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth +it." Everywhere Christ commends the faithful servant and enjoins +obedience to masters. If we look up the reference to the Gospel of St. +Matthew where Dr. Ginsburg says that Christ commanded His disciples to +call no man master on earth, we shall find that he has not only +perverted the sense of the passage but reversed the order of the words, +which, following on a denunciation of the Jewish Rabbis, runs thus: "But +be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your master, even Christ, and all ye +are brethren.... Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, +even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant." +The apostles were therefore, never ordered to call no man master, but +not to be called master themselves. Moreover, if we refer to the Greek +text, we shall see that this was meant in a spiritual and not a social +sense. The word for "master" here given is in the first verse διδάσκαλος, +i.e. teacher, in the second, καθηγητὴς literally +guide, and the word is servant is διακὸνοσ. When masters and +servants in the social sense are referred to in the Gospels, the word +employed for master is κύριος and for servant δοῦλος. +Dr. Ginsburg should have been aware of this distinction and that the +passage in question had therefore no bearing on his argument. As a +matter of fact it would appear that some of the apostles kept servants, +since Christ commends them for exacting strict attention to duty: + + Which of you, having a servant ploughing or feeding cattle, will + say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit + down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready + wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have + eaten and drunken; and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he + thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded to + him? I trow not.[99] + +This passage would alone suffice to show that Christ and His apostles +did not inhabit communities where all were equal, but followed the usual +practices of the social system under which they lived, though adopting +certain rules, such as taking only one garment and carrying no money +when they went on journeys. Those resemblances between the teaching of +the Essenes and the Sermon on the Mount which Dr. Ginsburg indicates +refer not to the customs of a sect, but to general precepts for human +conduct--humility, meekness, charity, and so forth. + +At the same time it is clear that if the Essenes in general conformed to +some of the principles laid down by Christ, certain of their doctrines +were completely at variance with those of Christ and of primitive +Christians, in particular their custom of praying to the rising sun and +their disbelief in the resurrection of the body.[100] St. Paul denounces +asceticism, the cardinal doctrine of the Essenes, in unmeasured terms, +warning the brethren that "in the latter times some shall depart from +the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, ... +forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God +hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and +know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be +refused, if it be received with thanksgiving ... If thou put the +brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister +of Jesus Christ." + +This would suggest that certain Essenean ideas had crept into Christian +communities and were regarded by those who remembered Christ's true +teaching as a dangerous perversion. + +The Essenes were therefore not Christians, but a secret society, +practising four degrees of initiation, and bound by terrible oaths not +to divulge the sacred mysteries confided to them. And what were those +mysteries but those of the Jewish secret tradition which we now know as +the Cabala? Dr. Ginsburg throws an important light on Essenism when, in +one passage alone, he refers to the obligation of the Essenes "not to +divulge the secret doctrines to anyone, ... carefully to preserve the +books belonging to their sect and the names of the angels or the +mysteries connected with the Tetragrammaton and the other names of God +and the angels, comprised in the theosophy as well as with the cosmogony +which also played so important a part among the Jewish mystics and the +Kabbalists."[101] The truth is clearly that the Essenes were Cabalists, +though doubtless Cabalists of a superior kind. The Cabal they possessed +very possibly descended from pre-Christian times and had remained +uncontaminated by the anti-Christian strain introduced into it by the +Rabbis after the death of Christ.[102] + +The Essenes are of importance to the subject of this book as the first +of the secret societies from which a direct line of tradition can be +traced up to the present day. But if in this peaceful community no +actually anti-Christian influence is to be discerned, the same cannot be +said of the succeeding pseudo-Christian sects which, whilst professing +Christianity, mingled with Christian doctrines the poison of the +perverted Cabala, main source of the errors which henceforth rent the +Christian Church in twain. + + + +The Gnostics + + +The first school of thought to create a schism in Christianity was the +collection of sects known under the generic name of Gnosticism. In its +purer forms Gnosticism aimed at supplementing faith by knowledge of +eternal verities and at giving a wider meaning to Christianity by +linking it up with earlier faiths. "The belief that the divinity had +been manifested in the religious institutions of all nations"[103] thus +led to the conception of a sort of universal religion containing the +divine elements of all. + +Gnosticism, however, as the _Jewish Encyclopædia_ points out, "was +Jewish in character long before it became Christian."[104] M. Matter +indicates Syria and Palestine as its cradle and Alexandria as the centre +by which it was influenced at the time of its alliance with +Christianity. This influence again was predominantly Jewish. Philo and +Aristobulus, the leading Jewish philosophers of Alexandria, "wholly +attached to the ancient religion of their fathers, both resolved to +adorn it with the spoils of other systems and to open to Judaism the way +to immense conquests."[105] This method of borrowing from other races +and religions those ideas useful for their purpose has always been the +custom of the Jews. The Cabala, as we have seen, was made up of these +heterogeneous elements. And it is here we find the principal progenitor +of Gnosticism. The Freemason Ragon gives the clue in the words: "The +Cabala is the key of the occult sciences. The Gnostics were born of the +Cabalists."[106] + +For the Cabala was much older than the Gnostics. Modern historians who +date it merely from the publication of the Zohar by Moses de Leon in the +thirteenth century or from the school of Luria in the sixteenth century +obscure this most important fact which Jewish savants have always +clearly, recognized.[107] The _Jewish Encyclopædia_, whilst denying the +certainty of connexion between Gnosticism and the Cabala, nevertheless +admits that the investigations of the anti-Cabalist Graetz "must be +resumed on a new basis," and it goes on to show that "it was Alexandria +of the first century, or earlier, with her strange commingling of +Egyptian, Chaldean, Judean, and Greek culture which furnished soil and +seeds for that mystic philosophy."[108] But since Alexandria was at the +same period the home of Gnosticism, which was formed from the same +elements enumerated here, the connexion between the two systems is +clearly evident. M. Matter is therefore right in saying that Gnosticism +was not a defection from Christianity, but a combination of systems into +which a few Christian elements were introduced. The result of Gnosticism +was thus not to christianize the Cabala, but to cabalize Christianity by +mingling its pure and simple teaching with theosophy and even magic. The +_Jewish Encyclopædia_ quotes the opinion that "the central doctrine of +Gnosticism--a movement closely connected with Jewish mysticism--was +nothing else than the attempt to liberate the soul and unite it with +God"; but as this was apparently to be effected "through the employment +of mysteries, incantations, names of angels," etc., it will be seen how +widely even this phase of Gnosticism differs from Christianity and +identifies itself with the magical Cabala of the Jews. + +Indeed, the man generally recognized as the founder of Gnosticism, a Jew +commonly known as Simon Magus, was not only a Cabalist mystic but +avowedly a magician, who with a band of Jews, including his master +Dositheus and his disciples Menander and Cerinthus, instituted a +priesthood of the Mysteries and practised occult arts and +exorcisms.[109] It was this Simon of whom we read in the Acts of the +Apostles that he "bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that +himself was some great one: to whom they all gave heed from the least to +the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God," and who +sought to purchase the power of the laying on of hands with money. +Simon, indeed, crazed by his incantations and ecstasies, developed +megalomania in an acute form, arrogating to himself divine honours and +aspiring to the adoration of the whole world. According to a +contemporary legend, he eventually became sorcerer to Nero and ended his +life in Rome.[110] + +The prevalence of sorcery amongst the Jews during the first century of +the Christian era is shown by other passages in the Acts of the +Apostles; in Paphos the "false prophet," a Jew, whose surname was +Bar-Jesus, otherwise known as "Elymas the sorcerer," opposed the +teaching of St. Paul and brought on himself the imprecation: "O full of +all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of +all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the +Lord?" + +Perversion is the keynote of all the debased forms of Gnosticism. +According to Eliphas Lévi, certain of the Gnostics introduced into their +rites that profanation of Christian mysteries which was to form the +basis of black magic in the Middle Ages.[111] The glorification of evil, +which plays so important a part in the modern revolutionary movement, +constituted the creed of the Ophites, who worshipped the Serpent +(ὅφις) because he had revolted against Jehovah, to whom they +referred under the Cabalistic term of the "demiurgus,"[112] and still +more of the Cainites, so-called from their cult of Cain, whom, with +Dathan and Abiram, the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, and finally +Judas Iscariot, they regarded as noble victims of the demiurgus.[113] +Animated by hatred of all social and moral order, the Cainites "called +upon all men to destroy the works of God and to commit every kind of +infamy."[114] + +These men were therefore not only the enemies of Christianity but of +orthodox Judaism, since it was against the Jehovah of the Jews that +their hatred was particularly directed. Another Gnostic sect, the +Carpocratians, followers of Carpocrates of Alexandria and his son +Epiphanus--who died from his debaucheries and was venerated as a +god[115]--likewise regarded all written laws, Christian or Mosaic, with +contempt and recognized only the γνῶσις or knowledge given to +the great men of every nation--Plato and Pythagoras, Moses and +Christ--which "frees one from all that the vulgar call religion" and +"makes man equal to God."[116] + +So in the Carpocratians of the second century we find already the +tendency towards that _deification of humanity_ which forms the supreme +doctrine of the secret societies and of the visionary Socialists of our +day. The war now begins between the two contending principles: the +Christian conception of man reaching up to God and the secret society +conception of man as God, needing no revelation from on high and no +guidance but the law of his own nature. And since that nature is in +itself divine, all that springs from it is praiseworthy, and those acts +usually regarded as sins are not to be condemned. By this line of +reasoning the Carpocratians arrived at much the same conclusions as +modern Communists with regard to the ideal social system. Thus +Epiphanus held that since Nature herself reveals the principle of the +community and the unity of all things, human laws which are contrary to +this law of Nature are so many culpable infractions of the legitimate +order of things. Before these laws were imposed on humanity everything +was in common--land, goods, and women. According to certain +contemporaries, the Carpocratians returned to this primitive system by +instituting the community of women and indulging in every kind of +licence. + +The further Gnostic sect of Antitacts, following this same cult of human +nature, taught revolt against all positive religion and laws and the +necessity for gratifying the flesh; the Adamites of North Africa, going +a step further in the return to Nature, cast off all clothing at their +religious services so as to represent the primitive innocence of the +garden of Eden--a precedent followed by the Adamites of Germany in the +fifteenth century.[117] + +These Gnostics, says Eliphas Lévi, under the pretext of "spiritualizing +matter, materialized the spirit in the most revolting ways.... Rebels to +the hierarchic order, ... they wished to substitute the mystical licence +of sensual passions to wise Christian sobriety and obedience to laws.... +Enemies of the family, they wished to produce sterility by increasing +debauchery."[118] + +By way of systematically perverting the doctrines of the Christian faith +the Gnostics claimed to possess the true versions of the Gospels, and +professed belief in these to the exclusion of all the others.[119] Thus +the Ebionites had their own corrupted version of the Gospel of St. +Matthew founded on the "Gospel of the Hebrews," known earlier to the +Jewish Christians; the Marcosians had their version of St. Luke, the +Cainites their own "Gospel of Judas," and the Valentinians their "Gospel +of St. John." As we shall see later, the Gospel of St. John is the one +that throughout the war on Christianity has been specially chosen for +the purpose of perversion. + +Of course this spirit of perversion was nothing new; many centuries +earlier the prophet Isaiah had denounced it in the words: "Woe unto them +that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and +light for darkness!" But the role of the Gnostics was to reduce +perversion to a system by binding men together into sects working under +the guise of enlightenment in order to obscure all recognized ideas of +morality and religion. It is this which constitutes their importance in +the history of secret societies. + +Whether the Gnostics themselves can be described as a secret society, or +rather as a ramification of secret societies, is open to question. M. +Matter, quoting a number of third-century writers, shows the possibility +that they had mysteries and initiations; the Church Fathers definitely +asserted this to be the case.[120] According to Tertullian, the +Valentinians continued, or rather perverted, the mysteries of Eleusis, +out of which they made a "sanctuary of prostitution."[121] + +The Valentinians are known to have divided their members into three +classes--the Pneumatics, the Psychics, and the Hylics (i.e. +materialists); the Basilideans are also said to have possessed secret +doctrines known to hardly one in a thousand of the sect. From all this +M. Matter concludes that: + + 1. The Gnostics professed to hold by means of tradition a secret + doctrine superior to that contained in the public writings of the + apostles. + + 2. That they did not communicate this doctrine to everyone.... + + 3. That they communicated it by means of emblems and symbols, as + the Diagram of the Ophites proves. + + 4. That in these communications they imitated the rites and trials + of the mysteries of Eleusis.[122] + +This claim to the possession of a secret oral tradition, whether known +under the name of γνῶσις or of Cabala, confirms the conception +of the Gnostics as Cabalists and shows how far they had departed from +Christian teaching. For if only in this idea of "one doctrine for the +ignorant and another for the initiated," the Gnostics had restored the +very system which Christianity had come to destroy.[123] + + + +Manicheism + + +Whilst we have seen the Gnostic sects working for more or less +subversive purposes under the guise of esoteric doctrines, we find in +the Manicheans of Persia, who followed a century later, a sect +embodying the same tendencies and approaching still nearer to secret +society organization. + +Cubricus or Corbicius, the founder of Manicheism, was born in Babylonia +about the year A.D. 216. Whilst still a child he is said to have been +bought as a slave by a rich widow of Ctesiphon, who liberated him and on +her death left him great wealth. According to another story--for the +whole history of Manes rests on legends--he inherited from a rich old +woman the books of a Saracen named Scythianus on the wisdom of the +Egyptians. Combining the doctrines these books contained with ideas +borrowed from Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism, and Christianity, and also +with certain additions of his own, he elaborated a philosophic system +which he proceeded to teach. Cubricus then changed his name to Mani or +Manes and proclaimed himself the Paraclete promised by Jesus Christ. His +followers were divided into two classes--the outer circle of hearers or +combatants, and the inner circle of teachers or ascetics described as +the Elect. As evidence of their resemblance with Freemasons, it has been +said that the Manicheans made use of secret signs, grips, and passwords, +that owing to the circumstances of their master's adoption they called +Manes "the son of the widow" and themselves "the children of the widow," +but this is not clearly proved. One of their customs is, however, +interesting in this connexion. According to legend, Manes undertook to +cure the son of the King of Persia who had fallen ill, but the prince +died, whereupon Manes was flayed alive by order of the king and his +corpse hanged up at the city gate. Every year after this, on Good +Friday, the Manicheans carried out a mourning ceremony known as the Bema +around the catafalque of Manes, whose real sufferings they were wont to +contrast with the unreal sufferings of Christ. + +The fundamental doctrine of Manicheism is Dualism--that is to say, the +existence of two opposing principles in the world, light and darkness, +good and evil--founded, however, not on the Christian conception of this +idea, but on the Zoroastrian conception of Ormuzd and Ahriman, and so +perverted and mingled with Cabalistic superstitions that it met with as +vehement denunciation by Persian priests as by Christian Fathers. Thus, +according to the doctrine of Manes, all matter is absolute evil, the +principle of evil is eternal, humanity itself is of Satanic origin, and +the first human beings, Adam and Eve, are represented as the offspring +of devils.[124] Much the same idea may be found in the Jewish Cabala, +where it is said that Adam, after other abominable practices, cohabited +with female devils whilst Eve consoled herself with male devils, so that +whole races of demons were born into the world. Eve is also accused of +cohabiting with the Serpent.[125] In the Yalkut Shimoni it is also +related that during the 130 years that Adam lived apart from Eve, "he +begat a generation of devils, spirits, and hobgoblins."[126] Manichean +demonology thus paved the way for the placation of the powers of +darkness practised by the Euchites at the end of the fourth century and +later by the Paulicians, the Bogomils, and the Luciferians. + +So it is in Gnosticism and Manicheism that we find evidence of the first +attempts to pervert Christianity. The very fact that all such have been +condemned by the Church as "heresies" has tended to enlist sympathy in +their favour, yet even Eliphas Lévi recognizes that here the action of +the Church was right, for the "monstrous gnosis of Manes" was a +desecration not only of Christian doctrines but of pre-Christian sacred +traditions. + + + + +2 + +THE REVOLT AGAINST ISLAM[127] + + + +We have followed the efforts of subversive sects hitherto directed +against Christianity and orthodox Judaism; we shall now see this +attempt, reduced by gradual stages to a working system of extraordinary +efficiency, organized for the purpose of undermining all moral and +religious beliefs in the minds of Moslems. In the middle of the seventh +century an immense schism was created in Islam by the rival advocates of +successors to the Prophet, the orthodox Islamites known by the name of +Sunnis adhering to the elected Khalifas Abu Bakr, Omar, and Othman, +whilst the party of revolt, known as the Shiahs, claimed the Khalifate +for the descendants of Mohammed through Ali, son of Abu-Talib and +husband of Fatima, the Prophet's daughter. This division ended in open +warfare; Ali was finally assassinated, his elder son Hason was poisoned +in Medina, his younger son Husain fell at the battle of Kerbela fighting +against the supporters of Othman. The deaths of Hasan and Husain are +still mourned yearly by the Shiahs at the Moharram. + + + +The Ismailis + + +The Shiahs themselves split again over the question of Ali's successors +into four factions, the fourth of which divided again into two further +sects. Both of these retained their allegiance to the descendants of Ali +as far as Jafar-as-Sadik, but whilst one party, known as the Imamias or +Isna-Asharias (i.e. the Twelvers), supported the succession through his +younger son Musa to the twelfth Iman Mohammed, son of Askeri, the +Ismailis (or Seveners) adhered to Ismail, the elder son of +Jafar-as-Sadik. + +[Illustration: + + Choice of SUNNIS + Abu Bakr (1st Khalifa) 632 + Omar 634 + Othman 644 + Ali + + + Choice of SHIAHS + + Abd-ul-Muttalib + Abdullah + MOHAMMED A.D. 570-632 + Fatima married Ali + Abu Tälib + ALI (4th Sunni and 1st Shiah Khalifa murdered in Kufa) + (2) Hasan poisoned A.D. 680 + (3) Husain killed at battle of Kerbela A.D. 680 + (4) Ali II + (5) Mohammed + (6) Jafar-as-Sadik + Choice of ISMAILIS + (7) Ismail + Mohammed disappeared circ. 770 + Choice of IMAMIAS or ISNA-ASHARIAS + (7) Abu'I Hasan Musa + (8) Ali III + (9) Abu Jafar Mohammed + (10) Ali + (11) Abu Mohammed al Askari + (12) Mohammed al Mahdi + + SHIAHS + ISMAILIS circ. A.D. 770 + BATINIS (founded by Abdullah ibn Maymūn) circ. A.D. 872 + FATIMITES (under Ubeidallah 1st Fatimite Khalifa) A.D. 909 + Fatimite Khalifas of Egypt A.D. 977 + HAKIM 6th Fatimite Khalifa A.D. 996 + Founds Dar-ul-Hikmat A.D. 1004 + ASSASSINS (under Hasan Saba) A.D. 1090 + DRUSES (under Hazza) circ. A.D. 1021 + KARMATHITES (under Hamdan Karmath) A.D. 896 + + THE SUCCESSORS OF THE PROPHET + + The above table shows the rival lines of Khalifas--on the left the + elected successors, choice of the Sunnis; on the right the lineal + descendants, choice of the Shiahs. The figure at the side of each + name indicates the number in succession of the Khalifa mentioned. + The table inset shows the sects to which the disputes over the + succession gave birth. + +] + +So far, however, in spite of divisions, no body of Shiahs had ever +deviated from the fundamental doctrines of Islamism, but merely claimed +that these had been handed down through a different line from that +recognized by the Sunnis. The earliest Ismailis, who formed themselves +into a party at about the time of the death of Mohammed, son of Ismail +(i.e. circ. A.D. 770), still remained believers, declaring only that the +true teaching of the Prophet had descended to Mohammed, who was not dead +but would return in the fullness of time and that he was the Mahdi whom +Moslems must await. But in about A.D. 873 an intriguer of extraordinary +subtlety succeeded in capturing the movement, which, hitherto merely +schismatic, now became definitely subversive, not only of Islamism, but +of all religious belief. + +This man, Abdullah ibn Maymūn, the son of a learned and free-thinking +doctor in Southern Persia, brought up in the doctrines of Gnostic +Dualism and profoundly versed in all religions, was in reality, like his +father, a pure materialist. By professing adherence to the creed of +orthodox Shi-ism, and proclaiming a knowledge of the mystic doctrines +which the Ismailis believed to have descended through Ismail to his son +Mohammed, Abdullah succeeded in placing himself at the head of the +Ismailis. + +His advocacy of Ismail was thus merely a mask, his real aim being +materialism, which he now proceeded to make into a system by founding a +sect known as the Batinis with seven degrees of initiation. Dozy has +given the following description of this amazing project: + + To link together into one body the vanquished and the conquerors; + to unite in the form of a vast secret society with many degrees of + initiation free-thinkers--who regarded religion only as a curb for + the people--and bigots of all sects; to make tools of believers in + order to give power to sceptics; to induce conquerors to overturn + the empires they had founded; to build up a party, numerous, + compact, and disciplined, which in due time would give the throne, + if not to himself, at least to his descendants, such was Abdullah + ibn Maymūn's general aim--an extraordinary conception which he + worked out with marvellous tact, incomparable skill, and a profound + knowledge of the human heart. The means which he adopted were + devised with diabolical cunning.... + + It was ... not among the Shi-ites that he sought his true + supporters, but among the Ghebers, the Manicheans, the pagans of + Harran, and the students of Greek philosophy; on the last alone + could he rely, to them alone could he gradually unfold the final + mystery, and reveal that Imams, religions, and morality were + nothing but an imposture and an absurdity. The rest of mankind--the + "asses," as Abdullah called them--were incapable of understanding + such doctrines. But to gain his end he by no means disdained their + aid; on the contrary, he solicited it, but he took care to initiate + devout and lowly souls only in the first grades of the sect. His + missionaries, who were inculcated with the idea that their first + duty was to conceal their true sentiments and adapt themselves to + the views of their auditors, appeared in many guises, and spoke, as + it were, in a different language to each class. They won over the + ignorant vulgar by feats of legerdemain which passed for miracles, + or excited their curiosity by enigmatical discourse. In the + presence of the devout they assumed the mask of virtue and piety. + With mystics they were mystical, and unfolded the inner meanings of + phenomena, or explained allegories and the figurative sense of the + allegories themselves.... + + By means such as these the extraordinary result was brought about + that a multitude of men of diverse beliefs were all working + together for an object known only to a few of them....[128] + +I quote this passage at length because it is of immense importance in +throwing a light on the organization of modern secret societies. It does +not matter what the end may be, whether political, social, or religious, +the system remains the same--the setting in motion of a vast number of +people and making them work in a cause unknown to them. That this was +the method adopted by Weishaupt in organizing the Illuminati and that it +came to him from the East will be shown later on. We shall now see how +the system of the philosopher Abdullah paved the way for bloodshed by +the most terrible sect the world had ever seen. + + + +The Karmathites + + +The first open acts of violence resulting from the doctrines of Abdullah +were carried out by the Karmathites, a new development of the Ismailis. +Amongst the many Dais sent out by the leader--which included his son +Ahmed and Ahmed's son--was the Dai Hosein Ahwazi, Abdullah's envoy to +Irak in Persia, who initiated a certain Hamdan surnamed Karmath into the +secrets of the sect. Karmath, who was a born intriguer and believed in +nothing, became the leader of the Karmathites in Arabia, where a number +of Arabs were soon enlisted in the society. With extraordinary skill he +succeeded in persuading these dupes to make over all their money to him, +first by means of small contributions, later by larger sums, until at +last he convinced them of the advantages of abolishing all private +property and establishing the system of the community of goods and +wives. This principle was enforced by the passage of the Koran: +"Remember the grace of God in that whilst you were enemies, He has +united your hearts, so that by His grace you have become brothers...." +De Sacy thus trans-scribes the methods employed as given by the +historian Nowairi: + + When Karmath had succeeded in establishing all this, and everyone + had agreed to conform to it, he ordered the Dais to assemble all + the women on a certain night so that they should mingle + promiscuously with all the men. This, he said, was perfection and + the last degree of friendship and fraternal union. Often a husband + led his wife and presented her himself to one of his brothers when + that gave him pleasure. When he (Karmath) saw that he had become + absolute master of their minds, had assured himself of their + obedience, and found out the degree of their intelligence and + discernment, he began to lead them quite astray. He put before them + arguments borrowed from the doctrines of the Dualists. They fell in + easily with all that he proposed, and then he took away from them + all religion and released them from all those duties of piety, + devotion, and the fear of God that he prescribed for them in the + beginning. He permitted them pillage, and every sort of immoral + licence, and taught them to throw off the yoke of prayer, fasting, + and other precepts. He taught them that they were held by no + obligations, and that they could pillage the goods and shed the + blood of their adversaries with impunity, that the knowledge of the + master of truth to whom he had called them took the place of + everything else, and that with this knowledge they need no longer + fear sin or punishment. + +As the result of these teachings the Karmathites rapidly became a band +of brigands, pillaging and massacring all those who opposed them and +spreading terror throughout all the surrounding districts. + +Peaceful fraternity was thus turned into a wild lust for conquest; the +Karmathites succeeded in dominating a great part of Arabia and the mouth +of the Euphrates, and in A.D. 920 extended their ravages westwards. They +took possession of the holy city of Mecca, in the defence of which +30,000 Moslems fell. "For a whole century," says von Hammer, "the +pernicious doctrines of Karmath raged with fire and sword in the very +bosom of Islamism, until the widespread conflagration was extinguished +in blood." + +But in proclaiming themselves revolutionaries the Karmathites had +departed from the plan laid down by the originator of their creed, +Abdullah ibn Maymūn, which had consisted not in acts of open violence +but in a secret doctrine which should lead to the gradual undermining of +all religious faith and a condition of mental anarchy rather than of +material chaos. For violence, as always, had produced counter-violence, +and it was thus that while the Karmathites were rushing to their own +destruction through a series of bloody conflicts, another branch of the +Ismailis were quietly reorganizing their forces more in conformity with +the original method of their founder. These were the Fatimites, +so-called from their professed belief that the doctrine of the Prophet +had descended from Ali, husband of Fatima, Mohammed's daughter. Whilst +less extreme than the Karmathites, or than their predecessor Abdullah +ibn Maymūn, the Fatimites, according to the historian Makrizi, +adopted the method of instilling doubts into the minds of believers and +aimed at the substitution of a natural for a revealed religion. Indeed, +after the establishment of their power in Egypt, it is difficult to +distinguish any appreciable degree of difference in the character of +their teaching from the anarchic code of Abdullah and his more violent +exponent Karmath. + + + +The Fatimites + + +The founder of the Fatimite dynasty of the Khalifas was one Ubeidallah, +known as the Mahdi, accused of Jewish ancestry by his adversaries the +Abbasides, who declared--apparently without truth--that he was the son +or grandson of Ahmed, son of Adbullah ibn Maymūn, by a Jewess. Under +the fourth Fatimite Khalifa Egypt fell into the power of the dynasty, +and, before long, bi-weekly assemblages of both men and women known as +"societies of wisdom" were instituted in Cairo. In 1004 these acquired a +greater importance by the establishment of the Dar ul Hikmat, or the +House of Knowledge, by the sixth Khalifa Hakim, who was raised to a +deity after his death and is worshipped to this day by the Druses. Under +the direction of the Dar ul Hikmat or Grand Lodge of Cairo, the +Fatimites continued the plan of Abdullah ibn Maymūn's secret society +with the addition of two more degrees, making nine in all. Their method +of enlisting proselytes and system of initiation--which, as Claudio +Jannet points out, "are absolutely those which Weishaupt, the founder of +the _Illuminati_, prescribed to the 'Insinuating Brothers'"[129]--were +transcribed by the fourteenth-century historian Nowairi in a description +that may be briefly summarized thus[130]: + +The proselytes were broadly divided into two classes, the learned and +the ignorant. The Dai was to agree with the former, applauding his +wisdom, and to impress the latter with his own knowledge by asking him +perplexing questions on the Koran. Thus in initiating him into the first +degree the Dai assumed an air of profundity and explained that religious +doctrines were too abstruse for the ordinary mind, but must be +interpreted by men who, like the Dais, had a special knowledge of this +science. The initiate was bound to absolute secrecy concerning the +truths to be revealed to him and obliged to pay in advance for these +revelations. In order to pique his curiosity, the Dai would suddenly +stop short in the middle of a discourse, and should the novice finally +decline to pay the required sum, he was left in a state of bewilderment +which inspired him with the desire to know more. + +In the second degree the initiate was persuaded that all his former +teachers were wrong and that he must place his confidence solely in +those Imams endowed with authority from God; in the third he learnt that +these Imams were those of the Ismailis, seven in number ending with +Mohammed, son of Ismail, in contradistinction to the twelve Imams of the +Imamias who supported the claims of Ismail's brother Musa; in the fourth +he was told that the prophets preceding the Imams descending from Ali +were also seven in number--namely Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, the +first Mohammed, and finally Mohammed son of Ismail. + +So far, then, nothing was said to the initiate in contradiction to the +broad tenets of orthodox Islamism. But with the fifth degree the process +of undermining his religion began, he was now told to reject tradition +and to disregard the precepts of Mohammed; in the sixth he was taught +that all religious observances--prayer, fasting, etc.--were only +emblematic, that in fact all these things were devices to keep the +common herd of men in subordination; in the seventh the doctrines of +Dualism, of a greater and a lesser deity, were introduced and the unity +of God--fundamental doctrine of Islamism--was destroyed; in the eighth a +great vagueness was expressed on the attributes of the first and +greatest of these deities, and it was pointed out that real prophets +were those who concerned themselves with practical matters--political +institutions and good forms of government; finally, in the ninth, the +adept was shown that all religious teaching was allegorical and that +religious precepts need only be observed in so far as it is necessary to +maintain order, but the man who understands the truth may disregard all +such doctrines. Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and the other prophets were +therefore only teachers who had profited by the lessons of philosophy. +All belief in revealed religion was thus destroyed. It will be seen then +that in the last degrees the whole teaching of the first five was +reversed and therefore shown to be a fraud. Fraud in fact constituted +the system of the society; in the instructions to the Dais every +artifice is described for enlisting proselytes by misrepresentation: +Jews were to be won by speaking ill of Christians, Christians by +speaking ill of Jews and Moslems alike, Sunnis by referring with respect +to the orthodox Khalifas Abu Bakr and Omar and criticizing Ali and his +descendants. Above all, care was to be taken not to put before +proselytes doctrines that might revolt them, but to make them advance +step by step. By these means they would be ready to obey any commands. +As the instructions express it: + + If you were to give the order to whoever it might be to take from + him all that he holds most precious, above all his money, he would + oppose none of your orders, and if death surprised him he would + leave you all that he possesses in his will and make you his heir. + He will think that in the whole world he cannot find a man more + worthy than you. + +Such was the great secret society which was to form the model for the +Illuminati of the eighteenth century, to whom the summary of von Hammer +might with equal truth apply: + + To believe nothing and to dare all was, in two words, the sum of + this system, which annihilated every principle of religion and + morality, and had no other object than to execute ambitious designs + with suitable ministers, who, daring all and knowing nothing, since + they consider everything a cheat and nothing forbidden, are the + best tools of an infernal policy. A system which, with no other aim + than the gratification of an insatiable lust for domination, + instead of seeking the highest of human objects, precipitates + itself into the abyss, and mangling itself, is buried amidst the + ruins of thrones and altars, the wreck of national happiness, and + the universal execration of mankind.[131] + + + +The Druses + + +The terrible Grand Lodge of Cairo before long became the centre of a new +and extraordinary cult. Hakim sixth Fatimite Khalifa and founder of the +Dar ul Hikmat--a monster of tyranny and crime whose reign can only be +compared to that of Caligula or Nero--was now raised to the place of a +divinity by one Ismail Darazi, a Turk who in 1016 announced in a mosque +in Cairo that the Khalifa should be made an object of worship. Hakim, +who "believed that divine reason was incarnate in him," four years later +proclaimed himself a deity, and the cult was finally established by one +of his viziers, the Persian mystic Hamza ibn Ali. Hakim's cruelties, +however, had so outraged the people of Egypt that a year later he was +murdered by a band of malcontents, led, it is said, by his sister, who +afterwards concealed his body--a circumstance which gave his followers +the opportunity to declare that the divinity had merely vanished in +order to test the faith of believers, but would reappear in time and +punish apostates. This belief became the doctrine of the Druses of +Lebanon, whom Darazi had won over to the worship of Hakim. + +It is unnecessary to enter into the details of this strange religion, +which still persists to-day in the range of Lebanon; suffice it to say +that, although the outcome of the Ismailis, the Druses do not appear to +have embraced the materialism of Abdullah ibn Maymūn, but to have +grafted on a primitive form of Nature-worship and of Sabeism the avowed +belief of the Ismailis in the dynasty of Ali and his successors, and +beyond this an abstruse, esoteric creed concerning the nature of the +Supreme Deity. God they declare to be "Universal Reason," who manifests +Himself by a series of "avatars." Hakim was the last of the divine +embodiments, and "when evil and misery have increased to the predestined +height he will again appear, to conquer the world and to make his +religion supreme." + +It is, however, as a secret society that the Druses enter into the scope +of this book, for their organization presents several analogies with +that which we now know as "masonic." Instead of the nine degrees +instituted by the Lodge of Cairo, the Druses are divided into only +three--Profanes, Aspirants, and Wise--to whom their doctrines are +gradually unfolded under seal of the strictest secrecy, to ensure which +signs and passwords are employed after the manner of Freemasonry. A +certain degree of duplicity appears to enter into their scheme, much +resembling that enjoined to the Ismaili Dais when enlisting proselytes +belonging to other religions: thus in talking to Mohammedans, the Druses +profess to be followers of the Prophet; with Christians, they pretend to +hold the doctrines of Christianity, an attitude they defend on the score +that it is unlawful to reveal the secret dogmas of their creed to a +"Black," or unbeliever. + +The Druses are in the habit of holding meetings where, as in the Dar ul +Hikmat, both men and women assemble and religious and political +questions are discussed; the uninitiated, however, are allowed to +exercise no influence on decisions, which are reached by the inner +circle, to which only the "Wise" are admitted. The resemblance between +this organization and that of Grand Orient Freemasonry is clearly +apparent. The Druses also have modes of recognition which are common to +Freemasonry, and M. Achille Laurent has observed: "The formula or +catechism of the Druses resembles that of the Freemasons; one can learn +it only from the _Akals_ (or Akels = Intelligent, a small group of +higher initiates), who only reveal its mysteries after having subjected +one to tests and made one take terrible oaths." + +I shall refer again later in this book to the affinity between the +Druses and Freemasons of the Grand Orient. + + + +The Assassins + + +It will be seen that the Druses, distinguishing themselves from other +Ismaili sects by their worship of Hakim, yet retaining genuine religious +beliefs, had not carried on the atheistical tradition of Abdullah ibn +Maymūn and of the Grand Lodge of Cairo. But this tradition was to +find in 1090 an exponent in the Persian Hasan Saba, a native of +Khorasan, the son of Ali, a strict Shiah, who, finding himself suspected +of heretical ideas, ended by declaring himself a Sunni. Hasan, brought +up in this atmosphere of duplicity, was therefore well fitted to play +the Machiavellian rôle of an Ismaili Dai. + +Von Hammer regards Hasan as a mighty genius, one of a splendid triad, +of which the two others were his schoolfellows the poet Omar Khayyám and +Nizam ul Mulk, Grand Vizier under the Seljuk Sultan, Malik Shah. Hasan, +having through the protection of Nizam ul Mulk secured titles and +revenues and finally risen to office at the Court of the Sultan, +attempted to supplant his benefactor and eventually retired in disgrace, +vowing vengeance against the Sultan and vizier. At this juncture he +encountered several Ismailis, one of whom, a Dai named Mumin, finally +converted him to the principles of his sect, and Hasan, declaring +himself now to be a convinced adherent of the Fatimite Khalifas, journed +to Cairo, where he was received with honour by the Dar ul Hikmat and +also by the Khalifa Mustansir, to whom he became counsellor. But his +intrigues once more involving him in disgrace, he fled to Aleppo and +laid the foundations of his new sect. After enlisting proselytes in +Bagdad, Ispahan, Khusistan, and Damaghan, he succeeded in obtaining by +strategy the fortress of Alamut in Persia on the Caspian Sea, where he +completed the plans for his great secret society which was to become for +ever infamous under the name of the Hashishiyīn, or _Assassins_. + +Under the pretence of belief in the doctrines of Islam and also of +adherence to the Ismaili line of succession from the Prophet, Hasan Saba +now set out to pave his way to power, and in order to achieve this end +adopted the same method as Abdullah ibn Maymūn. But the terrible +efficiency of Hasan's society consisted in the fact that a system of +physical force was now organized in a manner undreamt of by his +predecessor. As von Hammer has observed in an admirable passage: + + Opinions are powerless, so long as they only confuse the brain, + without arming the hand. Scepticism and free-thinking, as long as + they occupied only the minds of the indolent and philosophical, + have caused the ruin of no throne, for which purpose religious and + political fanaticism are the strongest levers in the hands of + nations. It is nothing to the ambitious man what people believe, + but it is everything to know how he may turn them for the execution + of his projects.[132] + +Thus, as in the case of the French Revolution, "whose first movers," von +Hammer also observes, "were the tools or leaders of secret societies," +it was not mere theory but the method of enlisting numerous dupes and +placing weapons in their hands that brought about the "Terror" of the +Assassins six centuries before that of their spiritual descendants, the +Jacobins of 1793. + +Taking as his groundwork the organization of the Grand Lodge of Cairo, +Hasan reduced the nine degrees to their original number of seven, but +these now received a definite nomenclature, and included not only real +initiates but active agents. + +Descending downwards, the degrees of the Assassins were thus as follows: +first, the Grand Master, known as the Shaikh-al-Jabal or "Old Man of the +Mountain"--owing to the fact that the Order always possessed itself of +castles in mountainous regions; second, the Dail Kebir or Grand Priors; +third, the fully initiated Dais, religious nuncios and political +emissaries; fourth, the Rafiqs or associates, in training for the higher +degrees; fifth, the Fadais or "devoted," who undertook to deliver the +secret blow on which their superiors had decided; sixth, the Lasiqus, or +law brothers; and lastly the "common people," who were to be simply +blind instruments. If the equivalents to the words "Dai," "Rafiqs," and +"Fadais" given by von Hammer and Dr. Bussell as "Master Masons," "Fellow +Crafts," and "Entered Apprentices" are accepted, an interesting analogy +with the degrees of Freemasonry is provided. + +Designs against religion were, of course, not admitted by the Order; +"strict uniformity to Islam was demanded from all the lower rank of +uninitiated, but the _adept_ was taught to see through the deception of +'faith and works.' He believed in nothing and recognized that all acts +or means were indifferent and the (secular) end alone to be +considered."[133] + +Thus the final object was domination by a few men consumed with the lust +of power "under the cloak of religion and piety," and the method by +which this was to be established was the wholesale assassination of +those who opposed them. + +In order to stimulate the energy of the Fadais, who were required to +carry out these crimes, the superiors of the Order had recourse to an +ingenious system of delusion. Throughout the territory occupied by the +Assassins were exquisite gardens with fruit trees, bowers of roses, and +sparkling streams. Here were arranged luxurious resting-places with +Persian carpets and soft divans, around which hovered black-eyed +"houris" bearing wine in gold and silver drinking-vessels, whilst soft +music mingled with the murmuring water and the song of birds. The young +man whom the Assassins desired to train for a career of crime was +introduced to the Grand Master of the Order and intoxicated with +haschisch--hence the name "Hashishiyīn" applied to the sect, from +which the word assassin is derived. Under the brief spell of +unconsciousness induced by this seductive drug the prospective Fadai was +then carried into the garden, where on awaking he believed himself to be +in Paradise. After enjoying all its delights he was given a fresh dose +of the opiate, and, once more unconscious, was transported back to the +presence of the Grand Master, who assured him that he had never left his +side but had merely experienced a foretaste of the Paradise that awaited +him if he obeyed the orders of his chiefs. The neophyte, thus spurred on +by the belief that he was carrying out the commands of the Prophet, who +would reward him with eternal bliss, eagerly entered into the schemes +laid down for him and devoted his life to murder. Thus by the lure of +Paradise the Assassins enlisted instruments for their criminal work and +established a system of organized murder on a basis of religious +fervour. "'Nothing is true and all is allowed' was the ground of their +secret doctrine, which, however, being imparted but to few and concealed +under the veil of the most austere religionism and piety, restrained the +mind under the yoke of blind obedience."[134] To the outside world all +this remained a profound mystery; fidelity to Islam was proclaimed as +the fundamental doctrine of the sect, and when the envoy of Sultan Sajar +was sent to collect information on the religious beliefs of the Order he +was met with the assurance: "We believe in the unity of God, and +consider that only as true wisdom which accords with His word and the +commands of the prophet." + +Von Hammer, answering the possible contention that, as in the case of +the Templars and the Bavarian Illuminati, these methods of deception +might be declared a calumny on the Order, points out that in the case of +the Assassins no possible doubt existed, for their secret doctrines were +eventually revealed by the leaders themselves, first by Hasan II, the +third successor of Hasan Saba, and later by Jalal-ud-din Hasan, who +publicly anathematized the founders of the sect and ordered the burning +of the books that contained their designs against religion--a proceeding +which, however, appears to have been a strategical manoeuvre for +restoring confidence in the Order and enabling him to continue the work +of subversion and crime. A veritable Reign of Terror was thus +established throughout the East; the Rafiqs and Fadais "spread +themselves in troops over the whole of Asia and darkened the face of the +earth"; and "in the annals of the Assassins is found the chronological +enumeration of celebrated men of all nations who have fallen the victims +of the Ismailis, to the joy of their murderers and the sorrow of the +world."[135] + +Inevitably this long and systematic indulgence in blood-lust recoiled on +the heads of the leaders, and the Assassins, like the Terrorists of +France, ended by turning on each other. The Old Man of the Mountain +himself was murdered by his brother-in-law and his son Mohammed; +Mohammed, in his turn, whilst "aiming at the life of his son +Jalal-ud-din, was anticipated by him with poison, which murder was again +avenged by poison," so that from "Hasan the Illuminator" down to the +last of his line the Grand Masters fell by the hands of their +next-of-kin, and "poison and the dagger prepared the grave which the +Order had opened for so many."[136] Finally in 1250 the conquering +hordes of the Mongol Mangu Khan swept away the dynasty of the Assassins. + +But, although as reigning powers the Assassins and Fatimites ceased to +exist, the sects from which they derived have continued up to the +present day; still every year at the celebration of the Moharram the +Shiahs beat their breasts and besprinkle themselves with blood, calling +aloud on the martyred heroes Hasan and Husain; the Druses of the Lebanon +still await the return of Hakim, and in that inscrutable East, the +cradle of all the mysteries, the profoundest European adept of secret +society intrigue may find himself outdistanced by pastmasters in the art +in which he believed himself proficient. + +The sect of Hasan Saba was the supreme model on which all systems of +organized murder working through fanaticism, such as the Carbonari and +the Irish Republican Brotherhood, were based, and the signs, the +symbols, the initiations, of the Grand Lodge of Cairo formed the +groundwork for the great secret societies of Europe. + +How came this system to be transported to the West? By what channel did +the ideas of these succeeding Eastern sects penetrate to the Christian +world? In order to answer this question we must turn to the history of +the Crusades. + + + + +3 + +THE TEMPLERS + + + +In the year 1118--nineteen years after the first crusade had ended with +the defeat of the Moslems, the capture of Antioch and Jerusalem, and the +instalment of Godefroi de Bouillon as king of the latter city--a band of +nine French _gentilshommes_, led by Hugues de Payens and Godefroi de +Saint-Omer, formed themselves into an Order for the protection of +pilgrims to the Holy Sepulchre. Baldwin II, who at this moment succeeded +to the throne of Jerusalem, presented them with a house near the site of +the Temple of Solomon--hence the name of Knights Templar under which +they were to become famous. In 1128 the Order was sanctioned by the +Council of Troyes and by the Pope, and a rule was drawn up by St. +Bernard under which the Knights Templar were bound by the vows of +poverty, chastity, and obedience. + +But although the Templars distinguished themselves by many deeds of +valour, the regulation that they were to live solely on alms led to +donations so enormous that, abandoning their vow of poverty, they spread +themselves over Europe, and by the end of the twelfth century had become +a rich and powerful body. The motto that the Order had inscribed upon +its banner, "_Non nobis, Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam_," was +likewise forgotten, for, their faith waxing cold, they gave themselves +up to pride and ostentation. Thus, as an eighteenth-century masonic +writer has expressed it: + + The war, which for the greater number of warriors of good faith + proved the source of weariness, of losses and misfortunes, became + for them (the Templars) only the opportunity for booty and + aggrandizement, and if they distinguished themselves by a few + brilliant actions, their motive soon ceased to be a matter of doubt + when they were seen to enrich themselves even with the spoils of + the confederates, to increase their credit by the extent of the new + possessions they had acquired, to carry arrogance to the point of + rivalling crowned princes in pomp and grandeur, to refuse their aid + against the enemies of the faith, as the history of Saladin + testifies, and finally to ally themselves with that horrible and + sanguinary prince named the Old Man of the Mountain, Prince of the + Assassins.[137] + +The truth of the last accusation is, however, open to question. For a +time, at any rate, the Templars had been at war with the Assassins. When +in 1152 the Assassins murdered Raymond, Comte de Tripoli, the Templars +entered their territory and forced them to sign a treaty by which they +were to pay a yearly tribute of 12,000 gold pieces in expiation of the +crime. Some years later the Old Man of the Mountain sent an ambassador +to Amaury, King of Jerusalem, to tell him privately that if the Templars +would forgo the payment of this tribute he and his followers would +embrace the Christian faith. Amaury accepted, offering at the same time +to compensate the Templars, but some of the Knights assassinated the +ambassador before he could return to his master. When asked for +reparations the Grand Master threw the blame on an evil one-eyed Knight +named Gautier de Maisnil.[138] + +It is evident, therefore, that the relations between the Templars and +the Assassins were at first far from amicable; nevertheless, it appears +probable that later on an understanding was brought about between them. +Both on this charge and on that of treachery towards the Christian +armies, Dr. Bussell's impartial view of the question may be quoted: + + When in 1149 the Emperor Conrad III failed before Damascus, the + Templars were believed to have a secret understanding with the + garrison of that city; ... in 1154 they were said to have sold, for + 60,000 gold pieces, a prince of Egypt who had wished to become a + Christian; he was taken home to suffer certain death at the hands + of his fanatical family. In 1166 Amaury, King of Jerusalem, hanged + twelve members of the Order for betraying a fortress to Nureddin. + +And Dr. Bussell goes on to say that it cannot be disputed that they had +"long and important dealings" with the Assassins "and were therefore +suspected (not unfairly) of imbibing their precepts and following their +principles."[139] + +By the end of the thirteenth century the Templars had become suspect, +not only in the eyes of the clergy, but of the general public. "Amongst +the common people," one of their latest apologists admits, "vague +rumours circulated. They talked of the covetousness and want of scruple +of the Knights, of their passion for aggrandizement and their rapacity. +Their haughty insolence was proverbial. Drinking habits were attributed +to them; the saying was already in use 'to drink like a Templar.' The +old German word _Tempelhaus_ indicated a house of ill-fame."[140] + +The same rumours had reached Clement V even before his accession to the +papal throne in 1305,[141] and in this same year he summoned the Grand +Master of the Order, Jacques du Molay, to return to France from the +island of Cyprus, where he was assembling fresh forces to avenge the +recent reverses of the Christian armies. + +Du Molay arrived in France with sixty other Knights Templar and 150,000 +gold florins, as well as a large quantity of silver that the Order had +amassed in the East.[142] + +The Pope now set himself to make enquiries concerning the charges of +"unspeakable apostasy against God, detestable idolatry, execrable vice, +and many heresies" that had been "secretly intimated" to him. But, to +quote his own words: + + Because it did not seem likely nor credible that men of such + religion who were believed often to shed their blood and frequently + expose their persons to the peril of death for Christ's name, and + who showed such great and many signs of devotion both in divine + offices as well as in fasts, as in other devotional observances, + should be so forgetful of their salvation as to do these things, we + were unwilling ... to give ear to this kind of insinuation ... + (_hujusmodi insinuacioni ac delacioni ipsorum ... aurem noluimus + inclinare_).[143] + +The King of France, Philippe le Bel, who had hitherto been the friend of +the Templars, now became alarmed and urged the Pope to take action +against them; but before the Pope was able to find out more about the +matter, the King took the law into his own hands and had all the +Templars in France arrested on October 13, 1307. The following charges +were then brought against them by the Inquisitor for France before whom +they were examined: + + 1. The ceremony of initiation into their Order was accompanied by + insults to the Cross, the denial of Christ, and gross obscenities. + + 2. The adoration of an idol which was said to be the image of the + true God. + + 3. The omission of the words of consecration at Mass. + + 4. The right that the lay chiefs arrogated to themselves of giving + absolution. + + 5. The authorization of unnatural vice. + +To all these infamies a great number of the Knights, including Jacques +du Molay, confessed in almost precisely the same terms; at their +admission into the Order, they said, they had been shown the cross on +which was the figure of Christ, and had been asked whether they believed +in Him; when they answered yes, they were told in some cases that this +was wrong (_dixit sibi quod male credebat_),[144] because He was not +God, He was a false prophet (_quia falsus propheta erat, nec erat +Deus_).[145] Some added that they were then shown an idol or a bearded +head which they were told to worship[146]; one added that this was of +such "a terrible aspect that it seemed to him to be the face of some +devil, called in French _un maufé_, and that whenever he saw it he was +so overcome with fear that he could hardly look at it without fear and +trembling."[147] All who confessed declared that they had been ordered +to spit on the crucifix, and very many that they had received the +injunction to commit obscenities and to practise unnatural vice. Some +said that on their refusal to carry out these orders they had been +threatened with imprisonment, even perpetual imprisonment; a few said +they had actually been incarcerated[148]; one declared that he had been +terrorized, seized by the throat, and threatened with death.[149] + +Since, however, a number of these confessions were made under torture, +it is more important to consider the evidence provided by the trial of +the Knights at the hands of the Pope, where this method was not +employed. + +Now, at the time the Templars were arrested, Clement V., deeply +resenting the King's interference with an Order which existed entirely +under papal jurisdiction, wrote in the strongest terms of remonstrance +to Philippe le Bel urging their release, and even after their trial, +neither the confessions of the Knights nor the angry expostulations of +the King could persuade him to believe in their guilt.[150] But as the +scandal concerning the Templars was increasing, he consented to receive +in private audience "a certain Knight of the Order, of great nobility +and held by the said Order in no slight esteem," who testified to the +abominations that took place on the reception of the Brethren, the +spitting on the cross, and other things which were not lawful nor, +humanly speaking, decent.[151] + +The Pope then decided to hold an examination of seventy-two French +Knights at Poictiers in order to discover whether the confessions made +by them before the Inquisitor at Paris could be substantiated, and at +this examination, conducted without torture or pressure of any kind in +the presence of the Pope himself, the witnesses declared on oath that +they would tell "the full and pure truth." They then made confessions +which were committed to writing in their presence, and these being +afterwards read aloud to them, they expressly and willingly approved +them (_perseverantes in illis eas expresse et sponte, prout recitate +fuerunt approbarunt_).[152] + +Besides this, an examination of the Grand Master, Jacques du Molay, and +the Preceptors of the Order was held in the presence of "three Cardinals +and four public notaries and many other good men." These witnesses, says +the official report, "having sworn with their hands on the Gospel of +God" (_ad sancta dei evangelia ab iis corporaliter tacta_) that-- + + they would on all the aforesaid things speak the pure and full + truth, they, separately, freely, and spontaneously, without any + coercion and fear, deposed and confessed among other things, the + denial of Christ and spitting upon the cross when they were + received into the Order of the Temple. And some of them (deposed + and confessed) that under the same form, namely, with denial of + Christ and spitting on the cross, they had received many Brothers + into the Order. Some of them too confessed certain other horrible + and disgusting things on which we are silent.... Besides this, they + said and confessed that those things which are contained in the + confessions and depositions of heretical depravity which they made + lately before the Inquisitor (of Paris) were true. + +Their confessions, being again committed to writing, were approved by +the witnesses, who then with bended knees and many tears asked for and +obtained absolution.[153] + +The Pope, however, still refused to take action against the whole Order +merely because the Master and Brethren around him had "gravely sinned," +and it was decided to hold a papal commission in Paris. The first +sitting took place in November 1309, when the Grand Master and 231 +Knights were summoned before the pontifical commissioners. "This +enquiry," says Michelet, "was conducted slowly, with much consideration +and gentleness (_avec beaucoup de ménagement et de douceur_) by high +ecclesiastical dignitaries, an archbishop, several bishops, etc."[154] +But although a number of the Knights, including the Grand Master, now +retracted their admissions, some damning confessions were again +forthcoming. + +It is impossible within the scope of this book to follow the many trials +of the Templars that took place in different countries--in Italy, at +Ravenna, Pisa, Bologna, and Florence, where torture was not employed and +blasphemies were admitted,[155] or in Germany, where torture was +employed but no confessions were made and a verdict was given in favour +of the Order. A few details concerning the trial in England may, +however, be of interest. + +It has generally been held that torture was not applied in England owing +to the humanity of Edward II, who at first absolutely refused to listen +to any accusations against the Order.[156] On December 10, 1307, he had +written to the Pope in these terms: + + And because the said Master or Brethren constant in the purity of + the Catholic faith have been frequently commended by us, and by all + our kingdom, both in their life and morals, we are unable to + believe in suspicious stories of this kind until we know with + greater certainty about these things. + + We, therefore, pity from our souls the suffering and losses of the + Sd. Master and brethren, which they suffer in consequence of such + infamy, and we supplicate most affectionately your Sanctity if it + please you, that considering with favour suited to the good + character of the Master and brethren, you may deem fit to meet with + more indulgence the detractions, calumnies and charges by certain + envious and evil disposed persons, who endeavour to turn their good + deeds into works of perverseness opposed to divine teaching; until + the said charges attributed to them shall have been brought legally + before you or your representatives here and more fully proved.[157] + +Edward II also wrote in the same terms to the Kings of Portugal, +Castile, Aragon, and Sicily. But two years later, after Clement V had +himself heard the confessions of the Order, and a Papal Bull had been +issued declaring that "the unspeakable wickednesses and abominable +crimes of notorious heresy" had now "come to the knowledge of almost +everyone," Edward II was persuaded to arrest the Templars and order +their examination. According to Mr. Castle, whose interesting treatise +we quote here, the King would not allow torture to be employed, with the +result that the Knights denied all charges; but later, it is said, he +allowed himself to be overpersuaded, and "torture appears to have been +applied on one or two occasions,"[158] with the result that three +Knights confessed to all and were given absolution.[159] At Southwark, +however, "a considerable number of brethren" admitted that "they had +been strongly accused of the crimes of negation and spitting, they did +not say they were guilty but that they could not purge themselves ... +and therefore they abjured these and all other heresies."[160] Evidence +was also given against the Order by outside witnesses, and the same +stories of intimidation at the ceremony of reception were told.[161] At +any rate, the result of the investigation was not altogether +satisfactory, and the Templars were finally suppressed in England as +elsewhere by the Council of Vienne in 1312. + +In France more rigorous measures were adopted and fifty-four Knights who +had retracted their confessions were burnt at the stake as "relapsed +heretics" on May 12, 1310. Four years later, on March 14, 1314, the +Grand Master, Jacques du Molay, suffered the same fate. + +Now, however much we must execrate the barbarity of this sentence--as +also the cruelties that had preceded it--- this is no reason why we +should admit the claim of the Order to noble martyrdom put forward by +the historians who have espoused their cause. The character of the +Templars is not rehabilitated by condemning the conduct of the King and +Pope. Yet this is the line of argument usually adopted by the defenders +of the Order. Thus the two main contentions on which they base their +defence are, firstly, that the confessions of the Knights were made +under torture, therefore they must be regarded as null and void; and, +secondly, that the whole affair was a plot concerted between the King +and Pope in order to obtain possession of the Templars' riches. Let us +examine these contentions in turn. + +In the first place, as we have seen, all confessions were not made under +torture. No one, as far as I am aware, disputes Michelet's assertion +that the enquiry before the Papal Commission in Paris, at which a number +of Knights adhered to the statements they had made to the Pope, was +conducted without pressure of any kind. But further, the fact that +confessions are made under torture does not necessarily invalidate them +as evidence. Guy Fawkes also confessed under torture, yet it is never +suggested that the whole story of the Gunpowder Plot was a myth. +Torture, however much we may condemn it, has frequently proved the only +method for overcoming the intimidation exercised over the mind of a +conspirator; a man bound by the terrible obligations of a confederacy +and fearing the vengeance of his fellow-conspirators will not readily +yield to persuasion, but only to force. If, then, some of the Templars +were terrorized by torture, or even by the fear of torture, it must not +be forgotten that terrorism was exercised by both sides. Few will deny +that the Knights were bound by oaths of secrecy, so that on one hand +they were threatened with the vengeance of the Order if they betrayed +its secrets, and on the other faced with torture if they refused to +confess. Thus they found themselves between the devil and the deep sea. +It was therefore not a case of a mild and unoffending Order meeting +with brutal treatment at the hands of authority, but of the victims of a +terrible autocracy being delivered into the hands of another autocracy. + +Moreover, do the confessions of the Knights appear to be the outcome of +pure imagination such as men under the influence of torture might +devise? It is certainly difficult to believe that the accounts of the +ceremony of initiation given in detail by men in different countries, +all closely resembling each other, yet related in different phraseology, +could be pure inventions. Had the victims been driven to invent they +would surely have contradicted each other, have cried out in their agony +that all kinds of wild and fantastic rites had taken place in order to +satisfy the demands of their interlocutors. But no, each appears to be +describing the same ceremony more or less completely, with +characteristic touches that indicate the personality of the speaker, and +in the main all the stories tally. + +The further contention that the case against the Templars was +manufactured by the King and Pope with a view to obtaining their wealth +is entirely disproved by facts. The latest French historian of mediæval +France, whilst expressing disbelief in the guilt of the Templars, +characterizes this counter-accusation as "puerile." "Philippe le Bel," +writes M. Funck-Brentano, "has never been understood; from the beginning +people have not been just to him. This young prince was one of the +greatest kings and the noblest characters that have appeared in +history."[162] + +Without carrying appreciation so far, one must nevertheless accord to M. +Funck-Brentano's statement of facts the attention it merits. Philippe +has been blamed for debasing the coin of the realm; in reality he merely +ordered it to be mixed with alloy as a necessary measure after the war +with England,[163] precisely as own coinage was debased in consequence +of the recent war. This was done quite openly and the coinage was +restored at the earliest opportunity. Intensely national, his policy of +attacking the Lombards, exiling the Jews, and suppressing the Templars, +however regrettable the methods by which it was carried out, resulted in +immense benefits to France; M. Funck-Brentano has graphically described +the prosperity of the whole country during the early fourteenth +century--the increase of population, flourishing agriculture and +industry. "In Provence and Languedoc one meets swineherds who have +vineyards; simple cowherds who have town houses."[164] + +The attitude of Philippe le Bel towards the Templars must be viewed in +this light--ruthless suppression of any body of people who interfered +with the prosperity of France. His action was not that of arbitrary +authority; he "proceeded," says M. Funck-Brentano, "by means of an +appeal to the people. In his name Nogaret (the Chancellor) spoke to the +Parisians in the garden of the Palace (October 13, 1307). Popular +assemblies were convoked all over France";[165] "the Parliament of +Tours, with hardly a dissentient vote, declared the Templars worthy of +death. The University of Paris gave the weight of their judgement as to +the fullness and authenticity of the confessions."[166] Even assuming +that these bodies were actuated by the same servility as that which has +been attributed to the Pope, how are we to explain the fact that the +trial of the Order aroused no opposition among the far from docile +people of Paris? If the Templars had indeed, as they professed, been +leading noble and upright lives, devoting themselves to the care of the +poor, one might surely expect their arrest to be followed by popular +risings. But there appears to have been no sign of this. + +As to the Pope, we have already seen that from the outset he had shown +himself extremely reluctant to condemn the Order, and no satisfactory +explanation is given of his change of attitude except that he wished to +please the King. As far as his own interests were concerned, it is +obvious that he could have nothing to gain by publishing to the world a +scandal that must inevitably bring opprobrium on the Church. His +lamentations to this effect in the famous Bull[167] clearly show that he +recognized this danger and therefore desired at all costs to clear the +accused Knights, if evidence could be obtained in their favour. It was +only when the Templars made damning admissions in his presence that he +was obliged to abandon their defence.[168] Yet we are told that he did +this out of base compliance with the wishes of Philippe le Bel. + +Philippe le Bell is thus represented as the arch-villain of the whole +piece, through seven long years hounding down a blameless Order--from +whom up to the very moment of their arrest he had repeatedly received +loans of money--solely with the object of appropriating their wealth. +Yet after all we find that the property of the Templars was not +appropriated by the King, but was given by him to the Knights of St. +John of Jerusalem! + + What was the fate of the Templars' goods? Philippe le Bel decided + that they should be handed over to the Hospitallers. Clement V + states that the Orders given by the King on this subject were + executed. Even the domain of the Temple in Paris ... up to the eve + of the Revolution was the property of the Knights of St. John of + Jerusalem. The royal treasury kept for itself certain sums for the + costs of the trial. These had been immense.[169] + +These facts in no way daunt the antagonists of Philippe, who we are now +assured--again without any proof whatever--was overruled by the Pope in +this matter. But setting all morality aside, as a mere question of +policy, is it likely that the King would have deprived himself of his +most valuable financial supporters and gone to the immense trouble of +bringing them to trial without first assuring himself that he would +benefit by the affair? Would he, in other words, have killed the goose +that laid the golden eggs without any guarantee that the body of the +goose would remain in his possession? Again, if, as we are told, the +Pope suppressed the Order so as to please the King, why should he have +thwarted him over the whole purpose the King had in view? Might we not +expect indignant remonstrances from Philippe at thus being baulked of +the booty he had toiled so long to gain? But, on the contrary, we find +him completely in agreement with the Pope on this subject. In November +1309 Clement V distinctly stated that "Philippe the Illustrious, King of +France," to whom the facts concerning the Templars had been told, was +"not prompted by avarice since he desired to keep or appropriate for +himself no part of the property of the Templars, but liberally and +devotedly left them to us and the Church to be administered," etc.[170] + +Thus the whole theory concerning the object for which the Templars were +suppressed falls to the ground--a theory which on examination is seen to +be built up entirely on the plan of imputing motives without any +justification in facts. The King acted from cupidity, the Pope from +servility, and the Templars confessed from fear of torture--on these +pure hypotheses defenders of the Order base their arguments. + +The truth is, far more probably, that if the King had any additional +reason for suppressing the Templars it was not envy of their wealth but +fear of the immense power their wealth conferred; the Order dared even +to defy the King and to refuse to pay taxes. The Temple in fact +constituted an _imperium in imperio_ that threatened not only the royal +authority but the whole social system.[171] An important light is thrown +on the situation by M. Funck-Brentano in this passage: + + As the Templars had houses in all countries, they practised the + financial operations of the international banks of our times; they + were acquainted with letters of change, orders payable at sight, + they instituted dividends and annuities on deposited capital, + advanced funds, lent on credit, controlled private accounts, + undertook to raise taxes for the lay and ecclesiastical + seigneurs.[172] + +Through their proficiency in these matters--acquired very possibly from +the Jews of Alexandria whom they must have met in the East--the Templars +had become the "international financiers" and "international +capitalists" of their day; had they not been suppressed, all the evils +now denounced by Socialists as peculiar to the system they describe as +"Capitalism"--trusts, monopolies, and "corners"--would in all +probability have been inaugurated during the course of the fourteenth +century in a far worse form than at the present day, since no +legislation existed to protect the community at large. The feudal +system, as Marx and Engels perceived, was the principal obstacle to +exploitation by a financial autocracy.[173] + +Moreover, it is by no means improbable that this order of things would +have been brought about by the violent overthrow of the French +monarchy--indeed, of all monarchies; the Templars, "those terrible +conspirators," says Eliphas Lévi, "threatened the whole world with an +immense revolution."[174] + +Here perhaps we may find the reason why this band of dissolute and +rapacious nobles has enlisted the passionate sympathy of democratic +writers. For it will be noticed that these same writers who attribute +the King's condemnation of the Order to envy of their wealth never apply +this argument to the demagogues of the eighteenth century and suggest +that their accusations against the nobles of France were inspired by +cupidity, nor would they ever admit that any such motive may enter into +the diatribes against private owners of wealth to-day. The Templars thus +remain the only body of capitalists, with the exception of the Jews, to +be not only pardoned for their riches but exalted as noble victims of +prejudice and envy. Is it merely because the Templars were the enemies +of monarchy? Or is it that the world revolution, whilst attacking +private owners of property, has never been opposed to International +Finance, particularly when combined with anti-Christian tendencies? + +It is the continued defence of the Templars which, to the present +writer, appears the most convincing evidence against them. For even if +one believes them innocent of the crimes laid to their charge, how is it +possible to admire them in their later stages? The fact that cannot be +denied is that they were false to their obligations; that they took the +vow of poverty and then grew not only rich but arrogant; that they took +the vow of chastity and became notoriously immoral.[175] Are all these +things then condoned because the Templars formed a link in the chain of +world revolution? + +At this distance of time the guilt or innocence of the Templars will +probably never be conclusively established either way; on the mass of +conflicting evidence bequeathed to us by history no one can pronounce a +final judgement. + +Without attempting to digmatize on the question, I would suggest that +the real truth may be that the Knights were both innocent and guilty, +that is to say, that a certain number were initiated into the secret +doctrine of the Order whilst the majority remained throughout in +ignorance. Thus according to the evidence of Stephen de Stapelbrugge, an +English Knight, "there were two modes of reception, one lawful and good +and the other contrary to the Faith."[176] This would account for the +fact that some of the accused declined to confess even under the +greatest pressure. These may really have known nothing of the real +doctrines of the Order, which were confided orally only to those whom +the superiors regarded as unlikely to be revolted by them. Such have +always been the methods of secret societies, from the Ismailis onward. + +This theory of a double doctrine is put forward by Loiseleur, who +observes: + + If we consult the statutes of the Order of the Temple as they have + come down to us, we shall certainly discover there is nothing that + justifies the strange and abominable practices revealed at the + Inquiry. But ... besides the public rule, had not the Order another + one, whether traditional or written, authorizing or even + prescribing these practices--a secret rule, revealed only to the + initiates?[177] + +Eliphas Lévi also exonerates the majority of the Templars from +complicity in either anti-monarchical or anti-religious designs: + + These tendencies were enveloped in profound mystery and the Order + made an outward profession of the most perfect orthodoxy. The + Chiefs alone knew whither they were going; the rest followed + unsuspectingly.[178] + +What, then, was the Templar heresy? On this point we find a variety of +opinions. According to Wilcke, Ranke, and Weber it was "the unitarian +deism of Islam"[179]; Lecouteulx de Canteleu thinks, however, it was +derived from heretical Islamic sources, and relates that whilst in +Palestine, one of the Knights, Guillaume de Montbard, was initiated by +the Old Man of the Mountain in a cave of Mount Lebanon.[180] That a +certain resemblance existed between the Templars and the Assassins has +been indicated by von Hammer,[181] and further emphasized by the +Freemason Clavel: + + Oriental historians show us, at different periods, the Order of the + Templars maintaining intimate relations with that of the Assassins, + and they insist on the affinity that existed between the two + associations. They remark that they had adopted the same colours, + white and red; that they had the same organization, the same + hierarchy of degrees, those of fedavi, refik, and dai in one + corresponding to those of novice, professed, and knight in the + other; that both conspired for the ruin of the religions they + professed in public, and that finally both possessed numerous + castles, the former in Asia, the latter in Europe.[182] + +But in spite of these outward resemblances it does not appear from the +confessions of the Knights that the secret doctrine of the Templars was +that of the Assassins or of any Ismaili sect by which, in accordance +with orthodox Islamism, Jesus was openly held up as a prophet, although, +secretly, indifference to all religion was inculcated. The Templars, as +far as can be discovered, were anti-Christian deists; Loiseleur +considers that their ideas were derived from Gnostic or Manichean +dualists--Cathari, Paulicians, or more particularly Bogomils, of which a +brief account must be given here. + +The _Paulicians_, who flourished about the seventh century A.D., bore a +resemblance to the Cainites and Ophites in their detestation of the +Demiurgus and in the corruption of their morals. Later, in the ninth +century, the _Bogomils_, whose name signifies in Slavonic "friends of +God" and who had migrated from Northern Syria and Mesopotamia to the +Balkan Peninsula, particularly Thrace, appeared as a further development +of Manichean dualism. Their doctrine may be summarized thus: + +God, the Supreme Father, has two sons, the elder Satanael, the younger +Jesus. To Satanael, who sat on the right hand of God, belonged the right +of governing the celestial world, but, filled with pride, he rebelled +against his Father and fell from Heaven. Then, aided by the companions +of his fall, he created the visible world, image of the celestial, +having like the other its sun, moon, and stars, and last he created man +and the serpent which became his minister. Later Christ came to earth in +order to show men the way to Heaven, but His death was ineffectual, for +even by descending into Hell He could not wrest the power from Satanael, +i.e. Satan. + +This belief in the impotence of Christ and the necessity therefore for +placating Satan, not only "the Prince of this world," but its creator, +led to the further doctrine that Satan, being all-powerful, should be +adored. Nicetas Choniates, a Byzantine historian of the twelfth century, +described the followers of this cult as "Satanists," because +"considering Satan powerful they worshipped him lest he might do them +harm"; subsequently they were known as Luciferians, their doctrine (as +stated by Neuss and Vitoduranus) being that Lucifer was unjustly driven +out of Heaven, that one day he will ascend there again and be restored +to his former glory and power in the celestial world. + +The Bogomils and Luciferians were thus closely akin, but whilst the +former divided their worship between God and His two sons, the latter +worshipped Lucifer only, regarding the material world as his work and +holding that by indulging the flesh they were propitiating their +Demon-Creator. It was said that a black cat, the symbol of Satan, +figured in their ceremonies as an object of worship, also that at their +horrible nocturnal orgies sacrifices of children were made and their +blood used for making the Eucharistic bread of the sect.[183] + + Thus the Templars recognize at the same time a good god, + incommunicable to man and consequently without symbolic + representation, and a bad god, to whom they give the features of an + idol of fearful aspect.[184] + +Their most fervent worship was addressed to this god of evil, who alone +could enrich them. "They said with the Luciferians: 'The elder son of +God, Satanael or Lucifer alone has a right to the homage of mortals; +Jesus his younger brother does not deserve this honour.'"[185] + +Although we shall not find these ideas so clearly defined in the +confessions of the Knights, some colour is lent to this theory by those +who related that the reason given to them for not believing in Christ +was "that He was nothing, He was a false prophet and of no value, and +that they should believe in the Higher God of Heaven who could save +them."[186] According to Loiseleur, the idol they were taught to +worship, the bearded head known to history as Baphomet, represented "the +inferior god, organizer and dominator of the material world, author of +good and evil here below, him by whom evil was introduced into +creation."[187] + +The etymology of the word Baphomet is difficult to discover; Raynouard +says it originated with two witnesses heard at Carcassonne who spoke of +"Figura Baflometi," and suggests that it was a corruption of "Mohammed," +whom the Inquisitors wished to make the Knights confess they were taught +to adore.[188] But this surmise with regard to the intentions of the +Inquisitors seems highly improbable, since they must have been well +aware that, as Wilcke points out, the Moslems forbid all idols.[189] For +this reason Wilcke concludes that the Mohammedanism of the Templars was +combined with Cabalism and that their idol was in reality the +_macroprosopos_, or head of the Ancient of Ancients, represented as an +old man with a long beard, or sometimes as three heads in one, which has +already been referred to under the name of the Long Face in the first +chapter of this book--a theory which would agree with Eliphas Lévi's +assertion that the Templars were "initiated into the mysterious +doctrines of the Cabala."[190] But Lévi goes on to define this teaching +under the name of Johannism. It is here that we reach a further theory +with regard to the secret doctrine of the Templars--- the most important +of all, since it emanates from masonic and neo-Templar sources thus +effectually disposing of the contention that the charge brought against +the Order of apostasy from the Catholic faith is solely the invention of +Catholic writers. + +In 1842 the Freemason Ragon related that the Templars learnt from the +"initiates of the East" a certain Judaic doctrine which was attributed +to St. John the Apostle; therefore "they renounced the religion of St. +Peter" and became Johannites.[191] Eliphas Lévi expresses the same +opinion. + +Now, these statements are apparently founded on a legend which was first +published early in the nineteenth century, when an association calling +itself the _Ordre du Temple_ and claiming direct descent from the +original Templar Order published two works, the _Manuel des Chevaliers +de l'Ordre du Temple_ in 1811, and the _Lévitikon_ in 1831, together +with a version of the Gospel of St. John differing from the Vulgate. +These books, which appear to have been printed only for private +circulation amongst the members and are now extremely rare, relate that +the Order of the Temple had never ceased to exist since the days of +Jacques du Molay, who appointed Jacques de Larménie his successor in +office, and from that time onwards a line of Grand Masters had succeeded +each other without a break up to the end of the eighteenth century, when +it ceased for a brief period but was reinstituted under a new Grand +Master, Fabré Palaprat, in 1804. Besides publishing the list of all +Grand Masters, known as the "Charter of Larmenius," said to have been +preserved in the secret archives of the Temple, these works also +reproduce another document drawn from the same repository describing the +origins of the Order. This manuscript, written in Greek on parchment, +dated 1154, purports to be partly taken from a fifth-century MS. and +relates that Hugues de Payens, first Grand Master of the Templars, was +initiated in 1118--that is to say, in the year the Order was +founded--into the religious doctrine of "the Primitive Christian Church" +by its Sovereign Pontiff and Patriarch, Theoclet, sixtieth in direct +succession from St. John the Apostle. The history of the Primitive +Church is then given as follows: + + Moses was initiated in Egypt. Profoundly versed in the physical, + theological, and metaphysical mysteries of the priests, he knew how + to profit by these so as to surmount the power of the Mages and + deliver his companions. Aaron, his brother, and the chiefs of the + Hebrews became the depositaries of his doctrine.... + + The Son of God afterwards appeared on the scene of the world.... He + was brought up at the school of Alexandria.... Imbued with a spirit + wholly divine, endowed with the most astounding qualities + (_dispositions_), he was able to reach all the degrees of Egyptian + initiation. On his return to Jerusalem, he presented himself before + the chiefs of the Synagogue.... Jesus Christ, directing the fruit + of his lofty meditations towards universal civilization and the + happiness of the world, rent the veil which concealed the truth + from the peoples. He preached the love of God, the love of one's + neighbour, and equality before the common Father of all men.... + + Jesus conferred evangelical initiation on his apostles and + disciples. He transmitted his spirit to them, divided them into + several orders after the practice of John, the beloved disciple, + the apostle of fraternal love, whom he had instituted Sovereign + Pontiff and Patriarch.... + +Here we have the whole Cabalistic legend of a secret doctrine descending +from Moses, of Christ as an Egyptian initiate and founder of a secret +order--a theory, of course, absolutely destructive of belief in His +divinity. The legend of the _Ordre du Temple_ goes on to say: + + Up to about the year 1118 (i.e. the year the Order of the Temple + was founded) the mysteries and the hierarchic Order of the + initiation of Egypt, transmitted to the Jews by Moses, then to the + Christians by J.C., were religiously preserved by the successors of + St. John the Apostle. These mysteries and initiations, regenerated + by the evangelical initiation (or baptism), were a sacred trust + which the simplicity of the primitive and unchanging morality of + the _Brothers of the East_ had preserved from all adulteration.... + + The Christians, persecuted by the infidels, appreciating the + courage and piety of these brave crusaders, who, with the sword in + one hand and the cross in the other, flew to the defence of the + holy places, and, above all, doing striking justice to the virtues + and the ardent charity of Hugues de Payens, held it their duty to + confide to hands so pure the treasures of knowledge acquired + throughout so many centuries, sanctified by the cross, the dogma + and the morality of the Man-God. Hugues was invested with the + Apostolic Patriarchal power and placed in the legitimate order of + the successors of St. John the apostle or the evangelist. + + Such is the origin of the foundation of the Order of the Temple and + of the fusion in this Order of the different kinds of initiation of + the Christians of the East designated under the title of Primitive + Christians or Johannites. + +It will be seen at once that all this story is subtly subversive of true +Christianity, and that the appellation of Christians applied to the +Johannites is an imposture. Indeed Fabré Palaprat, Grand Master of the +_Ordre du Temple_ in 1804, who in his book on the Templars repeats the +story contained in the _Lévitikon and the Manuel des Chevaliers du +Temple_, whilst making the same profession of "primitive Christian" +doctrines descending from St. John through Theoclet and Hugues de Payens +to the Order over which he presides, goes on to say that the secret +doctrine of the Templars "was essentially contrary to the canons of the +Church of Rome and that it is principally to this fact that one must +attribute the persecution of which history has preserved the memory."[192] +The belief of the Primitive Christians, and consequently that the +Templars, with regard to the miracles of Christ is that He "did or may +have done extraordinary or miraculous things," and that since "God can +do things incomprehensible to human intelligence," the Primitive Church +venerates "all the acts of Christ as they are described in the Gospel, +whether it considers them as acts of human science or whether as acts of +divine power."[193] Belief in the divinity of Christ is thus left an +open question, and the same attitude is maintained towards the +Resurrection, of which the story is omitted in the Gospel of St. John +possessed by the Order. Fabré Palaprat further admits that the gravest +accusations brought against the Templars were founded on facts which he +attempts to explain away in the following manner: + + The Templars having in 1307 carefully abstracted all the + manuscripts composing the secret archives of the Order from the + search made by authority, and these authentic manuscripts having + been preciously preserved since that period, we have to-day the + certainty that the Knights endured a great number of religious and + moral trials before reaching the different degrees of initiation: + thus, for example, the recipient might receive the injunction under + pain of death to trample on the crucifix or to worship an idol, but + if he yielded to the terror which they sought to inspire in him he + was declared unworthy of being admitted to the higher grades of the + Order. One can imagine in this way how beings, too feeble or too + immoral to endure the trials of initiation, may have accused the + Templars of giving themselves up to infamous practices and of + having superstitious beliefs. + +It is certainly not surprising that an Order which gave such injunctions +as these, for whatever purpose, should have become the object of +suspicion. + +Eliphas Lévi, who, like Ragon, accepts the statements of the _Ordre du +Temple_ concerning the "Johannite" origin of the Templars' secret +doctrine, is, however, not deceived by these professions of +Christianity, and boldly asserts that the Sovereign Pontiff Theoclet +initiated Hugues de Payens "into the mysteries and hopes of his +pretended Church, he lured him by the ideas of sacerdotal sovereignty +and supreme royalty, he indicated him finally as his successor. So the +Order of the Knights of the Temple was stained from its origin with +schism and conspiracy against Kings."[194] Further, Lévi relates that +the real story told to initiates concerning Christ was no other than the +infamous _Toledot Yeshu_ described in the first chapter of this book, +and which the Johannites dared to attribute to St. John.[195] This would +accord with the confession of the Catalonian Knight Templar, Galcerandus +de Teus, who stated that the form of absolution in the Order was: "I +pray God that He may pardon your sins as He pardoned St. Mary Magdalene +and the thief on the cross"; but the witness went on to explain: + + By the thief of which the head of the Chapter speaks, is meant, + according to our statutes, that Jesus or Christ who was crucified + by the Jews because he was not God, and yet he said he was God and + the King of the Jews, which was an outrage to the true God who is + in Heaven. When Jesus, a few moments before his death, had his side + pierced by the lance of Longinus, he repented of having called + himself God and King of the Jews and he asked pardon of the true + God; then the true God pardoned him. It is thus that we apply to + the crucified Christ these words: "as God pardoned the thief on the + cross."[196] + +Raynouard, who quotes this deposition, stigmatizes it as "singular and +extravagant"; M. Matter agrees that it is doubtless extravagant, but +that "it merits attention. There was a whole system there, which was not +the invention of Galcerant."[197] Eliphas Lévi provides the clue to that +system and to the reason why Christ was described as a thief, by +indicating the Cabalistic legend wherein He was described as having +_stolen_ the sacred Name from the Holy of Holies. Elsewhere he explains +that the Johannites "made themselves out to be the only people initiated +into the true mysteries of the religion of the Saviour. They professed +to know the real history of Jesus Christ, and by adopting part of Jewish +traditions and the stories of the Talmud, they made out that the facts +related in the Gospels"--that is to say, the Gospels accepted by the +orthodox Church--"were only allegories of which St. John gives the +key."[198] + +But it is time to pass from legend to facts. For the whole story of the +initiation of the Templars by the "Johannites" rests principally on the +documents produced by the Ordre du Temple in 1811. According to the +Abbés Grégoire and Münter the authenticity and antiquity of these +documents are beyond dispute. Grégoire, referring to the parchment +manuscript of the _Lévitikon_ and Gospel of St. John, says that +"Hellenists versed in paleography believe this manuscript to be of the +thirteenth century, others declare it to be earlier and to go back to +the eleventh century."[199] Matter, on the other hand, quoting Münter's +opinion that the manuscripts in the archives of the modern Templars date +from the thirteenth century, observes that this is all a tissue of +errors and that the critics, including the learned Professor Thilo of +Halle, have recognized that the manuscript in question, far from +belonging to the thirteenth century, dates from the beginning of the +eighteenth. From the arrangement of the chapters of the Gospel, M. +Matter arrives at the conclusion that it was intended to accompany the +ceremonies of some masonic or secret society.[200] We shall return to +this possibility in a later chapter. + +The antiquity of the manuscript containing the history of the Templars +thus remains an open question on which no one can pronounce an opinion +without having seen the original. In order, then, to judge of the +probability of the story that this manuscript contained it is necessary +to consult the facts of history and to discover what proof can be found +that any such sect as the Johannites existed at the time of the Crusades +or earlier. Certainly none is known to have been called by this name or +by one resembling it before 1622, when some Portuguese monks reported +the existence of a sect whom they described as "Christians of St. John" +inhabiting the banks of the Euphrates. The appellation appears, however, +to have been wrongly applied by the monks, for the sectarians in +question, variously known as the Mandæans, Mandaites, Sabians, +Nazoreans, etc., called themselves Mandaï Iyahi, that is to say, the +disciples, or rather the wise men, of John, the word _mandaï_ being +derived from the Chaldean word _manda_, corresponding to the Greek word +γνῶσις or wisdom.[201] The multiplicity of names given to the +Mandæans arises apparently from the fact that in their dealings with +other communities they took the name of Sabians, whilst they called the +wise and learned amongst themselves Nazoreans.[202] The sect formerly +inhabited the banks of the Jordan, but was driven out by the Moslems, +who forced them to retire to Mesopotamia and Babylonia, where they +particularly affected the neighbourhood of rivers in order to be able to +carry out their peculiar baptismal rites.[203] + +There can be no doubt that the doctrines of the Mandæans do resemble the +description of the Johannite heresy as given by Eliphas Lévi, though not +by the _Ordre du Temple_, in that the Mandæans professed to be the +disciples of St. John--the Baptist, however, not the Apostle--but were +at the same time the enemies of Jesus Christ. According to the Mandæans' +_Book of John_ (Sidra d'Yahya), Yahya, that is to say, St. John, +baptized myriads of men during forty years in the Jordan. By a +mistake--or in response to a written mandate from heaven saying, +"Yahya, baptize the liar in the Jordan"--he baptized the false prophet +Yishu Meshiha (the Messiah Jesus), son of the devil Ruha Kadishta.[204] +The same idea is found in another book of the sect, called the "Book of +Adam," which represents Jesus as the perverter of St. John's doctrine +and the disseminator of iniquity and perfidy throughout the world.[205] +The resemblance between all this and the legends of the Talmud, the +Cabala, and the Toledot Yeshu is at once apparent; moreover, the +Mandæans claim for the "Book of Adam" the same origin as the Jews +claimed for the Cabala, namely, that it was delivered to Adam by God +through the hands of the angel Razael.[206] This book, known to scholars +as the _Codex Nasaræus_, is described by Münter as "a sort of mosaic +without order, without method, where one finds mentioned Noah, Abraham, +Moses, Solomon, the Temple of Jerusalem, St. John the Baptist, Jesus +Christ, the Christians, and Mohammed." M. Matter, whilst denying any +proof of the Templar succession from the Mandæans, nevertheless gives +good reason for believing that the sect itself existed from the first +centuries of the Christian era and that its books dated from the eighth +century[207]; further that these Mandæans or Nazoreans--not to be +confounded with the pre-Christian Nazarites or Christian Nazarenes--were +Jews who revered St. John the Baptist as the prophet of ancient Mosaism, +but regarded Jesus Christ as a false Messiah sent by the powers of +darkness.[208] Modern Jewish opinion confirms this affirmation of Judaic +inspiration and agrees with Matter in describing the Mandæans as +Gnostics: "Their sacred books are in an Aramaic dialect, which has close +affinities with that of the Talmud of Babylon." The Jewish influence is +distinctly visible in the Mandæan religion. "It is essentially of the +type of ancient Gnosticism, traces of which are found in the Talmud, the +Midrash, and in a modified form the later Cabala."[209] + +It may then be regarded as certain that a sect existed long before the +time of the Crusades corresponding to the description of the Johannites +given by Eliphas Lévi in that it was Cabalistic, anti-Christian, yet +professedly founded on the doctrines of one of the St. Johns. Whether it +was by this sect that the Templars were indoctrinated must remain an +open question. M. Matter objects that the evidence lacking to such a +conclusion lies in the fact that the Templars expressed no particular +reverence for St. John; but Loiseleur asserts that the Templars did +prefer the Gospel of St. John to that of the other evangelists, and that +modern masonic lodges claiming descent from the Templars possess a +special version of this Gospel said to have been copied from the +original on Mount Athos.[210] It is also said that "Baphomets" were +preserved in the masonic lodges of Hungary, where a debased form of +Masonry, known as Johannite Masonry, survives to this day. If the +Templar heresy was that of the Johannites, the head in question might +possibly represent that of John the Baptist, which would accord with the +theory that the word Baphomet was derived from Greek words signifying +baptism of wisdom. This would, moreover, not be incompatible with +Loiseleur's theory of an affinity between the Templars and the Bogomils, +for the Bogomils also possessed their own version of the Gospel of St. +John, which they placed on the heads of their neophytes during the +ceremony of initiation,[211] giving as the reason for the 'I peculiar +veneration they professed for its author that they regarded St. John as +the servant of the Jewish God Satanael.[212] Eliphas Lévi even goes so +far as to accuse the Templars of following the occult practices of the +Luciferians, who carried the doctrines of the Bogomils to the point of +paying homage to the powers of darkness: + + Let us declare for the edification of the vulgar ... and for the + greater glory of the Church which has persecuted the Templars, + burned the magicians and excommunicated the Free-Masons, etc., let + us say boldly and loudly, that all the initiates of the occult + sciences ... have adored, do and will always adore that which is + signified by this frightful symbol [the Sabbatic goat].[213] Yes, + in our profound conviction, the Grand Masters of the Order of the + Templars adored Baphomet and caused him to be adored by their + initiates.[214] + +It will be seen, then, that the accusation of heresy brought against the +Templars does not emanate solely from the Catholic Church, but also from +the secret societies. Even our Freemasons, who, for reasons I shall show +later, have generally defended the Order, are now willing to admit that +there was a very real case against them. Thus Dr. Ranking, who has +devoted many years of study to the question, has arrived at the +conclusion that Johannism is the real clue to the Templar heresy. In a +very interesting paper published in the masonic journal _Ars Quatuor +Coronatorum_, he observes that "the record of the Templars in Palestine +is one long tale of intrigue and treachery on the part of the Order," +and finally: + + That from the very commencement of Christianity there has been + transmitted through the centuries a body of doctrine incompatible + with Christianity in the various official Churches.... + + That the bodies teaching these doctrines professed to do so on the + authority of St. John, to whom, as they claimed, the true secrets + had been committed by the Founder of Christianity. + + That during the Middle Ages the main support of the Gnostic bodies + and the main repository of this knowledge was the Society of the + Templars.[215] + +What is the explanation of this choice of St. John for the propagation +of anti-Christian doctrines which we shall find continuing up to the +present day? What else than the method of perversion which in its +extreme form becomes Satanism, and consists in always selecting the most +sacred things for the purpose of desecration? Precisely then because the +Gospel of St. John is the one of all the four which most insists on the +divinity of Christ, the occult anti-Christian sects have habitually made +it the basis of their rites. + + + + +4 + +THREE CENTURIES OF OCCULTISM + + + +It has been shown in the foregoing chapters that from very early times +occult sects had existed for two purposes--esoteric and political. +Whilst the Manicheans, the early Ismailis, the Bogomils, and the +Luciferians had concerned themselves mainly with religious or esoteric +doctrines, the later Ismailis, the Fatimites, the Karmathites, and +Templars had combined secrecy and occult rites with the political aim of +domination. We shall find this double tradition running through all the +secret society movement up to the present day. + +The Dualist doctrines attributed to the Templars were not, however, +confined to this Order in Europe, but had been, as we have seen, those +professed by the Bogomils and also by the Cathari, who spread westwards +from Bulgaria and Bosnia to France. It was owing to their sojourn in +Bulgaria that the Cathari gained the popular nickname of "Bulgars" or +"Bourgres," signifying those addicted to unnatural vice. One section of +the Cathari in the South of France became known after 1180 as the +Albigenses, thus called from the town of Albi, although their +headquarters were really in Toulouse. Christians only in name, they +adhered in secret to the Gnostic and Manichean doctrines of the earlier +Cathari, which they would appear to have combined with Johannism, since, +like this Eastern sect, they claimed to possess their own Gospel of St. +John.[216] + +Although not strictly a secret society, the Albigenses were divided +after the secret society system into initiates and semi-initiates. The +former, few in number, known as the _Perfecti_, led in appearance an +austere life, refraining from meat and professing abhorrence of oaths +or of lying. The mystery in which they enveloped themselves won for them +the adoring reverence of the _Credentes_, who formed the great majority +of the sect and gave themselves up to every vice, to usury, brigandage, +and perjury, and whilst describing marriage as prostitution, condoning +incest and all forms of licence.[217] The _Credentes_, who were probably +not fully initiated into the Dualist doctrines of their superiors, +looked to them for salvation through the laying-on of hands according to +the system of the Manicheans. + +It was amongst the nobles of Languedoc that the Albigenses found their +principal support. This "Judæa of France," as it has been called, was +peopled by a medley of mixed races, Iberian, Gallic, Roman, and +Semitic.[218] The nobles, very different from the "ignorant and pious +chivalry of the North," had lost all respect for their traditions. +"There were few who in going back did not encounter some Saracen or +Jewish grandmother in their genealogy."[219] Moreover, many had brought +back to Europe the laxity of morals they had contracted during the +Crusades. The Comte de Comminges practised polygamy, and, according to +ecclesiastical chronicles, Raymond VI, Comte de Toulouse, one of the +most ardent of the Albigense _Credentes_, had his harem.[220] The +Albigensian movement has been falsely represented as a protest merely +against the tyranny of the Church of Rome; in reality it was a rising +against the fundamental doctrines of Christianity--more than this, +against all principles of religion and morality. For whilst some of the +sect openly declared that the Jewish law was preferable to that of the +Christians,[221] to others the God of the Old Testament was as abhorrent +as the "false Christ" who suffered at Golgotha; the old hatred of the +Gnostics and Manicheans for the demiurgus lived again in these rebels +against the social order. Forerunners of the seventeenth-century +Libertines and eighteenth-century Illuminati, the Albigense nobles, +under the pretext of fighting the priesthood, strove to throw off all +the restraints the Church imposed. + +Inevitably the disorders that took place throughout the South of France +led to reprisals, and the Albigenses were suppressed with all the +cruelty of the age--a fact which has afforded historians the opportunity +to exalt them as noble martyrs, victims of ecclesiastical despotism. But +again, as in the case of the Templars, the fact that they were +persecuted does not prove them innocent of the crimes laid to their +charge. + + + +Satanism + + +At the beginning of the fourteenth century another development of +Dualism, far more horrible than the Manichean heresy of the Albigenses, +began to make itself felt. This was the cult of Satanism, or black +magic. The subject is one that must be approached with extreme caution, +owing to the fact that on one hand much that has been written about it +is the result of mediæval superstition, which sees in every departure +from the Roman Catholic Faith the direct intervention of the Evil One, +whilst on the other hand the conspiracy of history, which denies _in +toto_ the existence of the Occult Power, discredits all revelations on +this question, from whatever source they emanate, as the outcome of +hysterical imagination.[222] This is rendered all the easier since the +subject by its amazing extravagance lends itself to ridicule. + +It is, however, idle to deny that the cult of evil has always existed; +the invocation of the powers of darkness was practised in the earliest +days of the human race and, after the Christian era, found its +expression, as we have seen, in the Cainites, the Euchites, and the +Luciferians. These are not surmises, but actual facts of history. +Towards the end of the twelfth century Luciferianism spread eastwards +through Styria, the Tyrol, and Bohemia, even as far as Brandenburg; by +the beginning of the thirteenth century it had invaded western Germany, +and in the fourteenth century reached its zenith in that country, as +also in Italy and France. The cult had now reached a further stage in +its development, and it was not the mere propitiation of Satanael as the +prince of this world practised by the Luciferians, but actual +Satanism--the love of evil for the sake of evil--which formed the +doctrine of the sect known in Italy as _la vecchia religione_ or the +"old religion." Sorcery was adopted as a profession, and witches, not, +as is popularly supposed, sporadic growths, were trained in schools of +magic to practise their art. These facts should be remembered when the +Church is blamed for the violence it displayed against witchcraft--it +was not individuals, but a system which it set out to destroy. + +The essence of Satanism is desecration. In the ceremonies for infernal +evocation described by Eliphas Lévi we read: "It is requisite to profane +the ceremonies of the religion one belongs to and to trample its holiest +symbols under foot."[223] This practice found a climax in desecrating +the Holy Sacrament. The consecrated wafer was given as food to mice, +toads, and pigs, or denied in unspeakable ways. A revolting description +of the Black Mass may be found in Huysmans's book _Là-bas_. It is +unnecessary to transcribe the loathsome details here. Suffice it, then, +to show that this cult had a very real existence, and if any further +doubt remains on the matter, the life of Gilles de Rais supplies +documentary evidence of the visible results of black magic in the Middle +Ages. + +Gilles de Rais was born at Machecoul in Brittany about the year 1404. +The first period of his life was glorious; the companion and guide of +Jeanne d'Arc, he became Maréchal of France and distinguished himself by +many deeds of valour. But after dissipating his immense fortune, largely +on Church ceremonies carried out with the wildest extravagance, he was +led to study alchemy, partly by curiosity and partly as a means for +restoring his shattered fortunes. Hearing that Germany and Italy were +the countries where alchemy flourished, he enlisted Italians in his +service and was gradually drawn into the further region of magic. +According to Huysmans, Gilles de Rais had remained until this moment a +Christian mystic under the influence of Jeanne d'Arc, but after her +death--possibly in despair--he offered himself to the powers of +darkness. Evokers of Satan now flocked to him from every side, amongst +them Prelati, an Italian, by no means the old and wrinkled sorcerer of +tradition, but a young and attractive man of charming manners. For it +was from Italy that came the most skilful adepts in the art of alchemy, +astrology, magic, and infernal evocation, who spread themselves over +Europe, particularly France. Under the influence of these initiators +Gilles de Rais signed a letter to the devil in a meadow near Machecoul +asking him for "knowledge, power, and riches," and offering in exchange +anything that might be asked of him with the exception of his life or +his soul. But in spite of this appeal and of a pact signed with the +blood of the writer, no Satanic apparitions were forthcoming. + +It was then that, becoming still more desperate, Gilles de Rais had +recourse to the abominations for which his name has remained +infamous--still more frightful invocations, loathsome debaucheries, +perverted vice in every form, Sadic cruelties, horrible sacrifices, and, +finally, holocausts of little boys and girls collected by his agents in +the surrounding country and put to death with the most inhuman tortures. +During the years 1432-40 literally hundreds of children disappeared. +Many of the names of the unhappy little victims were preserved in the +records of the period. Gilles de Rais met with a well-deserved end: in +1440 he was hanged and burnt. So far he does not appear to have found a +panegyrist to place him in the ranks of noble martyrs. + +It will, of course, be urged that the crimes here described were those +of a criminal lunatic and not to be attributed to any occult cause; the +answer to this is that Gilles was not an isolated unit, but one of a +group of occultists who cannot all have been mad. Moreover, it was only +after his invocation of the Evil One that he developed these monstrous +proclivities. So also his eighteenth-century replica, the Marquis de +Sade, combined with his abominations an impassioned hatred of the +Christian religion. + +What is the explanation of this craze for magic in Western Europe? +Deschamps points to the Cabala, "that science of demoniacal arts, of +which the Jews were the initiators," and undoubtedly in any +comprehensive review of the question the influence of the Jewish +Cabalists cannot be ignored. In Spain, Portugal, Provence, and Italy the +Jews by the fifteenth century had become a power; as early as 1450 they +had penetrated into the intellectual circles of Florence, and it was +also in Italy that, a century later, the modern Cabalistic school was +inaugurated by Isaac Luria (1533-72), whose doctrines were organized +into a practical system by the Hasidim of Eastern Europe for the writing +of amulets, the conjuration of devils, mystical jugglery with numbers +and letters, etc.[224] Italy in the fifteenth century was thus a centre +from which Cabalistic influences radiated, and it may be that the +Italians who indoctrinated Gilles de Rais had drawn their inspiration +from this source. Indeed Eliphas Lévi, who certainly cannot be accused +of "Anti-Semitism," declares that "the Jews, the most faithful trustees +of the secret of the Cabala, were almost always the reat masters of +magic in the Middle Ages,"[225] and suggests that Gilles de Rais took +his monstrous recipes for using the blood of murdered children "from +some of those old Hebrew _grimoires_ (books on magic), which, if they +had been known, would have sufficed to hold up the Jews to the +execration of the whole earth."[226] Voltaire, in his _Henriade_, +likewise attributes the magical blood-rites practised in the sixteenth +century to Jewish inspiration: + + Dans l'ombre de la nuit, sous une voûte obscure, + Le silence conduit leui assemblée impure. + A la pàle lueur d'un magique flambeau + S'élève un vil autel dressé sur un tombeau. + C'est là que des deux rois on plaça les images, + Objets de leur terreur, objets de leurs outrages. + Leurs sacrilèges mains out mêlé sur l'autel + A des noms infernaux le nom de l'Éternel. + Sur ces murs ténébreux des lances sont rangées, + Dans des vases de sang leurs pointes sont plongées; + Appareil menaçant de leur mystère affreux. + Le prêtre de ce temple est un de ces Hébreux + Qui, proscrits sur la terre et citoyens du monde, + Portent de mers en mers leur misère profonde, + Et, d'un antique ramas de superstitions, + Out rempli dès longtemps toutes les nations, etc. + +Voltaire adds in a footnote: "It was ordinarily Jews that were made use +of for magical operations. This ancient superstition comes from the +secrets of the Cabala, of which the Jews called themselves the sole +depositaries. Catherine de Medicis, the Maréchal d'Ancre, and many +others employed Jews for these spells." + +This charge of black magic recurs all through the history of Europe from +the earliest times. The Jews are accused of poisoning wells, of +practising ritual murder, of using stolen church property for purposes +of desecration, etc. No doubt there enters into all this a great amount +of exaggeration, inspired by popular prejudice and mediæval +superstition. Yet, whilst condeming the persecution to which the Jews +were subjected on this account, it must be admitted that they laid +themselves open to suspicion by their real addiction to magical arts. If +ignorant superstition is found on the side of the persecutors, still +more amazing superstition is found on the side of the persecuted. +Demonology in Europe was in fact essentially a Jewish science, for +although a belief in evil spirits existed from the earliest times and +has always continued to exist amongst primitive races, and also amongst +the ignorant classes in civilized countries, it was mainly through the +Jews that these dark superstitions were imported to the West, where they +persisted not merely amongst the lower strata of the Jewish population, +but formed an essential part of Jewish tradition. Thus the Talmud says: + + If the eye could perceive the demons that people the universe, + existence would be impossible. The demons are more numerous than we + are: they surround us on all sides like trenches dug round + vineyards. Every one of us has a thousand on his left hand and ten + thousand on his right. The discomfort endured by those who attend + rabbinical conferences ... comes from the demons mingling with men + in these circumstances. Besides, the fatigue one feels in one's + knees in walking comes from the demons that one knocks up against + at every step. If the clothing of the Rabbis wears out so quickly, + it is again because the demons rub up against them. Whoever wants + to convince himself of their presence has only to surround his bed + with sifted cinders and the next morning he will see the imprints + of cocks' feet.[227] + +The same treatise goes on to give directions for seeing demons by +burning portions of a black cat and placing the ashes in one's eye: +"then at once one perceives the demons." The Talmud also explains that +devils particularly inhabit the waterspouts on houses and are fond of +drinking out of water-jugs, therefore it is advisable to pour a little +water out of a jug before drinking, so as to get rid of the unclean +part.[228] + +These ideas received a fresh impetus from the publication of the Zohar, +which, a Jewish writer tells us, "from the fourteenth century held +almost unbroken sway over the minds of the majority of the Jews. In it +the Talmudic legends concerning the existence and activity of the +_shedhim_ (demons) are repeated and amplified, and a hierarchy of demons +was established corresponding to the heavenly hierarchy.... Manasseh +[ben Israel]'s _Nishmat Hayim_ is full of information concerning belief +in demons.... Even the scholarly and learned Rabbis of the seventeenth +century clung to the belief."[229] + +Here, then, it is not a case of ignorant peasants evolving fantastic +visions from their own scared imaginations, but of the Rabbis, the +acknowledged leaders of a race claiming civilized traditions and a high +order of intelligence, deliberately inculcating in their disciples the +perpetual fear of demoniacal influences. How much of this fear +communicated itself to the Gentile population? It is at any rate a +curious coincidence to notice the resemblances between so-called popular +superstitions and the writings of the Rabbis. For example, the vile +confessions made both by Scotch and French peasant women accused of +witchcraft concerning the nocturnal visits paid them by male devils[230] +find an exact counterpart in passages of the Cabala, where it is said +that "the demons are both male and female, and they also endeavour to +consort with human beings--a conception from which arises the belief in +_incubi_ and _succubæ_."[231] Thus, on Jewish authority, we learn the +Judaic origin of this strange delusion. + +It is clearly to the same source that we may trace the magical formulæ +for the healing of diseases current at the same period. From the +earliest times the Jews had specialized in medicine, and many royal +personages insisted on employing Jewish doctors,[232] some of whom may +have acquired medical knowledge of a high order. The Jewish writer +Margoliouth dwells on this fact with some complacency, and goes on to +contrast the scientific methods of the Hebrew doctors with the +quackeries of the monks: + + In spite of the reports circulated by the monks, that the Jews were + sorcerers (in consequence of their superior medical skill), + Christian patients would frequent the houses of the Jewish + physicians in preference to the monasteries, where cures were + pretended to have been effected by some extraordinary relics, such + as the nails of St. Augustine, the extremity of St. Peter's second + toe, ... etc. It need hardly be added that the cures effected by + the Jewish physicians were more numerous than those by the monkish + impostors.[233] + +Yet in reality the grotesque remedies which Margoliouth attributes to +Christian superstition appear to have been partly derived from Jewish +sources. The author of a further article on Magic in Hastings' +_Encyclopædia_ goes on to say that the magical formulæ handed down in +Latin in ancient medical writings and used by the monks were mainly of +Eastern origin, derived from Babylonish, Egyptian, and Jewish magic. The +monks therefore "played merely an intermediate rôle."[234] Indeed, if +we turn to the Talmud we shall find cures recommended no less absurd +than those which Margoliouth derides. For example: + + The eggs of a grasshopper as a remedy for toothache, the tooth of a + fox as a remedy for sleep, viz. the tooth of a live fox to prevent + sleep and of a dead one to cause sleep, the nail from the gallows + where a man was hanged, as a remedy for swelling.[235] + +A strongly "pro-Semite" writer quotes a number of Jewish medical +writings of the eighteenth century, republished as late as the end of +the nineteenth, which show the persistence of these magical formulæ +amongst the Jews. Most of these are too loathsome to transcribe; but +some of the more innocuous are as follows: "For epilepsy kill a cock and +let it putrefy." "In order to protect yourself from all evils, gird +yourself with the rope with which a criminal has been hung." Blood of +different kinds also plays an important part: "Fox's blood and wolf's +blood are good for stone in the bladder, ram's blood for colic, weasel +blood for scrofula," etc.--these to be externally applied.[236] + +But to return to Satanism. Whoever were the secret inspirers of magical +and diabolical practices during the fourteenth to the eighteenth +centuries, the evidence of the existence of Satanism during this long +period is overwhelming and rests on the actual facts of history. Details +quite as extravagant and revolting as those contained in the works of +Eliphas Lévi[237] or in Huysmans's _Là-bas_ are given in documentary +form by Margaret Alice Murray in her singularly passionless work +relating principally to the witches of Scotland.[238] + +The cult of evil is a reality--by whatever means we may seek to explain +it. Eliphas Lévi, whilst denying the existence of Satan "as a superior +personality and power," admits this fundamental truth: "Evil exists; it +is impossible to doubt it. We can do good or evil. There are beings who +knowingly and voluntarily do evil."[239] There are also beings who love +evil. Lévi has admirably described the spirit that animates such beings +in his definition of black magic: + + Black magic is really but a combination of sacrileges and murders + graduated with a view to the permanent perversion of the human will + and the realization in a living man of the monstrous phantom of the + fiend. It is, therefore, properly speaking, the religion of the + devil, the worship of darkness, the hatred of goodness exaggerated + to the point of paroxysm; it is the incarnation of death and the + permanent creation of hell.[240] + +The Middle Ages, which depicted the devil fleeing from holy water, were +not perhaps quite so benighted as our superior modern culture has led us +to suppose. For that "hatred of goodness exaggerated to the point of +paroxysm," that impulse to desecrate and defile which forms the basis of +black magic and has manifested itself in successive phases of the +world-revolution, springs from fear. So by their very hatred the powers +of darkness proclaim the existence of the powers of light and their own +impotence. In the cry of the demoniac: "What have we to do with Thee, +Jesus of Nazareth? art Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee who Thou +art, the Holy One of God," do we not hear the unwilling tribute of the +vanquished to the victor in the mighty conflict between good; and evil? + + + +The Rosicrucians + + +In dealing with the question of Magic it is necessary to realize that +although to the world in general the word is synonymous with necromancy, +it does not bear this significance in the language of occultism, +particularly the occultism of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. +Magic at this date was a term employed to cover many branches of +investigation which Robert Fludd, the English Rosicrucian, classified +under various headings, of which the first three are as follows: (1) +"_Natural Magic_, ... that most occult and secret department of physics +by which the mystical properties of natural substances are extracted"; +(2) _Mathematical Magic_, which enables adepts in the art to "construct +marvellous machines by means of their geometrical knowledge "; whilst +(3) _Venefic Magic_ "is familiar with potions, philtres, and with +various preparations of poisons."[241] + +It is obvious that all these have now passed into the realms of science +and are no longer regarded as magical arts; but the further categories +enumerated by Fludd and comprised under the general heading of +_Necromantic Magic_ retain the popular sense of the term. These are +described as (i) _Goetic_, which consists in "diabolical commerce with +unclean spirits, in rites of criminal curiosity, in illicit songs and +invocations, and in the evocation of the souls of the dead"; (2) +_Maleficent_, which is the adjuration of the devils by the virtue of +Divine Names; and (3) _Theurgic_, purporting "to be governed by good +angels and the Divine Will, but its wonders are most frequently +performed by evil spirits, who assume the names of God and of the +angels." (4) "The last species of magic is the _Thaumaturgic_, begetting +illusory phenomena; by this art the Magi produced their phantoms and +other marvels." To this list might be added _Celestial Magic_, or +knowledge dealing with the influence of the heavenly bodies, on which +astrology is based. + +The forms of magic dealt with in the preceding part of this chapter +belong therefore to the second half of these categories, that is to say, +to Necromantic Magic. But at the same period another movement was +gradually taking shape which concerned itself with the first category +enumerated above, that is to say, the secret properties of natural +substances. + +A man whose methods appear to have approached to the modern conception +of scientific research was Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, +commonly known as Paracelsus, the son of a German doctor, born about +1493, who during his travels in the East is said to have acquired a +knowledge of some secret doctrine which he afterwards elaborated into a +system for the healing of diseases. Although his ideas were thus +doubtless drawn from some of the same sources as those from which the +Jewish Cabala descended, Paracelsus does not appear to have been a +Cabalist, but a scientist of no mean order, and, as an isolated thinker, +apparently connected with no secret association, does not enter further +into the scope of this work. + +Paracelsus must therefore not be identified with the school of so-called +"Christian Cabalists," who, from Raymond Lulli, the "doctor illuminatus" +of the thirteenth century, onward, drew their inspiration from the +Cabala of the Jews. This is not to say that the influence under which +they fell was wholly pernicious, for, just as certain Jews appear to +have acquired some real medical skill, so also they appear to have +possessed some real knowledge of natural science, inherited perhaps from +the ancient traditions of the East or derived from the writings of +Hippocrates, Galen, and other of the great Greek physicians and as yet +unknown to Europe. Thus Eliphas Lévi relates that the Rabbi Jechiel, a +Cabalistic Jew protected by St. Louis, possessed the secret of +ever-burning lamps,[242] claimed later by the Rosicrucians, which +suggests the possibility that some kind of luminous gas or electric +light may have been known to the Jews. In alchemy they were the +acknowledged leaders; the most noted alchemist of the fourteenth +century, Nicholas Flamel, discovered the secret of the art from the book +of "Abraham the Jew, Prince, Priest, Levite, Astrologer, and +Philosopher," and this actual book is said to have passed later into the +possession of Cardinal Richelieu.[243] + +It was likewise from a Florentine Jew, Alemanus or Datylus, that Pico +della Mirandola, the fifteenth-century mystic, received instructions in +the Cabala[244] and imagined that he had discovered in it the doctrines +of Christianity. This delighted Pope Sixtus IV, who thereupon ordered +Cabalistic writings to be translated into Latin for the use of divinity +students. At the same time the Cabala was introduced into Germany by +Reuchlin, who had learnt Hebrew from the Rabbi Jacob b. Jechiel Loans, +court physician to Frederick III, and in 1494 published a Cabalistic +treatise _De Verbo Mirifico_, showing that all wisdom and true +philosophy are derived from the Hebrews. Considerable alarm appears, +however, to have been created by the spread of Rabbinical literature, +and in 1509 a Jew converted to Christianity, named Pfefferkorn, +persuaded the Emperor Maximilian I to burn all Jewish books except the +Old Testament. Reuchlin, consulted on this matter, advised only the +destruction of the Toledot Yeshu and of the Sepher Nizzachon by the +Rabbi Lipmann, because these works "were full of blasphemies against +Christ and against the Christian religion," but urged the preservation +of the rest. In this defence of Jewish literature he was supported by +the Duke of Bavaria, who appointed him professor at Ingoldstadt, but was +strongly condemned by the Dominicans of Cologne. In reply to their +attacks Reuchlin launched his defence _De Arte Cabalistica_, glorifying +the Cabala, of which the "central doctrine for him was the Messianology +around which all its other doctrines grouped themselves."[245] His +whole philosophical system, as he himself admitted, was in fact entirely +Cabalistic, and his views were shared by his contemporary Cornelius +Agrippa of Nettesheim. As a result of these teachings a craze for +Cabalism spread amongst Christian prelates, statesmen, and warriors, and +a number of Christian thinkers took up the doctrines of the Cabala and +"essayed to work them over in their own way." Athanasius Kircher and +Knorr, Baron von Rosenroth, author of the _Kabbala Denudata_, in the +course of the seventeenth century "endeavoured to spread the Cabala +among the Christians by translating Cabalistic works which they regarded +as most ancient wisdom." "Most of them," the _Jewish Encyclopædia_ goes +on to observe derisively, "held the absurd idea that the Cabala +contained proofs of the truth of Christianity.... Much that appears +Christian [in the Cabala] is, in fact, nothing but the logical +development of certain ancient esoteric doctrines."[246] + +The Rosicrucians appear to have been the outcome both of this Cabalistic +movement and of the teachings of Paracelsus. The earliest intimation of +their existence was given in a series of pamphlets which appeared at the +beginning of the seventeenth century. The first of these, entitled the +_Fama Fraternitatis; or a Discovery of the Fraternity of the most +Laudable Order of the Rosy Cross_, was published at Cassel in 1614 and +the _Confessio Fraternitatis_ early in the following year. These contain +what may be described as the "Grand Legend" of Rosicrucianism, which has +been repeated with slight variations up to the present day. Briefly, +this story is as follows[247]: + +"The most godly and highly-illuminated Father, our brother C.R.," that +is to say, Christian Rosenkreutz, "a German, the chief and original of +our Fraternity," was born in 1378, and some sixteen years later +travelled to the East with a Brother P.A.L., who had determined to go to +the Holy Land. On reaching Cyprus, Brother P.A.L. died and "so never +came to Jerusalem." Brother C.R., however, having become acquainted with +certain Wise Men of "Damasco in Arabia," and beheld what great wonders +they wrought, went on alone to Damasco. Here the Wise Men received him, +and he then set himself to study Physick and Mathematics and to +translate the Book M into Latin. After three years he went to Egypt, +whence he journeyed on to Fez, where "he did get acquaintance with those +who are called the Elementary inhabitants, who revealed to him many of +their secrets.... Of those of Fez he often did confess that their Magia +was not altogether pure and also that their Cabala was defiled with +their religion, but notwithstanding he knew how to make good use of the +same." After two years Brother C.R. departed the city Fez and sailed +away with many costly things into Spain, where he conferred with the +learned men and being "ready bountifully to impart all his arts and +secrets" showed them amongst other things how "there might be a society +in Europe which might have gold, silver, and precious stones sufficient +for them to bestow on kings for their necessary uses and lawful +purposes...." + +Christian Rosenkreutz then returned to Germany, where "there is nowadays +no want of learned men, Magicians, Cabalists, Physicians, and +Philosophers." Here he "builded himself a fitting and neat habitation in +which he ruminated his voyage and philosophy and reduced them together +in a true memorial." At the end of five years' meditation there "came +again into his mind the wished-for Reformation: accordingly he chose +some few adjoyned with him," the Brethren G.V., I.A., and I.O.--the +last of whom "was very expert and well learned in Cabala as his book H +witnesseth"--to form a circle of initiates. "After this manner began +the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross." Five other Brethren were afterwards +added, all Germans except I.A., and these eight constituted his new +building called Sancti Spiritus. The following agreement was then drawn +up: + + First, that none of them should profess any other thing than to + cure the sick, and that gratis. + + Second, none of the posterity should be constrained to wear one + certain kind of habit, but therein to follow the custom of the + country. + + Third, that every year, upon the day C., they should meet together + at the house Sancti Spiritus, or write the cause of his absence. + + Fourth, every Brother should look about for a worthy person who, + after his decease, might succeed him. + + Fifth, the word C.R. should be their seal, mark, and character. + + Sixth, the Fraternity should remain secret one hundred years. + +Finally Brother C.R. died, but where and when, or in what country he was +buried, remained a secret. The date, however, is generally given as +1484. In 1604 the Brethren who then constituted the inner circle of the +Order discovered a door on which was written in large letters + + Post 120 Annos Patebo. + +On opening the door a vault was disclosed to view, where beneath a brass +tablet the body of Christian Rosenkreutz was found, "whole and +unconsumed," with all his "ornaments and attires," and holding in his +hand the parchment "I" which "next unto the Bible is our greatest +treasure," whilst beside him lay a number of books, amongst others the +_Vocabulario_ of Paracelsus, who, however, the _Fama_ observes, earlier +"was none of our Fraternity."[248] + +The Brethren now knew that after a time there would be "a general +reformation both of divine and human things." While declaring their +belief in the Christian faith, the _Fama_ goes on to explain that: + + Our Philosophy is not a new invention, but as Adam after his fall + hath received it and as Moses and Solomon used it, ... wherein + Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and others did hit the mark and + wherein Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Solomon, did excel, but especially + wherewith that wonderful Book the Bible agreeth. + +It will be seen that, according to this Manifesto, Rosicrucianism was a +combination of the ancient secret tradition handed down from the +patriarchs through the philosophers of Greece and of the first Cabala of +the Jews. + +The "Grand Legend" of Rosicrucianism rests, however, on no historical +evidence; there is, in fact, not the least reason to suppose that any +such person as Christian Rosenkreutz ever existed. The Illuminatus von +Knigge in the eighteenth century asserted that: + + It is now recognized amongst enlightened men that no real + Rosicrucians have existed, but that the whole of what is contained + in the _Fama_ and the _Universal Reformation of the World_ [another + Rosicrucian pamphlet which appeared in the same year] was only a + subtle allegory of Valentine Andrea, of which afterwards partly + deceivers (such as the Jesuits) and partly visionaries made use in + order to realize this dream.[249] + +What, then, was the origin of the name Rose-Cross? According to one +Rosicrucian tradition, the word "Rose" does not derive from the flower +depicted on the Rosicrucian cross, but from the Latin word _ros_, +signifying "dew," which was supposed to be the most powerful solvent of +gold, whilst _crux_, the cross, was the chemical hieroglyphic for +"light."[250] It is said that the Rosicrucians interpreted the initials +on the cross INRI by the sentence "Igne Nitrum Roris Invenitur."[251] +Supposing this derivation to be correct, it would be interesting to know +whether any connexion could be traced between the first appearance of +the word Rosie Cross in the _Fama Fraternitatis_ at the date of 1614 and +the cabalistic treatise of the celebrated Rabbi of Prague, Shabbethai +Sheftel Horowitz, entitled _Shefa Tal_, that is to say, "The Effusion of +Dew," which appeared in 1612.[252] Although this book has often been +reprinted, no copy is to be found in the British Museum, so I am unable +to pursue this line of enquiry further. A simpler explanation may be +that the Rosy Cross derived from the Red Cross of the Templars. +Mirabeau, who as a Freemason and an Illuminatus was in a position to +discover many facts about the secret societies of Germany during his +stay in the country, definitely asserts that "the Rose Croix Masons of +the seventeenth century were only the ancient Order of the Templars +secretly perpetuated."[253] + +Lecouteulx de Canteleu is more explicit: + + In France the Knights (Templar) who left the Order, henceforth + hidden, and so to speak unknown, formed the Order of the Flaming + Star and of the Rose-Croix, which in the fifteenth century spread + itself in Bohemia and Silesia. Every Grand officer of these Orders + had all his life to wear the Red Cross and to repeat every day the + prayer of St. Bernard.[254] + +Eckert states that the ritual, symbols, and names of the Rose-Croix were +borrowed from the Templars, and that the Order was divided into seven +degrees, according to the seven days of creation, at the same time +signifying that their "principal aim was that of the mysterious, the +investigation of Being and of the forces of nature."[255] + +The Rosicrucian Kenneth Mackenzie, in his _Masonic Cyclopædia_, appears +to suggest the same possibility of Templar origin. Under the heading of +Rosicrucians he refers enigmatically to an invisible fraternity that has +existed from very ancient times, as early as the days of the Crusades, +"bound by solemn obligations of impenetrable secrecy," and joining +together in work for humanity and to "glorify the good." At various +periods of history this body has emerged into a sort of temporary light; +but its true name has never transpired and is only known to the +innermost adepts and rulers of the society. "The Rosicrucians of the +sixteenth century finally disappeared and re-entered this invisible +fraternity "--from which they had presumably emerged. Whether any such +body really existed or whether the above account is simply an attempt at +mystification devised to excite curiosity, the incredulous may question. +The writer here observes that it would be indiscreet to say more, but +elsewhere he throws out a hint that may have some bearing on the matter, +for in his article on the Templars he says that after the suppression of +the Order it was revived in a more secret form and subsists to the +present day. This would exactly accord with Mirabeau's statement that +the Rosicrucians were only the Order of the Templars secretly +perpetuated. Moreover, as we shall see later, according to a legend +preserved by the Royal Order of Scotland, the degree of the Rosy Cross +had been instituted by that Order in conjunction with the Templars in +1314, and it would certainly be a remarkable coincidence that a man +bearing the name of Rosenkreutz should happen to have inaugurated a +society, founded, like the Templars, on Eastern secret doctrines during +the course of the same century, without any connexion existing between +the two. + +I would suggest, then, that Christian Rosenkreutz was a purely mythical +personage, and that the whole legend concerning his travels was invented +to disguise the real sources whence the Rosicrucians derived their +system, which would appear to have been a compound of ancient esoteric +doctrines, of Arabian and Syrian magic, and of Jewish Cabalism, partly +inherited from the Templars but reinforced by direct contact with +Cabalistic Jews in Germany. The Rose-Croix, says Mirabeau, "were a +mystical, Cabalistic, theological, and magical sect," and Rosicrucianism +thus became in the seventeenth century the generic title by which +everything of the nature of Cabalism, Theosophy, Alchemy, Astrology, and +Mysticism was designated. For this reason it has been said that they +cannot be regarded as the descendants of the Templars. Mr. Waite, in +referring to "the alleged connexion between the Templars and the +Brethren of the Rosy Cross," observes: + + The Templars were not alchemists, they had no scientific + pretensions, and their secret, so far as it can be ascertained, was + a religious secret of an anti-Christian kind. The Rosicrucians, on + the other hand, were pre-eminently a learned society and they were + also a Christian sect.[256] + +The fact that the Templars do not appear to have practised alchemy is +beside the point; it is not pretended that the Rosicrucians followed the +Templars in every particular, but that they were the inheritors of a +secret tradition passed on to them by the earlier Order. Moreover, that +they were a learned society, or even a society at all, is not at all +certain, for they would appear to have possessed no organization like +the Templars or the Freemasons, but to have consisted rather of isolated +occultists bound together by some tie of secret knowledge concerning +natural phenomena. This secrecy was no doubt necessary at a period when +scientific research was liable to be regarded as sorcery, but whether +the Rosicrucians really accomplished anything is extremely doubtful. +They are said to have been alchemists; but did they ever succeed in +transmuting metals? They are described as learned, yet do the pamphlets +emanating from the Fraternity betray any proof of superior knowledge? +"The Chymical Marriage of Christian Rosenkreutz," which appeared in +1616, certainly appears to be the purest nonsense--magical imaginings of +the most puerile kind; and Mr. Waite himself observes that the +publication of the _Fama_ and the _Confessio Fraternitalis_ will not add +new lustre to the Rosicrucian reputations: + + We are accustomed to regard the adepts of the Rosy Cross as beings + of sublime elevation and preternatural physical powers, masters of + Nature, monarchs of the intellectual world.... But here in their + own acknowledged manifestos they avow themselves a mere + theosophical offshoot of the Lutheran heresy, acknowledging the + spiritual supremacy of a temporal prince, and calling the Pope + anti-Christ.... We find them intemperate in their language, rabid + in their religious prejudices, and instead of towering giant-like + above the intellectual average of their age, we see them buffeted + by the same passions and identified with all opinions of the men by + whom they were environed. The voice which addresses us behind the + mystical mask of the Rose-Croix does not come from an intellectual + throne.... + +So much for the Rosicrucians as a "learned society." + +What, then, of their claim to be a Christian body? The Rosicrucian +student of the Cabala, Julius Sperber, in his _Echo of the Divinely +Illuminated Fraternity of the Admirable Order of the R.C._ (1615), has +indicated the place assigned to Christ by the Rosicrucians. In De +Quincey's words: + + Having maintained the probability of the Rosicrucian pretensions + on the ground that such _magnalia Dei_ had from the creation + downwards been confided to the keeping of a few + individuals--agreeably to which he affirms that Adam was the first + Rosicrucian of the Old Testament and Simeon the last--he goes on to + ask whether the Gospel put an end to the secret tradition? By no + means, he answers: Christ established a new "college of magic" + among His disciples, and the greater mysteries were revealed to St. + John and St. Paul. + +John Yarker, quoting this passage, adds: "This, Brother Findel points +out, was a claim of the Carpocratian Gnostics"; it was also, as we have +seen, a part of the Johannite tradition which is said to have been +imparted to the Templars. We shall find the same idea of Christ as an +"initiate" running all through the secret societies up to the present +day. + +These doctrines not unnaturally brought on the Rosicrucians the +suspicion of being an anti-Christian body. The writer of a contemporary +pamphlet published in 1624, declares that "this fraternity is a +stratagem of the Jews and Cabalistic Hebrews, in whose philosophy, says +Pic de la Mirandole, all things are ... as if hidden in the majesty of +truth or as ... in very sacred Mysteries."[257] + +Another work, _Examination of the Unknown and Novel Cabala of the +Brethren of the Rose-Cross_, agrees with the assertion that the chief of +this "execrable college is Satan, that its first rule is denial of God, +blasphemy against the most simple and undivided Trinity, trampling on +the mysteries of the redemption, spitting in the face of the mother of +God and of all the saints." The sect is further accused of compacts with +the devil, sacrifices of children, of cherishing toads, making poisonous +powders, dancing with fiends, etc. + +Now, although all this would appear to be quite incompatible with the +character of the Rosicrucians as far as it is known, we have already +seen that the practices here described were by no means imaginary; in +this same seventeenth century, when the fame of the Rosicrucians was +first noised abroad, black magic was still, as in the days of Gilles de +Rais, a horrible reality, not only in France but in England, Scotland, +and Germany, where sorcerers of both sexes were continually put to +death.[258] However much we may deplore the methods employed against +these people or question the supernatural origin of their cult, it would +be idle to deny that the cult itself existed. + +Moreover, towards the end of the century it assumed in France a very +tangible form in the series of mysterious dramas known as the "Affaire +des Poisons," of which the first act took place in 1666, when the +celebrated Marquise de Brinvilliers embarked on her amazing career of +crime in collaboration with her lover Sainte-Croix. This extraordinary +woman, who for ten years made a hobby of trying the effects of various +slow poisons on her nearest relations, thereby causing the death of her +father and brothers, might appear to have been merely an isolated +criminal of the abnormal type but for the sequel to her exploits in the +epidemic of poisoning which followed and during twenty years kept Paris +in a state of terror. The investigations of the police finally led to +the discovery of a whole band of magicians and alchemists--"a vast +ramification of malefactors covering all France"--who specialized in +the art of poisoning without fear of detection. + +Concerning all these sorcerers, alchemists, compounders of magical +powders and philtres, frightful rumours circulated, "pacts with the +devil were talked of, sacrifices of new-born babies, incantations, +sacrilegious Masses and other practices as disquieting as they were +lugubrious."[259] Even the King's mistress, Madame de Montespan, is +said to have had recourse to black Masses in order to retain the royal +favour through the agency of the celebrated sorceress La Voisin, with +whom she was later implicated in an accusation of having attempted the +life of the King. + +All the extraordinary details of these events have recently been +described in the book of Madame Latour, where the intimate connexion +between the poisoners and the magicians is shown. In the opinion of +contemporaries, these were not isolated individuals: + + "Their methods were too certain, their execution of crime too + skilful and too easy for them not to have belonged, either directly + or indirectly, to a whole organization of criminals who prepared + the way, and studied the method of giving to crime the appearance + of illness, of forming, in a word, a school."[260] + +The author of the work here quoted draws an interesting parallel between +this organization and the modern traffic in cocaine, and goes on to +describe the three degrees into which it was divided: firstly, the +Heads, cultivated and intelligent men, who understood chemistry, +physics, and nearly all useful sciences, "invisible counsellors but +supreme, without whom the sorcerers and diviners would have been +powerless"; secondly, the visible magicians employing mysterious +processes, complicated rites and terrifying ceremonies; and thirdly, the +crowd of nobles and plebeians who flocked to the doors of the sorcerers +and filled their pockets in return for magic potions, philtres, and, in +certain cases, insidious poisons. Thus La Voisin must be placed in the +second category; "in spite of her luxury, her profits, and her fame," +she "is only a subaltern agent in this vast organization of criminals. +She depends entirely for her great enterprises on the intellectual +chiefs of the corporation...."[261] + +Who were these intellectual chiefs? The man who first initiated Madame +de Brinvilliers' lover Sainte-Croix into the art of poisoning was an +Italian named Exili or Eggidi; but the real initiate from whom Eggidi +and another Italian poisoner had learnt their secrets is said to have +been Glaser, variously described as a German or a Swiss chemist, who +followed the principles of Paracelsus and occupied the post of physician +to the King and the Duc d'Orléans.[262] This man, about whose history +little is known, might thus have been a kind of Rosicrucian. For since, +as has been said, the intellectual chiefs from whom the poisoners +derived their inspiration were men versed in chemistry, in science, in +physics, and the treatment of diseases, and since, further, they +included alchemists and people professing to be in possession of the +Philosopher's Stone, their resemblance with the Rosicrucians is at once +apparent. Indeed, in turning back to the branches of magic enumerated by +the Rosicrucian Robert Fludd, we find not only Natural Magic, "that most +occult and secret department of physics by which the mystical properties +of natural substances are extracted," but also Venefic Magic, which "is +familiar with potions, philtres, and with various preparations of +poisons." + +The art of poisoning was therefore known to the Rosicrucians, and, +although there is no reason to suppose it was ever practised by the +heads of the Fraternity, it is possible that the inspirers of the +poisoners may have been perverted Rosicrucians, that is to say, students +of those portions of the Cabala relating to magic both of the +necromantic and venefic varieties, who turned the scientific knowledge +which the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross used for healing to a precisely +opposite and deadly purpose. This would explain the fact that +contemporaries like the author of the _Examination of the Unknown and +Novel Cabala of the Brethren of the Rose-Cross_ should identify these +brethren with the magicians and believe them to be guilty of practices +deriving from the same source as Rosicrucian knowledge--the Cabala of +the Jews. Their modern admirers would, of course, declare that they were +the poles asunder, the difference being between white and black magic. +Huysmans, however, scoffs at this distinction and says the use of the +term "white magic" was a ruse of the Rose-Croix. + +But of the real doctrines of the Rosicrucians no one can speak with +certainty. The whole story of the Fraternity is wrapped in mystery. +Mystery was avowedly the essence of their system; their identity, their +aims, their doctrines, are said to have been kept a profound secret from +the world. Indeed it is said that no real Rosicrucian ever allowed +himself to be known as such. As a result of this systematic method of +concealment, sceptics on the one hand have declared the Rosicrucians to +have been charlatans and impostors or have denied their very existence, +whilst on the other hand romancers have exalted them as depositaries of +supernatural wisdom. The question is further obscured by the fact that +most accounts of the Fraternity--as, for example, those of Eliphas Lévi, +Hargrave Jennings, Kenneth Mackenzie, Mr. A.E. Waite, Dr. Wynn Westcott, +and Mr. Cadbury Jones--are the work of men claiming or believing +themselves to be initiated into Rosicrucianism or other occult systems +of a kindred nature and as such in possession of peculiar and exclusive +knowledge. This pretension may at once be dismissed as an absurdity; +nothing is easier than for anyone to make a compound out of Jewish +Cabalism and Eastern theosophy and to label it Rosicrucianism, but no +proof whatever exists of any affiliation between the self-styled +Rosicrucians of to-day and the seventeenth-century "Brothers of the Rosy +Cross."[263] + +In spite of Mr. Wake's claim, "The Real History of the Rosicrucians" +still remains to be written, at any rate in the English language. The +book he has published under this name is merely a superficial study of +the question largely composed of reprints of Rosicrucian pamphlets +accessible to any student. Mr. Wigston and Mrs. Pott merely echo Mr. +Waite. Thus everything that has been published hitherto consists in the +repetition of Rosicrucian legends or in unsubstantiated theorizings on +their doctrines. What we need are facts. We want to know who were the +early Rosicrucians, when the Fraternity originated, and what were its +real aims. These researches must be made, not by an occultist weaving +his own theories into the subject, but by a historian free from any +prejudices for or against the Order, capable of weighing evidence and +bringing a judicial mind to bear on the material to be found in the +libraries of the Continent--notably the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in +Paris. Such a work would be a valuable contribution to the history of +secret societies in our country. + +But if the Continental Brethren of the Rose-Croix form but a shadowy +group of "Invisibles" whose identity yet remains a mystery, the English +adepts of the Order stand forth in the light of day as, philosophers +well known to their age and country. That Francis Bacon was initiated +into Rosicrucianism is now recognized by Freemasons, but a more definite +link with the Rosicrucians of the Continent was Robert Fludd, who after +travelling for six years in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain--where he +formed connexions with Jewish Cabalists[264]--was visited by the German +Jew Rosicrucian Michel Maier--doctor to the Emperor Rudolf--by whom he +appears to have been initiated into further mysteries. + +In 1616 Fludd published his _Tractatus Apologeticus_, defending the +Rosicrucians against the charges of "detestable magic and diabolical +superstition" brought against them by Libavius. Twelve years later Fludd +was attacked by Father Mersenne, to whom a reply was made "by Fludd or a +friend of Fludd's" containing a further defence of the Order. "The +Book," says Mr. Waite, "treats of the noble art of magic, the foundation +and nature of the Cabala, the essence of veritable alchemy, and of the +Causa Fratrum Rosae Crucis. It identifies the palace or home of the +Rosicrucians with the Scriptural House of Wisdom." + +In further works by English writers the Eastern origin of the Fraternity +is insisted on. Thus Thomas Vaughan, known as Eugenius Philalethes, +writing in praise of the Rosicrucians in 1652, says that "their +knowledge at first was not purchased by their own disquisitions, for +they received it from the Arabians, amongst whom it remained as the +monument and legacy of the Children of the East. Nor is this at all +improbable, for the Eastern countries have been always famous for +magical and secret societies." + +Another apologist of the Rosicrucians, John Heydon, who travelled in +Egypt, Persia, and Arabia, is described by a contemporary as having been +in "many strange places among the Rosie Crucians and at their castles, +holy houses, temples, sepulchres, sacrifices." Heydon himself, whilst +declaring that he is not a Rosicrucian, says that he knows members of +the Fraternity and its secrets, that they are sons of Moses, and that +"this Rosie Crucian Physick or Medicine, I happily and unexpectedly +alight upon in Arabia." These references to castles, temples, +sacrifices, encountered in Egypt, Persia, and Arabia inevitably recall +memories of both Templars and Ismailis. Is there no connexion between +"the Invisible Mountains of the Brethren" referred to elsewhere by +Heydon and the Mountains of the Assassins and the Freemasons? between +the Scriptural "House of Wisdom" and the Dar-ul-Hikmat or Grand Lodge of +Cairo, the model for Western masonic lodges? + +It is as the precursors of the crisis which arose in 1717 that the +English Rosicrucians of the seventeenth century are of supreme +importance. No longer need we concern ourselves with shadowy Brethren +laying dubious claim to supernatural wisdom, but with a concrete +association of professed Initiates proclaiming their existence to the +world under the name of Freemasonry. + + + + +5 + +ORIGINS OF FREEMASONRY + + + +"The origin of Freemasonry," says a masonic writer of the eighteenth +century, "is known to Freemasons alone."[265] If this was once the +case, it is so no longer, for, although the question would certainly +appear to be one on which the initiated should be most qualified to +speak, the fact is that no official theory on the origin of Freemasonry +exists; the great mass of the Freemasons do _not_ know or care to know +anything about the history of their Order, whilst Masonic authorities +are entirely disagreed on the matter. Dr. Mackey admits that "the origin +and source whence first sprang the institution of Freemasonry has given +rise to more difference of opinion and discussion among masonic scholars +than any other topic in the literature of the institution."[266] Nor is +this ignorance maintained merely in books for the general public, since +in those specially addressed to the Craft and at discussions in lodges +the same diversity of opinion prevails, and no decisive conclusions +appear to be reached. Thus Mr. Albert Churchward, a Freemason of the +thirtieth degree, who deplores the small amount of interest taken in +this matter by Masons in general, observes: + +Hitherto there have been so many contradictory opinions and theories in +the attempt to supply the origin and the reason whence, where, and why +the Brotherhood of Freemasonry came into existence, and all the +"different parts" and various rituals of the "different degrees." All +that has been written on this has hitherto been _theories_, without any +facts for their fundation.[267] + +In the absence, therefore, of any origin universally recognized by the +Craft, it is surely open to the lay mind to speculate on the matter and +to draw conclusions from history as to which of the many explanations +put forward seems to supply the key to the mystery. + +According to the _Royal Masonic Cyclopædia_, no less than twelve +theories have been advanced as to the origins of the Order, namely, that +Masonry derived: + +"(1) From the patriarchs. (2) From the mysteries of the pagans. (3) From +the construction of Solomon's Temple, (4) From the Crusades. (5) From +the Knights Templar. (6) From the Roman Collegia of Artificers. (7) From +the operative masons of the Middle Ages. (8) From the Rosicrucians of +the sixteenth century. (9) From Oliver Cromwell. (10) From Prince +Charles Stuart for political purposes. (11) From Sir Christopher Wren, +at the building of St. Paul's. (12) From Dr. Desaguliers and his friends +in 1717." + +This enumeration is, however, misleading, for it implies that in _one_ +of these various theories the true origin of Freemasonry may be found. +In reality modern Freemasonry is a dual system, a blend of two distinct +traditions--of operative masonry, that is to say the actual art of +building, and of speculative theory on the great truths of life and +death. As a well-known Freemason, the Count Goblet d'Alviella, has +expressed it: "Speculative Masonry" (that is to say, the dual system we +now know as Freemasonry) "is the legitimate offspring of a fruitful +union between the professional guild of mediæval Masons and of a secret +group of philosophical Adepts, the first having furnished the form and +the second the spirit."[268] In studying the origins of the present +system we have therefore (1) to examine separately the history of each +of these two traditions, and (2) to discover their point of junction. + + + +Operative Masonry + + +Beginning with the first of these two traditions, we find that guilds of +working masons existed in very ancient times. Without going back as far +as ancient Egypt or Greece, which would be beyond the scope of the +present work, the course of these associations may be traced throughout +the history of Western Europe from the beginning of the Christian era. +According to certain masonic writers, the Druids originally came from +Egypt and brought with them traditions relating to the art of building. +The _Culdees_, who later on established schools and colleges in this +country for the teaching of arts, sciences, and handicrafts, are said +to have derived from the Druids. + +But a more probable source of inspiration in the art of building are the +Romans, who established the famous collegia of architects referred to in +the list of alternative theories given in the _Masonic Cyclopædia_. +Advocates of the Roman Collegia origin of Freemasonry might be right as +far as operative masonry is concerned, for it is to the period following +on the Roman occupation of Britain that our masonic guilds can with the +greatest degree of certainty be traced. Owing to the importance the art +of building now acquired it is said that many distinguished men, such as +St. Alban, King Alfred, King Edwin, and King Athelstan, were numbered +amongst its patrons,[269] so that in time the guilds came to occupy the +position of privileged bodies and were known as "free corporations"; +further that York was the first masonic centre in England, largely under +the control of the Culdees, who at the same period exercised much +influence over the Masonic Collegia in Scotland, at Kilwinning, Melrose, +and Aberdeen.[270] + +But it must be remembered that all this is speculation. No documentary +evidence has ever been produced to prove the existence of masonic guilds +before the famous York charter of A.D. 936, and even the date of this +document is doubtful. Only with the period of Gothic architecture do we +reach firm ground. That guilds of working masons known in France as +"Compagnonnages" and in Germany as "Steinmetzen" did then form close +corporations and possibly possess secrets connected with their +profession is more than probable. That, in consequence of their skill in +building the magnificent cathedrals of this period, they now came to +occupy a privileged position seems fairly certain. + +The Abbé Grandidier, writing from Strasbourg in 1778, traces the whole +system of Freemasonry from these German guilds: "This much-vaunted +Society of Freemasons is nothing but a servile imitation of an ancient +and useful _confrèrie_ of real masons whose headquarters was formerly at +Strasbourg and of which the constitution was confirmed by the Emperor +Maximilian in 1498."[271] + +As far as it is possible to discover from the scanty documentary +evidence the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries provide, +the same privileges appear to have been accorded to the guilds of +working masons in England and Scotland, which, although presided over by +powerful nobles and apparently on occasion admitting members from +outside the Craft, remained essentially operative bodies. Nevertheless +we find the assemblies of Masons suppressed by Act of Parliament in the +beginning of the reign of Henry VI, and later on an armed force sent by +Queen Elizabeth to break up the Annual Grand Lodge at York. It is +possible that the fraternity merely by the secrecy with which it was +surrounded excited the suspicions of authority, for nothing could be +more law-abiding than its published statutes. Masons were to be "true +men to God and the Holy Church," also to the masters that they served. +They were to be honest in their manner of life and "to do no villainy +whereby the Craft or the Science may be slandered."[272] + +Yet the seventeenth-century writer Plot, in his _Natural History of +Staffordshire_, expresses some suspicion with regard to the secrets of +Freemasonry. That these could not be merely trade secrets relating to +the art of building, but that already some speculative element had been +introduced to the lodges, seems the more probable from the fact that by +the middle of the seventeenth century not only noble patrons headed the +Craft, but ordinary gentlemen entirely unconnected with building were +received into the fraternity. The well-known entry in the diary of Elias +Ashmole under the date of October 16, 1646, clearly proves this fact: "I +was made a Freemason at Warrington in Lancashire with Col. Henry +Mainwaring of Karticham [?] in Cheshire. The names of those that were +then of the Lodge, Mr. Rich. Penket, Warden, Mr. James Collier, Mr. +Rich. Sankey, Henry Littler, John Ellam, Rich. Ellam and Hugh Brewer."[273] +"It is now ascertained," says Yarker, "that the majority of the +members present were not operative masons."[274] + +Again, in 1682 Ashmole relates that he attended a meeting held at Mason +Hall in London, where with a number of other gentlemen he was admitted +into "the Fellowship of the Freemasons," that is to say, into the second +degree. We have then clear proof that already in the seventeenth century +Freemasonry had ceased to be an association composed exclusively of men +concerned with building, although eminent architects ranked high in the +Order; Inigo Jones is said to have been Grand Master under James I, and +Sir Christopher Wren to have occupied the same position from about 1685 +to 1702. But it was not until 1703 that the Lodge of St. Paul in London +officially announced "that the privileges of Masonry should no longer be +restricted to operative Masons, but extended to men of various +professions, provided they were regularly approved and initiated into +the Order."[275] + +This was followed in 1717 by the great _coup d'état_ when Grand Lodge +was founded, and Speculative Masonry, which we now know as Freemasonry, +was established on a settled basis with a ritual, rules, and +constitution drawn up in due form. It is at this important date that the +official history of Freemasonry begins. + +But before pursuing the course of the Order through what is known as the +"Grand Lodge Era," it is necessary to go back and enquire into the +origins of the philosophy that was now combined with the system of +operative masonry. This is the point on which opinions are divided and +to which the various theories summarized in the _Masonic Cyclopcædia_ +relate. Let us examine each of these in turn. + + + +Speculative Masonry + + +According to certain sceptics concerning the mysteries of Freemasonry, +the system inaugurated in 1717 had no existence before that date, but +"was devised, promulgated, and palmed upon the world by Dr. Desaguliers, +Dr. Anderson, and others, who then founded the Grand Lodge of England." +Mr. Paton, in an admirable little pamphlet,[276] has shown the futility +of this contention and also the injustice of representing the founders +of Grand Lodge as perpetrating so gross a deception. + + This 1717 theory ascribes to men of the highest character the + invention of a system of mere imposture.... It was brought forward + with pretensions which its framers knew to be false pretensions of + high antiquity; whereas ... it had newly been invented in their + studies. Is this likely? Or is it reasonable to ascribe such + conduct to honourable men, without even assigning a probable motive + for it? + +We have indeed only to study masonic ritual--which is open to everyone +to read--in order to arrive at the same conclusion, that there could be +no motive for this imposture, and further that these two clergymen +cannot be supposed to have evolved the whole thing out of their heads. +Obviously some movement of a kindred nature must have led up to this +crisis. And since Elias Ashmole's diary clearly proves that a ceremony +of masonic initiation had existed in the preceding century, it is surely +only reasonable to conclude that Drs. Anderson and Desaguliers revised +but did not originate the ritual and constitutions drawn up by them. + +Now, although the ritual of Freemasonry is couched in modern and by no +means classical English, the ideas running through it certainly bear +traces of extreme antiquity. The central idea of Freemasonry concerning +a loss which has befallen man and the hope of its ultimate recovery is +in fact no other than the ancient secret tradition described in the +first chapter of this book. Certain masonic writers indeed ascribe to +Freemasonry precisely the same genealogy as that of the early Cabala, +declaring that it descended from Adam and the first patriarchs of the +human race, and thence through groups of Wise Men amongst the Egyptians, +Chaldeans, Persians, and Greeks.[277] Mr. Albert Churchward insists +particularly on the Egyptian origin of the speculative element in +Freemasonry: "Brother Gould and other Freemasons will never understand +the meaning and origin of our sacred tenets till they have studied and +unlocked the mysteries of the past." This study will then reveal the +fact that "the Druids, the Gymnosophists of India, the Magi of Persia, +and the Chaldeans of Assyria had all the same religious rites and +ceremonies as practised by their priests who were initiated to their +Order, and that these were solemnly sworn to keep the doctrines a +profound secret from the rest of mankind. All these flowed from one +source--Egypt."[278] + +Mr. Churchward further quotes the speech of the Rev. Dr. William Dodd at +the opening of a masonic temple in 1794, who traced Freemasonry from +"the first astronomers on the plains of Chaldea, the wise and mystic +kings and priests of Egypt, the sages of Greece and philosophers of +Rome," etc.[279] + +But how did these traditions descend to the masons of the West? +According to a large body of masonic opinion in this country which +recognizes only a single source of inspiration to the system we now know +as Freemasonry, the speculative as well as the operative traditions of +the Order descended from the building guilds and were imported to +England by means of the Roman Collegia. Mr. Churchward, however, +strongly dissents from this view: + + In the new and revised edition of the Perfect Ceremonies, according + to our E. working, a theory is given that Freemasonry originated + from certain guilds of workmen which are well known in history as + the "Roman College of Artificers." There is no foundation of fact + for such a theory. Freemasonry is now, and always was, an + Eschatology, as may be proved by the whole of our signs, symbols, + and words, and our rituals.[280] + +But what Mr. Churchward fails to explain is how this eschatology reached +the working masons; moreover why, if as he asserts, it derived from +Egypt, Assyria, India, and Persia, Freemasonry no longer bears the stamp +of these countries. For although vestiges of Sabeism may be found in the +decoration of the lodges, and brief references to the mysteries of Egypt +and Phœnicia, to the secret teaching of Pythagoras, to Euclid, and to +Plato in the Ritual and instructions of the Craft degrees--nevertheless +the form in which the ancient tradition is clothed, the phraseology and +pass-words employed, are neither Egyptian, Chaldean, Greek, nor Persian, +but Judaic. Thus although some portion of the ancient secret tradition +may have penetrated to Great Britain through the Druids or the +Romans--versed in the lore of Greece and Egypt--another channel for its +introduction was clearly the Cabala of the Jews. Certain masonic writers +recognize this double tradition, the one descending from Egypt, Chaldea, +and Greece, the other from the Israelites, and assert that it is from +the latter source their system is derived.[281] For after tracing its +origin from Adam, Noah, Enoch, and Abraham, they proceed to show its +line of descent through Moses, David, and Solomon[282]--descent from +Solomon is in fact officially recognized by the Craft and forms a part +of the instructions to candidates for initiation into the first degree. +But, as we have already seen, this is the precise genealogy attributed +to the Cabala by the Jews. Moreover, modern Freemasonry is entirely +built up on the Solomonic, or rather the Hiramic legend. For the sake of +readers unfamiliar with the ritual of Freemasonry a brief _résumé_ of +this "Grand Legend" must be given here. + +Solomon, when building the Temple, employed the services of a certain +artificer in brass, named Hiram, the son of a widow of the tribe of +Naphthali, who was sent to him by Hiram, King of Tyre. So much we know +from the Book of Kings, but the masonic legend goes on to relate that +Hiram, the widow's son, referred to as Hiram Abiff, and described as the +master-builder, met with an untimely end. For the purpose of preserving +order the masons working on the Temple were divided into three classes, +Entered Apprentices, Fellow Crafts, and Master Masons, the first two +distinguished by different pass-words and grips and paid at different +rates of wages, the last consisting only of three persons--Solomon +himself, Hiram King of Tyre, who had provided him with wood and precious +stones and Hiram Abiff. Now, before the completion of the Temple fifteen +of the Fellow Crafts conspired together to find out the secrets of the +Master Masons and resolved to waylay Hiram Abiff at the door of the +Temple. + +At the last moment twelve of the fifteen drew back, but the remaining +three carried out the fell design, and after threatening Hiram in vain +in order to obtain the secrets, killed him with three blows on the head, +delivered by each in turn. They then conveyed the body away and buried +it on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Solomon, informed of the disappearance +of the master-builder, sent out fifteen Fellow Crafts to seek for him; +five of these, having arrived at the mountain, noticed a place where the +earth had been disturbed and there discovered the body of Hiram. Leaving +a branch of acacia to mark the spot, they returned with their story to +Solomon, who ordered them to go and exhume the body--an order that was +immediately carried out. + +The murder and exhumation, or "raising," of Hiram, accompanied by +extraordinary lamentations, form the climax of Craft Masonry; and when +it is remembered that in all probability no such, tragedy ever took +place, that possibly no one known as Hiram Abiff ever existed,[283] the +whole story can only be regarded as the survival of some ancient cult +relating not to an actual event, but to an esoteric doctrine. A legend +and a ceremony of this kind is indeed to be found in many earlier +mythologies; the story of the murder of Hiram had been foreshadowed by +the Egyptian legend of the murder of Osiris and the quest for his body +by Isis, whilst the lamentations around the tomb of Hiram had a +counterpart in the mourning ceremonies for Osiris and Adonis--both, like +Hiram, subsequently "raised"--and later on in that which took place +around the catafalque of Manes, who, like Hiram, was barbarously put to +death and is said to have been known to the Manicheans as "the son of +the widow." But in the form given to it by Freemasonry the legend is +purely Judaic, and would therefore appear to have derived from the +Judaic version of the ancient tradition. The pillars of the Temple, +Jachin and Boaz, which play so important a part in Craft Masonry, are +symbols which occur in the Jewish Cabala, where they are described as +two of the ten Sephiroths.[284] A writer of the eighteenth century, +referring to "fyve curiosities" he has discovered in Scotland, describes +one as-- + + The Mason word, which tho' some make a Misterie of it, I will not + conceal a little of what I know. It is lyke a Rabbinical Tradition + in way of Comment on Jachin and Boaz, the Two Pillars erected in + Solomon's Temple with ane Addition delyvered from Hand to Hand, by + which they know and become familiar one with another.[285] + +This is precisely the system by which the Cabala was handed down amongst +the Jews. The _Jewish Encyclopædia_ lends colour to the theory of +Cabalistic transmission by suggesting that the story of Hiram "may +possibly trace back to the Rabbinic legend concerning the Temple of +Solomon," that "while all the workmen were killed so that they should +not build another temple devoted to idolatry, Hiram himself was raised +to Heaven like Enoch."[286] + +How did this Rabbinic legend find its way into Freemasonry? Advocates of +the Roman Collegia theory explain it in the following manner. + +After the building of the Temple of Solomon the masons who had been +engaged in the work were dispersed and a number made their way to +Europe, some to Marseilles, some perhaps to Rome, where they may have +introduced Judaic legends to the Collegia, which then passed on to the +Comacini Masters of the seventh century and from these to the mediæval +working guilds of England, France, and Germany. It is said that during +the Middle Ages a story concerning the Temple of Solomon was current +amongst the _compagnonnages_ of France. In one of these groups, known as +"the children of Solomon," the legend of Hiram appears to have existed +much in its present form; according to another group the victim of the +murder was not Hiram Abiff, but one of his companions named Maître +Jacques, who, whilst engaged with Hiram on the construction of the +Temple, met his death at the hands of five wicked Fellow Crafts, +instigated by a sixth, the Père Soubise.[287] + +But the date at which this legend originated is unknown. Clavel thinks +that the "Hebraic mysteries" existed as early as the Roman Collegia, +which he describes as largely Judaized[288]; Yarker expresses precisely +the opposite view: "It is not so difficult to connect Freemasonry with +the Collegia; the difficulty lies in attributing Jewish traditions to +the Collegia, and we say on the evidence of the oldest charges that such +traditions had no existence in Saxon times."[289] Again: "So far as +this country is concerned, we know nothing from documents of a Masonry +dating from Solomon's Temple until after the Crusades, when the +constitution believed to have been sanctioned by King Athelstan +gradually underwent a change."[290] In a discussion which took place +recently at the Quatuor Coronati Lodge the Hiramic legend could only be +traced back--and then without absolute certainty--to the fourteenth +century, which would coincide with the date indicated by Yarker.[291] + +Up to this period the lore of the masonic guilds appears to have +contained only the exoteric doctrines of Egypt and Greece--which may +have reached them through the Roman Collegia, whilst the traditions of +Masonry are traced from Adam, Jabal, Tubal Cain, from Nimrod and the +Tower of Babel, with Hermes and Pythagoras as their more immediate +progenitors.[292] These doctrines were evidently in the main geometrical +or technical, and in no sense Cabalistic. There is therefore some +justification for Eckert's statement that "the Judeo-Christian mysteries +were not yet introduced into the masonic corporations; nowhere can we +find the least trace of them. Nowhere do we find any classification, not +even that of masters, fellow-crafts, and apprentices. We observe no +symbol of the Temple of Solomon; all their symbolism relates to masonic +labours and to a few philosophical maxims of morality."[293] The date +at which Eckert, like Yarker, places the introduction of these Judaic +elements is the time of the Crusades. + +But whilst recognizing that modern Craft Masonry is largely founded on +the Cabala, it is necessary to distinguish between the different +Cabalas. For by this date no less than three Cabalas appear to have +existed: firstly, the ancient secret tradition of the patriarchs handed +down from the Egyptians through the Greeks and Romans, and possibly +through the Roman Collegia to the Craft Masons of Britain; secondly, the +Jewish version of this tradition, the first Cabala of the Jews, in no +way incompatible with Christianity, descending from Moses, David and +Solomon to the Essenes and the more enlightened Jews; and thirdly, the +perverted Cabala, mingled by the Rabbis with magic, barbaric +superstitions, and--after the death of Christ--with anti-Christian +legends. + +Whatever Cabalistic elements were introduced into Craft Masonry at the +time of the Crusades appear to have belonged to the second of these +traditions, the unperverted Cabala of the Jews, known to the Essenes. +There are, in fact, striking resemblances betwen Freemasonry and +Essenism--degrees of initiation, oaths of secrecy, the wearing of the +apron, and a certain masonic sign; whilst to the Sabeist traditions of +the Essenes may perhaps be traced the solar and stellar symbolism of the +lodges.[294] The Hiramic legend may have belonged to the same tradition. + + + +The Templar Tradition + + +If then no documentary evidence can be brought forward to show that +either the Solomonic legend or any traces of Judaic symbolism and +traditions existed either in the monuments of the period or in the +ritual of the masons before the fourteenth century, it is surely +reasonable to recognize the plausibility of the contention put forward +by a great number of masonic writers--particularly on the +Continent--that the Judaic elements penetrated into Masonry by means of +the Templars.[295] The Templars, as we have already seen, had taken +their name from the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. What then more +likely than that during the time they had lived there they had learnt +the Rabbinical legends connected with the Temple? According to George +Sand, who was deeply versed in the history of secret societies, the +Hiramic legend was adopted by the Templars as symbolic of the +destruction of their Order. "They wept over their impotence in the +person of Hiram. The word lost and recovered is their empire...."[296] +The Freemason Ragon likewise declares that the catastrophe they lamented +was the catastrophe that destroyed their Order.[297] Further, the Grand +Master whose fate they deplored was Jacques du Molay. Here then we have +two bodies in France at the same period, the Templars and the +_compagnonnages_, both possessing a legend concerning the Temple of +Solomon and both mourning a Maître Jacques who had been barbarously put +to death. If we accept the possibility that the Hiramic legend existed +amongst the masons before the Crusades, how are we to explain this +extraordinary coincidence? It is certainly easier to believe that the +Judaic traditions were introduced to the masons by the Templars and +grafted on to the ancient lore that the masonic guilds had inherited +from the Roman Collegia. + +That some connexion existed between the Templars and the working masons +is indicated by the new influence that entered into building at this +period. A modern Freemason comparing "the beautifully designed and +deep-cut marks of the true Gothic period, say circa 1150-1350," with +"the careless and roughly executed marks, many of them mere scratches, +of later periods," points out that "the Knights Templars rose and fell +with that wonderful development of architecture." The same writer goes +on to show that some of the most important masonic symbols, the +equilateral triangle and the Mason's square surmounting two pillars, +came through from Gothic times.[298] Yarker asserts that the level, the +flaming star, and the Tau cross which have since passed into the +symbolism of Freemasonry may be traced to the Knights Templar, as also +the five-pointed star in Salisbury Cathedral, the double triangle in +Westminster Abbey, Jachin and Boaz, the circle and the pentagon in the +masonry of the fourteenth century. Yarker cites later, in 1556, the eye +and crescent moon, the three stars and the ladder of five steps, as +further evidences of Templar influence.[299] "The Templars were large +builders, and Jacques du Molay alleged the zeal of his Order in +decorating churches in the process against him in 1310; hence the +alleged connexion of Templary and Freemasonry is bound to have a +substratum of truth."[300] + +Moreover, according to a masonic tradition, an alliance definitely took +place between the Templars and the masonic guilds at this period. During +the proceedings taken against the Order of the Temple in France it is +said that Pierre d'Aumont and seven other Knights escaped to Scotland in +the guise of working masons and landed in the Island of Mull. On St. +John's Day, 1307, they held their first chapter. Robert Bruce then took +them under his protection, and seven years later they fought under his +standard at Bannockburn against Edward II, who had suppressed their +Order in England. After this battle, which took place on St. John the +Baptist's Day in summer (June 24), Robert Bruce is said to have +instituted the Royal Order of H.R.M. (Heredom) and Knights of the +R.S.Y.C.S. (Rosy Cross).[301] These two degrees now constitute the Royal +Order of Scotland, and it seems not improbable that in reality they were +brought to Scotland by the Templars. Thus, according to one of the early +writers on Freemasonry, the degree of the Rose-Croix originated with the +Templars in Palestine as early as 1188[302]; whilst the Eastern origin +of the word Heredom, supposed to derive from a mythical mountain on an +island south of the Hebrides[303] where the Culdees practised their +rites, is indicated by another eighteenth-century writer, who traces it +to a Jewish source.[304] In this same year of 1314 Robert Bruce is said +to have united the Templars and the Royal Order of H.R.M. with the +guilds of working masons, who had also fought in his army, at the famous +Lodge of Kilwinning, founded in 1286,[305] which now added to its name +that of Heredom and became the chief seat of the Order.[306] Scotland +was essentially a home of operative masonry, and, in view of the +Templar's prowess in the art of building, what more natural than that +the two bodies should enter into an alliance? Already in England the +Temple is said between 1155 and 1199 to have administered the +Craft.[307] It is thus at Heredom of Kilwinning, "the Holy House of +Masonry"--"Mother Kilwinning," as it is still known to Freemasons--that +a speculative element of a fresh kind may have found its way into the +lodges. Is it not here, then, that we may see that "fruitful union +between the professional guild of mediæval masons and a secret group of +philosophical Adepts" alluded to by Count Goblet d'Aviella and described +by Mr. Waite in the following words: + + The mystery of the building guilds--whatever it may be held to have + been--was that of a simple, unpolished, pious, and utilitarian + device; and this daughter of Nature, in the absence of all + intention on her own part, underwent, or was coerced into one of + the strangest marriages which has been celebrated in occult + history. It so happened that her particular form and figure lent + itself to such a union, etc.[308]? + +Mr. Waite with his usual vagueness does not explain when and where this +marriage took place, but the account would certainly apply to the +alliance between the Templars and Scottish guilds of working masons, +which, as we have seen, is admitted by masonic authorities, and presents +exactly the conditions described, the Templars being peculiarly fitted +by their initiation into the legend concerning the building of the +Temple of Solomon to co-operate with the masons, and the masons being +prepared by their partial initiation into ancient mysteries to receive +the fresh influx of Eastern tradition from the Templars. + +A further indication of the Templar influence in Craft Masonry is the +system of degrees and initiations. The names of Entered Apprentice, +Fellow Craft, and Master Mason are said to have derived from +Scotland,[309] and the analogy between these and the degrees of the +Assassins has already been shown. Indeed, the resemblance between the +outer organization of Freemasonry and the system of the Ismailis is +shown by many writers. Thus Dr. Bussell observes: "No doubt together +with some knowledge of geometry regarded as an esoteric trade secret, +many symbols to-day current did pass down from very primitive times. But +a more certain model was the Grand Lodge of the Ismailis in Cairo"--that +is to say the Dar-ul-Hikmat.[310] Syed Ameer Ali also expresses the +opinion that "Makrisi's account of the different degrees of initiation +adopted in this lodge forms an invaluable record of Freemasonry. In +fact, the lodge at Cairo became the model of all the Lodges created +afterwards in Christendom."[311] Mr. Bernard Springett, a Freemason, +quoting this passage, adds: "In this last assertion I am myself greatly +in agreement."[312] + +It is surely therefore legitimate to surmise that this system penetrated +to Craft Masonry through the Templars, whose connexion with the +Assassins--offshoot of the Dar-ul-Hikmat--was a matter of common +knowledge. + +The question of the Templar succession in Freemasonry forms perhaps the +most controversial point in the whole history of the Roman Collegia +theory, Continental Masons more generally accepting it, and even +glorying in it.[313] Mackey, in his _Lexicon of Freemasonry_, thus sums +up the matter: + + The connexion between the Knights Templar and the Freemasons has + been repeatedly asserted by the enemies of both institutions, and + has often been admitted by their friends. Lawrie, on this subject, + holds the following language: "We know that the Knights Templar not + only possessed the mysteries but performed the ceremonies and + inculcated the duties of Freemasons," and he attributes the + dissolution of the Order to the discovery of their being Freemasons + and their assembling in secret to practise the rites of the + Order.[314] + +This explains why Freemasons have always shown indulgence to the +Templars. + + It was above all Freemasonry [says Findel], which--because it + falsely held itself to be a daughter of Templarism--took the + greatest pains to represent the Order of the Templars as innocent + and therefore free from all mystery. For this purpose not only + legends and unhistorical facts were brought forward, but + manœuvres were also resorted to in order to suppress the truth. + The masonic reverers of the Temple Order bought up the whole + edition of the _Actes du Procès_ of Moldenhawer, because this + showed the guilt of the Order; only a few copies reached the + booksellers.... Already several decades before ... the Freemasons + in their unhistorical efforts had been guilty of real forgery. + Dupuy had published his _History of the Trial of the Templars_ as + early as 1654 in Paris, for which he had made use of the original + of the _Actes du Procès_, according to which the guilt of the Order + leaves no room for doubt.... But when in the middle of the + eighteenth century several branches of Freemasonry wished to recall + the Templar Order into being, the work of Dupuy was naturally very + displeasing. It had already been current amongst the public for a + hundred years, so it could no longer be bought; therefore they + falsified it.[315] + +Accordingly in 1751 a reprint of Dupuy's work appeared with the addition +of a number of notes and remarks and mutilated in such a way as to prove +not the guilt but the innocence of the Templars. + +Now, although British Masonry has played no part in these intrigues, the +question of the Templar succession has been very inadequately dealt with +by the masonic writers of our country. As a rule they have adopted one +of two courses--either they have persistently denied connexion with the +Templars or they have represented them as a blameless and cruelly +maligned Order. But in reality neither of these expedients is necessary +to save the honour of British Masonry, for not even the bitterest enemy +of Masonry has ever suggested that British masons have adopted any +portion of the Templar heresy. The Knights who fled to Scotland may have +been perfectly innocent of the charges brought against their Order; +indeed, there is good reason to believe this was the case. Thus the +_Manuel des Chevaliers de l'Ordre du Temple_ relates the incident in the +following manner: + + After the death of Jacques du Molay, some Scottish Templars having + become apostates, at the instigation of Robert Bruce ranged + themselves under the banners of a new Order[316] instituted by this + prince and in which the receptions were based on those of the Order + of the Temple. It is there that we must seek the origin of Scottish + Masonry and even that of the other masonic rites. The Scottish + Templars were excommunicated in 1324 by Larmenius, who declared + them to be _Templi desertores_ and the Knights of St. John of + Jerusalem, _Dominiorum Militiæ spoliatores_, placed for ever + outside the pale of the Temple: _Extra girum Templi, nunc et in + futurum, volo, dico et jubeo._ A similar anathema has since been + launched by several Grand Masters against Templars who were + rebellious to legitimate authority. From the schism that was + introduced into Scotland a number of sects took birth.[317] + +This account forms a complete exoneration of the Scottish Templars; as +apostates from the bogus Christian Church and the doctrines of Johannism +they showed themselves loyal to the true Church and to the Christian +faith as formulated in the published statutes of their Order. What they +appear, then, to have introduced to Masonry was their manner of +reception, that is to say their outer forms and organization, and +possibly certain Eastern esoteric doctrines and Judaic legends +concerning the building of the Temple of Solomon in no way incompatible +with the teaching of Christianity. + +It will be noticed, moreover, that in the ban passed by the _Ordre du +Temple_ on the Scottish Templars the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem +are also included. This is a further tribute to the orthodoxy of the +Scottish Knights. For to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem--to whom +the Templar property was given--no suspicion of heresy had ever +attached. After the suppression of the Order of the Temple in 1312 a +number of the Knights joined themselves to the Knights of St. John of +Jerusalem, by whom the Templar system appears to have been purged of its +heretical elements. As we shall see later, the same process is said to +have been carried out by the Royal Order of Scotland, All this suggests +that the Templars had imported a secret doctrine from the East which was +capable either of a Christian or an anti-Christian interpretation, that +through their connexion with the Royal Order of Scotland and the Knights +of St. John of Jerusalem this Christian interpretation was preserved, +and finally that it was this pure doctrine which passed into +Freemasonry. According to early masonic authorities, the adoption of the +two St. Johns as the patron saints of Masonry arose, not from Johannism, +but from the alliance between the Templars and the Knights of St. John +of Jerusalem.[318] + +It is important to remember that the theory of the Templar connexion +with Freemasonry was held by the Continental Freemasons of the +eighteenth century, who, living at the time the Order was reconstituted +on its present basis, were clearly in a better position to know its +origins than we who are separated from that date by a distance of two +hundred years. But since their testimony first comes to light at the +period of the upper degrees, in which the Templar influence is more +clearly visible than in Craft Masonry, it must be reserved for a later +chapter. Before passing on to this further stage in the history of the +Craft, it is necessary to consider one more link in the chain of the +masonic tradition--the "Holy Vehm." + + + +The Vehmgerichts[319] + + +These dread tribunals, said to have been established by Charlemagne in +772[320] in Westphalia, had for their avowed object the establishment of +law and order amidst the unsettled and even anarchic conditions that +then reigned in Germany. But by degrees the power arrogated to itself by +the "Holy Vehm" became so formidable that succeeding emperors were +unable to control its workings and found themselves forced to become +initiates from motives of self-protection. During the twelfth century +the Vehmgerichts, by their continual executions, had created a veritable +"Red Terror," so that the East of Germany was known as the Red Land. In +1371, says Lecouteulx de Canteleu, a fresh impetus was given to the +"Holy Vehm" by a number of the Knights Templar who, on the dissolution +of their Order, had found their way to Germany and now sought admission +to the Secret Tribunals.[321] How much of Templar lore passed into the +hand of the Vehmgerichts it is impossible to know, but there is +certainly a resemblance between the methods of initiation and +intimidation employed by the Vehms and those described by certain of the +Templars, still more between the ceremony of the Vehms and the ritual of +Freemasonry. + +Thus the members of the Vehms, known as the _Wissende_ (or Enlightened), +were divided into three degrees of initiation: the Free Judges, the +veritable Free Judges, and the Holy Judges of the Secret Tribunal. The +candidate for initiation was led blindfold before the dread Tribunal, +presided over by a _Stuhlherr_ (or master of the chair) or his +substitute, a _Freigraf_, with a sword and branch of willow at his side. +The initiate was then bound by a terrible oath not to reveal the secrets +of the "Holy Vehm," to warn no one of danger threatening them by its +decrees, to denounce anyone, whether father, mother, brother, sister, +friend, or relation, if such a one had been condemned by the Tribunal. +After this he was given the password and grip by which the confederates +recognized each other. In the event of his turning traitor or revealing +the secrets confided to him his eyes were bandaged, his hands tied +behind his back, and his tongue was torn out through the back of his +neck, after which he was hanged by the feet till he was dead, with the +solemn imprecation that his body should be given as a prey to the birds +of the air. + +It is difficult to believe that the points of resemblance with modern +masonic ritual[322] which may here be discerned can be a mere matter of +coincidence, yet it would be equally unreasonable to trace the origins +of Freemasonry to the Vehmgerichts. Clearly both derived from a common +source, either the old pagan traditions on which the early Vehms were +founded or the system of the Templars. The latter seems the more +probable for two reasons: firstly, on account of the resemblance between +the methods of the Vehmgerichts and the Assassins, which would be +explained if the Templars formed the connecting link; and secondly, the +fact that in contemporary documents the members of the Secret Tribunals +were frequently referred to under the name of Rose-Croix.[323] Now, +since, as we have seen, the degree of the Rosy Cross is said to have +been brought to Europe by the Templars, this would account for the +persistence of the name in the Vehmgerichts as well as in the +Rosicrucians of the seventeenth century, who are said to have continued +the Templar tradition. Thus Templarism and Rosicrucianism appear to have +been always closely connected, a fact which is not surprising since both +derive from a common source--the traditions of the near East. + +This brings us to an alternative theory concerning the channel through +which Eastern doctrines, and particularly Cabalism, found their way into +Freemasonry. For it must be admitted that one obstacle to the complete +acceptance of the theory of the Templar succession exists, namely, that +although the Judaic element cannot be traced further back than the +Crusades, neither can it with certainty be pronounced to have come into +existence during the three centuries that followed after. Indeed, before +the publication of Anderson's "Constitutions" in 1723 there is no +definite evidence that the Solomonic legend had been incorporated into +the ritual of British Masonry. So although the possession of the legend +by the _compagnonnages_ of the Middle Ages would tend to prove its +antiquity, there is always the possibility that it was introduced by +some later body of adepts than the Templars. According to the partisans +of a further theory, these adepts were the Rosicrucians. + + + +Rosicrucian Origin + + +One of the earliest and most eminent precursors of Freemasonry is said +to have been Francis Bacon. As we have already seen, Bacon is recognized +to have been a Rosicrucian, and that the secret philosophical doctrine +he professed was closely akin to Freemasonry is clearly apparent in his +_New Atlantis_. The reference to the "Wise Men of the Society of +Solomon's House" cannot be a mere coincidence. The choice of +Atlantis--the legendary island supposed to have been submerged by the +Atlantic Ocean in the remote past--would suggest that Bacon had some +knowledge of a secret tradition descending from the earliest patriarchs +of the human race, whom, like the modern writer Le Plongeon, he imagined +to have inhabited the Western hemisphere and to have been the +predecessors of the Egyptian initiates. Le Plongeon, however, places +this early seat of the mysteries still further West than the Atlantic +Ocean, in the region of Mayax and Yucatan.[324] + +Bacon further relates that this tradition was preserved in its pure form +by certain of the Jews, who, whilst accepting the Cabala, rejected its +anti-Christian tendencies. Thus in this island of Bensalem there are +Jews "of a far differing disposition from the Jews in other parts. For +whereas they hate the name of Christ, and have a secret inbred rancour +against the people amongst whom they live; these contrariwise give unto +our Saviour many high attributes," but at the same time they believe +"that Moses by a secret Cabala ordained the laws of Bensalem which they +now use, and that when the Messiah should come and sit on His throne at +Jerusalem, the King of Bensalem should sit at His feet, whereas other +kings should keep at a great distance." This passage is of particular +interest as showing that Bacon recognized the divergence between the +ancient secret tradition descending from Moses and the perverted Jewish +Cabala of the Rabbis, and that he was perfectly aware of the tendency +even among the best of Jews to turn the former to the advantage of the +Messianic dreams. + +Mrs. Pott, who in her _Francis Bacon and his Secret Society_ sets out to +prove that Bacon was the founder of Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry, +ignores all the previous history of the secret tradition. Bacon was not +the originator but the inheritor of the ideas on which both these +societies were founded. And the further contention that Bacon was at the +same time the author of the greatest dramas in the English language and +of _The Chymical Marriage of Christian Rosengreutz_ is manifestly +absurd. Nevertheless, Bacon's influence amongst the Rosicrucians is +apparent; Heydon's _Voyage to the Land of the Rosicrucians_ is in fact a +mere plagiarism of Bacon's _New Atlantis_. + +Mrs. Pott seems to imagine that by proclaiming Bacon to have been the +founder or even a member of the Order of Freemasonry she is revealing a +great masonic secret which Freemasons have conspired to keep dark. But +why should the Craft desire to disown so illustrious a progenitor or +seek to conceal his connexion with the Order if any such existed? +Findel, indeed, frankly admits that the _New Atlantis_ contained +unmistakable allusions to Freemasonry and that Bacon contributed to its +final transformation.[325] This was doubtless brought about largely by +the English Rosicrucians who followed after. To suggest then that +Freemasonry originated with the Rosicrucians is to ignore the previous +history of the secret tradition. Rosicrucianism was not the beginning +but a link in the long chain connecting Freemasonry with far earlier +secret associations. The resemblance between the two Orders admits of no +denial. Thus Yarker writes: "The symbolic tracing of the Rosicrucians +was a Square Temple approached by seven steps ... here also we find the +two pillars of Hermes, the five-pointed star, sun and moon, compasses, +square and triangle." Yarker further observes that "even Wren was more +or less a student of Hermeticism, and if we had a full list of +Freemasons and Rosicrucians we should probably be surprised at the +numbers who belonged to both systems."[326] + +Professor Bühle emphatically states that "Freemasonry is neither more +nor less than Rosicrucianism as modified by those who transplanted it +into England." Chambers, who published his famous _Cyclopædia_ in 1728, +observes: "Some who are no friends to Freemasonry, make the present +flourishing society of Freemasons a branch of _Rosicrucians_, or rather +the Rosicrucians themselves under a new name or relation, viz. as +retainers to building. And it is certain there are some Freemasons who +have all the characters of Rosicrucians." + +The connexion between Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism is, however, a +question hardly less controversial than that of the connexion between +Freemasonry and Templarism. + +Dr. Mackey violently disputes the theory. "The Rosicrucians," he writes, +"as this brief history indicates, had no connexion whatever with the +masonic fraternity. Notwithstanding this fact, Barruel, the most +malignant of our revilers, with a characteristic spirit of +misrepresentation, attempted to identify the two institutions."[327] +But the aforesaid "brief history" indicates nothing of the kind, and the +reference to Barruel as a malignant reviler for suggesting a connexion, +which, as we have seen, many Freemasons admit, shows on which side this +"spirit of misrepresentation" exists. It is interesting, however, to +note that in the eyes of certain masonic writers connexion with the +Rosicrucians is regarded as highly discreditable; the fraternity would +thus appear to have been less blameless than we have been taught to +believe. Mr. Waite is equally concerned with proving that there "is no +traceable connexion between Masonry and Rosicrucianism," and he goes on +to explain that Freemasonry was never a learned society, that it never +laid claim to "any transcendental secrets of alchemy and magic, or to +any skill in medicine," etc.[328] + +The truth may lie between the opposing contentions of Prof. Bühle and +his two masonic antagonists. The Freemasons were clearly, for the +reasons given by Mr. Waite, not a mere continuation of the Rosicrucians, +but more likely borrowed from the Rosicrucians a part of their system +and symbols which they adapted to their own purpose. Moreover, the +incontrovertible fact is that in the list of English Freemasons and +Rosicrucians we find men who belonged to both Orders and amongst these +two who contributed largely to the constitutions of English Freemasonry. + +The first of these is Robert Fludd, whom Mr. Waite describes as "the +central figure of Rosicrucian literature, ... an intellectual giant, ... +a man of immense erudition, of exalted mind, and, to judge by his +writings, of extreme personal sanctity. Ennemoser describes him as one +of the most distinguished disciples of Paracelsus...."[329] Yarker adds +this clue: "In 1630 we find Fludd, the chief of the Rosicrucians, using +architectural language, and there is proof that his Society was divided +into degrees, and from the fact that the Masons' Company of London had +a copy of the Masonic Charges 'presented by Mr. fflood' we may suppose +that he was a Freemason before 1620."[330] + +A still more important link is Elias Ashmole, the antiquary, astrologer, +and alchemist, founder of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, who was born +in 1617. An avowed Rosicrucian, and as we have seen, also a Freemason, +Ashmole displayed great energy in reconstituting the Craft; he is said +to have perfected its organization, to have added to it further mystic +symbols, and according to Ragon, it was he who drew up the ritual of the +existing three Craft degrees--Entered Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and +Master Mason--which was adopted by Grand Lodge in 1717. Whence did these +fresh inspirations come but from the Rosicrucians? For, as Ragon also +informs us, in the year that Ashmole was received into Freemasonry the +Rosicrucians held their meeting in the same room at Mason Hall![331] + +How, then, can it be said that there was "no traceable connexion between +Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism?" and why should it be the part of a +"malignant reviler" to connect them? It is not suggested that +Rosicrucians, such as Fludd or Ashmole, imported any magical elements +into Freemasonry, but simply the system and symbols of the Rose-Croix +with a certain degree of esoteric learning. That Rosicrucianism forms an +important link in the chain of the secret tradition is therefore +undeniable. + + + +The Seventeenth-Century Rabbis + + +There is, however, a third channel through which the Judaic legends of +Freemasonry may have penetrated to the Craft, namely, the Rabbis of the +seventeenth century. The Jewish writer Bernard Lazare has declared that +"there were Jews around the cradle of Freemasonry,"[332] and if this +statement is applied to the period preceding the institution of Grand +Lodge in 1717 it certainly finds confirmation in fact. Thus it is said +that in the preceding century the coat-of-arms now used by Grand Lodge +had been designed by an Amsterdam Jew, Jacob Jehuda Leon Templo, +colleague of Cromwell's friend the Cabalist, Manasseh ben Israel.[333] +To quote Jewish authority on this question, Mr. Lucien Wolf writes that +Templo "had a monomania for ... everything relating to the Temple of +Solomon and the Tabernacle of the Wilderness. He constructed gigantic +models of both these edifices."[334] These he exhibited in London, +which he visited in 1675 and earlier, and it seems not unreasonable to +conclude that this may have provided a fresh source of inspiration to +the Freemasons who framed the masonic ritual some forty years later. At +any rate, the masonic coat-of-arms still used by Grand Lodge of England +is undoubtedly of Jewish design. + +"This coat," says Mr. Lucien Wolf, "is entirely composed of Jewish +symbols," and is "an attempt to display heraldically the various forms +of the Cherubim pictured to us in the second vision of Ezekiel--an Ox, a +Man, a Lion, and an Eagle--and thus belongs to the highest and most +mystical domain of Hebrew symbolism."[335] + +In other words, this vision, known to the Jews as the "Mercaba,"[336] +belongs to the Cabala, where a particular interpretation is placed on +each figure so as to provide an esoteric meaning not perceptible to the +uninitiated.[337] The masonic coat-of-arms is thus entirely Cabalistic; +as is also the seal on the diplomas of Craft Masonry, where another +Cabalistic figure, that of a man and woman combined, is reproduced.[338] + +Of the Jewish influence in Masonry after 1717 I shall speak later. + +To sum up, then, the origins of the system we now know as Freemasonry +are not to be found in one source alone. The twelve alternative sources +enumerated in the _Masonic Cyclopædia_ and quoted at the beginning of +this chapter may all have contributed to its formation. Thus Operative +Masonry may have descended from the Roman Collegia and through the +operative masons of the Middle Ages, whilst Speculative Masonry may have +derived from the patriarchs and the mysteries of the pagans. But the +source of inspiration which admits of no denial is the Jewish Cabala. +Whether this penetrated to our country through the Roman Collegia, the +_compagnonnages_, the Templars, the Rosicrucians, or through the Jews of +the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, whose activities behind the +scenes of Freemasonry we shall see later, is a matter of speculation. +The fact remains that when the ritual and constitutions of Masonry were +drawn up in 1717, although certain fragments of the ancient Egyptian and +Pythagorean doctrines were retained, the Judaic version of the secret +tradition was the one selected by the founders of Grand Lodge on which +to build up their system. + + + + +6 + +THE GRAND LODGE ERA + + + +Whatever were the origins of the Order we now know as Freemasonry, it is +clear that during the century preceding its reorganization under Grand +Lodge of London the secret system of binding men together for a common +purpose, based on Eastern esoteric doctrines, had been anticipated by +the Rosicrucians. Was this secret system employed, however by any other +body of men? It is certainly easy to imagine how in this momentous +seventeenth century, when men of all opinions were coalescing against +opposing forces--Lutherans combining against the Papacy, Catholics +rallying their forces against invading Protestantism, Republicans +plotting in favour of Cromwell, Royalists in their turn plotting to +restore the Stuarts, finally Royalists plotting against each other on +behalf of rival dynasties--an organization of this kind, enabling one to +work secretly for a cause and to set invisibly vast numbers of human +beings in motion, might prove invaluable to any party. + +Thus, according to certain masonic writers on the Continent, the system +used by the Rosicrucians in their fight against "Popery" was also +employed by the Jesuits for a directly opposite purpose. In the +manuscripts of the Prince of Hesse published by Lecouteulx de Canteleu +it is declared that in 1714 the Jesuits used the mysteries of the +Rose-Croix. Mirabeau also relates that "the Jesuits profited by the +internal troubles of the reign of Charles I to possess themselves of the +symbols, the allegories, and the carpets (tapis) of the Rose-Croix +masons, who were only the ancient order of the Templars secretly +perpetuated. It may be seen by means of what imperceptible innovations +they succeeded in substituting their catechism to the instruction of the +Templars."[339] + +Other Continental writers again assert that Cromwell, the arch-opponent +of the Catholic Church, was "a higher initiate of masonic mysteries," +and used the system for his own elevation to power[340]; further, that +he found himself outdistanced by the Levellers; that this sect, whose +name certainly suggests masonic inspiration, adopted for its symbols the +square and compass,[341] and in its claim of real equality threatened +the supremacy of the usurper. Finally, Elias Ashmole, the Rosicrucian +Royalist, is said to have turned the masonic system against Cromwell, so +that towards the end of the seventeenth century the Order rallied to the +Stuart cause.[342] + +But all this is pure speculation resting on no basis of known facts. The +accusation that the Jesuits used the system of the Rose-Croix as a cover +to political intrigues is referred to by the Rosicrucian Eliphas Lévi as +the outcome of ignorance, which "refutes itself." It is significant to +notice that it emanates mainly from Germany and from the Illuminati; the +Prince of Hesse was a member of the _Stricte Observance_ and Mirabeau an +Illuminatus at the time he wrote the passage quoted above. That in the +seventeenth century certain Jesuits played the part of political +intriguers I suppose their warmest friends will hardly deny, but that +they employed any secret or masonic system seems to me perfectly +incapable of proof. I shall return to this point later, however, in +connexion with the Illuminati. + +As to Cromwell, the only circumstance that lends any colour to the +possibility of his connexion with Freemasonry is his known friendship +for Manasseh ben Israel, the colleague of the Rabbi Templo who designed +the coat-of-arms later adopted by Grand Lodge. If, therefore, the Jews +of Amsterdam were a source of inspiration to the Freemasons of the +seventeenth century, it is not impossible that Cromwell may have been +the channel through which this influence first penetrated. + +In the matter of the Stuarts we are, however, on firm ground with regard +to Freemasonry. That the lodges at the end of the seventeenth century +were Royalist is certain, and there seems good reason to believe that, +when the revolution of 1688 divided the Royalist cause, the Jacobites +who fled to France with James II took Freemasonry with them.[343] With +the help of the French they established lodges in which, it is said, +masonic rites and symbols were used to promote the cause of the Stuarts. +Thus the land of promise signified Great Britain, Jerusalem stood for +London, and the murder of Hiram represented the execution of Charles +I.[344] + +Meanwhile Freemasonry in England did not continue to adhere to the +Stuart cause as it had done under the ægis of Elias Ashmole, and by 1717 +is said to have become Hanoverian. + +From this important date the official history of the present system may +be said to begin; hitherto everything rests on stray documents, of which +the authenticity is frequently doubtful, and which provide no continuous +history of the Order. In 1717 for the first time Freemasonry was +established on a settled basis and in the process underwent a +fundamental change. So far it would seem to have retained an operative +element, but in the transformation that now took place this was entirely +eliminated, and the whole Order was transformed into a middle-and +upper-class speculative body. This _coup d'état_, already suggested in +1703, took place in 1716, when four London lodges of Freemasons met +together at the Apple Tree Tavern in Charles Street, Covent Garden, "and +having put into the chair the oldest Master Mason (now the Master of a +lodge), they constituted themselves a Grand Lodge, _pro tempore_, in due +form." On St. John the Baptist's Day, June 24 of the next year, the +annual assembly and banquet were held at the Goose and Gridiron in St. +Paul's Churchyard, when Mr. Antony Sayer was elected Grand Master and +invested with all the badges of office.[345] + +It is evident from the above account that already in 1717 the +speculative elements must have predominated in the lodges, otherwise we +might expect to find the operative masons taking some part in these +proceedings and expressing their opinion as to whether their association +should pass under the control of men entirely unconnected with the +Craft. But no, the leaders of the new movement all appear to have +belonged to the middle class, nor from this moment do either masons or +architects seem to have played any prominent part in Freemasonry. + +But the point that official history does not attempt to elucidate is +the reason for this decision. Why should the Freemasons of +London--whether they were at this date a speculative or only a +semi-speculative association--have suddenly recognized the necessity of +establishing a Grand Lodge and drawing up a ritual and "Constitution"? +It is evident, then, that some circumstances must have arisen which led +them to take this important step. I would suggest that the following may +be the solution to the problem. + +Freemasonry, as we have seen, was a system that could be employed in any +cause and had now come to be used by intriguers of every kind--and not +only by intriguers, but by merely convivial bodies, "jolly Brotherhoods +of the Bottle," who modelled themselves on masonic associations.[346] +But the honest citizens of London who met and feasted at the Goose and +Gridiron were clearly not intriguers, they were neither Royalist nor +Republican plotters, neither Catholic nor Lutheran fanatics, neither +alchemists nor magicians, nor can it be supposed that they were simply +revellers. If they were political, they were certainly not supporters of +the Stuarts; on the contrary, they were generally reported to have been +Hanoverian in their sympathies, indeed Dr. Bussell goes so far as to say +that Grand Lodge was instituted to support the Hanoverian dynasty.[347] +It would be perhaps nearer the truth to conclude that if they were +Hanoverian it was because they were constitutional, and the Hanoverian +dynasty having now been established they wished to avoid further +changes. In a word, then, they were simply men of peace, anxious to put +an end to dissensions, who, seeing the system of Masonry utilized for +the purpose of promoting discord, determined to wrest it from the hands +of political intriguers and restore it to its original character of +brotherhood, though not of brotherhood between working masons only, but +between men drawn from all classes and professions. By founding a Grand +Lodge in London and drawing up a ritual and "Constitutions," they hoped +to prevent the perversion of their signs and symbols and to establish +the Order on a settled basis. + +According to Nicolai this pacific purpose had already animated English +Freemasons under the Grand Mastership of Sir Christopher Wren: "Its +principal object from this period was to moderate the religious hatreds +so terrible in England during the reign of James II and to try and +establish some kind of concord or fraternity, by weakening as far as +possible the antagonisms arising from the differences of religions, +ranks, and interests." An eighteenth-century manuscript of the Prince of +Hesse quoted by Lecouteulx de Canteleu expresses the view that in 1717 +"_the mysteries of Freemasonry were reformed and purified in England of +all political tendencies_." + +In the matter of religion, Craft Masonry adopted an equally +non-sectarian attitude. The first "Constitutions" of the Order, drawn up +by Dr. Anderson in 1723, contain the following paragraph: + + Concerning God and Religion + + A Mason is obliged, by his tenure, to obey the moral Law; and if he + rightly understands the Art, he will never be a stupid Atheist, nor + an irreligious Libertine. But though in ancient Times Masons were + charged in every Country to be of the Religion of that Country or + Nation, whatever it was, yet, 'tis now thought more expedient only + to oblige them to that Religion in which all men agree, leaving + their particular Opinions to themselves; that is to be good Men and + true, or Men of Honour and Honesty, by whatever Denominations or + Persuasions they may be distinguish'd; whereby Masonry becomes the + Centre of Union and the Means of Conciliating true Friendship among + Persons that must have remained at a perpetual Distance. + +The phrase "that Religion in which all men agree" has been censured by +Catholic writers as advocating a universal religion in the place of +Christianity. But this by no means follows. The idea is surely that +Masons should be men adhering to that law of right and wrong common to +all religious faiths. Craft Masonry may thus be described as Deist in +character, but not in the accepted sense of the word which implies the +rejection of Christian doctrines. If Freemasonry had been Deist in this +sense might we not expect to find some connexion between the founders of +Grand Lodge and the school of Deists--Toland, Bolingbroke, Woolston, +Hume, and others--which flourished precisely at this period? Might not +some analogy be detected between the organization of the Order and the +Sodalities described in Toland's _Pantheisticon_, published in 1720? But +of this I can find no trace whatever. The principal founders of Grand +Lodge were, as we have seen, clergymen, both engaged in preaching +Christian doctrines at their respective churches.[348] It is surely +therefore reasonable to conclude that Freemasonry at the time of its +reorganization in 1717 was Deistic only in so far that it invited men to +meet together on the common ground of a belief in God. Moreover, some of +the early English rituals contain distinctly Christian elements. Thus +both in _Jachin and Boaz_ (1762) and _Hiram or the Grand Master Key to +the Door of both Antient and Modern Freemasonry by a Member of the Royal +Arch_ (1766) we find prayers in the lodges concluding with the name of +Christ. These passages were replaced much later by purely Deistic +formulas under the Grand Mastership of the free-thinking Duke of Sussex +in 1813. + +But in spite of its innocuous character, Freemasonry, merely by reason +of its secrecy, soon began to excite alarm in the public mind. As early +as 1724 a work entitled _The Grand Mystery of the Freemasons Discovered_ +had provoked an angry remonstrance from the Craft[349]; and when the +French edict against the Order was passed, a letter signed "Jachin" +appeared in _The Gentleman's Magazine_ declaring the "Freemasons who +have lately been suppressed not only in France but in Holland" to be "a +dangerous Race of Men": + + No Government ought to suffer such clandestine Assemblies where + Plots against the State may be carried on, under the Pretence of + Brotherly Love and good Fellowship. + +The writer, evidently unaware of possible Templar traditions, goes on to +observe that the sentinel placed at the door of the lodge with a drawn +sword in his hand "is not the only mark of their being a military +Order"; and suggests that the title of Grand Master is taken in +imitation of the Knights of Malta. "Jachin," moreover, scents a Popish +plot: + + They not only admit Turks, Jews, Infidels, but even Jacobites, + non-jurors and Papists themselves ... how can we be sure that + those Persons who are known to be well affected, are let into all + their Mysteries? They make no scruple to acknowledge that there is + a Distinction between Prentices and Master Masons and who knows + whether they may not have an higher Order of Cabalists, who keep + the Grand Secret of all entirely to themselves?[350] + +Later on in France, the Abbé Pérau published his satires on Freemasonry, +_Le Secret des Francs-Maçons_ (1742), _L'Ordre des Francs-Maçons trahi +et le Secret des Mopses révélé_, (1745), and _Les Francs-Maçons écrasés_ +(1746)[351] and in about 1761 another English writer said to be a Mason +brought down a torrent of invective on his head by the publication of +the ritual of the Craft Degrees under the name of _Jachin and +Boaz_.[352] + +It must be admitted that from all this controversy no party emerges in a +very charitable light, Catholics and Protestants alike indulging in +sarcasms and reckless accusations against Freemasonry, the Freemasons +retorting with far from brotherly forbearance.[353] But, again, one must +remember that all these men were of their age--an age which seen through +the eyes of Hogarth would certainly not appear to have been +distinguished for delicacy. It should be noted, however, when one reads +in masonic works of the "persecutions" to which Freemasonry has been +subjected, that aggression was not confined only to the one side in the +conflict; moreover, that the Freemasons at this period were divided +amongst themselves and expressed with regard to opposing groups much the +same suspicions that non-Masons expressed with regard to the Order as a +whole. For the years following after the suppression of Masonry in +France were marked by the most important development in the history of +the modern Order--the inauguration of the Additional Degrees. + + + +The Additional Degrees + + +The origin and inspiration of the additional degrees has provoked hardly +less controversy in masonic circles than the origin of Masonry itself. +It should be explained that Craft Masonry, or Blue Masonry--that is to +say, the first three degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and +Master Mason of which I have attempted to trace the history--were the +only degrees recognized by Grand Lodge at the time of its foundation in +1717 and still form the basis of all forms of modern Masonry. On this +foundation were erected, somewhere between 1740 and 1743, the degree of +the Royal Arch and the first of the series of upper degrees now known as +the Scottish Rite or as the Ancient and Accepted Rite. The acceptance or +rejection of this superstructure has always formed a subject of violent +controversy between Masons, one body affirming that Craft Masonry is the +only true and genuine Masonry, the other declaring that the real object +of Masonry is only to be found in the higher degrees. It was this +controversy, centring round the Royal Arch degree, that about the middle +of the eighteenth century split Masonry into opposing camps of Ancients +and Moderns, the Ancients declaring that the R.A. was "the Root, Heart, +and Marrow of Freemasonry,"[354] the Moderns rejecting it. Although +worked by the Ancients from 1756 onwards, this degree was definitely +repudiated by Grand Lodge in 1792,[355] and only in 1813 was officially +received into English Freemasonry. + +The R.A. degree, which is said nevertheless to be contained in embryo in +the 1723 Book of Constitutions,[356] is purely Judaic--a glorification +of Israel and commemorating the building of the second Temple. That it +was derived from the Jewish Cabala seems probable, and Yarker, +commenting on the phrase in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ quoted +above--"Who knows whether they (the Freemasons) have not a higher order +of Cabalists, who keep the Grand Secret of all entirely to +themselves"--observes: "It looks very like an intimation of the Royal +Arch degree,"[357] and elsewhere he states that "the Royal Arch degree, +when it had the Three Veils, must have been the work, even if by +instruction, of a Cabalistic Jew about 1740, and from this time we may +expect to find a secret tradition grafted upon Anderson's system."[358] + +Precisely in this same year of 1740 Mr. Waite says that "an itinerant +pedlar of the Royal Arch degree is said to have propagated it in +Ireland, claiming that it was practised at York and London,"[359] and +in 1744 a certain Dr. Dassigny wrote that the minds of the Dublin +brethren had been lately disturbed about Royal Arch Masonry owing to the +activities in Dublin of "a number of traders or hucksters in pretended +Masonry," whom the writer connects with "Italians" or the "Italic +Order." + +A Freemason quoting this passage in a recent discussion on the upper +degrees expresses the opinion that these hucksters were "Jacobite +emissaries disguised under the form of a pretended Masonry," and that +"by Italians and Italian Order he intends a reference to the Court of +King James III, i.e. the Old Pretender at Rome, and to the Ecossais +(Italic) Order of Masonry."[360] It is much more likely that he had +referred to another source of masonic instruction in Italy which I shall +indicate in a later chapter. + +But precisely at the moment when it is suggested that the Jacobites were +intriguing to introduce the Royal Arch degree into Masonry they are also +said to have been engaged in elaborating the "Scottish Rite." Let us +examine this contention. + + + +Freemasonry in France + + +The foundation of Grand Lodge in London had been followed by the +inauguration of Masonic Lodges on the Continent--in 1721 at Mons, in +1725 in Paris, in 1728 at Madrid, in 1731 at The Hague, in 1733 at +Hamburg, etc. Several of these received their warrant from the Grand +Lodge of England. But this was not the case with the Grand Lodge of +Paris, which did not receive a warrant till 1743. + +The men who founded this lodge, far from being non-political, were +Jacobite leaders engaged in active schemes for the restoration of the +Stuart dynasty. The leader of the group, Charles Radcliffe, had been +imprisoned with his brother, the ill-fated Lord Derwentwater who was +executed on Tower Hill in 1716. Charles had succeeded in escaping from +Newgate and made his way to France, where he assumed the title of Lord +Derwentwater, although the Earldom had ceased to exist under the +bill of attainder against his brother.[361] It was this Lord +Derwentwater--afterwards executed for taking part in the 1745 +rebellion--who with several other Jacobites is said to have founded the +Grand Lodge of Paris in 1725, and himself to have become Grand Master. + +The Jacobite character of the Paris lodge is not a matter of dispute. +Mr. Gould relates that "the colleagues of Lord Derwentwater are stated +to have been a Chevalier Maskeline, a Squire Heguerty, and others, all +partisans of the Stuarts."[362] But he goes on to contest the theory +that they used Freemasonry in the Stuart cause, which he regards as +amounting to a charge of bad faith. This is surely unreasonable. The +founders of Grand Lodge in Paris did not derive from Grand Lodge in +London, from which they held no warrant,[363] but, as we have seen, took +their Freemasonry with them to France before Grand Lodge of London was +instituted; they were therefore in no way bound by its regulations. And +until the Constitutions of Anderson were published in 1723 no rule had +been laid down that the Lodges should be non-political. In the old days +Freemasonry had always been Royalist, as we see from the ancient charges +that members should be "true liegemen of the King"; and if the adherents +of James Edward saw in him their rightful sovereign, they may have +conceived that they were using Freemasonry for a lawful purpose in +adapting it to his cause. So although we may applaud the decision of the +London Freemasons to purge Freemasonry of political tendencies and +transform it into a harmonious system of brotherhood, we cannot accuse +the Jacobites in France of bad faith in not conforming to a decision in +which they had taken no part and in establishing lodges on their own +lines. + +Unfortunately, however, as too frequently happens when men form secret +confederacies for a wholly honourable purpose, their ranks were +penetrated by confederates of another kind. It has been said in an +earlier chapter that, according to the documents produced by the _Ordre +du Temple_ in the early part of the nineteenth century, the Templars had +never ceased to exist in spite of their official suppression in 1312, +and that a line of Grand Masters had succeeded each other in unbroken +succession from Jacques du Molay to the Duc de Cossé-Brissac, who was +killed in 1792. The Grand Master appointed in 1705 is stated to have +been Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, later the Regent. Mr. Waite has expressed +the opinion that all this was an invention of the late eighteenth +century, and that the Charter of Larmenius was fabricated at this date +though not published until 1811 by the revived _Ordre du Temple_ under +the Grand Master, Fabré Palaprat. But evidence points to a contrary +conclusion. M. Matter, who, as we have seen, disbelieves the story of +the _Ordre du Temple_ and the authenticity of the Charter of Larmenius +in so far as it professes to be a genuine fourteenth-century document, +nevertheless asserts that the _savants_ who have examined it declare it +to date from the early part of the eighteenth century, at which period +Matter believes the Gospel of St. John used by the Order to have been +arranged so as "to accompany the ceremonies of some masonic or secret +society." Now, it was about 1740 that a revival of Templarism took place +in France and Germany; we cannot therefore doubt that if Matter is right +in this hypothesis, the secret society in question was that of the +Templars, whether they existed as lineal descendants of the +twelfth-century Order or merely as a revival of that Order. The +existence of the German Templars at this date under the name of the +_Stricte Observance_ (which we shall deal with in a further chapter) is +indeed a fact disputed by no one; but that there was also an _Ordre du +Temple_ in France at the very beginning of the eighteenth century must +be regarded as highly probable. Dr. Mackey, John Yarker, and Lecouteulx +de Canteleu (who, owing to his possession of Templar documents, had +exclusive sources of information) all declare this to have been the case +and accept the Charter of Larmenius as authentic. "It is quite certain," +says Yarker, "that there was at this period in France an _Ordre du +Temple_, with a charter from John Mark Larmenius, who claimed +appointment from Jacques du Molay. Philippe of Orléans accepted the +Grand Mastership in 1705 and signed the Statutes."[364] + +Without, however, necessarily accepting the Charter of Larmenius as +authentic let us examine the probability of this assertion with regard +to the Duc d'Orléans. + +Amongst the Jacobites supporting Lord Derwentwater at the Grand Lodge of +Paris was a certain Andrew Michael Ramsay, known as Chevalier Ramsay, +who was born at Ayr near the famous Lodge of Kilwinning, where the +Templars are said to have formed their alliance with the masons in 1314. +In 1710 Ramsay was converted to the Roman Catholic faith by Fénelon and +in 1724 became tutor to the sons of the Pretender at Rome. Mr. Gould has +related that during his stay in France, Ramsay had formed a friendship +with the Regent, Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, who was Grand Master of the +_Ordre de Saint-Lazare_, instituted during the Crusades as a body of +Hospitallers devoting themselves to the care of the lepers and which in +1608 had been joined to the _Ordre du Mont-Carmel_. It seems probable +from all accounts that Ramsay was a Chevalier of this Order, but he +cannot have been admitted into it by the Duc d'Orléans, for the Grand +Master of the Ordre de Saint-Lazare was not the Duc d'Orléans but the +Marquis de Dangeau, who, on his death in 1720, was succeeded by the son +of the Regent, the Duc de Chartres.[365] If, then, Ramsay was admitted +to any Order by the Regent, it was surely the _Ordre du Temple_, of +which the Regent is said to have been the Grand Master at this date. + +Now, the infamous character of the Duc d'Orléans is a matter of common +knowledge; moreover, during the Regency--that period of impiety and +moral dissolution hitherto unparalleled in the history of France--the +chief of council was the Duc de Bourbon, who later placed his mistress +the Marquise de Prie and the financier Paris Duverney at the head of +affairs, thus creating a scandal of such magnitude that he was exiled +in 1726 through the influence of Cardinal Fleury. This Duc de Bourbon in +1737 is said to have become Grand Master of the Temple. "It was thus," +observes de Canteleu, "that these two Grand Masters of the Temple +degraded the royal authority and ceaselessly increased hatred against +the government." + +It would therefore seem strange that a man so upright as Ramsay appears +to have been, who had moreover but recently been converted to the +Catholic Church, should have formed a friendship with the dissolute +Regent of France, unless there had been some bond between them. But here +we have a possible explanation--Templarism. Doubtless during Ramsay's +youth at Kilwinning many Templar traditions had come to his knowledge, +and if in France he found himself befriended by the Grand Master +himself, what wonder that he should have entered into an alliance which +resulted in his admission to an Order he had been accustomed to revere +and which, moreover, was represented to him as the _fons et origo_ of +the masonic brotherhood to which he also belonged? It is thus that we +find Ramsay in the very year that the Duc de Bourbon is said to have +been made Grand Master of the Temple artlessly writing to Cardinal +Fleury asking him to extend his protection to the society of Freemasons +in Paris and enclosing a copy of the speech which he was to deliver on +the following day, March 21, 1737. It is in this famous oration that for +the first time we find Freemasonry traced to the Crusades: + + At the time of the Crusades in Palestine many princes, lords, and + citizens associated themselves, and vowed to restore the Temple of + the Christians in the Holy Land, and to employ themselves in + bringing back their architecture to its first institution. They + agreed upon several ancient signs and symbolic words drawn from the + well of religion in order to recognize themselves amongst the + heathens and Saracens. These signs and words were only communicated + to those who promised solemnly, and even sometimes at the foot of + the altar, never to reveal them. This sacred promise was therefore + not an execrable oath, as it has been called, but a respectable + bond to unite Christians of all nationalities into one + confraternity. Some time afterwards our Order formed an intimate + union with the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. From that time our + Lodges took the name of Lodges of St. John.[366] + +This speech of Ramsay's has raised a storm of controversy amongst +Freemasons because it contains a very decided hint of a connexion +between Templarism and Freemasonry. Mr. Tuckett, in the paper referred +to above, points out that only the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem are +here mentioned,[367] but Ramsay distinctly speaks of "our Order" forming +a union with the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, and we know that the +Templars did eventually form such a union. The fact that Ramsay does not +mention the Templars by name admits of a very plausible explanation. It +must be remembered that, as Mr. Gould has shown, a copy of the oration +was enclosed by Ramsay in his letter to Cardinal Fleury appealing for +royal protection to be extended to Freemasonry; it is therefore hardly +likely that he would have proclaimed a connexion between the Order he +was anxious to present in the most favourable light and one which had +formerly been suppressed by King and Pope. Moreover, if the Charter of +Larmenius is to be believed, the newly elected Grand Master of the +Temple was the Duc de Bourbon, who had already incurred the Cardinal's +displeasure. Obviously, therefore, Templar influence was kept in the +background. This is not to imply bad faith on the part of Ramsay, who +doubtless held the Order of Templars to be wholly praiseworthy; but he +could not expect the King or Cardinal to share his view, and therefore +held it more prudent to refer to the progenitors of Freemasonry under +the vague description of a crusading body. Ramsay's well-meant effort +met, however, with no success. Whether on account of this unlucky +reference by which the Cardinal may have detected Templar influence or +for some other reason, the appeal for royal protection was not only +refused, but the new Order, which hitherto Catholics had been allowed to +enter, was now prohibited by Royal edict. In the following year, 1738, +the Pope, Clement XII, issued a bull, _In Eminenti_, banning +Freemasonry and excommunicating Catholics who took part in it. + +But this prohibition appears to have been without effect, for +Freemasonry not only prospered but soon began to manufacture new +degrees. And in the masonic literature of the following thirty years the +Templar tradition becomes still more clearly apparent. Thus the +Chevalier de Bérage in a well-known pamphlet, of which the first edition +is said to have appeared in 1747,[368] gives the following account of +the origins of Freemasonry: + + This Order was instituted by Godefroi de Bouillon in Palestine in + 1330,[369] after the decadence of the Christian armies, and was + only communicated to the French Masons some time after and to a + very small number, as a reward for the obliging services they + rendered to several of our English and Scottish Knights, from whom + true Masonry is taken. Their Metropolitan Lodge is situated on the + Mountain of Heredom where the first Lodge was held in Europe and + which exists in all its splendour. The General Council is still + held there and it is the seal of the Sovereign Grand Master in + office. This mountain is situated between the West and North of + Scotland at sixty miles from Edinburgh. + +Apart from the historical confusion of the first sentence, this passage +is of interest as evidence that the theory of a connexion between +certain crusading Knights and the Lodge of Heredom of Kilwinning was +current as early as 1747. The Baron Tschoudy in his _Étoile +Flamboyante_, which appeared in 1766, says that the crusading origin of +Freemasonry is the one officially taught in the lodges, where candidates +for initiation are told that several Knights who had set forth to rescue +the holy places of Palestine from the Saracens "formed an association +under the name of Free Masons, thus indicating that their principal +desire was the reconstruction of the Temple of Solomon," that, further, +they adopted certain signs, grips, and passwords as a defence against +the Saracens, and finally that "our Society ... fraternized on the +footing of an Order with the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, from +which it is apparent that the Freemasons borrowed the custom of +regarding St. John as the patron of the whole Order in general."[370] +After the crusades "the Masons kept their rites and methods and in this +way perpetuated the royal art by establishing lodges, first in England, +then in Scotland," etc.[371] + +In this account, therefore, Freemasonry is represented as having been +instituted for the defence of Christian doctrines. De Bérage expresses +the same view and explains that the object of these Crusaders in thus +binding themselves together was to protect their lives against the +Saracens by enveloping their sacred doctrines in a veil of mystery. For +this purpose they made use of Jewish symbolism, which they invested with +a Christian meaning. Thus the Temple of Solomon was used to denote the +Church of Christ, the bough of acacia signified the Cross, the square +and the compass the union between the Old and New Testaments, etc. So +"the mysteries of Masonry were in their principle, and are still, +nothing else than those of the Christian religion."[372] + +Baron Tschoudy, however, declares that all this stops short of the +truth, that Freemasonry originated long before the Crusades in +Palestine, and that the real "ancestors, fathers, authors of the Masons, +those illustrious men of whom I will not say the date nor betray the +secret," were a "disciplined body" whom Tschoudy describes by the name +of "the Knights of the Aurora and Palestine." After "the almost total +destruction of the Jewish people" these "Knights" had always hoped to +regain possession of the domains of their fathers and to rebuild the +Temple, and they carefully preserved their "regulations and particular +liturgy," together with a "sublime treatise" which was the object of +their continual study and of their philosophical speculations. Tschoudy +further relates that they were students of the "occult sciences," of +which alchemy formed a part, and that they had "abjured the principles +of the Jewish religion in order to follow the lights of the Christian +faith." At the time of the Crusades the Knights of Palestine came out +from the desert of the Thebaïd, where they had remained hidden, and +joined to themselves some of the crusaders who had remained in +Jerusalem. Declaring that they were the descendants of the masons who +had worked on the Temple of Solomon, they professed to concern +themselves with "speculative architecure," which served to disguise a +more glorious point of view. From this time they took the name of Free +Masons, presented themselves under this title to the crusading armies +and assembled under their banners.[373] + +It would of course be absurd to regard any of the foregoing accounts as +historical facts; the important point is that they tend to prove the +fallacy of supposing that the Johannite-Templar theory originated with +the revived _Ordre du Temple_, since one corresponding to it so closely +was current in the middle of the preceding century. It is true that in +these earlier accounts the actual words "Johannite" and "Templar" do not +occur, but the resemblance between the sect of Jews professing the +Christian faith but possessing a "particular liturgy" and a "sublime +treatise"--apparently some early form of the Cabala--dealing with occult +science, and the Mandæans or Johannites with their Cabalistic "Book of +Adam," their Book of John, and their ritual, is at once apparent. +Further, the allusions to the connexion between the Knights who had been +indoctrinated in the Holy Land and the Scottish lodges coincides exactly +with the Templar tradition, published not only by the _Ordre du Temple_ +but handed down in the Royal Order of Scotland. + +From all this the following facts stand out: (1) that whilst British +Craft Masonry traced its origin to the operative guilds of masons, the +Freemasons of France from 1737 onwards placed the origin of the Order in +crusading chivalry; (2) that it was amongst these Freemasons that the +upper degrees known as the Scottish Rite arose; and (3) that, as we +shall now see, these degrees clearly suggest Templar inspiration. + +The earliest form of the upper degrees appears to have been the one +given by de Bérage, as follows: + + 1. Parfait Maçon Élu. + 2. Élu de Perignan. + 3. Élu des Quinze. + 4. Petit Architecte. + 5. Grand Architecte. + 6. Chevalier de l'Épée et de Rose-Croix. + 7. Noachite ou Chevalier Prussien. + +The first of these to make its appearance is believed to have been the +one here assigned to the sixth place. This degree known in modern +Masonry as "Prince of the Rose-Croix of Heredom or Knight of the Pelican +and Eagle" became the eighteenth and the most important degree in what +was later called the Scottish Rite, or at the present time in England +the Ancient and Accepted Rite. + +Why was this Rite called Scottish? "It cannot be too strongly insisted +on," says Mr. Gould, "that all Scottish Masonry has nothing whatever to +do with the Grand Lodge of Scotland, nor, with one possible +exception--that of the Royal Order of Scotland--did it ever originate in +that country."[374] But in the case of the Rose-Croix degree there is +surely some justification for the term in legend, if not in proven fact, +for, as we have already seen, according to the tradition of the Royal +Order of Scotland this degree had been contained in it since the +fourteenth century, when the degrees of H.R.M. (Heredom) and R.S.Y.C.S. +(Rosy Cross) are said to have been instituted by Robert Bruce in +collaboration with the Templars after the battle of Bannockburn. Dr. +Mackey is one of the few Masons who admit this probable affiliation, and +in referring to the tradition of the Royal Order of Scotland observes: +"From that Order it seems to us by no means improbable that the present +degree of Rose-Croix de Heredom may have taken its origin."[375] + +But the Rose-Croix degree, like the Templar tradition from which it +appears to have descended, is capable of a dual interpretation, or +rather of a multiple interpretation, for no degree in Masonry has been +subject to so many variations. That on the Continent it had descended +through the Rosicrucians in an alchemical form seems more than probable. +It would certainly be difficult to believe that a degree of R.S.Y.C.S. +was imported from the East and incorporated in the Royal Order of +Scotland in 1314; that by a mere coincidence a man named Christian +Rosenkreutz was--according to the Rosicrucian legend--born in the same +century and transmitted a secret doctrine he had discovered in the East +to the seventeenth-century Brethren of the Rosy Cross; and finally, +that a degree of the Rose-Croix was founded in circ. 1741 without any +connexion existing between these succeeding movements. Even if we deny +direct affiliation, we must surely admit a common source of inspiration +producing, if not a continuation, at any rate a periodic revival of the +same ideas. Dr. Oliver indeed admits affiliation between the +seventeenth-century fraternity and the eighteenth-century degree, and +after pointing out that the first indication of the Rose-Croix degree +appears in the _Fama Fraternitatis_ in 1613, goes on to say: + + It was known much sooner, although not probably as a degree in + Masonry, for it existed as a cabalistic science from the earliest + times in Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as well as amongst the Jews and + Moors in times more recent, and in our own country the names of + Roger Bacon, Fludd, Ashmole, and many others are found in its list + of adepts.[376] + +Dr. Mackey, quoting this passage, observes that "Oliver confounds the +masonic Rose-Croix with the alchemical Rosicrucians," and proceeds to +give an account of the Rose-Croix degree as worked in England and +America, which he truly describes as "in the strictest sense a Christian +degree."[377] But the point Dr. Mackey overlooks is that this is only +one version of the degree, which, as we shall see later, has been and +still is worked in a very different manner on the Continent. + +It is, however, certain that the version of the Rose-Croix degree first +adopted by the Freemasons of France in about 1741 was not only so +Christian but so Catholic in character as to have given rise to the +belief that it was devised by the Jesuits in order to counteract the +attacks of which Catholicism was the object.[378] In a paper on the +Additional Degrees Mr. J.S. Tuckett writes: + + There is undeniable evidence that in their _earliest forms_ the + Ecossais or Scots Degrees were Roman Catholic; I have a MS. Ritual + in French of what I believe to be the _original_ Chev. de l'Aigle + or S∴P∴D∴R∴C∴ (Souverain Prince de Rose-Croix) and in it the New + Law is declared to be "la foy Catholique," and the Baron Tschoudy + in his _L'Étoile Flamboyante_ of 1766 describes the same Degree as + "le Catholicisme mis en grade" (Vol. I. p. 114). I suggest that + Ecossais or Scots Masonry was intended to be a Roman Catholic as + well as a Stuart form of Freemasonry, in which none but those + devoted to both Restorations were to be admitted.[379] + +But is it necessary to read this political intention into the degree? If +the tradition of the Royal Order of Scotland is to be believed, the idea +of the Rose-Croix degree was far older than the Stuart cause, and dated +back to Bannockburn, when the degree of Heredom with which it was +coupled was instituted in order "to correct the errors and reform the +abuses which had crept in among the three degrees of St. John's +Masonry," and to provide a "Christianized form of the Third Degree," +"purified of the dross of paganism and even of Judaism."[380] Whether +the antiquity attributed to these degrees can be proved or not, it +certainly appears probable that the legend of the Royal Order of +Scotland had some foundation in fact, and therefore that the ideas +embodied in the eighteenth-century Rose-Croix degree may have been drawn +from the store of that Order and brought by the Jacobites to France. At +the same time there is no evidence in support of the statement made by +certain Continental writers that Ramsay actually instituted this or any +of the upper degrees. On the contrary, in his Oration he expressly +states that Freemasonry is composed of the Craft degrees only: + + We have amongst us three kinds of brothers: Novices or Apprentices, + Fellows or Professed Brothers, Masters or Perfected Brethren. To + the first are explained the moral virtues; to the second the heroic + virtues; to the last the Christian virtues.... + +It might be said then that the Rose-Croix degree was here foreshadowed +in the Masters' degree, in that the latter definitely inculcated +Christianity. This would be perfectly in accord with Ramsay's point of +view as set forth in his account of his conversion by Fénelon. When he +first met the Archbishop of Cambrai in 1710, Ramsay relates that he had +lost faith in all Christian sects and had resolved to "take refuge in a +wise Deism limited to respect for the Divinity and for the immutable +ideas of pure virtue," but that his conversation with Fénelon led him to +accept the Catholic faith. And he goes on to show that "Monsieur de +Cambrai turned Atheists into Deists, Deists into Christians, and +Christians into Catholics by a sequence of ideas full of enlightenment +and feeling."[381] + +Might not this be the process which Ramsay aimed at introducing into +Freemasonry--the process which in fact does form part of the masonic +system in England to-day, where the Atheist must become, at least by +profession, a Deist before he can be admitted to the Craft Degrees, +whilst the Rose-Croix degree is reserved solely for those who profess +the Christian faith? Such was undoubtedly the idea of the men who +introduced the Rose-Croix degree into France; and Ragon, who gives an +account of this "Ancien Rose-Croix Francais"--which is almost identical +with the degree now worked in England, but long since abandoned in +France--objects to it on the very score of its Christian character.[382] + +In this respect the Rose-Croix amongst all the upper degrees introduced +to France in the middle of the eighteenth century stands alone, and it +alone can with any probability be attributed to Scottish Jacobite +inspiration. It was not, in fact, until three or four years after Lord +Derwentwater or his mysterious successor Lord Harnouester[383] had +resigned the Grand Mastership in favour of the Duc d'Antin in 1738 that +the additional degrees were first heard of, and it was not until eight +years after the Stuart cause had received its death-blow at Culloden, +that is to say, in 1754, that the Rite of Perfection in which the +so-called Scots Degrees were incorporated was drawn up in the following +form: + + Rite of Perfection + + 1. Entered Apprentice. + 2. Fellow Craft. + 3. Master Mason. + 4. Secret Master. + 5. Perfect Master. + 6. Intimate Secretary. + 7. Intendant of the Buildings. + 8. Provost and Judge. + 9. Elect of Nine. + 10. Elect of Fifteen. + 11. Chief of the Twelve Tribes. + 12. Grand Master Architect. + 13. Knight of the Ninth Arch. + 14. Ancient Grand Elect. + 15. Knight of the Sword. + 16. Prince of Jerusalem. + 17. Knight of the East and West. + 18. Rose-Croix Knight. + 19. Grand Pontiff. + 20. Grand Patriarch. + 21. Grand Master of the Key of Masonry. + 22. Prince of Libanus or Knight of the Royal Axe. + 23. Sovereign Prince Adept. + 24. Commander of the Black and White Eagle. + 25. Commander of the Royal Secret.[384] + +We have only to glance at the nomenclature of the last twenty-two of +these degrees to see that on the basis of mere operative Masonry there +has been built up a system composed of two elements: crusading chivalry +and Judaic tradition. What else is this but Templarism? Even Mr. Gould, +usually so reticent on Templar influence, admits it at this period: + + In France ... some of the Scots lodges would appear to have very + early manufactured new degrees, connecting these very distinguished + Scots Masons with the Knights Templar, and thus given rise to the + subsequent flood of Templarism. The earliest of all are supposed to + have been the Masons of Lyons who invented the Kadosch degree, + representing the vengeance of the Templars, in 1741. From that time + new rites multiplied in France and Germany, but all those of French + origin contain Knightly, and almost all, Templar grades. In every + case the connecting link was composed of one or more Scots + degrees.[385] + +The name Kadosch here mentioned is a Hebrew word signifying "holy" or +"consecrated," which in the Cabala is found in conjunction with the +Tetragrammaton.[386] The degree is said to have developed from that of +Grand Elect,[387] one of the three "degrees of vengeance" celebrating +with sanguinary realism the avenging of the murder of Hiram. But in its +final form of Knight Kadosch--later to become the thirtieth degree of +the "Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite"--the Hiramic legend was changed +into the history of the Templars with Jacques du Molay as the +victim.[388] So the reprobation of attack on authority personified by +the master-builder becomes approbation of attack on authority in the +person of the King of France. + +The introduction of the upper degrees with their political and, later +on, anti-Christian tendencies thus marked a complete departure from the +fundamental principle of Freemasonry that "nothing concerning the +religion or government shall ever be spoken of in the lodge." For this +reason they have been assailed not only by anti-masonic writers but by +Freemasons themselves.[389] To represent Barruel and Robison as the +enemies of Freemasonry is therefore absolutely false; neither of these +men denounced Craft Masonry as practised in England, but only the +superstructure erected on the Continent. Barruel indeed incurs the +reproaches of Mounier for his championship of English Freemasons: + +He vaunts their respect for religious opinion and for authority. When he +speaks of Freemasons in general they are impious, rebellious successors +of the Templars and Albigenses, but _all those of England are innocent_. +More than this, all the Entered Apprentices, Fellow Crafts, and Master +Masons in all parts of the world are innocent; there are only guilty +ones in the higher degrees, which are not essential to the institution +and are sought by a small number of people.[390] + +In this opinion of Barruel's a great number of Masonic writers +concur--Clavel, Ragon, Rebold, Thory, Findel, and others too numerous to +mention; all indicate Craft Masonry as the only true kind and the upper +degrees as constituting a danger to the Order. Rebold, who gives a list +of these writers, quotes a masonic publication, authorized by the Grand +Orient and the Supreme Council of France, in which it is said that "from +all these rites there result the most foolish conceptions, ... the most +absurd legends, ... the most extravagant systems, the most immoral +principles, and those the most dangerous for the peace and preservation +of States," and that therefore except the first three degrees of +Masonry, which are really ancient and universal, everything is "chimera, +extravagance, futility, and lies."[391] Did Barruel and Robison ever +use stronger language than this? + +To attribute the perversion of Masonry to Jacobite influence would be +absurd. How could it be supposed that either Ramsay or Lord Derwentwater +(who died as a devout Catholic on the scaffold in 1746) could have been +concerned in an attempt to undermine the Catholic faith or the monarchy +of France? I would suggest, then, that the term "Scots Masonry" became +simply a veil for Templarism--Templarism, moreover, of a very different +kind to that from which the original degree of the Rose-Croix was +derived. It was this so-called Scots Masonry that, after the resignation +of Lord Derwentwater, "boldly came forward and claimed to be not merely +a part of Masonry but the real Masonry, possessed of superior knowledge +and entitled to greater privileges and the right to rule over the +ordinary, i.e. Craft Masonry."[392] The Grand Lodge of France seems, +however, to have realized the danger of submitting to the domination of +the Templar element, and on the death of the Duc d'Antin and his +replacement by the Comte de Clermont in 1743, signified its adherence to +English Craft Masonry by proclaiming itself Grande Loge _Anglaise_ de +France and reissued the "Constitutions" of Anderson, first published in +1723, with the injunction that the Scots Masters should be placed on the +same level as the simple Apprentices and Fellow Crafts and allowed to +wear no badges of distinction.[393] + +Grand Lodge of England appears to have been reassured by this +proclamation as to the character of French Freemasonry, for now, in +1743, it at last delivered a warrant to Grand Lodge of France. Yet in +reality it was from this moment that French Freemasonry degenerated the +most rapidly. The Order was soon invaded by intriguers. This was +rendered all the easier by the apathy of the Comte de Clermont, +appointed Grand Master in 1743, who seems to have taken little interest +in the Order and employed a substitute in the person of a dancing master +named Lacorne, a man of low character through whose influence the lodges +fell into a state of anarchy. Freemasonry was thus divided into warring +factions: Lacorne and the crowd of low-class supporters who had followed +him into the lodges founded a Grand Lodge of their own (Grande Loge +Lacorne), and in 1756 the original Freemasons again attempted to make +Craft Masonry the national Masonry of France by deleting the word +"Anglaise" from the appellation of Grand Lodge, and renaming it "Grand +Loge Nationale de France." But many lodges still continue to work the +additional degrees. + +The rivalry between the two groups became so violent that in 1767 the +government intervened and closed down Grand Lodge. + +The Templar group had, however, formed two separate associations, the +"Knights of the East" (1756) and the "Council of the Emperors of the +East and West" (1758). In 1761 a Jew named Stephen Morin was sent to +America by the "Emperors" armed with a warrant from the Duc de Clermont +and Grand Lodge of Paris and bearing the sonorous title of "Grand Elect +Perfect and Sublime Master," with orders to establish a Lodge in that +country. In 1766 he was accused in Grand Lodge of "propagating strange +and monstrous doctrines" and his patent of Grand Inspector was +withdrawn.[394] Morin, however, had succeeded in establishing the Rite +of Perfection. Sixteen Inspectors, nearly all Jews, were now appointed. +These included Isaac Iong, Isaac de Costa, Moses Hayes, B. Spitser, +Moses Cohen, Abraham Jacobs, and Hyman Long. + +Meanwhile in France the closing of Grand Lodge had not prevented +meetings of Lacorne's group, which, on the death of the Duc de Clermont +in 1772, instituted the "Grand Orient" with the Duc de Chartres--the +future "Philippe Égalité"--as Grand Master. The Grand Orient then +invited the Grande Loge to revoke the decree of expulsion and unite with +it, and this offer being accepted, the revolutionary party inevitably +carried all before it, and the Duc de Chartres was declared Grand Master +of all the councils, chapters, and Scotch lodges of France.[395] In 1782 +the "Council of Emperors" and the "Knights of the East" combined to form +the "Grand Chapitre Général de France," which in 1786 joined up with the +Grand Orient. The victory of the revolutionary party was then complete. + +It is necessary to enter into all these tedious details in order to +understand the nature of the factions grouped together under the banner +of Masonry at this period. The Martinist Papus attributes the +revolutionary influences that now prevailed in the lodges to their +invasion by the Templars, and goes on to explain that this was owing to +a change that had taken place in the _Ordre du Temple_. Under the Grand +Mastership of the Regent and his successor the Duc de Bourbon, the +revolutionary elements amongst the Templars had had full play, but from +1741 onwards the Grand Masters of the Order were supporters of the +monarchy. When the Revolution came, the Duc de Cossé-Brissac, who had +been Grand Master since 1776, perished amongst the defenders of the +throne. It was thus that by the middle of the century the Order of the +Temple ceased to be a revolutionary force, and the discontented elements +it had contained, no longer able to find in it a refuge, threw +themselves into Freemasonry, and entering the higher degrees turned them +to their subversive purpose. According to Papus, Lacorne was a member of +the Templar group, and the dissensions that took place were principally +a fight between the ex-Templars and the genuine Freemasons which ended +in the triumph of the former: + + Victorious rebels thus founded the Grand Orient of France. So a + contemporary Mason is able to write: "It is not excessive to say + that the masonic revolution of 1773 was the prelude and the + precursor of the Revolution of 1789." What must be well observed is + the secret action of the Brothers of the Templar Rite. It is they + who are the real fomentors of revolution, the others are only + docile agents.[396] + +But all this attributes the baneful influence of Templarism to the +French Templars alone, and the existence of such a body rests on no +absolutely certain evidence. What is certain and admits of no denial on +the part of any historian, is the inauguration of a Templar Order in +Germany at the very moment when the so-called Scottish degrees were +introduced into French Masonry. We shall now return to 1738 and follow +events that were taking place at this important moment beyond the +Rhine. + + + + +7 + +GERMAN TEMPLARISM AND FRENCH ILLUMINISM + + + +The year after Ramsay's oration--that is to say in 1738--Frederick, +Crown Prince of Prussia, the future Frederick the Great, who for two +years had been carrying on a correspondence with Voltaire, suddenly +evinced a curiosity to know the secrets of Freemasonry which he had +hitherto derided as "Kinderspiel," and accordingly went through a hasty +initiation during the night of August 14-15, whilst passing through +Brunswick.[397] + +The ceremony took place not at a masonic lodge, but at a hotel, in the +presence of a deputation summoned by the Graf von Lippe-Bückeburg from +Grand Lodge of Hamburg for the occasion. It is evident that something of +an unusual kind must have occurred to necessitate these speedy and +makeshift arrangements. Carlyle, in his account of the episode, +endeavours to pass it off as a "very trifling circumstance"--a reason +the more for regarding it as of the highest importance since we know now +from facts that have recently come to light how carefully Carlyle was +spoon-fed by Potsdam whilst writing his book on Frederick the +Great.[398] + +But let us follow Frederick's masonic career. In June 1740, after his +accession to the throne, his interest in Masonry had clearly not waned, +for we find him presiding over a lodge at Charlottenburg, where he +received into the Order two of his brothers, his brother-in-law, and +Duke Frederick William of Holstein-Beck. At his desire the Baron de +Bielfeld and his privy councillor Jordan founded a lodge at Berlin, the +"Three Globes," which by 1746 had no less than fourteen lodges under its +jurisdiction. + +In this same year of 1740 Voltaire, in response to urgent invitations, +paid his first visit to Frederick the Great in Germany. Voltaire is +usually said not to have yet become a Mason, and the date of his +initiation is supposed to have been 1778, when he was received into the +_Loge des Neuf Soeurs_ in Paris. But this by no means precludes the +possibility that he had belonged to another masonic Order at an earlier +date. At any rate, Voltaire's visit to Germany was followed by two +remarkable events in the masonic world of France. The first of these was +the institution of the additional degrees; the second--perhaps not +wholly unconnected with the first--was the arrival in Paris of a masonic +delegate from Germany named von Marschall, who brought with him +instructions for a new or rather a revived Order of Templarism, in which +he attempted to interest Prince Charles Edward and his followers. + +Von Marschall was followed about two years later by Baron von Hunt, who +had been initiated in 1741 into the three degrees of Craft Masonry in +Germany and now came to consecrate a lodge in Paris. According to von +Hundt's own account, he was then received into the Order of the Temple +by an unknown Knight of the Red Plume, in the presence of Lord +Kilmarnock,[399] and was presented as a distinguished Brother to Prince +Charles Edward, whom he imagined to be Grand Master of the Order.[400] +But all this was afterwards shown to be a pure frabrication, for Prince +Charles Edward dened all knowledge of the affair, and von Hundt himself +admitted later that he did not know the name of the lodge or chapter in +which he was received, but that he was directed from "a hidden centre" +and by Unknown Superiors, whose identity he was bound not to +reveal.[401] In reality it appears that von Hundt's account was exactly +the opposite of the truth,[402] and that it was von Hundt who, seconding +von Marschall's effort, tried to enrol Prince Charles Edward in the new +German Order by assuring him that he could raise powerful support for +the Stuart cause under the cover of reorganizing the Templar Order, of +which he claimed to possess the true secrets handed down from the +Knights of the fourteenth century. By way of further rehabilitating the +Order, von Hundt declared that all the accusations brought against it +by Philippe le Bel and the Pope were based on false charges manufactured +by two recreant Knights named Noffodei and Florian as a revenge for +having been deprived of their commands by the Order in consequence of +certain crimes they had committed.[403] According to Lecouteulx de +Canteleu, von Hundt eventually succeeded--after the defeat of +Culloden--in persuading Prince Charles Edward to enter his Order. But +this is extremely doubtful. At any rate, when in 1751 von Hundt +officially founded his new Templar Order under the name of the _Stricte +Observance_, the unfortunate Charles Edward played no part at all in the +scheme. As Mr. Gould has truly observed, "no trace of Jacobite intrigues +ever blended with the teaching of the _Stricte Observance_."[404] + +The _Order of the Stricte Observance_ was in reality a purely German +association composed of men drawn entirely from the intellectual and +aristocratic classes, and, in imitation of the chivalric Orders of the +past, known to each other under knightly titles. Thus Prince Charles of +Hesse became Eques a Leone Resurgente, Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick Eques +a Victoria, the Prussian minister von Bischoffswerder Eques a Grypho, +Baron de Wachter Eques a Ceraso, Christian Bode (Councillor of Legation +in Saxe-Gotha) Eques a Lilio Convallium, von Haugwitz (Cabinet Minister +of Frederick the Great) Eques a Monte Sancto, etc. + +But according to the declarations of the Order the official leaders, +Knights of the Moon, the Star, the Golden Sun, or of the Sacred +Mountain, were simply figure-heads; the real leaders, known as the +"Unknown Superiors," remained in the background, unadorned by titles of +chivalry but exercising supreme jurisdiction over the Order. The system +had been foreshadowed by the "Invisibles" of seventeenth-century +Rosicrucianism; but now, instead of an intangible group whose very +existence was only known vaguely to the world, there appeared in the +light of day a powerful organization led apparently by men of influence +and position yet secretly directed by hidden chiefs.[405] Mirabeau has +described the advent of these mysterious directors in the following +passage: + + In about 1756 there appeared, as if they had come out of the + ground, men sent, they said, by unknown superiors, and armed with + powers to reform the order [of Freemasonry] and re-establish it in + its ancient purity. One of these missionaries, named Johnston, came + to Weimar and Jena, where he established himself. He was received + in the best way in the world by the brothers [Freemasons], who were + lured by the hope of great secrets, of important discoveries which + were never made known to them.[406] + +Now, in the manuscripts of the Prince of Hesse published by Lecouteulx +de Canteleu it is said that this man Johnston, or rather Johnson, who +proclaimed himself to be "Grand Prior of the Order," was a Jew named +Leicht or Leucht.[407] Gould says that his real name was either Leucht +or Becker, but that he professed to be an Englishman, although unable to +speak the English language, hence his assumption of the name +Johnson.[408] Mr. Gould has described Johnson as a "consummate rogue and +an unmitigated vagabond ... of almost repulsive demeanour and of no +education, but gifted with boundless impudence and low cunning." Indeed, +von Hundt himself, after enlisting Johnson's services, found him too +dangerous and declared him to be an adventurer. Johnson was thereupon +arrested by von Hundt's friend the councillor von Pritsch, and thrown +into the castle of Wartburg, where sudden death ended his career. + +It is, however, improbable that Mirabeau could be right in indicating +Johnson as one of the "Unknown Superiors," who were doubtless men of +vaster conceptions than this adventurer appears to have been. Moreover, +the manner of his end clearly proves that he occupied a subordinate +position in the _Stricte Observance_. + +Here, then, we have a very curious sequence of events which it may be +well to recapitulate briefly in order to appreciate their full +significance: + + 1737. Oration of Chevalier Ramsay indicating Templar origin of + Freemasonry, but making no mention of upper degrees. + + 1738. Duc d'Antin becomes Grand Master of French Freemasonry in the + place of Lord "Harnouester." + + 1738. Frederick, Crown Prince of Prussia, initiated into Masonry at + Brunswick. + + 1740. Voltaire pays his first visit to Frederick, now King. + + 1741. Baron von Marschall arrives in Paris with a plan for reviving + the Templar Order. + + Templar degrees first heard of in France under name of "Scots + Masonry." + + 1743. Arrival in France of Baron von Hundt with fresh plans for + reviving the Templar Order. + + Degree of Knight Kadosch celebrating vengeance of Templars said + to have been instituted at Lyons. + + 1750. Voltaire goes to spend three years with Frederick. + + 1751. Templar Order of the Stricte Observance founded by von Hundt. + + 1754. Rite of Perfection (early form of Scottish Rite) founded in + France. + + 1761. Frederick acknowledged head of Scottish Rite. + + " Morin sent to found Rite of Perfection in America. + + 1762. Grand Masonic Constitutions ratified in Berlin.[409] + +It will be seen then that what Mr. Gould describes as "the flood of +Templarism," which both he and Mr. Tuckett attribute to the so-called +Scots Masons,[410] corresponds precisely with the decline of Jacobite +and the rise of German influence. Would it not therefore appear probable +that, except in the case of the Rose-Croix degree, the authors of the +upper degrees were not Scotsmen nor Jacobites, that Scots Masonry was a +term used to cover not merely Templarism but more especially German +Templarism, and that the real author and inspirer of the movement was +Frederick the Great? No, it is significant to find that in the history +of the _Ordre du Temple_, published at the beginning of the nineteenth +century, Frederick the Great is cited as one of the most distinguished +members of this Order in the past,[411] and the Abbé Grégoire adds that +he was "consecrated" at Remersberg (Rheinsberg?) in 1738, that is to say +in the same year that he was initiated into Masonry at Brunswick.[412] +There is therefore a definite reason for connecting Frederick with +Templarism at this date. + +I would suggest, then, that the truth about the Templar succession may +be found in one of the two following theories: + +1. That the documents produced by the _Ordre du Temple_ in the +nineteenth century, including the Charter of Larmenius, were genuine; +that the Order had never ceased to exist since the days of the Crusades; +that the Templar heresy was Johannism, but that this was not held by the +Templars who escaped to Scotland; that the Rose-Croix degree in its +purely Christian form was introduced by the Scottish Templars to +Scotland and four hundred years later brought by Ramsay to France; that +the Master of the Temple at this date was the Regent, Philippe Duc +d'Orléans, as stated in the Charter of Larmenius. Finally, that after +this, fresh Templar degrees were introduced from Germany by von Hundt, +acting on behalf of Frederick the Great. + +2. That the documents produced by the _Ordre du Temple_ in the +nineteenth century were, as M. Matter declares, early eighteenth-century +fabrications; that although, in view of the tradition preserved in the +Royal Order of Scotland, there appears to be good reason to believe the +story of the Scottish Templars and the origin of the Rose-Croix degree, +the rest of the history of the Templars, including the Charter of +Larmenius, was an invention of the "Concealed Superiors" of the _Stricte +Observance_ in Germany, and that the most important of these "Concealed +Superiors" were Frederick the Great and Voltaire. + +I shall not attempt to decide which of these two theories is correct; +all that I do maintain is that in either case the preponderating rôle in +Templarism at this crisis was played by Frederick the Great, probably +with the co-operation of Voltaire, who in his _Essai sur les Mæurs_ +championed the cause of the Templars. Let us follow the reasons for +arriving at this conclusion. + +Ramsay's oration in 1737 connecting Freemasonry with the Templars may +well have come to the ears of Frederick and suggested to him the idea of +using Masonry as a cover for his intrigues--hence his hasty initiation +at Brunswick. But in order to acquire influence in a secret society it +is always necessary to establish a claim to superior knowledge, and +Templarism seemed to provide a fruitful source of inspiration. For this +purpose new light must be thrown on the Order. Now, there was probably +no one better qualified than Voltaire, with his knowledge of the ancient +and medieval world and hatred of the Catholic Church, to undertake the +construction of a historical romance subversive of the Catholic +faith--hence the urgent summons to the philosopher to visit Frederick. +We can imagine Voltaire delving amongst the records of the past in order +to reconstruct the Templar heresy. This was clearly Gnostic, and the +Mandæans or Christians of St. John may well have appeared to present the +required characteristics. If it could be shown that here in Johannism +true "primitive Christianity" was to be found, what a blow for the +"infâme"! A skilful forger could easily be found to fabricate the +documents said to have been preserved in the secret archives of the +Order. Further we find von Marschall arriving in the following year in +France to reorganize the Templars, and von Hundt later claiming to be in +possession of the true secrets of the Order handed down from the +fourteenth century. That some documents bearing on this question were +either discovered or fabricated under the direction of Frederick the +Great seems the more probable from the existence of a masonic tradition +to this effect. Thus Dr. Oliver quotes a Report of the Grand +Inspectors-General in the nineteenth century stating that: + + During the Crusades, at which 27,000 Masons were present, some + masonic MSS. of great importance were discovered among the + descendants of the ancient Jews, and that other valuable documents + were found at different periods down to the year of Light 5557 + (i.e. 1553), at which time a record came to light in Syrian + characters, relating to the most remote antiquity, and from which + it would appear that the world is many thousand years older than + given by the Mosaic account. Few of these characters were + translated till the reign of our illustrious and most enlightened + Brother Frederick II, King of Prussia, whose well-known zeal for + the Craft was the cause of so much improvement in the Society over + which he condescended to preside.[413] + +I suggest, then, that the documents here referred to and containing the +secrets claimed by von Hundt may have been the ones afterwards published +by the _Ordre du Temple_ in the nineteenth century, and that if +unauthentic they were the work of Voltaire, aided probably by a Jew +capable of forging Syriac manuscripts. That Johnson was the Jew in +question seems probable, since Findel definitely asserts that the +history of the continuation of the Order of Knights Templar was his +work.[414] Frederick, as we know, was in the habit of employing Jews to +carry out shady transactions, and he may well have used Johnson to forge +documents as he used Ephraim to coin false money for him. It would be +further quite in keeping with his policy to get rid of the man as soon +as he had served his purpose, lest he should betray his secrets. + +At any rate, whatever were the methods employed by Frederick the Great +for obtaining control over Masonry, the fruitful results of that "very +trifling circumstance," his initiation at Brunswick, become more and +more apparent as the century advances. Thus when in 1786 the Rite of +Perfection was reorganized and rechristened the "Ancient and Accepted +Scottish Rite"--always the same Scottish cover for Prussianism!--it is +said to have been Frederick who conducted operations, drew up the new +Constitutions of the Order, and rearranged the degrees so as to bring +the total number up to thirty-three[415], as follows: + + 26. Prince of Mercy. + 27. Sovereign Commander of the Temple. + 28. Knight of the Sun. + 29. Grand Scotch Knight of St. Andrew. + 30. Grand Elect Knight of Kadosch. + 31. Grand Inspector Inquisitor Commander. + 32. Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret. + 33. Sovereign Grand Inspector-General. + +In the last four degrees Frederick the Great and Prussia play an +important part; in the thirtieth degree of Knight Kadosch, largely +modelled on the Vehmgerichts, the Knights wear Teutonic crosses, the +throne is surmounted by the double-headed eagle of Prussia, and the +President, who is called Thrice Puissant Grand Master, represents +Frederick himself; in the thirty-second degree of Sublime Prince of the +Royal Secret, Frederick is described as the head of Continental +Freemasonry; in the thirty-third degree of Sovereign Grand +Inspector-General the jewel is again the double-headed eagle, and the +Sovereign Grand Commander is Frederick, who at the time this degree was +instituted figured with Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, Grand Master of the +Grand Orient, as his lieutenant. The most important of these innovations +was the thirty-second degree, which was in reality a system rather than +a degree for bringing together the Masons of all countries under one +head--hence the immense power acquired by Frederick. By 1786 French +Masonry was thus entirely Prussianized and Frederick had indeed become +the idol of Masonry everywhere. Yet probably no one ever despised +Freemasonry more profoundly. As the American Mason Albert Pike shrewdly +observed: + + There is no doubt that Frederick came to the conclusion that the + great pretensions of Masonry in the blue degrees were merely + imaginary and deceptive. He ridiculed the Order, and thought its + ceremonies mere child's play; and some of his sayings to that + effect have been preserved. It does not at all follow that he might + not at a later day have found it politic to put himself at the head + of an Order that had become a power....[416] + +It is not without significance to find that in the year following the +official foundation of the _Stricte Observance_, that is to say in 1752, +Lord Holdernesse, in a letter to the British Ambassador in Paris, Lord +Albemarle, headed "Very secret," speaks of "the influence which the King +of Prussia has of late obtained over all the French Councils"; and a few +weeks later Lord Albemarle refers to "the great influence of the +Prussian Court over the French Councils by which they are so blinded as +not to be able to judge for themselves."[417] + +But it is time to turn to another sphere of activity which Masonry +opened out to the ambitions of Frederick. + +The making of the _Encyclopédie_, which even those writers the most +sceptical with regard to secret influences behind the revolutionary +movement admit to have contributed towards the final cataclysm, is a +question on which official history has thrown but little light. +According to the authorized version of the story--as related, for +example, in Lord Morley's work on the Encyclopædists--the plan of +translating Ephraim Chambers's _Cyclopædia_, which had appeared in 1728, +was suggested to Diderot "some fifteen years later" by a French +bookseller named Le Breton. Diderot's "fertile and energetic +intelligence transformed the scheme.... It was resolved to make +Chambers's work a mere starting-point for a new enterprise of far wider +scope." We then go on to read of the financial difficulties that now +beset the publisher, of the embarrassment of Diderot, who "felt himself +unequal to the task of arranging and supervising every department of a +new book that was to include the whole circle of the sciences," of the +fortunate enlisting of d'Alembert as a collaborator, and later of men +belonging to all kinds of professions, "all united in a work that was as +useful as it was laborious, without any view of interest ... without any +common understanding and agreement," further, of the cruel persecutions +encountered at the hands of the Jesuits, "who had expected at least to +have control of the articles on theology," and finally of the tyrannical +suppression of the great work on account of the anti-Christian +tendencies these same articles displayed.[418] + +Now for a further light on the matter. + +In the famous speech of the Chevalier Ramsay already quoted, which was +delivered at Grand Lodge of Paris in 1737, the following passage occurs: + + The fourth quality required in our Order is the taste for useful + sciences and the liberal arts. Thus, the Order exacts of each of + you to contribute, by his protection, liberality, or labour, to a + vast work for which no academy can suffice, because all these + societies being composed of a very small number of men, their work + cannot embrace an object so extended. All the Grand Masters in + Germany, England, Italy, and elsewhere exhort all the learned men + and all the artisans of the Fraternity to unite to furnish the + materials for a Universal Dictionary of all the liberal arts and + useful sciences; excepting only theology and politics. The work has + already been commenced in London, and by means of the unions of our + brothers it may be carried to a conclusion in a few years.[419] + +So after all it was no enterprising bookseller, no brilliantly inspired +philosopher, who conceived the idea of the _Encyclopédie_, but a +powerful international organization able to employ the services of more +men than all the academies could supply, which devised the scheme at +least six years before the date at which it is said to have occurred to +Diderot. Thus the whole story as usually told to us would appear to be a +complete fabrication--struggling publishers, toiling _littérateurs_ +carrying out their superhuman task as "independent men of letters" +without the patronage of the great--which Lord Morley points out as "one +of the most important facts in the history of the Encyclopædia"--writers +of all kinds bound together by no "common understanding or agreement," +are all seen in reality to have been closely associated as "artisans of +the Fraternity" carrying out the orders of their superiors. + +The _Encyclopédie_ was therefore essentially a Masonic publication, and +Papus, whilst erroneously attributing the famous oration and +consequently the plan of the _Encyclopédie_ to the inspiration of the +Duc d'Antin, emphasizes the importance of this fact. Thus, he writes: + + The Revolution manifests itself by two stages: + + 1st. _Intellectual revolution_, by the publication of the + _Encyclopédie_, due to French Freemasonry under the high + inspiration of the Duc d'Antin. + + 2nd. _Occult revolution_ in the Lodges, due in great part to the + members of the Templar Rite and executed by a group of expelled + Freemasons afterwards amnestied.[420] + +The masonic authorship of the _Encyclopédie_ and the consequent +dissemination of revolutionary doctrines has remained no matter of doubt +to the Freemasons of France; on the contrary, they glory in the fact. At +the congress of the Grand Orient in 1904 the Freemason Bonnet declared: + + In the eighteenth century the glorious line of Encyclopædists + formed in our temples a fervent audience which was then alone in + invoking the radiant device as yet unknown to the crowd: "Liberty, + Equality, Fraternity." The revolutionary seed quickly germinated + amidst this _élite_. Our illustrious Freemasons d'Alembert, + Diderot, Helvétius, d'Holbach, Voltaire, Condorcet, completed the + evolution of minds and prepared the new era. And, when the Bastille + fell, Freemasonry had the supreme honour of giving to humanity the + charter (i.e. the Declaration of the Rights of Man) which it had + elaborated with devotion. (_Applause_.) + +This charter, the orator went on to say, was the work of the Freemason +Lafayette, and was adopted by the Constituent Assembly, of which more +than 300 members were Freemasons. + +But in using the lodges to sow the seeds of revolution, the +Encyclopædists betrayed not only the cause of monarchy but of Masonry as +well. It will be noticed that, in conformity with true masonic +principles, Ramsay in his oration expressly stated that the encyclopædia +was to concern itself with the liberal arts and sciences[421] and that +theology and politics were to be excluded from the contemplated scheme. +How, then, did it come to pass that these were eventually the two +subjects to which the Encyclopædists devoted the greatest attention, so +that their work became principally an attack on Church and monarchy? If +Papus was right in attributing this revolutionary tendency to the +_Encyclopédie_ from the time of the famous oration, then Ramsay could +only be set down as the profoundest hypocrite or as the mouthpiece of +hypocrites professing intentions the very reverse of their real designs. +A far more probable explanation seems to be that during the interval +between Ramsay's speech and the date when the _Encyclopédie_ was begun +in earnest, the scheme underwent a change. It will be noticed that the +year of 1746, when Diderot and d'Alembert are said to have embarked on +their task, coincided with the decadence of French Freemasonry under the +Comte de Clermont and the invasion of the lodges by the subversive +elements; thus the project propounded with the best intentions by the +Freemasons of 1737 was filched by their revolutionary successors and +turned to a diametrically opposite purpose. + +But it is not to the dancing-master Lacorne and his middle-class +following that we can attribute the efficiency with which not only the +_Encyclopédie_ but a host of minor revolutionary publications were +circulated all over France. Frederick the Great had seen his +opportunity. If I am right in my surmise that Ramsay's speech had +reached the ears of Frederick, the prospect of the _Encyclopédie_ +contained therein may well have appeared to him a magnificent method for +obtaining a footing in the intellectual circles of France; hence then, +doubtless, an additional reason for his hasty initiation into Masonry, +his summons to Voltaire, and his subsequent overtures to Diderot and +d'Alembert, who, by the time the first volume of the _Encyclopédie_ +appeared in 1751, had both been made members of the Royal Academy of +Prussia. In the following year Frederick offered d'Alembert the +presidency of the Academy in place of Maupertuis, an offer which was +refused; but in 1755 and again in 1763 d'Alembert visited Frederick in +Germany and received his pension regularly from Berlin. It is therefore +not surprising that when the _Encyclopédie_ had reached the letter P, it +included, in an unsigned article on Prussia, a panegyric on the virtues +and the talents of the illustrious monarch who presided over the +destinies of that favoured country. + +The art of Frederick the Great, as of his successors on the throne of +the Hohenzollerns, was to make use of every movement that could further +the design of Prussian supremacy. He used the Freemasons as he used the +philosophers and as he used the Jews, to carry out his great scheme--the +destruction of the French monarchy and of the alliance between France +and Austria. Whilst through his representatives at the Court of France +he was able to create discord between Versailles and Vienna and bring +discredit on Marie Antoinette, through his allies in the masonic lodges +and in the secret societies he was able to reach the people of France. +The gold and the printing presses of Frederick the Great were added to +those of the Orléanistes for the circulation of seditious literature +throughout the provinces.[422] + +So as the century advanced the association founded by Royalists and +Catholics was turned into an engine of destruction by revolutionary +intriguers; the rites and symbols were gradually perverted to an end +directly opposed to that for which they had been instituted, and the two +degrees of Rose-Croix and Knight Kadosch came to symbolize respectively +war on religion and war on the monarchy of France. + +It is no orthodox Catholic but an occultist and Rosicrucian who thus +describes the rôle of Masonry in the Revolution: + + Masonry has not only been profaned but it has been served as a + cover and pretext for the plots of anarchy, by the occult influence + of the avengers of Jacques du Molay and the continuers of the + schismatic work of the Temple. Instead of avenging the death of + Hiram, they have avenged his assassins. The anarchists have taken + the plumb-line, the square, and the mallet and have written on them + liberty, equality, fraternity. That is to say, liberty for + envyings, equality in degradation, fraternity for destruction. + Those are the men whom the Church has justly condemned and that she + will always condemn.[423] + +But it is time to turn to another masonic power which meanwhile had +entered the lists, the Martinistes or French Illuminés. + + + +French Illuminism + + +Whilst Frederick the Great, the Freemasons, the Encyclopædists, and the +Orléanistes were working on the material plane to undermine the Church +and monarchy in France, another cult had arisen which by the middle of +the century succeeded in insinuating itself into the lodges. This was a +recrudescence of the old craze for occultism, which now spread like +wildfire all over Europe from Bordeaux to St. Petersburg. During the +reign of Anna of Courland (1730-40) the Russian Court was permeated with +superstition, and professional magicians and charlatans of every kind +were encouraged. The upper classes of Germany in the eighteenth century +proved equally susceptible to the attractions of the supernatural, and +princes desirous of long life or greater power eagerly pursued the quest +of the Philosopher's Stone, the "Elixir of Life," and evoked spirits +under the direction of occultists in their service. + +In France occultism, reduced to a system, adopted the outer forms of +Masonry as a cover to the propagation of its doctrines. It was in 1754 +that Martines de Pasqually (or Paschalis), a Rose-Croix Mason,[424] +founded his Order of Élus Cohens (Elected Priests), known later as the +_Martinistes_ or the French _Illuminés_. Although brought up in the +Christian faith, Pasqually has been frequently described as a Jew. The +Baron de Gleichen, himself a Martiniste and a member of the Amis +Réunis,[425] throws an interesting light on the matter in this passage: +"Pasqualis was originally Spanish, perhaps of the Jewish race, since +his disciples inherited from him a large number of Jewish +manuscripts."[426] + +It was "this Cabalistic sect,"[427] the Martinistes, which now became +the third great masonic power in France. + +The rite of the Martinistes was broadly divided into two classes, in the +first of which was represented the fall of man and in the second his +final restoration--a further variation on the masonic theme of a loss +and a recovery. After the first three Craft degrees came the Cohen +degrees of the same--Apprentice Cohen, Fellow Craft Cohen, and Master +Cohen--then those of Grand Architect, Grand Elect of Zerubbabel or +Knight of the East: but above these were concealed degrees leading up to +the Rose-Croix, which formed the capstone of the edifice.[428] Pasqually +first established his rite at Marseilles, Toulouse, and Bordeaux, then +in Paris, and before long Martiniste lodges spread all over France with +the centre at Lyons under the direction of Willermoz, a prosperous +merchant living there. From this moment other occult Orders sprang up in +all directions. In 1760 Dom Pernetti founded his sect of "Illuminés +d'Avignon" in that city, declaring himself a high initiate of +Freemasonry and teaching the doctrines of Swedenborg. Later a certain +Chastanier founded the "Illuminés Théosophes," a modified version of +Pernetti's rite; and in 1783 the Marquis de Thomé started a purified +variety of Swedenborgianism under the name of "Rite of Swedenborg." + +Beneath all these occult sects one common source of inspiration is to be +found--the perverted and magical Cabala of the Jews, that conglomeration +of wild theosophical imaginings and barbaric superstitions founded on +ancient pagan cults and added to throughout seventeen centuries by +succeeding generations of Jewish occultists.[429] This influence is +particularly to be detected in the various forms of the Rose-Croix +degree, which in nearly all these associations forms the highest and +most secret degree. The ritual of "the eminent Order of the Knights of +the Black Eagle or Sovereigns of the Rose-Croix," a secret and +unpublished document of the eighteenth century, which differs entirely +from the published rituals, explains that no one can attain to knowledge +of the higher sciences without the "Clavicules de Salomon," of which +the real secrets were never committed to print and which is said to +contain the whole of Cabalistic science.[430] The catechism of this same +degree deals mainly with the transmutation of metals, the Philosopher's +Stone, etc. + +In the Rite of Perfection as worked in France and America this +Cabalistic influence is shown in those degrees known under the name of +the "Ineffable Degrees," derived from the Jewish belief in the mystery +that surrounds the Ineflable Name of God. According to the custom of the +Jews, the sacred name Jehovah or Jah-ve, composed of the four letters +yod, he, vau, he, which formed the Tetragrammaton, was never to be +pronounced by the profane, who were obliged to substitute for it the +word "Adonai." The Tetragrammaton might only be uttered once a year on +the Day of Atonement by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies amid the +sound of trumpets and cymbals, which prevented the people from hearing +it. It is said that in consequence of the people thus refraining from +its utterance, the true pronunciation of the name was at last lost. The +Jews further believed that the Tetragrammaton was possessed of unbounded +powers. "He who pronounces it shakes heaven and earth and inspires the +very angels with astonishment and terror."[431] The Ineffable Name thus +conferred miraculous gifts; it was engraved on the rod of Moses and +enabled him to perform wonders, just as, according to the Toledot Yeshu, +it conferred the same powers on Christ. + +This superstition was clearly a part of Rosicrucian tradition, for the +symbol of the Tetragrammaton within a triangle, adopted by the masonic +lodges, figures in Fludd's Cabalistic system.[432] In the "Ineffable +degrees" it was invested with all the mystic awe by which it is +surrounded in Jewish theology, and, according to early American working: +"Brothers and Companions of these degrees received the name of God as it +was revealed to Enoch and were sworn to pronounce it but once in their +lives." + +In the alchemical version of the Rose-Croix degree referred to above the +Ineffable Name is actually invested with magical powers as in the +Jewish Cabala. Ragon, after describing the Jewish ceremony when the word +Jehovah was pronounced by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies, goes on +to say that "Schem-hamm-phorasch," another term for the Tetragrammaton, +forms the sacred word of a Scotch degree, and that this belief in its +mystic properties "will be found at the head of the instructions for the +third degree of the Knight of the Black Eagle, called Rose-Croix," thus: + + + Q. What is the most powerful name of God on the pentaculum? + A. Adonai. + Q. What is its power? + A. To move the Universe. + + That one of the Knights who had the good fortune to pronounce it + cabalistically would have at his disposal the powers that inhabit + the four elements and the celestial spirits, and would possess all + the virtues possible to man.[433] + +That this form of the Rose-Croix was of purely Jewish origin is thus +clearly evident. In the address to the candidate for initiation into the +Rose-Croix degree at the Lodge of the "Contrat Social" it is stated: + + This degree, which includes an Order of Perfect Masons, was brought + to light by Brother R., who took it from the Kabbalistic treasure + of the Doctor and Rabbi Néamuth, chief of the synagogue of Leyden + in Holland, who had preserved its precious secrets and its costume, + both of which we shall see in the same order in which he placed + them in his mysterious Talmud.[434] + +Now, we know that in the eighteenth century a society of Rosicrucian +magicians had been instituted in Florence which was believed to date +back to the fifteenth century and to have been partly, if not wholly +composed of Orientals, as we shall see in the next chapter; but it seems +probable that this sect, whilst secretly inspiring the Rose-Croix +masons, was itself either nameless or concealed under a disguise. Thus +in 1782 an English Freemason writes: "I have found some rather curious +MSS. in Algiers in Hebrew relating to the society of the Rosicrucians, +which exists at present under another name with the same forms. I hope, +moreover to be admitted to their knowledge."[435] + +It has frequently been argued that Jews can have played no part in +Freemasonry at this period since they themselves were not admitted to +the lodges. But this is by no means certain; in the article from _The +Gentleman's Magazine_ already quoted it is stated that Jews are +admitted; de Luchet further quotes the instance of David Moses Hertz +received in a London lodge in 1787; and the author of _Les Franc-Masons +écrasés_, published in 1746, states that he has seen three Jews received +into a lodge at Amsterdam. In the "Melchisedeck Lodges" of the Continent +non-Christians were openly admitted, and here again the Rose-Croix +degree occupies the most important place. The highest degrees of this +rite were the Initiated Brothers of Asia, the Masters of the Wise, and +the Royal Priests, otherwise known as the degree of Melchisedeck or the +true Brothers of the Rose-Croix. + +This Order, usually described as the _Asiatic Brethren_, of which the +centre was in Vienna and the leader a certain Baron von Eckhoffen, is +said to have been a continuation of the "Brothers of the Golden and Rosy +Cross," a revival of the seventeenth-century Rosicrucians organized in +1710 by a Saxon priest, Samuel Richter, known as Sincerus Renatus. The +real origins of the Asiatic Brethren are, however, obscure and little +literature on the subject is to be found in this country.[436] Their +further title of "the Knights and Brethren of St. John the Evangelist" +suggests Johannite inspiration and was clearly an imposture, since they +included Jews, Turks, Persians, and Armenians. De Luchet, who as a +contemporary was in a position to acquire first-hand information, thus +describes the organization of the Order, which, it will be seen, was +entirely Judaic. "The superior direction is called the small and +constant Sanhedrim of Europe. The names of those employed by which they +conceal themselves from their inferiors are Hebrew. The signs of the +third principal degree (i.e. the Rose-Croix) are Urim and Thummim.... +The Order has the true secrets and the explanations, moral and +physical, of the hierogyphics of the very venerable Order of +Freemasonry."[437] The initiate had to swear absolute submission and +unswerving obedience to the laws of the Order and to follow its laws +implicitly to the end of his life, without asking by whom they were +given or whence they came. + +"Who," asks de Luchet, "gave to the Order these so-called secrets? That +is the great and insidious question for the secret societies. But the +Initiate who remains, and must remain eternally in the Order, never +finds this out, he dare not even ask it, he must promise never to ask +it. In this way those who participate in the secrets of the Order remain +the Masters." + +Again, as in the _Stricte Observance_, the same system of "Concealed +Superiors"--the same blind obedience to unknown directors! + +Under the guidance of these various sects of Illuminés a wave of +occultism swept over France, and lodges everywhere became centres of +instruction on the Cabala, magic, divination, alchemy, and +theosophy[438]; masonic rites degenerated into ceremonies for the +evocation of spirits--women, who were now admitted to these assemblies, +screamed, fainted, fell into convulsions, and lent themselves to +experiments of the most horrible kind.[439] + +By means of these occult practices the _Illuminés_ in time became the +third great masonic power in France, and the rival Orders perceived the +expediency of joining forces. Accordingly in 1771 an amalgamation of all +the masonic groups was effected at the new lodge of the _Amis Réunis_. + +The founder of this lodge was Savalette de Langes, Keeper of the Royal +Treasury, Grand Officer of the Grand Orient, and a high initiate of +Masonry--"versed in all mysteries, in all the lodges, and in all the +plots." In order to unite them he made his lodge a mixture of all +sophistic, Martiniste, and masonic systems, "and as a bait to the +aristocracy organized balls and concerts at which the adepts, male and +female, danced and feasted, or sang of the beauties of their liberty +and equality, little knowing that above them was a secret committee +which was arranging to extend this equality beyond the lodge to rank and +fortune, to castles and to cottages, to marquesses and bourgeois" +alike.[440] + +A further development of the Amis Réunis was the Rite of the +_Philalèthes_, compounded by Savalette de Langes in 1773 out of +Swedenborgian, Martiniste, and Rosicrucian mysteries, into which the +higher initiates of the Amis Réunis--Court de Gebelin, the Prince de +Hesse, Condorcet, the Vicomte de Tavannes, Willermoz, and others--were +initiated. A modified form of this rite was instituted at Narbonne in +1780 under the name of "Free and Accepted Masons du Rit Primitif," the +English nomenclature being adopted (according to Clavel) in order to +make it appear that the rite emanated from England. In reality its +founder, the Marquis de Chefdebien d'Armisson, a member of the Grand +Orient and of the Amis Réunis, drew his inspiration from certain German +Freemasons with whom he maintained throughout close relations and who +were presumably members of the Stricte Observance, since Chefdebien was +a member of this Order, in which he bore the title of "Eques a Capite +Galeato." The correspondence that passed between Chefdebien and +Salvalette de Langes, recently discovered and published in France, is +one of the most illuminating records of the masonic ramifications in +existence before the Revolution ever brought to light.[441] To judge by +the tone of these letters, the leaders of the Rit Primitif would appear +to have been law-abiding and loyal gentlemen devoted to the Catholic +religion, yet in their passion for new forms of Masonry and thirst for +occult lore ready to associate themselves with every kind of adventurer +and charlatan who might be able to initiate them into further mysteries. +In the curious notes drawn up by Savalette for the guidance of the +Marquis de Chefdebien we catch a glimpse of the power behind the +philosophers of the _salons_ and the aristocratic adepts of the +lodges--the professional magicians and men of mystery; and behind these +again the concealed directors of the secret societies, the _real +initiates_. + + + +The Magicians + + +The part played by magicians during the period preceding the French +Revolution is of course a matter of common knowledge and has never been +disputed by official history. But like the schools of philosophers this +sudden crop of magicians is always represented as a sporadic growth +called into being by the idle and curious society of the day. The +important point to realize is that just as the philosophers were all +Freemasons, the principal magicians were not only Freemasons but members +of occult secret societies. It is therefore not as isolated charlatans +but as agents of some hidden power that we must regard the men whom we +will now pass in a rapid survey. + +One of the first to appear in the field was Schroepfer, a coffee-house +keeper of Leipzig, who declared that no one could be a true Freemason +without practising magic. Accordingly he proclaimed himself the +"reformer of Freemasonry," and set up a lodge in his own house with a +rite based on the Rose-Croix degree for the purpose of evoking spirits. +The meetings took place at dead of night, when by means of carefully +arranged lights, magic mirrors, and possibly of electricity, Schroepfer +contrived to produce apparitions which his disciples--under the +influence of strong punch--took to be visitors from the other +world.[442] In the end Schroepfer, driven crazy by his own incantations, +blew out his brains in a garden near Leipzig. + +According to Lecouteulx de Canteleu, it was Schroepfer who indoctrinated +the famous "Comte de Saint-Germain"--"The Master" of our modern +co-masonic lodges. The identity of this mysterious personage has never +been established[443]; by some contemporaries he was said to be a +natural son of the King of Portugal, by others the son of a Jew and a +Polish Princess. The Duc de Choiseul on being asked whether he knew the +origin of Saint-Germain replied: "No doubt we know it, he is the son of +a Portuguese Jew who exploits the credulity of the town and Court."[444] +In 1780 a rumour went round that his father was a Jew of Bordeaux, +but according to the _Souvenirs of the Marquise de Créquy_ the Baron de +Breteuil discovered from the archives of his Ministry that the pretended +Comte de Saint-Germain was the son of a Jewish doctor of Strasburg, that +his real name was Daniel Wolf, and that he was born in 1704.[445] The +general opinion thus appears to have been in favour of his Jewish +ancestry. + +Saint-German seems first to have been heard of in Germany about 1740, +where his marvellous powers attracted the attention of the Maréchal de +Belle-Isle, who, always the ready dupe of charlatans, brought him back +with him to the Court of France, where he speedily gained the favour of +Madame de Pompadour. The Marquise before long presented him to the King, +who granted him an apartment at Chambord and, enchanted by his brilliant +wit, frequently spent long evenings in conversation with him in the +rooms of Madame de Pompadour. Meanwhile his invention of flat-bottomed +boats for the invasion of England raised him still higher in the +estimation of the Maréchal de Belle-Isle. In 1761 we hear of him as +living in great splendour in Holland and giving out that he had reached +the age of seventy-four, though appearing to be only fifty; if this were +so, he must have been ninety-seven at the time of his death in 1784 at +Schleswig. But this feat of longevity is far from satisfying his modern +admirers, who declare that Saint-Germain did not die in 1784, but is +still alive to-day in some corner of Eastern Europe. This is in +accordance with the theory, said to have been circulated by +Saint-Germain himself, that by the eighteenth century he had passed +through several incarnations and that the last one had continued for +1,500 years. Barruel, however, explains that Saint-Germain in thus +referring to his age spoke in masonic language, in which a man who has +taken the first degree is said to be three years old, after the second +five, or the third seven, so that by means of the huge increase the +higher degrees conferred it might be quite possible for an exalted adept +to attain the age of 1,500. + +Saint-Germain has been represented by modern writers--not only those who +compose his following--as a person of extraordinary attainments, a sort +of super-man towering over the minor magicians of his day. +Contemporaries, however, take him less seriously and represent him +rather as an expert charlatan whom the wits of the _salons_ made the +butt of pleasantries. His principal importance to the subject of this +book consists, however, in his influence on the secret societies. +According to the _Mémoires authentiques pour servir à l'histoire du +Comte de Cagliostro_, Saint-Germain was the "Grand Master of +Freemasonry,"[446] and it was he who initiated Cagliostro into the +mysteries of Egyptian masonry. + +Joseph Balsamo, born in 1743, who assumed the name of Comte de +Cagliostro, as a magician far eclipsed his master. Like Saint-Germain, +he was generally reputed to be a Jew--the son of Pietro Balsamo, a +Sicilian tradesman of Jewish origin[447]--and he made no secret of his +arden admiration for the Jewish race. After the death of his parents he +escaped from the monastery in which he had been placed at Palermo and +joined himself to a man known as Altotas, said to have been an Armenian, +with whom he travelled to Greece and Egypt[448]. Cagliostro's travels +later took him to Poland and Germany, where he was initiated into +Freemasonry[449], and finally to France; but it was in England that he +himself declared that he elaborated his famous "Egyptian Rite," which he +founded officially in 1782. According to his own account, this rite was +derived from a manuscript by a certain George Cofton--whose identity has +never been discovered--which he bought by chance in London[450]. Yarker, +however, expresses the opinion that "the rite of Cagliostro was clearly +that of Pasqually," and that if he acquired it from a manuscript in +London it would indicate that Pasquilly had disciples in that city. A +far more probable explanation is that Cagliostro derived his Egyptian +masonry from the same source as that on which Pasqually had drawn for +his Order of Martinistes, namely the Cabala, and that it was not from a +single manuscript but from an eminent Jewish Cabalist in London that he +took his instructions. Who this may have been we shall soon see. At any +rate, in a contemporary account of Cagliostro we find him described as +"a doctor initiated into Cabalistic art" and a Rose-Croix; but after +founding his own rite he acquired the name of Grand Copht, that is to +say, Supreme Head of Egyptian Masonry, a new branch that he wished to +graft on to old European Freemasonry.[451] We shall return to his +further masonic adventures later. + +In a superior category to Saint-German and Cagliostro was the famous +Swabian doctor Mesmer, who has given his name to an important branch of +natural science. In about 1780 Mesmer announced his great discovery of +"animal magnetism, the principle of life in all organized beings, the +soul of all that breathes." But if to-day Mesmerism has come to be +regarded as almost synonymous with hypnotism and in no way a branch of +occultism, Mesmer himself--stirring the fluid in his magic bucket, +around which his disciples wept, slept, fell into trances or +convulsions, raved or prophesied[452]--earned not unnaturally the +reputation of a charlatan. The Freemasons, eager to discover the secret +of the magic bucket, hastened to enrol him in their Order, and Mesmer +was received into the Primitive Rite of Free and Accepted Masons in +1785.[453] + +Space forbids a description of the minor magicians who flourished at +this period--of _Schroeder_, founder in 1776 of a chapter of "True and +Ancient Rose-Croix Masons," practising certain magical, theosophical, +and alchemical degrees; of _Gassner_, worker of miracles in the +neighbourhood of Ratisbonne; of "the Jew Leon," one of a band of +charlatans who made large sums of money with magic mirrors in which the +imaginative were able to see their absent friends, and who was finally +banished from France by the police,--all these and many others exploited +the credulity and curiosity of the upper classes both in France and +Germany between the years of 1740 and 1790. De Luchet, writing before +the French Revolution, describes the part played in their mysteries by +the soul of a Cabalistic Jew named Gablidone who had lived before +Christ, and who predicted that "in the year 1800 there will be, on our +globe, a very remarkable revolution, and there will be no other religion +but that of the patriarchs."[454] + +How are we to account for this extraordinary wave of Cabalism in Western +Europe? By whom was it inspired? If, as Jewish writers assure us, +neither Marlines Pasqually, Saint-Germain, Cagliostro, nor any of the +visible occultists or magicians were Jews, the problem only becomes the +more insoluble. We cannot believe that Sanhedrims, Hebrew hieroglyphics, +the contemplation of the Tetragrammaton, and other Cabalistic rites +originated in the brains of French and German aristocrats, philosophers, +and Freemasons. Let us turn, then, to events taking place at this moment +in the world of Jewry and see whether these may provide some clue. + + + + +8 + +THE JEWISH CABALISTS + + + +It has been shown in the preceding chapters that the Jewish Cabala +played an important part in the occult and anti-Christian sects from the +very beginning of the Christian era. The time has now come to enquire +what part Jewish influence played meanwhile in revolutions. Merely to +ask the question is to bring on oneself the accusation of +"anti-Semitism," yet the Jewish writer Bernard Lazare has shown the +falseness of this charge: + + This [he writes] is what must separate the impartial historian from + anti-Semitism. The anti-Semite says: "The Jew is the preparer, the + machinator, the chief engineer of revolutions"; the impartial + historian confines himself to studying the part which the Jew, + considering his spirit, his character, the nature of his + philosophy, and his religion, may have taken in revolutionary + processes and movements.[455] + +Lazare himself expresses the opinion, however, that-- + + The complaint of the anti-Semites seems to be founded: the Jew has + the revolutionary spirit; consciously or not he is an agent of + revolution. Yet the complaint complicates itself, for anti-Semitism + accuses the Jews of being the cause of revolutions. Let us examine + what this accusation is worth....[456] + +In the light of our present knowledge it would certainly be absurd to +ascribe to the Jews the authorship of the conspiracy of Catiline or of +the Gracchi, the rising of Jack Straw and Wat Tyler, Jack Cade's +rebellion, the _jacqueries_ of France, or the Peasants' Wars in Germany, +although historical research may lead in time to the discovery of +certain occult influences--not necessarily Jewish--behind the European +insurrections here referred to. Moreover, apart from grievances or +other causes of rebellion, the revolutionary spirit has always existed +independently of the Jews. In all times and in all countries there have +been men born to make trouble as the sparks fly upward. + +Nevertheless, in modern revolutions the part played by the Jews cannot +be ignored, and the influence they have exercised will be seen on +examination to have been twofold--financial and occult. Throughout the +Middle Ages it is as sorcerers and usurers that they incur the +reproaches of the Christian world, and it is still in the same role, +under the more modern terms of magicians and loan-mongers, that we +detect their presence behind the scenes of revolution from the +seventeenth century onward. Wherever money was to be made out of social +or political upheavals, wealthy Jews have been found to back the winning +side; and wherever the Christian races have turned against their own +institutions, Jewish Rabbis, philosophers, professors, and occultists +have lent them their support. It was not then necessarily that Jews +created these movements, but they knew how to make use of them for their +own ends. + +It is thus that in the Great Rebellion we find them not amongst the +Ironsides of Cromwell or the members of his State Council, but +furnishing money and information to the insurgents, acting as army +contractors, loan-mongers, and super-spies--or to use the more +euphonious term of Mr. Lucien Wolf, as "political intelligencers" of +extraordinary efficiency. Thus Mr. Lucien Wolf, in referring to +Carvajal, "the great Jew of the Commonwealth," explains that "the wide +ramifications of his commercial transactions and his relations with +other Crypto-Jews all over the world placed him in an unrivalled +position to obtain news of the enemies of the Commonwealth."[457] + +It is obvious that a "secret service" of this kind rendered the Jews a +formidable hidden power, the more so since their very existence was +frequently unknown to the rest of the population around them. This +precaution was necessary because Jews were not supposed to exist at that +date in England. In 1290 Edward I had expelled them all, and for three +and a half centuries they had remained in exile; the Crypto-Jews or +Marranos who had come over from Spain contrived, however, to remain in +the country by skilfully taking the colour of their surroundings. Mr. +Wolf goes on to observe that Jewish services were regularly held in the +secret Synagogue, but "in public Carvajal and his friends followed the +practice of the secret Jews in Spain and Portugal, passing as Roman +Catholics and regularly attending mass in the Spanish Ambassador's +chapel."[458] But when war between England and Spain rendered this +expedient inadvisable, the Marranos threw off the disguise of +Christianity and proclaimed themselves followers of the Jewish faith. + +Now, just at this period the Messianic era was generally believed by the +Jews to be approaching, and it appears to have occurred to them that +Cromwell might be fitted to the part. Consequently emissaries were +despatched to search the archives of Cambridge in order to discover +whether the Protector could possibly be of Jewish descent.[459] This +quest proving fruitless, the Cabalist Rabbi of Amsterdam, Manasseh ben +Israel,[460] addressed a petition to Cromwell for the readmission of the +Jews to England, in which he adroitly insisted on the retribution that +overtakes those who afflict the people of Israel and the rewards that +await those who "cherish" them. These arguments were not without effect +on Cromwell, who entertained the same superstition, and although he is +said to have declined the Jews' offer to buy St. Paul's Cathedral and +the Bodleian Library because he considered the £500,000 they offered +inadequate,[461] he exerted every effort to obtain their readmission to +the country. In this he encountered violent opposition, and it seems +that Jews were not permitted to return in large numbers, or at any rate +to enjoy full rights and privileges, until after the accession of +Charles II, who in his turn had enlisted their financial aid.[462] +Later, in 1688, the Jews of Amsterdam helped with their credit the +expedition of William of Orange against James II; the former in return +brought many Jews with him to England. So a Jewish writer is able to +boast that "a Monarch reigned who was indebted to Hebrew gold for his +royal diadem."[463] + +In all this it is impossible to follow any consecutive political plan; +the rôle of the Jews seems to have been to support no cause consistently +but to obtain a footing in every camp, to back any venture that offered +a chance of profit. Yet mingled with these material designs were still +their ancient Messianic dreams. It is curious to note that the same +Messianic idea pervaded the Levellers, the rebels of the Commonwealth; +such phrases as "Let Israel go free," "Israel's restoration is now +beginning," recur frequently in the literature of the sect. Gerard +Winstanley, one of the two principal leaders, addressed an epistle to +"the Twelve Tribes of Israel that are circumcised in heart and scattered +through all the Nations of the Earth," and promised them "David their +King that they have been waiting for." The other leader of the movement, +by name Everard, in fact declared, when summoned before the Lord Fairfax +at Whitehall, that "he was of the race of the Jews."[464] It is true +that the Levellers were by profession Christian, but after the manner of +the Bavarian Illuminati and of the Christian Socialists two centuries +later, claiming Christ as the author of their Communistic and +equalitarian doctrines: "For Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all Men, is +the greatest, first, and truest Leveller that ever was spoken of in the +world." The Levellers are said to have derived originally from the +German Anabaptists; but Claudio Jannet, quoting German authorities, +shows that there were Jews amongst the Anabaptists. "They were carried +away by their hatred of the name of Christian and imagined that their +dreams of the restoration of the kingdom of Israel would be realized +amidst the conflagration."[465] Whether this was so or not, it is clear +that by the middle of the seventeenth century the mystical ideas of +Judaism had penetrated into all parts of Europe. Was there then some +Cabalistic centre from which they radiated? Let us turn our eyes +eastward and we shall see. + +Since the sixteenth century the great mass of Jewry had settled in +Poland, and a succession of miracle-workers known by the name of +Zaddikim or Ba'al Shems had arisen. The latter word, which signifies +"Master of the Name," originated with the German Polish Jews and was +derived from the Cabalistic belief in the miraculous use of the sacred +name of Jehovah, known as the Tetragrammaton. + +According to Cabalistic traditions, certain Jews of peculiar sanctity or +knowledge were able with impunity to make use of the Divine Name. A +Ba'al Shem was therefore one who had acquired this power and employed it +in writing amulets, invoking spirits, and prescribing cures for various +diseases. Poland and particularly Podolia--which had not yet been ceded +to Russia--became thus a centre of Cabalism where a series of +extraordinary movements of a mystical kind followed each other. In 1666, +when the Messianic era was still believed to be approaching, the whole +Jewish world was convulsed by the sudden appearance of Shabbethai Zebi, +the son of a poulterer in Smyrna named Mordecai, who proclaimed himself +the promised Messiah and rallied to his support a huge following not +only amongst the Jews of Palestine, Egypt, and Eastern Europe, but even +the hard-headed Jews of the Continental bourses.[466] Samuel Pepys in +his Diary refers to the bets made amongst the Jews in London on the +chances of "a certain person now in Smyrna" being acclaimed King of the +World and the true Messiah.[467] + +Shabbethai, who was an expert Cabalist and had the temerity to utter the +Ineffable Name Jehovah, was said to be possessed of marvellous powers, +his skin exuded exquisite perfume, he indulged perpetually in +sea-bathing and lived in a state of chronic ecstasy. The pretensions of +Shabbethai, who took the title of "King of the Kings of the Earth," +split Jewry in two; many Rabbis launched imprecations against him, and +those who had believed in him were bitterly disillusioned when, +challenged by the Sultan to prove his claim to be the Messiah by +allowing poisoned arrows to be shot at him, he suddenly renounced the +Jewish faith and proclaimed himself a Mohammedan. His conversion, +however, appeared to be only partial, for "at times he would assume the +rôle of a pious Mohammedan and revile Judaism; at others he would enter +into relations with Jews as one of their own faith."[468] By this means +he retained the allegiance both of Moslems and of Jews. But the Rabbis, +alarmed for the cause of Judaism, succeeded in obtaining his +incarceration by the Sultan in a castle near Belgrade, where he died of +colic in 1676.[469] + +This prosaic ending to the career of the Messiah did not, however, +altogether extinguish the enthusiasm of his followers, and the +Shabbethan movement continued into the next century. In Poland Cabalism +broke out with renewed energy; fresh Zaddikim and Ba'al Shems arose, the +most noted of these being Israel of Podolia, known as Ba'al Shem Tob, or +by the initial letters of this name, Besht, who founded his sect of +Hasidim in 1740. + +Besht, whilst opposing bigoted Rabbinism and claiming the Zohar as his +inspiration, did not, however, adhere strictly to the doctrine of the +Cabala that the universe was an emanation of God, but evolved a form of +Pantheism, declaring that the whole universe was God, that even evil +exists in God since evil is not bad in itself but only in its relation +to Man; sin therefore has no positive existence.[470] As a result the +followers of Besht, calling themselves the "New Saints," and at his +death numbering no less than 40,000, threw aside not only the precepts +of the Talmud, but all the restraints of morality and even decency.[471] + +Another Ba'al Shem of the same period was Heilprin, alias Joel Ben Uri +of Satanov, who, like Israel of Podolia, professed to perform miracles +by the use of the Divine Name and collected around him many pupils, who, +on the death of their master, "formed a band of charlatans and +shamelessly exploited the credulity of their contemporaries."[472] + +But the most important of these Cabalistic groups was that of the +Frankists, who were sometimes known as the Zoharists or the +Illuminated,[473] from their adherence to the Zohar or book of Light, or +in their birthplace Podolia as the Shabbethan Zebists, from their +allegiance to the false Messiah of the preceding century--a heresy that +had been "kept alive in secret circles which had something akin to a +masonic organization."[474] The founder of this sect was Jacob Frank, a +brandy distiller profoundly versed in the doctrines of the Cabala, who +in 1755 collected around him a large following in Podolia and lived in a +style of oriental magnificence, maintained by vast wealth of which no +one ever discovered the source. The persecution to which he was +subjected by the Rabbis led the Catholic clergy to champion his cause, +whereupon Frank threw himself on the mercy of the Bishop of Kaminick, +and publicly burnt the Talmud, declaring that he recognized only the +Zohar, which, he alleged, admitted the doctrine of the Trinity. Thus the +Zoharists "claimed that they regarded the Messiah-Deliverer as one of +the three divinities, but failed to state that by the Messiah they meant +Shabbethai Zebi."[475] The Bishop was apparently deceived by this +manoeuvre, and in 1759 the Zoharites declared themselves converted to +Christianity, and were baptized, including Frank himself, who took the +name of Joseph. "The insincerity of the Frankists soon became apparent, +however, for they continued to inter-marry only among themselves and +held Frank in reverence, calling him 'The Holy Master.'"[476] It soon +became evident that, whilst openly embracing the Catholic faith, they +had in reality retained their secret Judaism.[477] Moreover, it was +discovered that Frank endeavoured to pass as a Mohammedan in Turkey; "he +was therefore arrested in Warsaw and delivered to the Church tribunal on +the charge of feigned conversion to Christianity and the spreading of a +pernicious heresy."[478] Unlike his predecessor in apostasy, Shabbethai +Zebi, Frank, however, came to no untimely end, but after his release +from prison continued to prey on the credulity of Christians and +frequently travelled to Vienna with his daughter, Eve, who succeeded in +duping the pious Maria Theresa. But here also "the sectarian plans of +Frank were found out,"[479] and he was obliged to leave Austria. +Finally he settled at Offenbach and supported by liberal subsidies from +the other Jews, he resumed his former splendour[480] + + with a retinue of several hundred beautiful Jewish youth of both + sexes; carts containing treasure were reported to be perpetually + brought in to him, chiefly from Poland--he went out daily in great + state to perform his devotions in the open field--he rode in a + chariot drawn by noble horses; ten or twelve Hulans in red or green + uniform, glittering with gold, by his side, with pikes in their + hands and crests on their caps, eagles, or stags, or the sun and + moon.... His followers believed him immortal, but in 1791 he died; + his burial was as splendid as his mode of living--800 persons + followed him to the grave.[481] + +Now, it is impossible to study the careers of these magicians in Poland +and Germany without being reminded of their counterparts in France. The +family likeness between the "Baron von Offenbach," the "Comte de +Saint-Germain" and the "Comte de Cagliostro" is at once apparent. All +claimed to perform miracles, all lived with extraordinary magnificence +on wealth derived from an unknown source, one was certainly a Jew, the +other two were believed to be Jews, and all were known to be Cabalists. +Moreover, all three spent many years in Germany, and it was whilst Frank +was living as Baron von Offenbach close to Frankfurt that Cagliostro was +received into the Order of the Stricte Observance in a subterranean +chamber a few miles from that city. Earlier in his career he was known +to have visited Poland, whence Frank derived. Are we to believe that all +these men, so strangely alike in their careers, living at the same time +and in the same places, were totally unconnected? It is a mere +coincidence that this group of Jewish Cabalist miracle-workers should +have existed in Germany and Poland at the precise moment that the +Cabalist magicians sprang up in France? Is it again a coincidence that +Martines Pasqually founded his "Kabbalistic sect" of Illuminés in 1754 +and Jacob Frank his sect of Zoharites (or Illuminated) in 1755? + +Moreover, when we know from purely Jewish sources that the Ba'al Shem +Heilprin had many pupils "who formed a band of charlatans who +shamelessly exploited the credulity of their contemporaries," that the +Ba'al Shem Tob and Jacob Frank both had large followings, it is surely +here that we may find the origin of those mysterious magicians who +spread themselves over Europe at this date. + +It will at once be asked: "But what proof is there that any one of these +Ba'al Shems or Cabalists was connected with masonic or secret +societies?" The answer is that the most important Ba'al Shem of the day, +known as "the Chief of all the Jews," is shown by documentary evidence +to have been an initiate of Freemasonry and in direct contact with the +leaders of the secret societies. If then it is agreed that neither +Saint-Germain nor Cagliostro can be proved to have been Jews, here we +have a man concerned in the movement, more important than either, whose +nationality admits of no doubt whatever. + +This extraordinary personage, known as the "Ba'al Shem of London," was a +Cabalistic Jew named Hayyim Samuel Jacob Falk, also called Dr. Falk, +Falc, de Falk, or Falkon, born in 1708, probably in Podolia. The further +fact that he was regarded by his fellow-Jews as an adherent of the +Messiah Shabbethai Zebi clearly shows his connexion with the Podolian +Zoharites. Falk was thus not an isolated phenomenon, but a member of one +of the groups described in the foregoing pages. The following is a +summary of the account given of the Ba'al Shem of London in the _Jewish +Encyclopedia_: + + Falk claimed to possess thaumaturgic powers and to be able to + discover hidden treasure. Archenholz (_England und Italien_, I. + 249) recounts certain marvels which he had seen performed by Falk + in Brunswick and which he attributes to a special knowledge of + chemistry. In Westphalia at one time Falk was sentenced to be + burned as a sorcerer, but escaped to England. Here he was received + with hospitality and rapidly gained fame as a Cabalist and worker + of miracles. Many stories of his powers were current. He would + cause a small taper to remain alight for weeks; an incantation + would fill his cellar with coal; plate left with a pawnbroker would + glide back into his house. When a fire threatened to destroy the + Great Synagogue, he averted the disaster by writing four Hebrew + letters on the pillars of the door.[482] [Obviously the + Tetragrammaton.] + +On his arrival in London in 1742 Falk appeared to be without means, but +soon after he was seen to be in possession of considerable wealth, +living in a comfortable house in Wellclose Square, where he had his +private synagogue, whilst gold and silver plate adorned his table. His +Journal, still preserved in the library of the United Synagogue, +contains references to "mysterious journeyings" to and from Epping +Forest, to meetings, a meeting-chamber in the forest, and chests of gold +there buried. It was said that on one occasion when he was driving +thither along Whitechapel Road, a back wheel of his carriage came off, +which alarmed the coachman, but Falk ordered him to drive on and the +wheel followed the carriage all the way to the forest. + +The stories of Falk's miraculous powers are too numerous to relate here, +but a letter written by an enthusiastic Jewish admirer, Sussman +Shesnowzi, to his son in Poland will serve to show the reputation he +enjoyed: + + Hear, my beloved son, of the marvellous gifts entrusted to a son of + man, who verily is not a man, a light of the captivity ... a holy + light, a saintly man ... who dwells at present in the great city of + London. Albeit I could not fully understand him on account of his + volubility and his speaking as an inhabitant of Jerusalem.... His + chamber is lighted by silver candlesticks on the walls, with a + central eight-branched lamp made of pure silver of beaten work. And + albeit it contained oil to burn a day and a night it remained + enkindled for three weeks. On one occasion he abode in seclusion in + his house for six weeks without meat and drink. When at the + conclusion of this period ten persons were summoned to enter, they + found him seated on a sort of throne, his head covered with a + golden turban, a golden chain round his neck with a pendant silver + star on which sacred names were inscribed. Verily this man stands + alone in his generation by reason of his knowledge of holy + mysteries. I cannot recount to you all the wonders he accomplishes. + I am grateful, in that I am found worthy to be received among those + who dwell within the shadow of his wisdom.... I know that many will + believe my words, but others, who do not occupy themselves with + mysteries, will laugh thereat. Therefore, my son, be very + circumspect, and show this only to wise and discreet men. For here + in London this master has not been disclosed to anyone who does not + belong to our Brotherhood. + +The esteem in which Falk was held by the Jewish community, including the +Chief Rabbi and the Rabbi of the new Synagogue, appears to have roused +the resentment of his co-religionist Emden, who denounced him as a +follower of the false Messiah and an exploiter of Christian credulity. + + Falk [he wrote in a letter to Poland] had made his position by his + pretence to be an adept in practical Cabala, by which means he + professed to be able to discover hidden treasures; by his + pretensions he had entrapped a wealthy captain whose fortune he had + cheated him out of, so that he was reduced to depending on the + Rabbi's charity, and yet, despite this, wealthy Christians spend + their money on him, whilst Falk spends his bounty on the men of his + Brotherhood so that they may spread his fame. + +In general Falk appears to have displayed extreme caution in his +relations with Christian seekers after occult knowledge, for the _Jewish +Encyclopædia_ goes on to say: "Archenholz mentions a royal prince who +applied to Falk in his quest for the philosopher's stone, but was denied +admittance." Nevertheless Hayyum Azulai mentions (Ma'gal Tob, p. 13_b_): + + That when in Paris in 1778 he was told by the Marchesa de Crona + that the Ba'al Shem of London had taught her the Cabala. Falk seems + also to have been on intimate terms with that strange adventurer + Baron Theodor de Neuhoff.... Falk's principal friends were the + London bankers Aaron Goldsmid and his son.[483] Pawnbroking and + successful speculation enabled him to acquire a considerable + fortune. He left large sums of money to charity, and the overseers + of the United Synagogue in London still distribute annually certain + payments left by him for the poor. + +Nothing of all this would lead one to suppose that Falk could be +regarded in the light of a black magician; it is therefore surprising to +find Dr. Adler observing that a horrible account of a Jewish Cabalist in +_The Gentleman's Magazine_ for September 1762 "obviously refers to Dr. +Falk, though his name is not mentioned."[484] This man is described as +"a christened Jew and the biggest rogue and villain in all the world," +who "had been imprisoned everywhere and banished out of all countries in +Germany, and also sometimes publicly whipped, so that his back lost all +the old skin, and became new again, and yet left never off from his +villainies, but grew always worse." The writer goes on to relate that +the Cabalist offered to teach him certain mysteries, but explained that +before entering on any "experiments of the said godly mysteries, we +must first avoid all churches and places of worshipping as unclean"; he +then bound his initiate by a very strong oath and proceeded to tell him +that he must steal a Hebrew Bible from a Protestant and also procure +"one pound of blood out of the veins of an honest Protestant." The +initiate thereupon robbed a Protestant of all his effects, but had +himself bled of about three-quarters of a pound of blood, which he gave +to the magician. He thus describes the ceremony that took place: + + Then the next night about 11 o'clock, we both went into the garden + of my own, and the cabalist put a cross, tainted with my blood, in + each corner of the garden, and in the middle of the garden a + threefold circle ... in the first circle were written all the names + of God in Hebrew; in the second all the names of the angels; and in + the third the first chapter of the holy Gospel of St. John, and it + was all written with my blood. + +The cruelties then performed by the Cabalist on a he-goat are too +loathsome to transcribe. The whole story, indeed, appears a farrago of +nonsense and would not be worth quoting but for the fact that it appears +to be taken seriously by Dr. Adler as a description of the great Ba'al +Shem. + +The death of Falk took place on April 17, 1782, and the epitaph on his +grave in the cemetery at Globe Road, Mile End, "bears witness to his +excellencies and orthodoxy": "Here is interred ... the aged and +honourable man, a great personage who came from the East, an +accomplished sage, an adept in Cabbalah.... His name was known to the +ends of the earth and distant isles," etc. + +This then is surely the portrait of a most remarkable personage, a man +known for his powers in England, France, and Germany, visited by a royal +prince in search of the philosopher's stone, and acclaimed by one of his +own race as standing alone in his generation by reason of his knowledge, +yet whilst Saint-Germain and Cagliostro figure in every account of +eighteenth-century magicians, it is only in exclusively Judaic or +masonic works, not intended for the general public, that we shall find +any reference to Falk. Have we not here striking evidence of the truth +of M. André Baron's dictum: "Remember that the constant rule of the +secret societies is that the real authors never show themselves"? + +It will now be asked: what proof is there that Falk is connected with +any masonic or secret societies? True, in the accounts given by the +_Jewish Encyclopædia_, the word Freemasonry is not once mentioned. But +in the curious portrait of the great Ba'al Shem appended, we see him +holding in his hand the pair of compasses, and before him, on the table +at which he is seated, the double triangle or Seal of Solomon known +amongst Jews as "the Shield of David," which forms an important emblem +in Masonry. + +Moreover, it is significant to find in the _Royal Masonic Encyclopædia_ +by the Rosicrucian Kenneth Mackenzie that a long and detailed article is +devoted to Falk, though again without any reference to his connexion +with Freemasonry. May we not conclude that in certain inner masonic +circles the importance of Falk is recognized but must not be revealed to +the uninitiated? Mr. Gordon Hills, in the above-quoted paper contributed +to the _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, indulges in some innocent speculation +as to the part Falk may have played in the masonic movement. "If," he +observes, "Jewish Brethren did introduce Cabalistical learning into the +so-called High Degrees, here we have one, who, if a Mason, would have +been eminently qualified to do so." + +Falk inded was far more than a Mason, he was a high initiate--the +supreme oracle to which the secret societies applied for guidance. All +this was disclosed a few years ago in the correspondence between +Savalette de Langes and the Marquis de Chefdebien referred to in the +previous chapter. Thus in the _dossiers_ of the leading occultists +supplied by Savalette we find the following note on the Ba'al Shem of +London: + + This Doctor Falk is known to many Germans. He is a very + extraordinary man from every point of view. Some people believe him + to be the Chief of all the Jews and attribute to purely political + schemes all that is marvellous and singular in his life and + conduct. He is referred to in a very curious manner, and as a + Rose-Croix in the _Memoirs of the Chevalier de Rampsow_ (i.e. + Rentzov). He has had adventures with the Maréchal de Richelieu, + great seeker of the Philosophers' Stone. He had a strange history + with the Prince de Rohan Guéménée and the Chevalier de Luxembourg + relating to Louis XV, whose death he foretold. He is almost + inaccessible. In all the sects of savants in secret sciences he + passes as a superior man. He is at present in England. The Baron de + Gleichen can give good information about him. Try to get more at + Frankfurt.[485] + +Again, in notes on other personages the name of Falk recurs with the +same insistence on his importance as a high initiate: + + Leman, pupil of Falk.... + + The Baron de Gleichen ... intimately connected with Wecter + [Waechter] and Wakenfeldt.... He knows Falk.... + + The Baron de Waldenfels ... is, according to what I know from the + Baron de Gleichen, the princes of Daimstadt, ... and others, the + most interesting man for you and me to know. If we made his + acquaintance, he could give us the best information on all the most + interesting objects of instiuction. He knows Falk and Wecter. + +Prince Louis d'Haimstadt ... is also a member of the Amis Réunis, 12° +and in charge of the Directories. He worked in his youth with a Jew whom +he believes to be taught by Falk....[486] + +Here, then, behind the organization of the Stricte Observance, of the +Amis Réunis, and the Philalèthes, we catch a glimpse at last of one of +those _real initiates_ whose identity has been so carefully kept dark. +For Falk, as we see in these notes, was not an isolated sage; he had +pupils, and to be one of these was to be admitted to the inner +mysteries. Was Cagliostro one of these adepts? Is it here we may seek +the explanation of the "Egyptian Rite" devised by him in London, and of +his chance discovery on a bookstall in that city of a Cabalistic +document by the mysterious "George Cofton," whose identity has never +been revealed? I would suggest that the whole story of the bookstall was +a fable and that it was not from any manuscript, but from Falk, that +Cagliostro received his directions. Thus Cagliostro's rite was in +reality concealed Cabalism. + +That Falk was only one of several Concealed Superiors is further +suggested by the intriguing correspondence of Savalette de Langes. +"Schroeder," we read, "had for his master an old man of Suabia," by whom +the Baron de Waechter was also said to have been instructed in Masonry, +and to have become one of the most important initiates of Germany. +Accordingly de Waechter was despatched by his Order to Florence in order +to make enquiries on further secrets and on certain famous treasures +about which Schroepfer, the Baron de Hundt, and others, had heard that +Aprosi, the secretary of the Pretender, could give them information. +Waechter, however, wrote to say that all they had been told on the +latter point was fabulous, but that he had met in Florence certain +"Brothers of the Holy Land," who had initiated him into marvellous +secrets; one in particular who is described as "a man who is not a +European" had "perfectly instructed him." Moreover, de Waechter, who had +set forth poor, returned loaded with riches attributed by his +fellow-masons to the "Asiatic Brethren" he had frequented in Florence +who possessed the art of making gold.[487] I would suggest then that +these were the members of the "Italian Order" referred to by Mr. +Tuckett, which, like Schroepfer and de Hundt, he imagined to have been +connected with the Jacobites. + +But all these secret sources of instruction are wrapped in mystery. +Whilst Saint-Germain and Cagliostro--who is referred to in this +correspondence in terms of light derision--emerge into the limelight, +the real initiates remain concealed in the background. Falk "is almost +inaccessible!" Yet one more almost forgotten document of the period may +throw some light on the important part he played behind the scenes in +Masonry. + +It may be remembered that Archenholz had spoken of certain marvels he +had seen performed by Falk in Brunswick. Now, in 1770 the German poet +Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was made librarian to the Duke of Brunswick in +that city. The fame of Falk may then have reached his ears. At any rate +in 1771 Lessing, after having mocked at Freemasonry, was initiated in a +masonic lodge at Hamburg, and in 1778 he published not only his famous +masonic drama _Nathan der Weise_, in which the Jew of Jerusalem is shown +in admirable contrast to the Christians and Mohammedans, but he also +wrote five dialogues on Freemasonry which he dedicated to the Duke of +Brunswick, Grand Master of all the German Lodges, and which he entitled +"_Ernst und Falk: Gespräche fur Freimaurer_."[488] + +Lessing's friendship with Moses Mendelssohn has led to the popular +theory, unsupported however by any real evidence, that the Jewish +philosopher of Berlin provided the inspiration for the character of +Nathan, but might it not equally have been provided by the +miracle-worker of Brunswick? However, in the case of the dialogues less +room is left for doubt. Falk is mentioned by name and represented as +initiated into the highest mysteries of Freemasonry. This is of course +not explained by Lessing's commentators, who give no clue to his +identity.[489] It is evident that Lessing committed an enormous blunder +in thus letting so important a cat out of the bag, for after the +publication of the first three dialogues and whilst the last two were +circulating privately in manuscript amongst the Freemasons, an order +from the Duke of Brunswick forbade their publication as dangerous. In +spite of this prohibition, the rest of the series was printed, however +without Lessing's permission, in 1870 with a preface by an unknown +person describing himself as a non-mason. + +The dialogues between Ernst and Falk throw a curious light on the +influences at work behind Freemasonry at this period and gain immensely +in interest when the identity of the two men in question is understood. +Thus Ernst, by whom Lessing evidently represents himself, is at the +beginning not a Freemason, and, whilst sitting with Falk in a wood, +questions the high initiate on the aims of the Order. Falk explains that +Freemasonry has always existed, but not under this name. Its real +purpose has never been revealed. On the surface it appears to be a +purely philanthropic association, but in reality philanthropy forms no +part of its scheme, its object being to bring about a state of things +which will render philanthropy unnecessary. (_Was man gemeinlich gute +Thaten zu nennen pflegt entbehrlich zu machen_.) As an illustration Falk +points to an ant-heap at the foot of the tree beneath which the two men +are seated. "Why," he asks, "should not human beings exist without +government like the ants or bees?" Falk then goes on to describe his +idea of a Universal State, or rather a federation of States, in which +men will no longer be divided by national, social, or religious +prejudices, and where greater equality will exist. + +At the end of the third dialogue an interval occurs during which Ernst +goes away and becomes a Freemason, but on his return expresses his +disappointment to Falk at finding many Freemasons engaged in such +futilities as alchemy or the evocation of spirits. Others again seek to +revive the * * *. Falk replies that although the great secrets of +Freemasonry cannot be revealed by any man even if he wished it, one +thing, however, has been kept dark which should now be made public, and +this is the relationship between the Freemasons and the * * *. "The +* * * were in fact the Freemasons of their time." It seems probable from +the context and from Falk's references to Sir Christopher Wren as the +founder of the modern Order, that the asterisks denote the Rosicrucians. + +The most interesting point of these dialogues is, however, the hint +continually thrown out by Falk that there is something behind +Freemasonry, something far older and far wider in its aims than the +Order now known by this name--the modern Freemasons are for the most +part only "playing at it." Thus, when Ernst complains that true +equality has not been attained in the lodges since Jews are not +admitted, Falk observes that he himself does not attend them, that true +Freemasonry does not exist in outward forms--"A lodge bears the same +relation to Freemasonry as a church to belief." In other words, the real +initiates do not appear upon the scene. Here then we see the role of the +"Concealed Superiors." What wonder that Lessing's dialogues were +considered too dangerous for publication! + +Moreover, in Falk's conception of the ideal social order and his +indictment of what he calls "bourgeois society" we find the clue to +movements of immense importance. Has not the system of the ant-heap or +the beehive proved, as I have pointed out elsewhere, the model on which +modern Anarchists, from Proudhon onwards, have formed their schemes for +the reorganization of human life? Has not the idea of the "World +State," "The Universal Republic" become the war-cry of the +Internationalist Socialists, the Grand Orient Masons, the Theosophists, +and the world-revolutionaries of our own day? + +Was Falk, then, a revolutionary? This again will be disputed. Falk may +have been a Cabalist, a Freemason, a high initiate, but what proof is +there that he had any connexion with the leaders of the French +Revolution? Let us turn again to the _Jewish Encyclopædia_: + + Falk ... is ... believed to have given the Duc d'Orléans, to ensure + his succession to the throne, a talisman consisting of a ring, + which Philippe Egalité before mounting the scaffold is said to have + sent to a Jewess, Juliet Goudchaux, who passed it on to his son, + subsequently Louis Philippe. + +The Baron de Gleichen, who "knew Falc," refers to a talisman of +lapis-lazuli which the Due d'Orleans had received in England from "the +celebrated Falk Scheck, first Rabbi of the Jews," and says that a +certain occultist, Madame de la Croix, imagined she had destroyed it by +"the power of prayer." But the theory of its survival is further +confirmed by the information supplied from Jewish sources to Mr. Gordon +Hills, who states that Falk was "in touch with the French Court in the +person of 'Prince Emanuel,'[490] whom he describes as a servant of the +King of France," and adds that the talismanic ring which he gave to the +Due d'Orleans "is still in the possession of the family, having passed +to King Louis Philippe and thence to the Comte de Paris."[491] + +One fact, then, looms out of the darkness that envelops the secret power +behind the Orléanist conspiracy, one fact of supreme importance, and +based moreover on purely Jewish evidence: the Duke was in touch with +Falk when in London and Falk supported his scheme of usurpation. Thus +behind the arch-conspirator of the revolution stood "the Chief of all +the Jews." Is it here perhaps, in Falk's "chests of gold," that we might +find the source of some of those loans raised in London by the Due +d'Orléans to finance the riots of the Revolution, so absurdly described +as "l'or de Pitt"? + +The direct connexion between the attack on the French monarchy and +Jewish circles in London is further shown by the curious sequel to the +Gordon Riots. In 1780 the half-witted Lord George Gordon (as a Jewish +writer describes him), the head of the so-called "Protestant" mob, +marched on the House of Commons to protest against the bill for the +relief of Roman Catholic disabilities and then proceeded to carry out +his plan of burning down London. During the five days' rioting that +ensued, property to the amount of £180,000 was destroyed. After this +"the scion of the ducal house of Gordon proved the durability of his +love for Protestantism by professing the Hebrew faith," and was received +with the highest honours into the Synagogue. The same Jewish writer, who +has described him earlier as half-witted, quotes this panegyric on his +orthodoxy: "He was very regular in his Jewish observances; every morning +he was seen with the philacteries between his eyes, and opposite his +heart.... His Saturday's bread was baked according to the manner of the +Jews, his wine was Jewish, his meat was Jewish, and he was the best Jew +in the congregation of Israel." And it was immediately after his +conversion to Judaism that he published in _The Public Advertiser_ the +libel against Marie Antoinette which brought about his imprisonment in +Newgate.[492] + +Now we know that Lord George Gordon met Cagliostro in London in +1786.[493] Is it not probable that the author of the scurrilous pamphlet +and the magician concerned in the attack on the Queen's honour through +the Affair of the Necklace--one a--Jew by profession, the other said to +be a Jew by race--may have had some connexion with Philippe Egalité's +Jewish supporter, the miracle worker of Wellclose Square? + +But already a vaster genius than Falk or Cagliostro, than Pasqually or +Savalette de Langes, had arisen, who, gathering into his hands the +threads of all the conspiracies, was able to weave them together into a +gigantic scheme for the destruction of France and of the world. + + + + +9 + +The Bavarian Illuminati + + + +The question of the system to which I shall henceforth refer simply as +Illuminism is of such immense importance to an understanding of the +modern revolutionary movement that, although I have already described it +in detail in _World Revolution_, it is necessary to devote a further +chapter to it here in order to answer the objections made against my +former account of the Order and also to show its connexion with earlier +secret societies. + +Now, the main contentions of those writers who, either consciously or +unconsciously, attempt to mislead the public on the true nature and real +existence of Illuminism are: + +Firstly, that the case against Illuminism rests solely on the works of +Robison, and of Barruel and later Catholic authorities. + +Secondly, that all these writers misinterpreted or misquoted the +Illuminati, who should be judged only by their own works. + +Thirdly, that in reality the Illuminati were perfectly innocuous and +even praiseworthy. + +Fourthly, that they are of no importance, since they ceased to exist in +1786. + +In the present chapter I propose therefore to answer all these +contentions in turn and at the same time to make further examination +into the origins of the Order. + + + +Origins of the Illuminati + + +That Weishaupt was not the originator of the system he named Illuminism +will be already apparent to every reader of the present work; it has +needed, in fact, all the foregoing chapters to trace the source of +Weishaupt's doctrines throughout the history of the world. From these it +will be evident that men aiming at the overthrow of the existing social +order and of all accepted religion had existed from the earliest times, +and that in the Cainites, the Carpocratians, the Manichæns, the +Batinis, the Fatimites, and the Karmathites many of Weishaupt's ideas +had already been foreshadowed. To the Manichæans, in fact, the word +"Illuminati" may be traced--"gloriantur Manichæi se de caelo +illuminatos."[494] + +It is in the sect of Abdullah ibn Maymūn that we must seek the model +for Weishaupt's system of organization. Thus de Sacy has described in +the following words the manner of enlisting proselytes by the Ismailis: + + They proceeded to the admission and initiation of new proselytes + only by degrees and with great reserve; for, as the sect had at the + same time a political object and ambitions, its interest was above + all to have a great number of partisans in all places and in all + classes of society. It was necessary therefore to suit themselves + to the character, the temperament, and the prejudices of the + greater number; what one revealed to some would have revolted + others and alienated for ever spirits less bold and consciences + more easily alarmed.[495] + +This passage exactly describes the methods laid down by Weishaupt for +his "Insinuating Brothers"--the necessity of proceeding with caution in +the enlisting of adepts, of not revealing to the novice doctrines that +might be likely to revolt him, of "speaking sometimes in one way, +sometimes in another, so that one's real purpose should remain +impenetrable" to members of the inferior grades. + +How did these Oriental methods penetrate to the Bavarian professor? +According to certain writers, through the Jesuits. The fact that +Weishaupt had been brought up by this Order has provided the enemies of +the Jesuits with the argument that they were the secret inspirers of the +Illuminati. Mr. Gould, indeed, has attributed most of the errors of the +latter to this source; Weishaupt, he writes, incurred "the implacable +enmity of the Jesuits, to whose intrigues he was incessantly exposed."[496] +In reality precisely the opposite was the case, for, as we shall +see, it was Weishaupt who perpetually intrigued against the Jesuits. +That Weishaupt did, however, draw to a certain extent on Jesuit methods +of training is recognized even by Barruel, himself a Jesuit, who, +quoting Mirabeau, says that Weishaupt "admired above all those laws, +that _régime_ of the Jesuits, which, under one head, made men dispersed +over the universe tend towards the same goal; he felt that one could +imitate their methods whilst holding views diametrically opposed."[497] +And again, on the evidence of Mirabeau, de Luchet, and von Knigge, +Barruel says elsewhere: "It is here that Weishaupt appears specially to +have wished to assimilate the régime of the sect to that of the +religious orders and, above all, that of the Jesuits, by the total +abandonment of their own will and judgement which he demands of his +adepts ..." But Barruel goes on to show "the enormous difference that is +to be found between religious obedience and Illuminist obedience." In +every religious order men know that the voice of their conscience and of +their God is even more to be obeyed than that of their superiors. + + There is not a single one who, in the event that his superiors + should order him to do things contrary to the duties of a Christian + or of a good man, would not see an exception to be made to the + obedience which he has sworn. This exception is often expressed and + always clearly announced in all religious institutions; it is above + all formal and positively repeated many times in that of the + Jesuits. They are ordered to obey their superiors, but it is in the + event that they see no sin in obeying, _ubi non cerneretur peccatum + (Constitution des Jesuites_, part 3, chapter I, parag. 2, vol. i., + édition de Prague).[498] + +Indeed, implicit obedience and the total surrender of one's own will and +judgement forms the foundation of all military discipline; "theirs not +to reason why, theirs not to make reply" is everywhere recognized as the +duty of soldiers. The Jesuits being in a sense a military Order, +acknowledging a General at their head, are bound by the same obligation. +Weishaupt's system was something totally different. For whilst all +soldiers and all Jesuits, when obeying their superiors, are well aware +of the goal towards which they are tending, Weishaupt's followers were +enlisted by the most subtle methods of deception and led on towards a +goal entirely unknown to them. It is this that, as we shall see later, +constitutes the whole difference between honest and dishonest secret +societies. The fact is that the accusation of Jesuit intrigue behind +secret societies has emanated principally from the secret societies +themselves and would appear to have been a device adopted by them to +cover their own tracks. No good evidence has ever been brought forward +in support of their contention. The Jesuits, unlike the Templars and +the Illuminati, were simply suppressed in 1773 without the formality of +a trial, and were therefore never given the opportunity to answer the +charges brought against them, nor, as in the case of these other Orders, +were their secret statutes--if any such existed--brought to light. The +only document ever produced in proof of these accusations was the +"Monita Secreta," long since shown to be a forgery. At any rate, the +correspondence of the Illuminati provides their best exoneration. The +Marquis de Luchet, who was no friend of the Jesuits, shows the absurdity +of confounding their aims with those of either the Freemasons or the +Illuminati, and describes all three as animated by wholly different +purposes.[499] + +In all these questions it is necessary to seek a motive. I have no +personal interest in defending the Jesuits, but I ask: what motive could +the Jesuits have in forming or supporting a conspiracy directed against +all thrones and altars? It has been answered me that the Jesuits at this +period cared nothing for thrones and altars, but only for temporal +power; yet--even accepting this unwarrantable hypothesis--how was this +power to be exercised except through thrones and altars? Was it not +through princes and the Church that the Jesuits had been able to bring +their influence to bear on affairs of state? In an irreligious Republic, +as events afterwards proved, the power of the whole clergy was bound to +be destroyed. The truth is then, that, far from abetting the Illuminati, +the Jesuits were their most formidable opponents, the only body of men +sufficiently learned, astute, and well organized to outwit the schemes +of Weishaupt. In suppressing the Jesuits it is possible that the Old +Régime removed the only barrier capable of resisting the tide of +revolution. + +Weishaupt indeed, as we know, detested the Jesuits,[500] and took from +them only certain methods of discipline, of ensuring obedience or of +acquiring influence over the minds of his disciples; his aims were +entirely different. + +Where, then, did Weishaupt find his immediate inspiration? It is here +that Barruel and Lecouteulx de Canteleu provide a clue not to be +discovered in other sources. In 1771, they relate, a certain Jutland +merchant named Kölmer, who had spent many years in Egypt, returned to +Europe in search of converts to a secret doctrine founded on Manichæism +that he had learnt in the East. On his way to France he stopped at +Malta, where he met Cagliostro and nearly brought about an insurrection +amongst the people. Kölmer was therefore driven out of the island by the +Knights of Malta and betook himself to Avignon and Lyons. Here he made a +few disciples amongst the Illuminés and in the same year went on to +Germany, where he encountered Weishaupt and initiated him into all the +mysteries of his secret doctrine. According to Barruel, Weishaupt then +spent five years thinking out his system, which he founded under the +name of Illuminati on May 1, 1776, and assumed the "illuminated" name of +"Spartacus." + +Kölmer remains the most mysterious of all the mystery men of his day; at +first sight one is inclined to wonder whether he may not have been +another of the Cabalistic Jews acting as the secret inspirers of the +magicians who appeared in the limelight. The name Kölmer might easily +have been a corruption of the well-known Jewish name Calmer. Lecouteulx +de Canteleu, however, suggests that Kölmer was identical with Altolas, +described by Figuier as "this universal genius, almost divine, of whom +Cagliostro has spoken to us with so much respect and admiration. This +Altotas was not an imaginary personage. The Inquisition of Rome has +collected many proofs of his existence without having been able to +discover when it began or ended, for Altotas disappears, or rather +vanishes like a meteor, which, according to the poetic fancy of +romancers, would authorize us in declaring him immortal."[501] It is +curious to notice that modern occultists, whilst attributing so much +importance to Saint-Germain and the legend of his immortality, make no +mention of Altotas, who appears to have been a great deal more +remarkable. But, again, we must remember: "It is the unvarying rule of +secret societies that the real authors never show themselves." If, then, +Kölmer was the same person as Altotas, he would appear not to have been +a Jew or a Cabalist, but an initiate of some Near Eastern secret +society--possibly an Ismaili. Lecouteulx de Canteleu describes Altotas +as an Armenian, and says that his system was derived from those of +Egypt, Syria, and Persia. This would accord with Barruel's statement +that Kölmer came from Egypt, and that his ideas were founded on +Manichæism. + +It would be necessary to set these statements aside as only the +theories of Barruel or Lecouteulx, were it not that the writings of the +Illuminati betray the influence of some sect akin to Manichæism. Thus +"Spartacus" writes to "Cato" that he is thinking of "warming up the old +system of the Ghebers and Parsees,"[502] and it will be remembered that +the Ghebers were one of the sects in which Dozy relates that Abdullah +ibn Maymūn found his true supporters. Later Weishaupt goes on to +explain that-- + + The allegory in which the Mysteries and Higher Grades must be + clothed is Fire Worship and the whole philosophy of Zoroaster or of + the old Parsees who nowadays only remain in India; therefore in the + further degrees the Order is called "Fire Worship" (Feuer-dienst), + the "Fire Order," or the "Persian Order"--that is, something + magnificent beyond all expectation.[503] + +At the same time the Persian calendar was adopted by the +Illuminati.[504] + +It is evident that this pretence of Zoroastrianism was as pure humbug as +Weishaupt's later pretence of Christianity; of the true doctrines of +Zoroaster he shows no conception--nor does he insist further on the +point; but the above passage would certainly lend colour to the theory +that his system was partly founded on Manichæism, that is to say, on +perverted Zoroastrianism, imparted to him by a man from the East, and +that the methods of the Batinis and Fatimites may have been communicated +to him through the same channel. Hence the extraordinary resemblance +between his plan of organization and that of Abdullah ibn Maymūn, +which consisted in political intriguing rather than in esoteric +speculation. Thus in Weishaupt's system the phraseology of Judaism, the +Cabalistic legends of Freemasonry, the mystical imaginings of the +Martinistes, play at first no part at all. For all forms of "theosophy," +occultism, spiritualism, and magic Weishaupt expresses nothing but +contempt, and the Rose-Croix masons are bracketed with the Jesuits by +the Illuminati as enemies it is necessary to outwit at every turn.[505] +Consequently no degree of Rose-Croix finds a place in Weishaupt's +system, as in all the other masonic orders of the day which drew their +influence from Eastern or Cabalistic sources. + +It is true that "Mysteries" play a great part in the phraseology of the +Order--"Greater and Lesser Mysteries," borrowed from ancient +Egypt--whilst the higher initiates are decorated with such titles as +"Epopte" and "Hierophant," taken from the Eleusinian Mysteries. Yet +Weishaupt's own theories appear to bear no relation whatever to these +ancient cults. On the contrary, the more we penetrate into his system, +the more apparent it becomes that all the formulas he employs which +derive from any religious source--whether Persian, Egyptian, or +Christian--merely serve to disguise a purely material purpose, a plan +for destroying the existing order of society. Thus all that was really +ancient in Illuminism was the destructive spirit that animated it and +also the method of organization it had imported from the East. +Illuminism therefore marks an entirely new departure in the history of +European secret societies. Weishaupt himself indicates this as one of +the great secrets of the Order. "Above all," he writes to "Cato" (alias +Zwack), "guard the origin and the novelty of ⊙ in the most careful +way."[506] "The greatest mystery," he says again, "must be that the +thing is new; the fewer who know this the better.... Not one of the +Eichstadters knows this but would live or die for it that the thing is +as old as Methuselah."[507] + +This pretence of having discovered some fund of ancient wisdom is the +invariable ruse of secret society adepts; the one thing never admitted +is the identity of the individuals from whom one is receiving direction. +Weishaupt himself declares that he has got it all out of books by means +of arduous and unremitting labour. "What it costs me to read, study, +think, write, cross out, and re-write!" he complains to Marius and +Cato.[508] Thus, according to Weishaupt the whole system is the work of +his own unaided genius, and the supreme direction remains in his hands +alone. Again and again he insists on this point in his correspondence. + +If this were indeed the case, Weishaupt--in view of the efficiency +achieved by the Order--must have been a genius of the first water, and +it is difficult to understand why so remarkable a man should not have +distinguished himself on other lines, but have remained almost unknown +to posterity. It would therefore appear possible that Weishaupt, +although undoubtedly a man of immense organizing capacity and endowed +with extraofdinary subtlety, was not in reality the sole author of +Illuminism, but one of a group, which, recognizing his talents and the +value of his untiring activity, placed the direction in his hands. Let +us examine this hypothesis in the light of a document which was unknown +to me when I wrote my former account of the Illuminati. + +Barruel has pointed out that the great error of Robison was to describe +Illuminism as arising out of Freemasonry, since Weishaupt did not become +a Freemason until after he had founded his Order. It is true that +Weishaupt was not officially received into Freemasonry until 1777, when +he was initiated into the first degree at the Lodge "Theodore de Bon +Conseil," at Munich. From this time we find him continually occupied in +trying to discover more about the secrets of Freemasonry, whilst himself +claiming superior knowledge. + +But at the same time it is by no means certain that an inner circle of +the Lodge Theodore may not have been first in the field and Weishaupt +all the while an unconscious agent. A very curious light is thrown on +this question by the _Mémoires_ of Mirabeau. + +Now, in _The French Revolution_ and again in _World Revolution_ I quoted +the generally received opinion that Mirabeau, who was already a +Freemason, was received into the Order of the Illuminati during his +visit to Berlin in 1786. To this Mr. Waite replied: "All that is said +about Mirabeau, his visit to Berlin, and his plot to 'illuminize' French +Freemasonry, may be disposed of in one sentence: there is no evidence to +show that Mirabeau ever became a Mason. The province of Barruel was to +colour everything...."[509] Mr. Waite's statement may also be disposed +of in one sentence: it is a pure invention. The province of Mr. Waite is +to deny everything inconvenient to him. The evidence that Mirabeau was a +Freemason does not rest on Barruel alone. M. Barthou, in his Life of +Mirabeau, refers to it as a matter of common knowledge, and relates that +a paper was found at Mirabeau's house describing a new Order to be +grafted on Freemasonry. This document will be found in its entirety in +the _Mémoires_ of Mirabeau, where it is stated that: + + Mirabeau had early entered an association of Freemasonry. This + affiliation had accredited him to a Dutch lodge, and it seems that, + either spontaneously or in response to a request, he thought of + proposing an organization of which we possess the plan, written not + by his hand.... but by the hand of a copyist whom Mirabeau had + attached to himself.... This work appears to have been that of + Mirabeau; all his opinions, his principles, and his style will be + found here.[510] + +The same work goes on to print the document in full, which is headed: +"Memoir concerning an intimate association to be established in the +Order of Freemasonry so as to bring it back to its true principles and +to make it really tend to the good of humanity, drawn up by the F. +Mi----, at present named Arcesilas, in 1776." + +As this Memoir is too long to reproduce in full here, M. Barthou's +_résumé_ will serve to give an idea of its contents[511]: + + He [Mirabeau] was a Freemason from his youth. There was found + amongst his papers, written by the hand of a copyist, an + international organization of Freemasonry, which no doubt he + dictated in Amsterdam. This project contains on the solidarity of + men, on the benefits of instruction, and on the "correction of the + system of governments and of legislations" views very superior to + those of "The Essay on Despotism" (1772). The mind of Mirabeau had + ripened. The duties he traces out for the "brothers of the higher + grade" constitute even a whole plan of reforms which resemble very + much in certain parts the work accomplished later by the + Constituent [Assembly]: suppression of servitudes on the land and + the rights of main morte, abolition of the corvées, of working + guilds and of maîtrises [freedom of companies], of customs and + excise duties, the diminution of taxation, liberty of religious + opinions and of the press, the disappearance of special + jurisdiction. In order to organize, to develop and arrive at his + end, Mirabeau invokes the example of the Jesuits: "We have quite + contrary views," he says, "that of enlightening men, of making them + free and happy, but we must and we can do this by the same means, + and who should prevent us doing for good what the Jesuits have done + for evil?"[512] + +Now in this Memoir Mirabeau makes no mention of Weishaupt, but in his +_Histoire de la Monarchic Prussienne_ he gives a eulogistic account of +the Bavarian Illuminati, referring to Weishaupt by name, and showing the +Order to have arisen out of Freemasonry. It will be seen that this +account corresponds point by point with the Memoir he had himself made +out in 1776, that is to say, in the very year that Illuminism was +founded: + + The Lodge Theodore de Bon Conseil at Munich, where there were a few + men with brains and hearts, was tired of being tossed about by the + vain promises and quarrels of Masonry. The heads resolved to graft + on to their branch another secret association to which they gave + the name of the Order of the Illuminés. They modelled it on the + Society of Jesus, whilst proposing to themselves views + diametrically opposed. + +Mirabeau then goes on to say that the great object of the Order was the +amelioration of the present system of government and legislation, that +one of its fundamental rules was to admit "no prince whatever his +virtues,"[513] that it proposed to abolish-- + + The slavery of the peasants, the servitude of men to the soil, the + rights of main morte and all the customs and privileges which abase + humanity, the corvées under the condition of an equitable + equivalent, all the corporations, all the maîtrises, all the + burdens imposed on industry and commerce by customs, excise duties, + and taxes ... to procure a universal toleration for all religious + opinions ... to take away all the arms of superstition, to favour + the liberty of the press, etc.[514] + +From all this we see then that Mirabeau did not become an Illuminatus in +1786 as I had supposed before this document was known to me, but had +been in the Order from the beginning apparently as one of its founders, +first under the "Illuminated" name of Arcesilas and later under that of +Leonidas. The Memoir found at his house was thus no other than the +programme of the Illuminati evolved by him in collaboration with an +inner ring of Freemasons belonging to the Lodge Theodore. The +correspondence of the Illuminati in fact contains several references to +an inner ring under the name of "the secret chapter of the Lodge of St. +Theodore," which, after his initiation into Masonry, Weishaupt indicates +the necessity of bringing entirely under the control of Illuminism. It +is probable that Weishaupt was in touch with this secret chapter before +his formal admission to the lodge. + +Whether, then, the ideas of Illuminism arose in this secret, chapter of +the Lodge Theodore independently of Weishaupt, or whether they were +imparted by Weishaupt to the Lodge Theodore after the directions had +been given him by Kölmer, it is impossible to know; but in either case +there would be some justification for Robison's assertion that +Illuminism arose out of Freemasonry, or rather that it took birth +amongst a group of Freemasons whose aims were not those of the Order in +general. + +What were these aims? A plan of social and political "reform" which, as +M. Barthou points out, much resembled the work accomplished later by the +Constituent Assembly in France. This admission is of great importance; +in other words, the programme carried out by the Constituent Assembly in +1789 had been largely formulated in a lodge of German Freemasons who +formed the nucleus of the Illuminati, in 1776. And yet we are told that +Illuminism had no influence on the French Revolution! + +It will be objected that the reforms here indicated were wholly +admirable. True, the abolition of the _corvée_, of _main morte_, and of +servitudes were measures that met with the approval of all right-minded +men, including the King of France himself. But what of the abolition of +the "working guilds" and "all the corporations," that is to say, the +"trade unions" of the period, which was carried out by the infamous Loi +Chapelier in 1791, a decree that is now generally recognized as one of +the strangest anomalies of the Revolution? Again, to whose interest was +it to do away with the customs and excise duties of France? To establish +the absolute and unfettered liberty of the press and religious opinions? +The benefits these measures might be expected to confer on the French +people were certainly problematical, but there could be no doubt of +their utility to men who, like Frederick the Great, wished to ruin +France and to break the Franco-Austrian alliance by the unrestricted +circulation of libels against Marie Antoinette, who, like Mirabeau, +hoped to bring about a revolution, or who, like Voltaire, wished to +remove all obstacles to the spread of an anti-Christian propaganda. + +It is therefore by no means impossible that Weishaupt was at first the +agent of more experienced conspirators, whose purely political aims were +disguised under a plan of social reform, and who saw in the Bavarian +professor a clever organizer to be employed in carrying out their +designs. + +Whether this was so or not, the fact remains that from the time +Weishaupt assumed control of the Order the plan of "social reform" +described by Mirabeau vanishes entirely, for not a word do we find in +the writings of the Illuminati about any pretended scheme for +ameliorating the lot of the people, and Illuminism becomes simply a +scheme of anarchic philosophy. The French historian Henri Martin has +thus admirably summed up the system elaborated by "Spartacus": + + Weishaupt had made into an absolute theory the misanthropic gibes + _[boutades]_ of Rousseau at the invention of property and society, + and without taking into account the statement so distinctly + formulated by Rousseau on the impossibility of suppressing property + and society once they had been established, he proposed as the end + of Illuminism the abolition of property, social authority, of + nationality, and the return of the human race to the happy state in + which it formed only a single family without artificial needs, + without useless sciences, every father being priest and magistrate. + Priest of we know not what religion, for in spite of their frequent + invocations of the God of Nature, many indications lead us to + conclude that Weishaupt had, like Diderot and d'Holbach, no other + God than Nature herself. From his doctrine would naturally follow + the German ultra-Hegelianism and the system of anarchy recently + developed in France, of which the physiognomy suggests a foreign + origin.[515] + +This summary of the aims of the Illuminati, which absolutely +corroborates the view of Barruel and Robison, is confirmed in detail by +the Socialist Freethinker of the nineteenth century Louis Blanc, who in +his remarkable chapter on the "Révolutionnaires Mystiques" refers to +Weishaupt as "One of the profoundest conspirators who have ever +existed."[516] George Sand also, Socialist and _intime_ of the +Freemasons, wrote of "the European conspiracy of Illuminism" and the +immense influence exercised by the secret societies of "mystic Germany." +To say, then, that Barruel and Robison were alone in proclaiming the +danger of Illuminism is simply a deliberate perversion of the truth, and +it is difficult to understand why English Freemasons should have allowed +themselves to be misled on this question. + +Thus the _Masonic Cyclopædia_ observes that the Illuminati "were, as a +rule, men of the strictest morality and humanity, and the ideas they +sought to instil were those which have found universal acceptance in our +own times." Preston, in his _Illustrations of Masonry_, also does his +best to gloss over the faults of the Order, and even "the historian of +Freemasonry" devotes to its founder this astounding apology. After +describing Weishaupt as the victim of Jesuit intrigue, Mr. Gould goes on +to say: + + He conceived the idea of combating his foes with their own + weapons, and forming a society of young men, enthusiastic in the + cause of humanity, who should gradually be trained to work as one + man to one end--the destruction of evil and the enhancement of good + in this world. Unfortunately he had unconsciously imbibed that most + pernicious doctrine that the end justifies the means, and his whole + plan reveals the effects of his youthful teaching.... The man + himself was without guile, ignorant of men, knowing them only by + books, a learned professor, an enthusiast who took a wrong course + in all innocence, and the faults of his head have been heavily + visited upon his memory in spite of the rare qualities of his + heart.[517] + +One can only conclude that these extraordinary exonerations of an Order +bitterly hostile to the true aims of Masonry proceed from ignorance of +the real nature of Illuminism. In order to judge of this it is only +necessary to consult the writings of the Illuminati themselves, which +are contained in the following works: + +1. _Einige Originalschriften des Illuminatenordens_ (Munich, 1787). + +2. _Nachtrag von weitern Originalschriften, etc._ (Munich, 1787). + +3. _Die neuesten Arbeiten des Spartacus und Philo in dem +Illuminaten-Orden_ (Munich, 1794). + +All these consist in the correspondence and papers of the Order which +were seized by the Bavarian Government at the houses of two of the +members, Zwack and Bassus, and published by order of the Elector. The +authenticity of these documents has never been denied even by the +Illuminati themselves; Weishaupt, in his published defence, endeavoured +only to explain away the most incriminating passages. The publishers, +moreover, were careful to state at the beginning of the first volume: +"Those who might have any doubts on the authenticity of this collection +may present themselves at the Secret Archives here, where, on request, +the original documents will be laid before them." This precaution +rendered all dispute impossible. + +Setting Barruel and Robison entirely aside, we shall now see from the +evidence of their own writings, how far the Illuminati can be regarded +as a praiseworthy and cruelly maligned Order. Let us begin with their +attitude towards Freemasonry. + + + +Illuminism and Freemasonry + + +From the moment of Weishaupt's admission into Freemasonry his whole +conduct was a violation of the Masonic code. Instead of proceeding after +the recognized manner by successive stages of initiation, he set himself +to find out further secrets by underhand methods and then to turn them +to the advantage of his own system. Thus about a year after his +initiation he writes to Cato (alias Zwack): "I have succeeded in +obtaining a profound glimpse into the secret of the Freemasons. I know +their whole aim and shall impart it all at the right time in one of the +higher degrees."[518] + +Cato is then deputed to make further discoveries through an Italian +Freemason, the Abbé Marotti, which he records triumphantly in his diary: + + Interview with the Abbé Marotti on the question of Masonry, when he + explained to me the whole secret, which is founded on old religion + and Church history, and imparted to me all the higher degrees up to + the Scottish. Informed Spartacus of this.[519] + +Spartacus, however, unimpressed by this communication, replied drily: + + Whether you know the aim of Masonry I doubt. I have myself included + an insight into this structure in my plan, but reserved it for + later degrees.[520] + +Weishaupt then decides that all illuminated "Areopagites" shall take the +first three degrees of Freemasonry[521]; but further: + + That we shall have a masonic lodge of our own. That we shall regard + this as our nursery garden. That to some of these Masons we shall + not at once reveal that we have something more than the Masons + have. That at every opportunity we shall cover ourselves with this + [Masonry].... All those who are not suited to the work shall remain + in the masonic Lodge and advance in that without knowing anything + of the further system.[522] + +We shall find this plan of an inner secret circle concealed within +Freemasonry persisting up to our own day. + +Weishaupt, however, admits himself puzzled with regard to the past of +Masonry, and urges "Porcius" to find out more on this question from the +Abbé Marotti: + + See whether through him you can discover the real history, origin, + and the first founders of Masonry, for on this alone I am still + undecided.[523] + +But it is in "Philo," the Baron von Knigge, a Freemason and member of +the Stride Observance, in which he was known as the Eques a Cygno, that +Weishaupt finds his most efficient investigator. Thus "Philo" writes to +"Spartacus": + + I have now found in Cassel the best man, on whom I cannot + congratulate ourselves enough: he is Mauvillon, Grand Master of one + of the Royal York Lodges. So with him we have the whole lodge in + our hands. He has also got from there all their miserable degrees + [_Er hat auch von dort aus alle ihre elenden Grade_].[524] + +No wonder that Weishaupt thereupon exclaims joyfully: "Philo does more +than we all expected, and he is the man who alone will carry it all +through."[525] Weishaupt then occupies himself in trying to get a +"Constitution" from London, evidently without success, and also in +wresting the Lodge Theodore in Munich from the control of Berlin in +order to substitute his own domination, so that "the whole secret +chapter will be subjected to our ⊙, leave everything to it, and await +further degrees from it alone."[526] + +In all this Weishaupt shows himself not only an intriguer but a +charlatan, inventing mysteries and degrees to impose on the credulity of +his followers. "The mysteries, or so-called secret truths, are the +finest of all," he writes to "Philipo Strozzi," "and give me much +trouble."[527] So whilst heartily despising Freemasonry, theosophy, +Rosicrucianism, and mysticism of every kind, his association with Philo +leads him to perceive the utility of all these as a bait, and he allows +Philo to draw up plans for a degree of Scottish Knight. But the result +is pitiable, Philo's composition, a "semi-theosophical discourse and +explanation of hieroglyphics" is characterized by Weishaupt as gibberish +(_kauderwelsche_).[528] + + Philo [he says again] is full of such follies, which betray his + small mind.... On the Illuminatus Major follows the miserable + degree of Scottish Knight entirely of his composition, and on the + degree of Priest an equally miserable degree of Regent, ... but I + have already composed four more degrees compared to the worst of + which the Priest's degree will be child's play, but I shall tell no + one about it till I see how the thing goes....[529] + +The perfidy of the Illuminati with regard to the Freemasons is therefore +apparent. Even Mounier, who set out to refute Barruel on the strength of +the information supplied to him by the Illuminatus Bode, admits their +duplicity in this respect. + + Weishaupt [says Mounier] made the acquaintance of a Hanoverian, the + Baron von Knigge, a famous intriguer, long practised in the + charlatanism of lodges of Freemasons. On his advice new degrees + were added to the old ones, and it was resolved to profit by + Freemasonry whilst profoundly despising it. They decided that the + degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master Mason, and + Scotch Knight should be added to those of the Illuminati, and that + they would boast of possessing exclusively the real secrets of the + Freemasons and affirm that Illuminism was the real primitive + Freemasonry. + +"The papers of the Order seized in Bavaria and published," Mounier says +again, show that "the Illuminati employed the forms of Freemasonry, but +that they considered it in itself, apart from their own degrees, as a +puerile absurdity and that they detested the Rose-Croix." Mounier, as a +good disciple of Bode, takes much the same view and pities the _naïveté_ +of the Freemasons, who, "like so many children, spend a great part of +the time in their lodges playing at chapel." + +Why in the face of all this should any British Masons take up the +cudgels for the Illuminati and vilify Robison and Barruel for exposing +them? The American Mackey, as a consistent Freemason, shows scant +sympathy for this traitor in the masonic camp. "Weishaupt," he writes, +"was a radical in politics and an infidel in religion, and he organized +this association, not more for the purpose of aggrandizing himself, than +of overturning Christianity and the institutions of society." And in a +footnote he adds that Robison's _Proofs of a Conspiracy_ "contain a very +excellent exposition of the nature of this pseudo-masonic +institution."[530] + +The truth is that Weishaupt was one of the greatest enemies of British +Freemasonry who ever lived, and genuine Freemasons will do themselves no +good by defending him or his abominable system. + +Let us now see how far, apart from their rôle in Masonry, the Illuminati +can be regarded as noble idealists striving for the welfare of the human +race. + + + +Idealism of the Illuminati + + +The line of defence adopted by the apologists of the Illuminati is +always to quote the admirable principles professed by the Order, the +"beautiful ideas" that run through their writings, and to show what +excellent people were to be found amongst them. + +Of course on their face value the Illuminati appear wholly admirable, of +course there is nothing easier than to find innumerable passages in +their writings breathing a spirit of the loftiest aspiration, and of +course many excellent men figured amongst the patrons of the Order. All +this is the mere stock-in-trade of the secret society leader as of the +fraudulent company promoter, to whom the first essentials are a glowing +prospectus and a long list of highly respectable patrons who know +nothing whatever about the inner workings of the concern. These methods, +pursued as early as the ninth century by Abdullah ibn Maymūn, enter +largely into the policy of Frederick the Great, Voltaire, and his +"brothers" in philosophy--or in Freemasonry. + +The resemblances between Weishaupt's correspondence and that of Voltaire +and of Frederick the Great are certainly very striking. All at moments +profess respect for Christianity whilst working to destroy it. Thus just +as Voltaire in one letter to d'Alembert expresses his horror at the +publication of an anti-Christian pamphlet, _Le Testament de Jean +Meslier,[531]_ and in another urges him to have it circulated in +thousands all over France,[532] so Weishaupt is careful in general to +exhibit the face of a benign philosopher and even of a Christian +evangelist; it is only at moments that he drops the mask and reveals the +grinning satyr behind it. + +Accordingly in the published statutes of the Illuminati no hint of +subversive intentions will be found; indeed the "Obligation" expressly +states that "nothing against the State, religion, or morals is +undertaken." + +Yet what is Weishaupt's real political theory? No other than that of +modern Anarchy, that man should govern himself and rulers should be +gradually done away with. But he is careful to deprecate all ideas of +violent revolution--the process is to be accomplished by the most +peaceful methods. Let us see how gently he leads up to the final +conclusion: + + The first stage in the life of the whole human race is savagery, + rough nature, in which the family is the only society, and hunger + and thirst are easily satisfied, ... in which man enjoys the two + most excellent goods, Equality and Liberty, to their fullest + extent.... In these circumstances ... health was his usual + condition.... Happy men, who were not yet enough enlightened to + lose their peace of mind and to be conscious of the unhappy + mainsprings and causes of our misery, love of power ... envy ... + illnesses and all the results of imagination. + +The manner in which man fell from this primitive state of felicity is +then described: + + As families increased, means of subsistence began to lack, the + nomadic life ceased, property was instituted, men established + themselves firmly, and through agriculture families drew near each + other, thereby language developed and through living together men + began to measure themselves against each other, etc.... But here + was the cause of the downfall of freedom; equality vanished. Man + felt new unknown needs....[533] + +Thus men became dependent like minors under the guardianship of kings; +the human must attain its majority and become self-governing: + + Why should it be impossible that the human race should attain to + its highest perfection, the capacity to guide itself? Why should + anyone be eternally led who understands how to lead himself?[534] + +Further, men must learn not only to be independent of kings but of each +other: + + Who has need of another depends on him and has resigned his rights. + So to need little is the first step to freedom; therefore savages + and the most highly enlightened are perhaps the only free men. The + art of more and more limiting one's needs is at the same time the + art of attaining freedom....[535] + +Weishaupt then goes on to show how the further evil of Patriotism arose: + + With the origin of nations and peoples the world ceased to be a + great family, a single kingdom: the great tie of nature was + torn.... Nationalism took the place of human love.... Now it became + a virtue to magnify one's fatherland at the expense of whoever was + not enclosed within its limits, now as a means to this narrow end + it was allowed to despise and outwit foreigners or indeed even to + insult them. This virtue was called Patriotism....[536] + +And so by narrowing down affection to one's fellow-citizens, the members +of one's family, and even to oneself: + + There arose out of Patriotism, Localism, the family spirit, and + finally Egoism.... Diminish Patriotism, then men will learn to know + each other again as such, their dependence on each other will be + lost, the bond of union will widen out....[537] + +It will be seen that the whole of Weishaupt's theory was in reality a +new rendering of the ancient secret tradition relating to the fall of +man and the loss of his primitive felicity; but whilst the ancient +religions taught the hope of a Redeemer who should restore man to his +former state, Weishaupt looks to man alone for his restoration. "Men," +he observes, "no longer loved men but only such and such men. The word +was quite lost...."[538] Thus in Weishaupt's masonic system the "lost +word" is "Man," and its recovery is interpreted by the idea that Man +should find himself again. Further on Weishaupt goes on to show how "the +redemption of the human race is to be brought about". + + These means are secret schools of wisdom, these were from all time + the archives of Nature and of human rights, through them will Man + be saved from his Fall, princes and nations will disappear without + violence from the earth, the human race will become one family and + the world the abode of reasonable men. Morality alone will bring + about this change imperceptibly. Every father of a family will be, + as formerly Abraham and the patriarchs, the priest and unfettered + lord of his family, and Reason will be the only code of Man. This + is one of our greatest secrets....[539] + +But whilst completely eliminating any idea of divine power outside Man +and framing his system on purely political lines, Weishaupt is careful +not to shock the susceptibilities of his followers by any open +repudiation of Christian doctrines; on the contrary, he invokes Christ +at every turn and sometimes even in language so apparently earnest and +even beautiful that one is almost tempted to believe in his sincerity. +Thus he writes: + + This our great and unforgettable Master, Jesus of Nazareth, + appeared at a time in the world when it was sunk in depravity.... + The first followers of His teaching are not wise men but simple, + chosen from the lowest class of the people, so as to show that His + teaching should be possible and comprehensible to all classes and + conditions of men.... He carries out this teaching by means of the + most blameless life in conformity with it, and seals and confirms + this with His blood and death. These laws which He shows as the way + to salvation are only two: love of God and love of one's neighbour; + more He asks of no one.[540] + +So far no Lutheran pastor could have expressed himself better. But one +must study Weishaupt's writings as a whole to apprehend the true measure +of his belief in Christ's teaching. + + * * * * * + +Now, as we have already seen, his first idea was to make Fire Worship +the religion of Illuminism; the profession of Christianity therefore +appears to have been an after-thought. Evidently Weishaupt discovered, +as others have done, that Christianity lends itself more readily to +subversive ideas than any other religion. And in the passages which +follow we find him adopting the old ruse of representing Christ as a +Communist and as a secret-society adept. Thus he goes on to explain that +"if Jesus preaches contempt of riches, He wishes to teach us the +reasonable use of them and prepare for the community of goods introduced +by Him,"[541] and in which, Weishaupt adds later, He lived with His +disciples.[542] But this secret doctrine is only to be apprehended by +initiates: + + No one ... has so cleverly concealed the high meaning of His + teaching, and no one finally has so surely and easily directed men + on to the path of freedom as our great master Jesus of Nazareth. + This secret meaning and natural consequence of His teaching He hid + completely, for Jesus had a secret doctrine, as we see in more than + one place of the Scriptures.[543] + +Weishaupt thus contrives to give a purely political interpretation to +Christ's teaching: + + The secret preserved through the Disciplinam Arcani, and the aim + appearing through all His words and deeds, is to give back to men + their original liberty and equality.... Now one can understand how + far Jesus was the Redeemer and Saviour of the world.[544] + +The mission of Christ was therefore by means of Reason to make men +capable of freedom[545]: "When at last reason becomes the religion of +man, so will the problem be solved."[546] + +Weishaupt goes on to show that Freemasonry can be interpreted in the +same manner. The secret doctrine concealed in the teaching of Christ was +handed down by initiates who "hid themselves and their doctrine under +the cover of Freemasonry,"[547] and in a long explanation of Masonic +hieroglyphics he indicates the analogies between the Hiramic legend and +the story of Christ. "I say then Hiram is Christ," and after giving one +of his reasons for this assertion, adds: "Here then is much ground +gained, although I myself cannot help laughing at this explanation +[_obwohl ich selbst über diese Explication im Grund lachen muss_]."[548] +Weishaupt then proceeds to give further interpretations of his own +devising to the masonic ritual, including an imaginary translation of +certain words supposed to be derived from Hebrew, and ends up by saying: +"One will be able to show several more resemblances between Hiram and +the life and death of Christ, or drag them in by the hair."[549] So much +for Weishaupt's respect for the Grand Legend of Freemasonry! + +In this manner Weishaupt demonstrates that "Freemasonry is hidden +Christianity, at least my explanations of the hieroglyphics fit this +perfectly; and in the way in which I explain Christianity no one need be +ashamed to be a Christian, for I leave the name and substitute for it +Reason."[550] + +But this is of course only the secret of what Weishaupt calls "real +Freemasonry"[551] in contradistinction to the official kind, which he +regards as totally unenlightened: "Had not the noble and elect remained +in the background ... new depravity would have broken out in the human +race, and through Regents, Priests, and Freemasons Reason would have +been banished from the earth."[552] + +In Weishaupt's masonic system, therefore, the designs of the Order with +regard to religion are not confided to the mere Freemasons, but only to +the Illuminati. Under the heading of "Higher Mysteries" Weishaupt +writes: + + The man who is good for nothing better remains a Scottish Knight. + If he is, however, a particularly industrious co-ordinator + [_Sammler_], observer, worker, he becomes a Priest.... If there are + amongst these [Priests] high speculative intellects, they become + Magi. These collect and put in order the higher philosophical + system and work at the People's Religion, which the Order will + next give to the world. Should these high geniuses also be fit to + rule the world, they become Regents. This is the last degree.[553] + +Philo (the Baron von Knigge) also throws an interesting light on the +religious designs of the Illuminati. In a letter to Cato he explains the +necessity of devising a system that will satisfy fanatics and +freethinkers alike: "So as to work on both these classes of men and +unite them, we must find an explanation to the Christian religion ... +make this the secret of Freemasonry and turn it to our purpose."[554] +Philo continues: + + We say then: Jesus wished to introduce no new religion, but only to + restore natural religion and reason to their old rights. Thereby he + wished to unite men in a great universal association, and through + the spread of a wiser morality, enlightenment, and the combating of + all prejudices to make them capable of governing themselves; so the + secret meaning of his teaching was to lead men without revolution + to universal liberty and equality. There are many passages in the + Bible which can be made use of and explained, and so all + quarrelling between the sects ceases if one can find a reasonable + meaning in the teaching of Jesus--be it true or not. As, however, + this simple religion was afterwards distorted, so were these + teachings imparted to us through Disciplinam Arcani and finally + through Freemasonry, and all masonic hieroglyphics can be explained + with this object. Spartacus has collected very good data for this + and I have myself added to them, ... and so I have got both degrees + ready.... + + Now therefore that people see that we are the only real and true + Christians, we can say a word more against priests and princes, but + I have so managed that after previous tests I can receive pontiffs + and kings in this degree. In the higher Mysteries we must then + (_a_) disclose the pious fraud and (_b_) reveal from all writings + the origin of all religious lies and their connexion....[555] + +So admirably did this ruse succeed that we find Spartacus writing +triumphantly: + + You cannot imagine what consideration and sensation our Priest's + degree is arousing. The most wonderful thing is that great + Protestant and reformed theologians who belong to ⊙ [Illuminism] + still believe that the religious teaching imparted in it contains + the true and genuine spirit of the Christian religion. Oh! men, of + what cannot you be persuaded? I never thought that I should become + the founder of a new religion.[556] + +It is on the "illuminized" clergy and professors that Weishaupt counts +principally for the work of the Order. + + Through the influence of the Brothers [he writes], the Jesuits have + been removed from all professorships, and the University of + Ingoldstadt has been quite cleansed of them....[557] + +Thus the way is cleared for Weishaupt's adepts. + +The Institute of Cadets also comes under the control of the Order: + + All the professors are members of the Illuminati, ... so will all + the pupils become disciples of Illuminism.[558] + +Further: + + We have provided our clerical members with good benefices, + parishes, posts at Court. + + Through our influence Arminius and Cortez have been made professors + at Ephesus. + + * * * * * + + The German schools are quite under [the influence of] ⊙ and now + only members have charge of them. + + The charitable association is also directed by ⊙. + + * * * * * + + Soon we shall draw over to us the whole Bartholomew Institute for + young clergymen; the preparations have already been made and the + prospects are very good, by this means we shall be able to provide + the whole of Bavaria with proper priests.[559] + +But religion and Freemasonry are not the only means by which Illuminism +can be spread. + + We must consider [says Weishaupt], how we can begin to work under + another form. If only the aim is achieved, it does not matter under + what cover it takes place, and a cover is always necessary. For in + concealment lies a great part of our strength. For this reason we + must always cover ourselves with the name of another society. The + lodges that are under Freemasonry are in the meantime the most + suitable cloak for our high purpose, because the world is already + accustomed to expect nothing great from them which merits + attention.... As in the spiritual Orders of the Roman Church, + religion was, alas! only a pretence, so must our Order also in a + nobler way try to conceal itself behind a learned society or + something of the kind.... A society concealed in this manner cannot + be worked against. In case of a prosecution or of treason the + superiors cannot be discovered.... We shall be shrouded in + impenetrable darkness from spies and emissaries of other + societies.[560] + +In order to give a good appearance to the Order, Weishaupt particularly +indicates the necessity for enlisting esteemed and "respectable" +persons,[561] but above all young men whom he regards as the most likely +subjects. "I cannot use men as they are," he observes, "but I must first +form them."[562] Youth naturally lends itself best to this process. +"Seek the society of young people," Weishaupt writes to Ajax, "watch +them, and if one of them pleases you, lay your hand on him."[563] "Seek +out young and already skilful people.... Our people must be engaging, +enterprising, intriguing, and adroit. Above all the first."[564] + +If possible they should also be good-looking--"beautiful people, +_cæteris paribus_...." + + Such people have generally gentle manners, a tender heart, and are, + when well practised in other things, of the greatest use in + undertakings, for their first glance attracts; but their spirit + _n'a pas la profondeur des physiognomies sombres_. They are, + however, also less disposed to riots and disturbances than the + darker physiognomies. That is why one must know how to use one's + people. Above all, the high, soulful eye pleases me and the free, + open brow.[565] + +With these novices the adept of Illuminism is to proceed slowly, talking +backwards and forwards: + + One must speak, first in one way, then in another, so as not to + commit oneself and to make one's real way of thinking impenetrable + to one's inferiors.[566] + +Weishaupt also insists on the importance of exciting the candidate's +curiosity and then drawing back again, after the manner of the Fatimite +_dais_: + + I have no fault to find with your [methods of] reception + ["Spartacus" writes to "Cato"], except that they are too quick.... + You should proceed gradually in a roundabout way by means of + suspense and expectations, so as first to arouse indefinite, vague + curiosity, and then when the candidate declares himself, present + the object, which he will then seize with both hands.[567] + +By this means his vanity will also be flattered, because one will arouse +the pleasure of "knowing something which everyone does not know, and +about which the greater part of the world is groping in darkness."[568] + +For the same reason the candidate must be impressed with the importance +of secret societies and the part they have played in the destinies of +the world: + + One illustrates this by the Order of the Jesuits, of the + Freemasons, by the secret associations of the ancients, one asserts + that all events in the world occur from a hundred secret springs + and causes, to which secret associations above all belong; one + arouses the pleasure of quiet, hidden power and of insight into + hidden secrets.[569] + +At this point one is to begin to "show glimpses and to let fall here and +there remarks that may be interpreted in two ways," so as to bring the +candidate to the point of saying: "If I had the chance to enter such an +association, I would go into it at once." "These discourses," says +Weishaupt, "are to be often repeated."[570] + +In the discourse of reception to the "Illuminatus Dirigens," the appeal +to love of power plays the most important part: + + Do you realize sufficiently what it means to rule--to rule in a + secret Society? Not only over the lesser or more important of the + populace, but over the best men, over men of all ranks, nations, + and religions, to rule without external force, to unite them + indissolubly, to breathe one spirit and soul into them, men + distributed over all parts of the world?...[571] + + And finally, do you know what secret societies are? what a place + they occupy in the great kingdom of the world's events? Do you + really think they are unimportant, transitory appearances?[572] + etc. + +But the admission of political aims is reserved only for the higher +grades of the Order. "With the beginner," says Weishaupt, "we must be +careful about books on religion and the State. I have reserved these in +my plan for the higher degrees."[573] Accordingly the discourse to the +"Minerval" is expressly designed to put him off the track. Thus the +initiator is to say to him: + + After two years' reflection, experience, intercourse, reading of + the graduated writings and information, you will necessarily have + formed the idea that the final aim of our Society is nothing less + than to win power and riches, to undermine secular or religious + government, and to obtain the mastery of the world, and so on. If + you have represented our Society to yourself from this point of + view or have entered it in this expectation, you have mightily + deceived yourself....[574] + +The initiator, without informing the Minerval of the real aim of the +Society, then goes on to say that he is now free to leave it if he +wishes. By this means the leaders were able to eliminate ambitious +people who might become their rivals to power and to form their ranks +out of men who would submit to be led blindly onward by unseen +directors. "My circumstances necessitate," Spartacus writes to Cato, +"that I should remain hidden from most of the members as long as I live. +I am obliged to do everything through five or six persons."[575] So +carefully was this secret guarded that until the papers of the +Illuminati were seized in 1786 no one outside this inner circle knew +that Weishaupt was the head of the Order. Yet if we are to believe his +own assertions, he had been throughout in supreme control. Again and +again he impresses on his _intimes_ the necessity for unity of command +in the Order: "One must show how easy it would be for one clever head to +direct hundreds and thousands of men,"[576] and he illustrates this +system by the table reproduced on the next page, to which he appends the +following explanation: + + I have two immediately below me into whom I breathe my whole + spirit, and each of these two has again two others, and so on. In + this way I can set a thousand men in motion and on fire in the + simplest manner, and in this way one must impart orders and operate + on politics.[577] + +Thus, as in the case of Abdullah ibn Maymūn's society, "the +extraordinary result was brought about that a multitude of men of divers +beliefs were all working together for an object known only to a few of +them." + +Enough has now been quoted from the correspondence of the Illuminati to +show their aims and methods according to their own admissions. We shall +now see how far their apologists are justified in describing them as +"men of the strictest morality and humanity."[578] Doubtless there were +many excellent people in the outer ranks of the Order, but this is not +the contention of Mr. Gould, who expressly states that "all the +prominent members of this association were estimable men both in public +and in private life." These further extracts from their correspondence +may be left to speak for themselves. + + + +Character of the Illuminati + + +In June 1782 Weishaupt writes to "Cato" as follows: + + Oh, in politics and morality you are far behind, my gentlemen. + Judge further if such a man as Marcus Aurelius[579] finds out how + wretched it [Illuminism] appears in Athens [Munich]; what a + collection of immoral men, of whoremongers, liars, debtors, + boasters, and vain fools they have amongst them. If he saw all + that, what do you suppose the man would think? Would he not be + ashamed to find himself in such an association, in which the + leaders arouse the greatest expectations and carry out the best + plan in such a miserable manner? And all this out of caprice, + expediency, etc. Judge whether I am not right.[580] + + [Illustration: Diagram of Weishapt's System. From _Nachtrag von + weitern Originalschriften der Illuminatensekte_, p. 32. München, + 1787.] + + From Thebes [Freysing] I hear fatal news; they have received into + the lodge the scandal of the whole town, the dissolute debtor + Propertius, who is trumpeted abroad by the whole "personnel" of + Athens [Munich], Thebes and Erzerum [Eichstadt]; D. also appears + to be a bad man. Socrates who would be a capital man [_ein Capital + Mann_] is continually drunk, Augustus in the worst repute, and + Alcibiades sits the whole day with the innkeeper's wife sighing and + pining: Tiberius tried in Corinth to rape the sister of Democedes + and the husband came in. In Heaven's name, what are these for + Areopagites! We upper ones, write, read and work ourselves to + death, offer to ⊙ our health, fame and fortune, whilst these + gentlemen indulge their weaknesses, go a whoring, cause scandals + and yet are Areopagites and want to know about everything.[581] + + Concerning Arminius there are great complaints.... He is an + unbearable, obstinate, arrogant, vain fool![582] + + Let Celsus, Marius, Scipio, and Ajax do what they will ... no one + does us so much harm as Celsus, no one is less to be reasoned with + than Celsus, and perhaps few could have been so much use to us as + Celsus.... Marius is obstinate and can see no great plan, Scipio is + negligent, and of Ajax I will not speak at all.... Confucius is + worth very little: he is too inquisitive and a terrible chatterer + [_ein grausamer Schwatzer_].[583] + + Agrippa must be quite struck off our list, for the rumour goes + round ... that he has stolen a gold and silver watch together with + a ring from our best fellow-worker Sulla.[584] + +It will doubtless be suggested at this point that all these letters +merely portray the lofty idealist sorrowing over the frailties of his +erring disciples, but let us hear what Weishaupt has to say about +himself. In a letter to Marius (Hertel) he writes: + + And now in the strictest confidence, a matter near my heart, which + robs me of all rest, makes me incapable of anything and drives me + to despair. I stand in danger of losing my honour and my reputation + which gave me so much power over our people. Think, my + sister-in-law is expecting a child.[585] I have for this purpose + sent to Euriphon in Athens to solicit the marriage licence and + Promotorial from Rome, you see how much depends on this and that no + time must be lost; every minute is precious. But if the + dispensation does not arrive, what shall I do? How shall I make + amends to the person since I alone am to blame? We have already + tried several ways to get rid of the child; she herself was + resolved for anything. But Euriphon is too timid and yet I see no + other expedient, if I could ensure the silence of Celsus he could + help me and indeed he already promised me this three years + ago....[586] If you can help me out of this dilemma, you will give + me back life, honour, peace and power to work.... I do not know + what devil led me astray, I who always in these circumstances took + extreme precautions.[587] + +A little later Weishaupt writes again: + + All fatalities happen to me at the same time. Now there is my + mother dead! Corpse, wedding, christening all in a short time, one + on the top of the other. What a wonderful mix-up + [_mischmasch_]![588] + +So much for what Mr. Gould calls the "rare qualities" of Weishaupt's +heart. Let us now listen to the testimony of Weishaupt's principal +coadjutor, Philo (the Baron von Knigge), to whom the "historian of +Freemasonry" refers as "a lovable enthusiast." In all subversive +associations, whether open or secret, directed by men who aim at power, +a moment is certain to arrive when the ambitions of the leaders come +into conflict. This is the history of every revolutionary organization +during the last 150 years. It was when the inevitable climax had been +reached between Weishaupt and Knigge that "Philo" wrote to "the most +loving Cato" in the following terms: + + It is not Mahomed and A. who are so much to blame for my break with + Spartacus, as the Jesuitical conduct of this man which has so often + turned us against each other in order to rule despotically over + men, who, if they have not perhaps such a rich imagination as + himself, also do not possess so much cuteness and cunning, + etc.[589] + +In a further letter Philo goes on to enumerate the services he has +rendered to Weishaupt in the past: + + At the bidding of Spartacus I have written against ex-Jesuits and + Rosicrucians, persecuted people who never did me any harm, thrown + the _Stricte Observance_ into confusion, drawn the best amongst + them to us, told them of the worthiness of ⊙, of its power, its + age, the excellence of its Chiefs, the blamelessness of its higher + leaders, the importance of its knowledge, and given great ideas of + the uprightness of its views; those amongst us who are now working + so actively for us but cling much to religiousness [_sehr an + Religiosität kleben_] and who feared our intention was to spread + Deism, I have sought to persuade that the higher Superiors had + nothing less than this intention. Gradually, however, I shall work + it as I please [_nach und nach wirke ich dock was ich will_]. If I + now were to ... give a hint to the Jesuits and Rosicrucians as to + who is persecuting them ... if I were to make known (to a few + people) the Jesuitical character of the man who leads perhaps all + of us by the nose, uses us for his ambitious schemes, sacrifices us + as often as his obstinacy requires, [if I were to make known to + them] what they have to fear from such a man, from such a machine + behind which perhaps Jesuits may be concealed or might conceal + themselves; if I were to assure those who seek for secrets that + they have nothing to expect; if I were to confide to those who hold + religion dear, the principles of the General; ... if I were to draw + the attention of the lodges to an association behind which the + Illuminati are concealed; if I were again to associate myself with + princes and Freemasons ... but I shrink from the thought, vengeance + will not carry me so far....[590] + +We have now seen enough of the aims and methods of the Illuminati and +the true characters of their leaders from their own admissions. To make +the case complete it would be necessary also to give a résumé of the +confessions made by the ex-Illuminati, the four professors Cosandey, +Grünberger, Utzschneider, and Renner, as also of the further published +works of the Illuminati--but space and time forbid. What is needed is a +complete book on the subject, consisting of translations of the most +important passages in all the contemporary German publications. + +From the extracts given above, can it, however, be seriously contended +that Barruel or Robison exaggerated the guilt of the Order? Do my +literal translations differ materially in sense from the translations +and occasional paraphrases given by the much-abused couple? + +Even those contemporaries, Mounier and the member of the Illuminati[591] +who set out to refute Barruel and Lombard de Langres, merely provide +further confirmation of their views. Thus Mounier is obliged to confess +that the real design of Illuminism was "to undermine all civil order,"[592] +and "Ancien Illuminé" asserts in language no less forcible than +Barruel's own that Weishaupt "made a code of Machiavellism," that his +method was "a profound perversity, flattering everything that was base +and rancorous in human nature in order to arrive at his ends," that he +was not inspired by "a wise spirit of reform" but by a "fanatical enmity +inimical to all authority on earth." The only essential points on which +the opposing parties differ is that whilst Mounier and "Ancien Illuminé" +deny the influence of the Illuminati on the French Revolution and +maintain that they ceased to exist in 1786, Barruel and Lombard de +Langres present them as the inspirers of the Jacobins and declare them +to be still active after the Revolution had ended. That on this point, +at any rate, the latter were right, we shall see in a further chapter. + +The great question that presents itself after studying the writings of +the Illuminati is: what was the motive power behind the Order? If we +admit the possibility that Frederick the Great and the Stricte +Observance, working through an inner circle of Freemasons at the Lodge +St. Theodore, may have provided the first impetus and that Kölmer +initiated Weishaupt into Oriental methods of organization, the source of +inspiration from which Weishaupt subsequently drew his anarchic +philosophy still remains obscure. It has frequently been suggested that +his real inspirers were Jews, and the Jewish writer Bernard Lazare +definitely states that "there were Jews, Cabalistic Jews, around +Weishaupt."[593] A writer in _La Vieille France_ went so far as to +designate these Jews as Moses Mendelssohn, Wessely, and the bankers +Itzig, Friedlander, and Meyer. But no documentary evidence has ever been +produced in support of these statements. It is therefore necessary to +examine them in the light of probability. + +Now, as I have already shown, the theosophical ideas of the Cabala play +no part in the system of Illuminism; the only trace of Cabalism to be +found amongst the papers of the Order is a list of recipes for procuring +abortion, for making aphrodisiacs, Aqua Toffana, pestilential vapours, +etc., headed "Cabala Major."[594] It is possible, then, that the +Illuminati may have learnt something of "venefic magic" and the use of +certain natural substances from Jewish Cabalists; at the same time Jews +appear to have been only in rare cases admitted to the Order. Everything +indeed tends to prove that Weishaupt and his first coadjutors, Zwack and +Massenhausen, were pure Germans. Nevertheless there is between the +ideas of Weishaupt and of Lessing's "Falk" a distinct resemblance; both +in the writings of the Illuminati and in Lessing's _Dialogues_ we find +the same vein of irony with regard to Freemasonry, the same design that +it should be replaced by a more effectual system,[595]the same +denunciations of the existing social order and of bourgeois society, the +same theory that "men should be self-governing," the same plan of +obliterating all distinctions between nations, even the same simile of +the bee-hive as applied to human life[596] which, as I have shown +elsewhere, was later on adopted by the anarchist Proudhon. It may, +however, legitimately be urged that these ideas were those of the inner +masonic circle to which both Lessing and Weishaupt belonged, and that, +though placed in the mouth of Falk, they were in no sense Judaic. + +But Lessing was also the friend and admirer of Moses Mendelssohn, who +has been suggested as one of Weishaupt's inspirers. Now, at first sight +nothing seems more improbable than that an orthodox Jew such as +Mendelssohn should have accorded any sympathy to the anarchic scheme of +Weishaupt. Nevertheless, certain of Weishaupt's doctrines are not +incompatible with the principles of orthodox Judaism. Thus, for example, +Weishaupt's theory--so strangely at variance with his denunciations of +the family system--that as a result of Illuminism "the head of every +family will be what Abraham was, the patriarch, the priest, and the +unfettered lord of his family, and Reason will be the only code of +Man,"[597] is essentially a Jewish conception. + +It will be objected that the patriarchal system as conceived by orthodox +Jews could by no means include the religion of Reason as advocated by +Weishaupt. It must not, however, be forgotten that to the Jewish mind +the human race presents a dual aspect, being divided into two distinct +categories--the privileged race to whom the promises of God were made, +and the great mass of humanity which remains outside the pale. Whilst +strict adherence to the commands of the Talmud and the laws of Moses is +expected of the former, the most indefinite of religious creeds suffices +for the nations excluded from the privileges that Jewish birth confers. +It was thus that Moses Mendelssohn wrote to the pastor Lavater, who had +sought to win him over to Christianity: + + Pursuant to the principles of my religion, I am not to seek to + convert anyone who is not born according to our laws. This + proneness to conversion, the origin of which some would fain tack + on to the Jewish religion, is, nevertheless, diametrically opposed + to it. Our rabbis unanimously teach that the written and oral laws + which form conjointly our revealed religion are obligatory on our + nation only. "Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the + congregation of Jacob." We believe that all other nations of the + earth have been directed by God to adhere to the laws of nature, + and to the religion of the patriarchs. Those who regulate their + lives according to the precepts of this _religion of nature and of + reason_[598] are called virtuous men of other nations and are the + children of eternal salvation.[599] Our rabbis are so remote from + Proselytomania, that they enjoin us to dissuade, by forcible + remonstrances, everyone who comes forward to be converted. (The + Talmud says ... "proselytes are annoying to Israel like a + scab.")[600] + +But was not this "religion of nature and of reason" the precise +conception of Weishaupt? + +Whether, then, Weishaupt was directly inspired by Mendelssohn or any +other Jew must remain for the present an open question. But the Jewish +connexions of certain other Illuminati cannot be disputed. The most +important of these was Mirabeau, who arrived in Berlin just after the +death of Mendelssohn and was welcomed by his disciples in the Jewish +salon of Henrietta Herz. It was these Jews, "ardent supporters of the +French Revolution"[601] at its outset, who prevailed on Mirabeau to +write his great apology for their race under the form of a panegyric of +Mendelssohn. + +To sum up, I do not so far see in Illuminism a Jewish conspiracy to +destroy Christianity, but rather a movement finding its principal +dynamic force in the ancient spirit of revolt against the existing +social and moral order, aided and abetted perhaps by Jews who saw in it +a system that might be turned to their own advantage. Meanwhile, +Illuminism made use of every other movement that could serve its +purpose. As the contemporary de Luchet has expressed it: + + The system of the Illuminés is not to embrace the dogmas of a sect, + but to turn all errors to its advantage, to concentrate in itself + everything that men have invented in the way of duplicity and + imposture. + +More than this, Illuminism was not only the assemblage of all errors, of +all ruses, of all subtleties of a theoretic kind, it was also an +assemblage of all practical methods for rousing men to action. For in +the words of von Hammer on the Assassins, that cannot be too often +repeated: + + Opinions are powerless so long as they only confuse the brain + without arming the hand. Scepticism and free-thinking as long as + they occupied only the minds of the indolent and philosophical have + caused the ruin of no throne.... It is nothing to the ambitious man + what people believe, but it is everything to know how he may turn + them for the execution of his projects. + +This was what Weishaupt so admirably understood; he knew how to take +from every association, past and present, the portions he required and +to weld them all into a working system of terrible efficiency--the +disintegrating doctrines of the Gnostics and Manicheans, of the modern +philosophers and Encyclopædists, the methods of the Ismailis and the +Assassins, the discipline of the Jesuits and Templars, the organization +and secrecy of the Freemasons, the philosophy of Machiavelli, the +mystery of the Rosicrucians--he knew moreover, how to enlist the right +elements in all existing associations as well as isolated individuals +and turn them to his purpose. So in the army of the Illuminati we find +men of every shade of thought, from the poet Goethe[602] to the meanest +intriguer--lofty idealists, social reformers, visionaries, and at the +same time the ambitious, the rancorous, and the disgruntled, men swayed +by lust or embittered by grievances, all these differing in their aims +yet by Weishaupt's admirable system of watertight compartments precluded +from a knowledge of these differences and all marching, unconsciously or +not, towards the same goal. + +Although this was not the invention of Weishaupt but had been +foreshadowed many centuries earlier in the East, it was Weishaupt, so +far as we know, who reduced it to a working system for the West--a +system which has been adhered to by succeeding groups of +world-revolutionaries up to the present day. It is for this reason that +I have quoted at length the writings of the Illuminati--all the ruses, +all the hypocrisy, all the subtle methods of camouflage which +characterized the Order will be found again in the insidious propaganda +both of the modern secret societies and the open revolutionary +organizations whose object is to subvert all order, all morality, and +all religion. + +I maintain, therefore, with greater conviction than ever the importance +of Illuminism in the history of world-revolution. But for this +co-ordination of methods the philosophers and Encyclopædists might have +gone on for ever inveighing against thrones and altars, the Martinistes +evoking spirits, the magicians weaving spells, the Freemasons declaiming +on universal brotherhood--none of these would have "armed the hand" and +driven the infuriated mobs into the streets of Paris; it was not until +the emissaries of Weishaupt formed an alliance with the Orléaniste +leaders that vague subversive theory became active revolution. + + + + +10 + +THE CLIMAX + + + +The first Masonic body with which the Illuminati formed an alliance was +the Stricte Observance, to which the Illuminati Knigge and Bode both +belonged. Cagliostro had also been initiated into the Stricte Observance +near Frankfurt and was now employed as agent of the combined order. +According to his own confession his mission "was to work so as to turn +Freemasonry in the direction of Weishaupt's projects"; and the funds he +drew upon were those of the Illuminati.[603] Cagliostro also formed a +link with the Martinistes, whose doctrines, though derided by Weishaupt, +were useful to his plan in attracting by their mystical character those +who would have been repelled by the cynicism of the Illuminati. +According to Barruel, it was the Martinistes who--following in the +footsteps of the Rosicrucians--had suggested to Weishaupt the device of +presenting Christ as an "Illuminatus" which had led to such triumphant +results amongst the Protestant clergy. + +But if Weishaupt made use of the various masonic associations, they on +their account found in him a valuable ally. The fact is that by this +time both French and German Freemasons were very much at sea with regard +to the whole subject of Masonry and needed someone to give a point to +their deliberations. Thus at the Congress of Wilhelmsbad convened on +July 16, 1782, and attended by representatives of masonic bodies from +all over the world, the first question propounded by the Grand Master of +the Templars (i.e. the Stricte Observance) was: "_What is the real +object of the Order and its true origin_?" So, says Mirabeau in relating +this incident, "this same Grand Master and all his assistants had worked +for more than twenty years with incredible ardour at a thing of which +they knew neither the real object nor the origin."[604] + +Two years later the Freemasons of France do not appear to have been any +less in the dark on this matter, for we find them writing to General +Rainsford, one of the English Masons who had been present at the +Congress of Wilhelmsbad, as follows: + + Since you say that Masonry has never experienced any variation in + its aim, do you then know with certainty what this unique object + is? Is it useful for the happiness of mankind?... Tell us if it is + of an historical, political, hermetical, or scientific nature?... + Moral, social, or religious?... Are the traditions oral or + written?[605] + +But Weishaupt had a very definite object in view, which was to gain +control of all Freemasonry, and though he himself was not present at the +Congress, his coadjutor Knigge, who had been travelling about Germany +proclaiming himself the reformer of Freemasonry, presented himself at +Wilhelmsbad, armed with full authority from Weishaupt, and succeeded in +enrolling a number of magistrates, savants, ecclesiastics, and ministers +of state as Illuminati and in allying himself with the deputies of +Saint-Martin and Willermoz. Vanquished by this powerful rival, the +Stricte Observance ceased temporarily to exist and Illuminism was left +in possession of the field. + +On February 15, 1785, a further congress took place in Paris, convened +this time by the Philalèthes, at which the Illuminati Bode (alias +Amelius) and the Baron de Busche (alias Bayard) were present, also--it +has been stated--the "magician" Cagliostro, the magnetiser Mesmer, the +Cabalist Duchanteau, and of course the leaders of the Philalèthes, +Savalette de Langes, who was elected President, the Marquis de +Chefdebien, and a number of German members of the same Order. This +congress led to no very practical results, and a further and more secret +one was convened in the following year at Frankfurt, where a Grand Lodge +had been established in 1783. It was here that the deaths of Louis XVI +and Gustavus III of Sweden are said to have been decreed. + +But already in this same year of 1785 the first act of the revolutionary +drama had been played out. The famous "Affair of the Necklace" can never +be understood in the pages of official history; only an examination of +the mechanism provided by the secret societies can explain that +extraordinary episode, which, in the opinion of Napoleon, contributed +more than any other cause to the explosion of 1789. In its double attack +on Church and Monarchy the Affair of the Necklace fulfilled the purpose +of both Frederick the Great and of the Illuminati. Cagliostro, we know, +received both money and instructions from the Order for carrying out the +plot, and after it had ended in his own and the Cardinal de Rohan's +exoneration and exile, we find him embarking on fresh secret-society +work in London, where he arrived in November of the same year. +Announcing himself as the Count Sutkowski, member of a society at +Avignon, he "visited the Swedenborgians at their Theosophical Society +meeting in rooms in the Middle Temple and displayed minute acquaintance +with their doctrines, whilst claiming a superior knowledge."[606] +According to a generally received opinion, Cagliostro was the author of +a mysterious proclamation which appeared at this moment in the _Morning +Herald_ in the cypher of the Rose-Croix.[607] + +But in the year before these events an extraordinary thing had happened. +An evangelist preacher and Illuminatus named Lanze had been sent in July +1785 as an emissary of the Illuminati to Silesia, but on his journey he +was struck down by lightning. The instructions of the Order were found +on him, and as a result its intrigues were conclusively revealed to the +Government of Bavaria.[608] A searching enquiry followed, the houses of +Zwack and Bassus were raided, and it was then that the documents and +other incriminating evidence referred to in the preceding chapter of +this book were seized and made public under the name of _The Original +Writings of the Order of the Illuminati_ (1787). But before this the +evidence of four ex-Illuminati, professors of Munich, was published in +two separate volumes.[609] + +The diabolical nature of Illuminism now remained no longer a matter of +doubt, and the Order was officially suppressed. The opponents of Barruel +and Robison therefore declare that Illuminism came finally to an end. We +shall see later by documentary evidence that it never ceased to exist, +and that twenty-five years later not only the Illuminati but Weishaupt +himself were still as active as ever behind the scenes in Freemasonry. + +But for the present we must follow its course from the moment of its +apparent extinction in 1786. This course can be traced not only through +the "German Union," which is believed to have been a reorganization of +the original Illuminati, but through the secret societies of France. +Illuminism in reality is less an Order than a principle, and a principle +which can work better under cover of something else. Weishaupt himself +had laid down the precept that the work of Illuminism could best be +conducted "under other names and other occupations," and henceforth we +shall always find it carried on by this skilful system of camouflage. + +The first cover adopted was the lodge of the "Amis Réunis" in Paris, +with which, as we have already seen, the Illuminati had established +relations. But now in 1787 a definite alliance was effected by the +aforementioned Illuminati, Bode and Busche, who in response to an +invitation from the secret committee of the lodge arrived in Paris in +February of this year. Here they found the old Illuminatus Mirabeau--who +with Talleyrand had been largely instrumental in summoning these German +Brothers--and, according to Gustave Bord,[610] two important members of +the Stricte Observance, the Marquis de Chefdebien d'Armisson (_Eques a +Capite Galeato_) and an Austrian, the Comte Leopold de +Kollowrath-Krakowski (_Eques ab Aquila Fulgente_) who also belonged to +Weishaupt's Order of Illuminati in which he bore the pseudonym of +Numenius. + +It is important here to recognize the peculiar part played by the Lodge +of the _Amis Réunis_. Whilst the _Loge des Neuf Soeurs_ was largely +composed of middle-class revolutionaries such as Brissot, Danton, +Camille Desmoulins, and Champfort, and the _Loge de la Candeur_ of +aristocratic revolutionaries--Lafayette as well as the Orléanistes, the +Marquis de Sillery, the Duc d'Aiguillon, the Marquis de Custine, and the +Lameths--_the Loge du Contrat Social_ was mainly composed of honest +visionaries who entertained no revolutionary projects but, according to +Barruel, were strongly Royalist. The rôle of the "Amis Réunis" was to +collect together the subversives from all other lodges--Philalèthes, +Rose-Croix, members of the _Loge des Neuf Sours_ and of the _Loge de la +Candeur_ and of the most secret committees of the Grand Orient, as well +as deputies from the _Illuminés_ in the provinces. Here, then, at the +lodge in the Rue de la Sordière, under the direction of Savalette de +Langes, were to be found the disciples of Weishaupt, of Swedenborg, and +of Saint-Martin, as well as the practical makers of revolution--the +agitators and demagogues of 1789. + +The influence of German Illuminism on all these heterogeneous elements +was enormous. From this moment, says a further Bavarian report of the +matter, a complete change took place in the Order of the "Amis Réunis." +Hitherto only vaguely subversive, the Chevaliers Bienfaisants became the +Chevaliers Malfaisants, the Amis Réunis became the Ennemis Réunis. The +arrival of the two Germans, Bode and Busche, gave the finishing touch to +the conspiracy. "The avowed object of their journey was to obtain +information about magnetism, which was just then making a great stir," +but in reality, "taken up with the gigantic plan of their Order," their +real aim was to make proselytes. It will be seen that the following +passage exactly confirms the account given by Barruel: + + As the Lodge of the _Amis Réunis_ collected together everything + that could be found out from all other masonic systems in the + world, so the way was soon paved there for Illuminism. It was also + not long before this lodge together with all those that depended on + it was impregnated with Illuminism. The former system of all these + was as if wiped out, so that from this time onwards the framework + of the Philalèthes quite disappeared and in the place of the former + Cabalistic-magical extravagance [_Schwärmerei_] came in the + philosophical-political.[611] + +It was therefore not Martinism, Cabalism, or Freemasonry that in +themselves provided the real revolutionary force. Many non-illuminized +Freemasons, as Barruel himself declares, remained loyal to the throne +and altar, and as soon as the monarchy was seen to be in danger the +Royalist Brothers of the _Contrat Social_ boldly summoned the lodges to +coalesce in defence of King and Constitution; even some of the upper +Masons, who in the degree of Knight Kadosch had sworn hatred to the Pope +and Bourbon monarchy, rallied likewise to the royal cause. "The French +spirit triumphed over the masonic spirit in the greater number of the +Brothers. Opinions as well as hearts were still for the King." It +needed the devastating doctrines of Weishaupt to undermine this spirit +and to turn the "degrees of vengeance" from vain ceremonial into +terrible fact. + +If, then, it is said that the Revolution was prepared in the lodges of +Freemasons--and many French Masons have boasted of the fact--let it +always be added that it was _Illuminized Freemasonry_ that made the +Revolution, and that the Masons who acclaim it are illuminized Masons, +inheritors of the same tradition introduced into the lodges of France in +1787 by the disciples of Weishaupt, "patriarch of the Jacobins." + +Many of the Freemasons of France in 1787 were thus not conscious allies +of the Illuminati. According to Cadet de Gassicourt, there were in all +the lodges only twenty-seven real initiates; the rest were largely dupes +who knew little or nothing of the source whence the fresh influence +among them derived. The amazing feature of the whole situation is that +the most enthusiastic supporters of the movement were men belonging to +the upper classes and even to the royal families of Europe. A +contemporary relates that no less than thirty princes--reigning and +non-reigning--had taken under their protection a confederation from +which they stood to lose everything and had become so imbued by its +principles that they were inaccessible to reason.[612] Intoxicated by +the flattery lavished on them by the priests of Illuminism, they adopted +a religion of which they understood nothing. Weishaupt, of course, had +taken care that none of these royal dupes should be initiated into the +real aims of the Order, and at first adhered to the original plan of +excluding them altogether; but the value of their co-operation soon +became apparent and by a supreme irony it was with a Grand Duke that he +himself took refuge. + +But if the great majority of princes and nobles were stricken with +blindness at this crisis, a few far-seeing spirits recognized the danger +and warned the world of the impending disaster. In 1787 Cardinal +Caprara, Apostolic Nuncio at Vienna, addressed a confidential memoir to +the Pope, in which he pointed out that the activities carried on in +Germany by the different sects of Illuminés, of Perfectibilists, of +Freemasons, etc., were increasing. + + The danger is approaching, for from all these senseless dreams of + Illuminism, of Swedenborgianism, or of Freemasonry a frightful + reality will emerge. Visionaries have their time; the revolution + they forebode will have its time also.[613] + +A more amazing prophecy, however, was the _Essai sur la Secte des +Illuminés_, by the Marquis de Luchet,[614] a Liberal noble who played +some part in the revolutionary movement, yet who nevertheless realized +the dangers of Illuminism. Thus, as early as 1789, before the Revolution +had really developed, de Luchet uttered these words of warning: + + Deluded people ... learn that there exists a conspiracy in favour + of despotism against liberty, of incapacity against talent, of vice + against virtue, of ignorance against enlightenment.... This society + aims at governing the world.... Its object is universal domination. + This plan may seem extraordinary, incredible--yes, but not + chimerical ... no such calamity has ever yet afflicted the world. + +De Luchet then goes on to foretell precisely the events that were to +take place three and four years later; he describes the position of a +king who has to recognize masters above himself and to authorize their +"abominable régime," to become the plaything of an ambitious and +fanatical horde which has taken possession of his will. + + See him condemned to serve the passions of all that surround him + ... to raise degraded men to power, to prostitute his judgement by + choices that dishonour his prudence.... + +All this was exactly fulfilled during the reign of the Girondin ministry +of 1792. The campaign of destruction carried out in the summer of 1793 +is thus foretold: + + We do not mean to say that the country where the Illuminés reign + will cease to exist, but it will fall into such a degree of + humiliation that it will no longer count in politics, that the + population will diminish, that the inhabitants who resist the + inclination to pass into a foreign land will no longer enjoy the + happiness of consideration, nor the charms of society, nor the + gifts of commerce. + +And de Luchet ends with this despairing appeal to the powers of Europe: + + Masters of the world, cast your eyes on a desolated multitude, + listen to their cries, their tears, their hopes. A mother asks you + to restore her son, a wife her husband, your cities for the fine + arts that have fled from them, the country for citizens, the fields + for cultivators, religion for forms of worship, and Nature for + beings of which she is worthy. + +Five years after these words were written the countryside of France was +desolate, art and commerce were destroyed, and women following the +tumbril that carried Fouquier-Tinville to the guillotine cried out: +"Give me back my brother, my son, my husband!" So was this amazing +prophecy fulfilled. Yet not one word has history to say on the subject! +The warning of de Luchet has fallen on deaf ears amongst posterity as +amongst the men of his own day. + +De Luchet himself recognizes the obstacle to his obtaining a hearing: +there are too many "passions interested in supporting the system of the +Illuminés," too many deluded rulers imagining themselves enlightened +ready to precipitate their people into the abyss, whilst "the heads of +the Order will never relinquish the authority they have acquired nor the +treasure at their disposal." In vain de Luchet appeals to the Freemasons +to save their Order from the invading sect. "Would it not be possible," +he asks, "to direct the Freemasons themselves against the Illuminés by +showing them that whilst they are working to maintain harmony in +society, those others are everywhere sowing seeds of discord" and +preparing the ultimate destruction of their Order? So far it is not too +late; if only men will believe in the danger it may be averted: "from +the moment they are convinced, the necessary blow is dealt to the sect." +Otherwise de Luchet prophesies "a series of calamities of which the end +is lost in the darkness of time, ... a subterranean fire smouldering +eternally and breaking forth periodically in violent and devastating +explosions." What words could better describe the history of the last +150 years? + +The _Essai sur la Sects des Illuminés_ is one of the most extraordinary +documents of history and at the same time one of the most mysterious. +Why it should have been written by the Marquis de Luchet, who is said to +have collaborated with Mirabeau in the _Galerie de Portraits_ published +in the following year, why it should have been appended to Mirabeau's +_Histoire Secrète de la Cour de Berlin_, and accordingly attributed to +Mirabeau himself, why Barruel should have denounced it as dust thrown in +the eyes of the public, although it entirely corroborated his own point +of view, are questions to which I can find no reply. That is was written +seriously and in all good faith it is impossible to doubt; whilst the +fact that it appeared before, instead of after, the events described, +renders it even more valuable evidence of the reality of the conspiracy +than Barruel's own admirable work. What Barruel saw, de Luchet foresaw +with equal clearness. As to the rôle of Mirabeau at this crisis, we can +only hazard an explanation on the score of his habitual inconsistency. +At one moment he was seeking interviews with the King's ministers in +order to warn them of the coming danger, at the next he was +energetically stirring up insurrection. It is therefore not impossible +that he may have encouraged de Luchet's exposure of the conspiracy, +although meanwhile he himself had entered into the scheme of +destruction. Indeed, according to a pamphlet published in 1791 entitled +_Mystères de la Conspiration_,[615] the whole plan of revolution was +found amongst his papers. The editor of this _brochure_ explains that +the document here made public, called _Croquis ou Projet de Révolution +de Monsieur de Mirabeau_, was seized at the house of Madame Lejai, the +wife of Mirabeau's publisher, on October 6, 1789. Beginning with a +diatribe against the French monarchy, the document goes on to say that +"in order to triumph over this hydra-headed monster these are my ideas": + + We must overthrow all order, suppress all laws, annul all power, + and leave the people in anarchy. The laws we establish will not + perhaps be in force at once, but at any rate, having given back the + power to the people, they will resist for the sake of their liberty + which they will believe they are preserving. We must caress their + vanity, flatter their hopes, promise them happiness after our work + has been in operation; we must elude their caprices and their + systems at will, for the people as legislators are very dangerous, + they only establish laws which coincide with their passions, their + want of knowledge would besides only give birth to abuses. But as + the people are a lever which legislators can move at their will, we + must necessarily use them as a support, and render hateful to them + everything we wish to destroy and sow illusions in their path; we + must also buy all the mercenary pens which propagate our methods + and which will instruct the people concerning their enemies whom we + attack. The clergy, being the most powerful through public opinion, + can only be destroyed by ridiculing religion, rendering its + ministers odious, and only representing them as hypocritical + monsters, for Mahomet in order to establish his religion first + defamed the paganism which the Arabs, the Sarmathes, and the + Scythians professed. Libels must at every moment show fresh traces + of hatred against the clergy. To exaggerate their riches, to make + the sins of an individual appear to be common to all, to attribute + to them all vices; calumny, murder, irreligion, sacrilege, all is + permitted in times of revolution. + + We must degrade the _noblesse_ and attribute it to an odious + origin, establish a germ of equality which can never exist but + which will flatter the people; [we must] immolate the most + obstinate, burn and destroy their property in order to intimidate + the rest, so that if we cannot entirely destroy this prejudice we + can weaken it and the people will avenge their vanity and their + jealousy by all the excesses which will bring them to submission. + +After describing how the soldiers are to be seduced from their +allegiance, and the magistrates represented to the people as despots, +"since the people, brutal and ignorant, only see the evil and never the +good of things," the writer explains they must be given only limited +power in the municipalities. + + Let us beware above all of giving them too much force; their + despotism is too dangerous, we must flatter the people by + gratuitous justice, promise them a great diminution in taxes and a + more equal division, more extension in fortunes, and less + humiliation. These phantasies [_vertiges_] will fanaticise the + people, who will flatten out all resistance. What matter the + victims and their numbers? spoliations, destructions, burnings, and + all the necessary effects of a revolution? nothing must be sacred + and we can say with Machiavelli: "What matter the means as long as + one arrives at the end?" + +Were all these the ideas of Mirabeau, or were they, like the other +document of the Illuminati found amongst his papers, the programme of a +conspiracy? I incline to the latter theory. The plan of campaign was, at +any rate, the one followed out by the conspirators, as Chamfort, the +friend and confidant of Mirabeau, admitted in his conversation with +Marmontel: + + The nation is a great herd that only thinks of browsing, and with + good sheepdogs the shepherds can lead it as they please.... Money + and the hope of plunder are all-powerful with the people.... + Mirabeau cheerfully asserts that with 100 louis one can make quite + a good riot.[616] + +Another contemporary thus describes the methods of the leaders: + + Mirabeau, in the exuberance of an orgy, cried one day: "That + _canaille_ well deserves to have us for legislators!" These + professions of faith, as we see, are not at all democratic; the + sect uses the populace as revolution fodder [_chair à révolution_], + as prime material for brigandage, after which it seizes the gold + and abandons generations to torture. It is veritably the code of + hell.[617] + +It is this "code of hell" set forth in the "Projet de Révolution" that +we shall find repeated in succeeding documents throughout the last +hundred years--in the correspondence of the "Alta Vendita," in the +_Dialogues aux Enfers entre Machiavel et Montesquieu_ by Maurice Joly, +in the Revolutionary Catechism of Bakunin, in the Protocols of the +Elders of Zion, and in the writings of the Russian Bolsheviks to-day. + +Whatever doubts may be cast on the authenticity of any of these +documents, the indisputable fact thus remains that as early as 1789 this +Machiavellian plan of engineering revolution and using the people as a +lever for raising a tyrannical minority to power, had been formulated; +further, that the methods described in this earliest "Protocol" have +been carried out according to plan from that day to this. And in every +outbreak of the social revolution the authors of the movement have been +known to be connected with secret societies. + +It was Adrien Duport, author of the "Great Fear" that spread over France +on July 22, 1789, Duport, the inner initiate of the secret societies, +"holding in his hands all the threads of the masonic conspiracy," who on +May 21, 1790, set forth before the Committee of Propaganda the vast +scheme of destruction. + + M. de Mirabeau has well established the fact that the fortunate + revolution which has taken place in France must and will be for all + the peoples of Europe the awakening of liberty and for Kings the + sleep of death. + +But Duport goes on to explain that whilst Mirabeau thinks it advisable +at present not to concern themselves with anything outside France, he +himself believes that the triumph of the French Revolution must lead +inevitably to "the ruin of all thrones ... Therefore we must hasten +among our neighbours the same revolution that is going on in France."[618] + + +The plan of illuminized Freemasonry was thus nothing less than +world-revolution. + +It is necessary here to reply to a critic who suggested that in +emphasizing the rôle of the secret societies in _World Revolution_ I had +abandoned my former thesis of the Orléaniste conspiracy. I wish +therefore to state that I do not retract one word I wrote in _The French +Revolution_ on the Orléaniste conspiracy, I merely supply a further +explanation of its efficiency by enlarging on the aid it received from +the party I referred to as the Subversives--outcome of the masonic +lodges. It was because the Orléanistes held the whole masonic +organization at their disposal that they were able to carry out their +plans with such extraordinary skill and thoroughness, and because they +had at their back men bent solely on destruction that they could enlist +a following which would not have rallied to a mere scheme of usurpation. +Even Montjoie, who saw in the Revolution principally the work of the Duc +d'Orléans, indicates in a very curious passage of a later work the +existence of the still darker intrigue behind the conspiracy he had +spent his energies in unveiling: + + I will not examine whether this wicked prince, thinking he was + acting in his personal interests, was not moved by that invisible + hand which seems to have created all the events of our revolution + in order to lead us towards a goal that we do not see at present, + but which I think we shall see before long.[619] + +Unfortunately, after this mysterious utterance Montjoie never again +returns to the subject. + +At the beginning of the Revolution, Orléanism and Freemasonry thus +formed a united body. According to Lombard de Langres: + + France in 1789 counted more than 2,000 lodges affiliated to the + Grand Orient; the number of adepts was more than 100,000. The first + events of 1789 were only Masonry in action. All the revolutionaries + of the Constituent Assembly were initiated into the third degree. + We place in this class the Duc d'Orléans, Valence, Syllery, Laclos, + Sièyes, Pétion, Menou, Biron, Montesquieu, Fauchet, Condorcet, + Lafayette, Mirabeau, Garat, Rabaud, Dubois-Crancé, Thiébaud, + Larochefoucauld, and others.[620] + +Amongst these others were not only the Brissotins, who formed the +nucleus of the Girondin party, but the men of the Terror--Marat, +Robespierre, Danton, and Desmoulins. + +It was these fiercer elements, true disciples of the Illuminati, who +were to sweep away the visionary Masons dreaming of equality and +brotherhood. Following the precedent set by Weishaupt, classical +pseudonyms were adopted by these leaders of the Jacobins, thus Chaumette +was known as Anaxagoras, Clootz as Anacharsis, Danton as Horace, Lacroix +as Publicola, and Ronsin as Scaevola[621]; again, after the manner of +the Illuminati, the names of towns were changed and a revolutionary +calendar was adopted. The red cap and loose hair affected by the +Jacobins appear also to have been foreshadowed in the lodges of the +Illuminati.[622] + +Yet faithfully as the Terrorists carried out the plan of the Illuminati, +it would seem that they themselves were not initiated into the innermost +secrets of the conspiracy. Behind the Convention, behind the clubs, +behind the Revolutionary Tribunal, there existed, says Lombard de +Langres, that "most secret convention [_convention sécrétissime_] which +directed everything after May 31, an occult and terrible power of which +the other Convention became the slave and which was composed of the +prime initiates of Illuminism. This power was above Robespierre and the +committees of the government, ... it was this occult power which +appropriated to itself the treasures of the nation and distributed them +to the brothers and friends who had helped on the great work."[623] + +What was the aim of this occult power? Was it merely the plan of +destruction that had originated in the brain of a Bavarian professor +twenty years earlier, or was it something far older, a live and terrible +force that had lain dormant through the centuries, that Weishaupt and +his allies had not created but only loosed upon the world? The Reign of +Terror, like the outbreak of Satanism in the Middle Ages, can be +explained by no material causes--the orgy of hatred, lust, and cruelty +directed not only against the rich but still more against the poor and +defenceless, the destruction of science, art, and beauty, the +desecration of the churches, the organized campaign against all that was +noble, all that was sacred, all that humanity holds dear, what was this +but Satanism? + +In desecrating the churches and stamping on the crucifixes the Jacobins +had in fact followed the precise formula of black magic: "For the +purpose of infernal evocation ... it is requisite ... to profane the +ceremonies of the religion to which one belongs and to trample its +holiest symbols under foot."[624] It was this that formed the prelude +to the "Great Terror," when, to those who lived through it, it seemed +that France lay under the sway of the powers of darkness. + +So in the "great shipwreck of civilization," as a contemporary has +described it, the projects of the Cabalists, the Gnostics, and the +secret societies which for nearly eighteen centuries had sapped the +foundations of Christianity found their fulfilment. Do we not detect an +echo of the Toledot Yeshu in the blasphemies of the Marquis de Sade +concerning "the Jewish slave" and "the adulterous woman, the courtesan +of Galilee?" And in the imprecations of Marat's worshippers, "Christ was +a false prophet!" a repetition of the secret doctrine attributed to the +Templars: "Jesus is not the true God; He is a false prophet; He was not +crucified for the salvation of humanity, but for His own misdeeds"? Are +these resemblances accidental, or are they the outcome of a continuous +plot against the Christian faith? + +What, then, was the rôle of Jews in the Revolution? In this connexion it +is necessary to understand the situation of the Jews in France at this +period. + +After the decree of banishment issued by Charles VI in 1394, Jewry, as a +body, had ceased to exist; but towards the end of the fifteenth century +a certain number of Jews, driven out of Spain and Portugal, were allowed +to settle in Bordeaux. These Spanish and Portuguese Jews, known as +_Sephardim_, appeared to acquiesce in the Christian religion and were +not officially regarded as Jews, but enjoyed considerable privileges +conferred on them by Henri II. It was not until the beginning of the +eighteenth century, during the Regency, that Jews began to reappear in +Paris. Meanwhile, the annexation of Alsace at the end of the previous +century had added to the population of France the German Jews of that +province known as the _Ashkenazim_. + +It is important to distinguish between these two races of Jews in +discussing the question of Jewish emancipation at the time of the +Revolution. For whilst the Sephardim had shown themselves good citizens +and were therefore subject to no persecutions, the Ashkenazim by their +extortionate usury and oppressions had made themselves detested by the +people, so that rigorous laws were enforced to restrain their rapacity. +The discussions that raged in the National Assembly on the subject of +the Jewish question related therefore mainly to the Jews of Alsace. +Already, in 1784, the Jews of Bordeaux had been accorded further +concessions by Louis XVI; in 1776 all Portuguese Jews had been given +religious liberty and the permission to inhabit all parts of the +kingdom. The decree of January 28, 1790, conferring on the Jews of +Bordeaux the rights of French citizens, put the finishing touch to this +scheme of liberation. But the proposal to extend this privilege to the +Jews of Alsace evoked a storm of controversy in the Assembly and also +violent insurrections amongst the Alsatian peasants. It was thus on +behalf of the people that several deputies protested against the decree. +"The Jews," said the Abbé Maury, "have traversed seventeen centuries +without mingling with other nations. They have never done anything but +trade with money, they have been the scourge of agricultural provinces, +not one of them has known how to ennoble his hands by guiding the +plough." And he went on to point out that the Jews "must not be +persecuted, they must be protected as individuals and not as Frenchmen, +since they cannot be citizens.... Whatever you do, they will always +remain foreigners in our midst." + +Monseigneur de la Fare, Bishop of Nancy, adopted the same line of +argument: + + They must be accorded protection, safety, liberty; but should we + admit into the family a tribe that is foreign to it, that turns its + eyes unceasingly towards a common country, that aspires to abandon + the land that bears it?... My _cahier_ orders me to protest against + the motion that has been made to you. The interest of the Jews + themselves necessitates this protest. The people have a horror of + them; they are often in Alsace the victims of popular risings.[625] + +In all this, as will be seen, there is no question of persecution, but +of precautions against a race that wilfully isolates itself from the +rest of the community in order to pursue its own interests and +advantages. The Jews of Bordeaux indeed recognized the odium that the +German Jews were calculated to bring on the Jewish cause, and in an +address to the Assembly on January 22, 1790, dissociated themselves from +the aggressive claims of the Ashkenazim: + + We dare to believe that our condition in France would not to-day be + open to discussion if certain demands of the Jews of Alsace, + Lorraine, and the Trois Evêchés [i.e. Metz, Toul, and Verdun] had + not caused a confusion of ideas which appears to reflect on us. We + do not yet know exactly what these demands are, but to judge by the + public papers they appear to be rather extraordinary since these + Jews aspire to live in France under a special régime, to have laws + peculiar to themselves, and to constitute a class of citizens + separated from all the others. + + As for us, our condition in France has long since been settled. We + have been naturalized French since 1550; we possess all kinds of + properties, and we enjoy the unlimited right to acquire estates. We + have neither laws, tribunals, nor officers of our own[626] + +In adopting this attitude the Sephardim created a precedent which, if it +had been followed henceforth consistently by their co-religionists, +might have gone far to allay prejudice against the Jewish race. It was +the solidarity generally presented by the Jews towards the rest of the +community which excited alarm in the minds of French citizens. Thirty +years earlier the merchants of Paris, in a petition against the +admission of the Jews to their corporations, indicated by an admirable +simile the danger this solidarity offered to free commerce. + + The French merchant carries on his commerce alone; each commercial + house is in a way isolated, whilst the Jews are particles of + quicksilver, which at the least slant run together into a + block.[627] + +But in spite of all protests, the decree emancipating the Jews of Alsace +was passed in September 1791, and hymns of praise were sung in the +synagogues. + +What part was actually played by the Jews in the tumults of the +Revolution it is impossible to determine, for the reason that they are +seldom designated as such in the writings of contemporaries. On this +point Jewish writers appear to be better informed than the rest of the +world, for Monsieur Léon Kahn in his panegyric on the part played by his +co-religionists in the Revolution[628] finds Jews where even Drumont +failed to detect them. Thus we read that it was a Jew, Rosenthal, who +headed the legion known by his name, which was sent against La Vendée +but took to flight,[629] and which was the subject of complaint when +employed to guard the Royal Family at the Temple[630]; that amongst +those who worked most energetically to deprive the clergy of their goods +was a Jewish ex-old-clothes seller, Zalkind Hourwitz; that it was a Jew +named Lang who murdered three out of the five Swiss guards at the foot +of the staircase in the Tuileries on August 10[631]; that Jews were +implicated in the theft of the crown jewels on September 16, 1792, and +one named Lyre was executed in consequence; that it was Clootz and the +Jew Pereyra, and not, as I had stated, Hébert, Chaumette, and Momoro, +who went to the Archbishop Gobel in November 1793 and induced him by +means of threats to abjure the Christian faith.[632] + +All these facts were unknown to me when I wrote my account of these +events; it will be seen then that, far from exaggerating the rôle of the +Jews in _The French Revolution_, I very much underrated it. Indeed the +question of their complicity had not occurred to me at all when I wrote +this book, and the only Jew to whom I referred was Ephraïm--sent to +France by the Illuminati Frederick William II and Bischoffswerder--whom +M. Kahn indicates as playing an even more important part than I had +assigned to him. + +But illuminating as these incidents may be, it is yet open to question +whether they prove any concerted attempt on the part of the Jews to +bring about the overthrow of the French monarchy and the Catholic +religion. It is true, nevertheless, that they themselves boasted of +their revolutionary ardour. In an address presenting their claims before +the National Assembly in 1789, they declare: + + Regenerators of the French Empire, you would not wish that we + should cease to be citizens, since for already six months we have + assiduously performed all duties as such, and the recompense for + the zeal we have shown in accelerating the revolution will not be + to condemn us to participate in none of its advantages now that it + has been consummated.... Nosseigneurs, we are all very good + citizens, and in this memorable revolution we dare to say that + there is not one of us who has not proved himself.[633] + +In all these activities, however, religious feeling appears to have +played an entirely subordinate part; the Jews, as has been said, were +free before the Revolution to carry on the rites of their faith. And +when the great anti-religious campaign began, many of them entered +whole-heartedly into the attack on all religious faiths, their own +included. Thus on the 21st Brumaire, whilst the Feasts of Reason were +taking place in the churches of Paris, we find "a deputation of +Israelites" presenting themselves at the National Assembly and +"depositing on the bosom of the Mountain the ornaments of which they had +stripped a little temple they had in the Faubourg Saint-Germain." At the +same moment-- + + A revolutionary committee of the Réunion brings to the general + council crosses, suns, chalices, copes, and quantities of other + ornaments of worship, and a member of this committee observes that + several of these effects belong to individuals of the Jewish race. + A minister of the religion of Moses, Abraham, and Jacob asks in the + name of his co-religionists that the said effects should not be + regarded as belonging to such and such a sect, ... this citizen is + named Benjamin Jacob.... Another member of the same committee pays + homage to the patriotic zeal of the citizens heretofore Jews, ... + almost all have forestalled the wish of the revolutionary committee + by themselves bringing their reliquaries and ornaments, amongst + others the famous cope said to have belonged to Moses.[634] + +On the 20th Frimaire at "the Temple of Liberty," formerly the church of +the Benedictines, "the citizen Alexandre Lambert _fils_, a Jew brought +up in the prejudices of the Jewish religion," uttered a violent harangue +against all religions: + + I will prove to you, citizens, that all forms of worship are + impostures equally degrading to man and to divinities; I will not + prove it by philosophy, I do not know it, but only by the light of + reason. + +After denouncing the iniquities of both the Catholic and Protestant +faiths, Lambert demonstrates "the absurdities of the Jewish religion, +of this domineering religion"; he thunders against Moses "governing a +simple and agrarian people like all clever impostors," against "the +servile respect of the Jews for their kings ... the ablutions of women," +etc. Finally he declares: + + The bad faith, citizens, of which the Jewish nation is accused does + not come from themselves but from their priests. Their religion, + which would allow them only to lend to those of their nation at 5 + per cent., tells them to take all they can from Catholics; it is + even hallowed as a custom in our morning prayers to solicit God's + help in catching out a Christian. There is more, citizens, and it + is the climax of abomination: if any mistake is made in commerce + between Jews, they are ordered to make reparation; but if on 100 + louis a Christian should have paid 25 too much, one is not bound to + return them to him. What an abomination! What a horror! And where + does that all come from but from the Rabbis? Who have excited + proscriptions against us? Our priests! Ah, citizens, more than + anything in the world we must abjure a religion which, ... by + subjecting us to irksome and servile practices, makes it impossible + for us to be good citizens.[635] + +The encouragement accorded by the Jews to the French Revolution appears +thus to have been prompted not by religious fanaticism but by a desire +for national advantage. That they gained immensely by the overthrow of +the Old Order is undeniable, for apart from the legislation passed on +their behalf in the National Assembly, the disorder of the finances in +1796 was such that, as M. Leon Kahn tells us, a contemporary journal +enquired: "Has the Revolution then been only a financial scheme? a +speculation of bankers?"[636] We know from Prudhomme to what race the +financiers who principally profited by this disorder belonged.[637] + +But if the rôle of the Jews in the Revolution remains obscure there can +be no doubt of the part played by the secret societies in the revolt +against all religion, all moral laws, and social order, which had been +reduced to a system in the councils of the Illuminati. + +It was this conspiracy that reasserted itself in the Babouviste rising +of 1796 which was directly inspired by the secret societies. After the +death of Babeuf, his friend and inspirer Buonarotti with the aid of +Marat's brother founded a masonic lodge, the _Amis Sincères_, which was +affiliated to the _Philadelphes_, at Geneva, and as "Diacre Mobile" of +the "Order of Sublime and Perfect Masons" created three new secret +degrees, in which the device of the Rose-Croix I.N.R.I. was interpreted +as signifying "Justum necare reges injustos."[638] + +The part to be assigned to each intrigue in preparing the world-movement +of which the French Revolution was the first expression is a question on +which no one can speak with certainty. But, as at the present moment, +the composite nature of this movement must never be lost to sight. +Largely perhaps the work of Frederick the Great, it is probable that but +for the Orléanistes the plot against the French monarchy might have come +to nought; whilst again, but for his position at the head of illuminized +Freemasonry it is doubtful whether the Duc d'Orléans could have +commanded the forces of revolution. Further, how far the movement, +which, like the modern Bolshevist conspiracy, appears to have had +unlimited funds at its disposal, was financed by the Jews yet remains to +be discovered. Hitherto only the first steps have been taken towards +elucidating the truth about the French Revolution. + +In the opinion of an early nineteenth-century writer the sect which +engineered the French Revolution was absolutely international: + + The authors of the Revolution are not more French than German, + Italian, English, etc. They form a particular nation which took + birth and has grown in the darkness, in the midst of all civilized + nations, with the object of subjecting them to its domination.[639] + +It is curious to find almost precisely the same idea expressed by the +Duke of Brunswick, formerly the "Eques a Victoria" of the Stricte +Observance, "Aaron" of the Illuminati, and Grand Master of German +Freemasonry, who, whether because the Revolution had done its work in +destroying the French monarchy and now threatened the security of +Germany, or whether because he was genuinely disillusioned in the Orders +to which he had belonged, issued a Manifesto to all the lodges in 1794, +declaring that in view of the way in which Masonry had been penetrated +by this great sect the whole Order must be temporarily suppressed. It is +essential to quote a part of this important document verbatim: + + Amidst the universal storm produced by the present revolutions in + the political and moral world, at this period of supreme + illumination and of profound blindness, it would be a crime against + truth and humanity to leave any longer shrouded in a veil things + that can provide the only key to past and future events, things + that should show to thousands of men whether the path they have + been made to follow is the path of folly or of wisdom. It has to do + with you, VV. FF. of all degrees and of all secret systems. The + curtain must at last be drawn aside, so that your blinded eyes may + see that light you have ever sought in vain, but of which you have + only caught a few deceptive rays.... + + We have raised our building under the wings of darkness; ... the + darkness is dispelled, and a light more terrifying than darkness + itself strikes suddenly on our sight. We see our edifice crumbling + and covering the ground with ruins; we see destruction that our + hands can no longer arrest. And that is why we send away the + builders from their workshops. With a last blow of the hammer we + overthrow the columns of salaries. We leave the temple deserted, + and we bequeath it as a great work to posterity which shall raise + it again on its ruins and bring it to completion. + +Brunswick then goes on to explain what has brought about the ruin of the +Order, namely, the infiltration of Freemasonry by secret conspirators: + + A great sect arose which, taking for its motto the good and the + happiness of man, worked in the darkness of the conspiracy to make + the happiness of humanity a prey for itself. This sect is known to + everyone: its brothers are known no less than its name. It is they + who have undermined the foundations of the Order to the point of + complete overthrow; it is by them that all humanity has been + poisoned and led astray for several generations. The ferment that + reigns amongst the peoples is their work. They founded the plans of + their insatiable ambition on the political pride of nations. Their + founders arranged to introduce this pride into the heads of the + peoples. They began by casting odium on religion.... They invented + the rights of man which it is impossible to discover even in the + book of Nature, and they urged the people to wrest from their + princes the recognition of these supposed rights. The plan they had + formed for breaking all social ties and of destroying all order was + revealed in all their speeches and acts. They deluged the world + with a multitude of publications; they recruited apprentices of + every rank and in every position; they deluded the most + perspicacious men by falsely alleging different intentions. They + sowed in the hearts of youth the seed of covetousness, and they + excited it with the bait of the most insatiable passions. + Indomitable pride, thirst of power, such were the only motives of + this sect: their masters had nothing less in view than the thrones + of the earth, and the government of the nations was to be directed + by their nocturnal clubs. + + This is what has been done and is still being done. But we notice + that princes and people are unaware how and by what means this is + being accomplished. That is why we say to them in all frankness: + The misuse of our Order, the misunderstanding of our secret, has + produced all the political and moral troubles with which the world + is filled to-day. You who have been initiated, you must join + yourselves with us in raising your voices, so as to teach peoples + and princes that the sectarians, the apostates of our Order, have + alone been and will be the authors of present and future + revolutions. We must assure princes and peoples, on our honour and + our duty, that our association is in no way guilty of these evils. + But in order that our attestations should have force and merit + belief, we must make for princes and people a complete sacrifice; + so as to cut out to the roots the abuse and error, we must from + this moment dissolve the whole Order. This is why we destroy and + annihilate it completely for the time; we will preserve the + foundations for posterity, which will clear them when humanity, in + better times, can derive some benefit from our holy alliance.[640] + +Thus, in the opinion of the Grand Master of German Freemasonry, a secret +sect working within Freemasonry had brought about the French Revolution +and would be the cause of all future revolutions. We shall now pursue +the course of this sect after the first upheaval had ended. + +Three years after the Duke of Brunswick issued his Manifesto to the +lodges, the books of Barruel, Robison, and others appeared, laying bare +the whole conspiracy. It has been said that all these books "fell +flat."[641] This is directly contrary to the truth. Barruel's book went +into no less than eight editions, and I have described elsewhere the +alarm that his work and Robison's excited in America. In England they +led to the very tangible result that a law was passed by the English +Parliament in 1799 prohibiting all secret societies with the exception +of Freemasonry. + +It is evident, then, that the British Government recognized the +continued existence of these associations and the danger they presented +to the world. This fact should be borne in mind when we are assured that +Barruel and Robison had conjured up a bogey which met with no serious +attention from responsible men. For the main purpose of Barruel's book +is to show that not only had Illuminism and Grand Orient Masonry +contributed largely to the French Revolution, but that three years after +that first explosion they were still as active as ever. This is the +great point which the champions of the "bogey" theory are most anxious +to refute. "The Bavarian Order of the Illuminati," wrote Mr. Waite, "was +founded by Adam Weishaupt in 1776, and it was suppressed by the Elector +of Bavaria in 1789.... Those who say that 'it was continued in more +secret forms' have never produced one item of real evidence."[642] Now, +as we have seen, the Illuminati were not suppressed by the Elector of +Bavaria in 1789, but in 1786--first error of Mr. Waite. But more +extraordinary confusion of mind is displayed in his _Encyclopædia of +Freemasonry_, where, in a Masonic Chronology, he gives, this time under +the date of 1784, "Suppression of the Illuminati," but under 1793: +"J.J.C. Bode joined the Illuminati under Weishaupt." At a matter of +fact, this was the year Bode died. These examples will serve to show the +reliance that can be placed on Mr. Waite's statement concerning the +Illuminati. + +We shall now see that not only the Illuminati but Weishaupt himself +still continued to intrigue long after the French Revolution had ended. + +Directly the Reign of Terror was over, the masonic lodges, which during +the Revolution had been replaced by the clubs, began to reopen, and by +the beginning of the nineteenth century were in a more flourishing +condition than ever before. "It was the most brilliant epoch of +Masonry," wrote the Freemason Bazot in his History of Freemasonry. +Nearly 1,200 lodges existed in France under the Empire; generals, +magistrates, artists, savants, and notabilities in every line were +initiated into the Order.[643] The most eminent of these was Prince +Cambacérès, pro Grand Master of the Grand Orient. + +It is in the midst of this period that we find Weishaupt once more at +work behind the scenes of Freemasonry. Thus in the remarkable masonic +correspondence published by M. Benjamin Fabre in his _Eques a Capite +Galeato_--of which, as has already been pointed out, the authenticity is +admitted by eminent British Freemasons--a letter is reproduced from +Pyron, representative in Paris of the Grand Orient of Italy, to the +Marquis de Chefdebien, dated September 9, 1808, in which it is stated +that "a member of the sect of Bav." has asked for information on a +certain point of ritual. + +On December 29, 1808, Pyron writes again: "By the words 'sect of B....' +I meant W...."; and on December 3, 1809, puts the matter quite plainly: +"The other word remaining at the end of my pen refers enigmatically to +Weis=pt." + +So, as M. Fabre points out: + + There is no longer any doubt that it is a question here of + Weishaupt, and yet one observes that his name is not yet written in + all its letters. It must be admitted here that Pyron took great + precautions when it was a matter of Weishaupt! And one is led to + ask what could be the extraordinary importance of the rôle played + at this moment in the Freemasonry of the First Empire by this + Weishaupt, who was supposed to have been outside the masonic + movement since Illuminism was brought to trial in 1786![644] + +But the Marquis de Chefdebien entertained no illusions about Weishaupt, +whose intrigues he had always opposed, and in a letter dated May 12, +1806, to the Freemason Roettiers, who had referred to the danger of +isolated masonic lodges, he asks: + + In good faith, very reverend brother, is it in isolated lodges that + the atrocious conspiracy of Philippe [the Duc d'Orléans] and + Robespierre was formed? Is it from isolated lodges that those + prominent men came forth, who, assembled at the Hôtel de Ville, + stirred up revolt, devastation, assassination? And is it not in the + lodges bound together, co-and sub-ordinated, that the monster + Weishaupt established his tests and had his horrible principles + prepared?[645] + +If, then, as M. Gustave Bord asserts, the Marquis de Chefdebien had +himself belonged to the Illuminati before the Revolution, here is indeed +Illuminist evidence in support of Barruel! Yet disillusioned as the +"Eques a Capite Galeato" appears to have been with regard to Illuminism, +he still retained his allegiance to Freemasonry. This would tend to +prove that, however subversive the doctrines of the Grand Orient may +have been--and indeed undoubtedly were--it was not Freemasonry itself +but Illuminism which organized the movement of which the French +Revolution was the first manifestation. As Monsignor Dillon has +expressed it: + + Had Weishaupt not lived, Masonry might have ceased to be a power + after the reaction consequent on the French Revolution. He gave it + a form and character which caused it to outlive that reaction, to + energize to the present day, and which will cause it to advance + until its final conflict with Christianity must determine whether + Christ or Satan shall reign on this earth to the end.[646] + +If to the word Masonry we add Grand Orient--that is to say, the Masonry +not of Great Britain, but of the Continent--we shall be still nearer to +the truth. + +In the early part of the nineteenth century Illuminism was thus as much +alive as ever. Joseph de Maistre, writing at this period, constantly +refers to the danger it presents to Europe. Is it not also to Illuminism +that a mysterious passage in a recent work of M. Lenôtre refers? In the +course of conversation with the friends of the false Dauphin Hervagault. +Monsignor de Savine is said to have "made allusions in prudent and +almost terrified terms to some international sect ... a power superior +to all others ... which has arms and eyes everywhere and which governs +Europe to-day."[647] + +When in _World Revolution_ I asserted that during the period that +Napoleon held the reins of power the devastating fire of Illuminism was +temporarily extinguished, I wrote without knowledge of some important +documents which prove that Illuminism continued without break from the +date of its foundation all through the period of the Empire. So far, +then, from overstating the case by saying that Illuminism did not cease +in 1786, I understated it by suggesting that it ceased even for this +brief interval. The documents in which this evidence is to be found are +referred to by Lombard de Langres, who, writing in 1820, observes that +the Jacobins were invisible from the 18th Brumaire until 1813, and goes +on to say: + + Here the sect disappears; we find to guide us during this period + only uncertain notions, scattered fragments; the plots of + Illuminism lie buried in the boxes of the Imperial police. + +But the contents of these boxes no longer lie buried; transported to the +Archives Nationales, the documents in which the intrigues of Illuminism +are laid bare have at last been given to the public. Here there can be +no question of imaginative abbés, Scotch professors, or American divines +conjuring up a bogey to alarm the world; these dry official reports +prepared for the vigilant eye of the Emperor, never intended and never +used for publication, relate calmly and dispassionately what the writers +have themselves heard and observed concerning the danger that Illuminism +presents to all forms of settled government. + +The author of the most detailed report[648] is one François Charles de +Berckheim, special commissioner of police at Mayence towards the end of +the Empire, who as a Freemason is naturally not disposed to prejudice +against secret societies. In October 1810 he writes, however, that his +attention has been drawn to the Illuminati by a pamphlet which has just +fallen into his hands, namely the _Essai sur la Secte des Illuminés_, +which, like many contemporaries, he attributes originally to Mirabeau. +He then goes on to ask whether the sect still exists, and if so whether +it is indeed "an association of frightful scoundrels who aim, as +Mirabeau assures us, at the overthrow of all law and all morality, at +replacing virtue by crime in every act of human life." Further, he asks +whether both sects of _Illuminés_ have now combined in one and what are +their present projects. Conversations with other Freemasons further +increase Berckheim's anxiety on the subject; one of the best informed +observes to him: "I know a great deal, enough at any rate to be +convinced that the _Illuminés_ have vowed the overthrow of monarchic +governments and of all authority on the same basis." + +Berckheim thereupon sets out to make enquiries, with the result that he +is able to state that the _Illuminés_ have initiates all over Europe, +that they have spared no efforts to introduce their principles into the +lodges, and "to spread a doctrine subversive of all settled government +... under the pretext of the regeneration of social morality and the +amelioration of the lot and condition of men by means of laws founded on +principles and sentiments unknown hitherto and contained only in the +heads of the leaders." "Illuminism," he declares, "is becoming a great +and formidable power, and I fear, in my conscience, that kings and +peoples will have much to suffer from it unless foresight and prudence +break its frightful mechanism [_ses affreux restorts_]." + +Two years later, on January 16, 1813, Berckheim writes again to the +Minister of Police: + + Monseigneur, they write to me from Heidelberg ... that a great + number of initiates into the mysteries of Illuminism are to be + found there. + + These gentlemen wear as a sign of recognition a gold ring on the + third finger of the left hand; on the back of this ring there is a + little rose, in the middle of this rose is an almost imperceptible + dint; by pressing this with the point of a pin one touches a + spring, by this means the two gold circles are detached. On the + inside of the first of these circles is the device: "Be German as + you ought to be"; on the inside of the second of these circles are + engraved the words "Pro Patria." + +Subversive as the ideas of the Illuminati might be, they were therefore +not subversive of German patriotism. We shall find this apparent paradox +running all through the Illuminist movement to the present day. + +In 1814 Berckheim drew up his great report on the secret societies of +Germany, which is of so much importance in throwing a light on the +workings of the modern revolutionary movement, that extracts must be +given here at length.[649] His testimony gains greater weight from the +vagueness he displays on the origins of Illuminism and the role it had +played before the French Revolution; it is evident, therefore, that he +had not taken his ideas from Robison or Barruel--to whom he never once +refers--but from information gleaned on the spot in Germany. The opening +paragraphs finally refute the fallacy concerning the extinction of the +sect in 1786. + + The oldest and most dangerous association is that which is + generally known under the denomination of the _Illuminés_ and of + which the foundation goes back towards the middle of the last + century. + + Bavaria was its cradle; it is said that it had for founders several + chiefs of the Order of the Jesuits; but this opinion, advanced + perhaps at random, is founded only on uncertain premises; in any + case, in a short time it made rapid progress, and the Bavarian + Government recognized the necessity of employing methods of + repression against it and even of driving away several of the + principal sectaries. + + But it could not eradicate the germ of the evil. The _Illuminés_ + who remained in Bavaria, obliged to wrap themselves in darkness so + as to escape the eye of authority, became only the more formidable: + the rigorous measures of which they were the object, adorned by the + title of persecution, gained them new proselytes, whilst the + banished members went to carry the principles of the Association + into other States. + + Thus in a few years Illuminism multiplied its hotbeds all through + the south of Germany, and as a consequence in Saxony, in Prussia, + in Sweden, and even in Russia. + + The reveries of the Pietists have long been confounded with those + of the Illuminés. This error may arise from the denomination of the + sect, which at first suggests the idea of a purely religious + fanaticism and of mystic forms which it was obliged to take at its + birth in order to conceal its principles and projects; but the + Association always had a political tendency. If it still retains + some mystic traits, it is in order to support itself at need by the + power of religious fanaticism, and we shall see in what follows how + well it knows to turn this to account. + + The doctrine of Illuminism is subversive of every kind of monarchy; + unlimited liberty, absolute levelling down, such is the fundamental + dogma of the sect; to break the ties that bind the Sovereign to the + citizen of a state, that is the object of all its efforts. + + No doubt some of the principal chiefs, amongst whom are numbered + men distinguished for their fortune, their birth, and the dignities + with which they are invested, are not the dupes of these demagogic + dreams: they hope to find in the popular emotions they stir up the + means of seizing the reigns of power, or at any rate of increasing + their wealth and their credit; but the crowd of adepts believe in + it religiously, and, in order to reach the goal shown to them, they + maintain incessantly a hostile attitude towards sovereigns. + + Thus the _Illuminés_ hailed with enthusiasm the ideas that + prevailed in France from 1789 to 1804. Perhaps they were not + foreign to the intrigues which prepared the explosions of 1789 and + the following years; but if they did not take an active part in + these manoeuvres, it is at least beyond doubt that they openly + applauded the systems which resulted from them; that the Republican + armies when they penetrated into Germany found in these sectarians + auxiliaries the more dangerous for the sovereigns of the invaded + states in that they inspired no distrust, and we can say with + assurance that more than one general of the Republic owed a part of + its success to his understanding with the _Illuminés_. + + It would be a mistake if one confounded Illuminism with + Freemasonry. These two associations, in spite of the points of + resemblance they may possess in the mystery with which they + surround themselves, in the tests that precede initiation, and in + other matters of form, are absolutely distinct and have no kind of + connexion with each other. The lodges of the Scottish Rite number, + it is true, a few _Illuminés_ amongst the Masons of the higher + degrees, but these adepts are very careful not to be known as such + to their brothers in Masonry or to manifest ideas that would betray + their secret. + +Berckheim then goes on to describe the subtle methods by which the +Illuminati now maintain their existence; learning wisdom from the events +of 1786, their organization is carried on invisibly, so as to defy the +eye of authority: + + It was thought for a long while that the association had a Grand + Mastership, that is to say, a centre point from which radiated all + the impulsions given to this great body, and this primary motive + power was sought for successively in all the capitals of the North, + in Paris and even in Rome. This error gave birth to another opinion + no less fallacious: it was supposed that there existed in the + principal towns lodges where initiations were made and which + received directly the instructions emanating from the headquarters + of the Society. + + If such had been the organization of Illuminism, it would not so + long have escaped the investigations of which it was the object: + these meetings, necessarily thronged and frequent, requiring + besides, like masonic lodges, appropriate premises, would have + aroused the attention of magistrates: it would not have been + difficult to introduce false brothers, who, directed and protected + by authority, would soon have penetrated the secrets of the sect. + + This is what I have gathered most definitely on the Association of + the _Illuminés_: + + First I would point out that by the word hotbeds [foyers] I did not + mean to designate points of meeting for the adepts, places where + they hold assemblies, but only localities where the Association + counts a great number of partisans, who, whilst living isolated in + appearance, exchange ideas, have an understanding with each other, + and advance together towards the same goal. + + The Association had, it is true, assemblies at its birth where + receptions [i.e. initiations] took place, but the dangers which + resulted from these made them feel the necessity of abandoning + them. It was settled that each initiated adept should have the + right without the help of anyone else to initiate all those who, + after the usual tests, seemed to him worthy. + + The catechism of the sect is composed of a very small number of + articles which might even be reduced to this single principle: + + "To arm the opinion of the peoples against sovereigns and to work + by every method for the fall of monarchic governments in order to + found in their place systems of absolute independence." Everything + that can tend towards this object is in the spirit of the + Association.... + + Initiations are not accompanied, as in Masonry, by phantasmagoric + trials, ... but they are preceded by long moral tests which + guarantee in the safest way the fidelity of the catechumen; oaths, + a mixture of all that is most sacred in religion, threats and + imprecations against traitors, nothing that can stagger the + imagination is spared; but the only engagement into which the + recipient enters is to propagate the principles with which he has + been imbued, to maintain inviolable secrecy on all that pertains to + the association, and to work with all his might to increase the + number of proselytes. + + It will no doubt seem astonishing that there can be the least + accord in the association, and that men bound together by no + physical tie and who live at great distances from each other can + communicate their ideas to each other, make plans of conduct, and + give grounds of fear to Governments; but there exists an invisible + chain which binds together all the scattered members of the + association. Here are a few links: + + All the adepts living in the same town usually know each other, + unless the population of the town or the number of the adepts is + too considerable. In this last case they are divided into several + groups, who are all in touch with each other by means of members of + the association whom personal relations bind to two or several + groups at a time. + + These groups are again subdivided into so many private coteries + which the difference of rank, of fortune, of character, tastes, + etc., may necessitate: they are always small, sometimes composed of + five or six individuals, who meet frequently under various + pretexts, sometimes at the house of one member, sometimes at that + of another; literature, art, amusements of all kinds are the + apparent object of these meetings, and it is nevertheless in these + confabulations [_conciliabules_] that the adepts communicate their + private views to each other, agree on methods, receive the + directions that the intermediaries bring them, and communicate + their own ideas to these same intermediaries, who then go on to + propagate them in other coteries. It will be understood that there + may be uniformity in the march of all these separated groups, and + that one day may suffice to communicate the same impulse to all the + quarters of a large town.... + + These are the methods by which the _Illuminés_, without any + apparent organization, without settled leaders, agree together from + the banks of the Rhine to those of the Neva, from the Baltic to the + Dardanelles, and advance continually towards the same goal, without + leaving any trace that might compromise the interests of the + association or even bring suspicion on any of its members; the most + active police would fail before such a combination.... + + As the principal force of the _Illuminés_ lies in the power of + opinions, they have set themselves out from the beginning to make + proselytes amongst the men who through their profession exercise a + direct influence on minds, such as _littérateurs_, savants, and + above all professors. The latter in their chairs, the former in + their writings, propagate the principles of the sect by disguising + the poison that they circulate under a thousand different forms. + These germs, often imperceptible to the eyes of the vulgar, are + afterwards developed by the adepts of the Societies they frequent, + and the most obscure wording is thus brought to the understanding + of the least discerning. It is above all in the Universities that + Illuminism has always found and always will find numerous recruits. + Those professors who belong to the Association set out from the + first to study the character of their pupils. If a student gives + evidence of a vigorous mind, an ardent imagination, the sectaries + at once get hold of him, they sound in his ears the words + Despotism--Tyranny--Rights of the People, etc., etc. Before he can + even attach any meaning to these words, as he advances in age, + reading chosen for him, conversations skilfully arranged, develop + the germs deposited in his youthful brain; soon his imagination + ferments, history, traditions of fabulous times, all are made use + of to carry his exaltation to the highest point, and before even he + has been told of a secret Association, to contribute to the fall of + a sovereign appears to his eyes the noblest and most meritorious + act.... + + At last, when he has been completely captivated, when several years + of testing guarantee to the society inviolable secrecy and absolute + devotion, it is made known to him that millions of individuals + distributed in all the States of Europe share his sentiments and + his hopes, that a secret link binds firmly all the scattered + members of this immense family, and that the reforms he desires so + ardently must sooner or later come about. + + This propaganda is rendered the easier by the existing associations + of students who meet together for the study of literature, for + fencing, gaming, or even mere debauchery. The Illuminés insinuate + themselves into all these circles and turn them into hot-beds for + the propagation of their principles. + + Such, then, is the Association's continual mode of progression from + its origins until the present moment; it is by conveying from + childhood the germ of poison into the highest classes of society, + in feeding the minds of students on ideas diametrically opposed to + that order of things under which they have to live, in breaking the + ties that bind them to sovereigns, that Illuminism has recruited + the largest number of adepts, called by the state to which they + were born to be the mainstays of the Throne and of a system which + would ensure them honours and privileges. + + Amongst the proselytes of this last class there are some no doubt + whom political events, the favour of the prince or other + circumstances, detach from the Association; but the number of these + deserters is necessarily very limited: and even then they dare not + speak openly against their old associates, whether because they are + in dread of private vengeances or whether because, knowing the real + power of the sect, they want to keep paths of reconciliation open + to themselves; often indeed they are so fettered by the pledges + they have personally given that they find it necessary not only to + consider the interests of the sect, but to serve it indirectly, + although their new circumstances demand the contrary.... + +Berckheim then proceeds to show that those writers on Illuminism were +mistaken who declared that political assassinations were definitely +commanded by the Order: + + There is more than exaggeration in this accusation; those who put + it forward, more zealous in striking an effect than in seeking the + truth, may have concluded, not without probability, that men who + surrounded themselves with profound mystery, who propagated a + doctrine absolutely subversive of any kind of monarchy, dreamt only + of the assassination of sovereigns; but experience has shown (and + all the documents derived from the least suspect sources confirm + this) that the _Illuminés_ count a great deal more on the power of + opinion than on assassination; the regicide committed on Gustavus + III is perhaps the only crime of this kind that Illuminism has + dared to attempt, if indeed it is really proved that this crime was + its work; moreover, if assassination had been, as it is said, the + fundamental point in its doctrine, might we not suppose that other + regicides would have been attempted in Germany during the course of + the French Revolution, especially when the Republican armies + occupied the country? + + The sect would be much less formidable if this were its doctrine, + on the one hand because it would inspire in most of the _Illuminés_ + a feeling of horror which would triumph even over the fear of + vengeance, on the other hand because plots and conspiracies always + leave some traces which guide the authorities to the footsteps of + the prime instigators; and besides, it is the nature of things that + out of twenty plots directed against sovereigns, nineteen come to + light before they have reached the point of maturity necessary to + their execution. + + The _Illuminés'_ line of march is more prudent, more skilful, and + consequently more dangerous; instead of revolting the imagination + by ideas of regicide, they affect the most generous sentiments: + declamations on the unhappy state of the people, on the selfishness + of courtiers, on measures of administration, on all acts of + authority that may offer a pretext to declamations as a contrast to + the seductive pictures of the felicity that awaits the nations + under the systems they wish to establish, such is their manner of + procedure, particularly in private. More circumspect in their + writings, they usually disguise the poison they dare not proffer + openly under obscure metaphysics or more or less ingenious + allegories. Often indeed texts from Holy Writ serve as an envelope + and vehicle for these baneful insinuations.... + +By this continuous and insidious form of propaganda the imagination of +the adepts is so worked on that if a crisis arises, they are ready to, +carry out the most daring projects. + +Another Association closely resembling the _Illuminés_, Berckheim +reports, is known as the _Idealists_, whose system is founded on the +doctrine of perfectibility; these kindred sects "agree in seeing in the +words of Holy Scripture the pledge of universal regeneration, of an +absolute levelling down, and it is in this spirit that the sectarians +interpret the sacred books." + +Berckheim further confirms the assertion I made in _World +Revolution_--contested, as usual, by a reviewer without a shred of +evidence to the contrary--that the Tugendbund derived from the +Illuminati. "The League of Virtue," he writes, "was directed by the +secondary chiefs of the _Illuminés_.... In 1810 the Friends of Virtue +were so identified with the _Illuminés_ in the North of Germany that no +line of demarcation was seen between them." + +But it is time to turn to the testimony of another witness on the +activities of the secret societies which is likewise to be found at the +Archives Nationales.[650] This consists of a document transmitted by the +Court of Vienna to the Government of France after the Restoration, and +contains the interrogatory of a certain Witt Doehring, a nephew of the +Baron d'Eckstein, who, after taking part in secret society intrigues, +was summoned before the judge Abel at Bayreuth in February, 1824. +Amongst secret associations recently existing in Germany, the witness +asserted, were the "Independents" and the "Absolutes"; the latter +"adored in Robespierre their most perfect ideal, so that the crimes +committed during the French Revolution by this monster and the +Montagnards of the Convention were in their eyes, in accordance with +their moral system, heroic actions ennobled and sanctified by their +aim." The same document goes on to explain why so many combustible +elements had failed to produce an explosion in Germany: + + The thing that seemed the great obstacle to the plans of the + Independents... was what they called the servile character and the + dog-like fidelity [_Hundestreue_] of the German people, that is to + say, that attachment--innate and firmly impressed on their minds + without even the aid of reason--which that excellent people + everywhere bears towards its princes. + +A traveller in Germany during the year 1795 admirably summed up the +matter in these words: + + The Germans are in this respect [of democracy] the most curious + people in the world ... the cold and sober temperament of the + Germans and their tranquil imagination enable them to combine the + most daring opinions with the most servile conduct. That will + explain to you ... why so much combustible material accumulating + for so many years beneath the political edifice of Germany has not + yet damaged it. Most of the princes, accustomed to see their men of + letters so constantly free in their writings and so constantly + slavish in their hearts, have not thought it necessary to use + severity against this sheeplike herd of modern Gracchi and + Brutuses. Some of them [the princes] have even without difficulty + adopted part of their opinions, and Illuminism having doubtless + been presented to them as perfection, the complement of philosophy, + they were easily persuaded to be initiated into it. But great care + was taken not to let them know more than the interests of the sect + demanded.[651] + +It was thus that Illuminism, unable to provoke a blaze in the home of +its birth, spread, as before the French Revolution, to a more +inflammable Latin race--this time the Italians. Six years after his +interrogatory at Beyreuth, Witt Doehring published his book on the +secret societies of France and Italy, in which he now realized he had +played the part of dupe, and incidentally confirms the statement I have +previously quoted, that the Alta Vendita was a further development of +the Illuminati. + +This infamous association, with which I have dealt at length +elsewhere,[652] constituted the Supreme Directory of the Carbonari and +was led by a group of Italian noblemen, amongst whom a prince, "the +profoundest of initiates, was charged as Inspector-General of the Order" +to propagate its principles throughout the North of Europe. "He had +received from the hands of Kingge [i.e. Knigge, the ally of Weishaupt?] +the cahiers of the last three degrees." But these were of course unknown +to the great majority of Carbonari, who entered the association in all +good faith. Witt Doehring then shows how faithfully the system of +Weishaupt was carried out by the Alta Vendita. In the three first +degrees, he explains-- + + It is still a question of the morality of Christianity and even of + the Church, for which those who wish to be received must promise to + sacrifice themselves. The initiates imagine, according to this + formula, that the object of the association is something high and + noble, that it is the Order of those who desire a purer morality + and a stronger piety, the independence and the unity of their + country. One cannot therefore judge the Carbonari _en masse_; there + are excellent men amongst them.... But everything changes after one + has taken the three degrees. Already in the fourth, in that of the + _Apostoli_, one promises to overthrow all monarchies, and + especially the kings of the race of the Bourbons. But it is only in + the seventh and last degree, reached by few, that revelations go + further. At last the veil is torn completely for the Principi Summo + Patriarcho. Then one learns that the aim of the Carbonari is just + the same as that of the _Illuminés_. This degree, in which a man is + at the same time prince and bishop, coincides with the Homo Rex of + the latter. The initiate vows the ruin of all religion and of all + positive government, whether despotic or democratic; murder, + poison, perjury, are all at their disposal. Who does not remember + that on the suppression of the _Illuminés_ was found, amongst other + poisons, a _tinctura ad abortum faciendum_. The _summo maestro_ + laughs at the zeal of the mass of Carbonari who have sacrificed + themselves for the liberty and independence of Italy, neither one + nor the other being for him a goal but a method.[653] + +Witt Doehring, who had himself reached the degree of P.S.P., thereupon +declares that, having taken his vows under a misapprehension, he holds +himself to be released from his obligations and conceives it his duty to +warn society. "The fears that assail governments are only too well +founded. The soil of Europe is volcanic."[654] + +It is unnecessary to go over the ground already traversed in _World +Revolution_ by relating the history of the successive eruptions which +proved the truth of Witt Doehring's warning. The point to emphasize +again is that every one of these eruptions can be traced to the work of +the secret societies, and that, as in the eighteenth century, most of +the prominent revolutionaries were known to be connected with some +secret association. According to the plan laid down by Weishaupt, +Freemasonry was habitually adopted as a cover. Thus Louis _Amis de la +Vérité_, numbering Bazard and Buchez amongst Blanc, himself a Freemason, +speaks of a lodge named the its founders, "in which the solemn +puerilities of the Grand Orient only served to mask political action."[655] +Bakunin, companion of the Freemason Proudhon,[656] "the father of +Anarchy," makes use of precisely the same expression. Freemasonry, he +explains, is not to be taken seriously, but "may serve as a mask" and +"as a means of preparing something quite different."[657] + +I have quoted elsewhere the statement of the Socialist Malon that +"Bakunin was a disciple of Weishaupt," and that of the Anarchist +Kropotkine that between Bakunin's secret society--the _Alliance Sociale +Démocratique_--and the secret societies of 1795 there was a direct +affiliation; I have quoted the assertion of Malon that "Communism was +handed down in the dark through the secret societies" of the nineteenth +century; I have quoted also the congratulations addressed by Lamartine +and the Freemason Crémieux to the Freemasons of France in 1848 on their +share in this revolution as in that of 1789; I have shown that the +organization of this later outbreak by the secret societies is not a +matter of surmise, but a fact admitted by all well-informed historians +and by the members of the secret societies themselves. + +So, too, in the events of the Commune, and in the founding of the First +Internationale, the role of Freemasonry and the secret societies is no +less apparent. The Freemasons of France have indeed always boasted of +their share in political and social upheavals. Thus in 1874, Malapert, +orator of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, +went so far as to say: "In the eighteenth century Freemasonry was so +widespread throughout the world that one can say that since that epoch +nothing has been done without its consent." + +The secret history of Europe during the last two hundred years yet +remains to be written. Until viewed in the light of the _dessous des +cartes_, many events that have taken place during this period must +remain for ever incomprehensible. + +But it is time to leave the past and consider the secret forces at work +in the world to-day. + + + + +PART II + +_THE PRESENT_ + + + + +11 + +MODERN FREEMASONRY + + + +In the foregoing portion of this book we have followed the history of +Freemasonry in the past and the various interpretations that have been +placed on its rites and ceremonies. The question now arises: what is the +role of Freemasonry to-day? + +The fundamental error of most writers on this question, whether Masonic +or anti-Masonic, is to represent all Freemasons as holding a common +belief and animated by a common purpose. Thus on one hand the panegyrics +by Freemasons on their Order as a whole, and on the other hand the +sweeping condemnations of the Order by the Catholic Church, are equally +at fault. + +The truth is that Freemasonry in a generic sense is simply a system of +binding men together for any given purpose, since it is obvious that +allegories and symbols, like the _x_ and _y_ of algebra, can be +interpreted in a hundred different manners. Two pillars may be said to +represent strength and stability, or man and woman, or light and +darkness, or any other two things we please. A triangle may signify the +Trinity, or Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, or any other triad. To +say that any of these symbols have an absolute meaning is absurd. + +The allegories of Freemasonry are equally capable of various +interpretations. The building of the Temple of Solomon may signify the +progress of any undertaking and Hiram the victim of its opponents. So +also with regard to the "secret tradition" of Freemasonry concerning "a +loss which has befallen humanity"[658] and its ultimate recovery. Any +body of people working for an object may be said to have experienced a +loss and to aim at its recovery. + +In the same way the whole organization of Freemasonry, the plan of +admitting candidates to successive degrees of initiation, of binding +them to secrecy by fearful oaths, is one that can be employed for any +purpose, social, political, philanthropic, or religious, for promoting +that which is good or for disseminating that which is evil. It may be +used to defend a throne or to overthrow it, to protect religion or to +destroy it, to maintain law and order or to create anarchy. + +Now, there was, as we have seen, from the beginning, besides the written +charges, an _oral tradition_ in Masonry, after the manner of the Cabala, +on which the guidance of the society depended. The true character of any +form of Freemasonry is thus not to be judged only by its printed ritual, +but by the oral instruction of the initiates and the interpretations +placed on the symbols and ritual. Naturally these interpretations vary +in different countries and at different periods. Freemasonry is +described in its Ritual as "a peculiar system of morality, veiled in +allegory and illustrated by symbols." But what code of morality? In +studying the history of the Order we shall find that the same code was +by no means common to all masonic bodies, nor is it to-day. Some +maintain a very high standard of morals; others appear to possess no +standard at all. Mr. Waite observes that "the two doctrines of the unity +of God and the immortality of the soul constitute 'the philosophy of +Freemasonry.'"[659] But these doctrines are by no means essential to +the existence of Freemasonry; the Grand Orient has renounced both, but +it still ranks as Freemasonry. + +M. Paul Nourrisson is therefore perfectly right in saying: "There are as +many Masonries as countries; there is no such thing as universal +Masonry."[660] Broadly, however, modern Freemasonry may be divided into +two kinds: the variety worked in the British Empire, in America, +Holland, Sweden, Denmark, etc., and Grand Orient Masonry, which prevails +in Catholic countries and of which the most important centre is the +Grand Orient of Paris. + + + +Continental Masonry + + +The fact that Masonry in Protestant countries is neither revolutionary +nor anti-religious is frequently used by Catholic writers to show that +Protestantism identifies itself with the aims of Masonry, and by +Freemasons to prove that the tyranny of the Church of Rome has driven +Masonry into an attitude hostile to Church and State. The point +overlooked in both these contentions is the essential difference in the +character of the two kinds of Masonry. If the Grand Orient had adhered +to the fundamental principle of British Masonry not to concern itself +with religion or politics, there is no reason why it should have come +into conflict with the Church. But its duplicity on this point is +apparent. Thus in one of its earlier manuals it declares, like British +Masonry, that it "never interferes with questions of government or of +civil and religious legislation, and that whilst making its members +participate in the perfecting of all sciences, it positively excepts in +the lodges two of the most beautiful, _politics_ and _theology_, because +these two sciences divide men and nations which Masonry constantly tends +to unite."[661] But on a further page of the same manual from which +this quotation is taken we find it stated that Masonry is simply "the +political application of Christianity."[662] Indeed, during the last +fifty years the Grand Orient has thrown off the mask and openly declared +itself to be political in its aims. In October 1887 the Venerable Bro∴ +Blanc said in a discourse which was printed for the lodges: + + You recognise with me, my brothers, the necessity for Freemasonry + to become a vast and powerful political and social society having a + decisive influence on the resolutions of the Republican + government.[663] + +And in 1890 the Freemason Fernand Maurice declared "that nothing should +happen in France without the hidden action of Freemasonry," and "if the +Masons choose to organize, in ten years' time no one in France will be +able to move outside us (_personne ne bougera plus en France en dehors +de nous_)."[664] + +This is the despotic power which the Grand Orient has established in +opposition to both Church and Government. + +Moreover, Grand Orient masonry is not only political but subversive in +its political aims. Instead of the peaceful trilogy of British masonry, +"Brotherly love, relief, and truth," it has throughout adhered to the +formula which originated in the Masonic lodges of France and became the +war-cry of the Revolution: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity." "It is the +law of equality," says Ragon, "that has always endeared Masonry to the +French," and "as long as equality really exists only in the lodges, +Masonry will be preserved in France."[665] The aim of Grand Orient +Masonry is thus to bring about universal equality as formulated by +Robespierre and Babeuf. In the matter of liberty we read further that as +men are all by nature free--the old fallacy of Rousseau and of the +Declaration of the Rights of Man--therefore "no one is necessarily +subjected to another nor has the right to rule him."[666] The +revolutionary expresses the same idea in the phrase that "no man should +have a master." Finally, by fraternity Grand Orient Masonry denotes the +abolition of all national feeling. + + It is to Masonry [Ragon says again] that we owe the affiliation of + all classes of society, it alone could bring about this fusion + which from its midst has passed into the life of the peoples. It + alone could promulgate that humanitarian law of which the rising + activity, tending to a great social uniformity, leads to the fusion + of races, of different classes, of morals, codes, customs, + languages, fashions, money, and measures. Its virtuous propaganda + will become the humanitarian law of all consciences.[667] + +The policy of the Grand Orient is thus avowedly International Socialism. +Indeed in a further passage Ragon plainly indicates this fact: + + Every generous reform, every social benefit derives from it, and if + these survive it is because Masonry lends them its support. This + phenomenon is due only to the power of its organization. The past + belongs to it and the future cannot escape from it. By its immense + lever of association it alone is able to realize by a productive + communion (_communion génératrice_) that great and beautiful social + unity conceived by Jaurez, Saint-Simon, Owen, Fourier. If Masons + wish it, the generous conceptions of these philanthropic thinkers + will cease to be vain Utopias.[668] + +Who are the philanthropic thinkers enumerated here but the men +derisively described by Karl Marx as the "Utopian Socialists" of the +nineteenth century? Utopian Socialism is thus simply the open and +visible expression of Grand Orient Freemasonry. Moreover, these Utopian +Socialists were almost without exception Freemasons or members of other +secret societies. + +The Freemason Clavel confirms the foregoing account by Ragon. Thus, like +Ragon, he quotes, the principle expressed in a ritual for the initiation +of a Master Mason: + + It is expressly forbidden to Masons to discuss amongst themselves, + either in the lodge or outside it, religious and political matters, + these discussions having usually the effect of creating discord + where formerly peace, union, and fraternity reigned. This masonic + law admits of no exceptions.[669] + +But Clavel also goes on to say: + + To efface amongst men the distinctions of colour, rank, creed, + opinions, country; to annihilate fanaticism, and ... the scourge of + war; in a word, to make of the whole human race one and the same + family united by affection, by devotion, by work and knowledge: + that, my brother, is the great work which Freemasonry has + undertaken, etc.[670] + +Up to a point many a British Freemason reading these passages will +declare himself completely in accord with the sentiments expressed. +Humanitarianism, the obliteration of class distinctions, fraternization +between men of all races, conditions, and religious creeds, enter of +course largely into the spirit of British Masonry, but form simply the +basis on which Masons meet together in the lodges and not a political +system to be imposed on the world in general. + +British Masonry thus makes no attempt to interfere with the existing +social system or form of Government; the essence of its teaching is that +each member of the Fraternity should seek to reform himself and not +society. In a word, individual regeneration takes the place of the +social reorganization advocated by the Grand Orient under the influence +of Illuminism. The formula of the "United States of Europe" and of the +"Universal Republic" first proclaimed by the Illuminatus, Anacharsis +Clootz,[671] has long been the slogan of the French lodges.[672] + +In the matter of religion, Grand Orient Masonry has entirely departed +from the principle laid down by the British lodges. If the Catholic +Church has shown itself hostile to Masonry, it must be remembered that +in Catholic countries Masonry has shown itself militantly anti-Catholic. +"Freemasonry," one of its modern orators declared, "is the anti-Church, +the anti-Catholicism, the Church of Heresy (_la contre Eglise, le contre +Catholicisme, l'Eglise de l'Hérésie_)."[673] The _Bulletin_ of the +Grand Orient in 1885 officially declared: "We Freemasons must pursue the +definite demolition of Catholicism." + +But the Grand Orient goes further than this and attacks all forms of +religion. Thus, as has been said, those "ancient landmarks" of British +Masonry, belief in the Great Architect of the Universe and in the +immortality of the soul, had never formed an integral part of its +system, and it was only in 1849 that for the first time "it was +distinctly formulated that the basis of Freemasonry is a belief in God +and in the immortality of the soul, and the solidarity of Humanity." But +in September 1877 the first part of this formula was deleted, all +allusions to the Great Architect were omitted, and the statute now +reads: "Its basis is absolute liberty of conscience and the solidarity +of Humanity."[674] British Freemasonry, which does not admit liberty of +conscience in the sense of Atheism, but demands that every Mason should +profess belief in some form of religion and which insists that the +Volume of the Sacred Law--in England the Bible, in Mohammedan countries +the Koran, and so on--should be placed on the table in its lodges, +thereupon broke off all relations with the Grand Orient. In March 1878 +the following resolution was passed unanimously: + + That the Grand Lodge, whilst always anxious to receive in the most + fraternal spirit the Brethren of any foreign Grand Lodge whose + proceedings are conducted according to the Ancient Landmarks of the + Order, of which a belief in T.G.A.O.T.U. is the first and most + important, cannot recognize as "true and genuine" Brethren any who + have been initiated in lodges which either deny or ignore that + belief.[675] + +The Grand Orient, says M. Copin Albancelli, not content with renouncing +the Great Architect whose glory it had celebrated on every possible +occasion and whose praises had been incessantly sung in its lodges, +demanded of its initiates that they should declare themselves to be +absolutely convinced that the Great Architect was nothing but a +myth.[676] More than this, violent anti-religious tirades have been +permitted and even applauded in the lodges. Thus in 1902 the Freemason +Delpech in his discourse at a masonic banquet uttered these words: + + The triumph of the Galilean has lasted twenty centuries; he is + dying in his turn. The mysterious voice which once on the mountains + of Epirus announced the death of Pan, to-day announces the death of + the deceiver God who had promised an era of justice and peace to + those who should believe in him. The illusion has lasted very long; + the lying God in his turn disappears; he goes to rejoin in the dust + of ages the other divinities of India, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, who + saw so many deluded creatures throw themselves at the food of their + altars. Freemasons, we are pleased to state that we are not + unconcerned with this ruin of false prophets. The Roman Church, + founded on the Galilean myth, began to decline rapidly on the day + when the masonic association was constituted. From the political + point of view Freemasons have often varied. But in all times + Freemasonry has stood firm on this principle: war on all + superstitions, war on all fanaticism.[677] + +How is it possible to reconcile this attitude towards religion in +general and Christianity in particular with the fact that the Grand +Orient still works the Rose-Croix degree? This degree--which, as we have +seen, was first devised (whether in Scotland or in France) to give a +Christian meaning to Masonry--was only incorporated into British +Freemasonry in 1846 and in our country has retained its original +character. Its ritual, centring around a lost word, signifies that the +Old Testament dispensation has come to an end with the Crucifixion, and +is so strongly Christian that no Jew, Mohammedan, or other non-Christian +can be admitted to it. Moreover, since this degree, known as the +eighteenth degree, forms in reality the first degree of the Ancient and +Accepted Rite, as worked in this country, non-Christians are excluded +from the whole of this Rite and can only take the degrees of Royal Arch, +Mark Mason, Royal Ark Mariner, and finally Royal Select and +Super-Excellent Master. Consequently the thirty-three Masons of the +thirty-third degree who compose the Supreme Council which directs the +Ancient and Accepted Rite are necessarily professing Christians. Exactly +the opposite is the case in France; the Rose-Croix, worked by professing +atheists and Jews, can only be parody of Christian mysteries. + +Now, it is essential to realize that in France the anti-masonic camp is +divided into two parties. Whilst the majority of Catholic writers regard +Freemasonry itself as the source of all evil--"the Synagogue of +Satan"--more impartial investigators have pronounced the opinion that it +is not Freemasonry even of the Grand Orient variety but something +concealed behind Freemasonry which constitutes the principal danger. +This view is expressed by M. Copin Albancelli, whose book _Le Pouvoir +occulte contre la France_ is of the utmost importance to an +understanding of the masonic danger, for here there can be no question +of Catholic prejudice or of imaginary accusations made by a stranger to +Masonry. M. Copin Albancelli entered the Grand Orient as an agnostic and +has never returned to the bosom of the Church; yet as a Frenchman, a +patriot, and a believer in law, morality, and Christian ethics he found +himself obliged, after six years' experience in the lodges and after +attaining the degree of Rose-Croix, to leave Freemasonry and, further, +to denounce it. From what he himself heard and observed M. Copin +Albancelli declares the Grand Orient to be anti-patriotic, subversive of +all morality and religious belief, and an immense danger to France. + +But further than this, M. Copin Albancelli declares the Grand Orient to +be a system of deception by which members are enlisted in a cause +unknown to themselves; even the initiates of the upper degrees are not +all aware of the real aim of the Order or of the power behind it. M. +Copin Albancelli thus arrives at the conclusion that there are three +Freemasonries one above the other: (i) Blue Masonry (i.e. the three +Craft Degrees), in which none of the real secrets are revealed to the +members and which serves merely as a sorting-ground for selecting likely +subjects; (2) the Upper Degrees, in which most of the members, whilst +imagining themselves to have been initiated into the whole secret of the +Order and "bursting with importance" over their imaginary rôle of +leaders, are only admitted to a partial knowledge of the goal to which +they are tending; and (3) the inner circle, "the true masters," those +who conceal themselves behind high-grade Masonry. Admission to this +inner circle may be, moreover, not a matter of degrees. "Whilst in the +lower Masonries the adepts are obliged to pass through all the degrees +of the established hierarchy, the upper and invisible Freemasonry is +certainly recruited not only amongst the thirty-three degrees but in all +the groups of upper-degree Masonry, and perhaps even in certain +exceptional cases outside these."[678] This inner and invisible +Freemasonry is to a large extent _international_. + +The most illuminating passage in the whole of M. Copin Albancelli's book +is where he describes an experience that befell him after he had taken +the degree of Rose-Croix. It was then that one of his superiors took him +aside and addressed him in the following terms: + + "You realize the power which Freemasonry has at its disposal. We + can say that we hold France. It is not because of our numbers, + since there are only 25,000 Freemasons in this country [this was in + 1889]. Nor is it because we are the brains, for you have been able + to judge of the intellectual mediocrity of the greater number of + these 25,000 Freemasons. We hold France because we are organized + and the only people who are organized. But above all, we hold + France because we have an aim, this aim is unknown; as it is + unknown, no obstacle can be put in its way; and finally, as no + obstacle is put up, the way is wide open before us. This is + logical, is it not?" + + "Absolutely." + + "Good. But what would you say of an association which instead of + consisting of 25,000 nonentities as in Freemasonry, were composed + of, say, only a thousand individuals, but a thousand individuals + recruited in the manner that I will tell you." + +And the Freemason went on to explain the way in which such individuals +were selected, the months and years of observation, of supervision, to +which they were subjected, so as to form a body of picked men inside +Freemasonry capable of directing its operations. + + "You can imagine the power at the command of such an association?" + + "An association thus selected would do anything it chose. It could + possess the world if it pleased." + +Thereupon the higher adept, after asking for a further promise of +secrecy, declared: + + "Well, in exchange for this promise, Brother Copin, I am authorized + to let you know that this association exists and that, further, I + am authorized to introduce you into it."[679] + +It was then that Monsieur Copin Albancelli understood that the point to +which the conversation was leading up was not, as he had at first +supposed, an invitation to take the next step in Freemasonry--the +thirtieth degree of Knight Kadosch--but to enter through a side-door +into an association concealed within Freemasonry and for which the +visible organization of the latter served merely as a cover. A very +curious resemblance will here be noticed between the method of sounding +M. Copin Albancelli and that of the Illuminatus Cato in the matter of +Savioli, described in a passage already quoted: + + Now that he is a Mason I have ... taken up the general plan of our + ⊙, and as this pleased him I said that such a thing really existed, + whereat he gave me his word that he would enter it. + +M. Copin Albancelli, however, did not give his word that he would enter +it, but, on the contrary, checked further revelations by declaring that +he would leave Freemasonry. + +This experience had afforded him a glimpse of "a world existing behind +the masonic world, more secret than it, unsuspected by it as by the +outside world."[680] Freemasonry, then, "can only be the half-lit +antechamber of the real secret society. That is the truth."[681] "There +exists then necessarily a permanent directing Power. We cannot see that +Power, therefore it is occult."[682] + +For some time M. Copin Albancelli concluded this Power to be "the Jewish +power," and elaborated the idea in a further work[683]; but the war has +led him to develop his theories in yet another book, which will shortly +appear. + +That the lodges of the Grand Orient are largely controlled by Jews is, +however, certain, and that they are centres of political propaganda is +equally undeniable. We have only to glance at the following +extracts--some of which are reproduced on the opposite page--from the +programme of debates in the _Bulletin_ of the Grand Orient for June 5, +1922, to recognize that the ideas they propagate are simply those of +International Socialism: + + Loge "Union et France": Lecture du Rapport de notre T∴ C∴ F∴ + Chardard sur "L'Exploitation des richesses nationales au profit de + la collectivité." + + Loge "Les Rénovateurs": "Exploitation des Richesses nationales et + des grosses Entreprises an profit de la collectivité." Conférence + de notre F∴ Goldschmidt, Orat∴ adjoint sur la même question. + +[Illustration: News paper clippings] + + Loge "Les Zélés Philanthropes": "La Transformation de la Société + Actuelle s'impose-t-elle?" Conférence par le T∴ C∴ F∴ Edmond + Cottin. + + Loge "Paix-Travail-Solidarité": "Rôle de la Franc-Maçonnerie dans + la politique actuelle" par le F∴ F∴ + + Loge "Les Trinitaires": "Le Socialisme Français" par le T∴ Ill. F∴ + Elie May. + + Ten∴ Collective des L∴ "Emmanuel Arago" & "les Coeurs Unis + indivisibles": "Comment propager notre Idéal Maçonnique dans le + Monde profane." Conférence par le F∴ Jahia, de la R∴ L∴ Isis + Monthyon. + + Loge "Isis Monthyon et Conscience et Volonté": "La Terreur et le + Péril Fasciste en Italie, le Fascisme et la F∴-Maç∴ Italienne," + impressions de notre F∴ Mazzini, de retour, après un séjour + prolongé en Italie. + +It will be seen by the last of these extracts that Grand Orient Masonry +is the enemy of Fascismo, which saved Italy in her hour of peril. +Indeed, the Italian Masons passed a resolution which was directly +opposed to Fascist views, especially with regard to the religious policy +of Mussolini, who has restored the crucifix to the schools and religious +teaching to the curriculum. The Fascist _Giornale di Roma_ declared that +the principles announced by the Masons in this resolution were those +which threatened to submerge the State and nation. Consequently +Mussolini declared that Fascisti must either leave their lodges or leave +Fascismo.[684] + +In Belgium Freemasonry has taken the same political and anti-religious +course. In 1856 the directing committee of the Belgian Grand Orient +declared: "Not only is it the right but the duty of the lodges to +supervise the actions in public life of those amongst its members whom +it has placed in political posts, the right to demand +explanations...."[685] When in 1866 at a funeral ceremony in honour of +the deceased King Leopold I the Grand Orient of Belgium displayed the +maxim, "The soul which has emanated from God is immortal," the +Freemasons of Louvain entered a violent protest on the ground that +"Free-thinking had been admitted by the Belgian lodges in 1864 as its +fundamental principle," and that the Grand Orient had therefore violated +the convictions of its members.[686] + +In Spain and Portugal Freemasonry has played not merely a subversive +but an actively revolutionary and sanguinary rôle. The anarchist Ferrer, +intimately concerned with a plot to murder the King of Spain, was at the +same moment entrusted with negotiations between the Grand Orient of +France and the Grand Lodge of Catalonia.[687] These murderous schemes, +frustrated in Spain, met, however, in Portugal with complete success. +The Portuguese revolutions from 1910 to 1921 were organized under the +direction of Freemasonry and the secret society of Carbonarios. The +assassination of King Carlos and his elder son had been prepared by the +same secret organizations. In 1908 a pamphlet modelled on the libels +published against Marie Antoinette was directed against Queen Amélie and +her husband. A month later the assassination took place. Amongst the +leaders of the new Republic was Magalhaes Lima, Grand Master of the +Grand Orient of Portugal.[688] + +The authorship of these disorders was, in fact, so clearly recognized +that honest Freemasons forsook the lodges. An English Mason, unaware of +the true character of Portuguese Freemasonry, when in Lisbon in August +1919, made himself known to several moderate Portuguese Masons, who, +while glad to welcome him as a brother, refused to take him to a lodge, +declaring that they had severed all connection with Masonry since it had +passed under the control of assassins. They also added that the +assassination of Señor Paes, the President in December 1918, was the +work of certain Portuguese lodges. A special meeting had previously been +held in Paris in conjunction with the Grand Orient of France, at which +it had been decided that Paes was to be removed. This decision reached, +the earliest opportunity of putting it into force was sought--with fatal +results. The assassin was imprisoned in the Penitentiary but liberated +by the revolution of 1921, and no attempt has been made to recapture +him. The murder of Dr. Antonio Granjo in October 1921 was traced to the +same agency. In the pocket of the murdered man was found a document from +the "Lodge of Liberty and Justice"(!) warning him of the decision taken +against him for having ordered the police to protect the British tramway +company.[689] + +The present Portuguese Government, indeed, makes no secret of its +masonic character and prints the square and compass on its bank-notes. + +But whilst in Spain and Portugal Freemasonry manifested itself in +Anarchist outrages, in the east of Europe the lodges, largely under the +control of Jews, followed the line of Marxian Socialism. After the fall +of the Bela Kun régime in Hungary a raid on the lodges brought to light +documents clearly revealing the fact that the ideas of Socialism had +been disseminated by the Freemasons. Thus in the minutes of meetings it +was recorded that on November 16, 1906, Dr. Kallos had addressed the +Gyor Lodge on Socialist ideals. "The ideal world which we call the +masonic world," he declared, "will be also a Socialist world and the +religion of Freemasonry is that of Socialism as well." Dr. Kallos then +proceeded to acquaint the members with the theories of Marx and Engels, +showing that no help was to be found in Utopias, as the interests of the +proletarians were in absolute conflict with those of other classes, and +these differences could only be settled by international class warfare. +Nevertheless with that fear of the proletariat which has always +characterized the democrats of revolutionary Freemasonry, Dr. Kallos +declared later that "the social revolution must take place without +bloodshed."[690] The Karolyi régime was the direct outcome of these +illusions, and as in all revolutions paved the way for the more violent +elements. + +Still further east in Europe the lodges, though revolutionary, instead +of following the International Socialist line of Hungarian Freemasonry, +exhibited a political and nationalist character. The Young Turk movement +originated in the masonic lodges of Salonica under the direction of the +Grand Orient of Italy, which later contributed to the success of +Mustapha Kemal. Moreover, as we approach the Near East, cradle of the +masonic system, we find the Semitic influence not only of the Jews but +of other Semite races directing the lodges. In Turkey, in Egypt, in +Syria now, as a thousand years ago, the same secret societies which +inspired the Templars have never ceased to exist, and in this mingling +of the East and West it is possible that the Grand Orient may draw +reinforcement from those sources whence it drew its system and its name. + +Amongst the strange survivals of early Eastern sects are the Druses of +Lebanon, who might indeed be described as the Freemasons of the East; +their outer organization closely resembles that of the Craft Degrees in +Western Masonry, yet such is their power of secrecy that few if any +Europeans have ever succeeded in discovering the secret doctrines. That +their tendency is largely political admits of little doubt; in fact men +intimately acquainted with the Near East have declared that the +influence they exercise over the politics of that region is as +far-reaching as that of the Grand Orient over the affairs of Europe and +that they form the breeding-ground of all political ideas and changes. +Though small in numbers this mysterious society is composed of past +masters in the game of intrigue, who, whilst playing apparently a minor +part at political meetings, secret or otherwise, or even remaining +completely silent, contrive to influence decisions with startling +results. + + + +British Masonry + + +We shall now consider the further ways in which British Masonry differs +from the Grand Orient. + +In the first place, whilst working the same degrees, its rituals, +formulas, and ceremonies, as also the interpretation it places on words +and symbols, are different in many essential points. + +Secondly, British Masonry is essentially an honest institution. Whereas +in the Grand Orient the initiate is led through a maze of ceremonies +towards a goal unknown to him which he may discover too late to be other +than he supposed, the British initiate, although admitted by gradual +stages to the mysteries of the Craft, knows nevertheless from the +beginning the general aim of the Order. + +Thirdly, British Masonry is primarily philanthropic and the sums it +devotes to charitable purposes are immense. Since the war the three +principal masonic charities have collected annually over £300,000. + +But the point to be emphasized here is that British Masonry is strictly +non-political, not merely in theory but in practice, and that it +enforces this principle on every occasion. Thus before the recent +General Election, the Report of the Board of General Purposes, drawn up +by Grand Lodge on December 5, 1923, recalled to the notice of the Craft +that "'all subjects of a political nature are strictly excluded from +discussion in masonic meetings,' this being in accordance with +long-established masonic tradition ... it follows from this that Masonry +must not be used for any personal or party purpose in connexion with an +election." It further emphasized the distinct caution "that any attempt +to bring the Craft into the electioneering arena would be treated as a +serious masonic offence." + +At the same time a fresh injunction was made with regard to the Grand +Orient of France: + + As recognition was withdrawn from that body by the United Grand + Lodge of England in 1878, ... it is considered necessary to warn + all members of our lodges that they cannot visit any lodge under + the obedience of a jurisdiction unrecognized by the United Grand + Lodge of England; and further that under Rule 150 of the Book of + Constitutions, they cannot admit visitors therefrom. + +For the reasons given at the beginning of this section British Masonry +stands rigidly aloof from all attempts to create an international system +of Masonry. The idea was first suggested at the Masonic Congress of +Paris in 1889, convened to celebrate the centenary of the first French +Revolution, but led to nothing very definite until the Congress of +Geneva in September 1902, at which the delegates of thirty-four lodges, +Grand Lodges, Grand Orients, and Supreme Councils were present, and a +proposal was unanimously adopted "tending towards the creation of an +International Bureau for Masonic Affairs," to which twenty Powers, +mostly Europeans, gave their adherence. Brother Desmons, of the Grand +Orient of France, in an after-dinner speech declared it to have been +always "the dream of his life" that "all democracies should meet and +understand one another in such a way as one day to form the Universal +Republic."[691] + +According to the official report of the proceedings, "the +representatives of Belgium, Holland, France, Germany, England, Spain, +Italy, and Switzerland greeted with much feeling the dawn of this new +era." The same Report goes on to observe that-- + + It is altogether a mistake ... to believe that Freemasonry does not + attack the defects of such and such a State, and that consequently + it remains a stranger to party-strife and the tendencies of the + times. + +And again: + + Freemasonry has imposed upon itself a task--a mission. It is a + question of nothing less than the rebuilding of society on an + entirely new basis, which shall be more in accordance with the + present conditions of the means of communication, of situation, and + production, as well as of a reform of right, of a complete renewal + of the principle of existence, especially of the principle of + community and of the relations of men among one another. + +The Report here quoted is, however, inaccurate in one important +particular. No English delegates were present at the Geneva Congress or +on any other occasion of the kind. There was a delegate from Adelaide +who spoke a good deal, but the Chairman specifically mentioned England +as taking no part in the movement. Later on, in a Report of the Board of +General Purposes to Grand Lodge on March 2, 1921, a letter from Lord +Ampthill, pro Grand Master, appears, declining an invitation from the +Swiss Grand Lodge Alpina to British Freemasons to attend an +International Masonic Congress in Geneva and quoting the following +letter from the Grand Secretary as an earlier precedent for this +refusal: + + I am directed to state, in reply to the invitation to attend an + International Masonic Conference in Switzerland during the coming + autumn, that the United Grand Lodge of England will be unable to + send representatives on the occasion. It never participates in a + Masonic gathering in which are treated as an open question what it + has always held to be ancient and essential Landmarks of the Craft, + these being an express belief in the Great Architect of the + Universe, and an obligatory recognition of the Volume of the Sacred + Law. Its refusal to remain in fraternal association with such + Sovereign Jurisdictions as have repudiated or made light of these + Landmarks has long been upon record, and its resolve in this regard + remains unshaken. + +Lord Ampthill then went on to say: + + A further consequence of certain happenings of the war is to make + more firm our resolve to keep, as far as in us lies, Freemasonry + strictly away from participation in politics, either national or + international. This attitude of aloofness from necessarily + controversial affairs of State, on which Brethren can legitimately + and most properly differ, has ever been maintained by our Grand + Lodge since it was first convened in 1717. Because of this, it held + aloof from such international conferences as were summoned during + the war; and never more than now has the necessity for the + maintenance of this attitude been felt by British Freemasons.... + For these reasons, the invitation to participate in the proposed + International Conference of Freemasons at Geneva cannot be + accepted. Such an assembly might be termed informal, but inevitably + it would be regarded as opening a door to compromise on those + things which this Grand Lodge has always held to be essentials. + Such a compromise English Freemasonry will never contemplate. On + these essentials we take the firm stand we have always done; we + cannot detract from full recognition of the Great Architect of the + Universe, and we shall continue to forbid the introduction of + political discussion into our Lodges. + +British Masonry has thus taken a firm stand against the Grand Orient. +But it is regrettable that views so admirably expressed should be +confined to masonic correspondence and not made more apparent to the +world in general. On the Continent, outside masonic circles, the +difference between British Masonry and the Grand Orient variety is _not_ +sufficiently known, and the reticence of leading British Masons on this +subject has not only played into the hands of the intractable +anti-Masons, who declare all Masonry to be harmful, but has strengthened +the position of the revolutionaries who use Masonry for a subversive +purpose. Thus in the Portuguese revolution of 1920 the Masons of that +country who were directing the movement sheltered themselves behind the +good name of England. "How can you accuse the lodges of being murder +clubs," they said to the people, "when Masonry is directed by England +and had King Edward for its Grand Master?" + +However ludicrous all this may seem to the British public, yet for the +honour of our country such accusations should not remain unrefuted. A +witness of the disorders that took place in Portugal declared to the +present writer that if only Grand Lodge of England would have published +a notice in the Continental press disassociating itself from the Grand +Orient in general and from Portuguese Freemasonry in particular, the +power of the revolutionaries would have been immensely weakened and the +anti-British and pro-German propaganda then circulating in the country +defeated. But British Freemasonry preferred to maintain an attitude of +aloofness, contenting itself with issuing periodical warnings against +the Grand Orient privately to the lodges. + +This policy has done much to damage not only the good name of England +but of British Masonry in the eyes of the outside world, and +particularly in those of Roman Catholics, which is the more regrettable +since Freemasonry and the Roman Catholic Church are the only two +organized bodies in this country which really exercise discipline over +their members and forbid them to belong to subversive secret societies; +hence they provide the two strongest bulwarks against the occult forces +of revolution. For this reason, as we shall see later, they are the two +bodies which are the most feared by the recruiting agents of these +societies. + +But in the case of Freemasonry the fact is unfortunately too little +known to the world in general. As a singularly broad-minded Jesuit has +recently expressed it: + + The anti-clerical and revolutionary activities of Continental + Freemasonry did not begin when the Grand Orient finally abolished + God. During a century and more these evil forces had been at work. + Nevertheless English Masons only shrugged their shoulders and + looked another way, though the true character of foreign Masonry + was brought to their notice in such books as that of John Robison, + _Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments + of Europe_.... + + No doubt [the same writer says again] there has been at times a + deplorable amount of exaggeration among Continental Catholics in + attributing all the moral and social evils of the world to the + insidious workings of Freemasonry.... But so long as English + Freemasons resolutely avert their gaze from the anti-religious and + anti-social activities of their Continental brethren there can be + no hope of any better understanding.[692] + +It is impossible to deny the truth of these strictures. As has already +been pointed out in the course of this book, British Freemasons have +frequently not only ignored Robison's warning but vilified him as the +enemy of Masonry, although he never attacked their Order but only the +perverted systems of the Continent; too often also they have exonerated +the most dangerous secret societies, notably the Illuminati, because, +apparently from a mistaken sense of loyalty, they conceive it their duty +to defend any association of a masonic character. This is simply +suicidal. British Masonry has no bitterer enemies than the secret +societies working for subversion, which, from the Illuminati onwards, +have always regarded honest Masonry with contempt and used its doctrines +for an ulterior purpose. + +It is easy to see how these doctrines may be perverted to an end +directly opposed to that which British Masons have in view. Thus, for +example, the idea of the brotherhood of man in the sense of love for all +humanity is the essence of Christianity--"Be kindly affectioned one to +another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another." In +adopting "brotherly love" as a part of their sacred trilogy British +Masons adopt an entirely Christian standpoint. But if by the brotherhood +of man is meant that men of every race are equally related and that +therefore one owes the same duty to foreigners as to one's +fellow-countrymen it is obvious that all national feeling must vanish. +The British Freemason does not, of course, interpret the theory in this +manner; he cannot seriously regard himself as the brother of the Bambute +pygmy or the Polynesian cannibal, thus he uses the term merely in a +vague and theoretical sense. + +What indeed does the word "brother" literally mean? If we consult the +dictionary we shall see it defined as "a male born of the same parents; +anyone closely united with or resembling one another; associated in +common interests, occupation," etc. It is therefore obviously absurd to +say that men of such different races as those referred to are brothers; +they are not born of the same kind of parents, they are not united in +their aims, they do not remotely resemble one another, and they are not +associated in common interests and occupations. Though these happen to +be extreme cases, there are nevertheless essential differences between +men of the same zone and climate. The Englishman and the Frenchman are +not brothers because they do not see life from the same point of view, +but that is no reason why they should not be close allies. + +The brotherhood of man, if taken literally, is therefore a misleading +term, nor is such a relationship necessary to the peace of the world. +Cain and Abel were not better friends, for being brothers. David and +Jonathan, on the other hand, were not brothers but devoted friends. In +striving after universal brotherhood in a literal sense, Freemasons are +therefore pursuing a chimera. + +The most dangerous fallacy to which democracy, under the influence of +Illuminized Freemasonry, has succumbed is that peace between nations can +be brought about by means of Internationalism, that is to say, by the +destruction of national feeling. Yet a man is not more likely to live at +peace with his neighbours because he is devoid of natural affection; on +the contrary, the good brother, the devoted father, is most likely to +become the faithful friend. Permanent peace between nations will +probably never be ensured, but the only basis on which such a situation +can conceivably be established is the basis of sane Nationalism--an +understanding between the patriotic and virile elements in every +country which, because they value their own liberties and revere their +own traditions, are able to respect those of other nations. +Internationalism is an understanding between the decadent elements in +each country--the conscientious objectors, the drawing-room Socialists, +the visionaries--who shirk the realities of life and, as the Socialist +Karl Kautsky in a description of Idealists has admirably expressed it, +"see only differences of opinion and misapprehension where there are +actually irreconcilable antagonisms." This is why at times of crisis +Idealists are of all men the most dangerous and Pacifists the great +promoters of wars. Understanding between nations is wholly desirable, +but the destruction of the national spirit everywhere can only lead to +the weakening of all countries where this process takes place and the +triumph of the nations who refuse to accept the same principle. + +It will perhaps be answered that Freemasons do not believe in the +doctrine of brotherhood between all men, but only between Masons of all +races. But this may lead no less to national disintegration if it +creates a nation within each nation, an international fraternity +independent of the countries to which its members belong. The logical +outcome of this may be that a man will refuse to fight for his country +against his brother Masons--it is what has happened in France. The Grand +Orient was before the recent war the great breeding-ground of +anti-patriotism, where all schemes for national defence were +discouraged. Before 1870 the same thing took place, and it was in the +masonic lodges that Germany found her most valuable allies. + +In the same way the doctrine of the perfectibility of human nature lends +itself to perversion. Nothing could be more desirable than that man +should strive after perfection. Did not Christ enjoin His disciples: "Be +ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is +perfect"? Man is therefore acting in accordance with Christian +principles in seeking after divine perfection. But when he comes to +believe that he has already attained it he makes of himself a god. "If I +justify myself," said Job, "mine own mouth shall condemn me; if I say I +am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse." And St. John: "If we say +we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." More +than this, if we seek perfection in others we deceive ourselves equally +and make gods of men. This is precisely the conclusion at which +perverted Freemasonry and the forms of Socialism deriving from it +arrive. Human nature, they say, is itself divine; what need then for +other divinities? The Catholic Church is consequently quite right in +declaring that the doctrine of the perfectibility of human nature leads +to the deification of humanity in that it puts humanity in the place of +God. The Grand Orient, which definitely accepts this doctrine, has +therefore logically erased the name of the Great Architect of the +Universe from its ritual and has become an association of Freethinkers +and Atheists. + +Is it necessary to point out the folly as well as the crime of this +delusion--the ludicrous inconsequence of men who divinize humanity yet +revile what they call "society"? All the evils of the world, they +declare, are not to be found in nature but in "man-made laws," in the +institutions of "society." Yet what is society but the outcome of human +wills, of human aspirations? Society may be, and no doubt is, in need of +reformation, but are not its imperfections the creation of imperfect +beings? It is true that to-day the world is in a state of chaos, +industrial chaos, political chaos, social chaos, religious chaos. +Everywhere men are losing faith in the causes they are supposed to +represent; authority questions its own right to govern, democracy is +rent with divisions, the ruling classes are abdicating in favour of +unscrupulous demagogues, the ministers of religion barter their faith +for popularity. + +And what has brought the world to this pass? Humanity! Humanity, that +all-wise, all-virtuous abstraction that needs no light from Heaven. +Humanity that was to take the place of God! If ever there was a moment +in the history of the world when the futility of this pretension should +be apparent it is the present moment. All the ills, all the confusion, +what are they but the outcome of human error and of human passions? It +is not Capitalism that has failed, nor yet Democracy, nor yet even +Socialism as a principle, it is not monarchy that has broken down, nor +Republicanism, nor again religion; _it is humanity that has broken +down_. The ills of Capitalism arise from the egoism of individual +capitalists; Socialism has failed because, as Robert Owen discovered, +the idle, the quarrelsome, the selfish have prevented its success. If +men were perfect, Socialism might succeed, but so might any other +system. A perfect capitalist would love his employee as himself, just as +a perfect Socialist would be willing to work for the common good. It is +the imperfections of human nature that prevent, and will always prevent, +any system from being perfect. There will never be a Millennium of man's +making. Only the application of Christian principles to human conduct +can bring about a better order of things. + +Grand Orient Masonry, in deifying human nature, thus not only builds +upon the sand, but by its rejection of all religion takes away the sole +hope of human progress. Meanwhile, by the support it lends to Socialism +it encourages the class war instead of the brotherhood between men of +all ranks and conditions which it professes to advocate. British +Freemasonry, on the other hand, whilst not interpreting brotherhood in a +political sense, nevertheless contributes to social peace. At the annual +conference of the Labour Party in 1923 a proposal was made by the +extreme section that "any person who is a Free mason should be excluded +from any kind of office," it being suggested that "in cases where an +understanding has been reached between Trade Union leaders and +employers, thus preventing or limiting industrial trouble, the secret +has been the bond of Freemasonry."[693] Whether this was the case or +not, British Masonry, by taking its stand on patriotism and respect for +religion, necessarily tends to unite men of all classes and therefore +offers a formidable bulwark against the forces of revolution. Any +attacks on British Masonry as at present constituted and directed are +therefore absolutely opposed to the interests of the country. But at the +same time it behoves Masons to beware of the insidious attempts that are +being made by irregular secret societies to infiltrate the Craft and +pervert its true principles. The present satisfactory condition of +Freemasonry in England is owing not only to its established statutes, +but to the character of the men who control it--men who are not, as in +eighteenth-century France, mere figureheads, but the real directors of +the Order. Should the control ever pass into the wrong hands and the +agents of secret societies succeed in capturing a number of the lodges, +this great stabilizing force might become a gigantic engine of +destruction. How insidiously these efforts are being made we shall see +in the next chapter. + + + + +12 + +SECRET SOCIETIES IN ENGLAND + + + +We have seen that from the Illuminati onwards subversive societies have +always sought recruits amongst orthodox Freemasons. The reason for this +is obvious: not only do the doctrines of Freemasonry lend themselves to +perversion, but the training provided in the Lodges makes an admirable +preparation for initiation into other secret systems. The man who has +learnt to maintain silence even on what may appear to him as +trivialities, who is willing to submit to mystification, to ask no +questions, and to recognize the authority of superiors whom he is in no +way legally obliged to obey, who has, moreover, become imbued with the +_esprit de corps_ which binds him to his fellow-members in a common +cause, is naturally a better subject for the secret society adept than +the free lance who is liable to assert his independence at any moment. +Perhaps the most important factor, however, is the nature of the masonic +oaths. These terrible penalties, which many Freemasons themselves regret +as a survival of barbarism and which have in fact been abolished in the +higher degrees, have done much to create prejudice against Freemasonry, +whilst at the same time they provide an additional incentive to outside +intriguers. In the opinion of M. Copin Albancelli, the abolition of the +oath would go far to prevent penetration of British Masonry by the +secret societies. + +Now, by their obligations British Freemasons are forbidden to join these +irregular societies, not only because their principles are in conflict +with those of orthodox Masonry, but because in most cases they admit +women. According to the ruling of Grand Lodge, "any member working under +the English Jurisdiction ... violates his Obligation by being present at +or assisting in assemblies professing to be Masonic which are attended +by women." Warnings to this effect have been frequently given in the +Lodges; on September 3, 1919, the Board of General Purposes issued the +following report: + + The Board's attention is being increasingly drawn to sedulous + endeavours which are being made by certain bodies unrecognized as + Masonic by the United Grand Lodge of England, to induce Freemasons + to join in their assemblies. As all such bodies which admit women + to membership are clandestine and irregular, it is necessary to + caution Brethren against being inadvertently led to violate their + Obligation by becoming members of them or attending their meetings. + Grand Lodge, nine years since, approved the action of the Board in + suspending from all Masonic rights and privileges two Brethren who + had contumaciously failed to explain the grave Masonic irregularity + to which attention is now again called; and it is earnestly hoped + that no occasion will arise for having again to institute + disciplinary proceedings of a like kind. + +The idea of women Masons is, of course, not a new one. As early as 1730 +lodges for women are said to have existed in France, and towards the end +of the century several excellent women, such as the Duchesse de Bourbon +and the Princesse de Lamballe, played a leading part in the Order. But +this _Maçonnerie d'Adoption_, as it was called, retained a purely +convivial character; a sham ceremonial, with symbols, pass words, and a +ritual, was devised as a consolation to the members for their exclusion +from the real lodges. These mummeries were, as Ragon observes, "only the +pretexts for assemblies; the real objects were the banquet and the ball, +which were their inevitable accompaniments."[694] + +But this precedent, inaugurated as a society pastime and accompanied by +all the frivolity of the age, paved the way for Weishaupt's two classes +of women members, who, although never initiated into the secrets of the +Order, were to act as useful tools "directed by men without knowing it." +For this purpose they were to be divided into two classes, the +"virtuous" to play the part of figureheads or decoys, and the +"freer-hearted," who were to carry out the real designs of the Order. + +The same plan was adopted nearly a hundred years later by Weishaupt's +disciple Bakunin, who, however, did admit women as actual initiates into +his secret society, the Alliance Sociale Démocratique, but, like +Weishaupt, divided them into classes. The sixth category of people to be +employed in the work of social revolution is thus described in his +programme: + + The sixth category is very important. They are the women, who must + be divided into three classes: the first, frivolous women, without + mind or heart, which we must use in the same manner as the third + and fourth categories of men [i.e. by "getting hold of their dirty + secrets and making them our slaves"]; the second, the ardent, + devoted and capable women, but who are not ours because they have + not reached a practical revolutionary understanding, without + phrase--we must make use of these like the men of the fifth + category [i.e. by "drawing them incessantly into practical and + perilous manifestations, which will result in making the majority + of them disappear while making some of them genuine + revolutionaries"]; finally, the women who are entirely with us, + that is to say completely initiated and having accepted our + programme in its entirety. We ought to consider them as the most + precious of our treasures, without whose help we can do + nothing.[695] + +The first and only woman to be admitted into real Masonry, if such a +term can be applied to so heterogeneous a system, was Maria Deraismes, +an ardent French Feminist celebrated for her political speeches and +electioneering campaigns in the district of Pontoise and for twenty-five +years the acknowledged leader of the anti-clerical and Feminist +party.[696] In 1882 Maria Deraismes was initiated into Freemasonry by +the members of the Lodge _Les Libres Penseurs_, deriving from the Grande +Loge Symbolique Écossaise and situated at Pecq in the Department of +Seine-et-Oise. The proceeding being, however, entirely unconstitutional, +Maria Deraismes's initiation was declared by the Grande Loge to be null +and void and the Lodge _Les Libres Penseurs_ was disgraced.[697] But +some years afterwards Dr. George Martin, an enthusiastic advocate of +votes for women, collaborated with Maria Deraismes in founding the +_Maçonnerie Mixte_ at the first lodge of the Order named "Le Droit +Humain." The _Suprême Conseil Universel Mixte_ was founded in 1899. + +The Maçonnerie Mixte was political and in no way theosophical or occult, +and its programme, like that of the Grand Orient, was Utopian Socialism, +whilst by its insistence on the supremacy of reason it definitely +proclaimed its antagonism to all revealed religion. Thus in the involved +language of Dr. George Martin himself: + + The Ordre Maçonnique Mixte Internationale is the first mixed, + philosophic, progressive, and philanthropic Masonic Power to be + organized and constituted in the world, placed above all the + prooccupations of the philosophical or religious ideas which may be + professed by those who ask to become members.... The Order wishes + to interest itself principally in the vital interests of the human + being on earth; it wishes above all to study in its Temples the + means for realizing Peace between all nations and social Justice + which will enable all human beings to enjoy during their lives the + greatest possible sum of moral felicity and of material + well-being.... Claiming no divine revelation and loudly affirming + that it is only an emanation of human reason, this fraternal + institution is not dogmatic, it is rationalist.[698] + +Into this materialist and political club, erected under the guise of +Freemasonry, entered Annie Besant with all the strange conglomeration of +Eastern doctrines now known as Theosophy. + + + +Theosophy + + +Before entering on this question it is necessary to make my own position +clear. Although I should much prefer not to introduce a personal note +into the discussion, I feel that nothing I say will carry any weight if +it appears to be an expression of opinion by one who has never +considered religious doctrines from anything but the orthodox Christian +point of view. I should explain, then, that I have known Theosophists +from my early youth, that I have travelled in India, Ceylon, Burma, and +Japan and seen much to admire in the great religions of the East. I do +not believe that God has revealed Himself to one portion of mankind +alone and that during only the last 1,900 years of the world's history; +I do not accept the doctrine that all the millions of human beings who +have never heard of Christ are plunged in spiritual darkness; I believe +that behind all religions founded on a law of righteousness there lies a +divine and central truth, that Ikhnaton, Moses and Isaiah, Socrates and +Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Buddha, Zoroaster, and Mohammed were all +teachers who interpreted to men the aspect of the divine as it had been +vouchsafed to them and which in harmony with the supreme revelation +given to man by Jesus Christ. + +This conception of an affinity between all great religious faiths was +beautifully expressed by an old Mohammedan to a friend of the present +writer with whom he stood watching a Hindu procession pass through an +Indian village. In answer to the Englishman's enquiry, "What do you +think of this?" the Mohammedan replied: + + "Ah, sahib, we cannot tell. We know of three roads up the hill of + endeavour to the gates of Paradise--the way of Mousa [Moses], the + way of Issa [Jesus], and the way of Mahmoud, and there may be other + roads of which you and I know nothing. I was born in the way of + Mahmoud, and I believe it to be the best and the easiest to follow, + and you were born in the way of Issa. And of this I am very sure: + that if you will follow your guide on your road and I follow my + guide on my road, when we have climbed the hill of endeavour, we + shall salute one another again at the gates of Paradise." + +If, then, in the following pages I attempt to show the errors of +Theosophy, it is not because I do not recognize that there is much that +is good and beautiful in the ancient religions from which it professes +to derive. + +But what is Theosophy? The word, as we have already seen, was used in +the eighteenth century to denote the theory of the Martinists; it was +known two centuries earlier when Haselmeyer in 1612 wrote of "the +laudable Fraternity of the Theosophists of the Rosy Cross." According to +Colonel Olcott, who with Madame Blavatsky founded the modern +Theosophical Society in New York in 1875, the word was discovered by one +of the members "in turning over the leaves of a Dictionary" and +forthwith unanimously adopted.[699] Madame Blavatsky had arrived in +America two years earlier, before which date she professed to have been +initiated into certain esoteric doctrines in Thibet. Monsieur Guénon, +who writes with inside knowledge of the movement, indicates, however, +the existence of concealed superiors on the Continent of Europe by whom +she was in reality directed. + + What is very significant ... is that Madame Blavatsky in 1875 wrote + this: "I have been sent from Paris to America in order to verify + phenomena and their reality and to show the deception of the + Spiritualist theory." Sent by whom? Later she will say: by the + "Mahatmas"; but then there was no question of them, and besides it + was in Paris that she received her mission, and not in India or in + Thibet.[700] + +Elsewhere Monsieur Guénon observes that it is very doubtful whether +Madame Blavatsky was ever in Thibet at all. These obvious attempts at +concealment lead Monsieur Guénon therefore to the conclusion that in the +background of Theosophy there existed a mysterious centre of direction, +that Madame Blavatsky was simply "an instrument in the hands of +individuals or occult groups sheltering behind her personality," and +that "those who believe she invented everything, that she did everything +by herself and on her own initiative, are as much mistaken as those who, +on the contrary, believe her affirmations concerning her relations with +the pretended Mahatmas."[701] + +There is some reason to believe that the people under whom Madame +Blavatsky was working at this date in Paris were Serapis Bey and Tuiti +Bey, who belonged to "the Egyptian Brothers." This might answer M. +Guénon's question: "By whom was she sent to America?" But another +passage from Madame Blavatsky's writings, on the person of Christ, that +M. Guénon quotes later, indicates a further source of inspiration: "For +me, Jesus Christ, that is to say the Man-God of the Christians, copy of +the Avatars of all countries, of the Hindu Chrishna as of the Egyptian +Horus, was never a _historical_ personage." Hence the story of His life +was merely an allegory founded on the existence of "a personage named +Jehoshua born at Lud." But elsewhere she asserted that Jesus may have +lived during the Christian era or a century earlier "_as the Sepher +Toldoth Jehoshua indicates_" (my italics). And Madame Blavatsky went on +to say of the savants who deny the historical value of this legend, that +they-- + + either lie or talk nonsense. _It is our Masters who affirm it_ [my + italics]. If the history of Jehoshua or Jesus Ben Pandera is false, + then the whole of the Talmud, the whole of the Jewish canon law, is + false. It was the disciple of Jehoshua Ben Parachia, the fifth + President of the Sanhedrim since Ezra, who re-wrote the Bible.... + This story is much truer than that of the New Testament, of which + history does not say a word.[702] + +Who were the Masters whose authority Madame Blavatsky here invokes? +Clearly not the Trans-Himalayan Brotherhood to whom she habitually +refers by this term, and who can certainly not be suspected of affirming +the authenticity of the Toldoth Yeshu. It is evident, then, that there +were other "Masters" from whom Madame Blavatsky received this teaching, +and that those other masters were Cabalists. + +The same Judaic influence appears more strongly in a book published by +the Theosophical Society in 1903, where the Talmud and the Toledot Yeshu +are quoted at great length and the Christians are derided for resenting +the attacks on their faith contained in these books, whilst the Jews are +represented as innocent, persecuted victims. One passage will suffice to +give an idea of the author's point of view: + + The Christ [said the mystics] was born "of a virgin"; the unwitting + believer in Jesus as _the_ historical Messiah in the exclusive + Jewish sense, and in his being _the_ Son of God, nay God Himself, + in course of time asserted that Mary was that virgin; whereupon + Rabbinical logic, which in this case was simple and common logic, + met this extravagance by the natural retort that, seeing that his + paternity was unacknowledged, Jesus was therefore illegitimate, a + bastard [_mamzer_].[703] + +It is obviously, then, less from Thibetan Mahatmas, Hindu Swamis, Sikh +Gurus, or Egyptian Brothers than from Jewish Cabalists that these +leaders of Theosophy have borrowed their ideas on Jesus Christ. As the +Jewish writer Adolphe Franck has truly observed: "Dès qu'il est question +de théosophie, on est sûr de voir apparaître la Kabbale."[704] And he +goes on to show the direct influence of Cabalism on the modern +Theosophical Society. + +Mrs. Besant, without endorsing the worst blasphemies of the Toledot +Yeshu, nevertheless reflected this and other Judaic traditions in her +book _Esoteric Christianity_, where she related that Jesus was brought +up amongst the Essenes, and that later He went to Egypt, where He became +an initiate of the great esoteric lodge--that is to say, the Great White +Lodge--from which all great religions derive. It will be seen that this +is only a version of the old story of the Talmudists and Cabalists, +perpetuated by the Gnostics, the Rosicrucians, and the +nineteenth-century _Ordre du Temple_.[705] But according to one of Mrs. +Besant's Theosophical antagonists, her doctrine "rests on a perpetual +equivocation," and whilst allowing the English public to believe that +when she spoke of the coming Christ she referred to the Christ of the +Gospels, she stated to her intimates what Mr. Leadbeater taught in his +book _The Inner Life_, namely, that the Christ of the Gospels never +existed, but was an invention of the monks of the second century.[706] +It should be understood, however, that in the language of the +Theosophists, led by Mrs. Besant and Mr. Leadbeater, Jesus and "the +Christ" are two separate and distinct individualities, and that when +they now speak of "the Christ" they refer to someone living in a +bungalow in the Himalayas with whom Mr. Leadbeater has interviews to +arrange about his approaching advent.[707] Portraits of this person have +been distributed amongst the members of "The Star in the East," an Order +founded at Benares in 1911 by Mr. Leadbeater and J. Krishnamurti for the +purpose of preparing the world for the coming of the Great Teacher. + +But it is time to return to the alliance between Theosophy and the +Maçonnerie Mixte. Whether Mrs. Besant, who had begun her career as a +Freethinker, retained some lingering belief in her earlier creed at the +time she entered into relations with the Order, or whether she saw in +this materialistic society a valuable concrete organization for the +dissemination of her new esoteric theories, it is impossible to know. At +any rate, she rose rapidly through the succeeding degrees and became +before long Vice President of the _Suprême Conseil_, which appointed her +its national delegate to Great Britain. It was in this capacity that she +founded the English branch of the Order under the name of Co-Masonry +(that is, admitting both sexes) at the Lodge "Human Duty" in London, +which was consecrated on September 26, 1902, and later founded another +lodge at Adyar in India, named "The Rising Sun." The number of lodges on +the Grand Roll of Co-Masonry, including those abroad, is now said to be +no less than 442. + +Co-Masonry thus receives a two-fold direction, for whilst remaining in +constant correspondence with the _Suprême Conseil Universel Mixte_, +situated at 5 Rue Jules-Breton in Paris and presided over by the Grand +Master Piron, with Madame Amélie Gédalje, thirty-third degree, as Grand +Secretary-General, it receives further instructions from "the V∴ Ill∴ +Bro∴ Annie Besant 33°" at Adyar. In order not to shock the +susceptibilities of English adepts who might be repelled by the +rationalist tendencies of the Maçonnerie Mixte, Mrs. Besant has, +however, borrowed the formulas of British Masonry together with its +custom of placing the V.S.L. on the table in the lodges. These +conflicting doctrines are blended in an amusing manner on the +certificates of the Order, where at the top we find the French motto and +initials: + + Liberté Égalité Fraternité + À∴ L∴ G∴ D∴ L'H∴ + (i.e. à la gloire de l'Humanité) + +and below, for the benefit of English members, the initials of the +British masonic device, that does not of course appear on the diplomas +of the French Order, which, like the Grand Orient, has rejected the +Great Architect: + + T∴ T∴ G∴ O∴ T∴ G∴ A∴ O∴ T∴ U∴ + (To the glory of the Great Architect of the Universe). + +Our Co-Masons therefore enjoy the advantage of being able to choose +whether they shall render glory to God or to Humanity. That the two +devices are somewhat incompatible does not appear to strike the English +initiates, nor do they probably realize the imposture practised on them +by the further wording of the certificate, which, after announcing in +imposing capitals "To all Masons dispersed over both Hemispheres, +Greeting," goes on to say "We therefore recommend him (_or_ her) as such +to all Freemasons of the Globe, requesting them to recognize him (_or_ +her) in all the rights and privileges attached to this Degree, as we +will do to all presenting themselves under similar circumstances." + +Now, any British Mason will see at a glance that all this is a false +pretension. No order of Masonry can recommend its members for rights and +privileges to "all the Freemasons of the world," for the simple reason +that, as has been said, there is no such thing as "Universal Masonry," +so that even Grand Lodge of England--the most important Lodge in the +world--could not, if it would, accord the right of entry for its members +into Continental lodges. As an English Mason recently expressed it: + + The impression among non-Masons generally appears to be that a + British or Irish member of the Craft is able to enter a masonic + lodge in any part of the world and take part in its deliberations + and proceedings. To this belief an unqualified denial may at once + be given. Nor may a member of a lodge under any Jurisdiction not + in communion with the Grand Lodges of the United Kingdom be + received as a visitor or as a Joining Member in any subsidiary + lodge of the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland, or Scotland.[708] + +But for Co-Masonry to make this claim is even more ridiculous, since at +the time when the above quoted diploma was drawn up Co-Masonry and its +parent, the Maçonnerie Mixte, were not recognized by any other order of +Masonry except the "Droit Humain," and it is not only unrecognized but +utterly repudiated by Grand Lodge of England. The British Mason, in +fact, does not recognize the Co-Mason as a Mason at all, and would +violate his obligations by discussing masonic secrets with him or her, +so that there is no manner in which the Co-Mason could be accorded +masonic rights and privileges by British Masons. In order, further, to +keep up the illusion in the minds of its members that they are genuine +Masons, Co-Masonry, in its quarterly organ, _The Co-Mason_, is careful +to include masonic news relating to British Masonry as if it formed one +and the same order. + +With regard to the Grand Orient, an equally tortuous policy was pursued. +As we have already seen, the Grande Loge disgraced the lodge that had +admitted Maria Deraismes and did not officially recognize the Maçonnerie +Mixte. The ritual adopted by the latter Order was, however, not that of +British Masonry, and in most Co-Masonic Lodges the ritual employed +contains variations derived from the Grand Orient[709]; indeed the Grand +Orient character of Co-Masonry has always been generally recognized in +masonic circles. This being so, I pointed out in _World Revolution_ that +Co-Masonry derives from the Grand Orient, but I received the following +protest from a woman Co-Mason: + + Are you aware that for twenty years the Grand Orient has refused to + recognize it [Co-Masonry] as a legitimate body, just as the English + Orthodox Masons do now? Also, we are distinctly told before joining + that we shall not be recognized by that body. Also, we have nothing + to do with Illuminati, or with Germany. As the Grand Orient have + eliminated the Deity, it is rather a dreadful thing to a Mason to + be connected in any way with that Order, and I cannot imagine a + worse thing could be said about us. + +This letter was dated March 6, 1922, and on the 19th of the preceding +month of February an alliance between the Grand Orient and Co-Masonry +had been finally celebrated at the Grand Temple of the Droit Humain in +Paris! We find a report of this ceremony in the _Co-Mason_ for the +following April. It is evident, therefore, that members who were likely +to be repelled by the idea of connexion with the Grand Orient were +assured that no such connexion existed. But when this covert _liaison_ +developed into official recognition--although this did not include the +right of entry to the lodges of the Grand Orient for women members--the +triumphant manner in which the great event was announced in the +_Co-Mason_ suggests that the majority of members were likely to feel +nothing but satisfaction at association with the Order that "had +eliminated the Deity." It is true that a few members protested, and by +this time Co-Masonry was too completely under the control of Mrs. Besant +for any faction to question her dictates. Moreover, the opposition had +been weakened by a schism which took place in the Order in 1908, when a +number of members who objected to the introduction of Eastern occultism +into Masonry and likewise disapproved of the Grand Orient, formed +themselves into a separate body under Mrs. Halsey and Dr. Geikie Cobb, +working only the Craft Degrees according to the Grand Lodge of England. + +It has been shown by this brief résumé that Co-Masonry is a hybrid +system deriving from two conflicting sources--the political and +rationalist doctrines of the _Maçonnerie Mixte_ and the Eastern +occultism of Madame Blavatsky and Mrs. Besant. + +As a professing Buddhist, Madame Blavatsky consistently dissociated +herself from any schemes of material welfare. Thus in the early +Constitution of the Theosophical Society it is stated: + + "The Society repudiates all interference on its behalf with the + Governmental relations of any nation or community, confining its + attention exclusively to the matters set forth in the present + document."[710] + +These matters relate to the study of Occult Sciences. Again Madame +Blavatsky herself wrote in the _Theosophist_: + + Unconcerned about politics: hostile to the insane dreams of + Socialism and Communism, which it abhors--as both are but disguised + conspiracies of brutal force and selfishness against honest + labour; the Society cares but little about the outward human + management of the material world. The whole of its aspirations are + directed towards the occult truths of the visible and invisible + worlds.[711] + +It will be seen that this declaration is diametrically opposed to that +of the Maçonnerie Mixte. Nevertheless, Madame Blavatsky so far departed +from her purely occult programme after her arrival in India in 1879 as +to reconstruct the society on the basis of "Universal Brotherhood." This +idea was completely absent from her first scheme; "the Brotherhood plank +in the Society's future platform," wrote her coadjutor Colonel Olcott, +"was not thought of."[712] It was over this plank, however, that Mrs. +Besant was able to walk to the Supreme Council of the Maçonnerie Mixte, +and adding Liberty and Equality to the principle of Fraternity to +establish Co-Masonry on a definitely political basis as a preparation +for the Socialist doctrines her teacher had "abhorred." + +In the matter of esoteric doctrines Mrs. Besant again departed from the +path laid down by Madame Blavatsky, whose aim had been to rehabilitate +Buddhism in India, representing the teachings of Gautama Buddha as an +advance on Hinduism.[713] Mrs. Besant, however, came to regard the +doctrines of the Brahmins as the purer faith. Yet it was neither +Buddhism nor Hinduism in a pure form that she introduced to the +Co-Masons of the West, but an occult system of her own devising, wherein +Mahatmas, Swamis, and Gurus were incongruously mingled with the +charlatans of eighteenth-century France. Thus in the Co-Masonic lodges +we find "the King" inscribed over the Grand Master's chair in the East, +in the North the empty chair of "the Master"--to which, until recently, +all members were required to bow in passing--and over it a picture, +veiled in some lodges, of the same mysterious personage. Should the +neophyte enquire, "Who is the King?" he may be told that he is the King +who is to come from India--whether he is identical with the young Hindu +Krishnamurti adopted by Mrs. Besant in 1909 is not clear--whilst the +question "Who is the Master?" will probably be met with the reply that +he is "the Master of all true Freemasons throughout the world," which +the enquirer takes to mean the head of the religion to which he happens +to belong--Christ, Mohammed, or another. But in the third degree the +astonishing information is confided with an appearance of great secrecy +that he is no other than the famous Comte de Saint-Germain, who did not +really die in 1784, but is still alive to-day in Hungary under the name +of Ragocsky. In yet a higher degree, however, the initiate may be told +that the Master is in reality Prince Eugene of Austria. + +It would be superfluous to describe in detail the wild nonsense that +composes the creed of Co-Masonry, since a long series of articles was +recently devoted to the subject in _The Patriot_ and can be consulted by +anyone who desires information concerning its ceremonies and the +personnel directing it.[714] Suffice it to say here that its course, +like that of most secret societies, has been marked by violent +dissensions amongst the members--the Blavatsky-ites passionately +denouncing the Besantites and the Besantites proclaiming the divine +infallibility of their leader--whilst at the same time scandals of a +peculiarly unsavoury kind have been brought to light. This fact has +indeed created a serious schism in the ranks of the Theosophists, which +shows that a number of perfectly harmless people are to be found amongst +them. Yet the peculiar recurrence of such scandals in the history of +secret societies leads one inevitably to wonder how far these are to be +regarded as merely deplorable accidents or as the results of +secret-society methods and of occult teaching. That the men against whom +charges of sexual perversion were brought were not isolated examples of +these tendencies is shown by a curious admission on the part of one of +Madame Blavatsky's "chelas," or disciples, who relates: + + I was a pupil of H.P.B. before Mrs. Besant joined the T.S. and saw + her expel one of her most gifted and valued workers from the + Esoteric Section for offences against the occult and moral law, + similar to those with which Mr. Leadbeater's name has now been + associated for nearly twenty years. H.P.B. was always extremely + strict on this particular point, and _many_ [my itals.] would-be + aspirants for chelaship were refused on this one ground alone, + while others who had been accepted "on probation" failed almost + immediately afterwards.[715] + +It would appear, then, that these deplorable proclivities are peculiarly +prevalent amongst aspirants to Theosophical knowledge. + +It is unnecessary to enlarge at length on Mrs. Besant's connexion with +the seditious elements in this country and in India, since these have +frequently been referred to in the press. It is true that the +Theosophical Society, like the Grand Orient, disavows all political +intentions and professes to work only for spiritual development, but the +leaders appear to consider that a radical change must take place in the +existing social system before true spiritual development can be +attained. That this change would lie in the direction of Socialism is +suggested by the fact that a group of leading Theosophists, including +Mrs. Besant, were discovered in 1919 to be holding a large number of +shares in the Victoria House Printing Company, which was financing the +_Daily Herald_ at that date[716]; indeed, Mrs. Besant in her lectures on +Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, at the Queen's Hall in October of the +same year, clearly indicated Socialism as the system of the coming New +Era.[717] Since then the "Action Lodge" has been founded with the object +of carrying "Theosophical ideals and conceptions into all fields of +human activity"[718]--from which the political field appears not to be +excluded, since this lodge has been known to co-operate with the +promoters of a political meeting on the Indian question.[719] It is +interesting to notice that a leading member of the "Action Lodge," and +also of the "Order of the Star in the East," was recently reported in +the press to have been long connected with the Labour Party and to have +notified her intention of standing for it in Parliament. + +This is, of course, not to say that all Theosophists are Socialists. The +Theosophical Society of America, in an admirable series of articles[720] +discussing the theory of world-revolution set forth in my books, pointed +out that: + + The pupils of the powers of evil work ... untiringly to thwart + every real advance of the human race, to pull down whatever + civilization painfully builds, that makes for light and true + development and spiritual growth.... It would not be difficult to + suggest reasons why these pupils and co-workers of the powers of + darkness choose the chief clauses of their creed: Internationalism, + Communism, the destruction of the higher class through the despotic + rule of the lowest class, the corruption of family life. The attack + on religion hardly needs comment. + +It will be seen, then, that Socialism and Internationalism are not an +essential part of Theosophical teaching, and that the more enlightened +Theosophists recognize the danger of these destructive doctrines. At a +Special Convention in England on April 6 of this year, seven Lodges +entered a protest against recent departures from the original policy of +the Society. Amongst the resolutions put forward was one urging the +President (Mrs. Besant) to establish a tribunal "to investigate matters +affecting the good name of the Society, and the conduct of certain +members"; this was lost by "an overwhelming majority." Another +resolution regretted that "the Administration, the Magazine, and the +influence of the Society have been used for controversial political ends +and sectarian religious propaganda." Unhappily these resolutions were +not met in the fraternal spirit that might be expected from a Society +setting out to establish Universal Brotherhood and were stigmatized in a +proposed amendment as "destructive motions ... at variance with the +objects for which the Society stands." This clause in the amendment was +lost by a small majority, but a very large majority supported the +further clauses in which the Special Convention affirmed "its complete +confidence in the administration of the Society and its beloved and +revered President Dr. Annie Besant, the chosen leader of whom it is +justly proud," and sent "its cordial greetings to Bishop Leadbeater, +F.T.S.," thanking him "for his invaluable work and his unswerving +devotion to the cause of Theosophy and the service of the Theosophical +Society." + +There are, then, a certain number of Theosophists in this country who +have the courage and public spirit to protest against the use of the +Society for political ends and against infractions of the moral code +which they believe certain members to have committed. But this party +unfortunately constitutes only a small minority; the rest are prepared +to render blind and unquestioning obedience to the dictates of Mrs. +Besant and Mr. Leadbeater. In this respect the Theosophical Society +follows the usual plan of secret societies. For although not nominally a +secret society it is one in effect, being composed of outer and inner +circles and absolutely controlled by supreme directors. The inner +circle, known as the Esoteric Section, or rather the Eastern School of +Theosophy--usually referred to as the E.S.--is in reality a secret +society, consisting in its turn of three further circles, the innermost +composed of the Mahatmas or Masters of the White Lodge, the second of +the Accepted Pupils or Initiates, and the third of the Learners or +ordinary members. The E.S. and Co-Masonry thus compose two secret +societies within the open order controlled by people who are frequently +members of both. Whether even these higher initiates are really in the +secret is another question. Dr. Weller van Hook who is said to have been +also a Rosicrucian and an important member of the Grand Orient once +cryptically observed that "Theosophy is not the hierarchy," implying +that it was only part of a world-organization, and darkly hinting that +if it did not carry out the work allotted to it, the Rosicrucians would +take control. That this is more than probable we shall see later. + +The outer ranks of the Theosophical Society seem to be largely composed +of harmless enthusiasts who imagine that they are receiving genuine +instruction in the religions and occult doctrines of the East. That the +teaching of the E.S. would not be taken seriously by any real +Orientalist and that they could learn far more by studying the works of +recognized authorities on these subjects at a University or at the +British Museum does not occur to them for a moment. Nor would this +fulfil the purpose of the leaders. For the Theosophical Society is not a +study group, but essentially a propagandist society which aims at +substituting for the pure and simple teaching of Christianity the +amazing compound of Eastern superstition, Cabalism, and +eighteenth-century charlatanism which Mrs. Besant and her coadjutors +have devised. Yet even were the doctrines of Mrs. Besant those of true +Buddhism or of Brahmanism, to what extent are they likely to benefit +Western civilization? Setting the question of Christianity aside, +experience shows that the attempt to orientalize Occidentals may prove +no less disastrous than the attempt to occidentalize Orientals, and that +to transport Eastern mysticism to the West is to vulgarize it and to +produce a debased form of occultism that frequently ends in moral +deterioration or mental derangement.[721] I attribute the scandals that +have taken place amongst Theosophists directly to this cause. + +But it is time to turn to another society in which this debased +occultism plays a still more important part. + + + +Rosicrucianism + + +At the present time, as in the eighteenth century, the term +"Rosicrucianism" is used to cover a number of associations differing in +their aims and doctrines. + +The first of these societies to be founded in England was the _Societas +Rosicruciana in Anglia_, founded in 1867 by Robert Wentworth Little on +instructions received from abroad. Only Master Masons are admitted--a +procedure not condemned by Grand Lodge of England, which regards the +S.R.I.A. as a perfectly innocuous body. Although neither polical nor +anti-Christian, but, on the contrary, containing distinctly Christian +elements and claiming to descend from Christian Rosenkreutz--a claim +which must be dismissed as an absurdity--the S.R.I.A. is nevertheless +largely Cabalistic,[722] dealing with the forces of Nature, alchemy, +etc. If its progenitors are really to be traced further back than the +Rosicrucians of the nineteenth century--Ragon, Eliphas Lévi, and Kenneth +Mackenzie--they must be sought amongst certain esoteric Masons in +Hungary and also amongst the French Martinistes, whose rituals doubtless +derived from a kindred source. It will be remembered that Marlines +Pasqually bequeathed to his disciples a large number of Jewish +manuscripts which were presumably preserved in the archives of the +Martiniste Lodge at Lyons. The Order of Martinistes has never ceased to +exist, and the President of the Suprême Conseil, Dr. Gérard Encausse, +well known as "Papus," an avowed Cabalist, only died in 1916. To these +archives another famous Cabalist, the renegade Abbé, Alphonse Louis +Constant, who assumed the name of Eliphas Lévi, may well have had +access. It is said that one of Eliphas Lévi's most distinguished +disciples, the occultist Baron Spedalieri of Marseilles, was a member of +the "Grand Lodge of Solitary Brethren of the Mountain," an "Illumined +Brother of the Ancient Restored Order of Manicheans," a high member of +the Grand Orient, and also a "High Illuminate of the Martinistes." +Before his death in 1875 Eliphas Lévi announced that in 1879 a new +political and religious "universal Kingdom" would be established, and +that it would be possessed by "him who would have the keys of the East." +The manuscript containing this prophecy was passed on by Baron +Spedalieri to Edward Maitland, who in his turn gave it to a leading +member of S.R.I.A., by whom it was published in English.[723] + +But, as we have already seen, the principal centre of Cabalism was in +Eastern Europe, whilst Germany was the principal home of Rosicrucianism, +and it was from these directions that, a few years later, a new +Rosicrucian Order in England derived its inspiration. It is curious to +notice that the eighties of the last century were marked by a +simultaneous recrudescence of secret societies and of Socialist +organizations. In 1880 Leopold Engel reorganized Weishaupt's Order of +Illuminati, which, according to M. Guénon, played thenceforth "an +extremely suspect political rôle," and soon after this in 1884 it is +said that a strange incident took place in London. The Rev. A.F.A. +Woodford, a F∴ M∴, happened to be turning over the contents of a +second-hand bookstall in Farringdon Street when he came upon some cypher +MSS., attached to which was a letter in German saying that if the finder +were to communicate with Sapiens Dominabatur Astris, c/o Fraulein Anna +Sprengel, in Germany, he would receive further interesting information. + +This, at any rate, is the story told to initiates of the Order which +came to be founded according to the instructions given in the cypher. +But when we remember that precisely the same story was told by +Cagliostro concerning his discovery of a MS. in London by the mysterious +George Cofton on which he had founded his Egyptian rite, we begin to +wonder whether the placing of a MS. in a spot where it is certain to be +discovered by precisely the people qualified to decipher it forms one of +the traditional methods of secret-society adepts for extending their +sphere of influence without betraying their identity or revealing the +centre of direction. + +In this case it certainly succeeded admirably, for by a fortunate +coincidence the clergyman who found the cypher MSS. was acquainted with +two prominent members of the S.I.R.A., Dr. Wynn Westcott and Dr. +Woodman, to whom he took the documents, and by a further fortunate +coincidence one of them happened to be the very person to whom Eliphas +Lévi's prophecy had been given; These two men who now assumed the +pseudonyms of S.A. (Sapere Aude) and M.E.V. (Magnus est Veritas), were +able partially to decipher the manuscript; S.A., with the assistance of +a German, then wrote to S.D.A. c/o Fraulein Anna Sprengel, saying that +he and a friend had finished the deciphering and that they desired +further information. In reply they were told to elaborate the notes, and +that if diligent they would be allowed to form an elementary branch of +the Rosicrucian Order in England. Finally S.D.A. wrote to S.A. +authorising him to sign her (or his?) name to any warrant or document +necessary for the constitution of an Order, and promising later on +further rituals and advanced teachings if the preliminary Order proved +successful. S.A. and M.E.V. now called in the aid of a third member of +the S.I.R.A., Macgregor Mathers, henceforth known as D.D.C.F. (Deo Duce +Comite Ferro), who, having more time at his disposal, was able, by means +of long and arduous labour, to elaborate the rituals in Masonic style. +On March 8, 1888, a warrant was then drawn up according to the design +given in the cypher MSS. and was signed by S.A. for S.D.A., by M.E.V. +and D.D.C.F., all three having received the honorary grade of 7-4 from +S.D.A. so as to enable them to act as Chief of the New Temple. It is +interesting to note that whilst the instructions in the cypher MSS. were +in English and German, the name now given to the new Order "The Golden +Dawn," was accompanied by its equivalent in Hebrew "Chebreth Zerech aur +Bokher" that is to say "The Companions of the Rising Light of the +Morning." Amongst the instructions we find: "Avoid Roman Catholics but +with pity"; also these directions concerning the Obligation: + + The candidate asking for Light is taken to the Altar and forced to + take an Obligation to secrecy under penalty of expulsion and death + or palsy from hostile current of will. + +From the subsequent correspondence of the Order it is seen that this +so-called "punitive current" was actually directed by the Chiefs against +those who rebelled. + +Although the members of the Golden Dawn later became linked up with the +"Esoteric Masons" in Germany, neither the organization nor the ritual of +the Order are masonic, but rather Martiniste and Cabalistic. For amidst +all the confused phraseology of the Order, the phrases and symbols +borrowed from Egyptian, Greek, or Hindu mythology, one detects the real +basis of the whole system--the Jewish Cabala, in which all the three +Chiefs were, or became, experts. Mathers in fact translated the famous +book of Abraham the Jew from French into English with explanatory notes, +and Wynn Westcott translated the Sepher Yetzirah from Hebrew. Lectures +were given to the society on such subjects as the Tarot Cards, Geomantic +Talismans, and the Schemhamphorasch or Tetragrammaton. + +The Order was at first absolutely governed by the three Chiefs, but +after a time--owing to the death of Woodman and the resignation of Wynn +Westcott--Mathers became the Sole Chief and professed to have obtained +further instructions from the Hidden Chiefs through his wife--a sister +of Bergson--by means of clairvoyance and clairaudience. But the real +directors of the Order were in Germany and known as the "Hidden and +Secret Chiefs of the Third Order." A curious resemblance will here be +noted with the "Concealed Superiors" by whom members of the _Stricte +Observance_ in the eighteenth century declared themselves to be +controlled. + +Who these men were at the time the Order was founded remains a mystery +not only to the outside world but even to the English initiates +themselves. The identity of Sapiens Dominabatur Astris appears never to +have been established, nor was anything more heard about the still more +mysterious Anna Sprengel until her death in an obscure German village +was reported in 1893. Indeed, one of the most active members of the +Order, Dr. Robert Felkin, M.D., known as F.R. (Finem Respice), later +declared that, although he had visited five temples of the Order in +Germany and Austria, he had been unable to get into touch with the +Hidden Chiefs, or to discover how the original MSS. came into the hands +of the clergyman who handed them to Wynn Westcott and Woodman. According +to Felkin's statement, all that he had been able to find out was that +the MSS. were the notes of ceremonies made by a man who had been +initiated into a Lodge in Germany, and that the temple from which they +originated was "a special temple" working on the Cabala tree like the +English branch of the Order. Further, he was told that none of the "big +Three" who founded the Golden Dawn in England were real Rosicrucians at +all. + +The confusion of ideas which must inevitably result when, as in secret +societies or revolutionary organizations, a number of people are being +blindly led by hidden directors, naturally brought about dissensions +amongst the members, who mutually accused each other of ignorance of the +real aims of the Order. Thus the London Lodge ended by breaking with +Mathers, who was in Paris, on account of his arrogance in claiming +supreme power through the mystery of the Hidden Chiefs, and after two +years of unsettled government, in 1902 elected three new chiefs--Dr. +Felkin (F.R. = Finem Respice), Bullock, a solicitor (L.O. = Levavi +Oculos) who resigned at the end of the year, and Brodie Innes (S.S.--Sub +Spe). But although Mathers had been repudiated, his teachings were +retained as emanating from the Hidden Chiefs. + +Two years earlier a dramatic incident had occurred. In a very sinister +personage, Aleister Crowley, had been introduced into the Order on +the recommendation of A. E. Waite (S.R. = Sacramentum Regis) the +well-known mystical writer. A man of many aliases, Crowley followed the +precedent of the "Comte de Saint-Germain," the "Comte de Cagliostro," +and the "Baron von Offenbach" by ennobling himself and masquerading +under various titles in turn, such as "Count Svareff," "Lord Boleskine," +"Baron Rosenkreutz," but usually known in the Order as "P" for +"Perdurabo." + +Crowley, who was a Cabalist, had written a book on Goetic Magic and soon +after becoming a member of the "Golden Dawn" set to work with another +"Frater" on magical experiments, including evocations, the consecration +and use of talismans, divination, alchemy, etc. In 1900 Crowley had +joined Mathers in Paris where the latter and his wife were living under +the assumed names of the "Comte and Comtesse of Glenstrae" and engaged +in reviving the mysteries of Isis at the Bodinière Theatre. In this task +they were joined by an extraordinary lady, the notorious Madame Horos +(alias the Swami) who claimed to be the real and authentic Sapiens +Dominabatur Astris. Crowley described her as "a very stout woman and +very fair" and "a vampire of remarkable power;" Mathers declared her to +be "probably the most powerful medium living," but later, in a letter to +another member of the "Golden Dawn" observed: "I believe her and her +accomplices to be emissaries of a very powerful _secret occult order_ +who have been trying for years to break up other Orders and especially +my work." Incidentally this lady, who proved to be a false S.D.A., ended +by starting an Order in collaboration with her husband, in which it was +said that certain rituals of the Golden Dawn were adapted to an immoral +purpose, with the result that the couple were brought to trial and +finally condemned to penal servitude. + +Whether owing to this disturbing experience, or because, as Crowley +declared, he had "imprudently attracted to himself forces of evil too +great and terrible for him to withstand, presumably Abramelin demons," +Mathers' reason began to totter. This then was the situation at the time +of his rupture with the Order, and the dramatic incident referred to was +the sudden appearance of Crowley in London, who, whether acting as +Mathers' envoy or on his own initiative, broke into the premises of the +Order, with a black mask over his face, a plaid shawl thrown over his +shoulders, an enormous gold (or gilt) cross on his breast, and a dagger +at his side, for the purpose of taking over possession. This attempt was +baffled with the prosaic aid of the police and Crowley was expelled from +the Order. Eventually, however, he succeeded in obtaining possession of +some of the rituals and other documents of the Golden Dawn, which he +proceeded to publish in the organ of a new Order of his own. This +magazine, containing a mixture of debased Cabalism and vulgar +blasphemies, interspersed with panegyrics on haschish--for Crowley +combined with sexual perversion an addiction to drugs--which might +appear to express only the ravings of a maniac. But eccentricity has +often provided the best cloak for dark designs, and the outbreak of war +proved that there was a method in the madness of the man whom the +authorities persisted in regarding merely as an irresponsible degenerate +of a non-political kind. To quote the press report of his exploits after +this date: + + In November 1914 Crowley went to the United States, where he + entered into close relations with the pro-German propagandists. He + edited the New York _International_, a German propagandist paper + run by the notorious George Silvester Viereck, and published, among + other things, an obscene attack on the King and a glorification of + the Kaiser. Crowley ran occultism as a side-line, and seems to have + been known as the "Purple Priest." Later on he publicly destroyed + his British passport before the Statute of Liberty, declared in + favour of the Irish Republican cause, and made a theatrical + declaration of "war" on England.... During his stay in America + Crowley was associated with a body known as the "Secret + Revolutionary Committee" which was working for the establishment of + an Irish Republic. He is known also as the writer of a defeatest + manifesto circulated in France in 1915. + +But to return to the Golden Dawn. In 1903 a split occurred in the Order. +A.E. Waite, an early member of it, seceded from it with a number of +other members and carried off with him the name of "Golden Dawn," also +the vault and other property of the Order. The original Order then took +the name of "Stella Matutina," with Dr. Felkin as Chief. + +In the preceding year the members of the London Lodge had again believed +that they were in touch with the _Hidden Third Order_ and revived their +efforts to communicate with the Secret Chiefs in Germany. This state of +uncertainty continued till about 1910, when Felkin and Meakin set forth +for Germany, where they succeeded in meeting several members of the +Third Order, who professed to be "true and genuine Rosicrucians" and to +know of Anna Sprengel and the starting of the Order in England. They +were not, it was believed, the Secret and Hidden Chiefs, but more +probably Esoteric Masons of the Grand Orient. These Fratres, however, +told them that in order to form a definite etheric link between +themselves and the Order in Great Britain, it would be necessary for a +British Frater to be under their instruction for a year. Accordingly +Meakin remained in Germany for special training, so that he might act as +the "etheric link" between the two countries. After a pilgrimage to the +Near East, closely following the itinerary of Christian Rosenkreutz, +Meakin returned to Germany, and it appears to have been now that he was +able to get into touch with a certain high adept of occult science. + +This remarkable personage, Rudolf Steiner, had earlier belonged to the +Theosophical Society, and it has been suggested that at some period he +may have been connected with the revived Illuminati of Leopold Engel. +There is certainly some reason to believe that at one point in his +career he came into touch with men who were carrying on the teachings of +Weishaupt, the chief of whom was the President of a group of Pan-German +secret societies, and it seems not improbable that the mysterious +S.D.A., under whose directions the Golden Dawn was founded, might be +located in this circle. + +A few years before the war, Steiner, whilst still a Theosophist, started +a society of his own, the Anthroposophical Society, a name borrowed from +the work of the XVIIth century Rosicrucian, Thomas Vaughan, +"Anthroposophica Magica." The ostensible leader of Rosicrucianism in +Germany was Dr. Franz Hartmann, founder of the "Order of the Esoteric +Rose Croix." Although in some way connected with Engel's Illuminati and +more definitely with the Theosophical Society, Hartmann was believed to +be a genuine Christian mystic. Steiner also made the same profession, +and it seems probable that he formed one of the group of mysterious +personages, including besides Grand Orient Masons, Baron von Knigge, +great grandson of Weishaupt's coadjutor "Philo," who met together in +secret conference at Ingoldstadt where the first Lodge of the Illuminati +had been founded in 1776, and decided to revive Illuminism on Christian +mystic lines used in a very elastic sense amongst occultists. At the +same time Steiner introduces into his teaching a strong vein of +Gnosticism, Luciferianism, Johannism, and Grand Orient Masonry, whilst +reserving Rosicrucianism for his higher initiates. On this last point he +is extremely reticent, preferring to call his teaching "occult science," +since he recognizes that "real Rosicrucians never proclaim themselves as +such"; it is therefore only in the inner circle of his society, on which +no information is given to the public and into which members are +admitted by much the same forms of initiation as those used by the Grand +Orient, that Rosicrucianism is mentioned. Some of Steiner's imitators in +The Rosicrucian Fellowship at Oceanside, California, however, openly +profess what they call Rosicrucianism and at the same time claim +superior knowledge on the subject of Masonry. Thus in a book by the +leader of this group we find it solemnly stated that according to Max +Heindl, Eve cohabited with serpents in the garden of Eden, that Cain was +the offspring of her union with "the Lucifer Spirit Samael," and that +from this "divine progenitor" the most virile portion of the human race +descended, the rest being merely the "progeny of human parents." Readers +of the present work will recognize this as not the legend of Masonry but +of the Jewish Cabala which has been already quoted in this context.[724] +Whether this also forms part of Steiner's teaching it is impossible to +say, since his real doctrines are known only to his inner circle; even +some of his admirers amongst the Steiner Matutina, whilst consulting him +as an oracle, are not admitted to the secrets of his grades of +initiation and have been unable to succeed in obtaining from him a +charter. Meanwhile they themselves do not disclose to the neophytes whom +they seek to win over that they are members of any secret association. +This is quite in accordance with the methods of Weishaupt's "Insinuating +Brothers." + +The result of what Steiner calls "occult science" is thus described in a +striking passage of one of his own works: + +"This is the change which the occult student observes coming over +himself--that there is no longer a connection between a thought and a +feeling or a feeling and a volition, except when he creates the +connection himself. No impulse drives him from thought to action if he +does not voluntarily harbour it. He can now stand completely without +feeling before an object which, before his training, would have filled +him with glowing love or violent hatred; he can likewise remain +actionless before a thought which heretofore would have spurred him to +action as if by itself," etc. + +I can imagine no clearer exposé of the dangers of occultism than this. +Weishaupt had said: "I cannot use men as I find them; I must form them." +Dr. Steiner shows how this transformation can be accomplished. Under the +influence of so-called occult training, which is in reality simply +powerful suggestion, all a man's native impulses and inhibitive springs +of action may be broken; the pupil of the occultist will no longer react +to the conceptions of beauty or ugliness, of right or wrong, which, +unknown to himself, formed the law of his being. Thus not only his +conscious deeds but his sub-conscious processes pass under the control +of another. If this is indeed the method employed by Dr. Steiner and his +adepts there would certainly seem to be some justification for the +verdict of M. Robert Kuentz that "Steiner has devised occult exercises +which render the mind incapable (rendent l'esprit anéanti), that he +attacks the individual by deranging his faculties (il détraque les +facultés)."[725] + +What is the real motive power behind such societies as the Stella +Matutina and again behind Steiner? This remains a mystery, not only to +the outside world but to the "initiates" themselves. The quest of the +Hidden Chiefs, undertaken by one intrepid pilgrim after another, seems +to have ended only in further meetings with Steiner. Yet hope springs +eternal in the breast of the aspirant after occult knowledge, and astral +messages spurred the Fratres to further efforts. One of these contained +the exhortation: "Go on with Steiner, which is not the ultimate end of +search, and we will come into contact with many serious students who +will lead us to the real master of the Order, who will be so +overpoweringly impressive as to leave no room for doubt." + +A curious analogy with Co-Masonry will here be observed. For whilst the +veiled picture of the Co-Masonic lodges is said to represent "the +Master" in the person of Ragocsky or some other personage in Austria or +Hungary, so it is likewise in Austria and Germany that the members of +Stella Matutina seek their Hidden Chiefs and the "real Master" of their +Order. Moreover, whilst the Co-Masons await the coming of the great +"World Teacher," King, or Messiah in 1926, it is also in 1926 that the +Stella Matutina expect Christian Rosenkreutz to appear again.[726] There +are many other points of resemblance between the phraseology of the two +Orders, as, for example, the idea of the "Astral Light," "the Great +White Lodge," and also "the GREAT WORK" by which both Orders denote the +supreme object of their aspirations--"the union of the East and the +West." It is therefore impossible not to suspect that, although the +members of Co-Masonry and of the Stella Matutina imagine their +respective Orders to be entirely unconnected and indeed appear to be +hardly aware of each other's existence, there may be nevertheless some +point of junction in the background and even a common centre of +direction. + +In this connexion it is interesting to notice the political tendencies +of the societies in question. Although the outcome of the _Maçonnerie +Mixte_, and nominally under the jurisdiction of headquarters in Paris, +Co-Masonry does not appear to be pro-French in its sympathies. On the +contrary, the Co-masonic lodges in this country, as also the head lodge +in the Rue Jules-Breton, seem to have adopted that form of universal +brotherhood which principally redounds to the benefit of Germany. + +The Stella Matutina, whilst professing to be solely concerned in occult +science and warning its members against Co-Masonry on account of the +political tendencies of the latter, is nevertheless still more imbued +with German influence, since, as we have seen, it has ever since it +first came into existence been secretly under Germany direction. Indeed, +during the war this influence became so apparent that certain patriotic +members, who had entered the society in all good faith with the idea of +studying occult science, raised an energetic protest and a schism took +place. Thus, just as in the case of Co-Masonry, the more clear-sighted +recognized the imprudence of placing themselves under foreign control. +That this was no imaginary danger is shown by a correspondence which had +taken place some years earlier and has recently been brought to light. +It will be remembered that the great aim of Weishaupt and the Illuminati +of the eighteenth century was to obtain control over all existing +masonic and occult Orders, This also became the dream of Rudolf Steiner +and his allies in other countries, whose plan was to form what they +called an "International Bund." The idea of an International Bureau for +Masonic Affairs had already, as we have seen, been started in +Switzerland; this was the same idea applied to occult groups, so that +all such societies as Rosicrucianism, Theosophy with its various +ramifications of Co-Masonry, etc., Hermetic Orders, isolated occultists, +and so on, were to be placed under German control. The audacity of the +proposal seems to have been too much even for some of the most +internationally minded members of the Stella Matutina, and in the +discussion that took place it was pointed out that admirable as the +scheme might be, there was nevertheless some British spirit amongst +these Orders to be reckoned with. Even Mrs. Besant's followers, headed +by the Co-Masons, described as a group which "attracts a large number of +idle women who have leisure to take a little occultism with their +afternoon tea," might be liable to ask, "Who are these Germans to +interfere?" But the real obstacle to success was held to be British +Freemasonry, to which a certain number of students of occult science, +including all the members of the S.R.I.A., belonged. "English Masonry," +it was remarked, "boasts the Grand Lodge of 1717, the Mother Lodge of +the World. They are a proud, jealous, autocratic body. Co-Masonry +derives from the Grand Orient of France, an illegitimate body according +to English ruling. No English Mason can work with Co-Masons.... If the +English Grand Lodge hears of anything called 'Esoteric Masonry' derived +from such sources, under chiefs once T.S. [Theosophical Society] +members, under a head in Berlin, it will not enquire who Dr. Steiner is +or what is the nature of his work, it will simply say, 'No English +Masons of the Free and Accepted Masons may join any Society working +pseudo-Masonic rites, i.e. no one of ordinary accepted Freemasonry can +attend any meetings or attend any grades in this illegitimate body.' +Finis!... If a lodge of the Continental Order is to be established in +England, Dr. Steiner will be faced with the Masonic difficulty. This is +really serious...."[727] + +Here then is one of the finest tributes ever paid to British Masonry, +for it shows that as at present constituted and controlled it provides +the most formidable barrier against the infiltration of this country by +alien or subversive secret societies. Thus the Freemasons and the Roman +Catholics are recognized as the principal obstacles to success. The +Freemasons, however, would do well to realize the attempts that are made +to break down this resistance by traitors in the Masonic camp, who, +after violating their obligations by belonging to an irregular secret +society, act as recruiting agents in the lodges. For the author of these +remarks was a British Freemason who, in collusion with a foreign adept, +proposed to penetrate Freemasonry by the process known in revolutionary +language as "boring from within." To quote his own words, "_They must be +got at from within, not from without_." This was to be accomplished in +various ways--by adepts of the Continental Order getting themselves +initiated into orthodox Masonry and then spreading their own doctrines +in the lodges, or by enlisting recruits amongst orthodox Masons and +using them as propagandists among their brother-Masons. It was also +suggested that in order not to rouse suspicion it would be better to +avoid the name "Esoteric Masonry," to adopt one of the rituals used in +England, and to employ as "officers" a "mixed group" drawn from various +secret societies. This plan has been carried out with considerable +success, and at a recent conference held by a high Continental adept +under the most distinguished patronage, it was interesting to notice the +various secret societies represented by certain of the promoters, who of +course to the general public appeared to be merely isolated individuals +interested in philosophical speculation. But it is time to pass on to +the question of yet another secret association, for amongst those +present at the Conference referred to were members of the group Clarté. + +This society, of which the name as well as its avowed aims are +singularly reminiscent of Illuminism, was first heard of in France and +was led by men who carried on active anti-patriotic propaganda +throughout the war. Amongst these was Henri Barbusse, author of _Le +Feu_, a defeatest novel which was received with acclamations from +"illuminated" reviewers in the press of this country. Yet although +outwardly a French organization, the real inspiration and teaching of +_Clarté_ is essentially German-Jewish and a great number of Jews are to +be found amongst its members, particularly in Central Europe. At the +inaugural meeting of the Austrian group it was stated that 80 per cent. +of those present were of the Jewish race. The keynote of _Clarté_ is +Internationalism--abolition of nationality, destruction of frontiers, +and pacifism or rather the substitution of class warfare for war +between nations. For this purpose it is willing to make use of all +subversive doctrines, to whatever school of thought they may belong. +Hence, although the creed of the leaders is professedly Socialism, they +readily co-operate with Syndicalists, Anarchists, or revolutionaries of +any brand, carrying on propaganda in Trade Unions and various workers' +organizations; some are secretly in the ranks of the Communists. In fact +members of _Charté_ have succeeded in penetrating into almost every +subversive group, even as far afield as New Zealand, where the society +has an agency in Wellington and disseminates the most violent +revolutionary teaching and literature. + +But whilst thus making use of the "proletariat" to further its ends, the +point of view of _Clarté_ is fundamentally undemocratic--for the real +grievances of the workers it has no use at all. The plan of this +group--who were recently described in the French press as "the finest +specimens of cannibals smeared with humanitarianism (les plus beaux +spécimens de cannibales barbouillés d'humanitairerie)"--is to constitute +a sort of International Hierarchy of Intellectual Socialists, whose +influence is to make itself invisibly felt in literary, educational, and +artistic circles all over the world. For the members of _Clarté_ are as +careful as were the adepts of Weishaupt to preserve their incognito and +not to be known as "Illuminati." Thus the public in our own country and +elsewhere, reading the diatribes of certain well-known authors against +the existing order of society, may vaguely wonder why men living amidst +all the amenities of civilization should desire its destruction, but do +not dream that all this is not the outcome of an individual brain but +propaganda put out by a company which, having largely primed such +writers with ideas, is able, owing to the high position of many of its +leading members and its influence with the literary world, to ensure the +success of any publication that will further its ends. + +The organization of _Clarté_ thus approximates more nearly, to the +system of Weishaupt than that of the other societies described in this +chapter. Although in the strictest sense a secret society, it is in no +sense occult and therefore possesses no ritual of its own, but, like the +earlier Illuminati, recognizes the utility of working through +Freemasonry. _Clarté_, in fact, forms an adjunct of the Grand Orient and +owns a lodge under its jurisdiction in Paris. It would be interesting, +however, to know whether the idea of the alliance with the Grand Orient +occurred as an afterthought to the _Clarté_ group or whether the +original inspiration of _Clarté_ emanated from an inner circle of the +Grand Orient. We shall return to the question of this inner circle in a +later chapter. + +Such, then, are the principal secret societies at work in Great Britain, +but amongst minor secret or semi-secret movements may be mentioned the +strange sect the Faithists, said to have some affinity with the Druses, +inhabiting a singularly unromantic London suburb, whose "Ancient +Founder" is the author of a series of tracts urging man not to be misled +by false Gods, but to worship "Jehovih the Creator only," and at the +same time advocating nationalization as a cure for all social ills; or +again The Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man at +Fontainebleau, led by Gurdjieff and Uspenski which combines esoteric +meditation with an extremely meagre diet and strenuous manual labour. It +is interesting, by the way, to notice that the art of movement known as +Eurhythmy--not to be confounded with the system of M. Dalcroze which is +known in England only as Eurhythmics--forms an important part of the +curriculum of the last society, as also of Herr Steiner's Order, of the +Stella Matutina, and of the Russian Bolsheviks.[728] + +The one question that presents itself to the judicial mind after +examining all these movements, is inevitably: Are they of any real +importance? Can a few hundreds, or even thousands, of men and women, +drawn largely by curiosity or want of occupation into societies of which +the very names are hardly known to the general public, exercise any +influence on the world at large? It would certainly be an error to +overestimate the power that each of these societies individually can +wield; to do so would be, in fact, to play into the hands of the +leaders, whose plan, from Weishaupt onwards, has always been to +represent themselves as directing the destinies of the universe. This +claim to power is the bait laid for neophytes, who are made to believe +that "the Order will one day rule the world." But, whilst recognizing +the folly of this pretension, we should be mistaken in underrating their +importance, for the reason that they provide evidence of a larger +organization in the background. The Stella Matutina may be only an +obscure Fraternity, even the Theosophical Society with all its +ramifications[729] may not be of great importance in itself, but will +anyone with a knowledge of European affairs seriously maintain that the +Grand Orient is a small or unimportant organization? And have we not +seen that investigations into the smaller secret societies frequently +lead back to this greater masonic power? Secret societies are of +importance, because they are, moreover, symptomatic, and also because, +although the work actually carried out in their lodges or councils may +be of a trivial character, they are able by the power of association and +the collective force they generate to influence public opinion and to +float ideas in the outside world which may have far-reaching +consequences. + +At any rate, the fact that they exist finally disposes of the contention +that secret societies of a subversive and even of an abominable kind are +things of the past. These amazing cults, these strange perverted rites +which we associate with the dark ages, are going on around us to-day. +Illuminism, Cabalism, and even Satanism are still realities. In 1908 +Monsieur Copin Albancelli stated that circumstances had afforded him the +proof that-- + + certain Masonic societies exist which are Satanic, not in the sense + that the devil comes to preside at their meetings, as that romancer + of a Leo Taxil pretended, but in that their initiates profess the + cult of Lucifer. They adore him as the true God, and they are + animated by an implacable hatred against the Christian God, whom + they declare to be an impostor. They have a formula which sums up + their state of mind; it is no longer: "To the glory of the Great + Architect of the Universe," as in the two lower Masonries; it is G∴ + E∴ A∴ A∴ L∴ H∴ H∴ H∴ A∴ D∴ M∴ M∴ M∴, which means "Gloire et Amour à + Lucifer! Haine! haine! haine! an Dieu maudit! maudit! maudit!" + (Glory and Love for Lucifer! Hatred! hatred! hatred! to God, + accursed, accursed, accursed!) + + It is professed in these societies that all that the Christian God + commands is disagreeable to Lucifer; that all that He forbids is, + on the contrary, agreeable to Lucifer; that in consequence one must + do all that the Christian God forbids and that one must shun like + fire all that He commands. I repeat that with regard to all that, I + have the proofs under my hand. I have read and studied hundreds of + documents relating to one of these societies, documents that I have + not permission to publish and which emanate from the members, men + and women, of the group in question.[730] + +I do not say that any society in England consciously practices this cult +of Satan, but I too have seen dozens of documents relating to occult +groups in this country which practise rites and evocations that lead to +illness, moral perversion, mental derangement, and even in some cases to +death. I have heard from the lips of initiates themselves accounts of +the terrible experiences through which they have passed; some have even +urged me to bring the matter before the attention of the authorities. +But unfortunately no department exists for the investigation of +subversive movements. Yet since all these movements are intimately +connected with revolutionary agitation they are well worth the attention +of Governments that desire to protect law, order, and public morality. +The fact is that the very extravagance of their doctrines and practices +seems to ensure their immunity. Nevertheless, whether the power at work +behind them is of the kind we are accustomed to call "supernatural," or +whether it is merely the outcome of the human mind, there can be no +doubt of its potency for evil and of its very definite effects in the +obliteration of all sense of truth and in sexual perversion. + +In the opinion of an initiate who belonged for years to the Stella +Matutina, the dynamic force employed known as "Kundalini" is simply an +electro-magnetic force, of which the sex-force is a part, on which the +adepts know how to play, and "the unseen hand behind all the seeming +Spiritism of these Orders is a system of very subtle and cunning +hypnotism and suggestion." Further, the aim of this group like that of +all subversive Esoteric Orders, is, by means of such processes as +eurhythmics, meditations, symbols, ceremonies, and formulas, to awaken +this force and produce false "Illumination" for the purpose of obtaining +"Spiritual Seership," which is at most clairvoyance, clairaudience, etc. +The ceremonies of the Order are hypnotic, and by suggestion create the +necessary mental and astral atmosphere, hypnotize and prepare the +members to be the willing tools in the hands of the controlling adepts. +The same initiate has communicated to me the following conclusions +concerning the group in question, with the permission to quote them +verbatim: + + I have been convinced that we, as an Order, have come under the + power of some very evil occult Order, profoundly versed in science + both occult and otherwise, though not infallible, their methods + being Black Magic, that is to say, electro-magnetic power, + hypnotism, and powerful suggestion. + + We are convinced that the Order is being controlled by some SUN + Order after the nature of the Illuminati, if not by that Order + itself. + + The reason why they (the leaders of all such Orders) insisted so + much upon the Church and Sacrament, especially before the + initiation, is, I think, for the same reason as the use of the + consecrated Host in Black Magic. The Christian consecration and the + use of the sacraments renders the building or person more powerful + as a material basis for black magic even as in white magic--"for + the Great Good or the Great Evil." When the initiation is + accomplished and the domination of the person complete, there is no + further need for Church or Sacrament. + + We are told at the Initiation: "There is nothing incompatible with + your civil, moral, or religious duties in this obligation." We now + are convinced that this Order is contrary absolutely to our civil, + moral, and religious duties; which being so, our obligations are + null and void. + + We are told that all that has taken place in Russia and elsewhere + is due to these International Occult Forces set in motion by + Subversive Esoteric Lodges. Yet it is known that we have several + branches of these same Esoteric Masonic Lodges carrying on their + deadly work in our midst. England, as well as Europe, seems to be + drifting along in a hypnotic sleep, and even our soundest + politicians seem paralysed and all that they attempt is turned to + foolishness. Is there no one in authority who understands these + things and realizes the danger both to the country and to + individuals from these forces working for disruption and world + revolution? + +How in the face of these declarations, coming from those inside the +movement, can anyone maintain that Illuminism is dead and that secret +societies present no danger to Christian civilization? + + + + +13 + +OPEN SUBVERSIVE MOVEMENTS + + + +Although the sceptical reader who has reached this stage of the present +work will perhaps be willing to admit that some connexion may be traced +between hidden forces and open subversive movements, the objection he +will still raise against the general thesis here set forth will probably +be expressed somewhat in the following manner: + +"It is quite possible that secret societies and other unseen agencies +may have played a part in revolutions, but to attribute the continued +revolt against the existing social order to these causes is absurd. +Poverty, unemployment, inadequate housing, and above all the +inequalities of human life are quite sufficient to produce a +revolutionary spirit without the aid of secret instigators. Social +revolution is simply a rising of the 'have-nots' against the 'haves,' +and requires no further cause to explain it." + +Let it be at once admitted that the injustices here enumerated are real. +The working classes throughout the nineteenth century had very genuine +reasons for complaints. Wages were far too low, the rich sometimes +showed themselves indifferent to the sufferings of the poor, employers +of labour often made profits out of all proportion to the remuneration +paid to the workers. Nor, in spite of the immense reforms introduced +during the last hundred years, have all these grievances been redressed. +The slums of our great cities still constitute a blot upon our +civilization. Profiteering since the beginning of the war has been more +flagrant than ever. "Rings" and combines provide fabulous wealth for +individuals or groups at the expense of vast numbers of consumers. And +in all classes of the community, just as before the French Revolution, +people feast and dance whilst others live on the border-line of +starvation. + +But let us see how far the Socialist movement can be regarded as the +spontaneous revolt of the "people" against this condition of things. +Dividing the people after the manner of Marx into the non-revolutionary +and the "revolutionary proletariat," we shall find that the former +category, by far the larger, combines with a strong respect for +tradition a perfectly reasonable desire for social reform. Briefly it +asks for adequate wages, decent housing, and a fair share of the good +things of life. For State interference in the affairs of everyday life +it feels nothing but abhorrence. The ideal of Communism as formulated by +Lenin, wherein "the getting of food and clothing shall be no longer a +private affair,"[731] would meet with stronger opposition from working +men--and still more from working women, to whom "shopping" is as the +breath of life--than from any other section of the population. Even such +apparently benign Socialist schemes as "communal dining-rooms" or +"communal kitchens" appeal less to the working-class mentality than to +the upper-class mind that devises them. + +Turning to the "revolutionary proletariat," we shall find this +individualistic instinct quite as strongly developed. It is not the +Socialist idea of placing all wealth and property in the hands of the +State, but the Anarchist plan of "expropriation," of plunder on a +gigantic scale for the benefit of the revolutionary masses, which really +appeals to the disgruntled portion of the proletariat. The Socialist +intellectual may write of the beauties of nationalization, of the joy of +working for the common good without hope of personal gain; the +revolutinary working man sees nothing to attract him in all this. +Question him on his ideas of social transformation, and he will +generally express himself in favour of some method by which he will +acquire something he has not got; he does not want to see the rich man's +motor-car socialized by the State--he wants to drive about in it +himself. The revolutionary working man is thus in reality not a +Socialist but an Anarchist at heart. Nor in some cases is this +unnatural. That the man who enjoys none of the good things of life +should wish to snatch his share must at least appear comprehensible. +What is not comprehensible is that he should wish to renounce all hope +of ever possessing anything. Modern Socialist propagandists are very +well aware of this attitude of the working classes towards their +schemes, and therefore that as long as they explain the real programme +they mean to put into operation, which is nothing but the workhouse +system on a gigantic scale, they can meet with no success. As a +life-long Socialist has frequently observed to me, "Socialism has never +been a working-class movement; it was always we of the middle or upper +classes who sought to instil the principles of Socialism into the minds +of working men." Mr. Hyndman's candid confessions of the failures to +enlist the sympathies even of slum-dwellers in his schemes of social +regeneration bear out this testimony. + +Less honest Socialist orators as the result of long experience have +therefore adopted the more effectual policy of appealing to the +predatory instincts of the crowd. From Babeuf onwards, Socialism has +only been able to make headway by borrowing the language of Anarchy in +order to blast its way to power. + +Socialism is thus essentially a system of deception devised by +middle-class theorists and in no sense a popular creed. Had the +revolutionary movement of the past 150 years really proceeded from the +people, it would inevitably have followed the line laid down by one of +the two sections of the proletariat indicated above, that is to say, it +would either have taken the form of a continuous and increasing +agitation for social reforms which would have enlisted the sympathy of +all right-thinking men and must therefore in the end have proved +irresistible, or it would have followed the line of Anarchy, organizing +brigandage on a larger and yet larger scale, until, all owners of wealth +having been exterminated and their expropriators in their turn +exterminated by their fellows, the world would have been reduced to a +depopulated desert. + +But the world revolution has followed neither of these lines. Always the +opponent of sane social reforms which Socialists deride as "melioration" +or as futile attempts to shore up an obsolete system, it has +consistently disassociated itself from such men as Lord Shaftesbury, who +did more to better the conditions of the working classes than anyone who +has ever lived. Anarchy, on the other hand, has been used by them merely +as a means to an end; for genuine revolutionary sentiment they have no +use at all. In Russia the Anarchists became the first objects of Soviet +vengeance. The cynical attitude of Socialists towards the revolutionary +proletariat was illustrated by Mr. Bernard Shaw, who in December 1919 +openly boasted that he had helped to organize the railway strike,[732] +and two years later wrote about the miners' strike in the following +terms: + + A Socialist State would not tolerate such an attack on the + community as a strike for a moment. If a Trade Union attempted such + a thing, the old Capitalist law against Trade Unions as + conspiracies would be re-enacted within twenty-four hours and put + ruthlessly into execution. Such a monstrosity as the recent coal + strike, during which the coal-miners spent all their savings in + damaging their neighbours and wrecking the national industries, + would be impossible under Socialism. It was miserably defeated, as + it deserved to be.[733] + +Now, if this had been written by the Duke of Northumberland in the +_National Review_ instead of by Mr. Bernard Shaw in the _Labour +Monthly_, one can imagine the outcry there would have been in the +Socialist press. But the leaders of what is called democracy may always +use what language they please in speaking of the people. "Our peasants," +Maxim Gorky openly declared, "are brutal and debased, hardly human. I +hate them."[734] It will be noticed that in descriptions of the French +Revolution references to the savageries of the people are never resented +by the Liberal or Socialist press; the persons of the leaders alone are +sacred. It is clearly not the cause of democracy but of demagogy that +these champions of "liberty" are out to defend. + +The world-revolution is therefore not a popular movement but a +conspiracy to impose on the people a system directly opposed to their +real demands and aspirations, a system which, moreover, has proved +disastrous every time an attempt has been made to put it into practice. + +Russia has provided a further example of its futility. The fact that the +more responsible leaders in this country do not advocate violence, does +not affect the ultimate issue. Whilst Bolshevism sets out to destroy +Capitalism at a blow, Socialism prefers a more gradual process. It is +the difference between clubbing a man on the head and bleeding him to +death--that is all. + +The fact is that all Socialism leads to Communism in the long run[735] +and therefore to disaster. The Bolshevist régime brought ruin and misery +to Russia not because of the brutality of its methods, but because it +was founded on the gigantic economic fallacy that industry can be +carried on without private enterprise and personal initiative. The same +theory applied by constitutional methods would produce precisely the +same results. If the Socialists are ever allowed to carry out their full +programme, England may be reduced to the state of Russia without the +shedding of a drop of blood. + +But how are we to explain the fact that in spite of the failure of +Socialism in the past, in spite of the gigantic fiasco presented by +Russia, in spite, moreover, of the declaration by the Bolsheviks +themselves that Communism had failed and must be replaced by "a new +economic policy," that is to say by a return to "Capitalism,"[736] +there should still be a large and increasing body of people to proclaim +the efficacy of Socialism as the remedy for all social ills? In any +other field of human experiment, in medicine or mechanical invention, +failure spells oblivion; the prophylactic that does not cure, the +machine that cannot be made to work, is speedily relegated to the +scrap-heap. What indeed should we say of the bacteriologist, who, after +killing innumerable patients with a particular serum, were to advertise +it as an unqualified success? Should we not brand such a man as an +unscrupulous charlatan or at best as a dangerous visionary? If, +moreover, we were to find that large bands of agents backed by unlimited +funds, were engaged in pressing his remedy upon the public and carefully +avoiding all reference to the fatalities it had caused, should we not +further conclude that there was "something behind all this"--some +powerful company "running" the concern with a view to advancing its own +private interests? + +Why should not the same reasoning be applied to Socialism? For not only +has Socialism never been known to succeed, but all its past failures are +carefully kept dark by its exponents. Who, then, stands to gain by +advocating it? And further, who provides the vast sums spent on +propaganda? If in reality Socialism is a rising of the "have-nots" +against the "haves," how is it that most of the money seems to be on +the side of the "have-nots"? For whilst organizations working for law +and order are hampered at every turn for funds, no financial +considerations ever seem to interfere with the activities of the +so-called "Labour movement." Socialism, in fact, appears to be a +thoroughly "paying concern," into which a young man enters as he might +go into the City, with the reasonable expectation of "doing well." It is +only necessary to glance at the history of the past hundred years to +realize that "agitation" has provided a pleasant and remunerative career +for hundreds of middle-class authors, journalists, speakers, organizers, +and dilettantes of all kinds who would otherwise have been condemned to +pass their lives on office-stools or at schoolmasters' desks. And when +we read the accounts of the delightful treats provided for these +"devoted workers" in the cause of the proletariat as given in the +records of the First Internationale or the pages of Mrs. Snowden, we +begin to understand the attractions of Socialism as a profession.[737] + +But again I repeat: _Who provides the funds for this vast campaign_? Do +they come out of the pockets of the workers or from some other +mysterious reservoir of wealth? We shall return to this point in a later +chapter. + +How is it possible at any rate to believe in the sincerity of the +exponents of equality who themselves adopt a style of living so +different from that of the proletariat whose cause they profess to +represent? If the doctrinaires of Socialism formed a band of ascetics +who had voluntarily renounced luxury and amusement in order to lead +lives of poverty and self-sacrifice--as countless really devoted men and +women _not_ calling themselves Socialists have done--we should still +doubt the soundness of their economic theories as applied to society in +general, but we should respect their disinterestedness. But with very +few exceptions Socialist Intellectuals dine and sup, feast and amuse +themselves with as few scruples of conscience as any unregenerate +Tories. + +With people such as these it is obviously as futile to reason, as it +would be to attempt to convince the agent of a quack medicine company +that the nostrums he presses on the public will not effect a cure. He is +very well aware of that already. Hence the efforts of well-meaning +people to set forth in long, well-reasoned arguments the "fallacies of +Socialism" produce little or no result. All these so-called "fallacies" +have been exposed repeatedly by able writers and disproved by all +experience, so that if based merely on ignorance or error they would +long since have ceased to obtain credence. The truth is that they are +not fallacies but lies, deliberately devised and circulated by men who +do not believe in them for a moment and who can therefore only be +described as unscrupulous charlatans exploiting the credulity of the +public. + +But if this description may be legitimately applied to the brains behind +Socialism and to certain of its leading doctrinaires, there are +doubtless thousands of honest visionaries to be found in the movement. A +system that professes to cure all the ills of life inevitably appeals to +generous minds that feel but do not reason. In reality many of these +people, did they but know it, are simply social reformers at heart and +not Socialists at all, and their ignorance of what Socialism really +means leads them to range themselves under the banner of a party that +claims a monopoly of ideals. Others again, particularly amongst the +young intelligentsia, take up Socialism in the same spirit as they would +adopt a fashion in ties or waistcoats, for fear of being regarded as +"reactionaries." That in reality, far from being "advanced," the +profession of Socialism is as retrogressive as would be a return to the +side-whiskers and plaid trousers of the last century, does not occur to +them. The great triumph of Mussolini was to make the youth of Italy +realize that to be a Communist was to be a "back number," and that +progress consisted in marching forward to new ideas and aspirations. The +young men of Cabet's settlement discovered this sixty years ago when +they formed themselves into a band of "Progressives" in opposition to +the old men who still clung to the obsolete doctrine of Communism. + +Socialism at the present moment is in reality less a creed than a cult, +founded not on practical experience but on unreal theory. It is here we +find a connexion with secret societies. M. Augustin Cochin in his +brilliant essays on the French Revolution[738] has described that "World +of the Clouds" of which the Grand Orient was the capital, peopled by the +precursors of the French Revolution. "Whilst in the real world the +criterion of all thought lies in putting it to the test," there in the +World of the Clouds the criterion is opinion. "They are there to talk, +not to do; all this intellectual agitation, this immense traffic in +speeches, writings, correspondence, leads not to the slightest beginning +of work, of real effort." We should be wrong to judge them harshly; +their theories on the perfectibility of human nature, on the advantages +of savagery, which appear to us "dangerous chimeras," were never +intended to apply to real life, only to the World of the Clouds, where +they present no danger but become, on the contrary, "the most fecund +truths." + +The revolutionary explosion might well have finally shattered these +illusions but for the Grand Orient. We have already seen the identity of +theory between French Masonry and French Socialism in the nineteenth +century. It was thus that, although in France one experiment after +another demonstrated the unreality of Socialist Utopias, the lodges were +always there to reconstruct the mirage and lead humanity on again across +the burning desert sands towards the same phantom palm-trees and +illusory pools of water. + +Whatever the manner in which these ideas penetrated to this +country--whether through the Radicals of the last century, adorers of +the Encyclopædist Masons of France, or through the British disciples of +German Social Democrats from the time of the First Internationale +onwards--it is impossible to ignore the resemblance between the theories +not only of French but of modern British Socialism and the doctrines of +illuminized Freemasonry. Thus the idea running through Freemasonry of a +Golden Age before the Fall, when man was free and happy, and which +through the application of masonic principles is to return once more, +finds an exact counterpart in the Socialist conception of a past halcyon +era of Liberty and Equality, which is to return not merely in the form +of a regenerated social order, but as a complete Millennium from which +all the ills of human life have been eliminated. This idea has always +haunted the imagination of Socialist writers from Rousseau to William +Morris, and leads directly up to the further theory--the necessity for +destroying civilization. + +I cannot find in Mr. Lothrop Stoddart's conception of the revolutionary +movement as the revolt of the "Under Man" against civilization, the +origin of this campaign. In reality the leaders of world-revolution have +not been "Under Men," victims of oppression or of adverse fate, nor +could they be ranged in this category on account of physical or mental +inferiority. It is true that most revolutionary agitators have been in +some way abnormal and that the revolutionary army has largely been +recruited from the unfit, but the real inspirers of the movement have +frequently been men in prosperous circumstances and of brilliant +intellect who might have distinguished themselves on other lines had +they not chosen to devote their talents to subversion. To call +Weishaupt, for example, an "Under Man" would be absurd. But let us see +what is the idea on which the plan of destroying civilization is +ostensibly founded. + +It will be remembered that Rousseau like Weishaupt held that the Golden +Age of felicity did not end in the garden of Eden, as is popularly +supposed, but was prolonged into tribal and nomadic life. Up to this +moment Communism was the happy disposition under which the human race +existed and which vanished with the introduction of civilization. +Civilization is therefore the _fons et origo mali_ and should be done +away with. Let no one exclaim that this theory died out either with +Rousseau or with Weishaupt; the idea that "civilization is all wrong" +runs all through the writings and speeches of our Intellectual +Socialists to-day. I have referred elsewhere to Mr. H.G. Wells's +prediction that mankind will more and more revert to the nomadic life, +and Mr. Snowden has recently referred in tones of evident nostalgia to +that productive era when man "lived under a system of tribal +Communism."[739] The children who attend the Socialist Schools are also +taught in the "Red Catechism" the advantages of savagery, thus: + +Question. Do savages starve in the midst of plenty? + +Answer. No; when there is plenty of food they all rejoice, feast, and +make merry.[740] + +That when there is not plenty of food they occasionally eat each other +is not mentioned. + +Here, then, is the theory on which this yearning for a return to nature +is based. For it is quite probable that if a Golden Age ever existed it +was Communistic; it is also true that certain primitive tribes have +found it possible to continue the same system, for the simple reason +that when and where the earth was very thinly populated it brought +forth, without the artificial aid of agriculture, more than enough to +supply each man's needs. There was therefore no need for laws to protect +property, since every man could help himself freely to all that he +required. If at the present time a dozen people were shipwrecked on a +fertile island some miles in area, the institution of property would be +equally superfluous; if, however, several hundred were to share the same +fate, it would at once become necessary to institute some system of +cultivation which in its turn would necessitate either the institution +of property, by which each man would depend on his own plot of land for +his existence, or a communal system, by which all would be obliged to +work for the common good and force applied to those who refused to do +their allotted share. + +Peaceful Communism is thus simply a matter of population; the conditions +under which men can sit in the sun and enjoy the fruits of the earth +with little effort must be transformed with the multiplication of the +human species into a system which recognizes private property, or a +communal State which enforces compulsory labour by means of overseers +with whips. It was perhaps an appreciation of this truth that impelled +the practical exponents of Rousseau's doctrines, the Terrorists of 1793, +to embark on their "plan of depopulation" by way of establishing +Communism on a peaceful basis. + +But our Intellectual Socialists deny this necessity on the ground that +under the benign régime of Socialism all men would be good and happy and +would work joyfully for the welfare of the community. The fact that this +has not proved the case even in voluntary Communist settlements does not +daunt them, because, as has been said, their creed is founded not on +practical experiment, but on theory, and it is here that we again find +the inspiration of Grand Orient Freemasonry. The assumption that under +an ideal social order all human failings would vanish derives directly +from the two masonic doctrines which the Grand Orient, under the +influence of Illuminism, has brought to a _reductio ad absurdum_--the +perfectibility of human nature and universal brotherhood. The whole +philosophy of Socialism is built upon these false premises. + +Indeed the actual phraseology of illuminized Freemasonry has now passed +into the language of Socialism; thus the old formulæ of "the United +States of Europe" and "the Universal Republic" have been adopted not +only by Mrs. Besant and her followers[741] as the last word in modern +thought, but have also reappeared as a brilliant inspiration under the +pen of Mr. H.G. Wells in the slightly varied form of the "World State." +It would be amusing, for anyone who had the time, to discover how many +of the ideas of our so-called advanced thinkers might be found almost +verbatim in the writings of Weishaupt, the _République Universelle_ of +Anacharsis Clootz, and in the speeches of Grand Orient orators during +the last century. + +Moreover, the world-revolution is not only founded on the doctrines of +illuminized Freemasonry, but has adopted the same method of +organization. Thus, after the plan of the secret societies, from the +Batinis onward, we shall find the forces of revolution divided into +successive grades--the lowest consisting of the revolutionary +proletariat, the _chair a révolution_ as Marx expressed it, knowing +nothing of the theory of Socialism, still less of the real aims of the +leaders; above this the semi-initiates, the doctrinaires of Socialism, +comprising doubtless many sincere enthusiasts; but above these again +further grades leading up to the real initiates, who alone know whither +the whole movement is tending. + +For the final goal of world-revolution is not Socialism or even +Communism, it is not a change in the existing economic system, it is not +the destruction of civilization in a material sense; the revolution +desired by the leaders is a moral and spiritual revolution, an anarchy +of ideas by which all standards set up throughout nineteen centuries +shall be reversed, all honoured traditions trampled under foot, and +above all the Christian ideal finally obliterated. + +It is true that a certain section of the Socialist movement proclaims +itself Christian. The Illuminati made the same profession, so have the +modern Theosophists and Rosicrucians. But, as in the case of these +secret societies, we should ask of so-called Christian Socialists: What +do they means by Christ? What do they mean by Christianity? On +examination it will be found that their Christ is a being of their own +inventing, that their Christianity is a perversion of Christ's real +teaching. + +The Christ of Socialism invoked in the interests of Pacifism as the +opponent of force and in the interests of class warfare as a Socialist, +a revolutionary, or even an "agitator," bears no resemblance to the real +Christ. Christ was not a Pacifist when He told His disciples to arm +themselves with swords, when He made a scourge of cords and drove the +money-changers from the Temple. He did not tell men to forgive the +enemies of their country or of their religion, but only their private +enemies. Christ was not a Socialist when He declared that "a man's life +consisteth not in the abundance of the things that he possesseth." +Socialism teaches that a man must never rest content as long as another +man possesses that which he has not. Christ did not believe in equality +of payment when He told the parable of the ten talents and the +unprofitable servant. Socialism would reduce all labour to the pace of +the slowest. Above all, Christ was not a Socialist when He bade the +young man who had great possessions sell all that he had and give it to +the poor. _What School of Socialism has ever issued such a command?_ On +the contrary, Socialists are enjoined by their leaders not to give their +money away in charity lest they should help by this means to prolong the +existence of the present social system. The truth is that, as I showed +in connexion with the fallacy of representing Christ as an Essene, there +is no evidence to show that He or His disciples practised even the +purest form of Communism. Christ did not advocate any economic or +political system; He preached a spirit which if applied to any system +would lead to peace among men. It is true that He enjoined His disciples +to despise riches and that He denounced many of the rich men with whom +He came into contact, but it must not be forgotten that His immediate +mission was to a race that had always glorified riches, that had +worshipped the golden calf, and by which wealth was regarded as the +natural reward of godliness.[742] Christ came to teach men not to look +for present reward in the form of increased material welfare, but to do +good out of love to God and one's neighbour. + +I do not doubt that in the past such men as Kingsley and J.F.D. Maurice +sincerely imagined that they were following in the footsteps of the +Master by describing themselves as Christian Socialists, but that the +present leaders of Socialism in England are Christians at heart is +impossible to believe in view of their attitude towards the campaign +against Christianity in Russia. Never once have they or their allies, +the Quakers, officially denounced the persecution not only of the +priests but of all who profess the Christian faith in Russia.[743] Listen +to this voice from the abyss of Russia: + + We very much ask for prayer for the Church of Russia; it is passing + through great tribulation and it is a question whether spiritual or + earthly power will triumph. Many are being executed for not denying + God.... Those placed by God at the helm need all the prayer and + help of Christians all over the earth, because their fate is partly + theirs too, for it is a question of faith triumphing over atheism, + and it is a tug-of-war between those two principles.[744] + +And again: + + I look upon the persecution of the Russian Church as an effort to + overthrow Christianity in general, for we are governed just now by + the power of darkness, and all that we consider sinful seems to get + the upper hand and to prosper.[744] + +Yet it is for this power that the Socialist Party of Great Britain have +for years been demanding recognition. Even the appeals for help from +their fellow-Socialists in Russia have left them cold. "We would +suggest," ran one such appeal-- + + 1. That the British Labour Party issue an official protest against + the Soviet Government's inhuman treatment of its political + opponents in general and the political prisoners in particular. + + 2. That meetings of protest should be organized in the industrial + towns of Great Britain. + + 3. That the British Labour Party make an official representation to + the Soviet Government directly, urging the latter to put a stop to + the persecutions of the Socialists in Russia.[745] + +And it was of this régime that Mr. Lansbury wrote: + + Whatever their faults, the Communist leaders of Russia have hitched + their wagon to a star--the star of love, brotherhood, + comradeship.[746] + +The callous indifference displayed by British Socialists, with the +honourable exception of the Social Democratic Federation,[747] towards +the crimes of the Bolsheviks offers indeed a painful contrast to the +attitude of the other Socialists of Europe. At the conference of the +Labour and Socialist International at Hamburg in May 1923, a resolution +was passed condemning the persecution by the Soviet Government. When the +resolution was put to the congress, 196 voted for, 2 against it, and 39, +including the 30 British delegates, abstained. + +I ask, then: Why should the Socialists of Great Britain be +differentiated from the Bolsheviks of Russia? In every question of +importance they have always lent them their support. In the great war on +Christianity they have acted as the advance guard by the institution of +Socialist Sunday-schools, from which all religious teaching is excluded. +Socialists are very anxious to disassociate these from the "Proletarian" +Sunday-schools which teach atheism. But from ignoring the existence of +God to denying it is but a step; moreover, it will be noticed that the +Socialists have never issued any protests against the blasphemies of the +Proletarian schools. The real attitude of the Socialist Party towards +religion may perhaps be gauged by the notice, reproduced on page 341, +which once appeared in its official organ the _Daily Herald_, of which +Mr. Lansbury, widely advertised as a fervent Christian, was once editor +and is now managing director. + +It was to the party controlling this organ that 700 clergymen of the +Church of England and the Episcopal Church of Scotland saw fit to offer +their congratulations by means of a memorial presented to Mr. Ramsay +MacDonald in March 1923. Shall we yet see the scene of Brumaire 1793 +repeated and a procession of prelates presenting themselves at +Westminster to lay down their rings and crosses and declare that +"henceforth there shall be no other worship than that of liberty and +holy equality"? + +Already the desecration of the churches has begun. The red flag was +recently carried into the City Temple by a band of unemployed, although +several of their number objected to its presence in the church. An +attempt to sing "The Red Flag" was also suppressed by a section of the +unemployed + +[Illustration: + +<b>Books We All Pretend to have Read</b> + +The Bible is a real book, although during the whole of the nineteenth +century the Churches turned a blind eye to the fact that it was a free +translation by Jacobean clergymen of a Greek text of doubtful +authenticity and of multiple authorship. The Bible is as divinely +inspired as Shakespeare, or Milton, or Anatole France. But it is not as +"pure" as the texts of these authors, for it is:-- + +(1) A miscellaneous collection of folk and traditional history bound to +and described as the "Old Testament," and + +(2) "The New Testament," a collection of Eastern theological doctrines +centralized in the figure of a great Syrian mystic religious teacher, +Jesus. + +Those who will go to the Bible with an unprejudiced mind will discover +that it is one of the great books of the world, full of beauty, humour, +and aspiration, and disfigured, as great books often are, by occasional +brutalities and crudities. --_Daily Herald_, February 7. 1923. + +] + +themselves, who had apparently retained some sense ot decency.[748] + +Weishaupt's design of enlisting the clergy in the work of +world-revolution has been carried out according to plan. Those Catholic +priests in Ireland who inflamed popular passions acted as the tools of +the International Atheist conspiracy and found at last the movement +turning against themselves. The Protestant clergymen who profess +"Christian Socialism" are playing the same part. Doubtless without +knowing it, they act as the agents of the Continental Illuminati and +pave the way, as did the emissaries of Weishaupt, for the open attack on +all forms of religion. It is not a mere accident that the blasphemous +masquerades of the French Revolution have recently been repeated in +Russia. The horrible incidents described in the press[749] were simply +the outward manifestation of a continuous conspiracy of which evidence +was seen some years ago in Portugal under the influence of the +Carbonarios, led by Alfonso Costa, whose utterances at times bore a +striking resemblance to those of Anacharsis Clootz. The late Duchess of +Bedford thus described the war on religion which inaugurated the new +Republic: + +One of the most zealous enterprises of this great society [the +Carbonarios] is, in their own words, to exterminate "the Christian myth" +in the minds of the nation of Portugal. The little children in the +schools have badges pinned into their clothes with the words "No God! No +religion!" and a British tourist who made a journey throughout the +country of Portugal met bands of innocent babes carrying banners, on +which the inscription was "We have no need of God."[750] + +Is it only a coincidence that last year a Socialist and Communist +meeting in Trafalgar Square displayed a red banner bearing the motto: +"No King, no God, no Law"?[751] + +I repeat: It is not an economic revolution which forms the plan of the +real directors of the movement, it is neither the "dictatorship of the +proletariat" nor the reorganization of society by the Intelligentsia of +"Labour"; it is the destruction of the Christian idea. Socialist orators +may inveigh against corrupt aristocracy or "bloated Capitalists," but +these are not in reality the people who will suffer most if the aim of +the conspiracy is achieved. The world-revolution has always shown itself +indulgent towards selfish and corrupt aristocrats, from the Marquis de +Sade and the Duc d'Orléans onwards; it is the gentle, the upright, the +benevolent, who have fallen victims to revolutionary fury. + +Socialism with its hatred of all superiority, of noble virtues--loyalty +and patriotism--with its passion for dragging down instead of building +up, serves the purpose of the deeper conspiracy. If the Christian +Intelligentsia can be destroyed or won over and the nation deprived of +all its natural leaders, the world-revolutionaries reckon that they will +be able to mould the proletariat according to their desires. This being +so, the thing we now call Bolshevism forms only one phase of the +movement which is carried on by countless different methods, apparently +disconnected but all tending towards the same end. We have only to look +around us in the world to-day to see everywhere the same disintegrating +power at work--in art, literature, the drama, the daily press--in every +sphere that can influence the mind of the public. Just as in the French +Revolution a play on the massacre of St. Bartholomew was staged in order +to rouse the passions of the people against the monarchy, so our modern +cinemas perpetually endeavour to stir up class hatred by scenes and +phrases showing "the injustice of kings," "the sufferings of the +people," the selfishness of "aristocrats," regardles of whether these +enter into the theme of the narrative or not.[752] And in the realms of +literature, not merely in works of fiction but in manuals for schools, +in histories and books professing to be of serious educative value and +receiving a skilfully organized boom throughout the press, everything is +done to weaken patriotism, to shake belief in all existing institutions +by the systematic perversion of both contemporary and historical facts, +whilst novels and plays calculated to undermine all ideas of morality +are pressed upon the public as works of genius which, in order to +maintain a reputation for intellect, it is essential to admire. I do not +believe that all this is accidental; I do not believe that the public +asks for the anti-patriotic or demoralizing books and plays placed +before it; on the contrary, it invariably responds to an appeal to +patriotism and simple healthy emotions. The heart of the people is still +sound, but ceaseless efforts are made to corrupt it. + +This conspiracy has long been apparent to Continental observers. Some +years before the war, Monsieur de Lannoy, a member of an anti-masonic +association in France, at a conference on "the influence of +judaeo-masonic sects in the theatre, in literature, in the fashions," +showed how "orders of things which appear to have no connexion with +each other are skilfully bound up together and directed by a single +methodical movement towards a common end. This common end is the +paganization of the universe, the destruction of all Christianity, the +return to the loosest morals of antiquity."[753] Robison saw in the +indecent dress of the period of the Directory the result of Weishaupt's +teaching, and traces to the same cause the ceremony which took place in +Notre Dame when a woman of loose morals was held up to the admiration of +the public.[754] The same glorification of vice has found exponents +amongst the modern Illuminati in this country. In _The Equinox--the +Journal of Scientific Illuminism_, it is proposed that prostitutes +should be placed on the same level as soldiers who have served their +country and be honoured and pensioned by the State.[755] The community +of women was not an idea that originated with the Russian Bolsheviks, +but one that has run through all the revolutionary movements of the +past. + +The attempt to pervert all conceptions of beauty in the sphere of art +serves to pave the way for moral perversion. In the _New York Herald_ +two years ago there appeared a circular protesting against the so-called +Modernistic cult in art as "world-wide Bolshevist propaganda." The +circular went on to declare: + +This aims to overthrow and destroy all existing social systems, +including that of the arts. This modernistic degenerate cult is simply +the Bolshevist philosophy applied in art. The triumph of Bolshevism +therefore means the destruction of the present æsthetic system, the +transportation of all æsthetic values, and the deification of ugliness. + +The whole propaganda of the movement was said to be organized by "a +coterie of European art-dealers"--elsewhere described as German--who had +flooded the market with the works of artists who began as "a small group +of neurotic egomaniacs in Paris styling themselves worshippers of Satan, +the God of Ugliness." Some of these men were suffering from the "visual +derangement" of the insane, whilst "many of the pictures exhibited +another form of mania. The system of this is an incontrollable desire to +mutilate the human body." Sadism, as we know, played a prominent part in +both the French and Russian revolutions. The most important point in +all this is not that degenerates should be found to perpetrate these +abominations, but what the circular describes as the "Machiavellian +campaign organized for the unloading of these works. Editions de luxe +... were published and sold by the picture dealers; ...every crafty +device known to the picture trade was resorted to in order to discredit +and destroy the heretofore universally accepted standards of +aesthetics."[756] + +This process of reversing all accepted standards may also be brought +about by subtler methods. We have already seen that occult practices may +lead to the obliteration of all sense of truth and of normal sexual +instincts. Under the influence of so-called occult science, which is, in +reality, simply powerful suggestion or self-hypnotism, all a man's +natural impulses and inhibitive springs of action may be broken; he will +no longer react to the conceptions of beauty or ugliness, or right or +wrong, which, unknown to himself, formed the law of his being. Thus not +only his conscious deeds but his subconscious mental processes may pass +under the control of another, or become entirely deranged. + +Much the same consequences may result from the Freud system of +Psycho-Analysis, which, particularly by its insistence on sex, tends to +subordinate the will to impulses of a harmful kind. An eminent American +neuro-psychiatrist of New York has expressed his opinion on this subject +in the following words: + +The Freud theory is anti-Christian and subversive of organized society. +Christianity teaches that the individual can resist temptation and +Freudism teaches that the matter of yielding to or resisting temptation +is one for which the individual is not wilfully responsible. Freudism +makes of the individual a machine, absolutely controlled by subconscious +reflexes.... It would of course be difficult to prove that +psycho-analysis has been evolved as a destructive propaganda measure, +but in one sense the point is immaterial. Whether conscious or +unconscious, it makes for destructive effect.[757] + +In general, the art of the conspiracy is not so much to create movements +as to capture existing movements, often innocuous and even admirable in +themselves, and turn them to a subversive purpose. Thus birth control, +which--if combined with the restriction of alien immigration and carried +out under proper direction--would provide a solution to the frightful +problem of over-population, can without these provisos become a source +of national weakness and demoralization. It is easy to see how a +limitation of the native population would serve the cause of England's +enemies by reducing her fighting forces and by making room for +undesirable aliens. That the birth-control campaign may also be used for +evil purposes is suggested by the fact that it has not been confined to +our own overcrowded island, but has been carried on in France, where +under-population has long constituted a tragedy. In 1903 and 1904 the +"Ligue de la Régéneration Humaine," founded by Monsieur Paul Robin, in +its organ _L'Émancipateur_ issued not only instructions on "the means +how to avoid large families," but also pamphlets on "free love and free +maternity."[758] The campaign of race-suicide was thus combined with +the undermining of morality; legal families were to be limited and +illegal births encouraged. This was quite in accord with the doctrines +of the Grand Orient, in whose Temples, Monsieur Copin Albancelli points +out, the principle of "la libre maternité"--known in this country as +"the right to motherhood"--was advocated. + +It is curious to notice that the apparently innocent invention of +Esperanto receives support from the same quarter. This is not surprising +since we know that the idea of a universal language has long haunted the +minds of Freemasons. I have myself seen a document emanating from a body +of French Masons stating that Esperanto is directly under the control of +the three masonic powers of France--the Grand Orient, the Grande Loge +Nationale, and the Droit Humain. + +That it is largely used for promoting Bolshevism has been frequently +stated. In July 1922, M. Bérard, Minister of Education, issued a +circular "to the heads of all French Universities, academies, and +colleges, calling on them not to help in any way in the teaching of +Esperanto on the ground that Bolsheviks use it as one of their dangerous +forms of propaganda."[759] A correspondent points out to me that +another universal language, Ido, is used for propaganda by the +Anarchists, and that several journals distributed by revolutionary +societies, written in Ido, are "frankly and baldly Anarchical." The +writer adds: + +Last week I received a copy of _Libereso_ (Liberty), monthly organ of +the Anarchist Section of the "Emancipating Star"--"Cosmopolitan Union of +Labour-class Idists." It commands carrying out Anarchistic principles +to their extreme limits; commends "La Ruzo" (ruse); is sarcastic +regarding Socialism and Democracy.... It contains an appeal for help (in +money) for the Anarchists imprisoned in Russia ... written by Alexander +Berkmann and signed by him with Emma Goldmann and A. Schapiro. + +Here, then, we have a revolutionary movement which is anti-Socialist and +even anti-Bolshevist, which tends to prove the opinion I have already +expressed, that Bolshevism is only one phase of the world-conspiracy. +But if we explain this by the old antagonism between the opposing +revolutionary camps of Anarchy and Socialism, how are we to account for +the fact that the same destructive purpose animates people who are +neither Anarchist nor Socialist, but can only be ranged in the category +of extreme reaction? Of this phase of the movement Nietzsche provides +the supreme example. In his imprecations against "the Crucified," the +advocate of autocracy and militarism rivals the most infuriated of +revolutionary Socialists. The whole spirit of perversion is contained in +the description of Nietzsche by his friend Georges Brandes: "His +thoughts stole inquisitively along forbidden paths: 'This thing passes +for a value. Can we not turn it upside-down? This is regarded as good. +Is it not rather evil?'" What is this but Satanism? The case of +Nietzsche is not to be explained away by the fact that he died raving +mad, since a number of apparently sane people still profess for him +unbounded admiration, and whilst deriding Socialism and even attacking +Bolshevism join in the war against Christian civilization. The +conspiracy therefore exists apart from so-called democratic circles. + +Not long ago I picked up an Italian novel by an anti-Socialist +containing precisely the same diatribes against "Christian-bourgeois +society" that are to be found in Anarchist and Bolshevist literature. +"The family," says the author, "is the kernel of contemporary society +and its base. Whoever would really reform or subvert must begin by +reforming and subverting the family.... The family ... is the principal +path of all unhappiness, of all vice, of all hypocrisy, of all moral +ugliness, ..." and he goes on to show that the two countries which have +proved themselves the sanest and the strongest are Germany and America, +because they have advanced by long strides towards free love.[760] + +The writer of these words may be of no importance, but they should be +noted because they are symptomatic and help us to locate certain centres +of infection. + +It is impossible to observe all these miscellaneous movements going on +all around us without being struck by the similarity of aim between +them; each seems to form part of a common plan, which, like the separate +pieces of a jig-saw puzzle, convey no meaning, but when fitted together +make up a perfectly clear design. That there is somewhere in the +background a point of contact is suggested by the fact that we find +members of the different groups playing a double and a treble rôle, the +same name occurring in the list of patrons in a Birth Control paper and +in a revolutionary secret society, amongst the exponents of +Psycho-Analysis and the members of an Irish Republican Committee. + +With the open as with the secret forces the great method of warfare is +the capture of public opinion. A hidden influence behind the press +contributes powerfully to this end. Some of the subtlest disintegrating +propaganda during the last seven years has emanated from the so-called +"Capitalist press." The _Daily Herald_ is only the brass band of the +Revolution. It is to the journals inspired and patronized by the +Intelligentsia that we must turn to find the doctrines of Illuminism set +forth with the most persuasive eloquence.[761] + +More than eighty years ago a Frenchman endowed with extraordinary +prophetic instinct foretold not only the danger that would one day come +from Russia, but that the press would facilitate the destruction of +civilization: + + When our cosmopolitan democracy, bearing its last fruits, shall + have made of war a thing odious to whole populations, when the + nations calling themselves the most civilized on earth shall have + finished enervating themselves in their political debaucheries, ... + the floodgates of the North will open on us once again, then we + shall undergo a last invasion not of ignorant barbarians but of + cunning and enlightened masters, more enlightened than ourselves, + for they will have learnt from our own excesses how we can and must + be governed. + + It is not for nothing that Providence piles up so many inactive + forces in the East of Europe. One day the sleeping giant will arise + and force will put an end to the reign of words. In vain, then, + distracted equality will call the old aristocracy to the help of + liberty; the weapon grasped again too late and wielded by hands too + long inactive will have become powerless. Society will perish for + having trusted to words void of sense or contradictory; then the + deceitful echoes of public opinion, the newspapers, wishing at all + costs to keep their readers, will push [the world] to ruin if only + to have something to relate for a month longer. They will kill + society to live upon its corpse.[762] + +To-day the newspapers, no longer the echoes of public opinion but its +supreme directors, throw open their columns to every form of +disintegrating doctrine and close them to arguments that could +effectually arrest the forces of destruction. + +What is the hidden influence behind the press, behind all the subversive +movements going on around us? Are there several Powers at work? Or is +there one Power, one invisible group directing all the rest--the circle +of the _real Initiates_? + + + + +14 + +PAN-GERMANISM + + + +We have seen in the course of this book that the idea of a secret power +working for world-revolution through both open movements and secret +societies, is not a new one, but dates from the eighteenth century. In +order to appreciate the continuity of this idea, let us recapitulate the +testimonies of contemporaries, some of which have been already quoted in +their context, but which when collected together and placed in +chronological order make up a very remarkable chain of evidence. + +In 1789 the Marquis de Luchet warned France of the danger of the +Illuminati, whose object was world-domination.[763] In consequence of +this "gigantic project" de Luchet foresees "a series of calamities of +which the end is lost in the darkness of time, like unto those +subterranean fires of which the insatiable activity devours the bowels +of the earth and which escape into the air by violent and devastating +explosions."[764] + +In 1794 the Duke of Brunswick in his manifesto to the German lodges +said: + + A great sect arose, which, taking for its motto "the good and + happiness of man," worked in the darkness of the conspiracy to make + the happiness of humanity a prey for itself. This sect is known to + everyone: its brothers are known no less than its name.... The plan + they had formed for breaking all social ties and of destroying all + order was revealed in their speeches and acts.... Indomitable + pride, thirst of power, such were the only motives of this sect: + their masters had nothing less in view than the thrones of the + earth, and the government of the nations was to be directed by + their nocturnal clubs.[765] + +In 1797 Montjoie, writing of the Orléaniste conspiracy, to which in an +earlier work he had attributed the whole organization of the French +Revolution in its first stages, observed: + + I will not examine whether this wicked prince, thinking he was + acting in his personal interests, was not moved by that _invisible + hand_[766] which seems to have created all the events of our + revolution in order to lead us towards a goal that we do not see at + present, but which I think we shall see before long.[767] + +In 1801 Monsignor de Savine "made allusions in prudent and almost +terrified terms to some international sect ...a power superior to all +others ...which has arms and eyes everywhere and which governs Europe +to-day."[768] + +In 1817 the Chevalier de Malet declared that "the authors of the +Revolution are not more French than German, Italian, English, etc. They +form a particular nation which took birth and has increased in the dark +amidst all civilized nations with the object of subjecting them all to +its domination."[769] + +In 1835 the Carbonaro, Malegari, wrote to another member of the +Carbonari: + + We form an association of brothers in all points of the globe, we + have desires and interests in common, we aim at the emancipation of + humanity, we wish to break every kind of yoke, yet there is one + that is unseen, that can hardly be felt, yet that weighs on us. + Whence comes it? Where is it? No one knows, or at least no one + tells. The association is secret, even for us, the veterans of + secret societies.[770] + +In 1852 Disraeli wrote: + + It was neither parliaments nor populations, nor the course of + nature, nor the course of events, that overthrew the throne of + Louis Philippe ...the throne was surprised by the Secret Societies, + ever prepared to ravage Europe.... Acting in unison with a great + popular movement they may destroy society, as they did at the end + of the last century.[771] + +In 1874 Père Deschamps, after his exhaustive study of secret societies, +thus propounded the question: + + We have now to ask ourselves whether there is anything but an + identity of doctrines and personal communications between the + members of the different sects, whether there is really a unity of + direction which binds together all the secret societies, including + Free Masonry. Here we touch on the most mysterious point of the + action of secret societies, on that which these national Grand + Orients who declare themselves independent of each other and + sometimes even excommunicate each other conceal most carefully + beneath a veil.[772] + +Finally Deschamps is led to the conclusion that there is "a secret +council which directs all masonic societies,"[773] that there are +secret lairs where the chiefs of the sects agree together on their work +of destruction.[774] + +It would be easy to multiply quotations of this kind taken from many +different sources. Whether the men who expressed these opinions were, as +we are frequently told, suffering from delusions or not, the fact +remains that the idea of a hidden hand behind world-revolution has +existed for at least 135 years. And when we compare these utterances +with Monsieur Copin Albancelli's description of an inner circle secretly +directing the activities of the Grand Orient, and with the conclusions +reached by members of other secret societies, that such a circle exists +behind all occult and masonic societies of a subversive kind, we are +necessarily led to enquire: is there one circle or rather one Power +behind both open and secret organizations working for the overthrow of +the existing social order and Christian civilization? If so, what is +this power? + +Now, to leave speculation for the moment and come to known facts, +everyone who has seriously studied these matters is aware that there are +at the present moment five principal organized movements at work in the +world with which ordered government has to contend, that may be +summarized as follows: + + 1. Grand Orient Freemasonry. + 2. Theosophy with its innumerable ramifications. + 3. Nationalism of an aggressive kind, now represented by Pan-Germanism. + 4. International Finance. + 5. Social Revolution. + +It will be seen that, with the exception of the fourth, these movements +are those of which I have endeavoured to trace the course throughout the +earlier part of this book. It is a highly significant fact that it was +only when I had reached this stage of my work I discovered there were +independent investigators who had arrived at precisely the same +conclusions as myself. + +The problem that now confronts us is therefore this: if there is indeed +one power directing all subversive movements, is it one of the five +movements here enumerated or is it yet another power more potent and +more invisible? In order to discover this, it is necessary to consider +whether these movements, although apparently divergent in their ultimate +purpose, have nevertheless any ideas or any aims in common. One +fundamental point of similarity will certainly be found between them. +All desire to dominate the world and to direct it along lines and +according to rules of their own devising; more than this, each desires +to direct it solely for the benefit of one class of people--social, +intellectual, or national as the case may be--to the entire exclusion of +every human being outside that class. Thus in reality each aspires to +the dictatorship of the world. + +Besides this, it will be noticed that not only these principal +movements, but also the minor subversive movements described in the last +chapter, have in the main (1) a pro-German tendency--none, at any rate, +are pro-French nor do they encourage British patriotism, (2) all contain +a Jewish element--none, at least, are "anti-Semite," and (3) all have a +more or less decided antagonism to Christianity. If then, there is a +single power behind them, is it the Pan-Germanic Power? Is it the Jewish +Power? Or is it the Anti-Christian Power? Let us examine each of these +possibilities in turn. + +Viewed under the aspect of exaggerated Nationalism, the spirit of +Pan-Germanism is nothing new. The dream of world-domination has haunted +the imagination of many races from the time of Alexander the Great to +Napoleon I, but nowhere has the plan been carried out by the +Machiavellian methods which have characterized Prussian foreign policy +and diplomacy from the days of Frederick the Great onwards. It is not +Prussian militarism that constitutes the crime of modern Germany. +Militarism in the sense of courage, patriotism, discipline, and devotion +to duty is a splendid thing. But the spirit of Pan-Germanism differs +from the British conception of patriotism in that it overrides the +rights of all other peoples and seeks to establish its domination over +the whole world. Under German domination every German would be free and +every other human being a slave. England, whilst seeking conquests, has, +on the other hand, always allowed the inhabitants of conquered +territories to develop along their own lines and has made use of +legislation largely to protect them from each other. The preference of +the native of India for an English judge to one of his own race is +evidence of this fact. But it is further the abandonment of all +principle, the acceptance of the doctrine that everything is +allowable--lying, treachery, calumny, and bad faith--in order to achieve +its end, that has placed Germany outside the comity of nations. Robison +describes the system of the Illuminati as leading to the conclusion that +"nothing would be scrupled at, if it could be made appear that the Order +would derive advantage from it, because the great object of the Order +was held as superior to every consideration."[775] Change the word +Order to State, and one has the whole principle of modern German +Imperialism. + +Now, it is interesting to notice that the founders of German Illuminism +and of German Imperialism drew certain of their ideas from the same +source. Both Weishaupt and Frederick the Great were earnest students of +Machiavelli--and both out-did their master. This form of Machiavellism, +carried to a point probably never dreamt of by the Italian philosopher, +has run through the whole struggle of Prussia for supremacy and at the +same time through each outbreak of world revolution in which Prussian +influence has played a part. Thus the Ems telegram in 1870, the false +report that tricked Russia into mobilization in 1914,[776] the violation +of treaties and of all the laws of civilised warfare during the recent +war, were the direct outcome of doctrines that may be found in embryo in +_The Prince_. So also the most striking characteristic of the French +Revolution under the inspiration of Weishaupt's emissaries and the +agents of Prussia, and of the present revolutionary movement inaugurated +by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, is not so much its violence as its +Machiavellian cunning. The art popularly known to-day as +_camouflage_--of dressing-up one design under the guise of something +quite different, of making black appear white by glorifying the most +ignoble actions, of making white appear black by holding up all +honourable traditions to contempt and ridicule, in a word +_perversion_--has been reduced to a system by the secret directors of +world revolution. It is here that we can detect the non-proletarian +character of the movement. The working-man of all countries is the least +Machiavellian of beings; his weakness lies in the fact that he is too +inarticulate, that he does not know how to put his case even when he has +a good one, still less to make a bad one appear plausible. It was not +until world revolution was taken over by the faction described by +Bakunin as "the German-Jew Company" that it reassumed its Machiavellian +character and gradually became the formidable organization it is to-day. + +A few extracts from _The Prince_ will show how closely both the +Prussians and the Terrorists of France and Russia have followed +Machiavelli's manual for despots: + +"He who usurps the government of any State is to execute and put in +practice all the cruelties which he thinks material at once, that he may +have no occasion to renew them often," etc.[777] (Vide the German +principle of "frightfulness" to be exercised against the inhabitants of +invaded territory and the plan of the French and Russian Terrorists in +suppressing "counter-revolutionaries.") + +"It is of such importance to a prince to take upon him the nature and +disposition of a beast; of all the whole flock he ought to imitate the +lion and the fox."[778](Vide Frederick the Great and the demagogues of +France and Russia.) + +"A prince ... who is wise and prudent, cannot or ought not to keep his +parole, when the keeping of it is to his prejudice, and the causes for +which he promised removed."[779] (Vide Germany's doctrine of the scrap +of paper and the promises of the Bolshevist Trade Delegation in London +to refrain from propaganda.) + +"Because the whole multitude which submits to your government is not +capable of being armed, if you be beneficial and obliging to those you +do arm, you may make the bolder with the rest, for the difference of +your behaviour to the soldier binds him more firmly to your service," +etc.[780](Vide the insolent behaviour permitted to officers of the +German Imperial Army and the feeding of the Red Army in Russia at the +expense of the rest of the population.) + +"The prince ... is obliged ... at convenient times in the year to +entertain the people by feastings and plays and spectacles of recreation +... and give them some instance of his humanity and magnificence."[781] +(Vide the important part played by "spectacles" in the French Revolution +and by the theatre and opera in Soviet Russia. Always the same plan of +"_panem ei circenses_!") + +Just after the fall of Napoleon I a French writer published a book +describing the "methodic perversity" of the revolutionary leaders and +the Revolution as the beginning of a Machiavellian régime.[782] How did +this system come to be established in France unless under the guidance +of Weishaupt's emissaries and the agents of Frederick the Great and of +the Illuminatus Frederick William II? + +Germany was well able, however, to defend herself against the +devastating doctrines of Illuminism. Always the home of secret +societies, she became by the end of the nineteenth century the spiritual +home of Socialism. Yet although this might appear to present a danger to +German Imperialism, no country has remained so free as Germany from +serious agitation. It has been well said that the Germans are +theoretically more Socialistic than other nations, but they are far less +revolutionary. + +The truth is that the rulers of Germany have always known that they +could count not merely on the servility of the people but on their +ardent national spirit. A strong vein of patriotism ran through all the +secret societies even of the most subversive variety, and it was the +German Student Orders, whence the Illuminati drew their disciples, that +became also the recruiting-ground for the German Imperialist idea. +Instead of combating subversive forces, German Imperialism adopted the +far more skilful expedient of enlisting them in its service. + +It was thus that in Germany Freemasonry became a powerful aid to +Prussian aggrandizement. From 1840 onwards the word of command to all +the lodges went out from Berlin,[783] and in the revolution of 1848 the +Freemasons of Germany showed themselves the most ardent supporters of +German unity under the ægis of Prussia. Later, Bismarck with superb +ingenuity enlisted not only Freemasons and members of secret societies +but Socialists and democrats in the same cause. Lassalle and Marx +contributed powerfully to the cause of pan-Germanism. Dammer, who +succeeded Lassalle as head of the Socialist party, instructed his +successor Fritsche that "in the meetings which took place in Saxony, +whilst putting forward Socialist claims, they must not fail to demand +the unity of Germany under the domination of Prussia. Fritsche was +personally to render an account to Bismarck of the results obtained at +these meetings."[784] + +Even as far afield as Italy, Bismarck succeeded in imposing the policy +of German autocracy on men who were ostensibly marching in the vanguard +of "liberty." "I believe in the unity of Germany," Mazzini wrote to +Bismarck in 1867, "and I desire it as I desire that of my own country. I +abhor the empire and supremacy that France arrogates to herself over +Europe."[785] + +Before 1870 Freemasonry everywhere on the Continent helped the cause of +Germany. "The Occult Power preached pacifism and humanitarianism in +France by means of French Freemasonry whilst it preached patriotism in +Germany by means of German Freemasonry."[786] So although throughout +the nineteenth century the rulers of Germany permitted the dissemination +of ideas antagonistic to religion, until by the dawn of the following +century the very idea of God was rooted out of the minds of many German +children, the Imperial Government was careful that nothing should be +allowed to weaken patriotism. Indeed, the Pan-German obsession into +which German patriotism became transformed under the influence of such +men as Treitschke and Bernhardi was, no less than revolutionary +Socialism, fortified by irreligion because founded on the law of force +and the absence of all moral scruple. It is thus not "militarism" in the +accepted sense that has rendered Germany a menace to the world, but the +Machiavellian plan of using for export doctrines sternly repressed +within her own borders. + +I shall not enlarge here on the crime of the German Imperial Staff in +sending Lenin and his fellow Bolsheviks to Russia, because I have +already dealt at length with this question in a controversy that +appeared in the _Morning Post_ two years ago.[787] But whilst +acknowledging the fair and courteous line of argument adopted by my +German opponent, with which on certain points I found myself completely +in agreement. I was obliged to recognize that the bar to any real +understanding between us lay in the impossibility of persuading him to +recognize the principle that all means are not justifiable in order to +obtain one's ends. This is how he expresses himself on the subject: + +If Mrs. Webster ... reproaches Germany for having employed seditious +propaganda in the countries of the Allies, it may simply be brought to +mind that all is fair in love and war. In a war, in a fight concerning +life and death, one does not look at the weapons which one takes, nor at +the values which are destroyed by using the arms. The only adviser [sic] +is, first of all, the success of the fight, the salvation of one's +independence.[788] + +Until Germany abandons this Machiavellian doctrine it will be impossible +to treat her as a civilized Power. + +But Herr Kerlen accuses England of pursuing the same Machiavellian +policy of encouraging sedition abroad. Undoubtedly England did propagate +Pacifism in Germany and other enemy countries and hoped to bring about a +political revolution, that is to say, a rising of the German people +against the rulers who had led them into war. (It should be remembered +that all the friends of Germany in this country always declared that the +German people did not want the war and were dragged into it unwillingly +by the military caste.) But is there any evidence to show that England +ever attempted to engineer a social revolution, to undermine morality +and all belief in ordered government, in a word to promote Bolshevism in +Germany or elsewhere? Herr Kerlen cites the sympathy accorded in this +country to the Kerensky revolution. But England, largely through the +influence of the Liberals, had always entertained an exaggerated idea of +"Tzarist tyranny," and honestly sympathized with all efforts, however +misguided, to "liberate" the Russian people. Further, throughout the war +the Tzar and Tzarina had been ceaselessly represented as faithless to +the Allies--a story that we now know to have been an infamous calumny +circulated doubtless by enemy agents. This idea even obtained credence +in Conservative circles, misled by false information on the situation in +Russia. One must have lived through the spring of 1917 in London to +realize how completely not only the public but the authorities were +deluded. What else could be expected when the opinion of Socialists was +accepted on the matter? I know from personal experience that two of the +most important Government departments were completely mistaken even on +the subject of Bolshevism, with the result that measures were not taken +which might have checked its spread into this country. + +In a word, then, the essential difference between the attitude of +Germany and England to Russia was that whilst England imagined that the +Kerensky revolution would be for the good of Russia as well as for the +advantage of the Allies, Germany deliberately introduced into Russia +what she knew to be a poison. + +Always faithful to the maxim of _divide et impera_, Germany, after +bringing Russia to ruin, has at last succeeded in causing dissensions +between the Allies. This policy she pursued unremittingly throughout the +war. Thus whilst on one hand she was assuring the French that "the +English would fight to the last breath of the last Frenchman," General +Ludendorff was instructing the Imperial Chancellor that: "We must again +and again rub in the sentence in Kuhlmann's speech to the effect that +the question of Alsace-Lorraine is the only one which stands in the way +of peace. And we must lay special emphasis on the fact that the English +people are shedding their blood for an Imperialistic war-aim."[789] + +So skilfully was this propaganda carried on after the war had ended that +whilst English officers returning to England from the occupied areas +were declaring that the friendliness of the Germans convinced them that +Germany was really our friend and that we should have an "entente" with +her rather than with France, French officers returning to France said +that the Germans had assured them that they were their best friends, +that England was the real enemy, and that it would be better to break +the Entente and form an alliance with Germany. At the same time no less +than three lines of propaganda concerning the causes of the war were +going out from Germany, one laying all the blame on the English, one on +the French, and one on the Jews, and pamphlets embodying these +conflicting theories were despatched broadcast to likely subjects in the +countries of the Allies.[790] + +The greatest triumph for Imperial Germany lay in her success in +enlisting the very elements amongst the Allies which might most be +expected to oppose her. Although there was no country in the world where +monarchy was so adored, militarism so universally admired, where rank +and birth played so important a part, and the working classes, though +cared for, so rigidly kept in subjection, Germany from the time of +Bismarck onwards has always been the "spiritual home" of British +Socialists, democrats, and pacifists, just as in France she has always +found her principal allies in the masonic lodges. And this although the +German Socialists and Freemasons have never attempted to use their +influence in favour of the masonic and Socialist ideal of universal +brotherhood and world-peace, but, on the contrary, at every crisis have +thrown in their lot with the military party. Thus before the +Franco-Prussian War, whilst French Freemasons of the Loge Concordia and +the Socialists of the First Internationale were urging their brothers to +rely on German Socialism to avert a conflict, the Prussian lodges were +shouting Hoch! to the national colours and chanting the praises of King +William and "the Prussian sword," and the German Social Democrats were +applauding the cause of German unity.[791] + +Exactly the same thing happened before the recent war, when Jaurès +assured his fellow-Socialists that at the first sign of conflict he had +only to communicate with Berlin in order to enlist German Socialism in +the interests of peace; yet on the declaration of war the German +Socialists voted solidly for war credits, whilst the British Socialists +opposed participation in the war and even in some instances expressed +sympathy with Germany. And let it never be forgotten, it was not +Socialist Germany but Imperial Germany that won the allegiance of our +so-called democrats. + +In spite of this betrayal by the Socialists of Germany, in spite of the +fact that they have contributed nothing to the cause of International +Socialism or of world-peace, the British "Labour" Party never until its +accession to office wavered in its policy of publicly advocating the +cause of Germany. With the exception of the Social Democratic +Federation, every Socialist body in this country has proclaimed +pro-German sentiments, and _Justice_ alone, of all Socialist organs, has +expressed its sympathy for the sufferings of France. In fact, any +Socialist who dared to champion the cause of France immediately lost his +influence and position in Socialist circles. As to the _Daily Herald_, +had it been edited in Berlin it could not more faithfully have supported +German interests. When Alsace Lorraine was restored to France, it +published an article showing how deeply the inhabitants of this province +resented being transferred from the German Empire to the French +Republic[792]; when a general strike threatened this country, it seized +the opportunity to come out with an appeal in enormous capitals to +revise the Versailles Treaty; in the matter of reparations its efforts +to let Germany off altogether have been, as it itself observed, +"unceasing." "The plain fact is," it declared on December 17, 1921, +"that these fantastic reparation demands cannot be met; and that every +payment by which Germany attempts to meet them will only work further +havoc to our own commerce and our own industry. We have urged that +ceaselessly for three years. To-day even the Premier begins to see that +we were right, that the interests of this country demand the scrapping +of _the whole bad business of 'making Germany pay_.'"[793] + +Indeed, when the interests of Germany were concerned, this paper, which +Lenin has described as "our own organ," but which might still more truly +be claimed by Ludendorff and Stinnes, was quite ready to throw Socialism +to the winds and plead the cause of capital. At the very moment that it +was advocating the Labour policy of a capital levy on all fortunes +exceeding £5,000 in this country, the _Daily Herald_ waxed almost +tearful over the iniquity of France in attempting to touch the pockets +of German multi-millionaires whose profits, it went on to explain +elaborately, were not nearly as huge as might appear in view of the +decline in the purchasing power of the mark. The decline in the +purchasing power of the pound had, however, never been taken into +account when assessing the profits of British employers of labour.[794] + +We have only to follow point by point the policy of the British Labour +Party since the war to recognize that whilst the measures it advocated +might be of doubtful benefit to the workers, there could be no doubt +whatever of the benefit they would confer on Germany. With a million and +a quarter unemployed and large numbers of the working classes unable to +find homes, the professed representatives of Labour have persistently +clamoured for the removal of restrictions on alien immigration and alien +imports. So although through the Trade Unions the British worker was to +be rigorously protected against competition from his fellow-Briton, no +obstacles were to be placed in the way of competition by foreign, and +frequently underpaid, labour. That this glaring betrayal of their +interests should not have raised a storm of resentment amongst the +working classes is surely evidence that the Marxian doctrine "the +emancipation of the working classes must be brought about by the working +classes themselves"[795] has so far led to no great results. Emerson +truly observed: "So far as a man thinks, he is free." The working +classes can never be free until they learn to think for themselves +instead of allowing their thinking to be done for them by the +middle-class exploiters of Labour. + +The hand of Germany behind Socialism must be apparent to all those who +do not deliberately shut their eyes to the fact, and it is significant +to notice that the nearer Socialism approaches to Bolshevism the more +marked this influence becomes. Thus although certain Socialist groups, +such as the Social Democratic Federation in England and the Socialist +Party in France, have not become Germanized, the avowed Communists in +all the Allied countries are strongly pro-German. This is the case even +in France, where the Bolsheviks find fervent supporters in the group led +by Marcel Cachin, Froissart, and Longuet, grandson of Karl Marx. + +The organization of the Bolshevist movement has indeed throughout owed a +great deal of its efficiency to German co-operation, provided not only by +the Socialist but by the Monarchist elements in Germany. It is necessary +in this connexion to understand the dual character of the German +Monarchist party since the ending of the war. The great majority of its +adherents, animated by nothing more reprehensible than the spirit of +militarism and an aggressive form of patriotism that clings to the old +formula of _Deutschland über alles_, are probably strangers to any +intrigues, but behind this mass of honest Imperialists, and doubtless +unknown to a great number, there lurk those sinister organizations the +Pan-German secret societies. + +Many of these, as for example the _Ostmarkenverein_, ostensibly +instituted for the defence of German interests on the Russian frontier, +existed before the war; indeed, there is little doubt that they have +continued without a break since the days of the Tugendbund and have +always preserved their masonic and "illuminized" character. But since +the beginning of the Great War, and still more since the Armistice, +their numbers have increased until in 1921 they were estimated to run +into three figures. Moreover, as in the time of Weishaupt, Bavaria is +still a centre for secret-society intrigue, and it was here that +Escherich founded the _Einwohnerwehr_ sometimes known as the _Orgesch_ +or Organization Escherich, with Munich as its headquarters. The Orgesch +was followed by the formidable murder club known to all the world as the +Organization C or "Consul," named after its founder, the famous Captain +Ehrhardt, whose nickname was "_der Herr Consul_." During the year 1921 +no less than 400 political assassinations were reported in Germany and +said to be the work of secret societies. Amongst the crimes attributed +to the initiative of Organization C were the murders of Herr Erzberger +and the attempt on the life of Herr Scheidemann. Eighty persons arrested +for complicity in the murder of Herr Rathenau were also said to be +members of the same society.[796] + +But as in the case of all secret societies, the visible leaders were not +the real hierarchy; behind this active body there existed an inner +circle organised on masonic lines, the Druidenorden, a name unknown to +the public, and behind this again another and still more secret circle +which appears to be nameless. It is these inner rings which, whilst +remaining Monarchist in Germany, work for other ends abroad, and are +connected with the world-revolutionary movement. + +This alliance between the two extremes of ardent Monarchism and +revolutionary Socialism existed at the beginning of the war or even +earlier, and, as is now well known, it was the Jewish Social Democrat, +Israel Lazarewitch, alias Helphandt alias Parvus, who arranged with the +German General Staff for the passage of Lenin from Switzerland to +Russia, accompanied by Karl Radek, the Austrian Jew deserter, and a +number of other Jews. + +Now, Switzerland has been for hundreds of years a centre of +revolutionary and secret-society intrigue. As early as the sixteenth +century the Pope, writing to the Kings of France and Spain, warned them +that Geneva was "un foyer éternel de révolution," and Joseph de Maistre, +quoting this letter in 1817, declared Geneva to be the metropolis of the +revolutionaries, whose art of deception he describes as "the great +European secret."[797] Elsewhere, a year earlier, he had referred to +Illuminism as the root of all the evil at work. It is now known that at +the moment de Maistre wrote these words an inner ring of +revolutionaries, claiming direct descent from Weishaupt and even from an +earlier sect existing at the end of the fifteenth century, profited by +the fall of Napoleon I to reconstruct its organization and took up its +headquarters in Switzerland with branch offices in London and Paris. The +same secret ring of Illuminati is believed to have been intimately +connected with the organization of the Bolshevist revolution, although +none of the leading Bolsheviks are said to have been members of the +innermost circle, which is understood to consist of men belonging to the +highest intellectual and financial classes whose names remained +absolutely unknown. Outside this absolutely secret ring there existed, +however, a semi-secret circle of high initiates of subversive societies +drawn from all over the world and belonging to various +nationalities--German, Jewish, French, Russian, and even Japanese. This +group, which might be described as the active ring of the inner circle, +appears to have been in touch with, if not in control of, a committee +which met in Switzerland to carry out the programme of the Third +Internationale. + +It was thus in Switzerland that at the same time high initiates of +Pan-German secret societies foregathered and that an active centre of +pro-German, anti-Entente, and even Bolshevist propaganda was +established. These Germans, although Monarchists themselves, co-operated +with the secret revolutionary forces in stirring up trouble in the +countries of the Allies. At the same time the conferences of the Second +Internationale, attended by members of the British I.L.P. took place in +Switzerland, and at one of these--the Berne Conference of 1919--the +delegates were entertained by a mysterious "American" millionaire, John +de Kay, living himself in great style, paying for press service at the +rate of 2,000 francs a day, lavishing money on the conference, and at +the same time subsidizing a Pacifist and Defeatest paper named _La +Feuille_. + +It is impossible, then, to ignore the role of Germany in the present +outbreak of world revolution. In the British White Paper on Bolshevism +in Russia we find it stated by an Englishman who had been through the +whole of the Revolution in that country that: + + The Germans initiated disturbances in order to reduce Russia to + chaos. They printed masses of paper money to finance their schemes; + the notes, of which I possess specimens, can be easily recognized + by a special mark.[798] + +What has Germany to say to all this? Simply that the promotion of +Bolshevism was a military "necessity" in order to bring about the +downfall of her opponents, but that the propaganda utilized by her was +in reality of Jewish origin, and that Jewry, not Germany, was the real +author of world revolution. + +It is easy to see how such a theory can be made to serve the cause of +Pan-Germanism. For if Germany can persuade us that the Jews alone were +responsible for the war and were also the sole authors of Bolshevism, we +shall naturally be led to the conclusion that Germany is, after all, +innocent of the crimes attributed to her, and that our only safety lies +in forgoing reparations, restoring her to her former power, and +coalescing with her against a common enemy. We shall therefore do well +to accept with extreme caution advice on the Jewish question emanating +from German sources, and to test the sincerity of the spirit in which it +is offered by considering the relations which have hitherto existed +between the Germans and the Jews. + +Now, Germany has long been the home of modern "anti-Semitism." Although +in every country and at every period, but more particularly in the East +of Europe during the last century, the Jews have suffered from +unpopularity, it was Germany that organized this aversion into a +definite plan of campaign. If in Russia, Galicia, and Poland the Jews +have met with sporadic violence at the hands of the peasants, in Germany +they have been systematically held up by the authorities to hatred and +contempt. Luther, Kant, Fichte, Schopenhauer, Treitschke, successively +inveighed against the Jewish race. Jews were denied admission to masonic +lodges and to the rank of officers in the army, whilst society excluded +them up to the outbreak of war. + +Yet the extraordinary fact remains that of all nations the Germans have +always been the favourites of the Jews. Throughout the whole movement +for the unification of Germany under the ægis of Prussia, Jews played a +leading part, and in the recent war Germany found in them some of her +most valuable allies. As Maximilian Harden recently pointed out: "The +services of the Jews to Germany during the war were enormous. The +patriotism of the Jews was beyond reproach, in many cases even ludicrous +and offensive in its intensity." And in spite of "anti-Semitism," Harden +declares: "There is a strong affinity between the German and the Jew."[799] +To the Ashkenazim Germany even more than Palestine has appeared +the Land of Promise. Thus some years before the war Professor Ludwig +Geiger, leader of the Liberal Jews of Berlin, denounced "Zionist +sophisms" in the words: "The German Jew who has a voice in German +literature must, as he has been accustomed to for the last century and a +half, look upon Germany alone as his fatherland, upon the German +language as his mother-tongue, and the future of that nation must remain +the only one upon which he bases his hopes."[800] + +How are we to explain this unrequited devotion? Simply by the German +policy of enlisting every dynamic force in her service. She has known +how to use the Jews just as she has known how to use the Freemasons, the +Illuminati, and the Socialists for the purpose of Pan-Germanism. From +Frederick the Great, who employed the Jew Ephraim to coin false money, +to William II, who kept in touch with Rathenau by means of a private +telephone wire, the rulers of Germany have always allowed them to +co-operate in their schemes of world-domination. As the allies of +Bismarck, who used them freely to fill his war-chests, the Jews directed +the power of the secret societies in the interests of Germany; in 1871 +the Jew Bloechreider acted as adviser to the new German Empire as to the +best method of wresting indemnities from France. And Germany, whilst +heaping insults on the Jews, nevertheless fulfils certain conditions +essential to Jewish enterprise. Unlike England and France, she has never +allowed herself to be seriously weakened by democratic ideas, and +therefore to the Jews--as to British believers in autocracy--she +represents the principle of stability. + +Moreover, Germany as the home of militarism offers a wide field for +Jewish speculation. We have only to couple together an aphorism of +Mirabeau's with one of Werner Sombart's to perceive the bond of union +between the two races, thus: "War is the national industry of Prussia" +and "Wars are the Jews' harvests." As long ago as 1793 Anacharsis +Clootz, the apostle of universal brotherhood and defender of the Jewish +race, declared that if Germany were to be prevented from going to war +the Jews must be persuaded to withdraw their support from her military +adventures: + + War could not begin or last in Germany without the activity, the + intelligence, and the money of the Jews. Magazines and munitions of + all kinds are provided by Hebrew capitalists and all the subaltern + agents of military provisionment are of the same nation. We have + only to come to an understanding with our brothers, the Rabbis, to + produce astonishing, miraculous results.[801] + +Mr. Ford, the American motor-car manufacturer, appears to have arrived +at much the same conclusion expressed in the words recently attributed +to him: "We don't need the League of Nations to end war. Put under +control the fifty most wealthy Jewish financiers, who produce wars for +their own profit, and wars will cease."[802] + +On another occasion Mr. Ford is reported to have said that the Jews who +voyaged with him in the Peace ship in 1915 "went out of their way to +convince" him of "the direct relations between the International Jew and +the war": they "went into details to tell me the means by which the Jews +controlled the war--how they had the money, how they had cornered all +the basic materials needed to fight the war," etc.[803] + +Without in any way absolving Germany from the crime of the war, it is +necessary to take this secondary factor into consideration if peace +between the nations is to be established. For as long as the lust of war +lingers in the hearts of the Germans and the lust of gain at the price +of human suffering lingers in the hearts of the Jews, both races will +remain necessary to each other and the hideous nightmare of war will +continue to brood over the world. + +There is then a great deal of truth in the Socialist phrase +"Capitalists' Wars," although not in the sense they attribute to it. For +it will be noticed that the Capitalists who are most instrumental in +making wars are precisely those whom the Socialists are always careful +to shield from blame. The following incident will illustrate this point. + +At a meeting of the Social Democratic Federation Mr. Adolphe Smith moved +a resolution appealing to the organized workers of Great Britain-- + + Not to permit themselves in the supposed interests of their + fellow-workers in other countries, to be used by sinister financial + and militarist influences merely to weaken the Entente nations in + the present critical situation, and urging them to keep careful + watch against such manoeuvres on the part of pro-German + international financiers, who were able to exercise considerable + reactionary influence among the wealthy and official classes in + this country.[804] + +Mr. Hyndman added that "the most serious danger by which we were +threatened was from the most powerful group of capitalists in Europe +headed by Hugo Stinnes and backed by Hindenburg, Ludendorff, and the +militarist party in Germany." This resolution was opposed by a member of +the Parliamentary Labour Party and eventually withdrawn. + +The connexion between German Imperialism, International Finance, +Illuminism, Bolshevism, and certain sections of British Socialism is +thus apparent. Is Germany then the secret power behind the thing we call +Bolshevism? Are Illuminism and Pan-Germanism one and the same thing? To +this hypothesis two objections present themselves: firstly, that the +spirit of Illuminism and Bolshevism existed, as we have seen in earlier +chapters of this book, long before modern Germany came into existence; +and secondly, that Germany herself is not entirely free from the +contagion. For although the danger of Bolshevism in Germany has been +doubtless greatly exaggerated in order to prevent the Allies from +pressing their demands for disarmament and reparations, nevertheless +Bolshevism under its illuminated name of Spartacism cannot be regarded +as a movement entirely staged for the deception of Europe. Moreover, +just as in the countries of the Allies it has shown itself, under the +guise of Pacifism, savagely anti-national and pro-German, so in Germany, +as also in Hungary, it turned Pacifism to the opposite purpose by +professing sympathy at moments with the Allies. + +It is clear, then, that besides Pan-Germanism there is another power at +work, a power far older, that seeks to destroy all national spirit, all +ordered government in every country, Germany included. What is this +power? A large body of opinion replies: the Jewish power. + + + + +15 + +THE REAL JEWISH PERIL + + + +In considering the immense problem of the Jewish Power, perhaps the most +important problem with which the modern world is confronted, it is +necessary to divest oneself of all prejudices and to enquire in a spirit +of scientific detachment whether any definite proof exists that a +concerted attempt is being made by Jewry to achieve world-domination and +to obliterate the Christian faith. + +That such a purpose has existed amongst the Jews in the past has been +shown throughout the earlier chapters of this book. The conception of +the Jews as the Chosen People who must eventually rule the world forms +indeed the basis of Rabbinical Judaism. + +It is customary in this country to say that we should respect the Jewish +religion, and this would certainly be our duty were the Jewish religion +founded, as is popularly supposed, solely on the Old Testament. For +although we do not consider ourselves bound to observe the ritual of the +Pentateuch, we find no fault with the Jews for carrying out what they +conceive to be their religious duties. Moreover, although the Old +Testament depicts the Jews as a favoured race--a conception which we +believe to have been superseded by the Christian dispensation, whereby +all men are declared equal in the sight of God--nevertheless it does +contain a very lofty law of righteousness applicable to all mankind. It +is because of their universality that the books of Job and Ecclesiastes, +as also many passages in the Psalms, in Isaiah, and the minor prophets, +have made an undying appeal to the human race. But the Jewish religion +now takes its stand on the Talmud rather than on the Bible. "The modern +Jew," one of its latest Jewish translators observes, "is the product of +the Talmud."[805] The Talmud itself accords to the Bible only a +secondary place. Thus the Talmudic treatise Soferim says: "The Bible is +like water, the Mischna is like wine, and the Gemara is like spiced +wine." + +Now, the Talmud is not a law of righteousness for all mankind, but a +meticulous code applying to the Jew alone. No human being outside the +Jewish race could possibly go to the Talmud for help or comfort. One +might look through its pages in vain for any such splendid rule of life +as that given by the prophet Micah: "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is +good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to +love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" In the Talmud, on the +contrary, as Drach points out, "the precepts of justice, of equity, of +charity towards one's neighbour, are not only not applicable with regard +to the Christian, but constitute a crime in anyone who would act +differently.... The Talmud expressly forbids one to save a non-Jew from +death, ... to restore lost goods, etc., to him, to have pity on him."[806] + + +How far the Talmud has contributed to the anti-social tendencies of +modern Judaism is shown by the fact that the Karaites living in the +south of Russia, the only body of Jews which takes its stand on the +Bible, and not on the Talmud,--of which it only accepts such portions as +are in accordance with Bible teaching--have always shown themselves good +subjects of the Russian Empire, and have therefore enjoyed equal rights +with the Russian people around them. Catherine the Great particularly +favoured the Karaites. + +Thus even the Jews are not unanimous in supporting the Talmud; indeed, +as we have already seen, many Jews have protested against it as a +barrier between themselves and the rest of the human race. + +But it is in the Cabala, still more than in the Talmud, that the Judaic +dream of world-domination recurs with the greatest persistence. The +Zohar indeed refers to this as a _fait accompli_, explaining that "the +Feast of Tabernacles is the period when Israel triumphs over the other +people of the world; that is why during this feast we seize the Loulab +[branches of trees tied together] and carry it as a trophy to show that +we have conquered all the other peoples known as 'populace' and that we +dominate them."[807] God is, however, asked to accord these other +peoples a certain share of blessings, "so that occupied with this share +they shall not participate nor mingle with the joy of Israel when he +calls down blessings from on high." The situation may thus be compared +with that of a king who, wishing to give a feast to his special friends, +finds his house invaded by importunate governors demanding admittance. +"What then does the king do? He orders the governors to be served with +beef and vegetables, which are common food, and then sits down to table +with his friends and has the most delicious dishes served."[808] + +But this is nothing to the feasting that is to take place when the +Messianic era arrives. After the return of the Jews from all nations and +parts of the world to Palestine, the Messiah, we are told in the Talmud, +will entertain them at a gorgeous banquet, where they will be seated at +golden tables and regaled with wine from Adam's wine-cellar. The first +course is to consist of a roasted ox named Behemoth, so immense that +every day it eats up the grass upon a thousand hills; the second of a +monstrous fish Leviathan; the third of a female Leviathan boiled and +pickled; the fourth of a gigantic roast fowl known as Barjuchne, of +which the egg alone was so enormous that when it fell out of the nest it +crushed three hundred tall cedars and the white overflowed threescore +villages. This course is to be followed up by "the most splendid and +pompous Dessert" that can be procured, including fruit from the Tree of +Life and "the Pomegranates of Eden which are preserved for the Just." + +At the end of the banquet "God will entertain the company at a ball"; He +Himself will sit in the midst of them, and everyone will point Him out +with his finger, saying: "Behold, this is our God: we have waited for +Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."[809] + +The eighteenth-century commentator, whose summary of these passages we +quote, goes on to observe: + + But let us see a little after what manner the Jews are to live in + their ancient Country under the Administration of the Messiah. In + the First Place, the strange Nations, which they shall suffer to + live, shall build them Houses and Cities, till them Ground, and + plant them Vineyards; and all this, without so much as looking for + any Reward of their Labour. These surviving Nations will likewise + voluntarily offer them all their Wealth and Furniture: And Princes + and Nobles shall attend them; and be ready at their Nod to pay them + all Manner of Obedience; while they themselves shall be surrounded + with Grandeur and Pleasure, appearing abroad in Apparel glittering + with Jewels like Priests of the Unction, consecrated to God.... + + In a word, the felicity of this Holy Nation, in the Times of the + Messiah, will be such, that the exalted Condition of it cannot + enter into the Conception of Man; much less can it be couched in + human Expression. This is what the Rabbis say of it. But the + intelligent reader will doubtless pronounce it the Paradise of + Fools.[810] + +It is interesting to notice that this conception of the manner in which +the return to Palestine is to be carried out has descended to certain of +the modern colonists. Sir George Adam Smith, after watching Zionism at +work in 1918, wrote: + + On visiting a recently established Jewish colony in the north-east + of the land, round which a high wall had been built by the + munificent patron, I found the colonists sitting in its shade + gambling away the morning, while groups of _fellahin_ at a poor + wage did the cultivation for them. I said that this was surely not + the intention of their patron in helping them to settle on land of + their own. A Jew replied to me in German: "Is it not written: The + sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen and vinedressers?" I know + that such delinquencies have become the exception in Jewish + colonization of Palestine, but they are symptomatic of dangers + which will have to be guarded against.[811] + +The fellahin may, however, consider themselves lucky to be allowed to +live at all, for, according to several passages in the Cabala, all the +_goyim_ are to be swept off the face of the earth when Israel comes into +its own. Thus the Zohar relates that the Messiah will declare war on the +whole world and all the kings of the world will end by declaring war on +the Messiah. But "the Holy One, blessed be He, will display His force +and exterminate them from the world."[812] Then: + + Happy will be the lot of Israel, whom the Holy One, blessed be He, + has chosen from amongst the _goyim_ of whom the Scriptures say: + "Their work is but vanity, it is an illusion at which we must + laugh; they will all perish when God visits them in His wrath." At + the moment when the Holy One, blessed be He, will exterminate all + the _goyim_ of the world, Israel alone will subsist, even as it is + written: "The Lord alone will appear great on that day."[813] + +The hope of world-domination is therefore not an idea attributed to the +Jews by "anti-Semites," but a very real and essential part of their +traditions. What then of their attitude to Christianity in the past? We +have already seen that hatred of the person and teaching of Christ did +not end at Golgotha, but was kept alive by the Rabbis and perpetuated in +the Talmud and the Toledot Yeshu. The Cabala also contains passages +referring both to Christ and to Mohammed so unspeakably foul that it +would be impossible to quote them here. + +But it will be urged: the Jews of Western Europe to-day know nothing of +the Cabala. This may be so, yet imperceptibly the Cabala has moulded the +mind of the Jew. As a modern Jewish writer has declared: + + [Kabbalism] has contributed to the formation of modern Judaism, + for, without the influence of the Kabbala, Judaism to-day might + have been one-sided, lacking in warmth and imagination. Indeed, so + deeply has it penetrated into the body of the faith that many ideas + and prayers are now immovably rooted in the general body of + orthodox doctrine and practice. This element has not only become + incorporated, but it has fixed its hold on the affections of the + Jews and cannot be eradicated.[814] + +It is thus not in the law of Moses thundered from Sinai, not in the dry +ritual of the Talmud, but in the stupendous imaginings of the Cabala, +that the real dreams and aspirations of Jewry have been transmitted +through the ages. Belief in the coming Messiah may burn low, but faith +in the final triumph of Israel over the other nations of the world still +glows in the hearts of a race nurtured on this hope from time +immemorial. Even the free-thinking Jew must unconsciously react to the +promptings of this vast and ancient ambition. As a modern French writer +has expressed it: + + Assuredly sectarian Freethinkers swarm, who flatter themselves on + having borrowed nothing from the synagogue and on hating equally + Jehovah and Jesus. But the modern Jewish world is itself also + detached from any supernatural belief, and the Messianic tradition, + of which it preserves the cult, reduces itself to considering the + Jewish race as the veritable Messiah[815]. + +Some colour is lent to this statement by an article which recently +appeared in the Jewish press, in which it is explained that, according +to the teaching of the "Liberal Jewish Synagogue," the beautiful +passages in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah concerning "the Man of +Sorrows acquainted with grief," usually supposed by Christians to relate +to the promised Messiah, are interpreted to modern Jewish youth as +relating to Israel and signifying that Israel's "sufferings were caused +by the sins of other nations," who thus "escaped the suffering they +deserved." Consequently "Israel has suffered for the sake of the whole +world[816]." How this amazing pretension can be maintained in view of +the perpetual denunciations of the Israelites throughout the whole of +the Old Testament is difficult to imagine. On their entry into Canaan +they were distinctly told by Moses that the Lord their God had not given +them "this good land" on account of their righteousness or the +uprightness of their hearts[817]; long afterwards Daniel declared that +all Israel had transgressed the law of God[818]; Nehemiah showed that on +account of their rebellion and disobedience they had been delivered into +the hands of their enemies[819]. Isaiah spoke of the iniquities of Judah +in burning words: + + Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of + evildoers, children that are corruptors!... Wash your, make you + clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; + cease to do evil; learn to do well, etc.[820] + +Thus even the Word of God itself is powerless to mitigate the immense +megalomania of the Jewish race. It is doubtful indeed whether by the +majority of Jews the Bible is now regarded as divinely inspired. "The +ten commandments which _we_ gave to mankind[821]" is a phrase typical of +the manner in which Israel now arrogates to itself the sole authorship +of the Scriptures. The deification of humanity by the Freemasons of the +Grand Orient finds its counterpart in the deification of Israel by the +modern Jew. + +It is here that we must surely see the cause of much of the suffering +the Jews have endured in the past. No one of course would justify the +cruelty with which they have frequently been treated; nevertheless to +maintain there was no provocation on the part of the Jews would be +absurd. A race that has always considered itself entitled to occupy a +privileged position amongst the nations of the world must inevitably +meet with resentment, and in a primitive age or population resentment is +apt to find a vent in violence shocking to the civilized mind. Moreover, +to represent the Jews as a gentle long-suffering people, always the +victims but never the perpetrators of violence, is absolutely contrary +to historic fact. In the dark ages of the past the Jews showed +themselves perfectly capable of cruelties not only towards other races +but towards each other. One of the first pogroms recorded in the +Christian era was carried out by the Jews themselves. The Jewish +historian Josephus describes the reign of "lawlessness and barbarity" +that was inaugurated about the middle of the first century A.D. by the +band of assassins known as the Sicarii, who infested the country round +Jerusalem and, by means of little daggers that they wore concealed +beneath their garments, "slew men in the daytime and in the midst of the +city, especially at the festivals when they mixed with the multitude." +During one night raid on the small town of Engaddi they massacred more +than seven hundred women and children.[822] And Josephus goes on to say: + + Somehow, indeed, that was a time most fertile in all manner of + wicked practices among the Jews, insomuch that no kind of villainy + was then left undone; nor could anyone so much as devise any bad + thing that was new if he wished. So deeply were they all infected, + both privately and publicly, and vied with one another who should + run the greatest lengths in impiety towards God, and in unjust + actions towards their neighbours, men in power oppressing the + multitude, and the multitude earnestly endeavouring to destroy men + in power.[823] + +It is futile then to maintain as do the Jews and their friends--for the +pro-Jew is frequently _plus royaliste que le roi_--that all the faults +of the modern Jew are to be attributed to bitterness engendered by +persecution. Judaism has always contained an element of cruelty[824] +which finds expression in the Talmud. It is from the Talmud, not from +the Mosaic law, that the inhuman methods of Jewish slaughtering are +derived.[825] The Talmud likewise gives the most horrible directions for +carrying out capital punishment, particularly with regard to women, by +the methods of stoning, burning, choking, or slaying with the sword. The +victim condemned to be burnt is to have a scarf wound round his neck, +the two ends pulled tightly by the executioners whilst his mouth is +forced open with pincers and a lighted string thrust into it "so that it +flows down through his inwards and shrinks his entrails."[826] + +It will be said that all this belongs to the past. True, the practice +here described may be considered obsolete, but the spirit of cruelty and +intolerance that dictated it is still alive. One has only to study the +modern Jewish press to realize the persecution to which Jews are +subjected from members of their own race should they infringe one +fraction of the Jewish code. + +If, then, "the modern Jew is the product of the Talmud," it is here that +we must see the principal obstacle to Jewish progress. It is said that +Isaac Disraeli, the father of Lord Beaconsfield, gave as his reason for +withdrawing from the Synagogue that Rabbinical Judaism with its +unyielding laws and fettering customs "cuts off the Jews from the great +family of mankind."[827] Such a system is indeed absolutely +incompatible not only with Christian teaching but with the secular ideas +of Western civilization. The attitude it adopts towards women would be +in itself sufficient to justify this assertion. The Jewish daily prayer, +"Blessed be Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, that Thou has +not made me a woman!"[828] is a ludicrous anachronism in the present +age. According to the Talmud a service can take place in the Synagogue +only if ten persons are present, which number ensures the presence of +God in the assembly. Drach explains however that these persons must all +be men. "If then there were nine men and a million women there could be +no assembly, for the reason that women are nothing. But there arrives +[on the scene] only one small boy of thirteen years and a day, at once +there can be a holy assembly and, according to our Doctors, it is +permitted to God to be present[829]." + +When therefore we say that we must respect the Jewish religion we +cannot, if we know anything about it, mean that we respect that portion +of it which is founded on the Rabbinical traditions of the Talmud and +the Cabala, but only that ethical law set forth in the Old Testament, to +which right-living Jews have faithfully adhered and which is largely in +accord with Christian teaching. + +Let us not forget that Rabbinical Judaism is the declared and implacable +enemy of Christianity. Hatred of Christianity and of the person of +Christ is not a matter of remote history, nor can it be regarded as the +result of persecution; it forms an integral part of Rabbinical tradition +which originated before any persecution of the Jews by Christians had +taken place, and has continued in our country long after all such +persecution has ended. + +It is here that we cannot fail to detect the origin of much of that +virulent anti-Christian teaching that is being disseminated in our midst +to-day. This teaching will be observed to follow three lines, of which +the course has been traced throughout this book. These consist in +desecrating the Christian tradition by declaring that Christ was either +(_a_) a myth, (_b_) a purely human teacher endowed with superior virtue +and knowledge of natural laws, (_c_) a crazy fanatic[830] or a +malefactor. The first two theories are, as we have seen, those held by +secret societies; the last is essentially Jewish. It is true that there +is now a movement amongst the more enlightened Jews to recognize Jesus +as a great teacher; so far, unfortunately, this is met by bitter +hostility from the rest, and in the current Jewish press contemptuous +and even blasphemous references to Christ and the Christian faith +frequently occur. The fact that here in England, for nearly three +hundred years, the Jews have been allowed to dwell in peace and carry +out their religious rites unmolested, that they have been admitted to +society, to masonic lodges, and to all offices of State and have met +with increasing tolerance and favour, has done nothing to moderate that +hatred of Christianity inculcated throughout nineteen centuries of +Rabbinical teaching. Thus, for example, under the heading of "What +Christianity has Meant," we read in a modern Jewish periodical: + + We are thinking of what Christianity as an institution has meant to + us Jews. The twenty centuries of its existence have been coeval + with the long-drawn tragedy of the Jew's dispersal among the + nations.... What kindliness and consideration we have received at + the hands of Christianity has for the most part been tendered with + the lure of the baptismal font. To the extent to which + Christianity's embodiment, the Church, has been puissant has the + Jewish tragedy deepened. Only when and where the Church has been + weak has life been tolerable for the Jew.... Hatred of the Jew, + anti-Jewish outbursts and anti-Semitic campaigns, are traceable to + nothing so surely as to antipathy to the Jew which has been inbred + by Christianity.... There is thus precious little about which the + Jew has for rejoicing and gladness in the institution of + Christianity, etc.[831] + +The most cursory study of history would reveal the falseness of this +contention. Antipathy to the Jew began long before the Christian era; in +Egypt, Persia, and Rome he became, whether just or not, the object of +suspicion to rulers. The reason given by Pharaoh for oppressing the +Israelites was that if they were allowed to grow too powerful they might +join themselves to the enemy in time of war[832]; the Emperors of Rome +regarded them as a turbulent element; Mohammed declared: "Their aim will +be to abet disorder on the earth, but God loveth not the abettors of +disorder."[833] Meanwhile, the antipathy shown by the "people" in every +country was mainly based on economic grounds. It was not simply the +possession of wealth--which according to the Socialist creed should +justify any amount of hatred--but the manner in which it was acquired +and the arrogance with which it was displayed that roused popular +feeling against the Jews. An Arab Fakih, Abu Ishak of Elvira, thus +warned his master of the growing power of the Jews in Spain in the +middle of the eleventh century A.D.: + + The Jews, contemptible outcasts, have become great lords, and their + pride and arrogance know no bounds.... Take not such men for thy + ministers, but abandon them to curses, for the whole earth crieth + out against them--ere long it will quake and we shall all perish. + Turn thine eyes to other lands and behold how the Jews are treated + as dogs, and kept apart.... + + I came to Granada, and there I beheld the Jews reigning. They had + parcelled out the provinces and the capital between them: + everywhere one of these accursed ruled. They collected the taxes, + they made good cheer, they were sumptuously clad, while your + garments, O Moslems, were old and worn-out. All the secrets of + state were known to them; yet is it folly to put trust in traitors! + While believers ate the bread of poverty, they dined delicately in + the palace.... How can we thrive if we live in the shade and the + Jews dazzle us with the glory of their pride?[834] + +In mediæval France the chief cause for complaint against the Jews is +that of not working with their hands but of enriching themselves by +"excessive usury." In the fifteenth century the Strasbourg preacher +Geyler asks: "Are the Jews above the Christians? Why will they not work +with their hands?... practising usury is not working. It is exploiting +others whilst remaining idle."[835] Such quotations as these might be +multiplied _ad infinitum_. + +To attribute the persecution of the Jews to Christianity is therefore +ludicrous. That in a less enlightened age the Church should have adopted +rigorous measures--although no more rigorous than their own laws +demanded--against those Jews who practised magic and witchcraft must +appear deplorable to the modern mind, but so must many other phases of +mediæval life. Why then hark back perpetually to the past? If the Jews +were persecuted in a less enlightened age, so were many other sections +of the community. Catholics were persecuted, Protestants were +persecuted, men were placed in the stocks for minor offences, scolding +women were ducked in the village pond. But if all these cruelties of the +dark ages are to be remembered and perpetuated on the plan of a tribal +blood-feud, what peace can there be for the world? The disastrous +results of this tendency were seen in the Irish Intellectuals, nourished +from infancy on the story of Ireland's wrongs, who, instead of sanely +facing present problems, unhinged their minds by brooding on historic +grievances, thereby sealing their own doom and plunging their country +into ruin. So, too, the enraged Feminists, harking back to injustices +that had long ceased to exist, embittered their lives by proclaiming +themselves the eternal enemies of Man. Emerson, the prophet of sanity, +declared: "The only ballast I know is a respect to the present hour." +It is for lack of this ballast that the Jews have become victims of a +fanaticism in which Christians from a mistaken idea of kindness have +frequently encouraged them. In reality nothing is more cruel than to +encourage in the minds of a nervous race the idea of persecution; true +kindness to the Jews would consist in urging them to throw off memories +of past martyrdom and to enter healthfully into the enjoyment of their +present blessings, which are the direct outcome of Christian +civilization. + +Let us consider what Christianity has in reality done for the Jews. If +so much is to be said about the persecutions they have endured, what of +the extraordinary indulgence shown them as the result of Christian +respect for the Bible? For hundreds of years Christian school children +have been brought up on Old Testament history and Christian +congregations have listened sympathetically to the story of Israel's +sufferings and hopes of final restoration. All the support lent to +Zionism arose from this tradition. Christianity, then, so reviled by the +Jews, has been their greatest protection. If Christianity goes, the +whole theory that the Jews were once the Chosen People goes with it as +far as Gentiles are concerned, and the Jewish race, divested of its halo +of divine favour, will have to be judged on its own merits. + +In our own country, the Chosen People theory has in fact been carried to +the point of superstition--a superstition immensely advantageous to the +Jews--which consists in interpreting the passage of Scripture containing +the promise made to Abraham, "I will bless them that bless thee, and +curse them that curseth thee," as meaning that favour shown to the +Jews--who form merely a fraction of the seed of Abraham--brings with it +peculiar blessings. In reality it would be easier to show by history +that countries and rulers who have protected the Jews have frequently +met with disaster. France banished the Jews in 1394 and again in 1615, +and did not readmit them in large numbers till 1715-19, so that they +were absent throughout the most glorious period in French history--the +_Grand Siècle_ of Louis XIV--whilst their return coincided with the +Regency, from which moment the monarchy of France may be said to have +declined. England likewise banished the Jews in 1290, and it was during +the three and a half centuries they remained in exile that she was known +as "Merrie England." The fact that their return in force in 1664 was +followed the next year by the Great Plague and the year after by the +Great Fire of London would not appear to indicate that the Jews +necessarily bring good fortune to the land that protects them. The truth +is, of course, that kindness to any portion of the human race brings its +own reward in the form of moral improvement in the individual or nation +that performs it, but no more benefit attaches to philanthropy when +exercised towards the Jew than towards the Chinaman. + +I would urge, then, that the Jewish problem should be approached neither +in the spirit of superstitious pro-Semitism nor in the bitter spirit of +"anti-Semitism," but with a sanity worthy of an enlightened age. To +quote again the words of Bernard Lazare, let us enquire what part "the +Jew, considering his spirit, his character, the nature of his philosophy +and his religion," may now be taking "in revolutionary processes and +movements." Is there, then, any evidence that there exists amongst Jewry +to-day an organized conspiracy having for its objects world-domination +and the destruction of Christianity such as the famous _Protocols of the +Elders of Zion_ suggest?[836] + +The theory of a Jewish world-conspiracy does not, of course, rest on the +evidence of Protocols. To judge by the pæans of joy that rang through +the press after the publication of the _Times_ articles, one would +imagine that with the so-called "refutation" of this one document the +whole case against the Jews had collapsed and that the "anti-Semites" +must be for ever silenced. But the arguments of the Jews and their +friends go further than this; not only do they claim that there is no +Jewish conspiracy, but no world-plot of any kind. This contention they +had indeed maintained from the beginning, and Mr. Lucien Wolf, in his +earliest "refutation" of the Protocols, derided the exponents of the +secret-society danger as vehemently as he derided the perfidious author +of the Jewish Peril. It will in fact always be noticed that references +to the Illuminati meet with almost as much resentment from the Jewish +press as allusions of a directly "anti-Semitic" character. Barruel, who +refused to incriminate the Jews, and de Malet, who never referred to +them at all, are denounced by Mr. Lucien Wolf no less as scaremongers +than Gougenot des Mousseaux or Chabauty. To suggest that any Hidden Hand +has ever been at work in the world is to raise immediately a storm of +Jewish protest. + +Yet intelligent Jews must be well aware that, whether secret societies +have contributed as much to past revolutions as these writers believed, +their existence and their very real influence is not a matter of surmise +but of historical fact. No one ever warned the British public more +distinctly of the danger they presented or of the role the Jews were +playing in them than Disraeli, whose famous words have been quoted so +frequently in this connexion: "The world is governed by very different +personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the +scenes." What is this but a clear recognition of the Hidden Hand? Why, +then, is Disraeli not included with Barruel, Robison, de Malet, and Des +Mousseaux in Mr. Wolf's list of scaremongers? Is it because Disraeli +pointed the moral that, Jews being so dangerous, they should be +employed? + + * * * * * + +If, then, leading Jews persist in villifying everyone who reiterates the +warnings uttered by so eminent a member of their race, it is inevitable +that they should come to be suspected of having some interest in +suppressing further revelations. + +Setting all such evidence as the Protocols completely aside, let us +examine the reasons for believing in the exisence of a Jewish +world-conspiracy. Now, we know for certain that the five powers before +referred to--Grand Orient Masonry, Theosophy, Pan-Germanism, +International Finance, and Social Revolution--have a very real existence +and exercise a very definite influence on the affairs of the world. Here +we are not dealing with hypothesis but with facts based on documentary +evidence. We know in each case the names of many of the leaders, their +methods of organization, their centres of direction, and the aims they +are pursuing. But with regard to the Jewish power we cannot proceed with +the same certainty. We cannot cite the names of the leaders or the +centres of direction, we cannot produce documentary evidence as to their +methods of organization or their final aims. The very existence of such +a power, in the sense of a united and organized body of Jews working for +the destruction of Christianity and the existing social system, is still +a matter of speculation and not of known fact. Investigations into the +activities of such groups as the B'nai B'rith, Poale Zion, the Jewish +Bund, and the Weltverband (or Jewish International Union of Socialists), +might however throw much light on this question. The custom of printing +their pidgin German, known as Yiddish, in Hebrew characters provides the +Jews with a more or less secret code by means of which their ideas and +aspirations are concealed from the great mass of the Gentiles. + +Whether then the Jewish power is unified or not, Jews are to be found +co-operating with, if not directing, all the five powers of which the +existence is known. Thus Jews have long played a leading part in Grand +Orient Masonry[837] and predominate in the upper degrees. As we have +already seen, Freemasonry is always said to be subversive in Roman +Catholic countries. It will also be noticed that in countries where +Freemasonry is subversive, Jews are usually less conspicuous in the +revolutionary movement than in countries where Freemasonry is either +non-existent or constitutional. Thus in France the masonic peril is much +more generally recognized than the Jewish peril; in Italy the Freemasons +have been banned by Mussolini, but the Jews are not regarded by him as a +particular danger; in Portugal it was the Freemasons rather than the +Jews who made the recent revolutions. In Hungary, however, the +revolutionaries were principally both Jews and Freemasons. On the other +hand, in England, Germany, and America, where Freemasonry is not +subversive, the Jewish question is more apparent. All this would suggest +that either Freemasonry is the cover under which the Jews, like the +Illuminati, prefer to work, so that where the cover is not available +they are obliged to come out more into the open, or that Grand Orient +Masonry is the directing power which employs Jews as agents in those +countries where it cannot work on its own account. + +The preponderance of Jews in the ranks of "Aurora" has already been +indicated, as also the influence of the Jewish Cabala in the teaching of +Theosophy and Rosicrucianism. But it is important that the latter point +should be further emphasized in connexion with the craze for occultism +that is spreading through society. Ragon has said: "The Cabala is the +key of all occult sciences"; therefore in this field of experiment the +Gentile must always be at a disadvantage with the Jew. Indeed Mr. Waite, +who certainly cannot be suspected of "anti-Semitism," goes so far as to +suggest that the gift of ceremonial magic was "the answer of Jewry to +Christendom as a counter-blast" to "centuries of persecution."[838] It +would be well if every Gentile who has been tempted to dabble in +occultism were to realize this source of inspiration. + +The rôle of Jews in social revolution and particularly in Bolshevism +hardly needs comment. Yet since the Jewish press has chosen to deny this +last and very obvious fact and still persists in setting down to +prejudice or "anti-Semitism" a mere statement of facts, it may be well +to quote here a few official statements on the subject which admit of no +denial. + +First of all, it must be remembered that the founder and patron saint of +Bolshevism was the Jew Karl Marx, and that it was the Anarchist Bakunin, +not the Duke of Northumberland, who described him and his following in +the Internationale as "the German-Jew Company" and the "red +bureaucracy." It was therefore not surprising that when the "red +bureaucracy," avowedly founded on the doctrines of Marx, came to be set +up in Russia, it should have been largely led by Jews. This is what the +official British White Paper has to say on the matter: + +_Extract from Report from the Netherlands Minister at Petrograd on the +6th of September_, 1918, _forwarded by Sir M. Findlay, at Christiania, +to Mr. Balfour_: + + I consider that the immediate suppression of Bolshevism is the + greatest issue now before the world, not even excluding the war + which is still raging, and unless, as above stated, Bolshevism is + nipped in the bud immediately, it is bound to spread in one form or + another over Europe and the whole world, as it is organized and + worked by Jews who have no nationality, and whose one object is to + destroy for their own ends the existing order of things.*[839] + +Mr. Alston to Lord Curzon, quoting statement from British Consul at +Ekaterinburg, January 23, 1919: + + The Bolsheviks can no longer be described as a political party + holding extreme communistic views. They form a relatively small + privileged class which is able to terrorize the rest of the + population because it has a monopoly both of arms and of food + supplies. This class consists chiefly of workmen and soldiers, and + includes a large non-Russian element, such as Letts and Esthonians + and Jews; the latter are specially numerous in higher posts. + +Lord Kilmarnock to Lord Curzon, quoting information given by Frenchman +from Petrograd, February 3, 1919: + + The Bolsheviks comprised chiefly Jews and Germans, who were + exceedingly active and enterprising. The Russians were largely + anti-Bolshevik, but were for the most part dreamers, incapable of + any sustained action, who now, more than ever before, were unable + to throw off the yoke of their oppressors.*[839] + +Mr. Alston to Lord Curzon, forwarding Report from Consul at Ekaterinburg +of February 6, 1919: + + From examination of several labourer and peasant witnesses, I have + evidence to the effect that very smallest percentage of this + district were pro-Bolshevik, majority of labourers sympathizing + with summoning of Constituent Assembly. Witnesses further stated + that Bolshevik leaders did not represent Russian working classes, + most of them being Jews. + +The Rev. B.S. Lombard to Lord Curzon, March 23, 1919: + + I have been for ten years in Russia, and have been in Petrograd + through the whole of the revolution.... [I] had ample opportunity + of studying Bolshevik methods. It originated in German propaganda, + and was, and is being, carried out by international Jews. The + Germans initiated disturbances in order to reduce Russia to chaos. + They printed masses of paper money to finance their schemes, the + notes, of which I possess specimens, can be easily recognized by a + special mark. + +As one of the results, the writer adds: + + All business became paralysed, shops were closed, Jews became + possessors of most of the business houses, and horrible scenes of + starvation became common in the country districts. + +In Hungary (where, as has been said, Socialism had been propagated by +Jews in the masonic lodges[840]) the outbreak of Bolshevism was +conducted under the auspices of the same race. To quote again an +official document on this question, the Report on Revolutionary +Activities issued by a Committee of the New York Legislature, headed by +Senator Lusk[841]: + + There was no organized opposition to Bela Kun. Like Lenin, he + surrounded himself with commissars, having absolute authority. Of + the thirty-two principal commissars, twenty-five were Jews, which + was about the same proportion as in Russia. The most prominent of + these formed a directorate of five: Bela Kun, Bela Varga, Joseph + Pogany, Sigmund Kunfi, and one other. Other leaders were Alpari + and Samuely, who had charge of the Red Terror, and carried out the + torturing and executing of the bourgeoisie, especially the groups + held as hostages, the so-called counter-revolutionists and + peasants.[842] + +The same Report publishes a list of seventy-six men prosecuted by the +Committee on the charge of criminal anarchy in America at the beginning +of 1920, of which the overwhelming majority are seen by their names to +be Jewish.[843] + +These names speak for themselves and are published without comment on +the obvious nationality of the majority of the persons concerned. So far +indeed does the Lusk Committee appear to have been removed from +"anti-Semitism," that nowhere in its vast Report, running to 2008 pages, +is attention drawn to the preponderance of Jews concerned in the +revolutionary movement, except in the one passage on Hungary quoted +above. The Lusk Report must therefore be regarded as an absolutely +impartial statement of facts. + +In view of these official data, how is it possible for the Jewish press +to pretend that a connexion between Jews and Bolshevism is a malicious +invention of the "anti-Semites"? That all Jews are not Bolsheviks and +that all Bolsheviks are not Jews is of course obvious; but that Jews are +playing a preponderating part in Bolshevism it is absurd to deny. + +An attempt has been made to show that Jews have suffered as much as the +rest of the population in Russia under Bolshevism and that the Jewish +religion has met with the same hostility as the Christian faith. +Doubtless many Jews have suffered in Russia, since human violence, once +allowed to go unchecked, is liable to express itself in various +unexpected ways, and the resentment of the Russian "proletariat" towards +the Jews was bound to break out under Lenin as under the Tzar. Again, a +campaign against Christianity inevitably led in Russia, as in France, to +a campaign against all forms of religion, and the Jewish Bolsheviks, +being atheists themselves, were doubtless as ready as Lambert of the +French Revolution to turn against the believers in the faith they had +abandoned. + +Yet that the Jewish religion suffered to the same extent as +Christianity, or that any organized campaign was conducted against it by +the Government, is effectually disproved by the lamentations of +professing Jews on the death of Lenin.[844] Indeed, as is generally +recognized, the fall of the Soviet Government must mean the downfall of +the Jews from the position of privilege they now occupy. + +That in our own country Jews are playing a part in the background of +Bolshevism is again evident. The _Patriot_ recently published a series +of articles giving inside information on the organization of the +revolutionary movement in Great Britain, where it was stated the whole +plot was directed by a group of twelve men. This group in turn was +controlled by three of its members. These three men, as the key +revealed, were all Jews, so also was "the fiend in human form whose +psychological perversion produced this plot,"[845] and who was one of a +group in America consisting of four Jews and a Jewess which controlled +an outer revolutionary group of eighteen.[846] The Irish Republican +Brotherhood also maintained close relations with a ring of revolutionary +Jews in America. Incidentally, it is curious to notice that the language +employed in some of the correspondence that has passed between members +of an inner group bears a strong resemblance to that of Weishaupt and +his fellow-Illuminati. + +Jewish influence in the less extreme forms of Socialism in this country +is no less apparent. If the Labour Party is solidly pro-German, it is +also solidly pro-Jewish. Whilst loudly proclaiming pacifism and pressing +for the reduction of armaments, it has never uttered a word of protest +against the employment of British troops to defend Jewish interests +against the Arabs in Palestine. The blessed word Mesopotamia may be +freely mentioned in connexion with the withdrawal of troops from +military adventures, but never the word Palestine. Again, the free +admission of aliens and particularly of Jews into this country has +always been one of the principal planks in the Labour platform. Even the +Jewish capitalist meets with indulgence at the hands of our Socialist +Intellectuals, who whilst inveighing against British owners of property, +never include Jewish millionaires in their diatribes. + +This may perhaps throw some light on the question frequently propounded: +How can one believe that Jews advocate Socialism since they stand to +lose everything by it? The fact remains that many Jews do advocate it. +After the recent accession of the Labour Party to office the _Jewish +World_ observed: + + The result of the General Election in England is regarded as very + gratifying by the Hebrew and Yiddish press. The Hebrew journals in + Palestine, as well as the Hebrew and Yiddish organs in Europe and + America, express satisfaction at the return to Parliament of men + who have repeatedly assured the public of their intention to adhere + to the Balfour declaration.[847] + +A further reason is advanced by the _Jewish Courier_ for rejoicing at +the downfall of the Conservative Government, namely, that "the election +results have wiped out anti-Semitic remnants in England," for "the +Conservative Government does include several members who are far from +favourably disposed towards Jews."[848] The indulgence shown to the Jews +and the honours piled on them by Conservative statesmen therefore +availed nothing to the Conservative cause, and the welfare of the whole +country was subordinated to the interests of the Jews alone. + +It is difficult at first to understand how the programme of the "Labour" +Party, even when combined with ardent pro-Semitism, could however be in +accord with the interests of the Jews, who have never displayed any +hostility towards the Capitalist system which Socialism sets out to +destroy. Indeed, we find the same Jewish paper which rejoiced at the +advent of the present Government to office offering birthday +congratulations to the richest Jew in this country, whose wealth, it +goes on to observe with some complacency, "amounts to no less than +£12,000,000 sterling, and is constantly increasing, apart from the +interest that it brings, by the huge profits of the concerns in which he +is interested."[849] + +It would seem, then, that in the eyes of Jewry all capitalists are not +to be regarded as monsters who should be mercilessly expropriated. + +But in considering the war on Capitalism it is essential to bear in mind +that capitalists are of two kinds: national industrial +capitalists--largely Gentiles and usually men of brains and energy who +have built up flourishing businesses--and international loan-mongering +capitalists, principally, though not exclusively, Jews, who live by +speculation. Whilst to the former, social unrest may prove fatal, to the +latter any disturbances may provide opportunities for profit. As M. +Georges Batault has well expressed it: + + From the strictly financial point of view, the most disastrous + events of history, wars or revolutions, never represent + catastrophes; the manipulators of money and the wary business men + can make profit out of everything, provided they know beforehand + and are well-informed.... It is certain that the Jews dispersed + over all the surface of the earth ... are particularly favourably + situated in this respect.[850] + +It is significant to notice that the capitalists most attacked by the +Socialists and Pacifists are not those who make profit out of wars and +revolutions, but those who contribute to the prosperity of the country +and provide work for millions of people. Here, then, the Jews and the +Socialists seem to find a point of agreement. It is evident, at any +rate, that many rich Jews consider that they have nothing to fear from +the threatened Capital Levy and other features of expropriation. Are we +not irresistibly reminded of the passage in the Protocols--where +incidentally the Capital Levy is specifically mentioned--"Ours they will +not touch, because the moment of attack will be known to us and we shall +take measures to protect our own"? + +But let us consider further how the Socialist plan for "the +nationalization of all the means of production, distribution, and +exchange" might be reconciled even with the interests of Jewish +Industrial Capitalists. The more we examine this magic formula which is +to transform the world into a Paradise for the workers, the more we +shall see that it approximates to the system of Super Capitalism, of +which, as Werner Sombart has shown, the Jews were the principal +inaugurators. Socialists are fond of explaining that "Capitalism" began +with the introduction of steam; in reality, of course, Capitalism, in +the sense of wealth accumulated in private hands, has always existed +since the first savage made his store of winter food. What Socialists +really mean by Capitalism is the modern system of Industrialism, which +tends to concentrate all the means of production and distribution in the +hands of individuals or groups, who, if they happen to be unscrupulous, +are able by systematic sweating of the worker and bleeding of the +consumer to conduct operations on so large a scale as to crush all +competition by the home worker or the small tradesman. + +Obviously, however, with the growing demand of the workers for better +conditions of life and the increasing support lent to them by +enlightened public opinion this possibility cannot continue +indefinitely, and unless a violent convulsion takes place the time will +come when great industrial magnates will have to content themselves with +moderate profits on their outlay. Thus although at first sight it might +appear that the Super-Capitalist must desire to maintain the existing +order of things, if he is far-seeing he must realize that profiteering +under present conditions must soon cease. + +It is therefore conceivable that even the Jewish Industrial Capitalist +may see in the nationalization of industry a preferable alternative to +the limitation of profits under private enterprise. The same financial +acumen and skill in management which has enabled him to control rings +and trusts in the past would ensure him a place at the head of +nationalized industries, which in effect would be nothing but gigantic +trusts nominally under State control but really, like all State +enterprises, in the hands of a few men. Under Socialism the position of +these trusts would be rendered impregnable. For whilst under the present +system any individual or group may set out to break a trust, no such +competition would be possible in a State where private enterprise had +been made illegal. The men in control of nationalized industries would +therefore be able to exercise absolute authority both over the worker +and the consumer. Further, if the worker can be persuaded to accept the +ultimate scheme of Communism, which is compulsory labour in return for +no monetary remuneration, but merely a daily ration of food and the +other necessaries of life whenever State officials decide that he +requires them, the directors of Labour, like the overseers in a slave +plantation, will be able, as in Russia, to impose any conditions they +please. + +The Jews may well hope to occupy these posts, not only because of their +aptitude for organization on so large a scale, but because their +international relations would facilitate the sale or barter of goods +between countries. The cohesion which exists amongst them would speedily +lead to the monopolization of all the higher posts by members of their +race. + +It is idle to dismiss such a possibility as a chimera. This is what +happened in Russia and is happening in Germany to-day. Here, then, we +may find perhaps the inner meaning of a remark attributed to a +prominent member of the Labour Party, that under Socialism a certain +well-known Jewish capitalist might well be worth £10,000 a year. Lenin +expressed much the same idea when he said that the Russian Soviet +Republic might require a thousand first-class specialists "to direct the +work of the people," and that "these greatest 'stars' must be paid +25,000 roubles each," or even four times that sum, supposing it were +necessary to employ foreign specialists for the purpose.[851] + +But the Jewish capitalists doubtless see further that in England, as in +Russia, this condition of things would be merely a temporary phase, and +that the institution of Socialism by dispossessing the present Gentile +owners of wealth and property would pave the way for a Jewish and German +plutocracy. In Russia wealth has not been altogether destroyed; it has +simply changed hands, and a class of new rich has sprung up which meets +with no hostility from the professed advocates of equality. Those Jews +who see in the Christian Intelligentsia the main obstacle to their dream +of world-power, therefore naturally find in the promoters of +class-warfare their most valuable allies. For the Christian +Intelligentsia is the sole bare to the enslavement of the proletariat; +most of the movements to redress the wrongs of the workers, from Lord +Shaftesbury's onwards, have arisen not amongst the workers themselves, +but amongst the upper or middle classes[852]; once these were swept away +an iron bureaucracy would have the workers at their mercy. I do not say +this is the plan, but I do say that such a hypothesis provides a reason +for the otherwise unaccountable indulgence displayed by Socialists +everywhere towards wealthy Jews and at the same time for the huge funds +the Socialists appear to have at their disposal. + +If big financiers are not at their back, I repeat: where does all the +money come from? It seems unlikely that it can be derived from the +British owners of wealth and property whom the Socialists are openly out +to dispossess; the only body of financiers which can therefore be +suspected of contributing towards this end is the body known as +"International Finance," which is mainly, though not exclusively, +Jewish. + +The influence of the Jews in all the five great powers at work in the +world--Grand Orient Masonry, Theosophy, Pan-Germanism, International +Finance, and Social Revolution--is not a matter of surmise but of fact. +Let us now examine what part they are playing in the minor subversive +movements enumerated in an earlier chapter. + +Freud, the inventor of the most dangerous form of Psycho-Analysis, is a +Jew. In this connexion the eminent American neuro-psychiatrist before +quoted writes: + + Not only the Freud theory of psycho-analysis but a considerable + quantity of pseudo-scientific propaganda of that type has for years + been emanating from a group of German Jews who live and have their + headquarters in Vienna. From its inception, psycho-analysis has + been in Jewish hands. There are not half a dozen physicians in the + whole world, recognized as authorities in this field, whose names + are identified with this movement who are not Jews. This may have + been an accident, but nevertheless it is a fact.[853] + +I have already referred in an earlier chapter to the question of +degenerate art defined in a circular to the _New York Herald_ as "the +deification of ugliness."[854] The originators of this cult are here +described as a group of Satan worshippers in Paris, and the dealers by +whom the movement was propagated as "Germans," but we note amongst the +lenders to the exhibition at which these "works of art" were displayed +several Jewish names. Of one well-known Jewish artist a critic has +written: + + Were these works the product of a man who had imperfect control + over his material, who, in stumbling towards the light, dwelt + inevitably upon much darkness, who sought for beauty and found + ugliness, who looked for purity and found filth--even then one + might be silent and hope for better things to come. But here, + apparently, unless my whole reading is ludicrously wrong, he + delights in deformity and glories in degradation.... He brings to + the world of art a new gospel, a black gospel, a gospel in which + everything is to be inverted and distorted. Whatsoever things are + hideous, whatsoever things are of evil report, whatsoever things + are sordid: if there be any unhealthiness or any degradation: think + on these things. + +What better résumé could be given of that tendency to perversion +denounced by the prophet Isaiah in the words: "Woe unto them that call +evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for +darkness"? An organ of the Jewish press, with that sense of solidarity +which always rallies Jews to the defence of their compatriots however +culpable, immediately detects in the critic's expression of opinion the +insidious work of "anti-Semitism." A more enlightened Jew, Mr. Frank L. +Emanuel, however, having come to the support of the Gentile critic, the +Jewish journal is obliged to admit the justice of his contention that +"it is lamentable to think of the undue proportion of young Jews" who +"have joined the Revolutionary or sham 'Modern Art' movement in this +country." + +The same influence will be noticed in the cinema world, where, as has +already been pointed out, history is systematically falsified in the +interests of class hatred, and everything that can tend, whilst keeping +within the present law, to undermine patriotism or morality is pressed +upon the public. And the cinema trade is almost entirely in the hands of +the Jews. + +In the drug traffic Jews are playing a prominent part both here and in +America. An eminent New York doctor writes to me as follows: + + Members of the Federal narcotic squad attached to the Treasury + Department and having the function of enforcing the provisions of + the Harrison Act have long been convinced that there is a direct + relationship between Radicalism and narcotism. From seven to ten + years ago this was thought to be a manifestation of pan-German + propaganda. Activity was and still is greater on the part of the + distributors and pedlars than is to be accounted for by the large + profits, according to their story. Curiously enough, the traffic + largely stopped for several weeks following the signing of the + Armistice. + + In one instance, seven regularly licensed physicians of the "East + Side," all Jews, were arrested in succession during the summer of + 1920 for illegitimate use of narcotic prescriptions, and every + office raided had large quantities of Radical literature. Such + associations are not uncommon. + + As to the distribution, a recent investigation by _Hearst's + Magazine_ definitely revealed the fact that the illegitimate + distributors were almost invariably of the Jewish race, and that + the pedlars were exclusively Jewish and Italian. + +Enough, then, has been said to show that, whether as agents or as +principals, Jews are playing a part in all subversive movements. A +Christian Jew, no renegade to his race but deeply concerned for their +future development, said recently to the present writer: "The growing +materialism amongst Jews has made them the most destructive force in the +world. The only hope for them is to accept Christianity. At present +they are the greatest danger that Christian civilization has to face." + +The recognition of all these facts does not of course imply the belief +that all Jews are destructive. Undoubtedly there are good and loyal +Jews--particularly in France, where the Sephardim predominate--who have +absolutely identified themselves with the country of their adoption, and +are sincerely opposed to Bolshevism. But these isolated individuals +carry little weight compared to the massed forces of subversive Jewry. +The same thing was observed in America, where a report privately +communicated to the present writer in 1923 stated: + + It appears not without significance that Radical literature is + never anti-Semitic, but, on the contrary, manifestoes issued by the + Executive Committee of the Communist Party are often emphatically + pro-Jewish. So far as I know, there is not one exclusively Jewish + organization in the United States which is openly and consistently + fighting Radicalism. Conservative Judaism loyal to the United + States and its institutions as conceived by its founders is + unorganized and inarticulate. + +When, therefore, the Jewish press protests at the injustice of +associating Jews with Bolshevism it may be legitimately answered: What +has Jewry done collectively to disassociate itself from Bolshevism?[855] +What official protests has the Jewish press uttered against any +subversive movement except when Jewish interests were threatened?[856] +Has it not, on the contrary, denounced all patriotic efforts to oppose +the forces of destruction whenever such efforts necessitated the +exposure of the corrupt elements in Jewry? + +But these tactics have not been confined to the Jewish press alone. The +general press of this country, over which the Jews exercise an +increasing control, has followed the same policy. This process of +penetration began long ago on the Continent. As early as 1846 an English +missionary to the Jews in Berlin wrote: + + Independently of the fifteen exclusively Jewish journals of + Germany, four of which have made their appearance since the + beginning of the present year, the daily political press of Europe + is very much under the dominion of the Jews; as literary + contributors, they influence almost every leading Continental + newspaper, and as controversy seems to be their native air, and + they bring into the field mental energies of no ordinary stamp, + they find no lack of employment, and if any literary opponent + ventures to endeavour to arrest the progress of Judaism to + political power, he finds himself held up to public notice, and + exposed to attack after attack in most of the leading journals of + Europe. Such ... was the lot of a Roman Catholic priest of Prague, + who lately wrote a pamphlet entitled _Guter Rath für Zeit der + Noth_, directed against the advancing power of Judaism. And such is + my conviction of the extent of the participation the Jews take in + the everyday literature of Germany, that I never pass by a crowded + reading-room, but what I think I see standing behind the scenes a + Jew, causing new ideas to rise and stir, and develop themselves in + the unsuspecting mind of the Gentile.[857] + +Do we not see the same methods being pursued with still greater vigour +to-day? It would not be an exaggeration to say that there is hardly a +periodical in this country with the exception of _The Patriot_ that +dares to speak out freely on questions in which the interests of Jews +are involved. + +The fact is that the whole educational as well as the whole political +and social world is permeated with Jewish influence. Every man in public +life, every modern politician, to whatever party he belongs, seems to +find it _de rigueur_ to have his confidential Jewish adviser at his +elbow, just as in the Middle Ages a prince had his Jewish doctor always +at hand to mix his potions and ensure him long life. This appears to be +owing not only to the utility of the Jew in financing projects, but to +the almost universal belief in the superior intelligence of the Jewish +race which the Jew has succeeded in implanting in the Gentile mind. + +But the time has come to ask: Is the Jew really the super-man we have +been taught to consider him? On examination we shall find that in the +present as in the past his talents are displayed principally along two +lines--financial and occult. Usurers in the Middle Ages, financiers +to-day, the Jews have always excelled in the making and manipulating of +wealth. And just as at the former period they were the great masters of +magic, so at the present time they are the masters of the almost +magical art of gaining control over the mind both of the individual and +of the public. + +Yet in the realms of literature, philosophy, painting, sculpture, +politics, and even science, Jews will be found frequently occupying the +second or third ranks, and only very seldom the first. Heine may be +cited as a poet of the first order, Spinoza as a philosopher, Disraeli +as a statesman, but it would be difficult to prolong the list. On the +stage and in music alone can the Jews be said to have proved absolutely +the equals of their Gentile competitors. The fact is that the Jew is not +usually a man of vast conceptions, nor is he endowed with great +originality of mind; his skill consists rather in elaborating or in +adapting other men's ideas and rendering them more effectual. Thus the +most important inventions of modern times have not been made by Jews, +but have been frequently improved by them. Neither James Watt, +Stephenson, Marconi, Edison, Pasteur, nor Madame Curie were of the +Jewish race, and the same might be said of nearly all the greatest men +who have lived since the dawn of our civilization. Napoleon was not a +Jew, nor was Shakespeare, nor Bacon, nor Sir Isaac Newton, nor Michael +Angelo, nor Leonardo da Vinci, nor Galileo, nor Dante, nor Descartes, +nor Molière, nor Emerson, nor Abraham Lincoln, nor Goethe, nor Kant, nor +even Machiavelli. Thrown on their own resources, what civilization were +the Jews able to create? Whilst Egypt, Greece, and Rome have left +immortal monuments, what monuments has Palestine bequeathed to the +world?[858] + +The Jews, then, provide a high average of cleverness, but have they ever +during the last two thousand years produced one mighty genius? Moreover, +against this high average of intelligence must be set an equally high +average of mental derangement. On this point we have the evidence of the +_Jewish Encyclopædia_: + + The Jews are more subject to diseases of the nervous system than + the other races and peoples among which they dwell. Hysteria and + neurasthenia appear to be most frequent. Some physicians of large + experience among Jews have even gone so far as to state that most + of them are neurasthenic and hysterical. Tobler claims that all + the Jewish women in Palestine are hysterical; and Raymond says that + in Warsaw, Poland, hysteria is very frequently met with among both + Jewish men and Jewish women. The Jewish population of that city + alone is almost exclusively the inexhaustible source for the supply + of hysterical males for the clinics of the whole Continent + (_L'Etude des Maladies du Système Nerveux en Russie_). As regards + Austria and Germany, the same neurotic taint of the Jews has been + emphasized by Krafft, Ebbing, etc.... In New York it has been shown + by Collins that among 333 cases of neurasthenia which came under + his observation, more than 40 per cent, were of Jewish extraction, + etc.[859] + +The same American neuro-psychiatrist already quoted attributes the +predominance of Jews in the revolutionary movement in America largely to +this cause: + + Anarchists have been developed largely from the criminal classes, + and a belief in anarchy, _per se_, is a psychopathic manifestation. + A student of anarchy, therefore, would not only be obliged to cover + the field of criminology, but its more significant and important + background, psycho-pathology. Some anarchists are actually insane, + while others show marked psychological deficiencies. Under our laws + as they are now framed, they cannot be restrained unless they + commit acts of violence. + + As it is, our asylums are filled with this class, and that + introduces another phase of the matter. Our asylum insane are + largely recruited from the Jewish race, at least recruited in + tremendous disproportion to their number in the population. The + fact that the revolutionary movement is so largely made up of + Jewish elements furnishes an interesting confirmation of what I + have said. + +The _Jewish World_, recently commenting on the "generally admitted" fact +that "the percentage of mental disorders among Jews is much greater than +among non-Jews," asks: "Is the cause inherent, that is to say, is there +a racial disposition towards degeneracy, or is it the result of the +external conditions and causes?" The writer goes on to refer to an +article in the _Zukunft_ which supports the view that the terrible +experiences of the Jews in the Middle Ages have affected their nervous +system, and therefore that the cause of mental derangement amongst them +"is not due to racial disposition, is not an ethnic principle, but is the +result of the tragic lot of the Jewish people."[860] It might perhaps +be traced more surely to the habit of brooding on that tragic lot. At +any rate, it is curious to notice that the two symptoms recognized in +the first stages of "general paralysis of the insane," the mania that +one is the object of persecution and "exalted ideas" (known in France as +the _folie des grandeurs_), are the two obsessions that the Talmud and +the Cabala with their dreams of world-domination under an avenging +Messiah have inculcated in the mind of the Jew. + +But whatever are the causes of this neurosis, it is surely undesirable +that a race which exhibits it should be allowed to control the destinies +of the British Empire or indeed of any country. If "all the Jewish women +in Palestine are hysterical," presumably many of their menkind suffer +from the same disability, which certainly does not promise well for the +luckless Arab who is to live beneath their sway. How much of the trouble +that has occurred already in Palestine may be attributed to this cause +it is impossible to know. The increasing number of Jews in positions of +authority in England presents, however, a far greater subject for alarm. +Jews and Arabs are at any rate both Semites and may be expected to have +certain ideas in common, but to place a highly civilized Aryan race +under Semitic control is another matter. The time has come for every +Briton to ask himself whether he seriously desires to see the traditions +of his country, those great traditions of honour, integrity, and justice +which have made the name of England great, replaced by Oriental +standards. I do not say that there are no honourable and upright Jews, +but I do maintain that the spirit of fair play which is the essence of +the British character is not the characteristic of the Jewish race in +general. The complete absence of this spirit shown in the attempts of +agitators to suppress free speech during elections cannot be attributed +to English working-men--whose "sporting" instinct is highly +developed--and testifies to the alien character of the so-called Labour +movement. If England loses the spirit of fair play, she will have lost +her most priceless national heritage. + +Conservatism, which has always stood for these great traditions, allows +itself to be hypnotized by the memory of Disraeli and accepts his dictum +that "the natural tendency of the Jews is to Conservatism"--hence the +advisability of placing Jews in control of its interests. The late Mr. +Hyndman saw further when he warned us that "those who are accustomed to +look upon all Jews as essentially practical and conservative, as +certain, too, to enlist on the side of the prevailing social system, +will be obliged to reconsider their conclusions."[861] The causes of +the recent _débâcle_ of the Conservative Government are still obscure, +but the fact remains that it was precisely at a moment when Conservative +organization had passed largely into Jewish hands that Conservatism met +with the most astounding disaster in the whole of its history. If the +manner in which Conservative propaganda was conducted at this moment was +an example of Jewish efficiency, it might be well to consider whether on +a future occasion the task should not be confided into the hands of +simple Britons. + +_The only effectual way of combating Socialism is to show up the alien +influences behind it_. As long as the working man believes it to be the +outcome of a genuine British labour movement, he will turn a deaf ear to +all warnings and anti-Socialist propaganda will merely serve to drive +more recruits into the Socialist camp. But let him once suspect that he +is being made the tool of foreign intrigue, and all his national feeling +will assert itself. We have only to ask him whether he wants his work +taken from him by the import of alien goods, his housing accommodation +appropriated by alien immigrants, finally to make him understand who are +the people behind the scenes advocating a policy so disastrous to his +true interests, in order to gain his support. The Secret Service has +overwhelming evidence on this last point, which under a Conservative +Government might have been made public, but unseen influences in high +places have ordained its suppression. The slogan "Britain for the +Britons," that would form the strongest counterblast to the false +slogans of Socialism, has been barred from Conservative platforms and +the very word "alien" avoided lest it should offend Jewish +susceptibilities. Thus out of deference to the Jews, Conservatism allows +its most powerful weapon to rust in its armoury. + +In reality these tactics avail nothing to the Conservative cause. The +great weight of Jewry will never be thrown into the scale of true +Conservatism; only in so far as Conservatism abandons its patriotic +traditions and compromises with the forces of Internationalism will it +win any considerable Jewish support. We have but to follow the +commitments on current politics in the Jewish press in order to realize +that the only standard by which the Jews judge of any political party is +the measure in which it will confer exclusive advantages on their own +race. The Jewish question, therefore, does not turn on whether the Jews +shall be accorded everywhere equal rights with the rest of mankind, but +whether they shall be placed above the law, whether they shall be +allowed to occupy everywhere a privileged position.[862] Nothing less +will satisfy them, and any attempt to oppose this claim will always be +met by them with the cry of "persecution." Further, this position of +privilege represents to a section of Jewry merely a stage on the road to +world-domination. For if, as we have seen by documentary evidence, this +plan has always existed in the past, is it likely that it has been +abandoned at the very moment which seems most propitious for its +realization? The trend of present events and the tone of the Jewish +press certainly do not warrant any such conclusion. + +To sum up, then, I do not think that the Jews can be proved to provide +the sole cause of world-unrest. In order to establish this contention we +should be obliged to show the Jews to have been the authors of every +past social convulsion in the history of modern civilization, to +discover their influence behind the heretical sects of Islam, as behind +the Bavarian Illuminati and the Anarchists of Russia. In the absence of +any such conclusive evidence we must therefore recognize the existence +of other destructive forces at work in the world. + +But this is not to underrate the importance of the Jewish peril. +Although the existence of an inner circle of Masonic "Elders" remains +problematical, Jewry in itself constitutes the most effectual +Freemasonry in the world. What need of initiations, or oaths, or signs, +or passwords amongst people who perfectly understand each other and are +everywhere working for the same end? Far more potent than the sign of +distress that summons Freemasons to each other's aid at moments of peril +is the call of the blood that rallies the most divergent elements in +Jewry to the defence of the Jewish cause. + +The old complaint of the French merchants already quoted would thus +appear to be justified, that "the Jews are particles of quicksilver, +which at the least slant run together into a block." One must therefore +not be deceived by the fact that they often appear disunited. There may +be, and indeed is, very little unity amongst Jews, but there is immense +solidarity. A Jew named Morel, referring to the persecution of the +converted Rabbi Drach by the Jews, observes: + + What can the wisest measures of the authorities of all countries do + against _the vast and permanent conspiracy of a people_ which, like + a network as vast as it is strong, stretched over the whole globe, + brings its force to bear wherever an event occurs that interests + the name of Israelite?[863] + +It is this solidarity that constitutes the real Jewish Peril and at the +same time provides the real cause of "anti-Semitism." If in a world +where all patriotism, all national traditions, and all Christian virtues +are being systematically destroyed by the doctrines of International +Socialism one race alone, a race that since time immemorial has +cherished the dream of world-power, is not only allowed but encouraged +to consolidate itself, to maintain all its national traditions, and to +fulfil all its national aspirations at the expense of other races, it is +evident that Christian civilization must be eventually obliterated. The +wave of anti-Jewish feeling that during the last few years has been +passing over this country has nothing in common with the racial hatred +that inspires the "anti-Semitism" of Germany; it is simply the answer to +a pretension that liberty-loving Britons will not admit. Those of us +who, sacrificing popularity and monetary gain, dare to speak out on this +question have no hatred in our hearts, but only love for our country. We +believe that not only our national security but our great national +traditions are at stake, and that unless England awakens in time she +will pass under alien domination and her influence as the stronghold of +Christian civilization will be lost to the world. + + + + +CONCLUSION + + + +We have now followed the course of associations working throughout +nineteen centuries to undermine social and moral order and above all +Christian civilization. We have also seen that although on the one hand +the unholy spirit of destruction and on the other the natural spirit of +revolt against oppression have always existed independently of any +organization, it is to secret societies using and organizing these +forces that the revolutionary movement has owed its success. Further, we +have considered the possibility that behind both open and secret +subversive societies there may exist a hidden centre of direction, and +finally we have observed that at the present time many lines of +investigation reveal a connexion between these groups and the Grand +Orient, or rather with an invisible circle concealed behind that great +masonic power. At the same time this circle is clearly not French in +character since everywhere the activities of World Revolution are +directed against France and England but seldom against Germany and never +against the Jews. It would not be an exaggeration to say that no +subversive movement in the world to-day is either pro-French, +pro-British, or "anti-Semitic." We must conclude then that if one Power +controls the rest it is either the Pan-German Power, the Jewish Power or +what we can only call Illuminism. + +This last hypothesis is one that deserves serious consideration. In the +light of our present knowledge it does not appear impossible that if an +inner circle of World Revolution exists it consists of a purely +International group of men whose aim is that of Weishaupt--the +destruction of the present system of society. That such an aim can be +seriously entertained is shown by the fact that it is openly proclaimed +by a whole school of writers and thinkers ranging from gentle Idealists +to ferocious Anarchists who, whilst widely differing as to methods and +the ultimate ends to be attained, are agreed on the common purpose +expressed by Rabaud de Saint-Étienne in the words: "Everything, yes, +everything must be destroyed, since everything must be re-made." + +It is idle to say that so insane a project can present no danger to the +world; the fact remains that an increasing number of people regard it +with perfect equanimity. The phrase: "All civilizations have passed +away; ours will doubtless pass away likewise," is continually to be +heard on the lips of apparently sane men and women who, whether they +advocate such an eventuality or not, seem prepared to accept it in a +spirit of complete fatalism and to put up no resistance. The point they +ignore is that when civilization existed only in isolated spots on the +earth's surface it might pass away in one spot only to spring to life in +another, but now that civilization is world-wide the dream of a return to +nature and the joys of savagery conjured up by Rousseau and Weishaupt +can never be realized. Yet if civilization in a material sense cannot be +destroyed, it is none the less possible to take the soul out of it, to +reduce it to a dead and heartless machine without human feelings or +divine aspirations. The Bolsheviks continue to exist amidst telephones, +electric light, and other amenities of modern life, but they have almost +killed the soul of Russia. In this sense then civilization may pass +away, not as the civilizations of the ancient world passed away, leaving +only desert sands and crumbling ruins behind them, but vanishing +imperceptibly from beneath the outward structure of our existing +institutions. Here is the final goal of world revolution. + +If, then, one inner circle exists, composed of Illuminati animated by a +purely destructive purpose it is conceivable that they might find +support in those Germans who desire to disintegrate the countries of the +Allies with a view to future conquests, and in those Jews who hope to +establish their empire on the ruins of Christian civilization--hence the +superb organization and the immense financial resources at the disposal +of the world revolutionaries. On the other hand it may be that the +hidden centre of direction consists in a circle of Jews located in the +background of the Grand Orient, or perhaps, like the early +nineteenth-century Illuminati, located nowhere but working in accord and +using both Pan-Germans and Gentile Illuminati as their tools. + +On this point I think it would be dangerous at present to dogmatize. But +that the problem is capable of elucidation I have no doubt whatever. If +the Secret Services of the world had chosen to co-ordinate and make +public the facts in their possession the whole plot might long since +have been laid bare. A "Department for the Investigation of Subversive +Movements" should have had a place in every ordered government. This +might have been created by the recent Conservative Government in +England, but the same mysterious influence that protected the enemy +during the Great War has throughout prevented disclosures that would +have enlightened the country on the real nature of the peril confronting +it. In the present state of European politics the only course open to +those who would save civilization is to act independently of +governments, and form a counter-organization in each country with +unofficial bureaux of information maintaining relations with each other, +yet each retaining its national character. + +As far as this country is concerned I am convinced that only a great +national movement can save us from destruction--a movement in which men +of all classes and above all of the working-class will take part. +Fascismo triumphed in Italy, because it was not, as it has been absurdly +represented, a reactionary movement, but because it was essentially +democratic and progressive, because by appealing to the noblest +instincts in human nature, to patriotism and self-sacrifice, it rallied +all elements in a disorganized and disunited nation around the standard +of a common cause. + +One cannot bring about any great movement without first kindling a +sacred fire in the hearts of men; one cannot move masses of people +merely by appealing to self-interest; they must have a cause to fight +for, a cause that is not entirely their own. Socialism, whilst enlisting +a large proportion of its following by appealing to their baser +instincts, has nevertheless, by its false ideals and promises, been able +to kindle a fire in many generous hearts, and to persuade deluded +enthusiasts that they are working for the welfare of humanity. The only +way to combat Socialism is to create counter enthusiasm for a true +ideal. + +Yet even Mussolini found that a purely secular ideal was not enough, and +that the spirit of religious fervour was necessary to defeat the spirit +of materialism and destruction. For behind the concrete forces of +revolution--whether Pan-German, Judaic, or Illuminist--beyond that +invisible secret circle which perhaps directs them all, is there not yet +another force, still more potent, that must be taken into account? In +looking back over the centuries at the dark episodes that have marked +the history of the human race from its earliest origins--strange and +horrible cults, waves of witchcraft, blasphemies, and desecrations--how +is it possible to ignore the existence of an Occult Power at work in the +world? Individuals, sects, or races fired with the desire of +world-domination, have provided the fighting forces of destruction, but +behind them are the veritable powers of darkness in eternal conflict +with the powers of light. + + + + +APPENDIX + + + +I + +JEWISH EVIDENCE ON THE TALMUD + + +The denunciation of the Talmud by the Jew Pfefferkorn in 1509 and the +ex-Rabbi Drach in 1844 have been quoted in the course of this book. +Graetz however, in his _History of the Jews_, quotes an earlier incident +of this kind.[864] In the thirteenth century a converted Jew and former +Talmudist Donin who, on his baptism, assumed the name of Nicholas, +presented himself before the Pope, Gregory IX, "and brought charges +against the Talmud, saying that it distorted the words of Holy Writ, and +in the Agadic portions of it there were to be found disgraceful +representations of God," that it contained many gross errors and +absurdities, further that "it was filled with abuse against the founder +of the Christian religion and the Virgin. Donin demonstrated that it was +the Talmud which prevented the Jews from accepting Christianity, and +that without it they would certainly have abandoned their state of +unbelief." Again "he stated that the Talmudical writings taught it was a +meritorious action to kill the best man among the Christians[865] ... +that it was lawful to deceive a Christian without any scruple; that it +was permitted to Jews to break a promise made on oath." These Graetz +describes as lying charges. + +The Jews were accordingly ordered by the Pope to hand over all their +copies of the Talmud to the Dominicans and Franciscans for examination, +and if their judgment should corroborate the charges of Nicholas Donin, +they were to burn the volumes of the Talmud (June 9, 1239). + +In France Graetz goes on to relate that "the priest-ridden and +weak-minded Louis IX"--that is to say, Saint Louis--pursued the same +course. "The Talmud was put on its trial. Four distinguished Rabbis of +North France were commanded by the King to hold a public disputation +with Nicholas, either to refute the imputations levelled against the +Talmud, or to make confession of the abuse against Christianity and the +blasphemies against God that it contained." + +It is impossible to imagine a fairer decision, and the queen-mother, +Blanche de Castille, was careful to assure the first witness summoned +that if the lives of the Rabbis were in danger she would protect them +and that he was only required to answer the questions that would be +asked of him. Now, there would have been nothing simpler than for the +Rabbis to admit honestly that these offensive passages existed, that +they had been written perhaps in moments of passion in a less +enlightened age, that they recognized the indelicacy of insulting the +religion of the country in which they lived, and that therefore such +passages should henceforth be deleted. But instead of adopting this +straightforward course, which might have put an end for ever to attacks +on the book they held sacred, the Rabbis proceeded to deny the existence +of the "alleged blasphemous and immoral expressions" and to declare that +"the odious facts related in the Talmud concerning a Jesus, the son of +Pantheras, had no reference to Jesus of Nazareth, but to one of a +similar name who had lived long before him." Graetz, who admits that +this was an error and that the passages in question did relate to the +Jesus of the Christians, represents the Rabbis as being merely "misled" +on the question. But the King, who was not misled by the Rabbis, ordered +all copies of the Talmud to be burnt, and in June 1242 these were +committed to the flames.[866] + +The Talmud, however, continued to exist, and it was not until 1640 that, +as we have already seen, the offending passages against Christ were +expunged by the Rabbis as a measure of expediency. Now that they have +been replaced, no further attempt is made to deny that they refer to the +founder of Christianity. As far as I am aware they are not included in +any English translation of the Talmud, but may be found in an English +version of Dr. Gustav H. Dalman's book, _Jesus Christus im Talmud_ +(1891). + + + +II + +THE "PROTOCOLS" OF THE ELDERS OF ZION + + +Contrary to the assertions of certain writers, I have never affirmed my +belief in the authenticity of the Protocols, but have always treated it +as an entirely open question.[867] The only opinion to which I have +committed myself is that, whether genuine or not, the Protocols do +represent the programme of world revolution, and that in view of their +prophetic nature and of their extraordinary resemblance to the protocols +of certain secret societies in the past, they were either the work of +some such society or of someone profoundly versed in the lore of secret +societies who was able to reproduce their ideas and phraseology. + +The so-called refutation of the Protocols which appeared in the _Times_ +of August 1922, tends to confirm this opinion. According to these +articles the Protocols were largely copied from the book of Maurice +Joly, _Dialogues aux Enfers entre Machiavel et Montesquieu_, published +in 1864. Let it be said at once that the resemblance between the two +works could not be accidental, not only are whole paragraphs almost +identical, but the various points in the programme follow each other in +precisely the same order. But whether Nilus copied from Joly or _from +the same source whence Joly derived his ideas_ is another question. It +will be noticed that Joly in his preface never claimed to have +originated the scheme described in his book; on the contrary he +distinctly states that it "personifies in particular a political system +which has not varied for a single day in its application since the +disastrous and alas! too far-off date of its enthronement." Could this +refer only to the government of Napoleon III, established twelve years +earlier? Or might it not be taken to signify a Machiavellian system of +government of which Napoleon III was suspected by Joly at this moment of +being the exponent? We have already seen that this system is said by M. +de Mazères, in his book _De Machiavel et de l'influence de sa doctrine +sur les opinions, les moeurs et la politique de la France pendant la +Révolution_, published in 1816, to have been inaugurated by the French +Revolution, and to have been carried on by Napoleon I against whom he +brings precisely the same accusations of Machiavellism that Joly brings +against Napoleon III. "The author of _The Prince_," he writes, "was +always his guide," and he goes on to describe the "parrot cries placed +in the mouths of the people," the "hired writers, salaried newspapers, +mercenary poets and corrupt ministers employed to mislead our vanity +methodically"--all this being carried on by "the scholars of Machiavelli +under the orders of his cleverest disciple." We have already traced the +course of these methods from the Illuminati onwards. + +Now precisely at the moment when Joly published his _Dialogues aux +Enfers_ the secret societies were particularly active, and since by this +date a number of Jews had penetrated into their ranks a whole crop of +literary efforts directed against Jews and secret societies marked the +decade. Eckert with his work on Freemasonry in 1852 had given the +incentive; Crétineau Joly followed in 1859 with _L'Eglise Romaine en +face de la Révolution_, reproducing the documents of the Haute Vente +Romaine; in 1868 came the book of the German anti-Semite Goedsche, and +in the following year on a higher plane the work of Gougenot Des +Mousseaux, _Le Juif, le Judaïsme, et la Judaïsation des Peuples +Chrétiens_. Meanwhile in 1860 the _Alliance Israëlite Universelle_ had +arisen, having for its ultimate object "the great work of humanity, the +annihilation of error and fanaticism, the union of human society in a +faithful and solid fraternity"--a formula singularly reminiscent of +Grand Orient philosophy; in 1864 Karl Marx obtained control of the +two-year-old "International Working Men's Association," by which a +number of secret societies became absorbed, and in the same year Bakunin +founded his _Alliance Sociale Démocratique_ on the exact lines of +Weishaupt's Illuminism, and in 1869 wrote his _Polémique contre les +Juifs_ (or _Etude sur les Juifs allemands_) mainly directed against the +Jews of the _Internationale_. The sixties of the last century therefore +mark an important era in the history of the secret societies, and it was +right in the middle of this period that Maurice Joly published his book. + +Now it will be remembered that amongst the sets of parallels to the +Protocols quoted by me in _World Revolution_, two were taken from the +sources above quoted--the documents of the Haute Vente Romaine and the +programme of Bakunin's secret society, the _Alliance Sociale +Démocratique_. Meanwhile Mr. Lucien Wolf had found another parallel to +the Protocols in Goedsche's book. "The Protocols," Mr. Wolf had no +hesitation in asserting, "are, in short, an amplified imitation of +Goedsche's handiwork"[868] and he went on to show that "Nilus followed +this pamphlet very closely." The Protocols were then declared by Mr. +Wolf and his friends to have been completely and finally refuted. + +But alas for Mr. Wolfe's discernment! The _Times_ articles came and +abolished the whole of his carefully constructed theory. They did not, +however, demolish mine; on the contrary, they supplied another and a +very curious link in the chain of evidence. For is it not remarkable +that one of the sets of parallels quoted by me appeared in the same year +as Joly's book, and that within the space of nine years no less than +four parallels to the Protocols should have been discovered? Let us +recapitulate the events of this decade in the form of a table and the +proximity of dates will then be more apparent: + + 1859. Crétineau Joly's book published containing documents of + Haute Vente Romaine (parallels quoted by me). + + 1860. _Alliance Israëlite Universelle_ founded. + + 1864. _1st Internationale_ taken over by Karl Marx. + + " _Alliance Sociale Démocratique_ of Bakunin founded + (parallels quoted by me). + " Maurice Joly's _Dialogue aux Enfers_ published + (parallels quoted by _Times_). + + 1866. 1st Congress of Internationale at Geneva. + + 1868. Goedsche's _Biarritz_ (parallels quoted by Mr. Lucien + Wolf). + + 1869. Gougenot Des Mousseaux's _Le Juif_, etc. + + " Bakunin's _Polémique contre les Juifs_. + +It will be seen, then, that at the moment when Maurice Joly wrote his +_Dialogues_, the ideas they embodied were current in many different +circles. It is interesting, moreover, to notice that the authors of the +last two works referred to above, the Catholic and Royalist Des +Mousseaux and the Anarchist Bakunin, between whom it is impossible to +imagine any connexion, both in the same year denounced the growing power +of the Jews whom Bakunin described as "the most formidable sect" in +Europe, and again asserted that a leakage of information had taken place +in the secret societies. Thus in 1870 Bakunin explains that his secret +society has been broken up because its secrets have been given +away,[869] and that his colleague Netchaïeff has arrived at the +conclusion that "in order to found a serious and indestructible society +one must take for a basis the policy of Machiavelli."[870] Meanwhile +Gougenot Des Mousseaux had related in _Le Juif_, that in December 1865 +he had received a letter from a German statesman saying: + + Since the revolutionary recrudescence of 1848, I have had relations + with a Jew who, from vanity, betrayed the secret of the secret + societies with which he had been associated, and who warned me + eight or ten days beforehand of all the revolutions which were + about to break out at any point of Europe. I owe to him the + unshakeable conviction that all these movements of "oppressed + peoples," etc., etc., are devised by half a dozen individuals, who + give their orders to the secret societies of all Europe. The ground + is absolutely mined beneath our feet, and the Jews provide a large + contingent of these miners....[871] + +These words were written in the year after the _Dialogues aux Enfers_ +were published. + +It is further important to notice that Joly's work is dated from Geneva, +the meeting-place for all the revolutionaries of Europe, including +Bakunin, who was there in the same year, and where the first Congress of +the _Internationale_ led by Karl Marx was held two years later. Already +the revolutionary camp was divided into warring factions, and the +rivalry between Marx and Mazzini had been superseded by the struggle +between Marx and Bakunin. And all these men were members of secret +societies. It is by no means improbable then that Joly, himself a +revolutionary, should during his stay in Geneva have come into touch +with the members of some secret organization, who may have betrayed to +him their own secret or those of a rival organization they had reason +to suspect of working under the cover of revolutionary doctrines for an +ulterior end. Thus the protocols of a secret society modelled on the +lines of the Illuminati or the Haute Vente Romaine may have passed into +his hands and been utilized by him as an attack on Napoleon who, owing +to his known connexion with the Carbonari, might have appeared to Joly +as the chief exponent of the Machiavellian art of duping the people and +using them as the lever to power which the secret societies had reduced +to a system. + +This would explain Maurice Joly's mysterious reference to the "political +system which has not varied for a single day in its application since +the disastrous and alas! too far-off date of its enthronement." +Moreover, it would explain the resemblance between all the parallels to +the Protocols from the writings of the Illuminati and Mirabeau's _Projet +de Révolution_ of 1789 onwards. For if the system had never varied, the +code on which it was founded must have remained substantially the same. +Further, if it had never varied up to the time when Joly wrote, why +should it have varied since that date? The rules of lawn tennis drawn up +in 1880 would probably bear a strong resemblance to those of 1920, and +would also probably follow each other in the same sequence. The +differences would occur where modern improvements had been added. + +Might not the same process of evolution have taken place between the +dates at which the works of Joly and Nilus were published? I do not +agree with the opinion of the _Morning Post_ that "the author of the +Protocols must have had the _Dialogues_ of Joly before him." It is +possible, but not proven. Indeed, I find it difficult to imagine that +anyone embarking on such an elaborate imposture should not have +possessed the wit to avoid quoting passages verbatim--without even +troubling to arrange them in a different sequence--from a book which +might at any moment be produced as evidence against him. For contrary to +the assertions of the _Times_ the _Dialogues_ of Joly is by no means a +rare book, not only was it to be found at the British Museum but at the +London Library and recently I was able to buy a copy for the modest sum +of 15 francs. There was therefore every possibility of Nilus being +suddenly confronted with the source of his plagiarism. Further, is it +conceivable that a plagiarist so unskilful and so unimaginative would +have been capable of improving on the original? For the Protocols are a +vast improvement on the _Dialogues_ of Joly. The most striking passages +they contain are not to be found in the earlier work, nor, which is more +remarkable, are several of the amazing prophecies concerning the future +which time has realized. It is this latter fact which presents the most +insuperable obstacle to the _Times_ solution of the problem. + +To sum up then, the Protocols are either a mere plagiarism of Maurice +Joly's work, in which case the prophetic passages added by Nilus or +another remain unexplained, or they are a revised edition of the plan +communicated to Joly in 1864, brought up to date and supplemented so as +to suit modern conditions by the continuers of the plot. + +Whether in this case the authors of the Protocols were Jews or whether +the Jewish portions have been interpolated by the people into whose +hands they fell is another question. Here we must admit the absence of +any direct evidence. An International circle of world revolutionaries +working on the lines of the Illuminati, of which the existence has +already been indicated, offers a perfectly possible alternative to the +"Learned Elders of Zion." It would be easier, however to absolve the +Jews from all suspicion of complicity if they and their friends had +adopted a more straightforward course from the time the Protocols +appeared. When some years ago a work of the same kind was directed +against the Jesuits, containing what purported to be a "Secret Plan" of +revolution closely resembling the Protocols,[872] the Jesuits indulged +in no invectives, made no appeal that the book should be burnt by the +common hangman, resorted to no fantastic explanations, but quietly +pronounced the charge to be a fabrication. Thus the matter ended. + +But from the moment the Protocols were published the Jews and their +friends had recourse to every tortuous method of defence, brought +pressure to bear on the publishers--succeeded, in fact, in temporarily +stopping the sales--appealed to the Home Secretary to order their +suppression, concocted one clinching refutation after another, all +mutually exclusive of each other, so that by the time the solution now +pronounced to be the correct one appeared, we had already been assured +half a dozen times that the Protocols had been completely and finally +refuted. And when at last a really plausible explanation had been +discovered, why was it not presented in a convincing manner? All that +was necessary was to state that the origin of the Protocols had been +found in the work of Maurice Joly, giving parallels in support of this +assertion. What need to envelop a good case in a web of obvious romance? +Why all this parade of confidential sources of information, the pretence +that Joly's book was so rare as to be almost unfindable when a search in +the libraries would have proved the contrary? Why these allusions to +Constantinople as the place "to find the key to dark secrets," to the +mysterious Mr. X. who does not wish his real name to be known, and to +the anonymous ex-officer of the Okhrana from whom by mere chance he +bought the very copy of the _Dialogues_ used for the fabrication of the +Protocols by the Okhrana itself, although this fact was unknown to the +officer in question? Why, further, should Mr. X., if he were a Russian +landowner, Orthodox by religion and a Constitutional Monarchist, be so +anxious to discredit his fellow Monarchists by making the outrageous +assertion that "the only occult Masonic organization such as the +Protocols speak of"--that is to say, a Machiavellian system of an +abominable kind--which he had been able to discover in Southern Russia +"was a Monarchist one"? + +It is evident then that the complete story of the Protocols has not yet +been told, and that much yet remains to be discovered concerning this +mysterious affair. + + + + +INDEX + + + +Abdullah ibn Maymūn, 37, 197 + +Abraham, Book of, 8 + +"Abraham the Jew," 85 + +"Absolutes," the, 265 + +Adam, Book of (see _Codex Nasaræus_) + +Adamites, the, 31 + +Additional Degrees, the 132-148 + +Akhnaton (see Ikh-naton) + +Albigenses, the, 74-76 + +Alemanus (or Datylus), 85 + +_Aliance Sociale Démocratique_, 268, 295 + +Alsace, Jews of, 247 + +Alta Vendita (or Haute Vente Romaine), 266 + +Altotas, 174, 200 + +Amaury, King of Jerusalem, 50 + +Amèlie, Queen of Portugal, 283 + +_Amis Réunis_ (Loge des), 165, 170, 236 + +Ampthill, Lord, 287 + +Anabaptists, 180 + +Ancient Masonry, 304 + +Anderson's Constitutions, 129, 148 + +Anna of Courland, 165 + +Anthroposophical Society, 316 + +Antin, Duc d', 137 note, 145, 148, 155, 162 + +Antitacts, 31 + +Architecture, Gothic, 111 + +Aristobulos, 28 + +Athanasius, Kircher, 86 + +Ashkenazim, 247 + +Ashmole, Elias, 102, 122 + +Asiatic Brethren, 169 + +Assassins, the 44-48, 113 + + +Ba'al Shems, 181, _et seq_. + +Babeuf, 252 + +Bacon, Francis, 97, 119 + +Bacon, Roger, 143 + +Bakunin, Michel, 268, 384 + +Baldwin II, 49 + +Balsamo, Joseph (see Cagliostro) + +Baphomet, 64, 72 + +Barbusse, H., 321 + +Baron, André, 188 + +Barruel, Abbé, vi, ix, 121, 147, 254, 382 + +Barthou, Monsieur, 203, 204 + +Bavaria, Duke of, 86 + +Bela Kun, 386 + +Belgium, Freemasonry in, 282 + +Belle-Isle, Maréchal de, 173 + +Bérage, Chevalier de, 139 + +Berckheim, François Charles de, 258, _et seq._ + +Besant, Mrs. Annie, 297, _et seq._ + +Bielfeld, Baron de, 152 + +Bismarck, Prince von, 356, 357, 366 + +Blanc, Louis, 268 + +Blavatsky, Madame, 298, _et seq._ + +Bode, Christian, 211, 233-234, 236, 255 + +Bogomils, 63, _et seq._ + +Bolshevism, 357, _et seq._, 384, _et seq._ + +Bordeaux Jews of, 246, 247 + +Bourbon, Duc de, 136, 137 + +Bourbon, Duchesse de, 295 + +Brinvilliers, Marquise de, 93 + +Bruce, Robert, 111, 112, 142 + +Brunswick, Duke of, 154, 191, 252, _et seq._, 350 + +Bullock, 314 + +Buonarotti, 252 + +Bussell, Dr. F. W., 50, 128 + + +Cabala, the ancient, 111 +-- the Jewish, 6, _et seq._; + origins of, 7 _et seq._; 71, 78, 81, 85, 86, 106, 107, 109, 110, + 119, 124, 166, 181, 228, 318, 371, _et seq._ + +Cabalists, the Christian, 15, 85 +-- the Jewish, ch. viii. + +Cagliostro, 174, 191, 233, 235 + +Cainites, 30, 76 + +Cambacérès, Prince, 255 + +Carbonari, 266, 342, 351 + +Carlos, King of Portugal, 283 + +Carpocratians, the, 30, 31 + +Carvajal, 178 + +Catherine de Medicis, 79 + +Chambers, Ephraim, _Cyclopædia_, 161 + +Charles VI, King of France, 246 + +Charles Edward, Prince, 153, 154 + +Charter of Larmenius, 66, 135, 157 + +Chefdebien d'Armisson, Marquis de, 171, 234, 236, 256 + +Choiseul, Duc de, 172 + +"Christians of St. John" (see Mandæans) + +Clarté, 321, 322 + +_Clavicules de Solomon_, 166 + +Clement V, 51, 53, 54, 59 + +Clement XII, 138 + +Coat-of-Anns of Grand Lodge, 123 + +_Codex Nasaræus_, 71 + +Co-Masonry, 301, _et seq._, 319 + +Compagnonnages, 108 + +Condorcet, Marquis de, 162, 171 + +_Confessia Fraternitatis_, 87 + +Copin Albancelli, Monsieur, 278, _et seq_. + +Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim, 86 + +Cossé Brissac, Duc de, 150 + +"Council of the Emperors of the East," 149 + +Court de Gebelin, 171 + +Crémieux, Adolphe, 268 + +Croix, Madame de la, 194 + +Cromwell, Oliver, 125, 126, 179 + +Crowley, Aleister, 314, 315 + +Crypto-Jews, 178 + + +D'Alembert, 161 + +Danton, 245 + +Darazi, Ismail, 43 + +Dar ul Hikmat, 40, 113 + +D'Aumont, Pierre, 111 + +Deraismes, Maria, 296 + +Derwentwater, Lord, 134 + +Dasmoulins, Camille, 245 + +Diderot, 160, 161 + +Disraeli, Benjamin, (Earl of Beaconsfield), 383 + +Drach, P.L.B., 11, 12, 14, 15, 402 + +Druses, 43, 44, 284 + +Duchanteau, 234 + + +Eckhoffen, Baron von, 169 + +Edward II, 55, 111 + +Egyptian Rite, 174 + +_Einwohnerwehr_, 362 + +Eliphas Lévi, 60, 62, 65, 68, 77, 79, 83, 310 + +Elymas the sorcerer, 29 + +Emden, 186 + +Encausse, Dr. Gérard (see Papus) + +_Encyclopédie_, 160-165 + +Engel, Leopold, 311 + +Ephrain, 249 + +_Ernst und Folk_, 191-195 + +Esperanto, 346 + +_Essai sur la Secte des Illuminés_, 240, _et seq_., 258 + +Essenes, the, 23-27, 110 + +Euchites, 76 + + +Fabré Palaprat, 67, 68, 135 + +Falk, Hayyim Samuel Jacob, 185, _et. seq._ + +_Fama Fraternitatis_, 86 + +Fare, Monseigneur de la, 247 + +Fascismo, 282 + +Fatimites, 40 + +Felkin, Dr. R., 313-316 + +Fénélon, 144 + +Flamel, Nicholas, 85 + +Fleury, Cardinal, 137, 138 + +Florence, Secret Society at, 190, 191 + +Fludd, Robert, 84, 97, 121 + +Frank, Jacob (alias Baron von Offenbach), 182 + +Frankists, 182 + +Frederick the Great, 152, 156, 163-165, 206, 213, 366 +-- and Freemasonry, 152, 156, 159, 160 +-- and Voltaire, 157, 158 + +Freemasonry, origins of, ch. v +-- Grand Lodge Era of, ch. vi +-- Modern, ch. xi +-- British, 103, 126-131, 285-293 +-- Grand Orient, 149, 273-285 +-- -- and the Cabala, 105-110, 123 +-- -- and the Essenes, 110 +-- -- and the Roman Colelgia, 101, 108 +-- -- and the _compagnonnages_, 110 +-- in Belgium, 282 +-- in Spain, 283 +-- in Portugal, 283 +-- in Hungary, 284 +-- in Turkey, 284 +-- and Templarism, 110-117, 138-142 +-- and Rosicrucianism, 98, 119-122 +-- and the Catholic Church, 272, 288 +-- and women, 294-296 +-- in Germany, 356 +-- in France, 273-285 + + +Galcerandus de Teus, 68 + +Gassner, 175 + +"German Union," 236 + +Gilles de Rais, 77-79 + +Ginsburg, Dr. Christian, 23-26 + +Gleichen, Baron de, 165, 189, 190 + +Gnostics, 27-32 + +Gobel, Archbishop, 249 + +Godefroi de Bouillon, 49, 139 + +Goldsmid, Aaron, 187 + +"Goose and Gridiron," 127, 128 + +Gordon, Lord George, 194 + +Goudchaux, Juliet, 193 + +Gougenot des Mousseaux, 10, 11, 381 + +Grand Chapitre Général de France, 150 + +Grand Orient, 149, 160, 171, 273, _et seq_., 303, 304, 323, 352, 384 + +Grand Orient of Italy, 284 + +Granjo, Dr. Antonio, 283 + +Great Rebellion, 178 + +Grégoire, Abbé, 69 + + +Hakim, 43 + +Hamburg, Grand Lodge of, 133-152 + +"Harnouester," Lord, 145 + +Hartmann, Franz, 316 + +Hasan and Husein, 35 + +Hasan Saba (The Old Man of the Mountain), 44-48 + +Hashishyin (see Assassins) + +Hasidim, 182, _et. seq._ + +Heguerty, Squire, 134 + +Heilprin (Joel ben Uri), 182 + +Heindl, Max, 317 + +Helvétius, 162 + +Heredom, 112 + +Hertz, David Moses, 169 + +Herz, Henrietta, 230 + +Hesse, Prince Charles of, 125, 129, 154, 171 + +Heydon, John, 97 + +Hiram Abiff, 106-108, 110, 164 + +Hiram, King of Tyre, 106 + +_Hiram or the Grand Master Key_, 130 + +Hiramic legend, 106, 107, 110, 217 + +Holbach, Baron d', 162 + +Horos, Mme, 314 + +Hugues de Pavens, 49, 66, 67 + +Hundt, Baron von, 153, 154, 157 + + +"Idealists," 265 + +Ikhnaton (or Akhnaton), 6, 297 + +Illuminati, Bavarian, ch. ix and x, 350 +-- Modern Order of, 311 + +_Illuminés d'Avignon_, 166 + +_Illuminés, French_ (_Martinistes_), 165-176, 233, 310 + +_Illuminés Théosophes_, 166 + +_In Eminenti_, Papal Bull, 138 + +Innes, B., 314 + +Institute for Harmonius Development of Man, 323 + +International Bureau for Masonic Affairs, 320 + +Israel of Podolia (Ba'al Shem Job), 182 + +"Italian Order," 133, 191 + + +Jachin and Boaz, 107, 111; + pamphlet so-called, 130, 131 + +Jacques du Molay, 51, 52, 56, 110, 147, 164 + +James II, 126 + +Jeanne d'Arc, 77 + +Jechiel, Rabbi, 85 + +Jesuits, 125, 197, 414 + +Jesus Christ, Birth of, 17 +-- and Rabbis, 17, 18 + +Jews, the, xi, xii; ch. xv +-- as Cabalists, 6-16, 78-82, 85, 86, 166-168, ch. viii +-- and magic, 29, 78-82, 175, 178, 181, 182, 184-188, 384 +-- and medicine, 81, 82 +-- and Jesus Christ, 17-23, 68, 86, 374 +-- and Christianity, 374, 378-380 +-- and Freemasonry, 108-110, 122-124, 130, 169, 277, 280, 284, 384 +-- in France, 246, _et seq._, 365, _et seq._ +-- and Germany, 365-368 + +Johannism, 68-71, 157 + +Johnson (alias Leucht or Becker), 155, 158 + + +Karmath (Hamdan), 38 + +Karmathites, 38-40 + +Kay, John de, 365 + +Kilmarnock, Lord, 153 + +Kilwinning, Lodge of, 112 + +Knigge, Baron von, alias Philo, 210-211, 234, 266 + +Knight Kadosch, 147, 159, 164, 280 + +Knights of the East, 149 + +Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, 59, 116 + +Knights Templar (see Templars) + +<g>Knorr</g>, Baron von Rosenroth, 86 + +Kollowrath-Krakowski, Comte Leopold de, 236 + +Kölmer, 199 + +Koran, 22 + +Krishnamurti, 301, 305 + +<g>Kropotkine</g>, Peter, Prince, 268 + +Kuentz, R., 318 + +"Kundalini," 325 + + +Labour Party, the, 360, 362, 368, 389 + +Lacorne, 149, 163 + +Lafayette, 162, 236 + +Lamballe, Princesse de, 295 + +Lambert, Alexandre, 250, 251 + +Lanze, the Illuminatus, 235 + +Larménie, Jacques de (see Charter of Larmenius) + +Lazare, Bernard, 122, 177 + +Leadbeater, Mr., 301, 308 + +"Leon, the Jew," 175 + +_Le Secret des Francs-Maçons_, 131 + +_Les Francis-Maçons écrasés_, 131, 169 + +Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, 191, 229 + +Levellers, the, 180 + +_Libres Penseurs_, Lodge of the, 296 + +Lippe-Bückeburg, Graf von, 152 + +Little, Robert Wentworth, 310 + +Lima, Magalhaes, 283 + +Lodge "Theodore de Bon Conseil," 205, 228 + +Loge des Neuf Lœurs, 236, _et seq._ + +_Loi Chapelier_, 206 + +_L'Ordre des Francs-Maçons trahi_, 131 + +Luchet, Marquis de, 169, 239, _et seq._, 350 + +Luciferians, the, 63, 64, 76 + +Lulli, Raymond, 85 + +Luria, Isaac, 78 + +Luther, Martin, and the Jews, 21 + + +Machiavelli, 354, 355 + +Mackenzie, Kenneth, 90, 189 + +_Maçonnerie d'Adoption_, 295 + +_Maçonnique Mixte Internationale, Ordre_, 296, 301, _et seq._ + +Magic, branches of, 84 + +Magicians, 172-176 + +Maitland, Edward, 310 + +Manasseh ben Israel, 123, 179 + +Mandaites (see Mandæans) + +Mandæans, 70, 71 + +Manes (Cubricus), 33, 107 + +Manicheism, 32, _et seq._, 74, 75 + +Marat, 245 + +Marcosians, 31 + +Maria Theresa, 183 + +Marie Antoinette, 164, 195, 283 + +Marotti, Abbé, 209 + +Marschall, Baron von, 153, 156 + +Martin, Dr. George, 296 + +Martines de Pasqually, 165, 166, 310 + +_Martinistes_ (see _Illuminés, French_) + +Mary, Mother of Jesus, 22 + +Marx[D], Karl, 385 + +Maskeline, Chevalier, 134 + +Mathers, M., 312-314 + +Mauvillon, 210 + +Mayas, 4, 119 + +Meakin, 316 + +Melchisedeck Lodges, 169 + +Mendelssohn, Moses, 191, 229 + +"Mercaba, The," 123 + +Mesmer, 175 + +Mirabeau, Honoré Gabriel Riquetti, Comte de, 89, 90, 155, 203-205, 230, + 236, 241-243; + his _Histoire de la Monarchie Prussienne_, 205 + +Momoro, 249 + +Monotheism, 5 + +Morley, Lord, 160 + +Moses de Leon, 9, 28 + +Mounier, vii, 227 + +Mount Moriah, 106 + +Mussolini, 405 + +Mysteries, Eleusinian, 5, 32 + + +_Nathan der Weise_, 191 + +Nazarenes, 71 + +Nazarites, 71 + +Nazoreans, 70 + +Necklace, Affair of, 234 + +_New Atlantis_, 119 + +"New Saints, The," 182 + +_Nishmat Hayim_, 81, 179 + +Nizam ul Mulk, 45 + +Nizzachon (see Sepher Nizzachon) + + +Olcott, Colonel, 298 + +Omar Khayyam, 45 + +Ophites, the, 30 + +_<g>Ordre</g> du Temple_ (modern), 65, 116, 135, 136, 150, 156, 300 + +Ordre de Saint-Lazare, 136 + +Orléans, Phillippe, Duc d' (the Regent), 135, 136 + +Orléans, Louis Phillippe Joseph (Duc de Chartres), 149, 150, 159, 160, + 193, 194, 244 + +Osiris, 16, 107 + +_Ostmarkenverein_, 362 + + +Pan-Germanism, 353, _et seq._ + +_Pantheisticon_, Toland's, 129 + +Papus (Dr. Gérard Encausse), 162, 310 + +Paracelsus, 85, 86 + +Paris, Comte de, 194 + +"Parvus," alias Helphandlt (Israel Lazarewitch), 363 + +Paulicians, the, 63 + +Pepys, Samuel, 181 + +Pernetti, Dom, 166 + +Pfefferkorn, 86 + +_Philalèthes_, 171, 234 + +Phillippe le Bel, 51, 57, 59, 147 + +Philo (of Alexandria), 28 + +"Philo" (see Knigge) + +Pico della Mirandola, 85, 93 + +Pike, Albert, 160 + +Poale Zion, 383 + +Pompadour, Marquise de, 173 + +Portugal, Freemasonry in, 283, 384 +-- Carbonarios of, 342 + +Pott, Mrs., 96, 119 + +Prelati, 77 + +Prie, Marquise de, 136 + +_Protocols of the Elders of Zion_, 381, and Appendix II + +Proudhon, 268 + +Psycho-analysis, 345, 393 + +Pythagoras, 6 + + +Ragon (François), 65, 122, 310 + +Rainsford, General, 168, 234 + +Ramsay, Andrew M., Chevalier, 136, 137, 161, 163 + +Ranking, Dr., 73 + +Raymond, Comte de Tripoli, 50, 75 + +Reuchlin, 86 + +Richelieu, Cardinal, 85 + +Richter, Samuel, alias Sincerus Renatus, 169 + +_Rit Primitif_, 171, 175 + +Rite of Perfection, 145, 159, 167 + +Rite of Swedenborg, 166 + +Robison, 212, 254, see also Preface vi-viii + +Roman Catholic Church, 288 + +Rosenkreutz, Christian, 87, 88, 91, 316, 319 + +Rose-Croix, degree of, 112, 142-145, 157, 164, 166-169, 202, 235, 277 + +Rosicrucians, 84-98, 119-122, 168; + Brothers of the Golden and Rosy Cross, 169; + modern Rosicrucians, 310, _et seq._ + +Rosy Cross, Brothers of (see Rosicrucians) + +Royal Arch Degree, 132, 133, 277 + + +Sabians (see Mandæans) + +Sade, Marquis de, 78, 246 + +St. Bernard, 49 + +"Saint-Germaine, Comte de," 172-175, 234, 306 + +St. John the Baptist, 70 + +St. John, the Evangelist, 72, 73 +-- Gospel of, 31, 69, 73, 74, 188 +-- Knights and Brethren of, 169 + +Saladin, 49 + +Salisbury Cathedral, 111 + +Salonica, lodges of, 284 + +Sand, George, 207 + +Satanael, 72 + +Satanism, 63, 76-84, 324-326 + +Savalette de Lange, 170, 171, 190, 234, 237 + +Savine, Monsignor de, 257, 351 + +Schem Hamphorasch +(see _Tetragrammaton_) + +Schroeder, 190 + +Schroepfer, 172 + +Scottish Rite (or Ancient and Accepted Rite), 132, 142, 145, 159, 277 + +Seal of Solomon, 189 + +Sephardim, 246-247 + +Sepher Nizzachon, 86 + +Sepher Toldoth Jeschu (see _Toledot Yeshu_) + +_Sepher Yetzirah_, 7, 313 + +Shabbethai, Zebi, 181, 183 + +Shiahs, 36, 37 + +Simon ben Jochai, 8 + +Simon Magus, 29 + +Sixtus IV, 85 + +Socialism, ch. xiii +-- and Freemasonry, 273-275 + +Solomon, 106, 109 + +Solomon, Temple of, 49, 106-108, 110, 113, 271 + +Spedalieri, Baron, 310 + +Sprengel, Anna, 311-313 + +Star, five-pointed, 111 + +Star in the East, Order of, 301, 307 + +Steiner, Rudolf, 316-318 + +Stella Matutina, 316, 319, 325 + +"Stricte Observance," Order of the, 135, 154, 233 + +Sunnis, 36 + +Swedenborg Emmanuel, 166 + +Switzerland, Masonic Congress in, 287 +-- a centre of revolution, 364 + +Syed Ameer Ali, 35, 113, 309 + + +Talmud, the, 6, 71, 80, 183, 369, _et seq._ + +Taxil, Léo, 76, 324 + +Templars (see Knights Templar) + +Templar tradition in Freemasonry, 110, _et seq._ + +Temple of Solomon (see Solomon) + +Templo, Rabbi Jacob Jehuda Leon, 123 + +_Tetragrammaton_, 21, 27, 167, 176, 181, 185, 313, 352 + +Theosophy, 297, _et seq._ + +Theosophical Society, 300, 307, _et seq._ + +_Toledot Yeshu_ (or Sepher Toldoth Jeschu), 20, 68, 71, 86, 299, 300 + +Trans-Himalayan Brotherhood, 299 + +Tschoudy, Baron, 139, 140 + +Tugendbund, 265 + + +"United States of Europe," 275, 336 + +"Universal Republic," 275, 336 + + +Valentinians, the, 31, 32 + +Vaughan, Thos., 316 + +Vehmgerichts, 117 + +Voltaire, 79, 152, 153, 156, 162, 213 + +Vulliaud, Monsieur Paul, 7, 8 + + +Waechter, Baron de, 190 + +Waite, Mr. A. E., 91, 96, 113, 133, 315 + +Westminster Abbey, 111 + +Weishaupt, Adam, ch. ix, 255-257, 311 + +Wilhelmsbad, Congress of, 233 + +Willermoz, 166, 171 + +William of Orange, 180 + +Winstanley, Gerard, 180 + +Witches, 81 + +Witt Doehring, 265 + +Wolf, Lucien, 123, 381 + +Women Masons, 295 (see also "Co-Masonry" and "_Maçonnerie Mixte_") + +Woodford, Rev. A. F. A., 311 + + +Young Turk Movement, 284 + + +Zaddikim, 181 + +Zerdascht, 14 + +_Zohar, The_, 8, 9, 81, 182, 183, 371, 373 + +Zoharites, 182 + +Zoroastrians, 14, 201 + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + + +[1] _Moniteur_ for the 14th Fructidor, An II. + +[2] Seth Payson, _Proofs of the Real Existence and Dangerous Tendency of +Illuminism_ (Charleston, 1802), pp. 5-7. + +[3] Ibid., p. 5 note. + +[4] Quoted in the Life of John Robison (1739-1805) by George Stronach in +the _Dictionary of National Biography_, Vol. XLIX. p. 58. + +[5] _Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh_, Vol. VII, pp. 538, +539 (1815). + +[6] _Freemasonry, its Pretensions Exposed_ ... by a Master Mason, p. 275 +(New York. 1828). + +[7] _Mémoires sur le Jacobinisme_, II. 195 (1818 edition). + +[8] Barruel, op. cit., II. 208. + +[9] Ibid., II. 311. + +[10] I use the word "anti-Semitism" here in the sense in which it has +come to be used--that is to say, anti-Jewry, but place it in inverted +commas because it is in reality a misnomer coined by the Jews in order +to create a false impression. The word anti-Semite literally signifies a +person who adopts a hostile attitude towards all the descendants of +Shem--the Arabs, and the entire twelve tribes of Israel. To apply the +term to a person who is merely antagonistic to that fraction of the +Semitic race known as the Jews is therefore absurd, and leads to the +ridiculous situation that one may be described as "anti-Semitic and +pro-Arabian." This expression actually occurred in _The New Palestine_ +(New York), March 23, 1923. One might as well speak of being +"anti-British and pro-English." + +[11] Augustus le Plongeon, _Sacred Mysteries among the Mayas and the +Quiches_, p. 53 (1909) + +[12] Ibid., pp. 56, 58. + +[13] Adolf Erman, _Life in Ancient Egypt_, p. 45 (1894). + +[14] J.H. Breasted, _Ancient Times: a History of the Early World_, p. 92 +(1916). + +[15] This word is spelt variously by different writers thus: Cabala, +Cabbala, Kabbala, Kabbalah, Kabalah. I adopt the first spelling as being +the one employed in the _Jewish Encyclopædia_. + +[16] Fabre d'Olivet, _La Langue Hébraïque_, p. 28 (1815). + +[17] "According to the Jewish view God had given Moses on Mount Sinai +alike the oral and the written Law, that is, the Law with all its +interpretations and applications."--Alfred Edersheim, _The Life and +Times of Jesus the Messiah_, I. 99 (1883), quoting other Jewish +authorities. + +[18] _Solomon Maimon: an Autobiography_, translated from the German by +J. Clark Murray, p. 28 (1888). The original appeared in 1792. + +[19] Alfred Edersheim, _The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah_, II. +689 (1883). + +[20] "There exists in Jewish literature no book more difficult to +understand than the Sepher Yetzirah."--Phineas Mordell in the _Jewish +Quarterly Review_, New Series, Vol. II. p. 557. + +[21] Paul Vulliaud, _La Kabbale Juive: histotre et doctrine_, 2 vols. +(Émile Nourry, 62 Rue des Écoles, Paris, 1923). This book, neither the +work of a Jew nor of an "anti-Semite," but of a perfectly impartial +student, is invaluable for a study of the Cabala rather as a vast +compendium of opinions than as an expression of original thought. + +[22] "Rab Hanina and Rab Oschaya were seated on the eve of every Sabbath +studying the Sepher Ietsirah; they created a three-year-old heifer and +ate it."--Talmud treatise Sanhedrim, folio 65. + +[23] Koran, Sura LXXXVII. 10. + +[24] Zohar, section Bereschith, folio 55, and section Lekh-Lekha, folio +76 (De Pauly's translation, Vol. I. pp. 431, 446). + +[25] Adolphe Franck, _La Kabbale_, p. 39; J. P. Stehelin, _The +Traditions of the Jews_, I. 145 (1748). + +[26] Adolphe Franck, op. cit., p. 68, quoting Talmud treatise Sabbath, +folio 34, Dr. Christian Ginsburg, _The Kabbalah_, p. 85; Drach, _De +l'Harmonie entre l'Église et la Synagogue_, I. 457. + +[27] Adolphe Franck, op. cit., p. 69. + +[28] Dr. Christian Ginsburg (1920), _The Kabbalah_, pp. 172, 173. + +[29] Vulliaud, op. cit., I. 253. + +[30] Ibid., p. 20, quoting Theodore Reinach, _Historie des Israelites_, +p. 221, and Salomon Reinach, _Orpheus_, p. 299. + +[31] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Cabala. + +[32] Adolphe Franck, op. cit., p. 288. + +[33] Vulliaud, op. cit., I. 256, quoting Greenstone, _The Messiah Idea_, +p. 229. + +[34] H. Loewe, in an article on the Kabbala in Hastings' _Encyclopædia +of Religion and Ethics_, says: "This secret mysticism was no late +growth. Difficult though it is to prove the date and origin of this +system of philosophy and the influences and causes which produced it, we +can be fairly certain that its roots stretch back very far and that the +mediæval and Geonic Kabbala was the culmination and not the inception of +Jewish esoteric mysticism. From the time of Graetz it has been the +fashion to decry the Kabbala and to regard it as a later incrustation, +as something of which Judaism had reason to be ashamed." The writer goes +on to express the opinion that "the recent tendency requires adjustment. +The Kabbala, though later in form than is claimed by its adherents, is +far older in material than is allowed by its detractors." + +[35] Vulliaud, op. cit., I. 22. + +[36] Ibid., I. 13, 14, quoting Edersheim, _La Société Juive an temps de +Jésus-Christ_ (French translation), pp. 363-4 + +[37] See chapters on this question by Gougenot des Mousseaux in _Le +Juif, le Judaïsme et la Judaïsation des Peisples Chrétiens_, pp. 499 and +following (2nd edition, 1886). The first edition of this book, published +in 1869, is said to have been bought up and destroyed by the Jews, and +the author died a sudden death before the second edition could be +published. + +[38] Eliphas Lévi, _Histoire de la Magie_, pp. 46, 105. (Eliphas Lévi +was the pseudonym of the celebrated nineteenth-century occultist the +Abbé Constant.) + +[39] _Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. 323. + +[40] Ginsburg op. cit. p. 105; _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Cabala. + +[41] Gougenot des Mousseaux, _Le Juif, le Judaïsms el la Judaïsation des +Peuples Chrétiens_, p. 503 (1886). + +[42] P. L. B. Drach _De l'Harmonie entre l'Église et la Synagogue_, Vol. +I. p. xiii (1844). M. Vulliaud (op. cit., II. 245) points out that, as +far as he can discover Drach's work has never met with any refutation +from the Jews, by whom it was received in complete silence. The _Jewish +Encyclopædia_ has an article on Drach in which it says he was brought up +in a Talmudic school and afterwards became converted to Christianity, +but makes no attempt to challenge his statements. + +[43] Drach, op. cit., Vol. II. p. xix + +[44] Franck, op. cit., p. 127. + +[45] De Pauly's translation. Vol. V. pp. 336-8, 343-6. + +[46] Zohar, treatise Beschalah, folio 59_b_ (De Pauly, III. 265). + +[47] Zohar, Toldoth Noah, folio 69_a_ (De Pauly, I. 408). + +[48] Zohar, treatise Beschalah, folio 48_a_ (De Pauly, III. 219). + +[49] Ibid., folio 44a (De Pauly, III. 200). + +[50] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Cabala. + +[51] Adolf Erman, _Life in Ancient Egypt_, p. 32. + +[52] Zohar, treatise Toldoth Noah, folio 59b (De Pauly, I. 347). + +[53] Zohar, treatise Lekh-Lekha, folio 94a (De Pauly, I. 535). + +[54] Zohar, treatise Bereschith, folio 26a (De Pauly, I. 161). + +[55] The _Emek ha Melek_ is the work of the Cabalist Napthali, a +disciple of Luria. + +[56] Drach, _De l'Harmonie entre l'Église et la Synagogue_, I. 272. + +[57] Ibid., p. 273. + +[58] D'Herbelot, _Bibliothèque Orientale_ (1778), article on Zerdascht. + +[59] Ibid., I. 18. + +[60] Rom. iii. 2. + +[61] Drach, _De l'Harmonie entre l'Eglise et la Synagogue_, II. 19. + +[62] Ibid., I. 280. + +[63] Vulliaud, op. cit., II. 255, 256. + +[64] Ibid., p. 257, quoting Karppe, _Études sur les Origines du Zohar_, +p. 494. + +[65] Ibid., I. 13, 14. In Vol. II. p. 411, M. Vulliaud quotes Isaac +Meyer's assertion that "the triad of the ancient Cabala is Kether, the +Father; Binah, the Holy Spirit or the Mother; and Hochmah, the Word or +the Son." But in order to avoid the sequence of the Christian Trinity +this arrangement has been altered in the modern Cabala of Luria and +Moses of Cordovero, etc. + +[66] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Cabala, p. 478. + +[67] "...All that Israel hoped for, was national restoration and +glory. Everything else was but means to these ends; the Messiah Himself +only the grand instrument in attaining them. Thus viewed, the picture +presented would be of Israel's exaltation, rather than of the salvation +of the world.... The Rabbinic ideal of the Messiah was not that of 'a +light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel'--the +satisfaction of the wants of humanity, and the completion of Israel's +mission--but quite different, even to contrariety."--Edersheim, _The +Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah_, I. 164 (1883). + +[68] Zohar, section Schemoth, folio 8; cf. ibid., folio 9b: "The period +when the King Messiah will declare war on the whole world." (De Pauly, +III. 32, 36). + +[69] A blasphemous address entitled _The God Man_, given by Tom +Anderson, the founder of the Socialist Sunday Schools, on Glasgow Green +to an audience of over 1,000 workers in 1922 and printed in pamphlet +form, was founded entirely on this theory. + +[70] J.G. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_, Part VI. "The Scapegoat," p. 412 +(1914 edition); E.R. Bevan endorses this view. + +[71] _Histoire de la Magie_, p. 69. + +[72] The Magi or Wise Men are generally believed to have come from +Persia; this would accord with the Zoroastrian prophecy quoted above. + +[73] Drach, op. cit., II. p. 32. + +[74] Ibid., II. p. xxiii. + +[75] Joseph Barclay, _The Talmud_, pp 38, 39; cf. Drach, op. cit., I 167 + +[76] _The Talmud_, by Michael Rodkinson (alias Michael Levy +Rodkinssohn). + +[77] _Le Talmud de Babylone_ (1900). + +[78] Le Zohar, translation in 8 vols by Jean de Pauly, published in 1909 +by Emile Lafuma-Giraud. Wherever possible in quoting the Talmud or the +Cabala I shall give a reference to one of the translations here +mentioned. + +[79] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article Talmud. + +[80] Drach, op. cit., I. 168, 169. The text of this encyclical is given +by Drach in Hebrew and also in translation, thus: "This is why we enjoin +you, under pain of excommunication major, to print nothing in future +editions, whether of the Mischna or of the Gemara, which relates whether +for good or evil to the acts of Jesus the Nazarene, and to substitute +instead a circle like this O, which will warn the Rabbis and +schoolmasters to teach the young these passages only viva voce. By means +of this precaution the savants amongst the Nazarenes will have no +further pretext to attack us on this subject." Cf. Abbé Chiarini, _Le +Talmud de Babylone_, p. 45 (1831). + +[81] On this point see Appendix I. + +[82] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on "Jesus." + +[83] Eliphas Lévi, _La Science des Esprits_, p. 40. + +[84] Origen, _Contra Celsum_. + +[85] S. Baring-Gould, _The Counter-Gospels_, p. 69 (1874). + +[86] Cf. Baring-Gould, op. cit., quoting Talmud, treatise Sabbath, folio +104. + +[87] Ibid., p. 55, quoting Talmud, treatise Sanhedrim, folio 107, and +Sota, folio 47; Eliphas Lévi, _La Science des Esprits_, pp. 32, 33. + +[88] According to the Koran, it was the Jews who said, "'Verily we have +slain the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, an apostle of God.' Yet they +slew him not, and they crucified him not, but they had only his +likeness.... No sure knowledge had they about him, but followed an +opinion, and they did not really slay him, but God took him up to +Himself."--Sura iv. 150. See also Sura iii. 40. The Rev. J.M. Rodwell, +in his translation of the Koran, observes in a footnote to the latter +passage: "Muhammad probably believed that God took the dead body of +Jesus to Heaven--for three hours, according to some--while the Jews +crucified a man who resembled him." + +[89] Sura iii. 30, 40. + +[90] Sura xxi. 90. + +[91] Sura iv. 150. + +[92] Sura ii. 89, 250; v. 100. + +[93] Sura v. 50. + +[94] In the masonic periodical _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, Vol. XXIV, a +Freemason (Bro. Sydney T. Klein) observes: "It is not generally known +that one of the reasons why the Mohammedans removed their Kiblah from +Jerusalem to Mecca was that they quarrelled with the Jews over Jesus +Christ, and the proof of this may still be seen in the Golden Gate +leading into the sacred area of the Temple, which was bricked up by the +Mohammedans, and is bricked up to this day, because they declared that +nobody should enter through that portal until Jesus Christ comes to +judge the world, and this is stated in the Koran." I cannot trace this +passage in the Koran, but much the same idea is conveyed by the Rev. +J.M. Rodwell, who in the note above quoted adds: "The Muhammadans +believe that Jesus on His return to earth at the end of the world will +slay the Antichrist, die, and be raised again. A vacant place is +reserved for His body in the Prophet's tomb at Medina." + +[95] Graetz, _Geschichte der Juden_, III. 216-52. + +[96] _The Essenes: their History and Doctrines_, an essay by Christian +D. Ginsburg, LL.D. (Longmans, Green & Co., 1864). + +[97] Ibid., p. 24. + +[98] Edersheim (op. cit., I. 325) ably refutes both Graetz and Ginsburg +on this point, and shows that "the teaching of Christianity was in a +direction the opposite from that of Essenism." M. Vulliaud (op. cit., I. +71) dismisses the Essene origin of Christianity as unworthy of serious +attention. "To maintain the Essenism of Jesus is a proof of frivolity or +of invincible ignorance." + +[99] Luke xvii. 7-9. + +[100] Ginsburg, op. cit., pp. 15, 22, 55. + +[101] Ginsburg, op. cit., p. 12. + +[102] Fabre d'Olivet thinks this tradition had descended to the Essenes +from Moses: "If it is true, as everything attests, that Moses left an +oral law, it is amongst the Essenes that it was preserved. The +Pharisees, who flattered themselves so highly on possessing it, only had +its outward forms (_apparences_), as Jesus reproaches them at every +moment. It is from these latter that the modern Jews descend, with the +exception of a few real _savants_ whose secret tradition goes back to +the Essenes."--_La Langue Hebraïque_, p. 27 (1815). + +[103] Matter, _Histoire du Gnosticisme_, I. 44 (1844). + +[104] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Cabala. + +[105] Matter, op. cit., II. 58. + +[106] Ragon, _Maçonnerie Occulte_, p. 78. + +[107] "The Cabala is anterior to the Gnosis, an opinion which Christian +writers little understand, but which the erudites of Judaism profess +with a legitimate assurance."--Matter, op. cit.. Vol. I. p. 12. + +[108] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Cabala. + +[109] John Yarker, _The Arcane Schools_, p. 167; Matter, op. cit., II. +365, quoting Irenæus. + +[110] Eliphas Lévi, _Histoire de la Magie_, p. 189. + +[111] Eliphas Lévi, op. cit., p. 218. + +[112] Dean Milman, _History of the Jews_ (Everyman's Library edition), +II. 491. + +[113] Matter, II. 171; E. de Faye, _Gnostiques et Gnosticisme_, p. 349 +(1913). + +[114] De Luchet, _Essai sur la Secte des Illuminés_, p. 6. + +[115] _Manuel d'Histoire Ecclésiastique_, par R. P. Albers, S.J., adapté +par René Hedde, O.P., p. 125 (1908); Matter, op. citt., II. 197. + +[116] Matter, op. cit., II. 188. + +[117] Matter, op. cit., II. 199, 215. + +[118] Eliphas Lévi, _Histoire de la Magie_, pp. 217, 218. + +[119] Matter, op. cit., II. 115, III. 14; S. Baring-Gould, _The Lost and +Hostile Gospels_ (1874). + +[120] Matter, op. cit., II 364. + +[121] Ibid., p. 365. + +[122] Ibid., p. 369. + +[123] _Some Notes on Various Gnostic Sects and their Possible Influence +on Freemasonry_, by D. F. Ranking, republished from _Ars Quatuor +Coronatorum_ (Vol. XXIV, p. 202, 1911) in pamphlet form, p. 7. + +[124] Hastings, _Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics_, article on +Manicheism. + +[125] Zohar, treatise Bereschith, folio 54 (De Pauly's translation, I. +315). + +[126] The Yalkut Shimoni is a sixteenth-century compilation of Haggadic +Midrashim. + +[127] Principal authorities consulted for this chapter: Joseph von +Hammer, _The History of the Assassins_ (Eng. trans., 1835); Silvestre de +Sacy, _Exposé de le Religion des Druses (1838) and Mémoires sur la +Dynastie des Assassins_ in _Mémoires de l'Institut Royal de France_, +Vol. IV. (1818); Hastings _Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics_; Syed +Ameer Ali, _The Spirit of Islam_ (1922); Dr. F. W. Bussell, _Religious +Thought and Heresy in the Middle Ages_ (1918). + +[128] Reinhart Dozy, _Spanish Islam_ (Eng. trans.), pp. 403-5. + +[129] Claudio Jannet, _Les Précurseurs de la Franc-Moçonnerie_, p. 58 +(1887). + +[130] The following account is given by de Sacy in connexion with +Abdullah ibn Maymūn (op. cit., I. Ixxiv), and Dr. Bussell (_Religious +Thought and Heresy in the Middle Ages_, p. 353) includes it in his +chapter on the Karmathites. Von Hammer, however, gives it as the +programme of the Dar ul Hikmat, and this seems more probable since the +initiation consists of nine degrees and Abdullah's society of Batinis, +into which Karmath had been initiated, included only seven. Yarker (_The +Arcane Schools_, p. 185) says the two additional degrees were added by +the Dar ul Hikmat. It would appear then that de Sacy, in placing this +account before his description of the Karmathites, was anticipating. The +point is immaterial, the fact being that the same system was common to +all these ramifications of Ismailis, and that of the Dar ul Hikmat +varied but little from that of Abdullah and Karmath. + +[131] Von Hammer, op. cit. (Eng. trans.), pp. 36, 37. + +[132] Von Hammer, _The History of the Assassins_, pp. 45, 46. + +[133] Dr. F. W. Bussell, _Religious Thought and Heresy in the Middle +Ages_, p. 368. + +[134] Von Hammer, op. cit., p. 55. + +[135] Von Hammer, op. cit., pp. 83, 89. + +[136] Ibid., p. 164. + +[137] _Développement des abus introduits dans la Franc-maçonnerie_, p. +56 (1780). + +[138] Jules Loiseleur, _La doctrine secrète des Templiers_, p. 89. + +[139] Dr. F W. Bussell, D.D., _Religions Thought and Heresy in the +Middle Ages_, pp. 796, 797 note. + +[140] G. Mollat, _Les Popes d'Avignon_, p. 233 (1912). + +[141] Michelet, _Procès des Templiers_, I. 2 (1841). This work largely +consists of the publication in Latin of the Papal _bulls_ and trials of +the Templars before the Papal Commission in Paris contained in the +original document once preserved at _Notre Dame_. Michelet says that +another copy was sent to the Pope and kept under the triple key of the +Vatican. Mr. E. J. Castle, K.C., however, says that he has enquired about +the whereabouts of this copy and it is no longer in the Vatican +(_Proceedings against the Templars in France and in England for Heresy_, +republished from _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, Vol. XX. Part III. p. 1). + +[142] M. Raynouard, _Monuments historiques relatifs à la condemnation +des Chevaliers du Temple et de l'abolition de leur Ordre_, p. 17 (1813). + +[143] Michelet, op. cit. I. 2 (1841). + +[144] Michelet, _Procès des Templiers_, II. 333. + +[145] Ibid., pp. 295, 333. + +[146] Ibid., pp. 290, 299, 300. + +[147] "Dixit per juramentum suum quod ita est terribilis figure et +aspectus quod videbatur sibi quod esset figura cujusdam demonis, dicendo +gallice _d'un maufé_, et quod quocienscumque videbat ipsum tantus timor +eum invadebat, quod vix poterat illud respicere nisi cum maximo timore +et tremore."--Ibid., p. 364. + +[148] Ibid., pp. 284, 338. "Ipse minabatur sibi quod nisi faceret, ipse +ponereteum in carcere perpetuo."--Ibid., p. 307. + +[149] "Et fuit territus plus quam unquam fuit in vita sua: et statim +unus eorum accepit eum per gutur, dicens quod oportebat quod hoc +faceret, vel moreretur."--Ibid., p. 296. + +[150] Mollat, op. cit., p. 241. + +[151] _Procès des Templiers_, I. 3: Mr. E. J. Castle, op. cit. Part III. +p. 3. (It should be noted that Mr. Castle's paper is strongly in favour +of the Templars.) + +[152] Ibid., I. 4. + +[153] _Procès des Templiers_, I. 5. + +[154] Michelet in Preface to Vol. I. of _Procès des Templiers_. + +[155] Jules Loiseleur, _La Doctrine Secrète des Templiers_, p. 40 +(1872). + +[156] Ibid., p. 16. + +[157] _Proceedings against the Templars in France and England for +Heresy_, by E. J. Castle, Part I. p. 16, quoting Rymer, Vol. III. p. 37 + +[158] Ibid., Part II. p. 1. + +[159] Ibid., Part II. pp. 25-7. + +[160] Ibid., Part II. p. 30. + +[161] "Another witness of the Minor Friars told the Commissioners he had +heard from Brother Robert of Tukenham that a Templar had a son who saw +through a partition that they asked one professing if he believed in the +Crucified, showing him the figure, whom they killed upon his refusing to +deny Him, but the boy, some time after, being asked if he wished to be a +Templar said no, because he had seen this thing done. Saying this, he +was killed by his father.... The twenty-third witness, a Knight, said +that his uncle entered the Order healthy and joyfully, with his birds +and dogs, and the third day following he was dead, and he suspected it +was on account of the crimes he had heard of them, and that the cause of +his death was he would not consent to the evil deeds perpetrated by +other brethren."--Ibid., Part II. p. 13. + +[162] F. Funck-Brentano, _Le Moyen Age_, p. 396 (1922). + +[163] Ibid., p. 384. + +[164] F. Funck Brentano, op. cit., p. 396. + +[165] Ibid., p. 387. + +[166] Dean Milman, _History of Latin Christianity_, VII. 213. + +[167] E. J. Castle, op. cit., Part I. p. 22. + +[168] Thus even M. Mollat admits: "En tout cas leurs dépositions, +défavorables à l'Ordre, l'impressionnèrent si vivement que, par une +série de graves mesures, il abandonna une à une toutes ses +oppositions."--_Les Papes d'Avignon_, p. 242. + +[169] F. Funck-Brentano, op. cit., p. 392. + +[170] E. J. Castle, _Proceedings against the Templars, A.Q.C._, Vol. XX. +Part III, p. 3. + +[171] Even Raynouard, the apologist of the Templars (op. cit., p. 19), +admits that, if less unjust and violent measures had been adopted, the +interest of the State and the safety of the throne might have justified +the abolition of the Order. + +[172] Funck-Brentano, op. cit., p. 386. + +[173] "The bourgeoisie, whenever it has conquered power, has destroyed +all feudal, patriarchal, and idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn +asunder all the many-coloured feudal bonds which united men to their +'natural superiors,' and has left no tie twixt man and man but naked +self-interest and callous cash payment."--_The Communist Manifesto_. + +[174] Eliphas Lévi, _Histoire de la Magie_, p. 273. + +[175] E. J. Castle, op. cit., _A.Q.C._, Vol. XX. Part I. p. 11. + +[176] Ibid., Part II. p. 24. + +[177] Loiseleur, op. cit., pp. 20, 21. + +[178] _Histoire de la Magie_, p. 277. + +[179] Dr. F. W. Bussell, _Religious Thought and Heresy in the Middle +Ages_, p. 803. + +[180] _Les Sectes et Sociétés Secrètes_, p. 85. + +[181] _History of the Assassins_, p. 80. + +[182] F. T. B. Clevel, _Histoire Pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie_, p. +356 (1843). + +[183] Loiseleur, op. cit., p. 66 + +[184] Ibid., p. 143. + +[185] Ibid., p. 141. + +[186] "Dixit sibi quod non crederet in eum, quia nichil erat, et quod +erat quidam falsus propheta, et nichil valebat; immo crederet in Deum +Celi superiorem, qui poterat salvare."--Michelet, _Procès des +Templiers_, II. 404. Cf. ibid., p. 384: "Quidem falsus propheta est; +credas solummodo in Deum Celi, et non in istum." + +[187] Loiseleur, op. cit., p. 37. + +[188] Raynouard, op. cit., p. 301. + +[189] Wilhelm Ferdinand Wilcke, _Geschichte des Tempelherrenordens_, II, +302-12, (1827). + +[190] Eliphas Lévi, _Histoire de la Magie_, p. 273. + +[191] J.M. Ragon, _Cours Philosophique et Interprétatif des Initiations +anciennes et modernes_, édition sacrée à l'usage des Loges et des Maçons +SEULEMENT (5,842), p. 37. In a footnote on the same page Ragon, however, +refers to John the Baptist in this connexion. + +[192] J. B. Fabré Palaprat, _Recherches historiques sur les Templiers_, +p. 31 (1835). + +[193] Ibid., p. 37. + +[194] Eliphas Lévi, _Histoire de la Magie_, p. 277. + +[195] Eliphas Lévi, _La Science des Esprits_, pp. 26-9, 40, 41. + +[196] Raynouard, op. cit., p. 281. + +[197] Matter, _Histoire du Gnosticisme_, III. 330. + +[198] Eliphas Lévi, _Histoire de la Magie_, p. 275. + +[199] M. Grégoire, _Histoire des Sectes religieuses_. II. 407 (1828). + +[200] Matter, _Histoire du Gnosticisme_, III. 323. + +[201] Ibid., III. p. 120. + +[202] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Mandæans. + +[203] Grégoire, op. cit., IV. 241. + +[204] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, and Hastings' _Encyclopædia of Religion and +Ethics_, article on Mandæans. + +[205] _Codex Nasaræus_, Liber Adam appellatus, trans. from the Syriac +into Latin by Matth. Norberg (1815), Vol. I. 109: "Sed, Johanne hae +ætate Hierosolymæ nato, Jordanumque deinceps legente, et baptismum +peragente, veniet Jeschu Messias, summisse se gerens, ut baptismo +Johannis baptizetur, et Johannis per sapientiam sapiat. Pervertet vero +doctrinam Johannis, et mutato Jordani baptismo, perversisque justitiæ +dictis, iniquitatem et perfidiam per mundum disseminabit." + +[206] Article on the _Codex Nasaræus_ by Silvestre de Sacy in the +_Journal des Savants_ for November 1819, p. 651; cf. passage in the +Zohar, section Bereschith, folio 55. + +[207] Matter, op. cit., III. 119, 120. De Sacy (op. cit., p. 654) also +attributes the _Codex Nasaræus_ to the eighth century. + +[208] Matter, op. cit., III. 118. + +[209] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Mandæans. + +[210] Loiseleur, op. cit., p. 52. + +[211] Ibid., p. 51; Matter, op. cit., III. 305. + +[212] Hastings' _Encyclopædia_, article on Bogomils. + +[213] The Sabbatic goat is clearly of Jewish origin. Thus the Zohar +relates that "Tradition teaches us that when the Israelites evoked evil +spirits, these appeared to them under the form of he-goats and made +known to them all that they wished to learn."--Section Ahre Moth, folio +70a (de Pauly, V. 191). + +[214] Eliphas Lévi, _Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie_, II. 209. + +[215] _Some Notes on various Gnostic Sects and their Possible Influence +on Free-masonry_, by D.F. Ranking, reprinted from _A.Q.C._, Vol. XXIV. +pp. 27, 28 + +[216] "Their meetings were held in the most convenient spot, often on +mountains or in valleys; the only essentials were a table, a white +cloth, and a copy of the Gospel of St. John, that is, their own version +of it."--Dr. Ranking, op. cit., p. 15 (_A.Q.C._, Vol. XXIV.). Cf. +Gabriele Rossetti, _The Anti-Papal Spirit_, I. 230, where it is said +"the sacred books, and especially that of St. John, were wrested by this +sect into strange and perverted meanings." + +[217] Michelet, _Histoire de France_, III. 18, 19 (1879 edition). + +[218] Michelet, op. cit., p. 10. "L'élément sémitique, juif et arabe, +était fort en Languedoc." Cf. A.E. Waite, _The Secret Tradition in +Freemasonry_, I. 118: "The South of France was a centre from which went +forth much of the base occultism of Jewry as well as its theosophical +dreams." + +[219] Michelet, op. cit., p. 12. + +[220] Ibid., p. 15. + +[221] Graetz, _History of the Jews_, III. 517. + +[222] Thus Hastings' _Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics_ omits all +reference to Satanism before 1880 and observes: "The evidence of the +existence of either Satanists or Palladists consists entirely of the +writings of a group of men in Paris." It then proceeds to devote five +columns out of the six and a half which compose the article to +describing the works of two notorious romancers, Léo Taxil and Bataille. +There is not a word of real information to be found here. + +[223] Précis of Eliphas Lévi's writings by Arthur E. Waite, _The +Mysteries of Magic_, p. 215. + +[224] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Cabala. + +[225] _Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie_, II. 220 (1861). It is curious +to notice that Sir James Frazer, in his vast compendium on magic, _The +Golden Bough_, never once refers to any of the higher adepts--Jews, +Rosicrucians, Satanists, etc., or to the Cabala as a source of +inspiration. The whole subject is treated as if the cult of magic were +the spontaneous outcome of primitive or peasant mentality. + +[226] _Histoire de la Magie_, p. 289. + +[227] Talmud, treatise Berakhoth, folio 6. The Talmud also gives +directions on the manner of guarding against occult powers and the +onslaught of disease. The tract Pesachim declares that he who stands +naked before a candle is liable to be seized with epilepsy. The same +tract also states that "a man should not go out alone on the night +following the fourth day or on the night following the Sabbath, because +an evil spirit, called Agrath, the daughter of Ma'hlath, together with +one hundred and eighty thousand other evil spirits, go forth into the +world and have the right to injure anyone they should chance to meet." + +[228] Talmud, treatise Hullin, folios 143, 144. + +[229] Hastings' _Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics_, article on Jewish +Magic by M. Caster. + +[230] Margaret Alice Murray, _The Witch Cult in Western Europe_, and +Jules Garinet, _Histoire de la Magie en France_, p. 163 (1818). + +[231] Hastings' _Encyclopædia_, article on Jewish Magic by M. Gaster. +See the Zohar, treatise Bereschith, folio 54_b_, where it is said that +all men are visited in their sleep by female devils. "These demons never +appear under any other form but that of human beings, but they have no +hair on their heads.... In the same way as to men, male devils appear in +dreams to women, with whom they have intercourse." + +[232] The Rev. Moses Margoliouth, _The History of the Jews in Great +Britain_, I. 82. The same author relates further on (p. 304) that Queen +Elizabeth's Hebrew physician Rodrigo Lopez was accused of trying to +poison her and died a victim of persecution. + +[233] The Rev. Moses Margoliouth, _The History of the Jews in Great +Britain_, I. 83. + +[234] Hastings' _Encyclopædia_, article on Teutonic Magic by F. Hälsig. + +[235] Talmud, tract Sabbath. + +[236] Hermann L. Strack, _The Jews and Human Sacrifice_, Eng. trans., +pp. 140, 141 (1900). + +[237] See pages 215 and 216 of _The Mysteries of Magic_, by A.E. Waite. + +[238] See also A.S. Turberville, _Mediæval Heresy and the Inquisition_, +pp. 111-12 (1920), ending with the words: "The voluminous records of the +holy tribunal, the learned treatises of its members, are the great +repositories of the true and indisputable facts concerning the +abominable heresies of sorcery and witchcraft." + +[239] _Histoire de la Magie_, p. 15. + +[240] _The Mysteries of Magic_, p. 221. + +[241] A.E. Waite, _The Real History of the Rosicrucians_, p. 293. + +[242] _Histoire de la Magie_, p. 266. + +[243] John Yarker, _The Arcane Schools_, p. 205. + +[244] Drach (_De l'Harmonie entre l'Église et la Synagogue_, II. p. 30) +says that Pico della Mirandola paid a Jew 7,000 ducats for the +Cabalistic MSS. from which he drew his thesis. + +[245] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, articles on Cabala and Reuchlin. + +[246] Ibid., article on Cabala. + +[247] The following résumé is taken from the recent reprint of the +_Fama_ and _Confessio_ brought out by the "Societas Rosicruciana in +Anglia," and printed by W. J. Parrett (Margate, 1923). The story, which, +owing to the extraordinary confusion of the text, is difficult to resume +as a coherent narrative is given in the _Fama_; the dates are given in +the _Confessio_. + +[248] Incidentally Paracelsus was not born until 1493, that is to say +nine years after Christian Rosenkreutz is supposed to have died. + +[249] _Nachtrag von weitern Originalschriften des Illuminatenordens_ +Part II p. 148 (Munich, 1787). + +[250] Mackey, _Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. 265. + +[251] Ibid., p. 150. + +[252] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Shabbethai Horowitz. + +[253] Mirabeau, _Histoire de la Monarchie Prussienne_, V. 76. + +[254] Lecouteulx de Canteleu, _Les Sectes et Sociétés Secrètes_, p. 97. + +[255] Eckert, _La Franc-Maçonnerie dans sa véritable signification_, II. +48. + +[256] A. E. Waite, _The Real History of the Rosicrucians_, p. 216. + +[257] "_Traicté des Athéistes, Déistes, Illuminez d'Espagne et Nouveaux +Prétendus Invisibles, dits de la Confrairie de la Croix-Rosaire, élevez +depuis quelques années dans le Christianisme_," forming the second part +of the "_Histoire Générale de Progrès et Décadence de l'Héréie +Moderne_--_A la suite du Premier_" de M. Florimond de Raemond, +Conseiller du Roy, etc. + +[258] See G.M. Trevelyan, _England under the Stuarts_, pp. 32, 33, and +James Howell, _Familiar Letters_ (edition of 1753), pp. 49, 435. James +Holwell was clerk to the Privy Council of Charles I. + +[259] Th.-Louis Latour, _Princesses, Dames el Adventurières du Règne de +Louis XIV_, p. 278 (Eugène Figutère, Paris, 1923). + +[260] Ibid., p. 297. + +[261] Ibid., p. 306. + +[262] _Oeuvres complètes de Voltaire_, Vol. XXI. p. 129 (1785 edition); +_Biographie Michaud_, article on Glaser. + +[263] This assertion finds confirmation in the _Encyclopædia +Britannica_, article on the Rosicrucians, which states: "In no sense are +modern Rosicrucians derived from the Fraternity of the seventeenth +century." + +[264] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on the Cabala. + +[265] _A Free Mason's Answer to the Suspected Author of a Pamphlet +entitled "Jachin and Boaz," or an Authentic Key to Freemasonry_, p. 10 +(1762). + +[266] Quoted by R.F. Gould, _History of Freemasonry_, I. 5, 6. + +[267] _Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man_, p. 1 (1910). + +[268] _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, XXXII. Part I. p. 47. + +[269] Preston's _Illustrations of Masonry_, pp. 143, 147, 153 (1804). + +[270] John Yarker, _The Arcane Schools_, pp. 269, 327, 329. + +[271] Published in the _Essai sur la Secte des Illuminés_ by the Marquis +de Luchet, p. 236 (1792 edition). + +[272] Brother Chalmers Paton, _The Origin of Freemasonry: the 1717 +Theory Exploded_, quoting ancient charges preserved in a MS. in +possession of the Lodge of Antiquity in London, written in the reign of +James II, but "supposed to be really of much more ancient date." + +[273] _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, XXV. p. 240, paper by J.E.S. Tuckett on +_Dr. Rawlinson and the Masonic Entries in Elias Ashmole's Diary_, with +facsimile of entry in Diary which is preserved in the Bodleian Library +(Ashmole MS. 1136, fol. 19). + +[274] Yarker, _The Arcane Schools_, p. 383. + +[275] Preston's _Illustrations of Masonry_, p. 208 (1804). + +[276] _The Origins of Freemasonry: the 1717 Theory Exploded_. + +[277] The Rev. G. Oliver, _The Historical Landmarks of Freemasonry_, pp. +55, 57, 62, 318 (1845). + +[278] _Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man_, p. 185 (1910). + +[279] _Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man_, p. 8 (1910). + +[280] Ibid., p. 7. The German Freemason Findel disagrees with both the +Roman Collegia and the Egypt theory, and, like the Abbé Grandidier, +indicates the _Steinmetzen_ of the fifteenth century as the real +progenitors of the Order: "All attempts to trace the history of +Freemasonry farther back than the Middle Ages have been ... failures, +and placing the origin of the Fraternity in the mysteries of Egypt ... +must be rejected as a wild and untenable hypothesis."--_History of +Freemasonry_ (Eng. trans.), p. 25. + +[281] Dr. Oliver and Dr. Mackey thus refer to true and spurious Masonry, +the former descending from Noah, through Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, +and Moses to Solomon--hence the appellation of Noachites sometimes +applied to Freemasons--the latter from Cain and the Gymnosophists of +India to Egypt and Greece. They add that a union between the two took +place at the time of the building of the Temple of Solomon through Hiram +Abiff, who was a member of both, being by birth a Jew and artificer of +Tyre, and from this union Freemasonry descends. According to Mackey, +therefore, Jewish Masonry is the true form.--_A Lexicon of Freemasonry_, +pp. 323-5; Oliver's _Historical Landmarks of Freemasonry_, I. 60. + +[282] Rev. G. Oliver, _The Historical Landmarks of Freemasonry_, pp. 55, +57 (1845). + +[283] _The Jewish Encyclopaædia_ (article on Freemasonry) characterizes +the name Hiram Abifi as a misunderstanding of 2 Chron. ii. 13 + +[284] Clavel, _Histoire pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie_, p. 340; +Matter, _Histoire du Gnosticisme_, I. 145. + +[285] _Quoted_ in _A.Q.C._, XXXII. Part I. p. 36. + +[286] Article on Freemasonry, giving reference to Pesik, R.V. _25a_ (ed. +Friedmann). + +[287] Clavel, op. cit., 364, 365; Lecouteulx de Canteleu, _Les Sectes et +Sociétés Secrétes_, p. 120. + +[288] Clavel, op. cit., p. 82. + +[289] Yarker, _The Arcane Schools_, p. 257. + +[290] Ibid., p. 242. + +[291] "According to Prof. Marks and Prof. Hayter Lewis, the story of +Hiram Abiff is at least as old as the fourteenth century."--J.E.S. +Tuckett in _The Origin of Additional Degrees, A.Q.C._, XXXII. Part I. p. +14. It should be noted that no Mason who took part in the discussion +brought evidence to show that it dated from before this period. Cf. +_Freemasonry Before the Existence of Grand Lodges_ (1923), by Wor. Bro. +Lionel Vibert, I.C.S., p. 135, where it is suggested that the Hiramic +legend dates from an incident in one of the French building guilds in +1401. + +[292] Yarker, op. cit., p. 348; Eckert, op. cit., II. 36. + +[293] Eckert, op. cit., II. 28. + +[294] "The Essenes, in common with other Syrian sects, possessed and +adhered to the 'true principles' of Freemasonry."--Bernard H. Springett, +_Secret Sects of Syria and the Lebanon_, p. 91. + +[295] "The esoteric doctrine of the Judeo-Christian mysteries evidently +penetrated into the masonic guilds (ateliers) only with the entry of the +Templars after the destruction of their Order."--Eckert, op. cit., II. +28. + +[296] _La Comtesse de Rudolstadt_, II. 185. + +[297] Ragon, _Cours philosophique des Initiations_, p. 34. + +[298] Mr. Sidney Klein in _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, XXXII. Part I. pp. +42, 43. + +[299] John Yarker, _The Arcane Schools_, pp. 195, 318, 341, 342, 361. + +[300] Ibid., p. 196. + +[301] Official history of the Order of Scotland quoted by Bro. Fred. H. +Buckmaster in _The Royal Order of Scotland_, published at the offices of +_The Freemason_, pp. 3, 5, 7; A.E. Waite, _Encyclopædia of Freemasonry_, +II. 219; Yarker, _The Arcane Schools_, p. 330; Mackey, _Lexicon of +Freemasonry_, p. 267. + +[302] Baron Westerode in the _Acta Latomorum_ (1784), quoted by Mackey, +op. cit., p. 265. Mr. Bernard H. Springett also asserts that this degree +originated in the East (_Secret Sects of Syria and the Lebanon_, p. +294). + +[303] Chevalier de Bérage, _Les Plus Secrets Mystères des Hauts Grades +de la Maçonnerie dévoilés, ou le vrai Rose Croix_ (1768); Waite, _The +Secret Tradition in Freemasonry_, I. 3. + +[304] In 1784 some French Freemasons wrote to their English brethren +saying: "It concerns us to know if there really exists in the island of +Mull, formerly Melrose ... in the North of Scotland, a Mount Heredom, or +if it does not exist." In reply a leading Freemason, General Rainsford, +referred them to the word [Hebrew: **] (Har Adonai), i.e. Mount of God +(_Notes on the Rainsford Papers in A.Q.C._, XXVI. 99). A more probable +explanation appears, however, to be that Heredom is a corruption of the +Hebrew word "Harodim," signifying princes or rulers. + +[305] F.H. Buckmaster, _The Royal Order of Scotland_, p. 5. Lecouteulx +de Canteleu says, however, that Kilwinning had been the great +meeting-place of Masonry since 1150 (_Les Sectes et Sociétés Secrètes_, +p. 104). Eckert, op. cit., II. 33. + +[306] Mackey, _Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. 267. + +[307] Clavel, op. cit., p. 90; Eckert, op. cit., II. 27. + +[308] A.E. Waite, _The Secret Tradition in Freemasonry_, I. 8. + +[309] "Our names of E.A., F.C., and M.M. were derived from +Scotland."--_A.Q.C._, XXXII. Part I. p. 40. Clavel, however, says that +these existed in the Roman Collegia (_Histoire pittoresque_, p. 82). + +[310] _Religious Thought and Heresy in the Middle Ages_, p. 372. + +[311] _The Spirit of Islam_, p. 337. + +[312] _Secret Sects of Syria and the Lebanon_, p. 181 (1922). + +[313] See, for example, Bouillet's _Dictionnaire Universel d'Histoire et +de Géographie_ (1860), article or Templars: "Les Francs-Maçons +prétendent se rattacher à cette secte." + +[314] _Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. 185. + +[315] _Findel, Geschichte der Freimaurerei_, II. 156, 157 (1892 +edition). Dr. Bussell (op. cit., p. 804), referring to Dupuy's work, +also observes: "An editor of a later edition (Brussels, 1751) +undoubtedly was a Freemason who tried to clear the indictment and +affiliate to the condemned Order the new and rapidly increasing +brotherhood of speculative deism." + +[316] The Royal Order of Scotland. + +[317] _Manuel des Chevaliers de l'Ordre du Temple_, p. 10 (1825 +edition). + +[318] Oration of Chevalier Ramsay (1737); Baron Tschoudy, _L'Étoile +Flamboyante_, I. 20 (1766). + +[319] The description of the Vehmic Tribunals that follows here is +largely taken from Lombard de Langres, _Les Sociétés Secrètes en +Allemagne_ (1819), quoting original documents preserved at Dortmund. + +[320] Clavel derides this early origin and says it was the +_Francs-juges_ themselves who claimed Charlemagne as their founder +(_Histoire pittoresque_, p. 357). + +[321] Lecouteulx de Canteleu, _Les Sectes et Sociétés Secrètes_, p. 100. + +[322] According to Walter Scott's account of the Vehmgerichts in _Anne +of Geierstein_, the initiate was warned that the secrets confided to him +were "neither to be spoken aloud nor whispered, to be told in words or +written in characters, to be carved or to be painted, or to be otherwise +communicated, either directly or by parable and emblem." This formula, +if accurate, would establish a further point of resemblance. + +[323] Lombard de Langres, _Les Sociétés Secrètes en Allemagne_, p. 341 +(1819); Lecouteulx de Canteleu, _Les Sectes et Sociétès Secrètes_, p. +99. + +[324] A. le Plongeon, _Sacred Mysteries among the Mayas and the Quichas_ +(1886). + +[325] Findel, _History of Freemasonry_ (Eng. trans., 1866), pp. 131, +132. + +[326] John Yarker, _The Arcane Schools_, p. 216, 431. + +[327] _Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. 298. + +[328] Waite, _The Real History of the Rosicrucians_, p. 403. + +[329] Ibid., p. 283. + +[330] Yarker, _The Arcane Schools_, p. 430. + +[331] "Yarker pronounces Elias Ashmole to have been circa 1686 'the +leading spirit, both in Craft Masonry and in Rosicrucianism,' and is of +opinion that his diary establishes the fact 'that both societies fell +into decay together in 1682.' He adds: 'It is evident therefore that the +Rosicrucians ... found the operative Guild conveniently ready to their +hand, and grafted upon it their own mysteries ... also, from this time +Rosicrucianism disappears and Freemasonry springs into life with all the +possessions of the former.' "--_Speculative Freemasonry, an Historical +Lecture_, delivered March 31, 1883, p. 9; quoted by Gould, _History of +Freemasonry_, II. 138. + +[332] _L'Antisémitisme_, p. 339. + +[333] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, articles on Leon and Manasseh ben Israel. + +[334] Article on "Anglo-Jewish Coats-of-arms" by Lucien Wolf in +_Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society_, Vol. II. p. 157. + +[335] _Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England_, Vol. +II. p. 156. A picture of Templo forms the frontispiece of this volume, +and a reproduction of the coat-of-arms of Grand Lodge is given opposite +to p. 156. + +[336] Zohar, section Jethro, folio 70_b_ (de Pauly's trans., Vol. III. +311). + +[337] The Cabalistic interpretation of the Mercaba will be found in the +Zohar, section Bereschith, folio 18_b_ (de Pauly's trans., Vol. I. p. +115). + +[338] "By figure of a man is always meant that of the male and female +together."--Ibid., p. 116. + +[339] _Histoire de la Monarchie Prussienne_, VI. 76. + +[340] Lecouteulx de Canteleu, op. cit., p. 105. + +[341] Ibid., p. 106; Lombard de Langres, _Les Sociétés Secrètes en +Allemagne_, p. 67. + +[342] Monsignor George F. Dillon, _The War of Anti-Christ with the +Church and Christian Civilization_, p. 24 (1885). + +[343] Brother Chalmers I. Paton, _The Origin of Freemasonry: the 1717 +Theory Exploded_, p. 34. + +[344] Lecouteulx de Canteleu, op. cit., p. 107; Robison's _Proofs of a +Conspiracy_, p. 27; Dillon, op. cit, p. 24; Mackey, _Lexicon of +Freemasonry_, p. 148. + +[345] Preston's _Illustrations of Masonry_, p. 209 (1804); Anderson's +_New Book of Constitutions_ (1738). + +[346] _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, XXV. p. 31. See account of some of +these convivial masonic societies in this paper entitled "An Apollinaric +Summons." + +[347] _Religious Thought and Heresy in the Middle Ages_, p. 373. A "Past +Grand Master," in an article entitled "The Crisis in Freemasonry," in +the _English Review_ for August 1922, takes the same view. "It is true +... that the Craft Lodges in England were originally Hanoverian clubs, +as the Scottish lodges were Jacobite clubs." + +[348] Dr. Anderson, a native of Aberdeen and at this period minister of +the Presbyterian Church in Swallow Street, and Dr. Desaguliers, of +French Protestant descent, who had taken holy orders in England and in +this same year of 1717 lectured before George I, who rewarded him with a +benefice in Norfolk (_Dictionary of National Biography_, articles on +James Anderson and John Theophilus Desaguliers). + +[349] _The Free Mason's Vindication, being an answer to a scandalous +libel entitled (sic) The Grand Mystery of the Free Masons discover'd_, +etc. (Dublin, 1725). It is curious that this reply is to be found in the +British Museum (Press mark 8145, h. I. 44), but not the book itself. Yet +Mr. Waite thinks it sufficiently important to include in a "Chronology +of the Order," in his _Encyclopædia of Freemasonry_, I. 335. + +[350] _Gentleman's Magazine_ for April 1737. + +[351] Dates given in _A.Q.C._, XXXII. Part I. pp. 11, 12, and Deschamps, +_Les Sociétés Secrétes et la Société_, III. 29. The writer of the paper +in _A.Q.C._ appears not to recognize the authorship of the second work +_L'Ordre des Francs-Maçons trahi_; but on p. xxix of this book the +signature of Abbé Pérau appears in the masonic cypher of the period +derived from the masonic word LUX. This cypher is, of course, now well +known. It will be found on p. 73 of Clavel's _Histoire pittoresque_. + +[352] The British Museum possesses no earlier edition of this work than +that of 1797, but the first edition must have appeared at least +thirty-five years earlier, as _A Free Mason's Answer to the suspected +Author of ... Jachin and Boaz_, of which a copy may be found in the +British Museum (Press mark 112, d. 41), is dated 1762. This book bears +on the title-page the following quotation from Shakespeare: + + "Oh, that Heaven would put in every honest Hand a Whip + to lash the Rascal naked through the World." + + +[353] The author of _Jachin and Boaz_ says in the 1797 edition that in +reply to this work he has received "several anonymous Letters, +containing the lowest Abuse and scurrilous Invectives; nay some have +proceeded so far as to threaten his Person. He requests the Favour of +all enraged Brethren, who shall chuse to display their Talents for the +future, that they will be so kind as to pay the Postage of their Letters +for there can be no Reason why he should put up with their ill Treatment +and pay the Piper into the Bargain. Surely there must be something in +this Book very extraordinary; a something they cannot digest, thus to +excite the Wrath and Ire of these hot-brained Mason-bit Gentry." One +letter he has received calls him "a Scandalous Stinking Pow Catt (sic)." + +[354] _A.Q.C._, XXXII. Part I. p. 34. + +[355] Ibid. + +[356] Ibid., p. 15. Mackey also thinks that R.A. was introduced in 1740, +but that before that date it formed part of the Master's degree +(_Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. 299). + +[357] Yarker, _The Arcane Schools_, p. 437. + +[358] Review by Yarker of Mr. A. E. Waite's book _The Secret Tradition +in Freemasonry_ in _The Equinox_, Vol. I. No. 7, p. 414. + +[359] _Encyclopædia of Freemasonry_, II. 56. + +[360] _A.Q.C._, Vol. XXXII, Part I. p. 23. + +[361] Correspondence on Lord Derwentwater in _Morning Post_ for +September 15, 1922. Mr. Waite (_The Secret Tradition in Freemasonry_, I. +113) wrongly gives the name of Lord Derwentwater as John Radcliffe and +in his _Encyclopædia of Freemasonry_ as James Radcliffe. But James was +the name of the third Earl, beheaded in 1716. + +[362] Gould, op. cit. III. 138. "The founders were all of them +Britons."--_A.Q.C._, XXXII. Part I. p. 6. + +[363] "If we turn to our English engraved lists we find that whatever +Lodge (or Lodges) may have existed in Paris in 1725 must have been +unchartered, for the first French Lodge on our roll is on the list for +1730-32.... It would appear probable ... that Derwentwater's Lodge ... +was an informal Lodge and did not petition for a warrant till +1732."--Gould, _History of Freemasonry_, III. 138. + +[364] John Yarker, _The Arcane Schools_, p. 462. + +[365] Gautier de Sibert, _Histoire des Ordres Royaux, +Hospitaliers-Militaires de Notre-Dame du Carmel et de Saint-Lazare de +Jérusalem_, Vol. II. p. 193 (Paris, 1772). + +[366] This oration has been published several times and has been +variously attributed to Ramsay and the Duc d'Antin. The author of a +paper in _A.Q.C._, XXXII. Part I., says on p. 7: "Whether Ramsay +delivered his speech or not is doubtful, but it is certain that he wrote +it. It was printed in an obscure and obscene Paris paper called the +_Almanach des Cocus_ for 1741 and is there said to have been +'pronounced' by 'Monsieur de R--Grand Orateur de l'Ordre.' It was again +printed in 1742 by Bro. De la Tierce in his _Histoire, Obligations et +Statuts, etc.,..._ and De la Tierce says that it was 'prononcé par le +Grand Maître des Francs-Maçons de France' in the year 1740.... A. G. +Jouast (_Histoire du G.O._, 1865) says the Oration was delivered at the +Installation of the Duc d'Antin as G.M. on 24th June, 1738, and the same +authority states that it was first printed at the Hague in 1738, bound +up with some poems attributed to Voltaire, and some licentious tales by +Piron.... Bro. Gould remarks: 'If such a work really existed at that +date, it was probably the original of the "_Lettre philosophique par M. +de V---- _, _avec plusieurs piéces galantes_," London, 1757.'" Mr. Gould +has, however, provided very good evidence that Ramsay was the author of +the oration by Daruty's discovery of the letter to Cardinal Fleury, +which together with the oration itself (translated from De la Tierce's +version) he reproduces in his _History of Freemasonry_, Vol. III. p. 84. + +[367] _A.Q.C., XXII_. Part I. p. 10. + +[368] _Les plus secrets mystères des Hants Grades de la Maçonnerie +dévoilés, ou le vrai Rose-Croix._ A Jerusalem. M.DCC.LXVII. (_A.Q.C._, +Vol. XXXII. Part I. p. 13, refers, however, to an edition of 1747). + +[369] As Godefroi de Bouillon died in 1100, I conclude his name to have +been introduced here in error by de Bérage or the date of 1330 to have +been a misprint. + +[370] Dr. Mackey confirms this assertion, _Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. +304. + +[371] _Étoile Flamboyante_, I. pp. 18-20. + +[372] The same theory that Freemasonry originated in Palestine as a +system of protection for the Christian faith is given almost verbatim in +the instructions to the candidate for initiation into the degree of +"Prince of the Royal Secret" published in _Monitor of Freemasonry_ +(Chicago, 1860), where it is added that "the brethren assembled round +the tomb of Hiram, is a representation of the disciples lamenting the +death of Christ on the Cross." Weishaupt, founder of the +eighteenth-century Illuminati, also showed--although in a spirit of +mockery--how easily the legend of Hiram could be interpreted in this +manner, and suggested that at the periods when the Christians were +persecuted they enveloped their doctrines in secrecy and symbolism. +"That was necessary in times and places where the Christians lived +amongst the heathens, for example in the East at the time of the +Crusades."--_Nachtrag zur Originalschriften_, Part II. p. 123. + +[373] _Étoile Flamboyante_, pp. 24-9. + +[374] Gould, _History of Freemasonry_, III. 92. + +[375] Mackey's _Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. 267. + +[376] Oliver's _Landmarks of Freemasonry_, II. 81, note 35. + +[377] _Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. 270. + +[378] Clavel, _Histoire pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie_, p. 166. + +[379] _A.Q.C._, XXXII. Part 1. p. 17. + +[380] _The Royal Order of Scotland_, by Bro. Fred. H. Buckmaster, p. 3 + +[381] _Histoire de la Vie et des Ouvrages de Messire François de +Salignac de la Mothe-Fenélon, archevêque de Cambrai_, pp. 105, 149 +(1727). + +[382] J.M. Ragon, _Ordre Chapitral, Nouveau Grade de Rose-Croix_, p. 35. + +[383] The identity of Lord Harnouester has remained a mystery. It has +been suggested that Harnouester is only a French attempt to spell +Derwentwater, and therefore that the two Grand Masters referred to were +one and the same person. + +[384] In 1786 the seventh and eighth degrees were transposed, the +eleventh became Sublime Knight Elect, the twentieth Grand Master of all +Symbolic, the twenty-first Noachite or Prussian Knight, the twenty-third +Chief of the Tabernacle, the twenty-fourth Prince of the Tabernacle, the +twenty-fifth Knight of the Brazen Serpent. The thirteenth is now known +as the Royal Arch of Enoch and must not be confounded with the Royal +Arch, which is the complement of the third degree. The fourteenth is now +the Scotch Knight of Perfection, the fifteenth Knight of the Sword or of +the East, and the twentieth is Venerable Grand Master. + +[385] _History of Freemasonry_, III. 93. Thory gives the date of the +Kadosch degree as 1743, which seems correct. + +[386] Zohar, section Bereschith, folio 18b. + +[387] _A.Q.C._, XXVI: "Templar Legends in Freemasonry." + +[388] "This degree is intimately connected with the ancient order of the +Knights Templars, a history of whose destruction, by the united efiorts +of Philip, King of France, and Pope Clement V, forms a part of the +instructions given to the candidate. The dress of the Knights is black, +as an emblem of mourning for the extinction of the Knights Templars, and +the death of Jacques du Molay, their last Grand Master...."--Mackey, +_Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. 172. + +[389] Mr. J.E.S. Tuckett, in the paper before mentioned, quotes the +Articles of Union of 1813, in which it is said that "pure ancient +Masonry consists of three degrees and no more," and goes on to observe +that: "According to this view those other Degrees (which for convenience +may be called Additional Degrees) are not real Masonry at all, but an +extraneous and spontaneous growth springing up around the 'Craft' +proper, later in date, and mostly foreign, i.e. non-British in origin, +and the existence of _any_ such degrees is by some writers condemned as +a contamination of the 'pure Ancient Freemasonry' of our +forefathers."--_A.Q.C._, XXXII. Part I. p. 5. + +[390] J. J. Mounier, _De l'Influence attribuée aux Philosophes, aux +Francs-Maçons et aux Illuminés sur la Révolution Française_, p. 148 +(1822). See also letter from the Duke of Northumberland at Alnwick to +General Rainsford dated January 19, 1799, defending Barruel from the +charge of attacking Masonry and pointing out that he only indicated the +upper degrees, _A.Q.C._, XXVI, p. 112. + +[391] Em. Rebold, _Histoire des Trots Grandes Loges de Francs-Maçons en +France_, pp. 9, 10 (1864). + +[392] _A.Q.C._, XXXII. Part I. 21. + +[393] _A.Q.C._, XXXII. Part I. 22. It is curious that in this discussion +by members of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge the influence of the Templars, +which provides the only key to the situation, is almost entirely +ignored. + +[394] Yarker, _The Arcane Schools_, pp. 479-82. + +[395] Mackey, _Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. 119. + +[396] _Martines de Pasqually_, par Papus, président du Suprême Conseil +de l'Ordre Martiniste, p. 144 (1895). Papus is the pseudonym of Dr. +Gérard Encausse. + +[397] Gould, _History of Freemasonry_, III. 241. + +[398] See the very important article on this question that appeared in +_The National Review_ for February 1923, showing that Carlyle was +assisted gratuitously throughout his work by a German Jew named Joseph +Neuberg and was supplied with information and finally decorated by the +Prussian Government. + +[399] Executed in 1746 as a partisan of the Stuarts. + +[400] Gould, op. cit., Vol. III. pp. 101, 110; _A.Q.C._, Vol. XXXII. +Part I. p. 31. + +[401] A. E. Waite, _The Secret Tradition in Freemasonry_, I. 296, 370, +415. + +[402] Clavel (_Histoire pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie_, p. 185) +says it was afterwards discovered that "the Pretender, far from having +made de Hundt a Templar, on the contrary was made a Templar by him." But +other authorities deny that Prince Charles Edward was initiated even +into Freemasonry. + +[403] Lecouteulx de Canteleu, _Les Sectes et Societes Secrètes_, p. 242; +Clavel, op. cit., p. 184. + +[404] Gould, op. cit., III. 100. + +[405] Ibid., III. 99, 103; Waite, _Secret Tradition in Freemasonry_, I. +289: "The Rite of the Stricte Observance was the first masonic system +which claimed to derive its authority from Unknown Superiors, +irresponsible themselves but claiming absolute jurisdiction and +obedience without question." + +[406] _Histoire de la Monarchie Prussienne_, V. 61 (1788). + +[407] _Les Sectes et Sociétés Secrètes_, p. 246. + +[408] Gould, op. cit., III. 102. Waite (_Encyclopædia of Freemasonry_, +II. 23) says Johnson was "in reality named Leucht, an Englishman by his +claim--who did not know English and is believed to have been a Jew." + +[409] Mackey, op. cit., p. 331. + +[410] Gould, _History of Freemasonry_, III. 93; _A.Q.C._, XXXII. Part I. +p. 24. + +[411] _Lévitikon_, p. 8 (1831); Fabré Palaprat, _Recherches historiques +sur les Templiers_, p. 28 (1835) + +[412] M. Grégoire, _Histoire des Sectes Religieuses_, II. 401. Findel +says that very soon after Frederick's return home from Brunswick "a +lodge was secretly organized in the castle of Rheinsberg" (_History of +Freemasonry_, Eng. trans., p. 252). This lodge would appear then to have +been a Templar, not a Masonic Lodge. + +[413] Oliver, _Historical Landmarks in Freemasonry_, II. 110 + +[414] Findel, _History of Freemasonry_ (Eng. trans.), p. 290. + +[415] On this point see _inter alia_ Mackey, _Lexicon of Freemasonry_, +pp. 91, 328. In England and in the Grand Orient of France most of the +upper degrees have fallen into disuse, and this rite, known in England +as the Ancient and Accepted Rite and in France as the Scottish Rite, +consists of five degrees only in addition to the three Craft degrees +(known as Blue Masonry), which form the basis of all masonic rites. +These five degrees are the eighteenth Rose-Croix, the thirtieth Kniqht +Kadosch, and the thirty-first to the thirty-third. The English +Freemason, on being admitted to the upper degrees, therefore advances at +one bound from the third degree of Master Mason to the eighteenth degree +of Rose-Croix, which thus forms the first of the upper degrees. The +intermediate degrees are, however, still worked in America. + +[416] _Scottish Rite of Freemasonry: the Constitutions and Regulations +of_ 1762, by Albert Pike, Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme +Council of the Thirty-third Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the +United States, p. 138 (A.M. 5632). + +[417] RO. State Papers, Foreign, France, Vol. 243, Jan. 2 and Feb. 19, +1752. + +[418] John Morley, _Diderot and the Encyclopædists_, Vol. I. pp. 123-47 +(1886). + +[419] Gould, op. cit., III. 87. Mr. Gould naïvely adds in a footnote to +this passage: "The proposed Dictionary is a curious crux--- is it +possible that the Royal Society may have formed some such idea?" The +beginning already made in London was of course the _Cyclopædia_ of +Chambers, published in 1728, and Chambers, who in the following year was +made a Fellow of the Royal Society, if not himself a Mason numbered many +prominent Masons amongst his friends, including the globe-maker Senex to +whom he had been apprenticed and who published Anderson's +_Constitutions_ in 1723. (See _A.Q.C._, XXXII. Part I. p. 18.) + +[420] Papus, _Martines de Pasqually_, p. 146 (1895). + +[421] Evidently a reference to the seven liberal arts and sciences +enumerated in the Fellow Craft's degree--Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, +Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astronomy. + +[422] In 1767 Voltaire writes to Frederick asking him to have certain +books printed in Berlin and circulated in Europe "at a low price which +will facilitate the sales." To this Frederick replies: "You can make use +of my printers according to your desires," etc. (letter of May 5, 1767). +I have referred elsewhere to the libels against Marie Antoinette +circulated by Frederick's agents in France. See my _French Revolution_, +pp. 27, 183. + +[423] Eliphas Lévi, _Histoire de la Magie, p_ 407. The rôle of +Freemasonry in preparing the Revolution habitually denied by the +conspiracy of history is nevertheless clearly recognized in masonic +circles--applauded by those of France, deplored by those of England and +America. An American manual in my possession contains the following +passage: "The Masons ... (it is now well settled by history) _originated +the Revolution_ with the infamous Duke of Orleans at their head."--_A +Ritual and Illustrations of Freemasonry_, p. 31 note. + +[424] Papus, _Martines de Pasqually, p_. 150. + +[425] Benjamin Fabre, _Eques a Capite Galeato_, p. 88. + +[426] _Souvenirs du Baron de Gleichen_, p. 151. + +[427] Henri Martin, _Histoire de France_, XVI. 529. + +[428] Heckethorn, _Secret Societies_, I. 218; Waite, _Secret Tradition_, +II. 155, 156. + +[429] "The ceremonial magic of Pasqually followed that type which I +connect with the debased Kabbalism of Jewry."--A. E. Waite, _The Secret +Tradition in Freemasonry_, II. 175. + +[430] An eighteenth-century manuscript of _Les vrais clavicules du roi +Salomon_, translated from the Hebrew, was sold in Paris in 1921. + +[431] Mackev, _Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. 156 + +[432] A.E. Waite, _The Doctrine and Literature of the Kabbalah_, p. 369. +Ragon elsewhere gives an account of the philosophical degree of the +Rose-Croix, in which the sacred formula I.N.R.I., which plays an +important part in the Christian form of this degree, is interpreted to +mean Igne Natura Renovatur Integra--Nature is renewed by fire.--_Novueau +Grade de Rose Croix_, p 69. Mackev gives this as an alternative +interpretation of the Rosicrucians.--_Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. 150. + +[433] Ragon, _Mafonnerie Occulte_, p. 91. + +[434] Gustave Bord, _La Franc-Maçonnerie en Francs, des Origines à_ +1815, p. 212 (1908). + +[435] Letter from General Rainsford of October 1782, quoted in +_Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society_, Vol. VIII. p. 125. + +[436] De Luchet (_Essai sur la Sects des Illuminés_, p. 212) refers to +the following works in connexion with the Order: + + 1. _Nouvelles authentiques des Chevaliers et Frères Initiés + d'Asie_. + + 2. _Reçoit-on, peut-on recevoir les Juifs parmi les Franc-Maçons_? + + 3. _Nouvelles authentiques de l'Asie_, by Frederick de Bascamp, + nommé Lazapolski (1787). + +Wolfstieg, in his _Bibliograpkie der Freimaurischer Literatur_, Vol. II. +p. 283, gives Friedrich Münter as the author of the first of the above, +and also mentions amongst others a work by Gustave Brabée, _Die +Asiatischen Brüder in Berlin und Wien_. But none of these are to be +found in the British Museum, nor is the book of Rolling (published in +1787), which gives away the secrets of the sect. + +[437] Books in Wolfstieg's list refer to the Order as "the only true and +genuine Freemasonry" (die einzige wahre und echte Freimaurerei). + +[438] Clavel, _Histoire pittoresque_, etc., p. 167. + +[439] The Baron de Gleichen, in describing the "Convulsionists," says +that young women allowed themselves to be crucified, sometimes head +downwards, at these meetings of the fanatics. He himself saw one nailed +to the floor and her tongue cut with a razor. (_Souvenirs da Baron de +Gleichen_, p. 185.) + +[440] Barruel, _Mémoires sur le Jacobinisme_, IV. 263. + +[441] _Franciscus, Eques a Capite Galeato_, published by Benjamin Fabre +with preface by Copin Albancelli. A paper on this book appears in _Ars +Quatuor Coronatorum_, Vol. XXX. Part II. The author, Mr. J. E. S. +Tuckett, describes it as a book of extraordinary interest to Freemasons. +Without sharing Mr. Tuckett's admiration for the members of the Rit +Primitif, I agree with him that M. Fabre attributes to them too much +guile and fails to substantiate his charge of revolutionary designs. +They appear to have been the perfectly honourable dupes of subtler +brains. Incidentally Mr. Tuckett erroneously gives the real name of +"Eques a Capite Galeato" as Chefdebien d'Armand; it should be +d'Armisson. + +[442] De Luchet, _Essai sur la Secte des Illuminés_, p. 208. Gould, op. +cit., III. 116. + +[443] It is amusing to note that Mr. Waite confuses him with the +rightful bearer of the name, Claude Louis, Comte de Saint-Germain, +Minister of War under Louis XVI, for in _The Secret Tradition in +Freemasonry_, Vol. II., a picture of the real Count is appended to a +description of the adventurer. + +[444] _Biographic Michaud_, article on Saint-Germain. + +[445] _Souvenirs de la Marquise de Créquy_, III. 65. Francois Bournand +(_Histoire de la Franc-Maçonnerie_, p. 106) confirms this story: "The +man who called himself the Comte de Saint-Germain was in reality only +the son of an Alsatian Jew named Wolf." + +[446] _Nouvelle Biographie Générale_, article on Saint-Germain. + +[447] Frederick Búlau, _Geheime Geschichten und ràthselhafte Menschen_, +I. 311 (1850); Eckert, _La Franc-Maçonnene dans sa véritable +signification_, II. 80, quoting Lening's _Encyclopédie des +Franc-Mafons_. + +[448] Lecouteulx de Canteleu, op. cit., pp. 171, 172. + +[449] Clavel, _Histoire pittoresque_, p. 175. + +[450] Ibid., p. 175. + +[451] Figuier, _Histoire du Merveilleux_, IV. 9-11 (1860). + +[452] Mounier, _De l'influence attribuée_, etc., p. 140. + +[453] Benjamin Fabre, _Franciscus eques a Capite Galeato_, p. 24. + +[454] De Luchet, _Essai sur la Secte des Illuminés_ (1792 edition), p. +234. + +[455] _L'Antisémitisme_, p. 335. + +[456] Ibid., p. 328. + +[457] Article by Mr. Lucien Wolf, "The First English Jew," in +_Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England_, Vol. II. p. +18. On this question see also the pamphlets by Mr. Lucien Wolf: +_Crypto-Jews under the Commonwealth_ (1894), Cromwell's _Jewish +Intelligencers_ (1891), and _Manasseh ben Israel's Mission to Oliver +Cromwell_ (1901), also articles on Cromwell, Carvajal, and Manasseh ben +Israel in the _Jewish Encyclopædia_. + +[458] Lucien Wolf, "The First English Jew," in _Transactions of the +Jewish Historical Society of England_, II. 20. + +[459] Tovey, _Anglia Judaica_, p. 275. + +[460] The _Jewish Encyclopædia_, in its article on Manasseh ben Israel, +says: "He was full of cabalistic opinions, though he was careful not to +expound them in those of his works that were written in modern languages +and intended to be read by Gentiles." In its article on "Magic" the +_Jewish Encyclopædia_ refers to the "Nishmat Hayyim," a work by Manasseh +ben Israel which "is filled with superstition and magic" and adds that +"many Christian scholars were deluded." + +[461] Tovey, _Anglia Judaica_, p. 259; Margoliouth, _History of the Jews +in England_, II. 3. + +[462] Mirabeau (_Sur la Réforme politique des Juifs_, 1787) thinks they +may not have been allowed to return unconditionally until 1664. It was +certainly at this date that they were formally granted free permission +to live in England and practice their religion (Margoliouth, op. cit., +II. 26). + +[463] Margohouth, op cit., II 43. + +[464] _The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth_, by Lewis H. +Berens, pp. 36, 74, 76, 98, 141 (1906). + +[465] Claudio Jannet, _Les Précurseurs de la Franc-Maçonnerie_, p. 47 +(1187). + +[466] _Harmsworth Encyclopædia_, article on Jews. + +[467] _Diary of Samuel Pepys_, date of February 19, 1666 + +[468] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Shabbethai Zebi B. Mordecai. + +[469] Henry Hart Milman, _History of the Jews_ (Everyman's Library), +Vol. II. p. 445. + +[470] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Ba'al Shem Tob. + +[471] Milman, op. cit, II. 446. + +[472] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Heilprin, Joel Ben Uri. + +[473] Heckethorn, _Secret Societies_, I. 87. + +[474] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Jacob Frank. + +[475] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Jacob Frank. + +[476] Ibid. + +[477] Milraan, op. cit., II. 447. + +[478] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Jacob Frank. + +[479] Ibid. + +[480] Ibid.: Heckethorn. _Secret Societies_, I. 87. + +[481] Milman, op. cit., II. 448. Cf. description of pomp displayed by +another member of the oppressed race named Fränkel, who appeared at a +parade of Jewry at Prague in 1741 in a carriage drawn by six horses and +surrounded by footmen and horseguards.--_Jewish Encyclopædia_, article +on Fränkel, Simon Wolf. + +[482] _Jewish Encyclopedia_, article on Falk, of whom a good portrait by +Copley is given. On Falk see also _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, Vol. XXVI. +Part I. pp. 98-105, and Vol. XXX. Part II; _Transactions of the Jewish +Historical Society_, Vol. V. p. 148, article on "The Ba'al Shem of +London," by the Rev. Dr. H. Adler, Chief Rabbi, and Vol. VIII, "Notes on +some Contemporary References to Dr. Falk, the Ba'al Shem of London, in +the Rainsford MSS. at the British Museum," by Gordon P.G. Hills. The +following pages are taken entirely from these sources. + +[483] Falk does not appear to have brought good fortune to the Goldsmid +family, for Margoliouth in a passage which evidently relates to Falk +says that, according to Jewish legend, the suicide of Abraham Goldsmid +and his brother was attributed to the following cause: "A Ba'al Shem, an +operative Cabalist, in other words a thaumaturgos and prophet, used to +live with the father of the Goldsmids. On his death-bed he summoned the +patriarch Goldsmid, and delivered into his hands a box, which he +strictly enjoined should not be opened till a tertain period which the +Ba'al Shem specified, and in case of disobedience a torrent of fearful +calamities would overwhelm the Goldsmids. The patriarch's curiosity was +not aroused for some time; but in a few years after the Ba'al Shem's +death, Goldsmid, the aged, half sceptic, half curious, forced open the +fatal box, and then the Goldsmids began to learn what it was to +disbelieve the words of a Ba'al Shem."--Margoliouth, _History of the +Jews_, II. 144. + +[484] _Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society_, V. 162. + +[485] Benjamin Fabre, _Eques a Capite Galeato_, p. 84. + +[486] Benjamin Fabre, op cit., pp. 88, 90, 98, 110. + +[487] Clavel, _Histoire pittoresque_, pp. 188, 390; Robison's _Proofs of +a Conspiracy_, p. 77. + +[488] _The Royal Masonic Cyclopædia_ describes both _Nathan der Weise_ +and _Ernst und Falk_ as prominent works on Masonry. + +[489] There is, however, the possibility that Lessing may have had in +mind another Falk living at the same period; this was "John Frederick +Falk, born at Hamburg of Jewish parents, reported to have been head of a +Cabalistic College in London and to have died about 1824" (_Tranactions +of the Jewish Historical Society_, VIII. 128). But in view of the part +which the correspondence of Savalette de Langes shows the Ba'al Shem of +London to have played in the background of Freemasonry, it seems more +probable that he was the Falk in question. At any rate, both were Jews +and Cabalists. + +[490] Who can this have been? + +[491] The Duchesse de Gontaut relates in her _Mémoires_ that the Due +d'Orléans was one day driving through the forest of Fontainebleau when a +man, half clothed and with a demented air, sprang towards the carriage, +grimacing horribly. The Duke's suite, taking him for a madman, would +have kept him at bay, but the Duke, at that moment awaking from sleep, +unbuttoned his shirt and showed his assailant an iron ring suspended +round his neck. At this sight the man took to his heels and disappeared +into the wood. The mystery of this incident was never elucidated, and +the Duke, when questioned on the matter, would offer no explanation. +Could this ring have been Falk's talisman? + +[492] Margoliouth, op. cit., II. 121-4. See also _Life of Lord George +Gordon_ by Robert Watson (1795), pp. 71, 72. + +[493] Friedrich Bülau, _Geheime Geschichten und räthselhafte Menschen_, +I. 325 (1850). _The Public Advertiser_, Aug. 22, 24, 1786. + +[494] Barruel, Vol. III. p. xi., quoting Gaultier. + +[495] Silvestre de Sacy, "Mémoires sur la Dynastie des Assassins," in +_Mémoires de l'Institut Royal de France_, Vol. IV. (1818). + +[496] _History of Freemasonry_, III. 121. + +[497] _Mémoires sur le Jacobinisme_ (edition of 1819), Vol. III. p. 9. + +[498] Ibid., III. 55, 56. + +[499] _Essat sur la Secte des llluminés_, pp. 28-39. + +[500] "Our worst enemies the Jesuits."--Letter from Spartacus, +_Originalschriften_, p. 306. + +[501] Figuier, _Histoire de Merveilleux_, IV. 77. + +[502] _Originalschriften des Illuminatenordens_, p. 230. + +[503] Ibid., p. 331. + +[504] In _World Revolution_ I suggested a resemblance between the Jewish +calendar and that of the Illuminati. This was an error; the Jewish +calendar was adopted by the Scottish Rite, which, as we have seen, +derived partly from Judaic sources. + +[505] Thus Zwack (alias Cato) writes: "We have not only hindered the +enlistings of the Rose-Croix but rendered their very name +contemptible."--_Originalschriften_, p. 8. + +[506] _Originalschriften_, p. 363. The word Illuminism is always +represented by this symbol in the correspondence of the Illuminati. + +[507] Ibid., p. 202. + +[508] Ibid., p. 331. + +[509] A. E. Waite, "Freemasonry and the Jewish Peril," in _The Occult +Review_ for September 1920, p. 152. + +[510] _Mémoires de Mirabeau écrats par lui-même, par son père, son oncle +et son fils adoptif, et prècédés d'une étude sur Mirabeau par Victor +Hugo_, Vol. III. p. 47 (1834). + +[511] I have expressly made use of M. Barthou's résumé instead of making +one of my own, lest I should be said to have made judicious selections +in order to suit the purpose of showing the resemblance between this +Memoir and the passage from Mirabeau's other writings which follows. But +M. Barthou's impartiality cannot be impugned, for he appears to know +nothing about the Illuminati or Mirabeau's connexion with them, and +regards the Memoir in question as solely the outcome of Mirabeau's mind +which had "ripened" since 1772. + +[512] F. Barthou, _Mirabeau_, p. 57. + +[513] In the Memoir drawn up by Mirabeau quoted above we find this +passage: "It must be a fundamental rule never to allow any prince to +enter the association were he a god for virtue."--_Mémoires de +Mirabeau_, III. 60. + +[514] _Histoire de la Monarchie Prussienne_, V. 99. + +[515] Henry Martin, _Histoire de France_, XVI. 533. + +[516] Louis Blanc, _Histoire de la Révolution Française_, II. 84. + +[517] _History of Freemasonry_, III. 121. + +[518] _Originalschriften_, p. 258. + +[519] Ibid., p. 297. + +[520] Ibid., p. 285. + +[521] Ibid., p. 286. + +[522] _Originalschriften_, p. 300. It seems that when a Freemason +appeared likely to fall in with the scheme of Illuminism, he was soon +allowed to know of the further system. Thus in the case of "Savioli" +"Cato" writes: "Now that he is a Mason I have put all about this ⊙ +before him, shown him what is unimportant and at this opportunity taken +up the general plan of our ⊙, and as this pleased him I said that such a +thing really existed, whereat he gave me his word that he would enter +it."--_Originalschriften_, p. 289. + +[523] Ibid., p. 303. + +[524] Ibid., p. 361. + +[525] Ibid., p. 363. + +[526] Ibid., p. 360. + +[527] _Originalschriften_, p. 200. + +[528] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, I. 67. + +[529] _Ibid._, p. 95. + +[530] _Lexicon of Freemasonry_, p. 142. See also Oliver's _Historical +Landmarks of Freemasonry_, I. 26, where the Illuminati are rightly +included amongst the enemies of Masonry. Nevertheless, both Mackey and +Oliver proceed to revile Barruel and Robison as enemies of Masonry, and +in order to substantiate this accusation Oliver descends to the most +flagrant misquotation. For if we look up in the original the passages he +quotes on page 382 from Robison and on page 573 from Barruel as evidence +of their calumnies on Masonry, we shall find that they refer +respectively to the Rose-Croix Cabalists and the Illuminati and not to +the Freemasons at all! See Robison's _Proofs of a Conspiracy_, p. 93, +and Barruel's _Mémoires sur le Jacobinisme_ (1818 edition), II. 244. + +[531] _Oeuvres Complètes de Voltaire_ (1818 edition). Vol. XLI. p. 153. + +[532] Ibid., pp. 165, 168. + +[533] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_. II. 54-57. + +[534] Ibid., p. 82. + +[535] Ibid., p. 59. + +[536] Ibid., p. 63. + +[537] Ibid., p. 65. + +[538] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, II. 67. + +[539] Ibid., pp. 80, 81. + +[540] Ibid., pp. 98, 99. + +[541] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, II. 100-101. + +[542] Ibid., p. 105: "He Himself lived with His disciples in community +of goods." + +[543] Ibid, p. 101. This was one of the earliest heresies of the +Christian era refuted by Origen: "Moreover, he [Celsus] frequently calls +the Christian doctrine a secret system, we must refute him on this point +... to speak of the Christian doctrine as a secret system is altogether +absurd."--Origen, _Contra Celsum_, in _The Ante-Nicene Christian +Library_, p. 403 (1869). + +[544] Ibid., p. 106. + +[545] Ibid., p. 113. + +[546] Ibid., p. 96. + +[547] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, II. 111. + +[548] Ibid., II. 123. + +[549] Ibid., II. 124. + +[550] Ibid., I. 68. + +[551] Ibid., II. 113. + +[552] Ibid., II. 115. + +[553] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, II. 13, 14. + +[554] Ibid., I. 104. + +[555] Ibid., I. 104-106. + +[556] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, I. 76. + +[557] _Originalschriften_, p. 8. + +[558] Ibid., p. 9. + +[559] Ibid., p. 10 + +[560] _Neuesten Arbeiten des Spartacus und Philo_, pp. 143, 163. + +[561] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, I. 3. + +[562] _Originalschriften_, p. 215. + +[563] Ibid., p. 173. + +[564] Ibid., p. 175. + +[565] Ibid., pp. 237-8. + +[566] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, I. 12. + +[567] _Originalschriften_, p. 231. + +[568] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, II. 2. + +[569] _Originalschriften_, p. 51. + +[570] Ibid., p. 52. + +[571] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, II. 45. + +[572] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, II. 51. + +[573] _Originalschriften_, p. 210. + +[574] Ibid., p. 72. + +[575] Ibid., p. 271. + +[576] Ibid., p. 50. + +[577] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, I. 32. + +[578] _Royal Masonic Cyclopædia_, article on Illuminati. + +[579] Feder, a preacher at the Court who had joined the Illuminati. + +[580] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, I. 42. + +[581] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, I. 39, 40. + +[582] Ibid., I. 47. + +[583] _Originalschriften_, pp. 370, 371. + +[584] Ibid., pp. 257, 258. + +[585] Given in the cypher of the Illuminati: "Denken sie, meine 18. 10. +5. 21. 12. 6. 8. 17. 4. 13. ist 18. 10. 5. 21. 12. 13. 6. 8. 17. (meine +Schwägerin ist schwanger)." See cypher on p. 1 of _Originalschnften_. + +[586] Note, then, that this was no sudden lapse on the part of +Weishaupt. + +[587] _Nachtrag von ... Onginalschrtften_, I. 14-16. + +[588] Ibid., I. 21. + +[589] Ibid., I. 99. + +[590] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, I. 112. + +[591] Author of the very interesting work _La Vérité sur les Sociétés +Secrétes en Allemagne_, par un Ancien Illuminé (Paris, 1819). + +[592] _De l'Influence attribuée aux Philosophes, aux Francs-Maçons et +aux Illuminés sur la, Révolution de France_, par J.J. Mounier (1822), p. +181. + +[593] It has several times been stated that Weishaupt was himself a Jew. +I cannot find the slightest evidence to this effect. + +[594] _Originalschriften_, pp. 107-10. + +[595] "Foresight indicates," says Falk, "that an end must be made to the +whole of the present scheme of Freemasonry [_dem ganzen jetzigen Schema +der Freimaurerei ein Ende zu machen_]," and he goes on to show that this +must be done by picked men in the secret societies who know the true +secrets of Masonry. This is precisely Weishaupt's idea. + +[596] In 1779 Spartacus writes to Marius and Cato suggesting that +instead of Illuminati the Order should be called the "Order of Bees +[Bienenorden oder Bienengesellschaft]," and that all the statutes should +be clothed in this allegory--_Originalschriften_, p. 320. + +[597] _Nachtrag von ... Originalschriften_, II. 81. + +[598] My italics. + +[599] Where are they called this? The Cabala distinctly states that +Israel alone is to possess the future world (Zohar, section Vayschlah, +folio 177b), whilst the Talmud even excludes the lost tribes: "the ten +tribes have no share in the world to come" (Tract Sanhedrim, Rodkinson's +translation, p. 363). + +[600] _Memoirs of Moses Mendelssohn_, by M. Samuels, pp. 56, 57 (1827). + +[601] Letter to the _Jewish Chronicle_, September 1, 1922, quoting +Henrietta Herz. + +[602] Goethe was initiated into Freemasonry on St. John's Eve, 1780. +_The Royal Masonic Cyclopædia_ observes: "There exist two great +classical Masonic writers, Lessing and Goethe." Dr. Stauffer, in _New +England and the Bavarian Illuminati_ (p. 172), points out further that +Goethe's connexion with the Illuminati is fully established by both +Engel (_Geschichte des Illuminatenordens_, pp. 355 and following) and by +Le Forestier (_Les Illuminés de Baviére_, pp. 396 and following). It is +possible that _Faust_ may be the history of an initiation by a +disillusioned Illuminatus. + +[603] Henri Martin, _Histoire de France_, Vol. XVI. p. 531. + +[604] _Historie de la Monarchie prussienne_, V. 73. + +[605] _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, Vol. XXVI. p. 98. + +[606] "Notes on the Rainsford Papers" in _A.Q.C._, Vol. XXVI. p. 111. + +[607] _Morning Herald_ for November 2, 1786. + +[608] Eckert, _La Franc-Maçonnerie dans sa véritable signification_, +Vol. II. p. 92. + +[609] _Drei merkwürdige Aussagen_, etc., evidence of Grünberger, +Cosandey, and Renner (Munich, 1786); _Grosse Absichten des Ordens der +Illuminaten_, etc., Ditto, with Utzschneider (Munich, 1786). + +[610] Gustave Bord, _La Franc-Maçonnerie en France_, etc., p. 351 +(1908). This Australian Count is referred to in the correspondence of +the Illuminati more as an agent than as an adept. Thus Weishaupt writes: +"I must attempt to cure him of theosophy and bring him round to our +views" (_Nachtrag von ... Originalschnften_, I. 71); and Philo, before +the Congress of Wilhelmsbad, observes: "Numenius is not yet of much use. +I am only taking him up so as to stop his mouth at the Congress [_um ihn +auj dem Convente das Meul zu stopfen_]; still, if he is well led we can +make something out of him." (ibid., p. 109). + +[611] _Die Neuesten Arbeiten des Spartacus und Philo in dem +Illuminaten-Orden._ p. viii (1794). + +[612] De Luchet, _Essai sur la Secte des Illuminés_, p. vii. + +[613] Crétineau Joly, _L'Église Romaine en face de la Révolution_, I. p. +93. + +[614] In my _World Revolution_ I accepted erroneously the opinion of +several well-known writers who attribute this pamphlet to Mirabeau. The +fact that it was printed at the end of Mirabeau's _Histoire Secrète de +la Cour de Berlin_ and that a further edition revised by Mirabeau was +published in 1792 no doubt gave rise to this supposition. But apart from +the fact that Mirabeau as an Illuminatus was unlikely himself to +denounce the Order, the proof that he was not the author may be found at +the British Museum, where the copy of the 1792 edition bears on the +title-page the words in ink "Donné par l'auteur," and Mirabeau died in +the spring of the preceding year. + +[615] British Museum press-mark F. 259 (14). + +[616] _Oeuvres posthumes de Marmontel_, IV. 77. + +[617] Lombard de Langres, _Histoire des Jacobins_, p. 31 (1820). + +[618] Deschamps, _Les Sociétés Secrètes et la Société_, II. 151, quoting +document amongst the papers of Cardinal Bernis entitled: _Discours +prononcé au comité de la Propagande par M. Duport, un de ses mémoires, +le 21 mai 1790._ + +[619] Galart de Montjoie, _Histoire de Marie Antoinette de Lorraine_, p. +156 (1797). + +[620] Lombard de Langres, _Histoire des Jacobins_, p. 117 (1820). + +[621] Ibid., p. 236. + +[622] See _Die Neuesten Arbeiten des Spartacus und Philo_, p. 71, where +the Illuminati are described as wearing "fliegende Haare und kleine +vierekte rothe samtne Hute." An alternative theory is, however, that the +"cap of liberty" was copied from that of the galley-slaves. + +[623] _Histoire des Jacobins_, p. 117. + +[624] A.E. Waite, _The Mysteries of Magic_, p. 215. + +[625] _Moniteur_, Vol. II., séance du 23 décembre, 1789. + +[626] Théophile Malvezin, _Histoire des Juifs à Bordeaux_, p. 262 +(1875). + +[627] _Requête des six corps de marchands et négociants de Paris contre +l'admission des Juifs_ in Archives Nationales, quoted by Henri Delassus, +_La Question Juive_, p. 60 (1911). + +[628] Leon Kahn, _Les Juifs de Paris pendant la Révolution_ (1898). + +[629] Ibid., p. 167. Cf. Arthur Chuquet, _La Légion Germanique_, p. 139 +(1904). + +[630] Archives Nationales, F*. 2486. + +[631] My _French Revolution_, p. 274. + +[632] Kahn, op. cit., pp. 140, 141, 170, 201, 241. + +[633] _Nouvelle Adresse des Juifs à l'Assemblée Nationale_, le 24 +décembre, 1789. + +[634] _Moniteur_, Vol. XVIII., séances of 21st and 22nd Brumaire, An 2 +(November, 1793). + +[635] _Discours de morale, prononcé le 2ième décadi, 20 frimaire, l'an +2ième de la république ... an temple de la Vérité, ci-devant l'église +des bénédictins à Angely Boutonne ... fait par le citoyen Alexandre +Lambert, fils, juif et élevé dans les préjugés du culte judaïque_ +(1794), British Museum press-mark F. 1058 (4). + +[636] Kahn, op. cit., p. 311. + +[637] _Crimes de la Révolution_, III. 44. + +[638] Archives Nationales, _Pièce remise par le Cabinet de Vienne_ +(1824), F* 7566. + +[639] Chevalier de Malet, _Recherches politiques et historiques_, p. 2 +(1817). + +[640] Eckert, _La Franc-Maçonnerie dans sa véritable signification_, II. +125. + +[641] Mr. Lucien Wolf, "The Jewish Peril," article in the _Spectator_ +for June 12, 1920. + +[642] A.E. Waite, "Occult Freemasonry and the Jewish Peril," in _The +Occult Review_ for September, 1920. + +[643] Deschamps, op. cit., II. 197, quoting _Tableau historique de la +Maçonnerie_, p. 38. + +[644] _Eques a Capite Galeato_, pp. 362, 364, 366. + +[645] Ibid., p. 423. + +[646] _The War of Anti-Christ with the Church and Christian +Civilization_, p. 30 (1885). + +[647] G. Lenôtre, _Le Dauphin_ (Eng. trans.), p. 307. + +[648] Archives Nationales, F* 6563. + +[649] Archives Nationales F* 6563 No. 2449, Série 2. No. 49. + +[650] _Pièce remise par le Cabinet de Vienne_, F* 7566. + +[651] _Lettres d'un Voyageur à l'Abbé Barruel_, p. 30 (1800). + +[652] _World Revolution_, pp. 86 and following, where extracts from the +correspondence of the Alta Vendita (or Haute Vente Romaine) were given. +This correspondence will be found in _L'Église Romaine en face de la +Révolution_, by Crétineau Joly, who published it from the documents +seized by the Pontifical Government at the death of one of the members. +The documents were communicated to Crétineau Joly by the Pope Grégoire +XVI, and published with the approval of Pius IX. Their authenticity has +never been questioned. They are still in the secret archives of the +Vatican, or at any rate were there at the beginning of the present year. + +[653] Jan Witt, dit Buloz, _Les Sociétés Secrètes de France et +d'ltalie_, pp. 20, 21 (1830). + +[654] Ibid., p. 6. + +[655] Louis Blanc, _Histoire de Dix Ans_, I. 88, 89. + +[656] Deschamps, _Les Sociétés Secrètes et la Société_, II. 534, quoting +the _Monde Maçonmque_ for July, 1867. + +[657] _Correspondence de Michel Bakounine_, published by Michael +Dragomanov, pp. 73, 209 (1896). + +[658] A. E. Waite, _The Secret Tradition in Freemasonry_, Vol. I. p. ix. + +[659] _The Real History of the Rosicrucians_, p. 403. + +[660] Paul Nourrisson, _Les Jacobins an Pouvoir_, pp. 202, 215 (1904). + +[661] J.M. Ragon, _Cours philosophique ... des Initiations_, etc., +édition sacrée (5,842), p. 19. + +[662] Ibid., p. 38. + +[663] Copin Albancelli, _Le Pouvoir occulte contre la France_, p. 124 +(1908). + +[664] Ibid., p. 125. + +[665] Ragon, op. cit., p. 38, note 2. + +[666] Ibid., p. 39. + +[667] Ibid., p. 52. + +[668] Ibid., p. 53. + +[669] Clavel, _Histoire pittoresque de la Franc-Maçonnerie_, p. 21. + +[670] Ibid., p. 23. + +[671] In _La République universelle_, published in 1793. + +[672] Georges Goyau, _L'Idée de Patrie et l'Humanitarisme_, p. 242 +(1913), quoting speech of F. Troubat in 1886. A periodical called _Les +États Unis de l'Europe_ was published by Ferdinand Buisson in 1868. +Ibid., p. 113. + +[673] Copin Albancelli, _Le Pouvoir occults contre la France_, p. 89. + +[674] Gould, _History of Freemasonry_, III. 191, 192. + +[675] Ibid., III. 26. + +[676] Copin Albancelli, _Le Pouvoir occulte contre la France_, p. 97. + +[677] Ibid., p. 90. + +[678] _Le Pouvoir occulte contre la France_, pp. 274-7. + +[679] Ibid., pp. 284-6. + +[680] _Le Pouvoir occulte contre la France_, p. 44. + +[681] Ibid., p. 263. + +[682] Ibid., p. 294. + +[683] _La Conjuration juive contre le Monde Chrétien_ (1909). + +[684] _Morning Post_ for February 1 and February 26, 1923. + +[685] Copin Albancelli, _Le Pouvoir occulte contre la France_, p. 132. + +[686] Gautrelet, _La Franc-Maçonnerie et la Révolution_, p. 87 (1872). + +[687] Copin Albancelli, _Le Pouvoir occulte contre la France_, p. 85. + +[688] Louis Dasté, _Marie Antinette et le Complot Maçonnique_, pp. 49-51 +(1910). + +[689] _Times_ for December 30, 1921; _A Epoca_, November 28, 1921. + +[690] These documents were published in a book entitled _A +Szabadkömivesseg Bünei_ by Adorjan Barcsay. + +[691] _Two Centuries of Freemasonry_, p. 79. Published by the +International Bureau for Masonic Affairs, of Neuchatel, 1917. + +[692] Article on "The Popes and Freemasonry," by the Rev. Herbert +Thurston, S.J., in _The Tablet_ for January 27, 1923. + +[693] _Evening Standard_, June 26, 1923. + +[694] Ragon, _Cours des Initiations_, p. 33. + +[695] Alliance de la Démocratic Socialiste, etc., publié par l'ordre du +Congrès International de la Haye, p. 93 (1873). + +[696] _Histoire des Clubs de Femmes_, by the Baron Marc de Villiers, p. +380. + +[697] René Guénon, _Le Théosophisme_, p. 245 (1921). + +[698] Guénon, op. cit., p. 248, quoting _La Lumière Maçonnique_, +Nov.--Dec. 1912, p. 522. + +[699] Alice Leighton Cleather, _H. P. Blavatsky: her Life and Work for +Humanity_ p. 17 (Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta, 1922). + +[700] René Guénon, op. cit., p. 17. + +[701] René Guénon, op. cit., p. 30. + +[702] Guénon, op cit., p. 193, quoting _Le Lotus_ for December, 1887. + +[703] I refrain from giving the name of this book as the author has now +left the Theosophical Society and may regret having written these words. + +[704] Adolphe Franck, _La Kabbale_, pp. ii-iv. + +[705] See _ante_, pp. 21, 66, 92. + +[706] Alice Leighton Cleather, _A Great Betrayal_, p. 13 (1922). + +[707] See on this subject the ravings contained in the book _Christ and +the New Age_ (1922), edited by G. Leopold, under the auspices of "The +Star in the East." + +[708] Dudley Wright, _Roman Catholicism and Freemasonry_, p. 221 (1922). + +[709] In a few lodges the purely British ritual has been adopted under +the name of the Verulam working, whilst recently a third ritual has been +introduced by "Bishop Wedgwood," which in the opinion of a high British +Mason "upsets the whole working of the Craft degrees and reduces it all +to an absurdity." + +[710] Alice Leighton Cleather, _H. P. Blavatsky: her Life and Work for +Humanity_, p. 24 (Thacker. Spink & Co., Calcutta, 1922). + +[711] Alice Leighton Cleather, _H. P. Blavatsky: her Life and Work for +Humanity_, p. 24. (Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta, 1922). + +[712] Ibid., p. 14. + +[713] Ibid., pp. 20, 311. + +[714] Nos. of January 11 to March 22, 1923. + +[715] A.L. Cleather, _H. P. Blavatsky' a Great Betrayal_, p. 69 (Thacker, +Spink & Co., Calcutta, 1922). + +[716] _John Bull_, June 7, 1919; _The Patriot_, February 15, 1923. + +[717] _The War and the Builders of the Commonwealth_, a lecture given at +the Queen's Hall by Annie Besant on October 5, 1919, pp. 15, 18 (printed +by the Theosophical Publishing Co.). + +[718] Diary of the Theosophical Society for April-July, 1924, p. 43. + +[719] On June 26, 1923 + +[720] _The Theosophical Quarterly_ for October 1920, April 1921, and +April 1922 (published by the Theosophical Society, New York). + +[721] Syed Ameer Ali expresses the opinion that even to Eastern minds +esoteric speculation presents a danger: "Sufism in the Moslem world, +like to its counterpart in Christendom, has, in its practical effect, +been productive of many mischievous results. In perfectly well-attuned +minds mysticism takes the form of a noble type of idealistic philosophy; +but the generality of mankind are more likely to unhinge their brains by +busying themselves with the mysteries of the Divine Essence and our +relations thereto. Every ignorant and idle specimen of humanity, who, +despising real knowledge, abandoned the fields of true philosophy and +betook himself to the domains of mysticism, would thus set himself up as +one of the Ahl-i-Ma 'rifat."--_The Spirit of Islam_, p. 477. + +[722] Confirmed by A.Q.C. 1. 54. + +[723] Guénon, op. cit., p. 296. It would appear to be this MS. or a copy +which was recently offered for sale by a Paris bookseller under the +following description: "Manuscrit de Kabbale.--Spedalieri (Baron de. Le +Sceau de Salomon). Traité sur les Séphiroth, en un in-f. de 16 pp.... +le baron Spedalieri fut le disciple le plus instruit et le plus intime +d'Eliphas Lévi.--Son traté kabalistique 'Le Sceau de Salomon' est fondé +sur la tradition hébraïque et hindoue et nous révèle le sens occulte du +grand pantacle mystique. Dans une étude sur les séphiroth, Eliphas Lévi +annonçait que le temps venu il révèlerait à ses disciples ce grand +mystère jusqu'ici caché.--Spedalieri entreprend cette révélation." Le +Bibliophile ès Sciences Psychiques, No. 16 (1922). Librairie Emile +Nourry, 62 ru des Ecoles, Paris, Ve. + +[724] See ante, p. 34. + +[725] Robert Kuentz, _Le Dr Steiner et la Théosophie actuelle_, series +of articles in the review _Le Feu_ for October, November and December +1913 and reprinted in pamphlet form. + +[726] The year of the General Strike. + +[727] Letter from Meakin to Baron Walleen, a Dane and member of the S.M. + +[728] Bertrand Russell, _The practice and Theory of Bolshevism_, p. 65 +(1920). + +[729] Amongst ths "subsidiary activities" of the Theosophical Society +may be mentioned the Liberal Catholic Church, the Guild of the Citizens +of Tomorrow, the Order of the Brothers of Service, the Golden Chain, the +Order of the Round Table, the Bureau of Social Reconstruction, the +Braille League, the Theosophical Educational Trust, etc. + +[730] _Le Pouvoir Occulte contre la France_, p. 291. + +[731] "The struggle to instil into the masses the idea of the Soviet +State control, and accounting, that this idea may be realised and a +break be made with the accursed past, which accustomed the people to +look upon the work of getting food and clothing as a 'private' affair +and on purchase and sale as something that 'concerns only myself'--this +is a most momentous struggle, of universal historical significance, a +struggle for Socialist consciousness against bourgeois-anarchistic +'freedom.'"--Lenin, _The Soviets at Work_, p. 22 (The Socialist +Information and Research Bureau, 196 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, 1919). + +[732] Mr. Bernard Shaw on "Railway Strike Secrets," reported in _Morning +Post_ for December 3, 1919. + +[733] Mr. Bernard Shaw in the _Labour Monthly_ for October 1921. + +[734] Report of interview with Maxim Gorky in _Daily News_ for October +3, 1921. + +[735] Opinion expressed to me in conversation with a Socialist. Cf. Keir +Hardie, "Communism, the final goal of Socialism" (_Serfdom to +Socialism_, p. 36). + +[736] "By the decree of May 22 1922, the right of private ownership of +means of production and for production itself was re-established." See +article by Krassin on "The New Economic Policy of the Soviet Government" +in _Reconstruction_ (the monthly review edited by Parvus) for September +1922. + +[737] See Guillaume's _Documents de l'Internationale_ and Mrs. Snowden's +_A Political Pilgrim in Europe_. + +[738] _Les Sociétés de Pensée et la Démocratie_ (1921). M. Augustin +Cochin collaborated with M. Charles Charpentier in throwing new light on +the French Revolution, and triumphantly refuted M. Aulard in 1908. +Unhappily his work was cut short by the war and he was killed at the +front in July 1916, leaving his great history of the Revolution +unfinished. + +[739] Mr. Philip Snowden in debate on Socialism in the House of Commons +on March 20, 1923: "By far the greatest time that man has been upon this +globe he has lived not under a system of private enterprise, not under +capitalism, but under a system of tribal communism, and it is well worth +while to remember that most of the great inventions that have been the +basis of our machinery and our modern discoveries were invented by men +who lived together in tribes." + +[740] _The Red Catechism_, by Tom Anderson, p. 3. + +[741] E.g. the following extract from an address by Miss Esther Bright +to the Esoteric School of Theosophy quoted in _The Patriot_ for March +22, 1923: "The hearty and understanding co-operation between E.S.T. +members of many nations will form a nucleus upon which the nations may +build the big brotherhood which we hope may become the United States of +Europe. United States! What a fine sound it has when one looks at the +Europe of to-day!" A review named _Les États-Unis d'Europe_ existed as +early as 1868, and M. Goyau shows that this formula and also that of the +"République Universelle" were slogans current amongst the pacifists +before and during the war of 1870 which they signally failed to +avert.--_L'Idée de Patrie et l'Humanitarisme_, pp. 113, 115. + +[742] How bitterly this attitude is still resented by the Jews is shown +in the article on Jesus in the _Jewish Encyclopædia_, which observes +that: "In almost all of his public utterances he was harsh, severe, and +distinctly unjust ... toward the ruling and well-to-do classes. After +reading his diatribes against the Pharisees, the Scribes, and the rich, +it is scarcely to be wondered at that these were concerned in helping to +silence him" (vol. vii, p. 164). + +[743] The execution of Monseigneur Butkievitch, the Roman Catholic +Archbishop of Petrograd, was condoned by the _Daily Herald_, the _New +Statesman_, and the _Nation_. See the _Daily Herald_ for April 7, 1923. + +[744] Letters from a friend of the present writer in Russia, dates of +August 1922 and February 1923. + +[745] _Daily Herald_ for February 21, 1922. + +[746] Ibid., March 18, 1920. + +[747] See Report of Annual Conference of the Social Democratic +Federation in _Morning Post_ for August 6, 1923, where it is said that +"Whole-hearted denunciation of Sovietism was the chief feature of the +day's discussion," etc. + +[748] _Evening Standard_ for January 15, 1924. + +[749] _Daily Telegraph_ for January 8, 1923; _Daily Mail_ for January +24, 1923. + +[750] Report of speech by Adeline, Duchess of Bedford, at a public +meeting to protest against the treatment of political prisoners in +Portugal, April 22, 1913, quoted in _Portuguese Political Prisoners_, p. +89 (published by Upcott Gill & Son). + +[751] _Evening Standard_, May 14, 1923. + +[752] That this use of the cinema for revolutionary propaganda is +deliberate was proved to me by personal experience. A man who had been +struck with the dramatic possibilities of something I had written wrote +to ask if he might place it before a certain well-known film producer in +America. I gave my consent, and some time later he informed me that the +producer in question regretted he could not film my work as it might +appear to be anti-Bolshevist propaganda. Soon after this the same +producer brought out a film on the same subject with the moral turned +round the other way, so as to make the whole thing subtly revolutionary, +and brought this over to England, where he advertised it as +anti-Bolshevist propaganda! This is typical of the duplicity displayed +by these propagandists. + +[753] Quoted in _Le Problème de la Mode_, by the Baronne de Montenach, +p. 30(1913). + +[754] Robison, _Proofs of a Conspiracy_, pp. 251, 252 (1798). + +[755] Article by A. Quiller in _The Equinox_ for September 1910, p. 338. + +[756] _New York Herald_ for September 6 and 7, 1921. + +[757] Private communication to the author. + +[758] Paul Bureau, _La Crise morale des Temps nouveaux_, p. 108 (1907). + +[759] _Daily Mail_, July 14, 1922. + +[760] _Le Smorfie dell' Anima_, by Mario Mariani (1919). + +[761] A leader writer in one of the most important literary +Constitutional journals in this country observed to me in conversation +that "all such nonsense as patriotism ought to be done away with"; +another writer for the same paper told me he would not in the least +regret to see the British Empire broken up. + +[762] Astolphe de Custine, _La Russie en_ 1839, I. 149 (1843). + +[763] _Essai sur la Secte des Illuminés_ (1792 edition), p. 48. On p. 46 +de Luchet expresses his idea in a curious passaqe which I find difficult +to render in English: "Il s'est formé au sein des plus épaisses +ténèbres, une société d'êtres nouveaux qui se connaissent sans s'être +vus, qui s'entendent sans s'être expliqués, qui se servent sans amitié. +Cette société a le but de gouverner le monde...." + +[764] Ibid., p. 171. + +[765] Eckert, _La Franc-Maçonnerie dans sa véritable signification_, +translated by the Abbé Gyr (1854), II. 133, 134. + +[766] My italics. + +[767] Galart de Montjoie, _Histoire de Marie Antoinette_, p. 156 (1797). + +[768] G. Lenôtre, _The Dauphin_, Eng. trans., p. 307. + +[769] _Recherches politiques et historiques sur l'existence d'une secte +révolutionnaire_, p. 2 (1817). + +[770] J. Crétineau-Joly, _L'Église Romaine en face de la Revolution_, +II. 143 (1859). + +[771] _Lord George Bentinck, A Political Biography_, pp. 552-4 (1852). + +[772] _Les Sociétés Secrètes et la Société_, I. 91 + +[773] Ibid., II. 243. + +[774] Ibid., II. 521. + +[775] Robison's _Proofs of a Conspiracy_, p. 107. + +[776] A good account of this was contained in a letter to _The Times_ of +January 23, 1924. + +[777] _The Prince_, Eng. trans, by Henry Morley, p. 61. + +[778] Ibid., p. 110. + +[779] Ibid., p. 110. + +[780] Ibid., p. 131. + +[781] _The Prince_, Eng. trans, by Henry Morley, pp. 143, 144. + +[782] M. Mazères, _De Machiavel et de l'influence de sa doctrine sur les +opinions, les mæurs et la politique de la France pendant la Rèvolution_ +(1816). + +[783] Deschamps, _Les Sociètès Secrètes, etc._, I. p. xcii., quoting +"Discours du F. Malapert a la Loge Alsace-Lorraine" in _La Chains +d'Umon_, pp. 88, 89 (1874); ct. Eckert, _La Franc-Maçonnerie dans sa +véritable signification_, II. 293. + +[784] Deschamps, op. cit., II. 681. + +[785] _Politica Segreta Italiana_, by Diamilla Muller, p. 346 (1891). + +[786] Copin Albancelli, _Le Pouvotr occulte contre la France_, p. 388. + +[787] Series of article entitled "Boche and Bolshevik" by Nesta H. +Webster and Herr Kurt Kerlen, which appeared in the _Morning Post_ for +April 26, 27, June 10, 11, 15, 16, 1922. Reprinted in book form by the +Beckwith Company of New York. + +[788] _Boche and Bolshevik_, p 39. + +[789] _The General Staff and its Problems_, II. 556 + +[790] One of the pamphlets emanating from the first of these lines and +entitled "England's War Guilt" reached the present writer. Its purport +is to show that "England alone was the chief agent of the war," and that +Lord Haldane and Sir Edward Grey, by encouraging Germany to believe that +England would not intervene, led her into a trap. + +[791] Georges Goyau, _L'Idée de Patrie et l'Humanitarisme_, p. in +(1913). + +[792] August 19, 1919. + +[793] My italics. + +[794] _Daily Herald_ for January 26, 1923. So tender a regard did the +_Daily Herald_ entertain for the feelings of German magnates that its +susceptibilities were deeply shocked at the correspondent of another +paper, who, after lunching with Herr Thyssen, was so "ungentlemanly" as +to comment afterwards on the display of wealth he had witnessed (_Daily +Herald_ for February 2, 1923). Yet the _Daily Herald_ reporter had seen +nothing ungentlemanly in attending a garden party at Buckingham Palace +and publishing a sneering account of it afterwards under the heading of +"Pomp and Farce in the Palace" (date of July 21, 1921). + +[795] Karl Marx in his _Preamble of the Provisional Rules of the +Internationale_ (1864). + +[796] _The Times_, June 30, 1922; the _Morning Post_, June 26 and 30, +1922. A very curious and well-informed article, from which some of these +details are taken, appeared in the _West Coast Leader_, Lima, Peru, of +December 14, 1921. + +[797] _Lettres inédites de Joseph de Maistre_, p. 415 (1851). + +[798] Letter from the Rev. B. S. Lombard to Lord Curzon, March 23, 1919. + +[799] _Jewish Guardian_ for January 18, 1924. + +[800] _Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on Zionism. + +[801]_La République universelle_, p. 186 note (1793). + +[802] _Daily Mail_, September 21, 1923. + +[803] Reported in the _Jewish World_, January 5, 1922. + +[804] _Morning Post_ for August 1, 1921. + +[805] Michael Rodkinson (i.e. Rodkinssohn), in Preface to translation of +the Talmud, Vol. I. p. x. + +[806] Drach, _De l'Harmomie entre l'Église[C] et la Synagogue_, I. 167, +quoting the treatise Aboda-Zara, folio 13 verso, and folio 20 recto; +also treatise Baba Kamma, folio 29 verso. Drach adds: "We could multiply +these quotations almost to infinity." + +[807] Zohar, section Toldoth Noah, folio 63_b_ (de Pauly's trans., I +373). + +[808] Zohar, section Toldoth Noah, folio 646 (de Pauly's trans., I. +376). + +[809] J.P. Stehelin, _The Traditions of the Jews_, II. 215-20, quoting +Talmud treatises Baba Bathra folio 74_b_, Pesachim folio 32, Bekhoroth +folio 57, Massektoth Ta'anith folio 31. The Zohar also refers to the +female Leviathan (section Bô, de Pauly's trans., III. 167). Drach shows +that amongst the delights promised by the Talmud after the return to +Palestine will be the permission to eat pork and bacon.--_De l'Harmonie +entre l'Église et la Synagogue_, I. 265, 276, quoting treatise Hullin, +folio 17, 82. + +[810] Stehelin, op. cit., II. 221-4. + +[811] The Very Rev. Sir George Adam Smith, _Syria and the Holy Land_, p. +49 (1918). + +[812] Zohar, section Schemoth, folio 7 and 9_b_; section Beschalah, +folio 58b (de Pauly's trans., III. 32, 36, 41, 260). + +[813] Ibid., section Vayschlah, folio 177_b_ (de Pauly's trans., II. p. +298). + +[814] Hastings' _Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics_, article on the +Kabbala by H. Loewe. + +[815] Eugène Tavernier, _La Religion Nouvelle_, p. 265 (1905). + +[816] _Jewish Guardian_ for January 25, 1924. + +[817] Deuter. ix. 5. + +[818] Dan. ix. 11. + +[819] Neh. ix. 26. + +[820] Isa. i. 1-17. See also Ezek. xx. 13. + +[821] _Jewish Guardian_ for October 1, 1920. + +[822] Josephus, _The Jewish War_ (Eng. trans.), IV. 170, 334. + +[823] Ibid., V. 152. + +[824] See, for example, the descriptions of the horrible cruelty +practised in the Jewish schools of Poland in the eighteenth century, +given in _The Autobiography of Solomon Maimon_ (Eng. trans., 1888), p. +32. + +[825] Treatise Hullin, folio 27_a_. + +[826] Talmud, treatise Sanhedrim (Rodkinson's trans, p. 156). + +[827] _Encyclopædia Britannica_ (1911 edition), article on Lord +Beaconsfield. + +[828] Drach, _De l'Harmonie entre l'Église et la Synagogue_, II. 336. +This custom is still in force; see the very legitimate complaint of a +Jewess in the _Jewish World_ for December 21, 1923, that women are still +relegated to the gallery "to be hidden behind the grille, whence they +may hear their menfolk bless the Almighty in strident tones that 'Thou +hast not made me a woman.'" + +[829] Drach, op. cit., II. 335, 336, quoting Talmud, treatise Meghilla +folio 23 verso, treatise Berachoth folio 21 verso, treatise Sanhedrim +folio 2 recto, Maimonides chap. viii. art 6; Schulchan Arukh, etc. + +[830] In this connexion see article on "Jesus" in the _Jewish +Encyclopædia_, where the reader is referred to the work of O. Holtzmann +(_War Jesus Ekstattker_?), who "agrees that there must have been +abnormal mental processes involved in the utterances and behaviour of +Jesus." + +[831] _Jewish World_ for December 22. 1920. + +[832] Exod. i 10. + +[833] Sura v. 60 (Everyman's Library edition, p. 493). + +[834] Reinhardt Dozy, _Spanish Islam_ (Eng. trans.), p. 651. + +[835] J. Denais-Darnays, _Les Juifs en France_, p. 17 (1907). + +[836] On the question of the Protocols, see Appendix II. + +[837] "Jews have been most conspicuous in connexion with Freemasonry in +France since the Revolution."--_Jewish Encyclopædia_, article on +Freemasonry. + +[838] A.E. Waite, _The Secret Tradition in Freemasonry_, II. 115. + +[839] It is significant to notice that in the second and abridged +edition of the white Paper issued by the Foreign Office these two most +important passages marked with an asterisk were omitted and the first +edition was said to be unobtainable. + +[840] On this point see also a very interesting pamphlet _From Behind +the Vail_, published by Victor Hornyanszky (Budapest, 1920), also Madame +Cécile Tormay, _The Diary of an Outlaw_ (1923). + +[841] _Revolutionary Radicalism, its History, Purpose, and Tactics, with +an Exposition and Discussion of the Steps being taken and required to +curb it, being the Report of the Joint Legislative Committee +investigating Seditious Activities, filed April_ 24, 1920. _in the +Senate of the State of New York_ (Albany, J.B. Lyon Company, Printers, +1920). + +[842] _Revolutionary Radicalism_, Vol. I. p. 374. + +[843] Ibid., p. 24. + +[844] Among those who prominently showed their profound grief at the +death of Lenin were Jews, and not merely Jews by origin but conforming +Jews. Children from Jewish schools, we learn, joined in the procession, +while the Hebrew Art Theatre (Habima) sent a banner with the inscription +in Hebrew: "You freed the nations; you will be remembered for ever.' In +addition Rabbi Jacob Mase, of Moscow, the Jewish Relief Committee of +that city and other Jewish bodies, sent telegrams of condolence; while +the Association of Jewish Authors issued a special memorial magazine in +Yiddish dedicated to the memory of Lenin."--_Jewish World_ for January +21, 1924. + +[845] _Patriot_, for April 26, 1923. + +[846] Ibid., May 3, 1923. + +[847] _Jewish World_ for January 10, 1924. + +[848] Quoted in the _Jewish World_ for January 10, 1924, + +[849] _Jewish World_ for November 9, 1922. + +[850] _Le Probléme Juif_. pp. 41, 43. + +[851] Lenin, _The Soviets at Work_, p. 18. + +[852] I do not here ignore the work of the Trade Unions; but the Trade +Unions would have been powerless to better conditions without the +support of upper and middle-class men in Parliament. + +[853] Private communication to author. + +[854] See _ante_, p. 343. + +[855]Madame Cécile Tormay, in her description of the Jewish Bolshevist +régime in Hungary, eloquently observes: "It is said that only a +misguided fraction of the Jews is active in the destruction of Hungary. +If that be so, why do not the Jews who represent Jewry in London, in New +York, and at the Paris Peace Conference disown and brand their tyrant +co-religionists in Hungary? Why do they not repudiate all community with +them? Why do they not protest against the assaults committed by men of +their race?" (_An Outlaw's Diary_, p. 110, 1923). + +[856] For example, when religious persecution in Russia was said to have +turned against the Jews in the spring of 1923. + +[857] _Jewish Intelligence, and Monthly Account of the Proceedings of +the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews_, April +1846, pp. 111, 112: Letter from the Rev. B.W. Wright. + +[858] Gustave Le Bon goes so far as to say that "the Jews have never +possessed either arts, sciences, or industries, or anything that +constitutes a civilization.... At the time of their greatest power under +the reign of Solomon it was from abroad that they were obliged to bring +the architects, workmen, and artists, of which no rival then existed in +Israel."--_Les Premières Civilisations_, p. 613 (1889). It should be +remembered, however, that Hiram, the master-builder, was half, if not +wholly, an Israelite. + +[859] _Jewish Encyclopedia_, article on Nervous Diseases. + +[860] _Jewish World_ for November 9, 1922. + +[861] H.M. Hyndman, "The Dawn of a Revolutionary Epoch," in _The +Nineteenth Century_ for January 1881. + +[862] A committee has recently been formed by the Jewish Board of +Guardians to sit on all "anti-Semitic" movements in this country. At a +meeting of this body it was complacently announced that "the Committee +had obtained the removal of the posters of an anti-Semitic paper from +the walls of an important establishment, and steps had been taken to get +others removed."--_Jewish Guardian_, February 22, 1924. We wonder +whether the Welsh would be able to obtain the removal of posters +advertising literature of an anti-Celtic nature. This comes perilously +near to a fulfilment of the Protocols. + +[863] Drach, _De l'Harmonie entre l'Église et la Synagogue._ I. 79 +(1844). It is curious to notice that the Jewish writer Margoliouth makes +use of the same expression where he says, "It was well remarked that the +house [of Rothschild] 'was spread like a network over the +nations.'"--_History of the Jews in Great Britain_, II. 161 (1851). + +[864] Eng. trans., Vol. III. p. 591 ff. + +[865] Confirmed by Werner Sombart, _The Jews and Modern Capitalism_ +(Eng. trans.), p. 203: "The Talmud says: 'Kill even the best of the +Gentiles.'" The Zohar also says: "Tradition tells us that the best of +the Gentiles deserves death."--Section Vaïqra, folio 14_b_ (de Pauly's +trans., Vol. V. p. 42). + +[866] Professor H. Graetz, _The History of the Jews_ (Eng. trans.), III. +591-6. + +[867] See my _World Revolution_, pp. 296-307. The misapprehension +referred to above may have arisen from the resemblance between the title +of my book and the series of articles which appeared in the _Morning +Post_ under the name of _The Cause of World Unrest_. In view of the fact +that these articles were on some points at variance with my own +theories, it seems hardly necessary to state that they were not my work. +As a matter of fact, I did not know of their existence until they were +in print, and later I contributed four supplementary articles signed by +my name. + +[868] _Spectator_ for June 12, 1920. + +[869] James Guillaume, _Documents de l'Internationale_, I. 131. + +[870] _Correspondance de Bakounine_, published by Michael Dragomanov, p. +325. + +[871] _Le Juif_, etc., pp. 367, 368. + +[872] _Revolution and War or Britain's Peril and her Secret Foes_, by +Vigilant (1913). A great portion of this book exposing the subtle +propaganda of Socialism and Pacifism is admirable; it is only where the +author attempts to lay all this to the charge of the Jesuits that he +entirely fails to substantiate his case. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER NOTES + + + +Footnotes have been renumbered and placed after the index (before these +notes). + +In the text, the symbol of a circle with a dot in the center appears +frequently. In the UTF-8 version of this e-text, this is represented +using Unicode character U+2299 CIRCLED DOT OPERATOR ⊙. + +In some places in the text, abbreviations are made using three dots in +the form of a triangle. In the UTF-8 versions of this e-text, this is +represented using U+2234 THEREFORE ∴. + +Where obvious, typos have been corrected in the text and marked with an +alphabetic footnote. Details of each change are listed below. + +[A] Changed "centry" to "century". + +[B] Changed "Pavly" to "Pauly". + +[C] Changed "l'Élise" to "l'Église". + +[D] Changed "Mara" to "Marx". + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Secret Societies And Subversive +Movements, by Nesta H. Webster + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET SOCIETIES *** + +***** This file should be named 19104-0.txt or 19104-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/1/0/19104/ + +Produced by Dave Maddock, Curtis A. Weyant and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |