T
The twentieth letter of the English alphabet, and the twenty second and last of the Hebrew. As a symbol, it is conspicuous in Freemasonry. Its numerical value as Teth, is 9, but as Thau, it is 400 (see Tau).
*
T. S. G. A. O. T. U.
The brief article entitled GOD on page 409 (see also page 1035), and which states that belief in God is a Landmark of the Order, is one with which critics can find no fault—unless it be that it is better to employ the Masonic name for the Deity, which is The Sovereign Grand Architect of the Universe. The distinction made bar that name is not altogether an idle one, as a subsequent paragraph will show.
In neither this nor in any other encyclopedia or book about Freemasonry (and for Freemasons) would it be suitable for a writer to undertake to expound a doctrine of God; the Fraternity itself has never (lone so, nor has any Grand Lodge, nor does the Ritual, because Freemasonry is clearly conscious of the fact that it is not a church or a handmaid of one, has no theology of its own, and espouses no set of religious doctrines—not because it is indifferent to religion, but because its work lies in another field.
If this be true (and Freemasons over the world unanimously agree that it is) how explain the fact that belief in God is a Landmark, that a Volume of the Sacred Law lies open on the Altar, that Chaplains lead the Craft in prayer, and that those who go in Search Thor That Which Was Lost know that immortality is one of the secrets in that for which they are Searching? Is it not a self-contradiction to proclaim as with one breath that Freemasonry has no theology of its own, and then to proclaim with the next that each and every Mason believes in T. .S. .G. .A. .O. .T. .U. .? The solution of that apparent contradiction is found in a number of facts Which are implicit in the Craft, and which must therefore be searched out, and assembled, and interpreted:
1. Freemasonry does not believe. and for centuries has not believed, that religion is or ever can be a private property owned by any one religion or church or theology or creed. It belongs to men without qualification or exception solely in their capacity as men. and it is there for each man to use without asking another man s consent. It is religion which brings churches into existence; it is not churches which create religion. If Freemasonry has the right to use religion although it is not a church it is because it is composed of men and men anywhere have the right to use religion.
2. In the Middle Ages it was universally believed that work was a disgrace. The Church taught and acted on the dogma that it was a curse pronounced on men as a punishment for the sin committed by Adam and Eve- the aristocratic classes did not believe that men belonged to a single humanity but that God had created it in species, so that men in one species (or " class ") were " made of a different stuff " from men in another, and that this is true forever Servile and mental laborers belonged to the bottom-most class, and were bought and sold as serfs or slaves; intelligent, skilled workingmen, among whom Masons were numbered. belonged to a class slightly above them; and this caste system was carried out in customs, social life, marriage, money, laws, etc.
God Himself was the chieftain of the highest class (French poets addressed Him as Beau sire Dieu) and any thought that He would work, or put forth effort was held to be blasphemous; He ruled by fiat.
Freemasons denied this whole Medieval dogma about work and the working man, in practice as well as in thought, and among themselves, and in their Lodges, taught that work is the highest estate of man, that to be a working man is to stand above drones and parasites. that the tools and clothing of their work were more honorable distinctions than badges and titles; they even taught— and it was for this reason that priests and monks were opposed to them—that work is one of the Divine attributes; that God himself is a worker. This is the significance of their name for Him, The Sovereign Grand Architect of the Universe.
3. An Apprentice was a youth, and in some ninety per cent of instances came from what were called " the lower classes, " nevertheless he was led to the center of the Lodge Room and there was told to stand Upright before the Altar, and was taught that he meant to God what any priest, or king, or noble. or any other man meant, he " needeth not to be ashamed " of being a workman because in God's eyes it was impossible to be in a more honorable station. Thus there was rooted in Freemasonry a genuine, a universal. an absolute democracy of men, a democracy grounded in the nature of God, and when Masons sale that belief in God is the first Landmark, and "the fundamental doctrine of the Craft" this is what is meant, and that doctrine. again, is enshrined in the title of The Sovereign Grand Architect of the Universe. The democracy of the world is not one of privilege but of nature, men are in a universal brotherhood because "of the way they are made " and the fact has nothing to do with sentiments and ideals." We are members of the same body, brothers in blood and bone, whether we like it or not, and can be nothing else.
*
TABAOR, TOFFET, EDOM
Three obsolete names which are sometimes given to the three Elect in the Eleventh Degree in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
*
TABERNACLE
Many Masonic students have greatly erred in the way in which they have referred to the Sinaitic Tabernacle, as if it were represented by the Tabernacle said in the legends to have been erected by Zerubbabel at Jerusalem at the time of the building of the second Temple. The belief that the Tabernacle of Zerubbabel was an exact representation of that erected by Moses, arose from the numerous allusions to it in the writings of Doctor Oliver, but in this country principally from the teachings of Thomas Smith Webb and Jeremy L. Cross. It is, however, true, that although the symbols of the Ark, the Golden Candlestick, the Altar of Incense, and some others were taken, not from the Tabernacle, but from the Temple, the symbolism of the veils was derived from the latter, but in a form by no means similar to the original disposition. It is therefore necessary that some notice should be taken of the real Tabernacle, that we may be enabled to know how far the Masonic is connected with the Sinaitic edifice.
The word tabernacle means a tent. It is the diminutive of the Latin word taberna, and was used by the Romans to denote a soldier's tent. It was constructed of planks and covered with skins, and its outward appearance presented the precise form of the Jewish Tabernacle.
The Jews called it sometimes mishcan, which, like the Latin taberna, meant a dwelling-place, but more commonly ohel, which meant, like tabernaculum, a tent. In shape it resembled a tent, and is supposed to have derived its form from the tents used by the Patriarchs during their nomadic life. There are three Tabernacles mentioned in Scripture history—the Ante Sinaitic, the Sinaitic, and the Davidic.
1. The Ante-Sinaitic Tabernacle was the tent used, perhaps from the beginning of the Exodus, for the transaction of business, and was situated at some distance from the camp. It was used only provisionally and was superseded by the Tabernacle proper.
2. The Sinaitic Tabernacle. This was constructed by Aholiab and Bezaleel under the immediate direction of Moses. The costliness and splendor of this edifice exceeded, says Kitto, in proportion to the means of the people who constructed it, the magnificence of any Cathedral of the present day. It was situated in the very center of the camp, with its door or entrance facing the East, and was placed toward the western part of an enclosure or outward court, which was one hundred and fifty feet long and fifty feet wide, and surrounded by canvas screens seven and a half feet high, so as to prevent any one on the outside from overlooking the Court.
The Tabernacle itself was, according to Josephus, forty-five feet long by fifteen wide; its greater length being from East to West. The sides were fifteen feet high, and there was a sloping roof. There was no aperture or place of entrance except at the eastern end, which was covered by curtains. Internally, the Tabernacle was divided into two apartments by a richly decorated curtain. The one at the western end was fifteen feet long, making, therefore, a perfect cube. This was the Holy of Holies, into which no one entered, not even the High Priest, except on extraordinary occasions. In it was placed the Ark of the Covenant, against the western wall. The Holy of Holies was separated from the Sanctuary by a curtain embroidered with figures of Cherubim, and supported by four golden pillars. The Sanctuary, or eastern apartment, was in the form of a double cube, being fifteen feet high, fifteen feet wide, and thirty feet long. In it were placed the Table of Shewbread on the northern side, the Golden Candlestick on the southern, and the Altar of Incense between them. The Tabernacle thus constructed was decorated with rich curtains. These were of four colors—white or fine twined linen, blue, purple, and red. They were so suspended as to cover the sides and top of the tabernacle, not being distributed as veils separating it into apartments, as in the Masonic Tabernacle. Josephus, in describing the symbolic signification of the Tabernacle, says that it was an imitation of the system of the world; the Holy of Holies, into which not even the Priests were admitted, was axis it were a heaven peculiar to God; but the Sanctuary, where the people were allowed to assemble for worship, represented the sea and land on which men live. But the symbolism of the Tabernacle was far more complex than anything that Josephus has said upon the Subject would lead us to suppose.
Its connection would, however, lead us to an inquiry into the religious life of the ancient Hebrews, and into an investigation of the question how much Moses was, in the appointment of ceremonies, influenced by his previous Egyptian life; topics whose consideration would throw no light on the Masonic symbolism of the Tabernacle.
3. The Davidic Tabernacle in time took the place of that which had been constructed by Moses. The old or Sinaitic Tabernacle accompanied the Israelites in all their wanderings, and was their old Temple until David obtained possession of Jerusalem. From that time it remained at Gibeon, and we have no account of its removal thence. But when David removed the Ark to Jerusalem, he erected a Tabernacle for its reception Here the Priests performed their daily service, until Solomon erected the Temple, when the ark was deposited in the Holy of Holies, and the Davidie Tabernaele put away as a relic. At the subsequent destruction of the Temple it was most probably burned. From the time of Solomon we altogether lose sight of the Sinaitic Tabernacle, which perhaps became a victim to carelessness and the corroding influence of time.
The three Tabernacles just described are the only ones mentioned in Scripture or in Josephus. Masonic tradition, however, enumerates a fourth—the Tabernacle erected by Zerubbabel on his arrival at Jerusalem with his countrymen, who had been restored from captivity by Cyrus for the purpose of rebuilding the Temple. Ezra tells us that on their arrival they built the Altar of Burnt-Offerings and offered sacrifice. This would not, however, necessitate the building of a house, because the Altar of Sacrifices had always been erected in the open court, both of the old Tabernacle and Temple. Yet as the Priests and Levites were there, and it is said that the religious ordinances of Moses were observed, it is not unlikely that some sort of temporary shelter was erected for the performance of divine worship. But of the form and character of such a building we have no account.
Nevertheless, a Masonic legend has, for symbolical purposes, supplied that deficiency. This legend is, however, peculiar to the American modification of the Royal Arch Degree. In the English system a Royal Arch Chapter represents the "ancient Sanhedrim," where Zerubbabel, Haggai, and Joshua administer the law. In the American system a Chapter is said to represent "the Tabernacle erected by our ancient Brethren near the ruins of King Solomon's Temple." Of the erection of this tabernacle, we have said that there is no historical evidence. It is simply a myth, but a myth constructed, of course, for a symbolical purpose. In its legendary description, it bears no resemblance whatsoever, except in the colors of its curtains or veils, to the Sinaitic Tabernacle.
In the latter the Holy of Holies was in the western extremity, in the former it was in the eastern; in that was contained the Ark of the Covenant with the overshadowing Cherubim and the Shekinah; in this there are no such articles; in that the most holy was inaccessible to all purposes, even to the priests; in this it is the seat of the three presiding officers, and is readily accessible by proper means. In that the curtains were attached to the sides of the tent; in this they are suspended across, dividing it into four apartments.
The Masonic Tabernacle used in the American Royal Arch Degree is not, therefore, a representation of the ancient Tabernacle erected by Moses in the wilderness, but must be supposed to be simply a temporary construction for purposes of shelter, of consultation, and of worship. It was, in the strictest sense of the word, a Tabernacle, a tent. As a myth, with no historical foundation, it would be valueless, were it not that it is used, and was undoubtedly fabricated, for the purpose of developing a symbolism.
And this symbolism is found in its veils. There is no harm in calling it a Tabernacle any more than there is in calling it a Sanhedrim, provided we do not fall into the error of supposing that either was actually its character. As a myth, and only as a myth, must it be viewed, and there its symbolic meaning presents, as in all other Masonic myths, a fund of useful instruction (for an interpretation of that symbolism, see Veils, Symbolism of the).
In some Chapters a part of the furniture is called the Tahernacle; in other words, a piece of frame work is erected inside of the room, and is called the Tabernacle. This is incorrect. According to the ritual the whole Chapter room represents the Tabernacle, and the veils should be suspended from wall to wall. Indeed, we have reasons for believing that this interior Tabernacle is an innovation of little more than comparatively a few years standing. The oldest Chapter rooms that Doctor Mackey had seen were constructed on the correct principle.
No one who studies the construction of the Tabernacle as described in the Bible but will be somewhat perplexed by the several difficulties pertaining to the structure as well as its equipment.
There will be suggested the unexpected wealth of material and the artistic skill necessary for its construction and A. R. S. Kennedy in writing upon this subject for Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible says (page 888), "Modern students of the Pentateuch find the picture of the desert Sanctuary and its worship irreconcilable with the historical development of religion and the cultus in Israel. In Exodus 25 and following chapters we are dealing not with historical fact, but with the product of religious idealism; and surely these devout idealists of the Exile should command our admiration as they deserve our gratitude. If the Tabernacle is an ideal, it is truly an ideal worthy of Him for whose worship it seeks to provide. Nor must it be forgotten, that in reproducing in portable form, as they unquestionably do, the several parts and appointments of the Temple of Solomon, including even its brazen altar, the author or authors of the Tabernacle believed, in all good faith, that they were reproducing the essential features of the Mosaic sanctuary, of which the Temple was supposed to be the replica and the legitimate successor. "
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TABERNACLE, CHIEF OF THE
See Chief of the Tabernacle
*
TABERNACLE, HOLY KNIGHT OF THE
Called Aaronic Priest, a grade said to have come into England (York) from Ireland about 1780.
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TABERNACLE, PRINCE OF THE
See Prince of the Tabernacle
*
TABLEAUX
French Masonic name for roster of members and also applied to the trestle-board or tracing-board.
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TABLE LODGE
After the labors of the Lodge have been completed, Freemasons frequently meet at tables to enjoy a repast in common. In England and America, this repast is generally called a banquet, and the Lodge is said to be, during its continuance, at refreshment.
The Master, of course, presides, assisted by the Wardens, and it is considered most proper that no profanes should be present. But with these exceptions, there are no rules specially laid down for the government of Masonic banquets. It will be seen, by an inspection of the article Refreshment in this work, that during a the eighteenth century, and even at the commencement of the nineteenth, refreshments in a English Lodges were taken during the sessions of the Lodge and in the Lodge room, and then, of course, a rigid rules were in existence for the government of the Fraternity, and for the regulation of the forms in which the refreshments should be partaken. But this system has long grown obsolete, and the Masonic banquets of the present day differ very little from those of other societies, except, perhaps, in a more Strict observance of the rules of order, and in the exclusion of all non-Masonic visitors.
But French Freemasons have prescribed a very formal system of rules for what they call a Loge de Table, or Table Lodge. The room in which the banquet takes place is as much protected by its isolation from observation as the Lodge-room itself. Table Lodges are always held in the Apprentice's Degree, and none but Freemasons are permitted to be present. Even the attendants are taken from the class known as Serving Brethren, that is to say, waiters who have received the First Degree for the special purpose of entitling them to be present on such occasions.
The table is in the form of a horseshoe or elongated semicircle. The Master sits at the head, the Senior Warden at the northwest extremity, and the Junior Warden at the southwest The Deacons or equivalent officers sit between the two Wardens. The Brethren are placed around the exterior margin of the table, facing each other; and the void space between the sides is occupied by the serving Brethren or attendants. It is probable that the form of the table was really adopted at first from motives of convenience. But M. Hermitte (Bulletin, Grand Orient, 1869, page 83) assigns for it a symbolism. He says that as the entire circle represents the year, or the complete revolution of the earth around the sun, the semicircle represents the half of that revolution, or a period of six months, and therefore refers to each the two solstitial points of summer and winter, or the two great festivals of the Order in June and December, when the most important Table Lodges are held.
The Table Lodge is formally opened with an invocation to the Grand Architect. During the banquet seven toasts are given. These are called Santes d' Obligation, or obligatory toasts. They are drunk with certain ceremonies which are prescribed by the ritual, and from which no departure is permitted. These toasts are:
1. The health of the Sovereign or Chief
Magistrate of the State.
2. Grand Master and the Supreme power of the Order, that is, the
Grand Orient or the Grand Lodge.
3. Master of the Lodge; this is offered by the Senior Warden.
4. The two Wardens.
5. Visiting Brethren.
6. The other officers of the Lodge, and the new initiates or affiliates
if there be any.
7. All Freemasons wheresoever spread over the face of the globe
(see Toasts).
Ragon (Tuileur General, page 17) refers these seven toasts of obligation to the seven libations made by the ancients in their banquets in honor of the seven planets, the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn, and the seven days of the week which are named after them; and he assigns some striking reasons for the reference. But this symbolism, although very beautiful, is evidently very modern.
The Table Lodge is then closed with the fraternal kiss, which is passed from the Master around the table, and with the usual forms.
One of the most curious things about these Table Lodges is the vocabulary used. The instant that the Lodge is opened, a change takes place in the names of things, and no person is permitted to call a plate a plate, or a knife a knife, or anything else by the appellation by which it is known in ordinary conversation. Such a custom formerly prevailed in England, if we may judge from a passage in Doctor Oliver's Revelations of a Square (page 215), where an instance is given of its use in 1780, when the French vocabulary was employed. It would seem, from the same authority, that the custom was introduced into England from France by Captain George Smith, the author of the Use and Abuse of Freemasonry, who was initiated in a Continental Lodge.
The vocabulary of the Table Lodge as used at French Masonic banquets is as follows, the various references being followed in each ease by the Masonic names applied to them by the Brethren:
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TABLETS, ENGRAVED
A designation frequently used in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the book of minutes or record; as in the Rose Croix Chapter is used the term engraved columns.
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TABLETS OF HIRAM ABIFF
Among the traditions of the Order there is a legend referring to the tablets used by Hiram Abiff as a Trestle-Board on which to lay down his designs. This legend, of course, can lay no claim to authenticity, but is intended simply as a symbol inculcating the duty of every man to work in the daily labor of life after a design that will construct in his body a spiritual temple (see Hiram Abiff).
*
TABLIER
French for Apron
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TACITURNITY
In the earliest catechisms of the eighteenth century it is said that "the three particular points that pertain to a Mason are Fraternity, Fidelity, and Taciturnity," and that they "represent Love, Relief, and Truth among all Right Masons." The symbol became obsolete.
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TACTICS
The importance that has for many years been given to the military element in the Order of Masonic Knights Templar in America has made it necessary that special manuals should be prepared for the instruction of Knights in the elementary principles of military movements. Popular works of this kind have been:
1. Knights Templar Tactics and Drill for the use of Commanderies, and the Burial Service of the Orders of Masonic Knighthood, prepared by Sir Orrin Welsh, Past Grand Commander, State of New York.
2. Knights Templar, Tactics and Drill, with the Working, Tezt, and Burial Service of the Orders of Knighthood, as adopted by the Grand Commandery of the State of Michigan by Ellery Irving Garfield, E. G. C. G. Grand Commandery of Michigan.
3. Tactics for Knights Templar, and Appendant Orders, prepared by E. Sir Knight George Wingate Chase, of Massachusetts.
4. Knights Templar tactics, by Henry B. Grant, Grand Secretary, Kentucky. These works contain the necessary instructions in the School of the Knight, or the proper method of marching, halting, saluting, handling the sword, etc., and the School of the Commandery, or directions for properly performing the evolutions on a public parade. Books of this kind have now become as necessary and as common to the Knights Templar as Monitors are to the Master Mason.
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TALISMAN
From the Hebrew tselem and the Chaldaie tsalma, meaning an image or idol. A talisman signifies an implement or instrument, either of wood, or metal, or some precious stone, or even parchment, of various forms, such as a triangle, a cross, a circle, and sometimes a human head or human figure, generally inscribed with characters and constructed with mystical rites and ceremonies. The talisman thus constructed was supposed by the ancients, and even in the Middle Ages, to be invested with supernatural powers and a capacity for protecting its wearer or possessor from evil influences, and for securing to him good fortune and success in his undertakings.
The word amulet, from the Latin amuletum,
which comes from the Arabic hamalet, anything worn, though sometimes
confounded with the talisman, has a less general signification.
For while the talisman served both to procure good and to avert
evil, the powers of the amulet were entirely of a protective nature.
Frequently, however, the two words are indifferently used.
The use of talismans was introduced in the Middle Ages from the
Gnostics. Of the Gnostie talismans none were more frequent than
those which were inscribed with divine names. Of these the most
common were Iao and Sabao, although we find also the Tetragrammaton,
and Elohim, Elohi, Adonai, and other Hebrew appellations of the
Deity. Sometimes the talisman contained, not one of the names
of God, but that of some mystical person, or the expression of
some mystical idea. Thus, on some of the Gnostic talismanic gems,
we find the names of the three mythical kings of Cologne, or the
saered Abrazas.
The orthodox Christians of the early days of the church were necessarily influenced, by the popular belief in talismans, to adopt many of them; although, of course, they sought to divest them of their magical signification, and to use them simply as symbols. Hence we find among these Christians the Constantinian monogram, composed of the letters X and P. or the Vesica Piscis, as a symbol of Christ, and the image of a little fish as a token of Christian recognition, and the anchor as a mark of Christian hope.
Many of the symbols and symbolic expressions which were in use by the alchemists, the astrologers, and by the Rosicrucians, are to be traced to the Gnostic talismans. The talisman was, it is true, converted from an instrument of incantation into a symbol; lout the symbol was accompanied with a mystical signification which gave it a sacred character.
It has been said that in the Gnostie talislnans the most important element was some one or more of the sacred names of God, derived either from the Hebrews, the Arabians, or from their own abstruse philosophy; sometimes even in the same talisman from all these sources combined Thus there is a Gnostic talisman, said by G. W. King to be still current in Germany as an amulet against plague.
It consists of a silver plate, on which
are inscribed various names of God surrounding a magic square,
whose figures computed every way make the number thirty-four.
In this Gnostic talisman, we will observe the presence not only
of sacred names, but also of mystical. And it is to the influence
of these talismanic forms, developed in the symbols of the Secret
societies of the Middle Ages, and even in the architectural decorations
of the builders of the same period, such as the Triangle, the
Pentalpha, the Double Triangle, etc., that we are to attribute
the prevalence of sacred names and sacred numbers in the symbolic
system of Freemasonry.
We do not need a better instance of this trans mutation of Gnostic
talismans into Masonic symbols, by a gradual transmission through
alchemy, Rosicrucianism, and Medieval architectures than a plate
to be found in the Azoth Philosophorum of Basil Valentine, the
Hermetic philosopher, who flourished in the seventeenth century.
This plate, which is Hermetic in its design, but is full of Masonic symbolism, represents a winged globe inscribed with a triangle within a square, and on it reposes a dragon. On the latter stands a human figure with two hands and two heads, surrounded by the sun, the moon, and five stars representing the seven planets. One of the heads is that of a male, the other of a female. That hand attached to the male part of the figure holds the Compasses, that to the female, a Square. The Square and Compasses thus distributed seem to indicate that originally a phallic meaning was attached to these symbols as there was to the Point within the Circle, which in this plate also appears in the center of the globe. The Compasses held by the male figure would represent the male generative principle, and the Square held by the female, the female productive principle. The subsequent interpretation given to the combined Square and Compasses was the transmutation from the Hermetic talisman to the Masonic symbol.
*
TALITH
An oblong shawl worn over the head or shoulders and is made of wool or camel's hair, among the Orthodox Jews; more commonly of silk, among the more modern. Four threads, one of which must be blue, are passed through eyelet holes made in the four corners. The threads being double make eight. Seven are of equal length; the eighth must twist five times round the rest and be tied into five knots, and yet remain equal in length to the other seven. The five knots and eight threads make thirteen, which, with the value 600 of the Hebrew word tsitsith (or fringes, upon which the holiness of the talith depends) aggregates 613, the number of precepts of the moral law, and which is the number of the letters in Hebrew composing the Deealogue. 613 represents 248 positive precepts, or members of the human body, and 365 negative precepts, or number of human veins. Jesus of Nazareth wore the tsitsith: "And behold a woman . . . came behind him and touched the hem of his garment" (Matthew IN, 20); and he rebuked the Pharisces for their ostentation in enlarging the borders, the Greek fringes of their garments (Matthew XXIII, 5). The Arba Canphoth (see illustration) is worn under the upper garments during the whole day.
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TALJAHAD
Rendered in Hebrew thus mnw meaning Angel of Water, and found in the Twenty-ninth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite ritual.
*
TALMUD
The Hebrew word signifying doctrine. The Jews say that Moses received on Mount Sinai not only the written law which is contained in the Pentateuch but an oral law, which was first communicated by him to Aaron, then by them to the seventy elders, and finally by these to the people, and thus transmitted by memory, from generation to generation This oral law was never committed to writing until about the beginning of the third century, when Rabbi Jehuda the Holy, finding that there was a possibility of its being lost, from the decrease of students of the law, collected all the traditionary laws into one book, which is called the Mishap, a word signifying repetition, because it is, as it were, a repetition of the written law. The Mishna was at once received with great veneration and many wise men among the Jews devoted themselves to its study.
Toward the end of the fourth century, these opinions were collected into a book of commentaries, called the Gernara, by the school at Tiberias. This work has been falsely attributed to Rabbi Jochanan; but he died in 279, a hundred years before its composition. The Mishna and its Commentary, the Gemara, are, in their collected form, called the Talmlud. The Jews in Chaldea, not being satisfied with the interpretations in this work composed others, which were collected together by Rabbi Ashe into another Gemara. The former work has since been known as the Jerusalem Talmud, and that of Rabbi Ashe as the Babylonian Talmud, from the places in which they were respectively compiled. In both works the Mishna or law is the same; it is only the Gemara or Commentary that is different.
The Jewish scholars place so high a value on the Talmud as to compare the Bible to water, the Mishna to wine, and the Gemara to spiced wine; or the first to salt, the second to pepper, and the third to spices. For a long time after its composition it seemed to absorb all the powers of the Jewish intellect, and the labors of Hebrew writers were confined to treatises and speculations on Talmudical opinions.
The Mishna is divided into six divisions
called Sederim, whose subjects are:
1. The productions of the earth
2. Festivals
3. The rights and duties of women
4. Damages and injuries
5. Sacrifices
6. Purification
Each of these Sederim is again divided into Massicoth, or treatises, of which there are altogether sixty-three.
The Gemara, which differs in the Jerusalem and Babylonian redactions, consists of commentaries on these Massicoth, or treatises.
Of the Talmud, Lightfoot has said that the matters it contains "do everywhere abound with trifles in that manner, as though they had no mind to be read; with obscurities and difficulties, as though they had no mind to be understood; so that the reader has need of patience all along to enable him to bear both trifling in sense and roughness in expression." Stehelin concurs in a similar opinion; but Steinschneider, as learned a Hebraist as either, has expressed a more favorable judgment.
Although the Talmud does indeed contain many passages whose peculiarities found little favor with Doctor Mackey, he deemed it, nevertheless, extremely serviceable as an elaborate compendium of Jewish customs, and it has therefore been much used in the cretinism of the Old and New Testaments. It furnishes also many curious illustrations of the Masonic system; and several of the traditions and legends, especially of the higher Degrees, are either found in or corroborated by the Talmud. The treatise entitled Middoth, for instance, gives us the best description extant of the Temple of Solomon.
*
TAMARISK
The sacred tree of the Osirian Mysteries, classically called the Erica, which see
*
TAMMUZ
The Hebrew word. The tenth month of the Hebrew civil year, and corresponding to the months June and July, beginning with the new moon of the former.
*
TANGA TANGO
A Peruvian triune symbol, signifying one in three and three in one.
*
TANNEHILL, WILKINS
Born in Tennessee, in 1787. He was one of the founders, in 1813, of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, and was for seven years Grand Master of that Body. He was also a contributor to the literature of Freemasonry, having published in 1845 a Master Mason's Manual; which was, however, little more than a compilation from the preceding labors of Preston and Webb. In 1847, he commenced the publication of a Masonic periodical under the title of the Portfolio. This was a work of considerable merit, but he was compelled to discontinue it in 1850, in consequence of an attack of amaurosis, loss of sight. One who knew him well, has paid this just tribute to his character: "Simple in feeling as a child, with a heart warm and tender to the infirmities of his Brethren, generous even to a fault, he passed through the temptations and trying Scenes of an eventful life without a soil upon the purity of his garments." He died June 2, 1858, aged seventy-one years.
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TAPIS
The name given in German Lodges to the Carpet or Floor-Cloth on which formerly the emblems of Freemasonry were drawn in chalk. It is also sometimes called the Teppich.
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TAROT
A playing card, seventy-eight to the pack; fifty-six are called the Lesser Arcana and are divided into four suits; the wands or clubs, the cups or hearts, the Swords or spades, and the pentacles or diamonds. Each suit contains four court cards, the King, Queen, Knight and Page, with ten spot cards, numbered from ace to ten. The spots are usually presented in geometrical designs and sometimes combined with pictures illustrating the inner meaning of the cards.
The rest of the cards, known as the Greater Arcana, comprises a series of symbolic pictures. Each of the cards has a special title and a number. The doctrine behind these symbols has many forms and meanings; veiled as it is by symbols, it speaks many languages, and its emblems convey a message to students of alchemy and astrology. As one writer upon the Subject says "it is full of meaning no matter by what path the student may have approached the truth which is at the head of the ancient mysteries, and though its symbolism expresses Universal ideas it also represents a particular version of sacred science, being a Symbolic alphabet of the occult philosophy of Israel.;' In its present form the Tarot dates from the fourteenth century, but many authorities believe it to have come down to us from a much earlier Source. Those who credit the cards with a more modern origin derive the name from Tarote, meaning spotted, and in French frequently applied to the checker work on the backs of playing cards.
Those who connect the cards with many more centuries of age refer the name to Thoth, an Egyptian Deity resembling the Greek Clod Hermes, anti later identified with Hermes Trismegistus. Thoth was the God of intelligence, magic, Science and invention, who taught the people to write and calculate. The philosophical aspects of the subject are treated in Les 22 Arcanes du Tarot Kabbalistique, LeSymbolisme Hermétique, also the beautiful treatise Le Tarot des Imagiers du Moyen Age with specially designed set of the symbolical cards, all three of these works by Oswald Wirth of Paris; the Tarot of Bohemians, by Papus, the pen name of Dr. Gerard Encausse; An Introduction to the Study of Tarot by Paul F. Case, New York, 1920, and a general discussion is in Prophetical, Educational and Playing Cards, by Mrs. John King Van Rennselaer.
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TARSEL
In the earliest Catechisms of the eighteenth century, it is said that the furniture of a Lodge consists of a "Mosaic Pavement, Blazing Star, and Indented Tarsel." In more modern catechisms, the expression is "indented tassel," which is incorrectly defined to mean a tessellated border. Indented Tarsel is evidently a corruption of indented tassel, for a definition of which see Tessellated Borden.
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TARSEL BOARD
We meet with this expression in some of the old Catechisms as a corruption of Trestle-Board.
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TARSHATHA
Used in the Degree of Knight of the East in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, according to the modern ritual of the Southern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States, for Tirshatha, and applied to the presiding officer of a Council of Princes of Jerusalem (see Tirshatha).
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TASMANIA
An island forming the seventh state of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Grand Lodge of Ireland established a Lodge in this country in 1823 which did not long remain active. The first English Lodge, Tasmanian Union, No. 781, was constituted at Hobart Town in 1846. English Freemasonry, however, had many difficulties to contend with before it was firmly established. Hope Lodge had been granted a Dispensation in 1852 and the Rev. R. K. Ewing was elected Master. In 1856 two Lodges were formed from it, namely, Faith and Charity, and Brother Ewing was appointed Provincial Grand Master for the two.
Tasmanian Union Lodge did not countenance these proceedings and was suspended by Brother Ewing. It remained closed for nine months. When Brother Ewing left Tasmania in 1870 the Provincial Grand Lodge ceased to exist, but in 1875 a new one under Brother W. S. Hammond was opened. Towards 1876 the clouds began to disperse and by 1885 there were seven Lodges under each of the English and Irish Grand Lodges and four under the Grand Lodge of Scotland. On June 26, 1890, the Grand Lodge of Tasmania was constituted with all due ceremony.
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TASSELS
In the English and French Tracing Boards of the First Degree, there are four tassels, one at each angle, which are attached to a cord that surrounds a tracing-board, and which constitutes the true tessellated border. These four cords are described as referring to the four principal points, the Guttural, Pectoral, Manual, and Pedal, and through them to the four cardinal virtues, Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence, and Justice (see Tessellated Border, also Tulith).
The Hebrew word tsitsith means both fringes and tassels in the Old Testament.
Note Deuteronomy (xx, 12), where the older translation has fringes and the Revised Version gives borders, the latter agreeing with border of Mark (vi, 56) and Luke (viii, 44). Where the Revised Version has border throughout, the Authorized Version has hem in Matthew (ix, and xiv 36). As symbols of great importance their use was ordered in Numbers (xv, 3S, 40), "Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments, throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God."
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TASTING AND SMELLING
Of the five senses hearing, seeing, and feeling only are deemed essential to Freemasons. Tasting and smelling are therefore not referred to in the instructions, except as making up the sacred number five. Preston says: "Smelling and Tasting are inseparably connected; and it is by the unnatural kind of life which men commonly lead in society that these senses are rendered less fit to perform their natural duties."
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TATNAI AND SHETHAR-BOZNAI
Tatnai was a Persian Satrap or Governor of the Province west of the Euphrates in the time of Darius and Zerubbabel; Shethar-Boznai was an officer under his command The two united with the Apharsachites in trying to obstruct the building of the Second Temple, and in writing a letter to Darius, of which a copy is preserved in Ezra (6-17).
In this letter they reported that "the house of the great God" in Judea was being built with great stones, and that the work was going on fast, on the alleged authority of a Degree from Cyrus. They requested that search might be made in the Rolls Court whether such a Degree was ever given, and asked for the King's pleasure in the matter. The decree was found at Ecbatana, and a letter was sent to Tatnai and Shethar-Boznai from Darius, ordering them no more to obstruct, but, on the contrary, to aid the Elders of the Jews in rebuilding the Temple by supplying them both with money and with beasts, corn, salt, wine, and oil for the sacrifices. Shethar-Boznai, after the receipt of this Decree, offered no further obstruction to the Jews. Their names have been hence introduced into some of the high Degrees in Freemasonry.
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TAU
The last letter of the Hebrew alphabet is called Tau, and it has the power of the Roman T. In its present form n, in the square character now in use, it has no resemblance to a cross; but in the ancient Hebrew alphabet, its figure X, or +, was that of a cross. Hence, when it is said, in the vision of Ezekiel (ix, 4) "Go through the midst of the city, and set a mark (in the original"n, tau) upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof"— which mark was to distinguish them as persons to be saved, on account of their sorrow for sin, from those who, as idolaters, were to be slain—the evident allusion is to a cross. The form of this cross was X or +, a form familiar to the people of that day. But as the Greek letter tau subsequently assumed the form which is still preserved in the Roman T. the tau or tau cross was made also to assume the same form; so that the mark tau is now universally recognized in this form, T.
This tau, tau cross, or tau mark, was of very universal use as a sacred symbol among the ancient From the passage of Ezekiel just cited, it. is evident that the Hebrews recognized it as a sign of salvation; according to the Talmudists, the symbol was much older than the time of Ezekiel, for they say that when Moses anointed Aaron as the High Priest, he marked his forehead with this sign. Speaking of the use of the tau cross in the Old Testament, Didron says in his Christian Iconography (page 370) that "it saved the youthful Isaac from death, redeemed from destruction an entire people whose houses were marked with that symbol, healed the envenomed bites of those who looked at the serpent raised in the form of a tau upon a pole, and called back the soul into the dead body of the son of that poor widow who had given bread to the prophet."
Hence, in Christian iconography, the tau cross, or cross of the Old Testament, is called the Anticipatory Cross, because it anticipated the four-limbed Cross of the Passion, and the typical cross because it was its type. It is also called the Cross of Saint Anthony, because on it that saint is supposed to have suffered martyrdom.
Maurice, in his Indian Antiquities, refers to it the tiluk, or mark worn by the devotees of Brahma. Davies, in his Celtic Researches, says that the Gallicum tau, or the tau of the ancient Gauls, was among the Druids a symbol of their supreme god, or Jupiter.
Among the Egyptians, the tau, with an oval ring or handle, became the Crux Ansata, and was used by them as the constant symbol of life. Doctor Clarke says (Travels v, page 311) that the tau cross was a monogram of Thoth, "the symbolical or mystical name of Hidden Wisdom among the ancient Egyptians." Dupuy, in his History of the Templars, says that the tau was a Templar emblem. Von Hammer, who lets no opportunity of maligning the Order escape him, adduces this as a proof of the idolatrous tendencies of the Knights. He explains the tau, which, he says, was inscribed on the forehead of the Baphomet or Templar idols as a figure of the phallus; hence he comes to the conclusion that the Knights Templar were addicted the obscene worship of that symbol. It is, how ever, entirely doubtful, notwithstanding the authority of Dupuy, whether the tau was a symbol of the Templars. But if it was, its origin is rather to be looked for in the supposed Hebrew idea as a symbol of preservation. It is in this sense, as a symbol of salvation from death and of eternal life, that it has been adopted into the Masonic system, and presents itself, especially under its triple combination, as a badge of Royal Arch Masonry (see Triple Tau).
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TAU CROSS
A cross of three limbs, so called because it presents the figure of the Greek letter T (see Tau).
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TAXATION OF MASONIC PROPERTY
In a survey of 41 of the 49 Grand Jurisdictions made in 1932 the Masonic Service Association, Washington, D. C., summarized its findings:
Masonic property used wholly for fraternal purposes is tax free in 24 of the 41 Grand Jurisdictions. Where it is not used wholly for Masonic purposes it is tax free in 16 of 41 Jurisdictions. If it is partly commercial (as when rooms in a Masonic Temple are rented for offices and stores) it is tax free in 4 of the 41 Jurisdictions, but is taxed, or may be taxed, in 35, the "may be" accounting for the discrepancy in the figures. These figures may have changed during the decade since but on the whole they represent the meldence of taxation State by State.
The question has been in courts from 200
to 300 times in the majority of cases the legal arguments have
hinged upon one or another, or both, of two questions: How shall
Freemasonry be defined, and under what laws does the definition
bring it; is it, for example, a religion, educational, charitable
organization or note If a Masonic property is partly commercial,
partly not should the whole of it be taxed; or only the commercially
used portion? Masonic lawyers who have opposed taxation have had
difficulty in their arguments because the Grand Body they represent
has seldom possessed a legal definition of itself—perhaps
because to do so would involve a formal and official definition
of Freemasonry, which is something it prefers to avoid.
In at least two States (and perhaps more) this difficulty has
been circumvented by asking the State legislature to adopt a law
covering Freemasonry by name. This would appear to be just and
non-discriminatory because Freemasonry is sui generis and cannot
be subsumed under any general classification. On the other side,
members of legislatures who favor taxation of Masonic properties
have difficulty with the fact that even if a Masonic Body receives
rents or interest from endowments the money is not profit, goes
into nobody's pocket, but is used for fraternal and benevolent
purposes; and also they are in the dilemma of having to decide
whether if they tax Masonic properties they ought not also to
tax churches, and hospitals not owned by the State.
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TCHANDALAS
Mentioned in the Institutes of Manu as a class of pariahs, or the lowest in society, but are referred to as the inventors of brick for building purposes, as is attested by Vina-Snati and Veda Vyasa. In the course of time they were banished from the towns, the rites of burial, and the use of rice, water, and fire. They finally emigrated, and became the progenitors of great nations.
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TEAM
Royal Arch Masons in America apply this word rather inelegantly to designate the three candidates upon whom the Degree is conferred at the same time. It is also used generally in referring to any group of workers.
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TEARS
In the Master's degree in some of the Continental Rites, and in all the advanced Degrees where the legend of the Degree and the ceremony of reception are intended to express grief, the hangings of the Lodge are black strewn with tears. The figures representing tears are in the form depicted in the illustration. The symbolism is borrowed from the science of heraldry, where these figures are called buttes, and are defined to be "drops of anything that is by nature liquid or liquefied by art." The heralds have six of these Charges, namely, yellow, or drops of liquid gold; white, or drops of liquid silver; red, or drops of blood; blue, or drops of tears, black, or drops of pitch; and greens or drops of oil. In funeral hatchments, a black velvet cloth, sprinkled with these "drops of tears," is placed in front of the house of a deceased nobleman and thrown over his bier; but there, as in Freemasonry, the guttes de larmes, or drops of tears, are not painted blue, but white.
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TEBETH
The Hebrew word The fourth month of the Hebrew civil year, corresponding to the months December and January, beginning with the new moon of the former.
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TELAMONES
See Caryatides
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TEMPLE, SOLOMON'S, AND THE DEGREES
In the Seventeenth Century German archeology, full of vigor and beginning to employ "scientific methods," discovered so many things about ancient Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple that a great public interest was aroused. One of the manifestations of the latter was the excitement occasioned by the exhibition of a large scale model of the Temple, attributed to Chancellor Schott. This was taken over to London in 1723 and again in 1730, and there attracted endless throngs; newspapers were filled with it; clergymen preached about it; the Royal Family held a special view. At the same period John Senex, publisher, sold innumerable copies of a plan and drawings, which was at about the time he was publishing Anderson's 1723 Book of Constitutions, and was Junior Grand Warden. A long description of the Temple written by the al ready-famous Sir Isaac Newton some years before his death was published, and ran through one edition after another.
Previously the states of Holland employed Rabbi Leon to build a replica of the Temple. He constructed a model as large as a room, complete in detail; Holland gave up the project on amount of the cost (as the World's Fair at Philadelphia was to do two centuries later, when it began a like project), and made a present of the "great model" to the Rabbi. He in turn took it over to London (after exhibiting it in Paris and Sienna), secured a patent from the King to display it in the British Capital, published an explanatory brochure to accompany it, put it on exhibit, and aroused great popular enthusiasm. It was carefully preserved and again exhibited in London some eighty years later with equal success.
Irish Lodges, already full of speculation about the symbolism of Solomon's Temple, became more interested in the Temple than ever. An oratorio of "Solomon's Temple" was given in Dublin, and it was inserted by Laurence Dermott in editions of his Ahiman Rezon (Book of Constitution) of the Ancient Grand Lodge; and in his Preface Dermott gives a florid account of Leon's model. Also, the Arms of the Ancient Grand Lodge were taken from one of Leon's works—he was one of the most respected and learned Hebrew scholars in Europe, as is shown by the biographical treatise on him (a brilliant essay), "Rabbi Jacob Jehudah Leon," contributed to Ars Quatuor Coronatorum; Vol. 12; page 150; by J. Chetwode Crawley. By one of those seemingly impossible coincidences which are seldom found in history, an older and far more popular and lasting and important tradition of another Temple had come to England to change the architectural face and living habits of the country; and much more profoundly affected the Mason Craft than the Hebrew enthusiasm was to do.
Only, this was not a Jewish Temple, or Solomon's, but a Greek Temple. (To call Jehovah's House at Jerusalem a "temple" is a misnomer; the word is pure Greek; so was the style and type and uses of the building.) Palladio of Venice was Europe's supreme architect from the Renaissance until now. He drew a line across architecture and divided it into before and after, brought Gothic to an end, taught the principles, then recently re-discovered, of Greek architecture first to Italian Masons and through them to Europe; was the Shakespeare of his art.
After Inigo Jones King's Commissioner of buildings, visited Venice he returned to England and introduced the Palladian (also called the Italian, or the Classic, or the Neo Classic) there, and Mason Lodges and clubs of amateur artists began studying Palladio as the Primitive Christians had studied their Gospels, and with as much zealousness. After the Lodge of Antiquity had become a Lodge under the Grand Lodge, its Master or Lecturer read Palladio to the Lodge; and its "old Master," Sir Christopher Wren, had carried the Palladian style to its supreme glory in St. Paul's Cathedral Palladio had found that almost the whole set of principles (they were principles of proportion) of the Greek style could be exhibited, and therein studied and mastered, in five columns, which he caned the Five Orders. A model which he himself had made when building St. Paul's was used by Sir Christopher Wren while he was Master of Antiquity.
If any Mason will ponder the Allegory of the Temple in the Second Degree and the Rite of HA.-. in the Third he can see for himself how weighty is the hypothesis that both were fabricated in their present form at the time when the Jewish Temple and the Greek Temple, as it were, met in London. Two great traditions crossed, and the point of crossing lay in the center of Freemasonry. It is obvious that the form and inspiration of the Allegory in the Second Degree is Greek in origin, and that in the Third it is Hebrem. It is possible, and to an unknown extent it is probable, that the germ, or first simple form, of each had existed in the Craft long before Palladio; but the form as now used has stamped on it too many of the hall-marks of the Eighteenth Century to make any doubt feasible of its origin.
And, more extraordinary still, Freemasonry itself had received its origin, form, and substance from the Gothic, begun in the Twelfth Century, and Masonry was probably always pure Gothic until the Palladian period; thus the three greatest architectural styles—and an architectural style is the principal public form always taken by a culture— became embodied together in the Three Degrees. Matthew Arnold was later to say that European civilization consists of a union of two civilizations, the Greek and the Hebraic; in reality it was a union of three, for the great Medieval civilization had as large a part in shaping our modern civilization as either of the other two; and it helps to explain the largeness, the power, the inexhaustibleness of Freemasonry, that it combined the three within itself.
(John Bunyan wrote a whole book on the symbolism of Solomon's Temple, as fine a work of literature as his Pilgrim's Progress, but not having the latter's popular appeal. See elsewhere in this Supplement ARCHITECTURE, FIRST & CHIEF GROUNDS"; for a number of other articles consult Index.)
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TEMPLES, THE JERUSALEM
1. Solomon began the building of his Temple about 967 B.C., and completed it in about six and one-half years. This was in reality a collection of buildings, inside a wall, and the Temple proper was probably at or near the center, a structure 90 to 100 feet long, about 30 to 35 feet in width and at its highest about 50 feet. The entire system of buildings, taken as a unit, was the greatest single building feat ever undertaken by the Jewish people before or since. This was the First Temple.
For nearly five centuries it was the center and capital of Hebrew peoples, not only in Palestine but wherever they might live. It and the city were looted and w destroyed by the Babylonian hordes under Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B-C- (It may be more than a coincidence that the only successful—though temporary— attempt ever made by the Egyptians to achieve monotheism occurred while this First Temple was still standing It is likewise interesting to note that many of the tales, traditions, legends, and historical occurrences about Solomon or his Temple need not refer to so early a date as 967 B.C. but may refer to it as of any date as between 967 B-C. and 586 B.C.)
2. When after a half century Cyrus permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem they began almost at once to rebuild the Temple under their "prince," or leader, Sheshbazzar, who began work in 536 B.C. it was completed by Zerubbabel in 516 B.C. after twenty years of slow, hard labor by a poverty-stricken people, and then was only half restored. After 168 B.C. this building was looted, attacked, razed, rebuilt, and finally destroyed almost completely. This was the Second Temple.
3. One of the looters was Herod. In 40 B.C. Antony and Octavius gave him the title "King of Judea." Between 20 B.C. and 19 B.C., and for political reasons of his own, he began to rebuild the Temple, and on a larger scale. It was not completed until between 62 A.D. and 64 A.D. Only two years after this latter date the Jews began their revolt against Roman rule; in about four years, or 70 A.D., the whole "Temple was burnt to the ground and utterly destroyed.?' This was the Third Temple.
(Historians long were skeptical about the descriptions of the three Temples on the ground that structures of such size and elaborateness called for a technical knowledge which did not exist in ancient times. Modern archeological discoveries have removed that objection by proving that as early as 1000 B.C. many of the technical arts were at a high stage of development. Thus, and to cite only two examples, Tutankhamen's physicians had the use of complete sets of surgical instruments, and practiced many forms of anesthesia; shorthand, a technique without which modern business could hardly function, was known to ancient Egypt; in 1934 the Egypt Exploration Society published a book Greek Shorthand Manuals compiled from papyri and waxed tablets unearthed by archeologic excavations.)
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TEMPELHERR
German for Knights Templar (see also Ritter)
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TEMPELORDEN
or TEMPELHERRENORDEN
The title in German of the Order of Knights Templar
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TEMPERANCE
One of the four cardinal virtues; the practice of which is inculcated in the First Degree. The Freemason who properly appreciates the secrets which he has solemnly promised never to reveal, will not, by yielding to the unrestrained call of appetite, permit reason and judgment to lose their seats and subject himself, by the indulgence in habits of excess, to discover that which should be concealed, and thus merit and receive the scorn and detestation of his Brethren. And lest any Brother should forget the danger to which he is exposed in the unguarded hours of dissipation, the virtue of temperance is wisely impressed upon is memory, lay its reference to one of the most solemn portions of the ceremony of initiation. Some Freemasons, very properly condemning the vice of intemperance and abhorring its effects, have been unwisely led to confound temperance with total abstinence in a Masonic application, and resolutions have sometimes been proposed in Grand Lodges which declare the use of stimulating liquors in any quantity a Masonic offense. Put the law of Freemasonry authorizes no such regulation. It leaves to every man the indulgence of his own tastes within due limits, and demands not abstinence, but only moderation and temperance, in anything not actually wrongs.
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TEMPLAR
See Knights Templar
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TEMPLARIUS
The Latin title of a Knight Templar. Commonly used in the Middle Ages.
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TEMPLAR LAND
The Order of Knights Templar was dissolved in England, by an Act of Parliament, in the seventeenth. year of the reign of Edward II, and their possessions transferred to the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, or Knights Hospitaler. Subsequently, in the thirty-second year of the reign of Henry VII, their possessions were transferred to the King. One of the privileges possessed by the English Templars was that their lands should be free of tithes; and these privileges still adhere to these lands, so that a farm being What is termed Templar land, is still exempt from the imposition of tithes, if it is occupied by the owner; an exemption which ceases when the farm is worked under a lease.
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TEMPLE OF SOLOMON
The first Temple of the Jews was called hecal Jehovah or beth Jehovah, the Palace or the House of Jehovah, to indicate its splendor and magnificence, and that it was intended to be the perpetual dwelling-place of the Lord. It was King David who first proposed to substitute for the Nomadic Tabernacle a permanent place of worship for his people; but although he had made the necessary arrangements, and even collected many of the materials, he was not permitted to commence the undertaking, and the execution of the task was left to his son and successor, Solomon.
Accordingly, that monarch laid the foundations of the edifice in the fourth year of his reign, 1012 B.C., and, with the assistance of his friend and ally, Hiram, King of Tyre, completed it in about seven years and a half, dedicating it to the service of the Most High in 1004 B.C. This was the year of the world 3000, according to the Hebrew chronology; and although there has been much difference among chronologists in relation to the precise date, this is the one that has been generally accepted, and it is therefore adopted by Freemasons in their calculations of different epochs.
The Temple stood on Mount Moriah, one of the eminences of the ridge which was known as Mount Zion, and which was originally the property of Ornan the Jebusite, who used it as a threshing-floor, and from whom it was purchased by David for the purpose of erecting an altar on it. The Temple retained its original splendor for only thirty-three years. In the year of the world 3033, Shishak, King of Egypt, having made war upon Rehoboam, King of Judah, took Jerusalem, and carried away the choicest treasures.
From that time to the period of its final destruction the history of the Temple is but a history of alternate spoliations and repairs, of profanations to idolatry and subsequent restorations to the purity of worship. One hundred and thirteen years after the conquest of Shishak, Joash, King of Judah, collected silver for the repairs of the Temple, and restored it to its former condition in the year of the world 3148. In the year 3264, Ahaz, King of Judah, robbed the Temple of its riches, and gave them to Tiglath-Pileser, King of Assyria, who had united with him in a war against the Kings of Israel and Damascus. Ahaz also profaned the Temple by the worship of idols. In 3276, Hezekiah, the son and successor of Ahaz, repaired the portions of the Temple which his father had destroyed, and restored the pure worship. But fifteen years after he was compelled to give the treasures of the Temple as a ransom to Sennacherib, King of Assyria, who had invaded the land of Judah. But Hezekiah is supposed, after his enemy had retired, to have restored the Temple.
Manasseh, the son and successor of Hezekiah, fell away to the worship of Sahianism, and desecrated the Temple in 3306 by setting up altars to the host of heaven. Manasseh was then conquered by the King of Babylon, who in 3328 carried him beyond the Euphrates. But subsequently repenting of his sins he was released from captivity, and having returned to Jerusalem he destroyed the idols, and restored the Altar of Burnt-Offerings. In 3380, Josiah, who was then King of Judah, devoted his efforts to the repairs of the Temple, portions of which had been demolished or neglected by his predecessors, and replaced the Ark in the Sanctuary. In 3398, in the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar, then King of Chaldea, carried a part of the sacred vessels to Babylon. Seven years afterward, during the reign of Jeehoniah, he took away another lot; and finally, in 3416, in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, he took the city of Jerusalem, and entirely destroyed the Temple, and carried many of the inhabitants captives to Babylon.
The Temple was originally built on a very hard rock, encompassed with frightful precipices. The foundations were laid very deep, with immense labor and expense. It was surrounded with a wall of great height, exceeding in the lowest part four hundred and fifty feet, constructed entirely of white marble.
The body of the Temple was in size much less than many a modern parish church, for its length was but ninety feet, or, including the porch, one hundred and five, and its width but thirty. It was its outer court, its numerous terraces, and the magnificence of its external and internal decorations, together with its elevated position above the surrounding dwellings which produced that splendor of appearance that attracted the admiration of all who beheld it, and gives a color of probability to the legend that tells us how the Queen of Sheba, when it first broke upon her view, exclaimed in admiration, "A most excellent Master must have done this!"
The Temple itself which consisted of the porch, the Sanctuary, and the Holy of Holies, was but a small part of the edifice on Count Moriah. It was surrounded with spacious courts, and the whole Structure occupied at least half a mile circumference. Upon passing through the outer wall, you came to the first Court, called the Court of the Gentiles, because the Gentiles were admitted into it, but were prohibited from passing farther. It was surrounded by a range of porticoes or cloisters, above which were galleries or apartments, supported by pillars of white marble. Passing through the Court of the Gentiles, you entered the Court of the Children of Israel, which was separated by a low stone wall, and an ascent of fifteen steps, into two divisions, the outer one being occupied by the women, and the inner by the men Here the Jews were in the habit of resorting daily for the purposes of prayer.
Within the Court of the Israelites, and separated from it by a wall one cubit in height, was the Court of the Priests. In the-center of this Court was the Altar of Burnt-Offerings, to which the people brought their oblations and sacrifices, but none but the Priests were permitted to enter it. From this court, twelve steps ascended to the Temple, Strictly so called, which as we have already said, was divided into three parts, the Porch, the Sanctuary, and the Holy of Holies. The Porch of the Temple was twenty cubits in length, and the same in breadth. At its entrance was a gate made entirely of Corinthian brass, the most precious metal known to the ancients. Besides this gate there were the two pillars Jachin and Boaz, which had been constructed by Hiram Abif. the architect whom the King of Tyre had sent to Solomon.
From the porch you entered the Sanctuary by a portal, which, instead of folding doors, was furnished with a magnificent veil of many colors, which mystically represented the universe. The breadth of the sanctuary was twenty cubits, and its length forty, or just twice that of the porch and Holy of Holies. It occupied, therefore, one-half of the body of the Temple. In the Sanctuary were placed the various utensils necessary for the daily worship of the Temple, such as the Altar of Incense, on which incense was daily burnt by the officiating Priest; the ten Golden Candlesticks; and the ten Tables on which the offerings were laid previous to the sacrifice. The Holy of Holies, or innermost chamber, was separated from the Sanctuary by doors of olive, richly sculptured and inlaid with gold, and covered with veils of blue, purple, scarlet, and the finest linen. The size of the Holy of Holies was the same as that of the porch, namely, twenty cubits square. It contained the Ark of the Covenant, which had been transferred into it from the Tabernacle, with its overshadowing Cherubim and its Mercy-Seat. Into the most sacred place, the High Priest alone could enter, and that only once a year, on the Day of Atonement.
The Temple, thus constructed, must have been one of the most magnificent Structures of the ancient world. For its erection, David had collected more than four thousand millions of dollars, by Doctor Mackey's computation, and one hundred and eighty-four thousand, six hundred men were engaged on the building for more than seven years; and on its completion it was dedicated by Solomon with solemn prayer and seven days of feasting; during which a peace-offering of twenty thousand oxen and six times that number of sheep was made, to consume which the holy fire came down from heaven.
In Freemasonry, the Temple of Solomon has played a most important part. Time was when every Masonic writer subscribed with unhesitating faith to the theory that freemasonry was there first organized; that there Solomon, Hiram of Tyre, and Hiram Abif presided as Grand Masters over the Lodges which they had established; that there the Symbolic Degrees were instituted and systems of initiation were invented; and that from that period to the present Freemasonry has passed down the stream of Time in unbroken succession and unaltered form. But the modern method of reading Masonic history has swept away this edifice of imagination with as unsparing a hand, and as effectual a power, as those with which the Babylonian King demolished the structure upon which they are founded. No writer who values his reputation as a critical historian would now attempt to defend this theory. Yet it has done its work.
During the long period in which the hypothesis was accepted as a fact, its influence was being exerted in molding the Masonic organizations into a form closely connected with all the events and characteristics of the Solomonic Temple. So that now almost all the Symbolism of Freemasonry rests upon or is derived from the House of the Lord at Jerusalem. So closely are the two connected, that to attempt to separate the one from the other would be fatal to the further existence of Freemasonry. Each Lodge is and must be a symbol of the Jewish Temple, each Master in the chair representing the Jewish King, and every Freemason a personation of the Jewish Workman.
Thus must it ever be while Freemasonry endures. We must receive the myths and legends that Connect it with the Temple, not indeed as historic facts, but as allegories; not as events that have really transpired, but as symbols; and must accept these allegories and these symbols for what their inventors really meant that they should be—the foundation of a Science of morality. The Subject of King Solomon's Temple and particularly the foundation chamber of this Structure is discussed by Brother W. J Chetsvode Crawley (pages 244, voluble xxiv, 1911, Transactions of Quatuor Coronati Lodge) from which we have made the following extracts:
The version and legend of the Royal Arch authorized by the Supreme Grand Chapter of England today differs widely from the corresponding version authorized by the Supreme Grand Chapter of Ireland. The two versions are identical in purport and dogma, and to a certain extent similar in method. But there the resemblance ceases. It would be impossible for an English Royal Arch Mason to work his way into an Irish Chapter, or conversely, without other unmistakable credentials. The episodes, on which the legends are severally founded, are quite distinct, each from the other. The English version refers to the building of the second temple by Zerubbabel: the Irish version to the repairing of the Temple of Solomon by King Josiah. The nomenclature of dramatis personae of the two versions are dissimilar. So far as the present writer is aware, the names of the three presiding officers of the English version were never heard in an Irish Royal Arch Chapter, save during the ill-devised and conspicuously unsuccessful attempt to introduce the English version into Dublin Chapters, which lasted intermittently from 1829 to 1859. If indeed the Irish version were held to be a survival of the original idea of Doctor Anderson's " well built Arch," and the English legend admitted to be a competing legend of later construction, many historical difficulties would disappear. Our American Royal Arch Masons, who derive their origin from the Strand Lodge of the Ancient, would find the hypothesis especially helpful in regard to the introduction and development of the Cryptic Degrees, which would in their turn await an easy birth in the preliminary stages of the Irish ritual.
In the Irish legend the carefully Selected articles that bear the burden of the tale require an adequate reason for their deposition, no less than for their discovers. In this respect, enlightenment has come from an unexpected quarter.
In the 1910 volume of the Memoires of the Academie des Inscriptions appears a noteworthily paper by Dr. Edouard Naville, summarized in the Midsummer number of the Athenaeum for 1910, on La Décourerte de la Loi sous le Roi Josias, meaning the discovery of the law under King .Josiah, in which the illustrious writer sets up a comparatively new theory respecting the deposit discovered in the temple at Jerusalem by "Hilkiah the High Priest," which has been generally assumed to have been the book of Deuterononly M. Naville contends that this was really a foundation deposit, and he quotes many instances—both from the rubries of the Book of the Dead and from excavations like those of M. de Morgan at Dahchur—of similar deposits, made either in a Specially prepared loculus in or under the walls of a building, or at the base of the statue of a god. He goes on to discuss the probable nature of the document itself, and comes to the conclusion that it Was a summary of the Mosaic law by analogy with the similar So-called chapters of the Book of the Dead, and that it was contemporaneous with the foundation of the Temple of Solomon.
This would make it a good deal earlier than the dates assigned to it by modern critics, among whom Doctor Driver puts its composition in the reign of Manasseh: and Professor Westphal the reign earlier under Hezekiah, while Professors Wellhausen and Kuenen will have it to be a forgery made ad hoc by some one in Josiah's confidence. Doctor Naville is also of the opinion that the document must have been written in cruciform characters, and thinks that the same might be said for the other Mosaic books, Moses, as an educated Egyptian, being according to him quite competent to use the cuneiform script which under the Eighteenth Dynasty was current throughout western Asia. He thinks, however, that the language used was even then Hebrew, and he mentions incidentally that the name Moses or Moshah may be the Egyptian word Mesu, signifying infant, as the biblical Succoth is certainly the Egyptian Thuket or Thukot. She kind of polyglot pawn whereby the Hebrew scribes made the first of these names into a word meaning drawn out and the second into tents, accords very well with other national characteristics as noted by Plutarch and others.
Doctor Naville's essay almost brings the Irish version of the Royal Arch legend within the possibilities of history. If—much virtue in an if—the principle of the Arch were known to the master builders of King Solomon's temple, what more natural than that they should use Doctor Anderson s well built Arch for the preservation of the sacred deposit? The case for the Irish legend is so simple, the inference so obvious, that the enthusiastic student who relies on tradition may be tempted to belittle the initiate historical difficulty of showing that the principle of the Arch was known to our master builders, or indeed to any builders of that date. Be that as it may the alternative version has no such incident as that recorded in Chronicles to fall back upon, nor does it gain any fresh support from Doctor Edouard Naville's learned labors.
*
TEMPLE, ORDER OF THE
When the Knights Templar had, on account of their power and wealth, excited the fears and the cupidity of Pope Clement V, and King Philip the Fair, of France, the Order was soon compelled to succumb to the combined animosity of a spiritual and a temporal sovereign, neither of whom was capable of being controlled by a spirit of honor or a dictate of conscience The melancholy story of the sufferings of the Knights, and of the dissolution of their Order, forms a disgraceful record, with which the history of the fourteenth century begins.
On the 11th of March, in the year 1314, and in the refined city of Paris, James de Molay, the last of a long and illustrious line of Grand Masters of the Order of Knights Templar, testified at the stake his fidelity to his vows; and eleven years of service in the cause of religion were terminated, not by the sword of a Saracen, but by the iniquitous sentence of a Roman Catholic Pope and a perverted Christian King.
The manufacturers of Masonic legends have found in the death of De Molay and the dissolution of the Order of Templars a fertile source from which to draw materials for their fanciful theories and surreptitious documents Among these legends there was, for instance, one which maintained that during his captivity in the Bastile the Grand Master of the Templars established four Chiefs of the Order in the North, the South, the East, and the West of Europe, whose seats of government were respectively at Stockholm, Naples, Paris, and Edinburgh. Another invention of these Masonic speculators was the forgery of that document so well known as the Charter of Larmenius, of which we shall presently take notice Previously, however, to any consideration of this document, sve must advert to the condition of the Templar Order in Portugal, because there is an intimate connection between the society there organized and the Order of the Temple in France, which is more particularly the Subject of the present article.
Surprising as it may appear, it is nevertheless true, that the Templars did not receive that check in Portugal to which they were Subjected in France, in England, and some other countries of Europe on the contrary, they were there maintained by King Denis in all their rights and privileges; and although compelled, by a Bull of Clement V, to change their names to that of the Knights of Christ, they continued to be governed by the same rules and to wear the same costume as their predecessors, excepting the slight addition of placing a white Latin cross in the center of the usual red one of the ancient Order.
In the degree of establishment it was expressly declared that the King, in creating this new Order, intended only to effect a reform in that of the Templars In 1420, John I, of Portugal, gave the Knights of Christ the control of the possessions of Portugal in the Indies, and succeeding monarchs granted them the proprietorship of all countries which they might discover, reserving, of course, the royal prerogative of sovereignty In process of time the wealth and the power of the Order became so great, that the King of Portugal found it expedient to reduce their rights to a considerable extent; but the Order itself was permitted to continue in existence, the Grand Mastership, however, being for the future vested in the Sovereign.
We are now prepared to investigate understandingly the history of the Charter of Larmenius, and of the Order of the Temple at Paris, which was founded on the assumed authenticity of that document The writings of Thory, of Ragon, and of Clavel, with the passing remarks of a few other Masonic writers, will furnish us with abundant materials for this narrative, interesting to all Freemasons, but more especially so to Masonic Knights Templar In the year 1682, and in the reign of Louis XIV, a licentious society was established by several young noblemen, which took the name of La Petite Résurrection des Templiers, or The Little Resurrection of the Templars. The members wore concealed upon their shirts a decoration in the form of a cross, on which was embossed the figure of a man trampling on a woman, who lay prostrate at his feet The emblematic Signification of this symbol was, it is apparent, as unworthy of the character of man as it was derogatory to the condition and claims of woman The lying, having been informed of the infamous proceedings which took place at the meetings, dissolved the Society, which it was said was on the eve of initiating the dauphin; caused its leader, a Prince of the blood, to be ignominiously published, and banished the members from the Court; the heaviest penalty that, in those days of servile submission to the throne, could be inflicted on a courtier.
In 1705, Philip of Orleans, who was subsequently the Regent of France during the minority of Louis XV, collected together the remnants of this Society, which still secretly existed, but had changed its object from a licentious to one of a political character.
He caused new Statutes to be constructed; and an Italian Jesuit, by name Father Bonani, who was a learned antiquary and an excellent designer, fabricated the document now known as the Charter of Larmenius, and thus pretended to attach the new society to the ancient Order of the Templars. As this Charter is not the least interesting of those forged documents with which the history of Freemasonry unfortunately abounds, a full description of it here will not be out of place. The theory of the Duke of Orleans and his accomplice Bonani was, and the theory is still maintained by the Order of the Temple at Paris, that when James de Moray was about to suffer at the stake, be sent for Larmenius, and in prison, with the consent and approbation of such of his knights as were present, appointed him his Successor, with the right of making a similar appointment before his death.
On the demise of De Molay, Larmenius accordingly assumed the office of Grand Master, and ten years after issued this Charter, transmitting his authority to Theobaldus Alexandrinus, by whom it was in like manner transmitted through a long line of Grand Masters, until in 1705 it reached Philip, Duke of Orleans. It will be seen hereafter that the list was subsequently continued to a later period.
The signatures of all these Grand Masters are affixed to the Charter, Which is beautifully executed on parchment, illuminated in the choicest style of Medieval chirography, and composed in the Latin language, but written in the Templar cipher. From the copy of the document given by Thory in his Acta Latomorum (ii, page 145) five make the following translation:
I, Brother John Mark Larmenius, of Jerusalem, by the grace of God and the secret decree of the most venerable and holy martyr, the Grand Master of the Soldiery of the temple, to whom be all honor and glory, confirmed by the common council or the Brethren, being endowed with the Supreme Grand Mastership of the whole Order of the Temple, to every one who shall see these Letters Decretal thrice greeting:
Be it known to all, both present and to come, that the failure of my strength, on amount of extreme age, my poverty, and the weight of government being well considered I, the aforesaid humble Master of the Soldiery of the temple, have determined, for the greater glory of God and the protection and safety of the Order, the Brethren, and the statutes, to resign the Grand Mastership into stronger hands.
On which account, God helping, and with the consent of a Supreme Convention of Knights, I have conferred and by the present decree do confer, for life, the authority and prerogatives of Grand Master of the Order of the Temple upon the Eminent Commander and very dear Brother, Francis Thomas Theobald Alexandrinus, with the power, according to time and circumstances, of conferring the Grand Mastership of the Order of the Temple and the supreme authority upon another Brother, most eminent for the nobility of his education and talent and decorum of his manners: which is done for the purpose of maintaining a perpetual succession of Grand Masters, an uninterrupted series of successors, and the integrity of the statutes. Nevertheless, I command that the Grand Mastership shall not be transmitted without the consent of a General Convention of the fellow-soldiers of the Temples as often as that Supreme Convention desires to be convened, and, matters being thus conducted, the successor shell be elected at the pleasure of the knights.
Butt lest the powers of the supreme office should fall into decay, now and for ever let there be four Vicars of the Grand Master, possessing Supreme power, eminence, and authority over the whole Order, With the reservation of the rights of the Grand Master, which Vicars of the (Grand Masters shall be chosen from among the alders, according to the order of their profession. Which is decreed in according with the above-mentioned wish, commended to me and to the Brethren by our most venerable and most blessed Master, the martyr, to whom be honor and glory. Amen.
Finally, on consequence of a decree of a Supreme Convention of the Brethren, and by the supreme authority to me committed, I will, declare, and command that the Scottish exemplars, as deserters from the Order, are to be accursed, and that they and the brethren of Saint John of Jerusalem, upon whom may God have mercy, as spoliators of the domains of our soldiery are now and hereafter to be considered as beyond the pale of the Temple I have therefore established signs, unknown to our false Brethren, and not to be known by them, to be orally communicated to our fellow-soldiers, and in which way I have already been pleased to communicate them in the Supreme Convention.
But these signs are only to be made known after due profession and knightly consecrations according to the Statutes, Rites, and Usages of the fellow-soldiery of the Temple, transmitted by me to the above-named Eminent Commander as they there delivered into my hands by the venerable and most holy martyr, our Grand Master, to whom be honor and glory. Let it be done as I have said. So mote it be. Amen.
I, John Clark Larmenius, have done this
on the thirteenth day of February, 1324.
I, Francis Thomas Theobaldus Alexandrinus, God helping, have accepted
the Grand Mastership, 1324.
And then follow the acceptances and signatures of twenty-two succeeding Grand Masters—the last, Bernard Raymund Fabré, under the date of 1804.
Brother Hawkins here wishes to point out that after having disappeared for many years, the original of this Charter was rediscovered and purchased by Brother F. J. ART. Crowe, of Chichester, England, who thought it too important and valuable to remain in private hands, and it was accordingly placed in the possession of the Great Priory of England. A transcript of the document, differing slightly from that given above, has been published by Brother Crowe (see Transactions, Quatuor Coronati Lodge, volume xxiv).
The Society, continues Doctor Mackey, thus organized by the Duke of Orleans in 1705, under this Charter, which purported to contain the signatures manupropria in their own hands, of eighteen Grand Masters in regular succession, commencing with Larmenius and ending with himself, attempted to obtain a recognition by the Order of Christ, which we have already said was established in Portugal as the legitimate successor of the old Templars, and of Which King John V was al that time the Grand Master. For this purpose the Duke of Orleans ordered two of his members to proceed to Lisbon, and there to open negotiations with the Order of Christ. The king caused inquiries to be made of Don Luis de Cunha, his ambassador at Paris, upon whose report he gave orders for the arrest of the two French Templars. One of them escaped to Gibraltar; but the other, less fortunate, after an imprisonment of two years, was banished to Angola, in Africa, where he died.
The Society, however, continued secretly to exist for many years in France, and is supposed by some to have been the same which, in 1879. was known by the name of the Societe d'Aloyau, a title which might be translated into English as the Society of the Sirloin —a name much more appropriate to a club of bons vivants, good livers, than to an association of knights. The members of this Society were dispersed at the time of the French Revolution, the Duke of Casse Brissac, who was massacred at Versailles in 1732, being its Grand Master at the period of its dispersion. Thory says that the members of this association claimed to be the successors of the Templars, and to be in possession of their Charters.
A certain Brother Ledru, one of the sons of the learned Nicholas Philip Ledru, was the physician of Casse Brissac. On the death of that nobleman and the sale of his property, Ledru purchased a piece of furniture, probably an escritoire, in which was concealed the celebrated Charter of Larmenius, the manuscript Statutes of 1705, and the journal of proceedings of the order of the Temple. Clavel says that about the year 1804, Ledru showed these articles to two of his friends—de ,Saintot and Fabré Palaprat; the latter of whom had formerly been an ecclesiastic. The sight of these documents suggested to them the idea of reviving the Order of the Temple. They proposed to constitute Ledru the Grand Master, but he refused the offer, and nominated Claudius Matheus Radix de Chevillon for the office, who would accept it only under the title of Vicar; and he is inscribed as such on the list attached to the Charter of Larmenius, his name immediatel following that of Casse Brissac, who is recorded as the last Grand Master.
These four restorers of the Order were of opinion that it would be most expedient to place it under the patronage of some distinguished personage; and while making the effort to carry this design into execution, Chevillon, excusing himself from further official labor on account of his advanced age, proposed that Fahré Palaprat should be elected Grand Master, but for one year only, and with the understanding that he would resign the dignity as soon as some notable person could be found who would be willing to accept it. But Fabré, having once been invested with the Grand Mastership, ever afterward refused to surrender the dignity.
Among the persons who were soon after admitted into the Order Were Decourchant, a notary's clerk; Leblond, an official of the Imperial Library; and Arnal, an ironmonger, all of whom were entrusted with the secret of the fraud, and at once engaged in the construction of what have Since been designated the Relics of the Order. Of these relics, which are preserved in the treasury of the Order of the Temple at Paris, an inventory was made on May 18, I810, being, it is probable, soon after their construction. Doctor Burnes, who was a firm believer in the legitimacy of the Parisian Order and in the authenticity of its archives, has given in his Sketch of the history of the Knights Templar (Appendix, page xii), a copy of this inventory in the original French. Thory gives it also in his ActaLatomorum (ii, page 143). A brief synopsis of it may not be uninteresting. The relics consist of twelve pieces— a round dozen —and are as follows:
1. The Charter of Larmellius, already described. But to the eighteen signatures of Grand Masters in the Charter, which was in 1705 in possession of Philip, Duke of Orieans, are added six more carrying the Succession on from the last-named to Fabré Palaprat, who attests as Grand Master in 1804.
2. A volume of twenty-seven paper sheets in folio bount in crimson velvet, satin, and gold, containing the Statutes of the Order in manuscript, and signed Philip
3. A small copper religuary, in the shape of a Gothic church, containing four fragments of burnt bones, wrapped in a piece of linen. These are said to have been taken front the funeral pile of the martyred Templars
4. A sword, said to be one wich belonged to James de Molay.
5. A helmet, supposed to have been that of Guy, the Dauphin of Auvergne.
6. An old gilt spur.
7. A bronze patina, a plate or dish, in the interior of which is engraved in extended hand, having the ring and little fingers bent in upon the palm, which is the form of the Episcopal. Benediction given in the Roman Catholic Church.
8. A pax or tablet in gilt bronzes containing a representation of Saint John, under a Gothic arch. The pax is a small plate of gold, silver (or other rich material carried round by the Priest to communicate the Kiss of Peace..
9. Three Gothic seals.
10 A tall ivory Cross and three Miters, richly ornamented.
11. The Beauseant, in white linen, with the Cross of the Order.
12. The War Standard in white linen, with four black rays.
Of these relics, Clavel, who, as being on the spot, may be supposed to know something of the truth, tells us that the copper reliquary the sword, the ivory cross, and the three miters vere bought by Leblond from an old iron shop in the market of Saint Jean, and from a maker of church vestments in the suburbs of Paris, while the helmet was taken by Arnal front one of the government armories.
Francisco Alvaro da Sylva Freyre de Porto, a knight of the Order of Christ, and a Secret agent of John VI, King of Portugal, was admitted into the Order in 1805, and continued a member until 1815. He was one of the few, Clavel says, whom Fahré and the other founder's admitted into their full confidence, and in 1812 he held the of fire of Grand Master's Secretary. Fahré having signified to him his desire to be recognized as the Successor of James de Molaw by the Grand Master of the Order of Christ, Da Sylvà sent a copy of the Charter of Larmenius to John VI, who was then in Brazil; but the request for recognition was refused. The Order of the Temple, which had thus been ingeniously organized by Fabré Palaprat and his colleagues, began now to assume high prerogatives as the only representative of Ancient Templarism.
The Grand Master was distinguished by the sounding titles of Most Eminent Highness, Very Great, Powerful, and Excellent Prince, and Most Serene Lord. The whole world was divided into different Jurisdictions, under the names of Provinces, Bailiwicks, Priories, and Commanderies, all of which were distributed among the members; and proofs of nobility were demanded of all candidates; but if they were not able to give these proofs, they were furnished by the Grand Master with the necessary Patents.
The ceremonies of initiation were divided into three houses, again subdivided into eight Degrees, and were as follows:
I HOUSE OF INITIATION
1. Initiate. This is the Entered Apprentice's Degree of Freemasonry.
2. Initiate of the Interior. This is the Fellow craft.
3. adept. This is the Master Mason.
4. Adept of the East. The Elu of Fifteen of the Scottish Rite
.
5. Grand Adept of the Black Eagle of Saint Joann. The Elu of Nine
of the Scottish Rite.
II. HOUSE OF POSTULANCE
6. Postulant of the Order. The Rose Croix Degree.
III. COUNCIL
7. Esquire. Merely a preparation for the Eighth Degree .
8. Knigth or Levite of the Interior Guard. The Philosophical Kadosh.
At first the members of the Order professed the Roman Catholic religion, and hence, on various occasions, Protestants and Jews were denied admission. But about the year 1814, the Grand Master having obtained possession of a manuscript copy of a spurious Gospel of Saint John, which is supposed to have been forged in the fifteenth century, and which contradicted in many particulars the canonical Gospel, he caused it to be adopted as the doctrine of the Order; and thus, as Clavel says, at once transformed an Order which had always been perfectly orthodox into a Schismatic sect. Out of this spurious Gospel and an Introduction and Commentary called the Levitikon, said to have been written by Nicephorus, a Greek monk of Athens, Fabré and his colleagues composed a liturgy, and established a religious sect to which they gave the name of Johannism.
The consequence of this change of religious views was a schism in the Order. The orthodox party, however, appears to have been the stronger; and after the others had for a short time exhibited themselves as soi-disant, or so-called, Priests in a Johannite Church Which they erected, and in which they publicly chanted the liturgy which they had composed, the church and the liturgy were given up, and they retired once more into the secrecy of the Order.
Such is the brief history of the rise and progress of the celebrated Order of the Temple, which thus continued to exist at Paris, with, however, a much abridged exercise, if not with less assumption of prerogative. It claimed to be the only true depository of the powers and privileges of the ancient Order of Knights Templar, denouncing all other Templars as spurious, and its Grand Master has proclaimed himself the legal successor of James de Molay; with how much truth the narrative already given will enable every reader to decide.
The question of the legality of the Order of the Temple, as the only true body of Knights Templar in modern days, is to be settled only after three other points have been determined: First, was the Charter of Larmenius, which was brought for the first time to light in 1705 by the Duke of Orleans, an authentic or a forged document? Next, even if authentic, was the story that Larmenius was invested with the Grand Mastership and the power of transmission by De Molay a fact or a fable? And, lastly, was the power exercised by Ledru, in reorganizing the Order in 1804, assumed by himself or actually derived from Casse Brissae, the previous Grand Master? There are many other questions of subordinate but necessary importance to be examined and settled before we can consent to give the Order of the Temple the high and, as regards Templarism, the exclusive position that it claims.
*
TEMPLAR ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY
The theory that Freemasonry originated in the Holy Land during the Crusades, and was instituted by the Knights Templar, was advanced by the Chevalier Ramsay, for the purpose, it is supposed, of giving an aristocratic character to the association It was subsequently adopted by the College of Clermont, and was accepted by the Baron von Hund as the basis upon which he erected his Rite of Strict Observance. The legend of the Clermont College is thus detailed by M. Berage in his work entitled Les Plus Secrets Mysteres des Hauts Grades, Most Secret Mysteries of the High Degrees (iii, page 194).
The Order of Freemasonry was instituted by Godfrey de bouillon, in Palestine in l330, after the defeat of the Christian armies, and was communicated only to a few of the French Freemasons, some time afterwards, as a reward for the services which they had rendered to the English and Scottish Knights. From these latter true Freemasonry is derived. Their Mother Lodge is situated on the mountain of Heredom where the first Lodge in Europe was held, which still exists in all its splendor. The Council General is always held there, and it is the seat of the Sovereign Grand Master for the time being. This mountain is situated between the west and the north of Scotland, sixty miles from Edinhurgh.
There are other secrets in Freemasonry which were never known among the French, and which have no relation to the Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Degrees which were constructed for the general class of Freemasons. The high Degrees, which developed the true design of Freemasonry and its true secrets, have never been known to them. The Saracens having obtained possession of the holy places in Palestine, where all the mysteries of the Order were practiced, made use of them for most profane purposes.
The Christians then leagued together to conquer this beautiful country, and to drive all these barbarians from the land. They succeeded in obtaining a footing on these shores under the protection of numerous armies of Crusaders which had been sent out there by the Christian princes. The losses which they subsequently experienced put an end to the Christian power, and the crusaders who remained were subjected to the persecutions of the Saracens, who massacred all who publicly proclaimed the Christian faiths This induced Godfrey de Bouillon, towards the end of the third center, to conceal the mysteries of religion under the veil of figures, emblems and allegories.
Hence the Christians selected the temple of Solomon because it has so close a relation to the Christian Church of which its holiness and its magnificence make it the true symbol. So the Christians concealed the mystery of the building up of the Church under that of the construction of the Temple, and gave themselves the title of Masons Architects or Builders, because they were occupied in building the faith. They assembled under the pretext of making plans of architecture to practice the rites of their religion, with all the emblems and allegories that Freemasonry could furnish, and thus protect themselves from the cruelty of the Saracens.
As the mysteries of Freemasonry were in their principles, and still are only those of the Christian religion they were extremely scrupulous to confide this important secret only to those whose discretion had been tried and who had been found worthy. For this purpose they fabricated Degrees as a test of those to whom they wished to confide it, and they gave them at first only the symbolic secret of Hiram, on which all the mystery of blue Masonry is founded, and which is, in fact, the only secret of that Order which has no relation to true Freemasonry.
They explained nothing else to them as they were afraid of being betrayed, and they conferred these Degrees as a proper means of recognizing each other, surrounded as they were by barbarians. To succeed more effectually in this they made use of different Signs and words for each Degree so as not only to distinguish themselves from the profane Saracens, but to designate the different Degrees. These they fixed at the number of seven, in imitation of the Grand Architect, who built the Universe in six days and rested on the seventh, and also because Solomon was seven years in constructing the Temple, which they had selected as the figurative basis of Freemasonry. Under the name of Hiram they gave a false application to the Masters, and developed the true secret of Freemasonry only to the higher Degrees.
Such is the theory of the Templar origin of Freemasonry, which, mythical as it is, and wholly unsupported by the authority of history, has exercised a vast influence in the fabrication of advanced Degrees and the invention of Continental Rites. Indeed, of all the systems propounded during the eighteenth century, so fertile in the construction of extravagant systems, none has played so important a part as this in the history of Freemasonry. Although the theory is no longer maintained, its effects are everywhere seen and felt.
*
TEMPLARS OF ENGLAND
An important change in the organization of Templarism in England Ireland took place in 1873. By it a union took place of the Grand Conclave of Masonic Knights Templar of England and the Grand Conclave of High Knights Templar of Ireland into one body, under the title of the "Convent General of the United Religious and Military Orders of the Temple and of Saint John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes, and Malta." The following is a summary of the Statutes by which the new Order is governed, as given by Eminent Sir Knight W. J. B. McLeod Moore, Grand Prior, in his circular to the Preceptors of Canada:
1. The existing Grand Masters in the Empire are to be termed Great Priors, and Grand Conclaves or Encampments, Great Priories, under and subordinate to one Grand Master, as in the early days of the Order. and one Supreme Governing Body, the Convent General.
2. The term Great is adopted instead of Grand, the latter being a French word; and grand in English is not grand in French Great is the proper translation of Magnus and Magnus Supremus.
3 The Great Priories of each nationality—England, Scotland, and Ireland, with their Dependencies in the Colonies—retain their internal government and legislation, and appoint their Provincial Priors, doing nothing consistent with the Supreme Statutes of the Convent General.
4. The title Masonic is not continued; the Order being purely Christian, none but Christians can be admitted consequently it cannot be considered Strictly as a Masonic body: Freemasonry, while inculcating the highest reverence for the Supreme Being, and the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, does not teach a belief in one particular creed, or unbelief in any. The connection with Freemasonry is, however, strengthened still more, as a candidate must now be two years a Master Mason, in addition to his qualification as a Royal Arch Mason.
5. The titles Eminent Commander and Encampment have been discontinued and the original name Preceptor and Precentor substituted, as also the titles Constable and Marshal for First and Second Captains. Encampment is a modern term, adopted probably when, as our traditions inform us, "at the suppression of the ancient Military Order of the Temple, some of their number sought refuge and held Conclaves in the Masonic Society, being independent small bodies, without any governing head." Prior is the correct and original title for the head of a langue or nationality and Preceptor for the subordinate bodies. The Preceptories were the ancient Houses of the Templar Order; Commander and Commanderies was the title used by the Order of Saint John, commonly known as Knights of Malta.
6. The title by which the Order is now known
is that of The United Religius and Military Orders of the Temple
and of Saint John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes, and Malta."
The Order of the Temple originally had no connection with that
of Malta or Order of Saint John, but the combined title appears
to have been adopted in commemoration of the union which took
place in Scotland with "The Temple and Hospital of Saint
John,'' when their lands were in common, at the time of the Reformation.
But our Order of "Saint Solon of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes,
and Malta," has no connection with the present Knights of
Malta in the Papal States, or of the Protestant branches of the
Order, the lineal successors of the ancient Knights of Saint John,
the sixth or English league of which is still in existence, and
presided over, in London, by His Grace the Duke of Manchester.
The Order, when it occupied the Island of Malta as a sovereign
body, was totally unconnected with Freemasonry.
7. Honorary past rank is abolished substituting the chivalric
dignities of Grand Crosses and Commanders, limited in numbers
and confined to Preceptors. These honors to be conferred by His
Royal Highness the Grand Master, the Fountain of Grace and Dignity;
and it is contemplated to create an Order of Merits to be conferred
in like manner, as a reward to Knights who have served the Order.
8. A. Preceptor holds a Degree as well as rank, and will always retain his rank and privileges as long as he belongs to a Precentor.
9. The abolition of honorary past rank is not retrospective, as their rank and privileges are reserved to all those who now enjoy them.
10. The number of officers entitled to precedence has been reduced to seven; but others may be appointed at discretion, who do not, however, enjoy any precedence.
l l. Equerries, or Serving Brethren, are not to receive the accolade, or use any but a brown habit, and shall not wear any insignia or jewel: they are to be addressed as Frater, not Sir Knight. In the early days of the Order they were not entitled to the accolade, and, with the esquires and men-at-arms, wore a dark habit, to distinguish them from the knights, who wore white, to signify that they were bound by their vows to cast away the works of darkness and lead a new life.
12 The Apron is altogether discontinued, and a few and a few immaterial alterations in the insignia will be duly regulated and promulgated: they do not, however, affect the present, but only apply to future members of the Order. The apron was of recent introduction, to accord with Masonic usage: but reflection will at once show that, as an emblem of care and toil, it is entirely inappropriate to a Military Order, whose badge is the sword. A proposition to confine the wearing of the star to the Preceptors was negatived; the star and ribbon being in fact as much a part of the ritual as of the insignia of the Order.
13. From the number of instances of persons totally unfitted having obtained admission into the Order, the qualification of candidates has been increased. A declaration is now required, to be signed by every candidate that he is of the full age of twenty-one years, and in addition to being a Royal Arch Masons that he is a Master Mason of two years' standings professing the doctrines of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, and willing to submit to the Statutes and Ordinances, present and future, of the Order.
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TEMPLARS OF SCOTLAND
The Statutes of the Grand Priory of the
Temple of Scotland prescribe for the Order of Knights Templar
in that kingdom an organization very different from that which
prevails in other countries.
'The Religious and Military Order of the Temple" in Scotland
consists of two classes:
1. Novice and Esquire.
2. Knight Templar.The Knights are again divided into four classes:
1. Knights created by Priories.
2. Knights elected from the companions on memorial to the Grand
Master and Council, supported by the recommendation of the Priories
to which they belong .
3. Knights Commanders.
4. Knights Grand Crosses, to be nominated by the Grand Master.
The supreme legislative authority of the Order is the Chapter General, which consists of the Grand Officers, the Knights Grand Crosses, and the Knights Commanders. One Chapter is held annually, at which the Grand Master, if present, acts as President. The anniversary of the death of James de Molay, March 11, is Selected as the time of this meeting, at which the Grand Officers are elected. During all intervals of the meetings of the Chapter General, the affairs of the Order, with the exception of altering any Statutes, is entrusted to the Grand Master's Council, which consists of the Grand Officers, the Grand Priors of Foreign Langues (or Districts), and the Knights Grand Crosses.
The Grand Officers, with the exception of
the Past Grand Masters, who remain so for life, the Grand Master,
who is elected triennially and the Grand Aides-de-Camp, who are
appointed by him and removed at his pleasure, are elected annually.
They are as follows:
Grand Master
Past Grand Masters
Grand Seneschal
Preceptor and Grand Prior of Scotland
Grand Constable and Marshal
Grand Admiral
Grand Almoner or Hospitaler
Grand Chancellor
Grand Treasurer
Grand Registrar
Primate or Grand Prelate
Grand Provost or Governor-General
Grand Standard Bearer or Beaucennifer
Grand Bearer of the Vexillum Belli, War Flag
Grand Camberlain
Grand Steward
Two Grand Aides-de-Camp
A Grand Priory may be instituted by the
Chapter General in any nation, colony, or langue, to be placed
under the authority of a Grand Prior, who is elected for life,
unless superseded by the Chapter General. A Priory, which is equivalent
to an American Commandery, consists of the following officers:
Prior
Superior
Mareschal or Master of Ceremonies
Hospitaler or Almoner
Chancellor
Treasurer
Secretary
Chaplain panel Instructor
Beaucennifer, or bearer of the Beauseant
Bearer of the Red Cross Banner, or Vexillum Belli
Chamberlain
Two Aides -de Camp
The Chapter General or Grand Priory may unite two or more Priories into a Commandery, to be governed by a Provincial Commander, who is elected by the Chapter General.
The costume of the Knights, with the exception of a few slight variations to designate difference of rank, is the same as the ancient costume.
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TEMPLARS ORDER OF THE AMERICAN STAR
See Free and Accepted Americans
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TEMPLARS, RULE OF THE
See Rule of the Templars
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TEMPLAR STATISTICS
See Statistics of the Order of the Temple
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TEMPLE
The symbolism of Speculative Freemasonry is so intimately connected with temple building and temple worship, that some notice of these edifices seems necessary.
The Hebrews called a temple beth, which literally signifies a house or dwelling, and finds its root in a word which signifies "to remain or pass the night," or hecal, which means a palace, and comes from an obsolete word signifying magnificent. So that they seem to have had two ideas in reference to a Temple.
When they called it beth Jehovah, or the House of Jehovah they referred to the continued presence of God in it; and when they called it hecal Jehovah, or the Palace of Jehovah, they referred to the splendor of the edifice which was selected as his residence. The Hebrew idea was undoubtedly borrowed from the Egyptian, where the same hieroglyphic signified both a house and a temple. Thus, from an inscription at Philae, Champollion (Egyptian Dictionary), cites the sentence, "He has made his devotions in the house of his mother Isis."
The classical idea was more abstract and philosophical. The Latin word templum comes from a root which signifies to cut of, thus referring to any space, whether open or occupied by a building, which was cut off, or separated for a sacred purpose, from the surrounding profane ground. The word properly denoted a sacred enclosure where the omens were observed by the augurs. Hence Varro (De Langua Latina vi, 81,) defines a temple to be "a place for auguries and auspices." As the same practice of worshiping under the sky in open places prevailed among the northern nations, we might deduce from these facts that the temple of the sky was the Aryan idea, and the temple of the house was Semitic. It is true, that afterward, the augurs having for their own convenience erected a tent within the enclosure where they made their observations, or, literally their contemplations, this in time gave rise among the Greeks and the Romans to permanent edifices like those of the Egyptians and the Hebrews.
Freemasonry has derived its temple symbolisms