arm you with this sword, as a distinguishing mark of our approbation, and I am persuaded, that you will only employ it in the defence of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, against all those who may oppose the same. Q. How were you then disposed of. A. I was ordered to surround the encampment five times, the Sir Knights all guarding and defending it with their swords drawn and presented horizontally. I was ordered to strike one or each of them and give the pass-word. After this, I was desired to kneel to complete my obligation. Q. Be pleased to conclude it. A. I do furthermore swear, that I will never knowingly draw the blood of a Brother Knight Templar, nor cause it to be drawn in wrath, but will espouse his cause, knowing it to be just, though I should endanger my own life. Even when Princes are engaged in war, I will not forget the duty which I owe him as a brother. If ever I wilfully violate this my solemn compact, as a Brother Knight Templar, may my scull be sawn asunder with a rough saw, my brains taken out and put in a charger to be consumed by the scorching sun, and my scull in another charger, if memory of St. John of Jerusalem, that faithful soldier of our Lord and Saviour. If ever I wilfully deviate from this my solemn obligation, may my light be put out from among men, as that of Judas Iscariot was for betraying his Lord and Master; furthermore, may the soul, that once inhabited this scull, as the representative of St. John the Baptist, appear against me in the day of Judgment: so help me God and keep me steadfast in this my solemn obligation of a Knight Templar. Q. What were you then entrusted with, A. The pass-word GOLGOTHA: the Grand Commander adding:-I now decorate you with this staff, girdle and christian cross, in imitation of St John of Jerusalem, and in consequence of this dignity, I install you a Knight of the Temple. The first and second Captain took each a bone and crossed them over my head. The grand Commander took a cup of water and poured it over my head, as an emblem of baptism, and, laying his sword on the bones, said, thy name shall be no longer Doodle Noodle, but Sir Doodle Noodle shall thy name be. I was then raised by the equilateral triangle, as an emblem of the glorious trinity, and received the penal signs of a Knight Templar. Having again travelled five times round the encampment, I was then desired to sit in a chair and thus addressed by the Grand Commander. "It is the usual custom of Knights to be courteous to strangers and to give them refreshment; assured, that you have travelled from afar, I invite you to partake of this bread, water and wine." I was desired to drink to the immortal memory of Solomon King of Israel, Hiram King of Tyre and Hiram Abiff, in conjunction with St. John of Jerusalem and St Peter. Q. After your refreshment, what passed. A. Placed in the west, the Grand Commander said, I will assist you to draw a something from under a veil, which proved to be the Ensign of Malta, and I was directed to observe the letters I. N. R. I., as the initials of Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews, painted in the angles' of a cross. Q. Were you not further obligated on this Ensign of Malta. A. I solemnly vowed never to forsake the standard of the order, especially when engaged in battle against the opposers of Christ's holy name; that I would spill the last drop of my blood, in defence of my Brother Knights; that I would never wantonly commit an act of injustice or cruelty; and if I ever wilfully transgressed against this engagement, I prayed, that the souls which had moved that ensign may appear against me at the day of judgment. Q. What were you then desired to do. A. I was then ordered to take the Ensign in one hand and a lighted taper in the other, and to perambulate the encampment five times, in solemn meditation, with the admonition, that, if I had either prejudice or enmity towards any man, I was to dismiss it as a necessary qualification for further honours; and that, if I would not forgive my enemies, I had better fly to the desert, to shun the sight of the Knights of this order, than to appear so unworthy among them. This I promised to do. Q. How were you then disposed of. A. The veil was taken from the cross, at the sight of which my burthen fell from my back. Q. And then. A. I was divested of my pilgrim's dress and habited in the mantle of the order, at which I was told to receive the Lord's Yoke, for it was easy and light, and would bring rest to my soul, and that I was promised nothing but bread and water and a habit of little worth. Q. What was then explained to you. A. The encampment and its furniture. First, The three equilateral triangles representing the trinity in unity, in the centre of which was placed the omnipotent and all-seeing eye. Second, The figure of St. John of Jerusalem holding out the cup of salvation to all true believers. Third, The cock which was a memento to Peter. Fourth, The lamb. Fifth, The cross on Mount Calvary. Sixth, The five lights on the New Testament, as emblematical of the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascention of our blessed redeemer. Seventh, The sword and sceptre. Eighth, The Star which appeared at the birth of Jesus. Ninth, The ladder with five steps. Tenth, The saw. Eleventh, The Sepulchre and Bible. And twelfth, The cup. Q. What was then explained. A. The seven agonies of our Saviour. experienced in the garden of Gethsemane. First, that which he as a thief or assassin. Third, his being scurged by the order of Pontius Pilate. Fourth, the placing on his head on a crown of thorns. Fifth, the mockery and derision of the Jews by putting on him a scarlet robe and a reed in his hand as a sceptre. Sixth, nailing him to a Cross. And seventh, the piercing of his side. THIS, Sir Knight Companion, finishes my description of the degree of Knights Templars; and this will suffice to shew, that you are the Grand Master of as arrant a set of fools as were ever associated. I could have lengthened my catechism to twice its present length; but it would have been merely to copy matter extracted from the New Testament, of no interest to any reader. I have now remaining to be described, the degrees of the Red Cross of Rome and Constantine, Knights of the White Eagle or Pelican, and the Ne plus ultra! I think Masonry ne plus ultra in folly throughout. These three degrees will be the subject of another letter to you. I shall drop Finch's degree of the Knights of Malta, as it would be a mere repetition of what I have described in that of the Knights Templars. But there is a pass-word and grip called the Mediterranean Pass, which might as well be here mentioned. These Knights were in the habit of traversing the Mediterranean Sea, much after the manner that the Algerine Corsairs have since done: and these Christian Knights were evidently the first known establishment of pirates. Such Knights as had served a year against the Mahometans were entitled to the Pass-Word and Grip, which enabled them to traverse this sea free from molestation by their Brother Knights; and this alone could save them from the common piracy. The word is A-montra, a corruption of the French Verb Montrer to shew, to shew a sign. The persons, or knights, or pirates, in one vessel would hail with a trumpet, those of another passing with A-montra. It was answered by the toke- which was to seize a man by the thigh, as if in the act to throw him overboard. The real pass-word was Mahershalalhash-baz also spoken through a trumpet. The sign of these Knights, in entering the encampment, is to draw the fore-finger or thumb across the forehead, as indicative of the penalty of having the scull sawn asunder. The Knight Templars' grand sign is to represent the figure of Jesus Christ on the cross, arms extended, head drooping on the right shoulder, No. 14. Vol. XII. and the right foot laid over the left. The word necum sig. nifying revenge is also used by the Knight Templars of this country and of the continent. As I have before said, there is no regularity, no fixed form in these Christian Degrees, as they are not recognized by the Grand Lodge, nor was there in the three first degrees, before the Union took place and Dr. Hemming was appointed to fix a form.* Nothing like my exposure of Freemasonry has ever before appeared in print. Correct exposures of the three first degrees have been frequently made, according to the old forms; but so general an exposure as this never before appeared. No attempt at comment or illustration was ever * Finch prints eight octavo pages, as his description of the Knight Templar's degree, of the Mediterranean Pass, and of the Knights of Malta, which he concludes with the following note, truly descriptive of Masonry, and of the labour of compiling a description fit for the press. "W. Finch. most respectfully informs his brother Masons, that a great deal more is here intro-, duced, than usually takes place in the regular encampment, in this degree and he trusts they will not consider eight shillings too much, with the twelve plates included t; for, heretofore, these Lectures, with the other interesting matters attached to them, have been sold for two guineas, exclusive of the plates. It must be well known to Freemasons in general, that it is extremely difficult to procure any kind of information on Masonry; consequently, to obtain the whole of the lectures, &c. complete, in any of the degrees,must be attended with much expence, infinitelabour and loss of time. Therefore, it is not the quantity of matter that must be expected, but the importance of it; for it must be evident to masons in general, from the abstruse matter and complex circumstances of most of the leading points in our system, that it will not be too much for me to say, that it is no uncommon thing to spend many successive months close application in procuring what, in point of quantity, would scarcely fill twenty lines of these printed Lectures. Other important particulars are now submitted to the brotherhood, whereby they may learn more in one day, than could reasonably be expected, even through zealous indefatigable perseverance of many years, in the remote and rugged roads of a tedious, heart-sickening, endless probation where only a link from one and a link from another will be given and you are left in the dark to complete the chain." Because there is no chain to be completed. It is all a delusion. + This eight shillings worth is a series of initial letters and abridged words and not the half of what I have here compiled in this letter. R. C. before made in this country. No attempt at comment or illustration was ever before made in this country. I will not say what the indefatigable Germans have or have not done; but I have have had no assistance from them: my exposure is purely English and compiled from documents written and printed in the English Language. The labour has been most tedious, from the circumstance, that such Masons, as committed any thing to writing or the press, did it in the most obscure manner possible, so as they themselves could read. It has been from rubbish of this kind, that I have had to compile, and I have often dug for hours among a mass of paper, to find out a single word. As I shall address another letter to you, I shall not be very particular as to the manner of finishing this; but, I can overthrow all pretentions, even religious pretensions, as to the utility of your Masonic Christian Orders, by telling you, that, though associations of Christian Knights have existed; that though there has been a sepulchre, a tomb, a Mount Calvary at Jerusalem, and a thousand original or true Christian Crosses; that though millions of pilgrims have journeyed to Jerusalem, and millions of Christians and Mahometans have been destroyed or mutilated about that paltry city and its contents, there never was a true Jesus Christ, a real person; there never were such scenes at Jerusalem, as the New Testament describes; and Christianity did not originate in Judea,. Its origin is altogether a fable, an allegory. I have proved this in "The Republican" over and over again; and in the conclusion of my second letter, I will give you a summary of my proofs. But even if I could not prove this, even if the Gospels were literally true as pieces of history, there is now no excuse whatever for a commemoration of the deeds of those madmen who were engaged in the Crusades against the Mahometans; particularly, as now, all the governments in Europe are leagued in treaty with those Mahometans; and not one of them will offer the least assistance to so interesting a people as the Greeks struggling for independence. Was there a spark of chivalry among your modern Knights Templars, you would be off to Greece in the first ship. There is a fine and proper field for you to play at Sir Knights. RICHARD CARLILE. |