Aberdeen knew even less than their German friends, for they knew only the first three degrees. Stark, though found out, was not to be put down, but wrote a book entitled "The Coping Stone," in which he represented the Strict Observance as hostile to religion, society, and the state. 438. Rite of Zinzendorf.-This was not the first attack made on the system of Hund. In 1766, Count Zinzendorf, chief physician in the Prussian army, who had been received into the Strict Observance, was struck from the list of members of the lodge of the Three Globes. In revenge, he founded at Berlin and Potsdam lodges on the Templar system, which, however, he soon abandoned, and composed a new rite, invented by himself, and consisting of seven degrees, which was protected by Frederick the Great. The new Order made fierce and successful war both on the Strict and the Relaxed Observance. 439. African Architects.-About 1765, Brother Von Kopper instituted in Prussia, under the auspices of Frederick II., the Order of "African Architects," who occupied themselves with historical researches, mixing up therewith masonry and chivalry. The order was divided into eleven degrees. They erected a vast building, which contained a large library, a museum of natural history, and a chemical laboratory. Until 1786, when it was dissolved, the society awarded every year a gold medal with fifty ducats to the author of the best memoir on the history of Masonry. This was one of the few rational masonic societies. The African Architects did not esteem decorations, aprons, collars, jewels, &c. In their assemblies they read essays, and communicated the results of their researches. At their simple and decorous banquets, instructive and scientific discourses were delivered. While their initiations were gratuitous, they gave liberal assistance to zealous but needy brethren. They published many important works on Freemasonry. XVII THE CONGRESS OF WILHELMSBAD 440. Various Congresses.-To put an end to the numerous disputes raging among masonic bodies, various congresses were held. In 1778, a congress was convened at Lyons; it lasted a month, but was without result. In 1785, another was held at Paris, but the time was wasted in idle disputes with Cagliostro. The most important was that which assembled at Wilhelmsbad in 1782, under the presidency of the Duke of Brunswick, who was anxious to end the discord reigning among German Freemasons. It was attended by Masons from Europe, America, and Asia. From an approximative estimate, it appears that there were then upwards of three millions of Masons in the different parts of the globe. 441. Discussions at Wilhelmsbad. The statements contained in Dr. Stark's book, "The Coping Stone" (437), concerning the influence of the Jesuits in the masonic body, formed one of the chief topics discussed. Some of the chiefs of the Strict Observance produced considerable confusion by being unable to give information concerning the secrets of the high degrees, which they had professed to know; or to render an account of large sums they had received on behalf of the Order. The main point was to settle whether Masonry was to be considered as a continuation of the Order of the Templars, and whether the secrets of the sect were to be sought for in the modern Templar degrees. After thirty sittings, the answer was in the negative; the chiefs of the Strict Observance were defeated, and the Duke of Brunswick suspended the Order for three years, from which blow it never recovered. The Swedes professed to possess all the secrets; the Duke of Brunswick hastened to Upsala to learn them, but found that the Swedes knew no more than the Germans; whence new dissensions arose between the Masons of the two nations. 442. Result of Convention.-The result of the convention of Wilhelmsbad was the retention of the three symbolical degrees, with the addition of a new degree, that of the 'Knights of Beneficence," which was based on the principles enunciated in St. Martin's book, Des Erreurs et de la Vérité, and the Tableau Naturel. The foundation of the new Order was attributed to the influence of the Jesuits, because the three initial letters of Chevaliers Bienfaisants, C.H.B., are equal to 3, 8, 213, signifying the letter N, meaning Nostri. Another result was a league between Masonry and the Illuminati—and it is still a matter of speculation whether these latter were not behind the Jesuits-brought about by the exertions of Spartacus or Weishaupt, who had long ago discerned the influence he could obtain by the co-operation of the Masons, whom he, of course, employed as his unconscious tools. But Jesuitical influence, at that time, was too powerful to be overcome; they sided with, and thus strengthened the influence of, the duke; hence the opposition of Germany to the principles of the French Revolution, which broke out soon after-an opposition which was like discharging a rocket against a thunderbolt, but which was carried to its height by the manifesto of the Duke of Brunswick, so loudly praised by courtly historians, and of which the German princes made such good use as to induce the German confederacy to surround France with a fiery line of deluded patriotism. Freemasonry had been made the tool of prince- and priest-craft, though occasionally it turned the tables on the prince, an instance of which is recorded in the next paragraph. 443. Frederick William III. and the Masons.-The sudden retreat of the King of Prussia of this name, after having invaded France in 1792, has never been satisfactorily explained. Dr. E. E. Eckert, in his "Magazine of Evidence for the Condemnation of the Masonic Order," writes as follows, quoting from a private letter from M. V—z, of Paris, to Baron von S-z, at Vienna, which he qualifies as "thoroughly reliable":"The King of Prussia had crossed our frontiers; he was, I believe, at Verdun or Thionville. One evening a confidential attendant gave him the masonic sign, and took him into a subterranean vault, where he left him alone. By the light of the lamps illuminating the room, the king saw his ancestor, Frederick the Great, approaching him. There could be no mistake as to his voice, dress, gait, features. The spirit reproached the king with his alliance with Austria against France, and commanded him immediately to withdraw therefrom. You " know that the king acted accordingly, to the great disgust of his allies, to whom he did not communicate the reasons of his withdrawal. Some years afterwards our celebrated actor Fleury, who acquired such reputation by his performance at the Théâtre Français in "The Two Pages,' in which piece he represented Frederick the Great to perfection, confessed that he acted the ghost when Frederick William III. was mystified by an appearance, which had been planned by General Dumouriez." Dumouriez was a Freemason. XVIII MASONRY AND NAPOLEONISM 444. Masonry protected by Napoleon.-With renewed court frivolities and military pomp, the theatrical spirit of Masonry revived. The institution, so active before and during the Revolution, because it was governed by men who rightly understood and worthily represented its principles, during the Empire fell into academic puerilities, servile compliance, and endless squabbles. That period, which masonic writers, attached to the latter and pleased with its apparent splendour, call the most flourishing of French Masonry, in the eyes of independent judges appears as the least important and the least honourable for the masonic order. Napoleon at first intended to suppress Freemasonry, in which the dreaded ideologists might easily find a refuge. The representative system of the Grand Orient clashed with his monarchical principles, and the oligarchy of the Scotch rite aroused his suspicions. The Parisian lodges, however, practised in the art of flattery, prostrated themselves before the First Consul, prostrated themselves before the Emperor, and sued for grace. The suspicions of Napoleon were not dissipated; but he perceived the policy of avoiding violent measures, and of disciplining a body that might turn against him. The lodges were inundated with the lowest police agents, who rapidly attained the highest degrees, and seized at the very outset the clue of any political intrigue which might be concocted there. Napoleon, after considerable hesitation, declared in favour of the Grand Orient, and the Scotch rite had to assume the second place. A single word of Napoleon had done more to establish peace between them than all former machinations. The Grand Orient became a court office, and Masonry an army of employés. The Grand Mastership was offered to Joseph Napoleon, who accepted it, though never initiated into Freemasonry, with the consent of his brother, who, however, for greater security, insisted on having his trusty arch-chancellor Cambacérès appointed |