CHAPTER
LXXXIII
PHOENIX
SOCIETY OF SKIBBEREEN
(Founded
1858)
In our
enumeration of subversive societies we must include the Phoenix Society of
Skibbereen of which Captain Pollard writes the following in The Secret
Societies of Ireland (page 46).
"
In 1858 a premature organization, contrived to revive the tenets of the Young
Irishmen of ten years earlier, was founded at Skibbereen by Jeremiah O'Donovan
Rossa and James Stephens. Both these men were later to attain notoriety in
criminal annals, but the Phoenix Society was abortive. Attacked by the priests
it was suppressed. "
This
society is interesting to us on account of the subsequent career of James
Stephens, one of its founders, who had previously been identified with the
Fenian movement.
For root
of this movement see Chapter LXXXII.
CHAPTER
LXXXIV
L'ALLIANCE
ISRAELITE UNIVERSELLE
(A
BRANCH OF JEWISH MASONRY)
(Founded
1860)
If, as
it has been appropriately defined, Judaism is a sect, the creation of the
Alliance Israelite Univer- selle which took place in 1860 can be regarded as
that of its exoteric centre.
It was
founded in 1860 by Aristide Astruc, Isidor Cahen, Jules Carvalho, Narcisse
Leven, Eugene Manuel and Charles Netter. Its first president was Konigswarter.
Adolphe Cremieux was president from 1863- 1867 and again from 1868-1880.
In 1840,
the world had been startled by the news of the fearful murder of Pere Thomas at
Damascus. Serious investigations had resulted in the conviction of three Jews
who had confessed to the commission of the abominable crime for Jewish ritual
purposes of procuring human blood.
The
indignation of the whole world rising against Jewry made its prominent members
realise the danger threatening their newly acquired emancipation in most
countries, and they made a concerted effort to disprove Jewish guilt in the
Damascus affair. Foremost among them had been Moses Monte fiore, Adolphe
Cremieux and Solomon Munk. Yet, the real inspirer of the Alliance Israelite
Universelle was Hirsch Kalisher, Rabbi of Thorn (Russia) and its enthusiastic
exponent, Moses Hess.
The
chief aim of the Alliance Israelite Universelle was political, and was clearly
expressed in the report circulated after its foundation in which was stated :
All important faiths are represented in the world by nations, that is to say,
they are incarnated in governments especially interested in them and officially
authorized to represent them and speak for them only. Our faith alone is
without this important advantage; it is represented neither by a state nor by a
society, nor does it occupy a clearly defined territory.
The
Alliance Israelite Universelle therefore was destined to be the governmental
representative of all Jews from whatever country they lived in under the
authority of their secret Kahal or community rule.
The
first political manifestation of the Alliance Israelite Universelle took place
at the Berlin Congress in 1878 where it was represented by three of its
delegates : Kann, Netter and Veneziani.
The link
between the Alliance Israelite Universelle and Freemasonry was for many years
Adolphe Cremieux and Masonic writers have asserted that the 18th degree,
conferreo by the Grand Orient, makes the initiate, if not a member, at any rate
a supporter of the Alliance.
The
Alliance Israelite Universelle saw its dream of international Jewish Government
shattered when Zionism emerged and came tc the fore in 1897. It is note- worthy
that the " Prophet " of Zionism : Ahad Ha'am (Asher Ginsberg) was a
member of the Alliance Israelite Universelle and a disciple of Charles Netter.
The avowed aims of the A. I. U., namely a super-government of the world and a
universal religion, both to be Judaic, are being steadily pursued by the "
Jewish World Agency " functioning to-day.
CHAPTER
LXXXV
THE INTERNATIONAL
(FIRST
AND SECOND)
(Founded
1860)
In his
early days, Karl Marx, later to be the moving spirit of the First
International, edited a paper in Paris, Annales Franco-Allemandes, the organ of
a secret society. This paper had been founded by Arnold Riige, a disciple of
Mazzini. Marx met Riige through Henri Heine, the celebrated poet. '
Hecke
thorn, in his Secret Societies of All Ages and Countries gives an interesting
synopsis of the early phases of this movement destined ultimately to form the keystone
of subversion throughout the world.
"
The first attempt at an international society was made by a small number of
German workmen in London, who had been expelled from France in 1839 for taking
part in the riots in Paris. Its members consisted of Germans, Hungarians,
Poles, Danes and Swedes. Of the few English members Ernest Jones was one. The
society was on friendly terms with the English Socialists, the Chartists, and
the London French Democratic Society. Out of that friendship sprang the Society
of the Fraternal Democrats, who were in correspondence with a number of
democratic societies in Belgium. In November, 1847, a German Communist
Conference was held in London, at which Dr. Karl Marx (real name Mordechai) was
present. In the manifesto then put forth it was declared that the aim of the
Communists was the overthrow of the rule of the capitalists by the acquisition
of political power. The practical measures by which this was to be effected
were the abolition of private property in land ; the centralization of credit
in the hands of the State — the leading agitators of course to be the chiefs of
the State — by means of a national bank ; the centralization of the means of
transport in the hands of the State ; national workshops ; the reclamation and
improvement of land ; and the gratuitous education of all the children.
"
In 1860, a Trade Unionist, Manhood Suffrage, and Vote by Ballot Association was
established, of which G. Odger, a shoemaker, was chairman. As if it had not
enough of what might be called legitimate work to do, the association also
undertook to agitate in favour of Poland, for which purpose it co-operated with
the National League for the Independence of Poland. The London International
Exhibition of 1862 induced the French government to assist many French workmen
with means to visit that exhibition... " and "... on the 5th August,
all the delegates met at a dinner given to them by their English colleagues at
Freemason's Hall, where an address was read which formed, as it were, the foundation-stone
of the International. The Imperial Commission that had enabled the French
workmen to visit the London Exhibition had no doubt furnished them with return
tickets. But several of the artisans made no use of their second halves, since
profitable employment in London was found for them by their English brethren,
so that they might form connecting links between the workmen of the two
countries. "
The next
year, another meeting was arranged and this was followed by others. At last one
was held in London on Sept. 24, 1864, presided over by Professor Beesly, at
which it was finally determined to establisli a permanent organization of the
working people of the civilized world. The International Working Men's
Association was thus founded. In The Jewish Encyclopaedia, Article on Karl
Marx, we read that Mazzini and Marx were entrusted with the task of preparing
the address and the constitution. Then came the big public meeting held on
September 28, 1864 at St. Martin's Hall, which " declared the International
Working Men's Association to be established and congresses were appointed to be
held at different times and places to decide on the measures to be taken to
found the working men's Eldorado. Many societies at first were affiliated, but
dissensions soon broke out among them, and many, such as the Italian Working
Men's Society, withdrew again. "
This
withdrawal of the Italian section was doubtless influenced by its recognition
of the subversion of the original scheme for the amelioration of industrial conditions
by the Mazzinian revolutionary agents.
"
At a meeting held in London, in 1865, the ' re-establishment of Poland entire
and independent ' was again one of the questions discussed. The Paris delegates
were for avoiding political questions; but Mr. Odger reminded them that Poland
had furnished the occasion for the establishment of the association, and that
the Conference must stand by the Polish cause. "
In 1866,
a meeting or congress was held at Geneva, where the abolition of standing
armies, the destruction of the monopolies of great companies, and the transfer
of railways and other means of locomotion to the people, were decided on.
Another resolution favouring Polish Independence was passed and the report of
Marx made in 1864 was adopted.
To
anyone unversed in the intricacies of International Politics at that date, the
introduction and predominance of the meesures concerning Poland seem senseless.
All the International societies which, at that time, were affiliated to that of
Young Italy of which Mazzini, if not in every case the nominal founder, was in
all cases the moving spirit, were controlled by a central committee of which
the famous Italian Revolutionary was the presiding genius. In this committee
centered also the political power of Carbonarism plus that of Masonry as well
as that of Judaism which, functioning through Mazzini, Levi and Lemmi, found,
in the dawning International, an easy means of fostering revolutions on foreign
territory and a centre of agitation towards extorting the extension of rights
and privileges to their " Jewish brothers " in Poland, which, at that
date had the largest Jewish population of any country in the world. Thus, the
International, later to become its most powerful agent and the tyrant of a
nation, began to serve the Jewish International power.
We now
obtain the further information to the effect that at the Congress of Bale, held
in 1869, Bakounine and Armand Levi fought for the control of the organization.
" Bakounine, the Russian Nihilist, spoke thus without reserve :,'By social
liquidation I mean expropriation of all existing proprietors, by the abolition
of the political and legal state, which is the sanction and only guarantee of
all property as now existing, and of all that is called legal right; and the
expropriation, in fact, everywhere, and as much and as quickly as possible by
the force of events and circumstances. ' "
After
such remarks, the International was evidently considered by its masters to have
shown its mettle and to be deserving of better quarters. " A temple worthy
of their cult was sought and found... near Geneva, where... a fine building,
the Masonic Temple — Temple Unique... was procured. ... They put the name of
Temple on their cards and bills. Their cult had gained a worthy shrine...
"
The
further aims of the movement are thus described by Heckethorn:
"...
At the time when the International was founded, the French Empire was as yet in
all its strength and.... its ministers looked upon themselves as small Machiavellis
when they permitted the International (which claimed to be a social,
non-political organization), to grow in order, some day, to use it against a
mutinous bourgeoisie. The Emperor had an opportunity on September 2, at Sedan,
and the Empress on September 4, at Paris, to judge of the value of such policy.
However, the scheme of the association having been settled in London in 1864,
the organizers opened at Paris a bureau de correspondance, which was neither
formally interdicted nor regularly authorized by the Prefect and the Minister.
But the constantly growing power of the International shown by the strikes of
Roubaix, Amiens, Paris, Geneva, etc. after a time compelled the government
either to direct or to destroy it. The Parisian manifesto read at Geneva was
stopped at the French frontier ; but M. Rouher agreed to admit it into France,
if the association would insert some passages thanking the Emperor for what he
had done for the working classes — a suggestion which was received with
derision by the members. In the meantime the old revolutionary party, of which
Mazzini, Garibaldi, Blanqui, and Ledru-Rollin were the oracles, looked with
suspicion on the foundation of the International; for, as this last declared
that it would not meddle with politics, the others called out, Treason ! and
thus the two parties were soon in a condition of violent opposition. In 1867,
the Congress of Lausanne voted against war, but at the same moment the other
fraction of the demagogues, assembled at Geneva, under pretence of forming a congress
of peace, declared war on all tyrants and oppressors of the people. However,
the two parties, the bourgeois demagogues and the workmen demagogues,
eventually united ; and thus it came to pass that by virtue of this pact the
International took part in two revolutionary manifestations which occurred
about six weeks after — the one at the tomb of Manin in the cemetery of
Montmartre, and the other on the following day on the Boulevard Montmartre, to
protest against the French occupation of Rome. The International having thus
been carried away to declare war against the government, the latter determined
to prosecute it. The association was declared to be dissolved, and fifteen of
the leaders were each fined a hundred francs. The International taking no notice
of the decree of dissolution, a second prosecution was instituted, and nine of
the accused were condemned to imprisonment for three months. The International
now hid itself amidst the multitude of working men's societies of all
descriptions that were either authorized or at least tolerated, and made
enormous progress so that its chiefs at last declared themselves able to do
without any extraneous support. ' The International', said one of the speakers
at the Bale Congress (1869), ' is and must be a state within states ; let these
go on as suits them, until our state is the strongest. Then, on the ruins of
these, we shall erect our own fully prepared, such as it exists in every
section. '
"
On September 3rd 1870, the disaster of Sedan became known at Paris. On the next
day, Lyons, Marseilles, Toulouse, and Paris proclaimed the Republic. This
simultaneous movement was the result of an understanding existing between the
leading members of the International in the various parts of France ; but that
the 'Jules Favres and Gambettas, ' that vermine bourgeoise, as the
International called them, should obtain any share of power, was very galling
to the demagogues. At Lyons and Marseilles, however, the supreme power fell
into the hands of the lowest wretches. The Commune installed at Lyons began its
work by raising the red flag — that of the International. At Paris the
association pretended at first to be most anxious to fight the Prussians. When
the bat- talions were sent to the front, however, it was found that those
comprising most Internationals were the most ready ' to fall back in good
order, ' or even to fly in great disorder at the first alarm ; and General
Clement Thomas pointed out this instructive fact to the readers of the Journal
Officiel. But when a few Prussian regiments entered Paris, the Internationa , through its central committee, announced
that the moment for action was come ; and so the members seized the cannons
scattered in various parts of the city, and then began that series of excesses,
for which the Commune will always enjoy an infamous notoriety. Its first
sanguinary act was the assassination of Generals Lecomte and Clement Thomas.
"
One would have supposed that the International would disavow the Communists :
but, on the contrary, it approved of their proceedings. Flames were still
ascending from the Hotel de Ville when already numerous sections of the
International throughout Europe expressed their admiration of the conduct of
the Parisian outcasts.
"
At Zurich, at a meeting of the members of the International, it was declared
that ' the struggle maintained by the Commune of Paris was just and worthy, and
that all thinking men ought to join in the con-test.
Thus
they agreed with Armand Levi and Jewish Masonry !
In 1872,
another Jew, Karl Marx, transferred " the seat of the General Council to
New York, in care of his faithful follower F. A. Sorge ", his
co-religionist. There the organization
degenerated into a gang of Anarchist-revolutionaries. In 1876 it was dissolved.
Numerous
efforts to re-create the First International were made by Marx assisted by
Jules Guesde and in 1889 they founded the Second International, the development
of which was retarded by internal dissensions. In 1905 however a programme of
unification, elaborated at Amsterdam, was accepted by the contending factions.
For root
of this movement see Chapter LIII.
For
development of this movement see Chapter CXXV.
CHAPTER
LXXXVI
THE
KU-KLUX KLAN
(Founded
1865)
The
Ku-Klux Klan was the name of an American secret association formed by the
Whites of the Southern States for self protection after the Civil war.
It was
started at 1865 at Pulaski, Tennessee, as a club for young men. The period of
organization of the K. K. K. lasted from 1865 to 1868. It absorbed other
societies of similar aims such as the Knights of the White Camelia, the White
Brotherhood, the White League, the Pale Faces, Black Cavalry, White Rose, etc.
Apart
from the protection of whites, one of its chief aims was opposition to a
government based on negro suffrage such as the North wanted to impose on the
South.
The Klan
denominated the entire South as the Invisible Empire under the rule of a Grand
Wizard : General N. B. Forrest. Each state was a Realm under a Grand Dragon;
each county a Province under a Grand Giant, etc.
The
avowed principles were the maintenance of peace and order, of the laws of God,
of the political and social supremacy of the white race and also the prevention
of the intermingling of the races.
It
showed strenuous opposition to the " scallawags " and "
carpet-baggers " as they called the Northern Whites who incited the
negroes to commit all kinds of depredations against the Whites of the South.
In 1871
and 1872, the United States Congress enacted a series of " Force Laws
" to break the K. K. K. By that time however the negro was once more
subdued and the K. K. K.'s central organization was disbanded.
Its
spirit however survived and reasserted itself in 1915 when it was revived.
For
development of this organization see Chapter CXXIII.
CHAPTER
LXXXVII
SOCIETAS
ROSICRUCIANA IN ANGLIA
(Founded
1866)
For an
historical sketch of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, the cover name for
modern Illuminism, we can do no better than turn to such an authority as its
historian William Wynn Westcott, erstwhile Supreme Magus of the Society.
The
following items of information are gleaned from his History of the Societas
Rosicruciana in Anglia, published in 1910. ' The official statement of the aims
of the Society reads as follows : — " The aim of the Society is to afford
mutual aid and encouragement in working out the great problems of Life and in
searching out the secrets of Nature ; to facilitate the study of the system of
philosophy founded upon the Cabala and the doctrines of Hermes Trismegistus,
which was inculcated by the original Fratres Rosae-Crucis of Germany, A. D.
1450 ; and to investigate the meaning and symbolism of all that now remains of
the wisdom, art and literature of the ancient world. "
The Societas
Rosicruciana in Anglia, IX, privately printed, Dec. 30, 1900. Copyright.
British Museum Press Mark
"
The Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia was founded in 1866 by Frater Robert
Wentworth Little, an eminent Freemason with much literary talent, and of great
personal popularity. He was Secretary of the Province of Middlesex, and
Secretary of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls. He became the first
Supreme Magus and Master General of the College in 1867. His knowledge and
authority emanated from two sources, and were supplemented by the learning and
researches of several other prominent students of occult philosophy. Brother
William Henry White, the Grand Secretary of England, preserved certain Rosicrucian
papers which had ccme into his possession on attaining office in 1810, at
Freemason's Hall, and ot these he made no use ; Brother Little fouud these
papers and used them. At the same time, and with the object of re-constituting
a Rosicrucian College in London, he availed himself of certain knowledge and
autho- rity which belonged to Brother Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, who had, during
a stay in Germany in earlier life, been in communication with German Adepts who
claimed a descent from previous generations of Rosicrucians. German Adepts had
admitted him to some grades of their system, and had permitted him to attempt
the formation of a group of Masonic students in England, who under the
Rosicrucian name might form a partly esoteric society. With this license and
with the manuscripts of ritual information, which Brother White had discovered
in the vaults of Freemason's Hall, Fratres R. W. Hughan, Woodman, O'Neal Haye,
Irwin and some others, the present English rituals were adopted, and have been
in use with some modifications made by Dr. Woodman and his successor, ever
since the first regular meeting of the Society.
"
The basic rule of the new Society stated that only Master Masons of good
standing and repute should be admitted to membership, thus drawing a new dis-
tinction, of which we have no previous record ; for earlier English Rosicrucian
Colleges had no Masonic basis, and some fraternities abroad certainly admitted
women on equal terms, of which fact there is extant literary proof.
"
See the curious document called ' The admission of Sigismund Bacstrom, dated
September 12th 1794 '. This will be found reprinted in The Rosicrucian of
October, 1876. The only literary extant evidence of the source of our
Rosicrucian ritual from Brother W. H. White is contained in a letter in
possession of the Society. The share of Kenneth Mackenzie in the origin of the
Society depends at the present time on his letters to Dr. Woodman and Dr.
Westcott, and on his personal conversations during the years 1876-1886 with Dr.
Westcott.
"
Fratres Hughan, Irwin, Hockley, Woodforde and Benjamin Cox have also
contributed their personal knowledge on the subject.
"
The original MSS. which Little possessed never came into the possession of the
S. M., the late Dr. Woodman, and so were never received by the present Magus
who has thus few proofs in writing of the historic basis, which he lays down in
this sketch of the Society. The most natural conclusion is that Little returned
these papers to some obscure portion of the records at Freemason's Hall, and
that they are there still, although the present officials have not traced them.
This explanation is very probable, because in September 1871, a Brother Mathew
Cooke raised a complaint in Grand Lodge against Masonic officials for
discovering, using and removing old manuscripts from the record rooms of
Freemason's Hall. These papers supplied the basis for the reconstitution of the
Order of the Red Cross of Constantine, as well as of the Rosicrucian Society.
They were both Christian bodies, and their records had been hidden away since
the time of the Grand Mastership of the Duke of Sussex, in 1813, who, favouring
the Unitarian doctrine, did all in his power to remove Christian grades from
notice.
"
Our records include a letter from the Rev. T. F. Ravenshaw, Grand Chaplain of
England, one of the earliest fratres of the Society, confirming much of the
historic information which the author received from Dr. Woodman, Woodforde,
Mackenzie and Irwin. This letter recites as follows : — (I) that the first S.
M. Frater R. M. Little explained to him that the German Fraternity had an
established regulation which permitted distinguished members to confer Rosicrucian
grades in due order on suitable persons. (II) That a certain Venetian
Ambassador to England in the last century had conferred Rosicrucian grades and
knowledge on Students in England; these in their turn had handed on the rule
and tradition to others, oi whom one of the last survivors was Frater William
Henry White, Grand Secretary of English Freemasonry from 1810 to 1857 ; he
retired and lived until 1866. (Ill) From the papers he possessed Frater White
admitted Frater Robert Wentworth Little. (IV) These papers came into Little's
possession at Freemason's Hall on Frater White's retirement from office. (V)The
rituals are mentioned as being imperfect for ceremonial open use. "
The
above contains much useful information for any reader who might later undertake
research work not only on the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia but also in its
offshoots : Golden Dawn, Stella Matutina and Ordo Templi Orientis, etc. As to
the organization of the Society, in order to enable the reader to understand
the system on which it functions, we reprint here with from The Rosicrucian,
the Quarterly Record of the Society's transactions, 3 edited by Frater Robert
Wentworth Little (S. M.) Master General and Frater William Robert Woodman, M.
D., Secretary General, some of the articles governing its organization.
I. —
That the meetings of the Society shall be held in London at such house as the
majority of the members shall select, on the 2nd Thursdays in January, April,
July and October in each year, at such time and place as the majority shall
select. The first meeting in the year shall be considered as the obligatory
meeting and any member unable to attend on that occasion or at the banquet
meeting shall be required to send a written excuse to the Secretary-General.
Each brother present at the banquet shall pay his quota towards the expenses
thereof.
III. —
The Master-general and the Officers shall be elected annually at the obligatory
meeting and shall be induced into their several offices on the same eve- ning.
The Master-general shall then appoint the Assistant officers for the year.
IV. — No
brother shall be eligible for election to the office of Master-general or Deputy
Master-general unless he shall have served one year as an Ancient, and have
attained the third Order; and no brother shall be eligible for the offices of
Treasurer-general, Secretary-general, or Ancient, unless he be a member of the
second Order.
3. No.
1, July 1868, British Museum Press Mark 4782-h22.
V. — The
Society shall, in conformity with ancient usage, be composed of nine classes or
grades, and the number of brethren in each class shall be restricted as follows
: —
1 — or
grade Zelator 33
2 — or
grade Theoricus 27
3 — or
grade Practicus 21
4 — or
grade Philosophus 18
TOTAL 99
The
above shall form the First Order
5 — or
grade of Adeptus Junior 15
6 — or
grade of Adeptus Major 12
7 — or
grade of Adeptus Exemptus 9
TOTAL 36
These
brethren shall form the Second Order
8 — or
grade of Magister Templi 6
9 — or
Magus 3
TOTAL 9
These
shall be considered as the Third (or highest) Order, and shall be entitled to
seats in the Council of the Society. The senior member of the 9th grade shall
be designated " Supreme Magus " and the two other members Senior and
Junior Substitutes respectively. The grand total of membership shall thus be
limited to 144, or the square of 12. The number of registered Novices or
Aspirants shall not be restricted, but members only shall be permitted to be
present at the ceremonial meetings of the Society.
VI. —
The distinction of Honorary Member may be conferred upon eminent brethren,
provided that their election to such membership shall be unanimous and that
their number be strictly limited to 16, or the square of 4. An Honorary
President, who must be a nobleman, and three Vice-Presidents, shall be selected
from the honorary members. A Grand-Patron may also be elected in like manner.
VII. —
No aspirant shall be admitted into the Society unless he be a Master Mason, and
of good moral character, truthful, faithful and intelligent...
VIII. —
Every Novice on admission to the grade of Zelator shall adopt a Latin motto, to
be appended to his signature in all communications relating to the Society.
This motto cannot under any pretence be afterwards changed, and no two brethren
shall be at liberty to adopt the same motto....
The
other articles, 20 in all, can be read in The Rosicrucian.
In 1877,
the order of membership was rearranged to provide that in future, every College
under the jurisdiction of England would be restricted to 36 subscribing members
exclusive of members of the 9th grade : the only exception being the
Metropolitan College which was to be permitted to enrol 72 members.
In The
Rosicrucian the Society defines its aims in the following terms : —
"
The object of the society being purely literary and antiquarian it is almost
unnecessary to state that no interference with, or opposition to, any rite of
Freemasonry is intended, or even tolerated : and it matters not to the members
whether the aspirant be a disciple of pure and ancient Masonry, as interpreted
by the Grand Lodge of England, or be enthusiastic follower of those rites which
embrace the Hauts Grades, provided he be of good standing and possess
sufficient ability to take part in the peculiar objects of research to which
the society restricts itself — mystic and Rosicrucian lore.
"
Thus the roll of the society displays names side by side, on the one hand
ardent supporters of the high grades, and on the other their bitter opponents.
"
Those
who have occupied the position of Supreme Magus in the order of their
succession were : —
R.
Wentworth Little 1865-1878
Dr.
Robert Woodman 1878-1891
Dr.
William Wynn Westcott 1891-1925
Towards
the close of the XIX Century, the membership of Rosicruciana in Anglia included
the following personages : —
Samuel
Liddell MacGregor Mathers (Junior Sub Magus)
Thomas
Bowman Whytehead IX
John
Yarker IX
George
Kenning
A. E.
Waite
Eliphas
Levi
Kenneth
R. H. Mackenzie IX
Major
Irwin IX
William
James Hughan IX
etc.
etc.
The
Annual Convocations were held in the Rosi-
crucian
Temple at the Frascati restaurant, Oxford Street, London, W. The foreign
branches of this order were founded in — Canada — in 1877 by M. W. Frater Col.
W. B. Macleod Moore with Fratres Thomas Douglas Harrington as S. S. M. and
George Longley as J. S. M. Four meetings a year at Masonic Hall, Maitland,
Ontario.
The
United States of America — in 1880 by M. W. Frater Charles E. Mayer IX, Supreme
Magus of United States.
Germany
— in 1902 by Theodore Reuss VIII
(Initiated
in the Pilgrim's Lodge 238, London).
Scotland
— in 1877.
In
connection with the statement made at the opening of this chapter that The
Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia was modern Illuminism, the reader's attention
must be drawn to the similarity of the grades of the modern Rosicrucian Society
with those of Weishaupt's Bavarian illuminism.
Much has
been said and written by various and numerous English authorities on the
subject of English Grand Lodge being in no wise connected with any outside
societies, whether exoteric or esoteric or with foreign or, as they call it,
" Continental " masonry.
We
however submit the following suggestions as a logical deduction from a close
study of the organization, activities and connections of the Societas Rosicruciana
in Anglia.
English
Grand. Lodge is today what it was intended to be at the time of its creation,
by disciples of avowed Rosicrucianism, namely a dragnet or nursery. Under the
guise of philanthropy, humanitarianism, democratic ideals, and the promise of
material advancement, it attracts untold numbers of unsuspecting men. The
sifting takes place from the time of their initiation. For those who are deemed
useless to the further secret aims of Masonry and therefore unworthy of
climbing from the Master's chair in Grand Lodge to The Royal Arch degree,
English Masonry will always remain what it was represented to be when they
became candidates for initiation. They will be useful carriers of the legend
that English Masonry believes in God and philanthropy. But, like Charity,
English Grand Lodge covers a multitude of sins.... Above all, it covers Gnosticism
under all its aspects ; it is in fact its screen.
It is a
common error to believe that the English Grand Lodge is an independent body
which was formed in 1717. Logical deduction will show that, owing to its
formation being the result of Rosicrucian effort, it always has been, and still
must be, subject to the direction of its esoteric parent body, i. e. ROSICRUCIANISM
or Manichean and Socinian Gnosticism.
Childish
as may be the claim of English Grand Lodge as to its autonomy and independence,
yet it has been most successfully defended by scores of English writers who
attacked Masonic Societies and their subversive activities against state and
religion. According to them English Grand Lodge was always exempted from such
groups.
It is
time to put an end to this legend. English Grand Lodge, the body which claims
to represent English Freemasonry, is as much the child of Rosicrucianism today
as it was in 1717 and has no more power or wish today to rebel against, or deny
its parent, than it had then. As to Esoteric Rosicrucianism, this Esoteric
body, mainly Cabalistic in its direction, always has been and is in truth
international. It has penetrated every association, society or organization
just as did the Illuminati of Bavaria at the Wilhelmsbad convent of 1782.
In the
particular Gnostic Rosicruciana in Anglia, briefly sketched here, we see
internationalism clearly depicted. At one time it was personified in Kenneth
Mackenzie who, initiated and illuminized by the German Rosicrucian adepts, was
later the connecting link between German, English and French Gnosticism, the
latter represented at the time by Eliphas Levi (A. L. Constant).
Nearer
to our own time, William Wynn Westcott is the connecting link of this
international Rosicrucian-gnosticism. Prominent Grand Lodge and Royal Arch
Mason, he was also Supreme Magus of Rosicruciana in Anglia and Knight Kadosch
etc.
His
connections with John Yarker, as also with the French hermetist Papus and with
the theosophist Blavatsky, were of an esoteric kind, but most important of all
were his close relations with his brother Rosicrucian MacGregor Mathers and the
German Theodore Reuss. For it is, we know, William Wynn Westcott, the respected
English Grand Lodge and Royal Arch Mason, Supreme Magus of Rosicruciana in
Anglia who, together with the Cabalist MacGregor Mathers, created the
Rosicrucian branch known as the Order of the Golden Dawn. With Theo- dore Reuss
he was closely associated with the foundation of the Ordo Templi Orientis which
from Reuss and Karl Kellner's manuscripts is known to be phallic.
How far
the reciprocal conferring of degrees in their respective orders between John
Yarker, W. W. Westcott, Theodore Reuss, Engel and Papus is a case of
interpenetration remains to be determined. John Yarker was the head of the
Ancient and Primitive Rite of the Rite of Swedenborg, etc., Wm. Wynn Westcott,
the Supreme Magus of Rosicruciana in Anglia, Theodore Reuss and Engel, heads of
the German Illuminati and Ordo Templi Orientis, and Papus, head of the
Martinists. We are fully aware of the Gnostic practices of these different
rites but the student bent on a certain type of research will find interesting
and instructive the study of the political activities of the different bodies
mentioned. The author of Light Bearers of Darkness has attempted to show part
of the nefarious political game played by adepts of the Stella Matutina and
Golden Dawn Orders, two of the occult branches of Rosicruciana in Anglia.
We
reprint below two letters exchanged between William Wynn Westcott and the
German Theodore Reuss which show the interlocking and international gnostic
direction of those two late honoured members of English Grand Lodge
Freemasonry.
It
remains for the student to follow every line of enquiry to the point of ccncentration
where all threads are gathered and systematically manipulated for the eventual
destruction of Christian civilization.
It may
lead to the B'nai B'rith, the Universal Israelite Alliance, India or Thibet,
but in any case, a thorough and complete study of Rosicrucianism embracing a
minute one of Rosicruciana in Anglia and its various branches will be a great
step taken in the direction of uncovering much of the political and moral chaos
of present day history of humanity.
Feb 14,
1902
Dear
Bro. Reuss ;
I have
to acknowledge receipt of Illuminati papers and safely received and they shall
be translated and considered and I will report upon what I can do — Best
thanks.
As to
the Swed. Riie the Lodge Holy Grail No. 15 is all right and Bro. Yarker is entirely
within his right to give you, a known Master Mason of England, a Warrant for a Lodge,
but he hesitates to issue written authority for 6 Lodges which your Latomia
says are not regular. I had got his permission to make a Prov. Gd. Lodge of
Germania for you but now he hesitates, because he does not want to have half
the German Masonic World condemning him as well as half the English, who
condemn him for the A. & P. Rite.
Please
write to him
John
Yarker, Esq.
West
Didsbury, near Manchester Eng. and get his authority to go on, at present my
hands are tied. With best wishes, Believe me,
Yours
sincerely,
W. W.
Westcott.
To
Theodor Reuss
Societas
Rosicruciana in Anglia Dr. Wm. Wynn Westcott S. M. J. X.
Memorandum
from the High Council 396, Camden Road, N.
Aug 26,
1902
Care
Frater,
I have
duly reed, your card & letter & Report, for all which best thanks. I
hope you are well again. I am sorry you missed seeing my Bro. Gardner. I note
what you say about the Illuminati and hereby accept the position of Regent, and
must find a good man to work it up. Do I understand that Engel is now out of
the order ? I have not heard any more from him.
Re
Rosics.
Your
fratres must each choose a Latin motto ; Mine is " Quod scis, nescis.
" — even what you know — you don't really know — is a free translation — I
will read your Report on Second Thursday in October to the High Council and Met.
Coll.
There
must be a lot of Rosic M. S. S. lying hid in your country, make every effort to
find some. We have copies of two here. I will ask the H. C. about the use of
Library. I propose to keep German contributions for buying further Books for
it, and for that alone. You might look out to buy any German Rosic books for
us. Yours sincerely,
Wynn
Westcott.
Photographic
reproductions of the above letters and of other documents interesting to the
student of Occult Theocrasy will be found in Appendix IV.
For root
of this movement see Chapter XXII.
For
development of this movement see Chapters CIX, CX, cxv.
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