ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FREEMASONRY AND ITS KINDRED SCIENCES
by ALBERT C. MACKEY M. D.

C

CHARGE

So called from the Old Charges, because, like them, it contains an epitome of duty. It is the admonition which is given by the presiding officer, at the close of the ceremony of initiation, to the candidate, and which the latter receives standing, as a token of respect. There is a Charge for each Degree, which is to be found in all the monitors and manuals from Preston onward.

CHARITY, COMMITTEE ON

See Committee of Charity

CHARITY FUND

Many Lodges and Grand Lodges have a fund especially appropriated to charitable purposes, which is not used for the disbursement of the current expenses, but which is appropriated to the relief of indigent brethren, their widows, and orphans.

CHARLATAN

A charlatan is a babbling mountebank, who imposes on the populace by large pretensions and high-sounding words. A charlatan in Freemasonry is one who seeks by a display of pompous ceremonial, and often by claims to supernatural powers, to pervert the Institution of Freemasonry to the acquisition of mere gain, or the gratification of a paltry ambition. Every man, says a distinguished writer, is a charlatan who extorts money by charging for sixpenny trash the amount that should only be paid for works of science, and that, too, under the plea of conveying knowledge that cannot otherwise be obtained (Freemasons Magazine, London, 1844, page 505). The eighteenth century presented many examples of the Masonic charlatans, of whom Brother Mackey deemed the one by far the greatest was Cagliostro; nor has the nineteenth century been entirely without them.

CHARLEMAGNE

The great Charles, King of France, who ascended the throne in the year 768, is claimed by some Masonic writers as a patron of Freemasonry. This is perhaps because architecture flourished in France during his reign, and because he encouraged the arts by inviting the architects and traveling Freemasons, who were then principally confined to Italy, to visit France and engage in the construction of important edifices. The claim has been made that at his castle at Aix-la-Chapelle he set apart a room or rooms in which the seven liberal arts and sciences were taught. This comprised a liberal education for that period.

CHARLES MARTEL

He was the founder of the Carlovingian dynasty, and governed France with , supreme power from 720 to 741, under the title of Duke of the Franks, the nominal kings being only his puppets. He is claimed by the authors of the Old Records as one of the patrons of Freemasonry. Thus, the Manuscript (Grand Lodge, No. l, Volume iv, Quatuor Coronati Lodge reprints) tells us: “There was one of the Royal Line of France called Charles Marhsall, and he was a man that loved well the said Craft and took upon him the Rules and Manners, and after that BY THE GRACE OF GOD he was elect to be the King of France, and when he was in his Estate he helped to make those Masons that were now, and sett them on Work and gave them Charges and Manners and good pay as he had learned of other Mascns, and confirmed them a Charter from year to year to hold their Assembly when they would, and cherished them right well, and thus came this Noble Craft into France and England.”

Rebold, in his History, has accepted this legend as authentic, and says: “In 740, Charles Martel, who reigned in France under the title of Mayor of the Palace at the request of the Anglo-Saxon kings, sent many workmen and Masters into England.”

CHARLES I AND II

For their supposed connection with the origin of Freemasonry, see Stuart Freemasonry.

CHARLES XIII

The Duke of Sudermanland was distinguished for his attachment to Freemasonry. In 1809 he ascended the throne of Sweden under the title of Charles XIII, Having established the Masonic Order of Knighthood of that name, he abdicated in favor of Charles John Bernadotte, but always remained an active and zealous member of the Order. There is no king on record so distinguished for his attachment to Freemasonry as Charles XIII, of Sweden, and to him the Swedish Freemasons are in a great measure indebted for the high position that the Order has maintained in that country.

CHARLES XIII, ORDER OF

An Order of knighthood instituted in 1811 by Charles XIII, King of Sweden, which was to be conferred only on the principal dignitaries of the Masonic Institution in his dominions. In the manifesto establishing the Order, the king says: “To give to this Society (the Masonic) a proof of our gracious sentiments towards it, we will and ordain that its first dignitaries to the number which we may determine, shall in future be decorated with the most intimate proof of our confidence, and which shall be for them a distinctive mark of the highest dignity.” The number of Knights are twenty-seven, all Freemasons, and the King of Sweden is the perpetual Grand Master. The ribbon is red, and the jewel a maltese cross pendant from an imperial crown.

CHARLESTON

A city in the United States of America, and the metropolis of the State of South Carolina. It was there that the first Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite was established in 1801, whence all other Supreme Councils have emanated, directly or indirectly. Hence, it has assumed the title of Mother Council of the World. The headquarters of the Southern Supreme Council were removed in 1870 to the city of Washington (see Scottish Rite).

CHARMS, MAGICAL

See Talisman

CHART I

A map on which is delineated the emblems of a degree, to be used for the instruction of candidates, formerly called a carpet, which see. 2. The title given by Jeremy L. Cross to his Hieroglyphic Monitor, which acquired on its first appearance in the Lodges of America a popularity that it has not yet entirely lost. Hence the word chart is still sometimes used colloquially and improperly to designate any other Masonic manual of monitorial instruction.

CHARTER

Often used for Warrant of Constitution, which see.

CHARTERED LODGE

A Lodge working under the authority of a Charter or Warrant of Constitution issued by a Grand Lodge as distinguished from a Lodge working under a Dispensation issued by a Grand Master. Chartered Lodges only are entitled to representation in the Grand Lodge. They alone can make by-laws, elect members or have their officers installed- They are the constituent Bodies of a Jurisdiction, and by their representatives compose the Grand Lodge.

CHARTER IS, FRANCIS

Sixth Earl of Wemyss Grand Master of Scotland, 1747. Another Francis Charteris, afterwards Lord Elcho, was Deputy Grand Master of Scotland 1786-7.

CHARTER MEMBER

A Freemason whose name is attached to the petition upon which a Charter or Warrant of Constitution has been granted to a Lodge, Chapter, or other subordinate body.

CHARTER OF COLOGNE

See Cologne, Charter of

CHARTER OF EDWIN

See Edwin Charges and Edwin

CHARTER OF TRANSMISSION

See Transmission, Charter of

CHARTRES, LOUIS PHILIPPE JOSEPH, DUKE OF

Afterwards Duke of Orleans, known as Egalité or Equality. Succeeded Comte de Clermont as Grand Master of France in 1771. In 1793, January 5, a letter in the Journal de Paris, signed Egalité, repudiated the Grand Orient of France and Freemasonry, to which the Grand Orient replied by declaring the Grand Mastership vacant (see Histoire de la Franc-Maçonnerie, Albert Lantoine, 1925, Paris, page 74). Died by the guillotine November 6, 1793. Besuchet says that the Duke de Chartres was not the head of the entire Masonic Order as there was also in existence the Grand Lodge of France and the Grande Loge Nationale, or the Grand Orient de France.

CHASIDIM

In Hebrew, pronounced Khaw-seed-eem, meaning saints. The name of a seet which existed in the time of the Maccabees, and which was organized for the purpose of opposing innovations upon the Jewish faith. Their essential principles were to observe all the ritual laws of purification, to meet frequently for devotion, to submit to acts of self-denial and mortification, to have all things in common, and sometimes to withdraw from society and to devote themselves to contemplation. Lawrie, History of Freemasonry (page 38), who seeks to connect them with the Masonic Institution as a continuation of the Freemasons of the Solomonic era, describes them under the name of Kasideans as “a religious Fraternity, or an Order of the Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem, who bound themselves to adorn the porches of that magnificent structure, and to preserve it from injury and decay. This association was composed of the greatest men of Israel, who were distinguished for their charitable and peaceful dispositions, and always signalized themselves by their ardent zeal for the purity and preservation of the Temple.”

CHASTANIER, BENEDICT

A French surgeon, who in the year 1767 introduced into England a modification of the Rite of Pernetty, in nine degrees, and established a Lodge in London under the name of the Illuminated Theosophists ; which, however, according to Lenning, soon abandoned the Masonic forms, and was converted into a mere theosophic sect, intended to propagate the religious system of Swedenborg. White, in his Life of Emanuel Swedenborg, published at London in 1868 (page 683), gives an account of “The Theosophical Society’, instituted for the purpose of promoting the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem by translating, printing, and publishing the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.” This society was formed in 1784, and met on Sundays and Thursdays at Chambers in New Court, Middle Temple, for the discussion of Swedenborg’s writings. Among the twenty-five persons mentioned by White as having either joined the society or sympathized with its object, we find the name of “Benedict Chastanier, Freach Surgeon, 62 Tottenham Court.” The nine degrees of Chastanier’s Rite of Illuminated Theosophists are as follows: 1, 2, and 3, Symbolic degrees; 4, 5, 6, Theosophic Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master; 7, Sublime Scottish Mason, or Celestial Jerusalem; 8, Blue Brother; and 9, Red Brother.

CHASTITY

In the Regius or Halliwell Manuseript of the Constitutions of Freemasonry, written not later than the latter part of the fourteenth century, the seventh point is in these words: Thou schal not by thy maystres Wyf ly, Ny by thy felows yn no manner wyse, Lest the Craft wold the despyse; Ny by thy felows concubyne, No more thou woldest he dede by thyne. Again, in the Constitutions known as the Matthew Cooke Manuscript, the date of which is about the latter part of the fifteenth century, the same regulation is enforced in these words : ”The 7th Point. That he covet not the wyfe ne the daughter of his masters, another of his fellows but if (unless) hit be in maryage.” So all through the Old Constitutions and Charges we find this admonition to respect the chastity of our Brethren’s wives and daughters ; an admonition which, it is scarcely necessary to say, is continued to this day.

CHASUBLE

The outer dress which is worn by the priest at the altar service, and is an imitation of the old Roman toga. It is a circular cloth, which falls down over the body so as completely to cover it, with an aperture in the center for the head to pass through. It is used in the ceremonies of the Rose Croix Degree.

CHECKERED FLOOR

See Mosaic Pavement

CHEF-D’OEUVRE

French, meaning superior production. It was a custom among many of the gilds, and especially among the Compagnans du Devoir, who sprang up in the sixteenth century in France, on the decay of Freemasonry in that kingdom, and as one of its results, to require every Apprentice, before he could be admitted to the freedom of the gild, to present a piece of finished work as a proof of his skill in the art in which he had been instructed. The piece of work was called his chef-d’oeuvre, or masterpiece.

CHEQUERED FLOOR

See Mosaic Pavement

CHEREAU, ANTOINE GUILLAUME

He was a painter in Paris, who published, in 1806, two hermetico-philosophical works entitled Explication de la Pierre Cubique, and Explication de la Croix Philosophique; or Explanations of the Cubical Stone and of the Philosophical Cross. These works are brief, but give much interesting information on the ritualism and symbolism of the advanced degrees. They have been republished by Tessier in his Manuel General, without, however, any acknowledgment to the original author.

CHERUBIM

The second order of the angelic hierarchy, the first being the seraphim. The two cherubim that overtopped the merey-seat or covering of the ark, in the holy of holies, were placed there by Moses, in obedience to the orders of God : ” And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercyseat. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; towards the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubims be” (see Exodus xxv, 18, 20). It was between these cherubim that the Shekinah or Divine Presence rested, and from which issued the Bathkol or Voice of God. Of the form of these cherubim we are ignorant. Josephus says that they resembled no known creature, but that Moses made them in the form in which he saw them about the throne of God; others, deriving their ideas from what is said of them by Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Saint John, describe them as having the face and breast of a man, the wings of an eagle, the belly of a lion, and the legs and feet of an ox, which three animals, with man, are the symbols of strength and wisdom. But all agree in this, that they had wings, and that these wings were extended. The cherubim were purely symbolic. But although there is great diversity of opinion as to their exact signification, yet there is a very general agreement that they allude to and symbolize the protecting and overshadowing power of the Deity. Reference is made to the extended wings of the cherubim in the Degree of Royal Master. Much light has been thrown upon the plastic form of these symbols, says Brother C. T. MeClenachan, not only as to the Cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant spoken of in Exodus, Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, but those of Chaldeo-Assyrian art which beautified the gates of the palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh, and other structures. Brother McClenachan adds the following comments : The Kirubi of the Assyrian type, in the shape of bulls with extended wings, in nowise meet the description given above. The figures which can be found in various places upon Egyptian monuments, placed face to face on either side of the Naos of the gods, and stretching out their arms, furnished with great wings, as though to envelop them (see Wilkinson, Manners and Custom of Ancient Egyptians, 1878, volume iii), more fully meet the idea-in fact, it is convincing, when we remember the period, and note that all else about the sacred furnishings of the Tabernacle, or Ohel-mo’ed, are exclusively Egyptian in form, as well as the sacerdotal costumes (see L’Egypte et Moïse, by Abbé Ancessi, Paris, 1875). Furthermore, this was most natural, since the period was immediately after the exodus. The Cherubim of the Ark were remodeled by Solomon after designs by his father, David (First Chronicles xxviii, 18). At this epoch, says François Lenormant, Professor of Archeology at the National Library of France, in his Beginnings of History, 1882, the Egyptian influence was no longer supreme in its sway over the Hebrews; that the Assyro-Babylonian influence balanced it; that the new Cherubim, then executed, may have been different from the ancient ones as described in Exodus; in fact, Kirubi after the Assyrian type, which formed a Merkabah, meaning a chariot (First Chronicles xxviii, 18), upon which Yahveh was seated. In the Egyptian monuments the gods are often represented between the forward-stretching wings of sparrow-hawks or vultures. placed face to face, and birds of this kind often enfold with their wings the divine Naos. The adornment of the Tabernacle, as mentioned in Exodus, excluded every figure susceptible of an idolatrous character, which is far from being the case in what we know of the Temple of Solomon. In the matter of plastic images, none was admitted save only the Cherubim, which were not only placed upon the Ark, but whose representations are woven into the hangings of the Mishkan and the veil which separates the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. It is therefore most probable that the Cherubim of Exodus were great eagles or birds-Kurubi-while under the remodeling by Solomon these were changed to Kirubi with human faces. The prophet Ezekiel describers four hay-yoth or Cherubim, two and two, back to back, and going “each one straight forward” toward the four quarters. The Cherubim of the Merkabah of Ezekiel have four wings-two lifted up and two covering their back and four human faces set in pairs, to the right and to the left, one of a man, one of a bull, one of a lion, and one of an eagle-the faces of creatures which combine all the emblems of strength depicted by the Chaldeo-Assyrian bull. Ezekiel thus describes the Cherubim with several faces which, alternately with the palm-trees, decorated the frieze around the interior of the temple at Jerusalem: “Each Kerub had two faces, a man’s face turned one way toward the palm-tree, and a lion’s face turned the other way toward the other palm-tree; and it was in this wise all around the house.” The following information, furnished by Professor Lenormant, on the subject of Cherubim, is important: “Deductions were formerly made from the Aryan theory to support primitive tradition as to origin and form, but these have been overthrown, and the Semitic interpretation made manifest through finding the name of the Cherubim in the cuneiform inscriptions; that in place of referring the Hebrew word kerub to the Aryan root grabh, meaning to seize, the word is more properly of Semitic origin, from the root karab, signifying bull, or a creature strong and powerful. Referring to the prophet Ezekiel (i, 10, and x, 14), the two parallel passages use the word kerub interchangeably with shore, bull, the face of a bull and face of a cherub, which are synonymous expressions. Since we have come to know those colossal images of winged bulls with human faces, crowned with the lofty cidaris, decorated with several pairs of horns, which flanked the gateways of the Assyrian palaces, a number of scholars, intimately acquainted with antique sculpture, have been zealous in associating them with the Cherubim of the Bible. The winged bull with a human head figures in a bas-relief in the palace of Khorsabad as a favoring and protecting genius, which watches over the safe navigation of the transports that carry the wood of Lebanon by sea. The bulls whose images are placed at the gateways of the palaces and temples, as described in the above ideographic group, are the guardian genii, who are looked upon as living beings. As the result of a veritable magical operation, the supernatural creature is supposed to reside within these bodies of stone.” In a bilingual document, Akkadian with an Assyrian version, we read invocations to the two bulls who flanked the gate of the infernal abode, which were no longer simulacra of stone, but living beings, like the bulls at the gates of the celestial palaces of the gods. The following is one of the unique expressions made in the ear of the bull which stands to the right of the bronze enclosure: “Great Bull, most great Bull, stamping before the holy gates, he opens the interior; director of Abundance, who supports the god Nirba, he who gives their glory to the cultivated fields, my pure hands sacrifice toward thee. ” Similar expressions were then made on the other side. These genii, in the form of winged bulls with human countenances, were stationed as guardians at the portals of the edifices of Babylonia and Assyria, and were given the name of Kirubi ; thus, Kirubu damqu lippaqid, meaning May the propitious Kirub guard. Numerous authorities may be given to show that the Chaldeo-Assyrians’ Kirub, from the tenth to the fifth century before our era, whose name is identical with the Hebrew Kerub, was the winged bull with a human head. The Israelites, during the times of the Kings and the Prophets, pictured to themselves the Cherubim under this form. The figures of the Cherubim are said to have defeated Dante’s power of constructive imagination.

CHESED

A word which is generally corrupted into Hesed. It is the Hebrew pronounced chesed, and signifies mercy. Hence it very appropriately refers to that act of kindness and compassion which is commemorated in the degree of Select Master of the American system. It is the fourth of the Cabalistic Sephiroth, and is combined in a triad with Beauty and Justice.

CHEVALIER

Employed by the French Freemasons as the equivalent of Knight in the name of any degree in which the latter word is used by English Freemasons as Chevalier du Soleil for Knight of the Sun, or Chevalier de l’Orient for Knight of the East. The German word is Ritter.

CHIBBELUM

A significant word used in the rituals of the eighteenth century, which define it to mean a worthy Freemason. It is a corruption of Giblim.

CHROMATIC CALENDAR. THE FIVE POINTS
COLORS, ELEMENTS, AND POINTS, OF THE FIVE RULERS
BLACK, RED, GREEN, WHITE, YELLOW

In the great Temple, usually known as the Ocean Banner Monastery, at Honam, a suburb of Canton, China, we find four colossal idols occupying a large porch, each image being painted a different color. Ch’i-kwoh, who rules the north and grants propitious winds, is dark ; Kwang-muh is red, and to him it is given to rule the south and control the fire, air, and water; To-man’ rules the west, and grants or withholds rain, his color being white; while Chang-tsang, whose color is green, rules the winds and keeps them within their proper bounds, his supreme control being exercised over the east. The old custom of associating colors with the four quarters of the globe has probably led to the habit of describing the winds from these respective points as possessed of the same Colors. The fifth, the earth, the central remaining point, still is conjectural. Thus, we also find in China a set of deities known as the five rulers; their colors, elements, and points may be thus represented as in the table.

Black ….. Water ….. North …. Back
Red …….. Fire …….. South …. Breast
Green ….. Wood …. East ……. Mouth
White ….. Metal …. West …… Knee
Yellow …. Earth …. Middle … Foot

COLORS, ELEMENTS, AND POINTS, OF THE FIVE RULERS

These again are in turn associated with the planets, and the study of Chinese and Babylonian planet colors is full of curious points of similarity.

BLACK, typifying the north, has two direct opponents in symbolic colors, and these are red and white. The first as implying ignorance arising from evil passions, the second indicating ignorance of mind.

Red-black is called in Hebrew Heum, from which comes Heume, an enclosing wall. Black from white, in Hebrew, is Seh-her, signifying the dawn of light to the mind of the Masonic profane, the hand to back, as the words of wisdom are about to be spoken.

In the Egyptian, the black Osiris appears at the commencement of the Funereal Ritual, representing the state of the soul which passes into the world of light.

Anubis, one of the sons of Osiris, who weighs the soul in the seales of Amenti, and is the god of the dead, is black. The Conductor, or Master of Ceremonies, Thoth Psychopompe, has the head of the black Ibis (see Truth).

RED
In Hebrew, the fire of love, which burns in the south, is are, to bum, On Egyptian monuments, and in their temples, the flesh of men is painted red, and that of women, yellow. The same difference exists between the gods and goddess, except where speciality otherwise defined. Mill’s name in Hebrew signifies red, and as the image of fire is love, it is the universal tie of beings from breast to breast.

GREEN
pronounced yeh’-rek, meaning green thing, verdure. pronounced rake-eh-ah meaning vault of heaven, the firmament, also the winds. Green designates the beginning, the creation, the birth, as the world was called into being in the wisdom of God by his word of mouth, and Light was to appear in the East.

Phtha was the Egyptian Creator of the world; he was at times represented with his flesh painted green, and holding a scepter of four colors, red, blue, green, and yellow: fire, air, water, and earth. The god Lunus, the Moon, in Hebrew pronounced yeh-rak, is formed of one of the roots of green, signifying to found or set in order. Green is the symbol of Victory as well as Hope, in the symbolic colors (see Green).

WHITE
He-ur, to be white; Heurim, meaning to be noble and pure. The Egyptian spirits of the dead were clothed in white, like the priests. Phtha, the creator and generator, was frequently robed in a white vestment, symbol of the egg from which he was born, enveloped in the white or albumen. The head of Osiris was draped in a white tunic. While the Chinese metaphorically represented Metal by this color, the Egyptians and Hebrews made it the symbol of Earth.

Its reference to the West would imply the first point whereat the profane bent the knee in supplication to the Deity.

YELLOW
pronounced tsaw-hab, gold color, designates a radiation of light, signifying to shine, to be resplendent. Man, or the male principle, symbolized by ardent fire, was represented by red, and the female principle, identified with the idea of light or flame, represented by yellow or light-colored earth, over which the swift-footed messenger bears the tidings of a Freemason’s distress and the return of obligatory succor. This light of the fire, the female of Divine beauty, the Egyptian Venus, was called Athor, signifying dwelling of Horus, and was as represented in the engraving.

CHURCH, FREEMASONS OF THE

An Architectural College was organized in London, in the year 1842, under the name of Freemasons of the Church for the Recovery, Maintenance, and Furtherance of the True Principles and Practice of Architecture. The founders announced their objects to be “the rediscovery of the ancient principles of architecture; the sanction of good principles of building, and the condemnation of bad ones; the exercise of scientific and experienced judgment in the choice and use of the most proper materials ; the infusion, maintenance, and advancement of science throughout architecture ; and eventuality, by developing the powers of the College upon a just and beneficial footing, to reform the whole practice of architecture, to raise it from its present vituperated condition, and to bring around it the same unquestioned honor which is at present enjoyed by almost every other profession” (Builder, volume 1, page 23).

One of their own members has said that “the title was not intended to express any conformity, with the general body of Freemasons, but rather as indicative of the professed views of the College, namely, recovery, maintenance, and furtherance of the free principles and practice of architecture.” And that, in addition, they made it an object of their exertions to preserve or effect the restoration of architectural remains of antiquity threatened unnecessarily with demolition or endangered by decay. But it is evident, from the close connection of modern Freemasonry with the building gilds of the Middle Ages, that any investigations into the condition of medieval architecture must throw light on Masonic history.

CIPRIANI, JEAN BAPTISTE

Born in 1727, died in 1785. A famous Florentine artist, who came to England in 1755, and co-operated with Bartolozzi in the production of the frontispiece of the 1784 edition of the Book of Constitutions.

CIRCLE

The circle being a figure which returns into itself, and having therefore neither beginning nor end, has been adopted in the symbology of all countries and times as a symbol sometimes of the universe and sometimes of eternity. With this idea in the Zoroastrian mysteries of Persia, and frequently in the Celtic mysteries of Druidism, the temple of initiation was circular. In the obsolete lectures of the old English system, it was said that “the circle has ever been considered symbolical of the Deity; for as a circle appears to have neither beginning nor end, it may be justly considered a type of God, without either beginning of days or ending of years. It also reminds us of a future state, where we hope to enjoy everlasting happiness and joy.” But whatever refers especially to the Masonic symbolism of the circle ,will be more appropriately contained in the article on the Point within a Circle.

CIRCLES

The name in German is Kränzchen
There are in Germany many small Masonic clubs, or Circles, which are formed in subordination to some Lodge which exercises a supervision over them and is responsible for their good behavior to the Grand Lodge, by whose permission they have been established. The members devote themselves to Masonic work, organize lectures, ete., and acquire a Masonic library (see Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, ix, 66).

CIRCUIT

Fort, in his Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry, says: “Northern kings, immediately upon acceding to the throne, made a ‘gait’ or procession about their realms. According to the Scandinavian laws, when real property was sold, granted, or conveyed, the transfer of possession was incomplete until a circuit was made around the estate by the buyer and vendor, in which tour all the inhabitants of the nearest hamlet united.

“During the installation ceremonies of the Master of a Masonic Lodge, a procession of all the Craftsmen march around the room before the Master, to whom an appropriate salute is tendered. This Circuit is designed to signify that the new incumbent reduces the Lodge to his possession in this symbolic manner” (Fort’s Early History, page 320; see also Circumambulation).

CIRCULAR TEMPLES

These were used in the initiations of the religion or Zoroaster. Like the square temples of Freemasonry, and the other mysteries, they were symbolic of the world; and the symbol was completed by making the circumference of the circle a representation of the zodiac. In the mysteries of Druidism also, the temples were sometimes circular.

CIRCUMAMBULATION, RITE OF

Circumambulation is the name given by sacred archeologists to that religious rite in the ancient initiations which consisted in a formal procession around the altar, or other holy and consecrated object. The same Rite exists in Freemasonry.

In ancient Greece, when the priests were engaged in the rite of sacrifice, they and the people always walked three times round the altar while singing a sacred hymn. In making this procession, great care was taken to move in imitation of the course of the sun. For this purpose; they commenced at the east, and passing on by the way of the south to the west and thence by the north, they arrived at the east again. The strophe of the ancient hymn was sung in going from the east to the West : the antistrophe in returning to the east, and the epode while standing still. The strophe in Greek choral poetry was the first in a pair of two corresponding stanzas, or rhymed lines ; the second being called the antistrophe. The epode was the name for the last part of an ancient ode or poem. In this procession, as it will be observed, the right hand was always placed to the altar. “After this,” says Potter, “they stood about the altar, and the priest, turning towards the right hand, went round it and sprinkled it with meal and holy water”, (Antiquities of Greece, Book II, chapter iv, page 206). This ceremony the Greeks called moving, from the right to the right, which was the direction of the motion, and the Romans applied to it the term dextrovorsum, or dextrorsum, which signifies the same thing. Thus, Plautus (Curculis, 1,1, 70), makes Palinurus, a character in his comedy of Curculio, say: “If you would do reverence to the gods, you must turn to the right hand,” Si deos salutas dextroversum censeo. Gronovius, in commenting on this passage of Plautus, says : ”In worshiping and praying to the gods, they were accustomed to turn to the right hand.” A hymn of Callimachus has been preserved, which is said to have been chanted by the priests of Apolio at Delos, while performing this ceremony of circumambulation, the substance of which is ”we imitate the example of the sun, and follow his benevolent course. ”

Among the Romans, the ceremony of circumambulation was always used in the rites of sacrifice, of expiation or purification. Thus, Vergil (Aeneid, vi, 229), describes Corynacus as purifying his companions at the funeral of Misenus, by passing three times around them while aspersing them with the lustral waters; and to do so conveniently, it was necessary that he should have moved with his right hand toward them.

Idem ter socios pura circumtulit unda,
Spargens rore levi et ramo felicis olivae.
That is:
Thrice with pure water compass’d he the crew,
Sprinkling, with olive branch, the gentle dew.

In fact, so common was it to unite the ceremony of circumambulation with that of expiation or purification, or, in other words, to make a circuitous procession in performing the latter rite, that the term lustrate, whose primitive meaning is to purify, came at last to be synonymous with circumire, to walk round anything, and hence a purification and a circumambulation were often expressed by the same word.

The circuit of sacred places as a significant religious rite has many recorded examples. William Simpson (The Jonah Legend, page 18), says: “With the Semites there is one example which appears to be a good illustration of the principle. The pilgrims of Mecca perform what is considered to be a very sacred part of the ceremonies ; that is, the tawuf. or circumambulation of the Kaabah. The reason given for this is that the first Kaabah was an imitation of the celestial throne which is constantly being circumambulated by the angels. Going round sacred places and things is not peculiar to the Semites; it is a ritualistic custom that can be traced through most parts of the ancient world, and in many cases it is continued down to our own times. Being part of the ritual at the Kaabah, it is not difficult to understand how it gave birth to the mythos of the angels and the throne.”

Among the Hindus, the same Rite of Circumambulation has always been practiced. As an instance, we may cite the ceremonies which are to be performed by a Brahman, upon first rising from bed in the morning, an accurate account of which has been given by Colebrooke in the sixth volume of the Asiatic Researches.

The priest having first adored the sun, while directing his face to the east, then walks toward the west by the way of the south, saying, at the same time, “I follow the course of the sun,” which he thus explains: “As the sun in his course moves round the world by way of the south, so do I follow that luminary, to obtain the benefit arising from a journey round the earth by the way of the south.” Lastly, we may refer to the preservation of this Rite among the Druids, whose “mystical dance” around the caim, or heap of sacred stones, was in the opinion of Brother Mackey nothing more nor less than the Rite of Circumambulation.

On these occasions, the priest always made three circuits from east to west, by the right hand, around the altar or cairn, accompanied by all the worshipers. And so sacred was the rite once considered, that we learn from Toland (Celtic Religion and Learning, II, xvii), that in the Scottish Isles, once a principal seat of the Druidical religion, the people “never come to the ancient sacrificing and fire-hallowing cairns, but they walk three times around them, from east to west, according to the course of the sun.” This sanctified tour, or round by the south, he observes, is called Deaseal, as the contrary, or unhallowed one by the north, is called Tuapholl. And, he further remarks, that this word Deaseal was derived ”from Deas, the right (understanding in this case the hand) and soil, one of the ancient names of the sun ; the right hand in this round being ever next the heap.”

This Rite of Circumambulation undoubtedly refers to the doctrine of sun-worship, because the circumambulation was always made around the sacred place, just as the sun was supposed to move around the earth; and although the dogma of sun-worship does not of course exist in Freemasonry, we find an allusion to it in the Rite of Circumambulation, which it preserves, as well as in the position of the officers of a Lodge and in the symbol of a point within a circle. The Rite of Circumambulation may not be without some suggestion of the old ceremony of beating the bounds or, as it is called in Scotland, riding the marches, a custom still observed in some cities. The procession usually started and ended at the town cross if there should be one. So much we are told on page 16 of By-Gone Church Life in Scotland in an essay by Reverend George S. Tyack.

A more elaborate discussion of the old ceremony of beating the bounds is given by John T. Page in the collection of essays contained in Curious Church Customs edited by William Andrews. From this we learn that in the early days when deities were called into existence at the will of any human power we may note the fact that somewhere between the years 715 and 672 B.C. Numa Pompilius introduced to the Roman cities the worship of the god, Terminus. The king originated a plan by which the fields of the cities were separated from each other by means of boundary stones. These were dedicated and made sacred to a god Terminus. Terminalia, as the Feast of Terminus was called, was celebrated annually on the 23rd of February. On this day the people turned out in force and visiting the several boundary stones, bedecked them out with flowers and performed various sacrificial rites with great rejoicing.

From the seventh century before Christ to the present time is a long step, but it is generally admitted that in this yearly Terminalia of the ancient Romans we have the germ of the custom known as beating the bounds ,which in many parishes throughout England is still carried out either annually or every third or seventh year as the case may be.

The early Christians readily adopted some of the heathen customs to their own requirements. Thus we soon find them making a perambulation around their fields accompanied by their bishops and clergy. They repeated litanies and implored God to avert plague and pestilence and to enable them in due season to reap the fruits of the earth. We find these processions recorded as early as the 550th year of the Christian era.

The curious custom of whipping during these processions around the bounds of any particular locality came to form a part of the ceremony. In order that the boundaries of the parish might be deeply impressed on the younger portion of the community, it became common to publicly whip a boy while he was near one of these landmarks in the course of the procession. In order to encourage the youngsters to undergo this treatment, we find that a present was usually given to them at the close of the proceedings.

Something of the same sort has been preserved in certain religious observances whenever a piece of property has been dedicated for sacred use. Then the procession marches around the various boundary marks and dedicates them solemnly.

In all this there is a kinship showing the ancient source of the Rite of Circumambulation.

CLANDESTINE

The ordinary meaning of this word is secret, hidden. The French word clandestin, from which it is derived, is defined by Boiste to be something fait en cachette et contre les lois, a phrase meaning in the French language Done in a hiding place and against the laws, which better suits the Masonic signification, which refers to what is illegal, or not authorized. Irregular is the word which is often used for small departures from custom.

Brothers Newton R. Parvin, former Grand Secretary of Iowa, and C. C. Hunt, who succeeded him in office, have sent us an account of the American Masonic Federation.

A book, the Thomson Masonic Fraud, a Study in Clandestine Masonry, has also been written by Brother Isaac Blair Evans, United States Attorney for Utah in 1921, who not only prepared the case, with the assistance of Brother M. G. Price, for presentation to the Grand Jury but also drew the indictment upon which Messrs. Thomson, Perrot, and Bergera were Convected.

The principal reason for the financial success of the American Masonic Federation was, as Brothers Parvin, Hunt and Blair point out, due to the general ignorance of the Craft on the subject of Masonic history and Law. By setting forth claims on this subject, which very few Freemasons because of lack of knowledge were able to disprove, the convicted persons were able to impose upon the public. We may here point out that neither the Judge nor any member of the jury were Freemasons. From these two sources of first hand information the following particulars are obtained. Brother Evans says in the introduction to his book, page 1.

The conviction in the Federal Court at Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 15, 1922, of Matthew A.McBlain Thomson, Thomas Perrot and Dominic Bergera, of using the mails to defraud, was the culmination of efforts of the United States Government, begun in 1915, to have a reckoning with the perpetrators of one of the most ingenious mail frauds, and the most daring and spectacular Masonic imposture in American history. No one can study the facts in the case without sensing keenly the great importance of this trial, both in the history of crimes and the history of Masonry. Future accounts of celebrated American mail frauds will surely be incomplete without some mention of this bold swindle which had gone its way without molestation for more than a decade.

For about fifteen years there had been an organization at work in the United States headed by one Matthew McBlain Thomson, formerly a member of two Lodges in Scotland and a Past Master of one of them. He came to America and affiliated with King Solomon Lodge No. 27 of Montpelier, Idaho. Later on he took a dimit from this Lodge and then formed an organization, which became the American Masonic Federation. Thomson claimed to have 10,000 members, and that his organization had been recognized in practically every country in the world. He put forth plausible arguments to convince people that he had authority to form his organization and confer Masonic degrees.

This he was able to do by making statements which only those who were posted in Masonic history and jurisprudence could refute. He claimed that with the exception of Louisiana, the United States was unoccupied territory Masonically, and that not one of the Grand Lodges in the United States had a Charter authorizing it to work; that each of the thirteen Colonies organized a Grand Lodge of its own, without obtaining consent of the Grand Lodge from which their Charters had originally been issued; that the Lodges in the Colonies, by this breaking away from the home Grand Lodges of Great Britain without first obtaining consent, became irregular and clandestine organizations, and that, therefore, the field in the United States was open to any regular organization that chose to occupy it; that later recognition by the Grand Lodges of Great Britain did not make these self-formed Grand Lodges of the United States legitimate; that they are clandestine, also, because of the alleged fact that they are not universal and refuse to recognize Freemasons in other countries on account of religion, race, or some other assumed reason, contrary to the principles of universality.

As for himself, Thomson claimed descent through lawful Charters from Mother Kilwinning Lodge No. 0, of Scotland, to Saint Johns Mother Lodge at Marseilles, France, and that this latter body chartered Polar Star Lodge in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1794; that Polar Star Lodge became a constituent part of the Supreme Council of Louisiana, and that this Supreme Council, on September 14, 1906, granted a Charter of authority to Matthew McBlain Thomson to form Craft or Symbolic Grand and Subordinate Lodges of Masons, and that by virtue of this Charter he, Thomson, granted a Charter to the Grand Lodge Inter-Montana.

Thus, he claimed that he alone had the true Scottish Rite Masonry since his came from Scotland, while the so-called Scottish Rite Masonry of the United States either originated in the United States or came from France, not Scotland.

For the Higher degrees of Masonry, as he called them, he claimed authority by virtue of a Charter from the Grand Council of Rites of Scotland, which he asserted to be “The oldest High degree Body in the world and all High Degree Diplomas came directly from the Grand Council in Scotland.” He also claimed that the Grand Council of Rites derived from Mother Kilwinning Lodge. Such in brief is the “chain of title” claimed by Thomson. As a matter of fact there is not a sound link in the entire chain, but only a student of Masonic history could disprove his claim, and from among his statements, pick the true from the false.

Thomson sent out paid organizers whose duty it was to organize Lodges and confer Masonic degrees. The charge for the Craft degrees ranged from 535 up to 550 or more, the usual charge being about 550.

For the Scottish Rite degrees from the Fourth to the Thirty-third the charge was from $135 to $200. Sometimes for this amount were added the Shrine and Templar degrees. Occasionally these organizers would be arrested by the police on the charge of obtaining money under false pretenses. Sometimes convictions were had, but usually these were hard to obtain, for the reason that it was difficult to disprove statements made by Thomson and his organizers. This difficulty existed because of lack of knowledge by Freemasons called to testify in such trials. In 1915 one of these organizers by the name of Ranson was arrested in Saint Louis. The Post Office Inspector in charge at Saint Louis concluded that the United States Government take up the charge of using the mails to defraud.

He assigned his inspector, M, G. Price, to investigate. Price was not able to enter actively upon this work until 1919. Since then and up to the date of the trial he spent practically his entire time making an investigation in the United States, Scotland and France. As a result an indictment was found against Matthew McBlain Thomson, Thomas Perrot, Dominic Bergera and Robert Jamieson, and the case came to trial in the United States District Court at Salt Lake City, Utah. As the regular judge in this district was a Freemason, Judge Wade of Iowa was assigned to try the case and he impressed all who attended the trial with his absolute fairness to both prosecution and defense. As witnesses for the Government there were summoned several ex-members of Thomson’s organization, three officers of various Masonic Grand Bodies of Scotland, and several Brethren representing the regular Masonic organizations in the United States. The former members of Thomson’s organization testified as to methods used and representations made in obtaining members.

The Scotch Brethren testified as to Masonic history and Law in Scotland. They also testified that Mother Kilwinning Lodge had a copy of every Charter issued by her and that she never chartered a Lodge in Marseilles, France; as for the Grand Council of Rites of Scotland, it was considered clandestine and that members of legitimate Lodges in Scotland were forbidden to be members of it or have anything to do with it Masonically.

Two officers of the Supreme Council of Louisiana testified that their Council never granted a Charter to Thomson to work Craft degrees. The Government also was able to show contradictory statements in Thomson’s publications. The jury brought in a verdict of guilty, and the Judge sentenced each of the defendants to serve a term of two years in the penitentiary and pay a fine of $5,000.

Judge Wade, in passing sentence upon the defendants, said:
Nobody can hear this evidence in this case without being convinced, absolutely convinced, that this thing has been a fraudulent scheme from the beginning. I can see where an ignorant person might find some possible excuse for the methods employed in this case. For intelligent people and experienced people to try to convince the Court that this organization and this plan and this work that had been going on is on the square-it can’t be done. Of course now we are living in a time when some of the brightest minds in the country are devoting themselves to securing money by short cuts, by taking advantage of the gullible for their enterprises.

In fact that is one of the dominant crimes of the present time. I know of one state in which in the last two years, within two, there has been sold over twenty-nine million dollars worth of stock in packing houses which never were built, and practically every dollar of the money lost, just by shrewd practice, by trying to get the other fellow’s money in some way without working for it. Now, of course, after all that was stated in this case from the beginning and all through I confess that I was astounded when I heard Mr. Thomson testify that there was no pretense, that there was no record anywhere of a Charter to Marseilles Lodge, on the existence of which lay the right and practically the foundation of all claims of legitimacy on that branch of the case and to have him admit that such a lodge existed only in tradition-I realize that some things can be proven by tradition, but tradition cannot exist with one man tradition must have-before it has any force as proof- such general recognition among men in that particular occupation or relation that it forces itself upon the mind as it truth the record of which has been lost-and it was conceded on the witness stand that so far as this particular thing was concerned there was no record anywhere and no one who was skilled in the history of Freemasonry had ever met any such a tradition so far as the record in this case is concerned, in any history or book or pamphlet or anything else outside of this organization. So was I surprised when I found that the Council of Rites of Scotland which had been one of the chief points urged by these gentlemen, had no record behind it but a few years and it was represented-entirely aside from the question of the origin and history of this organization and those that preceded it-it was represented time and time again without dispute to these poor devils that were led largely by their attraction to an ancient organization and to the rites and rituals of the organization, it was represented to them specifically and it has not been denied that by virtue of their association with this organization the doors of Freemasonry the world over were open to them outside of the United States, which is of course an absurd claim under the evidence in this case.

Then the trip that Bergera made to Europe on the investigation, in view of what transpired according to his own testimony, has all the appearance of being a plan or scheme th the might come back here and state to those whose membership was sought his capacity to enter the Lodges of Europe to support their claim, that the members immediately on getting across the water would have the doors wide open to them. And then after making a trip and going to one or two Lodges or three under peculiar circumstances, in fact never going to the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and that was included in the representation made, that is to say, all Europe was included, never going m the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the Grand Lodge of England and never going to the Grand Lodge of France, whatever it is called, and coming back here no doubt to back up the representation that membership in this organization was opening the doors of all Masonic Orders, all of the regular Masonic orders in Europe-it was a pretense, gentlemen, you can’t come to any other conclusion. If Bergera went over there for the purpose of conferring what these organizers were representing and which is not denied here he certainly would have gone to the Grand Lodge of Scotland or England or France or Germany or somewhere to find out whether the doors would be open to these fellows that were joining their ranks.

But it is not necessary to recite the details. One cannot listen to this evidence without being forced to the conclusion that so far as the representation as to the standing and the brotherhood and the association of people with which they would become immediately affiliated was concerned, that aside entirely from the genealogy of the lodge, nobody can claim that there was any truth in what was said except insofar as they had access to certain Lodges with which Mr. Thomson through his relation had some affiliation. The spectacle of Mr. Thomson going to Switzerland to this great conference, and parading afterwards through the journal a conference where eight men from the entire world were present-that in itself is sufficient to condemn the whole thing and the manner in which this business had been done. is sufficient in itself.
No pretense here on the part of the defendants that this money was kept in any business-like way for the benefit of this organization.

What became of it I don’t know but there was more than a million dollars taken in here, of that there can be no question in view of the prices charged for little printed sheets of paper in the form of diplomas and certificates and things of that kind, entirely, aside from the membership fee. What became of that money is not indicated here. The head of this organization testified before the Court that he didn’t know and in fact had some difficulty in recalling whether there was ever an account of the organization in a bank anywhere in the world. As far as the Secretary is concerned, there is no suggestion of a report indicating that this business was conducted as an honest organization, not a word.

So that, gentlemen, there is only one thing for the Court to do. If it were not for the age of Mr. Thomson at this time there would be a long prison sentence because I think he is the chief actor. I think he is more responsible than anyone else. As far as Bergera is concerned, of course, I cannot understand at all how a man would presume to parade himself as the Treasurer General of the organization of ten thousand members which had received from them in the neighborhood of a million or more dollars and never handle a cent of the money.

I cannot understand it at all, that is all, that any honest man would allow his name to be used in that connection under such condition and the concealment of the methods of doing business and where this money went even up to the present time. I cannot comprehend the whole thing. There is only one thing that saves these men a long prison term. I don’t feel justified in sending any of these men to prison any longer than I do Mr. Thomson. As I say, when it comes to this point, in a trial of the case the charity of the law asserts itself.

Old age and sickness, of course, has a strong appeal to the Court, when it comes to the question of a prison term and I think that the district Attorney has been very generous in his suggestion. This Court hasn’t really any power to impose a penalty here which would be adequate punishment for this thing that has been going on when we step to think of the honest fellows who parted with their fifty or seventy-five or a hundred and fifty dollars for membership in this organization.

So far as the evidence in this case is concerned not one dollar of it was ever used for any, of the business of the society except to carry on this work of getting members.

Not a word of charity or charitable funds or anything of that kind before this Court. I am very much inclined to be lenient in all things. I am inclined to look in a charitable way upon the mistakes of men, but this thing has in it that deliberateness and continuous conduct which sort of overcomes my tendency.

Stand up, gentlemen. The judgment of this Court is that each one of you serve a period of two years in Fort Leavenworth Prison and each one of you pay a fine oi five thousand dollars and costs Brother Evans says in his work that although the public at large knows little of Freemasonry it expects much of Freemasons. In the eyes of those who are not Freemasons one Freemason would have the same standing as another. How could the public know a spurious from a genuine Freemason? No argument is needed to show that the misdeeds of one such spurious claimant can do more damage to the Fraternity than can be overcome by the good conduct of regular Freemasons. Thus, the Fraternity at large has to answer to the public for any bad conduct of both the genuine and the bogus who claim to be members of the Craft. This is indeed a truth which all Freemasons may well afford to take to heart.

Brother Evans says further, on page 7 of his book: Thomson also knew some other things about regular Masons. He knew that they read very little about their own institution, and that, therefore, they are generally ill-informed in matters of Masonic history and law.

Many times his degree peddlers were haled into petty criminal courts to answer to the charge of obtaining money under false pretenses. In as too many instances the prisoner was discharged because the prosecution could not show wherein the fraud lay. The prosecution was dependent, of course, for its proof of fraud upon the testimony of regular Masons. This testimony was often without value and all Masons will know why. Every little victory won by Thomson in the courts gave him just one more argument to make to his dupes.

Thomson also knew that regular Masons in general entertain acute indifference towards as things clandestine. The chances of his being caught up for his gross falsehoods were few, because, first, no one knew enough both about his institutions and regular Masonry to answer him, and, secondly, no one would take the pains to run his lies to earth. These things account, in part, for his enormous success for so many years.

This Thomson case is typical and because of its scope deserves liberal space. Other instances are numerous where the Masonic Institution has defended itself in the courts of law. Volumes two and three, History of Freemasonry in Ohio, 1914, contain many references to the seceders from the Grand Lodge and the lawsuits resulting from “Cerneauism” in that State. On the latter subject see Mackey’s revised History of Freemasonry (volume vi) ; General Albert Pike’s Cerneauism, 1885, his report on Joseph Cerneau, 1886, and other works; A History of Spurious Supreme Councils in the Northern Jurisdiction, William Gardiner, Past Grand Master, Massachusetts, 1863-4, republished 1884; The History of the Peckham Supreme Council, E. T. Carson, 1884; The Ancient Acceptet Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, William Homan, 1905, this latter work containing valuable reports on proceedings against unauthorized conferring of Craft as well as other degrees.

Forrest Adair, 33 , a Brother memorable for his labors for crippled children, spent freely his time and money protecting Masonic interests, as in the rights of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine determined by the Supreme Court of Georgia in 1915, and the Supreme Court of the United States in 1918. A Committee headed by Brother Frank C. Jones on behalf of the Imperial Council continued this work successfully for the Shrine in other States, as in Texas, 1925, and the results will probably, end the matter for the whole country (see Infringing upon Freemasonry).

CIPHER WRITING

Cryptography, or the art of writing in cipher, so as to conceal the meaning of what is written from all except those who possess the key, may be traced to remote antiquity. oe la Guilletiere (Lacedoemon), attributes its origin to the Spartans, and Polybius says that more than two thousand years ago Aeneas Tacitus had collected more than twenty different kinds of cipher which were then in use. Kings and generals communicated their messages to officers in distant provinces, by means of a preconcerted cipher; and the system has always been employed wherever there was a desire or a necessity to conceal from all but those who were entitled to the knowledge the meaning of a written document.

The druids, who were not permitted by the rules of their Order to commit any part of their ritual to ordinary writing, preserved the memory of it by the use of the letters of the Greek alphabet. The Cabalists concealed many words by writing them backward: a method which is still pursued by the French Freemasons. The old alchemists also made use of cipher writing, in order to conceal those processes the knowledge of which was intended only for the adepts. Thus Roger Bacon, who discovered the composition of gunpowder, is said to have concealed the names of the ingredients under a cipher made by a transposition of the letters.

Cornelius Agrippa tells us, in his Occult Philosophy, that the ancients accounted it unlawful to write the mysteries of God with those characters with which profane and vulgar things were written, and he cites Porphyry as saying that the ancients desired to conceal God, and divine virtues, by sensible figures which were visible, yet signified invisible things, and therefore delivered their great mysteries in sacred letters, and explained them by symbolical representations. Porphyry here, undoubtedly, referred to the invention and use of hieroglyphics by the Egyptian priests; but these hieroglyphic characters were in fact nothing else but a form of cipher intended to conceal their instructions from the uninitiated profane.

Peter Aponas, an astrological writer of the thirteenth century, gives us some of the old ciphers which were used by the Cabalists, and among others one alphabet called “the passing of the river,” which is referred to in some of the advanced degrees of Freemasonry.

But we obtain from Agrippa one alphabet in cipher which is of interest to Freemasons, and which he says was once in great esteem among the Cabalists, but which has now, he adds, become so common as to be placed among profane things. He describes this cipher as follows in one Occulta Philosophia (book iii, chapter 3). The twenty-seven characters (including the finals) of the Hebrew alphabet were divided into three classes of nine in each, and these were distributed into nine squares, made by the intersection of two horizontal and two vertical lines, forming the accompanying figure.

In each of these compartments three letters were placed; as, for instance, in the first compartment, the first, tenth, and nineteenth letters of the alphabet ; in the second compartment, the second, eleventh, and twentieth, and so on. The three letters in each compartment were distinguished from each other by dots or accents. Thus, the first compartment, or L, represented the first letter, or N; the same compartment with a dot, thus, L, represented the tenth letter, or J; or with two dots, thus, L it represented the nineteenth letter, or p; and so with the other compartments; the ninth or last representing the ninth, eighteenth, and twenty-seventh letters, accordingly as it was figured without a dot in the center or with one or two.

About the middle of the eighteenth century, the French Freemasons adopted a cipher similar to this in principle, but varied in the details