LECTURE XXXVI

THE INEFFABLE DEGREES.

"The Ineffable Degrees of Masonry are as ancient, it is alleged, as the time of King Solomon; the proof of which is probably known only to those who are professors of the degrees.”—WEBB.

Entering now into the mystic dome, the candidate is filled with horror and amazement; he is seized with solicitude and a total perplexity; he is unable to move a step forward, and is at a loss to find the road which is to lead him to the place he aspires to, till his conductor lays open the vestibule of the temple."-THEMISTIUS.

"The station you are called on to fulfil is important, not only as it respects the correct practice of our rites and ceremonies, and the internal economy of the Chapter, over which you preside, but the public reputation of the institution will be generally found to rise or fall according to the skill, fidelity, and discretion with which its concerns are managed, and in proportion as the character and conduct of its principal officers are estimable or censurable."-ADDRESS TO H. P. (CROSS.)

THE Ineffable Degrees1 record traditions of events which are said to have occurred about the time when the temple was completed.2 Their decorations and appointments are splendid and imposing; and the candilate at his illumination, is surprised at the display of silks and brocades of various colours, jewels, and gems, with which the Lodges or Chapters are hung, and the companions decorated; the general effect being heightened by numerous lights, which throw a halo of glory over the scene, and show to great advantage the collection of unusual symbols which are disposed in the several quarters of the room. The traditions perpetuated in these eleven degrees are as follows:5

When the temple of Solomon was nearly finished, some of the Tyrian workmen committed a crime of such magnitude, that they found it necessary to flee from Judea to avoid the consequences. King Solomon was overwhelmed with grief, and offered a great reward for the discovery of the culprits. Colonel Webb, who was the

Great High Priest of the Supreme Grand Chapter of Rhode Island, and Grand Master of the Knights Templars, in his "Monitor," a publication specifically sanctioned by the Grand Lodges of America, relates some very interesting particulars respecting this event; in which he refers to an existing tradition' of the deliberations of King Solomon with the Masters of his Lodges, when a stranger applied for admission stating that he had facts of the utmost consequence to impart.

The communications of the stranger were of a most secret and important nature; and Solomon, with the advice of his Chapter of ninety9 Intendants,10 adopted certain resolutions, and prescribed certain passwords," to meet the exigencies of the case.12 The facts cannot be made public. The darkness1s of the cavern or Lodge near Joppa, where the dramatic scenes were enacted which resulted from the stranger's revelations, is illuminated by a single lamp,15 to symbolize the star of direction,16 ,16 which caused the delegates to become acquainted with the circumstances" that caused the loss of the Master Mason's word.18 The catastrophe19 is tragical;20 but it has no foundation in the known history of the period. It appears, however, a natural effect of a series of concurrent causes, although the zeal of the principal actor urged him beyond the bounds of discretion. But, after mutual explanations, he and his eight associates were rewarded by the king with the possession of certain privileges, which are embodied in a degree called, “the Nine Elected Knights."

A short period after these transactions, Benzabee, an Intendant of King Solomon in the country of Cheth, and a chief of the Lodge, or secret institution of the Nabiim there.24 caused diligent inquiry and due search to be made respecting the remainder of the criminals; and published so accurate a description of their persons, that information was given him that strangers, of a very suspicious character, had been employed to dig stones in the quarry of Bendaca; and from their conversation, it appeared that they had worked at the temple of Jerusalem. This information was conveyed by express to King Solomon.

So soon as the Israelitish monarch had received the welcome intelligence, he selected fifteen Master Masons in whom perfect confidence might be placed, and invested

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them with authority to proceed to Cheth, to ascertain the accuracy of the information, under an escort of troops. bearing letters to Maacha, its king,25 requesting that the suspected persons might be immediately apprehended. and sent to Jerusalem, that, if they should prove to be the criminals whom he had been so long in search of. they might receive the just punishment due to their misdeeds. At the end of five days the deputation arrived at the quarry of Bendaca, and found the two men at work in the utmost security. They were immediately seized, and brought to Jerusalem in chains, where, being found guilty, they suffered condign punishment.29 Out of this event a degree was formed, called the Illustrious Elected of Fifteen.

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After vengeance had been taken on the traitors, Solomon instituted another degree, which he called the Sublime Knights Elected; both as a reward for the zeal and integrity of the Grand Masters Elect of Fifteen; and also, by their preferment, to make room for raising other worthy Brethren from the lower degrees to that of Illustrious Masters. He accordingly appointed twelve of the fifteen, chosen by ballot, to constitute a Grand Chapter, and gave them command over the twelve tribes of Israel. He expressed a particular regard for this order, and showed them the precious things of the tabernacle and temple.

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Subsequently the priestly order was instituted, and the Chapter was opened under Solomon's private arch; in which the veil of the temple was said to be drawn aside by the above twelve Companions, and the candidate permitted, during the reading of the holy law, to view the treasures deposited in the sanctum sanctorum, which were exhibited in due order by the high priest, Tito Zadok, Prince of Harodim.35

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When the temple was completed, and the solemn ceremony of dedication duly performed, another event occurred which gave rise to an Ineffable degree. It will be recollected that by a treaty between Solomon and Hiram, before the commencement of the building, the latter agreed to furnish workmen, as well as timber from Lebanon, and stone from the Tyrian quarries, all ready carved, marked, numbered, and prepared for the work; and Solomon on his part stipulated to provide certain

subsidies of wheat, oil, and honey, for the workmen; and as a recompense to the King of Tyre, he promised that when the cope stone was celebrated, he would present him with a province in Galilee containing thirty cities. Solomon, however, suffered a whole year to elapse without fulfilling the terms of his treaty. At the end of this period Hiram visited the territory, and found it an impoverished tract of country, consisting of barren and unprofitable lands,39 inhabited by a rude and immoral people.40 Concluding, therefore, that its possession would be of little value, and in no respect equivalent to the service which he had rendered to the Israelitish monarch, he proceeded to Jerusalem to expostulate personally with Solomon, as he suspected the existence of fraud.41 Arriving at the palace, he forced himself through the royal guards, and penetrating to the king's private apartment, he found him alone.42 At this interview, the reconciliation of Solomon and Hiram was effected, and Joabert was advanced to the rank of Intimate Secretary44 to both, on the ratification of a new treaty of friendship and mutual aid.45

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Thus far the reign of Solomon was splendid, and his acts were wise, honourable, and glorious.47 And it would have been better for his memory if, like his associate Grand Master, he had died at this period, for then his prosperity would have been unclouded, his reputation without a stain, and acacia would have bloomed over his nonument. It would be advantageous to his memory, were it possible to throw a veil over the transactions which deformed the closing period of his life. But it will be impossible to conceal the lamentable fact, that when he was advanced in years, and his understanding became impaired, he forgot the Lord, by whom he had been favoured more than any other man, and prostituted the beneficent principles which had hitherto been his guide, by introducing and practising the most disgusting idolatries. He selected wives and concubines from the prohibited nations,50 who plunged him into mortal sin. He insulted the omnipresent God, by polluting the temple which he had built on Mount Moriah with so much taste, and dedicated with so much piety; and he set up the abominable triad, Milcom, Chemosh, Ashtaroth, on the summits of Moriah, Calvary, and Sion;51 entertained

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an idolatrous priesthood; and practised on the highest of hills and in the lowest of valleys the spurious Freemasonry, which he had probably learned in Egypt. He sacrificed on the high places of Tophet, and caused the people to pass their sons and their daughters, by way of purification, through the fire before the statue of Moloch, in the valley of Hinnom.54

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When the Elect and Perfect Masters beheld this lamentable apostacy in their Grand Master, they were greatly distressed;55 being assured that it would be punished by a justly offended God with some dreadful catastrophe. Nor were their apprehensions unfounded: for Solomon dying impenitent, the kingdom was rent asunder, and ten of the tribes severed from the dominion of his son. But the evil did not rest here; for the fascinations and pleasures of the latitudinarian system, which so long prevailed under the influence of his pernicious example, had become so agreeable to his subjects,57 that the whole ten tribes soon became confirmed idolaters; nor did Judah and Benjamin escape the infection.58

NOTES TO LECTURE XXX VI.

These degrees, eleven in number, commence with that of Secret Master, and end with the degree of Perfection. In most of these degrees, the sacred word is the same with a different pronunciation, according to the disposition of the vowel points; thus, a different pointing of the four consonants (Jod, He, Vau, He), which form the ineffable name of Jehovah, produces a different word. In the degree of perfection the candidate is enjoined to pronounce the word but once during his lifetime; and hence it is termed ineffable, or unutterable. The ineffable degrees have undergone several revisions.

2 I am unacquainted with the authority on which these traditions rest, and introduce them here for the information of those Brethren who are in the dark respecting the higher degrees of foreign Lodges. To pure Freemasonry these degrees have little relation; and I can conceive that they are only practised as a species of dramatic amusement, subsidiary to the general business of the Lodge. But they are patronized on the continent and in America, by "most potent, grave, and reverend signors," got up with much splendour and expense, and practised with great regu.