French (Clifford) rituals: the first 3 degrees circa 1773-1793
by Bro. N. W. Morse
with compliments of
the Victorian Lodge of Research • 218
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Please note:
The following is the abridged text of a
lecture delivered by Bro. N.W. Morse, MM (VC, NSWC, 218
Member) at the Victorian Lodge of Research on the 28th of June 1997 and
published in the transactions issue entitled Examining Freemasonry.
The full text may be obtained from the Correspondence
Circle Secretary, W Bro Graeme
Love. In making a request for the full version, please provide your postal address as well as sufficient
information to identify your masonic standing.
The First Three Degrees of the
French ("Clifford") Rituals (c.1773-1793)
by Bro. N.W. Morse (218 Member)
This is the first time that the three degrees as contained in the 'Clifford'
manuscript have been presented as a sequence. I am very pleased that it should
be presented to the Victorian Lodge of Research, the premier Lodge of Research
in the Asia-Pacific region and particularly that this takes place in Bendigo,
the city of my birth and childhood.
Before commencing the work, I should give you some information as to the
background of this material.
In 1991 WBro. Ian Main was following up some leads relating to his family
history with research in the Clifford papers in the National Library of
Australia. In the catalogue he noted a volume entitled Cayers Maçonique
Tom 1. He perused the book and found it be a handwritten collection, in French,
of masonic rituals, although there were no clues as to its sequence or
provenance. The Clifford Collection comprises some 10,00 books plus many
other items, relating primarily to the lives and works of the Clifford family
of Chudleigh, in Devon, a major English Catholic family.
During 1993 RWBro. Bob Linford, the eminent Canberra Masonic historian, passed
to me a copy of the first three degrees contained in Cayers Maçonique
with a suggestion that a translation and some research into the document,
in his words, "may be useful". I should point out that I studied Latin at
the Bendigo High School, not French, and was more than a little disconcerted
at first with the task. The support of a French-English dictionary has been
most helpful, and research into the rituals of the period, both published
and unpublished, has made the task much easier. I must also acknowledge the
assistance of many brethren, including you, Worshipful Master, who have been
willing to contribute time and effort to this project.
The volume is 208mm high by 158mm wide by 60mm thick, is bound in mid-brown
leather and has gold embossed Masonic symbols in each corner of the cover
and back and on the spine. The volume contains the rituals, containing extensive
rubric, of 20 degrees, 'the name of God in fifty languages', the ritual of
a 'table lodge' and the statutes (or bylaws) and etimology (or short history)
of two series of rituals, the Masons of Practice and the Elu degrees, together
with a total of 33 illustrations (although the table of contents says 34).
Further research has proven that the Clifford volume is the first in a set
of six which was first noted in 1807. At that time the library of a Brother
Lasserez was acquired at auction in Paris by a Brother Lerouge. The auction
catalogue states that the first volume was missing, being on loan. The set
of five, comprising a total of 65 rituals, stayed together and is now housed
in the Kloss collection in the Library of the Grand East of the Netherlands
in the Hague. The rediscovery of the missing volume has created a great deal
of interest in Europe as the total collection can now be considered as a
whole. How the first volume got into the Clifford library has, to date, remained
a mystery.
CALLIGRAPHY AND ILLUSTRATIONS
With the exception of the title page, a marginal note and several sheets
giving the titles of illustrations, the entire volume is in the handwriting
of one person . This is usually very ordered and neat but it is possible
to discover obvious signs of fatigue when the script becomes larger and less
controlled. The title page, marginal note and illustration titles also appear
to be in a single hand. The marginal note is within the Third Degree and
inserts an extract noted as coming from L'ordre des franc-maçons trahi.
This exposure was first published in 1745. The extract has been checked against,
and agrees with, the original text of Trahi.
Each Degree in CM has at least one accompanying illustration. The Ordre de
table et des santés, whilst not included as a Degree in the Table
of Contents, also is accompanied by an illustration. In the main the
illustrations depict the layout of the lodge, but those Degrees with more
than one usually have the Tracing Board as the second. These drawings were
obviously carefully prepared as the originals still show faint pencil lines
dividing the page into sections to aid both perspective and balance. The
illustrative skills displayed are more akin to those of a practised amateur,
rather than a professional, however the overall effect is accurate, pleasing
and serves the purpose admirably.
DATING
Internal evidence relating to Prince Edward Stewart and mentioning 'the War
of 1741' (contained in the 11th degree) provides a date of writing post-dating
1741. The Ordre de table et des santés has as its second toast that
to the Grand Master and Grand Officers of the Grand Orient of France. The
Grand Orient of France was instituted in 1773, closed in 1793 during the
worst times of the French Revolution, and reopened in 1795 . As the first
toast is to the King, the Queen and the Royal Family, it can be supposed
that CM was written in the twenty year period from 1773 to 1793.
Further internal reference has been discovered which provides an even tighter
range of dates of writing than those already considered. In the ritual 'Petit
Chevalier de l'aigle noir', (Little Knight of the Black Eagle), (Tome VI,
number 4) a book entitled 'Le Diadème des Sages' is mentioned. This
book was published in 1782. So it would appear that the collection was compiled
or copied after the publication of that book; somewhere between 1782 and
1789 at the earliest and 1782 and 1793 at the latest.
The translation has been modified to reflect more closely present practice
- i.e. First Surveillant to converted tto Senior Warden. In some cases also
the punctuation has been rectified to enable a better reading of the text.
These small alterations have in no way changed the basic thrust of the text.
PURPOSE
I believe that CM was a private aide memoire, rather than an exposure, although
the inclusion of material from Trahi could be seen as mitigating against
that view. It is possible that the text was written for private Masonic use,
but that it was later bound and annotated by a person not as friendly towards
the Craft.
We will now proceed to present the workings of the first three degrees, each
of which commences with a description of the Lodge set-up, the furniture
of the Lodge and the tracing board and the clothing of the officers. The
handout shows the illustrations accompanying the ritual, together with a
list of the contents of the Clifford volume. In order to provide a greater
realism, the catechisms and other speaking parts will be undertaken, in the
main, by Brothers Beagley and Morse.
What follows in the full document is the ritual of the first three degrees
The First Degree
Decoration of the Lodge.
It should be draped with blue, the throne and altar are the same, and lit
by three lights placed in a triangle on the ground in three candleholders.
On the altar should be the Gospel, the compass and the gavel. In the centre
of the lodge (on the floor) is the picture which represents
1*. The four cardinal points,
2*. In the East, on one side the shining sun, and on the
other the moon in the blue sky, the whole spangled with stars of gold.
3*.On a line between the East and the West the compasses, the board for drawing,
the trowel and the square.
4* On a line from the South to the North, the
polished ashlar, the hammer, the scissors, and the level.5* In the South
East, the polished ashlars.
6* In the North East, the rough ashlars.
7* In the West are the two pillars J* and B*.
8* Lastly between the two pillars
are the mosaic pavement, and a drawing of the seven steps of the temple of
Solomon.
Opening of the Lodge.
Before opening of the lodge the Worshipful Master begins by ensuring the
security of the doors, and also the Brethren so as to know if they are masons.
Having been assured, he then gives three knocks with his gavel upon the altar,
in this manner ** * , which serves as a signal to all the Brothers to stand
to order. The Wardens then repeat with their gavels once on their altars.
The Worshipful Master then says to the Senior Warden:
Q. Are you an Entered Apprentice mason?
A. My Brothers and Companions recognise me to be.
Q. How do they recognise that you are a mason?
A. By my sign, word, and grip.
Q. Give me the sign.
A. Here it is ... it is made.
Q. Give me the word.
A. If you give me the first letter, I will give you the second.
Q. J.
A. A.
Q. K.
A. I.
Q. N.
After that reply the Master knocks nine times as before with his gavel on
the altar, which is the signal for all the Brothers to stand to order. The
Wardens repeat the knocks with their gavels, one after another. The Master
says to the whole assembly: My brethren, this lodge of Master Masons is closed,
let us do our duty. The Wardens having repeated the same thing, all assembled
make the sign, and then give nine claps, by three times three, with their
hands saying on each occasion: "Hurrah"; they then give the kiss of peace,
take up a collection for the poor, and, after the customary banquet, each
one retires in peace.
Worshipful Master and brethren, I thank you for your attention. I would also
like to thank Brothers Beagley and Morse for their contribution to the
presentation. I acknowledge the assistance I have received from Brothers
Kellerman, deHoyos, Prinsen, Batten and, not least our Worshipful Master,
WBro. Graeme Love , in supporting and assisting me in the development of
this work. I should also place on record the great debt of gratitude to my
wife, Nea, for her support and to our daughter, Prudence, who directs us.
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