The Seven Years' War. This is claimed as one of the largest armed conflicts in European History up to that time. Frederic of Prussia had switched his allegiance back to England this time, and the two nations (England and Prussia) were pitted against France, Austria, Russia, Sweden, Saxony, Spain, and the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. The main reason why Frederic allied himself with England was because the latter was paying him. By the Treaty of Westminster, effective April 1758, Frederic received a substantial subsidy from the English treasury to cintinue his fighting, much of it to defend his own interests. The treaty ran from April to April and was renewable annually. The Seven Years War was an expansion of the French and Indian War, fought in North America, between England and France. The expansion of the war into Europe was triggered by Frederic the Great when he invaded Saxony. During the Seven Years War, England paid out money to help Hanover defend its own German interests. France had attacked Hanover, Hesse, and Brunswick. Some of the subsidy money paid to Hanover and Hesse was used by those principalities to defend their own borders. The treaty with Hesse, signed on 18 June 1755 was generous. Hesse was granted a yearly subsidy of 36,000 pounds when its troops were under German pay, and double that when under British pay. An additional 36,000 pounds went directly to the coffers of the Landgrave of Hesse. In short, many British Lords felt that this subsidy was a waste of money and was costing the Crown its sovereignty.
Prussia. French Officers who were prisoners in Prussia introduce the French Degrees. About this time, an ex-Lutheran Minister, and a Commissary, named Samuel Philip Rosa, introduced the Rosaic Rite, which was Hermetic and Alchemical in nature. He brought from Paris a wagon-load of Masonic ornaments to Berlin, and distributed so much he had to order another. In a half year, Freemasonry underwent a complete revolution all over Germany and the Chevaliers of the Rose Croix and Kadosh multiplied without number.
Order of African Architects, or Master Builders, established at Berlin, under the patronage of Frederick the Great.. 11 Degrees. Said to have been established by someone named Baucheren.
January. Landskroun. Frank's appearance here led to a great scandal, when he was discovered conducting a Shabbetean ritual with his followers in a locked house. The opponents of the Shabbeteans claimed that they surprised the sectarians in the midst of a heretical religious orgy, similar to rites which were actually practiced by members of the Baruchiah sect, especially in Podolia. Later, Frank would claim that he opened the windows deliberately to compel the believers to show themselves publicly instead of concealing their activities as they had done for decades. Frank's followers were imprisoned, but he went free, because the local authorities believed him to be a Turkish citizen. Frank crossed the Turkish frontier, returning once more to his followers....
March. Kopyczynce. Frank was arrested again, and set free. After this he remained for almost three years in Turkey, first in Khotin on the Dniester, and afterward mainly in Giorgievo on the Danube.
2 August. Brody. The Frankists presented nine principles of their faith for debate. The rabbis managed to avoid accepting the invitation to the disputation for nearly a year. After great pressure from the bishop, the disputation finally took place....
Germany. According to Mirabeau, "In about 1756 there appeared, as if they had come out of the ground, men sent, they said, by unknown superiors, and armed with powers to reform the order [of Freemasonry] and re-establish it in its ancient purity. One of these missionaries, named Johnston, came to Weimar and Jena, where he established himself. He was received in the best way in the world by the brothers [Freemasons], who were lured by the hope of great secrets, of important discoveries which were never made known to them." Nesta Webster thinks Mirabeau is incorrect in claiming Johnson to be one of the Unknown Superiors...but who is to say?
Castiglione. At the age of thirteen years, Cagliostro was carried to the Convent of the Good Brotherhood at Castiglione. There, having assumed the habit of a novice, he was placed under the tuition of the apothecary, from whom he learned the principles of chemistry and medicine. His brief residence at the convent was marked by violations of many of its rules; and finally, abandoning it altogether, he returned to Palermo. There he continued his vicious courses (so says Mackey), and was frequently seized and imprisoned for infractions of the law. At length, having cheated a goldsmith, named Marano, of a large amount of gold, he was compelled to flee from his native country.
Southern Germany. According to R. F. Gould, the New or Gold Rosicrucians arose at this time in Southern Germany. One important feature: each new Brother knows only his Master, and there were people known as "Unknown Fathers." Johann Christoph von Woellner (1732-1800), a preacher near Berlin, was one of their number. He was also an active member of the Strict Observance. The Rosicrucians gave out that they had been the originators of Freemasonry; that the Craft was designed as a nursery for adepts; that in the higher degrees the symbols would receive their true interpretation, and so on; that ultimately the true adept would not only make gold, brew the elixir of life, command spirits white, black, and grey, but would absolutely incorporate himself with God, and partake of the knowledge, prescience, and power of the Deity. Every ten years the Fathers were supposed to meet and decide what was to be revealed during the next decade.
France. An association was instituted, calling itself Knights of the East, Princes and Sovereigns of Masonry. At first its separate subdivisions were termed colleges, and took their title from their president; the chief college being that of Valois at Paris. Who this Valois was, is still undiscovered (Gould says); but it appears almost certain, from the few names that have survived, that the membership of the Knights was recruited in a great part from the lower middle class. Titled members, such as the Baron Tschoudy, may be met with but are exceptions. Article 2 of its statutes provides that the high position of Sovereign shall be held for a year by each brother, in turn. "Article 7. In like manner as the Scottish Masters are the Grand Superiors of the Masonic Order, so are the Knights of the East, the born princes of the complete order. Article 8. A travelling Knight of the East may, where no Lodge exists, dispense the Light of the first 6 degrees to a Master Mason." From this we may conclude that there were at least 7 degrees beyond the Master's, or at least 10 in all, thus improving on the Chapter of Clermont by 3 degrees.
According to Eco, Baron von Hund founds the Templar Strict Observance, inspired, some say, by Frederick II of Prussia. For the first time there is talk of the Unknown Superiors. Some insinuate (i.e., Nesta Webster, and others like her) that the Unknown Superiors are Frederick and Voltaire. Others have it that Bonnie Prince Charlie and his closest adherents are.
Régime Ecossais Rectifié : Karl von Hund.
Early. Giorgievo. Frank officially converted to Islam, and was honored for this by the Turkish authorities.
20 - 28 June. Brody. The debate finally took place. 19 opponents of the Talmud, then called Zoharites, took part, together with a handful of rabbis from communities in the area. The spokesmen for the Shabbeteans were also learned men, some of them being officiating rabbis who had secret Shabbetean tendencies. The arguments in the accusations and the defense of the rabbis were presented in writing, and were later published in a latin protocol in Lvov in 1758.
June and August. Podolia. Frank made secret visits to Rohatyn, in Podolia, in order to confer with his followers. During this period he went to Salonika a number of times, and also paid one visit to Constantinople.
22 July. Avignon. The Archbishop issued a mandate against the whole system of the Mother Lodge du Comtat Venaissin. Comtat-Venaissin is a term which refers to the "Four Communities", viz.: Avignon, Carpentras, Cavaillon, and L'Isle. Centuries earlier, Jews had been granted some form of autonomy there, under Papal authority, where they were able to keep alive their special traditions and distinctive Comtadin Liturgy.
17 October. Brody. Bishop Dembowski issued his decision in favor of the Frankists, imposing a number of penalties upon the rabbis, chief of which was a condemnation of the Talmud as worthless and corrupt, with an order that it be burned in the city square. All Jewish homes were to be searched for copies of the Talmud. According to some contemporary accounts many cartloads of editions of the Talmud were in fact burned in Kamieniec, Lvov, Brody, Zolkiew, and other places. The "burning of the Torah" had a crushing effect on the Jewish community and the rabbis declared a fast in memory of the event. Jews who had influence with the authorities tried to stop the burnings, which took place mainly in November 1757.
9 November. Brody. A sudden reversal of fortune in favor of the Talmudists, took place when the Bishop Dembowski suddenly died. At the time of the burnings. News of this event spread like wildfire, the Frankists were persecuted with zeal. Many of them fled across the Dniester to Turkey. There several converted to Islam, and one group joined the Doenmeh in Salonika, where they were known as the Poles.
The Secrets of Initiation, by J. J. Casanova, born 1725, Fr. R. C., circa 1757:
"The secrets of Initiation are by their very nature inviolable; for the Frater who knows them, can only have discovered them by himself. He has found them whilst frequenting well-instructed Lodges, by observing, comparing and judging the doctrines and symbols. Rest assured then, that once he has arrived at this result, he will preserve it with the utmost care, and will not communicate it, even to those of his Fraters in whom he has confidence, for since any Frater has been unable to discover the secret for himself, he would be equally unable to grasp their real meaning, if he received them only by word of mouth."
Paris. Saint-Germain visited Paris at this time, and according to Madame de Genlis her father was a great admirer of his skill in chemistry.
Berlin. The Baron von Printzen, again WM of the Mother-Lodge "Three Globes of Berlin," from 1757 to 1761.
Bengal made a British Crown Colony, and Britain expands its trafficking in Opium.
15 April. Writing to Frederick the Great, Voltaire mentions Sant-Germain,
"who will probably have the honour of seeing Your Majesty in the course of fifty years. He is a man who never dies and who knows everything."
May. Chambord. There is full documentary evidence for the fact that Louis XV assigned the Comte de Saint-Germain to the Castle of Chambord as a place of abode, and that he was actually installed there in the month of May.
16 June. The spokesmen for the Frankists turned to the political and ecclesiastical authorities in Podolia and sought implementation of the privilege which had been promised them by Bishop Dembowski, who allowed them to follow their own faith. They also sought the return of their looted property and permission for the refugees to return. After some internal disagreements among the Polish authorities, King Augustus III issued a privilege on 16 June, which accorded the sectarians royal protection as men who were near to the Christian acknowledgement of God. Most of the refugees returned to Podolia, at the end of September, and gathered mainly in and around the small town of Iwanie (near Khotin).
December. In December or the beginning of 1759, Frank himself left Turkey and arrived in Iwanie. Many of the believers scattered throughout eastern Galicia were summoned there.
In 1758, Count Zinzendorf, head of the Fellowship of the Brethren in Moravia, sent the convert David Kirchof on a special mission to the believers in Podolia in order to preach to them his version of pure Christianity.
Among the mass of Jews, the idea spread that Frank was in reality a great sorcerer with far-reaching demonic powers, prompting the growth of various legends, which had wide repercussions concerning his magic deeds and his success.
Lyons. Casanova made a Mason here...
Berlin. In 1757 the French Marquis, Gabriel Tilly de Lernais, came to Berlin, as a prisoner of war, and in 1758 together with Printzen founded a Chapter of the three Clermont degrees, grafted upon the Mother-Lodge of the Three Globes and the Scots Lodge "Union."
Paris. Saint-Germain arrives in Paris and offers his services to the king as chemist, an expert in dyes. He spends time with Madame Pompadour.
Paris. We first hear of the Emperors of the East and West, whereas the Clermont Chapter (in France) is no longer mentioned. It is Gould's thesis that the Chapter of Clermont ruled the Grand Lodge of France; that in 1756 the plebeian Knights of the East were erected as a counterpoise, outbidding the Chapter of Clermont in number of degrees, but rejecting the Templar connection; and in 1758 the Chapter added further degrees, and developed into the Council of the Emperors of the East and West, Sovereign Prince Masons, Substitutes General of the Royal Art, Grand Surveillants and Officers of the Grand Sovereign Lodge of St. John of Jerusalem. Their system also took the title of "Heredom of Perfection." The very name of Emperors looks like an attempt to outbid the Knights, and East and West an improvement on East only.
February. Frank's disciples requested Archbishop Lubienski in Lvov to receive them into the Church, claiming to speak in the name of the Jews in Poland, Hungary, Turkey, Moldavia, Italy, etc. They asked to be given a second opportunity to dispute publicly with the rabbinic Jews, devotees of the Talmud, and promised to demonstrate the truth not only of the tenets of Christianity but also of the blood libel.
Spring. Iwanie. The Frankists remained in Iwanie until the spring of 1759. Frank established there a common fund, apparently in emulation of the New Testament account of the early Christian community. During this time, when people came into close contact with Frank, they were dominated by his personality, etc.
16 July to 10 September. Lvov. The Disputation between the Frankists and the Talmudists. It had been attempted to get it postponed to early 1760. It was attended by crowds of Poles, and conducted intermittently at several sessions. The Blood Libel question came up on 27 August, the debate was a heated one, continuing to 10 September. The orthodoxy appears to have won the argument; but nothing concrete emerged from all the upheaval about the blood libel. The conversion of many Frankists to Christianity did take place. Frank was baptized on 17 September. More than 500 Frankists in Lvov were baptised by the end of 1760.
October. Frank's journey to Warsaw in October provoked a number of scandalous incidents, particularly in Lublin. Even after their apostasy (i.e., conversion) Frank's followers were watched constantly by the priests who had doubts about their reliability and the sincerity of their conversion.
18 November. Warsaw. Frank and his wife were baptized a second time, under the patronage of the king of Poland, in a royal ceremony. From that time forward he is known as Josef Frank in documents.
December. G. Pikulski obtained separate confessions from six of the Frankist brethren who had remained in Lvov, and it became apparent from these that the real object of their devotion was Frank, as the living incarnation of God.
Presumed formation of Conseil des Empereurs d'Orient et d'Occident, which three years later is said to have drawn up the Constitutions et Règlement de Bordeaux, from which the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite possibly originates (see 1801).
Podolia. The Zoharites declared themselves to be converted to Christianity, and were baptized, including Frank himself, who took the name of Joseph. "The insincerity of the Frankists soon became apparent, however, for they continued to inter-marry only among themselves and held Frank in reverence, calling him 'The Holy Master.'" It soon became evident that, whilst openly embracing the Catholic faith, they had in reality retained their secret Judaism. Moreover it was discovered that Frank endeavoured to pass as a Moslem in Turkey; he was arrested in Warsaw and delivered to the Church tribunal on the charge of feigned conversion to Christianity and the spreading of a pernicious heresy. Frank, however, came to no untimely end, but continued to prey on the credulity of Christians and frequently travelled to Vienna with his daughter, Eve, who succeeded in duping the pious Maria Theresa. But here also the sectarian plans of Frank were found out, and he was obliged to leave Austria. Finally he settled at Offenbach and supported by liberal subsidies from the other Jews, he resumed his former splendour
"with a retinue of several hundred beautiful Jewish youth of both sexes; carts containing treasure were reported to be perpetually brought in to him, chiefly from Poland -- he went out daily in great state to perform his devotions in the open field -- he rode in a chariot drawn by noble horses; ten or twelve Hulans in red or green uniform, glittering with gold, by his side, with pikes in their hands and crests on their caps, eagles, or stags, or the sun and moon....His followers believed him immortal, but in 1791 he died; his burial was as splendid as his mode of living -- 800 persons followed him to the grave."
In the 1760s there was still active Shabbetean propaganda in the yeshivot of Altona and Pressburg. An emissary, Aaron b. Moses Teomim from Gorodenka, propagated Shabbeteanism in northern and southern Germany, and, in 1767, tried to enlist the help of Christian sympathizers, claiming to have set out on his mission on behalf of the Polish prince Radziwill, a well-known protector of the Frankists. The Jewish and apostate Frankists remained in close touchm particularly through their meetings at Frank's court in Brno and later in Offenbach. Around this time, Lessing served as secretary to the Prussian Lieutenant-General von Tauentzien in Breslau for some years and then returned to Berlin.
January. The Frankists tried to postpone the disputation at Lvov until this time, when many of the nobility and merchants would gather for religious ceremonies and for the great fair at Lvov. They hoped for financial help, too. The Roman and Polish Church authorities sided with the orthodox Jews, and did not look with favor on the proposed dispute.
Avignon. About 1760, a Benedictine Monk of the name of Pernetty, and the Baron Gabrianco, a Polish Nobleman, established the 6 degrees of the Academy of True Masons at Avignon. It was Hermetic or Rosicrucian. (Hist A&P)
6 February. Warsaw. When knowledge of the Frankist confessions in Lvov reached Warsaw, Frank was arrested and for three weeks he was subjected to a detailed investigation by the ecclesiastical court, which also confronted him with many of the believers who had accompanied him to Warsaw. Frank's testimony before the inquiry was a mixture of lies and half-truths. The court's decision was to exile him for an unlimited period to the fortress of Czestochowa which was under the jurisdiction of the Church, "in order to prevent him from having any possible influence on the views of his followers." The followers were set free and ordered to adopt Christianity in true faith, and to forsake their leader, a result which was not achieved. At the end of February Frank was exiled and remained in "honorable captivity" for 13 years. At first he was deserted, but quickly found ways of re-establishing contact between himself and his camp. At this time the apostates were scattered in several small towns and estates owned by the nobility. They suffered a good deal until they finally settled down, mainly in Warsaw, with the remainder in other Polish towns like Cracow and Krasnystaw, and organized themselves into a secret sectarian society, whose members were careful to observe outwardly all the tenets of the Catholic faith. They also took advantage of the unstable political situation in Poland at the end of its independence, and several of the more important families demanded noble status for themselves, with some degree of success, on the basis of old statutes which accorded with privileges to Jewish converts.
22 February. Saint-Germain is reported in Amsterdam, claiming to be entrusted with an important mission on the financial position in France. He is said to have spent a long time formerly in England and to affect many personalities.
7 March. It is said that Saint-Germain continues to make the most extraordinary assertions in Amsterdam.
10 March. Comte d'Affry states that Saint-Germain had visited him at the Hague, using much the same language as he was said to have used at Amsterdam on the state of the French finances and his intention to save the kingdom, in part by securing for France the credit of the principal bankers of Holland.
11 March. Letter from Saint-Germain to the Marquise de Pompadour, exhibiting his relations with the Court of Versailles, and justifies what is said upon this subject in the Mitchell correspondence. It presents the writer as anxious to act in the cause of peace apart from personal interest. Waite:
"...it seems to me quite possible that he had a private verbal commission to see if he could arrange anything in the matter of peace with England behind the back of the Duc de Choiseul and that when his attempted intervention became known to that minister he was thrown over by the French King, after the best manner of Louis XV."
14 March. The Hague. Major-General Joseph Yorke, English Envoy at the Hague, writes to the Earl of Holdernasse, reminding him that he was acquainted with the history of an extraordinary man, known as the Comte de Saint-Germain, who had resided some time in England, where, however, he had done nothing. Since that period, and during a space of 2-3 years, he had been living in France, on the most familiar footing with the French King, Mme. de Pompadour, M. de Belleisle and others. He had been granted an apartment in the Castle of Chambord and had made a certain figure in the country. More recently he had been in Amsterdam, "where he was much caressed and talked of," and on the marriage of Princess Caroline he had arrived at the Hague, where he called on General Yorke, who returned his visit. Subsequently he desired to speak with the English Envoy and the appointment was kept on the date of Yorke's letter. Saint-Germain produced two communications from Marshal Belleisle, by way of credentials, and proceeded to explain that the French King, the Dauphin, Mme. de Pompadour and practically all the Court, except the Duc de Choiseul, desired peace with England. They wished to know the real feeling of England and to adjust matters with some honor. Madame de Pompadour and Marshal Belleisle had sent this political adventurer with the King's knowledge. The conversation with Yorke lasted for three hours...
- . D'Affry states that he had seen the scheme of Saint-Germain and intends to tell him that affairs of this kind have nothing to do with the Ministry with which the Duc de Choiseul is honoured.
19 March. Versailles. De Choiseul to D'Affry: enclosing a letter from Saint-Germain, to the Marquise de Pompadour, which is described as sufficiently exposing the absurdity of the personage. He is an adventurer of the first order and seems also to be exceedingly foolish. D'Affry is to warn Saint-Germain that if he chooses to meddle in politics "he shall be placed for the rest of his days in an underground dungeon." He is to be forbidden D'Affry's house, and all the foreign ministers as well as the Amsterdam bankers are to be informed.
21 March. The Earl of Holdernasse informed General Yorke that George II entirely approved the manner in which he had conducted the conversation with Comte de Saint-Germain. The King did not regard it as improbable that the latter was authorized to talk as he had done by persons of weight in the Councils of France, and even possibly with the King's knowledge. Yorke was directed, however, to inform Saint-Germain that he could not discuss further such "interesting subjects" unless Saint-Germain produced authentic proof that he was "being really employed with the knowledge and consent of His Most Christian Majesty." On that understanding only King George II would be ready to "open himself" as to the conditions of peace.
25 March. Letter from Prince de Galitzin, Russian Minister to England, offering insight into the Count's activities in Holland: "I know the Count de St. Germain well by reputation. This singular man has been staying for some time in this country, and I do not know whether he likes it. There is someone here with whom he appears to be in correspondence, and this person declares that the object of the Count's journey to Holland is merely some financial business."
3 April. D'Affry to De Choiseul: M. de Bentinck "no longer seeing M. de Saint-Germain coming to my house, and knowing that I have openly discredited him, is ready to disavow him."
4 April. General Yorke reports that Saint-Germain was still at the Hague but that the Duc de Choiseul had instructed the French Ambassador to forbid his interference with anything relating to the political affairs of France and to threaten him with the consequences if he did.
5 April. D'Affry to De Choiseul: Reports a visit from Saint-Germain, to whom D'Affry communicated the instructions which he had received from De Choiseul. Saint-Germain is said to have been overwhelmed, and the two parted, meeting only on one occasion further by the request of D'Affry.
8 April. Saint-Germain is reported as continuing to see Bentinck and as claiming to have a place in his French Majesty's councils. Saint-Germain is said otherwise to be absolutely discredited.
11 April. Versailles. D'Affry is required by the King to discredit the so-called Comte de Saint-Germain in the most humiliating and emphatic manner; and to arrange for his arrest "through the friendliness of the States General," so that he may be transported to France and "punished in accordance with the heinousness of his offence."
17 April. D'Affry reports the flight of Saint-Germain by the help of M. de Bentinck, and expresses a belief that he was sorely pressed for money, having borrowed two thousand florins from a Jew on the security of three opals.
25 April. D'Affry expresses a belief that Saint-Germain has gone to England and reflects upon the conduct of Bentinck.
1 May. De Choiseul doubts that the Comte de Saint-Germain has gone to England, where he is already too well known.
6 May. The Earl of Holderness wrote to Mr. Andrew Mitchell, the English Envoy in Prussia, referring to all that had passed between General Yorke and Comte Saint-Germain at the Hague; to the formal disavowal of Saint-Germain by the Duc de Choiseul; and to Saint-Germain's decision that he would pass over to England "in order to avoid the further resentment of the French minister." The Earl mentioned also the fact of his arrival; his immediate apprehension on the ground that he was not authorized, "even by that part of the French Ministry in whose name he pretended to talk;" his examination, which produced little, his conduct and language being "artful"; and the decision that he should not be allowed to remain in England, in accordance with which he had apparently been released and had set out "with an intention to take shelter in some part of his Prussian Majesty's Dominions," which intention Mr. Andrew Mitchell was desired, on the King of England's part, to communicate to the King of Prussia.
12 May. D'Affry: It transpires that Saint-Germain did reach England but was met by a State messenger who forbade him to proceed further and caused him to re-embark on the first vessel outward bound, it being the English minister's opinion notwithstanding that the displeasure of French diplomatists against Saint-Germain was simulated and that he was in reality sent to assist the cause of France in London.
14 May. D'Affry contradicts the report given in the previous letter. Saint-Germain was not stopped at Harwich, but was arrested in London under an order from Pitt; but having been examined by one of this minister's chief clerks, the latter regarded him as a kind of lunatic who had no evil intention. Saint-Germain was therefore taken back to Harwich and warned to quit the English shores. He was now thought to be on his way to Berlin...... He is said to have returned to Paris after all this, where he is believed to have stayed with a friend, the Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst. Anhalt-Zerbst was another German state which rented mercenaries to England. The Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst had a daughter, Catherine II. On 21 August 1744, Catherine II had married Peter III of Russia. This marriage had been arranged by Frederic the Great, who was a friend of the Anhalt-Zerbst family.
10 June. Rostock. The Chapter founded by Printzen and Lernais (Three Globes/Scots "Union") constituted the Chapter "Sun" at Rostock.
16 June. In a letter of Pasqually dated 17 June 1760, the Grades of the Elect Cohens are set out according to the following list: 1) Apprentice; 2) Companion; 3) Particular Master; 4) Grand Elect Master; 5) Apprentice Priest; 6) Companion Priest; 7) Master Priest; 8) Grand Master Architect.
19 July. Berlin. The Chapter Mother Lodge Three Globes/Scots "Union" took the title of "Premier Grand Chapter of Clermont in Germany." The next step was the appointment of Philipp Samuel Rosa as legatus capituli hierosolymitani Berolinensis supremi et primi nationis Germanicae, to travel over the north of Germany, and bring the Lodges under the supremacy of the "Three Globes" -- also to institute Chapters. He appears to have been a needy man, not in the best repute. The commission, therefore, suited him, all his expenses being paid. Possessed of an ingratiating address, he was also gifted with a persuasive tongue. He had previously been excluded from his Lodge, and a similar fate awaited him later on.
After Zinzendorf's death in l760, Messiter became Swedenborg's personal physician and agent. Messiter was also connected with "irregular," Ancient Freemasonry, at a time when the name James Blake appeared in the register of an Ancient's lodge. He was a close neighbor of Blake's family at 28 Broad Street, Golden Square, for he lived on Great Pulteney Street, Golden Square. It was probably through Messiter that Cosway acquired rare volumes of Swedenborg's early works, which inspired him to immerse himself in Jewish studies, magical experiments, and erotic art.
In 1760, the quarrel over Eybeschuetz broke out once more when some Shabbetean elements were discovered among the students of Eybeschuetz' yeshivah. At the same time his younger son, Wolf, presented himself as a Shabbetean prophet, with the result that the yeshivah was closed. Toulouse.
Martines de Pasqually presents himself to "a certain" Lodge, bearing a Hieroglyphic charter and laying claim to occult powers.
Illuminati of Avignon founded by Antoine Joseph Pernetty, an unfrocked Benedictine, Cabalist, and Alchemist, born 1716. Members include Cagliostro, Baron de Corberon, Mesmer, Marquis de Thome and the Marquis de Puysegur. This may also be the Society of the Sun of Mercy, which Emmanuel Swedenborg is said to have belonged to.
Holland. Saint-Germain on ambiguous diplomatic mission(?). Forced to flee, arrested in London, released. (According to Eco).
According to Eco, Martinez Pasqualis founds Chevaliers Maçons Elus de l'Univers.
Casanova returns to Paris, and for the next four or five years lived partly in Paris, partly in England, South Germany and Italy. One of his acquaintances in England in 1763 was Sir Augustus Hervey, conqueror of Havana. We do not know if it is the same family that John Morant Hervey was a member of...
Also, at this time, in the vicinity of Shugborough, there is an imposing marble bas-relief which was executed at the command of the Anson family. This bas-relief has a reproduction of Poussin's "Les Bergers d'Arcadie" in reverse.
Hamburg. When Moses Mendelssohn was in Hamburg in 1761, Eybeschuetz treated him with great respect, even publishing a letter on him, incontrovertible testimony to Eybeschuetz' awareness of Mendelssohn's ideological approach.
Bordeaux. Pasqually appears to have been recognized on his own terms by another Lodge, which he had satisfied in respect of his claims.
Frederick the Great acknowledged the head of the Scottish Rite.
6 July. Nancy. Birth of Charles Lechangueur. He would later serve in Egypt in Napoleon's Army of the East, where he was a health and supply officer. (See below)...
27 August. Etienne Morin commissioned to propagate in America, the Rite of Perfection or Heredom, and the Constitutions of 1762 were its Constitutions.
Wojslawiec. From the end of 1760 emissaries from the believers began to visit Frank and transmit his instructions. Following these, they became once more involved in a blood libel case in the town of Wojslawiec in 1761, as the result of which many Jews were slaughtered. Their reappearance as accusers of the Jewish people aroused great bitterness among the Jews of Poland, who saw in it an act of vengeance.
In 1761 a Ritual was printed in France entitled, "Les Plus Secrets....ou le vrai Rose Croix Traduit de l'Anglais; suivi du Noachite traduit de l'Allemande." The grades given resemble those of the College de Valois.
Holland. Saint-Germain living in great splendour in Holland and giving out that he had reached the age of seventy-four, though appearing to be only fifty.
Paris. Notwithstanding the events of 1760, Saint-Germain is said to have been in Paris in 1761, and when the Marquise d'Urfé mentioned the fact to the Duc de Choiseul the latter answered: "il a passé la nuit dans mon cabinet."
St. Petersburg. Saint-Germain is reported at St. Petersburg, presumably circa 1761-2, and according to the Graf Gregor Orloff he "played a great part" in the Russian Revolution. [of that period in time, not the one in 1917.]
Marseilles. The alchemical correspondences of Rose-Croix Masonry are developed especially in L'Eminent Ordre des Chevaliers de l'Aigle Noir, a Sovereign Chapter of which is claimed to have ben established at the Orient of Marseilles in 1761. It was a Rite of two Degrees, the first of which offers a very curious blend of Kabalistic and Hermetic symbolism, while the second is a codex of the Eighteenth Degree, having marked developments to connect its emblematic period with the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Burgundy. Strict Observance, Scots Directory, 5th Province, Burgundy.
March. Stettin. The Fourth Chapter of Clermont constituted by Rosa. He erected others at Halle, Jena, Königsberg, Brunswick, Rostock, Greifswald, Dresden, and Prague.
23 March. D'Affry recalls the Comte de Saint-Germain, in a letter to De Choiseul, says that he is again in Holland, and that he has purchased an estate in Guelders and suggests that he is making dupes of people, with chemical secrets, in order to earn a living.
For some 15 or 20 years the Grand Lodge of all England at York was dormant, but was revived in 1762 by one of its old Grand Masters, Francis Drake, Jacobite in his leanings. The Grand Lodge formally recognised the Arch, and there are minutes which show that in 1778 the Templar was a ceremony equally recognised.
Peter III assumed the Russian throne. St. Germain travelled to the Russian capital of St. Petersburg, where he helped Catherine overthrow Peter and establish her as the Empress of Russia. Asisting in the coup d'etat was the Russian Orloff family. The Orloffs are believed to have murdered Peter by strangling him in a phony brawl. For his assistance in the coup, St. Germain was made a general of the Russian army and he remained a close friend of the Orloff family for years. Catherine, who later became known as Catherine the Great, went on to rule Russia for 29 years. With this bold coup St. Germain had helped put Russia under the rule of the same small clique of German royal families under which other European countries had fallen.
The conditions of Frank's imprisonment were gradually relaxed and from 1762 his wife was allowed to join him, while a whole group of his chief followers, both men and women, were allowed to settle near the fortress, and even to practice secret relihgious rites of a typical sexual nature inside the fortress. When talking of this circle Frank added a specifically Christian interpretation to his view of the virgin as the Shekhinah, under the influence of the worship of the virgin which in Poland was actually centred in Czestowa.
Kieswetter states that in 1762 his great-grandfather was admitted into the RC by Tobias Schulze, who was Imperator at that date and was resident in Amsterdam.
Between 1762 and 1780, Tschoudy was working a Rite of his own termed Adoniramite Masonry, of which the last is the 13th Degree or Noachite...
Paris. In 1762 a quarrel arose in the College Valois, which finally led to its deposition from the position of ruling body, and to the establishment of a "Sovereign Council of the Knights of the East." Pirlet, a Parisian tailor, was apparently the prime mover of this revolution. The following officers of the Grand Lodge of France were members of this council: the Grand Keeper of the Seal, Brest de la Chaussee; the President; one of the Grand Wardens; the Grand Orator; the Secretary General; and the Grand Secretary; and this date marks the beginning of the decline in Grand Lodge of the influence of the aristocratic "Emperors" established in 1758; and the rise of that of the middle class "Knights".
In 1762 the Knights formed an improved Council, comprising many officers of the Grand Lodge, yet numbered among them some of the highest of those nominated by the Grand Master, the Count of Clermont. For instance, Chaillon de Joinville, the Grand Master's Substitute General; and Lacorne his Substitute Particular. In consequence of this defeat, Lacorne appears to have formed a dissenting Grand Lodge, with which the Emperors sided. It lasted only a few months. A reconciliation was effected under Joinville, and Lacorne disappears from the scene.
If we are to believe the copies produced by de-Grasse-Tilly some fifty years later, (the originals have never been seen), the Sovereign Council of Paris united in 1762 with their own offspring, the Sovereign Council of Princes of the Royal Secret at B--, to formulate in that city the grand constitutions of the system, or Rite of Perfection, or Heredom, or of Emperors of the East and West, for all these names refer to the same association. According to these statutes the rite was built up of 25 degrees in 7 classes: the first class comprised Freemasonry; the second, 5 additional degrees; in the fourth class, 13, we find Knight of the Royal Arch; in the fifth class, 15, Knight of the East; 17, Knight of the East and West; 18, Sovereign Prince Rose Croix; and the 25 and last of the seventh class was the Sovereign Prince of the Royal Secret. These constitutions are still acknowledged by the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite as the groundwork of their present system (in Gould's day)...
Ragon says that 'its ritual was corrected by the Baron de Tschoudy, the author of the Blazing Star.' Mackey states that this is wrong, because Tschoudy was at Metz at the time, and the above-mentioned work had not been published until 1766. This only means, however, that it was published in 1766, but it certainly is possible that his work appeared years before publication, in private circulation. Tschoudy was from a family in Metz, after all, home of Merovingian survival families, and in a family that had sufficient influence, which was why he was released from the Bastille...
Saint-Germain said to have been in Russia at this time.
This is the year the Crand Constitutions of 1762 were supposedly Ratified in Berlin.
Philadelphia epidemic of yellow fever.
June. Rosa's Masonic career terminated by expulsion from the Craft.
27 November. Magdebourg. Rosa's successor, Schubart, instituted the fifteenth and last German Chapter of Clermont. The greater part of north Germany had thus in a few years submitted to the new system, which, however, speedily effaced itself before the mightier advance of the Strict Observance.
The Harodim Charter granted to the Hague carried to Edinburgh in 1763. From this time the Rite has handed down the Lectures intact. Some revision may have been made about 1740 in the last section and the title.
Brussels. Saint-Germain was at Brussels, as appears in a letter of Graf Karl Coblenz, who regarded him as the most singular man whom he had ever seen, affirms that he had witnessed transmutations of iron "into a metal as beautiful as gold," his preparation of dyeing of skins, silk, wool, etc., all carried to an extraordinary degree of perfection, as also his composition of colors for painting.
Between 1763 and 1769, Saint-Germain was in Berlin, for a year, where he made the acquaintance of Pernetty...
Belgium. Casanova meets Saint-Germain, as Surmount, in Belgium. Latter turns coin into gold.
Willermoz founds Soverain Chapitre des Chevaliers de l'Aigle Noire Rose-Croix.
Epidemic of smallpox in France wipes out a large part of the population. It was immediately attributed to innoculation, and the practice was prohibited by the French government for five years.
The first recorded episode of biological warfare in the United States occurs when white colonial settlers give smallpox-infected blankets to Native Americans who sought friendly relations. Also a significant case of genocide.
26 May. Convent of Altenburg. Organization of the Rite of the Strict Observance. Meeting of von Hunde and "Johnson." "Johnson" exposed as an impostor and Hunde sets up the Strict Observance.
20 November. Berlin. Frederic's Lodge of the Three Globes became decidedly Strict Observance when its new statutes were adopted on this date.
Jonathan Eybeschuetz died in 1764, about 70 years of age.
A Bohemian named Leucht, calling himself "Johnson," appeared in Germany, as a teacher of the True Masonry, who, after a little, informed the German Brethren that the Baron Hunde was Grand Master of the 7th Province, which included the whole of Germany, and the royal dominions of Prussia.
Paris. Pirlet had already deserted the new Council to become a leading member of the rival Emperors.
Among the list of names given for the year 1764 in the minute book of the Lodge St. George de l'Observance, the Prince of Clermont was Grand Master (Grand Master of French Masonry, 1743 - 1770), with the Duc de Chartres as his Deputy; Macmahon may at this stage be passed over except to note that he was in command of a corps which included the prominent character named Lambert de Lintot. Lintot, originally an officer of volunteers under Macmahon, seems to have blossomed out as an engraver and designer while residing in England. Some of his prints are dated; some bear the name of P. Lambert R. A., Rouen; and some have his residence stated.
Britain prohibits American colonies from issuing their own currency.
27 March. Munich. Franz von Baader, German Theologian, born. He would study medicine at Ingolstadt and Vienna, and later he became a mining engineer. This date may be off, too, since the Franz von Baader we are discussing throughout this Timeline was not only a member of the Illuminati, as Celsus, and a Martinist, but he presided over the Loge Theodore du Bon Conseil at Munich. He also wrote a book, probably in the 1780s, entitled The Secret Teachings of Martines de Pasqually. (Published much later, in 1900 by the Bibliotheque Rosicrucienne of the Rite of Mizraim.) It is said that Baader oversaw the projects of Weishaupt at a great distance, i.e., as a Superior, and was responsible for the "deadly results of his initiation." -- Nouvelle Notice Historique sur le Martinesisme et le Martinisme, p. lxxxii. This perhaps is the Kolmer, et al that people speak of. Perhaps this Baader was father to the Franz von Baader born in 1765. At any rate, this is something we haven't found anywhere else. It is stated later in this precious historical document, that Zwack tried to circumvent Baader's influence on Weishaupt, and replace it with his own, indicating that this is perhaps one of the reasons why certain facts became known to the authorities.
Paris. In 1765 the elections in Grand Lodge favored the Emperors of the East and West. Quarrels arose, and the most demonstrative -- apparently on both sides -- were expelled in 1766.
Poland. In 1765, when it was apparent that the country was about to break up, Frank planned to forge links with the Russian Orthodox Church and with the Russian government through the Russian ambassador in Poland, Prince Repnin. A Frankist delegation went to Smolensk and Moscow at the end of the year and promised to instigate some pro-Russian activity among the Jews, but the details are not known. It is possible that clandestine links between the Frankist camp and the Russian authorities date from this time. These plans became known to the Jews of Warsaw....
1 January. Berlin. Baron von Hund Grand Master of the Strict Observance constituted the Three Globes as a Scots or Directoral Lodge empowered to warrant other Strict Observance Lodges. All Lodges already warranted by the Three Globes (except the Royal York Lodge) went over to the Strict Observance system.
30 May. Paris. The Grand Lodge of France constitutes the Lodge of Saint Lazarus. It was founded by Lazare Phil. Brunetau.
14 August. Paris. The most demonstrative parties in the quarrel between the Knights and the Emperors were expelled; about the same time as the Grand Lodge sought to put an end to all the bickering and strife by a decree of 14 August 1766, forbidding its Lodges to practise the Chapter degrees.
2 October. Paris. The Emperors, thus left in possession of the field, managed to get the decree of 14 August annulled, and then proposed a fusion of their Council with the Grand Lodge.
Paris. Pasqually proceeds to Paris and laid the foundations of a Sovereign Tribunal, which included several prominent Masons.
Metz. In 1766, the Baron de Tschoudy published, in connection with Bardon-Duhamel, his most important work, entitled L'Etoile Flamboyante, ou la Societé des Franc-Maçons considerée sous tous les Aspects; i.e., "The Blazing Star, or the Society of Freemasons considered under Every Point of View." In the same year he repaired to Paris, with the declared object of extending his Masonic system. He then attached himself to the Council of Knights of the East, which, under the guidance of the tailor Pirlet, had seceded from the Council of the Emperors of the East and West. Tschoudy availed himself of the ignorance and of the boldness of Pirlet to put his plan of reform into execution by the creation of new degrees.
In Tschoudy's system, the only High Degrees he considers valid are the Scottish Knight of Saint Andrew and the Knight of Palestine. The former of these degrees was composed by Tschoudy, and its ritual, which he bequeathed, with other manuscripts, to the Council of Knights of the East and West, was published in 1780 under the title of Écossais de Saint André, contenant le développement total de l'art royal de la Franche-Maçonnerie.
It is worth mentioning here, that the story concerning the Qadosh Fathers, or the Thebaid Solitaries, or the Knights of the Morning Star, came from Tschoudy's L'Etoile Flamboyante. -- that in the time of Solomon's Temple, the Qadosh Fathers assembled in Jerusalem; then at the time of the Essene Community, they were established there; then after the Destruction of the Second Temple, they dispersed, into two groups: 1) One into Syria; 2) the other into the Thebaid; these two groups dispersed once more, each into two groups -- Syria and Sicily, Libya and the Thebaid; that at the time of the Crusades they returned to Jerusalem...and regained possession of their Temple when Godefroi de Bouillon conquered Jerusalem. Eventually, they became Masons, and Knights of the East and Knights of Palestine, etc. There is much more than a faint rumor of truth in all this. It is clear to us that indeed a group of Essenes or Gnostics established themselves in the Transjordan region in the late 1st Century c.e.,; that Syria has long been home to Gnostic sects; that there were Thebaid solitaries, one of which was Anthony the Hermit. That the Syrian group, when it split into two, one group went to Sicily -- this is how the Kabbalah came to Europe, in the 8th to 9th Centuries c.e., when Abu Aharon ben Samuel ha Nasi of Baghdad came to Calabria, and later when he moved to Lucca, where he taught the Practical Kabbalah to the head of the Kalonymide family. This is what is known as the origins of the Hasidim in France and Germany, for the Kalonymides travelled to southern Germany and established themselves. They had a strong influence on the Languedocian Kabbalists. As to the Libyan group, we are still unaware. The Baron Tschoudy was granted access to some rather privileged information, much like Baron von Hunde was also granted access to privileged information. In a sense, the information which Tschoudy received, was more important than the Templar survival information which Hunde received, but the Templars were more interesting to the Masons of the day, for the science of Archaeology had yet to be born.
In 1766, Le Plus Secrets des Hauts Grades omits Darius and adopts Cyrus from the Knight of the Sword degree.
In 1766, de Tschoudy speaks well of the French Templars as the Fraternity of Jerusalem, nicknamed Freres de Aloya (Society of the Sirloin) from the composition of their suppers. Could this be just referring to the French Templars of 1705, or do we see Fraternity of Jerusalem being a thinly veiled allusion to Priory of SION?
Schroeder founded an Alchemical or Hermetic Rite of 7 degrees. (Hist A&P)
Paris. The Knights appear to have been beaten once more by the Emperors, and many of their members were expelled. The Council revenged itself by issuing a circular to all Lodges, conjuring them to cease working Templar degrees. The Emperors of the East and West, being a continuation of the Clermont system, worked Templar degrees, but the Knights evidently did not.
Illuminati of Avignon modified by Chastanier, one of the founders of the English Rite of Swedenborg. Rite introduced into Paris in the Lodge Socrates of Perfect Union under the name of Theosophical Illuminés, or Rite of Illuminated Theosophists.
Avignon. The Mother Lodge du Comtat-Venaissin at this time was working the following extra degrees(above the 3): 4, True Mason; 5, True Mason on the Right Road; 6, Knight of the Golden Key; 7, Knight of Iris; 8, Knight Argonaut; 9, Knight of the Golden Fleece.
Cagliostro is said to have developed an interest in the occult at the age of 23.
Marburg. Fr. J. L. Schroeder establishes a Chapter of True and Ancient Rose Croix Masons. Later, at Sarreburg, he founded a school or rite based upon magic, alchemy, and theosophy, in 7 Degrees, known as the Rectified Rose Croix. It was still being worked in the 1870s. F. J. L. died 27 October 1778.
While Blake may have been initially exposed to antinomian notions through his parents' religious associations, he also had access to them through Richard Cosway, who was an instructor at Pars's Drawing School when Blake Studied there in l767-72, and who became a lifelong friend. During the period of Moravian, Swedenborgian, and Falkian sexual experimentation, Cosway was familiar with all three groups. As a student, he lived with Dr. Husband Messiter, who was friendly with Zinzendorf and moved in Moravian circles. Cosway subsequently developed lasting friendships with James Hutton and other Moravians.
Paris. Pasqually introduces his Rite. Becomes the teacher of Louis Claude de St. Martin. Eventually retires to Santo Domingo, where he dies in 1779. It is likely that the Martinist Tradition survived in the West Indies, a direct line derived from Pasqually himself, which exists to this very day in the Bahamas.
February. Paris. The quarrels between the Knights of the East and the Emperors of the East and West reached a climax in 1767, and in the same year the government issued an edict dissolving the Grand Lodge of France altogether. From that date, the Knights of the East, as a body, cease to wield any great influence, though many of their members play important parts at a later date. All efforts at fusion of the Council with the Grand Lodge were rendered void by the compulsory closure of the Grand Lodge.
After decades of exploration in this arcane field, Swedenborg published his findings in The Remains of Japhet (l767).
Bordeaux. Pasqually back at Bordeaux, and three years later there are said to have been Lodges of his Rite there, and at Montpellier, Avignon, La Rochelle and Metz, as well as at Paris and Versailles.
Lyons. Willermoz held the rank of Inspector-General at this time, though a year later he is denominated Apprentice Rose-Croix.
The Harodim Rite has since 1767 been termed The Royal Order of Scotland.
Baucheren founded, with the sanction of Frederic II of Prussia, an Egyptian Rite, called the Order of African Architects. It had a large mansion, an extensive library, a museum of natural history, and a perfect chemical laboratory. Also the seven degrees of the Crata Repoa were in vogue, and professed to confer the true Egyptian Mysteries of Antiquity. Chastannier instituted a Rite of Illuminated Theosophists. (Hist A&P)
Vienna. Establishment of the Clerks of the Relaxed Observance. Johann August von Starck (1741 - 1816) established this Order, claiming that it was the Spiritual Branch of the Templar Order, the military branch being that of the Strict Observance. It is said that this Order was a schismatic group which pulled away from the S. O., by some, yet by others it is claimed that it was a separate organization. It is likely that it was a schism. Starck, who was a born Protestant, was secretly converted to Catholicism while in Paris. The historical basis of the new Order was the citation of a passage in William of Tyre which suggests that there had existed alongside the Templars an organization of Canons or Clerks of the Temple. The inspiration for this is said to be the Rosicrucian notion of a body of the crusading period called the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre, which had been in possession of secret knowledge transmitted by the Essenes. The most important element in Starck's version of the Templar clerks was the assertion that in the Middle Ages they had possessed a corporate existence separate from that of the Templar Order. This may be an allusion to SION, since prior to 1188, (according to the story), SION and the Temple had been one organization, but after the splitting of the elm at Gisors in 1188, SION became a separate organization, and the Temple became a separate organization. The Templar clerics which the detractors of Starck's claims point to as existing within the Templar Order are not the same thing as the Clerics who ran the Order of SION. According to George Oliver:
"...Stark, who introduced an extension of the Hermetic Masonry, including Rosicrucianism, magic, alchymy, divination, necromancy, and many other occult arts, into the high degrees of Masonry, and were very successful in making converts. They secured Dom. Pernetti, and formed the project of enlisting Hunde into their scheme." -- Landmarks II, pp. 45 - 6.
From Hund's Rite sprung the Roman Catholic Rite, of Clerks of the Relaxed Observance, and this produced the High Observance, devoted to Hermetic Magic, Alchemy, etc., as also the Exact Observance.
Hamburg. After being unemployed for some time in Berlin, Lessing goes to Hamburg, where he held the post of dramaturgist or writer on dramatic theory and art in the newly founded Hamburg National Theatre for one year until it folded.
Warsaw. After the plans of the Frankists' alliances with Russia became known to the Jews in Warsaw, a counter-delegation was sent to St. Petersburg in order to inform the Russians of the Frankists' true character. From then on, Frankist propaganda spread once more through the communities of Galicia, Hungary, Moravia, and Bohemia, by means of letters and emissaries from among the learned members of the sect. Links were also formed with secret Shabbeteans in Germany. One of these emissaries, Aaron Isaac Te-omim from Horodenka, appeared in Altona in 1764.
1 March. Hamburg. Hermann Samuel Reimarus dies. It is possible that Lessing would know of him before finding the manuscript of the Apology in the Library at Wolfenbuttel.
Between 13 August and 2 October. Martines de Pasqually had married the niece of a retired major in the regiment of Foix, and he was known personally by the brother officers of Saint-Martin, (who had, through the influence of the Duc de Choiseul, secured a commission in the regiment at Foix) De Grainville among others, and in the end by Saint-Martin himself. De Grainville, De Balzac, and Du Guers were initiates of the Elect Priesthood, and at some uncertain date between 13 August and 2 October 1768, Saint-Martin was received into the Order. According to his own testimony he had taken the first three Grades en bloc, apparently by verbal communication. They were conferred on him by M. de Balzac.
13 August. Pasqually began instructing Willermoz in occult or magical procedure, and continued to do so at long intervals until 1772, the communications in all being ten in number, so far as they have become available in published works. The operations imposed were to be performed by Willermoz in the solitude of a private room, and have nothing to do with ceremonial observance in Lodge or Temple. The practice in these seems to have been performed by Pasqually himself, looking forward presumably to a time when some of his disciples would have developed occult powers under his tuition and would be qualified to operate on their own part in public, with some assurance of success.
Willermoz evidently failed at his practices. The practices involved the establishment of a magical circle, following certain procedures, burning a particular incense (though it is not said what this particular incense was, we might conjecture the Grass of the Arabs, which is an excellent incense, especially if the operator is the incense-burner!) -- evidently this operation was to achieve communication with some entity(ies) -- descriptions of symptoms are also mentioned, like goose-flesh, visible sparks, visions, typical of this sort of thing. Perhaps expectation caused the failure (lust of result), this is a common occurrence. Rather than expecting a set result, it is better to do the practice for the sake of doing the practice.
Under the aegis of Pasqually the Rite of the Elect Priesthood was one of occult instruction as well as occult practice, and the pageant (in Waite's manner of opinion) of cumulative grades. The teaching was under pledges, and that part of it which Saint Martin felt permitted to unfold was put forward in his first book. La Chose may refer to Pasqually's Guide in the unseen, howsoever communication was established... But the pledges may have covered also instruction from other sources, the "Predecessors" about whom Pasqually wrote to Willermoz on 13 April 1768.
In l768 Swedenborg was so inspired by his revelations that he broke his anonymity to publish, under his own name, The Delights of Wisdom Concerning Conjugial Love. The question of whether to translate the Latin original into English would later provoke bitter controversy in the Swedenborg society that the Blakes attended.
In 1768 - 1769 there were two Frankist agents in Prague and Prossnitz, the Shabbetean centre in Moravia, and there they were even allowed to preach in the synagogue.
At this time, we are told that Brun, the last of the Grand Masters of the original RC, died. Also, at this time, a new figure, Schrepfer, arrives in Leipzig, and sets up an RC Order, and here is what Franz "Dirty Franz" Hartmann has to say about him:
"One of the adventurers, of whom it is still doubtful whether or not he possessed any occult powers, was the reputed Schroepfer, a bankrupt inn-keeper at Leipzig. His only object seemed to be to make as much money as he could, and to spend it as fast as he made it. He assumed the name "von Steinbach," and pretended to be a French Colonel, and to have been appointed by the Duke of Orleans as secret ambassador, sent to reform masonry, and to establish a connection with the Jesuits, who were at that time driven away. These Jesuits, he said, were in possession of an enormous amount of treasure, which they had entrusted to his care; but his intention was to use that money for the benefit of the country, and whoever wanted to obtain a share of it would have to come to confession and to better his life.
"It is almost incredible that any sane person should have believed such nonsense; nevertheless, when a prospect of obtaining money is held out, most people are ready to believe almost anything. Moreover, Schroepfer had a wonderful power of gaining the confidence of those who came near him, and he had some knowledge of chemistry, which gave him a scientific air, and so it happened that even some people of high social position believed in his assertions." [This is rather like the pot calling the proverbial kettle black, but it makes for interesting narrative.] [In the Pronaos of the Temple of Wisdom, p. 61.]
Leipzig. Johann Georg Schrepfer opens a coffee house, for the promulgation of the Rite of the R+C. He is said to have acquired a quantity of Masonic, Rosicrucian and magical books. One of Schrepfer's students (and successors) is Daniel Wolf, a/k/a "The Comte de Saint Germain"... Another pupil is said to have been Starck. Schrepfer is said to have been an ex-hussar, of good manners and boundless imprudence, but without education, and possessed of a violent temper. He boasted that he alone possessed the great secret of Freemasonry, and that nearly all the German Freemasons were utterly ignorant of anything about it except its external forms. He declared that he was an anointed priest, having power over spirits, who were compelled to appear at his will and obey his commands...
Willermoz joins Pasqually's Elus Cohens. Apocryphal publication in Jerusalem of Les plus secrets mystères des hauts grades de la maçonnerie devoilée, ou le vrai Rose-Croix: it says that the lodge of the Rosicrucians is on Mount Heredon, sixty miles from Edinburgh. Pasqually meets Louis Claude de Saint-Martin, later known as Le Philosophe Inconnu. Dom Pernetty becomes librarian of the King of Prussia. (Eco).
Paris. Mirabeau, the Duc de Lauzun, and the Abbé Perigord (Bishop of Autun), reformed a Lodge of Philalethes at Paris, which met in the Jacobin College or Convent. While at the Court of Berlin, he became an Illuminatus, and on his return to France, imparted some of that Illumination to that Lodge, of which he was a Warden, in 1788.
Pennsylvania. Conrad Beissel dies, is succeeded by John Peter Miller (1710-1796). The Community is said to have fallen on evil days, and after Miller died in 1796 it was disbanded. Perhaps this was used in the story by Charles Brockden Brown, Wieland: or the Transformation, published in 1798.
The medical profession in France is successful in re-instituting vaccination for smallpox.
28 May. Paris. In 1769, the Baron de Tschoudy, who was a pupil of Ramsay, died, leaving many valuable manuscripts to the Council of the Chevaliers d'Orient, of which he was an active member, and the inventor of the following degrees: Order of Palestine, Ecossais of St. Andrew of Scotland; Grand Ecossais of St. Andrew of Scotland; Order of the Blazing Star; Ecossais of the Sacred Vault of James VI, Secret of Masonry.
1 September. Portsmouth. The Brother G. M. Thomas Dunckerley brought the Warrant of the Chapter, and having lately received the Mark, he made the Brethren Mark Masons and Mark Masters.
In Conjugial Love, Swedenborg's experience seemed to merge Yogic with Kabbalistic practice.
Also in Conjugial Love, Swedenborg described a secret mystical society, in which "spirits from Asia" teach inititiates how to meditate on emblems of love"works of art and some small images as though cast in silver" that represent "the many qualities, attributes, and delights which belong to conjugial love."
Amsterdam. At this time, Kieswetter's great-grandfather is said to have become Imperator of the RC in Amsterdam. [This is not an impossibility. Furthermore, we have been told in other places that Brun was the last of the Old R + C, and he is said to have died in 1768.]
Aix. Casanova meets Cagliostro, while travelling to Italy, after his expulsion from Madrid.
France. (Probably Paris.) It is alleged that the Johannites were created in the early 1770s, and were ostensibly based on the visions of one Loiseaut, who claimed to have had visions of John the Baptist prophesying an imminent period of upheaval, chaos and the overthrow of the monarchy. This, of course, soon came to pass in the French Revolution. This group was also known as "The Saviours of Louis XVII." It appears that this group had some part in the civil unrest that preceded the Revolution.
Early. At the beginning of 1770 Frank's wife died, and thenceforth the worship of the lady which was accorded her during her lifetime, was transferred to Frank's daughter, Eva (previously Rachel) who stayed with him even when practically all of his believers had left the fortress and gone to Warsaw.
July. The Graf Max von Lumberg met Saint-Germain in Venice, under an assumed name, engaged in experiments on flax, and in July were staying together in Tunis.
He is said to have been at Leghorn in the same year during a visit of the Russian fleet, when he wore a Russian uniform, "and was called Graf Saltikoff by the Graf Alexis Orloff."
According to Von Sypesteyn, 1770 is another year in which the Count revisited Paris, being after the fall of the Duc de Choiseul.
November. Portsmouth. The Degrees of Excellent and Super Excellent Masons are mentioned.
After Nordenskjöld's arrival in London in l770, when he undertook medical studies with the Hunter brothers, he became a Swedenborgian Mason. Like Zinzendorf's and Falk's disciples, Levison was accused of antinomian sexual and religious practices.
Wolfenbuttel. Lessing held the official position of ducal librarian here. In the course of his duties as librarian, he comes across a bulky manuscript which attacked the credibility of the Bible. The author of this highly controversial treatise entitled Apology for the Sensible Worshippers of God, was a Hamburg Orientalist, named Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694-1768), who had recently died. Reimarus had devoted many years to this work, but he had not published it because he had reached conclusions which were bound to shake the very foundations of Lutheran orthodoxy. Although Lessing could not agree with Reimarus on every point of his argument, he was impressed by the gravity and acumen of his logic. It did not take Lessing long to come to the decision that the pursuit of truth is better than a sure conviction that one already has it, and so he made up his mind to publish extracts from the manuscreipt under the title of Anonymous Fragments. (Published from 1774-1778.) The result was utter consternation in the ranks of the orthodox clergy. A Hamburg pastor by the name of Goeze responded by vigorously attacking Lessing, over the head of the Great Anonymous, as an enemy of religion. Lessing then replied in a series of pamphlets which constitute a brilliant vindication of what is now called the higher criticism. Among other things, he argued that religion is older than the Bible, and cannot, therefore, be based solely on the Bible. Moreover, he argued that the truth of religion must be proved, not by historical logic, but rather by its effect on the character of its devotees. This bitter theological controversy was growing hotter every day, and Lessing had just finished the eleventh chapter of his withering Anti-Goeze, when the orthodox party was successful in persuading the Duke of Brunswick to silence his "godless" librarian by official decree. (Even though, in the days of the Bavarian Illuminati the Duke(s) of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel would be members in good standing.) Lessing was informed that his writings were subversive in that they opposed "the principal doctrines of Holy Writ and Christianity" and that he was forbidden to publish any more such "anti-orthodox" pamphlets. These events, more than any other, would inspire him to create Nathan the Wise, in 1779.
Avignon. Pernetty founded La Grande Loge Ecossaise du Comtat Venaissin. Mackey's gives this year as the foundation of the Illuminati of Avignon, by Pernetty, and in Mackenzie we read that Pernetty established the Hermetic Rite of Montpellier at Avignon in 1770.
Lyons. In 1770 numerous Lodges and Chapters, tired of the schisms which rent the venerable Order into sects and discordant parties (for the old Grand Lodge had proceeded to the extremity of expelling all the adherents of Lacorne), each of which asserted its individual purity and authenticity in opposition to all others, placed themselves under the authority of a Grand Lodge at Lyons (these were the remains of the Rosaic Lodges, the Templars, and the Strict Observance), called the "Loge des Chevaliers Bienfaisants de la Saint Cite", of which the Duc de Chartres, afterwards Orleans, was appointed the Grand Master, and he named the Duc de Luxembourg as his deputy. It had 266 Lodges under its jurisdiction.
Namur. The Primitive Scottish Rite established. It is a Rite of 33 degrees, all or most different from the 33 degrees of the AASR, and some of its degrees end up in the Philosophical Scottish Rite (or Scots Philosophic Rite). It is said that the Primitive Scottish Rite never left Namur. Oliver gives a list of its degrees in his Historical Landmarks (ii. p 89). It was constituted by a Brother of the name of Marchot, and it is necessary to mention it here, because several of its degrees went to swell the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of 33 Degrees...
Brunswick. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing is made Librarian to the Duke of Brunswick. The fame of Falk may have reached his ears. In 1771, Lessing, after having mocked at Freemasonry, was initiated in a Masonic Lodge in Hamburg.
Emile is written by Rousseau. The work parallels the work of Locke in 1690, but Rousseaus work won the attentions of the Prussian Empire (Germans), essentially a synthetic state founded on a religious principle, due to the fact that Prussians were the subject of a religious war and Crusade by the Pope. (Trufax)
Georg Wilhelm Fredrich Hegel born in Germany.
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All Original Material (i.e., arrangement and interpretation),Copyright 1998-2001 e.v., Jonathan Sellers. All Rights Reserved.