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The first 3 degrees of the French (Clifford) rituals (c1773-1793)
with compliments of
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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 28 June 1997 and published in the VLOR's transactions for 1997 entitled 'Examining Freemasonry'.
The full text may be obtained by email from the Correspondence Circle Secretary, W Bro Graeme Love. Please be sure include your snail-mail address and sufficient information to identify your masonic standing.
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of a French-English dictionary has been most helpful, and research into the rituals of the period, both published and unpublished, has made the task much easier.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.
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.
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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.
Reminder:
COPYRIGHT
Inquiries and requests should be directed
to the Correspondence Circle Secretary:
W Bro Graeme Love, PJGD
by e-mail, or in writing to:
P O Box 2380
RINGWOOD NORTH, VIC, 3134
AUSTRALIA
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Updated: 15 September 2004
