Albert Pike.

ALBERT PIKE .

By F . CHANCE , in " Notes and Queries . " I MUST confess that the accounts given of Albert Pike at the last reference much astonished me . Not that the details of his eventful life are incorrect , but he is made out to have been nothing more than an ordinary Freemason , though an unusually distinguished one . Very different is the account given of his Freemasonic career in two French books which came under my notice some months ago , viz ., " Le Diable au XIX . Siecle , " by

Dr . Bataille ( real name , I believe , Hacke ) , Delhomme , and Briguet , Paris ( no date , but since 1893 , I should say ); and the " Memoires d ' une Ex-Palladiste , " by Miss Diana Vaughan ( A . Pierret , Paris ) , begun in July 1895 , and still appearing once a month . By the first of these two writers ( i . 327 ) Pike is styled " Le chef de la franc-magonnerie universello , " which is very much " the chief of world-wide Freemasonry " of P . A . P . But the title giyen to

him by Miss Vaughan ( p . 21 ) , viz ., " Souverain Pontife de la haute magonnerie luciferienne , " seems to me much more appropriate , inasmuch as Dr . Bataille also charges him with having been a Luciferian . I fancy I have seen him likewise styled " le chef supreme du Palladisme . " Compare the last paragraph but one of this note , where Miss Vaughan uses the words " le chef supreme du Palladium .

But these terms , Palladist , Palladism , Luciferian ( and Luciferianism ) , may puzzle some of the readers of " N . & Q ., " as a year ago they would have puzzled myself , and I may , perhaps , therefore , he allowed to say a few words about them . Luciferians and Palladists are both worshippers of Lucifer ( the words Satan and Satanist are commonly eschewed ( see Bat . i . 36 , 379 , 380 ) ,

excepting by opponents of the doctrines , though an Italian Luciferian , Garducci , has written a long and remarkable hymn to Satan , given by Bataille i . 387 ) , and there seems to be but little difference between the two words , though Miss Vaughan would , I fancy , apply the word Palladist 2 rather to the second class of Luciferians than to the first . For Miss

Vaughan would divide the Luciferians into two classes , those who worship Lucifer sincerely , because they suppose him to be superior morally and p hysically to tho God of the Hebrews , whom they call , by way of derision , by the Jewish name Adonai , whilst they term Lucifer " Le Dieu-Bon " ; and , secondly , those who worship Lucifer , knowing him to be bad , but yet

esteeming him superior in every way to Adonai . I need scarcely say that Miss Vaughan , who is now a Roman Catholic , considers that she always belonged to the first class , and that she ceased to be a Palladist when at length she discovered that the great majority of the Palladists belonged to the second class .

With regard to the origin of Luciferianism or Palladism , Bataille would trace it back to Simon Magus . Miss Vaughan is more modest , and attributes it to two or three members of the Italian family Socini ( the founders of Socinianism ) , who lived in the sixteenth century . One of her own ancestors , Thomas Vaughan , surnamed ( so she says ) Eirenasus Philalefhes , had much to do with keeping it alive in the seventeenth century . Both she and Bataille agree that it is very much older than ordinary Freemasonry , which they say did not begin till 1717 , and herein they agree with the " Encyc . Brit . " ( ninth edition ) .

According to Bataille , then , Albert Pike , though a Freemason as early as 1833 ( he was born , strange to say , on the same day as Mr . Gladstone , 29 th December 1809 ) , did not become a declared Occultist or Palladist till 1870 , and his Grand Lodge ( or whatever it is called ) was not at Washington ( as Mr . Frost says ) , but at Charleston . He lived at Washington , it is true , but as , according to Miss'Vaughan ( who was associated with him for years , and

was by him enabled to see and to speak to Satan in person , p . 24 sqq . ) , he enjoyed the "don de transport instantane" ( p . 23 ) , the great distance between the two towns was of no importance to him . It was then that he began to devote himself to the organisation of Palladism throughout the world , and it was his great success in this very important matter that earned for him the titles which I have quoted above .

Palladism is , and I think justifiably , much dreaded by Roman Catholics in France and Italy . The chief and avowed aim of the Palladists , who would seem to be very numerous , is to overturn the Pope and his religion ; and if it is true that many of them play an important part in the politics of both these countries ( Crispi is said to be a Palladist ) , it is not surprising that many Roman Catholics feel anxious . Indeed , an anti-Masonic league , " La Ligue du Labarum Anti-Magonnique , " has quite recently been formed in France .

It may seem surprising that Miss Vaughan could have been associated with Albert Pike ; but although ( according to Bataille ) most or many of the Palladists seem first to have passed through the thirty-three degrees of ordinary Masonry , yet this is not always so , and cannot have Leen so in the case of women . And there are , it is said , many androgynous Lodges among

the Palladists . Miss Vaughan herself says , in her " Palladium Regenere et Libre " ( p . 31 ) , " On a repandu le bruit que Palladisme et Magonnerie sont presque synonymes . Erreur profonde . II ne suffit pas d'etre franc-magon pour devenir paliadiste- ; d ' aufcre part , il est de nombreux palladistes qui ne sont pas francs-magons . Meme avec la Constitution simonienne , le chef supreme du Palladium pourrait n'appartenir a aucune loge magonnique . "

There are , she maintains , Luciferians in England ; indeed , she gives the name of the " chef actuel des Luciferiens Anglais " ( p . 247 ); but I will not repeat it here . In conclusion I may state ( in order that I may not be suspected of partiality ) that I am neither a Roman Catholic , a Freemason , nor a Luciferian , and that if I take interest in this matter , it is simply that , as a man , nothing that is human comes amiss to me .

P . S . —With regard to Pike ' s Peak , Bataille says A . Pike was the first to climb it in his youth ; but in the " Cyclopsedia of Names " ( Fisher Unwin , 1895 ) we are told that it was explored in 1806 by General Z . M . Pike .

1 See i . 395 , where , speaking of Pike , he says : " Cette renommee etait telle que lorsqu ' on parle de Pike a n'importe qui , aux Etats-Unis , on est sur d ' avoir , aujourd'hui encore , cette reponse : ' Le general Pike ? oui , je sais ; vous voulez dire le magicien de Charleston , le grand-pretre d'une religion secrete ou Ton adore le diable ? ' Sur ce point , il n ' y a chez personne aucune hesitation ; la pratique de satanisme par Albert Pike est de notoriete publique de l ' autre cote de l'Ocean . "

2 Palladist comes from Palladium , and this is a statue found in all Luciferian Lodges in a place of honour . It has the head and hind-feet of a gigantic he-goat , with a human body and arms , and the breasts of a woman , and is called Baphomet , a word explained by Dr . Bataille ( i . 215 ) . The original Baphomet is said to have been given centuries ago to the Templars ( who are accused of having been Luciferians ) by Lucifer himself , and is still preserved at Charleston ( i . 67 , 196 ) . An engraving of the Baphomet now at Calcutta is given i . 89 . 8 This is why he often calls Occultism , Luciferianism , Palladism , or Satanism , " la haute magonnerie , " CM ., i . 305 .

Improper Solicitation.

IMPROPER SOLICITATION .

THE following correspondence has appeared in our Australian contemporary : To the Editor of " Masonry . " DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —What is improper solicitation ? As many different ideas are held upon this point as there are popularly supposed to be eyes in a spider . The embargo is laid upon " Improper Solicitation , " and it appears to most persons that the very coupling of the two words makes it understood that proper solicitation is allowable , and changes the

interrogation from what is improper to what is proper . But when Brethren have asked me and I have replied as above , I have been hotly denounced as subverting the standard principle of the Craft . Will you or some reader give their ideas through your columns . Yours fraternally , T . SQUARE . Sydney , 8 th Feb . 1896 .

To the Editor of " Masonry . " DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I think your correspondent" T . SQUARE '' draws a mistaken distinction between proper and improper solicitation ; to my idea , in respect to the question at issue , there is no such thing as proper solicitation . " I , of my own free will and accord , freely and voluntarily ; I am prompted by my own inclination , from a favourable opinion preconceived ;

I am not influenced by any unworthy motive ; I am not biased by the improper solicitation of friends , " which last , I take it , might be written or understood as I am not biased by any solicitation of friends , which would be improper . I heard a W . M . the other evening say the reason he had joined that particular Lodge ( not the Craft mind ) was that he had long made up his mind to join the fraternity , and knowing one of the Past Masters of the

Lodge , he spoke to him , and the Brother replied , " Well , if you have made up your mind , when you are ready I will propose you . " The same thing happened to myself . A gentleman I had known for years said to me , You are a Mason . I have long wished to become one . . How am I to set about it . I gave him almost identically the same reply as the W . M . received . On Monday evening last , an old acquaintance , nearly seventy years old ( I had

known him for about a quarter of a century ) brought his son , about twentyeight years old and a friend of his , and said he knew that I was a Mason , and his son and his friend , who were in the Steward or providore's department on the same sea going vessel , were anxious to become Freemasons , and would I put them in the way . I said now you clearly

understand you come to me , I do not ask you ? "No , certainly not , " they replied , and after making a few inquiries and obtaining references I agreed to propose them . I have never asked anyone , and I think there is no such thing as proper solicitation , but that any asking would be improper . The privileges must be sought for , not offered as an inducement . Yours , & c . G . J . S .

Feb . 1896 . To the Editor of " Masonry . "

DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —In your last issue your versatile contributor , G . J . S ., is kind enough to retail one or two anecdotes about persons who have come to him requesting to be made Freemasons , and from these premises he draws the conclusion that all men who desire to become Freemasons should take the initiative . He says there is no such thing as proper solicitation ,

but his own reasoning refutes his assertion , for if he had not made known , directly or indirectly , the fact that he was a Freemason , these people would not have come to him . Now I contend that this publication of the fact that he was a Freemason is in itself solicitation , for is it not in effect saying " I am able to introduce to Freemasonry any persons whom I may think fit and who may wish to participate in its mysteries . " I am unable to understand what is meant by the last sentence of the epistle from G . J . S . ; but his

quotations in the commencement seem to me to be confirmation of my opinion . For instance , a friend of many years standing , residing next door , is I imagine a proper person to be made a Mason , but before I have made up my mind as to the proper course to pursue he has joined a Lodge , and to his astonishment finds he has thrown in his lot with Freemasonry as a whole in its broad sense , but that his activity will be confined to his own little Lodge . When he joins I become acquainted with the fact , and then tell him I also

am a Mason . But , says he , I did not see you when I was admitted , and when I say no , my Lodge meets on another night from the Lodge you have joined and in another centre , he is filled with regret , and as soon as he is able affiliates to my Lodge . Is it reasonable to suppose that if I had told him I was a Mason , and as a result he had joined my Lodge , that he was not then entering of his own free will and accord , freely and voluntarily , and that he was not prompted by his own inclination from a favourable opinion

preconceived , that he was influenced by any unworthy motive or that he was biased by any improper solicitations of friends ? I think not , and yet my remarks that I was a Mason induced him to join my Lodge . No matter how viewed such an action is solicitation , and the question still is what is " improper solicitation ? " It seems to me though the last sentence of the letter from G . J . S . suggests what is improper , and if G . J . S . will explain this I

feel certain such explanation will show we have the same fundamental idea as to the proper . course . Anticipating that you will permit your valuable columns to be again used in this attempt to arrive at a common understanding . Yours truly , T . SQUARE . Sydney , 5 th March .

EVERYONE will be glad to hear that Bro . Charles Wyndham has now entirely recovered from his recent indisposition , though we are not to see our favourite actor quite so soon upon the stage as was anticipated . Owing to the preparations necessary for the forthcoming production of " Rosemary , " and the " Charles Wyndham Celebration " on the 1 st May , it has been found necessary to abandon the proposed revival of " The Squire of Dames " this evening .

THE Japanese musical play , " Tho Geisha , by Owen Hail inrl Si-inev Jones , will be produced this evening at Daly ' s Theatre . The tongue of good report states that nothing so perfect as the Japanese scenes and costumes has ever been placed upon the stage—not even the celehiated " Mikado " at the Savoy .