History of the Order of the eastern star, with an authentic biography of the founder, Rob. Morris

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Preface

N presenting for the consideration of the Fraternity, this volume, embracing the origin, copies of some of the earHer rituals, and extensive quotations from nearly all of the earlier manuals and rituals, together with a history of the Order of the Eastern Star, the author has endeavored to perform two duties : first, that of entertaining and interesting the reader in the records of the achievements of those honored women and men, whose acts have combined to make this the greatest fraternal organization of women extant ; second, to produce some evidence of the value and useful character of the Institution, that its claims for Charity, Truth, and Loving Kindness may be the more readily seen and appreciated.

Such a book is not easy to write for the reasons that it is the history of a secret Order, much of whose lore is not to be made public; and the facts concerning its history are more or less difficult to obtain.

All writers on the Order of the Eastern Star appear to have been influenced by a desire to impress upon the Fraternity a love for its science and philosophy. Every line of this book has been written in the conviction that the real history of the Order of the Eastern Star is great enough, and its simple teachings grand enough, without further embellishments.

The bonding powers of the Sisterhood is manifest to the world by its five adorning virtues : obedience, constancy, fidelity, faith, and love. The entire ritual has

8 , PREFACE

been prepared in wisdom and beauty. It is only as the Eastern Star member of the present seeks true Hght — teaches genuine truth — that it proves itself deserving of a future.

From my early experience in Eastern Star work, I learned that the character of the institution was elevated in one's opinion just in proportion to the amount of knowledge that had been acquired of its teachings, history, symbolisms, and philosophy. The difficulty of obtaining this knowledge of the Eastern Star — what it is, whence it came, what it teaches and what it is trying to do — and an earnest desire to obtain a more extensive knowledge of the Order, has prompted the compilation of this book.

Keeping this purpose always in mind, the effort has been to prepare a brief, simple, and vivid account of the origin, the development, the mission, the ideals, and the teachings of the Order, so written as to incite a deeper interest in and a more earnest study of its story and of its service to mankind.

To this end, the various sources of the Order of the Eastern Star records have been liberally explored and the highest authorities have been consulted; and cited when necessary to substantiate the statements made, and also to guide the reader into further and more detailed research. The author is richly indebted to the many Grand Secretaries who have so generously aided in this work; also to many women and men prominent in the development of the Order, whose achievements are recalled by an humble student who would gladly pay the honor belonging to those whose earnest labors and great results have wrought the glorious fruition which the Order has attained at the present day.

PREFACE 9

To every Eastern Star student, in fact to every Eastern Star member, a knowledge of its purposes and achievements is an absolute essential in the attainment of that perfection upon which depends the full realization of its usefulness and beauties and toward which we should ever strive with unceasing effort.

When we comprehend our position in this earthly career — its patfios and its wonderful extent, — and our duty in retaining and beautifying the inheritance of the race, a deep sense of the fraternal tie that binds us to our co-workers, especially those to whom must soon be entrusted these sacred legends, duties, obligations, and principles, at once comes a feeling of awe and we stop to consider. Shall we not then do our part to have the younger members of the Order earnestly strive to preserve and more fully realize the faith, the spirit, and the character, of the beautiful lessons our Order teaches; at the same time presenting to those who will follow, the latent powers for the advancement of womanhood through this the greatest fraternal Order for women. Each can do her part faithfully and well, and by so doing we shall impress this great truth, that our Order has helped to make its members, and through them the world, more prompt in obedience, more firm in constancy, more devoted to kindred and friends, richer in faith and wiser in love and pity.

With an earnest hope that more light may result to every inquiring member of the Order of the Eastern Star from the study and perusal of these pages, I have the honor to present this compilation of its history.

Mrs. Jkan M'Kee: Kenaston Bonesteel, South Dakota June I, 1916

Contents

Chapter I Origin of the Order Chapter II Biography of Rob Morris Chapter HI Other Degrees, etc.

Chapter IV Organization of Generae Grand Chap Chapter V Officers of General Grand Chapter Chapter VI Brief Histories of Grand Chapters Grand Chapter of Alabama .

Grand Chapter of Alberta .

CHAPTER I Origin of the Order of the Eastern Star

THE Masonic Order dates its origin back to the reign of King Solomon, who ascended the throne 1015 years before the Christian era, and had, in its inception, three great men termed Grand Masters. In the Holy Bible, the recognized great light of Freemasonry, we read that Solomon, King of Israel, in his great wisdom, erected a temple at Jerusalem and dedicated it to Jehovah. In the execution of this great work, he sought the assistance of Hiram, King of Tyre, who sent the wonderful and gifted architect, Hiram Abif, whose skill and experience were utilized in superintending the labors of the craft, and in adorning and beautifying the building. These three, according to traditions and records, are termed the first Council of Grand Masters.

The Order of the Eastern Star can trace a portion of its traditions and history to, and in consequence has the privilege of dating its origin back to Ruth, the greatgrandmother of King Solomon. This Order also had three Master Workmen ; our distinguished brother, Dr. Rob Morris, who wrought out the degrees, contemplated the themes incorporated, culled from the pages of antiquity the heroines and names upon which the beautiful work is builded, established the signs and passes, communicated the esoteric mysteries of the Order and promulgated the fundamental principles which have remained unchanged ; Robert Macoy, who, with the consent and assistance of Dr. Rob Morris, devised and arranged the Chapter system, developed a broader field of labor and a grander organization, vitalized the impressive ceremonials and symbolisms of the Chapter work; the master builder and architect. Rev. Willis D. Engle, first Secretary of the General Grand Chapter and Past Most Worthy Grand Patron, who, by his keen foresight, persistent effort, indefatigable and unselfish labors, is recognized as the great organizer of this fraternal Order.

One of the most valuable records now in possession of the Order of the Eastern Star, is that of the "Origination of the Eastern Star,'' written under date of August I, 1884, by its founder, Dr. Rob Morris, a complete copy of which is herewith presented:

THK ORIGINATION 01^ THE; E:aSTi:RN STAR

In these last years of my earthly pilgrimage I have been importuned by friends, old and new, to commit to paper, while memory is clear and documents accessible, all the facts concerning the origination of the Eastern Star. ''What would we not give" has often been said, what would we not give for a history of the origin of the Royal Arch System, of the Cryptic System, the Commandery Orders, the Scottish Rite, all of which are as truly Modem and American as the Order of the Eastern Star itself. But their authors are dead, and the history of their origin died with them.

From the period of my initiation into Masonry I had entertained the desire of introducing the female relatives of Masons into closer relationship with the Order. Through the immense influence of women so much might be done to bring the performances of Freemasons nearer their professions. If the wife and mother would but become interested in the workings of the Lodge, the husband and father dare no longer introduce into "the tyled precincts" such caricatures of men — drunkards, gamblers, brawlers, rogues — as I saw, forty years since, walking familiarly in Masonic processions. If committees of charitable women, female members of the families of Freemasons, would but undertake our charitable disbursements, the widow, the orphan and the destitute need no longer suffer neglect upon the plea that "such oversight is not the proper work of men." If the sharp eye of the domestic housekeeper were but cast occasionally over the Lodge rooms, its furniture, aprons, jewels, etc., cleanliness and order would become the law there instead of the exception.

Again, if the gratitude of the Craft were once fairly awakened toward their female relatives for such benevolence as I have suggested many methods would be opened to women for self-support that are now sealed up. Many a clerk-ship, many a copyist's desk, many a situation in postoffi'ce, library, public bureau, etc., now filled by men alone, would be equally available to women, and so the circle of female occupations would be vastly enlarged. All this I had pondered for several years in my mind and I was fast coming to the initial step of sitting to weave the warp and woof which now constitute the Order of the Eastern Star.

Bowing now to the expression of a wish, widespread and urgent, I proceed to overhaul my Diaries, to tease my sluggish memory, and now (1884) sit down, through quiet summer hours, to rescue from oblivion, the facts connected with the origin of the Easte^rn Star. One witness, Mrs. Morris, still survives to substantiate the statements I am about to make.

In the winter of 1850 I was a resident of Jackson, Mississippi. For some time previous I had contemplated, as hinted above, the preparation of a Ritual of Adoptive Masonry, the degrees then in vogue appearing to me poorly conceived, weakly wrought out, unimpressive, and particularly defective in point of motive. I allude especially to those degrees styled The Mason's Daughter, and the Heroines of Jericho. But I do expressly except from this criticism, The Good Samaritan, which, in my judgment, possesses dramatic elements and machinery equal to those that are in the Templar's Orders, the High Priesthood, the Cryptic Rite, and other organizations of Thomas Smith Webb. I have always recommended The Good Samaritan, and a thousand times conferred it in various parts of the world.

About the first of February, 1850, I was laid up for two weeks with a sharp attack of rheumatism, and it was this period which I gave to the work in hand. By the aid of my papers and the memory of Mrs. Morris, I recall even the trivial occurrences connected with the work ; how I hesitated for a theme, how I dallied over a name, how I wrought face to face with the clock that I might keep my drama within due limits of time, etc. The name was first settled upon, the Easte:rn Star. Next the number of points, five, to correspond with the emblem on the Master's carpet. This is the pentagon, "the signet of King Solomon," and eminently proper to Adoptive Masonry.

From the Holy Writings I culled four biographical sketches to correspond with my first four points, viz., Je^phthah's Daughter (named "Adah" for want of a better), Ruth, Esther, and Martha. These were illustrations of four great congeries of womanly virtues, and their selection has proved highly popular. The fifth point introduced me to the early history of the Christian Church, where amidst a "noble army of martyrs" I found many whose lives and death overflowed the cup of martyrdom with a glory not surpassed by any of those named in Holy Writ. This gave me Electa, "the Elect Lady," friend of St. John, the Christian woman whose venerable years were crowned with the utmost splendor of the crucifixion.

The colors, the emblems, the floral wreaths, the esotery proper to these five heroines were easy of invention. They seemed to fall ready-made into my hands. The only piece of mechanism difficult to fit into the construction was the cabalistic motto known as ***** ; but this occurred to me in ample time for use.

The composition of the lectures was but a recreation. Familiar from childhood as I had been with Mie Holy Scriptures, I scarcely needed to look up my proof texts, so tamely did they come to my call. A number of odes were also composed at that time, but the great part of the three score odes and poems of the Eastern Star that I have written were the work of subsequent years. The first Ode of the series of 1850 was one commencing "Light from the East, 'tis gilded with hope."

The theory of the whole subject is succinctly stated in my Rosary of the Eastern Star, published in 1865 : To take from the ancient writings five prominent female characters, illustrating as many Masonic virtues, and to adopt them into the fold of Masonry. The selections were: 1. Jephthah's Daughter, as illustrating respect to the binding force of a vow ; ii. Ruth, as illustrating devotion to religious principles ; iii. Esther, as illustrating fidelity to kindred and friends; iv. Martha, as illustrating undeviating faith in the hour of trial; and v. Electa, as illustrating patience and submission under wrong. These are all Masonic virtues, and they have nowhere in history more brilliant exemplars than in the five characters presented in the lectures of the Eastern Star. It is a fitting comment upon these statements that in all the changes that the Eastern Star has experienced at so many hands for thirty-four years, no change in the names, histories, or essential lessons has been proposed.

So my Ritual was complete, and after touching and retouching the manuscript, as professional authors love to do, I invited a neighboring Mason and his wife to join with my own, and to them, in my own parlor, communicated the Degrees. They were the first recipients — the first of twice fifty thousand who have seen the signs, heard the words, exchanged the touch, and joined in the music of the Eastern Star. When I take a retrospect of that evening — but thirty-four years ago — and consider the abounding four hundred Eastern Star Chapters at work today, my heart swells with gratitude to God who guided my hand during that period of convalescence to prepare a work, of all the work of my life the most successful. The greatest number of Stellar Lights that shine with so much splendor in the Grand Chapters of America will read this passage, I think, with similar sentiments. Uhomme propose, Dieu disposes. How little could I anticipate such a harvest from such a scanty sowing!

Being at that time, and until a very recent period, an active traveler, visiting all countries where lodges exist — a nervous, wiry, elastic man, unwearying in work — caring little for refreshments or sleep, I spread abroad the knowledge of the Eastern Star wherever I went. Equally in border communities, where ladies came in homespun, as in cities, where ladies came in satins, the new degree was received with ardor, and eulogized in strongest terms, so that every induction led to the call for more. Ladies and gentlemen are yet living who met that immense assemblage at Newark, New Jersey, in 1853, and the still greater one in Spring Street Hall, New York City, a little earlier, where I stood up for two hours or three, before a breathless and gratified audience, and brought to bear all that I could draw from the Holy Scriptures, the Talmud, and the writings of Josephus, concerning the five ''Heroines of the Eastern Star."

Not that my work met no opposition. Quite the reverse. It was not long until editors, report writers, newspaper critics, and my own private correspondents, began to see the evil of it. The cry of ''innovation" went up to heaven. Ridicule lent its aid to a grand assault upon my poor little figment. Ingenious charges were rung upon the idea of "petticoat Masonry." More than one writer in Masonic journals (men of an evil class, we have had them, men who know the secrets, but have never applied the principles of Masonry), more than one such expressed in language indecent and shocking, his opposition to the Easte:rn Star and to me. Letters were written me, some signed, some anonymous, warning me that I was periling my own Masonic connections in the advocacy of this scheme. In New York City the opponents of the Eastern Star even started a rival project to break it down. They employed a literary person, a poet of eminence, a gentleman of social merit, to prepare rituals under an ingenious form, and much time and money were spent in the effort to popularize it, but it survived only a short year and is already forgotten.

But the Eastkrn Star glittered steadily in the ascendant. In 1855 I arranged the system of "Constellations of the Easte:rn Star" of which the Mosaic Book was the index, and established more than one hundred of these bodies. Looking over that book, one of the most original and brilliant works to which I ever put my hand, I have wondered that the system did not succeed. It must be because the times were not ripe for it. The opposition to "Ladies' Masonry" was too bitter. The advocates of the plan were not sufficiently influential. At any rate it fell through.

Four years later I prepared an easier plan styled "Families of the Eastern Star'' intended, in its simplicity and the readiness by which it could be worked, to avoid the complexity of the "Constellations." This ran well until the war broke out, when all Masonic systems fell together with a crash.

This ended my work in systematizing the Eastern Star, and I should never have done more with it, save confer it in an informal manner as at first, but for Brother Robert Macoy of New York, who in 1868, when I had publicly announced my intentions of confining my labors during the remainder of my life to Holy Land Investigations, proposed the plan of Eastern Star Chapters now in vogue. He had my full consent and endorsement, and thus became the instigator of a third and more successful system. The history of this organization, which is now disseminated in more than four hundred chapters, extending to thirty-three states and territories, I need not detail. The annual proceedings of Grand Chapters, the indefatigable labors of the Rev. Willis D. Engle, Grand Secretary of the General Grand Chapter, the liberal manner in which the Masonic journals have opened their columns to the proceedings of the Adoptive Order, the annual festivals, the sociables, concerts, picnics, etc., which keep the name of the Society before the public, make a history of their own better than I can write.

It is sufficient to say that the largest anticipations I ever had concerning the Eastern Star are fast realizing. Masonic opposition has ceased, or so nearly so that it has become merely a whine. Already there is an Eastern Star Chapter in one out of every twenty-five Lodges in America, and there are persons living, I apprehend, who will see twenty of the other twenty-four equally favored. Internal contentions, which seem the doom of all societies in their youth, have died away, leaving but a murmur and an echo. The orphan has come into nearer relationship with Masonic charities. The widow has discovered that her claim upon the brothers of her dead one is real and genuine. Masonic Halls have lost their dust and cobwebs, and a spirit of purity (astonishing to Tylers) broods in whiteness over gloves and aprons. In the cemeteries, grave-stones rise frequently, displaying the mystic star with its cabalistic motto.

And there is another practical result of the Eastern Star movement, the credit of which I am in no wise inclined to give to others; this is the broader opening that is offered to females for self-support. The deadly needle, the unwomanly washtub, the unwholesome country school, the sinew-wearying kitchen, are not now the only fields on which women, old and young, who are wrestling with the perplexities of human life, can win bread. Thousan4s and tens of thousands of places, cleanly, womanly, easy, and fairly profitable, have been opened to them since the story of the "Five Heroines of the Eastern Star" was first disseminated in 1850. In almost every postoffice and courthouse throughout the land — in a great number of banks and libraries — at the desk of cashiers of mercantile houses — behind counters — but the catalogue need not be extended. Long as it is, it is daily lengthening, and every year the salaries of women are brought more nearly to those of men, as it is found they are equally accurate and expert in business, and that the defalcations, forgeries, and general rascalities with which our morning papers are defiled are commonly the work of men, rarely of zvomen.

In conclusion, I may call to witness the thousand groups of men and women who, in all these years, have sat under my voice while communicating the instructions of the Eastern Star, that no greed of money has actuated me in this work. How often have I refused fees offered me ! how often forbidden collections to be made for my benefit ! Monitors of the Eastern Star have been published by twenties of thousands, but the money profits were enjoyed by others, not by me. It is with honest pride that I make, as I have so often made, these declarations.

Rob Morris.

La Grange, Kentucky, August 1, 1884.

As indicated by Dr. Morris, he found that the Constellation form with its dramatic ritual was too complicated and difficult of rendition to be popular, demanding more dramatic skill than was readily available in many places. Because of this, together with the fact that the conditions of the country were negative and the minds of the people not prepared to accept secret Orders conducted by women, the Eastern Star under the Constellation system did not flourish as had been hoped for by its originator. Consequently, as he relates. Dr. Morris prepared a ritual in 1859 which was very simple in arrangement, unpretentious in ceremony, and free from dramatic element. This he styled "Families of the Eastern Star/' and immediately organized under this name. The aim of the Families was the same as that of the Constellations, and all who had been members of the first system retained their privileges under the second, the officers remaining the same with changes only in the names.

Dr. Morris, in explanation of the change, said that charters would be issued in the old form : "The use of the old form of charter is continued, although the association governed by the Supreme Constellation, has ceased to exist. This is done to show that the two systems of 'Constellations' and 'Families' are identical in spirit, the latter having taken the place of the former. It serves further to show that the thousands of ladies who were introduced to the advantages of Adoptive Masonry under the former system retain their privileges under the latter."

The Supreme Constellation which had been inaugurated by Dr. Morris in 1855, had been organized with the powers as stated in the Mosaic Book} Of this Supreme Constellation, Dr. Rob Morris was Most Enlightened Grand Luminary, Joel M. Spiller, Delphi, Indiana, Right Enlightened Deputy Grand Luminary and Grand Lecturer ; Jonathan R. Neill, New York, Very Enlightened Grand Secretary; and Very Enlightened Deputy Grand Luminaries were appointed as follows :

1 See Appendix A.

New Jersey and pro tern, for New England — James B. Taylor, Newark.

New York — Thomas C. Edwards, Elmira.

Indiana — Joel M. Spiller, Delphi.

Iowa — L. D. Parmer, Muscatine.

Kentucky — John Scott, Flemingsburg.

Georgia — M. B. Franklin, Atlanta.

Missouri — M. J. F. Leonard, at large.

Right Eminent Deputy Grand Luminaries were also named :

Illinois, Fourth District — Harmon G. Reynolds, Knoxville.

Kentucky — James G. Gorsuch, Portland; W. C. Munger, Covington.

The following Constellations were granted charters under the Supreme Constellation system, and for convenience are given by States in alphabetical order :

Alabama — Venus No. ii, New Market.

Arkansas — Evening Star No. i6, Morristown.

California — Morning Star No. 44, Grass Valley; Orion No. 57, Mariposa.

Connecticut — Morning Star No. 48, Fair Haven; Alpha No. I, New London.

Florida — Electa No. 11, Tallahassee; Flora No. 21, Uchee Anna.

Georgia — Virgo No. 4, Woodstock; Magnolia No. 5, Hillsboro; Rose No. 39, Whitesville; Electa No. 58, Cedartown.

Indiana^ White Rose No. 3, Crown Point; Jessamin No. 8, Moore's Hill; Cassiopeia No. 28, Cambridge City; North Salem No. 36, North Salem; New Albany No. 160, New Albany; Newman No. 161, Milton.

Illinois — Griggsville No. lO, Griggsville; Orion No. 15, Sycamore; Flora No. 18, Pecatonica; Pittsfield No. 56, Pittsfield; Friendship No. 65, Knoxville; Rose of Sharon, No. 67 , Tipton.

Iowa — Electa Morris No. 66, Muscatine; Violet No. 68, Iowa City.

Kansas — Mendias No. i, Wyandotte.

Kentucky — Purity No. i, Lodgeton;^ Vesta No. 7, Burlington; Covington No. 60, Covington.

Louisiana — Cassiopeia No. 32, Lisbon.

Maine — Moriah No. 19, Denmark; Corona No. 22, Waterville.

Michigan — Buchanan No. 20, Buchanan; Western Star No. 61, Litchfield.

Missouri — Flora No. 13, New Madrid; Hesperus No. 17, Charlestown; Lyra No. 24, Arcadia; Morning Star No. 25, Caledonia; Cassiopeia No. 26, Potosi; Eastern Star No. 30, Frederickstown ; Evening Star No. 31, Franklin; Western Star No. 33, Pauldingville ; Prudence No. 34, Marthasville ; Pleides No. 37, Mexico; Mary Washington No. 38, Florida; Martha No. 40. Madison; Robert Burns No. 42, Fulton; Astrea No. 43, Fayette; Rob Morris No. 45, Spring Hill; Esther No. 46, Pattonberg; Ruth No. 47, Gallatin; Nannie No. 49, Windsor City; Mary Anna No. 50, Roanoke; Mary Washington No. 52, Haynesville; Martha Washington No. 54, Richmond; Rose No. 59, Clinton; Louisa No. 162, Dekalb; Lucinda No. 164, Ridgeley; Hebe No. 167, Rochester; Lafayette No. 168, Palmyra; Hannah No. 169, Trenton.

2 This is the first Constellation which was organized under the new ritual and was organized under the direct supervision of Dr. Rob Morris at his home town in Lodgeton, Kentucky.

Mississippi — Concordia No. 6, Tallaloosa; Ripley No. 41, Ripley; Hebron No. 55, Hebron.

New York — Orion No. 9, Evans; Purity No. 27, Spencer; Speedsville No. 29, Speedsville.

North Carolina — Hookerton, No. 63, Hookerton.

Pennsylvania — Towanda No. 166, Towanda.

Tennessee — Acacia, Clifton.

Texas — Lavacia No. 23, Hallettsville ; Lily No. 35, Sabine Pass; Pleiades No. 51, Texana; Mount Horeb No. 165, Gabriel Mills.

Vermont — Irene No. 53, Swanton Falls.

Wisconsin — Lake Mills No. 171, Lake Mills.

Dr. Rob Morris continued to hold the office of Most Enlightened Grand Luminary, and in 1857 Brother James B. Taylor was elected Very Enlightened Grand Secretary. In all, nearly three hundred Constellations were organized and charters were granted.

According to the Mosaic Book, which was the ritual of the Supreme Constellation, ''the inherent right which Master Masons possessed to communicate the degree remains forever unchanged, nor does the Supreme Constellation presume to interfere with it."

The Supreme Council was a self perpetuating body, with its membership unknown to any but a very few, and all communications with it had to be through the Grand Secretary of the Supreme Council, who would not even disclose the number and location of its subordinate bodies. This body maintained an organization until about 1876 when it ceased to exist.

In 1859 Dr. Morris simplified the ritual into what was published under the title of Morris' Manual.^ This was

3 See Appendix B.

prepared for the communication of the degrees, and opened with an explanation of Freemasonry and its benefits to women, the obHgation administered being one of secrecy only. The signet was explained, also the signs, followed by the lectures which were simplified and adapted from the Mosaic Book. Each was followed by an explanation of the appropriate signs, emblems, and colors, which were fully described in a manuscript that was issued at the same time and accompanied the Manual. Early in i860 Dr. Morris began organizing and issuing charters under the Family System, extending to all Constellations the privilege of changing to the Family System.

LODGES OF ADOPTION OR ADOPTIVE MASONRY

An organization which bears a very imperfect resemblance to Freemasonry in its forms and ceremonies, and which was established in France for the initiation of females, has been called by the French "Maconnerie d' Adoption" or Adoptive Masonry, and the societies in which the initiations take place have received the name of "Loges d' Adoption" or Adoptive Lodges. This appellation, is derived from the fact that every female or Adoptive Lodge is obliged, by the regulations of the association, to be, as it were, adopted by, and thus placed imder the guardianship of some regular lodge of Freemasonry.

As to the exact date which we are to assign for the first introduction of this system of female Masonry, there have been several theories, some of which, undoubtedly, are wholly untenable, since they have been founded, as Masonic historical theories too often are, on an unwarrantable mixture of facts and fiction — of positive statements and problematic conjectures. Mons. J. S. Boubee, a distinguished French Mason, in his Etudes Maconniques, places the origin of Adoptive Masonry in the seventeenth century, and ascribes its authorship to Queen Henrietta Maria, the widow of Charles I of England; and he states that on her return to France, after the execution of her husband, she took pleasure in recounting the secret efforts made by the Freemasons of England to restore her family to their position and to establish her son on the throne of his ancestors.