part leaves us with a very feeble comprehension of the matter; and it is that

Adam, or the "All-Powerful," baptized this order with the name of an Egyp- tian king who, if we take the commonly received Hebraic Genesis for au- thority, was born eight hundred years after Adam appeared upon the earth I
in France— where a passion for the chivalry of the middle ages favored their projects — a country propitious to this species of speculation, , did create such rites and orders, is not difficult to comprehend. But this which appears inexplicable is, that after having recognized the illegiti- mate source of all these rites and high degrees, of which the fabricators had been unmasked, hunted, and imprisoned in Germany; after having reformed all these rites, (between 1782 and 1790,) and having reduced the numerous scale to three, seven, ten, and, at most, twelve degrees. Freemasons in the present century should have been the dupes of jug- glers of a like category, and accept of individuals without character, without legal or any other recognized public distinction, new rites of
THE RITE OF MISEAIM. 179
Commencing in this manner, the author, M. Bedarride, continues the history of his "venerable Order," traversing, by forced marches, whole series of centuries, and stopping every two or three hundred years to indicate the existence of some Grand Conservators, without designating where, how, or by what means they were initiated. He pursues this romance until the beginning of the present century, when he begins to make a little history; but even of this his recital is so much mutilated that he fails in his search to discover the truth, though he attempts to ascend to the sources of his facts.
We deem it impossible to unite in one book a greater
similar value, but mucli more extravagant, the one counting ninety and the other ninety-five degrees — this is utterly beyond our comprehension.
What makes the matter more strange is, that all enlightened Masons of the present time know very well that true Freemasonry — such as is practiced by every Grand Lodge in Great Britain and America, and such as was practiced by the first and last National Grand Lodges of France, and the operative lodges under their jurisdiction — is composed of but three degrees. It is true they do not oflTer to the initiate, as do the rites of the higher degrees, gilt-lace cords or brilliant decorations, — [The au- thor very suddenly stops here in his reflections. That he does so be- cause he will not believe, or, believing, will not say, that pien enlight- ened and seriously earnest in the business of elevating the condition of the human race by means of Masonry, can be afifected by these "gilt^ lace cords or brilliant decorations," or that he stops so suddenly to al- low his readers the privilege o' thus believing and of finishing his ab- rupt period with such a conclusion, I can not determine. My own opin- ion, as one of his readers, is well known to those for whom I wrote and published from 1858 to 1861 ; and, though it may be unacceptable to some ^or whom I write at present, I will take the liberty of here ex- pressing it. So long as human nature remains constituted as it is, glitter will attract and decorations will incite men to desire their possession and it is a pleasure taken in the exhibition of the decorations recognized by these rites and orders, as indicative of higher rank in confessedly a phi- losophical institution, and, presumably, a higher degree of intelligence, rather than 'any actual advantage derived from the possession of their degrees, that induces wise and serious men to seek for atd obtain them. — Tbanslatoe.]
180 GENERAL HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY.
mass of absurdities than its author has collected and ex- hibited in his history of this rite : and we believe we will render our readers good service by not fatiguing them with a refutation of all the inaccuracies with which this