Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sketch Of The History Of The " Loges D'Adoption."
SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE " LOGES D'ADOPTION . "
AMONG the numerous English authors who have written on Freemasonry , there is not one who even mentions the French Masonry of Ladies ; to supply this strange deficiency in our Masonic literature , is the following sketch attempted . The omission is the more astonishing , as for the last twenty years , from the great intercourse which we . have had with France , many English Masons must have been aware of the existence of the " Loges d'Adoption . " Yes ! in spite of all that has been
vehemently urged against our order by some , and all that has been with equal vehemence retorted in defence of it by others , respecting our nonadmission of the " fair sex " into our assemblies , in a neighbouring land , divided from us but by a strip of water , there are now , and long have been , Lady Masons ! But ivhat gave rise to this singular perversion of our ancient order—of what this self-styled Masonry consists—and how far it is in accordance with the spirit of genuine Freemasonry , we must now endeavour to show . Those Masons who , in 1774 , instituted in Paris the Lodges of Adoption , attempted to make it appear that they only revived an old Order ,
whereas in truth they invented a new one ; they spoke of the gallantry of the French knights of old , and of their devotion to " lovely woman , " and assuming them to have been Masons , by a strange sort of reasoning they concluded that of course the " Preux Chevaliers " could not think of excluding ladies from a participation in their mysteries . If this be true , the aforesaid " Chevaliers " were not only very gallant , btit also very cunning , as , instead of admitting ladies to a knowledge of their
real mysteries , they invented new forms and ceremonies to satisfy the curiosity of the ladies without violating their own duties to Masonry . Francis the first generally is asserted to have joined in instituting this order ; and his sister , the celebrated Queen of Navarre , is also supposed to have been concerned in it . A French author " , however , seems to discredit this fact , though he would ascribe to Adoptive Masonry a more remote origin . It will be here necessary to give a slight sketch of some
of the many secret associations of ladies which existed previous to 1774 , and from which Adoptive Masonry sprung . The first of them , in point of antiquity , ivas that of the Mopses , which arose in Germany about the year 1735 . It took its name from the German " Mops , " which means a puppy dog , which is an allusion to a part of the ceremony of initiation . This society was governed by two chief Mopses , the one being always a lady , the other a gentleman ; its sole object appears to have been to promote conviviality . It is doubtful whether any vestige of the Mopses now exist .
The " Knights and Ladies of the Cork , " composed the next of these institutions , which arose in Italy in 1739 . The ceremonies of this order we may pass over in silence : there was not any real evil in either of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sketch Of The History Of The " Loges D'Adoption."
SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE " LOGES D'ADOPTION . "
AMONG the numerous English authors who have written on Freemasonry , there is not one who even mentions the French Masonry of Ladies ; to supply this strange deficiency in our Masonic literature , is the following sketch attempted . The omission is the more astonishing , as for the last twenty years , from the great intercourse which we . have had with France , many English Masons must have been aware of the existence of the " Loges d'Adoption . " Yes ! in spite of all that has been
vehemently urged against our order by some , and all that has been with equal vehemence retorted in defence of it by others , respecting our nonadmission of the " fair sex " into our assemblies , in a neighbouring land , divided from us but by a strip of water , there are now , and long have been , Lady Masons ! But ivhat gave rise to this singular perversion of our ancient order—of what this self-styled Masonry consists—and how far it is in accordance with the spirit of genuine Freemasonry , we must now endeavour to show . Those Masons who , in 1774 , instituted in Paris the Lodges of Adoption , attempted to make it appear that they only revived an old Order ,
whereas in truth they invented a new one ; they spoke of the gallantry of the French knights of old , and of their devotion to " lovely woman , " and assuming them to have been Masons , by a strange sort of reasoning they concluded that of course the " Preux Chevaliers " could not think of excluding ladies from a participation in their mysteries . If this be true , the aforesaid " Chevaliers " were not only very gallant , btit also very cunning , as , instead of admitting ladies to a knowledge of their
real mysteries , they invented new forms and ceremonies to satisfy the curiosity of the ladies without violating their own duties to Masonry . Francis the first generally is asserted to have joined in instituting this order ; and his sister , the celebrated Queen of Navarre , is also supposed to have been concerned in it . A French author " , however , seems to discredit this fact , though he would ascribe to Adoptive Masonry a more remote origin . It will be here necessary to give a slight sketch of some
of the many secret associations of ladies which existed previous to 1774 , and from which Adoptive Masonry sprung . The first of them , in point of antiquity , ivas that of the Mopses , which arose in Germany about the year 1735 . It took its name from the German " Mops , " which means a puppy dog , which is an allusion to a part of the ceremony of initiation . This society was governed by two chief Mopses , the one being always a lady , the other a gentleman ; its sole object appears to have been to promote conviviality . It is doubtful whether any vestige of the Mopses now exist .
The " Knights and Ladies of the Cork , " composed the next of these institutions , which arose in Italy in 1739 . The ceremonies of this order we may pass over in silence : there was not any real evil in either of