Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

FESSLER
FESSLER 263
holy orders in 1772, and was removed to the
Capuchin monastery in Vienna. In consequence,
however, of his exposure to the Emperor
Joseph II. of monastic abuses, he incurred
the persecutions of his superiors . But
the emperor, having taken him under his
protection, nominated him, in 1783, as exprofessor
of the Oriental languages in the
University of Lemberg. But the monks having
threatened him with legal proceedings, he
fled to Breslau in 1788, where he subsequently
was appointed the tutor of the son of the
Prince of Corolath . Here he established a
secret Order, called by him the "Evergreen,"
which bore a resemblance to Freemasonry in
its organization, and was intended to effect
moral reforms, which at the time he thought
Masonry incapable of producing . The Order,
however, never really had an active existence,
and the attempt of Fessler failed by the
dissolution, in 1793, of the society . In 1791
he adopted the Lutheran faith, and, having
married, settled in Berlin, where until 1806
he was employed as a superintendent of
schools. He wrote during this period several
historical works, which gave him a high reputation
as an author. But the victorious progress
of the French army in Prussia caused
him to lose his official position . Having been
divorced from his wife in 1802, he again married,
and, retiring in 1803 from Berlin, betook
himself to the quietude of a country life . Becoming
now greatly embarrassed in pecuniary
matters, he received adequate relief from
several of the German Lodges, for which he
expressed the most lively gratitude. In 1808
he accepted the position of a professor in the
University of St . Petersburg, which, however,
he was soon compelled to relinquish in consequence
of the intrigues of the clergy, who
were displeased with his liberal views . Subsequently
he was appointed superintendent of
the Evangelical community, over nine Russian
departments, and Ecclesiastical President of
the consistory at Saratow, with a large Wary .
In 1827, on the invitation of the Emperor
Alexander, he removed permanently to St .
Petersburg, where, in 1833, he received the
appointment of Ecclesiastical Counsellor, and
died there December 15, 1839, at the advanced
age of eighty-three years .
Fessler was initiated into Masonry at Lemberg,
in 1783, and immediately devoted himself
to the study of its science and history .
In June, 1796, he affiliated with the Lodge
Royal York, zur Freundschaft, in Berlin, and
having been made one of its Sublime Council,
was invested with the charge of revising and
remodeling the entire ritual of the Lodge,
which was based on the high degrees of the
French system. To the accomplishment of
this laborious task Fessler at once, and for a
long time afterward, devoted his great intellect
and his indefatigable energies . In a very
short period he succeeded in a reformation of
the symbolic degrees, and finding the brethern
unwilling to reject the high degrees, which
were four in number, then practised by the
Lodge, he remodeled them, retaining a con-
siderable part of the French ritual, but incorporated
with it a portion of the Swedish system
. The work thus accomplished met with
general approbation. In his next task of
forming a new Constitution he was not so
successful, although at length he induced the
Royal York Lodge to assume the character
and rank of a Grand Lodge, which it did in
1798, with seven subordinate Lodges under
its obedience . Again Fessler commenced the
work of a revision of the ritual . He had
always been opposed to the high degree system
. He proposed, therefore, the abolition
of everything above the Degree of Master . In
this, however, he was warmly opposed, and
was compelled to abandon his project of
reducing German Masonry to the simplicity
of the English system . Yet he was enabled
to accomplish something, and had the satisfaction,
in 1800, of metamorphosing the Elu
the Ecossais, and the Rose Croix, of the old
ritual of the Royal York Lodge into the "degrees
of knowledge," which constitute the
Rite known as the Rite of Fessler .
In 1798, Fessler had been elected Deputy
Grand Master when there were but three
Lodges under the Grand Lodge . In 1801
by his persevering activity, the number had
been increased to sixteen . Still, notwithstanding
his meritorious exertions in behalf
of Masonry, he met with that ingratitude,
from those whom he sought to serve, which
appears to be the fate of almost all Masonic
reformers . In 1802, wearied with the opposition
of his antagonists, he renounced all the
offices that he had filled, and resigned from
the Grand Lodge . Thenceforth he devoted
himself in a more retired way to the pursuits
of Masonry .
Before Fessler resigned, he had conceived
and carried out the scheme of establishing a
great union of scientific Masons, who should
devote themselves to the investigation of the
history of Masonry . Of this society Mossdorf,
Fischer, and many other distinguished
Masons, were members . (See Scientific Masonic
Association .)
Fessler's contributions to the literature of
Freemasonry were numerous and valuable .
His chief work was, An Attempt to Furnish a
Critical History of Freemasonry and the Masonic
Fraternity from the earliest times to the
year 1802 . This work was never printed,
but only sold in four folio manuscript volumes
at the price of £30, to persons who pledged
themselves eventually to return it . It was a
mistake to circumscribe the results of his
researches within so narrow a field . But he
published many other works. His productions
were mostly historical and judicial, and
made a great impression on the German
Masonic mind . His collected works were
published in Berlin, from 1801 to 1807, but,
unfortunately, they have never been translated
into English . The object of all he wrote
was to elevate Freemasonry to the highest
sphere of intellectual character .
Fessler, Rite of . This Rite, which was
prepared by Fessler at the request of the