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

28 ADOPTIVE
ADOPTIVE
ent degrees . The orthodox Masonic idea that
the Lodge is a symbol of the world is here retained,
and the four sides of the hall are said
to represent the four continents-the entrance
being called " Europe," the right side " Africa,"
the left "America," and the extremity,
in which the Grand Master and Grand Mistress
are seated, " Asia." There are statues
representing Wisdom, Prudence, Strength,
Temperance, Honor, Charity, Justice, and
Truth . The members are seated along the
sides in two rows, the ladies occupying the
front one, and the whole is rendered as beautiful
and attractive as the taste can make it .*
The Lodges of Adoption flourished greatly
in France after their recognition by the Grand
Orient. The Duchess of Bourbon, who was the
first that received the title of Grand Mistress,
was installed with great pomp and splendor,
in May, 1775, in the Lodge of St. Antoine, in
Paris . She presided over the Adoptive Lodge
Le Candeur until 1780, when it was dissolved .
Attached to the celebrated Lodge of the Nine
Sisters, which had so many distinguished men
of letters among its members, was a Lodge of
Adoption bearing the same name, which in
1778 held a meeting at the residence of Madame
Helvetius in honor of Benjamin Franklin,
then our ambassador at the . French court .
During the reign of terror of the French Revolution,
Lodges of Adoption, like everything
that was gentle or humane, almost entirely
disappeared . But with the accession of a
regular government they were resuscitated,
and the Empress Josephine presided at the
meeting of one at Strasburg in the year 1805 .
They continued to flourish under the imperial
dynasty, and although less popular, or less
fashionable, under the Restoration, they subsequently
recovered their popularity, and are
still in existence in France .
As interesting appendages to this article, it
may not be improper to insert two accounts,
one, of the installation of Madame Cesar
Moreau, as Grand Mistress of Adoptive Masonry,
in the Lodge connected with the regular
Lodge La Jerusalem des Vallees Egyptiennes,
on the 8th of July, 1854, and the other,
of the reception of the celebrated Lady Morgan,
in 1819, in the Lodge La Belle et Bonne, as
described by her in her Diary.
The account of the installation of Madame
Moreau, which is abridged from the Franc-
Mason, a Parisian periodical, is as follows :
The fete was most interesting and admirably
arranged. After the introduction in due
form of a number of brethren and sisters the
Grand Mistress elect was announced, and she
entered, preceded by the five lights of the
Lodge and escorted by the Inspectress, Depositress,
Oratrix, and Mistress of Ceremonies.
Mons . J. S . Boubee, the Master of the
Lodge La Jerusalem des Vallees Egyptiennes,
conducted her to the altar, where, having installed
her into office and handed her a mallet
as the symbol of authority, he addressed her
in a copy of verses, whose merit will hardly
* Reeueil Precieux, p. 24.
claim for them a repetition . To this she made
a suitable reply, and the Lodge then proceeded
to the reception of a young lady, a part of the
ceremony of which is thus described :
" Of the various trials of virtue and fortitude
to which she was subjected, there was one
which made a deep impression, not only on
the fair recipient, but on the whole assembled
company . Four boxes were placed, one before
each of the male officers ; the candidate was
told to open them, which she did, and from the
first and second drew faded flowers, and soiled
ribbons and laces, which being placed in an
open vessel were instantly consumed by fire,
as an emblem of the brief duration of such
objects ; from the third she drew an apron, a
blue silk scarf, and a pair of gloves ; and from
the fourth a basket containing the working
tools in silver gilt . She was then conducted to
the altar, where, on opening a fifth box, several
birds which had been confined in it escaped,
which was intended to teach her that
liberty is a condition to which all men are
entitled, and of which no one can be deprived
without injustice . After having taken the
vow, she was instructed in the modes of recognition,
and having been clothed with the
apron, scarf, and gloves, and presented with
the implements of the Order, she received
from the Grand Mistress an esoteric explanation
of all these emblems and ceremonies .
Addresses were subsequently delivered by the
Orator and Oratrix, an ode was sung, the poor
or alms box was handed round, and the labors
of the Lodge were then closed ."
Madame Moreau lived only six months to
enjoy the honors of presiding officer of the
Adoptive Rite, for she died of a pulmonary
affection at an early age, on the 11th of the
succeeding January.
The Lodge of Adoption in which Lady
Morgan received the degrees at Paris, in the
year 1819, was called La Belle et Bonne . This
was the pet name which long before had been
bestowed by Voltaire on his favorite, the Marchioness
de Villette,t under whose presidency
and at whose residence in the Faubourg St .
Germaine the Lodge was held, and hence the
name with which all France, or at least all
Paris, was familiarly acquainted as the popular
designation of Madame de Villette.
Lady Morgan, in her description of the
Masonic fete, says that when she arrived at
the Hotel la Villette, where the Lodge was
held, she found a large concourse of distinguished
persons ready to take part in the ceremonies.
Among these were Prince Paul of
Wurtemberg the Count de Cases, elsewhere
distinguished in Masonry, the celebrated
Denon, the Bishop of Jerusalem, and the illustrious
actor Talma . The business of the evening
commenced with an installation of the
officers of a sister Lodge, after which the
candidates were admitted . Lady Morgan describes
the arrangements as presenting when
the doors were opened, a spectacle of great
magnificence. A profusion of crimson and
t Clavel, p . 114.