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

384 KNEWT-NEB-S
KNIGHTHOOD
past and strength for the future, the Mason is
taught that he should, in these offices of devotion,
join his brother's name with his own .
The prerogative that Job, in his blindness,
thought was denied to him, when he exclaimed,
"Oh that one might plead for a man with God,
as a man pleadeth for his neighbor!" is here
not only taught as a right, but inculcated as a
duty ; and the knee is directed to be bent in
intercession, not for ourselves alone, but for
the whole household of our brethren .
Knewt-neb-s . The Egyptian goddess personifying
the West, facing the East .
Knife and Fork Degree . Those Masons
who take more delight in the refreshments of
the banquet than in the labors of the Lodge,
and who admire Masonry only for its social aspect,
are ironically said to be "Members of
the Knife and Fork Degree ."
The sarcasm was first uttered by Dermott,
when he said in his Ahiman Rezon (p . 36),
speaking of the Moderns, that "it was also
thought expedient to abolish the old custom of
studying geometry in the Lodge ; and some of
the young brethren made it appear that a good
knife and fork in the hands of a dexterous
brother, over proper materials, would give
greater satisfaction and add more to the rotundity
of the Lodge than the best scale and
compass in Europe .
Knigge, Adolph Franz Friederich Ludwig,
Baron von . He was at one time among
the most distinguished Masons of Germany ;
for while Weishaupt was the ostensible inventor
and leader of the system of Bavarian
Illnminism, it was indebted for its real form
and organization to the inventive genius of
Knigge. He was born at Brendenbeck, near
Hanover, October 16, 1752 . He was initiated,
January 20, 1772, in a Lodge of Strict
Observance at Cassel, but does not appear at
first to have been much impressed with the
Institution, for, in a letter to Prince Charles
of Hesse, he calls its ceremonies "absurd, juggling
tricks ." Subsequently his views became
changed, at least for a time . When, in 1780,
the Marquis de Costanzo was despatched by
Weishaupt to Northern Germany to props,
gate the Order of the Illuminati, he made the
acquaintance of Knigge, and succeeded in
gaining him as a disciple . Knigge afterward
entered into a correspondence with Weishaupt,
in consequence of which his enthusiasm was
greatly increased . After some time, in reply
to the urgent entreaties of Knigge for more
light, Weishaupt confessed that the Order was
as yet in an unfinished state, and actually existed
only in his own brain ; the lower classes
alone having been organized . Recognizing
Knigge's abilities, he invited him to Bavaria,
and promised to surrender to him all the manuscript
materials in his possession, that
Knigge might out of them, assisted by his own
invention, construct the high degrees of the
Rite .
Knigge accordingly repaired to Bavaria in
1781, and when he met Weishaupt, the latter
consented that Knigge should elaborate the
whole system up to the highest mysteries .
This task Knigge accomplished, and entered
into correspondence with the Lodges,
exerting all his talents, which were of no mean
order, for the advancement of the Rite . He
brought to its aid the invaluable labors of
Bode, whom he prevailed upon to receive the
degrees.
After Knigge had fully elaborated the system,
and secured for it the approval of the
Areopagites, he introduced it into his district,
and began to labor with every prospect of
success. But Weishaupt now interfered ; and,
notwithstanding his compact with Knigge, he
made many alterations and additions which
he imperiously ordered the Provincial Directors
to insert in the ritual . Knigge, becoming
disgusted with this proceeding, withdrew from
the Order and soon afterward entirely from
Freemasonry, devoting the rest of his life to
general literature . He died at Bremen, May
6, 1796 .
Knigge was a man of considerable talents,
and the author of many books, both Masonic
and non-Masonic. Of these the following are
the most important. A work published anonymously
in 1781, entitled Ueber Jesuiten,
Freimaureren and deutsche Rosenkreuzer, i . e .,
"On the Jesuits, Freemasons and Rosicrueians"
; Versuch caber die Freimaurerei, i. e .,
"Essay on Freemasonry," in 1784 ; Beytrag
zur neuesten Geschiehte des Freimaurerordens,
i. e ., "Contribution towards the latest History
of the Order of Freemasons," in 1786 ;
and, after he had retired from the Illuminati,
a work entitled Philo's endliche Erklarung, or
"Philo's final Declaration," 1788, which professed
to be his answer to the numerous inquiries
made of him in reference to his connection
with the Order .
Among his most popular non-Masonic
works was a treatise on Social Philosophy,
with the title of Ueber den Umgang mit Menschen,
or, "On Conversation with Men ."
This work, which was written toward the close
of his life, was very favorablyreceived throughout
Germany, and translated into man
languages . Although abounding in many
mirable remarks on the various relations and
duties of life, to the Mason it will be particularly
interesting as furnishing a proof of the
instability of the author's opinions, for, with
all his abilities, Knigge evidently lacked a
well-balanced judgment . Commencing life
with an enthusiastic admiration for Freemasonry,
in a few years he became disgusted with
it ; no long time elapsed before he was found
one of its most zealous apostles ; and again retiring
from the Order he spent his last days in
writing against it . In his Conversation with
Men, is a long chapter on Secret Societies, in
which he is scarcely less denunciatory of them
than Barruel or Robison.
Knighthood. The Saxon word cniht,
from which we get the English knight, signified
at first a youth, and then a servant, or one
who did domestic service, or a soldier who did
military service, which might either be on foot
or on horseback ; but the French word chevalier
and the German ritter both refer to his