DEGREES, APOCALYPTIC.
See Apocalyptic Degrees.
DEGREES, HIGH.
See High Degrees.
DEGREES, HONORARY.
See Honorary Degrees.
DEGREES, INEFFABLE.
See Ineffable Degrees.
DEGREES OF CHIVALRY.
The religious and military orders of knighthood which existed in the Middle Ages, such as the Knights Templar and Knights of Malta, which were incorporated into the Masonic system and conferred as Masonic degrees, have been called Degrees of Chivalry. They are Christian in character, and seek to perpetuate in a symbolic form the idea on which the original Orders were founded. The Companion of the Red Cross, although conferred, in the United States of America, in a Commandery of Knights Templar, and as preliminary to that Degree, is not properly a Degree of chivalry.
DEGREES OF KNOWLEDGE.
Fessler was desirous of abolishing all the advanced Degrees, but being unable to obtain the consent of the Royal York Grand Lodge, he composed out of them a new system of five Degrees which he called Degrees of Knowledge, the German being the words Erkenntnis-Stufen, to each of which was annexed a form of initiation. "The Degrees of Knowledge," says Findel (History of Freemasonry, page 496), "consisted of a regular detailed course of instruction in each system of the Lodges, whether extinct or in full activity, and were to end with at complete critical remodelling of the history of Freemasonry, and of the Fraternity of Freemasons from the most ancient period down to our own day" (see Fessler, Rite of) .
DEGREES, PHILOSOPHICAL.
See Philosophic Degrees.
DEGREES, SYMBOLIC.
See Symbolic Degrees.
DEISEIL.
The counterpart of Tuathal. Mackenzie, in the Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia, says:
Deiseil is used by the Druids as a term for the circumambulation of the sacred cairns. Derived from deas. south, and tub a course that is, in a southward direction following the course of the sun. The opposite is Tuathal, in a northward direction, as is observed at the present day in approaching the grave with a corpse.
DEISM.
In an abstract sense, Deism, or Theism, is the belief in God, but the word is generally used to designate those who, believing in God, reject a belief in the Scriptures as a revelation. The sect of Deists wich, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, enrolled among its followers many great intellects, such as Toland, Collins, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Fume, Gibbon, and Voltaire—is said by Findel (History of Freemasonry, page 126) to have "necessarily exercised an important influence on the Fraternity of Masons"; and, he adds, that "we cannot doubt that it contributed essentially to its final transformation from an Operative to a universal Speculative Society." The refutation of this remarkable assertion is best found in the first of the Charges adopted at the revival in 1717, and which was published in the Constitutions of 1793: A Mason is obliged, by his tenure, obey the moral law; and if he rightly understands the art, he will never be a stupid atheist nor an irreligious libertine," where the words irreligious libertine refer to the Freethinkers or Deists of that period. It is evident, then, that the Deists could have had no influence at that time in molding the Masonic organization.
There is still better evidence to be found in the old records of Freemasonry during several preceding centuries, when the Operative was its dominant character, and when the dogmas of Christianity were fully recognized, which must necessarily have been the case, since Freemasonry during that period was under the patronage of the Church. There is, in fact, no evidence to sustain Findel's theory, that in the transition stage from the Operative to the Speculative, when such men as the deeply religious Ashmole were among its members, the Deists could have infused any If their principles into its organization or exercised any influence in changing its character.
Freemasonry, at that time sectarian, demanded almost a Christian belief—at all events, a Christian allegiance—from its disciples. It is now more tolerant, and Deism presents no disqualification for initiation. An atheist would be rejected, but none would now be refused admission on religious grounds who subscribed to the dogmas of a belief in God and a resurrection to eternal life.
DEITY.
See Great Architect of the Universe.
DeKALB, BARON.
See Kalb Johann.
DELALANDE, CHARLES FLORENT JACQUES.
A French litterateur of the last century, who was the author of many didactic and poetic articles on freemasonry inserted in the Mirror de la Vérité, the ' Annales Maçonniques, and other collections. He was also the author of the Defense et Apologia de la Franche-Maconnerie, ou Refutation des accusations dirigées contre elle à différentes Epoques et par divers Auteurs, meaning the Defence and Apology of Freemasonry, or Refutation of the Accusations directed against Her at several periods and by various Writers, a prize essay before a Lodge in Leghorn, published in 1814. He founded the archives of the Lodge of the Philosophic Rite at Douay, France.
DELALANDE, JOSEPH JEROME.
One of the most distinguished French astronomers of the eighteenth century. His name was Joseph Jérome Lefrançais but when quite a young man he was received at the Court of King Frederic II he called himself Lefrançais de la Lande, which has often been written as a surname Delalande and Lalande, the latter being used by his biographers Brother Louis Amiable.
Delalande was born at Bourg-en-Bresse, France, July 11, 1732, and died at Paris, April 4, 1807. He founded a Lodge of the Sciences for uniting Freemasons especially devoted to scientific study and research. At the suggestion of Helvetius this scope was enlarged to those occupied with literature, science and the fine arts. The Lodge bore the name of the Nine Sisters, referring to the Muses, the Greek goddesses presiding over the arts and sciences. Of this Lodge Benjamin Franklin became Worshipful Masters Delalande was one of the founders of the Grand Orient of France and published. in 17~ n able memoir upon the History of Freemasonry, which was subsequently incorporated in the twentieth volume of the Encyclopedie Méthodique.
DELAUNAY, FRANÇOIS H. STANISLAUS.
A French litterateur and historian, and author of many works on Freemasonry, the principal of which is the Tuileur des trente-trois degrés de l'Ecossisme du Rite Ancien et Accepts meaning Handbook of the Thirty-three Degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. This is a work of great erudition, and of curious research in reference to the etymology of the words of the Rite. These etymologies, however, are not always correct; and, indeed, some of them are quite absurd, betraying a want of the proper appreciation of the construction of Hebrew, from which language all of the words are derived.
DELAWARE.
There is some uncertainty about the first Lodge established in Delaware. The Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1764 is said to have issued a warrant to Union Lodge, No. 191, at Middletown, for General Marjoribank's Regiment. Failing this, Lodge No. 5, at Cantwell's Bridge, warranted on June '4, 1765, by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, was the pioneer Lodge of the State.
The Grand Lodge of Delaware was established under rather unusual circumstances. Nine Brethren. said to re represent Lodge No. 31, Grand Lodge of Maryland and Nos. 33, 96, and 14, Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania resolved to form a Grand Lodge. On June 7, 1806. Grand Officers were appointed and, without any previous installation, opened the Grand Lodge. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania refused to recognize it as five Lodges were deemed necessary to form a Grand Lodge and three of the Lodges taking part were indebted to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for fees and dues. Not until 1816, when Lodge No. 5, at Cantwell's Bridge, joined it by permission of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and made up the number of five constituent Lodges, was the new Grand Lodge fully recognized.
The first Chapter in the State was opened on January 24, l806, by a Convention at which were present Charles Mareighny of New York; John Sellers, Wilmington; George Monroe, Edinburgh, James Jefferis, Belfast; Evan Thomas, Santa Cruz; and Edwin Roche, Virginia. In 1831, this Chapter amalgamated with Hiram, No. 6, as Washington and Lafayette Chapter, No. 1. On June 24, 1817, delegates from the seven Chapters in Delaware, namely Hope, No. 4; Union, No. 7; Temple, No. 3; Washington, No. 1; Hiram, No. 6; Washington, No. 5, and one at Newcastle, held a Convention at Wilmington and established a Grand Holy Royal Arch Chapter. About the year 1856, however, it ceased to meet and, except for an irregular Convocation held in 1859, nothing more was heard of a Grand Chapter of Delaware until January, 1868. A meeting of Royal Arch Masons was then held which finally- proceeded to eject Grand Officers and adopt a Constitution. A Charter was issued by the General Grand High Priest, and at a meeting on January 20, 1869, the Grand Chapter of Delaware was organized and the Officers installed. Delaware is one of the States which make the Order of High Priesthood an essential qualification to the installation of the High Priest elect.
Gunning Bedford Council, No. 1, at Wilmington, was granted a Dispensation on February 1(), 1917, and a Charter on September 30, 1918. It has been said that Jeremy L. Cross, while on a lecture tour, conferred the Degrees on some of the Brethren in Wilmington and Newcastle, but of this there is no evidence.
A Commandery was organized in Delaware by the Grand Encampment of the United States at Wilmington. namely, Saint John s? No. 1, which was chartered on September 18 1868.
Delaware Lodge of Perfection, chartered on September 2, 1910; Wilmington Council of Princes of Jerusalem, chartered on .September 91, 1911; Wilmington Chapter of Rose Croix. chartered on September 21, 1911, and Delaware Consistory, chartered on October 3. 1912 are all at Wilmington, under the Supreme Council, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.
DELEGATES.
Past Masters or others, sent, b)y a Lodge to represent it in the Grand Lodge, in place of the Master and Wardens, if these are absent. have been in some of the American Jurisdictions called delegates. The word is a modern one, and without good authority. Those who represent a Lodge in the Grand Lodge, whether the Master and Wardens or their proxies, are properly representatives.
DELIBERATION-, COUNCIL OF.
See Grand Consistory
DELTA.
A triangle. The name of a piece of furniture in a Commandery of Nights Templar, which, being of a triangular form, derives its name from the Greek letter ~. delta. It is also the title given, in the French and Scottish Rites, to the luminous triangle which encloses the Ineffable Name (see Triangle).
DEMETER.
The Greek name of Ceres, which see.
DEMIT.
A Freemason is said to demit from his Lodge when he withdraws his membership; and a demit is a document granted by the Lodge which certifies that, that demission has been accepted by the Lodge, and that the demitting Brother is clear of the books and in good standing as a Freemason. To demit, which is the act of the member, is, then to resign; and to grant a demit, which is the act, of the Lodge, is to grant a certificat; that the resignation has been accepted. lt. is derived from the French reflective verb se démettre, which. according to the dictionary of the Academy, means to withdraw' from an office, to resign an employement. Thus it gives as an example. Il s`est démis de la charge en faveur d`un tel. meaning that he resigned (demitted) his office in favor of such a one.
The application for a demit is a matter of form, and there is no power in the Lodge to refuse it, if the applicant. has paid all his dues and is free of all charges.. It is true that a regulation of 1722 says that no number of Brethren shall withdraw or separate themselves from the Lodge in which the were made, without, a dispensation; vet it is not plane how the la v can be enforced, for Freemasonry being a voluntary association, there is no power in any Lodge to insist on any Brother continuing a connection with it which he desires to sever (see, on this subject, Doctor Mackey's Jurisprudence of Freemasonry).
The usual object in applying for a demit is to enable the Brother to join some other Lodge, into which he cannot be admitted without some evidence that he was in good standing in his former Lodge. This is in accordance with an old law found in the Regulations of 1663 in the following; words: "No person hereafter who shall be accepted a Freemason, shall be admitted into any Lodge or Assembly until he has brought a certificate of the time and place of his acceptation from the Lodee that accepted him unto the Master of that limit or division where such Lodge is kept."
Brother Hunt, Grand Secretary of Iowa, wrote to us (March 21, 1923) as follows:
The word dimit I believe has never been used in England. and the word demit is seldom used there the words withdrawal or resignation being the most common ones used. In the Regulations of 1723 the only restriction on the right of a Brother to withdraw is found in Section 8 of the General Regulations which provides that they should not withdraw in numbers unless the Lodge becomes too numerous etc. This restriction was later withdrawn, and at the present time the rule is that Freemasonry being quite voluntary a member of a Lodge may server his connection with it any moment he pleases even though his dues are unpaid or he is under charges.
When a Brother leaves a Lodge he is entitled to a certificate stating the circumstances under which he so left. This is provided by Section 213 of the Grand Lodge Constitution. It has been held that if a Brother leaves under a cloud whether this cloud be unpaid dues or charges that the Lodge issuing the certificate should state the circumstances under which he left but Section 212 provides that one who has been excluded or voluntarily withdraws from a Lodge withoud having complied with its By-laws or the General Regulations of the Craft shall not he eligible to Join any other Lodge until that Lodge shall be made acquainted with his former neglect. If any Lodge receives a petition and accepts him and fails to make due inquiry as to the conditions under which the Brother left his former Lodge they are liable to his former Lodge for any arrearages which he may have owed them at the time of his withdrawal or exclusion.
This practice seems rather strange to us in this country but I believe that in the early days the duty- of a Freemason to become affiliated with some Lodge was not emphasized as it was later or as it is at the present time. A Brother had a right to resign membership, or as it was usually called demit from his Lodge at any time he pleased, and his letter of resignation had much the same effect as a request for a demit does at the present time except that the moment this letter was filed whis the Secretary the act became irrevocable and if he repented and desired to withdraw the letter. he could not do so but must petition for membership, the same as another non-affiliate.
In the Grand Lodge of England there is the case of a Brother who wrote to his local L odge Secretary resigning membership in the Lodge The next day he changed his mind and asked to be allowed to withdraw the resignation. Both letters were received by the Secretary bevore the next meeting of the Lodge but the letter of resignation was held to be final. The Grand Lodge held that there was no other way in which the fact of the resignnation could be undone exept as a joining member. This decision also seems strange to us , because we hold that a request for a demit is inoperative until it has been read to the Lode, and there would be nothing to prevent a secretary from returning a request for a dimit to a Brother requesting it provided such request was made before it had been read to the Lodge.
However it all goes to show that Masonically the term demit is the same as a resignation of membership. The verb demit denotes the act of the Brother and not the act of the Lodge the noun demit is a Certificate issued by the Lotge, certifying that the brother's membership has terminated. at his own request. Therefore, there is practically no difference between a demit and a resignation of membership (see dignity).
DENDERAH.
A ruined town of Upper Egypt, of great interest in consequence of its astronomical allusions on the ceiling of the main portico supported on towenty-four columns which is covered with figures and hieroglyphies. This is in the principal temple, which is 220 by 50 feet. The numerous mythological figures are arranged in zodiacal fashion. Recent archeological travelers doubt the reference to astronomy, in Consequence ot the absence of the Crab. The temple dates from the period of Cleopatra and the earlier Roman emperors and is one of the finest and best preserved structures or the kind in Egypt. The chief deity was Athor, the goddess of night, corresponding with the Greek Aphrodite (see Zodiac).
DENMARK.
The first Masonic Lodge in Denmark was opened in Copenhagen, by Baron G. O. Münnich. on the 11th of November, 1743, umber a Charter, as he climed from the Lodge of the Three Globes in Berlin. In the next year a new Lodge named Zerubbabel was formed by three members separating trom the former Lodge. Both of these Bodies, Saint Martins received as No. 204, on October 9, 1749 a Warrant from Lord Byron, Grand Master of England. granted a Warrant to the second Lodge as No. 197 on the English Register. The two Lodges united in 1767 under the name of Zerubbabel of the North Star and worked alternately in Danish and in German. When a purely Danish Lodge was instituted in 1778, Zerubbabel Lodge confined itself entirely to the use of the German language. In 1749 Lord Byron granted a Patent to Count Danneskiold Laurvig as Provincial Grand Master of Denmark and Norway. A Lodge had been established at Copenhagen, by the Grand Lodge of Scotland under the name of Le petit Nombre, meaning the little number. and in 1703 its Master was elevated by that body to the rank of a Provincial Grand Master. In 1792 Prince Charles became the sole head of the Danish Lodges, and the Grand Lodge of Denmark may be considered to have been then established. He died in 1836, and the Crown Prince, afterward Christian Vlll, became the Protector of the Danish Lodges. and his son and Successor Frederick VII, became Grand Master of the Grand Master. It was decreed on January 6, 1850, bv the Grand Master that the Swedish Rite should he used thenceforward in all Lodges. The Crown in Denmark is well disposed to the Craft, the King being Grand Master (see Norway and Sweden).
D'EON, CHEVALIER.
Born October 5, 1728, at Tonnerre in Burgundy, and christened Charles Genevieve Louise Auguste André Timothée Déon De Beaumont. Led most singular career. After living nearly forty years an active life as a man the Chevalier voluntarily testified in an English Court that he had been masquerading during this entire period and that he was actually a woman. After his death this testimony was found to be untrue. The Chevalier was born of parents who stood high among the nobility. His baptismal certificate asserts that the above names were those given the child in regular and usual form. The family name was Deon but King Louis XV in 1757 addressed a communication to the Chevalier as D'Eon.
D'Elon studied law and literature in Paris at the College Mazarin. Admitted an advocate after securing the License in Canon and Civil Law. A brilliant student, he was made a Censor Royal of works on history and letters. Even at this early age he published a book on Historical Finance. D'Eon took up fencing and it was said only five could hold their own against him in all Europe. The French King honored D`Eon with a commission in a cavalry regiment about 175 when the Chevalier rode from Vienna to Paris with important dispatches to the King in thirty-six hours less time than it took the special Austrian couriers and this notwithstanding the misfortune to break his leg while on the road. His Physical endurance proved rugged and masculine. Louis XV, who sent Chevalier Douglas and his young secretary, D'Eon after his twenty-sixth year, to Russia as confidential envoys to protect Louis' interests there as a keen rivalry existed between France and England for the support of Russia. So ably did D'Eon serve that he was openly made Secretary to the Embassy and privately admitted to the inner circle of the Secret Service. This he gave up in 1760, when he left Russia. Probably he used his effeminate appearance in secret service work which enabled him to assume the disguise of a woman. Many stories were told of his experiences although the Chevalier's personal conduct was not Subject to reproach.
He left Russia in 1760 to join his regiment in the Seven Years War. D'Eon was wounded in head and thigh at Ultrop and rendered distinguished Service. The Treaty of 1763 ended the Seven Years War and was largely negotiated by D' Eon who went to England. The French ambassador soon returned to France and D'Eon was first appointed Chargé d'Affaires and later Minister Plenipotentiary. When he returned to France England entrusted to him its official ratification to the Court of Versailles. King Louis XV gave him the Royal and Military order of Saint Louis. and his proper title became the Chevalier D'Eon. He was superseded in the Embassy by an enemy, Count de Guerchy. The Chevalier refused to turn over some secret papers said to include charges of corruption against the Ministers who had concluded the Treaty and plans for the invasion of England. D'Eon retained the papers, but the death of Louis XV, 1774, put an end to the invasion of England and the documents lost their value. During this period of intrigue the Chevalier never lost the confidence of Louis XV although from the time the difficulty commenced in 1763 the question was constantly propagated as to the true sex of D'Eon. A pamphlet in the interests of De Guerchy was the first to print scurrilous statements reflecting upon D'Eon.
Eliot Hodgkin, Richmond, Surrey, possessed the original manuscripts of D'Eon's account of his current expenditures from day to day. Several items clearly appear indicating his acceptance into the Masonic Fraternity and his receiving the first Three Degrees. Although the question of his sex had already begun to be discussed, he was admitted to the French Lodge, No. 376, on the Roll of the Grand Lodge of England, known as La loge de l'Immortalité, formed June 16, and formally constituted September 8, in 1766, at the Crown and Anchor in the Strand, London. Probably Worshipful Master M. de Vignoles presided at D'Eon's initiation and the first entry showing disbursement of funds on Freemasonry is dated May 18, 1768. In January, 1769, an item appears covering four shillings seven pence paid at time of receiving the Third Degree. Although this Lodge did not register in the Grand Lodge Books any members after 1767 and therefore the Chevalier's name does not appear on the records of the Grand Lodge, Brother Henry Sadler located in the old archives of Grand Lodge a document which supplies authoritative evidence that Chevalier D'Eon served as Junior Warden of this Lodge between 1769 and 1770. The number of the Lodge, originally 376, was about this same time changed to 303, and the records of the Grand Lodge show it was erased from the books in 1775 due to "not having contributed," etc. D'Eon, an exile from France then resided in England and was fortunate to have a sincere friend in Earl Ferrers, in 1762 to 1763 Grand Master of the Moderns in England, who offered shelter to the Chevalier which he gratefully accepted as he was subject to annoyance due to the notoriety given the question of his sex and the danger of kidnapping by persons financially interested. Betting on the question of the Chevalier's sex came to such a stage that a scheme of Insurance on the sex of M. Le Chevalier, or Mlle. La Chevaliere, D'Eon, resulted in the policies being taken up to the amount of 120,000 pounds. It was a practice, in the endeavor to put a legal aspect on certain forms of gambling, for the speculators to issue a sort of Insurance Policy covering certain mooted questions. Until 1845 the English courts held wagers as contracts and the winner of a bet could enforce payment through a Court of Law. So much money became involved about D'Eon and 80 many lawsuits were imminent that it was decided to bring the case to trial. In 1777, therefore, one of the insurance brokers presented two witnesses, one a doctor named Le Goux, and the other a journalist, M. de Morande, who swore that of their own personal knowledge D'Eon was a woman. Had the English Court, presided over by Lord Mansfield, been familiar with the history of these two witnesses, it would no doubt have returned a different verdict. The verdict by the jury was that the unfortunate Chevalier was a woman and, surprisingly, just at this time D'Eon himself, who had been negotiating through Beaumarchais for the restoration of the secret papers, made an official declaration to the French Ministers that he actually was a woman. He had also been negotiating with France for a pension and Louis XVI, then King, agreed to increase the pension and permit the return to France of the Chevalier only on the condition that "she resume the garments of her sex" and never appear in any part of the kingdom except in garments befitting a female. D'Eon, for some reason no one has been able to explain satisfactorily, accepted the condition without argument and thenceforward became La Chevaliere D'Eon.
The two contending Grand Lodges in England at that time. known as the Antients and the Moderns, made much of this issue. The Antients claimed that here was an evidence of modern laxity which permitted the admittance into the Masonic Order of a person not fulfilling all the physical requirements of the Old Charges and the controversy subjected the Fraternity to no little criticism and satire. The Chevalier, after accepting the condition that he discard male attire, never again attempted to enter a Masonic Lodge although, during the period from 1769 to 1774 at which time he spent twelve to fifteen hours a day at his desk and produced scores of Lettres, Piecés Justificatives, Memoires pour seruir, Documents Authentiques, and a thirteen-volume book entitled Les Loisirs do Chevalier de Beaumont, he also wrote a rough draft of an essay attempting to compare the merits of the Society of Freemasons and the Society of Friends. This manuscript is included in the collection owned by J. Eliot Hodgkin, from which the following is quoted:
Freemasonry and Quakerism. What I say here about Masonry is not meant to win the Gold or Silver Medal, advertised in the London Courier Français, No........of ....page ....... , but only to win, in my heart, a prize graven on the Masonic Compass and Triangles each point of which, like the Trinity, rests on Truth Virtue, and Benevolence, common foundations of Equality and Justice between Brothers by birth and by Christianity, as between Brethren by Masonn, enlightened by the Sun of Truth, inasmuch as this is the Truth held by the primitive Christians of Jerusalem and
Antioch. But since the Greek, Latin, Gallican, and Anglican Churches have organised themselves into formidable bodies, they deride, individually and collectively, the sombre Society of good Quakers, who are good only at whining, sniveling, and having no poor among them while the Freemasons have established themselves in Worshipful Lodges, in order to laugh, drink, sing at their ease, and display benevolence towards their Brethren and Fellows dispersed over the Earth, without (infringing) the Laws of Moses or of the Paschal (Covenant). They spread sunshine, God's consolation, and true happiness m the heart of all human beings capable of appreciating simple Virtue. The happiness of man kind and the well-being of the Material World are to be found in Nature, Reason, Truth, Justice, and Simplicity, and not in huge books compiled by Philosophy and Divinity. All the State-craft of Machiavelli is only fit to drag man to . . . to the cells at Bedlam- or to lead him to Montfaucon, to Tyburn, or to the underground Pantheodemonium of the Lower Empire of Pluto. Lord Chancellor Bacon, who, of all England, was the Doctor most stuffed with Greek, Latin and Law, was right when he said "Honesty best Policy." These two words em body all that is good. I hold the religion of the Quakers very beautiful, because it is so simple.
August 6, 1777, D'Eon for the first time in London appeared dressed as a woman and exactly a week later he donned his uniform as Captain of Dragoons for convenience in traveling, the last time he appeared in London in the garb of a man. He went to France immediately, was presented to Marie Antoinette, and took up residence with his mother in Tonnerre. It is said that he retired for a time to the Convent of Les Filles de Ste Marie and actually resided at La Maison des demoiselles de Saint Cyr. However, he tendered his services to the French Fleet when the American Revolution broke out, which offer the French Government hastily declined. He returned to England in November, 1785, to settle come financial affairs and resided there until his death, never discarding his feminine garb. The French Revolution stopped his pension and it is said that he received a small pension in England from George lll but he was in straitened circumstances and maintained himself by his skill in fencing, but was compelled to sell his jewels, then his library, and other possessions. He died May 21, 1810, in seclusion and penury. After his death an autopsy was made by a celebrated surgeon, Thomas Copeland, who gave a professional certificate stating without question that the deceased had been of the male sex. This fact was confirmed by Pére Elisée, a surgeon of renown who had belonged to the Fathers of Charity at Grenoble but left France when his confreres emigrated and at the death of the Chevalier attended the Duke of Queensberry. In later years Pére Elisée became King's Surgeon to Louis XVIII. The Earl of Yarborough, Sir Sidney Smith and a number of friends inspected the body, and the question as to the sex of the Chevalier D'Eon was finally settled.
Several authors have discussed this remarkable personage, as Andrew Lang, Historical Mysteries, and the encyclopedias devote space to him; but the most satisfactory account for Freemasons is a paper by Brother W. J. Chetwode Crawley transactions, Quatuor Coronati Lodge, volume xvi, 1903, pages 229-59).
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