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The Adventures of Timothy Peacock, Esquire; or, Freemasonry
Practically Illustrated
CHAPTER VI
Daniel P. Thompson
"Wunder-wurkeinge." Old Masonic Manuscript.
The long wished day, which was to reveal to our hero those hidden wonders so
impenetrably concealed from the profane and vulgar, at length arrived. With
restless impatience and quivering anxiety did he wait the proper hour for his
departure to meet his appointment at the place of his proposed initiation. And
no sooner had it arrived than he mounted his nag, and, with his initiation fee
snugly deposited in his pocket, rode off for the residence of Jenks, the friend,
who, as before mentioned, had agreed to introduce him. The distance was about
five miles; but his horse, although it was a murky evening in July, either
through consciousness that he was bound on an errand of no ordinary import, or
in consequence of those birchen incentives to speed that were freely
administered at almost every step by his impetuous rider, flew over the rough
road with the velocity of the wind, and in one half hour stood reeking in sweat
at the place of his destination. Jenks, already in waiting at the door, received
Timothy with all the kindness of anticipated brotherhood. As soon as the mutual
greetings were over, the two immediately set out for the house where the lodge
was to hold its meeting. This was a new two-story wooden building, into which
the owner had lately moved. Although the house was only partially finished, yet
a `rum pole,' as it is sometimes called, had been raised, and the building was
already occupied as a tavern. The landlord, himself a Mason, had agreed to
consecrate his hall to the use of his brethren, and the approaching meeting was
the first opportunity they had found to dedicate it to its mystic purposes. The
members of the lodge having mostly assembled when Timothy and Jenks arrived, the
former was left alone in the bar-room, while the latter went into the hall,
proposing to return for the candidate as soon as all was ready for his
reception. This was a moment of the most thrilling and fearful suspense to our
hero, tremblingly alive as he was to the overwhelming interests of the occasion.
He tried to occupy his mind during the absence of his friend, which seemed an
age, by now looking out of the window and watching the movements of the
gathering clouds as they came over, deepening the shades of the approaching
evening,— now vacantly gazing at the turkies, taking roost in the yard,—now
pacing the room and pulling up his well starched collar, and now hurriedly
counting his fingers, to kill the lagging moments, and allay the fever of his
excited expectation.
At last, however, Jenks came, and informed him, that the committee appointed
to consider his case had reported faverably; the vote of the lodge had been
taken, and "all was found clear:" he might therefore now follow to the
preparation room. This room was no other than the kitchen garret, which, being
on a level with the hall, and communicating with the same by a door at one end
of it, was now to be used for this purpose through necessity, as that part of
the hall originally designed for a preparation room was not yet sufficiently
finished to answer for the present initiation. To this garret the candidate was
now conducted, through the kitchen, and up the kitchen stairs— that being the
only way of getting into the room without going through the hall, which the
candidate must not yet be permitted to enter. The garret having been darkened
for the occasion, the candidate and his conductor, after getting up stairs,
groped along, feeling their way by taking hold of the rafters above them,
towards the hall door, frequently stumbling over the loose boards of which the
floor, in some places single, in some double or treble, was composed, placed
there for the double purpose of seasoning and answering for a temporary
flooring. The masonic reader may here perhaps pause to demur to the fitness of
our preparation room as being too liable to attract the attention of the inmates
of the kitchen below, and thus lead to an exposure to the eyes of prying
curiosity; but all this had been prudently foreseen, and the difficulty
obviated, by the landlord who had contrived to have his wife and daughter, the
only females of the family, go out on a visit that afternoon, with the
intimation that they need not return till dark, before which it was supposed the
ceremonies of the preparation room would be over.
As soon as Timothy had been stationed near the door leading into the
lodge-room, he was left to himself. In a short time however Jenks returned,
accompanied by several others, one of whom was the Senior Deacon of the lodge,
who now approached the candidate, and questioned him as follows:
"Do you sincerely declare upon your honor, before these gentlemen, that
unbiassed by friends, uninfluenced by unworthy motives, you freely and
voluntarily offer yourself a candidate for the mysteries of Masonry?"
`I say yes,' replied Timothy, `to all but that about being biassed by
friends—my father advised me to join, and Mr. Jenks here'—
"Why, Sir," hastily interrupted the Deacon, "you don't pretend that your
friends used improper influence to induce you to join, do you?"
`O, no,' replied Timothy; `but falsifications are exceptionabilities, and I
thought you was going to make me say'—
"Ah, Sir," again interrupted the Deacon, "you said no, I think, to the last
question: The answer will do, will it not, Brethren?" `We conclude so, Brother,'
was the reply. The Deacon then proceeded.—
"Do you sincerely declare upon your honor that you are prompted to solicit
the principles Masonry by a favorable opinion conceived of the institution—a
desire of knowledge, and a sincere wish of being serviceable to your
fellow-creatures?"
`Yes, I do,' eagerly replied Timothy. Here Jenks seeing the probability that
the candidate would need considerable prompting, stepped up to his side and
jogged him to be quiet.
"Do you," continued the Deacon, "sincerely declare that you will cheerfully
conform to all the ancient established usages and customs of the
fraternity?"
`Why, yes—it is conjecturable I shall,' replied Timothy, in a half
hesitating, half jocular tone and manner, `though the d—l a bit do I know what
they are: Suppose you first explicate and expound them a little.' "Say you do,"
impatiently whispered Jenks in his ear. `I do then,' said Timothy.
The Deacon then went into the lodge to report the answers of the candidate,
while those remaining proceeded to strip him of his clothes; but not
understanding the meaning of the movement, and not much relishing being taken in
hand in this manner, he suddenly started and twisted himself out of their hands,
demanding what they were going to do, & bidding them beware of putting
tricks upon one who could throw any two of them at a back-hug, side-hold,
rough-and-tumble, or any other way—a threat which he probably could, and would
have made good, (for he was no slouch at athletics) had they persisted at that
moment while under the impression, as he was, that this movement was no part of
the ceremony, but a mere trick or joke attempted by way of interlude to pass
away the time till the Deacon returned. But Jenks again interfered, and after
many persuasions and the most positive assurances that this was really part of
the ceremonies, induced him to consent to let them proceed. He then rather
grumblingly submitted himself again into their hands, observing that he
"supposed it was all right, but what the sublime art of masonry could possibly
have to do with pulling down a fellow's breeches, was beyond the expansion of
his comprehensibilities to discover." He was then divested of all his clothing
except his shirt, which was turned down round the neck and shoulders so that the
left breast was left bare. They then incased his legs in an old pair of woolen
drawers, which, on account of the candidate's unusual crural dimensions, reached
no farther down than about midleg; and bound a black silk handkerchief so snugly
about his eyes as to make an impervious blindfold. His right foot was next
placed into an old shoe, which in masonic parlance is called "the slipper;"
while a rope, of several yards in length, was tied with a noose around his neck.
These important ceremonies being in due form completed, all the attendant
brethren retired into the lodge-room, except the Senior Deacon, who was here
left in charge of the candidate. This officer then taking hold of the end of the
rope, or cable-tow, as it is termed in the technics of masonry, made towards the
hall door, and reaching out his right hand, while with his left pulling upon the
rope round the neck of the candidate, he gave with his mallet, or gavel, three
loud knocks on the door, which were instantly answered by three still louder
knocks from within; while at the same moment the door was partly opened, and a
harsh, sharp voice hurriedly cried out, "Who comes there, who comes there, who
comes there?" All this was the work of an instant, and the noise thereby
produced falling so suddenly, so unexpectedly, and with such a rapid succession
of confused and startling sounds on the ears of the candidate, he involuntarily
bolted with the quickness of thought, several feet backwards;—which movement
straightening the rope, and causing the Deacon to hang on stiffly at the other
end, at once threw the two into a position much resembling two boys pulling
sticks. As soon as the poor blind and alarmed candidate had time to rally his
scattered ideas, after being brought into this situation, a sudden fancy shot
through his brain that they were going to hang him; and, like a led pig, that
has hung back almost to choaking, he suddenly made another desperate lunge
backwards, when, as the evil genius of masonry would have it, the Deacon
unluckily let go his hold, and the poor candidate came down on his rearwards on
a place in the floor, which happened to be of but one thickness of boards, with
such violence, that every thing gave way before him, and he was precipitated
with a loud crash down into the kitchen, and landed, with the shock of thunder,
on the floor. Just at that moment, as bad luck would again have it, Susan, the
landlord's daughter, a sturdy girl of sixteen, had come home, and was in the act
of hanging up her bonnet when this strange vision fell on her astounded senses.
She turned round and gave one wild, fixed stare upon Timothy, who with a loud
grunt had floundered on to his feet, and now stood in his red drawers, with his
face concealed by the black bandage, and so tied with large bows behind as to
resemble horns, with his cable-tow hanging down his back, and with his mouth
distended with the grin of a baboon thrown into the air. She gave one wild look
on this appalling figue, and bolted like an arrow through the door. Scarcely,
however, had she reached the yard, when some movement of our hero striking her
ear, and leading her to suppose the monster was at her heels, fear seized her
afresh, and deprived the poor girl of all power of getting forward, and, like a
sheep or a rabbit frightened by a dog, she continued for some time leaping up
with prodigious bounds into the air without gaining an inch in advance, throwing
up her hands with a pawing kind of motion towards the heavens, and eagerly
exclaiming, "O Lord! take me right up into the skies! O, Lordy! O, Lordy!" She
soon however recovered her powers of progression, and with all her speed made
towards the barn where her two brothers were pitching off a load of hay,
screaming at every step, "O, murder! murder! save me! save me, Ben! The devil is
come! The devil is in the house! O, save me—save me!"
The boys hearing this outcry, leaped from the load, and ran out eagerly
crying, "What's the matter—what's the matter?" "Oh, Ben!" replied the breathless
and affrighted girl, "Oh, Ben, the devil is in our house! Oh! Oh! Oh!" "What the
darnation do you mean?" exclaimed Ben.— "Suke, you are crazy!" "O, I ain't—I
ain't nother," she cried with histerical sobs—"it is the devil—I seed him
with his black face, and horns, and tail a rod long! How he looked! Oh! oh!
boo-hoo-hoo!" "I snore!" exclaimed the youngest boy, with glaring eyes, and
teeth chattering like a show-monkey in January, "I snore! Ben, where's dad?"
"Jock!" said the oldest boy, flourishing his pitchfork and courageously making
towards the house, "you come on with your fork—by golly! we'll fix him!" So
saying, Ben, followed by his brother, pushed forward to the scene of action,
both proceeding with their forks presented, ready to receive his majesty of the
black face and long tail upon the tines as soon as they should meet him. When
they came near the door they proceeded more cautiously, stopping to peep in at a
distance; but seeing nothing, they soon grew bolder, and the elder one fairly
put his head within the door. Here all was quiet and nothing to be seen. They
then went in, searched about the room, looked out of the windows, and passed
into the lower rooms of the other part of the house, without finding any breach
or hole where his majesty could have come in or gone out, or indeed discovering
any thing that could in the least account for their sister's fright. The Masons
they knew were in the hall; but they never dreamed that the apparition could
have had any connexion with the proceedings of the lodge room. They therefore
concluded that it was all poor Susan's imagination that had caused such a fuss,
and getting her in, they called her a darn fool to be scart at nothing. But she
still persisting strongly in her story, they soon gave it up that it must have
been the devil; and their mother coming home soon after, and hearing the story,
still added to their fears by expressing her belief that it was a bona
fide satanic visitation; and as soon as it was dusk, they lit up a candle,
and all sat down close together in fear and wonderment, without going out of
doors till the Masons broke up; and even then they received no new light on the
subject; for the landlord was silent on the affair, being quite willing to let
it go as it stood, lest the truth might be discovered. It therefore became the
settled opinion of not only the family but the neighborhood, except the
brethren, that the devil actually made his appearance on that eventful evening,
and thousands were the conjectures as to the nature of his errand. So much for
the devil in red drawers, hoodwinked and cable-towed. Let us now return to the
lodge-room.
No sooner had the accident just related happened, than several of the
brethren rushed out of the hall, and, while some carefully took up and replaced
the broken board by another so as to leave no clue to the disaster, others ran
down, and seizing the candidate, now bruised, sore and bewildered, hastily
forced him up stairs and hurried him into the lodge-room, where they were on the
point of receiving him, when this luckless interruption took place.
After a short pause, to see whether the candidate was hurt, as well as to
recover from the fright and confusion into which they had been thrown, they, on
finding that no serious damage had been done, now repaired to their respective
stations that the ceremony might proceed. The Worshipful Master then bid the
candidate "enter with heed and in God's name." A short prayer was next repeated,
when the candidate, after a few unimportant questions and answers, was again
taken in hand for the purpose of performing the customary ceremony of being led
by the cable-tow three times round the lodge-room. The brethren by this time
having fairly recovered from their alarm, were now, as they thought of the late
affair, and looked on the poor blind candidate, beginning to be seized with much
merrier emotions. And as he was led along, his wo-begone countenance wincing at
every step, as if he expected every instant some new calamity to befal him, and
lifting high his feet, like a new-yoked hog, in fear of more accidents from
faithless floors, his shirt sadly torn, and his drawers so disordered as to lead
to some corporeal developements of masterly conformation, his appearance
produced no little sensation among the assembled brotherhood.—Some were seen
compressing their mouths and screwing their lips together to prevent the escape
of the threatened explosion of laughter,—some snapping their fingers in silent
glee, and some holding their sides, and writhing and bending nearly double
through the convulsive effects of suppressed risibility: and in a moment more,
the contagion seizing the whole company, the hall shook and resounded with a
universal burst of half-smothered laughter. Even the Right Worshipful Master,
who was then reading a passage from the open Bible before him, found such
difficulty in commanding the tones of his quavering voice, that he was forced to
run hurriedly over the remainder of the passage, and no sooner had he reached
the last word than he bro't the book together with a hasty slap, and gave
himself up to the uncontrolable gust of emotions that was every where raging
around him. As soon, however, as the Master could succeed in assuming a face of
sober dignity, and in quelling the tumult, the Junior Deacon brought the
candidate, now blushing almost through the black handkerchief over his face at
his own degradation, to a station near the altar. The sharp points of the
compass were then presented to his naked breast, accompanied with some other of
the usual ceremonies, previous to administering the oath. He was next ordered
and assisted to kneel on his left knee, while his hands were placed in due form,
one under, and the other on the open Bible, on which were laid the square and
compass. After this, the Worshipful Master approached, and told him that he was
now in the proper place and situation to receive the oath of Entered Apprentice,
and desired him, if willing to take it, to say over the words, repeating them
exactly as they were given off to him. The Master then proceeded to tell over
the first clause of the oath, which Timothy, after some hesitation, repeated.
They then went on with the rest of the obligation, which was in the like manner,
told over and repeated, until they came to the last clause, "Binding myself
under no less penalty than to have my throat cut across from ear to ear, my
tongue torn out by the roots, and my body buried in the rough sands of the sea,
at low-water mark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours—so
help me God;" when the candidate, who, after all that had befel him, was not so
much bewildered as to quite lose his own notions about things, or so subdued as
to be ready to submit to any thing which he might think for the moment to be of
questionable propriety, suddenly started upon his feet, and in a sort of
desperate and determined tone exclaimed, "What! have my own throat cut! and ask
God to help do it? I'll be exploded first!" This unexpected scrupulousness and
refusal of the candidate, whom they supposed to have been too much tamed by the
events of the evening to cause them any further trouble, occasioned a momentary
confusion among the brethren, and brought Jenks, his old prompter, immediately
to his side. The latter then used and exhausted all his powers of coaxing to
induce the still stubborn and determined candidate to repeat the clause in
question; but, finding that his entreaties were of no effect, he resorted to
menaces, threatening to turn him out naked into the street if he refused to
complete the oath. But this, instead of producing the desired effect, only made
the candidate more turbulent, and he instantly retorted, "Do it, if you want to
smell my fist!—I can abolish a dozen of you!" At the same time suiting the
action to the word, he sprang forward, flourishing his clenched fist with such
fearful violence, that all hands, for the safety of their heads, were obliged to
leap out of his reach, while with his left hand he made a desperate pull on the
bandage over his eyes. But the quick eyes of the brethren catching this last
movement, a half dozen of them sprang upon him in an instant, and, forcibly
holding his arms, put him down in his former position, in despite of his furious
struggles to get free. Here they held him down by force till his breath and
strength were fairly exhausted by the violence of his efforts. They then, with
the sharp points of the compass and sword, began to prick him, first on one
side, then on the other, until, through pain, exhaustion and vexation, he sunk
down and burst out into a loud boo-hoo—blubbering like a hungry boy for his
bread and butter. Jenks, now taking advantage of this softened mood, immediately
renewed his exertions, and by a little soothing and persuasion, soon brought the
poor subdued candidate to consent to take the remainder of the oath, which was
instantly administered, lest with recovering strength he should renew his
opposition; and thus ended this troublesome part of the ceremony.
The Master now addressing the candidate, said, "Brother, to you the secrets
of Masonry are about to be unveiled; and a brighter sun never shone lustre on
your eyes. Brother, what do you now most desire?" `I should like a drink of
water, and then to be let out,' sobbed Timothy, taking the last question
literally, and being now quite willing, in his present state of feelings, to
forego any more of the secrets of masonry if he might be suffered to depart. But
he soon found that this was not to be permitted; for the prompter bid him answer
the question properly, and say he desired light. The question then being
repeated, he submissively answered as he was bid; when the Master, giving a loud
rap, and raising his voice, said, "Brethren, stretch forth your hands and assist
in bringing this newmade brother from darkness to light!" This last order being
followed with much bustle, and sounds portending busy preparation for some
important movement, the candidate became alarmed, fearing that some other
terrible trial, yet in reserve for him, was now to be experienced; and he began
to breathe short, and tremble violently. The members having formed a circle
around the agitated candidate, the Master, after a few moments of the most
profound stillness, now broke the portentous silence by loudly exclaiming,
"And God said let there be light, and there was light! " Instantly all
the brethren of the lodge furiously clapped their hands; and, with one united
stamp brought their uplifted feet to the floor with such a thundering shock as
made the whole house tremble to its lowest foundations: while, at the same time,
the bandage, which had been gradually loosened for the purpose, was suddenly
snatched from the eyes of the candidate, who, shuddering with terror at the
astounding din around him, and dazzled by the intenseness of the bright flood of
light that burst, from total darkness, at once upon his unexpecting and
astonished senses, now stood aghast with dismay and consternation; his fixed and
glassy eyes glaring in dumb bewilderment on the encircled group of figures,
which, to his distempered and distorting vision, seemed some strange, grim and
unearthly beings, and which his wandering imagination soon converted into a band
of fiends, standing ready to seize, and pitch him about in torments. Gazing a
moment in mute amazement on this terrible array, he became suddenly agitated,
and, rising to his full height, and collecting all his delirious energies, he,
with one prodigious bound, sent himself, like a rocket, completely over the
shoulders of the encircled brotherhood, and fell in a swoon at full length on
the floor, leaving an atmosphere behind him but little improved by his ærial
transit. All for a while was now bustle and confusion in the lodge-room.—Some
were seen running to take up the prostrate candidate—some hurrying for water and
spirits to revive him—some, with one hand holding the organs of their mutinnous
olfactories, to work in clearing the floor of the sad effects of masonic
principles operating the wrong way; and others no less busily engaged in the
process of disaromatizing, or removing their own clothes and emblematical
adornments; for I grieve to say, that many a gay sash, and many a finely figured
apron, here fell a sacrifice to this hapless result of the ennobling mysteries
of Masonry.
At length all was again in a fair way to be restored to order. The candidate
was soon brought to his senses, and finding himself not dead, and being assured
moreover that the storm had now entirely passed by, he began to revive rapidly.
His clothes were then brought him, and he was assisted to dress. This being
done, and a glass of spirits administered by way of a restorative, the Master
proceeded to complete the ceremonies, which were here made to consist only of
the grip, signs and pass-words, the lecture of instructions being dispensed with
for this time, owing to the weak condition of the candidate; for he was still a
little wild, and occasionally visited with sudden starts and slight convulsive
shudders, sometimes breaking out into a loud laugh, and at other times shedding
tears.
The lodge was now closed with a prayer by the Worshipful Master; after which,
the brethren were called from labor to refreshment. Bottles were then brought
on, and all freely partaking, soon relaxed into cheerful chit-chat and social
gaiety—some occasionally breaking out into parts of those chaste, animating, and
lofty breathing songs, so peculiar to this moral and soul-gifted fraternity, and
so worthy withal of that classical origin of organized Freemasonry which the
learned Lawrie and other historians of the order, have, with great appearance of
truth, we think, traced to the mysteries of Bachus. And while strains like the
following, "Come let us prepare, We brethren that are Assembled on merry
occasion; Let's drink, laugh and sing— Our wine has a spring— Here's health to
an accepted Mason," with the exhilarating effects of the now rapidly circulating
bottle, co-operating in their genial influences on both body and mind, the
feelings of the company were soon exalted to the highest pitch of joyous
excitement. A thousand lively jokes and sallies of wit, together with many a
hearty laugh over the romantic events of the evening, enlivened the scene; and
even the pale and exhausted candidate began to mingle slightly in the prevailing
mirth, and feel, as they now broke up, that Richard would soon be himself
again.
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