CHEVALIERS BIENFAISANTS

DE LA CITÉ SAINTE
LETTERS BETWEEN WILLERMOZ &
PRINCE CHARLES OF HESSE-CASSEL
1
 Ordre Martinistes Souverains – Chevaliers Bienfaisants de la Cité Sainte
Letters between Willermoz & Prince Charles of Hesse-Cassel
Excerpted from The Complete C.B.C.S.
Copyright © 2015-2019 by OMS

All rights reserved. This paper or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner
whatsoever without the express written permission of the OMS except for the use of brief
quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

AUTHORISED BY THE G.·.C.·.S.·.I·.·

GRAND MASTER SAR CŒUR DE LA CROIX

VICE GRAND MASTER SAR ROBORIS DE LA CROIX
GRAND CHANCELLOR SAR THEOPHOROS DE LA CROIX
S x I x G x I x, S:::G::R, GP, a, EASIE-EASIA
Winter Solstice 2019, v. 3.0

OMS
P.O. BOX 7092
AUSTIN, TX 78713-7092
WWW.MARTINISM.NET

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 CONTENTS

WILLERMOZ’ LETTERS TO PRINCE CHARLES OF HESSE-CASSEL ................................................ 5

JULY 8TH, 1781 ..............................................................................................................................8
OCTOBER 12TH, 1781 .................................................................................................................. 12
SEPTEMBER 10TH, 1810 ............................................................................................................... 17

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4
 WILLERMOZ’ LETTERS TO PRINCE CHARLES OF HESSE-CASSEL
In this volume, we provide our new translations of three letters spanning 30 years from Willermoz to
Prince Charles of Hesse-Cassel, one of the most influential Masons of the 18th century, as discussed
earlier. The first two written in 1781 concern preparations of the Convent of Wilhelmsbad. In the first
later, dated July 8th, 1781, Willermoz discusses problems and doubts within the histories and esoteric
mythology of Baron von Hundt’s Strict Observance. Prince Charles of Hesse-Cassel worked closely with
Baron Charles A. G. Kurt von Haugwitz who organized les Frères de la Croix, a mystical Masonic society
and was a sort of competitor questioning Willermoz’ rites. In anticipation of Baron von Haugwitz,
Willermoz briefly discusses the various high grade, esoteric, alchemical, and hermetic rites of the 18 th
century Freemasonry, all of which are preparing to compete at the Convention, and plants the seeds
not only for the R.E.R./C.B.C.S./O.G.P. to reign supreme, but for Pasqually’s Élus Coëns to be secretly
implemented beyond the Grand Profès grade. Important rites to consider were those of Der Stricten
Observanz’ (the German Strict Observance), Des Ordens der Rosen-und Golden-Creutzer (the Order of the Gold
und Rosencreutz, or GuRC), and Den Ritter und Brüder St. Johann des Evangelisten aus Asien in Europa (Asiatic
Brethren, or A.B.).

The second letter dated October 12th, 1781 specifically answers questions posed by Baron von
Haugwitz. Here, Willermoz gives a detailed account of the origin and writing processes of the Secret
Instructions for the C.B.C.S. VII° and VIII° of Professed and Grand Professed, revealing that he wished to
remain unknown and anonymous as their primary author. He also reveals to Prince Charles that their
primary intention is not only to deepen the moral and chivalric virtues of the C.B.C.S. V° and VI°,
but specifically to inculcate the cosmology and spiritual worldview of Willermoz’ beloved teacher
Martinez de Pasqually and his magical Élus Coëns. Despite what some modern commentators may
claim, here Willermoz makes very clear, again and again, his admiration of Pasqually’s E.C. which he
proclaims as superior to every other rite for its foundation in Truth and its tried and tested ability to
bring its candidates to that supreme Truth. Willermoz also reveals that as of October 1781, Willermoz’
students/brethren of the C.B.C.S.’ Secret Class of l’Ordre des Grands Profès were practicing the E.C. and
that Willermoz was initiating into the E.C.’s RéauxCroix degree, or at least preparing students to be
able to receive it.

The third letter dated September 10th, 1810 is nearly the length of the previous two combined.
Willermoz writes with a loving tenderness and reminiscent affection of his old friend and Brother in
the Ordre. Willermoz begins with a series of questions about the fate of several brothers and lodges
of the Ordre. Any contentions between brethren of the 1782 Congress of Wilhelmsbad naturally
dissipated over the course of time. Willermoz also relates a history of the Ordre, the development of
its rituals and doctrine, its struggles due to the Reign of Terror and the French Revolution, and its
eventual resurrection under the national rulership of Napoleon Bonaparte whose older brother served
as Grand Master of the Grand Orient de France from 1805 – 1806.

Before the Flambeaux,

Sâr Cœur de la Croix

S x I x G x I x, S:::G::R, GP, , EASIE-EASIA
Grand Master
Ordre Martinistes Souverains
Austin, TX, USA

5
“Carl, Prins af Hesen-Casel” aka Prince Charles of Hesse-Cassel.

6
“Carl, Prins af Hesen-Casel” aka Prince Charles of Hesse-Cassel.

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JULY 8TH, 17811

To be able to make V.A.S.2 better known on what I base my own opinion myself, I will have to go
back to general definitions, as I know them in this matter.

I would therefore say first that it seems essential to me not to confuse true Masonry with symbolic
Masonry. The one contains in itself a very vast science of which it is the means, the other is under a
conventional denomination the school in which one studies in a preparatory way this science veiled
under figures. One must be, under different names, as old as the very existence of degraded man; the
other is much more modern, although already very old, and its current name seems to have to be
necessarily after the last revolution that the Temple of Jerusalem suffered, which has become its
fundamental type. This school being born in the silence of mystery and secrecy, the time of its birth
remains lost in the darkness of the centuries which have passed since the last destruction of the
Temple. I do not think that one can ever manage to unquestionably assign to it a fixed time. I do not
think no more to persuade the Chev. T. the teachers of true masonry or even of symbolism, either at
the time of the foundation or at the time of the destruction of their order, this assertion without proof
being demonstrated by the English Masonic Annals, which although disputed, also without evidence,
will always be of great weight against it. But I do not shy away from believing, without however being
persuaded of it, that this secret institution, already existing before them, was the source of them; that
it even served, if you will, as a basis for their particular institution; that they cultivated and propagated
by it during their reign the science of which it was the veil and that they then covered themselves with
this veil even to perpetuate among them and their descendants the memory of their misfortunes and
tried by this means to repair it. All this, although devoid of sufficient evidence, does not, however, is
not repugnant reason, and could be admitted if necessary as more or less probable. The English annals
already cited mention a national grand lodge held in York in the year 926, that is to say about two
centuries before the foundation of the Ordre of so-called teachers of Masonry3; They also admit that
there were masons before this time in France, Italy and elsewhere, and certainly English national self-
esteem would have removed this anecdote if it had not some real foundation. It is therefore probable
that the order of T. instituted at the beginning of the 12th century and in the very country which is
reputed to have been the cradle of principal human knowledge, could have participated in Masonic
science, preserved it and transmitted it independently of other classes of men who were able to do the
same. In a word, if the next general congress is of the opinion of preserving Masonic relations with
the old Ordre of the T., I see no inconvenience in presenting this Ordre as having been the depositary
of Masonic knowledge and special curator of symbolic forms; but I will see many to present it as a
teacher, because one could always and everywhere find very inconvenient opponents.

So, I come back to the foundation of the question. I think that there exists for the current man a
universal science by which he can come to know all that relates to his ternary compound of spirit, soul
and body in the three created worlds, that is to say in the spiritual nature, in the temporal animal and
in the elementary corporality. I do not mention here the fourth world, the divine, because it is no
longer given to man in his current state to read it immediately, and if sometimes he still reads it, it is
only subsidiarily. Through this science he can hope to appropriate the virtues of the three worlds and
1 Published in French by Rinjberk in Episodes de la vie ésotérique (1780-1824), Lyon, 1938. The original is preserved
in the archives of the Grand Loge Nationale à Copenhague. Translated to English and annotated by Sâr Cœur
de la Croix of the O.·.M.·.S.·.
2
“Votre Altesse Sérénissime” or “Your Serene Highness”.
3 The Knights Templar.

8
obtain the fruits. Universal science, embracing the three natures, is further subdivided into three
classes or kinds of natural and relative knowledge; and each of these classes is still susceptible of
particular subdivisions, which greatly multiplies the branches of human knowledge. But as the two
lower natures are, so to speak, confused into one which is called sensitive nature, it follows that all the
knowledge which relates to it is also confused into a single genus which embraces several species,
whence it follows that those who follow one species especially do not always get along with those who
follow another, although of the same genus.

I will therefore divide the entire mass of knowledge into two genres only, and to distinguish them I
will name one superior and the other inferior, but, as both are exclusively of the domain of the
intellectual or active being of man, and not at all the responsibility of his passive lower nature, the
former can increase his temporal well-being by the help of the two genres and multiply by them the
enjoyments proper to his nature and to his present mixed state.4

However, the first species will always be superior in relation to its goal, which is all spiritual. Through
it the intelligence, which in a way emerges from the sensitive to which it is linked, rises to its highest
sphere, and I am justified in believing that in that there is the knowledge of true worship and of true
priestly ministry, whereby the minister offers his worship to the Eternal through the mediation of our
Divine Lord and Master J.C. for the family or the nation he represents. It is also only in this one that
I received lights and instructions and in which I had the happiness of acquiring some evidence which
will always make the consolation of my life.5 Perhaps also I have neglected too much the opportunities
to learn about the class which I call inferior; at least I have blamed myself since I have had the
opportunity to convince myself that its knowledge can serve as steps to arrive at the first and perhaps
also as means to operate there more virtually, but I have been fought for a long time by the fear of
being too attracted by the lure of success in the sensitive and of being thereby excited to stop in the
middle of my road as has happened to many others; so that I have always striven to hover above the
sensible and having always been supported in my efforts by some rare successes to truth, but some, I
have seen only the surfaces of the knowledge which relate to it and I have not probed their depth,
which means that I am in no condition to draw them well and to determine well neither their species
nor their extent, and for this reason I have determined to seek again and to grasp the occasions that I
have neglected above to educate myself in the knowledge thereof. If I succeed, it will only be then
that I will be able to judge the whole more healthily and to appreciate each part; perhaps also become
more useful to others than I can be now.

I therefore have no doubt that the 2nd class does not contain very valuable knowledge for man and if
I call it inferior, it is only by comparison with the object with the unique object of the first because in
nature everything is great, useful, majestic and sublime for those who seek it with pure intention. But
also, we see several very different systems which nevertheless have a lot of analogy between them in
their goals or in their means. I only hear here of those who can lead to some knowledge of the natural
sciences, and by no means of those which have no direct relation to these. I do not even want to
mention the science of the evocation of spirits that some, especially in Germany, have applied to
Masonry, because what is good in this science belongs to a higher class and what is bad in it should

4 Man’s present state as spiritual and material, active and passive, subtle and gross, spiritual and inferior.
5 Ie. Pasqually’s E.C.

9
always be ignored; I will even cite only the principal of those who have come to my knowledge of
them.6

One claims that Masonry teaches alchemy or the mercurial art of making the philosopher’s stone and
would like to see the Lodges furnished with stoves and alembics.

The other, disdaining the mechanical art of the blowers and even the gold they so eagerly seek, give a
more marked sense to hermetic science and seems to employ other means for its work. He makes us
hope that by finding the Lost Word that Masons are looking for, we will obtain a universal panacea
by which we will cure all human diseases and prolong the ordinary duration of life.

Another, taking an even higher flight, claims that true Masons are taught the unique art or science of
the Great Work par excellence by which, according to him, man acquires wisdom, operates in himself
the true Christianity practiced in the first centuries of the Christian era and regenerates bodily by being
reborn by water and by the spirit according to the advice that was given to Nicodemus who was afraid
of it. The latter ensuring that he knows the real material of the work as well as the real vases, stoves
and fire of nature by which he operates it, also ensures that by the conjunction of the sun and the
moon and by practicing exactly what is emblematically indicated by the first three symbolic grades, a
philosophical child will be produced, by the virtues of which the possessor will also prolong his days,
heal the sick and spiritualize his body, so to speak, if he has had enough courage and enough
confidence to go after life into the arms of death. I will stop there, these systems and especially the
last two generally embrace what all the others only partially indicate.7

I cannot know yet which of these systems that the Dear Brother Baron Haugwitz8 was most in rapport
with. The explanation that he gives of the words Jakin and Boaz, and what he indicates relative to the

6 This is not a condemnation of the evocation of spirits, but rather a statement that the forms, means and uses
he learned in Pasqually’s E.C. (the superior and 1st class of knowledge) are far superior to those that were
otherwise being practiced in Germany (as the inferior and 2nd or lower class of knowledge), and that Willermoz
will not even mention the principal or first step of Pasqually’s practicum except to those who have already
come to the knowledge of its uses (through E.C. initiation).
7 To summarize, Willermoz seems to be discussing first the alchemical Masons working to produce the

Philosopher’s Stone through literal laboratory work, second the hermetic Masons searching for the Lost Word
that will cure all disease and extend life, and third a sort of Gnostic/Greek Orthodox Christian sect of Masons
(Nicodemus or St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth were the principal compilers
of The Philokalia) pursuing the Great Work through true inner alchemical work of conjoining Sol and Luna to
create the Philosophical Child. These possibly could relate to Der Stricten Observanz’ Alchemistengrad (the Strict
Observance’s alchemical grade), Des Ordens der Rosen-und Golden-Creutzer (the Order of the Gold und Rosencreutz, or
GuRC), and Den Ritter und Brüder St. Johann des Evangelisten aus Asien in Europa (Asiatic Brethren, or A.B.). For more
on these currents see http://www. http://rosae-crucis.net/eng/currents.
8
Baron Charles A. G. Kurt von Haugwitz, confidant of Prince Charles of Hesse organized les Frères de la Croix,
a mystical Masonic society and was a sort of competitor questioning Willermoz’ rites. Interestingly, according
to Ernst Benz in his The Mystical Sources of German Romantic Philosophy (as translated by Blair R. Reynolds and
Eunice M. Paul, published by Pickwick Publications, Eugene, Oregon, 1983, pg. 73), it was probably this same
Baron de Haugwitz “who urged his friend Claudius to make a German translation of the book Des erreurs et de
la verité [by Louis Claude de Saint-Martin], and who helped him in this work.” Benz continues: “Haugwitz
himself had been for some time a freemason of the Strict Obsevance, a Rosicrucian, and a practicing alchemist.
A friend of the Stolberg brother, of Lavater, and of Claudius, he was converted, after 1776, to the Moravian
community and became, in 1779, with the Grand Duke Charles de Hesse, a member of the “Knights

10
properties of the 3rd grade seems to relate this enough to what I know of the last two that I mentioned.
In addition, it has come to me in various ways that his Lodge at Goerlitz in Silesia has a special purpose
in hermetic science, but I think I should suspend all my judgment until I have received the translation
of which V.A.S. announces he wants to take care of for me.

Although I have no fixed notion of the ways in which this knowledge as old as the world is united
with Christianity and has even been perfected by it, I do not shy away from admitting the possibility
that Saint John the Evangelist, who treated with so much energy and sublimity the essence of the
sacred Divine Word, gathered the old teachers of the natural sciences and perfected their knowledge
by the light of the Gospel, which thus came down to us; but will such a filiation which would be
demonstrated only by a simple plausibility be of great weight for those who seek the truth, especially
if one brings into it without real title the Order of the Templars? I believe, however, that all of this
could be settled fairly well if we give only as probable what cannot be proved, and not as certain.
Everything will therefore depend on the kind of evidence or probability that dear Brother Baron
d’Haugwitz would be able to produce.9

But I think that the most essential point in the present conjuncture, if we want to establish once and
for all in the regime a fixed and invariable base, is to present, at this moment, of reform to the Masons
only a real and possible goal in its kind and whose effect may become certain for those who, having
been sufficiently prepared and tested, will faithfully follow the means which would be indicated by the
system itself. If they were fed in the future as in the past only vague principles of theory, without
guaranteeing them the certainty of success so that they can expect to receive undoubtedly by practice
even the effects that they would be promised them, it is to be feared that, already tired of many illusory
promises made to them in general by Masonry, they will not tire of them altogether.

The system of l’Ordre des Grands Profès essentially differs from the previous in that not promising any
physical results and announcing a moral spiritual purpose within the reach of all who are admitted
there, it perfectly fulfills the purpose. But if to this first one is added another, as it seems to me
possible, which promises some physical success in natural science, before announcing it we must, it
seems to me, be sure to be able to give to the Élus certain means of obtaining proof of the truth.10

Charitable,” [Chevaliers Bienfaisants de la Cité Sainte] that is to say, of the order founder by Willermoz, Saint-
Martin’s propagandist.”
9 Ie. Willermoz suspends a belief in orders such as the Asiatic Brethren and even any Knights Templar associations

in the Strict Observance until he can evaluate their works for himself.
10 Here, Willermoz is setting the stage for the C.B.C.S. and its double Secret Class of the Ordre of the Grand

Professed to teach a moral and spiritual purpose as the foundation and base for future practical work in Pasqually’s
Élus Coëns as a system that he himself has seen to be tried and true.

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OCTOBER 12TH, 178111

Prince Charles sent Willermoz five questions formulated by the Baron of Haugwitz12 about the
following:

1. Who is the author and editor of the Secret Instructions for the ranks of Professed
Knights and Grand Professed?

2. Who is the chief or Master in professorship of these two grades?

3. What is the purpose and the constitution of l’Ordre des Élus Coëns?

4. What is the purpose of the Instructions for the two ranks of Professed Knights and
Grand Professed?

5. Does this fraternity, formed in Lyon possess the true degrees of the Élus?

Willermoz responds with a long epistle full of details about his own life but also very important for
the history of Pasqually. Here are some passages:

Lyon, October 12th

“To answer briefly the questions that Your Serene Highness offers me, I confess to him that I am the
sole author and the principal editor of the two Secret Instructions of Profes and the Grand Profès which were
communicated to him as well as Statutes, formulas and prayers which are attached to it, and also of
another instruction which precedes these two, which is communicated without mystery and without
particular commitment to almost all the Knights on the very day of their vesting or optionally only a
few days after; this one which contains well-known anecdotes and also a deliberation of the national
convention of Lyon13, complements the reception and prepares from afar for the two others which
remain secret and of which the above-mentioned national convention had no knowledge…14
“At the beginning of the year 1767 I had the happiness of acquiring my first knowledge in the Ordre
which I mentioned to V.A.S.15; the one who gave it to me being favorably warned for me by his
information and examination, advanced me quickly and I obtained the first 6 degrees. A year later, I
undertook another journey with this intention and I obtained the seventh and last one16 which gives
the title and the character of Chief in this Order; the one of which I the receipts (in fact it was received
11 Published in French by Rijnberk in Copie des manuscrits: Martines de Pasqually, Lyon, 1938. The original is
preserved in the archives of the Grand Loge Nationale à Copenhague. Translated to English and annotated by
Sâr Cœur de la Croix of the O.·.M.·.S.·.
12
Baron von Haugwitz, confidant of Prince Charles of Hesse perpetuated the mainstream Écossais degrees.
13 Convent nationale de Lyon.
14 Ie. the VII° Profès and VIII° Grand Prof which form l’Ordre du GP were secret even to the Chevaliers

Bienfaisants de la Cité Saint of the Convent nationale de Lyon.

15 “Votre Altesse Sérénissime” or “Your Serene Highness”.
16 Ie. the 7th and last Class of E.C. degrees being the Sovereign Tribunal composed of the 5 th Election of Jes.

Chr. and the White band or the degree of RéauxCroix.

12
by Bacon de la Chevalerie) said to be one of the seven universal Sovereign Chiefs of the Ordre and
often proved his knowledge by facts: by following this last I received at the same time the power to
confer the lower degrees conforming to this for what was prescribed to me. However I made no use
of it for a few years that I used to educate myself and to strengthen myself, as much as my civil
occupations could allow me ; it was only in 1772 that I began i to receive my brother doctor, and
shortly after the brothers Paganucci and Périsse du Luc that VAS will have seen on the board of Gr.
Prof. and these three have since become my confidants for the relative things which I have had the
liberty to entrust to others.
“It is essential that I here warn V.A.S. that the degrees of the said Ordre contain three parts. The first
three degrees instruct on the divine, spiritual, human and bodily nature; and it is especially this
instruction which forms the basis of those of Gr. Prof. V.A.S. will be able to recognize it by their
reading; the following degrees teach the ceremonial theory preparatory to the practice which is
exclusively reserved for the 7th and last [Class]. Those who have reached this degree, the number of
which is very small, are subject to works or particular operations which are done mainly in March and
September.17 I practiced them constantly and I found myself very well… although the first of the said
grades are wrapped in some masonic forms which are abandoned in the higher elevated grades, I soon
recognized that this Ordre had a higher purpose than that which was attributed to Masonry…
“At the beginning of 1778, great troubles arose in the provinces of d’Occitanie and Auvergne; the first
wanted to take no part in it; the second offered to mediate: the troubles were a little appeased, but in
order destroy the germ, the Province of Burgundy desired a national congress which can establish a
reform in the administration recognized as defective. Its Chancellor, the Br. Flumine18, addressed me
to make palatable the project of that of Auvergne; I thought I found there the opportunity I had been
looking for a long time: I seized it, but not wishing to be absolutely recognized for the author of the
Secret Instructions which would appear, I needed discreet co-operators to help me produce them. So I
communicated by project to the confidents mentioned above and also to the worthy brother Salzmann
who had been in Lyon for a long time and who I had just received in the first degrees of the Ordre. 19
They all approved and encouraged me to execute without delay. They were also of the view that to
facilitate the implementation it was necessary to also in the confidence of Br. Flumine of which was
assured discretion. I complied with this opinion and I asked the said Br. Flumine that any masonic
reform which would be destitute of fixed and luminous bases would never produce ephemeral effects,
that I was the depositary of some knowledge which could adapt to Masonry, if they did not belong to
it primitively; that I was ready to favor with all my power his project of administrative reform and the
rituals of the Inner Ordre, if for his part he wanted to commit to favor mine for the scientific part on
this point, to ensure his discretion forever on this point and support the veil that would hide the
author from his Instructions; that without that I could not bring myself to take part in anything finding
myself excessively weary of occupations so considerable and so fruitless. He accepted my proposal,
we agreed on the 3 Classes of the Ordre: the Symbolic, the Interior and Prof20. He21 undertook to
prepare all the work of the Inner Ordre, I undertook the revision of the Symbolic Grades and all that
would concern the new Secret Class of the Grand Professed. I was helped in the reform of the
17 Ie. the arduous Equinox Operations of the original E.C.
18
Bernard-Frédéric, baron de Turckheim, aka Baron Turkheim or Eques a Flumine in the C.B.C.S. (3 November
1752 – 10 July 1831). The Turkheim/Turckheim manuscripts are essential to a critical study of the Secret
Instructions of the C.B.C.S. and l’Ordre des Grands Profès. A critical edition of these is in our Complete C.B.C.S. book.
19 Ie. the initiation of Rudolph Salzmann in the E.C. by Willermoz.
20 The 3 orders of the new C.B.C.S. being the 1st Order of the R.E.R. (Symbolic I°-IV°), the 2nd Order (Inner

V°-VI°), and the 3rd Order (Professed/Ordre du GP VII°-VIII°).

21 Probably Salzmann and/or Flumine.

13
symbolism by Br. Salzmann and by my other confidants. I was very inclined to delete from said grades,
everything that related essentially to particular events of the Ordre of the Templars and hampered
around in connection with more essential things, but it was objected that by this deletion we broke all
connection of the Symbolic with the Inner Ordre and any relationship between the French lodges and
the German lodges. It was also judged that it would be advisable to preserve in the 4 th grade the
principal characteristic features of various Scottish and French Masonry to serve one day as a point of
rapprochement with it, these different combinations recognized then necessary; hindered excessively
the ones that I proposed which all related to a single object; but it was thought necessary to wait until
a general convent of the whole Ordre had pronounced on the continuation or the suppression of the
Masonic relations with the Ordre of the Templars before being able to take in this respect a freer
development.
“As for the Secret Instructions, my aim in writing them was to awaken the Masons of our regime from
their fatal drowsiness; to make them feel that it is not in vain that they have always been excited about
the study of symbols, including by their work and a little help they can hope to pierce the veil. To
bring them back to the study of their own natures; to make them glimpse their task and their
destination. Finally, to prepare them to want to become men. Linked on the one hand by my own
commitments, and restrained on the other by the fear of providing food for a frivolous curiosity or of
exalting certain imaginations too much if we presented them with plans of theory which would
announce a Practice, I found myself obliged to make no mention of it and even to present only a very
short tableau of the nature of beings, their respective relationships as well as their universal divisions.
“Everything that I inserted there concerning the scientific part is not at all from my invention; I drew
it from the knowledge which I acquired in the Ordre22 which I already cited several times to V.A.S. as
well as the general relations of the Temple of Jerusalem with the General Man which I am authorized
to believe are based on truth and are essentially of the spring of the ancient Masonry of which this
Temple is the fundamental base. The history of the sacred fire under Nehemiah23 being consigned in
old Masonic grades considered good, we determined for this reason to keep it in the new ones, but as
I cannot guarantee its authenticity I would not oppose its suppression if it is repugnant elsewhere.
“As for the historical part on Masonry24, it is based on the concepts that I have been able to acquire
by the most exact researches in this kind, I thus inserted there those which appeared to me to be the
most just and the most likely, some of which are corrected by my own knowledge, the source of which
I have cited, but I could not offer authentic guarantors of the others.
“While I was in charge of this work, Brother Turckheim, whose genius is very active and who was
more master than me of his time, had put his in a state of deliberation. He immediately pressed the
execution of the projected National Convention. It was necessary to summon him and hurry to finish
my work which felt in spite of me the haste with which it had to be finished. I flattered myself that I
could revise it later to make use of it on a few private occasions, and even to add to it the explanation
of the numbers of which I have spoken above. But I have always missed the leisure necessary for a
work so abstract and which demands complete freedom of mind, and which truly missed for a long
time.
“The Congress being assembled and my writing being almost finished, in which I was helped for
things of style and arrangement by one of my confidants very versed in this genre (Brother Périsse du
Luc) and also one of the most advanced in fundamental knowledge; my so-called confidants who

22 Pasqually’s E.C.
23 In the R.E.R. IV° Scottish Master of St. Andrew.
24 Ie. the history lessons of the V° and VI° degrees.

14
found themselves at the same time charged with deputations to the Congress, proposed there that a
special commission was formed which would be responsible for requesting and reviewing the various
information which it would be possible to obtain on the scientific part relating to primitive Masonry.
“The Chancellors of Auvergne and Burgundy were entrusted with this care and authorized by the
Congress to form a committee of conferences with all those who would provide some clarification on
these matters; he undertook to leave greater freedom to the cooperators not to point to require the
communication of the original papers which could be produced in this committee, or to know which
would be the brothers who would produce them if they did not want to be known; it was even
announced that one had already received preliminary from a few foreign brothers who did not want
to be named very important papers on this object, to the translation of which we were going to work
immediately: this is what is the cause that almost all the Grand Professed of Lyon and of the other
Colleges established since then elsewhere, are persuaded that what they possess came originally from
Germany or Italy and the true author is not known. The Congress only reserved to have knowledge
of the results of the committee of conferences, which gave rise to the conspicuous Preliminary Instruction
of which I spoke above and of which we are currently making a copy for V.A.S. The particular purpose
of this Instruction approved by the Congress was to awaken the attention of the new Knights the
essential things of the Ordre and to prepare for the Brothers the Grand Professed the freedom to
tarnish private conferences between them without giving any offence to the other members chapters
which has been successful so far.
“This work thus accomplished, the two Chancellors who had chaired the committee admitted to the
ranks of Professed and Grand Professed those of the dignitaries and officers of the chapters who were
then in Lyons and they were presented with the Secret Instructions, as being important papers sent by
foreign brothers who announced at the Congress, and whose translation had just been completed;
only after those whom the secret committee had recognized as worthy of this communication, they
proceeded to receive those who had been the confidants of my editorial office; by means of which all
suspicion of collusion between them and, I was absolutely ruled out…
“In addition, although there has been a small society here for ten to nine years, made up of those I
have received to varying degrees in the Ordre that I profess, which is only known to those who train
it, Masons and others,25 however, some brothers who are now Grand Professed have long assumed
that I had acquired some knowledge of these matters which I liked to discuss with some special friends.
I therefore did not shy away from declaring to the Metropolitan College that I found the principles
and doctrines contained in the Instructions of the Grand Professed to conform to those of which I had
previously acquired knowledge elsewhere.26 This admission determined a greater confidence in me and
in those whom I named and gave me more freedom to explain in daily conferences the obscure
meanings of some passages of the said Instructions.
“…The march which was held and which seemed to me necessary for the principle of this
establishment would have been painful to maintain for a long time: it also has, I agree, many
disadvantages, but they are decreasing as the memory of the means which were used for the foundation
weakens and they are well rewarded by the great goods which resulted from it. We can say with truth
that Masonry has totally changed its face in the last two or three years wherever the new Symbolic
Grades have been adopted and the Secret Colleges established, especially in Lyon, Grenoble, Turin,
Naples, I could even say in Strasbourg by the care of Brother Salzmann, but the effects were not as

25 Ie. Willermoz was initiating non-Masons into the Ordre.

26 In Pasqually’s E.C.

15
marked as elsewhere because this worthy Brother was not well seconded and encountered many
obstacles…
“…I also realize that I have not answered the 5th question, namely, does this fraternity formed in Lyon
possess the true degree of the Élus? To answer this question, it would be necessary that Brother
Haugwitz would like to tell me clearly and without veil what his true degree of the Élus consists of?27
What is its purpose and the present and future term? And what meaning does he attach to the words?
And this is why I in turn ask him for proof of his confidence… we must first agree clearly on the
subject. The 7th Grade that I have28, is truly the degree of the Élus in this class, since there are obvious
proofs of its truth. Some of my brothers are close to it, but do not have it yet…”29 In my turn, proves
his confidence ... it is necessary to begin with a clear understanding of the object. The 7th grade I
possess is truly the degree of the Élus in this class, since there is evidence Some of my brothers have
come nearer to it, but do not yet possess it…”

27 This question is about Baron von Haugwitz, confidant of Prince Charles of Hesse. Willermoz is asking what
the relevance and meaning of his Élus degree (and that which eventually became passed down by Étienne
Morin and eventually Henry Francken in America to the modern day Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (A.A.S.R.),
for Willermoz asserts that Pasqually’s Élus degree(s) are far superior and based on Truth.
28 Pasqually’s RéauxCroix.
29 Ie. as of October 1781, Willermoz’ students/brethren were practicing the E.C. and some had not yet attained

the degree of RC.

16
SEPTEMBER 10TH, 181030

Lyon, September 10, 1810

To His Serene Highness Prince Charles of Hesse-Cassel, Viceroy of Norway and Wolstein, Provincial
Master of the Province of the Ordre,
From Brother J.B. WILLERMOZ, uncle31, Chancellor Provincial of the 2nd Province of the Ordre,
known as Auvergne, in Lyon.

Monseigneur, Very Illustrious and Reverend Brother,

Almost twenty years have passed since imperious circumstances and very long duration forced me to
suspend the intimate Fraternal relationships that were to me so pleasant, so comforting to talk with
his Serene Highness, as well as with the very illustrious and serene Brother Ferdinandus a Victoria32,
last Grand Master General of the Ordre, whom inexorable death has taken away from us, whose
memory I will always cherish with the memory of his precious benevolence, which, I have no doubt,
went to receive the reward for his virtues and his great love for our Divine Master and Redeemer,
Jesus Christ. After such a long period of time and so many extraordinary events, Your Highness may
be surprised, upon receiving this letter, to find therein proof of the existence of a man whom he long
deigned to honor for his kindness, I dare even say of his friendship, and that he might have thought
he was no longer in this world.
Yes, my lord, I still exist in spite of the multiple dangers with which my life was threatened in stormy
weather, I even enjoy perfect health free up to now of the infirmities of old age, albeit laden with 80
years of age which will be over in few months33, and in spite of a serious illness, of which I was attacked
at the beginning of last year, which from the first week made all those around me despair of my life
and ended happily; but divine Providence has kept me almost alone, both in Lyons and in France, of
all those who, by their functions and by their long experience, could be useful to the Ordre; which
excessively embarrassed me in many cases, seeing me isolated and deprived of any help.
Although physically distant from Your Highness, I have, however, often been very near by thought;
either by re-reading from time to time the letters which he had done me the honor of writing to me,
at least those which it was possible for me to preserve, in which the beauty of his soul was painted,
his great love for the truth, which reminded me of dear memories and of great interest; either by
contemplating his portrait which he had deigned to send me, and which now adorns my cabinet.

30
Published in French by Émile Dermenghem in Les Sommeils, Paris, 1926, who transcribed it from an 1893
publication by M. Steel-Maret in Archives secretes de la Franc-Maçonnerie, college métropolitain de France, a Lyon,
IIe province dit d’Auvergne, 1765-1852. Translated to English and annotated by Sâr Cœur de la Croix of the
OMS.
31 Émile Dermenghem says this is to distinguish him from his nephew J.B. Willermoz. Later in the letter, it is

revealed that due to tremors of the hand (Willermoz was 80 years old at the time of this letter) he had his
nephew (Eques a lilio albo), older son of his brother (Eques a concordia), both of whom were VIII° GP of
the C.B.C.S., hand write the letter from Willermoz’ oral dictation.
32 Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, who greatly assisted Willermoz at the Convent of Wilhelmsbad,

as discussed earlier. The “a victoria” references his chivalric motto in the C.B.C.S.
33 Willermoz still lived another 14 years after this letter and died on May 5th, 1824 and had an exceptionally long

life of nearly 94 years.

17
If the painting has been slightly altered by the various transportations that I was obliged to make to
hide it, gifts of time, ‘tis awful, because if it had been discovered I would have infallibly paid with my
head for its conservation,34 I recognize no less all the traits which characterize your person and which
make it precious to me. I have also taken a lively part in the events which have interested you,
sometimes by rejoicing, sometimes by afflicting your heart; but mainly to the one who placed on the
throne of Denmark the amiable princess, your eldest daughter. Allow me, Monsignor, a few questions
on things and on people, for whom, although holding you closer, you had trust and friendship. What
has become of this dear and worthy Brother Baron of Haugwitz (a Monte sancto), of Kapitz, and the
wise school which he had instituted by solid instructions which had been communicated to you and
of which several essential parts are in my hands? Does his person and this school still exist? Did it
reach the final goal of its work? Has he been authorized to communicate them in full to prepared and
chosen men?
What has become of Brother Baron de Wœchter? Did he meet the grand superior he was looking for?
Has he received the ultimate of the great knowledge that was promised to him? Would he have given
knowledge of it to V. and the Serene35 Grand Master General before his death?
What has become of this famous illuminated36 chapter of Sweden, of which the Wœlners were the
columns, which under protection from its leader the Serene Brother (a sole vivificante) today on the
throne37 formed in the time of Wilhelmsbad such high pretensions and then seemed to want to
dominate in Germany? Has this system, which was rejected by the General Convent38, spread beyond,
accredited, does it still exist? I have so far had no knowledge that he entered France.
What happened to Brother Schwartz (ab Urna) who had been appointed by the General Convent
Secretary General of the Ordre to the person of the Serene and Eminent Grand Master General, and
Archivist of the Grand Magister?39 Does he still exist? What has become of the general archives of the
Ordre and the secret archives? Were they at the death of the Serene Grand Master gathered and
concentrated in some hand (it would be good to wish that it was in yours) or dispersed in several?
Finally, do they still exist so as to be able to meet the needs of the various provinces which might ask
for warrants?
Excuse me, Monsignor for so many questions, it will be easy for you to untangle my real motives for
asking them, so as not to attribute them to a simple curiosity; I would even have a few others to ask,
but less important, and I stop here so as not to abuse your kindness and not make myself unwelcome.
Your Serene Highness may also wish to learn what has become of the Ordre in France, and what state
it is in today. By the word Ordre, I mean the interior and secret Masonic order of the regime rectified40
at Wilhelmsbad so as not to confuse it with the regime of the French Rite41 which follows the generality
of lodges in France under the direction of the Grand Orient de France in Paris.

34 This is likely a reference to the danger of the guillotine facing the bourgeoise during the French Revolution.
35 Ie. V.A.S.
36
Willermoz uses the phrase “illuminé de Suède” and by the paragraph that follows clearly means a Swedish
branch of Adam Weishaupt’s Illuminati of Bavaria.
37 Duke Charles/ Prince Carl of Södermanland (later King Charles XIII of Sweden) who later absorbed the

Illuminati and other esoteric and magical rites in the D.E.L.U.

38 The 1782 Convent of Wilhelmsbad.
39 This seems to switch back to asking about C.B.C.S. officers.
40 Willermoz’ Rite Écossais Rectifié (R.E.R.) or Regime Écossais Rectifié, Chevaliers Bienfaisants de la Cité Sainte

(C.B.C.S.), and l’Ordre des Grands Profès (O.G.P).

41 Rit Français.

18
From the time of Wilhelmsbad, the prosperity of the Ordre in the Rectified Regime continued to increase
in France and Italy until 1790; but, in 1792, its decline was prompt, and as rapid as in all other regimes,
by the force of events which occurred in the political order, and the following year, 1793, completed
its ruin by death and dispersal of its most useful members.42 The complete cessation of all work and
the extinction of the lodges and chapters was consummated in 1794. This state of affairs lasted a very
long time and would still be about the same now; for it is only in a few isolated cantons43 that in recent
years we have started to wake up. But we are touching on a memorable time which seems to soon
restore its splendor thanks to the high protection which divine Providence procured for us last year
in France to achieve this goal; which I will have the honor of, before ending this letter, to instruct
Your Highness. But, to make it more sensitive to the picture I am going to draw and the series of
events, I must take up the details from above, and even go back to facts that have already been known
to you.
Your Highness probably remembers that the time that the deputies to the General Convent could
grant for the duration of this assembly being insufficient to perfect the multitude of the planned works,
we dealt first with the most important; they then confined themselves to sketching the reform of the
symbolic ranks and of the two of the interior order. The sketch, of the first three considered sufficient
to satisfy the first impatience of the  and the 44 and to make them know the true spirit which
had directed this work, was printed and distributed to the deputies; a special commission taken from
among the assembly among the Brothers of Auvergne and Burgundy, known for the most educated,
was charged with making more at leisure the revision and the definitive drafting, with the faculty of
adding, in Lyon and, in Strasbourg, the Brothers whom they would consider most capable of helping
them to perfect this great and important work. The bases of the 4th grade were also decided, and Your
Highness entrusted to me personally the instructions and the sketch of the table representing the New
Jerusalem and the Mountain of Zion surmounted by the triumphant Lamb, the whole written by his
own hand and adopted by the Convent to direct me in this part of the work. The French rituals of
Novices and Knights were also taken as a basis for the revision of this class.
This commission, divided into two sections a hundred leagues apart, recognized in the first year of
1783 that the communications by correspondence of each piece of work would prolong its whole for
many years, so we looked for the means to overcome this drawback. The Brethren of Burgundy, full
of confidence towards those of Auvergne, who offered to Lyon a larger number of able men than in
Strasbourg, urged these to take care of the whole of the work; except the communication to be given
to them by each party before it was definitively stopped; it was on this plane that all the work was
carried out.
The definitive drafting thus concerted, having been adopted by the three French provinces and by
those of Italy towards the end of 1786, was presented to the Eminent Grand Master General who
gave its approval in 1787 and from then on they were published in the  from France. The period
of this publication was that of the brilliant prosperity of the Rectified Regime of which I spoke above.
The Brethren of the  of the French Rite being admitted as visitors in ours, struck with decency, the
gravity of our ceremonies, the solidity of the moral and religious principles which were developed
there, and which were so new to them, asked with great eagerness to be affiliated to the Rectified Regime.
The entire  asked to become Reunited, but, lacking in their bosom men capable of directing them

42 The French Revolution wreaked on Masonic orders and many of its leaders lost their heads to the guillotine.
Willermoz himself was forced to flee to the countryside for safety.
43 A township or municipality.
44 The symbol  represents a Lodge (used for either of the R.E.R. or the French Rite) while the symbol 

represents a Chapter of the C.B.C.S. Two of either represents respectively Lodges and Chapters.

19
according to true principles, it was not long in repenting that they had taken them en masse, and from
then on they limited themselves to a good choice among individuals; which we have always had to
applaud. I do not know if these symbolic rituals were presented to German chapters and whether they
have been adapted; I learned only some time after that several of these chapters strongly attached to
their favorite system of restoration of the O [rdre] of the T [emple] which the General Convent had
authentically renounced45, showed themselves unwilling to adapt forms contrary to this system.
Anyway, after the revision of the first three symbolic grades, it seemed appropriate to make the 4th
grade, which would have completed this class and accelerated its publication.
But the commission remembering that the Convent had considered this 4th as an intermediary between
the Symbolic and the Interior, as the complement of the first and preparatory to the second, finally as
the point of connection of the two Classes, thought it necessary to suspend the revision, and to work
on those of the two novitiate and chivalric rituals beforehand; the latter do not require long or difficult
work, and only needed to be perfected. These being finished, the commission undertook the work of
the 4th in the views which had been brought from Wilhelmsbad, they occupied it for a long time with
great attention, feeling all the importance of the work which was entrusted to them. It was very
advanced and almost finished when the General States of France46 were convened. Several members
of this commission, enjoying a distinguished reputation, and belonging to the Three Political Orders,
were elected to attend this assembly; their departure creating a great void in the commission caused
work to be suspended until a more favorable time to resume it and this time has not returned. They
placed in my hands all that they had done, as well as all the information, instructions and tables which
had been supplied by the Convent and by Your Highness, and I have been constantly in charge of it
to this day.
The provinces, informed that the work was very advanced and that it left a great gap in the general
rectification which had been announced, did not cease demanding the confection and the sending of
this 4th, but it was not possible to satisfy them; for the divergence of political opinions did not take
long to divide minds everywhere.47 That of discord soon comes to blow its poison in the lodges as
everywhere else; those of the Rectified Regime, firmer in principle, resisted longer than the others, but
were then carried along by the torrent. The Brothers Grand Professed, scattered here and there, united
their forces, courageously withstood the shocks and faced the storm as long as possible; but, in turn,
they were overwhelmed. The false revolutionary harvested the firmest support of the Ordre, dispersed
the men who were most useful to it and natural death then successively removed the little that
remained of these. I was the only one spared from all those who filled dignities or great offices in the
province. I bless Providence every day while waiting for me to trace the route I must follow regarding
the Ordre.
During the violence of this dreadful storm, terror took possession of the spirits in all the provinces of
the Ordre; each thinking only of his own safety and fearing to compromise it by keeping some titles
or documents, they hastened to destroy them, and everywhere the archives of the  were emptied.
Titles48, documents, rituals and instructions were reduced to ashes, and the scarcity has been extreme
everywhere since then. I did not know what was going on in the various regions of France; because it
was no longer possible to correspond anywhere. But, two or three days before the beginning of the
siege which threatened the city of Lyon, frightened of the danger which ran the provincial archives

45 Baron von Hundt’s Strict Observance.

46 États Généraux de France.
47 Ie. the rise of the French Revolution.
48 Titles probably means patents or charters.

20
whose deposit was entrusted to me in the house of the Ordre located outside the city I moved there
as secretly as possible, with a single brave weapon; I emptied the cupboards, I hastily piled up what
they contained in trunks, and I was happy enough to bring them back into the city on the same day,
for the next day it was too late; the city’s communication bridge to the house of Ordre having been
broken, and three days later this house and all that I had been unable to remove was burned and
reduced to ashes. A bomb which fell on the house in town, where I had just taken refuge, put to dust
one of these trunks filled with registers, minutes and documents of all kinds. After the siege, I found
myself forced by new and more pressing dangers, which forced me to flee and hide, to reduce these
archives to the smallest volume, so that I could take with me what I had not been able to bury or
deposit in safe hands. I was arrested and imprisoned three times, and the third, the same day I was
sentenced to death for the next day, the fall of the atrocious tyrant of France, Robespierre49, set me
free.
It is thus, Monsignor, that in the midst of the greatest dangers of all kinds, I had the happiness of
preserving what was most precious in these archives and destroyed everywhere else, and that I still
find myself possessing originals, (the rituals and instructions of the symbolic O50. and the interior O.,
many titles and documents, some essential parts of my private correspondence, either with Your
Highness and the Eminent Grand Master General, either with the SSFF Duke of Sudermania, today
on the throne of Sweden51, and the Prince of Wirtemberg, reigning in Stutgard52, and Prince Maximilian
reigning in Bavaria53, who, I believe, hardly remember it and deal with it today still less, and with many
other people of distinguished rank in France and abroad. I also have a few fragments of a private
correspondence with the late Serenissima54 Duke of Glocester55, with whom I had had various familiar
talks, when he passed t in Lyon after his travels from Italy, accompanied by one of his friends and
mine. The Serene Brother, struck by the order and beauty of the rituals and instructions of the Rectified
Regime, in comparison with the English rituals of which he made no case, had formed the plan to
introduce our regime in England, which was the subject of our correspondence; but the war ended it.
Ah! Monseigneur, that the men, so numerous today, who do not want to believe in an active
Providence and director of events, who attribute all to blind chance or secondary causes, by ignoring
the first, that which puts into action all the others are to be pitied! How can they explain, other than
by Her, this multitude of general and particular events of such great interest? Can we ignore that if, to
achieve its ends, it finds the virtues of men too pure on earth, it knows how to use their passions, their
vices and even their crimes to achieve the goal it has set for itself?
One of the events which consoled me the most in the midst of so many calamities, was to have had
the happiness of saving the private archives of the Metropolitan College of France, residing in Lyon;
that is to say the Instructions and documents of the Secret Class of the Knights Grand Professed and
various scientific and historical notes which had been privately entrusted to me by Your Highnesses
49 Maximilien Robespierre was the architect of the Reign of Terror. On July 28, 1794, he was executed on the
guillotine, the very tool with which he consigned the fate of thousands. This means Willermoz was finally freed
for the last time from prison on the 27th or 28th of July 1794.
50 Ordre.
51 Duke Charles/King Charles XIII of Sweden.
52 I assume this is Frederick I of Württemberg (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Karl; 6 November 1754 – 30

October 1816).
53 I assume this is Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria (27 May 1756 – 13 October 1825).
54 “Most Serene”.
55 I assume this is Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (25 November 1743 – 25 August

1805). He received The Most Noble Order of the Garter (KG), was a member of Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy
Council (PC), and was a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).

21
at Wilhelmsbad. It is to this Class, which is the last grade in France of the Rectified Regime, which was
widespread in small numbers, everywhere unknown and whose very existence is carefully hidden from
its origin to all the Knights who have not yet been recognized as worthy or capable of being admitted
with fruit, that was due to the prosperity of the regime of which I spoke above who, in stormy times
was the palladium and the conservative of the fundamental principles of Ordre, which I hope will
become it again soon, as it can also become its tomb wherever it is delivered to men who have only
curiosity and do not know how to profit from anything, or to light and carefree men, for whom the
envelope is everything, and who never penetrate to the nuclei. I would have been truly inconsolable if
the archives of this precious Class had suffered in Lyons, which is its general repository, the same fate
of destruction that they experienced everywhere else.
When the truly extraordinary man who governs France today, so obviously aroused by divine
Providence to restore order and inner tranquility56, managed to stifle the hatred and dissension that
had wreaked so much havoc, the broken lodges and chapters scattered in some parts of France met
and sought to resume some activity: but the rituals and the instructions burned and destroyed
everywhere deprived them of all the means. Informed later that I had saved and kept the provincial
depot, they addressed me from all sides to obtain copies, announcing themselves as bare Brothers of
all kinds; but it was impossible for me to satisfy these requests, having with me no copyist worthy of
my confidence which I hardly grant for these objects. The main managerial establishments in France
were without any activity; I was left alone in Lyon; death, ancient resignations and emigration had
completely extinguished that of Burgundy in Strasbourg; that of Occitanie in Bordeaux had ceased to
exist even before the Revolution. Given his obstinacy, in the restoration system of the Order of the
Temple and his refusal to adhere to the decisions of the General Convent, all his rights of chapter and
Provincial Directory had been transferred from 1784 to the Priority Chapter of Septimania in
Montpellier, in accordance at the recess of the General Convent. It has for several years resumed some
activity. In the spring of Auvergne, everywhere where I could form a nucleus of knights Gr. Pr:::
capable of directing the work on the spot, I favored as much as I could new Masonic establishments.
This is how it exists in Marseille, Aix, Avignon, etc., and a very important one in Paris. But they all
urged me to be regularly constituted by the Directory of Auvergne in a lodge joined to the Rectified
Regime.
It was here, Monsignor, that I was most troubled. This Directory no longer existed in Lyon except in
my person and therefore could not constitute in full. But, considering that, either as Chancellor and
General Agent of the province, or by virtue of the powers which were personally delegated to me
from then on by the foundation diploma of the deceased Most Reverend Master Carolus ab Ense;
Considering also the needs of the moment and the impossibility of satisfying them otherwise, I took
it upon myself to grant, in my above-mentioned quality, these patents of provisional constitutions, to
be worth them until the Directorate regularly composed may grant them definitive ones. I urge Your
Highness who knows the rules and practices of the Ordre perfectly, to tell me with her natural
frankness if I had to do this, or if I took too much on myself, because I am still in this moment in the
case of doing so in another part.
I have just spoken of a Masonic establishment formed in Paris in 1808, and which I then constituted
in the same way in Provisional Prefecture. It there greatly thrives under the title of Lodge of the Center
of Friends57. It is a nursery of the Ordre which has already done us great service. Because it is by the
care of the main members of this lodge who were then deputies with me in Lyon, to obtain and copy
the rituals, instructions and documents of all the ranks of the regime, that we owe the honor and the

56 Napoleon Bonaparte.
57 Le loge du Centre des Amis.

22
advantage invaluable to now have a chief, a protector and a national Grand Master of the Rectified
Regime in France in the person of the Serene Brother of Cambaceres, Prince Archi-Chancellor of the
Empire, Duke of Parmes, etc. (in ordine Eques Joannes Jacobus Regis a legibus), who was already for a few
years Grand Master of the Lodges of French Rite, directed by the Grand Orient of France58. After
having recognized and appreciated the great characteristic differences which are between the Rectified
Regime and the French Rite, he was kind enough to accept in June 1809 the election that the two
Directory of Auvergne and Occitanie, only existing then in France, made of his person; which
promises us, given the keen interest he takes in the prosperity of the Ordre, a very satisfactory future
for us, the happy effects of which may one day be felt throughout Europe. The two electing provinces
then formed a national board of directors in Paris with the person of the Serene Grand Master who
chairs it; it is currently composed of four councilors representing the two Provinces, a National
Chancellor and a Secretary General of the National Chancellery, who are all Ch. Gr. Profès. It is to
this council that all national affairs refer.
The province of Burgundy, long since extinct in Strasbourg, today seems to want to take on a new
existence in Besançon. Some observers of the old Commandery which existed formerly in this last
city, meeting with some still existing, in the surroundings of Strasbourg, and supported by suffrage of
those which formerly belonged to the Grand Priory of Helvetia in Basel, formed the project to transfer
the provincial capital and the headquarters to Besançon. To this end, they presented a request towards
the end of 1809 to the Serene Grand Master who, in the opinion, of its board of directors and with
the consent of the provinces of Auvergne and Occitania, and after having completed all the formalities
prescribed by law and practice, has just provisionally granted their requests, reserving the final decision
of a general or national agreement. This event which seems to me very happy will complete the main
national organization.
I announced above to Your Highness that the almost finished drafting work of the 4th grade of Scottish
Master, had necessarily been suspended in 1789; that the commission which had been charged with it
had then placed in my hands, by separating, all that was necessary to complete it, and that this lacuna
in the whole of the general revision had given rise to many instances made of all sides, which I could
not satisfy, not daring to take on myself alone to complete this work. Twenty years have passed in this
state; but last year, after the great illness that I suffered, seeing myself remaining alone of all those who
had participated in this work, frightened of the danger that I had just run and feeling keenly all the
unfortunate consequences which would result from it if this gap in the Rectified Regime was not filled
before my death, I dared to undertake to do so. It only remained to link the different parts of the
ritual, and to put the final touches to the explanations of the tables and the instructions of this grade.
This ritual was published in the reunited lodges of France towards the end of 1809; and it was greeted
everywhere with the greatest satisfaction; I only regret that the lack of copyists did not allow me to
communicate it again to all the masonic establishments which request it.
In order to be able to inform Your Highness of what has happened of interest in our regions
concerning the Ordre, I had to enter into details which could have tired his attention. I beg him to

58 This is Jean-Jacques Régis de Cambacérès, duc de Parme (18 October 1753 – 8 March 1824), best
remembered as one of the authors of the Napoleonic Code which still forms the foundation of French civil
law. He also served as Head of State of France from 1799 – 1804. He was initiated into Freemasonry in 1775
by the “Les Amis Fidèles” lodge in Montpellier. From 1805 – 1815, he was the assistant and confidant of Joseph
Bonaparte, Napoleon’s older brother who served as Grand Master of the Grand Orient de France from 1805
– 1806. Jean-Jacques seceded him and served as Grand Master of the GOdF from 1806-1814. Under his reign,
more than 1200 lodges were established. (Saunier, Eric, ed. (2007). La Franc-maçonnerie sous l’Emprire : un age d’or?.
La Franc maçonnerie et l’Etat napoleonien. Dervy: 141.)

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excuse the length of this letter, the very disorder that reigns in its texture, because it started more than
a month ago, it must inevitably be felt by all the repetitions and interruptions it has experienced. My
hand, since the strong moral tremors that I have undergone, refuse me its service for any written
writing. I am obliged to borrow that of my nephew (a lilio albo) older son of my brother (a concordia) to
write under my dictation. Being Chevr. and Gr. Prof. he is the only one I can use for confidential
writing; but finding himself excessively busy elsewhere all day, he can only grant me very short
moments from time to time. You see there, Monseigneur, on what grounds I claim your indulgence.
I am entirely withdrawn from all external affairs, I have lived for 15 years in a small rural area in the
interior of the city, located at one of its ends, on a hill where the air is very favorable to my health; the
culture of vine and fruits occupies my leisure there. I would be happy if I had not had the misfortune
to lose, two years ago, a beloved wife following a forced delivery before term. Of all the children I
have had, I only have one very well-formed son, but only five years old and who is destined by
Providence to no doubt soon be an orphan.59 This is the thorn that often tires my heart, but I submit
to all his wounds as I should.
For a long time, I wished to have the Honor to write to you, but I did not know how to address you
and surely send you my letter. I address this one in Paris and I have every reason to believe that by
the organ of our Brothers, it will arrive in your hands, which I very much wish to learn from. If Your
Highness deigns to honor me with an answer which is well desired, he will certainly reach me at the
address following my signature, and in the event of accidents on my person, it would fall into the
hands of another other than me who is a member of the Order Intr (a ponte alto) excellent Chevr Gr.
Pr. my friend and my confidant in all, having the title of General Visitor of the Province, but who by
the nature and the immensity of his occupations civilians can not assist me in any way.
Ready to finish my letter, I received a very unexpected, but very pleasant one from dear Brother Baron
of Turkheim the Elder (a flumine)60, former Provincial Chancellor of the Vth who by his distinguished
talents and his very great activity, was very useful in Wilhelmsbad where he attended in his quality of
Visitor General of the same. Deceived by false opinions, he believed that after the siege of Lyon, I
had been sacrificed like thousands of other good citizens by the iron of the executioners of France.
Coming to learn that I still exist, he hastened to show me his great contentment with an outpouring
of joy and the most touching friendship. Disgusted with the great agitations of the world scene,
matured by his age of 60 years, and having long since resigned from his offices and dignities in the
Ordre, to live outside the province which he left since 20 years old, he shows himself unwilling to take
back any interest in ostensible things; Yet he retains an invincible attachment to the Grand Profession
of the Chevrs and to the sublime truths which it contains, of which he makes his usual study.
Intimately attached to our holy Christian religion, his ambition has died down, his liveliness has
become very moderate; his reason is lowered with pleasure before the Cross, and bends under the
yoke of faith in our Lord and Master J.C. Finally, he now believes himself as I wished to see him 25
years ago, and he thank you affectionately for being one of the first to have contributed much since
then.
I thought it would be pleasant for Your Highness to learn news of existence and the happy changes
which have taken place in such a worthy and amiable Brother, in a man to whom you had given a
59 See the Introduction of our book The Complete C.B.C.S. for a history of the tragic births, lives and deaths of
Willermoz’ children and wife. His last son passed away at the age of 7, 13 months after Willermoz wrote this
letter.
60
Bernard-Frédéric, baron de Turckheim, aka Baron Turkheim or Eques a Flumine in the C.B.C.S. The
Turkheim/Turckheim manuscripts are essential to a critical study of the Secret Instructions of the C.B.C.S. and
l’Ordre des Grands Profès.

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good share in your esteem; and I was not afraid to extend this a little to take the opportunity. I finally
finish by asking you, Monsignor, to accept the expression of the most sincere attachment to your
person and the deep respect with which I have the honor to be,
Monsignor, of Your Most Serene Highness,
The very humble, very devoted, and very, affectionate servant and Brother of the Ordre.
J.B. Willermoz
uncle
proprietor of the Collinettes,
Montée Saint-Sébastien 41, Lyons

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