ELABORATIONS ON A THEME
It is a bit unusual indeed, that we managed to get our
staggering stories swallowed in our 19th century.
I ask myself however to what extent the high approvers
of unmasked Palladism have the right to get angry today.
When one understands that one was fooled, the best thing to
do is to laugh with the audience. Yes, Mister Abbot Garnier!
And your getting cross will make you even more laughed at.
Abbott Garnier. --You are a scoundrel! (attempts are
made to try and calm down Abbott Garnier.)
M. L‚o Taxil (when the tumult calmed down) --Those
hoaxed by Palladism can be divided into two categories.
Firstly, those who were in good faith, entirely in good
faith. They were the victims of their theological science
and of their eagerly pursued studies of all that touches on
Freemasonry. I had to immerse myself in these two sciences
in order to imagine everything and in such a way that they
wouldn't realize it was a prank. Can one believe, for
instance, that it was easy to take M. de la Rive for a ride,
he, the embodiment of an inquiring mind, who examines the
slightest trifles with a microscope and who could beat our
best investigating judges? He can boast of having given me
trouble!... My whole Palladism had been solidly constructed
as far as its masonic part is concerned, since some
Freemasons-even "thirty-thirds" if you please!-did not take
it for a shadowy mirage and asked to become members.
(Laughter) The impossibility of Palladism becomes plain as
the nose on one's face only because of the supernatural
elements we filled it with. But these devilries were a
warning only for those who do not believe in those devilries
described in other books, in pious books. Asmodeus carrying
Miss Diana Vaughan to the Garden of Eden is no more
extraordinary than Master Satan taking up Jesus Christ
himself on top of a mountain and showing him all the
kingdoms of the Earth ... which is round! (Various voices:
Bravo!) --Either one has faith or one has not. (Laughter)
Besides this first category of hoaxed people, however,
there is a second one, and members of the latter one were
not fully hoaxed. The good abbots and monks who admired Miss
Vaughan because she was a converted Masonic luciferian
Sister have the right to think that such female Masons
exist. They have never seen or encountered any, but they may
think that it is because there are none in their diocese. In
Rome, it's another story. In Rome, all information is
centralized. In Rome one cannot ignore that there are no
female Masons other than the wives, daughters, or sisters of
Freemasons, admitted to banquets, public feasts, or those
who meet separately, very decently, in private societies
comprising feminine elements only, such as the Sisters of
the Eastern Star or the Daughters of the Revolution in the
United States. (Signs of approval)
When one thinks about it, it is easy to understand that
if Masonic sisters exist, such as the anti-Masons imagine,
there would have been conversions and confessions a long
time ago! The eagerness with which Miss Vaughan's alleged
conversion was received in Rome is significant. Please
notice that Msgr. Lazzareschi, delegate of the Holy See to
the Anti-Masonic Union's central Committee, let a
Thanksgiving Triduum[17] be celebrated at the Church of the
Sacred Heart in Rome!
The Hymn to Joan of Arc, supposedly composed by Miss
Diana, words and music, was performed at the anti-Masonic
feasts of the Roman Committee. This music became nearly
sacred and sounded with grand solemnity in the basilicas of
the Holy City. Its tune is that of the Philharmonic Syringe,
a musical jest written for the entertainments of the harem
by one of my friends, conductor of the orchestra of Sultan
Abdul Aziz. (Prolonged laughter. Cries: It is abominable!
Oh! The blackguard!)
Such Roman enthusiasm sets one thinking.
I shall recall two typical facts.
Under the pen-name "Dr. Bataille" I related-and under
that of "Miss Vaughan" I confirmed-that the Masonic temple
in Charleston contained a maze at the center of which stays
the chapel of Lucifer....
(Interruptions).
M. Oscar Havard. --The bishop of Charleston declared
this to be an imposture.
M. L‚o Taxil --So it is. I was going to say so in a
moment. But do not triumph yet. Wait a little!... I said
that in the Masonic temple in Charleston one of the rooms,
triangular in shape, called the Sanctum Regnum, has as its
main ornament a monstrous statue of Baphomet, which the
High-Masons worship. That in another room, a statue of Eve
comes alive when a Templar Mistress is especially agreeable
to Master Satan, and that this statue then turns into the
demon Astarte, for a moment alive, and gives a kiss to the
preferred Templar Mistress. I published the alleged map of
this Masonic building, a plan which I designed myself. Now,
Msgr. Northrop, Catholic bishop of Charleston, went to Rome
expressly to assure the Sovereign Pontiff of the highest
fantasy of these writings. This journey would have remained
unknown if Msgr. Northrop, on his way to Rome, had not let
himself be interviewed. Which is how what he came to tell
the Pope became public. He had come to say: "It is false,
absolutely false, that the Freemasons of Charleston are the
chiefs of a supreme luciferian rite. I am especially well
acquainted with the most important ones. They are
Protestants, inspired by the best intentions. Not one of
them considers practicing occultism. I visited their temple,
none of the rooms indicated by Doctor Bataille or Miss
Vaughan are to be found there. The map is a hoax." On his
return from Rome, Msgr. Northrup did not protest any more
and has kept silent ever since. Miss Diana Vaughan, on the
contrary, replied to Msgr. Northrop's interview; she said
the Bishop of Charleston was himself a Freemason and she
received the Pope's blessing. (Sensation)
Second fact. Under the signatures of Bataille and
Vaughan, I recounted and confirmed that immense secret
workshops were located in Gibraltar under the English
fortress, in which men-monsters fabricated all the
instruments used in the ceremonies of Palladism, and Miss
Diana Vaughan, asked about this by Roman high ecclesiastical
dignitaries, enjoyed herself answering in her cutest style
that nothing was more true and that the forges of the
mysterious workshops of Gibraltar were fed by the very fires
of Hell. (Laughter) Msgr. the Apostolic Vicar of Gibraltar
wrote, on the other hand, that he confirmed what he had been
forced to declare to various people, namely that the story
of the secret workshops was an audacious invention, resting
on no foundation whatsoever, nothing whatsoever, and that he
was indignant to witness the creation of such legends. The
Vatican did not publish the letter of the Apostolic Vicar of
Gibraltar, and Miss Vaughan received the blessing of the
Pope. (Applause. --Many voices: Bravo Taxil!)
Should I recall some of the letters of approval
received by Miss Vaughan?
Various voices among the Catholic journalists --It's
not true! There was no approval.
THE CONCLUSION
Before ending, I must pay my respects to an unknown
hoaxster, a shrewd American colleague. Among hoaxsters, one
understands each other from one end of the world to the
other without needing to exchange letters, without even
having to drop a call. Respects therefore to the dear
citizen of Kentucky who had the friendly thought of helping
us without any prior agreement, who confirmed the
revelations of Miss Diana Vaughan to the Louisville
Courier-Journal, who certified to whoever wanted to hear
that he had known Miss Diana Vaughan intimately for seven or
eight years and that he often met her in the various secret
societies of Europe and America.... where she never set
foot.
Ladies,
Gentlemen,
You were told that Palladism would be knocked down
today. Better still, it is annihilated, it is no more.
In my general confession to the Jesuit father of
Clamart, I had accused myself of an imaginary murder. Well,
I will admit to a further crime. I committed infanticide.
Palladism is now dead for good. Its father just murdered it.
(An indescribable tumult meets this conclusion. Some
laugh more and more and applaud the lecturer. Catholics
scream and hiss. Abbot Garnier steps on a chair and attempts
to address the audience, but he is hindered by the hoot. A
few listeners strike up the comic song by Meusy: O Sacred
Heart of Jesus!)
THE CONFESSION OF LEO TAXIL
Translated from Le Frondeur, April 25, 1897
by
Alain Bernheim, A. William Samii, and Eric Serejski
Reprinted from Heredom
The Transacations of the
Scottish Rite Research Society
vol. 5, 1996, pp. 137-168
(c) 1997 Scottish Rite Research Society
All Rights Reserved
1733 16 St., N.W., Washington, DC 20009-3103
To Part 6 of 6
To Introduction