p. 113

that struck him harder than you both: it was I that gave him the fatal blow; it was I that killed him.”

“That is the voice of Jubelum.”

The three craftsmen, having stood by the candidate all this time, listening to the ruffians, whose voices they recognize, say one to another:

“What shall we do? There are three of them, and only three of us.”

One says:

Our cause is just; let us rush in and seize them.”

Upon which the three Fellow Crafts rush forward over benches and chairs, and secure the ruffians in no very gentle manner, and lead them to the Worshipful Master’s seat in the east, when one of them reports to the Master:

“Most Worshipful King Solomon, I, being one who pursued a westerly course, and, on my return, after several days of fruit-less search, being more weary than my companions, sat down on the brow of a hill to rest and refresh myself; and, on rising, accidentally caught hold of a sprig of acacia,1 which, easily giving way, excited my suspicions. Having my curiosity aroused, I examined it, and found it to be a grave.”

As soon as the craftsman has finished this report, another party arrives with the ruffians, and reports as follows:

“Most Worshipful King Solomon, while sitting down to rest and refresh ourselves, we heard the following horrid exclamations from the clefts of the adjacent rocks. The first was the voice of Jubela exclaiming:2 ‘Oh! that my throat had been cut across,

p. 114

my tongue torn out by its roots, and buried in the rough sands of the sea, at low-water mark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours, ere I had been accessory to the death of so good a man as our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff.’ The second was that of Jubelo, exclaiming: ‘Oh! that my breast had been torn open, my heart plucked out and placed upon the highest pinnacle of the Temple, there to be devoured by the vultures of the air, ere I had consented to the death of so good a man as our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff.’ The third was the voice of Jubelum, exclaiming, louder than the rest: ‘It was I that gave the fatal blow, it was I that killed him. Oh! that my body had been severed in two, my bowels taken from thence, and burned to ashes, the ashes scattered to the four winds of heaven, that no more remembrance might be had of so vile and wicked a wretch as I. Ah! Jubela! Jubelo! it was I that struck him harder than you both; it was I that gave him the fatal blow; it was I that killed him.’ Upon which we rushed in, seized and bound the ruffians, and now have them before your majesty.”

K. S.–Jubela, you stand charged as accessory to the death of our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff. What say you, guilty or not guilty?

One answers, in a very penitent manner:

Guilty, my lord.

K. S.–.Jubelo, you also stand accessory to the death of our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff. What say you, sir, guilty or not guilty?

Answer–Guilty, my lord.

K. S.–Jubelum, you stand charged as the wilful murderer of our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff. What say you, sir, guilty or not guilty?

Answer–Guilty, my lord.

K. S.–Vile, impious wretches! despicable villains! reflect with horror on the atrocity of your crime, and on the amiable character of your Worshipful Grand Master, whom you have so basely assassinated. Hold up your heads, and hear your sentence. It is my orders that you be taken without the gates of the court, and be executed, according to your several imprecations, in the clefts of the rocks. Brother Junior Grand Warden, you will see my orders duly executed. Begone!

p. 115

They all pass out of the Lodge with a rush, into the ante-room, where they form into a circle. One, acting as the principal mover, raises his right foot from the floor, at the same time his hands, in the manner of slapping them together, makes two false motions, but at the third all bring down their right feet and hands together, producing a very sharp noise. A momentary silence then ensues, during which one of the party groans, as if nearly dying. This is all intended to produce its effect upon the ears of the candidate. It also represents the execution and dying groans of Jubela, the first ruffian, and is repeated twice more to represent the death of the other two ruffians. Some Lodges use a large drum, others roll a large cannon-ball across the ante-room floor, letting it strike on a cushion placed against the wall. This is not, however, practised in city Lodges.

Pin It on Pinterest