able to support my wife and children.’ Hiram persisting in his refusal, he gave Hiram a violent blow with the gavel on the forehead, which felled him to the floor and killed him. They took the body and carried it out of the east gate and buried it in the rubbish till low twelve at night (which is 12 o’clock), when the three met, agreeable to appointment, and carried the body a westerly direction, and buried it at the brow of a hill, in a grave dug due east and west, six feet perpendicular, and made their escape. King Solomon, coming up to the temple at low six in the morning (as was his usual custom), found the Crafts all in confusion, and, on inquiring the cause, was informed that their Grand Master, Hiram Abiff, was missing, and there were no plans and designs laid down on the trestle-board for the Crafts to pursue their labor. Solomon ordered immediate search to be made in and about the Temple for him; no discovery being made, he then ordered the Secretary to call the roll of workmen, to see if any were missing; it appearing that there were three, viz: Jubela, Jubelo and Jubelum, Solomon observed:
“This brings to my mind a circumstance that took place this morning. Twelve Fellow Crafts came to me, dressed in white gloves and aprons in token of their innocence, and confessed that they twelve with three others had conspired to extort the Master Mason’s word from their Grand Master, Hiram Abiff, and in case of his refusal to take his life; they twelve had recanted, but feared the other three had been base enough to carry their atrocious design into execution.”
Solomon immediately ordered twelve Fellow Crafts to be selected from the bands of the workmen, clothed in white gloves and aprons in token of their innocence, and sent three east, three west, three north and three south, in search of the ruffians, and if found to bring them up before him. The three that traveled a westerly course, coming near the coast of Joppa, fell in with a warfaring man, who informed them that he had seen three men pass that way that morning, who, from their appearance and dress, were workmen from the Temple, inquiring for a passage to Ethiopia, but were unable to obtain one in consequence of an embargo which had recently been laid on all the shipping, and had turned back into the country. After making still further and more diligent search,
p. 88
and after making no further discovery, they returned to the Temple and reported to Solomon the result of their pursuit and inquiries. On which Solomon directed them to go and search again, and search until they found their Grand Master, Hiram Abiff, if possible, and if he was not found, the twelve who had confessed should be considered as the murderers and suffer accordingly.
They returned again in pursuit of the ruffians, and one of the three that traveled a westerly course, being more weary than the rest, sat down at the brow of a hill to rest and refresh himself; and in attempting to rise caught hold of a sprig of cassia, which easily gave way and excited his curiosity, and made him suspicious of a deception, on which he hailed his companions, who immediately assembled, and on examination found that the earth had been recently moved; and, on moving the rubbish, discovered the appearance of a grave; and while they were confabulating about what measure to take, they heard voices issuing from a cavern in the clefts of the rocks, on which they immediately repaired to the place, where they heard the voice of Jubela exclaim, “O! that my throat had been cut across, my tongue torn out, 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, ere I had been accessory to the death of so good a man as our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff.” On which they distinctly heard the voice of Jubelo exclaim, “O! that my breast had been torn open, and my heart and vitals taken from thence and thrown over my left shoulder, to the valley of Jehosaphat, there to become a prey to the wild beasts of the field and vultures of the air, ere I had conspired to take the life of so good a man as our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff. When they more distinctly heard the voice of Jubelum exclaim, “O! that my body had been severed in two in the midst, and divided to the north and the south, my bowels burnt to ashes in the center, and the ashes scattered by the four winds of heaven, that there might not remain the least track or trace of remembrance among men or Masons of so vile and perjured a wretch as I am, who wilfully took the life of so good a man as our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff. Ah! Jubela and Jubelo, it was I that struck him harder than you both! It
Moe is the founder of GnosticWarrior.com. He is a father, husband, author, martial arts black belt, and an expert in Gnosticism, the occult, and esotericism.
