Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-04-13
WOMEN FREEMASONS,
INSTANCES WHERE THEY HAVE
BEEN ADMITTED.
Recognized by Grand Lodges-One
Lodge im France, "The Human
Right,'' Composed Exclusively of

Women, still In Existence.
When it was announced few week
ago that Mary f. Lease, the woman
politician Of Kansas, was a Freemasol
gand in possession Of the ritual, sign
and passwords OF the craft, the state
ment was received with many ex
pressions Of incredulity from men i,
the order and out of it. Some de
clared that if she knew the secrets o
Masonry she had learned them b,
stealth or fraud, but the commOnes
assertion was that the claim wa
absurd-that women were ineligibl,
to the order and that the idea tha
Mrs. Lease or any other woman hat
penetrated its circles was prepos
ferrous.
All talk Of this sort is based upon {
superficial and inadequate knowledg,
OF the extent to which women, es
pecially in Europe, have been identified
with Masonic affairs. says the New
York Herald. That the secrets of the
ancient order have not always beer
exclusively monopolized by men will
be evident to anybody who cares tc
take even a casual glance at the
history OF the craft.
Nine. Maria Deraismes, whose death
has just taken place at Paris, wal
renowned not only as one of the mos,
successful leaders in the struggle fol
the emancipation Of her sex, but like
wise for her revival of female lodges
Of the Masonic craft. Several Eu
ropean and American newspapers
described her as having been the first
woman ever deliberately admitted into
the mysteries of the order, while others
cited the we'll known instance of Lord
Doneraile's daughter as being the only
other instance of a lady having been
initiated.
This is altogether wrong. For in the
past century there were large mum.
ber of ladies of rank who were Free.
masons, and at the present moment
female Masonic lodges abound in
Spain, the principal feminine dignitary
OF the craft being Princess Maria de
Bourbon, daughter of the Infanta Don
Enerique, who was solemnly initiated
by the Ell Taller Lodge of Salamanca.
1t was in 173O that we first heard OF
lodges being constituted in
France, and although they may be
said to have existed alongside oi
Freemasonry rather than
forming part and parcel of it, yet they
were definitely recognized as belong
ing to the craft by decree of the Grand
Orient OF France dated April 10, 1774.
Feminine Masonry in those days was
restricted almost exclusively to ladies
Of royal and noble rank. Thus We
find the Duchess of Chartres as
mistress of one lodge and the Duchess
Of Bourbon OF another, both of these
Princesses being adressed as Honor
able and Worshipful" in the official
communications despatched to them
by the Grand Orient of France.
Marie Antoinette's friend, the love-
ly Princesse de Lambslle. who was
massacred during the Reign Of Terror,
and whose head was carried on a pike
through the streets OF Paris, WAS the
mistress of the Social Contract Lodge,
and short time before the overthrow
of royalty served for time as Grand
Mistress of the order.
In 1905 the Empress Josephine was
present at q meeting of duly con-
feminine Masonic lodge at
and again, in 1919, we hear
Of the celebrated Marquise de Vallette
presiding at the institution of q new
Masonic lodge. In short, feminine
Masons abounded in France up to the
year 1868, when the decree OF Pope
Plus TX, denouncing Freemasonry as
incompatible with membership in the
Church of Rome, caused the abandon.
ment of Freemasonry by women and
the practical, if not official, dissolution
Of their various lodges throughout the
1t was not until 1882 that any at.
tempt was made to revive them In
January of that year Nine. Deraismes
was solemnly initiated by the mas
culine lodge Lies Libres Penseurs''
(the Free Thinkers), at Lebecq, near
Paris. The Grand Orient of France,
however, declined to ratify the selec-
ton, and even went 90 far as to
officially dissolve the lodge that had
been guilty of unauthorized revival of
q practice which had become obsolete.
In no wise discouraged by this lack
of good will on the part OF the Grand
Orient, Nine. Deraismes took advan-
tage of her initiation TO found Mason
ic lodge OF her own, and At the present
moment there are some sixty or seven.
ty members belonging thereto, one OF
the Past Grand Mistresses being Nine.
Clemence Roger, wife OF the former
Cabinet Minister and statesman OF
that name.
All the ladies who belong to this
lodge, which bears the name Of the
Droit Human, or Human Right, turn.
ed out in full force at the funeral of its
founder and laid on her coffin large
wreath and inscription. OF course
the obsequies were Of purely Mason
ic and lay character, the church being
at the grave, for Nine
like all her sister Masons
of the present day in France, was q
and IN enemy to the
Catholic church. She made q pro-