ceased to exist in 1738, the year in which Clement XII published
his Bull against the Masons. Thereupon the "ancient order of
Gormogons" swallowed itself, and so disappeared--not, however, without
one last, futile effort to achieve its ends.[141] Naturally this
episode stirred the Masons deeply. It was denounced in burning words
on the floor of the Grand Lodge, which took new caution to guard its
rites from treachery and vandalism, in which respects it had not
exercised due care, admitting men to the order who were unworthy of
the honor.

There were those who thought that the power of Masonry lay in its
secrecy; some think so still, not knowing that its _real_ power lies
in the sanctity of its truth, the simplicity of its faith, the
sweetness of its spirit, and its service to mankind, and that if all
its rites were made public today it would still hold the hearts of
men.[142] Nevertheless, of alleged exposures there were many between
1724 and 1730, both anonymous and signed, and they made much ado,
especially among men who were not Masons. It will be enough to name
the most famous, as well as the most elaborate, of them all, _Masonry
Dissected_, by Samuel Prichard, which ran through three editions in
one month, October, 1730, and called out a noble _Defence of Masonry_,
written, it is thought, by Anderson, but the present writer believes
by Desaguliers. Others came later, such as _Jachin and Boaz_, the
_Three Distinct Knocks_, and so forth. They had their day and ceased
to be, having now only an antiquarian interest to those who would know
the manners and customs of a far-off time. Instead of injuring the
order, they really helped it, as such things usually do, by showing
that there must be something to expose since so many were trying to
do it. But Masonry went marching on, leaving them behind in the
rubbish of things forgotten, as it does all its back-stair spies and
heel-snapping critics.

More serious by far was the series of schisms within the order which
began in 1725, and ran on even into the next century. For the student
they make the period very complex, calculated to bewilder the
beginner; for when we read of four Grand Lodges in England, and for
some years all of them running at once, and each one claiming to be
the Grand Lodge of England, the confusion seems not a little
confounded. Also, one Grand Lodge of a very limited territory, and few
adherents, adopted the title of Grand Lodge of _all_ England, whi