the propagation of its doctrines. It was in 1754
that Martines de Pasqually (or Paschalis), a Rose-Croix Mason,[424]
founded his Order of Elus Cohens (Elected Priests), known later as the
_Martinistes_ or the French _Illumines_. Although brought up in the
Christian faith, Pasqually has been frequently described as a Jew. The
Baron de Gleichen, himself a Martiniste and a member of the Amis
Reunis,[425] throws an interesting light on the matter in this passage:
"Pasqualis was originally Spanish, perhaps of the Jewish race, since
his disciples inherited from him a large number of Jewish
manuscripts."[426]

It was "this Cabalistic sect,"[427] the Martinistes, which now became
the third great masonic power in France.

The rite of the Martinistes was broadly divided into two classes, in the
first of which was represented the fall of man and in the second his
final restoration--a further variation on the masonic theme of a loss
and a recovery. After the first three Craft degrees came the Cohen
degrees of the same--Apprentice Cohen, Fellow Craft Cohen, and Master
Cohen--then those of Grand Architect, Grand Elect of Zerubbabel or
Knight of the East: but above these were concealed degrees leading up to
the Rose-Croix, which formed the capstone of the edifice.[428] Pasqually
first established his rite at Marseilles, Toulouse, and Bordeaux, then
in Paris, and before long Martiniste lodges spread all over France with
the centre at Lyons under the direction of Willermoz, a prosperous
merchant living there. From this moment other occult Orders sprang up in
all directions. In 1760 Dom Pernetti founded his sect of "Illumines
d'Avignon" in that city, declaring himself a high initiate of
Freemasonry and teaching the doctrines of Swedenborg. Later a certain
Chastanier founded the "Illumines Theosophes," a modified version of
Pernetti's rite; and in 1783 the Marquis de Thome started a purified
variety of Swedenborgianism under the name of "Rite of Swedenborg."

Beneath all these occult sects one common source of inspiration is to be
found--the perverted and magical Cabala of the Jews, that conglomeration
of wild theosophical imaginings and barbaric superstitions founded on
ancient pagan cults and added to throughout seventeen centuries by
succeeding generations of Jewish occultists.[429] This influence is
particularly to be detected in the various forms of the Rose-Croix
degree, which in nearly all these associations forms the highest and