e, in the accounts given by the
_Jewish Encyclopaedia_, the word Freemasonry is not once mentioned. But
in the curious portrait of the great Ba'al Shem appended, we see him
holding in his hand the pair of compasses, and before him, on the table
at which he is seated, the double triangle or Seal of Solomon known
amongst Jews as "the Shield of David," which forms an important emblem
in Masonry.

Moreover, it is significant to find in the _Royal Masonic Encyclopaedia_
by the Rosicrucian Kenneth Mackenzie that a long and detailed article is
devoted to Falk, though again without any reference to his connexion
with Freemasonry. May we not conclude that in certain inner masonic
circles the importance of Falk is recognized but must not be revealed to
the uninitiated? Mr. Gordon Hills, in the above-quoted paper contributed
to the _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, indulges in some innocent speculation
as to the part Falk may have played in the masonic movement. "If," he
observes, "Jewish Brethren did introduce Cabalistical learning into the
so-called High Degrees, here we have one, who, if a Mason, would have
been eminently qualified to do so."

Falk inded was far more than a Mason, he was a high initiate--the
supreme oracle to which the secret societies applied for guidance. All
this was disclosed a few years ago in the correspondence between
Savalette de Langes and the Marquis de Chefdebien referred to in the
previous chapter. Thus in the _dossiers_ of the leading occultists
supplied by Savalette we find the following note on the Ba'al Shem of
London:

This Doctor Falk is known to many Germans. He is a very
extraordinary man from every point of view. Some people believe him
to be the Chief of all the Jews and attribute to purely political
schemes all that is marvellous and singular in his life and
conduct. He is referred to in a very curious manner, and as a
Rose-Croix in the _Memoirs of the Chevalier de Rampsow_ (i.e.
Rentzov). He has had adventures with the Marechal de Richelieu,
great seeker of the Philosophers' Stone. He had a strange history
with the Prince de Rohan Guemenee and the Chevalier de Luxembourg
relating to Louis XV, whose death he foretold. He is almost
inaccessible. In all the sects of savants in secret sciences he
passes as a superior man. He is at present in England. The Baron de
Gleichen can give good information about him. Try to get more at