8. Le Crocodile, canto 23.

the baron of Turkheim that Martines died 'advanced in age,' adding that At the time Willermoz wrote this he was 91 years old himself, and as men generally tend to evaluate the age of others according to a measure that grows with their own years, one does not doubt that the advanced age attributed to Martines by the nonagenarian Willermoz could hardly be less than 70 years. Since Martines died in 1774, he must have been born in the first decade of the eighteenth century, at the earliest. Also, he inclines to favor the hypothesis of Gustave Bord, who suggests that Martines was born between 1710 and 1715; but even the earlier date would have him dying at age 64 , which is certainly not an 'advanced' age, especially in comparison with that of Willermoz... And then, unfortunately, one of the documents, which appears to have been unknown to van Rijnberk, formally precludes this hypothesis: the 'certificate of Catholicity' was issued in 1772 to 'Jacques Pasqually de Latour, squire, born at Grenoble, aged 45 years,' from which by rights it should be concluded that he was born around 1727, so that when he dies at San Domingo two years later, in 1774, he could only have reached the hardly 'advanced' age of 47 years! This same document confirms moreover that Martines was born at Grenoble, as many had already said, contrary to van Rijnberk's opinion. And this is clearly not contrary to his being of Spanish origin, since among all the origins ascribed to him, most evidence seems to support the latter, including of course the very name Las Casas; but if so, it should be admitted that his father was already established in France before his birth, and that he may even have been married in France. This is confirmed moreover in Martines' marriage certificate, for his mother's name as shown, 'Suzanne Dumas de Rainau', can it seems hardly be anything but a French name, whereas 'Delatour de la Case' could merely be gallicized. In sum, the only serious reason we can have to doubt that Martines was born in France (for we can hardly credit the contradictory assertions of some others, all of which are no more than suppositions), are the peculiarities of language found in his writings; but this fact might be explained well enough partly by an education received from a Spanish father, and partly also by his sojourns in various countries, a point to which we shall return later. By a curious coincidence that hardly simplifies matters, it seems that during the same period there was an established family in Grenoble whose name really was Pascalis; but judging by the names on the various certificates we have mentioned, Martines must have been completely foreign. Perhaps this was the family of the coachbuilder Martin Pascalis, also known as Martin Pascal or even Pascal Martin (this not being very well settled either), that is, if the latter was truly a separate person and not simply Martines himself, who at a certain moment had to ply this trade for a living, for apparently his financial situation was never very successful. Here, yet again, is something that seems never to have been satisfactorily clarified. Moreover, many have thought that Martines was Jewish; he certainly was not as to religion, since it is super-abundantly proved that he was Catholic; but it is true as van Rijnberk says that 'this does not prejudge in any way the question of race.' In Martines' life there are in fact clues that might lead one to suppose he was of Jewish origin, but they are inconclusive and could just as well be accounted for by affinities of a quite different kind than racial identity. Franz von Baader says that Martines was 'at the same time Jewish and Christian'. Does this not recall the relations of the Jew Eléazar with the Christian family of Las Casas? But the very fact of presenting Eléazar as a 'Spanish Jew', could very well be an allusion, not to Martines' personal origin, but to the origin of his doctrine, in which Judaic elements do indeed predominate incontestably. Be that as it may, a certain number of inconsistencies and contradictions always remain in Martines' biography, the most striking no doubt being his age; but van Rijnberk may point to the solution without even suspecting it when he suggests that 'Martines de Pasqually' was a 'hieronym', that is to say an initiatic name. Indeed, what is to keep this same 'hieronym' from serving several different individualities, as occurs in similar cases? And it may even be that the 'great obligations' that the person whom Saint-Martin calls the Jew Eléazar owed to the family of Las Casas were, not due to what the family had in one way or another furnished as a kind of 'cover' to his initiatic activity? It would doubtless be imprudent to try to be specific on this point, but we shall see whether what can be known of the origin of Martines' knowledge might not yet be able to contribute some further solutions. The same letter of July 1821 in which Willermoz affirms that Martines died 'advanced in age,' contains another remarkable passage, according to which initiation would have been transmitted to Martines by his father himself: In his Ministry he had succeeded his father, a wise and distinguished man more prudent than his son, having little wealth and living in Spain. He had placed his still young son Martines with the Walloon guards, where a quarrel led to a duel in which his adversary was killed; he had to flee promptly, and the father lost no time in consecrating his successor before his departure. After a long absence, the father, feeling his end approaching, immediately summoned his son back and gave him the final ordinations. In truth, this story of the Walloon guards, for which by the way it has been impossible to find any confirmation, seems rather suspect, especially if as van Rijnberk says it must 'imply that Martines was born in Spain,' which, however, is not absolutely clear; moreover, it is not a question here of something Willermoz witnessed directly, for he states later that he 'had known the son only in 1767 in Paris, a long time after the death of the father. ^[10] Leaving this secondary question aside, there remains the assertion that Martines received from his father not only the initiation but also the transmission of certain initiatic functions, for the word 'ministry' can hardly be interpreted otherwise; and in this connection van Rijnberk calls attention to a letter written in 1779 by the Mason Falcke, in which we read that Martinez Pascalis, a Spaniard, claims to possess secret knowledge as an inheritance from his family, which resides in Spain and has purportedly possessed it for three hundred years; they are said to have acquired it from the Inquisition, with which his ancestors served. This is all very improbable, for we cannot really see what initiatic repository the Inquisition could have ever have possessed and communicated. But let us recall that in the passage cited from the Crocodile it is Las Casas who denounces his friend the Jew Eléazar to the Inquisition, precisely because of the latter's secret knowledge; could we not say that there is something that which has been deliberately confused? ^[11] At this point we might well ask whether when Martines, or the person Willermoz knew under this name around 1767, speaks of his father, this should be understood literally or whether it is not rather more particularly a question of his 'spiritual father'. Who could the latter have been? Indeed, we can very well speak of initiatic 'filiation', and this obviously does not necessarily coincide with filiation in the ordinary sense of the word; we could perhaps again recall the duality of Las Casas and the Jew Eléazar... It should be said however that an hereditary initiatic transmission, implying in addition the exercise of a certain function, would not represent an altogether exceptional case; but in the absence of sufficient information it is very difficult to decide if this was really case with Martines. At most we could find an affirmative indication in certain particulars concerning Martines' succession: immediately after his baptism, Martine have his eldest son the first consecration in the hierarchy of the Elect Cohens, which makes one think he intended him to become his successor. This son disappeared at the time of the Revolution, and Willermoz says he could not ascertain what became of him; as for the second son, there is something still more remarkable, for we know the date of his birth, but he was never mentioned subsequently. In any case, when Martines died in 1774, the eldest son was certainly alive; however he did not succeed him as 'Grand Sovereign', for it was Caignet de Lestère who did so, and then, when the latter died in turn in 1778, Sébastien de Las Casas succeeded him. In view of this, what becomes of the idea of a hereditary transmission? The fact that the son was too young to fulfill these functions (he was only six years old) should not be put forward, for Martines could very well have designated a proxy until his majority, and this has never been suggested. On the other hand, what remains curious is that there really seems to have been some relationship between Martines and his two successors: indeed, he speaks in a letter of 'his cousin Cagnet,' who, taking into account the spelling variations customary at the time, must be the same as Caignet de Lestère; ^[12] and as for Sébastien Las Casas, we have already pointed out that such a relationship was suggested by his very name; but in any case, this transmission to more or less distant relatives, even when a direct heir existed, can hardly be equated with the 'dynastic succession' of which van Rijnberk speaks, and to which he even attributes 'a certain esoteric importance' that we cannot very well understand. That Martines was initiated by his father or by someone else is not the essential question, for it does not throw much light on the real issue: from what tradition does this initiation derive? Martines' probable travels before his initiatic activity began in France might throw some light on this point, but here again we unfortunately have only quite vague and doubtful information, and even the assertion that he went to the East does not mean anything really definite, since what is often meant in such cases is only a legendary, or rather, symbolic journey. On this subject, van Rijnberk believes he is supported by a passage from the Traité de la Réintegration des Êtres, where Martines seems to say that he went to China, whereas nothing is said of countries much closer. But this journey, if it really took place, is perhaps of the least interest from our present point of view, for it is clear that neither in Martines' teachings nor in his ritual 'operations' is there anything that suggests the slightest direct link with the tradition of the Far East. In a letter from Martines we do however find this rather remarkable statement: 'My state and my quality of true man have always kept me in the position where I am' ^[13] it appears that no one has ever noticed this expression 'true man', which is specifically Taoist, but which is doubtless the only one of this kind to be found in Martines. ^[14] In any event, if Martines was born around 1727, his travels could not have lasted for so many years, even if there were no reason to subtract the time of his supposed period with the Walloon guards, for his known initiatic activity begins in 1754, and by that time he would have been only 27 years old. ^[15] We readily admit that he must have gone to Spain, especially if his family origins were there, and perhaps also to Italy; this is very plausible in fact, and some of the most striking singularities of his language are owed to his stay in these two countries; but apart from explaining this wholly external detail, this does not get us very far, for at the time what could really remain in these countries from the initiatic point of view? We must certainly look elsewhere, and in our opinion the most accurate indication of this is that given in the following passage from a note of Prince Christian of Hesse-Darmstadt: 'Pasquali claimed that this knowledge came from the East, but it is to be presumed that he had received it from Africa,' by which must be understood in all probability the Sephardic Jews, who were established in North Africa after their expulsion from Spain. ^[16] This would explain many things: first, the predominance of Judaic elements in Martines' doctrine; then, the relations he seemed also to have had with the Sephardic Jews of Bordeaux, as we remarked earlier in the presentation of Eléazar as a 'Spanish Jew' by Saint-Martin; and finally, the necessity, in order for an initiatic work to be accomplished in a non- Jewish milieu, to 'graft' as it were the doctrine received from this source onto an initiatic form widespread in the Western world, which in the eighteenth century could only be Masonry. The last point raises still more questions to which we shall return, but let us first note that Martines never mentions the exact origins of his knowledge, or only links them vaguely to the 'East', is perfectly understandable: from the moment he could transmit such an initiation as he himself had received, he did not need to indicate its provenance, which would have been more or less useless. In his books he seems to have expressly alluded to his 'predecessors' only once, and that without adding any precise details and hence without asserting anything whatever of the existence of an initiatic transmission. ^[17] It is in any case quite certain that the form of this initiation was not that of the Order of the Elect Cohens, since it did not exist before Martines himself, and which we see gradually develop from 1754 to 1774 , although he was never able to finish organizing it completely. ^[18] This is the answer to the objection some have raised, that if Martines was 'commissioned' by some initiatic organization, how could it be that his Order was not fully 'preformed' from the beginning with all its rituals and its grades, and that it has in fact always remained unfixed and imperfect? Doubtless, many of the Masonic systems of high grades that came to light around the same time were in the same situation, some hardly existing except 'on paper'; but there is nothing astonishing in this if these systems represented merely the particular ideas of an individual or group, whereas it seems that for the work of an authorized representative of a true initiatic organization, matters would have had to proceed quite differently. But this is to put the question rather superficially, for we must consider that Martines' 'mission' comprised precisely the work of 'adaptation' that was to result in the formation of the Order of the Elect Cohens, a task that his 'predecessors' had not had to do because for one reason or another the moment had not yet arrived; and perhaps they would not even have been able to do, as we shall see in a moment. Martines was not able to bring this work to a satisfactory conclusion, but this proves nothing against what is found at its inception. In truth, two causes seem to have contributed to his partial failure: on the one hand, it is possible that a series of unfavorable circumstances acted unremittingly as an obstacle to what he proposed, and it may also be that he himself was not up to the task despite the psychic 'powers' he evidently possessed and which would have made it easier for him, either because he possessed them in a quite natural and spontaneous way, as is sometimes the case, or more probably because he may have been specially 'prepared' to this end. Willermoz himself recognizes that 'his verbal inconsistencies and his indiscretions gave rise to reproaches and many disagreements'; ^[19] it seems that this imprudence may have consisted particularly in making promises that he could not keepat least not immediately-and sometimes also in too readily admitting individuals not sufficiently 'qualified'. After receiving the necessary 'preparation', he like many others doubtless had to work by himself at his own risk and peril; at least, he does not seem to have ever committed faults such that his 'mission' was withdrawn from him, since he pressed forward with his work until the very end and assured its transmission before his death. We certainly do not think that the initiation Martines received went beyond a rather limited degree, in any case not beyond the domain of the 'lesser mysteries', or that his knowledge-though real enough-truly had the 'transcendent' character he himself seemed to have attributed to it. We dealt with this on another occasion ^[20] where we pointed out as characteristic traits in this respect the allure of 'ceremonial magic' that adorned his ritual 'operations' and the importance he attached to results of the purely 'phenomenal' order. This is no reason however to reduce the latter, nor with all the more reason Martines' 'powers', to the rank of mere 'metapsychical phenomena' as these are understood today; on this basis, as well as on that of modern psychological theories, van Rijnberk, who seems to be of this opinion, evidently holds very great illusions which we for out part cannot possibly share. Moreover, we must add the particularly important observation that the very fact that the Order of the Elect Cohens was a new form prevented him from establishing a valid and regular initiation, alone and independently. For this reason he could recruit his members only from among those who already belonged to an initiatic organization, upon which latter he thus came to superpose a body of higher grades; and as we have already said above, the organization that furnished him the indispensable basis he would otherwise have lacked could only have been Masonry. Consequently, one of the conditions required by Martines' 'preparation', other than the teaching received elsewhere, must have been the acquisition of Masonic grades. This condition was quite likely lacking in his 'predecessors', which explains why the latter were unable to do what he did. From the beginning Martines presented himself as a Mason, and not otherwise, and it was 'in the interior' of the pre-existing Lodges that, as any founder of a system of high grades would have to do, he undertook with varying degrees of success to edify the 'Temples' where the most qualified members of these same Lodges would work following the rite of the Elect Cohens. On this point, at least, there can be no ambiguity: if Martines received a 'mission', it was that of founding a rite or Masonic 'regime' of high grades, in which by decking them out with the appropriate forms he could introduce the teachings he had received from another initiatic source. When we examine Martines' initiatic activity, we must never lose sight of what we have just pointed out above, that is, its double connection with Masonry and with another much more mysterious organization, the first being indispensable to the role assigned him by the second. There is furthermore something enigmatic even in his Masonic affiliation, nothing of which can be clarified (something not in the least exceptional at the time, when there was an astounding variety of rites and 'regimes'), but which in any case is before 1754 , since from that time on he appears not only as a Mason, as we have just said, but also as already provided with 'Scottish' high grades. ^[21] This is what allowed him to undertake the constitution of his 'Temples'-with varying degrees of success depending on the case-'within' of the Lodges of various towns of the South of France until 1761, when he finally established himself at Bordeaux. We need not retrace all these documented vicissitudes, recalling only that at the time the Order of the Elect Cohens was still far from its final form; and in fact neither the list of grades, nor with greater reason the rituals, would ever be completely fixed thereafter. From our point of view the other side of the question is the more important, and in this respect it is essential to note that Martines himself never had claimed to pose as supreme head of an initiatic hierarchy. His title of 'Grand Sovereign' does not contradict this, for the word 'Sovereign' also figures in the titles of various Masonic grades and functions without in any way implying that those who bear them are exempt from any subordination; among the Elect Cohens themselves the 'Réaux-Croix' were also qualified as 'Sovereign', and Martines was 'Grand Sovereign' or 'Sovereign of the Sovereigns' because his jurisdiction extended over all of them. The clearest proof of this is found in the following passage of a letter from Martines to Willermoz dated October 2, 1768: The opening of the circumferences that I performed last September 12th was to open [sic] the operation of the prescribed equinoxes so that I should not be remiss in my spiritual and temporal obligations. The circumferences are open until the solstices and are kept up by me so that I may be ready to work and pray for the health and peace of soul and mind of the principal chief, unknown to both you and your Reaux-Croix brothers, and regarding whom I must remain silent until he makes himself known. I fear no untoward event, for myself in particular or for any of our brothers generally, but for the Order itself in that it would lose a great deal if it lost such a leader. I can only speak allegorically to you on this subject. ^[22] Thus, according to his own admission Martines was in no way the 'principal chief' of the Order of the Elect Cohens; but since in a way we see him constitute himself as such before our eyes, it was necessary that this leader be the one (or one of those) from the organization to inspire this new formation; and would not the fear Martines expressed be that the disappearance of this person might lead to the premature interruption of certain communications? Furthermore, it is quite clear that what he says can in any case apply only to a living man and not to some phantasmagorical entity; the occultists have spread so many fantastic ideas of this kind that such a remark is not entirely superfluous. It could perhaps still be said that here it is only a question of the hidden leader of some Masonic organization; ^[23] but this hypothesis is ruled out by another document produced by van Rijnberk, a resume by the baron of Turkheim of a letter Willermoz addressed to him on March 25, 1822, of which the beginning reads: As to Pasqually, he has always said that in his position as Sovereign 'Réaux' for his region, which included the whole of Europe, he could make and support successively twelve 'Réaux', who would be dependent on him and whom he would name his Equals. ^[24] It follows that Martines held these 'powers', which moreover were carefully defined, from an organization that extended outside Europe (which was not the case of Masonry at this time), ^[25] and of which the principal seat must also have been outside, for if the latter were in Europe itself, the 'delegation' Martines received for this region would not have been able to carry any true 'sovereignty'. On the other hand, if what we said earlier of the Sephardic origin of Martines' initiation is correct, this place could very well be in North Africa, which is by far the most likely supposition. But in this case it is quite clear that it would not be a question of a Masonic organization and that it is not here that we should seek the 'power' by which Martines was instituted 'Sovereign Réaux' for a region coinciding with Masonry's entire sphere of influence, which would in other respects justify his foundation of high grades of the Order of the Elect Cohens, in the special form of a 'regime'. ^[26] The demise of this Order is scarcely less obscure than is its beginning. Martines' two successors did not long exercise the functions of 'Grand Sovereign', for the first, Caignet de Lestère, died in 1778, four years after Martines, and the second, Sébastien de Las Casas, retired two years later, in 1780. What remained thereafter as far as a regularly constituted organization is concerned? It seems that very little remained, and that if a few 'Temples' did persist for a time after 1780, this hardly deferred the cessation of all activity. As for the designation of another 'Grand Sovereign' following the retirement of Sébastien de Las Casas, it is nowhere in question; there was however a letter from the Knight of Bacon, dated January 26, 1807, speaking of the 'absolute silence of the Elect Cohens, who always acted with the greatest discretion in executing the supreme orders of the Sovereign Master, G.'. Z.'. W.'. J.'. . But what can we make of such information, as bizarre as it is enigmatic, and perhaps even quite fanciful? In any case, in the letter of 1822 just cited, Willermoz states that, 'of all the Réaux he has known, none still live, just as it was impossible for him to name one after him'; and if there were no longer any 'Réaux-Croix', there will be no transmission to perpetuate the Order of the Elect Cohens. Apart from 'direct survival', to use to van Rijnberk's expression, the latter envisages an 'indirect survival' consisting in what he calls the two 'Willermozist and Martinist metamorphoses'; but here we have an ambiguity that should be clarified. The Rectified Scottish Rite is not a metamorphosis of the Elect Cohens but a derivation from the Strict Observance, which is totally different; and if it is true that by means of the dominant role he played in the development of the rituals of its higher grades (in particular that of 'Knight Beneficent of the Holy City'), Willermoz was able to introduce some of the ideas he had taken from Martines' organization, it is no less true that the great majority of the Elect Cohens strongly reproached him for the interest he had thus shown in another rite, which in their eyes was almost a betrayal, just as they reproached Saint-Martin for a change in attitude of another kind. This case of Saint-Martin must engage us a while longer, if only because so much has been made of it in our time; the truth is that, if Saint-Martin abandoned all the Masonic rites to which he had been linked, including that of the Elect Cohens, this was in order to adopt an exclusively mystical attitude, one therefore incompatible with the initiatic point of view, and certainly not to found a new Order himself. In fact, the name 'Martinism', commonly used only in the profane world, applies only to Saint-Martin's particular doctrines and the adherents thereof, whether or not these latter were directly related to him. What is more, Saint-Martin himself, not without some irony, qualified those who simply read his works as 'Martinist'. It would seem however that several of his disciples did receive from him individually a certain 'deposit', which actually consisted of only 'two letters and some periods'; and this transmission is held to be the source of modern 'Martinism'. But even if all this is true, how could such a communication, effected without any rite, represent an initiation? The two letters in question are 'S' and 'I', which, whatever interpretation one may give them (and there are many), seem to have exercised a real fascination on some people; but in the present case what can be their provenance? Surely this was not a reminiscence of the 'Unknown Superiors' [Supérieurs Inconnus] of the Strict Observance; besides, there is no need to look so far, for some Elect Cohens used these letters in their signature, and van Rijnberk offers a very plausible hypothesis when he suggests that they could have been the distinctive mark of the members of the 'Sovereign Tribunal' charged with the administration of the Order (to which Saint-Martin himself belonged, as did Willermoz); they would therefore have indicated not a grade, but simply a function. In these conditions, it could in spite of everything seem strange that Saint-Martin should have adopted these letters rather than 'R. C.', for example, if they had not had in themselves their own symbolic significance, from which when all is said and done their various usages were merely derived. Be that as it may, there is a curious fact which shows that Saint-Martin really did attach a certain importance to them, which is that, in the Crocodile, he used these initials to form the name of an imaginary 'Society of Independents', which was not really a society or even an organization, but rather a kind of a mystical communion presided over by Madame Jof, that is to say Faith personified. ^[27] And another peculiar point is that toward the end of the story the Jew Eléazar is admitted into this 'Society of Independents', no doubt we should see this as an allusion, not to something concerning Martines personally, but much rather to Saint-Martin's passage from the doctrine of the Elect Cohens to this mysticism into which he withdrew during the whole of the last part of his life; and, in communicating to his nearest disciples the letters 'S. I.' as a kind of sign of recognition, may he not have wanted to say that they could consider themselves members of what he had wanted to represent by the 'Society of Independents'? These final observations will make clear why we are far from sharing the overly 'optimistic' views of van Rijnberk, who, in wondering whether the Order of the Elect Cohens 'completely and exclusively belongs to the past,' is inclined to reply in the negative, while however recognizing the absence of all direct filiation, which is the sole is consideration in the initiatic domain. The Rectified Scottish Rite certainly still exists, contrary to what he seems to believe, but in no way originates in what we are discussing. As for modern 'Martinism', we can assure him that it has very little to do with Saint Martin, and absolutely nothing to do with Martines and the Elect Cohens.