Book Six: 1808-10 - Chapter VII

by Leo Tolstoy

　　Nearly two years before this, in 1808, Pierre on returning toPetersburg after visiting his estates had involuntarily foundhimself in a leading position among the Petersburg Freemasons. Hearranged dining and funeral lodge meetings, enrolled new members,and busied himself uniting various lodges and acquiring authenticcharters. He gave money for the erection of temples and supplementedas far as he could the collection of alms, in regard to which themajority of members were stingy and irregular. He supported almostsinglehanded a poorhouse the order had founded in Petersburg.

　　His life meanwhile continued as before, with the same infatuationsand dissipations. He liked to dine and drink well, and though heconsidered it immoral and humiliating could not resist the temptationsof the bachelor circles in which he moved.

　　Amid the turmoil of his activities and distractions, however, Pierreat the end of a year began to feel that the more firmly he tried torest upon it, the more Masonic ground on which he stood gave way underhim. At the same time he felt that the deeper the ground sank underhim the closer bound he involuntarily became to the order. When he hadjoined the Freemasons he had experienced the feeling of one whoconfidently steps onto the smooth surface of a bog. When he put hisfoot down it sank in. To make quite sure of the firmness the ground,he put his other foot down and sank deeper still, became stuck init, and involuntarily waded knee-deep in the bog.

　　Joseph Alexeevich was not in Petersburg- he had of late stoodaside from the affairs of the Petersburg lodges, and lived almostentirely in Moscow. All the members of the lodges were men Pierre knewin ordinary life, and it was difficult for him to regard them merelyas Brothers in Freemasonry and not as Prince B. or Ivan Vasilevich D.,whom he knew in society mostly as weak and insignificant men. Underthe Masonic aprons and insignia he saw the uniforms and decorations atwhich they aimed in ordinary life. Often after collecting alms, andreckoning up twenty to thirty rubles received for the most part inpromises from a dozen members, of whom half were as well able to payas himself, Pierre remembered the Masonic vow in which each Brotherpromised to devote all his belongings to his neighbor, and doubts onwhich he tried not to dwell arose in his soul.

　　He divided the Brothers he knew into four categories. In the firsthe put those who did not take an active part in the affairs of thelodges or in human affairs, but were exclusively occupied with themystical science of the order: with questions of the threefolddesignation of God, the three primordial elements- sulphur, mercury,and salt- or the meaning of the square and all the various figuresof the temple of Solomon. Pierre respected this class of Brothers towhich the elder ones chiefly belonged, including, Pierre thought,Joseph Alexeevich himself, but he did not share their interests. Hisheart was not in the mystical aspect of Freemasonry.

　　In the second category Pierre reckoned himself and others likehim, seeking and vacillating, who had not yet found in Freemasonry astraight and comprehensible path, but hoped to do so.

　　In the third category he included those Brothers (the majority)who saw nothing in Freemasonry but the external forms andceremonies, and prized the strict performance of these forms withouttroubling about their purport or significance. Such were Willarski andeven the Grand Master of the principal lodge.

　　Finally, to the fourth category also a great many Brothers belonged,particularly those who had lately joined. These according toPierre's observations were men who had no belief in anything, nordesire for anything, but joined the Freemasons merely to associatewith the wealthy young Brothers who were influential through theirconnections or rank, and of whom there were very many in the lodge.

　　Pierre began to feel dissatisfied with what he was doing.Freemasonry, at any rate as he saw it here, sometimes seemed to himbased merely on externals. He did not think of doubting Freemasonryitself, but suspected that Russian Masonry had taken a wrong pathand deviated from its original principles. And so toward the end ofthe year he went abroad to be initiated into the higher secrets of theorder.

　　In the summer of 1809 Pierre returned to Petersburg. OurFreemasons knew from correspondence with those abroad that Bezukhovhad obtained the confidence of many highly placed persons, had beeninitiated into many mysteries, had been raised to a higher grade,and was bringing back with him much that might conduce to theadvantage of the Masonic cause in Russia. The Petersburg Freemasonsall came to see him, tried to ingratiate themselves with him, and itseemed to them all that he was preparing something for them andconcealing it.

　　A solemn meeting of the lodge of the second degree was convened,at which Pierre promised to communicate to the Petersburg Brotherswhat he had to deliver to them from the highest leaders of theirorder. The meeting was a full one. After the usual ceremonies Pierrerose and began his address.

　　"Dear Brothers," he began, blushing and stammering, with a writtenspeech in his hand, "it is not sufficient to observe our mysteriesin the seclusion of our lodge- we must act- act! We are drowsing,but we must act." Pierre raised his notebook and began to read.

　　"For the dissemination of pure truth and to secure the triumph ofvirtue," he read, "we must cleanse men from prejudice, diffuseprinciples in harmony with the spirit of the times, undertake theeducation of the young, unite ourselves in indissoluble bonds with thewisest men, boldly yet prudently overcome superstitions, infidelity,and folly, and form of those devoted to us a body linked together byunity of purpose and possessed of authority and power.

　　"To attain this end we must secure a preponderance of virtue overvice and must endeavor to secure that the honest man may, even in thisworld, receive a lasting reward for his virtue. But in these greatendeavors we are gravely hampered by the political institutions oftoday. What is to be done in these circumstances? To favorrevolutions, overthrow everything, repel force by force?... No! We arevery far from that. Every violent reform deserves censure, for itquite fails to remedy evil while men remain what they are, and alsobecause wisdom needs no violence.

　　"The whole plan of our order should be based on the idea ofpreparing men of firmness and virtue bound together by unity ofconviction- aiming at the punishment of vice and folly, andpatronizing talent and virtue: raising worthy men from the dust andattaching them to our Brotherhood. Only then will our order have thepower unobtrusively to bind the hands of the protectors of disorderand to control them without their being aware of it. In a word, wemust found a form of government holding universal sway, which shouldbe diffused over the whole world without destroying the bonds ofcitizenship, and beside which all other governments can continue intheir customary course and do everything except what impedes the greataim of our order, which is to obtain for virtue the victory over vice.This aim was that of Christianity itself. It taught men to be wise andgood and for their own benefit to follow the example and instructionof the best and wisest men.

　　"At that time, when everything was plunged in darkness, preachingalone was of course sufficient. The novelty of Truth endowed herwith special strength, but now we need much more powerful methods.It is now necessary that man, governed by his senses, should find invirtue a charm palpable to those senses. It is impossible to eradicatethe passions; but we must strive to direct them to a noble aim, and itis therefore necessary that everyone should be able to satisfy hispassions within the limits of virtue. Our order should provide meansto that end.

　　"As soon as we have a certain number of worthy men in every state,each of them again training two others and all being closely united,everything will be possible for our order, which has already in secretaccomplished much for the welfare of mankind."

　　This speech not only made a strong impression, but createdexcitement in the lodge. The majority of the Brothers, seeing in itdangerous designs of Illuminism,* met it with a coldness thatsurprised Pierre. The Grand Master began answering him, and Pierrebegan developing his views with more and more warmth. It was longsince there had been so stormy a meeting. Parties were formed, someaccusing Pierre of Illuminism, others supporting him. At thatmeeting he was struck for the first time by the endless variety ofmen's minds, which prevents a truth from ever presenting itselfidentically to two persons. Even those members who seemed to be on hisside understood him in their own way with limitations andalterations he could not agree to, as what he always wanted most wasto convey his thought to others just as he himself understood it.

　　*The Illuminati sought to substitute republican for monarchicalinstitutions.

　　At the end of the meeting the Grand Master with irony and ill-willreproved Bezukhov for his vehemence and said it was not love of virtuealone, but also a love of strife that had moved him in the dispute.Pierre did not answer him and asked briefly whether his proposal wouldbe accepted. He was told that it would not, and without waiting forthe usual formalities he left the lodge and went home.