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The Sons of Malta (also known as the Independent Order of the Sons of Malta) were a mid-Nineteenth Century fraternal organization whose initiation rites parodied more staid fraternal orders such as the Freemasons. == Origin of the Sons of Malta == The origins of the Sons of Malta are obscure and contentious. B.J. Griswold's 1917 ''The Pictorial History of Fort Wayne, Indiana'', states, "A secret society, known as the 'Sons of Malta,' with local lodges in many of the larger American cities, was organized in 1856 by A. G. Barnett and Morton Taylor....The Fort Wayne lodge enrolled many of the prominent men of the day. It was instituted by General Stedman () of Toledo, Ohio." * Griswold may have meant to convey that Steedman instituted the Fort Wayne lodge and that Barnett and Taylor did the actual organizational work necessary to launch that particular lodge (or may have meant to convey something else entirely), but the apparent implication that Barnett and Taylor originated the Sons of Malta as an organization was repeated explicitly in the endnotes to ''More of a Man: Diaries of a Scottish Craftsman in Mid-Nineteenth-Century North America,'' 〔''More of a Man: Diaries of a Scottish Craftsman in Mid-Nineteenth-Century North America'', edited by Andrew Holman and Robert K. Kristofferson, University of Toronto Press, 2013〕 though they curiously did not cite ''The Pictorial History of Fort Wayne'', or any other source that did so. * In the Fort Wayne Sentinel of February 15, 1890, Dr. W. H. Brooks confirms that "the Sons of Malta had been in existence for a number of years and its branches had been pretty widely scattered among the larger cities in America before a lodge was established in Fort Wayne," as well as that A. G. Barnett was a member of the Fort Wayne lodge.〔Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, February 15, 1890〕 The entry for the Sons of Malta in the 1899 ''Encyclopedia of the History of St. Louis'' 〔''Encyclopedia of the History of St. Louis: A Compendium of History and Biography for Ready Reference'', edited by William Hyde, Howard Louis Conard, Southern History Company, 1899, Saint Louis, MO〕 states that they were, "A mystic society, which came into existence in St. Louis in 1855, and which about the same time seems to have been represented in nearly all the larger, and many of the smaller, cities of the country. It is said to have originated in Mobile, Alabama, once the queen of mystic society cities, and to have been, in a sense, an outgrowth of Mardi Gras festivities." * The "mystic societies" of Mobile originally paraded on New Year's Eve and continued to do so until 1861, so any connection of the Sons of Malta to Mobile had nothing to do with Mardi Gras festivities (the first Mardi Gras parading secret society, the Mystick Krewe of Comus, was founded in New Orleans in 1856 and first paraded in 1857.) An account more contemporary with the origins of the Sons of Malta, though still more than thirty years after the fact, was provided by "old-time newspaper man" Phocion Howard in 1886: "When the yellow fever for the first time became sporadic in New Orleans, when white, creole, and black by the hundreds were dying every day, A.L. Saunders continued publication of the ''Delta'', and filled it with wit and humor so as to divert the minds from the sad visitation. And when that failed he sent his own pilot-boat over to Mobile and brought John Forsyth, editor of the Mobile ''Register'', to New Orleans, and the two originated the I. O. S. M.—Independent Order of the Sons of Malta. Even at that early date all the South was inoculated with the idea of filibustering...Mr. Saunders has often told me that in a house on Canal street where he and Forsyth wrote the ritual for the Sons of Malta, there were then five yellow-fever corpses. Having perfected the ritual, which was as prettily written as anything could be, having for its object "the wresting from the dominion of Spain the Gem of the Antilles and setting it in the diadem of Southern chivalry," a call was published for volunteers to go to Cuba. Under this excitement of war the lower classes forgot their griefs and became joyous and happy...That was the beginning of the ill-fated Lopez expeditions..."〔The Courier-Journal Louisville, Kentucky, Sunday, October 3, 1886, reprinted from the Chicago News〕 In assessing Howard's report of Saunders' claims, the following should be taken into account: * Narciso López's first Cuban expedition took place in September 1849; his final invasion was in August 1851, resulting in his execution on September 1, 1851. * The Daily Delta and its editor, Laurent J. Sigur, were indeed noted for their support of filibustering in general and López in particular (Sigur was Colonel of a battalion that was supposed to take part in López's final invasion of Cuba);〔Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Louisiana: Embracing an Authentic and Comprehensive Account of the Chief Events in the History of the State, a Special Sketch of Every Parish and a Record of the Lives of Many of the Most Worthy and Illustrious Families and Individuals, Goodspeed publishing Company, Chicago 1892〕 but any suspicion of direct involvement by A.L. Saunders in organizing or rallying support for the López expeditions seems to have gone completely unrecorded. * A.L. Saunders was, however, a prominent figure in the subsequent attempts, starting in 1853, by John A. Quitman to organize an invasion of Cuba; this attempt started to fizzle out in 1854 after the Federal government took steps to more strictly enforce the 1818 Neutrality Act, making participating or investing in filibusters potentially riskier and less rewarding. Among these steps was a grand jury investigation of rumored preparations for filibuster invasions of Cuba before which Saunders (as well as Quitman and López associate John Sidney Thrasher, publisher of the New Orleans newspaper The Beacon of Cuba) refused to testify.〔''Cuban Confederate Colonel: The Life of Ambrosio José Gonzales'', Antonio Rafael De la Cova, University of South Carolina Press, 2003〕 They were subsequently required to post bond of $3,000 each as a pledge against violating the Neutrality Act for nine months, which they did under protest (the protests being published in the Delta of July 4, 1854).〔The Athens Post, Athens, Tennessee, July 21, 1854〕 Saunders subsequently went to Kentucky, where he claimed a thousand men could be raised for an invasion. There is no indication extant that Saunders' attempts to aid Quitman were anything but earnest. * Fatal cases of yellow fever in New Orleans in the Nineteenth century peaked in 1853 (up from 456 in 1852); the only prior years in which there more than 1,000 yellow fever fatalities were recorded were 1819 (2190 fatalities and 1847 (2306 fatalities). * The Order of the Lone Star was formed in New Orleans shortly after López's execution in 1851 at the offices of the Lafayette True Delta, with rituals written by Senator John Henderson.〔Keehn, David C., ''Knights of the Golden Circle: Secret Empire, Southern Secession, Civil War'', LSU Press, 2013〕 * The Times-Picayune of New Orleans ran announcements of meetings of Division No. 2 of the Order of the Lone Star from November 5, 1851, to August 11, 1854.〔The Times-Picayune New Orleans, August 11, 1854〕 The Daily Globe of Washington, D.C., pronounced the Order of the Lone Star "dormant"on September 29 of 1854.〔The Daily Globe Washington, District of Columbia, September 29, 1854〕 * On November 17, 1854, two months after the last notice for a meeting of the Order of the Lone Star appeared in the Times-Picayune, the same paper carried a notice: "I. O. S. M.-Brahmah () Lodge No. 1 There will be a regular meeting of this lodge THIS EVENING, at the Mechanics Institute Room 4, at 7 1/2 o'clock." Ultimately, the extent of A.L. Saunders' involvement, if any, in both the Order of the Lone Star and the Sons of Malta is unclear. It was definitely believed, however, at least after the Sons of Malta's decline, that there was a connection between the two organizations: * "...the order of the LONE STAR, under whose auspices men and means were raised for the Lopez raids upon the Island of Cuba, in the years 1850 and 1851, and for the subsequent forays into the Central American States under the leadership of the 'grey-eyed man of destiny,' William Walker. These hostile designs upon the territory of our Southern neighbors having failed, the order fell into disrepute, and its secrets were exposed and burlesqued by the Sons of Malta."〔''K.G.C. An authentic exposition of the origin, objects, and secret work of the organization known as the Knights of the Golden Circle'', published by the United States National Union Club, February 1862, reprinted in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa Saturday, April 12, 1862〕 Note that this indicated, as did Phocion Howard's later recollection of A.L. Saunder's claims, the Order of the Lone Star existing prior to López's filibuster attempts. * K. Loric wrote in 1883: "Just a quarter of a century ago a secret society, known as the Sons of Malta, sprang suddenly into existence in the city of New Orleans. The original object of the organization was the capture of Cuba, and many prominent military men of the South were the leading spirits in the movement. For reasons which the writer is not at liberty to divulge, the filibustering plans of the order were abruptly squelched, and soon thereafter a well known newspaper man, who had been initiated, conceived the idea of making 'some fun for the boys.' The whole business of initiation, etc., was transformed in to a series of the most stupendous sells, practical jokes and outrageously comical proceedings ever dreamed of. The order spread rapidly all over the Union."〔"THE SONS OF MALTA Recollections of a Secret Order that Forced Good Men to 'Give Themselves Away.'" Written for the Courier-Journal by K. Loric, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, April 1, 1883〕 According to Dr. Rob Morris of Kentucky's recollections, published in 1885, that "well known newspaper man" was George D. Prentice, editor of the Lousiville Journal. Morris did not ascribe any influence of the Order of the Lone Star's initiation rituals on those of the Sons of Malta: "The older Masons of Lousiville will recall the incident of his initiation into Freemasonry, as I have often related them in my lectures. As a candidate he was by no means 'one of the still and smiling kind,' and in reply to 'the standard questions' propounded him on the occasion, alternately shocked the brethren and convulsed them with laughter. In this spirit he undertook to prepare that celebrated travesty of Freemasonry entitled 'The Sons of Malta' in which, with considerable originality, are sacrilegiously blended some of the most sacred tenets of the order. It became the mother of many other fraternities of the sort, until now every community has its caricature of the Ancient Craft. Long before his death Mr. Prentice saw his mistake in this organization, but the mischief was irreparable."〔"JESTERS WITH WHOM I HAVE JESTED, Some Recollections Contributed to the Courier-Journal by Dr. Rob Morris, of LaGrange, Kentucky." The Courier Journal (Lousiville, Kentucky), August 2, 1885〕 Dr. W. H. Brooks also indicated that Prentice was involved in the creation of the Sons of Malta: "The Sons of Malta is supposed to have been the invention of Mr. Prentice, the famous Louisville editor, and a few jolly kindred spirits. To the uninitiated public it was believed to be an order of men secretly banded together for the purpose of capturing the Island of Cuba, and the respect for the Monroe doctrine, which the members always professed, had the effect of confirming that belief.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sons of Malta」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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