Note: This material was scanned into text files for the sole purpose of convenient electronic research. This material is NOT intended as a reproduction of the original volumes. However close the material is to becoming a reproduced work, it should ONLY be regarded as a textual reference. Scanned at Phoenixmasonry by Ralph W. Omholt, PM in June 2007.
HISTORY
of
THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33°
(MOTHER COUNCIL OF THE WORLD)
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE
OF FREEMASONRY
SOUTHERN JURISDICTION, U.S.A.
1861-1891
By
JAMES D. CARTER, 33°
Librarian and Historian
THE SUPREME COUNCIL 33°
WASHINGTON, D.C.
1967
1V CONTENTS
Page
Foreword by Luther A. Smith, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander ...................... 1
Preface‑James D. Carter, 33° ................................................. 3
CHAPTER I War, Destruction and Revival‑1861‑1869 ................................... 5
CHAPTER II Five Years of Creeping Stabilization‑1869‑1874 .............................. 35
CHAPTER III Six Years of Economic Depression‑1874‑1879 ................................ 83
CHAPTER IV Opportunity, Problems and Action‑1880‑1886 ................................ 183
CHAPTER V The Last Years of an Era‑1887‑1891 ....................................... 329
CHAPTER VI Some Observations ....................................................... 379
Bibliography ................. ............................................. 389
Appendices ................................................................. 405
Index ..................................................................... 465
ILLUSTRATIONS Page General Albert Pike, C. S. A.............................................. Frontispiece Home of Albert Pike in Little Rock, Arkansas ................................ Facing 1 Luther A. Smith, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander ................................ 1 President Andrew Johnson ..................................................... 16 Latin Thirty‑Second Degree Patent, 1866 ......................................... 19 Civil War Emergency Certificate ................................................ 34 Masonic Temple, Lyons, Iowa .................................................. 63 Pike's Jewels ................................................................ 82 Badges‑Knight Commander of the Court of Honour; Grand Cross of the Court of Honour ... 86 Albert Pike in Scottish Rite Regalia ............................................. 88 David Kalakaua, King of Hawaii, Wise Master, Nemanu Chapter of Rose Croix ............ 104 Blank Stock Certificate ........................................................ 122 First House of the Temple ..................................................... 182 Announcement of Session of 1880 ............................................... 190 James A. Garfield, President, U.S.A. ............................................. 218 Title Page‑The Book of Infamy ................................................ 238 Furniture Designed by Pike at El Paso, Texas ...................................... 244 Albert Pike, 1889, wearing the Decoration of the King of Hawaii on his left breast ......... 284 Albert Pike about 1888 ....................................................... 328 The Vinnie Ream Bust of Albert Pike ............................................ 378 APPENDICES Page APPENDIX I ‑Tableaus of the Supreme Council 33° U.S.A. 1861‑1890 ............ 407 APPENDIX II ‑The Gouley Controversy ....................................... 421 APPENDIX III ‑Letters of Denunciation and Appeal .............................. 429 APPENDIX IV ‑Articles of Confederation ...................................... 435 APPENDIX V ‑Articles of Federation ......................................... 441 APPENDIX VI ‑Titles of Degrees, Bodies and Officers ............................ 449 APPENDIX VII‑Letter to the Supreme Councils of the World ....................... 459 LUTHER A. SMITH, 33° Sovereign Grand Commander
THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33° ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE OF FREEMASONRY SOUTHERN JURISDICTION, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
INTRODUCTION to a worthy book should be more than a formality. It should create in the reader a real desire to get thoroughly acquainted with the contents of the book. It is with that feeling that I approach the task of intro ducing our Scottish Rite and Masonic membership to the second volume of the History of the Supreme Council, 33°, S.J., U.S.A., written by Dr. James D. Carter, 33°, Librarian of the Supreme Council. It is a real history, produced out of the materials found in the Archives of the Supreme Council and from the discoveries found in many places by the Author as the result of his meticulous research for historical facts that would throw light upon the subject under study,‑the growth and development of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in the Southern Jurisdiction.
The content of the volume is well organized into six chapters with descriptive names as follows: CHAPTER I ‑War, Destruction and Revival‑1861‑1869 CHAPTER II ‑Five Years of Creeping Stabilization‑1869‑1874 CHAPTER III‑Six Years of Economic Depression‑1874‑1879 CHAPTER IV‑Opportunity, Problems and Action‑1880‑1886 CHAPTER V ‑The Last Years of an Era‑1887‑1891 CHAPTER VI‑Some Observations HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33°
The Author in these Chapters sets himself to the very difficult task of describing the desperate political, economic and social conditions existing in the Southern States which seceded from the Union at the beginning of the War and remained out until the Reconstruction Period worked its miserable way back to normal in the seventies. It was difficult to find any bright spots to write about. There was one fact that offered hope to the small number of Scottish Rite Masons who refused to give up in the face of apparent insurmountable obstacles,‑Albert Pike was there with his faith and courage to inspire the remnants who stood by, ready to follow his leadership. His presence meant everything to the forlorn hope for the future of the Rite.
Watching the Author's skill in marshalling the fragments of facts and circumstances favorable to future growth of the Rite is a fascinating experience. Pike's practical judgment and unconquerable determination in the ultimate success of his faith and efforts easily established him as the hero of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry; its Seer, Philosopher and Savior.
People love success stories and take great pleasure in keeping them vibrant in the folklore of the race. This volume in the history of the Supreme Council should be a treasure house of pride and glory for Scottish Rite Masons of all generations. I am sure all Masons will read it with pleasure and profit.
Your attention is called to the 14 illustrations which are to be seen in this second volume of the History of the Supreme Council. They are well chosen and render a fine service in adorning the history. The Albert Pike portrait in Confederate Army Uniform is a real find. It is the only one that has been discovered. The picture of King Kalakaua of Hawaii is an item of special importance, and so is the picture of President Garfield and of considerable interest is the furniture designed by Albert Pike when he established the Lodge of Perfection in El Paso, Texas. The Author is to be congratulated upon his good judgment and good luck in finding and selecting these illustrations.
Sovereign Grand Commander PREFACE THE HISTORY of the Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, United States of America, like ancient Gaul, is divided into three parts. The first is that period extending from its creation in 1801 until its almost annihilation by the outbreak of civil war in 1861. The second is the three decades of revival, restoration and maturation under the guidance of Albert Pike until his death in 1891. The third is the period since 1891 in which its organizational structure has been perfected, its numerical and financial strength multiplied and its service programs formulated and brought into reality.
Organized Freemasonry in the United States of America antedates the birth of the Republic and both have experienced comparable growth in strength and health. The great events that transpired on the North America continent have influenced and been influenced by Masonic institutions. This is particularly true of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in the Southern Jurisdiction for there is an amazing parallelism between the major divisions of general United States history and those of the history of the Mother Council of the World.
The above comments state the fundamental concepts that have governed the writing of this history of the Supreme Council in the Southern Jurisdiction. The first volume, principally the work of R. Baker Harris, 33', in this historical study was published in 1964, and was devoted to the period from 1801 to 1861. This volume is a continuation of the project instituted by Sovereign Grand Commander Luther A. Smith, 33°, in 1956.
This History of the Supreme COUNCIL, 33░
(Mother Council of the World), Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, United States of America, 1861 to 1891, is devoted entirely to the administration of Sovereign Grand Commander Albert Pike. The presentation is chronological, the better to correlate the actions of the Pike administration with the events and conditions occurring and prevailing in the period. This type of presentation is employed to depict the day to day problems of building an adequate administrative unit for the Rite, however, it demands closer attention from the reader in order to keep all threads of development in continuity. The general background is civil war and the slow and painful recovery from civil, economic and social chaos which followed. The principal sources of information include not only the printed Transactions and other published documents issued by the Supreme Council and the Grand Commander but confidential records and a large number of official and personal letters exchanged between the Grand HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
Commander and his correspondents. Many of these letters have never before been made available, even to Scottish Rite officials, because of the time and effort required for their careful study. In fact, the collection of such materials in the possession of the Supreme Council has been materially increased during the time this study was in progress.
The author is indebted to many people for assistance in the preparation of this work, so much so that it could not have been done without their efforts. These contributions extend over a period of time in excess of one hundred years and the volume is such that it would be impractical to undertake even a listing. However, special thanks are extended to Sovereign Grand Commander Luther A. Smith, 33', every Sovereign Grand Inspector General and Deputy of the Supreme Council, my associates in the House of the Temple and my family for making it possible for this work to be done under as near ideal circumstances as was in their power to provide.
JAMES D. CARTER, 33' CHAPTER I WAR, DESTRUCTION AND REVIVAL 1861‑1869 THE opening of the Civil War in 1861 brought the first phase of the history of the Supreme Council, 33░, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, United States of America, to an end and marked the beginning of the second period. This latter span of Supreme Council history has two major characteristics. First, the almost total destruction of the Rite and its revival and subsequent development. Second, the period is dominated by Albert Pike, directly or indirectly, until the rise of another dominant personality after 1909, John Henry Cowles.
During the war, there is little evidence of Scottish Rite activity except that of Albert Pike which was quite limited. However, Pike's activity did serve to preserve the spark of life in the Rite. After the adjournment of the Session of the Supreme Council on April 5, 1861, probably early in May, Grand Commander Pike accepted a commission from the Confederate Government to treat with the Indians along the Arkansas border and gain their support. He was engaged in this and other Confederate service until relieved of his duties in 1862. Early in 1863, Pike returned to Arkansas and established himself at Greasy Cove with a part of his library. Here he continued his revision of the rituals of the Scottish Rite and probably made plans for the resumption of other Scottish Rite work following the restoration of peace. Then Pike seems to have lived at Washington, Arkansas, until late in that year or early in 1865. He was living on Big Creek, six miles from Rondo, when the Confederate forces in the Trans‑Mississippi Department surrendered on May 26, 1865, ending the Civil War. He is believed to have compiled Morals and Dogma at this location.
Pike's success in securing the allegiance of the Indians to the Confederacy, the belief in the North that he was responsible for greatly exaggerated accounts of atrocities in the West during the war, and possibly the hatred of all Masons and all things Masonic by some leaders of the Anti‑masonic movement still in the United States Congress caused his exclusion from the general amnesty granted to Confederate soldiers and officials on May 29, 1865. It was not until August 30, 1865, that HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
a Presidential order was signed by Andrew Johnson which permitted Pike, then in Canada, to return home, without fear of arrest by either civil or military authorities, after taking an oath of allegiance and giving a parole of honor to conduct himself as a loyal citizen.
Pike then went to New York where he apparently remained for about two months supervising the printing of the ritual of the Lodge of Perfection that he had completely revised. On November 16, 1865, the Grand Commander had arrived in Charleston for the Session of the Supreme Council! The Scottish Rite had been preserved in the Southern Jurisdiction but it had been reduced for all practical purposes to one man. Revival and reconstruction were now in order.
If the problems of advancing the Scottish Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction during the sixty‑year period from the creation of the Supreme Council at Charleston to the opening of the Civil War are viewed as formidable, a review of the conditions that existed in the Jurisdiction following the war indicate that the situation had not improved.
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Florida and Tennessee had formed the Confederate States of America. The remaining states in the Southern Jurisdiction had retained their membership in the Union. Differences of opinion of no insignificant character had caused this separation and a military victory would not change opinions on these issues. Harmony could not be immediately achieved.
The major theaters of military operations during the war were located within the Confederate States and the greater portion of war destruction lay within the Southern Jurisdiction.
The collapse of the Confederacy made its currency and securities worthless. This and other losses produced a desperate economic bankruptcy in those states, both public and private. There was no surplus capital in these areas in any significant quantity.
1 A detailed account of this period in Albert Pike's life is contained in Walter Lee Brown, "Albert Pike, 18091891," unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, U.T., 1955, pp. 719‑759; Charles S. ‑Lobingier, The Supreme Council, 33', S.J., 215‑227.
WAR, DESTRUCTION AND REVIVAL
The emancipated slaves were wandering aimlessly about depending upon the Union army of occupation for sustenance. The idleness of this labor force retarded economic recovery in huge areas of the Jurisdiction.
Transport and communication were almost completely destroyed in much of the Jurisdiction. Railroads and bridges were destroyed by military action and by four years of neglect and heavy service without adequate manpower, repair and replacement. Until postal service was restored, letter communication was nonexistent.
(See illustration of emergency certificate on page 34.) Other than the United States army of occupation, there were no legal and effective agencies of law and order until civil government could be restored in the vacuum created by the defeat of the Confederacy. The President of the United States moved quickly into this area of reconstruction; however, there was a powerful element in the United States Congress bent on further vengeance upon the defeated Confederacy, and its efforts contributed to a prolongation of the prostrate condition of the territory.
The casualties of the Civil War had cost the Southern Jurisdiction a high percentage of the men in the region. The surviving Confederate soldiers, many maimed or broken in health, were disfranchised, bankrupt and bearing the psychological as well as the physical burden of defeat. Their immediate problems were to rebuild their shattered lives and to provide a degree of security for their impoverished families. Their difficulties were compounded by the not overly sympathetic army of occupation, the host of scavengers that had gathered to prey on the land, and the well‑intentioned but impractical visionaries, the incompetent and the sometimes dishonest officials in the local governments that were established by their conquerors. The effects of the war and "Reconstruction" were to remain with the veterans of the Confederate army until the end of their lives and were to color the viewpoints of several generations that knew them.
The states in the Southern Jurisdiction that had remained in the Union were more fortunate than those which had composed the Confederacy. Their economic condition was stable and relatively prosperous. Their political system was intact. Their social structure had not been overturned. However, they had not escaped some effects of the war. They also lost a high percentage of the flower of their young manhood and there were emotional and psychological attitudes that would make lasting alterations in the existing order.
During the Civil War, Masonic bodies had practically ceased their labors while attention was given to the' conduct of the war; men had turned from the contempla‑
HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
tion of morality and beauty to the study of war with its manifestations of savagery. Darkness had almost snuffed out the Light.
In 1865, throughout the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, chaos was the rule rather than the exception in the physical life and in the political, economic and social institutions of the people. This disorder had extended itself until confusion was present in emotional, psychological and philosophical outlooks. This was the general situation when on July 15, 1865, Grand Commander Albert Pike summoned the Supreme Council to assemble at Charleston on November 15, 1865, for the resumption of Scottish Rite activity.) It may be observed that there had never been a period in American history when there had been a greater need for the active presence of an institution dedicated to bringing "Order out of Chaos" than at that very time.
To fully understand the events and activity in the years between the formal Sessions of the Suprme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction during Albert Pike's administration, it is necessary to be familiar with the general history of the period, with the structure and jurisprudence of the Rite and to comprehend Albert Pike the Grand Commander. Pike was a man of many abilities, some of them highly developed. He was also a militant crusader for Scottish Rite Masonry as zealous in its cause as any missionary the world has seen; he could not conceive of a lesser degree of zeal in any member of the Rite. His profession as a lawyer was only a means to sustain life and secure means to further the interests of Scottish Rite Masonry. Discovering that "the law, to a rebel, having rebel and ruined clients, is a slow, slow way of realizing cash how much ever one may charge,"' Pike devoted more and more of his time to the affairs of Scottish Rite Masonry. His official documents and large volume of letters reflect the burning urgency that he felt for the propagation of the Rite; his impatience with restricted finances which curbed his activity on behalf of the Fraternity; an outraged anger at those who impeded the progress of Scottish Rite Masonry; and are filled with cajolery, eloquent appeals to obligation and to sense of duty and stinging denunciations of those members of the official family who faltered or seemed content with the status quo. It seems that the survival of the Mother Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite in that age demanded such a determined and unrelenting leadership. Pike's words and deeds should be evaluated in that climate.
2 Summons, July 15, 1865.
3 Albert Pike to J. C. Batchelor, July 15, 1866.
WAR, DESTRUCTION AND REVIVAL
A quorum of the Supreme Council had not appeared for the Session on November 16, 1865, and no work was undertaken. On November 17, 1865, six members, Albert Pike, Sovereign Grand Commander; Azariah T. C. Pierson, as Lieutenant Grand Commander; Albert G. Mackey, Secretary General; Henry Buist, Treasurer General; William S. Rockwell, as Grand Marshal and Benjamin R. Campbell, as Captain of the Guards, opened the Supreme Council for business.
In his address to the Supreme Council during the afternoon, Pike summarized the effect of the war on the Rite in these words: During four terrible years our Temples have been for the most part deserted, the ashes of the fires upon our altars have been cold, and the Brethren have met each other as enemies, or ceased to commune with each other. Isolated, in most of our States, from the outer world, we have had no correspondence with Foreign Bodies. No attempt has been made to enlarge the borders of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Our Subordinate Bodies ceased to meet.
We had, at the commencement of the war, Grand Consistories in Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas and Virginia. I have no information to communicate as to any of them.' Later in the address, he remarked: ... Except in New Orleans, there are, perhaps, no Bodies working subordinate to these (Grand Consistories). Those established in Arkansas have done nothing since the war began; and except a Chapter of Rose Croix and Lodge of Perfection in South Carolina, and Bodies of the same degrees and the 16th in Baltimore, I have no information of any Subordinate Bodies in the Jurisdiction. In the northern portion of it we have not one body of any degree.' The Grand Commander announced the completion of a revision of the rituals in the following words: Being relieved of all other labour during the last two years and a half of the war, I devoted nearly the whole of that time to the Ancient and Accepted Rite. I have completed the Rituals of all of the degrees, so that from the first to the thirty‑second inclusive, they are either printed or ready for the printer.
. . . There are, then, fourteen degrees, besides the three Blue Degrees, to print, and ceremonies of Inauguration and Installation, Patents, Letters of Constitution 4 Transactions, Supreme Council, S.J., 1857‑1866, (Reprint), 257. 5Ibid., 261.
HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33°
and other blanks, for all of which the money has to be earned. The labour is done; the money alone is wanting.' Regarding the extension of the Rite, Pike said: With peace, the opportunity for useful labour returns to the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. We shall soon be prepared to extend it throughout our Jurisdiction....
It will be absolutely necessary that some of us should take in hand the dissemination of the Rite, as soon as the Rituals are ready. If we would effect anything, we must be willing to give our time and labour to the Order. I hope to induce our Ill.'. Bro.'. Pierson to undertake the propagation of the Rite in Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas and Nevada; and that others may be willing to engage in the extension of the Rite in the Southern States, with at least the zeal which many Masons display in Symbolic Masonry. The field is wide enough for many husbandmen; and if there be in any State an Inspector General who neither attends our Sessions nor labours to extend our Rite in his State, the sooner we remove him and find a more faithful workman, the better.' In Pike's mind, the propagation of the Rite and the composition and organization of the Supreme Council were so closely related as to be inseparable; hence, the following statements on Supreme Council membership: We have not yet any Inspector‑General for Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Oregon, California or Kansas; and there are vacancies in South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. We ought, I think, to take steps to fill existing vacancies; and if the person elected for any State does not appear, in order to be qualified, we should at once put him aside and select another. We have no use for, and can expect little benefit from, anyone, however "distinguished" as a Mason, who does not think it worth his while to attend one meeting of our Body, at least, and receive the degree.
I shall propose the election of an Inspector‑General for California, and one for Oregon. The Ill\ Bro\ whom I shall propose for California, already possessing the 32d Degree, will be present to receive the 33d, and on his return to the Pacific Coast will engage zealously in the work of propagating the Rite, and can convey the Rituals to the Inspector‑General for Oregon.
By the deaths of Ill\ Brethren Mellon and Scott, we are enabled to give Oregon and Kansas each a member, under Article III. of the Constitutions of 1859. We have a 33d already in Oregon, who may, if you think fit, be selected to fill the place vacant for that State; and I recommend that the necessary steps be taken to qualify some proper person and make him the member from Kansas.
6Ibid., 258‑261. 7 Ibid., 257, 261.
10 W R, DESTRUCTION AND REVIVAL
It is not at present practicable to assign a member to Nevada, without depriving either Alabama or Florida of one. And as the Rite has an exceedingly limited membership in those two States, and it is desirable, on many accounts, to increase the representatives in the Council from the northern portion of our Jurisdiction, and to provide for new States yet to enter the Union, I think it will be advisable to re‑apportion the representation, but without diminishing the number of members allowed to South Carolina and Louisiana.
In this respect and in many others, our Statutes need amendments and additions; and, having had ample time to reflect upon them, I have thought it not improper to prepare a revision of the whole, which I lay before you, proposing that it be referred to a Committee, and that such action may be had upon it as may be deemed advisable.' [This revision was mislaid, never acted on, and found in 1877.] The remaining portion of the Grand Commander's address was devoted to summaries of what was known regarding other Supreme Councils. The schism which had developed in the Supreme Council of the Northern Jurisdiction was explored in great detail in the hope of finding some ground upon which the Mother Council might effect a reconciliation; it was recommended that the problem be given further study by a Committee.
In other areas of business, the Supreme Council acted as follows: Henry W. Schroder for South Carolina, George B. Waterhouse for North Carolina and Ebenezer Hamilton Shaw for California were elected Sovereign Grand Inspectors General and Active Members of the Supreme Council.
Nine brethren were elected to Honorary Membership in the Supreme Council.
Henry Buist was elected Treasurer General.
Taliferro P. Shaffner was commissioned a Special Deputy of the Supreme Council "to establish Supreme Councils, Consistories and other Bodies, in any places or countries in Northern Europe, where no Supreme Councils already exist".
The Supreme Council withdrew its recognition of the Supreme Council established in Cuba by De Castro and reaffirmed its recognition of the Supreme Council established in Cuba by Andres Cassard.
8 Ibid., 262‑263.
HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
"The Supreme Council was then adjourned to meet in Washington, D.C., on April 16, 1866."9 News of the meeting of the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction in November, 1865, spread over the United States. Some not altogether to be unexpected reactions occurred which illustrate the extent of bitterness that the Civil War had engendered. Original letters of Grand Commander Pike to the Sovereign Grand Inspectors General are reproduced in order to present the atmosphere preceding the meeting that occurred on April 16, 1866.
(See Reproductions on pages 13 and 14) Pursuant to adjournment, the Supreme Council reassembled at Washington, D. C., on April 16, 1866. General conditions had improved to the extent that thirteen Sovereign Grand Inspectors General appeared for the Session. Five Active Members sent excuses for their absence that were accepted by the Supreme Council. James Penn sent his resignation as an Active Member and as the Lieutenant Grand Commander.
Items of business acted upon included the following: John J. Worsham was elected Active :Member for Tennessee.
Honorary Memberships in the Supreme Council were increased to four per state. The fee for Honorary Membership was fixed at $150.
Twelve brethren were elected to Honorary Membership.
The report of the Committee studying the schism in the Northern Jurisdiction was adopted which recognized Robinson, Moore, Case, Young and Starkweather as the legitimate members of the Northern Supreme Council.
The Lodge of Sorrow was postponed until the next Session.
Several appropriations for charity were approved.
The Grand Commander was authorized to appoint Deputies for the purpose of propagating the Rite. Where Inspectors General were resident in a State, these Deputies were "to act in aid" to such officials.
Twenty‑five percent of fees were appropriated to defray the expense of propagating the Rite. This seemed to be in addition to the actual expense incurred.
9 Ibid., 256, 353‑359.
12 Vimy DF‑uc AND 1Li‑.% Blt~rrnEit:.
The Supreme Councilò the Southern Jurisdiction of th nite(j States has adjourned, to lueet again at the City of Washington, on the third Monday ot ~, 1866, when a Lodge of Sorrow will be held in memory of the III. % Brethren Lip: PRINCE, Scarrr, MELLEN, RAMSAY and STtxuATT, Sovereign Grand Inspectors‑General and active members of the Sup. % Council, who have departed this life. Then, also, matters of the gravest importance will come ap,to be disposed of The questions concerning the two bodies claiming to be Supreme Councils for the Northern Jurisdiction, were refcrn;d to # CoiWittee consisting of III. % Bros.'. MACKEY, ROCKWELL, BUIST, Pumsox and N'xxNcu, wK will report at the adjourned Session; and the Sup.‑. Council must then decide.
Setwit nding the Summons issued in due time, the members in attendance were so few, that those who did attend came near being unable to transact. any business. Nor were exev░ sent by more than two or three of those who failed to attend.
Of the members present, one came from, Minnesota and one from Arkansas, at much expenac and more inconvenience. No member was less able to lose the money and the time required, nor could have attended at a greater sacrifice, than the Grand Commander.
It is my duty to remind you that no mere stress of busaam can excuse one of ns from attending a Session of the Supreme Council'; since there is no business to which we are more solemnly pledged.faithfully and punctually to attend, and there are no duties more obligatory on us, than the business and duties of our high office.
It is earnestly hoped by your Brethren that you will be present at the Session of the third Monday of February next; and I do hereby pereiaptorily summon and require you to be there, apon your oath to obey all due signs and aummomes,and b3' your obligation w is liiadve+kmadiftOW Inspector‑General; and lest you should be put to shame as neglectful of sworn duty; and yen WN, make‑due return of this Summons to our Ill.‑. Secretary‑General, that we may know you I%" received the same.
There may never again be so important a Session of the Supreme Council, and it. ought net to be expected that any ordinary excuse should be accepted as sufficient, in case of non‑attendance. You will also, at the same time, make due return of your action in conferring the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, and of all funds received by you, and pay over the same, Your actual expenses alone being deducted, and you will be pleased personally to see to it that the Grand Consistory of your State, if there be one, and any other bodies therein which should do so, do make due report and returns and transmit all moneys due the Sup.. Council, lest they shou:M be suspended as in default, and you will please be prepared to report a complete list of all Bodies of the Rite in your district, showing the name and locality of each.
MAY Tim GREAT SOURCE AND AUTHOR OF ALL THAT Id, HAVE‑ YOI‑ IN IIIS IIOLY KEEPING! Gives under our hand and the Seal of our Arms, at the Grand Orient aforesaid and countersigned by our III. % Secretary‑General of the Holy Buipire, and the Great Seal of the Supreme Council affixed, this Z/ 4= day of the Hebrew.month A.% m.'. 562''‑irauswering noto the e., rz ‑ day ot /a...., a.‑‑7 1166, V... .: E'.
cc.ò.
(pen. . X.‑ X...
%ov.% firaud (~onunander.
13 Rsus fAmmps Ans.
ORIENT 01‑ _l1A'AIPHI8, 12TH MARCH. lfttiti DFAR Slit AND 1LLUSTRIOUK BROTHXR: The meeting of the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction, which was to have been held in Washington on the Third Monday of February last, was postponed to the Third Monday of April,. at the earnest solicitation of mur illustrious Secretary General.
Equally as your Grand Commander; as your Brother in the bond, and as friend to friend, I earnestly entreat you to let nothing prevent your attendance, whether you receive a formal summons from the Secretary General or do not.
Our Supreme Council is sedulously represented in the Northern Jurisdiction as dissolved, or destroyed by death and expatriation of its members. A plot exists there to prevent our meeting. The object is two‑fold: 1st. To hinder us from deciding whether there is any Supreme Council in the Northern Jurisdiction; and if there be one, which is the legal Council; 2d. To plunder as (it all the States west of the Mississippi River, except Arkansas and Texas.
It is to elect these purposes that4ve are loudly denounced by Masons, forgetful of their oaths, as a Rebel Council, and that your Grand Commander is singled out for vituperatigtt.
.The conspirators in the North have tat least one accessory among ourselves a member of the Supreme Council ‑ who has already been so indiscreet, moved by I do not know what passion, as to assail in violent language, not only me, but the Supreme Council, of which he is a member, in the "Masonic" columns, edited by an expelled Mason, of an obscure Sunday paper in New York: to send to the same paper for publication the summons to attend our meeting, and to empower those who hate us there to boast. that he will assail the action of the Supreme Council and its Grand Commander in open Council in April.
I do not think that he will find any helpers. If he does, all will come to shame together. But what I do know is, that there exists a settled and eager determination to destroy our Supreme Council, and that all the urgent motives for this determination are political, or ignobly personal.
t Appealing to God to witness the unselfishness of all my Masonic labors, the hingle‑heartedness of all my official acts, courting the most scrupulous investigation, and‑knowing that I can abundantly justify all I have written or acted as to the Northern Jurisdiction, caring nothing for myself, but all for the Supreme Council, (for what am I compared with the Rite of which I have 'n for fifteen years the slave Y) I beg you, if you care for the Supreme Council, if you care for Truth and Justice, if you are not willing to' see you brethren laid, ready for the knife, on the political altar of burnt‑offering, Do nor FAIL. TO HE PaESNNT IN APRIL, All ANY COST.
I lately received a letter t tom an Illustrious Brother, 33d.'. and Grand Master, which, enigmatically written. advised me, ie e .feet, that it was represented to the politicalpower in Washington, that there were disloyal purposes concealed in our intenfion to hold a lodge of Sorrow in honor of our dead brethren. There is no depth of infamy to which humanity cannot descend. A"ever was a more infitmous libel conceived The object was to induce the Government to prohibit our meeting; and I know from what quarter the attempt came. It wears the known ear‑marks. It is for you now to determine whether we shall permit. ourselves to Ire crushed like unresisting worms, or whether we shall assert the majesty of Truth, of Right, and of Reason. You are hereby formally and peremptorily summoned to meet the Grand Commander in session of the Supreme Council, at the City of Washington, ors Monday, the 16th day of April next, for the transaction of such business as may lawfully come before it and to defeat all attempts to destroy it.
GOD SAVE THE SUYREUR COUNCIL.! ‑.............____........_...................._.........................._, . ..,..::.. ..., : fu Sov.‑. GR.‑. COMMANDXR.
I LLCBTRIous BROTHIRIt ~e+~~?J ._.................................................... ....... :......l~....( .+.'.l.....1...(flr.1...:...^..fLt ..~....~..t.c~2_r..
8av.'. GR.'. INAP.'. GRNCRAL, AND AKMDKR OF THS 80PRIMS COI'NCM 14 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
William S. Rockwell was elected Lieutenant Grand Commander.
Albert G. Mackey was made the third ranking officer of the Supreme Council for life.
The Statute on officers was amended so that officers' The Grand Commander The Lieutenant Grand Commander The Secretary General of the Holy Empire The Grand Prior The Grand Chancellor The Grand Minister of State The Treasurer General of the Holy Empire titles read as follows: A.T.C. Pierson was elected Grand Prior.
B. B. French was elected Grand Chancellor.
G. M. Hillyer was elected Grand Minister of State.
The purchase of necessary office furniture and stationery for the Grand Commander and Secretary General was authorized.
The Secretary General was directed to have the documents and books bound.
An assistant was authorized for the Secretary General.
A Statute was enacted directing the establishment of an accounting system.
Contingent funds were set aside for the use of the Grand Commander and Secretary General.
The "Chamber of Deputies" which had developed without authorization in Louisiana was abolished.
The bills were ordered to be paid.
A number of Deputies were appointed.
Grand Commander Pike was awarded a jewel and was requested to prepare and print a Manual for the degrees. He was also requested to proceed with the printing of "Morals and Dogma".
15 WAR, DESTRUCTION AND REVIVAL The Committee on Subordinate Bodies reported as follows: 12 resident members of the Grand Consistory of Arkansas which had not conferred any degrees during the past five years.
13 members of the Grand Consistory of Kentucky, five of whom were new members.
102 members of the Grand Consistory of Louisiana, twenty‑two of whom were new members.
11 members of the Grand Consistory of Mississippi, one of whom was a new member.
35 candidates received the degrees from Albert G. Mackey. 7 candidates received the degrees from William S. Rockwell. 3 candidates received the degrees from Frederick Webber. 17 candidates received the degrees from Giles M. Hillyer.
4 candidates received the degrees from John J. Worsham. 7 candidates received the degrees from A. T. C. Pierson.
A resolution was adopted to apply to the Legislature of South Carolina for a charter for the Supreme Council that it might hold real estate.
A series of resolutions relating to Foreign Supreme Councils, presently of little or no significance, were adopted.
A precedent setting feature of the Session was a visit to the White House to pay respects to the President of the United States." At this time, President Andrew Johnson granted a pardon to Grand Commander Pike for his services to the Confederacy. (See picture of President Johnson on page 16.) It appears that the meetings of the Supreme Council in 1865 and 1866 may be the most momentous and dramatic in its history up to those dates. Certainly, its members could not have had greater physical difficulties and dangers in traveling to overcome. It is also certain that the temper of the times had never been less conducive to peaceful and harmonious activity in any convention or body national in its member to Ibid., 337‑471.
17 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
ship and representation. The record of work accomplished, decisions made and plans formulated were of major importance for the future of the Rite. But the psychological effect of calm and deliberate action of a constructive nature, under intense and vicious intimidation, was in sharp contrast to the example presented to the nation by the Congress of the United States. Great achievements had occurred in the past and others were to be attained by the Supreme Council in the future, but the prompt and efficient resumption of its humanitarian labors by the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction, almost before the echoes of civil war had subsided, is one of the signal victories of Freemasonry in all ages. To the discerning mind, it was the first ray of hope that the United States could and would again become reunited in the bonds of mutual trust and confidence; that the nation would resume the path of destiny to world leadership in the development of a culture and civilization dedicated to Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
(See Illustration on page 19.)
Following the conclusion of the 1866 meeting of the Supreme Council in Washington, D. C., Grand Commander Albert Pike returned to Memphis, Tennessee, to resume his law practice and to engage in extensive work for the Scottish Rite. The "Council of Deputies" in Louisiana had been abolished, and the members thereof were unhappy as a result. A large part of Pike's correspondence in this period was in relation to that action of the Supreme Council.
The Grand Commander immediately undertook to exercise the authorization of the Supreme Council to appoint Deputies in portions of the Jurisdiction where no Active Members were resident for the propagation of the Rite. On July 22, 1866, Pike wrote to Philip C. Tucker, Jr., in Galveston, Texas, as follows: Our Supreme Council is very anxious to commence the extension of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite into Texas. Could you so engage in it? We have as yet no Active Member there, and cannot have one until our Sup. Council meets in 1868. If you receive the degrees to the 32d you can be appointed Deputy Inspector for the State, a place which I should be delighted to see you fill.
Can you go to New Orleans and receive the degrees? Hoping that you can, I enclose an authorization and request, upon which you will be invested with them by our B. '. B.'. in New Orleans, without charge.
I will then send you a Commission, and the ritual and secret work. You can make other 32ds to act as Deputies, and we can propagate the Rite in all the parts of your State. . . .11 ii C. A. Hotchkiss, History of Scottish Rite Masonry in Texas, 2.
On or about August 1, 1866, Tucker accepted the proposal of Pike, and the Grand Commander then wrote to J. C. Batchelor on August 18, 1866, at New Orleans, advising him of the arrangements and requesting the Louisiana Bodies to confer the degrees "for me, without charge". Tucker was delayed by illness in his family but on February 5, 1867, he received a certificate from Inspectors General James C. Batchelor and Sam'l M. Todd attesting to the fact that he had received the Scottish Rite Degrees. Tucker returned to Texas immediately because of the illness in his family. About three months later he wrote to Pike that he was ready to start work. 12 During May, 1867, Tucker communicated the Scottish Rite degrees to ten Galveston Masons and with two other Scottish Rite Masons living in the city, formed San Felipe de Austin Lodge of Perfection No. 1, and outlined plans for the same actions in Houston, Texas." Thus, Scottish Rite Masonry was introduced into another State of the Southern Jurisdiction.
Grand Commander Pike expressed concern about the departure for France of Claude Samory, Sovereign Grand Inspector General for Louisiana, and the selection of his successor in May, 1866. In the meantime, Samuel M. Todd and Wm. M. Perkins were made Special Deputies for Louisiana, and Emmet D. Craig, Special Deputy for Western Louisiana to carry on the extension of the Rite in the state. In the same letter containing the information on Louisiana, Pike wrote I hope you [J. C. Batchelor] will be able to work in South Alabama this fall. Hillyer proposes to help; and Fizell of Tennessee (an Honorary Member) will take North Alabama. 14 On July 17, 1866, Pike moved to extend the Rite into Kansas and Nebraska with this request: Please select two worthy Master Masons of Kansas and two of Nebraska. Invite them to Saint Louis and give them the degrees as honoriam, without charge, if they will agree to act as our Deputies and extend the Rite. I will shortly send you blank Commissions for them." 12Ibid., 8‑9; Philip C. Tucker to Albert Pike, August 29, 1866; 7th Veador A.'.M.'. 5627; 22d Veador A.*.M.*. 5627; Albert Pike to J. C. Batchelor, August 18, 1866.
13 Philip C. Tucker to Albert Pike, June 4, 1867. 14 Albert Pike to J. C. Batchelor, May 20, 1866. 15 Albert Pike to A. O'Sullivan, July 17, 1866.
20 WAR, DESTRUCTION AND REVIVAL Pike had lost confidence in the loyalty of‑Theodore S. Parvin of Iowa and in his letter to Anthony O'Sullivan on July 17, 1866, so stated. At the same time, he requested O'Sullivan to "find two true and good Iowa Brethren" and give them the degrees without charge on condition that they serve as Deputies in extending the Rite, "first asking Ill. Bro. Parvin's consent . . . . If Bro. Parvin does not give his consent, please inform me, and I will exercise my prerogative and specially commission you to confer the degrees on the selected Iowa Brethren"." O'Sullivan did not live to consummate this labor for the Rite.
On May 17, 1867, a union of the contending Supreme Councils in the Northern Jurisdiction was effected." The new Grand Commander Josiah H. Drummond wrote a letter to Grand Commander Pike advising him of the fact and expressing a desire to establish fraternal relations." On the same day that he dispatched the official letter to Pike, he also wrote a personal letter which contained the following statement There have been many things said by members of our Council concerning you and your Council that were not exactly fraternal in their tone or spirit. When I closed the session of our Council, standing in my place as Grand Commander, I declared that from that time forward "any and all unnecessary allusions to the differences of the past would be High Treason to the Rite, and be visited with condign punishment".
Shall not the same Rule be applied as between our respective Supreme Councils?" Pike's reply to these letters has not been found, but a later letter from Drummond reveals that Pike had nominated a Representative near the Northern Supreme Council. In this same letter Drummond raised the question of the boundary between the two jurisdictions indicating that an extension of the territory of the Northern Jurisdiction was his desire. Drummond closed his letter as follows: A new era has dawned for the Scottish Rite and a brilliant future awaits it; and this, instead of a lingering death, it will owe, My dear Brother, to your labors .21 16 Ibid.
17 Samuel H. Baynard, Jr., History of the Supreme Council, 33', Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States of America and its Antecedents, 11, 17.
18 Josiah H. Drummond to Albert Pike, July 4, 1867. is Ibid.
10 Ibid., September 25, 1867.
21 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
Pike's reply to this letter is also miffing but in earlier views expressed by the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction that the boundary was finally and unalterably fixed in 1827, it is a foregone conclusion that Pike declined to discuss that subject. In this connection it might be noted that the original division of the United States into two jurisdictions was probably deemed necessary because of the difficulty and expense of travel and communication. It is easy to understand that the ensuing developments in transportation and communication, railroads, steamships, telegraph and an efficient postal system, had made the actual need for two jurisdictions obsolete.
Violations of the jurisdiction of the Southern Supreme Council appeared in the states bordering the territory of the Supreme Council of the Northern Jurisdiction. It is unknown what other measures were adopted to combat this violation but a circular letter, a copy of which follows, was printed and distributed in the affected areas.
(See Letter on page 23) Trouble arose in Missouri during these years. George Frank Gouley, Grand Commander of the Knights Templar in Missouri, received the Scottish Rite degrees and finding features in them that were objectionable to him, addressed a letter to Grand Commander Pike on August 6, 1867, to which Pike replied in detail. The two letters were printed and circulated late in 1867, copies of which are reproduced in Appendix II.
Gouley was unconvinced that his position was untenable; he launched a bitter attack against the Scottish Rite in his Grand Commandery which forbid Missouri Knights Templar to be present at Scottish Rite degree conferrals, except when the candidate had already received the Orders of Knighthood in a regularly constituted Commandery of Knights Templar. Furthermore, the attacks on the Scottish Rite were continued in the periodical, Freemason to which Pike replied in The Morning Herald. Unable to effect a settlement, Pike placed the controversy on the agenda of the Supreme Council Session for 1868.
Grand Commander Pike was also involved, especially in 1867, with the printing of diplomas, rituals, "Morals and Dogma", Liturgy and Ceremonies of Inauguration and Installation for Lodge of Perfection. The correspondence with Robert Macoy regarding this work continued from the middle of January to the middle of December, 1867. Closely allied with the labor of preparing copy and proofreading, Pike found it necessary to search for funds with which to defray the cost.
22 ToUio, ftth dily at 4~.*. P.'. 5627.
‑1l teeing 2efiwenled to ces that eedain (ladies of tke lncient and ;kcef,led ~9`cottcA Aate Ln Mates a,1 the godhew lcnadZeaan of the 2lnited Mates. have eanle2ied and con&nue to camel, the dopees of that AZte, alle2 thei, ~mheVeet mannet and 4.y~ heab deleetizse 2dual ~ afton Xa4ons 2estdcnt in, ;dates z,yLtlain the 4aalhein yiLtt~dL'atcan of ttte ░2lnL'ted Mates, and yaa),tcocdadyon Chase 2e4cdent in J'owa and dlujsou2i, in violation al masanic laws,' hetelaie we, celled uTihe, the ~a~u.‑. ~5% ~owmande ko fth eyufetem e'ounei la/ 0av:. ~.‑. ~nOectaa ~enetal lot the said ~9acclhetn faua dictaon, and .AZnthan y ~'~~ull wan, aetriue mem(6et of said .!7itlneme cG"ounelL Aarn the vr'late of Xasowi, do make hnowsn unto all Xason5. of the caunAv extending ltom the Xebsc45ilhlzi duet to the _llzlacelte ocean=== i . ░JhaaL the, yictasdielean of the YufL.'. goancLl laL the godl,ew jwisdiotian of the 26ntZed _'Alalcs (al such, a 66ad~o exists) Ls conlined (~y its chattel, and tie pant to at al ja2cadicLean, to the gem &rayland Males, Stews %oth, gew fiei4ey, _"Aenn,~Vtuania, .Telawate, Ohio, ,Orndcana, ~llL~,aas, XLeluyan and 61.(~ascanxn,' and that the whole count2y west of the ..flisi‑cbscl'12‑i tizset a 'within, tl,e exclu~ve ~CttL.sdtcl,o" a/ Ike _qul4e‑me Wouncil lab the _99bcdhe2n ,&t6dietLSn, whose ‑wee aL al rqhatle6too2, in the date al mouth, Two&wa, a.2L~Lyea((ey the tf,2eme VauneiL lo‑;. the 'whole of god1 arr,e2ica, and the olde.d ~9'ufaeme Wouned an the ‑?,wadd ,2. ░Jhaat it as anla'ulcdlab any 4ody al the 4.'. P sl.'. ai'le in the Sfoilhew ici 6de'alta" to canlet any of the duties of 6aid mile an, a Iftasoz, tes.c'dezat Ln Iowa, ~lcdsouti, at eliewhetc west of the ,/llasscosifilzi 2izset,; and anzy l2etso" who h,a6 60 2eceiued, at 6hall so 2eceiue, the depees, a2 any of them, has teccZued o2 will weive then, illegally, and hob /een, and wdl (Se, deliaudd of hit zneazz6, il he haveAzaid o2 shalllz.ay foe them..
. .hat and y a : azf.'. rand ~n6fiectoi:=genet‑al, cLCtiue m.em(ye2 0~ 6‑acd ccclL2eme Tounccl, of an kano2wy mezn66e2, delucty al the Game, duly eornmasianed can comet the deytee6 within Mzis y'utisdietian,' and that the undetsicyned, _4nlhany 6"gulliuan, 6 the c7ov.'. j_% Jn*ec$ct4enetallot ~lklsotna, and <Theodo2e 4. ,tfLn the 9'az,.'. i.'. ~nsf,eclot‑ metal l~ fo'aa.
,Vnd a&gl lemans Ln J%cssouu ‑ioho have lhce6 Xeyally ieceived the dey2ees ate adrnaneshe.d to take measates to (se healed, since then duties and l,alenGs ate wodhlaw,* and tl they 6hauld delay, they will not under any citeumstanee6 6e wcyulw~ed.
and at as also h,ete6y made known, that Ll any .&asons, Aa/l sa al&,qally 2eeeiue the deemed to ‑have done sa an any account of at any tame de,q9ee6 allet the lnomalcyahan al this notice, they will le contemn of "anie laws and acethouty, and will not, on alte2watd, (Se healed.
ALBERT PIKE, 33d, Sov.‑. Gr:ò. Commander..
ANTHONY O'SULLIVAN, Sov.ò. Gr.ò. In.‑. Gen.‑. 33.‑. MARTIN COLLINS, D.‑. G.‑. In.‑. Gen. ‑. 33.‑. WILLIAM N. LOKER, D.ò. G.ò. In.‑. Gen.‑. 33.‑.
HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
The years 1866 and 1867 had been a busy and trying period for Grand Commander Pike. He issued his summons on April 3, 1868, for the opening of the Biennial Session of the Supreme Council on May 4, 1868, at‑~Charleston and announced that "gravest interests of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite require the attendance of all the Sovereign Grand Inspectors General" and that nonattendance, if attendance was possible, would be "inexcusable". He also notified them that "members are to be elected for eleven States".21 A letter from Philip C. Tucker, the Deputy in Texas, acknowledging receipt of his summons and explaining why he could not attend, contained a hint, the only one that has been found, that the Grand Commander had attempted a personal contact between the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction and those in England and France during 1867. Tucker reported in his letter as follows: My journey to Europe was near being the last of earth for me, twice down with dangerous illness, I was brought back to die but by the blessing of God I slowly recovered. (At my Mother's in Vermont.) In England by appointment (by letter) I had an interview with Col Clerk [Secretary‑General of the Supreme Council] at Wollwich and not an agreeable one.... As to information he seemed possessed of very little outside of his profession: ‑ . . . Indeed I was much disappointed in him, for I expected to have met a gentleman. . . . In France I was very ill, and being there during the long vacation could not find the members of the order I desired to see. At the office of the Grand Orient, I found a porter in charge‑all absent. Not finding the address of Bro. Chas Laffon de Ladebat or Bro. Le blanc de Marcennay in any Paris directory I called at the office of the Secretary‑General of the Holy Empire where I had a pleasant interview with that officer who is a gentleman of the old school and two other members of the Supreme Council of France: The Secretary‑General gave me two copies of the register or Official Tableau of the Supreme Council of France one for you and one for myself‑and instructed me to assure you of his fraternal esteem ect. . . . as I came thro' Memphis in Dec. I left it for you. . . .22 Whatever Tucker's mission may have been, it does not seem to have been productive of anything other than a contact.
Josiah H. Drummond, Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the Northern Jurisdiction, was invited to attend the Session of the Supreme Council of the Southern 21 Albert Pike to Samuel M. Todd, April 7, 1868. 22 Philip C. Tucker to Albert Pike, April 20, 1868.
24 WAR, DESTRUCTION AND REVIVAL Jurisdiction beginning on May 4, 1868. He acknowledged the invitation and expressed his regret that he could not attend the Session in a personal letter to Grand Commander Pike. He also took occasion to mention some ritualistic matter to Pike as follows There will be presented at the session of our Supreme Council a memorial requesting that all allusions to the York Rite in our Ritual be stricken out ...
I think we are bound to treat with respect, or if that cannot be, with silence every other Rite which does not make war upon us....
There has not, as yet, in this jurisdiction been any collision between our Rite and the York Rite; and we are determined there shall be none; and I have no doubt you have the same desire; and knowing that there are expressions in your ritual which are regarded by our members as offensive to the York Rite Masons, I have taken the liberty to address you freely upon the subject and to invoke your consideration of the matter, not doubting you will receive my suggestions in the same spirit in which they are made.
If Pike replied to this letter, his communication has not survived. However, the Pike rituals had already been printed; the Grand Commander had on several previous occasions stated that his work on rituals was finished; and furthermore, Pike had already publicly replied to similar criticisms of his ritual by George Frank Gouley, Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Missouri. It also appears that Drummond's "suggestions" were timed to arrive when Pike was greatly irritated by Gouley's conduct and not inclined to receive "suggestions" on the ritual with favorable consideration.
As scheduled, the regular Biennial Session of the Supreme Council opened in Charleston on May 4, 1868, and continued through May 9, 1868. Thirteen officers and Sovereign Grand Inspectors General were present for the Session.
Business transactions began on May 5 with the Grand Commander's address as the first item on the agenda. In the introduction of his address, Grand Commander Pike made remarks about the generally improverished condition of much of the Southern Jurisdiction, expressed his observation that the "bitter feelings among Masons caused by the Civil War" had disappeared, and stated that "peace and harmony" prevailed within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Council. He then moved from the general to the specific on various items as follows: 23 Josiah H. Drummond to Albert Pike, April 30, 1868.
25 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
Active Member Claude Samory of Louisiana had moved to France creating a vacancy in the membership of the Supreme Council that should be filled.
A review of the activities of the Sovereign Grand Inspectors General and of the Deputy Inspectors General revealed that Parvin had established bodies in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri; Shaw had created bodies in California and Nevada; "several" Consistories had been opened in Georgia; Batchelor and Todd had established bodies at Mobile, Alabama; Tucker had reported the first bodies in Texas; and Cunningham was reviving the bodies in Maryland.
The Grand Commander then announced that his ten years of ritualistic labors had closed; that the ritual of the degrees from 14 to 32 were in the hands of the printer; that copies of Funeral, Lodge of Sorrow, Masonic Baptism, Louveteau, and Adoption ceremonies were completed; and that Morals and Dogma was ready for the printer. He then submitted a revision of the ritual of the 33░ to the Supreme Council for adoption.
It was then reported that Patents for 32░ and 33░ had been lithographed and that they had been sent to Giles M. Hillyer for his signature some five months previously but that no returns had been received from him.
The protest of the Louisiana "Chamber of Deputies" against its abolishment was then presented to the Supreme Council, together with a refutation of each of the points contained therein.
A detailed report of the activities of George Frank Gouley was laid before the Supreme Council with the recommendation that a Trial Tribunal be created to conduct a trial of Gouley on charges of misconduct as a Scottish Rite Mason.
The propagation of the Rite of Memphis was noted. The Grand Commander observed that the Rite of Memphis was not a threat to the Scottish Rite and that no "war against the Rite of Memphis" was contemplated.
The union of the rival Supreme Councils in the Northern Jurisdiction was officially announced; also, that the renewal of "relations of amity and correspondence" with the Nothern Jurisdiction had taken place. However, invasions of the jurisdiction of the Southern Supreme Council by overenthusiastic members of the Northern Jurisdiction in Kentucky and Missouri raised the question of the status of Masons receiving the 26 WAR, DESTRUCTION AND REVIVAL Scottish Rite degrees as a result. The Grand Commander then reviewed his correspondence with Grand Commander Drummond of the Northern Jurisdiction on a new delineation of the boundary line, denying Drummond's claims for more territory.
The lack of adequate communication with Supreme Councils in foreign lands was pointed out, and it was recommended that it be the duty of the Grand Chancellor to establish such correspondence.
A review of known information about foreign jurisdictions was presented. It was admitted that the circular letter against the Supreme Council of Belgium for its recognition of the James Foulhouze Supreme Council in Louisiana was an error since it was the Grand Orient of Belgium that had recognized that illegal body in New Orleans.
The Grand Commander then reviewed policy matters in the establishment of Consistories. He expressed regret that particular Consistories had been established. He then stated that the 31' and 32░ should be conferred sparingly and only after candidates had received the approval of the resident Sovereign Grand Inspector General and that of the Supreme Council in writing; and that these degrees should be conferred only in Grand Consistories which should not exceed one in each state. He also recommended that the Supreme Council should act on the rituals of the 31' and 32░ which had not been approved up to that time.
A review of the decisions of the Grand Commander since the last meeting of the Supreme Council was then presented.
It was pointed out that no Lodge of Sorrow had been opened since 1861, and it was recommended that the dead, which were listed, should be honored with this ceremony.
The Grand Commander closed his address with an appeal to keep political and religious considerations and convictions out of decisions on Masonic matters.
After the Grand Commander's addresss was received, the Supreme Council proceeded with its business and an outline of its accomplishments is as follows An illegal cipher book, reported to have been the work of Inspector General A. T. C. Pierson, was considered and laid over until the next session.
27 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
Several elections to Sovereign Grand Inspector General and Active Member took place: Philip C. Tucker for Texas Samuel M. Todd for Louisiana Martin Collins for Missouri Erasmus Theodore Carr for Kansas Robert C. Jordan for Nebraska Edward R. Ives for Flordia Clinton A. Cilley was elected an Honorary Inspector General and Special Deputy for North Carolina to represent the Supreme Council in that State, Inspector General George B. Waterhouse having resigned his membership.
Richard J. Nunn was continued as Special Deputy for Georgia.
Eight Inspectors General were excused for their absence from the Session.
Seventeen brethren were elected to receive the Honorary 33'.
Charges were preferred against George Frank Gouley. A Committee on Charges having reported "guilty" on all counts, the Tribunal pronounced a sentence of "Deprivation of all rights and privileges of the Masonry of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite".
The Grand Chancellor was made responsible for all correspondence with foreign Supreme Councils.
The rituals of the 31 ░ and 32░ were adopted.
The Lavradio Supreme Council of Brazil was recognized.
Recognition of the Supreme Council of Mexico was withdrawn.
All Inspectors General and Special Deputies were required to file complete reports before the next Session of the Supreme Council.
The Committee on Subordinate Bodies made an extended report on bodies in sixteen states and the District of Columbia, but there were no membership statistics developed. It did reflect that growth was taking place in the Jurisdiction.
28 WAR, DESTRUCTION AND REVIVAL A resolution was passed prohibiting the conferral of the 31' and 32░ until after the approval of candidates in writing had been obtained from the resident Inspector General, Special Deputy, or Grand Consistory in a state.
A resolution was adopted requiring the filing of complete rosters of all bodies by all Inspectors General for a register to be published with the Transactions of 1868.
A resolution was adopted that all Inspectors General should keep an accurate record of all copies of the Secret Work issued by them.
A loan of $150 was extended to G. A. Schwarzman.
The date for a Lodge of Sorrow at St. Louis was set, "3rd Tuesday in September".
A committee reported that no further action was necessary regarding the "Chamber of Deputies" in Louisiana.
Delta Lodge of Perfection was ordered to pay its dues and fees to the Supreme Council before its next Session.
Several new statutes were adopted and other items were held over for further study.
The next Biennial Session was set for the first Monday in May, 1870, at Baltimore, Maryland.
All appointments of Deputies for Louisiana, except those then living who received their appointments under the Concordat of 1854, were revoked.
A committee was formed to prepare a statute on jurisdictional violations in degree work for introduction at the next Session.
The statute on time intervals between degrees was amended, only to be dispensed with by Inspectors General or Deputies when establishing new bodies or adding new members to bodies to enable them to have a quorum for work.
A statute was adopted whereby changes of jurisdiction over candidates within the Southern Jurisdiction must have the approval of the resident Inspector General or Deputy.
29 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
The changes in the statutes recommended by the Grand Commander were adopted.
The Grand Commander was authorized to settle the jurisdictional problems at St. Joseph, Missouri.
The Session was then closed. 2' No records or correspondence in the period between May 9, 1868, and September 17, 1868, survive to indicate activity by the members of the Supreme Council, except that which received consideration at St. Louis in September.
In accordance with the resolution of that effect, the Supreme Council reassembled at St. Louis on September 17, 1868, eight Sovereign Grand Inspectors General being present. The principal purpose of the meeting was to open a Lodge of Sorrow, but there were several items of business to which attention was given.
Correspondence was presented which absolved the Supreme Council of Belgium for the reported recognition of the spurious Foulhouze bodies in New Orleans. An apology was tendered to the Supreme Council of Belgium and a request for the restoration of correspondence was made together with 'one to "appoint a Grand Representative near this Supreme Council".
A committee of five members of the Supreme Council of the Northern Jurisdiction was present at the meeting and a like committee was formed of members of the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction to discuss the jurisdictional boundary.
Thomas Hubbard Caswell was elected Sovereign Grand Inspector General,for California.
All appointments and commissions as Deputy Inspectors General, except the three in Louisiana resulting from the Concordat of 1854, were recalled.
Eleven brethren were elected to receive the 33' Honorary and eighteen candidates appeared for the conferral of the degree.
The charter of the Grand Consistory of the District of Columbia was recalled because of inactivity.
24 Transactions, Supreme Council, S.1., 1868, pp. 3‑100.
30 WAR, DESTRUCTION AND REVIVAL Committees were formed to study changes in the organization of the Grand Consistories and the fiscal system of the Supreme Council.
Following the closing of the Lodge of Sorrow, the Session closed on September 19, 1868.
With the Transactions of 1868, the Statutes and Institutes of the Supreme Council, brought up to date, were published. The evolution of the jurisprudence of the Scottish Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction is a complete study within itself, so detailed and technical as to be unsuited for inclusion in this history. However, some comments on the trends of its evolution are not only desirable but necessary to an understanding of the general history of the Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction.
The primary source of Scottish Rite law is found in the Grand Constitutions of 1786. This document sets forth a framework of general principles of government and organization rather than details of administration.
The Supreme Council is established as the administrative head of the jurisdiction. It possesses, generally speaking, all executive, legislative and judicial powers. It holds all of the attributes of sovereignty over the Rite.
To understand the employment of this system of government, it must be remembered that the Scottish Rite Degrees had their origin in Europe, and that they could exist in Prussia only if the King was the sole and absolute head. In 1786, it was obvious to Frederick the Great that his life was drawing to a close. Evidently, if he died without making. provision for a succession and continuation of his Masonic powers, the Ancient and Accepted Rite would also die. Hence, on May 1, 1786, Frederick, in consultation with other Masonic leaders, promulgated the Grand Constitutions of that date. Regardless of his precautions, the death of Frederick and the wars that followed brought an end to the Degrees in Europe. However, an Inspector General brought the Rite to America, and John Mitchell formed a Supreme Council by authority of the Grand Constitutions at Charleston in 1801.
In the early years of the Rite in Charleston, it had few members and their problems of government were comparatively few and simple. With the expansion of the membership and the establishment of bodies remote from the Supreme Council, it became necessary to develop a body of law in greater detail. The first published code by the Supreme Council was the Revised Statutes of 1855. Albert Pike recognized the need 31 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
for another revision of the law when he became Grand Commander, and the Supreme Council, by appropriate action, adopted and authorized the publication of such a code in 1859. This work appears to have been prepared by Pike and served until 1866 when a new compilation, bearing the title Grand Constitutions, was adopted. The legislation of 1868 and the creation of a trial tribunal served to highlight the incompleteness of the jurispurdence for the government of the expanding Scottish Rite. This period in Scottish Rite law is characterized by rapid evolution and much experimentation. The allocutions of Grand Commander Pike indicate, and his nature and his profession of lawyer further confirm, that most of the additions and refinements sprang from his fertile brain.
There does not appear to be a period of greater crisis in the history of the Scottish Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction than the first decade of Albert Pike's administration as Grand Commander. The Rite was severely handicapped by the outbreak of the Civil War and the manifold problems, already reviewed, that appeared in its wake. Reconstruction of the Rite began immediately after the close of the war in 1865, in very adverse circumstances, under the aggressive leadership of Albert Pike. Reconstruction was accompanied by a renewal of construction on the unfinished edifice of the Rite. Specific accomplishments from 1865 to 1869 may be listed as follows: The Supreme Council was reorganized, and working unity was restored.
The rituals of the Rite were virtually completed, printed and prepared for distribution to Subordinate Bodies.
Ceremonial transcripts for Funeral, Lodge of Sorrow, Masonic Baptism, Louveteau and Adoption were completed.
Morals and Dogma was ready for the printer.
Propagation of the Rite was reinstituted.
Attacks from within and from without the Rite were repelled.
The pressure against spurious and clandestine bodies was renewed.
The jurisprudence of the Supreme Council was refined, strengthened and expanded.
32 WAR, DESTRUCTION AND REVIVAL The organizational structure received minor alterations to accommodate the expansion of the Rite.
The fiscal and accounting systems were reorganized. Work needed in the future appears to have been as follows: Continued propagation of the Rite.
Continued evolution of the organizational structure. Continued opposition to spurious and clandestine bodies. Further protection of the territorial jurisdiction. Development of an efficient fiscal system.
Development of membership accounting system. Further evolution of the system of jurisprudence. Development of an educational program. Recruitment of additional competent leadership. Erection of an administrative headquarters building. Creation of an adequate charity fund.
CHAPTER 11 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION 1869‑1874 THE end of the first major period in the administration of Albert Pike as Sovereign Grand Commander and the opening of the second is marked only by a date. The general situation had improved only to the extent that there was no war. Radical reconstruction governments supported by the bayonets of an army of occupation ruled the states that had composed the Confederacy. Turmoil, corruption and viciousness characterized the government of the United States. Revolution and reconstruction was also taking place in the North as well as in the South and there was much bitterness and violence throughout the nation. The southern states, almost totally agricultural in economy, had not been permitted to reorganize that industry and restore production much above a subsistence level. The northern and eastern states were undergoing an industrial revolution in which there were areas of depression almost equal to that of the South, although on the surface the appearance of prosperity prevailed. In the West, the final phases of the conquest of the frontier were beginning. A new flood of immigration had begun, the principal sources of which were from lower economic and social classes and were non‑protestant in religious background. In Scottish Rite Masonry, major unsolved problems present in the first years of Pike's administration continued to absorb the Grand Commander's time. The process of bringing "Order out of Chaos" was certainly under the head of unfinished business in every phase of life in the territory composing the jurisdiction of the Supreme Council.
The reorganization of the spurious Foulhouze Supreme Council in New Orleans by Chassaignac and its recognition by the Grand Orient of France had caused Pike to discuss this problem at considerable length in his "Allocution" to the Supreme Council in 1868. In January, 1869, Pike wrote to James C. Batchelor regarding the controversy and suggested that the Grand Lodge of Louisiana "stir‑up all the Grand Lodges".' At the same time the Grand Commander wrote a letter to Samuel M. Todd and stated that the Grand Orient of France "is always committing some folly since a few years ago it recognized the spurious Hays body in New York". He also told Todd 1 Albert Pike to James C. Batchelor, January 26, 1869.
35 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
that he had prepared a letter, which he expected Grand Commander Drummond of the Northern Supreme Council to endorse, to all Masonic powers asking them to denounce the action of the Grand Orient of France.' On February 15, 1869, the Grand Lodge of Louisiana published an announcement of its withdrawal of fraternal relations with the Grand Orient of France' which met the approval of Pike.' Later, he informed Batchelor that if the reply of the Grand Orient of France was not satisfactory "we shall denounce the Grand Orient of France‑to all other Supreme Councils in the world".' Subsequently information in its bulletin, dated July, 1869, indicates that the Grand Orient rejected the objection of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana to the invasion of its jurisdiction by the Chassaignac organization. Drummond of the Northern Jurisdiction wrote to Pike as follows: I have recently written to Brother G to keep their and his attention to the sole question of jurisdiction, where you left it in our Balustre [no copy available]. The action of the Grand Orient was upon Goodall's report rather than in answer to us, and I look for action specifically upon that Balustre. It seems to me the date you name will give them time enough.
I shall write at once to Goodall to learn if any answer is to be returned: for if they are to make one, though late, we should prefer, it seems to me, to wait till we receive it even though it may be longer than we think we ought to give them.
If the proceedings given in the Bulletin are to be our answer also, we do indeed have them on the hip.
They must do one of three things 1. Take the back track fully and completely; 2. Repudiate in all cases the law of exclusive jurisdiction; 3. Admit that law as a general rule, but adopt an exception to it when lodges practically refuse admittance to candidates on account of race or color and determine that in this country such is the fact.
From the tenor of their Proceedings, I now incline to think the third will be their conclusion. In that event they will array all Bodies in this country and South America against them.' 2 Albert Pike to Samuel M. Todd, January 26, 1869.
3 James C. Batchelor to All Whom these Presents may come, Frebruary 15, 1869. 4 Albert Pike to Samuel M. Todd, "21 Sebat, A.'.M.'. 5629." 5 Albert Pike to James C. Batchelor, June 5, 1869.
s Josiah H. Drummond to Albert Pike, October 5, 1869.
36 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION Before the close of the year Drummond wrote: ... I will endeavor to meet you or Brother French ... and agree upon a conclusion.... The united decision of the two Councils would be decisive and I reciprocate fully your sentiment that the closer relations between our Councils and the more they act in unison, the better I shall be pleased.' The expulsion of George Frank Gouley from the Scottish Rite during the Session of the Supreme Council in 1868 did not bring the disagreeable episode which brought it about to an end. At the urging of Gouley, the Grand Commandery of Missouri had enacted laws and resolutions that made what had been personal disagreement a controversy between rites. A copy of a proposed mandate, endorsed on its reverse side "10 March 1869", prepared by Grand Commander Pike, was distributed to all Active Members of the Supreme Council and afterwards this mandate was revised and addressed to all Scottish Rite Masons in the Southern Jurisdiction on June 30, 1869. This long document is reprinted in Appendix II for reference. It was a definitive statement of the points in controversy and a refutation of Gouley's position. As such, it stripped Gouley of support in the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar, in the Grand Commandery of Missouri, and among the ranks of Knights Templar in other States. Minor revision of the ritual followed which pacified others. Within five years, Gouley was petitioning_ for reinstatement in the Scottish Rite. The Supreme Council acted with magnanimity and he was restored. In 1876, he was elected to and invested with the Rank and Decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour, and he did not create any further controversy before his death in a hotel fire in the following April.
The abolition of the "Chamber of Deputies" in Louisiana and the adoption of the Pike revision of the Scottish Rite rituals continued, in 1869, to create some problems between Grand Commander Pike and some Louisiana Scottish Rite Masons. John Quincy Adams Fellows of New Orleans contended that the 33' conferred upon him was not an honorary degree but was that of a Sovereign Grand Inspector General. This was reported to Pike who wrote several letters on the subject. His first was to James C. Batchelor, received by Batchelor on August 16, 1869, in which Pike stated that the 33░ received by Fellows was that of the Foulhouze ritual, not approved by the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction, and that it was "not used outside of New Orleans". He then pointed out that the Pike ritual of the 33░ was approved by the Supreme Council in 1868. Pike then emphasized again that the copy of the 33░ ritual held by Fellows was not approved by the Supreme Council. Fellows' other 7 Ibid., December 25, 1869.
37 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
objections were with regard to the obligation to country and against the recognition of any degree higher than the 33 ░ which Pike refuted.' This letter did not terminate the misunderstanding, and Pike wrote directly to Fellows. The pertinent portions of the letter are as follows: ... I do no think that, when we properly understand each other, there is any disagreement between us, on the points suggested by you.
The word "State" is the most comprehensive one that could be used.... in the Ritual the only purpose was to frame the obligation as not to seem to decide anything in regard to the doctrine of allegiance in the United States. . . the conscience of every one [is] free in regard to his political principles.
You are mistaken in regard to the Rites of Misraim and Memphis. Each claims to have in its scale and administer all the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite. . . the clause in the obligation in relation to any higher degrees etc. refers to these Rites and to any others, that may pretend to have degrees above the 33d....
Of course we do not pretend to have any control over the Capitular, Cryptic or Templar degrees or orders. We do claim that the Symbolic degrees are lawfully a part of our scale. Here [the United States] we claim no control over them, and only say we might have to do it, in a certain contingency not at all likely to happen There are no new points in the 33░ obligation.
You are not wholly correct in regard . . . [to] your title. We had termed you and other Louisiana brethren Deputy Inspectors General. You claimed to have paid for the title of Sovereign, and I advised the Supreme Council that you were right, and it was resolved to entitle you Honorary Sovereign Grand Inspectors General. Not being active ones, not Active Members of the Supreme Council, how else could we designate you? I too received the degree and paid $100 for it, and I am sure I never imagined that I was becoming invested with any powers, or that the title would be any more than an honorary one....
I am sorry you speak of personal attacks on yourself.... I feel very sure that no personal attack ever was made on you in connection with any suggestion you made to the Supreme Council itself.
... nothing, I know, would give all of us [the Supreme Council] greater pleasure than to see many of our Louisiana Brethren with us, and to receive from them counsel and advice. We might not consent to change the fundamental laws as to the organization of our Council; but we should surely not ignore our Brethren, nor treat them otherwise than with the highest respect.
8 Albert Pike to James C. Batchelor, undated.
38 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION For myself, I assure you that if the work which I undertook twelve years ago ... were printed, I should at once resign my office. There is nothing in it to make me care to retain it; but all my interest is in the success of the Rite and of its great principles.' It appears that this letter brought the matter to an end as no further documents have been found in relation to it.
Scottish Rite Masonry had been introduced into Maryland prior to the Civil War and during that conflict had become dormant. Strong opposition to the Rite had developed in Baltimore during and following the War, possibly because Pike and others of the Supreme Council had been prominent in the Confederate military forces, and with the added possibility that the Gouley episode had repercussions in Baltimore. The Northern Jurisdiction had been seeking to expand into Maryland also. There is no doubt that the meeting of the Supreme Council of 1870 was scheduled for Baltimore with the hope that the Session in that city would contribute to a lessening of opposition to the Rite and a restoration of harmony among the members there. Thomas A. Cunningham was reported by Pike in May, 1868, as attempting to revive the Rite in Maryland, and it appears that William S. Rockwell had worked in the state to that end. A letter written by Pike in September indicates that he had received an appeal from John M. Miller for assistance. Pike answered him in these words: On Friday or Saturday next I will be in Baltimore, will see you, and will then arrange to re‑open the Grand Consistory of Maryland this fall. Your charter is in force, because it has never been revoked. You may rely upon it that I shall take the matter in hand. I have not heard from Ill.'. Bro.'. Cunningham since April, on Masonic subjects.
I know no reason why the surviving Members of the Consistory may not meet at any time, and go to work." A record of Pike's visit, to Baltimore has not survived but the following document indicates what he found the situation to be and outlines the proceedings that should be undertaken to reactivate the Maryland Grand Consistory.
In response to inquires made in your behalf by Ill.'. Bro.'. John M. Miller, you are by these presents advised that the Grand Consistory of the State of Maryland has never ceased to exist, the number of members always having been sufficient to fill vacancies in the number, and the Letters Patent of Constitution never 9 Albert Pike to John Q. A. Fellows, September 23, 1869. 1░ Albert Pike to John M. Miller, September 20, 1869.
39 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
having been recalled. If, as has been represented to me, the B B.'. John M. Miller, W. J. Wroth and Emanuel Corbit were selected by consent of the surviving members, to become members of the Grand Consistory, and increase its members of nine to twelve, they will not need to be reelected. . . . .
The Ill.'. Bro.'. Thomas A. Cunningham, 33░, having become an Active Member of the Supreme Council, can only be ex‑officio a member of the Grand Consistory, over whose doings he has supervision as an Inspector General, but with power to interfere, only when they are irregular, and then subject to an appeal of the Grand Consistory to the Supreme Council, or, in its vacation, to the Sovereign Grand Commander.
The Sovereign Grand Commander by these presents advises the members, original and added, of the Grand Consistory, that they have the authority to convene, upon the call of any member, and upon notice, and to resume the labors of the body. They may convene by general consent, and when they have done so, may receive additional members, taking them in the order in which they received the 32░ Degree, unless there be objection to them. There not being Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret in the State of Maryland, more than sufficient for Active Members, it will not be necessary to report in the mode prescribed by the Statutes of 1866. . . . .
Each new member must be unanimously elected, the election being viva voce: and it may be without other form except that of ascertaining that there is no objection to the party proposed.
It is not necessary that the Lieut.*. Gr.'. Commander, Ill.'. Bro.'. Rockwell, or Ill.'. Bro.'. Cunningham should be present nor is it indespensable that they should be notified, but as each has a right to be present, it will be more regular and more proper, to give them information that the meeting will be held, and invite them to be present.
If one of the Lieut. Commanders of the Grand Consistory is present, he should preside. If neither, one of the Princes may be selected to do so.
When the new members have been elected, they should be notified to attend, and thereupon all the officers be elected. They can be installed by me in December, acting in the meantime after taking a simple oath of allegiance to the Supreme Council, of obedience to and observance of the Grand Constitutions of 1786, and the Statutes and Edicts of the Supreme Council, and faithfully to demean themselves in office.
These proceedings must all be made of record and the Grand Consistory, thus resuming labor will proceed to exercise all its powers.
The Sovereign Grand Commander is satisfied that the time has come when it should do so, and assume the government and direction of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in Maryland‑and therefore, as it needs no authorization 40 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION from him, nor would it be in his power to prevent the resumption of labor in the manner indicated if he desired to do so, this letter will be regarded as one only of advise. If it had been necessary, it would have assumed the form of a mandate ‑and if the members of the Grand Consistory prefere to consider it as an authorization, they will be entitled to do so, if any objection should be made to their action.
It appears that Inspector General Thomas A. Cunningham did not favor the reactivation of the Grand Consistory of Maryland and that he may have written to the Grand Commander in protest, for early in December, Pike wrote a letter to Cunningham which reads as follows: After I had been several times applied to for advice, by some of the Sub.'. Princes of the Royal Secret of Maryland, and informed by them that Ill.'. Bro.'. Rockwell had created the requisite number of Princes long since, to increase the number of members of the Grand Consistory of Maryland to nine, I could not longer delay informing them that the charter of the Grand Consistory had never been revoked, and that the members had a full right to meet whenever they saw fit, and resume their labors.
You had long ago informed me that you thought it best not to put the Grand Consistory again at labor, until an additional number of members should have been obtained; and so long as the Ill.'. Brethren of the Grand Consistory made no complaint to me, but acquiesed silently in your delay, I considered it by no means within my power to interfere. But all that was changed when they demanded to know of me what were their lawful rights. For then I had no option but to inform them, as I did that the Grand Consistory was not dead, and that if by the action of Ill.'. Bro.'. Rockwell, with the consent of the survivors, the number of members had been increased to nine, they could convene, elect officers if necessary, and proceed to work. Of course, under Sec. 4 of Art. XXII of the Constitutions that number is indispensable.
If there are more than twenty‑one Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret in Maryland, you, with Ill.'. Bros.% Rockwell and Schwarzman, who is by law a member of the Grand Consistory, can, tomorrow or at any other day, select twenty‑one out of the number to be the active members. If as I understand, there are not twenty‑one in all, I do not see how you can have any selection to make.
When the statute in question was enacted there were in Louisiana some twenty Honorary 33ds and fifty or sixty 32ds. It was necessary, there, and in Virginia and Kentucky, to select the 21 active members out of the whole number of Sublime Princes, and that some body should make the selection. The Honorary 33 d" being all without exception, members of each Grand Consistory, and the active 33ds having always the right to be present and even to preside, and therefore exofficio members, the duty of making the selection was entrusted to them jointly.
41 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
They being members without selection, were to select the others, and in preforming that duty an Active 33d had no greater power or authority than an Honorary one. You have just the same power as Ill.'. Bro.'. Schwarzman, and no more, nor any power of supervision or control as the Superior of the Grand Consistory. In making the selection you would act as a member of the Grand Consistory, and not as a member of the Supreme Council....
The Honorary Inspector General, Ill.'. Bro.'. Schwarzman, and the survivors still resident in the State, with the three added by Ill.'. Bro.'. Rockwell with their consent (as they have certified to me) constitute the Grand Consistory of Maryland. When nine of them assemble there will be a quorum, and they can do any act, work or business within the power of a Grand Consistory to do....
I learn that at the recent meeting of members of the Grand Consistory, only eight were present. This was not a quorum; and if such was the case, what they did was null and void.
But the Grand Consistory exists nevertheless, as fully as it ever did. You are no longer the Ill.'. Grand Commander in Chief, because you hold a higher Office, and the acceptance of the higher vacated the lower. The Brethren must therefore elect your successor, and whenever nine of them meet (of whom III.'. Bro.'. Schwarzman may be one) they can do this, fill all other vacancies and proceed to work. All this is their lawful right, of which neither you nor I, nor the Supreme Council itself can deprive them.
The Grand Consistory of Mississippi has not yet even been reorganized; but no one doubts that it is still in lawful existence and can work. It was nearly a year after the Statute of reorganization was enacted before the Grand Consistory of Louisiana was reorganized, during all which time it was at work, and its works were regular.
. . . My letter to 111.'. Bro.'. Miller contained no mandate, but my opinion and decision in regard to the legal standing of the Grand Consistory, and its rights to work....
I earnestly hope, my dear Brother, that you and the Princes of the Royal Secret of the Grand Consistory will act harmoniously together in the matter. . . . Dissension between you and them must be fatal to the Ancient and Accepted Rite in Maryland and it would be the first instance of such dissension in all our jurisdiction. If we must lose the revenue which we should derive from the State if there were no Grand Consistory so be it. That mischief, if it be one was done when we created the Grand Consistory.
If the Princes of the Grand Consistory assemble, I propose to be present, and hope that you will unite with them, and let us work together in harmony. We can lead them I am sure, but we cannot drive them. If I had attempted that in Louisiana the Rite would have gone to pieces in that State. Even when the superior is entirely in the right, it is often wise to yield.
42 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION Above all, I hope no unkindness will grow up between you and me. I am sure you have no other desire than to do what you believe to be your duty, and for the interest of the Rite in Maryland. Do me the justice to think the same of me." The Scottish Rite in Maryland in 1869 was experiencing enough difficulty without any friction among the members. At no time nor place had Grand Commander Pike spoken more plainly, yet diplomatically, than he had to Inspector Cunningham on December 8, 1869.
It seems that Inspector Cunningham read Pike's letter carefully and then proceeded to call the members of the Grand Consistory of Maryland together and complete the number of members without notifying the three 32░ Masons created by Rockwell. This was not an oversight, and Cunningham was legally correct for Rockwell had neglected to file the necessary official records of his acts. When John M. Miller and his two companions protested Cunningham's action, Pike sustained the legality of the reorganization of the Grand Consistory of Maryland in a letter to Miller which he closed with an appeal for harmony among members of the Rite in Baltimore." The reorganization of the Grand Consistory of Maryland had been accomplished but an undercurrent of dissatisfaction remained.
Pike's efforts to restore harmony in the Grand Consistory of Maryland at Baltimore had not been entirely successful and in mid‑January those difficulties again demanded his attention. It was necessary for him to repeat much of the information sent out on January 1, 1871, to remind the Grand Consistory that the powers of the Sovereign Grand Inspector General were advisory and supervisory and that he could on any occasion preside over the deliberations of the Grand Consistory or refuse to sanction action of the Body which he considered invalid, require it to be undone or recalled, and, if his order was refused, might refer the matter to the Supreme Council, suspending the labors of the Grand Consistory until a final decision could be reached. Pike then stated that it would be improper for him to answer the questions propounded without a hearing of both sides of the controversy. The letter was closed with an appeal "to bear and forbear with each other" and a reminder that it was not the action of a good Mason to withdraw from the order since the Supreme Council would "never sanction injustice or the exercise of arbitrary and illegal power"." 12 Albert Pike to Thomas A. Cunningham, December 8, 1869.
13 Albert Pike to the Ill.'. Grand Commander ... of the Grand Consistory ... of Maryland, February 1, 1870; Albert Pike to John M. Miller, 26 A.'.M.'. 5620.
14 Official Bulletin, I, 158‑161.
43 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
the Once again, firm and unbiased words from Pike calmed the ruffled feelings of members of that Grand Consistory but he had no assurance that calm would be a permanent characteristic. The letter was published in the Official Bulletin no doubt for the effect that it would have in other Grand Consistories as well as in that of Maryland.
Previous to this point in this study there have been repeated references to inadequate fiscal and membership accounting and to laxness and carelessness in the preservation of Supreme Council documents of administration. On more than one occasion during the first decade of his administration, Pike had made recommendations to the Supreme Council, which were adopted, seeking to remedy these weaknesses. However, the Secretary General, Dr. Albert G. Mackey, either could not or would not cooperate sufficiently to enable the Supreme Council to have an adequate record of the administration of the Rite in the Jurisdiction. The accelerating growth of the Rite convinced Pike, by 1869, that this situation could no longer be tolerated. He put his thoughts on this matter into a letter to James C. Batchelor in which he stated that it was his intention to demand a "full account of all receipts and expenditures, from the beginning" from all Sovereign Grand Inspectors General; that he intended to move the Secretary General's office to Washington; to employ a full time secretary for the Secretary General's office; to leave "Mackey the Secy.Gen., however"; and to reduce the number of Sovereign Grand Inspectors General in South Carolina." Possibly in answer to a letter of complaint, Pike wrote later in the year that he was "more provoked at Mackey's omissions" in the recently printed transactions of the Supreme Council with regard to Louisiana than Todd; that he would "demand a report from Mackey including omitted materials which will be published as a supplement"; that he must "move the Sec. to Washington" and get a secretary that will "attend to something"; and closed his letter with a threat to "resign in disgust"." In the following February, Pike wrote: I urged Mackey, early in December, to send me the Report. Have not heard a word from him. He has let all holds go, and quit: and we shall be compelled to have some one to do the work of the secretariet, or abandon the whole thing ‑I don't mean to do so, out of regard to one who does not regard anybody but himself. There is a limit to the human endurance." 15 Albert Pike to James C. Batchelor, August 2, 1869. is Albert Pike to Samuel M. Todd, December 17, 1869. 17Ibid., February 15, 1870.
44 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION Then, some two months later he wrote: I am sorry to learn from Ill.'. Bro.'. Worsham that you think you will not be at Baltimore. The Sessions will be the most important one we have ever had, for some things that will be unpleasant must be done, or it will be very unfortunate for the Rite; and our pure and determined members ought not to be away. Pierson is in arrears six or seven thousand dollars, Collins had done nothing in Missouri, and Mackey is useless as Secretary‑General, owing to his unconquerable indolence and Spirit of delay. If it is possible for you to be present you must. Do not desert us now, of all times in the world." The preceding pages, covering the period since the 1868 meeting of the Supreme Council, have indicated the critical climate in which the Session of May 2 through 7, 1876, in Baltimore must operate. The Session, as scheduled, opened with twelve of the twenty‑seven Sovereign Grand Inspectors General present, and one more arrived on. the second day. The excuses of four Active Members were acceptable to the Supreme Council and one was rejected; one had moved from the Jurisdiction to France; and three had died since 1868‑twenty‑two accounted for and five being unaccounted for.
The business accomplished during the Session included the following actions: Election of Active Members John C. Ainsworth for Oregon Achille Regulus Morel for Louisiana William Tracy Gould for Georgia who was immediately placed on the list of Emeriti Members William Letcher Mitchell for Georgia John Quincy Adams Fellows for Louisiana Seats vacated John C. Breckenridge for Kentucky Henry W. Schroder for South Carolina Resignation A. T. C. Pierson for Minnesota 11 Albert Pike to James C. Batchelor, April 13, 1870.
45 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33 Election of Officers B. B. French, Lieutenant Grand Commander Henry Buist, Grand Chancellor John Jennings Worsham, Treasurer General Ebenezer H. Shaw, Grand Prior Thomas Cripps, Grand Organist Appointment of Officers Samuel M. Todd, Grand Mareschel of Ceremonies John C. Ainsworth, First Grand Equerry Elections of Honorary 33' Nine Brethren so honored The Grand Commander's Address Reported death of Active Members of the Supreme Council: Edward Rutledge Ives for Florida William S. Rockwell for Georgia Reported on State of the Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction No organized bodies in the District of Columbia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Minnesota or any of the Territories Bodies were established in Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, California, Nevada and Oregon. Ranked the Rite as prosperous in only two states: Louisiana and California.
Recommended the publication of an official bulletin Reviewed conditions in Foreign Jurisdictions Commented on official decisions Reviewed the action of the Grand Orient of France regarding the Chassaignac organization in New Orleans.
Defended his Grand Constitutions of 1786 against the attacks of Enoch T. Carson. Commented on "Liturgy and Dogma, Monitor, Dogma and Morals".
46 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION Contrasted conferral and communication of degrees and observed that "delays should not be disturbed", that the higher degrees should be conferred "sparingly", and that degree work should not be the "chief work" of a lodge.
Announced that a Lodge of Sorrow would be convened.
Proposed the creation of a Court of Honour Resolutions One Honorary 33' dropped from roll of Honorary Members.
Five elections to Honorary 33 ░ cancelled.
Two Deputy commissions revoked.
Next Biennial Session to be in San Francisco.
Date of Lodge of Sorrow set for May 5, 1870, 7 p.m.
Secretary General directed to prepare a roll of all Active and Honorary Members of the Supreme Council from its organization with pertinent data included.
All decisions of the Grand Commander were approved.
Treasurer General's accounts were approved.
All previous elections to 33░, not conferred, were cancelled.
A limitation of one year until conferral was placed on all future elections to 33░ except in cases where satisfactory reasons were given for a delay.
The 33░ should not be conferred until the fee had been paid.
$300 was appropriated for the transcription of records in a "Book of Gold".
The thanks of the Supreme Council were extended to the Commanderies and Masons in Baltimore for their assistance and courtesies.
The bills of the Supreme Council were approved and payment ordered.
$100 was appropriated for "contingent expense" of the Secretary General.
On condition that the office of the Secretary General be moved to Washington, D.C., a salary was fixed at $1,000 per annum plus 10% of money collected from the sale of publications in addition to the fees already established by law.
47 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
The Secretary General, Treasurer General, Grand Chancellor and Grand Minister of State were directed to secure seals of office.
All Sovereign Grand Inspectors General not filing "full and complete" reports within 90 days to be suspended from office until the next meeting of the Supreme Council.
All organized bodies in Alabama and the Lodges of Perfection in Memphis were required to report in full within 90 days.
The Secretary General was requested to revise the Statutes and Institutes to include the actions of the present Session.
The Supreme Council relinquished all control over the Degrees of Royal and Select Masters, remitted all dues of such bodies owed to the Supreme Council, and all Statutes relating to said degrees were repealed.
The "Letter of Denunciation and Appeal", relating to the action of the Grand Orient of France, prepared by Grand Commander Pike, with a request to the Northern Jurisdiction to concur in sending the joint communication to all Supreme Councils of the world was approved.
A substitute for Article VII was adopted to provide for the election of Sovereign Grand Commander, Lieutenant Grand Commander, Grand Prior, Grand Chancellor, Grand Minister of State, Secretary General and Treasurer General by majority vote of the Supreme Council, in case of vacancy, and the appointment of all other officers by the Sovereign Grand Commander.
Committee Reports Adopted By the Committee on Jurispurdence that the 33░ can be conferred upon anyone Masonically qualfied by the Supreme Council but only those who have attained the age of 35 or over may be elected to Active Membership.
By the Committee on Finance, as amended, reorganizing the fiscal structure and prescribing a form for reports.
The Session was closed to meet in San Francisco on "1st Monday in May, 1872".19 is Transactions, Supreme Council, S. J., 1870, pp. 3‑296.
48 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION The adjournment of the Supreme Council left Grand Commander Pike with a mass of routine work to do in making its actions and resolutions effective in the Southern Jurisdiction. Two items seem to have engaged his attention immediately: the publication of the first number of the Official Bulletin and the formation of the Court of Honour. By June 8, 1870, these items were well out of his way. The "Prefatory To No. 1" of the Official Bulletin reads as follows: The Bulletin of the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, is intended to be published at intervals of not more than four months, and as much oftener as may be found necessary, to furnish official information of the acts of that Body, of the Council of Administration, and of the Grand Commander.
It will be strictly official and historical, containing information of the actions of the Supreme Council at its sessions, the important reports made to it, the statutes adopted, the resolution, edicts, and decisions of the body, the acts and decisions of the Council of Administration, and the mandates and rulings of the Grand Commander.
Each number will contain also the latest information in regard to the doings of Foreign Supreme Councils and Grand Orients.
It will not be a vehicle for essays, discussions or disputations; but in regard to domestic matters, will furnish under the head of "Unofficial", the current information in regard to Consistories and Subordinate Bodies of the Obedience, and such extracts from Foreign Bulletins, and other documents, Official and Historical, as may be interesting and valuable.
The Bulletin will be published at the expense of the Supreme Council." Immediately following the close of the Session of 1870, the following communication was sent to each Active Member of the Supreme Council: A STATUTE TO ESTABLISH A COURT OF HONOUR.
Section 1. There is hereby established a Court of Honour, of those who have deserved well of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, to be composed of Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret.
Sec. 2. The Knights of the Court of Honour shall be of two ranks,‑Knight Commanders and Grand Crosses of Honour.
2░ Official Bulletin, 1, 3.
49 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
Sec. 3. All Knights Commanders and Grand Crosses shall be elected by the Supreme Council, by affirmative vote of three‑fourths of the members present.
Sec. 4. Each member present at the next regular Session of the Supreme Council may nominate two Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret of his State, to receive the rank and decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour; each taking care to nominate no one who has not by zeal; devotion and active service, deserved well of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
Sec. 5. At every session of the Supreme Council, thereafter, each member present may nominate one Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret of his State, and no more, to receive the rank and decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour.
Sec. 6. The rank and decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour shall never be asked or applied for by any person; and if asked or applied for, shall be refused. And no fee or charge shall ever be made for the said rank and decoration, or those of the Grand Cross of the Court of Honour.
Sec. 7. The Supreme Council at the next and every subsequent session, select from among the Knights Commanders, three Grand Crosses of the Court of Hohour, and no more.
Sec. 8. Each Grand Consistory may, at each meeting of the Supreme Council, nominate one Prince of the Royal Secret, to receive the rank and decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour.
Sec. 9. No Prince of the Royal Secret shall be hereafter elevated to the rank of Honorary Sovereign Grand Inspector General, unless he be a Knight Commander of the Court of Honour.
Sec. 10. Each active member of the Supreme Council will be, virtute officii sui, an Honorary Grand Cross of the Court of Honour, entitled to wear the decoration of that rank; and such Honorary Sovereign Grand Inspectors General also as may, for distinguished services, be elected thereto by vote of three‑fourths of the members present in Supreme Council.
Sec. 11. The Sovereign Grand Commander will be Praefect of the Court of Honour, and the Lieutenant Grand Commander will be Pro‑praefect. The first Grand Cross selected from each State will be the Praetor for such State; and the Grand Commander in Chief of each Grand Consistory, if a Grand Cross, will be, during his term of office, Praetor Honorary for the State.
Sec. 12. The Court of Honour may assemble at the same time and place with the Supreme Council, shall be presided over by a Legate Grand Cross designated by the Sovereign Grand Commander, adopt Rules of Order and Statutes for its 50 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION government, and propose to the Supreme Council measures of Legislation for the benefit of the Order of Scottish Freemasonry, and be heard in the Supreme Council by its Grand Crosses, to urge, explain and discuss the same.
Sec. 13. Each Knight Commander and Grand Cross of the Court of Honour, shall receive from the Supreme Council, without charge, a Diploma or Letters Commendatory, in the Latin language, and on vellum, as evidence of his rank.
Sec. 14. Every Grand Cross shall have the privilege of membership in all bodies of the Rite in his State, and be free of all dues, taxes and assessments, everywhere.
Sec. 15. The Supreme Council will give without charge to every Grand Cross of the Court of Honour, the jewel of his rank.
Sec. 16. The Jewel of a Knight Commander, and that of a Grand Cross, shall be such as may be defined and established by the M.'. P.'. Sov.'. Gr.'. Commander, and the Lieut.% Gr.'. Commander, to whom this subject is referred.
At the late Session of the Supreme Council, the consideration of the foregoing Statute was postponed until the next regular Session. A reconsideration of that vote was intended to have been had‑on the last day of the Session; but the pressure of business on that day caused it to be forgotten.
At the request of several of the Brethren of the Supreme Council, who earnestly wish it speedy adoption, as an incitement to labour and faithful service during the two years now begun, I submit for your consideration this question: "Shall the Statute to establish a Court of Honour, as its text is given above, be passed and become a law?" Please forward your vote, Aye or No, hereunder written to the Secretary General, at 1418 F Street, Washington City.
On June 8, 1870, Grand Commander Pike published a notice that the Statute had been adopted." The last sentence in the communication on the Statute to create a Court of Honour provides the information that the office of the Secretary General had been moved to Washington, D. C., and was located at 1418 F Street. This was a move long desired by Pike as has been previously recorded.
21 Ibid., 56.
51 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
In May also, the Grand Commander sent a circular letter to all Inspectors General and Deputies containing the resolutions of the Supreme Council providing for the suspension of said officers if they failed to send in their reports within the limits provided." Shortly thereafter, Pike wrote to Frederick Webber regarding Webber's report to him and in regard to other routine administrative details." This letter was followed within a few days by one that announced that he (Pike) was leaving for Minneapolis on June 18, 1870, and that he expected to visit Topeka and Santa Fe before returning to Washington in July." No previously dated letters or documents have survived to indicate the intention to make this trip, nor the reason for it, and there are none to establish that the trip was made. However, the following circular letter issued late in 1870 indicates a situation that may have come to Pike's attention in mid‑June.
Very Dear Brethren: Having heard that Ill.'. Bro.'.‑ A. T. C. Pierson, 33d, late Grand Prior of the Supreme Council, still confers the degrees of the said Rite, and those of Royal and Select Master, in the State of Minnesota, and receives the fees therefor, we do deem it necessary to make it known unto you that the said Ill.'. Bra.'. resigned his membership in our Supreme Council, at the session held in Baltimore on the 2d day of May last, and has since then been only an Honorary Member thereof; and that he has since then had and now has, no power or authority whatever to confer degrees or create bodies, of said Rite, or to confer the degrees of Royal and Select Master, or to receive moneys for degrees, in the State of Minnesota or elsewhere; and that all his acts so done since said session of our Supreme Council are null and void, and without the knowledge or authority of our Supreme Council.
And we do further give you to know that at the same session our Supreme Council formally relinquished all control over the degrees of Royal and Select Master, and that since that time none of our Inspectors General could lawfully invest any one with those degrees.
And as the said Ill.'. Bro.'. has never reported to us any of his doings as Inspector General, in Minnesota or elsewhere, we do advise those who have received from him any of the degrees of the said Rite, to furnish us with the evidence thereof, that they may, if invested with them before our last session, receive the proper credentials whereby to prove lawful possession of the said degrees.
zz Albert Pike to Erasmus T. Carr, May 25, 1870. 2a Albert Pike to Frederick Webber, June 1, 1870. 24 Albert Pike to Erasmus T. Carr, June 17, 1870.
52 of A~~t4i'n , i, ~lzesvan, 63 FORP,ESPONDING TO ~OV. 1ST, 18 0, y.‑.f ,ò, A, Mile name f Mile, cefupreme pauncil of ~lze 33c1 ‑geyree f elne %zcz'en~ and accelzWed JcoUiSA RiZZe, for Mile Joualzerrz, Wurzsa?ic~ion ░f Mze '&ni~ecl AVazes .' To all Freemasons of the 3Qd Degree of the said Rite, hi good staizding, in the State of Georgia HEALTH, STABILITY, AND POWER! and Very ‑Tear VroM er .
‑''v~ clirec~ion and antler aullzorily f Me, Sov.'.Sranp? 0om?na)zcler and Mme Oouneil f clmz~'nis~ra~zorr, . all AmOme princes o' 14e molal Jecrd 3zcl ‑Teyree .'. .'.oS . iZe, in yoocl 8 ano?irnq, wi~lzin oznr Jizso71 eion /‑wlzicln coM~Prises MJe CS~lale of Seoryia l, are cliredeW M assemble in ~Tze My f uyusla, upon ~Tze 7sZTz clad el ~lne ;oresern~ mon~lz, for ~7~e ~urIvose of oryanizirny and ins~i&u~iny a v~ran~ p~onsis~ory for the (7, ~e f '1~4eoryia.
c7Je ~ov.'.era‑ncl p~omman~er, ill .fro.'.~ l~er~ ~~Vie, 33c1, 2.oeZl~res2'cle. you are re,~ues~ecT, ~o y░es~ec~ ~lzis, our ~rnaiZC~?afe, a)u/ yover>n yourse accorclinyly.
qArater1l ally yours, TKIf, ‑L. JI_,ZTUTTKLL~ 3,13d. Sov.‑.G)░and Inspector General.
Ta Ma NELSON, 3d.
Honorary Inspector General and Special Deputy.
53 AMT xl esvan~ 6"63 FORPESPONDING TO NOV. 1ST, 18 0, Y‑‑.~,‑, Jn Me name of ilze ‑&Ivreme Oomncil l zlze 33667 ‑eyree f elze eneie~‑a and accelv~eo? UGDZZid'1, Mi~e, for ~Aze AoldlllerYb e~f?,( ris667ic~ion f Mle Vni~e667 To all Freemasons of the 32d Degree of the said Rite, At good stariding, ia the State of Georgia HEALTH, STABILITY, AND POWER! and 'Perk ‑Tear Rrozlzer _ .. __ ...
cZirec~ion an(? un6ler au~hori~y f ~Te SJov.'.~ran6Z ~omman6ler and Mm oouneiz f a(lmI')nislrazion .. a1Z AmMime princes of Mze NoyaI Jecree 32667 ‑Tel ree .'. . . J. ‑. Mile, in good 8ZaYn667inq, wiM in oaGr Lion, / wAicA coml)rises Ml e JWe of Seoryia/, are o?zrede(l ~o assemMe zn elze &y f uyus~a~ upon ze 7sZlz claJ' cl Mze 1oresen~ mor~Zlz, ,for ~lzc purIvose f oryaniziny ano? zndiladirny a Sran667 Oonsistory for llze Afa~e of Seoryia.
,7lze &v.'.'5~‑and 0ommander, , o Zl'. ro.'.~; l67er~ ~zke~ ~361, wa'Zl~res2'cle.
you a~░e re meVecl ~o Miss our inaizWafe, and yover)z yours6, ~I, accor667inylzy.
~ralcrll ally yours JTT~`' v11‑1‑E1L'L, 33d.
Sov.‑. Grand Inspector General.
ld s ff. NUSOX, 3.
Honorary Inspector General and Special Deputy.
53 ORDO AB CHAO.
;19/h/ cleaeZ, 6"63 , THE ~IAME OF THE tS. UPREME FOUNCIL OF THE 330 ~EGREE ANCIENT .AND 7~ICCEPTED I ~COTTISH f,ITE OF FREEMASONRY FOR THE ,SOUTHERN JURISDICTION OF THE PLAITED tSTATES.
t* an ~156alwp~ of t4f, 1kfr'&T+nad ~oggee of air "e1finae in ol, Italy of ,eaej e G R EET I N G Ill.‑. and Very Dear Bro............... .............. _ .. _.............................
This is to inform you that the most Puissant Grand Consistory of the Stxtc of Georgia, was duly organized, instituted and consecrated, and its Officers installed. in the City of Augusta, the Seat and ace of the, same, on the l8dl and 19th clays of November, 1870. You are, by virtue of your dignity, as x S. .P..lt.'.S.'., an Active Member of the Grand Consistory, and entitled to attend its Sedeòunts, and Vote upon all questions submitted to it for decision. Whun not able to attend its Annual Meetings, which are required t,y its Constitution to he held on the Thursday after the last Wednesday in April of each year. you Will please address your excuse in writin,; t~) the Grind Registrar of the Grand Consistory at Augusta, the suflicioncy Of which will be determined by the body.
You are requested to notify the ILL.‑. GRAND REGISTRAR ;is soon as convenient, whether Or not you desire your name to bu enrolled with the Active Members of the Grand Consistory.
A list of the Ollicers of the Grand Consistory is hereunto annexed for your information and guidance. Yours, Fraternally, WM. L. MITCHELL, 33░, ░T. H. NELSON, 33░, bptciral Deputy.
Sor. . Grhwl Iaspeclor Generftl of the State of Georgia.
OFFICT‑‑ R 0f, "Toll', ‑97wo C01Vsisl,"'o~RY .
CHARLi.s G. GOODRICH, Grand Commander in Chief. CALVIN FAY, First Lieutenant Grand Cononander. .J. E.%I~IE,rT BLACKSHEAR, Second Lieutenant Grand Commander. WILLIAM CRAIG, Grand Constable.
ARCHIBALD MCLELLAN, Grand Adwiral. JOHN KING, Grand Minister of Sttde. THOMAS II. NELSON, Grand‑Chancellor. DANIEL J. RYAN, Grand Hospitaller and Ahnontr. EDWARD 11. PUGHE, Grand Registrar.
RoRERT L. MOILWAINE, Grand Keeper of the Seals. WILLIAM J. GOODRICH, Grand Treasurer.
REV. DAVID WILLS, Gwtnd Primate.
CHARLES S. BRADFORD, Grand Provost or Muster of Ceremonies WILLIAM J. POLLAIID, Graced Expert. JOSIAH MOSHER, Assistant Grand Expert. JOHN D. BUTT, Grand Beamenijer. ALEXANDER PHILIP, Grand Bearer of the Vexillwn Belli. JOHN OSLEY, Grand Master of the Guards.
RICHARD S. AGNEW, Grarad Chaniberlain. WILLIAM H. HANCOCK, Grand Aid‑de‑ Camip of the Commander‑in‑Chief JOHN E. NAVY, Grand Steward.
FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION And the bodies of the Rite organized in Minnesota never having reported to our Supreme Council, nor being on our Register, are hereby warned to make due return by the first day of March next, or their works will be suspended.
Given under our hands and seals of office at the Orient aforesaid, the day and year aforesaid, under the Great Seal of the Supreme Council.
Notice of the death of Lieutenant Grand Commander Benjamin B. French was published on August 12, 1870,2 5 and immediately thereafter Pike caused a ballot to be circulated by mail for an election to fill the vacancy. John Robin McDaniel was elected to the office of Lieutenant Grand Commander and the announcement was published on September 30, 1870.2 In reply to an invitation to attend the Lodge of Sorrow conducted by the Grand Consistory of Louisiana, Pike expressed doubt that he could be present. In the same letter the Grand Commander took occasion to advise Sovereign Grand Inspector Todd of several other matters. He stated that he had received the Bulletins of the Grand Orient of France and that he would reply by Balustre in December; he acknowledged receipt of special music prepared by Thomas Cripps and took the opportunity to ask Todd to "render" Cripps "out of his discontent" at not having received the 33'. He promised to write a "general eulogy and specially remembering the Latin Brethren" for the Lodge of Sorrow21. Pike later found it possible to be in New Orleans for the Lodge of Sorrow and delivered his "general eulogy" in person.
In November, Wm. L. Mitchell officially advised the Grand Commander that a Grand Consistory for Georgia had been organized." Subsequent correspondence with the presiding officer of that body requested much detailed advice about the duties and responsibilities of a Grand Consistory and its officers. It is unfortunate that the replies of Pike have not survived.
On some now unknown date in 1870, Pike sent out a circular letter relating to the communication of degrees. Since the same problem is, to some extent, still prevalent, Pike's letter is reproduced in full for what it may be worth on this subject.
25 Star, August 12, 1870. 2s Official Bulletin, I, 163. 27 Albert Pike to Samuel M. Todd, October 2, 1870. 28 Official Bulletin, I, 51.
29 Wm. L. Mitchell to Albert Pike, November 29, 1870.
55 rient o~ ~~I~iit~toiY, i~irict o First day of the ,Month Ir.r..ò. Bxo.ò.
.~1.~. ‑M.'. 5630.
I leave lately been informed by a. Brother who received from the Deputy of a Sov.'. Gr.ò. Inspector Ueneral the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, from 4░ to 32░, by commnnir~a~.ron, that the whole was done in the sloace of two hours or a little ruore.
It is quite evidelrt that one so receiving the degrees can be neither a 1{ose Croix, a 1Zadosh nor ar Prince of the I~ogal Secret in anything more than name. IIe can know nothing, or comparatively nothing, of their teachings, nor understand the ceremonies, nor have received any value at all or vn,y berleiit at. all, in return for that which he paid Hurt lro rui~rllt become a 32░ indeed.
When the degrees arc communicated the candidate must take the vows of every orre degrees in regalar succession. )FIe must cornpl,y‑ with the rwelirniuaries of tire 5th and 18th degrees. Ffe must. alrswer the preliminary questions, make the preliminary promises and give the preliminary pledges, in evel;S‑ degree, wherever these are found.
The Icast time in whi<~h the decrees can be prolaerly communicated is sixteen hour a clay on four al1eC0FSlce clays. On the first clay ere m.ry advance to the 14th degree and on the second, to the 18th <rr:cl no farther: on the third, to the 30th <rncl rlo farther; and on he will conclude.
That he pray obtain some ideas of the nature, puryose slue meaning of the degrees, a acrd separat.cl3‑, parts of the olvening anc~ closing ceremonies of each must be read to him, tl of initiation be briefly gone over, curd the mast. striking portiolrs of the instruction be read.
That all this nlay be yroperly dor,o,.:nd the ca;ndiclatc be enabled to a>>preeiate the degrees and not to despise them as v'orthless or con:~ider himself' deluded, deceived and defrauded by large promises followed by scant performance, eac+h Ill.ò. l~ro.ò. orr whom it may devolve to communicate degrees, must. be thorozylal~ familiar with tire whole, and witL every hart of each.
For, to pretevc] to communicate the degrees irr two hours is to but them upon the level those of a Iiite whose ninety degrees have bean ░~ communicated" while crossing a river in a fe boat, and even by ~ potent sent by mail to a candidate not seed. 1=Iowever pure and good the int tion, the effect cannot but be most mischievous and most deplorable. tire do not zccrzrt Initiates who c be satisfied with such com.mzcnicat orr of degrees drat are worthy to lie the study of a lifetime, and i which there is nothing that is not of value for' the heart or for the head.
All our Sovereign Grand Inspectors General are therefore urgently entreated to conform their action and course of initiation to these saggestioua ; which are, for all Grand Consistoriea and of the s, font boors no farther the fourth s a ~~hole e course with rryen ~.n n 56 other bodies‑, and all Special and other Deputies, peremptory instructions, to be at all points observed and obeyed, until order of our Supreme Council to the contrary: nor is any dispensation or any pretence of exigency or emergency to be permitted to excuse any non‑observance thereof, in any case or under any circumstances whatever.
And you are further admonished that in no case hereafter can the delays required by Statute be dispensed with, unless it be in cases where the degrees are to be conferred on BB.‑. for the purpose of enabling there to oe constituted a new body of the Rite, or for the purpose of filling up the numbers of an existing body, until it becomes perfect and efficient, and no further. It is to violate the spirit of the law to add members in that manner, to any body of the Rite, after its numbers are complete, and a quorum for work at all times is secured.
It is not the purpose of the Ancient and Accepted Rite to run a race of competition for numbers with any other Rite or Order whatsoever. Loyalty to it cannot consist with the cheapenig of its degrees, nor is its strength to be found in mere numbers; in which, indeed, all other Orders in compete with it and may profit thereby, while it must fail to make true progress and advancement. Receive, very dear Brethren, these admonitions in the spirit in which they are given. Recall to your minds the teachings of our beloved Rite, and aid us in enforcing its laws.
Sov.‑. Gr. ‑. Commander.
HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
During 1870, Pike and Grand Commander Drummond, of the Northern Jurisdiction, carried on a correspondence that produced the long discussed "Letter of Denunciation and Appeal" approved by both the Southern and Northern Supreme Councils and issued by them jointly late in the year, possibly in December, as indicated in Pike's letters previously reported. This "Letter of Denunciation and Appeal" is historical and judicial in nature and is quoted in full in Appendix III. At this point it is sufficient to say that it withdrew recognition of and fraternal relations with the Grand Orient of France and any and all bodies that might support the position of the Grand Orient with regard to the situation in Louisiana until the objectional action had been recalled.
The year of 1871 opened with the publication of two circular letters: the first was a statement of the powers of a Sovereign Grand Inspector General relating to a Grand Consistory and is the first known analysis of this relationship: the second was another effort to collect the money due the Supreme Council for degree work done by Sovereign Grand Inspectors General and Deputies of the Supreme Council. Both letters are dated January 1, 1871, and read in part as follows The Supreme Council not having as yet acted ... in regard to the powers of Inspectors General ... in States where there are Grand Consistories, I have been constrained ... to consider the question and decide it, subject to the future determination of the Supreme Council.
The following provisions of the Constitutions and Statutes are all that bear upon the question: "In no case", says the Declaration prefixed to the Grand Constitutions of 1786, "can any other person enjoy those rights, prerogatives, privileges and powers wherewith we do invest those Inspectors".
By Art. xvi, 1 1, of the Statutes, the Supreme Council reserved to itself the power of conferring any of the Degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, upon any such persons as it might deem worth to receive them. And it was provided that it might delegate that power to Deputy Grand Inspectors General, in States wherin there was no resident active Member of the Supreme Council or Grand Consistory.
Art. xxv gives each active Member of the Supreme Council the power to confer all the degrees, to and including the 32d, by way of honorarium, and without fee; no exception being made in regard to States in which there are Grand Consistories.
Art. xxxii, 1 4‑"Every Sovereign Grand Inspector General, active Member of the Supreme Council, possesses, and may exercise in the State in wihch he resides, during the recess of the Supreme Council; all the prerogatives of Grand Master of Symbolic Lodges, so far as relates to the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite." 58 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION Art. xxii, 1 4‑Declares each Grand Consistory, "a deputy of this Supreme Council, and the governing Power of the Ancient and Accepted Rite in the State wherein it is organized", and that all charters for bodies of the degrees below the 31st, must emanate from it, and all Potents, Briefs and Diplomas be issued by it".
Art. xxii, 1 5‑"The privilege of conferring the 31st and 32d degrees has been delegated by the Supreme Council to the Grand Consistories." Art. xxvi, 1 2‑"The degrees may be communicated in order to establish new bodies." Art. xxvii, 1 2‑"For the puropse of propagating the Rite, this provisions as to delays may be dispensed with by any Sovereign Grand Inspector General, active Member of the Supreme Council, . . . for the purpose of establishing bodies, or adding members to bodies already existing, so as to enable them to work." Upon reflection and careful consideration, I have arrived at the following conclusions That the Grand Commander‑in‑Chief of a Grand Consistory is but the presiding officer of that body, except so far as it may invest him with power to act for it during its recesses, and that he does not possess, nor can it confer upon him, the power to confer any of the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, that power being confined to Inspectors General, active Members of the Supreme Council, Deputies of these or of the Supreme Council, and organized bodies of the Rite.
That the Grand Consistory may empower the Grand Commander‑in‑Chief to congregate the requisite number of brethren already in possession of the necessary degrees, into any body of the Rite, of the 14th, 16th, 18th, or 30th degrees, and to grant to such body a warrant, to be afterwards submitted to the Grand Consistory for confirmation and continuance.
That an Inspector General, active member of the Supreme Council, or a Deputy of the Supreme Council, in a State where there is a Grand Consistory, retains undiminished his power to confer any and all of the degrees of the Rite, from the 4th to the 32d on such persons as he may select, and to establish any of the said subordinate bodies, granting Letters Patent, which must be submitted to the Grand Consistory for confirmation,‑the fees for the degrees belonging to the Supreme Council, and those for Letters Patent to the Grand Consistory; from which, also, those receiving degrees from an Inspector General or Deputy, must, upon his certificate, obtain their Diplomas, Briefs or Patents, and to it pay the fees therefor. And that a Grand Consistory can confer no degrees except the 31st and 32d; all below these being conferable only by the proper Body, or by an Inspector General, or Deputy Inspector General as aforesaid; so that councils of Knights of Kadosh are indispensable bodies in this jurisdiction.
59 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
If there be in any place but one person who desires the degrees, and no body established there, they may certainly be given him, for the purpose of establishing the bodies . . . thereafter....
Wherever a body . . . is established, the degree may be given . . . until finally the requisite number for a new body is obtained....
I am clearly of opinion that the only efficient mode of extending the Rite is ... to extend it among individuals, one by one....
The Grand Commander then took the opportunity to point out that the Supreme Council needed money to pay its printing bills and to finance the publication of "Morals and Dogma" then in the printer's hands. He also reminded the Inspectors General We have paid since the war about seven thousand dollars for printing, in addition to all other expenses, and of this sum about five thousand came from California; and we owed it to the zeal and energy of our Ill. Brother Shaw. Even from the great jurisdiction of Louisiana we have received but three or four hundred dollars, and from most of the States much less; from many nothing at all.
He closed the letter with an appeal to propagate the Rite, to make the quarterly returns by the Statutes and to require Subordinate Bodies to make due and prompt returns "without delay" that the Supreme Council would be enabled "to do its work"." The second letter reads as follows I am directed by the M.'. P.'. Grand Commander to inform you that there are demands against the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, for moneys due for printing Rituals and Transactions, and other work, which cannot be met unless the money due to itself are paid.
The Sovereign Grand Commander desires me fraternally but earnestly to urge you to remit to the Treasurer General, Ill.'. Bro.'. John J. Worsham, 33d, at Memphis, in the State of Tennessee, the sum of $‑, due by you to the Supreme Council, since day of , 18‑, for It is hoped that as the sum thus due belongs in fact to those whom the Supreme Councils owes, you will, if not actually impossible, make due answer to this sign and summons, that the Order may not suffer reproach." " Albert Pike to John Robin McDaniel, January 1, 1871. 31 Blank form letter, January 1, 1871.
60 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION Within three months of Pike's appeal to the Inspectors General and the Deputies of the Supreme Council to increase the tempo of the propagation of the Rite, he received a letter from Inspector John C. Ainsworth that he had established Albert Pike Lodge, No. 2, at Salem, Oregon, and reported "Under direction of your Circular of January 1st, '71, I have taken individuals from different localities to form a nucleus of a `new body . . .' ". Probably of as good news to the Grand Commander was his statement that he was sending $1,800 to the Treasurer General." The good news from Oregon was followed by sad tidings on April 2, 1871, when Inspector General Giles M. Hillyer, Grand Minister of State, of Mississippi died. However, the living must carry on and after writing a tribute to the "Illustrious Dead", Pike turned back to administrative duties of the Supreme Council.
Treasurer General John J. Worsham reported receipt of $1,836.04 remitted by Ainsworth on April 12, 1871, and in the same letter raised objection to the Session set for San Francisco because of the cost of travel. Two days later he wrote that he had received Pike's instructions to pay William T. Anderson $1500 and explained that a protested draft had never reached him. A few days later, Worsham advised Pike against a proposed appointment in Memphis until he had made an investigation in that city." This was the last known letter Pike received from Worsham, for Worsham died on July 31, 1871. The office of Treasurer General was a very active office and the Grand Commander immediately appointed Inspector General Frederick Webber of Kentucky to fill the office" until the next meeting of the Supreme Council, not quite one year away.
One of the major problems in the propagation of the Rite has always been the finding of the right man in a given territory to do the work. Pike was constantly looking for such men. On April 24, 1871, John S. Driggs accepted an appointment as Deputy Inspector General for Florida, and about the same time William M. Ireland was appointed to the same position in the District of Columbia. However, E. H. Caldwell and "Brother" Willoughby both declined such an appointment in Alabama." Charles G. Goodrich, Grand Commander of the Grand Consistory of Georgia, was most active in his state in 1871. He reported to Pike that he was corresponding with Masons in Albany, Fort Valley, Atlanta and Macon with regard to Lodges of Per 32 J. C. Ainsworth to Albert Pike, March 25, 1871.
33 John J. Worsham to Albert Pike, April 12, 14, May 25, 1871. 34 Official Bulletin, 1, 366.
35 John S. Briggs to Albert Pike, April 24, 1871; Official Bulletin, 1, 229; E. H. Caldwell to Albert Pike, May 1, 1871.
61 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
fection and had established such a Lodge at Milledgeville." Inspector General Mitchell of Georgia informed Pike later that he had issued Letters of Constitution for a Lodge of Perfection at Atlanta and that a Lodge could be formed at Rome before the year ended." R. M. Smith, a Deputy of Mitchell, expressed the opinion that two more Lodges of Perfection would be established before the spring of 1872.38 The Grand Commander contributed materially to the efforts in Georgia, Minnesota, Iowa and South Carolina during mid‑1871. In May, he was in Charleston to form a Chapter of Rose Croix" and also in Georgia to lend inspiration to the workers there. In July, Pike was in Minnesota and Iowa to assist in forming bodies at St. Paul and Lyons. At Lyons, Pike spent five days, and when he left, the Knights of Kadosh totaled ninety. The Bodies at Lyons had expanded $15,000 for regalia and had started the construction of a temple which was finished in 1872.'░ In so far as (See Illustration on page 63) is presently known, this building was the first in the Southern Jurisdiction to be erected and owned exclusively by Subordinate Bodies of the Scottish Rite. Early in September, Pike planned a trip into the West to visit Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Alabama" but there is no record that he actually made the trip.
As had been a part of his labors for the entire period of his administration, Grand Commander Pike carried on an extensive correspondence with Robert Macoy regarding the printing authorized by the Supreme Council. Revision of the Rituals and Ceremonies were the principal projects in 1870. A continuation of the correspondence with Macoy began early in 1871. Macoy's letter of February 4, 1871, acknowledged receipt of $1,258.75 in money sent in by Shaw for work at Salt Lake City." The letter also contained information on the progress of typesetting on the "Ceremonies of Baptism and Adoption", "Morals and Dogma", "Bulletin" and "Charters". This letter indicates the extent of printing committments for 1871‑1872. In August the printer wrote Pike that he needed a payment on the printing bill of the Supreme Council and two days later that he was sending some proof sheets of "Morals and Dogma". In the first week of October, Macoy requested a payment of $1,000 as Chas. G. Goodrich to Albert Pike, Swan 26, 5331; May 22, 1871. 3 " Wm. L. Mitchell to Albert Pike, November 4, 1871.
38 R. M. Smith to Albert Pike, January 2, 1872. 39 Henry Rush to The Supreme Council, undated. 40 Transactions, Supreme Council, S. 1., 1874, p. 15. 41 Albert Pike to Marshall W. Wood, September 4, 1871. 42 Albert Pike to T. S. Parvin, February 5, 1871.
62 MASONIC TEMPLE, LYONS, IOWA. 63 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
on the printing bill and before the end of the month the Grand Commander sent out another circular letter regarding the payment of accounts owed to the Supreme Council. Pike was unable to meet the request for $1,000 but did send $600. A request for more copy and the delivery of more proof sheets took place in November and December. All of the type for "Morals and Dogma" was set by mid‑December, 1871.43 It appears that Pike had been unsuccessful in collecting sufficient funds to defray the printing bill and had sought a loan, for Wm. L. Mitchell wrote that such a loan might be secured from Robert Toombs.44 This letter was followed in a few days by one from Toombs who stated that he could let the Grand Commander have $3,000. Of this amount, $2,000 was paid to Pike in two installments of $1,000 each." The first twenty‑four copies of Morals and Dogma were sent to Pike on March 2, 1872.46 On August 24, 1871, Grand Commander Pike saw fit to issue a circular letter regarding the situation of Scottish Rite Masonry in Colombia which he closed by stating that it was his intention to submit a document entitled "Articles of Agreement and Contract" for adoption to the Supreme Councils of the world. The four articles read as follows ARTICLE I The Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States will not recognize more than one Supreme Council of the 33d Degree in any North or South American Republic; and agrees that the creation of more than one is forbidden except in the United States of America, by the Fundamental law of the Rite.
ARTICLE II The said Supreme Council will maintain as an inviolable law and landmark of Free Masonry, that an illegal, irregular, and spurious body, claiming Supremacy, cannot be legitimized by a Treaty made between it and a regular body of the same rank and degree, but continues, after such a treaty, as spurious and irregular as before.
43 Robert Macoy to Albert Pike, August 15; 16; October 6; 27; 28; November 4; 14; December 13, 1871; Circular Letter, October 25, 1871.
44 arm. L. Mitchell to Albert Pike, December 27, 1871.
45 R. Toombs to Albert Pike, January 3; April 14, 1871; C. H. Phinizy to Albert Pike, January 4, 1871; Robert Macoy to Albert Pike, January 10; 30; February 1, 1871.
46 Robert Macoy to Albert Pike, March 2, 1872.
64 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION ARTICLE III The Supreme Council will maintain as the law of Free Masonry, that a regular body of any degree, so treating with and recognizing as its peer an irregular and illegitimate body, becomes itself infected with irregularity, and is no longer entitled to recognition; and it will maintain no relations of amity or correspondence with a body that so commits felo de se.
ARTICLE IV The said Supreme Council agrees that it will not hereafter create or authorize the creation of, a Supreme Council in any Empire, Kingdom, Republic or State, anywhere in the world, without first obtaining the unanimous consent of all the Supreme Council that shall accede to this agreement; and that it will not recognize any one created by any other power or authority, without such unanimous consent. Nor will it revive any dormant Supreme Councils, without obtaining such consent thereto, nor recognize any dormant Council that may hereafter be revived without such consent." Pike submitted the proposed "Articles of Agreement and Compact" to the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction in his Allocution delivered on May 6, 1872, but there is no record that the same was adopted as an official statement of minimum principles upon which recognition could be based. This would not indicate a disagreement with the considerations that were expressed, rather it does indicate that the document did not adequately cover all of the points of regularity by which a Supreme Council should be measured before fraternal relations should be established with it. It might be pointed out in this connection that the creation of an adequate formula for recognition between Masonic Grand Bodies resolving all of the questions of jurisprudence, custom, practice, wisdom and propriety is probably the most difficult undertaking in the whole category of Masonic policy making. It has successfully defied all efforts at final solution from the establishment of the first Grand Lodge at London in 1717 until the present writing.
United States Grand Lodges were concerned about the regularity of Lodges established in Mexico under the Supreme Council of Mexico which became dormant in 1871. On August 23, 1871, Pike issued a circular letter in which the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction vouched for the regularity of the Mexican Supreme Council and the Lodges that it had established and also assumed responsibility for the Mexican Lodges so created until the Supreme Council of Mexico could 47 Albert Pike to M.'.P.'. Sovereign and P.'. Lieutenant Grand Commanders etc., August 24, 1871.
65 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
be reactivated. A second circular letter was mailed out on March 6, 1872, in which Pike announced the recognition of the reactivated Mexican Supreme Council." Other surviving correspondence before the Session of the Supreme Council in May, 1872, informed Pike that his rituals were being used in Canada;" that the Supreme Council of the Northern Jurisdiction would not tolerate invasions of the Southern Jurisdiction by its representatives;" that Pike's Book of the Words was ready for distribution;" and notified the Inspectors General that the meeting place for the Session of the Supreme Council in 1872 had been changed from San Francisco to Louisville." The Grand Commander also indicated that the persecution of ex‑Confederates had not yet died out in the nation's capital when he wrote: "It is a hard world for a rebel to live in."" The final letter of preparation for the 1872 Session of the Supreme Council was a circular sent out on April 2, 1872, regarding nominations for Knight Commander of the Court of Honour. Since this was the first of its kind, it is quoted in full.
Dear and Ill.'. Bro.'.
By the terms of the statute creating the Court of Honour, each InpsectorGeneral, active member of the Supreme Council, will have the right, at the coming session of the first Monday of May next, to nominate two Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret, and each Grand Consistory to nominate one, to receive the rank and honour of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour.
Each Bro.'. so nominating Princes to be decorated with the said rank and honour is required by the statute "to take care to nominate no one who has not by zeal, devotion and active service, deserved well of the Ancient and Accepted Rite." It will, therefore, in each case, be necessary to make known to the Supreme Council what services have been rendered, and' what zeal and devotion have been displayed. For, without the said rank and dignity, no one can become a 33d; and unless that degree is hereafter given for real, actual and distinguished zeal, energy and devotion, and for actual and valuable services, as well as in consideration of high personal character, of intelligence, and of cultivation of the intellect by study, it will soon become as common and as cheap as the commonest and cheapest of Masonic degrees.
4s Circular Letter, August 23, 1871; March 6, 1872. 4s J. W. Murton to Albert Pike, December 14, 1871. 50 Josiah Drummond to Albert Pike, March 10, 1872. 51 Circular Letter, March 10, 1872.
52 Ibid., March 11, 1872; April 2, 1872.
53 Albert Pike to John H. Howe, February 28, 1872.
66 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION Any honorary Sov.'. Gr.'. Insp.'. General, possessing like claims, may be invested with the same rank and dignity. I have to request you to be prepared to give your brethren of the Supreme Council information as to the services and claims of these and the Princes of your State.
We have too many of both, who, having early attained their high rank, have since been utterly useless, through indolence, apathy or indifference, steadily deserving ill and not well of the Order. So far as my single vote will go, no such Prince or Hon.'. Insp.'. General shall ever receive the rank and dignity of Knight Commander; for when it comes to be given to those who have not deserved it, it will cease to be any value to those who have deserved it well.
If you should not be able to attend the session, I beg you to furnish me with information in regard to the services and zeal of such Princes of the R.'. S.'. and Hon.'. 33ds in your State, as may, in your opinion, deserve‑having by faithful devotion earned it,‑the rank and honour of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour.
At Louisville, Kentucky, on May 6, 1872, the Supreme Council opened its regular Biennial Session with fifteen Sovereign Grand Inspectors General present. Three Active Members of the Supreme Council had died since the meeting in 1870: B. B. French, Giles M. Hillyer and John J. Worsham; three sent excuses for non‑attendance that were accepted; one sent in a resignation from Active Membership; and two were unaccounted for: John C. Ainsworth for Oregon and Achille R. Morel for Louisiana.
Grand Commander Pike opened his Allocution with a review of world condtions and the status of Freemasonry therein; his general conclusion was that the situation appeared to be encouraging. He next gave his attention to the ravages by death in the past two years expressing his deep regret at these losses. The official thanks of the Grand Commander were then expressed to the Knights Templar of Louisville for their assistance, and he paid a tribute to York Rite Masonry. Pike then launched into a report of activities and his recommendations as follows: The enactment of a statute to govern the mode of filling vacancies in offices during the recess of the Supreme Council.
A report of his trips to Iowa, Maryland, Georgia and South Carolina.
A report on dispensations granted which he closed by stating that he wished he had no such power.
67 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
He observed that it was his opinion that the creation of particular Consistories was a mistake and that those in existence should be converted into Councils of Kadosh.
Reported that neither Deputy Schwarzman or the Secretary General had been able to establish the Rite in North Carolina, and recommended that the Deputy Commission to Schwarzman should be recalled.
Reported the appointment of John S. Driggs as Deputy for Florida, that he had accomplished nothing and that the commission should be recalled.
Recommended that the charter of the dormant Consistory at Natchez, Mississippi, should be recalled, and also those of the Bodies in Memphis except that of the recently formed Lodge of Perfection.
Announced the appointment of Deputies as follows: Abraham E. Frankland for West Tennessee George S. Blackie for East and Middle Tennessee Sterling Y. MacMasters for Minnesota Odell Squier Long for Western Virginia Edwin A. Sherman for Territories Outlined the decisions he had made during the past two years.
Expressed a desire to have the Rituals translated into French, Spanish and German.
Offered some comments on the newly authorized Court of Honour.
Recommended that the fey for the 33' be abolished.
Stated that all printing bills would soon be paid and recommended that the Supreme Council undertake: to build a "Sanctuary" in Washington, D. C. to establish an interest bearing "Charity Fund" Reviewed relations with Foreign Supreme Councils with the general observation that such relations were satisfactory.
68 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION For the remainder of the Session the Supreme Council proceeded with the usual and routine business. Accomplishments included the following items: Assumption of payment of the $2,000 advanced to Pike for printing expenses by Robert Toombs.
Letters of Constitution granted to Buist Council, Princes of Jerusalem, Charleston, South Carolina.
Election of forty‑two nominees to receive the Rank and Decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour.
Robert Toombs elected 33' and Active Member for Georgia.
Wm. Edward Leffingwell elected to receive the Grand Cross of the Court of Honour.
T. S. Parvin elected Grand Minister of State.
Frederick Webber elected Treasurer General.
Office of Grand Auditor created and Samuel M. Todd elected to that office.
Salary of the Secretary General was raised to $1,500 annually.
A. T. C. Pierson dropped from the roll of Honorary Inspectors General.
Five brethren were nominated to receive the 33░ Honorary, election to be held in 1874.
Two Brethren were nominated for Active Membership to be acted upon in 1874.
Deputies appointed: Isaac Bateman for Nevada; Robert W. Furnas for Nebraska.
Resignation of Inspector General Robert C. Jordan accepted.
Grand Commander Pike authorized to visit Europe as Legate of Supreme Council.
Approved the acts of the Sovereign Grand Commander while Supreme Council was in recess.
69 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
Authorized construction of "Sanctuary" when all debts were paid and $20,000 had been accumulated and appointed a committee to plan same.
Authorized the creation of a "Charity Fund" when "Sanctuary" was completed.
Statutes adopted On powers of Sovereign Grand Commander during recess of Supreme Council Vacancies in offices to be filled by appointment of Grand Commander ad interim until next Session of Supreme Council Requiring visiting Scottish Rite Masons to show Patent before admission etc.
Grand Commander's decisions made a part of the General Regulations Hereafter, no statute to be adopted at the meeting it was proposed and making a two‑thirds majority vote necessary for passage.
Grand Commander given authority to nominate for Rank and Decoration of Knight Commander of Court of Honour, regulating other nominations, and specifying that vote on the nominations should take place on the second day of the Biennial Session.
Reports of officers, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, and Deputies of the Supreme Council were received.
$150 appropriated for steel engraving of Grand Commander Pike to be inserted in next issue of Transactions.
No investiture of Knight Commander of Court of Honour until all fees due the Supreme Council were paid.
Lodge of Sorrow was convened.
Action of Grand Consistory of Louisiana in dropping three Honorary 33░ members from roll approved and the same were dropped from the Supreme Council roll.
$500 additional salary for Secretary General for years 1871 and 1872 appropriated.
Secretary General authorized to buy office furniture not to exceed $350.
Dues remitted Minnesota Council, Princes of Jerusalem and Chapter, Rose Croix; Mobile Bodies 70 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION Rulings approved that of Grand Commander that Honorary 33░ members have all rights and prerogatives of Active Members in Sessions of the Supreme Council except those expressly denied to them by Statutes that of Committee on Jurisprudence that the Grand Consistory can confer only the 31░ and 32░; issue Patents of Constitution to Bodies 4░ to 30░ inclusive; that Grand Commander‑in‑Chief has these same powers during recess of the Grand Consistory; and that neither has power to communicate or confer 4░ to 30░ inclusive that of Special Committee that Honorary Inspectors General retain all prerogative and privileges when moving from one state to another in the Jurisdiction Charters withdrawn of Bodies at Memphis except that of recently created Lodge of Perfection; of all Bodies that do not pay delinquent dues within 60 days Special report on situation in Missouri adopted Resolutions adopted Council of Administration to designate meeting place in 1874 giving O. S. Long more time to receive 33░ withdrawing Deputy Commission of Edwin A. Sherman referring some proposed Statutes to Council of Administration accepting resignation of Andres Cassard as Honorary 33░ refusing to recognize Andres Cassard as representative of the Supreme Council of Uruguay withdrawing exequatur to Andres Cassard electing five distinguished members of other Supreme Councils as Honorary Members of the Supreme Council thanking Matthew Cook of London for music thanking Thomas Cripps of New Orleans for music thanking Professor Winkler for providing music at Memphis Lodge of Sorrow 71 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
authorizing Grand Commander Pike to publish music selected by him thanking Grand Consistory of Kentucky, Union Lodge of Perfection No. 3, Knights Templar of Louisville for assistance, Falls City Lodge, Directors of Masonic Home for Widows and Orphans, Masonic Temple Association, Louisville, Broadway Methodist Church for music during Lodge of Sorrow, and railroad companies for granting half‑fare rates to members of Supreme Council The Supreme Council was closed on May 11, 1872, with the usual ceremonies." In striking contrast to the two years between the meeting of the Supreme Council in 1870 and 1872, the period between the Sessions of 1872 and 1874 was relatively inactive.
The first letter to emanate from the Supreme Council after the Session of 1872 was that of Secretary General Mackey on June 1, 1872, quoting the new statute that required a Scottish Rite Mason, after May 1, 1873, to present his Patent before gaining admission as a visitor into a body of the Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction. The letter also outlined the procedure for acquiring a Patent, gave the rate of charges for the various patents, and listed the data that must be provided for its preparation." Although today such procedure has become routine, in 1872, this legislation represented a policy matter of major importance in the organizational structure of the Rite and its membership accounting system.
On June 15, 1872, Grand Commander Pike and his committee on the building of a "Sanctuary" released a letter from which the following is selected: The Supreme Council ... deemed that the time had come when it could engage in . . . the acumulation of a fund for the erection of a Home and Sanctuary ... and for the relief of the widows and the support and education of the orphans of deceased Brethren.... and therefore has adopted the following Statute....
1. Resolved, That the Supreme Council ought to build . . . a Sanctuary in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, . . . upon the cash principle, and after all its debts are fully ... discharged.
2. Resolved, That the proceeds of the sales of the Books . . . be devoted, after the debts are paid, to the purchase of a suitable site and erection of a suitable building for the purposes aforesaid.....
54 Transactions, Supreme Council, S. I., 1872, pp. 3‑163. 55 Official Bulletin, 11, 16‑17.
72 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION 3. Resolved, That in order to raise funds ... the Committee hereinafter named be authorized, . . . to issue stock, . . . receivable for all dues to the Supreme Council, and also to invite donations ... from the Brethren and others....
4. Resolved, That as soon as the sum of $20,000 shall have accumulated ... or so much thereof as may be necessary, shall be devoted to the purchase of a suitable site in the city of Washington for said Sanctuary.
5. Resolved, That while the Supreme Council would not encourage extravagance . . . a proper regard to the best architectural taste should be paid by said Committee, and a building erected worthy of the Mother‑Council of the World....
6. Resolved, That . . . the Committee shall . . . before committing the Supreme Council to a contract, the plan of the building and its cost shall be reported to the Supreme Council for its approval.
7. Resolved, That said Committee, after accumulating a sufficient fund for the Sanctuary . . . shall, from the same sources, . . . husband a Charity fund till the same shall amount to $100,000, when the annual interest may be appropriated to aid the widows and orphans of members of our Rite; and . . . an overplus of interest.... shall be added to the principal....
8. Resolved, That ... the Committee hereinafter appointed should look carefully into our right under the Charter of Incorporation from the State of South Carolina, to hold real estate in the District, and if there be any doubt upon the subject, said Committee is hereby instructed to apply to Congress for an Act incorporating Trustees to hold the same for the Supreme Council, and also to manage the Charity fund aforesaid.
9. Resolved, That Ill.'. Bro.'. Albert Pike, Ill.'. Bro.'. Thomas A. Cummingham, and Ill.'. Bro.'. John R. McDaniel, be a permanent Committee to carry into effect the two schemes of a Sanctuary and a Charity fund as herein provided.
The Supreme Council is the proprietor of the following books.... Rituals of the Degrees, from the 1st to 32d. 6 vols.
Ceremonies of Constitution of Bodies and Installation of Officers, from the Lodge of Perfection to the Consistory. 5 vols.
Ceremonies of Baptism, Reception of Louveteau and Adoption. 1 vol. Funeral Ceremony and Offices of Lodge of Sorrow. 1 vol.
Grand Constitutions, old edition, and new edition, greatly enlarged. 1 vol. Morals and Dogma of the Rite. 1 vol.
And Parts I., III., IV. and V of the Liturgy, which will be published during the present summer and coming fall. 4 vols.
In addition to 200 copies Transactions of 1868, 500 copies Transactions of 1870, and 200 copies of the Bulletin of the Supreme Council, Vol. 1 It has paid for all the printing hitherto done, and ... the fund to arise from the sales of books will soon begin to accumulate.
73 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
An admirable site for the Sanctuary, having 75 feet front, with ample depth, is offered to the Committee, in the City of Washington, within half a square of the building of the Department of the Interior, and of that of the Post Office Department, upon a quite and pleasant street, of residences only.
It is not the purpose of the Supreme Council to erect a building ... to be wholly devoted to the uses of the ... Supreme Council, and, at moderate rent, the bodies of our Rite at the City of Washington. . . . .
The cost of the site and the building will probably be not far from $70,000.....
The shares of stock are fixed at $10 each .... ... and these will be receivable in payment for books purchased, for charters, and patents, and for any dues to the Supreme Council.
No debt will be created, . . . . No stock will be issued except to those who subscribe moneys ... or to be received in part payment of the cost of the ground, or of work done, or materials furnished for the building; ....
The value of the ground and building will, unquestionably, increase with the growth and increase of the city, and the shares of stock will, of course, increase in the same proportion; ... profit being an increase in the value of the stock.
All the surplus funds of the Supreme Council, . . . will be received by the Committee, and put at interest, to accumulate. Donations in aid of this fund are also earnestly solicited. The Committee hope to live long enough to see it so accumulate, as that the interest will be available . . . and with it the widows of the Brotherhood be saved from distress and humiliation and its orphans rescued from want, ignorance and vice.
With this please receive a subscription paper for stock, and exert yourself to have as many shares subscribed for as possible. ....
Please find also a subscription paper for the Charity fund, to which it is hoped that the Bodies of the Rite as well as individual Brethren will contribute, . . . it will be impartially dispensed throughout the whole Jurisdiction. All contributions and donations will be suitably acknowledged and registered, . . . those who are benefited ... may know ... their benefactors." Nothing survives to indicate that any response was made to this appeal. Grand Commander Pike reported to the Supreme Council on May 4, 1874, as follows: "I regret to have to say that so little has been effected towards the objects of building a Sanctuary and creating a permanent fund for Charity, that it is little amiss to call it nothing."" 56Ibid., 17‑20.
57 Transactions, Supreme Council, S. I., 1874, Appendix A, 24.
74 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION During the Session of the Supreme Council in May, 1872, some Statutes and resolutions were referred to the Council of Administration for "determination". The Council of Administration, on July 30, 1872, completed the work left to it and published its action shortly thereafter. The new Statutes, Article XXIX, sections 7, 8 and 9, had the effect of abolishing Councils of Princes of Jerusalem as independent bodies and making the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Degrees a part of the Chapter of Rose Croix. Article XVIII, section 15, made it possible for Grand Consistories to "excuse its subordinates from the payment of dues to itself, from Brethren who have attained the Thirty‑second Degree".
The five resolutions adopted by the Council of Administration provided: 1. James Bennett Gibbs to receive the Degrees of the Rite as an Honorarium; 2. the Grand Commander authorized to present recognized Supreme Councils with copies of Morals and Dogma and Grand Constitutions of the Rite and to loan a copy of the Rituals "to Ill. ' . Bro. ' . Robert Marshall, 33d, Deputy of the Supreme Council of England and Wales for new Brunswick; 3. the Grand‑Commander authorized to procure and present Grand Representative Jewels to those officers near the Grand and Supreme Bodies of Hungary, Sweden and Norway, and Denmark; 4. that $5.00 he added to the fee for the degrees and that a copy of Morals and Dogma be "handed" to each candidate thereafter (it was advised that the next edition of Morals and Dogma be divided into four parts, one for each body of the Rite, and that candidates be advanced only after becoming familiar with the part bearing upon the prerequisite body) ; and 5. a recommendation that no body of the Rite afterwards created be permitted to begin labor until it had acquired three copies of the Ritual of its Degrees, with the Secret Work and three copies of the published Liturgy of the same, one copy of Morals and Dogma, and three copies of the Funeral Ceremony and Offices of the Lodge of Sorrow, that Grand Consistories provide themselves with the same number of copies of complete Rituals, Secret Work and Liturgy." One of Grand Commander Pike's letters dated March 24, 1872, reveals his thinking about progression in the Scottish Rite Degrees. The pertinent portions read as follows: The manufacturing of great numbers of 32ds in haste is an unmitigated evil, without any corresponding benefit at all. There is not one among twenty who have gone at a bound, as it were, from Secret Master to Prince of the Royal Secret, in all the jurisdiction, who takes the least interest in the work of the various bodies. I find this universal every where.....
ss Official Bulletin, II, 21‑22.
75 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
We have too many 32ds now. We make that degree too cheap, and the others worthless, when we rush through them.... It is not as great an evil to multiply 32ds as to multiply 33ds but it is pretty near it. We have stopped one; and I am for stopping another.
... The fact that you have twice too many 32ds in Iowa is the very reason for barring more....
Next, I am opposed to local Consistories, and can no more help to fill one up, than I could consent to the making of a new one. It will not do to have them every where, making 32ds. If one is likely to die out, I am glad of it. I wish they all would: and I thought the Grand Consistory of Iowa had killed them all.
I have solemnly and firmly resolved that I will never consent again, in any case, to giving the 32d degree until the expiration of one year from the receipt of the 30th and then only upon B B.'. who have worked, faithfully in the Subordinate bodies. The only exception I will make, which is establishing the Rite in a new jurisdiction, when I will limit the number of those to receive the 32░ to two or three. I am sure that it is the only wise course to pursue.
The Councils of Kadosh are the Commanderies of the Knights of the Holy House of the Temple. The 31░ & 32░ are the judicial and governing degrees and ought to be given in Grand Consistories alone. 'I The effect of this letter in Iowa is not left entirely to conjecture. Late in 1872, Pike wrote as follows: What is the matter with all of you in Iowa? ....
If you or they are in any way miffed at anything I have done or said, tell me the cause, and I will make prompt amends." It may be that the criticism in the Grand Commander's letter was responsible for the "resignation of nearly all the officers" of the Lyons Bodies early in 1873. There was also a sharp decline in the number of candidates that received the degree of Master of the Royal Secret. From 1869 to 1873, 111 candidates had received the 32░ in DeMolay Consistory at Lyons; during the next four years, 1873‑1877, only twenty‑six candidates received the 32░ in that Consistory." Parvin's letters to Pike have not survived but a Pike letter reveals Parvin's thoughts in these words: I note what you write as to the prospects in Iowa, and the impossibility of maintaining the Rite there on any other System than that of dispensing with delays 59 Albert Pike to T. S. Parvin, March 24, 1872. 60 Ibid., November 20, 1872.
si DeMolay Consistory, 7‑8.
76 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION and making 32ds in a week out of Master Masons. I am convinced that it is this very System that has ruined our Rite in Iowa, as it has wherever else it has been tried. And if the bodies in Iowa can only sustain themselves by manufacturing 32ds "in short on the record", I think it might as well die out. You have now more 32ds than any State in the jurisdiction, and can hardly get a quorum of the Grand Consistory. There is virtually only one body at Lyons, working the degrees from 4 to 32, and having given the 32d until they owe the Grand Consistory $1,500, and put all they have received in their Temple, they want to make more, and more, and more, to enable them to thrive: and all the time they virtually charge, I believe, less than half the regular and legal fee.
If we cannot begin at the bottom, build up Lodges of Perfection and have work done in them, and by slow degrees build on them the new bodies, we cannot make the Rite of any value. Make the degrees hard to get, and men will go any reasonable distance to get them. Let it be understood that all can be had together, and none are valued. You have already more 32ds in Iowa than there are in England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium and (I believe) France, together.
Look at Ohio, under the Iowa System. All the work is done at Cincinnati, and there are no bodies, or hardly any, elsewhere in the great State. I would plant a Lodge of Perfection in every town where nine good Master Masons would organize and work, and so have a Masonic people in the Rite, and not all Princes." The conclusion seems inescapable that a conflict of opposing views had developed regarding eligibility for the Scottish Rite degrees and progression from one group of degrees to the next. The outcome of this philosophic conflict might determine whether the Scottish Rite would survive or perish; certainly, whether it would be small in number, weak financially, aristocratic in character and consequently of little influence in the social structure or become numerous, affluent, democratic and a major force in Americcn national life. It is doubtful that these alternatives were recognized at this period in the history of the Rite.
On April 13, 1872, Anto. De S. Ferreira, Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of Peru, addressed a letter to Grand Commander Albert Pike urging him, as the head of "the oldest [Supreme Council] in the Masonic world", to issue an invitation to all recognized Supreme Councils to convene in a Congress for the interchange of ideas on problems of general interest. Pike had long felt the need for such a Congress and on December 16, 1872, proposed that the Congress meet in sa Albert Pike to T. S. Parvin, February 8, 1874.
77 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
Washington, D. C'., on the second Monday in May, 1874. His letter indicated that the following topics should be discussed Recognition of bodies claiming to be supreme Measures to counteract indiscreet publications Multiplication of Supreme Councils in limited jurisdictions Lavish conferral of the 33' Low figures set for degree fees Differences of Work Relations of Supreme Councils to other Bodies Relations of Supreme Councils with Grand Bodies of other Degrees Improvement of exchange, of proceedings Unity of action in resisting aggressions Examination of "existing controversies and questions as to supremacy of jurisdiction"." 3 It may be assumed that the response to the call for the Congress was unfavorable, because it did not take place. It can be said, however, that the letter served a useful purpose in that it identified the major problems of concern to Supreme Councils and probably caused more caution to be generally exercised in the fields of possible conflict between them.
By the year 1873, the development of the Rite had reached the point where suspension for non‑payment of dues and restoration must be given serious consideration. Grand Commander Pike was requested to rule upon the legality of the provision in the By‑Laws of Yerba Buena Lodge of Perfection governing restoration after suspension for non‑payment of dues, and in doing so, wrote a brief essay reflecting a a phase of the transition in thought as follows: Suspension is temporary deprivation of rights and privileges.
It is of two kinds, because Masons have rights, in two characters, of two kinds.
lst. Rights as Masdns, possessed by Masons at large, who have either never been members of a Lodge or other body, or who have ceased to belong to any.
2d. Rights dependent on membership in a body, and growing out of that membership.
Also there are correlative duties of two kinds: those arising out of the simple character of Mason, and the obligations assumed as such; and those arising out of membership in a particular body.
sa Official Bulletin, II. 10‑14.
78 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION And also there are offences of two kinds: one of violations of obligations assumed in receiving the degrees, and of neglect or omission of performance of simply Masonic duties; and one of like faults or omissions or neglect of duty as member of a body.
It might be difficult to enumerate the duties that devolve upon a Mason before any constituted Lodges existed. And it is not doubted that other and higher duties are assumed by Masons, as Masons, now, than were assumed a century and a half ago. Nor is it to be doubted that there are other duties created by the relations of the members of Lodges, as such, than those which are enumerated in the obligations.
Neither is it to be doubted that Masonic duties, other than those assumed by a Mason before he becomes a member of a body, may be and are created by becoming such a member; because the non‑performance of them may constitute Masonic unworthiness. At least in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, where men are obligated to performance of all the duties of life, neglect to perform any of those duties makes the offender masonically unworthy.
It is not to be doubted, therefore, that neglect, when one is unable, to pay the dues required by the Statutes of a Lodge of Perfection, in the absence of any sufficient excuse, and when one is put in default by proper steps taken, is Masonic unworthiness, and may, upon charges preferred, be punished as such, even by deprivation of all the rights and privileges of Masonry.
If so tried, and upon conviction suspended, i. e., temporarily deprived of such rights and benefits, he can only be restored by reversal or annulment of the judgement, by such vote, taken at such time, and after such preliminaries, as the Statutes of the Lodge shall have prescribed.
Therefore, in case of such a suspension, the latter clause question is valid.
of the Statute in Suspension from the rights growing out of membership (Whatever they may be), if a punishment for an offence or neglect of duty, must be effected in the same way, and the judgement and conviction woud be avoidable only in the same manner: for the offence, if one at all, constitutes Masonic unworthiness.
But the Statutes of a Lodge are the unanimous agreement of the members: lst, because in law every Statute is as much the act and resolution of those who voted against it as of those who voted for it; for they have agreed beforehand that it shall be so, if adopted by the requisite majority, at the proper time, after the proper preliminaries and in the proper manner; 2d, because every one who unites himself to a Lodge binds himself to obey and abide by its Statutes.
And there is nothing in the nature of the Association, or in the principles of Masonry, or in the Constitution, Regulations, Statutes, or Edicts of the Supreme Council, or of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, that forbids an agreement 79 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
among the Brethren forming a Lodge, embodied in a Statute, that any member, in default of regular and prompt payment of dues, shall stand suspended, ipso facto, from the privileges of membership.
There is no more reason why a member cannot be deprived temporarily of these, without trial, and ipso facto upon default, than there is in the case of any other association or body of men, because the rights are in their nature secular and not Masonic. . . . .
I am not called on to decide of what other rights a person so suspended is temporarily deprived; and need only say that such a suspension, without charges, trial, and conviction of unworthiness, can deprive the party of no right possessed by a Mason who has never been a member of a Lodge. His individual claims on individual Masons remain unaffected, and his suspension, not proving unworthiness, does not effect his standing elsewhere.
In the absence of a disposition to the contrary effect, such a suspension would ipso facto cease, when the default ceased, by payment of all arrearages. But it was perfectly competent for the Brethren to agree that it should, in any case, be submitted to the Lodge to say whether the rights of membership should be restored. For the neglect of Brethren to pay dues with regularity is calculated to embarrass the Lodge, to discredit it, to interfere with its usefulness, to diminish its charities, and to create dissension; and mere payment of arrearages, without excuse or apology offered and accepted for the default, and without assurance of future punctuality, does not atone for the incivility shown the Lodge, and the lack of interest in its well being.
The dues up to the date of suspension are a debt due the Lodge. Even if he should not be restored, the Brother owes these, and if he continues contumaciously to refuse to pay them, he may be dealt with for unworthiness. But from the day of suspension no dues accrue against him unless he is restored. If not restored, there is no claim against him, on that score. If he pays them, and is not restored, they should be returned to him. If he tenders them, and is not restored, they should not be received; and if the Lodge does receive them and retain them, this will of itself operate a restoration, as otherwise the Lodge would have taken them from him wrongfully, and it cannot be heard to deny that he has been restored, in that case. It would be to plead its own wrong, and it is estopped.'I In this decision, Grand Commander Pike is in the position of looking backward over his shoulder at the old concept that "once a Mason, always a Mason", in or out of a Lodge, while at the same time embracing the principle that there can be no Masonic identity except within the bounds of an organized Masonic body.
64 Ibid., 7‑9.
80 FIVE YEARS OF CREEPING STABILIZATION Other documents of this period reveal that Pike visited in St. Louis for ten days and while there, established "a splendid Lodge of Perfection" and in a three hour conference with Frank Gouley, resolved all the questions of controversy about the Scottish Rite ritual with him. They show also that Pike disclaimed that Scottish Rite Masonry detracted from the York Rite; that the first edition of Morals and Dogma was nearly exhausted; that the remaining Liturgies could not be printed for lack of funds; that Pike had refused to permit the sale of books in quantities at reduced prices; and that the question of removing Inspector General E. H. Shaw, who had moved out of the Jurisdiction, had been raised." This period in the history of the Supreme Council has been characterized as one of "Creeping Stabilization" because little growth or new developments took place and because fixed policy on old and sometimes chronic problems emerged but slowly. This latter statement applies to fraternal relations with Grand Masonic Bodies, ritualistic controversy, inefficiency in the office of Secretary General, the collection of fees and dues owed to the Supreme Council, the defining of the powers of an Inspector General and the propagation of the Rite. The term also implies the difficulty of reaching a stabilized administrative level, either because of the nature of the problems or because of the external conditions surrounding the Supreme Council and its activities. It also indicates that progress was being made toward the formulation of a satisfactory administrative system for the Rite from the abstract principles contained in its philosophy.
65 Albert Pike to T. S. Parvin, November 20, 1872; Official Bulletin, 11, 14; Albert Pike to Frederick Webber, March 1, 1873; June 27, 1873; Albert Pike to T. S. Parvin, February 8, 1874.
CHAPTER III SIX YEARS OF ECONOMIC DEPRESSION 1874‑1879 A general review of the years 1872, 1873 and the early part of 1874 does not reveal any great internal problems in Scottish Rite Masonry. However, there was an undercurrent of discontent, and there were social, economic and political problems, national in scope, that were somber in hue and certainly were adversely affecting the Rite in this period. At no previous time in American history were the problems of proverty, disease, crime, immorality and class struggle more universal and more acute than in these years. Ruthless exploitation of labor, the farmer, the consumer and the public generally characterized the economic system. Industrial magnates operated above and outside the law, corrupted government officials, high and low, and practiced cannibalism on a scale probably never equaled before in human experience. In government and politics, republican forms survived but effective democracy did not exist‑the corruption of the Radical governments in the South was equaled only by that which existed in the remaining states of the Union. A combination of these factors produced the Panic of 1873 that began with the failure of Jay Cooke and Company on September 18, 1873, and inaugurated a major economic depression of six years duration.
The general atmosphere was one of profound discouragement when the Supreme Council opened its Session in Washington, D. C., on May 4, 1874. Attendance on the Session was very poor, only seven of the twenty Active Members and only four Honorary Members were present. The first item of business was the presentation of Grand Commander Pike's Allocution which opened with the declaration that the titles and offices in the Scottish Rite were accepted with "solemn pledges ... for faithful service," and asserting that, "We have in our Rituals and Lectures the means by which ... to make men wiser and better, and to bless society and the land in which we live." Pike expressed the belief that the Rite "could only grow slowly"; that it would never be "popular"; that to confer the degrees cheaply and the "high degrees" commonly would make them "worthless". A tribute was then paid to the distinguished dead of the Scottish Rite.
Obviously conscious of the rising tide of criticism of established policies, from within and without the membership of the Rite, much time was devoted to a discussion 83 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
of the "Condition of the Rite". The Grand Commander endeavored to sustain the position he had assumed on the establishment of new bodies, on acceptable candidates and on progression in the degrees after the acceptance of petitions and offered his rebuttal, in advance, of some criticism of these positions which he knew would appear in the reports of the Sovereign Grand Inspectors General upon the following day. He began his discussion as follows: Looking only upon the surface, and judging only by the increase or decrease of initiates and bodies, one would without hesitation pronounce the condition of the Rite unprosperous in this jurisdiction, and if profoundly interested in it, be disheartened. The number of initiates has only here and there increased, and nowhere largely; few new bodies have been formed, and many have become dormant or died, and our revenues have been far less than in some former years.
In some parts of the jurisdiction the Rite has made progress during the last two years. In some, it has retrograded. In more, it is stationary. But if its former prosperity was only apparent, in great measure, and its increase mere inflation and intumescence, diseased and not natural and healthy, its shrinkage is the evidence of returning health and real and hearty vigor.
Its condition has not been sound or healthy, but I think it is becoming so. It grew too rapidly, where it is now contracting its dimensions, and the dead limbs are dropping off: and this is but the natural consequence of the old and vicious system of propagating it by hurried communication of all the degrees in a few days, and the creation‑of the several bodies at once, in the same place. Wherever this has been done, the result has been loss of interest in the work, and the bodies have for the most part become dormant. Such was the result in Savannah and Columbus, Georgia, and Richmond, Virginia, . . . all over Iowa, ... to a great extent, throughout California.... in Baltimore and Mobile, and in Arkansas and Tennessee and Nebraska.
What excuse can there be for us, if we commit the folly and wrong of teaching aspirants to believe that these inestimable degrees are not worth the trouble of reading or hearing even once? I suppose that of the 32ds in our jurisdiction there is not one in every ten . . . who really knows anything about the Rite.... I am sorry to say it, but it is certainly true that in parts of our jurisdiction the Princes of the Royal Secret are the most utterly useless of all the Brethren of the Rite . . .
It was time to give a different system fair trial, and we have done so. The Rite can have no stability or solidity or true prosperity, unless the higher bodies are created upon the firm' and broad foundation of flourishing Lodges of Perfection ... [Here followed explanations of experiments along these lines conducted in Washington, D. C., Minneapolis and Montgomery.] 84 SIX YEARS OF ECONOMIC DEPRESSION I am thoroughly convinced that there is no real and true prosperity for the Rite in any other system than that of the multiplication of Lodges of Perfection, and the creation by that means of a Masonic people of the Rite....
.... The degrees of the Lodge of Perfection are a series of moral lessons, all inculcating duty in all the relations of life. In this jurisdiction they do not rely for their impressiveness upon machinery and scenic pomp and costly disguises, which make it impossible to maintain Lodges elsewhere than in here and there a city, but upon quite another means which involve the necessity for little expense; on simple and yet impressive ceremonies, wise lessons and serious vows; and may be conferred in any ordinary Lodgeroom.
It is my counsel to you, therefore, and to those who after us shall control the Rite, to build it up everywhere upon Lodges of Perfection.
Continuing his analysis of the situation in the jurisdiction, Pike pointed to the sound strength in Oregon where Ainsworth had followed the pattern which he was advocating and contrasted it with the "impoverished and sickly" condition in Washington Territory. Then bluntly, almost brutally, the Grand Commander reviewed the situation and the leadership of the Rite in the remaining states and territories advising freely the recall of Deputy Commissions and the pruning away of Honorary Inspectors General and Princes of the Royal Secret who were inactive. The lashing of Active Members of the Supreme Council for sluggishness and lack of wisdom was tempered only mildly.
It was then announced that jewels of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour, Grand Cross, Prince of the Royal Secret and Grand Representative had been designed and manufactured and that those authorized to be presented by the Supreme Council had been delivered to the recipients. Authorization was requested to send Grand Representative jewels to those officers near the Supreme Councils of Belgium, Scotland, Italy, Greece and "to some" South American Councils.
(See Illustrations on page 86) Further reports included the settlement of the controversy with Frank Gouley and the revision of the Rituals to conform to the Supreme Council resolution passed in 1872; the completion of the Secret Work started by Hillyer before his death; the payment of funds appropriated for bringing the "Book of Gold" up to date; the necessity of an aecounting with the Secretary General for books delivered to Inspectors and Deputies; the failure to adequately enforce the regulation requiring visitors to show their Patents before permitting visitations to Bodies; the lack of funds for completion of the printing of the Liturgies of the "Blue degrees and those from 15th 85 SIX YEARS OF ECONOMIC DEPRESSION to the 32nd;" the printing of over 6,500 pages of materials since 1865; and that printing bills should be paid. The Supreme Council was informed that all of their Rituals except that of the 18' had been adopted for use by the Rite in Canada, and that the Ritual and Secret Work of the Lodge of Perfection had been translated into German which should be published as soon as funds were available. Pike expressed his desire to continue the publication of the Bulletin and commented that it might be necessary to discontinue the historical portions unless subscriptions could be increased. He also mentioned that he had prepared a monograph on Masonic symbolism and compiled a history of Freemasonry in Europe that he would like to publish if money were available. This section of the Allocution was brought to a close with the regretful announcement that practically nothing had been accomplished toward raising money for a Sanctuary and Charity fund.
The Grand Commander then began a discussion of "Foreign Relations". It opened with a report on the proposed Congress of representatives of Supreme Councils. He stated that no agreement could be reached as to location of the site for the Congress nor could a firm commitment of attendance be secured from more than half the total number of Supreme Councils. The proposal had been, for the time, withdrawn.
Pike summarized the topic of "Foreign Relations" in these words Our relations with Foreign Powers, excepting only the Grand Orient of France, are entirely satisfactory. The ties existing two years ago have been strengthened and new ones have been formed, and with many of the Powers we are upon terms of cordial and intimate friendship.
Although relations with Foreign Powers were termed "satisfactory", the Grand Commander, in the reports on various Supreme Councils, took occasion to be indirectly critical of some of their actions. His summary of the growth of the Rite in the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States coupled with comments on this same subject in Scotland and England and Wales leave no doubt existing that the rapid expansion of the membership of the Rite in the Northern Jurisdiction was displeasing to the Grand Commander. Other practices in the Northern Jurisdiction did not meet with Pike's approval and he offered some suggestions which he stated "are worthy of dispassionate consideration by our Northern Brethren". It was "unwise" for the Supreme Council of England and Wales to retain jurisdiction over any Chapters of Rose Croix in the Dominion of Canada after the formation of a Supreme Council for Canada, Pike commented. The Grand Orient of France was declared never to have been "a legitimate Power of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite". The Supreme Councils 87 SIX YEARS OF ECONOMIC DEPRESSION of England and Wales and Switzerland, the Grand Orient of Nueva Granada, and the Grand Lodge of Sweden and Norway were indirectly upbraided for having replied, even in the negative, to an invitation to attend the centennial anniversary celebration of the Grand Orient of France. An outline of the Masonic situation in Brazil was brought to a close with criticism of the Northern Supreme Council and its Grand Commander for not extending recognition to the legitimate body in Brazil.
A brief review of decisions rendered during the two preceding years and a restatement of the evil resulting from the omission of the lessons and moral teachings of the degree work as unimportant closed the Allocution! The second day of the Session of the Supreme Council in 1874 opened with the announcement of the membership of the Standing Committees. Reports from the Grand Chancellor, Secretary General, Treasurer General and Inspectors General were then received.
The report of the Grand Chancellor outlined efforts made to bring about the meeting of the Congress that Grand Commander Pike has proposed, and the correspondence with the Supreme Council of England, Wales, and the Dependencies of Great Britain regarding the formation of a Supreme Council in the Dominion of Canada. This latter correspondence raised the question of recognition of the Canadian Supreme Council, if it should be formed, by the Mother Council of the World. The Grand Chancellor did not recommend any action but left the impression that he favored the formation and recognition of the Canadian Supreme Council.
The Secretary General's report itemized receipts totaling $3,218.25 from all sources during the two years, disbursements of $2,910.10, and showed an amount due the Supreme Council of $307.45.
The Treasurer General's report showed a balance in the treasury on May 1, 1872, of $1,591.28, monies received to January 13, 1873, totaling $5,880.83 and disbursements to December 23, 1872, totaling $6,761.86. A balance of $710.25 remained in the treasury as 1873 opened. Money paid into the treasury in 1873 amounted to $2,461.73; money paid out totaled $2,034.48. The balance of funds in the treasury on April 30, 1874, was reported to be $,137.50.
The Inspectors General for South Carolina, Henry Buist and Benjamin R. Campbell, reported that they had established no new Bodies of the Rite; that they did not 1 Transaction, Supreme Council, S. .I., 1874, Appendix A, 1‑69. 89 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
regard the extension of the Rite as the sole object to be kept in view; that they would not assent to the enlargement of the membership in South Carolina except to those "who possess character, intelligence and zeal"; and that the Lodge of Perfection and Chapter of Rose Croix in Charleston were "in a most flourishing condition".
Inspector General Frederick Webber of Kentucky reported that regular meetings of the existing Bodies in Kentucky had been held but that "little work" had been done. He also reported that no new Bodies had been formed, although efforts in this direction had been made. The remainder of his report was devoted to his analysis of the general situation of the Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction. In part, he wrote: ". . . I have been forcibly impressed with the conviction that there is 'something wanting' to make our Rite what it ought to be and what it is in the Northern Jurisdiction." This conclusion was followed by a number of observations that may be listed as follows "Money is scarce and men won't indulge in the Masonic luxury of our Rite." Opposition to the Rite is strong among prominent Masons.
There is apathy in the Scottish Rite not present in the York Rite.
Delays between the degrees of the Scottish Rite "often keep out good men" while in the York Rite they "are put through as they desire without any apparent detriment to the Order." Some Scottish Rite leaders are inactive.
Operation expenses of Scottish Rite Bodies are higher than York Rite Bodies.
"The great expense of furnishing rooms deters the small towns from undertaking the formation of Bodies." The 33' should be conferred more liberally to stimulate interest in the Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction, because the York Rite has the advantage in rewarding "labors faithfully performed." "It is claimed as an impossibility to commit the work to memory, there is so much of it." Webber closed his report by stating that he must devote more of his time in the future to private affairs and expressing the hope that he could resign in favor of someone with more time and means than he could bestow on what had been a "hobby" with him since he started the Rite in Kentucky in 1851.
The report of Inspector General J. C. Ainsworth of Oregon revealed that no new Bodies had been formed in the State but pointed out that the Bodies already formed 90 SIX YEARS OF ECONOMIC DEPRESSION were "reasonably healthy and prosperous". A tabulation of funds remitted to the Treasurer General totaled $1,668.75 and a similar tabulation showed that $510.00 had been remitted to the Secretary General since the Session of 1872. Ainsworth submitted his resignation as Sovereign Grand Inspector General because of "the responsibilities and care of a large business, that prevents the possibility of devoting the time and attention necessary to give due weight and influence to an Active Member". He nominated John McCraken to be his successor. The report was closed with two recommendations: 1. The consoldiation of the Northern and Southern Jurisdictions; 2. The abolition of commisssions to Active Members for communication of degrees.
Ainsworth transmitted the reports of James S. Lawson, Special Deputy for Washington Territory, to the Supreme Council. It consisted chiefly of an account of degrees communicated in Washington Territory under a dispensation from Ainsworth estimated to total twenty‑five. Lawson also reported that he had insisted upon "the utmost circumspection in the selection of material" for the degrees. Lawson's report does not indicate the causes of the castigation of Scottish Rite Masonry in Washington Territory contained in Grand Commander Pike's address to the Supreme Council.
The Inspectors General of Louisiana, James C. Batchelor, Samuel M. Todd and J. Q. A. Fellows, were not present at the ‑meeting of the Supreme Council. They did file a report supporting the accuracy of the report of James B. Scot, Grand Commander in Chief of the Grand Consistory of Louisiana, which was attached, and suggested that the meeting date of the Supreme Council be changed from May to the latter part of June, a time more convenient for Louisiana's representatives.
Scot's report pointed out that "little or no work" had been done in Louisiana; the organization of the Bodies had been maintained but that many of the subordinates were several years in arrears for dues; eight charters of Subordinate Bodies had been forfeited, one of which had been restored; and remarked "Peace reigns in the jurisdiction, but it is the peace of the desert". He then attributed the situation in Louisiana to the following causes Prostration of business The unsettled political condition The new degree rituals (Pike's) were not popular Degree fees were too high The interval between degrees was too long The "eighteenth and thirtieth" degrees alone ought to be conferred and the others communicated as "under the Laffon Rituals." 91 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
The report of Inspector General Wm. L. Mitchell of Georgia was brief. It contained a statement of funds collected and paid to the Supreme Council, $202.50, and the announcement of the formation of a Lodge of Perfection at Albany, Georgia, with fourteen members.
The Rite in Missouri was reported to be "moving, slowly it may be, yet still moving" by Inspector General Martin Collins who attributed this improvement to Grand Commander Pike's activity while visiting in Missouri. He then pointed out that one of the strongest desires of Masons who join the Scottish Rite "is to reach its summit". However, he asserted that members should attain "a fair degree of proficiency" before advancement should be permitted, otherwise it would be impossible "to maintain any working Bodies below the highest".
John Robin McDaniel, Inspector General in Virginia, rendered an account of funds collected and paid to the Supreme Council. He also stated: "It is a matter of much regret that the Rite makes such slow progress in our State." The "want of means with those who wish to Unite," the lack of means to fit up halls and obtain proper paraphenalia, and the "unfortunate" manner in which the Rite was introduced in Richmond were suggested as the reasons for the lagging of the Rite in Virginia.
The Inspector General for Iowa, T. S. Parvin, was absent from the Session but his report was submitted to the Supreme Council. The revival of the Bodies at Davenport was announced, and it was stated that activity had continued at Des Moines and Lyons but at a reduced pace in the latter city since the resignation of Wm. E. Leffingwell. Parvin then analyzed the lack of progress in Iowa by the Scottish Rite attributing the same to sparseness of population, to the great expense incurred in securing the degrees and to the inability of Bodies to reach sufficient size to be able to "secure the necessary outfit". At the conclusion of this part of his report, Parvin wrote I have no suggestive remedies to make, knowing full well that the obstacles are constitutional and permanent. Hence, I have lost, somewhat, the fervent hope I once entertained of seeing the Rite spread and cover the Masonic field of Iowa.
The financial difficulties of the Grand Consistory of Iowa, resulting from the inability of the Lyons Bodies to pay their dues after overextending themselves in building a Temple, were reported to the Supreme Council. Parvin then pointed out that the "dispensatory power as to time being withheld" the Lyons Bodies had been unable to secure "material at a distance ... upon which to work" whereby funds could be secured to discharge their obligations.
92 SIX YEARS OF ECONOMIC DEPRESSION Erasmus T. Carr, the Inspector General for Kansas, reported that his hopes for the formation of new Bodies in Kansas had not materialized and that he had not communicated any degrees since his last report. In discussing the situation in his Jurisdiction, he remarked that the once "strong feeling of opposition to the Rite" had "nearly disappeared". He also stated that he could have done a small amount of work had he been supplied with "the proper work". Carr pointed out that some prospects had "expressed great surprise" that the degree fees were so high and then quoted these prospects as saying "we can get them in Illinois or Ohio [states in the Northern Jurisdiction] for one half". Some Masons in Kansas had applied to Carr for permission to secure the Scottish Rite degrees in states of the Northern Jurisdiction, and he reported that he had refused all such requests. Efforts to found Bodies in "the Capitol of the State" had come to nought because of "hard times".
California's Inspector General, Thomas H. Caswell, made an optimistic report of the condition of the Rite in that state, especially in San Francisco. He also included a statement of degree fees collected by him, which totaled $1390, and the disposition that he had made of these funds.
In connection with California, it seems appropriate to observe that the state had been the chief financial support of the Supreme Council since the termination of the Civil War. California had been far from the major scenes of destruction that accompanied the War. Further, the exploitation of rich gold deposits had poured a steady stream of wealth into the economy of the state, some of which could be expended for the Scottish Rite degrees. However, gold attracts a daring breed of men ready to venture into a twilight zone of morality, culture and civilization which Freemasony seeks to destroy. Pike's ritual of the Fifteenth Degree proves beyond any question of doubt that he was aware of the possible degrading power of gold. Hence, his criticism of the rapid expansion of the Rite, for that period of time, in California which he had expressed in his Allocution at the Session 1874.
Inspector General T. A. Cunningham of Maryland expressed the opinion in his report that "there has been a marked improvement in the condition of the Rite in this State since the last session of our Council at Louisville". However, he reported that the only Lodge of Perfection in the State had been suspended but that a new Lodge of Perfection had been established for some months. He concluded his report by stating that he had received no money since his last report.
The report for Nevada was made by Deputy Isaac C. Bateman. He observed that his labors may not have been "as extensive as they should have been," and then sub 93 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
mitted a financial statement showing the conferral of degrees upon twenty candidates for a total of $1280 all of which had been remitted to the proper persons.
Special Deputy Wm. Cothran made a report of his activities in Mississippi. No new Bodies had been established and no old Bodies had been revived. He reported fees of $100 collected for degrees communicated to four candidates through the Lodge of Perfection and that he had remitted the same to the Treasurer General, less $25 commission. "Pecuniary embarrassments" in the state were said to have prevented further advancement of the Rite in Mississippi.
The reports of the Inspectors General and Deputies were referred to the Committee on Doings of Inspectors General and Special Deputies and the remainder of the second day was devoted to other matters as follows: Excuses for non‑attendance were received and accepted from eight Inspectors General.
The resignation of Inspector General Luke E. Barber of Arkansas was not accepted.
Six nominees were elected ‑to receive the 33' and Honorary Membership in the Supreme Council.
William Morton Ireland and Abraham Ephraim Frankland were elected to receive the Grand Cross.
Eight nominees were elected to the Rank and Decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour.
The resignation of Inspector General John C. Ainsworth of Oregon was accepted.
Six nominees were elected to Active Membership in the Supreme Council as follows John McCraken of Oregon William R. Bowen of Nebraska Alfred Elisha Ames of Minnesota John E. Reardon of Arkansas Abraham Ephraim Frankland of Tennessee Isaac C. Bateman of Nevada 94 SIX YEARS OF ECONOMIC DEPRESSION The Grand Commander withdrew the nomination, made in 1872, of Wm. E. Leffingwell of Iowa to receive the 3 3 ░ Honorary.
The Honorary 33' was then conferred upon the nominees just elected and afterwards Ames, McCraken and Frankland were crowned as Sovereign Grand Inspectors General. No further business being on the agenda, the Supreme Council was called off until the next day.
On the third day of the Session, May 6, 1874, eleven Inspectors General, three of whom had been crowned the day before, were in attendance. The first order of business was the report of the committee appointed to assign the several divisions of the Grand Commander's Allocution to the various committees for study. Immediately thereafter the Committee on the State of the Order consisting of Inspectors General John R. McDaniel and Alfred E. Ames and Honorary Member Nathaniel Levin made their report which was adopted. This report and its adoption was a complete victory for the policies of the Grand Commander over the criticisms that had been offered on the preceding day. This report was as follows Your Committee to whom was referred so much of the Sov.'. Gr.'. Com's.'. Allocution as relates to the "State of the Order," have carefully considered the same, and most heartily commend it, and cannot too earnestly recommend a rigid enforcement of the "Statutes," so that the suggestion of the Sov.'. Gr.'. Com.'. may be carried out, . . . and to that end they recommend the adoption of the following resolutions: 1. That it is expected of each Sov.'. Gr.'. Inspector‑General, Active Member of the Supreme Council, and he is advised to communicate the degrees of the Scottish Rite, (except under extraordinary condition,) only on applicants for subordinate Bodies, deemed by him necessary and proper for the propagation of the Rite, confining himself to such a number of applicants and to them communicating such degrees only as may be necessary for the establishment of said Body or Bodies.
2. That it is required of all subordinate Bodies, including Consistories (Grand and Particular,) to confer the several degrees of their respective Bodies only on such as may have given satisfactory evidence of their proficiency in all preceeding degrees, except by special authority from the Supreme Council or one of its deputies.
3. That all Scottish Rite Masons (not legally exempted) shall be required to retain their membership and pay dues to the several Bodies up to, and including that one, in which he may have received his highest degree.
4. That the Sov.'. Gr.'. Com.'. be, and he is hereby authorized to attach any one or more of the Territories within this Jurisdiction; and all or any of the States 95 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
thereof, in which there is not a Resident Active Member of the Supreme Council to the jurisdiction of any one or more of the Sov.'. Gr.'. Insp's.'. Gen.*. which in his opinion may be most expedient.
5. That it is desireable that the publication of the Bulletin be continued; and in order to increase its usefulness the History of Masonry, prepared by the Sov.'. Gr.". Com.'. be published therein in continued series, with a view of the publication of that valuable History in book form, at such time as the Supreme Council may deem expedient.
6. That the Sov.'. Gr.'. Com.'. is authorized to present to the Supreme Council of Canada, and any other foreign Supreme Council, such of the Rituals and ceremonies of this jurisdiction as he may deem expedient.
7. That the Sec.'. Gen.*. procure a suitable "Book of Record," in which he shall record all the transactions or proceedings of all previous meetings, practicable to be obtained; as also, the transactions of this at all future sessions of the Supreme Council that are prudent for publication, shall be therein recorded; and such confidential Allocutions of the Sov.'. Gr.'. Com.'. and acts growing out of the same, shall be recorded as heretofore in the "Book of Gold." In conclusion your committee would most fraternally urge upon one and all, a greater devotion and life in the teaching and the practice of our Rite, in communicating or conferring its degrees, so that manly minds may be clothed with its hallowed truths and graces, and a purer morality, a greater love and veneration for its sacred teachings.
After the adoption of the report just quoted, a Senatorial Chamber of the Thirtythird Degree was opened at which the following items of business were transacted: Five distinguished members of other Supreme Councils were elected to Honorary Membership in the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction.
Twenty‑one Princes of the Royal Secret were elected to receive the decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour.
Three brethren were elected to receive the Thirty‑third Degree and Honorary Membership in the Supreme Council and one was nominated for action at the next Session of the Supreme Council.
Grand Commander Pike announced that he had annexed Washington Territory to the jurisdiction of Oregon and "Dacotah" Territory to the jurisdiction of Minnesota.
A committee was appointed to investigate the condition of the several Grand Consistories.
96 SIX YEARS OF ECONOMIC DEPRESSION An Assistant Auditor was provided for in Washington.
By resolution, it was provided that the next Session of the Supreme Council would meet in Washington, D. C.
An amendment to Article XI was proposed and referred to the Committee on Jurisprudence.
The Supreme Council then resumed labor in its Consistorial Chamber, the Grand Commander announced the appointment of subordinate officers, and the meeting was called off until the following day.
Labor of the Supreme Council on May 7, 1874, began in the Senatorial Chamber. The transactions included the following items: One additional brother was elected to receive the decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour.
One additional member was elected to receive the Thirty‑third Degree and Honorary Membership in the Supreme Council.
Charges were preferred against a brother whose name was not published and were referred to a committee of three.
The Honorary Members were then admitted and the Thirty‑third Degree was conferred upon four designates. The Honorary Members retired and Robert Toombs and William R. Bowen were crowned as Sovereign Grand Inspectors General of the Supreme Council for the states of Georgia and Nebraska respectively.
John M. C. Graham, Representative of the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction to that of the Northern Jurisdiction was invested with the Grand Cross of the Court of Honour by Grand Commander Pike.
Some changes in committee assignments, at the request of the members affected, were then made.
Consideration of recognition of the proposed Supreme Council of Canada was referred to a special committee with instructions to report at the next Session of the Supreme Council.
97 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
Grand Commander Pike then presented a draft of "Articles of Confederation between the several Supreme Councils . . ." for consideration. "The articles were referred to the Committee on the State of the Order." At this point the Supreme Council was "called off" until the next day.
The final day of the Session, May 8, 1874, of the Supreme Council opened with a report from the Committee on Finance. The Committee expressed the belief that all accounts were correct but pointed out that it could not verify all items because of the absence of some papers in the hands of the Auditor General and the large volume of papers which it did not have time to examine. They then proposed some accounting changes which were adopted. They took note that money to pay the salary of the Secretary General had not always been available, and that he had been compelled to borrow money at an interest rate of twenty per cent per annum to support himself and family. It was recommended that the Secretary General be reimbursed for this expense.
The Committee on Jurisprudence and Legislation then made a series of reports which were adopted.
An amendment of Article X regarding meeting places was proposed with a recommendation that final action be taken at the next Session of the Supreme Council.
It was suggested that a special committee be named to consider the situation in Brazil.
It was recommended that the provisions of Statute No. 23 be positively enforced.
The Committee on Subordinate Bodies made its report which was adopted. The report was made up of brief comments regarding the returns or lack of returns from the Bodies in each state in the Southern Jurisdiction for the years 1873 and 1874. No attempt was made to consolidate the returns and thereby show the total membership of the Rite, the number of candidates received, the total amount of fees or the total amount of dues collected per annum. The need for this information was recognized and at the conclusion of the report a resolution was adopted that the Secretary General "shall present a tabular abstract of the returns received by him." The Committee on the Doings of Inspectors General and Special Deputies reported that they had examined reports from fifteen states and territories, which they named, and drew these conclusions 98 SIX YEARS OF ECONOMIC DEPRESSION The Rite "is steadily progressing in the jurisdiction".
The "utmost care had been exercised" in the selection of material to receive the degrees.
Care has been exercised to establish Bodies only in locations "to warrant a future, both healthful and prosperous".
Complaints regarding the number of degrees "required to be worked" and that time intervals between degrees should be abolished in some reports "have been fully met in the admirable Allocution of the M. ' . P. ' . Sov. ' . Grand Commander, and may properly be disregarded here".
A supplemental report of the Committee on Finance regarding Inspector General Bateman's report from Nevada was approved.
Two resolutions regarding Grand Consistories were referred to the Committee on Jurisprudence and Legislation.
Five Inspectors General Honorary were dropped from the list of Honorary Members of the Supreme Council for inactivity.
It was ordered that the Secretary General prepare a "Register of the Active and Honorary Members of the Supreme Council, and of all subordinate Bodies in the Jurisdiction to be published. . ." It was ordered that the claim of Special Deputy Edwin A. Sherman be corrected and "liquidated".
It was resolved that Joseph Daniels be notified to pay $110 due the Supreme Council by July, 1874, or be tried for the offense of "violation of promise".
The Committee on Jurisprudence and Legislation was required to revise the "Statutes and Institutes" and report at the next Session of the Supreme Council.
A report of the Committee on Jurisprudence and Legislation that an Inspector General could not appoint a deputy to act for him in his absence from his state if another Inspector General was resident in that state was adopted.
The Assistant Auditor was authorized to settle the account of Masonic Publishing Company.
99 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33 A proposal to make the Grand Almoner a member of the Council of Deliberation was referred to the Committee on Jurisprudence.
The Special Committee on the charge preferred against the unnamed brother reported and further investigation was ordered.
The Grand Commander was authorized to furnish a copy of the Grand Constitutions to each Active Member of the Supreme Council.
A Senatorial Chamber was opened and three additional nominees were elected to receive the decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour.
John W. Cook, 33░, was elected to receive the Grand Cross of the Court of Honour.
Achille R. Morel was dropped from the list of Active Members of the Supreme Council.
It was ordered that the expenses of the Session be paid and that the thanks of the Supreme Council be extended to the Washington Bodies of the Rite for courtesies tendered.
The Committee on the State of the Order recommended that the Articles of Confederation be referred to the Council of Deliberation which was adopted.
The Supreme Council was then closed to meet again in Biennial Session on May 1, 1876, at Washington, D. C: During the following evening a Lodge of Sorrow was opened and appropriate commemorative ceremonies were observed.' Each year of the early years in the history of the Supreme Council, 33░, Southern Jurisdiction, United States of America, seems to have claim to being a year of crisis. However, the intensity of crisis is more pronounced in some years than in others; the year 1874, in some respects, was one of these. The problems of the Supreme Council 2 Ibid., 3‑89.
100 SIX YEARS OF ECONOMIC DEPRESSION in 1874 stemmed from sources outside of the Rite as well as from within it. The principle external factors were: Economic depression.
Political chaos and corruption.
The breakdown of character in American society.
Internal factors contributing to the situation were: Lack of adequate leadership in portions of the Jurisdiction.
Absence of an efficient membership accounting system.
An inadequate fiscal administration.
Lack of a fully developed system and code of jurisprudence.
Real differences of opinion among Supreme Council members on basic policy and procedure matters.
Obviously, the Supreme Council could not successfully avoid or remedy economic depression. As a result, the "Sanctuary" and Charity Fund programs came to a complete halt, no new projects requiring funds were adopted and initiations almost ceased. The other external factors seem only to have been discouraging and distracting influences on the Rite, for there is no noticeable increase in disciplinary action by the Supreme Council, nor were there distrubing reports of such actions from subordinate Bodies. If 1874 is considered a year for decision in internal matters, the Supreme Council seems to have been equal to the demands made of it. Leadership in the Jurisdiction was strengthened with replacements and with new additions. Measures were proposed and adopted for better fiscal "housekeeping". Changes, refinements and additions in the field of jurisprudence were made. Differences of opinion were introduced, considered and decisions were reached which resulted in a new unity. It is significant that this new unity was a major victory for the thinking of Grand Commander Pike. The Supreme Council took actions that confirmed his positions in all matters except in the field of Fraternal Relationsnothing was done to encourage a Congress of Supreme Councils or to further a Confederation of Supreme Councils, both of which had been proposed by the Grand HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
Commander. The only area of need which did not receive the attention of the Supreme Council was that of membership accounting, and it may be said that this area was the least critical of those listed. It seems fitting to conclude remarks on the Session of 1874 by observing that it could have terminated with the Rite in serious disorder, under an inexperienced leadership at a critical time, or oriented along a drastic new course opposed by the Grand Commander.
The known surviving correspondence relating to the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction from the closing of the Session, on May 8, to the opening of the next Session in May, 1876, begins with a letter to Grand Commander Pike from Inspector General L. E. Barber. In this letter Barber wrote as follows: When I wrote [my resignation], the means of living another year, in any comfort, were not apparent. Now, I hope to be restored to my old position, and though I cannot realize from it a large income, as I suppose has been done, I hope I shall be able to live comfortably, and that I may have time and means to do something for the order.' This letter to Pike from an old friend and Masonic associate in his home state was good news to the Grand Commander, but it was followed by others that reflected the desperate situation in Arkansas under the Radical Reconstruction regime set up by the Congress of the United States in the former Confederate States. The first was from the recently elected 33░ and Active Member, John E. Reardon, who stated that "at present, I would be entirely unable to pay" the expense of the degree and the travel to receive it. He continued by stating that business was "prostrate", that he saw no hope except in "repudiation" of debts "even if we obtain entire political control of the state".' Some weeks later another letter characterized the regime as "political harpies" and "a crew of bandits" and observed "I do not see any final ending of their lust and rapacity".' With conditions as described, there was little hope for Scottish Rite progress in Arkansas for some time to come.
However, Grand Commander Pike had little time to mourn over the plight of Arkansas during the summer of 1874, for on May 29, 1874, the Supreme Council of France issued a call for a meeting of representatives of all recognized Supreme 3 L. E. Barber to Albert Pike, May 24, 1874.
4 John E. Reardon to Albert Pike, July 25, 1874.
5 Geo. A. Gallagher to Albert Pike, August 9, 1874.
102 SIX YEARS OF ECONOMIC DEPRESSION Councils in a Congress at Lausanne, Switzerland, on the "first Monday of September, 1875" and indicated that the formation of a Confederation was contemplated.' The Confederation idea had originated with Pike. Pike presented a draft of "Articles of Confederation between the several Supreme Councils" which at the end of the Session in 1874 was referred to the Council of Deliberation. Since action on the "Articles" could not be had in a Session before May, 1876, Pike ordered the Secretary General, Albert G. Mackey, to send copies by mail to the Active Members and request their vote on each article and upon the question of sending Delegates to the Congress. The date on the printed circular was December 15, 1874, and replies were requested by March 1, 1875.' Appendix III contains the text of the proposed "Articles of Confederation." The file of ballots on the proposition has not survived nor has any contemporary report of the ballot or the actions which followed. However, the Allocution of Grand Commander Pike to the Supreme Council at its Session in May, 1876, reveals that the ballot was favorable, that Delegates were appointed to attend the Congress, and that the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction was not represented in the Congress because of the illness of Inspector General Ebenezer S. Shaw.
In June, 1874, Pike announced the forthcoming publication of his lectures on Masonic symbolism in a very limited edition of seventy‑five copies, distribution in America limited to sixty‑five Masons of the 33░ or 32░ with the remaining ten copies to "be sent to eminent Masons abroad". Pike announced that "the work makes known the real origin and meanings, heretofore wholly unknown, of the principal Symbols of Freemasonry". The book was priced at ten dollars per copy.' Shipment of the books began late in the year." During June and July, 1874, Pike received several letters from Alabama regarding Scottish Rite matters. The first requested instructions about the books of the Supreme Council held by Richard F. Knott, deceased." On June 29, Henry E. Day reported that he was "chagrined" at not being able to make rapid progress in establishing Bodies in Alabama and that a general lack of money was the cause. The remainder s Official Bulletin, 11, 53‑55.
' Albert G. Mackey to Samuel M. Todd, December 15, 1874. $ Transactions, Supreme Council, S. 1., 1876, p. 13.
9 Albert Pike to Samuel M. Todd, June, 1874. to Circular Letter, December 12, 1874.
" F. R. Jarvis to Albert Pike, June 9, 1874.
103 SIX YEARS OF ECONOMIC DEPRESSION of the letter was a report of the progress of the Lodge of Perfection recently established in Montgomery. It had just conferred "the 4th degree upon three candidates, without having a Ritual opened"." A few days later a similar letter reported lack of Scottish Rite progress because of a scarcity of money," and about the same time Montgomery Lodge of Perfection was said to be "doing pretty good"." On June 19, 1874, Special Deputy Pitkin C. Wright arrived in Hawaii and on July 16, 1874, constituted Kamehameha Lodge of Perfection No. 1 in Honolulu. This act was followed by the constitution of Nemanu Chapter of Rose Croix No. 1 on September 12, 1874. It is of special interest that David Kalakaua, Wise Master of the newly formed chapter, was Kalakaua I, King of Hawaii.'' Within six months the news of these events in Hawaii (Sandwich Islands) spread over the Masonic world and brought forth a letter to Pike from G. Guiffrey, "Gr.'. Sec. ' . Chancellor of the Rite," of the Supreme Council of France expressing surprise and asking for further information." This letter initiated a long correspondence, for Freemasonry, bitter in tone. Briefly, the Supreme Council of France claimed jurisdiction over Hawaii because it had created a Symbolic Lodge in the Kingdom during 1843, and charged the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction with an invasion of its territory with the creation of the Lodge of Perfection and Chapter of Rose Croix. Both contentions were categorically denied by Grand Commander Pike, and because of the "arrogant" tone of the letters to him, he withdrew fraternal relations with the Supreme Council of France. A Council of Kadosh was chartered on July 12, 1875. Meanwhile, the Congress of Lausanne had assembled, without representatives from the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction, under the influence of the Supreme Council of France. The question of jurisdiction in Hawaii was brought before the Congress and a decision favorable to France was rendered. Pike refused to recognize the decision, and for this and other reasons determined "not to accede to the Confederation". It was at this point that correspondence ceased on May 13, 1876.1' Death struck the membership of the Supreme Council twice in the latter part of 1874 and once more early in 1876. Alfred E. Ames, Inspector General in Minnesota, died on September 22, 1874; Benjamin Rush Campbell, Inspector General in 1= Henry E. Day to Albert Pike, June 29, 1874.
is Stephen H. Beasley to Albert Pike, July 24, 1874. la Henry E. Day to Albert Pike, July 27, 1874.
i s Official Bulletin, 111, 83‑86. is Ibid., 24‑25.
17 Ibid., 26‑55.
105 HISTORY OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL, 33░
South Carolina, died on October 27, 1874; and Ebenezer H. Shaw, Inspector General in California, died on February 2, 1876. As usual in such instances, official notices were published." Present day Masons who are concerned with Masonic education and editors of Masonic journals who decry their small circulation will find the following circular letter of particular interest: The Supreme Council has published, since May, 1870, its "Official Bulletin," at a subscription price of three dollars for 600 pages. During the first two years five Nos. were issued, making a volume of 660 pp., 60 more than it agreed to furnish. It then had, in the whole jurisdiction, about one hundred subscribers, and the cost of printing 500 copies was nearly $1,500. It has since published Nos. 1 and 2 of Vol. 11, at like cost, and has about sixty subscribers, in twentytwo States and all the Territories. Such seems the measure of the thirst for information of the BB.'. of the rite.
The Bulletin contains five sections in each number: 1st. Official. 2d. Domestic Unofficial. 3d. Foreign. 4th. Historical. 5th. Miscellaneous. Everything official contained in it is promulgated by publication therein, and thereby every Bro.'. has legal notice of all so published. The foreign section gives information as to the Rite all over the world, not elsewhere to be found: and the last two Sections contain matter of universal and permanent interest to BB.'. of all the degrees and rites of Free Masonry. It may safely be said that the Bulletin is of greater intrinsic value than any other Masonic publication in the world, to Masons of the A.'. and A.*. S.'. Rite.
The Sov.'. Gr.'. Commander edits it, writes for it, translates for it, without compensation, so that its whole cost is that of printing. Is it creditable to the order that it should be read by less than one hundred Masons? Is its limited usefulness any fit reward for the labour bestowed on it by the Gr.'. Commander, and the expense incurred by the. Supreme Council? My Bro.'., it is simply a shame to the Order, discouraging and disheartening in the extreme. The Bulletin is beyond comparison more valued abroad than at home. It contains matter of historical interest to all Masons; but to those of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, it is simply indispensable. The work which it requires in its compilation, is done for their benefit, on their account, and they ought to be willing jointly to bear the mere actual expense of printing, if they have the gift of that labor.
Upon receipt by me of three dollars, Nos. 1 and 2 of Vol. II will be forwarded to the Bro.'. remitting, and the other Nos. of the volume, as they are published.
"Ibid., II, No. 3, p. 23‑24; 43‑45; III, 9‑10.
106 SIX YEARS OF ECONOMIC DEPRESSION We hope that you will feel it to be both a duty and a pleasure to take an active interest in impressing the BB.'. of the Rite with the value of the work, and the duty of every one who is not content with utter ignorance of the most essential things in regard to the Rite at home and abroad, to subscribe for and read the Nos. regularly.
Lately, also, the Gr.'. Commander has prepared, and the Sup.'. Council has published a new and enlarged edition of the Law of the Rite, including the Constitution of 1762 and 1786, and all subsequent Institutes and Regulations, and its own Statutes, with the old so‑called secret Constitutions, and a Historical inquiry into the authenticity of those of 1786. The work contains 467 pages, is the only collection of the Law of the Rite ever made in the world, is sold at $5 a copy, less than cost of publication, and some forty Brethren have purchased it. Ought not every Bro.'. of the Rite to know the laws that govern him? and how can he, without having them in possession? These also may be ordered of the SecretaryGeneral, by remitting a post‑office order for the price. Do the Brethren really want light? At the Session of 1874, there was official notice of a proposal to create a Supreme Council in Canada; however, no official action took place. The archives of the Supreme Council of the Sou
