"The Royal Secret in America
before 1801"
by
Brent Morris, 33°, Grand Cross
May
31, 1801, is the most significant date in the history of high degree Masonry
in the United States. On that day the Mother Supreme Council of the World was
opened by John Mitchell and Frederick Dalcho in Charleston, South Carolina,
and in the course of the year “the whole number of Grand Inspectors General
was compleated agreeably to the Grand Constitutions.” By this act the Order of
the Royal Secret of twenty-five degrees (often called the Rite of Perfection)
was transformed into the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of thirty-three
degrees.
Before
the creation of the Mother Supreme Council, the high degrees were spread
through an inconsistent system of Inspectors, each of whom could appoint an
unrestricted number of Inspectors without limit to authority. Records are
scarce, but two Inspectors seem to have been working in the Western hemisphere
before 1761: “Lamolere de Feuillas, made a Deputy prior to 1750 in France, and
Bertrand Berthomieu, made a Deputy by Feuillas in 1753 in the West Indies.” It
is not known if Feuillas or Berthomieu appointed further Inspectors.
In
1761 Etienne Morin received a patent at Paris that authorized him to propagate
the Rite throughout the world. He arrived in Jamaica in 1762 or 1763 and soon
appointed six Inspectors General, including Henry Andrew Francken as a Deputy
Inspector General. Francken in turn established a Lodge of Perfection in
Albany, New York, in 1767 and created six other Deputy Inspectors General. He
also prepared at least three books with the rituals translated into English.
Eventually fifty-two Inspectors descended from Francken, and at least
seventy-five Inspectors were appointed in American before 1801.
The
Inspectors and Deputies did more than reproduce themselves; they conferred the
Ineffable (4°–14°) and Sublime (15° and above) Degrees upon Master Masons and
occasionally established bodies. Again records are scarce, but at least the
following eight bodies were established before 1801:
1. 1764 - Loge de
Parfaits d’Écosse, New Orleans, Louisiana;
2.
1767 - The Ineffable Lodge of Perfection, Albany, New York;
3.
1781 - Lodge of Perfection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
4.
1783 - Lodge of Perfection, Charleston, South Carolina;
5.
1788 - Grand Council, Princes of Jerusalem, Charleston, South Carolina;
6.
1791 - King Solomon's Lodge of Perfection, Holmes’ Hole (now Tisbury), island
of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts;
7.
1792 - Lodge of Perfection, Baltimore, Maryland;
8.
1797 - Sublime Grand Council, Princes of the Royal Secret, Charleston, South
Carolina.
These
basic facts of high degree activity before the creation of the Supreme Council
are well known and have been repeated in many places. What they fail to do is
to inform us how the high degrees appealed to American Masons, how the
Inspectors spread the degrees, and how the bodies operated. The answers to
these questions help us understand the acceptance of the Mother Supreme
Council.
The Appeal of the High Degrees
to American Masons
The
Craft or Blue Degrees were being conferred by 1730 in America, and
twenty-three years later in December 1753 Fredericksburg Lodge in Virginia
recorded the first conferral anywhere of the Royal Arch Degree. American
Master Masons soon realized that they had not received the entire account of
the Master’s Word and that the Royal Arch was required to complete the story.
Royal Arch Masonry became popular as more Masons sought to complete their
Masonic knowledge. The steady spread of the Royal Arch was aided by the
growing dominance in America of Antient lodges that conferred the degree on
the authority of their Craft warrants. At least five Chapters independent of
lodges were created by 1794, the Grand Chapter of Pennsylvania was instituted
in 1795, and the General Grand Chapter of New England States was formed in
1796. The first Knight Templar conferral was in 1769, and there is sporadic
evidence of the order until 1796 when the first Encampment (now Commandery)
was formed in Connecticut. The ten degrees and orders of what has come to be
known as the American “York Rite” were summarized and given wide publicity in
Thomas Smith Webb’s Freemason’s Monitor; or, Illustrations of Masonry (1797).
American Masons enthusiastically pursued further light in Masonry, but because
the Order of the Royal Secret was of French origin and had no tradition in
English lodges, these high degrees were little known. These ceremonies must
have seemed like alluring rumors only available from remote non-English lodges
or from traveling Masonic lecturers. The fragmentary knowledge of Sublime
Masonry was aided by occasional tantalizing mentions in Masonic books.
The
first American book on Masonry was Benjamin Franklin’s 1734 reprint of
Anderson’s Constitutions of the Free-Masons. A total of 626 volumes dealing
with Freemasonry were published in America through 1800; ten of these dealt
with precursors of the Scottish Rite. For the interested student of Masonry,
these ten books provided hints of knowledge beyond that found in lodges of
English origin.
1787—The Memorial of Lodge, No. 40, on the Registry of Pennsylvania, to the
Right Worshipful Grand Lodge.
This ten-page pamphlet is a complaint that the Grand Lodge of Ancient York
Masons of South Carolina (the Ancients’ Grand Lodge) was formed irregularly.
However, page 5 gives intriguing hints of a form of Freemasonry different from
that in England. “Brother Joseph Myers, Junr. was then, and actually is (under
the jurisdiction of the late Prussian Monarch) an Inspector General and Grand
Master of and over the Ineffable Degrees of Masonry. The second, brother James
Fallon, is and was a regular Past-Master … made and installed in a … Lodge of
Ineffable Masons at Philadelphia, under a regular commission.…
1797—[Charles Louis
Cadet de Gassicourt], The Tomb of James Molai.
This is a 22-page translation of
the 1796 French original. Page 8 explains that Jacques de Molay established
four chapters with twenty-seven members each who have special privileges in
Masonic Lodges: “When they enter a Lodge they have the exclusive right of
crossing in the middle of the carpet which is opposite the throne. All
Freemasons of Lodges are ignorant who they are.”
1797—Thomas Smith Webb, The Freemason’s Monitor; or, Illustrations of Masonry.
This was the first American “monitor” of Masonic degrees, giving prayers,
charges, and non-secret portions of ritual. It was widely distributed,
translated into Spanish, and went through several editions before his death.
Part II of this book has descriptions of the eleven degrees of a Lodge of
Perfection on pages 227–66, including information about who replaced Hiram
Abiff at King Solomon’s temple, how the ruffians were dealt with, and how the
lost word was recovered. Webb’s Monitor was extremely influential in
establishing and disseminating the “standard American” ritual. Its widespread
popularity must have brought the Sublime Degrees to the curious attention of
many American Masons.
1798—John Robison, Proofs of a Conspiracy against All the Religions and
Governments of Europe.
This is the first American edition of this influential
book, which created hysteria at the idea that the Illuminati were secretly
infiltrating the governments of the world and possibly America. On page 384
Robison comments on Abbé Barruel’s rituals of the Knight of the Sun and Knight
Rose Croix. Here is another instance of tantalizing references to Masonic
degrees unfamiliar to most American Masons.
1798—John Robison, Proofs of a Conspiracy. The second American edition.
1799—Augustin
de Barruel, Memoirs, Illustrating the History of Jacobinisn, Vol. I.
Because
there were three separate printers for the four volumes, Walgren assigns each
a separate entry in his bibliography. There are more provoking hints of unseen
forces in Freemasonry: “occult lodges” (which de Barruel termed “arrieres
loges”)
1799—Augustin
de Barruel, Memoirs, Illustrating the History of Jacobinisn, Vol. II.
The
reader can find descriptions of the Degree of Elect (page 161), Knight of the
Sun (page 163n), higher degrees of Scotch Masonry (pages 163–68), Degree of
Rose Croix (pages 168–72), Mystical Masonry (pages 172–74), and Knight Kadosh
(pages 174–75).
1799—Augustin
de Barruel, Memoirs, Illustrating the History of Jacobinisn, Vol. III.
This
volume deals specifically with Weishaput’s degrees of Illuminism, but to the
general Masonic reader it all points to even more continental degrees unknown
to English lodges.
1799—Augustin
de Barruel, Memoirs, Illustrating the History of Jacobinisn, Vol. IV.
Further
mention of continental degrees: African Brethren, Knights of the Eagle, the
Adept, the Sublime Philosopher (page 81); Knights of Palestine, Knights Kadosh,
Scotch Directory (pages 97–100); Scotch Architect (page 328).
1800—Robert Griffith Wetmore, A Feeble Attempt to Promote the Felicity of
Campbell’s Mark Master’s Lodge in Duanesburgh[, New York].
On page 6 Wetmore
says, “When I first became your neighbor, I was in Possession of thirty
degrees in Masonry (including those styled ineffable) and therefore considered
myself as having arrived to the ne plus ultra.…”
Webb’s
Freemason’s Monitor was the first authoritative guide to working the ten
degrees and orders of American York Rite: Craft (three degrees), Royal Arch
(four degrees), and Knights Templar (three orders). It also gave exciting
information about an exotic type of Masonry known to few American Masons and
must have generated great curiosity among its readers. A typical American
lodge room was rather simply decorated with pillars in the west, an altar in
the center, and an illuminated “G” in the east. Compare this austerity with
the lavish description Webb gives for just one of the Ineffable Degrees.
Observations on the Degree of Provost and Judge.
This
lodge is adorned with red, and lighted by five great lights; one in each
corner, and one in the center. The master is placed in the East, under a blue
canopy, surrounded with stars, and is stiled [sic], Thrice Illustrious.
The
Worshipful Master of an American Craft or Blue Lodge wore his usual clothes
with a ribbon around his neck from which hung a square. His apron was probably
homemade and decorated by his wife, sister, or mother. There are many images
of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin in such simple but dignified
attire. Again compare the description Webb gives to the luxurious dress of the
presiding officer of the “Degree of Knights of the Ninth Arch, or Royal Arch.”
The
most potent grand master, representing Solomon in the east, [is] seated in a
chair of state, under a rich canopy, with a crown on his head, and a scepter
in his hand. He is dressed in royal robes of yellow, and an ermined vestment
of blue satin, reaching to the elbows; a broad purple ribbon from the right
shoulder to the left hip, to which is hung a triangle of gold.
After
being enticed since the 1760s with allusions to and hints of mysterious
Masonic degrees preserving the full story of the Craft, American Masons were
given clear information in 1802. The Mother Supreme Council published its
Circular throughout the Two Hemispheres, announcing itself and explaining the
degrees under its control. The Circular can be viewed as a wonderfully written
sales brochure, enticing candidates to join by explaining why the Ineffable
and Sublime Degrees are necessary to fully understand Freemasonry. It gave
many examples of why the High Degrees are both superior and essential.
• The
Supreme Council alone is governed with historically correct documents.
Much
of the history of Masonry in the early ages is so mixed with fable and
enveloped with the rust of time that little satisfaction can be obtained; but
as we approach nearer to our own times we have authentic records for our
government.
• The
first three degrees are only a preparation for the higher degrees.
[The
three first, or Blue Degrees,] were formed as the test of the character and
capacity of the initiated, before they should be admitted to the knowledge of
the more important mysteries.
• The
true Master’s Word was lost to the Blue Degrees with the death of Hiram Abiff,
but the Ineffable and Sublime Degrees still possess it.
It is
well known to the Blue Master that King Solomon and his Royal visitor were in
possession of the real and pristine word, but of which he must remain
ignorant, unless initiated into the sublime degrees.
• The
Ineffable and Sublime Degrees have preserved their ceremonies uncorrupted.
Much
variety and irregularity have unfortunately crept into the Blue degrees in
consequence of … those who are unacquainted with the Hebrew language, in which
all the Words and Pass-Words are given … Not so the superior degrees, they
appear in that Sublime dress which their founders gave them.…
• The
Ineffable and Sublime Degrees continue the tradition of the crusaders and base
their degrees on authentic records discovered in Palestine.
While
[27,000 Masons accompanying the Christian Princes in the Crusades were] in
Palestine, they discovered several important Masonic manuscripts, among the
descendants of the ancient Jews, which enriched our Archives with authentic
written records, and on which, some of our degrees are founded.
From
the introduction of the Royal Arch in 1753 to the Circular throughout the Two
Hemispheres in 1802, American Masons had been advised directly and indirectly
that the Craft degrees didn’t tell the entire story of Masonry. Not every
Mason was induced to pursue further light, but for those that were, it must
have been challenging to know when to stop. Suggestions of yet one further
revelation—perhaps the ne plus ultra—might come with the next visitor from
overseas, in the latest publication, or at the hands of an itinerant Masonic
lecturer.
The
Spread of the High Degrees by Masonic Lecturers
Freemasonry came to the United States from many sources and in varied forms.
The early lodges had little guidance for their rituals and ceremonies,
probably relying on equal doses of oral tradition and printed exposures. Four
ritual exposures were published in America before 1801, all reprints of
English originals: The Mystery of Free-Masonry (1730); Masonry Dissected
(1749/50); Hiram: Or the Grand Master-Key (1768); and Jachin and Boaz
(1774–1801). “Prior to the publication of Morgan’s work, [Illustrations of
Masonry by one of the fraternity (1826)], [Jachin and Boaz] was the most
important exposé published on American soil, and greatly aided ritual
uniformity.” While there were doubtless other imported exposures available, it
was Jachin and Boaz with its Antient working that most influenced American
ritual. It went through ten American editions before 1801, while the other
three American exposures were never reprinted.
We may infer from its popularity that Jachin and Boaz was used widely, if
informally, by American lodges to guide their ritual.
Nature
abhors a vacuum, and into the vacuum of American Masonic ritual appeared
itinerant Masonic lecturers. These uniquely American entrepreneurs traveled
the country teaching uniform workings of the three Craft Degrees, the four
degrees of the American Royal Arch system (Mark Master Mason, Past Master,
Most Excellent Master, and Royal Arch), and “side” degrees. The great unifier
of American ritual was Thomas Smith Webb, who is known to have used Jachin and
Boaz to teach his students. Webb formalized the ceremonies in Jachin and Boaz,
adjusted the language to American vernacular, and filled in the procedural
gaps. He extended the language and forms of his Craft work to the Royal Arch
and taught and certified other lecturers. In 1797 Webb published The
Freemason’s Monitor, which was a teaching tool that helped cement his ritual
codification. As noted before, it also must have piqued interest in the high
degrees.
Little
is known about the business practices of Masonic lecturers, but we can make
some reasonable inferences from the 1782–1808 register of Abraham Jacobs and
the 1817–1820 diary of Jeremy Ladd Cross. If we assume that each Inspector of
the Order of the Royal Secret was an itinerant lecturer of some sort, then
perhaps a total of 100 to 150 such peddlers offered their services to Masonic
bodies and individual Masons. In addition to “lecturing” on the Craft and
Royal Arch Degrees (which meant teaching the ritual and floor work from
memory), these lecturers sold or gave side degrees to their customers and
chartered various bodies under their authority.
Jeremy
Cross’s diary gives us a good idea about the business of a successful
lecturer. While his diary entries are for 1817 to 1820, finances then could
not have been too different from the period before 1801. His fee for lecturing
for a day in 1817 seems to have been $4, about $55 in 2003, and he established
Councils of Select Masters for $20, about $275 today. He became a Masonic
lecturer in 1814, but by 1818 was still in debt and hoping to settle down. On
August 17, 1817, he started out from Haverhill, New Hampshire, traveling by
coach and boat, and arrived in Richmond, Virginia, on December 4, a trip of
635 miles. He often stayed with Masons and regularly dined with them even when
he stayed in a hotel. During the seventeen-week trip to Richmond, he
established at least six Councils of Select Masters ($120/$1,650) and spent
some twenty-nine days lecturing in Lodges and Chapters ($116/$1,595). His
total income for the trip down to Richmond was about $236/$3,245.
To get
a very rough estimate of his expenses, note that during his stay in
Washington, D.C., he paid $8.75 for 3 1/2 days room and meals at Thomas
Crafford’s Union Hotel, or $2.50 per day. The cost for lodging in smaller
towns must have been less, say about $1.50–2.00 per day. If he used hotels or
taverns for one-half to two-thirds of his trip and stayed with brothers the
rest of the time, then he spent about $90–$160 on lodging, very nearly half of
his income. By the time we add in his transportation and miscellaneous
expenses, it’s easy to see why after four years of lecturing he was still in
debt.
His
diary is imprecise on the number of Councils created, the days of paid
lecturing, and his fees, but we can still get a feel for the economics of his
1817 trip from New Hampshire to Virginia by looking at his diary entries for
October 9–16, 1817, a particularly busy eight days for him.
|
J. L. Cross’s Diary for October 9–16,
1817 |
Comments |
|
9th. At 4:00 A.M. I took my seat in the
stage and by 8:00 I arrived at Lantwecks Bridge, a small village south of
New Castle, [Delaware] stopped at a small Tavern.… I met the Brethren in
the Eve and gave a Lecture. |
• $4 for lecturing |
|
10th. Spent the day with Maj. Moody in
viewing the small but pleasant village. I spent the evening at his house …
and returned [to the Tavern and] had some further chat with the Brethren &
received my penny. |
The “further chat with the Brethren”
might mean lecturing, and “received my penny” means he was paid.
• $4 for lecturing?
Received: $8 for lecturing
October 9 & 10 |
|
11th. After breakfast I started for
Dover, [Delaware] … and arrived in Dover about 2:00 P.M. I soon became
acquainted with the Hon. William Hall.… Lectured with the Companions in
the Evening— |
• $4 for lecturing |
|
12th. Sunday. … |
Cross faithfully observed the Sabbath
and did no work on the day. |
|
13th. Spent the day mostly with Br.
Hall. In the Eve I met the Companions. Exhibited the work in the Chapter
and established a Council of Select Masters. |
This could be private instructions for
Br. Hall.
• $4 for lecturing
• $20 for a Council of Select Masters |
|
14th. Spent the day with Bro. Hall and
the Eve with the Companions. |
This could be more private instructions
for Br. Hall.
• $4 for lecturing? |
|
15th. … gave some directions to lay out
$20 in provisions &c &c. |
Ordering $20 in provisions indicates he
probably stayed at a tavern. |
|
16th. Settled with the Companion and
received my wages, took dinner with [Dr.] Naudim and at 2 P.M. took the
stage and rode to Milford, [Delaware] where I [arrived] at sun down.
Stopped at Mr. Godwin’s Hotel. |
Received: $32 for
lecturing October 11, 13, & 14 and for establishing the Council of Select
Masters on October 13 |
A $4
daily lecturing fee appears to have been the accepted rate. The Grand Lodge of
Massachusetts on July 22, 1805, appointed Benjamin Gleason to be Grand
Lecturer, and after one year lecturing the Massachusetts lodges he received
$1,000 or about $15,600 in 2003. If Gleason lectured about twenty-one days a
month, then he received about the same compensation per lecture as Cross.
Cross’s fortunes as a lecturer significantly improved in May 1818 when the
Grand Lodge of Connecticut appointed him “Grand Lecturer, to visit the several
Lodges in this jurisdiction, and instruct them in the correct mode of working
and lecturing; and that each subordinate Lodge be required to pay into the
Treasury of the Grand Lodge the sum of ten dollars, at or before the next
Grand Communication, for the purpose of defraying the expense of such
visitation.” Further, “each Lodge shall pay Bro. Cross’ expenses when actually
employed by such Lodge in giving lectures and instructions; and no Lodge shall
be bound to pay said sum of ten dollars, unless they first have had the
benefit of said lectures at least two and a half days.” Cross was now making
the “standard” $4 per day plus expenses, and he had more-or-less guaranteed
employment with each of the Connecticut lodges. In 1818 there were about
fifty-eight lodges in Connecticut,
which would generate about $580/$9,048 in lecturing fees; he also instituted
about a dozen Councils of Select Masters for another $240/$3,744. Another
boost to his prosperity came in 1819 when he published The True Masonic Chart;
or, Hieroglyphic Monitor. This popular book went through eight editions by
1850 and was followed by The Templar’s Chart or Hieroglyphic Monitor in 1820
(two editions by 1850) and a business of selling engraved aprons and other
Masonic supplies.
Abraham Jacobs does not appear to have lectured in the Craft degrees, nor does
his register indicate what his fees were. However, we know that Cross and
Gleason received $4 per day to instruct in the seven Craft and Royal Arch
Degrees at about this same time and that Cross received $20 to establish a
Council of Select Masters, conferring only one degree. Further, in 1806
Antoine Bideaud of the Southern Supreme Council conferred the 4° through 32°
in New York City on J.J.J. Gourgas and four others for $46, or about $1.50 per
degree. Thus it is not unreasonable to suppose that Jacobs received $10–20 per
individual when he conferred the thirteen degrees of the Lodge of Perfection
and the Council of Princes of Jerusalem, perhaps giving a discount for a
larger class of candidates.
On
November 9, 1790, Moses Cohen initiated Jacobs “a Knight of the Sun, with full
power to initiate brethren and constitute Lodges,” and this is what he did. He
conferred the Ineffable, Sublime, and other “side” degrees to supplement his
income from teaching Hebrew. While his register gives no information about his
income, it does give us insight as to how he conferred degrees, from which we
can conjecture the methods of other Inspectors.
On
nineteen days from June 10 to July 3, 1792, Jacobs conferred the thirteen
degrees from Secret Master through Prince of Jerusalem on sixteen brothers in
Augusta, Georgia. His register entry for June 14 was typical of how the
degrees were conferred.
June
14th. This day conferred the degrees of Provost and Judge on Brother Zimmerman
and Prescott, also the degrees of Intendant of the Building, or Grand Master
in Israel. Brother James Gardner attended and received the degrees of Secret
Master and Perfect Master, with every requisite instruction.
Usually one or two degrees were conferred each evening, but since not everyone
could be present, degrees were repeated, as on June 14. Jacobs had no
assistance in conferring the degrees, and so the ceremonies were anything but
“full form.” It is reasonable to ask: Why did it take so many evenings to
confer the degrees? The explanation may be in the phrase from June 14 in
Jacobs’ register, “with every requisite instruction.”
Arturo
de Hoyos, Grand Archivist and Grand Historian of the Supreme Council, 33°, S.J.,
believes that Jacobs dictated the ceremonies to the candidates, and they
transcribed the rituals for their personal use. In support of this contention,
the Archives of the Supreme Council, 33°, S.J., have several small unbound
books with individual degrees transcribed into them. Consider the title page
of one undated book with the Knight of Kadosh rituals written on fifty-eight
of sixty-four 12´16.5 cm pages.
Knight of Kadoch
or
White & Black Eagle
Inspector of all lodges
Grand
Elect
24th
29th
degree
Gd elected Knt of
Kadosh
What
is significant is that “24th” is marked out and replaced by “29th.” Prior to
1801 the Degree of Kadosh was the twenty-fourth in the Order of the Royal
Secret, but the Circular throughout the Two Hemispheres lists the Kadosh as
the twenty-ninth degree (and it later became the thirtieth). Thus de Hoyos
dates the manuscript to sometime before 1801. It was prepared under the aegis
of the Order of the Royal Secret, but soon after its owner must have
transferred allegiance to the new Supreme Council and the ritual was
renumbered and renamed in a different hand. Note that it was only necessary to
renumber degrees above 22°, Prince Libanus, since the two systems agree
through there, and it is only such renumbered degree books that can be
confidently dated as being written before 1801.The Supreme Council invited all
holders of patents from the Order of the Royal Secret to turn them in and
receive a patent from the new body.
Few of
these books are extant for probably several reasons. First, there were never
very many recipients of these degrees, as witnessed by the few bodies
established before 1801 and the paucity of comments in Grand Lodge
proceedings. Next, during the American Anti-Masonic Period of 1826–42
renouncing Masons were encouraged to destroy all of their Masonic
paraphernalia. Finally, no less an authority than Albert Pike encouraged the
destruction of earlier and unapproved versions of Scottish Rite degrees and
recommended that “old and worthless cahiers of degrees, be committed to the
flames.”
We can
now assemble a model of how the Inspectors spread the high degrees. Armed with
their patents, they gathered from one to several candidates, summarized the
degree ceremonies, and taught the words and grips. After each abbreviated
ceremony the Inspectors dictated the rituals to the new members who
transcribed them for their personal use. Some Inspectors, like Abraham Jacobs,
encouraged their candidates to apply for warrants from appropriate authority,
though obviously few followed through.Unfettered by Grand Lodge regulations
the Inspectors were free to peddle their wares wherever they found willing
candidates. Their customers, either lured by sales pitches for exclusive
degrees or drawn by the promise of further light in Masonry, eagerly paid for
the information. The degrees were conferred as well as possible by the
Inspector with perhaps a few brothers assisting. The new candidates were then
permitted to transcribe the rituals for their later study and use, perhaps in
organizing a high-degree body with a warrant.
The Operation of High Degree
Bodies in America before 1801
According to the first U.S. census in 1790, the total population was
3,893,635, and the five largest cities were New York City (33,131),
Philadelphia (28,522), Boston (18,320), Charleston, S.C. (16,359), and
Baltimore (13,503). Five high-degree bodies were located in three of the five
largest American cities, with Charleston alone accounting for three bodies.
Albany (3,498) was the nineteenth largest American city and had one body. The
surprise location for a high degree body is Holmes’ Hole on the island of
Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The 1790 census shows only about 350 people
in the town, though the surrounding Dukes County had a population of 3,245,
which if it were a city would have ranked it as the twentieth largest. Thus
the bodies of the Order of the Royal Secret were mostly located in the largest
urban centers, which should have given them excellent exposure to Masons.
We
have very few extant records of any of these bodies.
• The
first hauts grades body in the U.S. was established in New Orleans. Loge de
Parfaits d’Écosse opened there on April 12, 1764, and worked the “Bordeaux
system,” but being first did not guarantee longevity.
Shortly after France ceded New Orleans to Spain through the 1763 Treaty of
Paris, Freemasonry either went underground or died out completely in the city.
Only one document remains of Parfaits d’Écosse, the minutes of two meetings;
we know nothing about its operations or influence.
The hauts grades did not formally return to New Orleans until 1807.
• The
Ineffable Lodge of Perfection of Albany was chartered by Henry Andrew Francken
in 1768. Its register is in the archives of the Supreme council, 33°, N.M.J.,
and records 123 meetings from 1768 to 1774, with no meetings held in 1772. The
extant minutes are banal, and do not reflect the promise of the sublime
perfection of Craft Masonry.
• The
Minute Book of the Lodge of Perfection in Philadelphia, established by Solomon
Bush, has been preserved by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and was reprinted
in 1915. It records the meetings from the first in 1781 to the abrupt last one
in 1789. While the members did write to Frederick the Great, the proceedings
are otherwise unexceptional.
•
Isaac Da Costa organized the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection in Charleston
in 1783. “On the 13th of June 5796 the Lodge room, records, jewels and
furniture of the Ineffable Lodge of Perfect and Sublime Masons were consumed
by fire, which, added to other causes, suspended the meetings of the of the
Sublime Lodge (except some occasional ones for special purposes).…”
• Five years after Da Costa organized the Lodge of Perfection in Charleston, Barend
M. Spitzer, Abraham Forst, Joseph M. Myers opened a Grand Council of Princes
of Jerusalem in 1788 in the city. Its jurisdiction over Lodges of Perfection
and Councils of Princes of Jerusalem was recognized at least by Abraham Jacobs
who instructed his initiates to apply to Charleston for a charter.
• King
Solomon’s Lodge of Perfection at Holmes’ Hole (now Tisbury), on the island of
Martha’s Vineyard, was created by Moses Michael Hays, Deputy Inspector
General, in 1791, when he was serving as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of
Massachusetts (Antients). In 1797 the body surrendered its charter to the
Grand Lodge and received a new charter with the same name but solely as a
Craft Lodge. King Solomon’s Lodge of Perfection surrendered its jewels,
charter, and records in 1822, and all were destroyed when the Grand Lodge in
Boston burned.
•
Henry Wilmans, “Grand Inspector, General,” established a Lodge of Perfection
in Baltimore, but the only remaining document is the “Constitution and Laws of
the Grand Elect, Perfect, and Sublime Masons” signed by seventy-seven members
in 1792, four of whom became Grand Master of Maryland. There is a reference in
1804 to Concordia Lodge No. 13 of Baltimore settling a rent account with
“Sublime Lodge” for $150. This seems to indicate that the Lodge of Perfection
survived at least twelve years. Nothing else is known about it.•
Charleston became the center of American high degree Masonry in 1797 when a
Sublime Grand Council of Princes of the Royal Secret was opened there under
authority from Hyman Isaac Long. This was the last high degree body to be
formed before 1801.
The
only Ineffable or Sublime bodies still working in 1801 were probably in
Baltimore and definitely in Charleston. While not many of these bodies
survived more than a few years, those in Charleston provided the fertile
ground from which emerged the Supreme Council of the United States. Most of
these high-degree bodies operated near several blue lodges and other bodies.
Their mere presence brought the Sublime Degrees to the attention of other
Masons in their area, but attention was not enough to insure success or
interest.
Bodies
of the Royal Secret before 1801 operated without any central direction; there
was no state or national leadership to direct them. In contrast, there were
Grand Lodges in twelve of the original states by 1791, with Delaware forming
its Grand Lodge in 1806. Some Grand Lodges permitted their lodges to work the
Mark, Royal Arch, and other degrees by virtue of their warrants. By 1801 the
York Rite was beginning to take off. There were Grand Chapters of Royal Arch
Masons in at least seven states, Royal Arch Masonry was seen as the logical
and natural extension of Craft Masonry, and the Knights Templar had a “Grand
Encampment in the City of Philadelphia.”
A
subtle but important distinction between operations of the York Rite and the
Order of the Royal Secret may be that the Ineffable and Sublime degrees had an
intellectual appeal, while the York Rite degrees—especially the Chapter
degrees—had popular elements of boisterous fun. This difference can be seen by
the willingness of initiates of the Order of the Royal Secret to pay for the
privilege of just transcribing rituals—certainly a scholarly approach to
Masonry of greatest appeal to the literate. Few of the men elevated by
Inspectors participated in meetings because there were hardly any bodies for
them to attend, but they seemed to be satisfied to read and study the rituals.
We
really don’t know what happened during pre-1801 American Masonic meetings, but
the exposures of the American Anti-Masonic Period (ca. 1826–42) let us make
tenuous inferences about that earlier era. David Bernard’s Light on Masonry
(1829) was the major exposure of the time, going through five increasingly
detailed editions between April and December 1829, and Avery Allyn’s A Ritual
of Freemasonry (1831) was its chief competitor. Both books sought to destroy
the fraternity by exposing its rituals and portraying it in the worst possible
light. Thus any negative depiction must be considered in light of the authors’
ultimate goal. Their descriptions reflected local ritual variants that may or
may not have been more widely popular. Arturo de Hoyos points out that such
variants are an expected consequence of the York Rite’s tradition of
mouth-to-ear ritual. The written tradition of the Ineffable and Sublime
Degrees allows much less variation.
If
Bernard’s and Allyn’s exposures can be believed, the degrees of a Royal Arch
Chapter offered participants rowdy, mischievous initiation pranks. These
degrees, especially the Royal Arch, provided a logical conclusion to the
Master Mason Degree, while seemingly providing some innocent fun during the
ceremonies—a popular combination much more successful than merely transcribing
and studying rituals. Their descriptions of the Royal Arch Chapter Degrees,
the most widely worked of the high degrees, tell of several opportunities to
embarrass and surprise the candidates. Allyn even provided comical drawings of
the ceremonies, highlighting the discomfiture of the candidate.
In
contrast with the Chapter degrees, their descriptions of “Eleven Ineffable
Degrees,” are austere and solemn, almost like historical plays.Bernard had
advanced to the 6°, Intimate Secretary, and Allyn had received none of the
Ineffable and Sublime Degrees, so they had little firsthand evidence of what
went on in a Lodge of Perfection.
However, neither author would have missed an opportunity to emphasize any
negative aspect, even rumored. The simplicity of their descriptions supports
the idea that the ceremonies were indeed serious without amusing features for
observers. The Ineffable and Sublime Degrees may not have spread rapidly
because they lacked the humorous initiation possibilities of the Royal Arch
Chapter Degrees. We will likely never know.
Conclusion
The
Supreme Council of the United States appeared at a time when American Masons
were becoming aware there was Masonic knowledge beyond the Craft Lodge. This
awareness was spread by itinerant lecturers, books, and bodies of the Order of
the Royal Secret. The Order, with its largely uncontrolled Inspectors, lacked
the organizational infrastructure to survive. Its daughter, the Ancient and
Accepted Scottish Rite, had the characteristics that guarantee greatness. In
two hundred years it has grown to become the largest and most widespread
branch of the Masonic fraternity. Today it has even greater possibilities of
greatness than in 1801.
Acknowledgements
I am
indebted to two of my fellow Mackey Scholars who have generously given me
invaluable assistance. Ill. Bro. Arturo de Hoyos, 33°, Grand Archivist and
Grand Historian, Supreme Council, 33°, S.J., provided me with support,
inspiration, and guidance through many conversations about the Order of the
Royal Secret. Ill. Bro. Alain Bernheim, 33°, refined my references and
suggested important enhancements to the text.
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