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Article ESSAY ON MODERN PSEUDO-MASONIC RITES.* ← Page 7 of 9 →
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Essay On Modern Pseudo-Masonic Rites.*
de Montaleau , the President of the G . O . This contract of peace , which was signed on the 5 th December , 1804 , was of little use , for in 1805 , the members of the Scotch Rite declared that the G . O . had violated the treaty , and once more separated from the French Order . Their hostility , of which it would be painful ancl useless to give a complete history , continued until the year 1814 . In this year , fruitful in events , the G . O . considering its position as legitimate governor of all Masonry
, , wished to abolish the schism which had so long disgraced the Fraternity , and with the consent of all the Lodges under its jurisdiction , and in spite of the self-styled G . Lodge of the Scotch Rite , it conferred all the 33 Degrees of that Rite , as well as the 7 of " Rite Moderne . " This plan succeeded admirably . In 1817 a new Rite sprung up , which has already been named " The Rite of Misraim , " partly invented by Cagliostro . This
Egyp-_ tian or Hermetic Order , in the number of its degrees , in the splendour of its ornaments , in the awful solemnity of its initiations , surpassing it was said those of ancient Egypt or Eleusis , and in the alchymical , magical , and jargonical nature of its mysteries , far exceed any Rite known before : to use a common but expressive saying , "It out-Heroded Herod . " This Hermetic Rite consisted
not of 7 , nor 25 , nor 33 degrees , but of 90 ! The Scotch Masons at the most had never more than 33 , of which 25 were given b y communication , and the " Rite Francais" conferred formally 4 only of its 7 ; but the Misraitic Order gave 90 ! And with such names .
such aprons , jewels , stars , & c , such mystical and superhuman secrets , which nobody could ever hope to comprehend , the whole Masonic world was astounded . Oh , reader!—what wonderful beings men with an inventive turn of mind must be ! Where—in what cellule of the brain could be found such names as these Hermetic gentry gave to their grades ? The degrees of the " Rite Ancien / ' one would have thought , would have exhausted
the vocabulary of denominations ; for therein we find , " Knights Royal Hatchets ; " * "Knights ofthe Brazen Serpent ; " and "Grand Inquisitors ; but these are totally eclipsed by the new Order . Listen , gentle reader , to the following titles , and be mute with admiration : — " Sublime Philosophers ! "t "Discreet Members of Chaos !! " "Wise Members of Chaos !!! " " Supreme Commander of the Stars ! !!!"and then , to crown all , "Member of the Supreme Grand Council of
Grand Constituent Masters of the Order of Sovereign Princes of the Sublime 90 th Grade !! " % The ornaments of this Rite are very beautiful ! but , alas ! for those who see nothing in Masonry but external ornament . The merits of this Order were fully and dispassionatel y considered b y the G . O ., and though at first it was approved of by the two G . Maitres adjoints—the Marshals De Beurnonville and Macdonald ; but at length , after much deliberation , the G . O . and G . M . unanimously rejected it , and after publishing their reasons for so doing in a masterly ordinance , prohibited all Lodges from practising its Mysteries . A copy of this docu-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essay On Modern Pseudo-Masonic Rites.*
de Montaleau , the President of the G . O . This contract of peace , which was signed on the 5 th December , 1804 , was of little use , for in 1805 , the members of the Scotch Rite declared that the G . O . had violated the treaty , and once more separated from the French Order . Their hostility , of which it would be painful ancl useless to give a complete history , continued until the year 1814 . In this year , fruitful in events , the G . O . considering its position as legitimate governor of all Masonry
, , wished to abolish the schism which had so long disgraced the Fraternity , and with the consent of all the Lodges under its jurisdiction , and in spite of the self-styled G . Lodge of the Scotch Rite , it conferred all the 33 Degrees of that Rite , as well as the 7 of " Rite Moderne . " This plan succeeded admirably . In 1817 a new Rite sprung up , which has already been named " The Rite of Misraim , " partly invented by Cagliostro . This
Egyp-_ tian or Hermetic Order , in the number of its degrees , in the splendour of its ornaments , in the awful solemnity of its initiations , surpassing it was said those of ancient Egypt or Eleusis , and in the alchymical , magical , and jargonical nature of its mysteries , far exceed any Rite known before : to use a common but expressive saying , "It out-Heroded Herod . " This Hermetic Rite consisted
not of 7 , nor 25 , nor 33 degrees , but of 90 ! The Scotch Masons at the most had never more than 33 , of which 25 were given b y communication , and the " Rite Francais" conferred formally 4 only of its 7 ; but the Misraitic Order gave 90 ! And with such names .
such aprons , jewels , stars , & c , such mystical and superhuman secrets , which nobody could ever hope to comprehend , the whole Masonic world was astounded . Oh , reader!—what wonderful beings men with an inventive turn of mind must be ! Where—in what cellule of the brain could be found such names as these Hermetic gentry gave to their grades ? The degrees of the " Rite Ancien / ' one would have thought , would have exhausted
the vocabulary of denominations ; for therein we find , " Knights Royal Hatchets ; " * "Knights ofthe Brazen Serpent ; " and "Grand Inquisitors ; but these are totally eclipsed by the new Order . Listen , gentle reader , to the following titles , and be mute with admiration : — " Sublime Philosophers ! "t "Discreet Members of Chaos !! " "Wise Members of Chaos !!! " " Supreme Commander of the Stars ! !!!"and then , to crown all , "Member of the Supreme Grand Council of
Grand Constituent Masters of the Order of Sovereign Princes of the Sublime 90 th Grade !! " % The ornaments of this Rite are very beautiful ! but , alas ! for those who see nothing in Masonry but external ornament . The merits of this Order were fully and dispassionatel y considered b y the G . O ., and though at first it was approved of by the two G . Maitres adjoints—the Marshals De Beurnonville and Macdonald ; but at length , after much deliberation , the G . O . and G . M . unanimously rejected it , and after publishing their reasons for so doing in a masterly ordinance , prohibited all Lodges from practising its Mysteries . A copy of this docu-