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Article OBSERVATIONS ON THE DEGREE OF "ROSE CROIX." ← Page 4 of 5 →
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Observations On The Degree Of "Rose Croix."
the same Lectures as in England : whoever wrote that seemed to forget that the Lectures given in England were concocted by Preston , not very long ago , and that wanting antiquity , they want authenticity . In the oldest Lodges of St . John ' s Masonry , no Lectures of the kind were ever thought of ; and it were better to refer a Brother at once to the Royal Order , where much will be explained iu a very different way . This , indeed , is one reason why no Lectures were ever attached to St , John ' s Masonry in Scotland , the Chapters of H . R . D . M . being the real Lodges of Instruction .
The Royal Order consists of two steps , H . R . D . M ., and R . S . Y . C . S ., the latter onl y is an order of kni ghthood ; it is , besides , the oldest , and perhaps only genuine order of Masonic Knighthood ; as in it there is an intimate relation between the sword and the trowel , which others try to shun . There is a peculiarity about this order which distinguishes it from nearly all other Masonic orders of Knighthood—no Lodge or Chapter , in short , no charter is legal unless emanating from "
The Grand Lodge ( in Scotland ) , or unless the Grand Master , or the Deputy Grand Master of the whole order , himself grants one , or empowers , under very peculiar circumstances , a Provincial Grand Master to grant one . The moment a Provincial Grand Lodge , or any Chapter throws off its allegiance , it ceases to be a legal one ; ami it would be as impossible for an illegal one to advance Brethren to the degree of H . R . D . M ., or promote them to the Knighthood of the R . S . Y . C . S . as it
, would be for the Emperor of Russia to create Knight Companions , Knight Commanders , or Knight Grand Crosses of the Bath . Illegal Lodges and Chapters may grant degrees of their own invention , but they cannot make Brethren , or Knights of the Royal Order of Scotland . This , indeed , may have been a reason why , on the French soil , it was found impossible to set the genuine Scotch order a-going in 1747 , and why the Rose Croix was substituted for it . A successful attempt was
made in 1786 , a Provincial Grand Master of France ( M . Matheus , of Rouen ) was appointed , and a vast number of Chapters got charters ; but partly through the jealousy of the Grand Orient of France , and from the war , the greater part had been suppressed or died a natural death by the time of the peace in 1815 ; and at this moment , and for nearly twenty years , not one has been in a state of activity in that country , while the Rose Croix is still retained . Not only does the required
constant allegiance of a foreign Chapter to the Grand Lodge of the order in Scotland , militate against the spread of the Royal Order abroad , and even in England and Ireland , but the Grand Lodge never grants powers to any Chapter to give a degree higher than that of H . R . D . M ., which we shall suppose is only the rank of Esquire . A Provincial Grand Lodge has of itself no powers to create Knights , hut in every case the Provincial Grand Master , if he desires it , receives during his life , letters enabling him and his deputy to do so ; and these are renewed to his successor on a trifling fee . All Brethren and Knights must be registered in Scotland .
Such , then , is the degree or order from which the Rose Croix , or the Eagle and Pelican , has been derived . The Rose Croix , or Red Cross , at present practised in England and Scotland as a degree of Temp larism , is an alteration of the Eagle and Pelican , having still less of Masonry and more of chivalry in it ; and therefore is a still greater corruption of the original degree—so great , indeed , that scarcely one trace of the genuine order remains . It has , moreover , at least in England , got interwoven with it the principal portions of a separate degree
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Observations On The Degree Of "Rose Croix."
the same Lectures as in England : whoever wrote that seemed to forget that the Lectures given in England were concocted by Preston , not very long ago , and that wanting antiquity , they want authenticity . In the oldest Lodges of St . John ' s Masonry , no Lectures of the kind were ever thought of ; and it were better to refer a Brother at once to the Royal Order , where much will be explained iu a very different way . This , indeed , is one reason why no Lectures were ever attached to St , John ' s Masonry in Scotland , the Chapters of H . R . D . M . being the real Lodges of Instruction .
The Royal Order consists of two steps , H . R . D . M ., and R . S . Y . C . S ., the latter onl y is an order of kni ghthood ; it is , besides , the oldest , and perhaps only genuine order of Masonic Knighthood ; as in it there is an intimate relation between the sword and the trowel , which others try to shun . There is a peculiarity about this order which distinguishes it from nearly all other Masonic orders of Knighthood—no Lodge or Chapter , in short , no charter is legal unless emanating from "
The Grand Lodge ( in Scotland ) , or unless the Grand Master , or the Deputy Grand Master of the whole order , himself grants one , or empowers , under very peculiar circumstances , a Provincial Grand Master to grant one . The moment a Provincial Grand Lodge , or any Chapter throws off its allegiance , it ceases to be a legal one ; ami it would be as impossible for an illegal one to advance Brethren to the degree of H . R . D . M ., or promote them to the Knighthood of the R . S . Y . C . S . as it
, would be for the Emperor of Russia to create Knight Companions , Knight Commanders , or Knight Grand Crosses of the Bath . Illegal Lodges and Chapters may grant degrees of their own invention , but they cannot make Brethren , or Knights of the Royal Order of Scotland . This , indeed , may have been a reason why , on the French soil , it was found impossible to set the genuine Scotch order a-going in 1747 , and why the Rose Croix was substituted for it . A successful attempt was
made in 1786 , a Provincial Grand Master of France ( M . Matheus , of Rouen ) was appointed , and a vast number of Chapters got charters ; but partly through the jealousy of the Grand Orient of France , and from the war , the greater part had been suppressed or died a natural death by the time of the peace in 1815 ; and at this moment , and for nearly twenty years , not one has been in a state of activity in that country , while the Rose Croix is still retained . Not only does the required
constant allegiance of a foreign Chapter to the Grand Lodge of the order in Scotland , militate against the spread of the Royal Order abroad , and even in England and Ireland , but the Grand Lodge never grants powers to any Chapter to give a degree higher than that of H . R . D . M ., which we shall suppose is only the rank of Esquire . A Provincial Grand Lodge has of itself no powers to create Knights , hut in every case the Provincial Grand Master , if he desires it , receives during his life , letters enabling him and his deputy to do so ; and these are renewed to his successor on a trifling fee . All Brethren and Knights must be registered in Scotland .
Such , then , is the degree or order from which the Rose Croix , or the Eagle and Pelican , has been derived . The Rose Croix , or Red Cross , at present practised in England and Scotland as a degree of Temp larism , is an alteration of the Eagle and Pelican , having still less of Masonry and more of chivalry in it ; and therefore is a still greater corruption of the original degree—so great , indeed , that scarcely one trace of the genuine order remains . It has , moreover , at least in England , got interwoven with it the principal portions of a separate degree