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Article THE NEBRASKA SQUABBLE. Page 1 of 2 Article THE NEBRASKA SQUABBLE. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Nebraska Squabble.
THE NEBRASKA SQUABBLE .
( Continued from pngofi ) . " Tronsactions , " 18 ( 50 , p 49 , speaking of tho La : in Constitutions of 178 ( 5 , Brother Bike states : — "The assertion of our Illustrious Biothor that theso Constitutions 'disclaim all control over the first thren degrees , wherever
organizations of those degrees exist' ; that the framers of these Constitutions ' prohibit their saccessora from meddling with tho Symbolic degrees '; and that ' their action was t ; i bo confined to tho Lodges of Perfection , and to the degrees above aud including tho 4 th or Secret Master , ' aro strangely incorrect .
It is true that Art . XIII . provides that tho Sovereign Grand Inspector ? , Deputies of the Supremo Connoil , may delegate to Deputy Inspectors of at least , tho 30 th degree , so mu .-h of their powers aa may enablo them to establish , regulate and superintend Lodges and Councils in any of th" degrees , from tho 4 th to tho 20 ; h inclusive . But this is a mere affirmnI , ve provision , that does not at all negative or sun-render the power of the Supreme Authority of the Rite over the first three degrees . "
" Official Bulletin / ' August 1870 , p 106 , Brother Pike states : — "On the 21 st of December 18 ( 50 , the Illustrious Brother Charles Laffon de Laudebat , active Member of , and with plenary authority from the Supremo C . nncil for tho Southern Jurisdiction of the United State . " , established in the Valley of Vera Cruz , in Mexico , the Supremo Council of the 33 rd degren for Mexico and tho States of
Central America , of which Illustrious Brother Gen . Ignacio Cimonfort became tho Sovereign Graud Commander . " Again , referring to this matter in " Official Bulletin , " April 1871 , p 223 , ho states : — " Continued disturbances and dissensions scattered tbe members of the Grand Council shortly after the commencement of their labour : they chartered a few Lodges , however , among them , one in Tamaulipas . " "Official Bulletin , " December 1871 , p 451 , Bro . Pike states : —
Tamaulipas Lodgo was regularly charted by the Supreme Conncil for Mexico and Central America , at "Vera Cruz , of which the Illustrious Brother Comonfort was Sovereign Grand Commander . Tho Supreme Council was regular and legitimate , being established by the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States , and having ample power and perfect right to eitablish Blue
Lodges of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite . The Lodge in question was , and is , asregnlar a Lodge as any in Texas . " In a letter written to the Supremo Council at Peru , 7 th February 1877 , Brother Albert Pike writes : — "And when , in 1801 , vitality and operation was given to the Grand Constitutions by tho organisation of the Supremo Council at
' Charleston , jurisdiction over tho symbolic degrees was expressly ' waived in favour of th . o Grand Lodge , but was not entirely ceded or - relinquished ; and we have always held onr right to administer them to be undiminished , and that if necessity should require , it conld bo resumed . * * * * * " Thi c'oitrine of exclusive Grand Lodge j iri . sdict ' on has grown
up in tho United States , and been accepted here as polit c and in tho interest of harmony and nriity . It doe ? not prevail in Europe , and is not a part of Masonic organ c law ; audits zealots hero have not beou content to stop when they had pushed it to the very vergo of absurdity . " Brother Albert Pike , Grand Commander Supreme Connoil
Southern Jurisdiction Ancient and Accepted Rite , Fays , in " Foulhouzoism , " page 108 : 1 st , That a person who has receiver ! the three Symbolic degrees in a regular lodgo of either the English , French , or Scottish Rite is a regular Master Mason , and every regular body of Masons in the world is bound to consider recognise and
receive him as such . 2 nd , That a Master Mason who has regularly received the third degree in one Rite , does not need to receive it in another in order to bo admitted to visit in Lodges of that Order . " Hoping that by this letter I havo placed our position ns a Siprem * Conncil Ancient nnd Accepted Scottish Rito properly , fully and clearly before the brethren of our obedience in Nebraska , I am , Courteously and fraternally ,
JOHN J . GORMAN 33 ° , Grand Commander . John Ynrker , Post Grand Senior Warden of tho Grand Lodgo of Greece , who is recognized as an eminent English Masonio authority , writes as follows : — WITIIIXCTON , Manchester , 3 rd April LS ' JO .
ALEXANDER ATKINSON , — Omaha , Neb ., U . S . A . Yon put to mo fonr questions npou Masonry , which I will answer in short by saying that tho action of your Grand Lodgo nnd its Grand Master is opposed to all tho laws of lawful Craft Masonry as
transmitted to ns through the centuries , and that I consider it to bo tho duty of every honest man to protect the ancient fabric of the Craft by every lawful means with tongue and pen . Justice and Maponio platitudes , as I have learned by long experience , pass for nothing and weigh nothing with ninety-nine Masons cut of every hundred :
they do not study to fulfil their obligations . I will therefore adopt a different course in considering the matter with you , and to that end will leave out of tho question altogether the rites foreign to onr Ancient Craft , and show what gonnino Masonry is as it has been transmitted to ns for above two thousand years .
What thou was tho Ancient Craft ? Did it over meddle with matters beyond it ? Wo hare in England two precious MSS . The older is the Constitution of Euclid , sanctioned by Athelstan , transmitted in rhyme , and committed to writing about the year 1370 . It has recently been named tho Regius MS . The other is a collection of various ••hnrj'n . s from ancient Masons and chronicles , and closing with
The Nebraska Squabble.
the same Euclid charge , which it equally asserts was sanctioned by King Athelstan . It was committed to writius not later than 1-130 , and is called the Cooke MS . The account is practically the same in both MSS . Our traditions fix npon Edwin , King of Northumbria , in A . D . 620 , as the earliest known Masonio organizer , and all make
Athelstan tbe great lawgiver of the Craft Guild . York was especiall y Roman , and ono Euclid was an Archon of tho mysteries ( about 400 B . C . ) , and another was a Platonist , and master of a school of geometricians ; it is probable that tho assertion of these MSS . that Euclid re-organized tho ancient E _ < ypto-Greek Craft , is founded upon fact .
Tho account says that having taken for instruction the free-born children of the land— "hi a certyn time they wero not all il yke abull for to take of the forsoyd art , wherefore that the forsayde Maister Eujjlet ordeynet thei wero passing of oonynge shonld be passing honoured . And did to call tho convnge Maister to inform
the lesse of conynge Minsters of the wich were called Maisters of nobilite of wytte and conynge of that art . Nevertheless they commanded that thai that wore losso of witto scholdo not be called sernante nor sogette but felans for nobilite of their gentyllo hlode . "
We find it , therefore , stated that Euclid constituted the qualified or accepted Masons into two classes , as in tho " lesser " and " greater mysteries "—the masters and follows ; and that there maybe no mistake about it , there is a class of laws called " articles" for the Masters , and a class called " points" for the Fellows . The Appren . tice was not called to the assembly , thongh his duties are defined ,
and if ho was sworn at ( his early period , as is most probable , it was in private Lodges . The first English Assemblies , Congregations or Chapters ( for they wore known by all theso names ) are alleged to have been upon the ordination of Euclid , and had the swearing of Fellows and tho passing of Masters . It is clear also that thi Assembly ( or Grand Lodge , as it is now called ) was dually
constituted , for the following is what appsars upon the subject in tho Cooke MS ., and equally in the Regius : — "Congregacons scholde he mado by Maisters of all Maister Masons and Fellows in the aforesaid art . And so at such congregacons they that made Maisters scholdo be examined of the articuls after written and be ransakyed whether
thei bo abull and kunnynge to the profyte of tho lordys them to sarvo and to tho honour of the aforesaid art . " But the " points " of the Craftsman make a second call to them also , the law being similar in both MSS . 1 will quote from tho Regins : —
12 th point—Thor as tho sembli yholdo schal be . Ther schal be mnystreys and felows also And other gret lordes many mo . loth point—A good trew oath he mnst ther swero To his mnystor and his felow . s that , been there . There is a final article for " new men that never were swore before " ( presumably Apprentices ) .
Now , theso two books embrace nil tho known law * of Masonty , but thore is not ono single word ro prohibit tho Mason from joining any other association or guild . Yet tho .-o is evidence thuc thoy did associate thems-lvcs freely with tfio Hermetic societies of the period , for we real in tha '' Ordinall of Alchemy , " compiled by Thomas Norton , " in this year of Christ 1477 , " as follows : —
But wonder it is that weevors deal with such works , Freemasons nnd tanners with poore P'issh Clarkes . Stayners and glasiers will not thorfore cease , And yet soely tinkers will put them in preeso . Tha Masonio assemblies fell into disrepute , Una wero parsed aga ' nst them , and thoir legality finally abolished in 1517 . Masonry
took refuge in small independent town coteries , of which we have many on record . Anderson found an old tradition that an aasetnhly was held at York , about the year 15 ( 70 , and an armed force was sent to disperse it , but fp iends were made of its leaders , and tho assembly was allowed to continue its deliberations . It soems a gennino tradition , for from this time a now form of constitution comes into use
nnd is found in the possession of nil tha private town Lodges , and each asierts ( for the first time ) that Edwin or Athelstan held tbe assembly at York . It is clear that a re-arrangement had become necessary , for the form of proceedings is modified ; the first series of charges is for Masons in general , the second to Masters and Fellows , and the documents are addressed to the " Good Brethren and
Fellows . " In or about lfi ( 53 an attempt was made to rovivo tho authority of tlu ancient Grand Assembly . It was enacted that for tho future tho whole Craft shonld be nnder ono Grand Masfcei ' . The object of theso new regulations ( which are added to a copy of tho charges preserved amongst tho Harleian MSb .
in the British Museum ) was to rognlate tho abnses h 1 '" which tho Craft had fallen for want of a ruling centre , and to get back some of its operative control . It is probable that these " » regulations" wero a York arrangement , for they added a copy of rt new charge , to which Apprentices were to be sworn , and this oharg ' is found in nso chiefly , if not entirely , in Yorkshire , Durham a '"
Northumberland . It would seem that tho private Lodges had usurped tha functions of tho Assembly , yet thero is quite sufficient to show tint theso bodies preserved three classes of secrets—f « Apprentice , Follow and Master , as now—neither moro nor less . Yet still in all theso centuries no Masinic pope arose , either to anathemntiso ontside soeiotics or prohibit Masons liborty of conscience . On tho contrary wo find thev still continued to join tho hermetic "";'
mystic societies . The Freemasons Murray and Ashmolo wero Ro - ' crucians , and tho " Wise Man ' s Crown , " 1 M ! -, has the following p : > 35 ' age : —The lato yonrs of tyranny admitted stocking weavers , shrcmakers , millers , masons , carpenters , bricklayers , gunsmiths , hatted & c , to write and teach astrology . Tho next period of M-isonry was the revival of a ruling centre' London , in 1717 . It wan prau'ically tho old : u : i-. mbly , for its ii' -jt I ' ¦ ' ¦ ' ¦ = onacted that thoy only hud tho ouwt . r of making Masters aud Follow- *
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Nebraska Squabble.
THE NEBRASKA SQUABBLE .
( Continued from pngofi ) . " Tronsactions , " 18 ( 50 , p 49 , speaking of tho La : in Constitutions of 178 ( 5 , Brother Bike states : — "The assertion of our Illustrious Biothor that theso Constitutions 'disclaim all control over the first thren degrees , wherever
organizations of those degrees exist' ; that the framers of these Constitutions ' prohibit their saccessora from meddling with tho Symbolic degrees '; and that ' their action was t ; i bo confined to tho Lodges of Perfection , and to the degrees above aud including tho 4 th or Secret Master , ' aro strangely incorrect .
It is true that Art . XIII . provides that tho Sovereign Grand Inspector ? , Deputies of the Supremo Connoil , may delegate to Deputy Inspectors of at least , tho 30 th degree , so mu .-h of their powers aa may enablo them to establish , regulate and superintend Lodges and Councils in any of th" degrees , from tho 4 th to tho 20 ; h inclusive . But this is a mere affirmnI , ve provision , that does not at all negative or sun-render the power of the Supreme Authority of the Rite over the first three degrees . "
" Official Bulletin / ' August 1870 , p 106 , Brother Pike states : — "On the 21 st of December 18 ( 50 , the Illustrious Brother Charles Laffon de Laudebat , active Member of , and with plenary authority from the Supremo C . nncil for tho Southern Jurisdiction of the United State . " , established in the Valley of Vera Cruz , in Mexico , the Supremo Council of the 33 rd degren for Mexico and tho States of
Central America , of which Illustrious Brother Gen . Ignacio Cimonfort became tho Sovereign Graud Commander . " Again , referring to this matter in " Official Bulletin , " April 1871 , p 223 , ho states : — " Continued disturbances and dissensions scattered tbe members of the Grand Council shortly after the commencement of their labour : they chartered a few Lodges , however , among them , one in Tamaulipas . " "Official Bulletin , " December 1871 , p 451 , Bro . Pike states : —
Tamaulipas Lodgo was regularly charted by the Supreme Conncil for Mexico and Central America , at "Vera Cruz , of which the Illustrious Brother Comonfort was Sovereign Grand Commander . Tho Supreme Council was regular and legitimate , being established by the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States , and having ample power and perfect right to eitablish Blue
Lodges of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite . The Lodge in question was , and is , asregnlar a Lodge as any in Texas . " In a letter written to the Supremo Council at Peru , 7 th February 1877 , Brother Albert Pike writes : — "And when , in 1801 , vitality and operation was given to the Grand Constitutions by tho organisation of the Supremo Council at
' Charleston , jurisdiction over tho symbolic degrees was expressly ' waived in favour of th . o Grand Lodge , but was not entirely ceded or - relinquished ; and we have always held onr right to administer them to be undiminished , and that if necessity should require , it conld bo resumed . * * * * * " Thi c'oitrine of exclusive Grand Lodge j iri . sdict ' on has grown
up in tho United States , and been accepted here as polit c and in tho interest of harmony and nriity . It doe ? not prevail in Europe , and is not a part of Masonic organ c law ; audits zealots hero have not beou content to stop when they had pushed it to the very vergo of absurdity . " Brother Albert Pike , Grand Commander Supreme Connoil
Southern Jurisdiction Ancient and Accepted Rite , Fays , in " Foulhouzoism , " page 108 : 1 st , That a person who has receiver ! the three Symbolic degrees in a regular lodgo of either the English , French , or Scottish Rite is a regular Master Mason , and every regular body of Masons in the world is bound to consider recognise and
receive him as such . 2 nd , That a Master Mason who has regularly received the third degree in one Rite , does not need to receive it in another in order to bo admitted to visit in Lodges of that Order . " Hoping that by this letter I havo placed our position ns a Siprem * Conncil Ancient nnd Accepted Scottish Rito properly , fully and clearly before the brethren of our obedience in Nebraska , I am , Courteously and fraternally ,
JOHN J . GORMAN 33 ° , Grand Commander . John Ynrker , Post Grand Senior Warden of tho Grand Lodgo of Greece , who is recognized as an eminent English Masonio authority , writes as follows : — WITIIIXCTON , Manchester , 3 rd April LS ' JO .
ALEXANDER ATKINSON , — Omaha , Neb ., U . S . A . Yon put to mo fonr questions npou Masonry , which I will answer in short by saying that tho action of your Grand Lodgo nnd its Grand Master is opposed to all tho laws of lawful Craft Masonry as
transmitted to ns through the centuries , and that I consider it to bo tho duty of every honest man to protect the ancient fabric of the Craft by every lawful means with tongue and pen . Justice and Maponio platitudes , as I have learned by long experience , pass for nothing and weigh nothing with ninety-nine Masons cut of every hundred :
they do not study to fulfil their obligations . I will therefore adopt a different course in considering the matter with you , and to that end will leave out of tho question altogether the rites foreign to onr Ancient Craft , and show what gonnino Masonry is as it has been transmitted to ns for above two thousand years .
What thou was tho Ancient Craft ? Did it over meddle with matters beyond it ? Wo hare in England two precious MSS . The older is the Constitution of Euclid , sanctioned by Athelstan , transmitted in rhyme , and committed to writing about the year 1370 . It has recently been named tho Regius MS . The other is a collection of various ••hnrj'n . s from ancient Masons and chronicles , and closing with
The Nebraska Squabble.
the same Euclid charge , which it equally asserts was sanctioned by King Athelstan . It was committed to writius not later than 1-130 , and is called the Cooke MS . The account is practically the same in both MSS . Our traditions fix npon Edwin , King of Northumbria , in A . D . 620 , as the earliest known Masonio organizer , and all make
Athelstan tbe great lawgiver of the Craft Guild . York was especiall y Roman , and ono Euclid was an Archon of tho mysteries ( about 400 B . C . ) , and another was a Platonist , and master of a school of geometricians ; it is probable that tho assertion of these MSS . that Euclid re-organized tho ancient E _ < ypto-Greek Craft , is founded upon fact .
Tho account says that having taken for instruction the free-born children of the land— "hi a certyn time they wero not all il yke abull for to take of the forsoyd art , wherefore that the forsayde Maister Eujjlet ordeynet thei wero passing of oonynge shonld be passing honoured . And did to call tho convnge Maister to inform
the lesse of conynge Minsters of the wich were called Maisters of nobilite of wytte and conynge of that art . Nevertheless they commanded that thai that wore losso of witto scholdo not be called sernante nor sogette but felans for nobilite of their gentyllo hlode . "
We find it , therefore , stated that Euclid constituted the qualified or accepted Masons into two classes , as in tho " lesser " and " greater mysteries "—the masters and follows ; and that there maybe no mistake about it , there is a class of laws called " articles" for the Masters , and a class called " points" for the Fellows . The Appren . tice was not called to the assembly , thongh his duties are defined ,
and if ho was sworn at ( his early period , as is most probable , it was in private Lodges . The first English Assemblies , Congregations or Chapters ( for they wore known by all theso names ) are alleged to have been upon the ordination of Euclid , and had the swearing of Fellows and tho passing of Masters . It is clear also that thi Assembly ( or Grand Lodge , as it is now called ) was dually
constituted , for the following is what appsars upon the subject in tho Cooke MS ., and equally in the Regius : — "Congregacons scholde he mado by Maisters of all Maister Masons and Fellows in the aforesaid art . And so at such congregacons they that made Maisters scholdo be examined of the articuls after written and be ransakyed whether
thei bo abull and kunnynge to the profyte of tho lordys them to sarvo and to tho honour of the aforesaid art . " But the " points " of the Craftsman make a second call to them also , the law being similar in both MSS . 1 will quote from tho Regins : —
12 th point—Thor as tho sembli yholdo schal be . Ther schal be mnystreys and felows also And other gret lordes many mo . loth point—A good trew oath he mnst ther swero To his mnystor and his felow . s that , been there . There is a final article for " new men that never were swore before " ( presumably Apprentices ) .
Now , theso two books embrace nil tho known law * of Masonty , but thore is not ono single word ro prohibit tho Mason from joining any other association or guild . Yet tho .-o is evidence thuc thoy did associate thems-lvcs freely with tfio Hermetic societies of the period , for we real in tha '' Ordinall of Alchemy , " compiled by Thomas Norton , " in this year of Christ 1477 , " as follows : —
But wonder it is that weevors deal with such works , Freemasons nnd tanners with poore P'issh Clarkes . Stayners and glasiers will not thorfore cease , And yet soely tinkers will put them in preeso . Tha Masonio assemblies fell into disrepute , Una wero parsed aga ' nst them , and thoir legality finally abolished in 1517 . Masonry
took refuge in small independent town coteries , of which we have many on record . Anderson found an old tradition that an aasetnhly was held at York , about the year 15 ( 70 , and an armed force was sent to disperse it , but fp iends were made of its leaders , and tho assembly was allowed to continue its deliberations . It soems a gennino tradition , for from this time a now form of constitution comes into use
nnd is found in the possession of nil tha private town Lodges , and each asierts ( for the first time ) that Edwin or Athelstan held tbe assembly at York . It is clear that a re-arrangement had become necessary , for the form of proceedings is modified ; the first series of charges is for Masons in general , the second to Masters and Fellows , and the documents are addressed to the " Good Brethren and
Fellows . " In or about lfi ( 53 an attempt was made to rovivo tho authority of tlu ancient Grand Assembly . It was enacted that for tho future tho whole Craft shonld be nnder ono Grand Masfcei ' . The object of theso new regulations ( which are added to a copy of tho charges preserved amongst tho Harleian MSb .
in the British Museum ) was to rognlate tho abnses h 1 '" which tho Craft had fallen for want of a ruling centre , and to get back some of its operative control . It is probable that these " » regulations" wero a York arrangement , for they added a copy of rt new charge , to which Apprentices were to be sworn , and this oharg ' is found in nso chiefly , if not entirely , in Yorkshire , Durham a '"
Northumberland . It would seem that tho private Lodges had usurped tha functions of tho Assembly , yet thero is quite sufficient to show tint theso bodies preserved three classes of secrets—f « Apprentice , Follow and Master , as now—neither moro nor less . Yet still in all theso centuries no Masinic pope arose , either to anathemntiso ontside soeiotics or prohibit Masons liborty of conscience . On tho contrary wo find thev still continued to join tho hermetic "";'
mystic societies . The Freemasons Murray and Ashmolo wero Ro - ' crucians , and tho " Wise Man ' s Crown , " 1 M ! -, has the following p : > 35 ' age : —The lato yonrs of tyranny admitted stocking weavers , shrcmakers , millers , masons , carpenters , bricklayers , gunsmiths , hatted & c , to write and teach astrology . Tho next period of M-isonry was the revival of a ruling centre' London , in 1717 . It wan prau'ically tho old : u : i-. mbly , for its ii' -jt I ' ¦ ' ¦ ' ¦ = onacted that thoy only hud tho ouwt . r of making Masters aud Follow- *