-
Articles/Ads
Article TWO PRICELESS PICTURES. ← Page 2 of 2 Article SQUABBLES AMONG SCOTCH RITERS. Page 1 of 2 Article SQUABBLES AMONG SCOTCH RITERS. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Two Priceless Pictures.
And now , ladies and gentlemen , thirty years have passed since this Lodge was born . It has become one of the strongest Lodges of the Order in tho United States , or in the world . There is a peculiar warmth to tho mottoes of
Friendship , of Faith , Hope and Charity in Kane , through the perpetual presence of the spirit of him after whom it was named . He seems to have belonged to the distant past , and yet if he had lived he would have been only
sixty-eight years of ago . We , in celebrating our thirtieth anniversary commemorate also his sixty-eighth year . Byron died at thirty-six , and it was said his genius had dried up . Kane died at thirty-seven , and his genius outlived the
miserable frame in which it was encased , and his soul , which survived Arctic winters , heroic battles for his country against a foreign foe , and physical infirmities such as few
men contend with , bursting the bonds of earth , ancl soaring to heaven , where God has welcomed it , hovers tonight over this gathering , giving us a Masonic blessing and a brother ' s grasp .
Squabbles Among Scotch Riters.
SQUABBLES AMONG SCOTCH RITERS .
BY BRO . JACOB NORTON .
WE have , or recently had , no less than seven Scotch Rite concerns in the United States , and each of these claimed to be tho only legitimate body of that Rite . Thus we have " the Southern Jurisdiction , " which is ruled by tho world renowned Bro . Albert Pike . Louisiana ,
however , which belongs to Bro . Pike s dominions , refuses to acknowledge his legitimacy and supremacy . We have also the " Northern Jurisdiction , " within the claimed limits whereof are two Cerneau Councils , and a De La Granje
Council ; and each of the last ; named three Councils claim jurisdiction " all over the United States of America ; " and we have also two independent and antagonistic Supreme
Coloured Councils ; and the following spicy document , issued by one of the coloured Scotch Rite sovereigns , will give the reader a faint idea of the state of things among our American Scotch Riters .
FEATHER MASONS .
SCOTTISH RITE MASONRY AMONG COLOURED MEN IN PHILADELPHIA .
By Feather Masons , or Feather Masonry , we mean that kind of Masonry which has nothing for its fonudatioQ , save assumption—with feathers , double headed eagles , gilt lace , and other outward symbols of the Order to distinguish them .
Such is the condition of tho Coloured Scottish Kite Masons of Philadelphia , as represented by Eev . Moses Wheeler , Win . H . Miller , Joshua D . Kelley , Geo . W . Koper , H . Ii . Gilbert , Wm . F . Powell , and others .
The Masonry of these gentlemen is founded upon a fraudulent document , purporting to have been issued by the Grand Orient of France , through ono of its deputies , ODO Larine , ancl others , whose names are written upon it as Officers of the Grand Orient , having never been officers of that body , nor of any other body « f Scottish
Kite Masons . The Grand Orient wrote in reply to au inquiry from Dr . P . W . Ray , the Sovereign Grand Commander of the only legitimate body of Scottish Rite Masons among coloured men in the United States , that their body had not issued the document in question , nor had they delegated such authority to either of the persons named . If
the Philadelphia Masons can only be prevailed upon to exhibit the " Leary " document to any intelligent Mason or Masons these facts can be readily proven by all who will take the pains to inquire . Now , it is true that these brethren have had made known to them the character of the document possessed by the late David Leary , and
upon which their pretensions to tho Scottish Rite degrees are founded ; yet it appears that they have the effrontery to perpetnate their fraudulent institution by pretending to confer the Scottish Rite degrees upon coloured men invarions parts of the country , and we are informed that they are getting ready to sow the seed broadcast
during the coming Masonic Centennial celebration in their city in September . It is our aim to prevent this imposition upon intelligent coloured Masons , that they may not lend the weight of their good names mid offices to the perpetuation of a fraud , a body claiming to be Masons
of the Thirty-third Degree , whoso only right to be considered Scottish Rite Masons lies entirely in the fact that they brazenly wear the feathers , swords , lace , and other outward distinguishing marks prescribed for the Order . Is it a fact that the eagerness of coloured men to wear gilt lace ,
feathers and double headed eagles is so great that they are willing to assume them even at tho hands of those who havo never bad the slightest reason or right to confer the degrees which entitle one to . wear them ? We hope not . The only legitimate body of Scottish Rite Masons of the
Thirtythird Degree among coloured men in the United States is that body established by the illustrions Baron A . HUGO DE BULOW , Thirtythird Degree , an active member of the Supreme Council of France , who established the Supreme Council for the United States of America and the territories and dependencies thereof in 1864 , with
Squabbles Among Scotch Riters.
its Grand East at the city of New York , and at pre : ent presided over by tho illustrions PETRI * . W . WR . VY , Thirty-third Degree , M . D ., of Brooklyn , N . Y ., Most Puissaufc Sovereign Grand Co-i-muudcr . S . B . SCOTTRON , 33 ° ,
Grand Secretary Gen . 1001 Lafayette Ace ., Brooklyn , N . Y . The Sunday Mercury , New York , 28 th July 1888 , contains a continuation of a series of papers headed " Memories
of tho Metropolis , " by William Cnuldwell . The fourth chapter of the ninth part throws some light ou the early history or origin of Scotch Riticisra in the city of New York , and I shall therefore give it in full . It is headed as follows : —THB WAY IN wnrcrr TH . B TWO NEW YOKK :
POUTICIANS WORKED AS THE MASONS . HOW WILLIAM II . MULLIGAN CAPTURED THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE , AND now DICKY RIKER TRIED TO EUCHRE THEM WITH A SUBLIME GRAND
LODGE , WHICH GOT THE BEST OP THE GAME , AND WHY ? Then it goes on thus : — " Everybody knows that in the good old times politicians tried to make capital by opposing the Masonic
Fraternitygettiru ** up an anti-Masonic excitement , a propos of the real or pretended murder of Morgan—but everybody has probably forgotten that at first the politicians tried to make
political capital by puffing and by joining this same Masonic Order . lb was , in fact , only after they found they could not control the Order that the politicians tried to crush it .
"Some of the early refugees from San Domingo , who settled in New York , founded a Masonic Lodge in tl . ii citv , which swelled into large numbers and great popularity . Amona the founders of this Lodge was Joseph Cerneau .
He was a watchmaker and jeweller , and opened a store in William-street . He did not make much money , bub he did make many friends , and instituted a Masonic Chapter called ' The Triple Alliance , ' which attracted wide-spread
attention among the Craft . It was composed originally of Frenchmen , or rather French speaking New Yorkers , so that its numbers were limited , being chiefly fellow countrymen of Cerneau .
" But the Frenchmen talked so much about this new 'Triple Alliance , ' and plumed themselves so highly on the degrees conferred by it , and the honour it was to belong
to it , that the native born New York Masons got their backs up and got huffed because they did not belong to it . The American does not feel satisfied with taking : a back
seat in any thing , not even in Masonry , and he is particularly anxious to get tho highest degree in every thing , from base ball up . " Besides , there had already been started in Albany an
association with the modest title of ' The Sublime Graud Lodge of Perfection , ' and consequently no New York Mason was willing to let Albany get ahead of him . Therefore , ere long a determined effort was organized by the
New York Masons to get into the ( Cerneau ) ' Triple Alliance , ' and of course they succeeded . At first the new members tried to talk French , or to pretend that they were
Frenchmen , but of course this racket was soon found out ; so this humbug was dropped , and the ' Triple Alliance ' soon became divided into a French and an American
contingent . " And , as often happens , to use one of Dundreary ' s similies , ' the tail wagged the dog , ' the American
contingent became numerically larger than the French , and so gradually overshadowed it and froze it out . As a last resort the Frenchmen tried to talk out the Americans , but the Americaus can gab , brag , eat , drink aud fight against the world . So the Frenchmen shrugged their shoulders and subsided . " And ere long this Americanized Lodge or Order was
taken possession of by that ubiquitous individual who sooner or later takes possession of everything and everybody in New York , viz .: The politician . Ho swooped down upon ' The Triple Alliance , ' and captured it . The
politician ' s name in this case was Mulligan , ancl he was acting in the interest of Clinton , the Governor of the State . ' The Triple Alliance' proved quite an effective political medium , especially as Mulligan would nob give the original
Frenchmen in it any show in their own Order , but coolly coming to the front , ran the ' T . A . ' to suit Clinton and himself . Mulligan may not have been much of a Mason , but there was such an amount of cheek about his style
of procedure that he ought to have gone up to the head of the Fraternity ; but of course this sort of thing was too good for Mulligan to be allowed to have it all to himself . He had a political opponent , who hated Mulligan ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Two Priceless Pictures.
And now , ladies and gentlemen , thirty years have passed since this Lodge was born . It has become one of the strongest Lodges of the Order in tho United States , or in the world . There is a peculiar warmth to tho mottoes of
Friendship , of Faith , Hope and Charity in Kane , through the perpetual presence of the spirit of him after whom it was named . He seems to have belonged to the distant past , and yet if he had lived he would have been only
sixty-eight years of ago . We , in celebrating our thirtieth anniversary commemorate also his sixty-eighth year . Byron died at thirty-six , and it was said his genius had dried up . Kane died at thirty-seven , and his genius outlived the
miserable frame in which it was encased , and his soul , which survived Arctic winters , heroic battles for his country against a foreign foe , and physical infirmities such as few
men contend with , bursting the bonds of earth , ancl soaring to heaven , where God has welcomed it , hovers tonight over this gathering , giving us a Masonic blessing and a brother ' s grasp .
Squabbles Among Scotch Riters.
SQUABBLES AMONG SCOTCH RITERS .
BY BRO . JACOB NORTON .
WE have , or recently had , no less than seven Scotch Rite concerns in the United States , and each of these claimed to be tho only legitimate body of that Rite . Thus we have " the Southern Jurisdiction , " which is ruled by tho world renowned Bro . Albert Pike . Louisiana ,
however , which belongs to Bro . Pike s dominions , refuses to acknowledge his legitimacy and supremacy . We have also the " Northern Jurisdiction , " within the claimed limits whereof are two Cerneau Councils , and a De La Granje
Council ; and each of the last ; named three Councils claim jurisdiction " all over the United States of America ; " and we have also two independent and antagonistic Supreme
Coloured Councils ; and the following spicy document , issued by one of the coloured Scotch Rite sovereigns , will give the reader a faint idea of the state of things among our American Scotch Riters .
FEATHER MASONS .
SCOTTISH RITE MASONRY AMONG COLOURED MEN IN PHILADELPHIA .
By Feather Masons , or Feather Masonry , we mean that kind of Masonry which has nothing for its fonudatioQ , save assumption—with feathers , double headed eagles , gilt lace , and other outward symbols of the Order to distinguish them .
Such is the condition of tho Coloured Scottish Kite Masons of Philadelphia , as represented by Eev . Moses Wheeler , Win . H . Miller , Joshua D . Kelley , Geo . W . Koper , H . Ii . Gilbert , Wm . F . Powell , and others .
The Masonry of these gentlemen is founded upon a fraudulent document , purporting to have been issued by the Grand Orient of France , through ono of its deputies , ODO Larine , ancl others , whose names are written upon it as Officers of the Grand Orient , having never been officers of that body , nor of any other body « f Scottish
Kite Masons . The Grand Orient wrote in reply to au inquiry from Dr . P . W . Ray , the Sovereign Grand Commander of the only legitimate body of Scottish Rite Masons among coloured men in the United States , that their body had not issued the document in question , nor had they delegated such authority to either of the persons named . If
the Philadelphia Masons can only be prevailed upon to exhibit the " Leary " document to any intelligent Mason or Masons these facts can be readily proven by all who will take the pains to inquire . Now , it is true that these brethren have had made known to them the character of the document possessed by the late David Leary , and
upon which their pretensions to tho Scottish Rite degrees are founded ; yet it appears that they have the effrontery to perpetnate their fraudulent institution by pretending to confer the Scottish Rite degrees upon coloured men invarions parts of the country , and we are informed that they are getting ready to sow the seed broadcast
during the coming Masonic Centennial celebration in their city in September . It is our aim to prevent this imposition upon intelligent coloured Masons , that they may not lend the weight of their good names mid offices to the perpetuation of a fraud , a body claiming to be Masons
of the Thirty-third Degree , whoso only right to be considered Scottish Rite Masons lies entirely in the fact that they brazenly wear the feathers , swords , lace , and other outward distinguishing marks prescribed for the Order . Is it a fact that the eagerness of coloured men to wear gilt lace ,
feathers and double headed eagles is so great that they are willing to assume them even at tho hands of those who havo never bad the slightest reason or right to confer the degrees which entitle one to . wear them ? We hope not . The only legitimate body of Scottish Rite Masons of the
Thirtythird Degree among coloured men in the United States is that body established by the illustrions Baron A . HUGO DE BULOW , Thirtythird Degree , an active member of the Supreme Council of France , who established the Supreme Council for the United States of America and the territories and dependencies thereof in 1864 , with
Squabbles Among Scotch Riters.
its Grand East at the city of New York , and at pre : ent presided over by tho illustrions PETRI * . W . WR . VY , Thirty-third Degree , M . D ., of Brooklyn , N . Y ., Most Puissaufc Sovereign Grand Co-i-muudcr . S . B . SCOTTRON , 33 ° ,
Grand Secretary Gen . 1001 Lafayette Ace ., Brooklyn , N . Y . The Sunday Mercury , New York , 28 th July 1888 , contains a continuation of a series of papers headed " Memories
of tho Metropolis , " by William Cnuldwell . The fourth chapter of the ninth part throws some light ou the early history or origin of Scotch Riticisra in the city of New York , and I shall therefore give it in full . It is headed as follows : —THB WAY IN wnrcrr TH . B TWO NEW YOKK :
POUTICIANS WORKED AS THE MASONS . HOW WILLIAM II . MULLIGAN CAPTURED THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE , AND now DICKY RIKER TRIED TO EUCHRE THEM WITH A SUBLIME GRAND
LODGE , WHICH GOT THE BEST OP THE GAME , AND WHY ? Then it goes on thus : — " Everybody knows that in the good old times politicians tried to make capital by opposing the Masonic
Fraternitygettiru ** up an anti-Masonic excitement , a propos of the real or pretended murder of Morgan—but everybody has probably forgotten that at first the politicians tried to make
political capital by puffing and by joining this same Masonic Order . lb was , in fact , only after they found they could not control the Order that the politicians tried to crush it .
"Some of the early refugees from San Domingo , who settled in New York , founded a Masonic Lodge in tl . ii citv , which swelled into large numbers and great popularity . Amona the founders of this Lodge was Joseph Cerneau .
He was a watchmaker and jeweller , and opened a store in William-street . He did not make much money , bub he did make many friends , and instituted a Masonic Chapter called ' The Triple Alliance , ' which attracted wide-spread
attention among the Craft . It was composed originally of Frenchmen , or rather French speaking New Yorkers , so that its numbers were limited , being chiefly fellow countrymen of Cerneau .
" But the Frenchmen talked so much about this new 'Triple Alliance , ' and plumed themselves so highly on the degrees conferred by it , and the honour it was to belong
to it , that the native born New York Masons got their backs up and got huffed because they did not belong to it . The American does not feel satisfied with taking : a back
seat in any thing , not even in Masonry , and he is particularly anxious to get tho highest degree in every thing , from base ball up . " Besides , there had already been started in Albany an
association with the modest title of ' The Sublime Graud Lodge of Perfection , ' and consequently no New York Mason was willing to let Albany get ahead of him . Therefore , ere long a determined effort was organized by the
New York Masons to get into the ( Cerneau ) ' Triple Alliance , ' and of course they succeeded . At first the new members tried to talk French , or to pretend that they were
Frenchmen , but of course this racket was soon found out ; so this humbug was dropped , and the ' Triple Alliance ' soon became divided into a French and an American
contingent . " And , as often happens , to use one of Dundreary ' s similies , ' the tail wagged the dog , ' the American
contingent became numerically larger than the French , and so gradually overshadowed it and froze it out . As a last resort the Frenchmen tried to talk out the Americans , but the Americaus can gab , brag , eat , drink aud fight against the world . So the Frenchmen shrugged their shoulders and subsided . " And ere long this Americanized Lodge or Order was
taken possession of by that ubiquitous individual who sooner or later takes possession of everything and everybody in New York , viz .: The politician . Ho swooped down upon ' The Triple Alliance , ' and captured it . The
politician ' s name in this case was Mulligan , ancl he was acting in the interest of Clinton , the Governor of the State . ' The Triple Alliance' proved quite an effective political medium , especially as Mulligan would nob give the original
Frenchmen in it any show in their own Order , but coolly coming to the front , ran the ' T . A . ' to suit Clinton and himself . Mulligan may not have been much of a Mason , but there was such an amount of cheek about his style
of procedure that he ought to have gone up to the head of the Fraternity ; but of course this sort of thing was too good for Mulligan to be allowed to have it all to himself . He had a political opponent , who hated Mulligan ,