MORALS AND DOGMA OF THE
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED
SCOTTISH RITE
OF FREEMASONRY
[1871]
p. iii
PREFACE.
THE following work has been prepared by authority of the Supreme Council
of the Thirty-third Degree, for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United
States, by the Grand Commander, and is now published by its direction.
It contains the Lectures of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in that
jurisdiction, and is specially intended to be read and studied by the Brethren
of that obedience, in connection with the Rituals of the Degrees. It is
hoped and expected that each will furnish himself with a copy, and make
himself familiar with it; for which purpose, as the cost of the work consists
entirely in the printing and binding, it will be furnished at a price as
moderate as possible. No individual will receive pecuniary profit from
it, except the agents for its sale.
It has been copyrighted, to prevent its republication elsewhere, and the
copyright, like those of all the other works prepared for the Supreme Council,
has been assigned to Trustees for that Body. Whatever profits may accrue
from it will be devoted to purposes of charity.
The Brethren of the Rite in the United States and Canada will be afforded
the opportunity to purchase it, nor is it forbidden that other Masons shall;
but they will not be solicited to do so.
In preparing this work, the Grand Commander has been about equally Author
and Compiler; since he has extracted quite half its contents from the works
of the best writers and most philosophic or eloquent thinkers. Perhaps
it would have been better and more acceptable if he had extracted more
and written less.
Still, perhaps half of it is his own; and, in incorporating here
p. iv
the thoughts and words of others, he has continually changed and added
to the language, often intermingling, in the same sentences, his own words
with theirs. It not being intended for the world at large, he has felt
at liberty to make, from all accessible sources, a Compendium of the Morals
and Dogma of the Rite, to re-mould sentences, change and add to words and
phrases, combine them with his own, and use them as if they were his own,
to be dealt with at his pleasure and so availed of as to make the whole
most valuable for the purposes intended. He claims, therefore, little of
the merit of authorship, and has not cared to distinguish his own from
that which he has taken from other sources, being quite willing that every
portion of the book, in turn, may be regarded as borrowed from some old
and better writer.
The teachings of these Readings are not sacramental, so far as they go
beyond the realm of Morality into those of other domains of Thought and
Truth. The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite uses the word "Dogma" in
its true sense, of doctrine, or teaching; and is not dogmatic in the odious
sense of that term. Every one is entirely free to reject and dissent from
whatsoever herein may seem to him to be untrue or unsound. It is only required
of him that he shall weigh what is taught, and give it fair hearing and
unprejudiced judgment. Of course, the ancient theosophic and philosophic
speculations are not embodied as part of the doctrines of the Rite; but
because it is of interest and profit to know what the Ancient Intellect
thought upon these subjects, and because nothing so conclusively proves
the radical difference between our human and the animal nature, as the
capacity of the human mind to entertain such speculations in regard to
itself and the Deity. But as to these opinions themselves, we may say,
in the words of the learned Canonist, Ludovicus Gomez: "Opiniones
secundum varietatem temporum senescant et intermoriantur, aliæque
diversæ vel prioribus contrariæ renascantur et deinde pubescant."
p. v
Titles of Degrees as herein given have in some instances been changed.
Correct titles are as follows:
1 °--Apprentice.
2°--Fellow-craft.
3 °--Master.
4°--Secret Master.
5°--Perfect Master.
6°--Intimate Secretary.
7°--Provost and Judge.
8°--Intendant of the Building.
9°--Elu of the Nine.
10°--Elu of the Fifteen.
11°--Elu of the Twelve.
12°--Master Architect.
13°--Royal Arch of Solomon.
14°--Perfect Elu.
15 °--Knight of the East.
16°--Prince of Jerusalem.
17°--Knight of the East and West.
18°--Knight Rose Croix.
19°--Pontiff.
20°--Master of the Symbolic Lodge.
21°--Noachite or Prussian Knight.
22°--Knight of the Royal Axe or Prince of Libanus.
23°--Chief of the Tabernacle.
24°--Prince of the Tabernacle.
25 °--Knight of the Brazen Serpent.
26°--Prince of Mercy.
27°--Knight Commander of the Temple.
28°--Knight of the Sun or Prince Adept.
29°--Scottish Knight of St. Andrew.
30°--Knight Kadosh.
31°--Inspector Inquisitor.
32°--Master of the Royal Secret.
Next: 1. Apprentice
Original text scanned at sacred-texts . com, January-February
2005. Proofed by John Bruno Hare. This text is in the public domain
in the US because it was published prior to 1922.
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