Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-09-07
MASONIC INTELLIGENCE.


EXTRACTS
From the Address Of the SoU.'. Gr.'.
Commander Of the Supreme Council Of
the S3d degree, for the Southern jlfY-iS-
dictiOn Of the United States, to the ST.
2)reale Council IN Apra 1866.
When the Crest Master Pythagoras
went TO CrOtona to reside, the Magis-
trates of the City, seeing what a power
he exercised over the hearts and interests
OF men, at first thought him dangerous,
but afterwards consulted him. He coun-
selled them to sacrifice to the MUSES., and
to preserve the most perfect harmony
among themselves; "for," he said to
, them, ait is the quarrels among the
Masters that lead those who obey to re-
vOlt;n and then he gave them this great
RELIGIOUS, political and social precept:
There Is no eUI that is not preferable
10 AnaTchy'
The truth thus enuneiated is of uni
versal application and of infinite signifi-
cance, and yet even our own age is not
sufficiently enlightened to ocomprehendit. it.
There will always be in the world, and
in every State, Society and Order, where
men have risen above the level of bar
bsrism, an Empire and Priesthood. If
not the true, there will be the false the
physicians or the charlatans You call
the Free-MasOnry of the Ancient and
Accepted Scottish Rite the ROYAL and
SdcTedOtGl Art, and in you are concen-
tTated its Sovereign Powers of Govern
ment. If you do not rule by the divine
right Of superior intellect and knowledge,
the house of your power Is builded on
! the sands and not upon the solid rock,
and shall not stand. o. 80 &.
! When those who govern do not prove
| themselves equal to their mission, they
( WELD but barren sceptre, and are for
/ tunate If they dc not fall into lnerited
contempt. The world is far more in
/ clined to ridicule than TO reverence Ms- |
sonic dignities aud titles, and they seem |
| to it idle, empty and unreal, when COM |
pared with the glOries and insignia of /
rank and nobility, or the underlined |
powers in evil times conferred on Civil 1
and Military SubSlterns. Our preten- /
siOns are too lofty to permit US to be in
efficient without being laughed at as |
ridiculous. Without real authority and |
power, Masonic titles are not even re-
Spectacle. however Ostentatiously men 1
may wear them.
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish /
Rite is in It's organization a Hierarchy. |
But i've do not ascend to knowledge by
stairs Of stone, nor are the hieraTchical
steps of the spirit builded with mortar,
like the stories of tower. If they were,
the summit would be necessarily strug-
gled for, and the multitude would indis-
criminately climb, jostling each other,
towards the top. To satisfy all ambi-
tiOns, by making the summit wider than
the base, the tower would need to be so
built as to rock in the wind and fall into
ruin at the frst shOck.n
The tendency in all Masonry is TO sub
. = l
the end become resistless, If those who
govern are not equal to the exIgencies of |
the station to which they have aspired,
and if they do not by wisdom and energy
prove that 1t is best for those who obey
them, that they should continue to rule.
If under them, as under anOther system
the sphere of duty of the initiates is con
tinually lessened, and their obligations ,
become less and less real, and the ineffi- ,
cheney and uselessness of the government
chiefly cOmmends il to those who are best {
pleased with that which requires of them I
the least possible amount of labor and /
sacrifice, then the Order will either not i
extend, or If it does so its Constitution !
will soon be subverted, and none will !
mourn for those who have lost by inertia {
q power and place that they did not c
deserve to retain. I
1t is in our power to increase the uum- '
Der of our Initiates until they shall I
be counted by tens of thousands, /
and yet to maintain unimpsired the dis
.inctive feature of our Organization, and I
70 prevent the Order from sinking into '
hat condition of uselessness and decay !,
hat wears the delusive mask of pros /,
1erity which every association has worn a
or a time after the true initiation had o
lied out in the Sanctuary. Il
But we cannot do this by negleeting q
be duties OF our office, or by attending q
0 them only when there is nothing else, n
f business or amusement, that has su- a
,erior demands upon our time. We can
10 it, by exercising wisely our legitimate
uthOrity, not merely to show that we
,Ossess it, or out of desire TO rule, but z
or the benefit and profit Of the Brother
OOd by labOuring with energy and
rudence to extend the Bite, not merely
" inducing many men TO receive L
be degrees, and then permitting
hem to neglect the duties and the u
tudies by which alone the true
is obtained but by in
the number of the true Adopts
nd real Princes of the Royal Secret, un-
erstandiDg the symbols OF the high de- L
rees, and appreciating the magnificent
ruths which these symbols were in I,
ended to conceal from the many, that
hey might by diligent study and pro-
ound reflection be discovered by the L,
sw.
You are the Chiefs of Exalted Ma II
lnrv' Your powers are real and
lbstsntiaI. II you do not duly esti-
late them, it is not possible you should p
-ell perform the corresponding duties.
he highest of these accompany only
le highest powers: and knowledge and =,
over must 90 hand in hand, or it is less =
onor to govern than to serve. Every
lan,' Plato said, who shall endeavor to
lake common that exalted knowledge n
hieh accords with the eternal truths Gi
I'D OracIes Of God, and which we must
ither within ourselves by profound
seeking the sacred fire in its
-oper source, will undertake that task
vain, and the only harvest he shall
sp of his labor will be, that excepting m
few to whom God has given intelli- laI
,nce enough TO see within themselves
ese heavenly truths, he will cause con- in
mpt for them in some, and will fill ce
hers with vain and rash confidence, leI
though they knew marvellous things, cit
hich nevertheless they do not know m
ALL tn
You style yourselves tSoUereign Grand in
,SDecf0rs. General. Grand Elect K5licJlts sol
the Holy House Of the Temple, Grand
Of the HOlg EBIpirei You In
2 so, If you know the ROYAL SECRET at
% understand the Holy DOCTRINE.
ou claim to hold all the powers Of the rsl
st and last Grand Masters of the Tenn gu
ars, within this jurisdiction; and that RET
e claim is valid, there is ample internal sci
-idence in the degrees, to those t0hO res
lderStGgld them. The kadOseh are the Ou
al SoldjeTy Of the Tenple' tn
1t is thus written in the Fourth Book Al
Esdras, ch. xiv, Wv. 8, 26 and As: th'
" These words thou shalt publish, and ito
ese thou shalt hele. thl
" And when thou hast finished, some to
ings thOu shalt publish, aud some thou liza
alt show secretly to the Wise. ast
d" The Highest spake, saying, hs
he first that thou hast written, publish hu
eply, that the worthy and the TN lou
,rthy may read it; but keep the ers
yenty last, that thou mayest deliver OF
EN- only to such as be Wise among the
ople. For in is them the spring of loV
is the fountain of wis !
mn -. bio
Nothing is more worthy OF study than eol
2 symbols which are the oracles aud an
of the High Degrees of cur ma
te. Those slOne imagine that they an
derstand them fully, who have hardly is
gun 70 catch glimpses Of their mean tht
I. When one has studied and re-
eted on them for years, he begins to
how wide the field is, how much re-
,ins 10 be discovered, how many HERO drs
yphies to be deciphered, how much lS6
.scnry is like a half-exhumed city dul
ried centuries ago under the ashes fac
ned from Nesuvitis. Vol
The duty of the Hierophants was to clip
.ch the highest knowledge to the Eyact =
lOng the Initiates. You can truly OF
yern in Free Masonry, only while you say
truct. Two duties are equally i'm ret
-ative and sacred. One is, to set the a
t Of the initiates ia the right path, va
3 aid them in ininterpreting the sym boIs, rie1
sording 10 the ancient method Of in We
uction. Those only are dt 10 advance, mo
10 succeed In partially comprehending ton
symbols that surround them. The sin
Ter is, to contine the teachings pri
the Rite within its own Tenn our
s, What is taught there, by our ma
lsls or orally, should not be spread ren
road in books or periodicals publishes bee
reputation or for private profit. As wa
ave NOT aluvava baeu fraa Of blarao | der