Omaha daily bee., 1888-07-24

Light IN the DARKNESS.
To the Editor of THE BEE: "Truth wears |
no mask, bows at no human shrine seeks |
neither place nor applause: she only asks a
hearing.
In your paper of Sunday morning and in |
the World of Saturday, July 81, under the |
topic Trouble in Masonic Circles you and |
the World have been led into error, thereby |
doing injustice to the only legitimate body of |
Scotch Rite Masonry in the United States.
In l125 the Ancient and Accepted Scottish |
Rite OF Masonry was first instituted in France |
under the name of the Rite of Perfection. |
In 1861 Illu5triOus Brother Stephen NORM |
was commissioned deputy inspector general |
by the grand Orient of France to spread the
rite IN St. Domingo, the West Indies and |
America. In 1866 lllustrous Brother Prince
de ltokan, governor of the island of st. Do |
mingo, and one of the sgners of Illustrous
Brother stephen Morin's patent furnished
evidence to the grand orient of France of the
unmasOnc conduct of Stephen NORM. result |
ing in Stephen Morin's patent being revoked
and he recalled. In 1888 Stephen MORN, in
disregard of the revocation or annulling of
his patent and powers and his recall in liGl,
went on constituting chapters and councils in
different places and erecting in Charleston,
5. c., a Lodge of Perfection.
In 1901 John Mitchell, DR. DalCEo, a. AL
exander, j. Aulu and f.. DE la Motta, of the
irrcgularly constituted Charleston Lodge of
Perfection under advice of Stephen MOrin,
constituted themselves Supreme Council of
American and French possessions. In 1913
DIR. DalchO, rs grand commander, and John
Mitchell and A. Alexander, learning of the
irrcgularity of their organization, backed by
abundant proof from the Grand Orient of
France, disbanded, and refused to allow the
use Of their names to further operations, and
there was nothing further heard from this
illegal body until it was rcsurccted by Illus
trious Brother Albert Pike in 1883 and 1862
This so-called southern jurisdiction, under
Pike, claims jurisdiction over the states
of Thl N
sippi river.
In 1907 grand consistory was established
IN New York by virtue of patents cmanating
from the Grand Orient of France and issued
to !llustrious Brother Cerncau, the regularly
commissioned deputy inspector general of
the Grand Orient Of France, and notice
thereof, with copies of the patent under
which it and he was created, was duly sent
10 all the supreme masonic bodies of the
world, which was followed by the most
ample recognitions which have never been
withdrawn.
May 25. 1872, the Supreme Council of Sow
ereign Inspectors General of the 49, for
the United States of America, its territories
and dependencies was opened in New York,
with Joseph Cerneau as sovereign grand
commander, and DE Witt Clinton as deputy
grand commander, and n full set of other
officers. AS to the pretended expulsion OF
Joseph Cerncau by h. De La Motta, one of
the followers of Stephen Norm, the supreme
council of France says in its proceedings,
year 1918, page G6, of the Extract du Livre
ID Or: In response 10 the promulgated de-
cree of f.. De La NIotta, wherein ne an
nounces the expulsion of Joseph Cerneau, we
| find in reply thereto the following, viz:
"Ncverthcless, the illuStrious brother Joseph
Cerneau is q sovereign grand inspector gen
| oral of the SO degree, this last and sublime
grade having been conferred upon him legit-
| imately he being gifted with powers emanat-
| ing from the supreme council for France"
ITranslatiouI On the 18th of August, 1924,
| AIurnuiG Da I n ofnVpttp lauIpl i'm Now
| York, was received as the nations guest
| and during the year was exalted by the Su-
| preme Grand Council for the United
States, of America its territories
| and dependencies, to the 33o and
| last degree of masonry, and was elected
| as sovereign grand commander, which
position he occupied during his soiourn in the
| United States, and when about to return to
| France he resigned and Illustrous Brother
| Governor De Witt Clinton was reelected to
| to fill the vacancy, and General Lafayette
| was elected as the representative of this Su-
| preme Council of America to the Supreme
| Council of France, ana he was received and
acknowledged by the Grand Orient of France
| as such and occupied the position until his
| death. This United States jurisdiction, its
| territories and dependencies, had n legitimate
beginning with regular line of succession
| to the present time, and the organization in
| Nebraska has ample evidence to substantiate
| every claim made.
Let us look at the so-called southern jurls-
dictou under Brother Pike 1T began lille
| gally in Charleston, =. c., in 1901, and died a
few years later, slept until 1859 or 1860, when
again brought to life by Brother Pike.
| Brother Albert Pike says in his Transactions,
| 1878, page 10: I'VE have no record of the
| transactions at Charleston from 1901 to 1850.
There is nothing to show what the supreme
| council did from its birth to 1860. |
do not know when l was elected IL
/ member or when grand commander"
| On page 20 he states; "rhe truth is that
| bn nj "a untbiOC and V1tn IN At
naught, for the most part lot of worthless
trash until 1850 On page 80 he states
| Twelve years ago (lS66) we had no foreign
| correspondence of any value, and no foreign
| power considered us entitled to respect. To
| most of them our very existence was I'M
| known, and with those who knew us our
| opinions would have had no weight In
Brother Pixies Transactions, 1882, appendix,
| page I, he states I'm 1855 we had no foreign
correspondence, and no Masonic power in the
world cared for our opinion, or was so poor as
| to pay us reverence On pages 8 and he
states: 1.-The supreme council had treasurer
| general and no treasury. | do not suppose
that Brother LIE Prince, who was called
treasurer general, ever in his life received or
| paid out dollar of the moneys of the supreme
| council. He kept no books, the secretary
general kept none, and whatever came into his
hands for degrees was his. If any bodies had
made returns for twenty years back could not
| find them. There were no records 1859
The supreme council had not printed a vol
| une or even pampnlet OF Its oWn nor any
property of any kind TO the value of dollar
nor credit enough to buy book" "On the
2Sth day of March, 1859, upon a call from me
CBrothcr Pikel the supreme council met al
Charleston There were present (three)
Brothers Mackey, lie Prince and myself
Al this meeting we (threel enacted law
increasing the membership of the supreme
council to thrtythree, apportioned among
the states of the jurisdiction; and we (threel
! elected large number of members
Here you have briefly the origin of the tive
bodies of Scottish Rite masonry us found il
| Nebraska to-day. The United States iuris