those who follow in similar paths may rectify such errors as may have been inadvertently committed.

The Collator, in presenting the result of his labors to the public, by no means would claim an approach to perfection; it will doubtless be conceded that in this country, so far as the various degrees have been fully worked, that while replete with beauty, moral and instructive teachings, their rendering is still susceptible of elaboration and improvement.

The effort of the Collator has been, in this work, to maintain all the original landmarks of the Rite in their pristine purity, and at the same time to embellish, so far as might be proper, with kindred surroundings, many portions of the work where the original ritual might seem defective.

In performing the self-imposed and pleasing task, which is thus completed, it would be improper to forget the aid that has been attained from the writings of the Illustrious Past Grand Commanders of the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States, and in such portions of this work where the Rituals and Monitors of the Northern and Southern Supreme Councils are the same, all credit is due to the present Grand Commander of the Southern Supreme Council, ALBERT PIKE; and it must appear to the Student, that the Sacred writings have been necessarily drawn upon in this connection, as also the Al-Koran, Talmud, Josephus, Herodotus, the Persian Magi, and contemporaneous writings, as also Findel, Addison, and others.

CLASSIFICATION

OF THE

DEGREES OF THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED

SCOTTISH RITE.

THERE are Six Series of Degrees in the Order, not including that of Inspector-General, or 33d Degree, and contain in numbers of Degrees the following, respectively, 3, 11, 2,-2, 11, 3, to wit:

FOURTH SERIES.

Rose-Croix Chapter-Philosophical Degrees.

17. Knight of the East and 18. Knight of the Rose-Croix de H-R-D-M.

West.

FIFTH SERIES.

Areopagus-Historical and Philosophical Degrees.

19. Grand Pontiff.

24. Prince of the Tabernacle.

20. Grand Master of all Sym- 25. Knight of the Brazen Serpent

30. Knight of Kadosh.

31. Grand Inspector Inquisitor Commander.

32. Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.

Council-Official and Executive.

33. Inspector-General-33d Degree and Last Grade.

FORNIA

HISTORY

OF THE

ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE.

THE following pages are not intended to give a full and elaborate history of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; space cannot be spared in a work intended only as a monitor or handbook for the guidance and instruction of those having an interest in the Rite;-yet it is deemed proper and expedient to insert a brief his tory for the information of those who might not have the opportunity of searching and examining a subject claiming so much interest.

The antiquity of Freemasonry and its ancient history are evidently involved in fable, and the few authentic historians whose works are extant, have thrown but little light upon the subject. The opinions of those who have written on Freemasonry have differed with regard to its origin as an organized institution.

Dr. Robison, who, it is well known, labored to identify Freemasonry with Illuminism, ascribed its origin to the association of Dionysian artificers; Chevalier Ramsay has endeavored to prove that it arose during the Cru

sades; Mr. Clinch, that it originated from the institution of Pythagoras; Mr. Barruel, that it is a continuation of the Templars, &c.

Hence it will be seen that it has been allowed, even by the most skeptical, to have been instituted at a period sufficiently remote to entitle it to the appellation of " Ancient;" and we may here dismiss the subject by noting the fact that "its most learned enemies cannot point to the time when Freemasonry did not exist, which gives it a fame-a pre-eminence-to which the history of other institutions affords no parallel."

It is not claimed that the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is of extreme antiquity, yet the frosts of time decorate its brow.

Although in a detached form, doubtless some of the degrees had their origin as early as the fourteenth century; yet the Rite, as such, germinated in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and took its distinctive character in the beginning of the eighteenth century.

The late Giles Fonda Yates, a member of the British Archæological Association, Grand Commander of the Northern Supreme Council of the United States, gave as the result of his research the following:

"The proofs are undeniable that the learning contained in the "Sublime Degrees," was taught long previous to the last century-our M... P.. Brother Dalcho (Rev. Doctor) thinks shortly after the first Crusade. In Prussia, France, and Scotland the principal degrees of our Rite appeared in an organized form in 1713. The