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   @   hhhhuZX@    2        *  F   N      :             #| x            The following material is reprinted with permisson of the SupremeCouncil from the November, 1995 issue of The Scottish RiteJournal.

Albert Pike---The Man Beyond The Monument
Dr. S. Brent Morris, 33
Book Reviews Editor for
The Scottish Rite Journal

-A new book on Albert Pike reveals a divers man of intenseemotions and unbounded intellect.-

  Albert Pike, to listen to many of the contemporary critics ofMasonry, was the guiding force behind modern Masonry and theauthor of the Masonic "bible," Morals and Dogma, the source ofall Masonic teachings. This is laughably absurd, a caricature ofPike's influence on Masonry. Our Scottish Rite Brethren in theNorthern Masonic Jurisdiction hardly know about Pike, and thosewho have not chosen to join the Scottish Rite may never haveheard of his name. 
  He is most often pictured as a long-haired mystic and an authorwhose works are beyond the grasp of the merely literate. He isgenerally remembered for only one book, Morals and Dogma (whichmay be used more often as a door stop than anything else).
  None of these ideas justly describe Albert Pike. He was adiverse man of intense emotions and unbounded intellect. Hisaccomplishments in life are the stuff of adventure novels, andhis literary output was just staggering. It is thus a supremeirony that this richly complex man's memory has been limited to asingle, seldom-read volume. Ill\ Bro\ Jim Tresner, 33$, has takengreat steps to reverse this situation. With the publication ofAlbert Pike: The Man Beyond the Monument, a well-rounded image ofAlbert Pike emerges. He is a man with subtle wit, savage satire,and an amazing ability to paint images with words. Bro\ Tresnerhas captured some of the many facets of Pike's varied careerthrough selected excerpts from his writings. This method islargely successful and a great service to anyone interested inPike's life and accomplishment.
  Pike wrote about his western travels, about women, about hislove for tobacco, about philosophy, religion, and politics, aboutanything that attracted him. And he wrote and wrote. He was ajurist of widely recognized accomplishments and a newspapereditor. He taught himself Hindu so he could translate the Vedas.He was a man whose passions were learning, writing and, most ofall, living to the fullest. Bro\ Tresner presents a fascinating,revealing glimpse of his writings and of the man himself.
  This is the first "bonus book" published by the Scottish RiteResearch Society (S.R.R.S.), and each of its members will receivea copy as a benefit of membership. Non-members can order the bookfrom The Supreme Council, address below. One of the goals of theS.R.R.S. is to publish books on Masonry for its members inaddition to its regular publications, Heredom and The Plumbline.If you haven't joined yet, this is a perfect reason to be amember.   h)        0*0*0*  Ԍ  One of my favorite works that Bro\ Tresner highlights is "For aDollar or Two" (see verses, facing page). It is a wickedly barbedsatire of the general state of corruption in politics and newsreporting. Pike describes what politicians and reporters andothers will do "for a dollar or two." It is just as appropriatetoday as it was over a century ago_some things, sadly, seem tostay the same.
  There is also the amazing story of Pike attending his own wake.The local press in Washington, D.C., had erroneously reportedthat Pike had been killed on a western expedition. When Pikereturned to the capital, he discovered that his friends wereconducting a wake for him. With great gusto, Pike joined in thefestivities. It is a story that has to be read to be believed.
  Now to be honest, I'm not as great a fan of Pike as Bro\Tresner. I admire Pike's wisdom and his way with words, but hishumor, for example, just doesn't touch my funny bone. I foundPike's humor wryly amusing, not uproariously funny. But that'sthe fun of a collection like this;, it's like a buffet. You getto sample a little of this and a little of that and decide whatyou like best. I agree with most of Bro\ Tresner's judgements,but not all of them. Nevertheless, I had a grand time comparinghis thoughts and mine.
  This book will give you the opportunity to find out more aboutAlbert Pike, the man_what he liked, what he disliked, and how hewrote. By careful selection and judicious editing, Bro\ Tresnerhas made Pike accessible and understandable. See what you thinkof the man and his writing, and see how your opinion compares toBro\ Tresner's.

Experpts from "A Dollar, or Two"
from *Albert Pike, The Man Beyond The Monument"

  Do you want a snug place where there's little to do,
  Or at Government cost foreign countries to view?
  A contract to get, or a patent renew?
  You can make it all right, with a Dollar, or two.
     For merit is proved by a Dollar, or two;
     And a patriot's known by a Dollar, or two;
       Civil service rules?_Oh, oh!
       They're all humbug, you know;
  Just use with discretion a Dollar; or two.

  Do you wish that the Press should the decent thing do,
  And give your reception a gushing review,
  Describing the dresses by stuff, style, and hue?
     For the pen sells its praise for a Dollar, or two;
       As contractors sell votes,
       And banks discount notes,
  That are not worth a damn, for a Dollar, or two.

*
*
*
Albert Pike, Most Of All, He Was A Man   h)         0*0*0*  ԌJim Tresner
Author, *Albert Pike, The Man Beyond The Monument

  He swapped stories with his friend Davy Crockett and playedviolin with the foremost conductor in America.
  He had an eye for beauty (especially beautiful ladies) andlived by a strict code of morality.
  He explored the West, much of it on foot, shared his tobaccowith Cherokee and Creek and Osage, and was one of the most highlyregarded legal scholars of his time.
  His poetry was praised by Edgar Allan Poe and his militarytactics by commanding generals.
  He was a wild-eyed, long-haired social reformer and one of themost sought-after dinner guests in Washington, D.C., society.
  He could order a 12-course meal in the finest restaurant intown with such excellent taste that others simply copied hisorders; and he could cook a game stew in an iron kettle over acampfire which his friends claimed tasted better than any othermeal they had ever eaten.
  He was  killed off in the newspapers in 1858, participated inhis own wake, and lived another 33 years.
  He was a newspaper editor and thundered against politicalcorruption and inaction (he once compared the legislature ofArkansas to a hog stretched contentedly in a gutter), andpoliticians were glad to be seen with him and counted among hisfriends.
  He fought the last duel ever held in Arkansas and was famousfor his loving and forgiving nature.
  He wrote profound philosophy and the first Western humor.
  He accumulated great wealth, lost it all in the Civil War, andended up with almost nothing but his books.
  He was a devout Christian, a member of the Episcopal church,who was not in the least afraid of the discoveries of science orof comparative religion.
  He was one of the most complex, fascinating individuals of the19th Century. And his name was Albert Pike.
  But most of all, he was a man.
  I have a fascination with Albert Pike which extends back manyyears, so it was a special joy when The Supreme Council, 33,asked me to write a book about Pike which would reveal him andhis thinking in his own words and the words of his friends.
  Pike has suffered the worst fate which can befall a man"he isrespected without being read. Aside for a few anti-Masons who viewith each other in repeating lies about Pike, he is hardly knownat all outside Masonic circles. And most Masons simply know himas the author of Morals and Dogma, a book they have been told istoo hard to read and understand.
  It	s true that a few passages in Morals and Dogma are verystiff going, although most of it isn	t hard at all. But manypeople don	t realize that Morals and Dogma is only a tiny part ofPike	s output. It takes one bibliographer nearly 70 pages just tolist Pike	s writings.
  But there is so much more, and so much he had to say on sometopics as important today and when he first wrote.   h)        0*0*0*  Ԍ  In Albert Pike: The Man Beyond the Monument, I	ve tried toshare his thinking on such topics as nature, war, love,toleration, and Masonry. And I	ve included passages which showhis humor and the sheer beauty of the words and images when hesits down to paint a verbal picture. 
  When you read the letters he wrote to his friends, and theletters his friends wrote to each other about him, you see a verydifferent Pike than the plaster saint we so often think of in theScottish Rite. You see a man who stood by his friends, no matterwhat. You see a man who was deeply loved by those who knew him.You see a man who could talk with a completely uneducatedfrontiersman and with distinguished scholars and scientists, andmake them all feel at ease.
  His memory was famous. More than sixty years after he had madehis trip through blizzards and desert to Taos, he was able todescribe each detail of the landscape so accurately that otherscould follow his trail and identify the landmarks. 
  He learned languages with ease (taught himself Sanskrit in hislast years because he wanted to read the Vedas in the original)and translated vast amounts of the literature of philosophy,mythology and comparative religion into English for the firsttime when he wrote Morals and Dogma.
  He also could, and did, drink all his friends under the table.
  He was friends with the highest levels of society, but he mostloved the common people, the farmers and laborers. And when hewrites about them, he brings them to life with a vitality whichmakes them real.
  I hope you will get to know Albert Pike, the man. He is apriceless part of our human and Masonic heritage.
  And he can still be a very good friend. 
.
.
.
To order *Albert Pike: The Man Beyond The Monument*,
(hardbound, illustrated, 254 pages), 
send checks payable _The Supreme Council_ to:
The Supreme Council
1733 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC  20009-3199

Publishers Price: $19.95
Special Price to Scottish Rite Members: $12.00
(A photocopy of your current Scottish Rite Dues Card _must_ beincluded) 