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Even Albert Pike

by Allen E. Roberts, FPS

No one man ever spoke for Freemasonry, nor
can one man ever have spoken for it. Whether
this is good or ill matters not. There are 51
entities (or Grand Lodges) plus more than 1200
offshoots (or appendant organizations) whose
existence depends on men remaining members of
a recognized Craft Lodge. Perhaps one day egos
will permit Freemasonry to speak with one
voice, but that day is far in the future. - Allen
E. Roberts

For many years I have been among the
detractors of Albert Pike, the fellow cred-
ited by Carl H. Claudy in Little Masonic
Library with taking the Scottish Rite from
a log cabin to a temple. Especially did I
deride his mammoth tome, Morals and
Dogma. Without question, it has caused
Freemasonry no end of problems, espe-
cially by its numerous critics.

Many years ago (perhaps 40) I strug-
gled through Morals and Dogma. As most
readers do, I didn't absorb the preface--
not until recently. I strongly suspect the
critics have never read it (even those few
who have really read Pike's book). So for
them (and all of us) I herein quote perti-
nent parts of the Preface to Morals and
Dogma as written by Pike in the third
person (a tack he often took):

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. Per-
haps it would have been better and
more acceptable if he had extracted
more and written less. [I never
dreamed he could have been this
humble! AER].

Still, perhaps half of it is his own;
and in incorporating here the
thoughts and words of others, he has
continually changed and added to the
language, often intermingling, in the
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 Com-
pendium of Morals and Dogma of the
Rite, to re-mould sentences, change
and add to the 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 or as to make the whole most
valuable for the purposes intended.
He claims, there, little of the merit of
authorship, and has not cared to dis-
tinguish 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. [Humility, again! AER]

The teachings of these readings are not
sacramental [Emphasis added by
AER], so far as they go beyond the
realm of Morality into those of other
domains of Thought and Truth. The
Ancient and Accepted ["Ancient" is
an exaggeration, AER] Scottish Rite
use the word "Dogma" in its true
sense, of doctrine, or teaching; and is
not dogmatic in the odious sense of
that term. Everyone is entirely free to reject
and dissent from whatsoever herein may
seem to him to be untrue or unsound [em-
phasis added by AER]. It is only re-
quired of him that he shall weigh what
is taught, and give it fair hearing and
unprejudiced judgment. Of course,
the ancient theosophic and philoso-
phic speculations are not [emphasis
added] embodied as part of the doc-
trines of the Rite; but because of its
interest and profit to know what the
Ancient Intellect thought upon these
subjects, and because nothing so con-
clusively proves the radical difference
between our human and animal na-
ture as the capacity of the human
mind to entertain such speculations in
regard to itself and the Diety. But as
to these opinions themselves, we may
say, in the words of learned Canonist,
Ludovicus Gomez: "Opiniones se-
cundum varietatem temporum senes-
cent et intermoriantur, aliaeque
diversae vel prioribus contrariae
renascantur et deinde pubescant. "
[Translation: As to opinions that har-
monize with the changing times, let
them grow old and die off; and let
others that are different, or even con-
trary to the earlier ones, spring up and
then grow to maturity. ]

Contrary to what I've been thinking for
many years, and what Albert Pike's crit-
ics of today still think, the man did pos-
sess some humility, at least during the
period he compiled the mammoth docu-
ment called Morals and Dogma. Pike's
Preface certainly places the whole into a
different light.

But, does this excuse Albert Pike's con-
cept of Freemasonry? I think not. It is
apparent that he knew little or nothing
about Ancient Craft Freemasonry. He
attempted to develop a whole new sys-
tem. This he accomplished, partly,
through another body.

Pike admitted he freely plagiarized the
works of many others. In this highly
litigious day he would have spent a great
deal of time in court! And he was as
guilty as his critics of today are of taking
phrases out of context and adding or
subtracting from them to prove a point.
