Historical Inquiry into the Origins of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite

By James Foulhouze and Michael R. Poll

This book is James Foulhouze's account of the events during the turbulent times in Louisiana Masonry of the 1840's and 50's and gives us his views on the nature and history of the AASR. Included also is valuable information on the activities of the Supreme Council of Louisiana and additional insight into the "Scottish Rite War" between the Supre

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cornerstone Book Publishers
• Release date: Mar 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088295854

Book preview

Historical Inquiry into the Origins of the Ancient and Accepted

Scottish Rite

by James Foulhouze

Foreword by Michael R. Poll

Edited by Jonathan K. Poll

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.

~ Mohandas Gandhi

Editor’s Note

Previous Cornerstone editions of this book have been available as a photographic reproduction of James Foulhouze’s original work. At the time this was the most efficient method of reprinting this historically significant piece of Masonic history without it becoming cost prohibitive. However, as technology has advanced and become more accessible, we are pleased to offer this plain text edition in both physical print and e-book formats. This was achieved using a combined method of optical character recognition technology and careful manual review of the text to insure faithfulness to the original manuscript. Through this process improvements were made to some of the original formatting bringing it to a more modern standard. In addition, typos and minor errors in the original text were corrected in this new edition. We hope you enjoy this newly reconstructed text, as Cornerstone Publishers continues its mission to bring more historical Masonic works to a new generation of readers.

Jonathan K. Poll

Editor

January 2023

Foreword

One of the few things we truly own is the choices we make. We may sometimes think that we have no choice in matters, but it’s not true. We always have a choice.

In the early to mid-1800s, Freemasons in the United States had choices in how they wished to experience their Freemasonry. If we like, we can today play armchair quarterback and evaluate their actions with the knowledge of a future they did not possess. We may judge their actions as wise, or we may see them as making one mistake after another. Maybe they played brilliant chess, or maybe they were quite foolish. It’s all our opinion and nothing anyone believes today can, in any way, change the past. The choices made are history. Whatever we think or believe, it was their choice. They own their actions. But are the actions and choices everyone from the past made clearly understood today? Maybe not. Do they dictate our present and future? That is our choice.

This book is James Foulhouze’s account of the events during the turbulent times in Louisiana Masonry of the 1840s and 50s and gives us his views on the nature and history of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Included is valuable information on the activities of the Supreme Council of Louisiana and additional insight into the Scottish Rite war between the Supreme Council of Louisiana and the Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction, USA of the mid-1800s.

The slugfest between James Foulhouze and Albert Pike is classic. These two well-accomplished lawyers were skilled at debate and legal tactics. We can feel Foulhouze’s skill with the written word in this work. We can also feel the intense passion in the author’s words. It was a time of great emotion, upset, anger, and disappointment. This was the printed word of the author’s feelings on that war.

This book also provides us with what no modern historian possesses with Joseph Cerneau - the leader’s words. We have no first-hand account of the first Scottish Rite war from the viewpoint of Joseph Cerneau. We have much written in support of Cerneau, much against him, but nothing written by Cerneau himself. We have nothing to evaluate, study, or understand his position from his view.

Regardless of if we agree or disagree with Foulhouze, these are his own words. If we do not know his position from him, then we cannot fully understand what happened. Each argument has two sides and if we don’t know both, then what we understand is limited. Understanding the position of Foulhouze, in his own words, is essential to our understanding of the why of his actions. This is a question we cannot answer with Cerneau. Foulhouze’s 1859 Historical Inquiry is a vitally important work for any student of the Scottish Rite.

What is not answered in this book are the extraordinary events that took place after its publication. Soon after the publication of Historical Inquiry, the Civil War began. It not only tore apart the U.S. but devastated the U.S. Scottish Rite. Before the Civil War, James Foulhouze was a District Court Judge and Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of Louisiana. Following the war, Foulhouze was no longer a judge, Grand Commander, and maybe, not even a Mason. Why? There are no known records to explain the departure of Foulhouze. We can look to Reconstruction as to why Foulhouze was no longer a Louisiana judge, but what happened with the Supreme Council of Louisiana? The records show that Foulhouze was no longer a member. But the new Grand Commander (Eugene Chassigniac) issued a statement disavowing everything Foulhouze had written.¹ Why? If it were not for Foulhouze, it is difficult to imagine that the Supreme Council of Louisiana could have survived long enough for Chassigniac to become Sovereign Grand Commander. Do we take Chassigniac’s statements at face value, or could there be more to the story?

If we step back and look at the events before the Civil War as if we were looking at a chess board, we can see the moves that Albert Pike and James Foulhouze might have planned. Prior to the war, the Supreme Council of Louisiana was in a very good position. They were growing in membership and influence. If Pike was going to act, he would need to act quickly. Pike’s move was a clever one. He turned to the Grand Orient of France. In 1851, Prince Lucien Murat became Grand Master of the Grand Orient and desired better relations with the Southern Jurisdiction. Murat became aware of the Concordat of 1855 and the continued activity of the Supreme Council of Louisiana. He knew that the Southern Jurisdiction was displeased. Murat sent an order to Foulhouze that, as a Grand Orient 33rd, he was to disassociate himself from the Supreme Council of Louisiana. Foulhouze refused, and Murat stripped Foulhouze of his 33rd. These events are explained in this book. (See pages 154-168 & 254-262) The action of Murat did not mean a great deal in New Orleans as the Supreme Council of Louisiana simply reinvested Foulhouze with the degree. But it was an immense public relations win for Pike. Foulhouze was (regardless of anything else) viewed as a regular 33rd, and his actions post-1855 could be viewed as a legitimate threat. By Murat stripping Foulhouze of the degree, it was a statement that the Grand Orient (also viewed at that time as highly regular and influential) viewed Foulhouze’s actions as well as the Supreme Council, as irregular.

But then the war came, and things dramatically changed. When the war was over, Foulhouze was no longer Grand Commander. But that was not the only change. When the smoke of the war cleared, not only was Foulhouze gone, but so was Murat in France. The Grand Orient had a new Grand Master in 1861. Pike’s in with the Grand Orient was gone along with Foulhouze. But which side would the new Grand Orient support?

Another change was an awareness (or, at least, acknowledgement) in Europe of the race issue in the United States. The Civil War made clear that Masonic membership in the U.S. was almost completely limited to the white race. When European Grand Lodges faced the fact that a candidate’s race was used as a determining factor for membership in the U.S., some felt that action was needed. But what would be done?

During this time, and with a new Grand Commander, the Supreme Council of Louisiana made a bold announcement. On May 2, 1867, Grand Commander Eugene Chassignac announced that neither race nor religion was an issue when considering membership in any of the bodies of the Supreme Council of Louisiana. He made it an official policy. It was a dramatic and historic statement for a U.S. Masonic body that was well-received in Europe. In fact, it was so well received that the Grand Orient of France, regardless of its past actions against Foulhouze, re-recognized the Supreme Council of Louisiana.²

Taken by itself, this is a straightforward, even if surprising, bit of information. But we need to look closer. The Grand Orient of France was impressed with this proclamation by Chassignac. The fact that James Foulhouze was no longer a member and his writings (critical of the Grand Orient following their taking of his 33rd) were disavowed made the re-recognition easier. But the story does not end there.

In the Minutes of Etoile Polaire Lodge (Supreme Council jurisdiction), we find that the lodge flew into a rage when Chassignac made this race proclamation known in Etoile Polaire. The lodge loudly objected to the proclamation, but the reason for the objection may be unexpected. There was no objection to the concept of the policy, but the charge was made that it was hypocritical. The members stated that the proclamation read as if this was something new with the Council and the bodies under its jurisdiction. To prove their point, they called out the various members of the lodge who would not have been admitted if theirs was a white-only organization. So outraged was the lodge by this action, and that they had not received advance notice of it, that they removed themselves from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Council.³

We can find several interesting bits of information if we examine the situation. There is not a scrap of evidence that I have been able to uncover as to why James Foulhouze left the Supreme Council following the Civil War. Before the war, he was clearly in control, very popular, and determined to do all in his power to see the Supreme Council succeed. So successful were his efforts that the Supreme Council of Louisiana had grown to a strength that they could be seen as realistically soon overpowering the Southern Jurisdiction. So, what happened?

If we look at the events as we would a chess game, an interesting scenario develops. At the end of the Civil War, Murat was gone from the Grand Orient of France. A possible opportunity existed for the Supreme Council of Louisiana to regain its recognition from the Grand Orient. But how could they do that? If we look at things through the eyes of the players, what would be the best next move for Foulhouze after the war? Is it possible that Foulhouze learned of Murat’s exit, of the upset within the Grand Orient (as well as most of European Masonry) at the racial bigotry within most all of U.S. Masonry, and saw an opportunity? I believe that this is precisely what happened. If the Supreme Council of Louisiana could regain recognition from the Grand Orient of France as well as, maybe, some additional European bodies, then the positive momentum might be the little extra push that was needed to overpower the Southern Jurisdiction. But, after reading this book, you will see how Foulhouze pretty much burned his bridges with the Grand Orient. How could he fix that situation?

There are times in chess when it is necessary to sacrifice the queen to win the game. Foulhouze must have realized that if re-recognition from the Grand Orient of France were to happen, certain steps needed to be taken. Foulhouze could not un-ring the bell of his words. They were published and known. But, by the end of the Civil War, Foulhouze was in his late 60’s. He had been fighting bitter Masonic battles for some 20 years. He may have felt that this was a good time to retire and enjoy the balance of his life. With him out of the picture, the Grand Orient could not object to his presence nor be put in the uncomfortable position of having to reconsider their decisions under Murat (something they might have wished to sweep under the rug). But who would take Foulhouze’s place? The Lt. Grand Commander, Thomas Wharton Collens? That would not work as Collens was the one who assumed the seat as Acting Grand Commander when the Supreme Council reinvested Foulhouze with his 33rd. The Grand Orient would probably not be thrilled with him. In fact, there was no one on the Council who did not actively support Foulhouze and approve of reinvesting him with the 33rd. So, who could lead the Supreme Council and not be viewed as a problem for the Grand Orient?

Eugene Chassignac was Secretary of Etoile Polaire Lodge #1. He was a music composer of some note, a music teacher, and a music shop owner in New Orleans. He moved in artistic circles and was a friend of someone well-known and respected in France - Victor Hugo. Chassignac was also not a 33rd and played no part in any of the Supreme Council of Louisiana activities prior to the Civil War.

In a series of almost lightening events, Chassignac received the 33rd, all of the 33rds (except for Foulhouze) signed loyalty oaths to the Supreme Council with Chassignac as Grand Commander,⁴ the writings of Foulhouze were officially denounced by the Supreme Council, and the policy of non-discrimination was circulated. It worked - the Grand Orient of France re-recognized the Supreme Council of Louisiana.

Of course, the non-discrimination policy was not new to the Supreme Council of Louisiana, and the presentation of it as something new cost the Supreme Council Etoile Polaire Lodge. But the series of events was a brilliant tactical display. Not for a moment do I believe that Foulhouze was not the master architect behind these events. I believe that Foulhouze desired an exit from the fighting and devised a means to make his exit beneficial to the Supreme Council. It was a brilliant and bold chess move.

The close of the Civil War was not a good time for Albert Pike. Pike had fled to Canada to escape war crime charges stemming from the events at the Battle of Pea Ridge.⁵ Following a Presidential pardon, Pike returned to Washington, D.C., and resumed his position as Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, SJUSA. Pike, at some point, learned of the re-recognition of the Supreme Council of Louisiana by the Grand Orient of France. Pike was also a very skilled chess player and had to realize that he had been placed in check. The re-recognition of the Supreme Council of Louisiana by the Grand Orient gave them new legitimacy in the eyes of the Masonic world. The Grand Orient of France was, at that time, one of the world’s leading Masonic powers. Recognition from them often carried enormous weight and was a serious matter for the Southern Jurisdiction. I believe, without question, that if anyone else had been Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction, this would have been the end. But Albert Pike was not anyone else.

Albert Pike placed his check on the Supreme Council of Louisiana and the Grand Orient of France in an equally brilliant and bold move. Pike did the unthinkable in a joint proclamation with the NMJ - he broke fraternal relations with the Grand Orient. It was an enormous gamble. The Southern Jurisdiction was not in a stable or strong position. But what else could Pike do? What other logical move was available to him under the circumstances?

Breaking relations with the Grand Orient was a risky move. But Pike could have realized that it might not be all that risky a move given other events. Pike may very well have been aware that the Grand Orient was considering its own proclamation that it would break relations with any U.S. Masonic body which used race as any determining factor in the admission of new members. Pike had to have seen this as an opportunity. This proclamation would put all U.S. Grand Lodges in an awkward position. Most all U.S. Grand Lodges used race as a determining factor in the admission of members. In nearly all cases, Freemasonry in the U.S. was for whites only. But that was not something many wanted to discuss openly or have used against them, especially if they were a Northern jurisdiction and right after the Civil War.

Pike apparently campaigned hard for the U.S. Grand Lodges to support his breaking of relations with the Grand Orient of France. Some Grand Lodges did just that and broke with the Grand Orient. But for others, it was a problematic situation. Some felt that a very good and rational reason had to be given to break with the Grand Orient. Many Grand Lodges viewed the Scottish Rite as merely side degrees. A recognition issue or dispute between these bodies was not of concern to a Grand Lodge. But, at the same time, something had to be done to prevent the Grand Orient from acting and revealing the racist membership practices of the U.S. Grand Lodges to the Masonic world. It was a public humiliation they did not wish to endure. What could be done?

In 1867, the Grand Orient of France gave the U.S. Grand Lodges the perfect opportunity to protect themselves from public humiliation and give a bit of candy to Albert Pike. In 1847, the Grand Orient changed a policy it had since its creation. The 1847 resolution required its candidates to profess a belief in a Supreme Being. No such requirement existed from the time of the creation of the Grand Orient in the late 1700s to that time. All the U.S. Grand Lodges who maintained fraternal relations with the Grand Orient before 1847 were in relations with a body that did not require a belief in a Supreme Being of their candidates. At the time of the creation of the Grand Orient, the whole of French Masonry based its understanding of Freemasonry on the 1723 Constitutions from England.⁶ But, the change to require a belief in a Supreme Being was not well received by the members of the Grand Orient. It was felt that religion and Masonry should be two separate matters and all that should be required of candidates was that they are found to be moral men.

In 1867, a Christian minister submitted a resolution to change the laws of the Grand Orient of France back to the non-religion position. Two years later, they passed a resolution that neither race nor religion should disqualify a man for initiation. While the 1869 non-discrimination resolution was the real problem,⁷ the 1867 resolution was solely presented as something brand new and it was advanced, as if the Grand Orient had become an atheistic and immoral body. It was enough to create shock within the U.S. membership (most of whom had no idea about the historical practices or policies of the Grand Orient) and provided a sound reason to break with the Grand Orient before they could embarrass any U.S. Grand Lodge. It worked. The Grand Orient was shut out of the whole of mainstream U.S. Masonry. The Grand Orient was wholly discredited, and nothing they said would affect U.S. Masonry. The 1869 non-discrimination proclamation was ignored as if it did not exist.

There were no more chess moves, and the game ended in a stalemate. Albert Pike would skillfully take the rag-tag Southern Jurisdiction and create a world Masonic power. But, regardless of every attempt he made, he could not destroy the Supreme Council of Louisiana. The Supreme Council of Louisiana continued to exist with an unbroken line of Grand Commanders existing in a parallel universe (as did the whole of Louisiana Freemasonry in its early days) from the 1800s to the present day. But the Masonic history books say differently. The Masonic history books either claim that the Supreme Council of Louisiana died off in the late 1800s,⁸ or mostly ceased mentioning them. In time, the Supreme Council of Louisiana was a body hidden in plain sight.

I joined Masonry in New Orleans in the mid-1970s and heard of the Supreme Council of Louisiana almost as soon as joining. But, for the next 20 years, I had no idea that they continued to exist. Discovering them was quite a shock for me. Frankly, I did not believe that they were the same body. I felt that they must have been some newly created body that took an old name. I was wrong. It took a long, detailed search where I traced and verified every single Grand Commander in their line for me to realize that the Supreme Council of Louisiana today is the very same body from the 1800s. But, apart from a footnote, what did it mean? Then came 2011.

It was the 200th anniversary of the creation of the Grand Consistory of Louisiana - the one body of high-grade Scottish Rite Freemasonry that continued to exist when all others slumbered. A foresighted Scottish Rite Honorary Sovereign Grand Inspector General and Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, Clayton J. Borne, III, felt that a celebration was in order. He obtained permission and organized a Scottish Rite symposium where the Scottish Rite could be celebrated and studied using public lectures on the Scottish Rite.

On June 1st to 4th, 2011, for the first time in history, representatives of the Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction, USA, the Supreme Council of Louisiana, and the Grand Lodge of Louisiana met together at the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Royal Street in New Orleans ... and peace and harmony prevailed. The symposium location was steps away from where Albert Mackey met with James Foulhouze in Mackey’s failed attempt to have Foulhouze join the Southern Jurisdiction. There was no ritual, no secrets exchanged, no compromising situations. It was a public gathering that was, in this writer’s experience, the most genuinely Masonic gathering I have ever attended. It was beautiful.

Like the original publication of this work, the rest of the story might come after this publication. We have an opportunity. We will own the choices we make. But what will we do? Continue a pointless war, continue a policy of hidden in plain sight, or respect others who do the actual work of the Scottish Rite? Do we play chess against ourselves or ignorance?

The beauty of the future is that it is an open book. Upon it, we can write whatever we like and wish. The future of the Scottish Rite is up to us.

Michael R. Poll

New Orleans, LA

March, 2012

Historical Inquiry

Into

the Origin of

the Ancient and Accepted Scotch Rite;

Into

The Pretensions of the Dalcho-Mackey and Gourgas-Moore Supreme Councils of Charleston and Boston;

Into

the Rights of the Supreme Council

of the Sovereign and Independent State of Louisiana;

And Into

the Inconsistencies of his Imperial and Royal

Highness, Prince Lucien Murat, Pretender

to the Crown of Naples, and Grand

Master, Pro Tempore, of the

Masonic Order in France:

By James Foulhouze,

Grand Commander of the Ancient and Accepted Scotch Rite in and

for the Sovereign and Independent State of Louisiana.

Valley of New Orleans.

_____

Translated from the French, and printed by order of the Supreme Council of Louisiana.

_____

1859.

Historical Inquiry

_____

Valley of New Orleans,

August 1st, 1858.

To the Orients, Supreme Councils, Areopagi, Chapters, Tribunals, Lodges, and Brethren of the Fraternity of Free Masons Throughout the Two Hemispheres.

Health, Stability, Power.

_____

The undersigned, G∴ Commander of the Sup Coun∴ of Sov∴ Gr∴ Ins∴ Gen∴ for the Sovereign and Independent State of Louisiana, has the honor of addressing this communication to you, hoping thereby to have done his bounden duty for the prosperity and glory of the Ancient and Accepted Scotch Rite upon the American continent.

Being by Masonic birth and education a Scotch Mason of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, in 33 degrees, my love for the institution has prompted me to serious and unremitting study upon the causes which have operated so disastrously to its growth and prosperity upon this continent. The Rite possesses in an eminent degree all those social and civic elements which should give it a pre-eminence under a republican form of government, far removed from the political and religious bigotry which prevails upon the continent of Europe and adjacent Islands. The cause of this death-like torpidity can be found among those pretending to be of our brotherhood, and has existed since the first sound of the gavel in the year 5783, A∴ L∴, at the Sub∴ Gr∴ Lodge of Perfection, Charleston. South Carolina.

Every kingdom divided against itself, is brought to desolation. As will be seen in the course of this inquiry, the Sub∴ G∴ Lodge of Perf∴ at Charleston assumed jurisdiction over the Anc∴ and Acc∴ Scotch Rite throughout the whole of North America, and we shall find that at an early period this nominal claim was either unheeded, or received an unqualified protest, as an assumption of power conceived in iniquity. The character of the men constituting the Sub∴G∴ L∴ of Perf∴ at Charleston rendered the claim particularly repulsive to the American people, and as they persisted in their pretensions to extraordinary powers, unhappy elements of discord appeared in the infancy of the Scotch Rite in America. Even in South Carolina the institution made little, if any progress under their administration, and after slumbering for a period, awoke to a parasitic existence as furnishing ornamental or side degrees to the York Rite. The successors in the Sub∴ Gr∴ Lodge of Perfection, at Charleston, seem to have been initiated and sworn to preserve and cultivate the iniquity of their fathers, so heartily do they engage in disseminating discord; and by continuing in their subserviency to the York Rite, obtain from them countenance and support for the establishment of nuclei as parasites to York Grand Lodges, under the name of Consistories, gathering about them the expelled and discontented of the Scotch Rite, mingling the ceremonies and teachings of the several Rites designated Jacobinical, French, Misraim, Illuminati, &c.

Their success since the year of their reputed organization, (1783, A. D.,) viewed in one light, may afford them infinite satisfaction, for if they have presented no tangible evidences of growth in themselves, they have the satisfaction of knowing that they have preserved the true spirit of their founders, in disseminating discord to the almost entire extinction of the Rite upon these shores, by their faithful adherence to their obligation in prosecuting an unfounded, iniquitous claim for extraordinary territorial jurisdiction. After seventy-five years of unremitting labor, they might find comfort in taking a retrospect, and in the examination of present results. It amounts to this, no more:

One nominal Consistory as an appendix to the M∴ W∴ York G∴ Lodge of the State of Massachusetts, commonly designated as the Gourgas-Moore Supreme Council of Ms.

One ditto as an appendix to the M∴ W∴ York G∴ L∴ of Louisiana, commonly designated as the Mackey-Samory Consistory of the State of Louisiana.

It would seem that so meagre and insignificant a result should attract the attention of such honest men as the chances or adversities of life have thrown among them. If they have any such, we respectfully ask them as gentlemen, as statesmen, to examine into this matter. As statesmen, their knowledge of the laws which prevail among nations, may assist them in solving the difficulties which have so effectually obstructed the growth of the Anc∴ and Accep∴Scotch Rite in America. They will know that among nations, where a claim for