Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

HIGH
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the original thought or germ out of which
the Order was formed will have, perhaps, to
be left to conjecture ; yet even here I think
we may find some data upon which to found
a conclusion .
"In setting about the formation of an
order suitable for the office of High Priest,
what could be more natural or appropriate
than to take the scriptural history of the
meeting of Abraham with Melchizedek,
Priest of the Most High God ; the circumstances
which brought that meeting about ;
the bringing forth the bread and wine ; the
blessing, etc . ; and the anointing of Aaron
and his sons to the Priesthood under the
Mosaic dispensations . It does seem to me
that these would be the most natural sources
for any one to go to for facts and circumstances
to work into an order of this kind .
"We can illustrate this point farther by
reference to a note found in an old ritual
of the `Mediterranean Pass,' as then-and
perhaps it may be so now-conferred under
the Grand Priory of England and Wales, preparatory
to the Order of Malta . That note
read as follows :
" `In some Priories the candidate partakes
of bread from the point of a sword, and
wine from a chalice placed upon the blade,
banded to him by the Prelate .'
"Again, in an old manuscript of the ritual
of the Royal Grand Conclave of Scotland,
now also lying before me, I find similar
language used in the ritual of the Templars'
Order . How well the thoughts contained
in these extracts have been worked into the
Order of High Priest, every well-informed
High Priest must very well understand .
"But the question now comes up : were
Webb and his associates in possession of
these rituals at the time they originated the
Order of High Priesthood? I think they
were, and for these reasons : In these rituals
to which I have referred I find these exressions
used : `That I will not shed the
Mood of a K . T . unlawfully ;' `the skull to
be laid open, and all the brains to be exposed
to the scorching rays of the sun ;' with several
other familiar expressions, which every
Royal Arch Mason will readily recognize
as appropriately wrought into Webb's Royal
Arch Degree.
"From the foregoing facts, as well as
others not stated, I infer that Thomas
Smith Webb with his co-advisers, Benjamin
Hurd, Yr ., and James Harrison, were
the true authors of the Order ; that it dates
from the 10th day of January, 1799, at
which time it was adopted by the General
Grand Chapter, and became a part of the
constitutional regulations and requirements
of Royal Arch Masonry so far as the authority
of the General Grand Chapter extended,
and that it continued as such until
the 19th day of September, 1853, when it
was repealed, as before stated .
"A thought or two further, and I will
have done . Webb, in arranging the Order,
evidently intended that it should be con-
ferred as a part of the installation ceremonies
of a High Priest ; and whether he ever conferred
it at any other time or in any other
manner I have been unable to learn, as I
have never met with any one who claimed
to have received the Order from him . At
what time and by whom it was first conferred
as a separate ceremonial is equally unknown
to me. All I have yet been able to find
upon this point is in Cross's Chart, where,
in the edition of 1826, and it may also be
in the earlier editions, I find it arranged as
a separate ceremonial, and disconnected with
the ceremonies of installation .
"The earliest authentic record of the organization
of a Council of High Priests I
have yet found is in the proceedings of the
Grand Chapter of Ohio in 1828, where it
appears that a Council was duly formed,
rules adopted for its government, and a full
list of officers elected, with Companion
John Snow as President .
"It is more than probable that the Order
has always been conferred, west of the
mountains, as a separate ceremonial, and
never as a part of the installation ceremonies .
It is well known that John Snow, who no
doubt brought it with him when he came to
the West, always so conferred it, and not
then until the applicant had been regularly
elected and installed as High Priest of his
Chapter. I have also met with those who
claimed to have received it from the celebrated
Lorenzo Dow, of whom it is further
alleged that he always required an election
and installation as a prerequisite to the Order .
With these facts before us, and I have no
doubt of the truth of every word of them,
I would ask of those who have attempted
to heap such obloquy and derision upon the
Order, as Dr. Mitchell and others who have
followed him, to point us to any other single
order or degree of Masonry that can be traced
so successfully to the source from whence it
came ; that has in it more of the elements
of sublimity and impressiveness, and that is
more scripturally and Masonically appropriate
for that for which it was intended, than has
this much-maligned Order of High Priesthood
; remembering also that it was established
upon the constitutional authority of
the General Grand Chapter of the United
States, which is, and ever has been, the
highest authority in Royal Arch Masonry
in the United States . And again, among
the names of those zealous companions who
participated in its adoption stands that
of the Honorable De Witt Clinton, for
so many years the zealous and efficient
General Grand High Priest . Then I say,
when we take all these facts together, as
they stand recorded before us, I think the
question as to the origin and authenticity
may be considered as fully settled ."
High Priest of the Jews . The important
office of the High Priesthood was
instituted by Moses after the completion of
the directions for erecting the tabernacle,
and was restricted to Aaron and his de-