Post by Tamrin on Jul 3, 2008 13:49:23 GMT 10
Freemasonry had been introduced into France in about 1725. It was something the like of which the French had never known before, and it fascinated them. They thought it was wonderful, but they could not believe that it was possible that it had come down to them from common workmen who got their hands dirty cutting stone in quarries.
Ramsay provided them with an answer and an excuse. He provided them with noble ancestors. The French set about the task of purifying their rituals and in a short period of time more than 1,100 degrees were invented, forming part of more than 100 rites. Most of them had a short existence although amongst those that survived were the 25 degrees of the Rite of Perfection.
Thus, those brethren who value their membership of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and the Rose Croix do so indirectly as a result of the efforts of Chevalier Ramsay.
Ramsay provided them with an answer and an excuse. He provided them with noble ancestors. The French set about the task of purifying their rituals and in a short period of time more than 1,100 degrees were invented, forming part of more than 100 rites. Most of them had a short existence although amongst those that survived were the 25 degrees of the Rite of Perfection.
Thus, those brethren who value their membership of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and the Rose Croix do so indirectly as a result of the efforts of Chevalier Ramsay.
