The Intruder in the Crypt – A Comparison of the History of the Degrees of Select Master, Intimate Secretary, and Grand Tilers of Solomon
Matt DA Fletcher – Secretary – Delivered to Peace Council No.224 on November 14th 2019
The degree of the Grand Tilers of Solomon, present within the Allied Masonic Degrees of all jurisdictions, bears a very close similarity in many respects to the Select Master degree of the Cryptic Rite (Royal & Select Masters in the UK) and that of that of Intimate Secretary, the 6th degree of the Ancient and Accepted (Scottish) Rite (AASR).
Simply put, and without giving the specifics of each degree, that of the Grand Tilers relates to the accidental and unmotivated discovery and entrance of a Fellowcraft into an underground chamber; in that of the Select Master of a close friend and servant of King Solomon believing that a door had been left open for him, that he entered to convey some important information; and in the Intimate Secretary, that of one of Solomon’s favorites, fearing for the life of his King, sought to observe what occurred in the King’s Audience Chamber to ensure his Grand Master was not at risk of harm [1] [2].
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The degrees differ in the expansion of the basic concept of the story and ritual drama, relating to alternative interpretations of the lessons taught [3] [4], and in the Select Master, the reasons and history behind the formation of the Sacred Vault of the Holy Royal Arch degree are additionally expanded upon [5].
Historically speaking, the Select Master drama is dated to occur at 969-968 BC [6] [7]. The historical background to the Intimate Secretary degree is related as a cabal between Solomon and Hiram of Tyre, but that this was based upon a mistranslation of the original Hebrew of the relevant scripture (1 Kings 9:10-14), occurring at approximately 960 BC [8].
The original sources of these degrees are not entirely clear, but the evidence points most probably to these being a creation of the 18th century, and originating in France. The first mention of this degree, in its original form as the Select Master, appears to have been in 1740 in Paris [9].
In 1746 in Swalwell, UK, a degree entitled English Master was worked, which according to AE Waite, examining the extant version of this degree worked in France in 1780, bears almost identical similarity to the degree of Intimate Secretary of the AASR [10].
In 1783 the degree of Intimate Secretary was also known in France by the names of Perfect English Master, and Perfect Master of Curiosity, where is was worked under the Loges des Parfaits d’ Écosse of Morin’s Rite of Perfection (vide infra) [11], where one of the furnishings of the lodge room was the placement of 27 lamps [12].
There is clear documentary evidence that the Select Master was worked in France prior to 1751, and that it became subsumed into the Rite of Perfection in Clermont in 1754 [13].
The Select Master was one of the earliest additional degrees of the Rite of Perfection after it had been expanded from seven to 25 degrees [14].
Subsequently it was dropped, and at a later stage was reinstated as a side degree of the Rite [15] [16].
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Finally, on this note, there has been a supposition for two centuries that the primal form of this degree was created by the Chevalier Ramsay, simply to polarise English Masons and the younger French nobility to become sympathetic to the pro-Stuart cause [17].
There is no objective proof to such a claim, nor that he was the author of anything other than three of the original seven degrees of the Rite of Clermont, in approximately 1750-54, all with a strongly Templar and Eccossais theme [18].
After the Select Master was dropped from the Rite of Perfection, a Stephen Morin was appointed Inspector General for both it and the Royal Master as a separate order in 1761 and shortly thereafter brought them to the New World [19].
Morin landed in the West Indies in 1762, and conferred the degrees upon Henry Francken in Jamaica around the same time [20].
Francken subsequently returned to the United States and formed a Lodge of Perfection in New York City in 1767 [21].
The historical evidence points to Francken as having conferred it separately on Bro. Moses Hays, who passed it successively to Myers, Jacobs, and then to Henry Wilmans, who is credited within the Cryptic Rite as the founder of the degree in the Rite in the United States [22].
It appears that both the Royal Master and Select Master degrees, whilst considered side degrees under the early AASR Supreme Council at Charleston in the late 18th and early 19th century, were subsequently conferred upon members of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in Baltimore in 1816-18 [23].
One of these brethren, Thomas Smith Webb, the founder of the Most Excellent Master degree, conferred the degrees on other Royal Arch masons in Northeastern America over the next few years, and with the growth of many Councils of these degrees, the first Grand Council was formed in 1820 [24].
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The Select Master of 27 is referred to at the turn of the 19th Century, as well as the Mason Elect of 27, by Brother Dalcho, a senior member of the North American AASR [25], and this strengthens the likelihood that the Select Master degree and the Grand Tilers of Solomon degree share a common source.
This degree was also reportedly worked in Scotland in 1803 [26]. It has been stated that the Jamaica Rite, apparently originating from Morin in the late 1700s, bears a very close similarity to the Grand Tilers of Solomon degree [27], and more than a passing resemblance to that of the modern Select Master [28].
It has further been proposed that the degree was worked upon and developed further by American ritualists in the late 1800s, and subsequently conferred in 1892 upon CF Matier [29], Grand Secretary of, and the Earl of Euston, Grand Master of, the Allied Masonic Degrees of Great Britain in 1893. It was thus incorporated into the Order, and subsequently returned to North America via the AMD in this form [30].
Analysis of the original rituals as well as the derived versions of the modern Cryptic Rite Select Master and the Grand Tilers of Solomon degree worked in the early AMD of Great Britain suggests that the version in the possession of the Allied Masonic Degrees is much closer to the original form of the ritual inherited from Morin [31].
What can we conclude from this historical review? These three degrees all relate a similar story, told in different ways, and focus on different points and principles, but fundamentally are descendants of a single ritual drama and degree that is approximately 280 years old.
The primal degree appears to have originated in France, travelled from there to the West Indies, thence to New York, to Charleston and then to New England, from there to the United Kingdom and back to North America.
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The messages taught by each of the three degrees are similar but have slightly different perspectives, each concentrating on a distinctly specific quality or revelation.
Regardless of which form of this early ritual is worked, each provides a very valuable further step in the moral and intellectual development of the mason engaged on the journey of personal self-improvement through the higher (or, more properly, additional) degrees within Freemasonry.
Footnotes
References
[1] McClenechan CT. The Book of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. 1884. http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/AASR_1884_/6th_degree_intimate_secretary.htm
[2] Clausen HC. Commentaries on Morals and Dogma. AASR. 1976.
[3] Wisdahl AS. Tilers & Knights: What these two short degrees teach us. The Architect. 2018.
[4] Pike A. Morals & Dogma. 1871. https://www.sacred-texts.com/mas/md/index.htm
[5] Fletcher MDA. The Cryptic Rite. The Architect. 2018.
[6] Cryer NB. Delving further Beyond the Craft. Lewis Masonic. 2009.
[7] Ritual No.1, Grand Council of Royal & Select Masters of England & Wales. 1989.
[8] Beswick S. Intimate Secretary. In: Masonic Monthly. (2):422-7. 1864.
[9] Jones RS. The Origins of the Cryptic Rite. 2009. https://ohiograndcouncil.com/pages/council-of-research/research-papers/the-origins-of-the-cryptic-rite/
[10] Prestige HHC. A Century of the Allied Masonic Degrees. Privately published. 1979.
[11] Van Leeuwen A. Maçonnieke Beschouwingen. 1949.
[12] Carlisle R. Manual of Freemasonry. London. 1831.
[13] Van Doren RW. An Encapsulated History of the Cryptic Rite in Europe and the United States. 2012. http://www.knightstemplar.org/KnightTemplar/articles/CM.htm. Retrieved 20/8/17.
[14] Jones RS. Op. cit
[15] Ibid.
[16] Robertson JR. The Cryptic Rite; its Origin and Introduction on this Continent. 1888.
[17] Blanchard J. Scotch Rite Masonry Illustrated. 1905.
[18] McGregor MI. A Biographical Sketch of Chevalier Andrew Michael Ramsay. Pietre-Stones. 2007. http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/ramsay_biography_oration.html
[19] Jones RS. Op. cit.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Fricks G. An alternative explanation of the Royal and Select Masters degrees. Knights Templar Magazine. 2013. http://www.knightstemplar.org/KnightTemplar/articles/20130723.htm
[24] Fricks. Op. cit.
[25] Dalcho F. Masonic Orations. 1803.
[26] Prestige HHC. Op. cit.
[27] Shute JR. The Grand Tylers of Solomon. The Architect. 1983.
[28] https://austinwholdencouncil.weebly.com/degrees.html
[29] Shute JR. Op. cit.
[30] https://austinwholdencouncil.weebly.com/degrees.html
[31] Shute JR. Grand Tilers of Solomon. Miscellanea. 1933.
Article by: Matt D.A. Fletcher
Matt DA Fletcher is the Sovereign Grand Master of the Allied Masonic Degrees of Canada; the Director-General of Studies of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia as well as Chief Adept for the SRIA Province of British Columbia & Yukon; is a past Grand Superintendent of the Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of British Columbia & Yukon; and is or has been a member of almost every regular masonic body in current existence.
Initiated into the Three Pillars Lodge No.4923 in London, and a mason for almost 30 years, he is a subscribing member of bodies in the UK, Canada, the US, Brazil, Belgium & France. He also holds senior positions in a number of Martinist orders and bodies, and is deeply involved in the esoteric avenues beyond regular Freemasonry.
His primary objective is to increase the academic content within Freemasonry, such that we can practically expand and apply the knowledge that we learn in the Craft, and engage with and assist our Brethren more fully on their own personal masonic journey.
In the mundane world, he is a practising orthopaedic surgeon in rural Canada with a strong background in surgical research, and has published and presented over 350 academic and esoteric papers, chapters, and books.
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