Excerpt from Cryptic Rite: Its Origin and Introduction on This Continent; History of the Degrees of Royal, Select, and Super-Excellent Master; The Work of the Rite in Canada, With a History of the Various Grand Councils That Have Existed From the Inception of the Rite in Canada Til A book without a preface would, in the estimation of many, be incomplete, and yet I think that the average reader would feel better if he were at once to plunge into the meat and marrow, without waiting for the apologies that authors and compilers have to offer. I make no claim to originality in this compilation. The history of the Rite and its degrees is compiled from various sources, Mackey, Chase, McClenachan, and other Masonic authors. The history of the Cryptic Grand Councils in the United States is from the pen of my esteemed friend Brother and Companion, Josiah H. Drummmond, of Maine, while the Canadian branch of the history I have gathered from documents in my possession as Grand Recorder, and from official sources of information, that make it the first written and authentic history of the Rite in Canada. My original intention was to confine, the work to the Rite in my own country, but at the suggestion of Companions I have enlarged its scope so as to give, in one volume, what I believe has never been given before, a complete history of the degrees of Royal, Select and Super-Excellent Master, from their origin to the present time. I trust that this compilation may be received with favor by my Companions of the Secret Vault, and that the work of a few leisure hours may add to the interest that in so universally taken in the ceremonies and history of the Cryptic Rite. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.