Letter from the Grand Loge Centrale de France to Albert G. Goodall, 1868 September 26

Letter from the Central Grand Lodge* of France to Albert G. Goodall**

September 9, 1868

Supreme Council

Central Grand Lodge

Secrétariat General

46 rue de la Victoire, Paris, France

September 9, 1868

Most Illustrious Brother

I have the pleasure of giving you two copies of the minutes if the funerary ceremony that you witnessed here on August 17, 1868. Kindly give one to the Supreme Council in Boston for its archives.

I trust as you promised me that you have informed the Supreme Council of Boston of the changes that have occurred in the leadership of Scottish Rite in France after the death of our Illustrious Brother Vennet, and that you have officially handed the different decrees and circulars related to [these changes]; we have not yet received any answer. We are waiting for it. As well as a letter from you regarding the Worshipful Brother Marschal (sic) Wildes and the other former members of the Supreme Council whose expulsion was officially notified to all the Supreme Councils of the Scottish Rite. They seem to now be at the helm of the Supreme Council of Boston even though that expulsion was neither retrieved nor attenuated. I expect the explanations that you were kind enough to promised to give me. Send them to me promptly and in French, you well know my ignorance of the English language.

You promised me your good offices for our Lodge at the Orient of Montevideo, unjustly ignored by the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite which seems to exist in the Argentine Republic of Uruguay***, a Masonic Power that revealed itself only to Masons of other Rites. I am giving you the note that you asked of me regarding this affair. I would be grateful if you could take care of the matter immediately. When it is resolved to your perfect satisfaction, we will be able to, at its request, enter into an official correspondence with the Supreme Council of Uruguay; if not, [we will not accept] to be less well treated than the Grand Orients of France and Italy which Lodges and Chapters are serenely established in Montevideo.

I have announced the death of our Grand Commander and the accession of his successor to the Supreme Councils of Brazil and Buenos-Ayres of which you brought the us the annual directory. Accept, Most Illustrious Brother the renewed expression of my devoted and Fraternal affection.

The Grand Secretary, Chancellor of the Holy Empire,

[Unreadable signature]

Seal of Supreme Council Of the 33° for France

To: Most Illustrious Brother: Albert g. Goodall

Translator Remarks

*The Central Grand Lodge of France is an institution of the Grand Orient of France that assumes the link between its Supreme Council, the higher degrees bodies and the symbolic Lodges.

**Goodall was appointed as Special Representative of the NMJ near all Foreign Supreme Councils in the world by Sovereign Grand Commander Drummond in 1867. We have an extensive collection of documents about Goodall in our library here in Lexington.

***The political status of Uruguay oscillated between Brazil and Argentina. Each one claiming the territory as its own. In 1828 a treaty between the two-belligerent states created Uruguay as a separate country mainly to serve as a buffer zone between them.

Kamel Oussayef 5/5/2022