THE HISTORY OF MASONRY - including the establishment of the first US lodge.

Excerpt from Page 344 of the text.

This degree, which is the chief tribunal of masonry in the rite to which it belongs, was instituted in the year 1786, under the following circumstances: By the constitutions of the Scotch rite, which were ratified on the 25th of October, 1762, the king of Prussia was proclaimed as its chief, with the title of Sovereign Grand Inspector General and Grand Commander. The higher Councils and Chapters could not be opened without his presence, or that of a substitute appointed by him. All the transactions of the Consistory of the thirty-second degree, then the highest, required his sanction, or that of his substitute, and various other masonic prerogatives were attached to his office. No provision had, however, been made in the constitutions for his successor, and as it was absolutely necessary that some arrangements should be made, by which the supreme power should not become extinct on his death, the king established the thirty-third degree, out of the possessors of which, the Supreme Council is formed; abody possessing all the masonic rights and prerogatives formerly exercised by the king of Prussia. Not more than one Supreme Council can exist in each state, and it must be composed of nine members, called Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, five of whom, at least, must profess the Christian religion. Not less than three constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
In 1765, the Lodges and Councils of the superior degrees, being extended throughout the continent of Europe, Frederick II. king of Prussia, as Grand Commander of the Order of Prince of the Royal Secret, was acknowledged as the head of the Scotch rite. The Duke of Sudermania was his deputy in Sweden, and Louis of Bourbonin France. On the 25th of October, 1762, the Grand Masonic Constitutions were finally ratified in Berlin, and proclaimed for the government of all masonic bodies, working in the Scotch rite, over the two hemispheres. In the same year, they were transmitted to Stephen Morin, who had been appointed in August, 1761, Inspector General for the New World, by the Grand Consistory of Princes of the Royal Secret, convened at Paris, under the presidency of Chaillon de Joinville. Substitute General of the Order.
When Morin arrived in America, he, agreeably to his patent, appointed a Deputy Inspector General. This honor was conferred on M. Hayes, with the power of appointing others where necessary. Hayes appointed Isaac Da Costa, Deputy Inspector General for the state of South Carolina, who, in 1783, established a Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection in Charleston.
After Da Costa's death, Joseph Myers was appointed to succeed him, by Hayes, who also appointed Solomon Bush, Deputy Inspector General for Pennsylvania, and Barend M. Spitzer, for Georgia; which appointments were confirmed by a Council of Inspectors that convened in Philadelphia, on the 15th of June, 1781. On the 1st of May, 1786, the Grand Constitution of the Supreme Council of the thirty-third degree, was ratified by the King of Prussia, by which the masonic prerogatives of Inspectors were deposited in a Council consisting of nine brethren in each nation. On the 20th of February, 1788, a Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem was opened in Charleston, by Myers, Spitzer and A. Forst, Deputy Inspector General for Virginia. In 1795, Colonel John Mitchell was appointed by Spitzer, a Deputy Inspector General, in the place of Myers, who had removed; but he was restricted from acting until after Myers' death, which took place in the following year. On the 31st of May, 1801, the Supreme Council of the thirty-third degree was opened in Charleston, with the grand honors of Masonry, by John Mitchell and Frederick Dalcho, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, and in the course of the succeeding two years, the whole number of Inspectors General was completed. This was the origin of the Scotch rite in the United States, of which there now exist two Supreme Councils ; one at Charleston, South Carolina, and another in the city of New York