About Albert Pike
Albert Pike (Boston, December 29, 1809 - Washington, April 2, 1891) was an American general, lawyer, poet, writer and Freemason, called by many the Pope of Freemasonry. He published numerous pamphlets to incite battle against Roman Catholicism and the papacy, and to carry forward the ideals of the French Revolution in Europe and around the world. He is considered by some conspiracy theorists, especially those influenced by American evangelicals, to be a major architect of the new world order.He published his first poem at the age of 23, entitled Hymns To the Gods. Subsequently, his work was published in many literary journals and newspapers. In 1834, he published his first collection of poetry, "Prose Sketches and Poems Written in the West Country", in which he collected many of his poems. This collection was later republished in 1872, and, after his death, his poems were republished in two further volumes, "Gen. Albert Pike: Poems" (1900) and "Lyrics and Love Songs" (1916). It is said that Pike was suggested as the author of a doggerel entitled "The Old Canoe" which was composed by one of his political enemies. The doggerel was based on a canoe he had left in Columbia, Tennessee, while he was practicing law there. "The Old Canoe" was not written by Pike, but by Emily Rebecca Page, according to a statement made by Pike himself to Senator Edward W Carmack. Pike stated that he had not written the original text of the poem, and couldn't understand how he could have received credit for it.
He died in Washington on April 2, 1891 at the age of 81, and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. In 1944 his remains were transferred to the House of the Temple masonic temple, headquarters of the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Ancient Scottish Rite. His most famous esoteric work is Morals and Dogma, published in 1871, which aims to explain the symbolism of the 32 first degrees of this ancient and accepted Rite. This work was traditionally offered to American Freemasons at their reception in the 14th degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite until 1974. His statue in Washington (DC) was pulled down by a few dozen demonstrators on the night of June 19 to 20, 2020. Because he was a Confederate officer, the demonstrators accuse Albert Pike of being a racist. They also accuse successive governments of not having made an inventory of Confederate symbols in the public space, which they believe endorse racism and slavery.
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