The Builder Magazine
April 1925 - Volume XI - Number 4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Some Personal Views Concerning Membership in The Masonic International Association - BY BRO. TOWNSEND SCUDDER, Past Grand Master, New York
AMERICAN COLLEGE FRATERNITIES - BY BRO. CARL A. FOSS
Masonic Service Bureaus - By BRO. PHIL A. ROTH, Wisconsin
My Masonic Experiences of 1924 - By BRO. CHARLES S. LOBINGIER, China
An American Freemason in France - By Bro. ROBERT I. CLEGG, Associate Editor, Ohio
BRO. CHARLES M. ROE
Great Men Who Were Masons - Rufus Choate - BY BRO. GEORGE W. BAIRD, P. G. M., District of Columbia
ABOVE THE BATTLE
THE STUDY CLUB
Studies of Masonry in the United States - By BRO. H. L. HAYWOOD, Editor - PART VIII. HENRY PRICE
EDITORIAL
MT. MORIAH
"POOR AND DISTRESSED MASTER MASONS"
INEQUALITY OF RACES
THE LIBRARY
"THE ASSYRIAN CAME DOWN LIKE A WOLF ON THE FOLD"
BOYS' OWN ARITHMETIC
THE GOSPEL OF FELLOWSHIP
THE CRUSADES: THE STORY OF THE LATIN KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM
EUREKA, OR WHAT A MASTER MASON OUGHT TO KNOW
What to Read in Masonry - THE MAKING OF AMERICAN MASONRY
THE QUESTION BOX
LIST OF BOARDS OF RELIEF AND EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS
----o----
VOLUME XI – NUMBER 4
APRIL 1925
THREE DOLLARS THE YEAR
TWENTY-FIVE CENTS THE COPY
Official Journal of the National Masonic Research Society
1950 Railway Exchange, St. Louis, Mo.
Contents copyright 1926 by the National Masonic Research Society.
Entered as second-class matter at the post office, St. Louis, Mo.; accepted for special rate of Postage provided for in §1103, Act of Oct. 3, 1917:
authorized Feb. 12, 1923, under the Act Of Aug. 24, 1912.
OFFICERS AND STEWARDS
ERNEST A. REED, New Jersey, President
NEWTON R. PARVIN, Iowa, Vice-President
CHARLES C. HUNT, Iowa, General Secretary
F. H. LITTLEFIELD, Missouri, Executive Secretary and Treasurer
LOUIS BLOCK, P.G.M., Iowa
ROBERT I. CLEW, Grand Historian, Ohio
CHARLES C. HUNT, Deputy Grand Secretary, Iowa.
SAM H. GOODWIN, Grand Secretary, Utah
MELVIN M. JOHNSON, P. G. M. Massachusetts
BERT S. LEE, P. G. M., Missouri
F. H. LlTTLEFIELD, Missouri
FRANIC S. MOSES, P. G. M., Iowa
Joseph FORT Newton, Educational Director M. S. A., New York.
ERNEST A. REED, P. G. M., New Jersey
SILAS H. SHEPHERD, Chairman Masonic Research, Wisconsin
OLIVER DAY STREET, Deputy Grand Master, Alabama
JESSE M. WHITED,, Grand Marshal, Order of De Molay, California
----o----
Some Personal Views Concerning Membership in The Masonic International Association
BY BRO. TOWNSEND SCUDDER, Past Grand Master, New York
THE reader will find it greatly to his advantage to read in conjunction with Bro. Scudder's article below the article on ''Why the Grand Lodge of New York Withdrew From The Masonic International Association," by Pro. William A. Rowan, Grand Master, New York, published in The Builder last month page 65.
TO the writer, Freemasonry is not an accident, a thing which just happened, but an agency of Divine inspiration with a world field and mission.
In no sense is Freemasonry a religion, but rather a light faith.
In no sense is Freemasonry a substitute for the Church, but rather a tributary, which, when functioning in harmony with its ideals, gives strength to the Church in its place. Freemasonry should not be regarded as a rival, but should be hailed as an aid, of the Church.
In Freemasonry, it is revealed that God is universal, one God for all, the same God, however much conception of Him may vary in localities and among different peoples and races.
In Freemasonry it is revealed that all men are brothers, notwithstanding the inequality of endowment that exists among individuals.
The most uncivilized of mankind, some way or other, has risen to the conception of a God.
Thus God has been revealed to man in the form or manner suited to the needs of each race in its peculiar circumstances and environment; and God has planted in the soul of man the seed of His love, His truth, and His justice.
Inspired by these ideals, many years ago, a group of men, calling themselves Builders or Freemasons, resolved to share in peace and good will the world's blessings, and to labor to make of God's children one family in spirit, without regard to race, creed, station, or locality.
In this family or brotherhood, Freemasonry has pledged that no contention should exist, save that noble contention, or emulation, of who best can work and best agree.
Authority for all this is not lacking; to go no farther, it is leading to religious written in the first Masonic Constitution:
"We are also of all Nations, Tongues, Kindreds and Languages * * *."
It is also there written:
"Masonry becomes the centre of Union, and the means of conciliating true Friendship among persons that must have remained at a perpetual distance."
In that Constitution, the Freemason is exhorted to cultivate:
"Brotherly-Love, the Foundation and Cape-Stone, the Cement and Glory of this ancient Fraternity."
The Constitution further says:
"And if any of them do you Injury, you must apply to your own or his lodge * * * as has been the ancient laudable conduct of our Forefathers in every Nation * * * saying or doing nothing which may hinder Brotherly Love. * * *"
It is God's command, through Jesus, His Son, that men love one another.
"Love thy neighbor as thyself."
What higher conception of Freemasonry than a loving Brotherhood of all men - children of one loving Father!
The stars of Freemasonry are its Landmarks; and one Landmark differeth not from another Landmark in glory, or in priority of observance.
The ideal of Man's Brotherhood is an ancient Landmark. as fundamental to Speculative Freemasonry as is belief in the Supreme Being. The twain are one and inseparable, and ever will be, specious reasoning to the contrary notwithstanding.
To him who bases his faith on these great truths, stimulating, awe-inspiring, and all-satisfying, Freemasonry is a serious thing, and but very incidentally, a plaything.
That it has the attributes of a world force is proven by its vitality, which more than once, and even in these so-called enlightened times, has shown those who would destroy it, that it is unconquerable from without.
The danger is from within.
Here the tragedy, the crushing pity of the thing!
We have grafted the trunk of Freemasonry with the cuttings of sectarianism, and the fruit is intolerance, bitterness and hate, instead of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.
The great ideal in Freemasonry, Brotherhood, is being sacrificed through the sectarianism of good men and true, who honestly imagine they assist Freemasonry, perhaps save it, by destroying its crowning glory.
They fail to see that our Order has grown because it has made its appeal to an inspiration, common to mankind, of a humanity, however separated into creeds and nationalities and races, united in Freemasonry under its Shibboleth of Man's Common Brotherhood, and, without condescension or presumption on the part of any, working to establish peace on earth and good will among men.
The writer has been favorably placed; he has traveled extensively; has seen much of old-world civilization; much of the trials and tribulations of those less happily circumstanced than are we.
He has seen man attain the heights; he has seen man below beasts; yet his admiration of man has grown with his contacts and experience. Left to himself, man suffereth long and is kind, which is natural, being made in His image.
It is not for the writer to interpret the effect of all this on his own process of reasoning. The fact is noted for such help as it may give in weighing the merits of his contention that the Masonic Fraternity throughout the world must get together, if it would further its high mission, and that the alternative is fratricidal war without end, grotesque and debasing; the more absurd because waged between men honestly believing they are fighting each other to promote the ideal of man's Brotherhood, and peace on earth.
What will make this war between Freemasons more unjustifiable will be the unhappy truth that it will be waged on undefined issues; without the principals getting together before hostilities, to find out whether there is anything to fight about, and whether the war honestly can be avoided.
What is it which has brought the Fraternity to this crisis? Space will not permit more than a brief summary of the causes.
SOMETHING OF THE PAST
It seems to be generally accepted by Masonic students. that toward the end of the seventeenth century, the Society of Freemasons no longer had direct concern with the art of building. Its then aims seem to have been the preservation of the traditions, customs and ceremonies, as well as the moral teachings, of our Operative brethren. Its objects were social and philosophical. It does not appear that there existed at that time any recognized authority with power to constitute a lodge. Individual Masons seem to have initiated candidates, and to have formed them into lodges, receiving recognition from other lodges likewise, or otherwise, organized, as may have been.
SOMETHING OF THE GRAND LODGE ERA
In 1717, a movement was started to bring together Freemasons in London. It is not known what was behind the movement. It is a fact that it was controlled by persons of modest station. It seems that Freemasons in London were wont in those times, to have an annual feast, and at this feast in 1717, they elected to preside over them a Grand Master, a title probably, and an office certainly, until then unknown to the Craft in England. This first Grand Master appointed Grand Wardens. Thus was inaugurated the Mother Grand Lodge which in time constituted itself the supreme Masonic authority in England, but not without challenge.
In 1725, the Grand Lodge of Ireland already hall been formed.
In 1736, certain lodges in Scotland modelled a Scottish Grand Lodge after that in London.
In 1753, there was organized in England, in opposition to Grand Lodge of 1717, a Grand Lodge of the Antients, an independent body, which dubbed the Mother Grand Lodge "The Moderns."
The world-wide Brotherhood Ideal was zealously fostered by each of these four original Grand Lodges; they spread out over the world through lodges sprung from one or another of them, lodges often being constituted by two or more of them side by side in the same country, carrying to all peoples the message of Brotherhood. To this circumstance, doubtless, is due the assertion, that no Freemason ever lived, whose Masonic pedigree does not begin in Great Britain.
In course of time these lodges in foreign lands organized their own Grand Lodges, sometimes two or more in the same country, which entered upon their separate sovereign and independent careers, as equals. in the family of Grand Lodges.
We are not unmindful of later Grand Lodges of Scottish Rite origin, and of other genesis, which. through concessions and adjustments, in due time were admitted to the family circle.
SOMETHING OF SOVEREIGNTY
Thus Speculative Freemasonry expanded over the earth, each Grand Lodge sovereign, going its own way, shapened, and shapening, to meet the conditions surrounding it, as it toiled onward in the promotion of Freemasonry's Ideal of Brotherhood.
The Mother Grand Lodges entertained no pretentions of dominion, or of sovereignty over their offshoots in other lands. They recognized their independence, and wisely left them free to solve the problems and to overcome the difficulties which they might encounter in furthering their common cause, as the genius of each might suggest, and the necessities of each locality required.
Cruel persecutions were not expected in those days.
It was in this way that the Ideal of Man's Brotherhood was carried to the four corners of the earth, interpreted to each race and people, within their limitations to understand, by the leaders of thought of their own environment.
Was not this in keeping with the principle underlying God's multifarious revelation of Himself to the different groups of His children ?
SOMETHING OF THE CRAFT’S BOAST
It is its boast that for upwards of two centuries now, our Speculative Freemasonry has sought to foster the Ideal of Brotherhood, and has sacrificed mightily to replace destructive hate by fraternal love; to break down the intransigence of sectarianism as it is intolerant, and to substitute peace and good will among men.
Taking stock today, what do we find?
The Masonic Fraternity, divided against itself; engaged in charges and recriminations, spiritually contracting, not expanding. We find an ever increasing narrow-mindedness, and the growth within us of the petty dogmatic spirit which we are pledged to supersede with truth and justice.
In our dealings with brethren of the Craft seeing differently from the way we see, we act in violent opposition to the considerate, broad-minded, brotherly attitude inculcated in our Masonic principles and teachings.
We sit in judgment of our brethren, less favored than are we in the enjoyment of the blessings of liberty of thought, of action, and of speech. We bear false witness against them. We pronounce sentence upon them without giving them a hearing. We are fertile in invention, when denouncing what we lightly accept as their viewpoint, while smugly boasting of our own superiority.
Has the time come to call a halt? Or is the thing to go on? The rank and file must decide. But let not our brethren on the benches be led astray through lack of understanding of the issues, or of what it is, which is at stake.
SOMETHING FOR OUR BEST THOUGHT
The conflict is not over God and the Holy Bible; it is not between good and evil.
The first, or Anderson Constitution, says of a Mason that, "if he rightly understands the Art, he will never lie a stupid Atheist."
Of needs be, the converse must be the effect which the inspiration of Freemasonry's teachings will have upon the soul of a man who, in his heart, truly was made a Freemason.
Do we ever winnow our store of grain after the harvest ?
Do we ever check up on our own membership ? Is it again a case of the beam in our own eye? Generally speaking, the trouble is here: The Anglo-Saxon Freemason insists that a candidate for Freemasonry shall profess his belief in God, before initiation.
The Latin Freemason affirms his loyalty to the first Constitution of the Mother Grand Lodge (1717), which goes no farther than to say, under the caption:
"Concerning God and Religion:
"A Mason * * * if he rightly understand the art * * * will never be a stupid atheist * * * and yet 'tis now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves; that is to be good men and true, and men of honor and honesty, by whatever denominations or persuasions they may be distinguished."
The Latin Freemason has interpreted the quoted language to mean liberty of conscience.
To him the light which Freemasonry diffuses will guide man to truth, will transform the rough into the perfect ashlar.
The Anglo-Saxon prefers to begin with material professing already to have obtained that which the Latin aspires to attain at the end, rather than at the beginning of the Masonic journey.
Have we perchance lost sight of our Ideal in our craving to be heroic?
Posing as the defenders of His Book, which is not attacked by any Grand Lodge, do we work ourselves up to so great a fervor, that we forget to practice the precepts therein laid down? The differences dividing us are largely temperamental. Bad blood has confused the issues; cold deliberation might prove helpful.
SOMETHING CONCERNING THE RITUAL
Prior to the Grand Lodge era, there was but one ceremony covering initiation, which consisted of the imparting of a few signs, words and tokens. The Master, in his own language, may also have explained some of the Craft's traditions, and something of the Old Charges. This we do not know, but surmise.
Since the Grand Lodge era, the earlier single ceremony of initiation has been developed and elaborated into the three ceremonies of Initiating, Passing, and Raising, with little, if any, resemblance to the original ceremony. Our ceremony of initiation is not a Landmark, but a modern development of the past two hundred years.
Being free and independent, each Grand Lodge, as a sovereign jurisdiction, was free to, and did, develop its Ritual to meet its own requirements and taste, without claim of right to interfere on the part of sister Grand Lodges.
It was not until about 1760 that the Bible was made the Great Light in the Mother Grand Lodges, and a higher philosophical, or religious conception, was given to the Ritual. The highly dramatic features found today are of a still later development; are far from universal; and in England, are not permitted.
SOMETHING OF FRENCH FREEMASONRY
Freemasonry was introduced into France about 1724. The Grand Orient, the name given its Grand Lodge, dates back, as a sovereign body, to 1736, according to its tradition which is not seriously challenged.
From its beginning down to 1849, no declaration of a belief in Deity was in its constitution; notwithstanding during all these years, it was in full fraternal relationship with the Masonic world.
In 1849, of its own motion, and following England by nearly one hundred years, it introduced the religious conception.
In 1877, it substituted tolerance and liberty of conscience.
Between these dates many things had happened. Among other things, Garibaldi, the Freemason, and great Italian patriot, had captured Rome and deprived the Pope of his temporal power. Reprisals came swiftly. The Roman Catholic Church charged Freemasonry with founding upon the Bible a spurious religion. To meet this charge, a Protestant Minister of the Gospel, in the hope of foiling these attacks which were sadly depleting the membership as was natural in a Catholic country, moved the change for which we now ostracize France. He stated at the time that it was not to be regarded as a negation in any sense of a belief in Deity. This has been, and this is, the attitude of the Grand Orient of France. We did not however break with the Grand Orient over a Spiritual question, but over a Temporal question, territory and material.
The circumstances in which Latin Freemasonry was placed, by conditions which it could not control, deserve that sympathetic and patient study and consideration which a brother in the Craft has a right to expect of his brother, before condemnation.
A painstaking study of Freemasonry's persecution, will invite commendation of the zeal and fortitude of our Latin brethren, in holding high the banners of the Craft against fierce and unrelenting assault.
With us also there are forces hostile to Freemasonry and its Ideals, but, happily for us, these forces do not directly, or indirectly, dominate the State.
What would be our situation if they did?
After study of what our Latin brethren have suffered, let us contrast their carrying on with what we did in the Morgan period. Then we shrunk up and al] but blew away.
The intolerant spirit which dominated during the Morgan crisis, and all but wiped us out, ruthless and unrelenting, has raged against Freemasons in Latin countries almost for two hundred years; yet our Latin brethren have kept the fire of their faith brightly burning; they have not surrendered to suffering and sacrifice, but have grown in numbers and in influence; slowly, but they have grown.
It was in 1738 that Clement XII issued the first Bull against Freemasonry. The grounds of its condemnation were that Masons admitted members of all religious sects, and bound themselves by an oath of secrecy.
In Latin Catholic countries, the term atheist is colloquially applied by the Church to non-Catholics. Coming from this high authority, the appellation has been accepted as a correct characterization of nonCatholics, without regard to the real meaning of the word. Subtle propaganda has put over this idea, and the term is now quite generally accepted by Catholics, as properly applying to all Freemasons; and by us, as properly applying to French Freemasons.
Our opponents are more clever than are we.
The fact that Freemasons bound themselves by a secret oath, was held by the authorities of the Catholic Church to be an admission of perfidy. No further proof was needed.
From the date of this Bull, it was followed by others, a conflict, bitter in its intensity, and more bitter, where the Church politically was all powerful, has been waged between the Catholic Church and the Masonic Fraternity.
Attack was followed by counter-attack. Great bitterness was engendered, and a war of extermination has raged, its intensity limited only by the power of the Church over Government.
It is difficult for Freemasons who are free to meet, free to act, free to live their own lives and advance their ideals, and to pursue their happiness, to understand the trials of their brethren, pursued, persecuted, destroyed, because of their faith.
The situation in Italy today tells something of the story, and in Hungary the chapter is not closed.
It is not surprising that after the Bull of 1738, the development of Speculative Freemasonry in Protestant countries was under happier auspices than in Catholic countries. In Protestant lands it was often patronized by men of influence and high standing, and fortune smiled upon it. On the other hand, in these countries where the enemies of Freemasonry were in power, it had to struggle for its existence, suffer for its faith, and keep its fires burning only at great peril to its members.
Under such widely varying conditions, it was to be expected that Speculative Freemasonry would have a development possessed of striking contrasts.
SOMETHING OF OPERATIVE FREEMASONRY
A divergence in its development, somewhat similar, but under conditions in no wise comparable, had taken place in Operative Masonry, when the various lodges of our Operative forefathers developed their art of Gothic architecture along differing lines, according to the genius, culture and taste of the people for whom they worked, and to the talent of their Master.
The organization of Operative lodges, and the machinery devised for efficient service, likewise differed materially in the several countries where the Craft found work.
In none of this was there seen heresy in the olden days. It was just growth, shaped by local conditions. This condition has been repeated in the development of Speculative Freemasonry, which likewise, has been shaped by local conditions. The duty today is to harmonize it.
In Operative days, the building was of stone and mortar, and a perfect structure was the aspiration of the Craft.
The development of Gothic architecture is the crowning glory of our Operative forefathers. As this style grew, architecture became more and more a highly technical science, and the secrets of the art became the possession of the Craft.
It organized wherever cathedrals, churches and abbeys were being constructed, and spread over western Europe, blending into its environments, and developing the Gothic along lines reflecting the culture and aspirations of its own genius and that of those it served, until the Gothic had diverged into many styles, each reflecting The contribution which each band of Craftsmen had to make to the Ideal.
SOMETHING OF SPECULATIVE FREEMASONRY
In Speculative days, the development of the Ideal of the Temple of the Brotherhood of Man, has been the aspiration; an-d its realization will be the crowning glory of our Fraternity. As the possibilities of the Ideal were better appreciated, the aspiration grew, and its triumph was realized to depend more and more upon service and sacrifice. The secret of its success became the possession of our Craft. It was to purge man of intolerant sectarianisms, of racial and unworthy prejudices.
So Speculative Freemasonry organized wherever man sought a higher life. It spread over the face of the earth. In each country it developed the Ideal along lines within the grasp and abilities of its people to see the Light. It broadened out to include within its appeal the contribution of every race and nationality to a higher and better order of things here below.
Our Forefathers of the ancient Operative lodges did not excoriate and excommunicate each other, because, in the perfection of Gothic architecture, some diversified its details to harmonize with the culture and taste of the countries where they were at work. They possessed the intelligence to see in these differences, the contribution which each had to make to the perfecting of their art.
Nor did they excommunicate each other for differences in the method of organizing and operating their respective lodges. There was more serious and worthwhile work to do.
As an instance of our progress, let it be noted that in the days of primitive Speculative Freemasonry, the Jew had no part in the Order; but since the eighteenth century, the Jew has been a growing constructive factor and influence for good, in the Craft.
Originally Freemasonry did not include others than Christians. This is still true in some Grand Lodges, which Grand Lodge of New York holds high. Here we have another extreme, out of tune with modern best thought. Nevertheless the Craft is slowly progressing toward the inclusion of all monotheists, in "that Religion in which all men agree."
SOMETHING OF THE TWO GREAT SCHOOLS
Reverting to the two distinct schools of thought in Speculative Freemasonry, let us briefly consider some of their distinguishing characteristics.
As said, they are the Anglo-Saxon School and the Latin School.
In numbers, the Anglo-Saxon is the stronger; the numerical ratio between the two may be six to one. Grand Lodges, of Anglo-Saxon derivation, exercise jurisdiction over a larger area of the world than do Latin Grand Lodges; but this fact does not lessen the importance of those areas where the Latin School is established and dominant.
The Latin race is widely dispersed over the earth, its contributions to civilization are beyond estimate; to the ideals of liberty, instance the help of France to our American "independence"; to the arts and sciences, witness its institutions of learning, its museums and galleries, which Americans visit by thousands. Its influence is far reaching, its vitality without bounds. It has been the progressive force in many lands. The numbers it has contributed to Freemasonry are few compared to what the Anglo-Saxon has given, but the quality is choice, both in culture and zeal.
SOMETHING OF MASONIC INTERNATIONAL LAW
Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry, in its progress, particularly in North America, under the influence of our doctrine of State rights, has developed a system of Masonic International Law, having for purpose the harmonizing and regulating of the relationship one to the other, of American Grand Lodges in the matters of sovereignty, jurisdiction over territory, over Freemasons, and over candidates for Freemasonry. The number and the proximity of our States and of Canadian Provinces, our common language, and similar aspirations and genius, have favored the advance which we have made. On this continent, no one of our Grand Lodges would invade the boundaries of a sister jurisdiction, or accept its material.
An equal development of Masonic law governing the conduct, or limiting the powers, of Grand Lodges has not occurred on the continent of Europe. Over there, Grand Lodges for the benefit of their nationals, have established or recognized, as a matter of course, lodges and even Grand Lodges, within the conches of other countries already covered by Grand Lodges. The Mother Grand Lodge of England did this in France, only a few years ago. European Grand Lodges have extended this practice to the Americas, justifying it on the ground that, since the Grand Lodges of the world have never gotten together to discuss rules of conduct, and to agree upon laws qualifying the sovereignty of Grand Lodges, each Grand Lodge still remains a free agent, and a law unto itself. Each still is sovereign and supreme, and particularly each is free of all obligations to those Grand Lodges which brand it as Clandestine, and refuse even to talk over with it unhappy differences of opinion.
These Grand Lodges, offenders as we are wont to call them, do not question the desirability and the advantages of comity, of dignity, and of the spirit of fraternity, in the relationship of Grand Lodges. On the contrary they urge it, asking no favors. They do, however, insist that the laws which are to govern their relations with other Grand Lodges, shall be laws in the making of which they shall have a part.
As sovereign and independent jurisdictions, they refuse to obey laws attempted to be imposed upon them by Grand Lodges which scorn them, and in the making of which laws they have had no part.
These jurisdictions express approval, in principle, of Masonic law covering the question of territoriality, as it has developed in America, and they stand ready to agree upon a system of laws covering the relations of Grand Lodges, when made in a congress or convention of Masonic Grand Lodges duly assembled, where all meet upon the level, act by the plumb, and part upon the square.
Our Latin brothers have called many such conventions; they have invited our attendance. We have discourteously ignored the invitations, or declined them with scant courtesy, but with profuse protestations of self-righteousness, and assertions of our own superiority.
Strange it would have been if under such provocation, resentment had not been engendered, and, in anger or in sorrow, mistakes made, or steps taken, which it is now difficult to retrace!
Where there is no law there is anarchy. We are drifting towards Masonic anarchy. Nothing could be more incongruous or grotesque.
Is it not good Masonic doctrine to be constructive in criticism, slow to condemn, kind in all things?
SOMETHING OF RESPONSIBILITY
We Anglo-Saxon Masons are not without responsibility for present conditions of chaos and anarchy within the Craft.
In the beginning it was wise to give independence to new Grand Lodges and to call them sister jurisdictions. It was unwise to neglect them thereafter.
When the path which our Latin brethren believed themselves compelled to follow, diverged from our path, we sought to impose upon them conditions for our favor, and arbitrarily broke off all relations when they refused to comply with our ultimatum. Thus we closed the door on all possibility of negotiation and persuasion, on all possibility of helping them in their sorely distracting situation.
If we Anglo-Saxon Masons had for purpose, in this treatment of our Latin brethren, to compel them to return to our ideas of the orthodox path, we signally have failed. No self-respecting body of men will permit itself to be thus coerced.
Threats and ultimatums do not comport with Masonic teachings.
Our policy was at fault. Instead of standing by our Latin brethren, to support them in the crushing difficulties confronting them in their persecution, we left them to the mercy of their enemies. We might have helped and influenced them to greater moderation had we stood by. Our assumed superiority seems to have blinded us.
Let us not forget that we, Anglo-Saxons, gave Speculative Freemasonry to the world. We spread it far and wide among the peoples and races of the earth; and then we neglected it, our own child! We permitted it to drift, driven by the hate and vengeance of its and of our implacable foe. When assailed by forces stronger than it, we gave it no support; and when in dire straits it blundered, as we think, we cast it out from our fellowship without laboring with it.
SOMETHING OF SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS
Neither man nor institution can ignore responsibility and remain honorable and respected. We Freemasons have a duty which we must perform or suffer discredit. That duty is to make every honorable effort to get together, and patiently to work out a proper solution of our internal problems, so that, once more a united Brotherhood, in concert, shoulder to shoulder, we may bear forward and higher Freemasonry's Ideal of Man's Brotherhood, of which a suffering humanity stands in such sore need.
But it will be said we cannot hold communion with those who do not profess a belief in God, and who do not maintain the Holy Bible upon the lodge altar.
Is this true? And is it worthy of Freemasonry? Does it comport with the teachings and practices of Him who ate and drank with publicans and sinners?
Conferences ever are being held between individuals holding the most divergent opinions without either party, by meeting his opponent, being held to have forfeited standing or prejudiced principles.
Long since, enlightened Governments abandoned the practice of breaking off friendly relations with other States because of laws for their citizens of. which these Governments did not approve. It is different when one Government does some wrong to another Government or to its nationals. This may justify the breaking of diplomatic relations, but not so when what a State does concerns only its own internal affairs.
Remembering that every Masonic Grand Lodge is sovereign and independent, and that we tolerate no interference by foreign Grand Lodges in our internal affairs, by what logic can we justify our refusal to discuss, face to face, our differences or misunderstanding with legitimate sister Grand Lodges based on the conduct of their internal affairs?
Let us not ignore the truth that these Latin Grand Lodges, which we scorn, have made no attack on our sovereignty, have in no way injured our members, nor violated any Masonic law to which they have given sanction. They have not declared that they would not recognize Freemasons who do believe in God. They hold that they have no right to concern themselves with man's religious beliefs. They were driven to this by the propaganda of the Catholic Church, but they have gone no farther than to say that they do not make belief an essential to initiation, and they point out that no such test is called for in the Anderson, or First Constitution, of the Mother Grand Lodge.
It is regrettable that this is the fact. We are right in our stand that the development of Freemasonry in harmony with the religious principles taught and exemplified by Jesus, makes for far greater happiness in the human family, than possibly can abstract philosophical truth. Let it be remembered however that nothing in Latin Freemasonry opposes religion, opposes belief in God, or the inspiration of Holy Bible. Let it be remembered that no Latin Grand Lodge preaches atheism, or ungodliness, but that all of them stand for the highest conception of morality as the rule of conduct, and insist that real service to man and brotherhood shall precede advancement to each higher degree.
SOMETHING OF THE BIGNESS OF NEW YORK’S PAST GRAND MASTERS
Bro. Rowan has shown fine spirit in quoting liberally from the pronouncements of his predecessors, as Grand Masters of New York, on the duty and opportunity of the Craft throughout the world, in these troublous times. What Past Grand Masters Farmer, Robinson and Tompkins have said and done for the unification of Freemasonry the world over in co-operative effort to promote its Ideal of Brotherhood, have made their names immortal in the annals of the Craft. They pointed the way and laid the foundation. All honor to them.
"Build, for the world is sick of tearing down....
For building, not for wrecking, swing your blade."
It is to be hoped that all that these great brothers have said upon this great subject will be read and considered; the time will be well spent.
Nothing any one of them has said or done justified the conclusion that he expected the millennium to be attained in a single year.
One year only, measures the membership of the Grand Lodge of New York in the Masonic International Association. It voted to consummate its membership in May, 1923. It was received in full membership in September, 1923. It was withdrawn as a member by Grand Master Rowan in August, 1924. As a member it attended no regular meeting of the Association; the one meeting it was privileged to attend was a special meeting, the business of which was limited to the matters in its call.
So much for the opportunities it has had to do constructive work.
The spirit of the first gathering at Geneva in 1921 when, so hopefully, a little band laid the foundation for the Masonic International Association and for a better order of things in our Fraternity, has been well described by Past Grand Master Arthur S. Tompkins. That spirit has grown!
The opportunity for service in and through the Masonic International Association, has been fervently presented by Past Grand Master Robert H. Robinson. It is greater today!
The honor and credit of the inspiration, and of having the courage to respond to the call to duty in the broad spirit of Masonic Love, is with Past Grand Master William S. Farmer. All hail to him, and to his co-workers of vision! They have entered the Hall of Fame and will think twice before they recant.
SOMETHING OF A NARROWER VIEWPOINT
Grand Master Rowan is right when he points out that the Constitution of the Masonic International Association does not give it power:
(A) To protest the massacre of women and children
(B) The slaughter of Boy Scouts, and
(C) Fratricidal struggles unworthy of our civilization
(D) To express interest in the fate of suffering people like the Armenians, persecuted unto death for their religious faith; the Jews when the victims of murderous pogroms;
(E) To express regret that events of a political nature have kept our Hungarian brethren from their labors.
(F) To express the hope that a more complete understanding by the Hungarian Government of the true character of Hungarian Freemasonry may result in its soon serving anew openly, the cause of humanity;
(G) To express the hope that conflicts between peoples may be decided by a Court of International Jurisdiction, and the calamity of war ended;
(H) To express the belief that Freemasonry, however represented, has, for an object, the creation of a spirit of fraternity between peoples, and to war on war.
It is a fact that no Grand Lodge was bound by anything the delegates to the Masonic International Association did in reference to these matters, and every Grand Lodge is free to disavow the action taken, or dissent from the Masonic aspiration expressed.
The Masonic International Association has suggestive functions only. But these sad things happening while a group of Freemasons are nearing or are in session, what should they do ? Forget the Landmarks, the great Ideal, and supinely remain silent, or proclaim anew Man's Brotherhood, and the duty which man owes to man?
SOMETHING OF POLITICS
Freemasonry, if its professions are more than sham pretensions, will not permit certain questions to be dubbed "political," to place them outside the pale of its protection, or to escape its wrath; massacres, for instance!
Suppose a political movement were to be started with us, to turn over the control of our public school system to some church, is it not probable that the Fraternity would be heard from in no uncertain terms, Bro. Rowan and his political scruples to the contrary notwithstanding ?
Circumstances alter cases. Witness the "Boston Tea Party."
What is "politics" in any great crisis, of needs be must be left to the high conscience of the Grand Lodge affected; and other Grand Lodges should be slow to condemn.
SOMETHING OF SHADOWS WHICH AFFRIGHT
Grand Master Rowan is disturbed:
(1) Because a telegram of felicitations was ordered sent to a brother who had won a prize of one hundred thousand francs for an article on Peace.
Does not the world want peace?
(2) Because sundry appeals for justice and the right to live, addressed to the Masonic International Association, were passed on to the League of Nations, of which he points out, the United States has refused to become a member.
What better disposition could have been made of them ?
Are Freemasons not told, somewhere, of their duty to Brother Man in like destitute circumstances?
(3) Because someone suggested it might be useful to study theoretically, "academically," what labor is.
Why not? Is not knowledge of the truth helpful?
(4) Because a delegate, attached to the International Bureau of Labor of the League of Nations, invited the delegates to the Masonic International Association to visit that Bureau.
Should a Freemason resent a hospitable invitation to him and his brethren in a foreign land to visit institutions of educational interest which may be there ?
Grand Master Rowan seems alarmed because someone or another of the delegates of the twenty-two Grand Jurisdictions advanced sundry proposals, to his way of thinking dangerous, and which the Congress did not adopt, evidently sharing his view; and he indicates the peril in this.
I agree with him, there is danger here. I confess that I know but one way to minimize that danger, and finally to eliminate it, and that is by doing our part as Brothers in our Universal Brotherhood; by attending its International Congresses, and through persuasion, not by idle, futile threats, and long range denunciations, but by brotherly contact and logic, prove our views the wiser, and the better suited for the service of humanity.
How superficial, how silly it would be, to pronounce the Government of the United States ineffective and useless, because of the foolish things which individual members of Congress say, and have said or done, in our Legislative Halls !
Was there not some of this sort of thing going on in the early days of our Republic? There still is. Great oaks from little acorns grow.
You cannot build by tearing down, advance by going backward!
Is it not our duty to make the most of what is, and to try to improve it, rather than to destroy it, without providing something better?
SOMETHING OF HONEST TOIL
Just a word with reference to the question of work which Grand Master Rowan seems to confuse with some organized labor question or difficulty, the nature of which he does not disclose.
When the Masonic International Association was given birth, the world's recovery from the effects of the Great War was retarded by the inability of people to settle down to steady work. Nerves were at too high a tension.
The Masonic International Association inserted in its principles the declaration:
"Freemasonry, deeming work to be one of the essential duties of men, honors equally those who toil with their hands and those given intellectual pursuits."
The purpose of this was to help bridge the gap between classes, and lessen jealousy and discontent, by proclaiming anew the Landmark of the dignity of honest toil.
Surely no one challenges the axiomatic truth that happiness and the world's welfare are dependent upon work! True, these are days when workmen combine for the maintenance of their rights, which is proper. Labor Unions are here. They have a useful service to perform. They cannot be gotten rid of excepting by a class war, which would be suicidal. Is it not better for us all to study and seek to understand the capital and labor question, so that with understanding, as individuals, we may aid enlightened public opinion to promote fair play between these two great and essential forces?
SOMETHING OF WHAT MIGHT BE
Our ranks today are composed of a wonderful aggregation of sterling men, attracted to Freemasonry by its Ideal, the Brotherhood of Man; by its field, the world; by its opportunity, the promotion of peace on earth.
Of all organized groupments of men, Freemasonry alone makes equal appeal to men of every race, nationality and religion.
According to no one dominance, it urges all men to co-operate, each in his own sphere of usefulness, for the common welfare and happiness.
The Ideal cannot triumph, excepting Freemasons get together on terms of brotherly equality, and in the spirit of charity for all and malice towards none. If this be their will, we shall be doing God's work; if it be not their will, what is there to prevent Freemasonry from drifting into and becoming a vainglorious mutual admiration society, kept alive by the sale of valueless titles and sham honors to cheap men who can shine nowhere else, and who, following false gods, will be wasting time and spending money which they cannot afford, to the injury of their family and themselves ?
Due to a trend, the Freemason is often misled; and misled, he too often loses his sense of proportion.
SOMETHING OMITTED
Space does not permit consideration, item by item, of all the points which Bro. Rowan makes. The writer has sought to group some of the more important of them.
He rejoices that this great subject is now open to discussion, and, in course of time, to a verdict which will reflect the present day policy of the Craft in humanity's greatest crisis.
He believes the big, the broad, the generous purpose of the Fathers, in due time, will triumph; that their vision will be vindicated. As we have boasted, so it will be adjudged, and the boast made true, that in our times as in theirs, Freemasonry's mission is to unite men of every race, nationality and religion, without regard to worldly wealth or station, "provided they be good men and true, men of honor and honesty."
The writer passes over without comment the withdrawal by Grand Master Rowan of the Grand Lodge of New York from the Masonic International Association.
That is a matter of local politics. Greater the pity!
Grand Master Rowan acted, of course, according to his lights, both when he withdrew the Grand Lodge of New York from the Masonic International Association, and when he withdrew it from the Masonic Service Association of the United States.
If isolation be magnificent, New York is magnificent!
IN CONCLUSION
And now for a brief summary of a subject here most inadequately presented, in fact only opened, but upon which, let us have all the light there is to shed.
We cannot close our eyes to the fact that there exist two great schools of thought within the Masonic Fraternity. That due to lack of contacts, association and understanding, these two schools are drifting farther and farther apart and nearer and nearer to open wart7are. Surely we know the bitterness and the relentlessness with which family feuds are waged.
In a general way, one of these two schools represents the Anglo-Saxon race and the other the Latin race. The influence of these two races leads civilization, and has it in its keeping.
Shall Freemasons within these two great divisions of men strive, in their Masonic way, to bring them together in co-operative brotherly effort for the promotion of peace and the progress of civilization, or shall they permit them to drift further apart, and to the inevitable clash, if differences be not reconciled and wounds healed ?
To ignore the threatened crisis is cowardly. Let us not cry peace when there is no peace. Men of great soul throughout the world see the danger, and for the sake of the peace of the world are striving for friendly co-operation between the two great races.
Such high endeavor was Freemasonry's task in the inspired plan of our Forefathers. This was its great ideal. This was Freemasonry's mission! Its excuse for being! Its vindication! We cannot repudiate the past without betrayal. We must go forward, expanding, or die, and rot!
The Masonic International Association is an existing thing; it is far from perfect but it is a beginning, giving expression to a great aspiration. It is a present functioning agency confronting Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry either as a means to make a great contribution to peace within and without the Craft, or as a force to be reckoned with. The Association embraces within its membership nearly all the Latin Grand Lodges of the world, also some of those on the border line between the two schools, and Holland and New York, of the Anglo-Saxon School. It promises to live. Its foundation is safe. It affords contacts without recognition. Its meetings are not "Masonic Intercourse." Its founders sought to respect sensitive susceptibilities.
The disciples of these two schools in Freemasonry working together in and through the Association, can make for one Freemasonry the world over. Whether Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry is big and broad enough, and its conception of Freemasonry is godly enough, to see the light and play the great role, time will tell. If it fails to rise to this inspiring task, there will be two systems of Freemasonry in the world, locked in deadly warfare, each excoriating and excommunicating the other, and dividing races, nationalities and religions, instead of uniting men and destroying divisions.
Which shall it be ? One system of Freemasonry, and peace, or two systems of Freemasonry and war? The momentous decision rests with the Craft, not with any Grand Master or Past Grand Master.
----o----
AMERICAN COLLEGE FRATERNITIES
BY BRO. CARL A. FOSS
NATIONAL SECRETARY OF THE INTERCOLLEGIATE MASONIC FRATERNITY OF SQUARE AND COMPASS, NEW YORK
Concluded from March
IN 1825 the Kappa Alpha Society was founded at Union College and, in many respects, was a copy of the Phi Beta Kappa that had been established at Union eight years before. Within two years, two other fraternities, Sigma Phi on March 4, 1827, and Delta Phi on Nov. 18, 1827, were established. There were a number of other college fraternities founded at other colleges about this time, but we shall speak only of those through whose example and influence have arisen the large number of college fraternities to-day. Calling itself the Alpha of New York in 1831, Sigma Phi established a Beta chapter at Hamilton College (Clinton, N. Y.). This resulted in Alpha Delta Phi being established at Hamilton one year later and, in November, 1833, Psi Upsilon was founded at Union. Also in 1833 Kappa Alpha placed a chapter at Williams College (Williamstown, Mass.) and this was followed one year later by a third chapter of Sigma Phi being established at Williams. In 1837 the Mystical Seven fraternity was founded at Wesleyan College (Middletown, Conn.). In 1835 Alpha Delta Phi established its second chapter at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) and, in 1839, Beta Theta Pi, the first western fraternity to be founded, was established at Miami to compete with the earlier Alpha Delta Phi. In 1841, the Mystical Seven fraternity (without a Greek name but similar to its predecessors in the college world) established a chapter at Emory College (then at Oxford, Ga., and since removed to Atlanta) and, in 1844, another chapter was established at Franklin College, now the University of Georgia, at Athens. The extension of the Mystical Seven fraternity to the south led to the founding of W. W. W., or Rainbow Society. Neither the Mystical Seven nor W. W. W. exist to-day as separate societies. From these beginnings have come the present college fraternity system. In almost every case, the foundation of a new fraternity has been the result of the establishment of a new chapter of an existing fraternity and there has been considerable similarity in the character of the organizations.
All college fraternities, even including Delta Upsilon which was founded as an anti-secret society at Williams in 1834, are more or less secret. We say "less" for during the course of many years of college rivalry, chapters have stolen the rituals of other fraternities and the secrecy is more theoretical than actual, although, of course, attendance at meetings is limited to members and business transacted at such meetings is not known to others. Most of the social fraternities have grown to such limits, in membership and wealth, that secretaries, office and travelling, stenographers, inspectors and editors are employed, a far cry from the time when the work was done by the students themselves.
STATISTICS FOR THE LEADING TEN ARE GIVEN
To give some idea of the standing of these college fraternities a list is given below of the ten largest fraternities to-day in point of membership. (The figures are for 1923 and are taken from Baird’s Manual.)
Name of Fraternity – Founded at
Year
Membership
Value of Property
Beta Theta Pi, Miami University
1839
28,897
$2,173,000
Phil Delta Theta, Miami University
1848
28,883
2,216,000
Sigma Alpha Epsilon, U. of Alabama
1856
27,638
1,3000,000
Kappa Sigma, U. of Virginia
1869
22,565
1,165,000
Sigma Chi, Miami University
1855
22,051
1,587,000
Phi Gamma Delta, Jefferson College
1848
21,970
1,254,000
Delta Kappa Epsilon, Yale College
1844
21,885
1,250,000
Delta Tau Delta, Bethany College
1859
19,275
1,275,000
Sigma Nu, Virginia Mil. Inst.
1869
18,342
825,000
Alpha Tau Omega, Virginia Mil. Inst.
1865
17,950
1,300,000
(It should be remembered that the above membership figures do not refer to living members, but to the actual number initiated from the establishment of the fraternity.)
It will be observed that none of the earliest fraternities are included in the above list and the reason is found in the intense conservatism of the societies founded in the east. Delta Kappa Epsilon is the only one that had a vision of the America to come outside of the section in which it was born.
In 1869 there was founded at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) the first so-called professional fraternity. This was Phi Delta Phi, which was limited in membership to those studying the profession of law. Since then fraternities have been founded for almost every profession under the sun. There are fraternities for chemistry students, journalists, women medical students, male medical students, commercial, dental, veterinary, architectural, homeopathic medical, women educational, pharmaceutical, women musical, textile, women osteopathic, art, women normal, scientific, public speaking and actors, music and oratorical, women legal, physical education, home economics, geology, mining and metallurgy, dramatic, and engineering students. Many of the professional students have a large number of professional fraternities, notably legal and medical, to which they are eligible for membership. The principal characteristic of difference between the social and the professional fraternity is that one can only belong to one social fraternity, but he can belong to as many professional fraternities (not of the same profession) as may care to invite him, and he can also belong to a social fraternity as well as the professional fraternity. The membership of the latter is confined, principally, to the upper classmen.
In very few cases do the members of a professional fraternity live together in a chapter house. Nearly all of the chapters of social fraternities maintain homes in which the members live, and because of this fact and that many of the members of the professional societies are also members of the social fraternities, the former could hardly maintain chapter houses with the small number not already living in fraternity homes.
Then there are the honorary fraternities, and of these there are a couple of dozen. Among them must be included Phi Beta Kappa, of the highest rank; Sigma Xi, an equally fine honor society for scientific students, and others of less and, in some cases, of doubtful merit. We have just learned of a college organization founded to honor Masonic college students, by membership, who live up to the principles of Freemasonry while in college. We have always thought that Freemasonry honored its own, either by election to office or, in the case of the Scottish Rite, election to the governing body of the Rite; or else one was honored by the esteem in which he was held by his brother members; but, seemingly, to some it may appear to be an even greater honor to be elected to membership in another organization.
PROS AND CONS ARE DISCUSSED
In the course of years through which the college fraternity system has existed there have been praise and condemnation, loyalty of the highest quality from its members and bitter opposition from its enemies. With no exceptions that we know of, the enemies of the Greek-letter fraternities have been those who have not belonged to any fraternity. Against the college fraternities has been raised the cry of undemocracy and in some cases the charge has been well founded. However, on the whole, the Greek-letter system is worthy of existence and is controlled by serious minded men of high character and citizenship. Attacks have, however, led to the banishing of college fraternities at the state institutions in South Carolina and Mississippi and, at the University of Arkansas, members of college fraternities are not eligible for college honors.
The contest is whether fraternities, intercollegiate in character, shall exist, or clubs having no connection with any organization at another institution. The evidence seems to bear with the fraternities. These are controlled, almost entirely, by alumni who, being more mature than undergraduates, are not likely to permit things to go on that would be permitted in a club, the only control of which is exercised by the members in college. Many of the fraternities exercise a control that would be impossible for a local club to' assert. The Greek-letter fraternity to which the writer belongs has, for many years, enforced an edict, under penalty of expulsion, that no member shall gamble in a chapter house or shall bring liquor into that house or introduce a woman therein for immoral purposes. For some years prior to the adoption of the 18th Amendment to the Federal Constitution, Delta Tau Delta made a determined fight against drinking among college men. Other fraternities have made determined efforts to increase the scholarship of their members.
In answer to the condemnation of being undemocratic it must be conceded there is considerable truth in the assertion. The system of "bidding" is, in the first place, the principal cause and considerable undemocracy will continue so long as "bidding" controls the manner of election to membership. This is especially true when the "bidding" is practiced on boys who have just landed at college, their true characteristics being almost unknown to the members of the various fraternities. Another evil is occasioned by the social fraternities laying too great a stress upon the social qualities of the candidates. Social heroes are not always desirable fraternity brothers in other characteristics. However, it is noticeable that where there are so many fraternities in an institution that considerable rivalry results and a large percentage of the student body belongs to the fraternities, there is little cause for charging the societies with lack of democracy. At Washington and Lee University (Lexington, Va.), with over twenty social fraternities for a student body of about 600, students are invited to join fraternities even when they have only a year remaining in college. The charge of undemocracy can only be made rightfully where college fraternities do all of their "bidding" in the first week of the freshman year and later refuse to take in students, no matter how worthy they may be, after they have made a name for themselves in college.
ACACIA WAS FOUNDED IN 1904
Organizations limited to Masons have existed in American colleges for years but, until 1904, these were entirely local Masonic clubs; no intercollegiate organization existed until the founding of The Acacia Fraternity at the University of Michigan in 1904. At the present time, Acacia has 27 active chapters, a membership of 6,130, and property valued at $830,000. At some time prior to 1917, Acacia adopted the provision that college Masons who were members of Greek-letter social fraternities would no longer be eligible to membership. Acacia practices "bidding" and is considered a rival of the Greek-letter social fraternities, being a member of the Interfraternity Conference, which accepts as members only those college societies that are rivals. Its chapters are approximately of the same size as those of the Greek-letter fraternities and, consequently, only a limited number of the Masonic students in an institution can become Acacians.
The second intercollegiate Masonic fraternity to be founded was Square and Compass. Its establishment was due directly to Acacia's prohibition against having as members any Masons who were already members of social Greek-letter fraternities. In 1916-17, the Masonic Club at Washington and Lee University, wishing to strengthen itself and increase the interest of its members, set out to petition Acacia for a charter, but found itself unable to do so with success on account of the large proportion of Greek-letter fraternity members in the club. (It should be remembered that whereas the average age of college freshmen is perhaps eighteen or nineteen, he is not eligible to become a Mason until he is twenty-one. It is, therefore, natural that he should become a Greek-letter fraternity member if he has the opportunity.) Consequently, the club determined to organize another intercollegiate Masonic society, which it did. The organization laid dormant during the War and the second chapter (called a square) was not founded until 1920. since then the fraternity has grown rapidly until it has entered 47 institutions all over the country, publishes a magazine, has a paid secretary, and property of a value of about $75,000. Square and Compass has been extraordinarily successful because the local Masonic clubs have quickly seen the advantage of the intercollegiate form of government offered by Square and Compass. This fraternity does not practice "bidding" but any Master Mason who is eligible to membership on account of his connection with the institution where Square and Compass is established may apply for membership, and his application can only be rejected by a majority vote based on un-Masonic conduct.
There was, formerly, an organization known as The Trowel Fraternity, membership in which was limited to Masonic students in dental schools. Its scope was confined to the Pacific coast, and whether it is still in existence is not known. Another college Masonic organization has recently been founded that has two chapters. It practices "bidding." There are in addition to these perhaps a hundred or more local college Masonic clubs. Many of them are in good condition, have homes and the loyalty of their members. However, most of them do not have a strong, continued existence.
We know of no chapters of the Order of Builders or of the De Molay being established at an educational institution with membership limited to the students, but when a chapter is established in a college town, a large proportion of the membership is necessarily made up of college students. At Central College (Fayette, Mo.) no fraternities are permitted and so the local chapter of the Order of De Molay has taken on very much of the character of a college fraternity.
In closing we wish to assert that, with the exception of Freemasonry, no organization commands such undiluted loyalty from its members as the American college fraternity. Regardless of what is said about it, the college fraternity must have features of value in order to make men, grown old and engrossed in the affairs of the business world, willing to take of their time to devote it to an organization they joined years ago. And many of them have gone even further; they have given of their wealth to erect costly fraternity houses that provide a home for the youngsters of today and tomorrow. For college men and for those who have not been privileged to go to college, the American college fraternity is a subject of increasing attraction, the more one reads. For many, the college fraternity has started the interest that has led to membership and active interest in the Freemasonry of the years to follow after leaving college.
NOTE--The writer wishes to express his thanks for the assistance obtained from Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities for the preparation of this article. For one interested in the subject, no better or more trustworthy book on the American college fraternity system can be obtained. The book is published by James T. Brown, 363 West 20th St., New York city. Another publication of value to those interested is Banta's Greek Exchange, a quarterly, published at Menasha, Wisconsin .
----o----
JUSTICE
A keen blade makes an open wound
And crimson stains are bright,
And laws are made for blade and blood,
To keep man's conduct right
But what of those who stab and slay
A human heart--and go away?
An open wound is red and raw
And everyone may see
And those who use a knife, the law
Will punish lawfully;
But those who only stab the heart
May strike in safety and depart.
A keen blade makes an open wound
A cruel wound and red
And every man will cry that law
Upon its course be sped;
But souls are murdered everywhere
And men but smile and call it fair.
--Grace E. Hall.
----o----
Masonic Service Bureaus
By BRO. PHIL A. ROTH, Wisconsin
IT was upon our urgent request that Bro. Roth stole time from his pressing work as Manager of the Masonic Service Bureau Milwaukee, Wis., to prepare this paper on a subject so dear to his own heart and so close to the conscience of the American Craft. Brethren desiring further light on the rapid development of organized Masonic relief may address Bro. Roth at Scottish Rite Cathedral 470 Van Buren St., Milwaukee.
The word service is a great, if not the greatest, word in our vocabulary. Conscientious service is ennobling and helps to build a stronger manhood.
Selfishness is one of the meanest of words. Selfishness in mankind breeds unrest in the mind, and stimulates ignorable thoughts, in which is nourished evil and vice.
Selfishness, as you may observe from the diagrams below, narrows down to misery and death. It is that prevailing thought which brings forth and nourishes aggrandizement--self-admiration--power-domination and harshness, and which develops into vanity-speculation--immorality and conceit. Out of these grow jealousy-degradation, and crime. The results of these habits are punishment and suffering ending inevitably in misery and finally in death. Thus we can plainly realize and understand how dreadful and full of woe are the lives of those unhappy mortals who allow that ugly word selfishness to creep into their existence and to become a part of their thoughts and actions.
Now let us study the word "Service." It is a most commendable virtue to be devoted to God, to our glorious country, and to practice and exemplify kindness on every occasion. In doing that we learn a deep reverence for God in all His works, to be obedient and loyal to the laws of our Government, to esteem our friends, to love our neighbor, and to respect ourselves.
By loving our neighbor we may live in peacefulness; by our reverence to God we cleanse our minds and bodies of the "vices and superfluities of life," and we enlighten our way to the path of righteousness and happiness. Obedience and loyalty to our Constitution and flag brings tranquility and selfrespect and builds character. Possessing these splendid attributes, we find the peace-loving neighbor ready and willing to favor and serve us, to find employment for us when we need it, and to aid and assist in every form. A clean conscience is ever ready to protect and provide relief, which invariably develops honesty of purpose, happiness and cheer. Thus we find that in the practice of these virtues we have built a pure character, God's highest and most beautiful gift to man.
Service, therefore, embodies everything that is good and clean and that makes life worth living. It is the key to the road that leads to the establishment of the Brotherhood of Man and the recognition of the Fatherhood of God. Service is the keynote throughout the Holy Bible; we can find no clearer and better definition for the word than is contained in the Golden Rule. In Service we find all that is beautiful in the eyes of God and Man; all that makes man happy and content, the straight path to that haven of eternal peace, "that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
So, in our time-honored Institution, we discover much use for service. By service we train our hearts and consciences to observe, and to alleviate the troubles, the sorrow and misery of those less fortunate than we; by it we discern the exemplary teachings of real Masonry, applied in a practical way. What then are all our splendid Ritual teachings, beautiful phraseology, the high ideals, and many wise inculcations contained therein unless they are brought into practical wholesome effect? To do this successfully to the honor and glory of our Fraternity, we must go outside of the four walls of the Temple. It is well indeed to receive our instructions there, but it is much better and more beneficent by far, to mix and mingle with the multitude in order to feel the pulse of our brother away from the environments of the lodge room, and by reminding him of his errors.
FREEMASONRY MUST BE APPLIED
Theory and practice in Freemasonry are what theory and existing practice are in business. Our Ritual is our theory, and that theory must be put to practical test before it becomes a useful factor. In these days of progress and advancement, of keen competition and unscrupulous men it is essential that we come forth from our chrysalis, bear our burden, and make our usefulness felt, if not seen. This does not mean to alter our ancient landmarks or our laws, to engage in religious disputes, or enter into political strife: but in the performance of service to mankind to inculcate by example a correct and moral code of living to elevate the unfortunate ones to a better plane of life, and to inspire them with the loftiest ideals of man.
In order to radiate the effects of these constructive attributes among the masses in the most effectual way, we are obliged to follow the rule of modern progress--that is, organization. The average man or woman is too busy in these strenuous times to spread individually the lessons they have learned. Even if this were not true, it is a fact that a great portion possess neither tact nor influence to bring about the desired results. For this reason organization into bureaus or associations to concentrate the forces, and the appointment as managers such men as are capable of carrying out this work has been found the most expedient, practical, effectual and economical manner of dispensing Masonic Service to the members of the Craft and others of the human family. Hence the creation of Relief Boards, Employment and Service Bureaus.
Relief Boards have long existed. They were pioneers, and for generations gave needed relief to the unfortunate and deserving needy. But in the march of progress and time, there was found a need for another highly important Service--that of Employment. This new branch of Service is very necessary, and should be adjudged as highly as Relief. You may ask why? Because if a man, especially a brother Mason, can be spared the humiliation of accepting relief or charity, he can better maintain the dignity of his manhood, keep himself aloof from financial difficulties, and hold the respect of his family and friends. Then why not "Help a Brother to help Himself ?" and accord him the highest quality of Masonic Service within our power.
Picture in your mind the peace and contentment of him whom you have aided to help himself, thereby enabling him to retain his self-respect, independence and manhood. It impresses him with the importance of self-sacrifice, rather than accepting donations given out meagerly! Think of the joy and happiness that will come to those that are near and dear to him, those that are dependent upon his efforts for the maintenance of the home ! How much better to stimulate the mind of a brother to greater efforts to help himself than to make him dependent on charity !
RELIEF SHOULD AVOID HUMILIATION
Thousands and thousands of our brethren, their widows, daughters and minor sons are placed in employment annually by our Masonic Employment or Service Bureaus. What does this signify? That thousands have been spared humiliation and hardship, maintained their rightful places as head of families, have been able to provide the necessaries of life and thereby bring happiness into the homes, where before there were dreary firesides and despair. Not only that, but thousands of dollars have been saved lodge treasuries and the work of Relief Boards has been reduced accordingly.
Is it not constructive work that helps a brother to his feet, that starts him out again on the highway of life with quickened aspirations and better equipped to meet the stern realities of life? These Bureaus create, in this new era of progressive ideas, better conditions for the Craft. They are helpful in aiding to rebuild manhood and womanhood and to re-establish broken homes. In congested cities and districts, where the Masonic population is naturally larger, where misfortune and distress are always more prevalent, it has been deemed necessary and judicious to consolidate Relief and Employment Boards under the name of Service Bureaus. First, because they can be operated on a more economical basis, and second, the bureau that combines the work of both boards can carry on the work more efficiently, and expedite the work of putting a brother back on his feet, since both wants of a brother in such unfortunate circumstances can be administered to by the same agency.
Where relief is extended, employment is usually necessary to overcome the conditions. Relief is beautiful indeed yet it is only temporary aid, while employment furnishes a service that is usually lasting. Nor does the service of such a bureau end here. The Masonic Service Bureau of Wisconsin, with main offices in the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Milwaukee, furnished us an example. There the needy sojourner finds medical advice, given gratuitously by a staff of physicians and surgeons, who generously tender their services for the benefit of those who are unable to pay. Likewise there is a staff of lawyers, who handle the legal end of the Service Bureau free of charge; as well as a staff of dentists who aid and assist along their lines. Arrangements are made with four hotels where food and shelter for hungry, destitute, and homeless wanderers is furnished until communication with their respective lodges can be had. Masonic physicians and Masonic hospital employees report sick sojourners, so that flowers and visits can be arranged for, which help to cheer the sick and disabled. These Service Bureaus are actually Masonic advisory stations, places to which men and women, husbands and wives, widows and children, sons and daughters may bring their business and employment problems, their private, fraternal and domestic troubles. The Bureau provides legal and material aid for the protection of women and children who are brought into the courts.
In so doing, Masonic Bureaus have reached the widows and orphans of deceased brethren, reached the needy who through pride, misfortune or disability did not seek the companionship of their brethren, reached the aged, the weak and the wanderer, the employer who does not attend his lodge, and creates a renewed interest in the Fraternity in the hearts of many Masons, whose membership meant only the payment of annual dues.
BRO. HARMON IS QUOTED
In all their purposes, these Service Bureaus aim to be of service to the Masonic brotherhood and their dependents. Their work, as such, is practical as well as beneficent. To the slacker who fails to back these Bureaus and give them his hearty support, I would direct attention to the remarks of Bro. Harmon, President of the Cleveland Employment Bureau, in his 1919 report as follows:
"To a small degree some of our bodies look upon the work of the Bureau from the standpoint of benefit alone to their individual members, overlooking the one great principle of Masonry, that of universal helpfulness to all Masons and their dependents.
"In the past, men have looked too frequently upon such institutions as this from varied standpoints of indifferent interest, which becomes so confusing in effect as to hamper or retard its very existence; but if one will seek out its aims and purposes, and look upon its ideals, rather than the commercial element of its operation, and, beyond any ambitions which it serves, and away from the clouds of poverty and need which it uplifts, they will see shining the Light of Eternal Truth, that Truth guided by the Almighty Hand, which inspires and reaches into our hearts, directing through brotherly love and relief the means to make others happy."
With these Bureaus in active service throughout Freemasonry there is no good reason why any brother or his family should ever be a stranger in a strange land, or lack food, shelter or friends, wherever they may roam. Of course much depends upon the brother in charge of such a Service Bureau. He should of necessity be a mature man, sympathetic, and keen of judgment, proficient in the study of human nature to enable him to distinguish the impostor from the worthy man, and have ability to serve the right person, at the proper time and in the proper way. Andrew Carnegie is quoted as saying, "The most difficult thing to do is to spend money properly."
With the Masters of lodges changing annually, does it not follow that the managers of such Bureaus become, better educated by their continued experience, perform more efficient service, better detect the worthy from the unworthy and give advice, kindness and sympathy whenever and wherever it is needed than the Worshipful Master who is brought face to face with these problems only occasionally ? Even granting that a Master is at all able to handle such cases, has he the time, the patience, the necessary methods and connections properly to care for the unfortunate sojourner, his widow, or his children? I dare say he has not. Then who is there to do it? Only the Service Bureau.
We must remember that there are many forms of Service daily rendered by these Bureaus almost too numerous to mention, such as writing letters for those who have a claim on us, rendering information to lodges and sojourners residing in other jurisdictions, locating missing men, wives, sons and daughters, caring for, and leading back to the paths of rectitude, those who are traveling the road of destruction. Such a case came to the writer recently when a weeping, distracted and heartbroken widow and mother in Milwaukee appeared at the Service Bureau begging its assistance to save her minor son, who had fallen into the clutches of the California law. A message and letter directed to the worthy manager of the Stockton Bureau brought him on the job. He took charge of the case, saved the boy from a possible prison sentence, gave him his protection and fatherly advice and put him to work. The boy is now doing well. You may well imagine, dear reader, how this poor mother's suffering heart was changed to extreme joy and happiness. Could we have done anything more beautiful, more satisfactory, or more gratifying to our mind, than that of saving this boy to that loving, sacrificing mother and widow? Put yourself in her place, and then judge. This is one of many similar cases on the records of the various Service Bureaus.
ORDERS FOR BOYS ARE COMMENDED
Give the Service Bureau in Chicago, under the management of our good Bro. Arthur M. Millard, and that in Kansas City, under the able management of our friend and Bro. Frank S. Land, every credit due them for leading our youths into the paths of morality and righteousness by organizing the Order of Builders and the Order of De Molays respectively. What a wonderful work ! this trying to make real men out of the boys, taking them in hand in that tender age when they are easy prey and most susceptible to all the vices of life, to instruct them carefully in the proper code of morals, and teach them to honor father and mother; especially the mother, the dearest, sweetest and best friend man ever had ! This work is a service not only to the Craft. but to the country.
That the necessity of the Service Bureau is becoming more apparent is evidenced by their ever increasing numbers. As previously stated, Relief Boards have been in existence for many years and there are now known to be 143 in the United States, scattered over 38 states. Prior to 1905 Employment Bureaus were practically unknown. About that time the Chicago, Cleveland and Cincinnati Bureaus sprang into existence. Since then the number has increased to thirty. Of these New York and New Jersey have state organizations divided into districts, under one head. This plan has been followed in Wisconsin where several districts have already been started; and we understand that the State of Washington is contemplating doing the same. This is really the best mode of conducting Masonic Service. No one city can properly reach every part of the state; even if that were possible the manager even with additional help could scarcely devote enough time to any one district, except the home office, to conduct its work properly and efficiently. Therefore, the New York and New Jersey plans, where each district has its own manager, subject to the orders of the home office will, in all probability, become the popular one to follow.
But whatever the plan may be, the members of our Brotherhood should give these Bureaus their unified support. No lay member, however versed he may be in Masonic affairs, will ever know how much splendid, efficient and beneficent work is being accomplished. By the operation of these Bureaus we are enabled, as a body, to practice what we preach in our Ritual. We are in a position to aid, support, assist and serve according to our teaching in a friendly, brotherly way. We can better protect and support our members, their widows and orphans, and throw a broader mantle of charity over those in dire need.
The All-Seeing Eye of God is surely upon us in this beneficent work; in supporting these Bureaus in the performance of these duties of Brotherly love and affection, you merit the thanks and appreciation of the greatest and best Fraternity ever created by man, our good old F. & A. M.
I wish to note the following twelve Bureaus which in 1918 placed 7,886 applicants in employment:
New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago Pittsburgh, Jersey city, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Columbus and Milwaukee.
In 1922, only four years later, Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago cincinnati, Kansas city, Los Angeles, Jersey city, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Portland, Seattle, and Milwaukee, twelve Bureaus, placed 16,578 in employment.
In 1918 there were seventeen Employment Bureaus among the Craft.
In 1924 there were thirty such Bureaus in operation.
I know definitely that the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts is contemplating the formation of such a Bureau at the time of writing this.
These figures show a healthy condition of Employment Bureaus, and demonstrate their value to Masonic brethren and their families. I predict that within a few short years every state will boast of several like organizations within their Jurisdiction, and thus promote the practical application of Freemasonry.
----o----
My Masonic Experiences of 1924
By BRO. CHARLES S. LOBINGIER, China
AS Inspector General Honorary, Deputy and Legate of the Supreme Council in China, Bro. Lobingier's is a name well known in the Craft, especially among Scottish Rite brethren. He has a number of contributions to The Builder to his credit, among them being a memorable article in the first volume, December, 1915, on "Masonry in 'The Temple of Heaven.'" Bro. Lobingier is a life member of the National Masonic Research Society.
AFTER one has lived a score of years in the Far East, a long furlough in the homeland affords an interesting change. While life on the other side of the globe has many attractions, there are also certain disadvantages, not the least of which is the inability to attend regularly our great national gatherings, notably those of the Masonic Order. There, for example, is the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the United States, representing, probably, the largest single Masonic unit in the world. It meets triennially and unless the furlough of a Far-easterner happens to fall in that particular year, he is "out of luck". On several previous occasions I had planned to attend this great gathering but something had always interfered. So in planning my furlough this time, the 1924 Convocation was among my objectives.
It happened that, just before sailing for home, I received a letter from my good friend Bro. Graff M. Acklin, 33d, asking Mrs. Lobingier and me to join him and his good wife in an automobile tour to Portland, Maine, where the Convocation was to be held, and through New England. When the time came to start I was in New York and left there on Sept. 3 to join the Acklins and Mrs. Lobingier, who had been visiting in the West, at Lake George. A daylight voyage up the Hudson, with its varied scenic beauties, brought me to Albany, where I spent the night, taking the trolley the next morning for Lake George via Schenectady and Saratoga, for the trolley affords a better opportunity than the train to view a rural region like that. Lake George is a picturesque hamlet situated at the foot of the lake of that name, with a rather famous hotel, the Fort William Henry, where we spent the night. Leaving early the next morning the region so full of historic scenes of the French and Indian War, we proceeded by automobile across Vermont and the Connecticut River and then as far north as Woodsville, N. H.
A GLIMPSE OF DARTMOUTH
About the middle of the afternoon we reached Hanover, the seat of Dartmouth College, the campus of which we halted to view. We were surprised at the number and size of the buildings, which would do credit to a university, although Dartmouth has never assumed that rank.
The institution, which is still the principal one of higher learning in New Hampshire (though the newer State University at Durham promises to become a successful competitor), has a rather unique history. It was the outgrowth of "an Indian charity school" founded about 1754 by Dr. Eleazar Wheelock, who, some fifteen years later, with the assistance of the Earl of Dartmouth, obtained a charter from King George III "for Dartmouth College, for the education and instruction of youth of the Indian tribes * * * and also of English youth and any others." ( Note 1. ) The Indian youth long since vanished and the English youth never attended. But these indefinite "others", in successive and expanding generations of American boys, have taken full advantage of the privileges thus offered. We were told that the limit of accommodations had long since been reached and that great numbers of applicants had to be turned away every year. A recent gift of $100,000 to the college may help to relieve the congestion.
This charter, granted on the eve of the Revolution was held, a generation later, not only to have been unaffected by that cataclysm but to be protected from any legislative alteration by the clause of the Federal Constitution (Note 2) forbidding a state to "pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts". This case (No. 3) was the subject of one of Chief Justice Marshall's most famous decisions; viz., that a charter was a contract--and the institution was represented by its most distinguished alumnus, Daniel Webster--who, in the course of his argument, observed of his Alma Mater, "It is a small college but there are those who love it."
SCENIC NEW HAMPSHIRE
The next day our route lay through that portion of the granite state which contains its most celebrated scenery. We visited successively Franconia Notch and the "Old Man of the Mountain", a stone figure resembling the human face and projecting from the summit of a mountain which has since been taken over as a state park. We also visited "The Flume," a narrow passage about a half mile long between high walls of rock, through which flows a mountain torrent. In the West this would be called a "canon" (e. g., Clear Creek, near Denver), and though it attracts many visitors it is not to be compared with the Pagsanjan Gorge in the Philippines nor with the Royal Gorge of Colorado.
In the afternoon we found ourselves in sight of the "Presidential" mountain range. Though there are others like Mt. Adams and Mt. Jefferson, its most famous peak is Mt. Washington, already then covered with snow, to whose base we approached and watched the train descend on the cog railway and discharge its passengers, but we did not ascend. Turning then toward the seacoast we passed through Bretton Woods and Crawford Notch.
In New England the term "notch" appears to be used in much the same sense as the western "canon," and there are many "notches." I know one in Sandgate, vt., which, the neighbors are fond of telling, was once visited by General Sheridan.
PORTLAND CAME NEXT
The city chosen for the last triennial of the General Grand Chapter was the metropolis of Maine and the birthplace of the poet, Longfellow, who sings in his poem on "My Lost Youth":
"Often I think of the beautiful town
That is seated by the sea;
Often in thought go up and down
The pleasant streets of the dear old town
And my youth comes back to me."
The seaside house, built in 1784, where the poet was born, is in good repair and has been taken over by a memorial association.
We reached the city late Saturday evening and the next day it was my privilege to attend services in Longfellow's church--the first church of Portland, now Unitarian. Two nieces of the poet occupied the family pew on that day. It was the first service after the summer vacation and the pastor, Rev. Joel H. Metcalf, preached on the timely topic "Coming Back." As is customary in sermons he spiritualized his theme. It was a stimulating sermon and I was not surprised to learn afterward that he was among the foremost of Maine's clergy. Incidentally, the Grand High Priest of that state is a Congregationalist minister.
The General Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters met on Monday, Sept. 8, and on Tuesday, the General Grand Chapter. The sudden death of General Grand High Priest, Bro. Wm. F. Kuhn, just as he was about to start for the Convocation, cast a gloom over the entire gathering. Fortunately his address had been prepared, was already in print, and was read by General Grand Secretary, Companion Charles A. Conover, after which the routine business was proceeded with. The Committee on Charters and Dispensations, upon which I had the honor to serve, had the pleasant duty of recommending charters for several chapters abroad, including two in Mexico. Incidentally, I was able there to render some service to the Fareastern chapters and Companion Acklin presented a very interesting report on Luzon Chapter, Manila.
AN INTERNATIONAL MASONIC TREATY
One of the happiest results of the Convocation was the settlement, in a manner honorable and satisfactory to both General Bodies, of the decade long controversy between the General Grand Chapter and the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland, over the latter's institution of Keystone Chapter at Manila. That unfortunate episode, which had interrupted the fraternal relations between these Grand Chapters for some time and embarrassed the adherents of Capitular Masonry not only in the Philippines but throughout the Far East, was permanently adjusted by ratifying the following treaty entered into between their respective presiding officers:
"First That the jurisdiction of the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the United states of America over Royal Arch Masonry in the Territory known as the Philippine Islands is supreme, and that said General Grand Chapter has this right and authority for the reason that, since the year 1826 the General Grand Chapter has exercised the right and power to grant dispensations and charters for Royal Arch Chapters in the United states, its territories, dependencies and protectorates, and also in unoccupied territory of districts where no chapter exists.
"Second. That said Keystone Chapter, No. 354, shall be permitted to retain its charter from the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland, and that its members shall be recognized as regularly made Royal Arch Masons under the further agreement that no more chapters shall be chartered by the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland in the said territory of the Philippine Islands or any other territory or protectorate of the United states.
"Third. That said Keystone Chapter shall accept no petitions for membership or exaltation, except from members of the Scottish Lodge of Manila, known as Lodge Perla del Oriente No. 1034.
"Fourth. That Luzon Chapter, No. 1, shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all petitioners for the chapter degrees or for affiliation, resident or sojourning, within the Philippine Islands, except members of Perla del Oriente Lodge, No. 1034." (Note 4.)
THE SOCIAL FEATURES WERE ENJOYABLE
During each day of the convention some time was set apart for social enjoyment, into which the visiting bodies especially entered with great zest. There was an excursion to Old Orchard Beach and a real Maine clam bake on one of the islands of Casco Bay. There in a huge tent the entire assemblage of visitors was treated to a feast of sea food such as only the coast affords. On the evening of Sept. 10, the Maine Grand Chapter and Council gave a brilliant banquet to the visitors at the Congress Square Hotel. The committee did me the honor to place me on the list of speakers and I took as my theme "Capitular Masonry in the Far East," to which I found my audience more responsive than I expected. I shall never forget the pleasant experiences of my first General Grand Chapter Convocation.
NORTHERN SUPREME COUNCIL SESSION NEXT ATTENDED
From Portland we motored to Boston to attend the 112th annual meeting of the Supreme Council, Scottish Rite, of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction. It was preceded by a session of the Provincial Grand Lodge, Royal Order of Scotland, which conferred its degrees on Monday, Sept. 15, and held its annual banquet that evening. Invited by Provincial Grand Master Corson to speak at the banquet I dwelt on the work of the Royal Order in the Far East, particularly at Shanghai. The substance of my address appeared later in the Christian Science Monitor.
It was interesting to witness the conferring of the 33d upon the large class gathered from the populous northeastern states. Another enjoyable feature, especially to the visiting ladies, was a concert given under the Supreme Council's auspices on the evening of Sept. 18, by fifty members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I had heard nothing like it since my visit the preceding season to Harbin where a large orchestra plays nightly.
On Wednesday morning, just before the Supreme Council retired for its executive session, Grand Commander Abbott called me to the East and asked me to conduct a symposium on Fareastern and other topics for the benefit of the honorary members who remained I was quite unprepared for such an invitation but proceeded to speak for a time on Masonry in the Far East and then gave opportunity for anyone to propound questions. I was agreeably surprised at the i response and found an especially keen interest in Buddhism, so that I devoted the balance of my talk mainly to that subject, pointing out some analogies between Buddhism and Christianity. The result was that this informal conference, instead of lasting for an hour or less as I had expected, continued nearly three hours and until time for adjournment for one of the ample lunches which the Supreme Council provided at the Copley-Plaza each day except the last on which it was served at the Masonic Temple. There I bade farewell to the many friends, old and new, whom I had met at the session, and we resumed our motor journey across the full length of the old Bay state. We stopped to see the Eastern states Fair at Springfield, and also to revisit the historic scenes in and around Bennington, Vt., meanwhile enjoying, between the two places, the almost unrivaled beauty of the Berkshire hills. On the afternoon of Sept. 20, we reached Troy, where I left the party and took the night boat for New York.
ST. JOHN'S DAY AT ERIE, PA.
A pleasant aftermath of the Boston meeting was an invitation from the Erie, Pa., brethren, who were present there, to repeat my address on Masonry in the Far East before their annual observance of St. John's (the Evangelist's) Day by the five lodges at Erie. I accepted the invitation and on Dec. 27 journeyed from New York to Erie and gave the address. I was agreeably surprised at the numbers present when Ill. Bro. Turner W. Shacklett, 33d, rose to introduce me--about 900, including the resident member of the state Supreme Court and the local Congressman, who had visited the Far East. But I was especially impressed with the interest displayed and the rapt attention shown. It is always an inspiration to address an audience like that and St. John's Day at Erie will long linger in my memory. Thus my Masonic year, 1924, which began at Shanghai, in connection with the numerous affairs attending the holidays, shifted in April to Japan, where I conferred the 33d and took part in the Maundy Thursday observance--shifted again in September to New England with many novel experiences--and ended in Pennsylvania, my ancestral home, where my family has lived for two centuries and where many of my kinsmen still reside. It has been an unusual year and its Masonic memories are among the brightest of my Craft career.
----o----
An American Freemason in France
By Bro. ROBERT I. CLEGG, Associate Editor, Ohio
FROM victoria Station in London to Paris is but a few hours' journey. Many of the things that have been told to us regarding this trip are not altogether in accordance with the facts. We have been informed that the system of checking baggage so common and so much appreciated in the United states is unknown in Europe but you can check your baggage, or "luggage" as it is commonly termed over there, from victoria Station at London to the railway station at Paris in France. It is not called "checking"--it is termed "registering" the baggage--but it amounts to the same thing. Your baggage is weighed, you pay something for it, get a receipt, and then you forget it until you hunt it up at the depot in Paris.
The trip across is but a few hours. You can leave London soon after breakfast and be in Paris for dinner. I took by no means the shortest route, which is first to Dover by rail and then to Calais by sea and then again by railroad on to Paris. I went to New Haven and then by way of Dieppe. Thus, instead of spending about an hour on the water as would have been the case between Dover and Calais, I spent several hours over what has seldom, if ever, been known to be a smooth stretch of water. Almost everybody offered from sea-sickness and a couple of young women near me whose baggage bore the letters of the District of Columbia said in my hearing that they suffered more on the trip from England to France than they had in crossing the Atlantic.
However, that was not the only surprise because in talking with one of the sailors--or perhaps I ought to say, in attempting to talk with one of the sailors-I discovered that, while he had been traveling daily back and forth to England for many years, he knew nothing of the English language. I was later on astonished to meet some professors of the University of France who spoke no English and this seemed at first very surprising but, after all, it is a common thing to find people on the other side of the Atlantic on the English Channel who frequently visit France and yet make no attempt to learn the language that is spoken there.
We arrived in Paris in due season but unfortunately about the time that my train arrived there were also several hundred passengers delivered there who had come in from one of the Transatlantic boats. I should imagine that two inspectors only at the Customs House were assigned to take care of probably 300 people. Nothing was done by the examiners until all the baggage had been laid out on the counters ready for inspection. They made a fairly rapid trip around the room looking at the baggage and paying no attention whatever to many of the passengers who are unusually anxious to get away before the rest of us. I dare say many of them wanted to catch trains going to other parts of Europe as it is singular when you come to think of it how general the tendency is to see Europe from the window of a railroad car. Few people stay at ally spot very long and never think of going back again to the same place on a trip if they can possibly avoid it. Almost everyone is possessed with the idea that the more towns you visit the better the trip. I did not happen to be in that class and so could afford to take things leisurely at the Customs House and listen to the prayers and pleading and curses in apparently all languages which were indulged in by the people around me. I was a little surprised as I listened attentively to the customs inspector (I had to listen carefully as my knowledge of the language was not only imperfect but I was sadly out of practice and, on the other hand, he was somewhat rapid in utterance and it seemed to me his words came like a torrent) to find that he wanted to know whether I had brought any matches or cigar lighters and I discovered later that both are controlled in some way by the government. However, I got free of the Customs House in due season and secured a taxi and was glad to get away from the Gare de St. Lazare.
BEWARE THE TAXI !
The weather had been cloudy all day and the rain now began to fall and the interior of the taxi was very comfortable--especially after I had made it clear to the driver where I wanted to go. He set off at a remarkable speed and I do not wonder now that during the war moving soldiers in taxicabs was done at the Battle of the Marne because the way they handle passengers is certainly expeditious. I was told by an American engineer in Paris that when anyone is knocked down by a taxi in the street he is liable to fine and perhaps imprisonment unless he can show quite clearly that it was not his fault. I had no means of checking up this assertion but I have heard the story more than once and one may easily see what an undertaking it is and how much responsibility you carry in crossing the streets in Paris.
I anticipated during my taxi trip that immediately upon arriving and getting some of the dust of the trip off me I would order up an appetizing meal but my hotel did not possess a dining room. The love of restaurants in Paris is carried to even a greater extent than in the United States of America. I discovered that even a very satisfactory hotel in all other respects might not possess a dining room but I found that only a few doors away there was a restaurant where the man in charge spoke English and I soon made my way to his place. His English was not very good from a linguistic point of view but at the close of what had been a far from perfect day his words were eminently satisfactory and I was soon seated over in a corner on a seat which ran along two sides of the room. The bill of fare had been written originally in a faint ink and by a person whose handwriting was, to say the least, of an inferior grade. It had been reproduced in some fashion and the ink had run on the copy that was given to me and it was almost impossible to spell out the words and after I had discovered the spelling I was more than once entirely at a loss to grasp the meaning. I studied over that bill of fare for some little time.
Suddenly at my right a young fellow leaned my way and held out his left hand, which bore a ring showing the compasses and square. He said, "Brother, it is a long time since I saw that button," and he looked at the little emblem of the Shrine which I wore in my coat. I whispered to him, "Where do you hail from?" as I held out my hand for the grip. He said, "Atlanta," to which I replied, "By any manner of means, do you know a good brother down there called Forrest Adair ?" He answered, "You mean the old real estate man, don't you?" I nodded and he said, "I sure do !"
CORN, WINE, AND OIL AT LAST !
He took the bill of fare away from me, marked several items as being especially good in that particular restaurant, briefly gave me some idea as to things I could call for with advantage and I soon had ordered my dinner and was engaged in chatting with him and another good brother who happened to sit at my left. To use his phrase, they were "leftovers" from the American Army who had, in a spirit of adventure, decided to stay in France and try their luck for a few years. They were most interesting companions and that first evening of mine was spent very happily and I came back to the hotel through the rain, which bothered me no longer. The rain might fall and the snow and wind might keep it company in that wintry season at Paris but I had found the brotherhood of the Craft and I was well content. After a good night's rest, I spent the morning leisurely about the streets and early in the afternoon made a search for Oswald Wirth, the scholarly editor of Symbolisme. I found his apartment and discovered him exceedingly glad at my call. He is somewhat frail of physique and it would almost seem that the fire of his research had burned out much of the stamina that was formerly his. We talked of Freemasonry generally and I found that he still presides as Master of his lodge. He was preparing an address on "The Alchemy of Freemasonry" and, as he has alluded to this subject in several of his books, I was more than usually interested in what he had to say. I begged him for a copy of his manuscript but this request he could not concede because he had planned to speak from memory and therefore had no intention at the time of writing out his address.
AN IMPORTANT LETTER FROM OSWALD WIRTH
I may say that later on I persuaded him to jot down in a letter the gist of what he said and this he very kindly consented to do and the translation of his letter is as follows:
"When I received your most fraternal letter of the 20th of this month I sent you the two last numbers of Symbolisme but you would not find there my discussion given at the beginning of January on Masonic alchemy or the art of transmuting profane lead into initiated gold. I had nothing in writing prepared and I spoke fully on a subject which has been for a long time familiar to me.
"I insisted on the fact that the true initiation does not express itself by symbolic acts like those prescribed by our rituals. Those are only images of what ought to be passing in the mind in order that the recipient may be really transformed into an Initiate. Nothing is more quickly done than to take off the metals (emblems) that one wears; but it is a long and difficult task to perform in reality what the rite signifies. (To put away all prejudices, to forget all mistakes, to make for oneself a virgin mind, capable of conceiving the truth without distortion.) What Mason can flatter himself that he has put off his metals in spirit and in truth after being made to do so symbolically?
"Then, reviewing the other proofs, I explained that there is no magic virtue in the formalities of the reception, for instance, and that it is not enough to undergo them symbolically to be initiated in reality. Ritual is the image of what asks to be lived. It traces the allegorical course of the transformation which ought to be taking place in our inmost being if we are to see the light clearly. The fact of remaking one's will does not prove that one is indeed dead to all the profane frailties, and the three journeys only purify by allusion. They tell us what we ought to do to be properly initiated; but when we understand nothing of Masonic allegory, we are contenting ourselves with the bare outline of initiation, with the letter, not the spirit, so that we do not become real Masons because we content ourselves with the symbol of what we ought to be in reality.
"I finished by begging the brethren not to hold to appearance and forms. If they wish to be Initiates, they must go deep down. They ought to retire within themselves by concentration until they forget the outside world. This movement of the mind is symbolized among the ancients by a descent into hell. We must know how to leave the level of objectivity in order to understand how to think, and above all to know the abstraction made of the wrappings of our personality. You have all passed by le cabinet de reflexions but you have only stayed there a few minutes, and have never thought since or burying yourself there and being absorbed in the profundity of your own thoughts. How, then, can you imagine you have become thinkers superior to the multitude of the profane?
"Having never descended to the centre of the earth, you have never been able to rise to the skies. You cannot judge of sublime things without giddiness. So you remain shackled to school, to business, and you have not attained your liberty. The flow of opinion carries you along with it, you have not arrived at the simple vision which absorbs our sages. However, you are not insensible to the proof of fire. The heat of the purifying flames has warmed your hearts and your wishes are frank and loyal. You long ardently for the general good. You are full of generosity, full of eager aspirations for truth, the just and the beautiful. You are real initiates by sentiments. This is fundamentally the essential thing and I congratulate you on it.
BECOME INITIATES IN REALITY !
"But make yourselves become Initiates in a complete sense, conscious of what you feel, understanding clearly what you try to portray. Work hard, struggle to understand, and make your initiation again, not symbolically but in spirit and in truth. Initiates are necessary to us, they alone can save the world from chaos, they alone can apply the motto Ordo ab Chao. Therefore, my brethren, take Masonic instruction, become thinkers who work, Masons who construct the grand temple of humanity.
"The Master finished by recommending to all the careful study of the Books of Apprentice, of the Companion, and of the Master, not forgetting close application to Symbolisme, that learned review, etc. You see all passed off very well.
"If you meet brethren who read French, I beg of you not to forget Symbolisme, which they can buy for an absured price, benefiting by the exchange.
"Hoping to see you soon, believe me, your very cordial and devoted-Oswald Wirth."
I may say that Brother Wirth is a member of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and translated some of the degrees that are used over there and did this from the work of the Southern Masonic Jurisdiction as prepared by General Albert Pike. He has some delightful views about Freemasonry internationally and it is most edifying to converse with him. I shall never forget a brief statement of his, covering, in his judgment, what was the purpose of the first three degrees. The Entered Apprentice Degree deals with what a Freemason should be, the Fellowcraft Degree with what he should know, and the Master Mason's Degree with what he should do.
During the course of our conversation he told me that, of course, I had made the trip to Paris at that particular time to attend the annual festival of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. I assured him that I had not even heard of it and that I should be delighted to attend because that was about the only body in France which was recognized by Masonic organizations of which I was a member. The question then came up as to how I could get to the place and whether there were any difficulties about my attendance. I secured the address, No. 8 Rue Puteaux, and, after a little examination of the map, came to the conclusion that I could easily get into the neighborhood without delay. Brother Wirth inquired if I had any regalia and when I said I had only the jewel and diploma with me he shook his head in dismay and admitted that the problem would need further study, but he concluded that it would be all right if I had a letter of introduction.
I was grateful for this offer though his suggestion seemed to me an extraordinary one. Gaining an entrance into the meeting of a Masonic Order by means of a letter of introduction was to me a truly remarkable course, indeed. He loaned me the necessary regalia and I may say that this was resplendent. The apron particularly was adorned with much embroidery and a profusion of spangles. The brilliance of the colors and the glitter of the rest of it made me certainly a very conspicuous person later on.
HE IS MET BY A SWORD
I thanked him for his kindness and hurried off to the underground railway and in a short time found myself on the narrow street which is not only the headquarters of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for France but also houses the Grand Lodge. I was eligible to visit one of these but not the other. At the door I met a good lady in charge of the entrance and after some little difficulty with the French language I managed to make clear what I wanted. She directed me to continue on my way along the corridor and go down the steps. This I did and found myself in a rather small room facing a sentinel armed with a very long sword. This weapon was used to salute me later on and was not at all fitted to the size of the chamber. I was a little afraid that in the swinging of this two-handled sword one or the other of us might come to grief, but I told the sword-bearer who I was and presented my letter of introduction. He read it and then bowed quite impressively, inquired if I had any regalia and, on being assured that I had, he told me to put it on while he announced my arrival.
Some little time later I was, ushered into a room which probably contained forty or fifty brethren attired in all sorts of regalia, much of which seemed novel to me. At one end of the room were seated the officers of the Supreme Council and the meeting was presided over by the Sovereign Grand Commander, Raymond. I was familiar with Raymond from his pictures as an elderly bearded brother, but this presiding officer was a much younger man than I expected to find. I discovered later on that the man I was thinking of was Jean Raymond, while the man I met bore the name of Rene Raymond.
This festival of the Scottish Rite, or annual meeting, is open, apparently, to members of Freemasonry of all grades. They attend, wearing the emblems of their respective bodies, and the plan seems to be an excellent one as it is carried on for keeping the members of the fraternity clearly informed of what is going on in Scottish Rite circles in France and elsewhere.
I listened to the reports which were read and the reading of documents does have a tendency to speed and I am sorry to say that I got very little of what was presented by the respective officers. I had missed the allocution of Brother Raymond owing to the lateness of my arrival but I heard something of the activities of the Scottish Rite. Toward the close of the meeting a sturdy Frenchman rose to his feet to deliver a very earnest address. He wore a red apron and collar, which was suggestive to me of the Royal Arch but which, it occurred to me as I thought more of the circumstance, was not likely to represent that body in France where it is by no means as popular as we have found it to be in the United states of America. The brother was near enough to me that I could carefully examine the jewel he wore. At the end of the collar were the compasses resting upon the arc of a circle and I wondered as he went along if he was not a member of some Grand Lodge.
HE MEETS GRAND MASTER MONIER
It was soon apparent to me that I had guessed right because this was Bro. Maurice Monier, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of France, and it was, curiously enough, the only place in France where I could meet him as a brother Mason because my Grand Lodge does not recognize his. He spoke with great deliberation and selected his words with care. He was so deliberate that it was no great difficulty to follow what he had to say and I heard with the utmost pleasure the expression of his regard for the United states and he did not confine himself to our Freemasonry, at that. He impressed upon me his hope that when I returned I would assure my brethren from him that he wanted them to believe that France was not a militaristic nation. He not only wished to send his good wishes to our brethren but he did hope for the maintenance of the best possible feeling between our two nations. I assured him later that I would be glad to carry that message whenever I had the opportunity to express it over here.
I had an opportunity to meet Brother Raymond later on. He had taken up the work of his father and I could see how deeply impressed he was with its responsibility. Perhaps the burden has been too great for him and may have impaired his health. since I have returned I notice that he has resigned but I am quite sure that I quote a recent letter from him correctly when I say that he is as much interested in Freemasonry as ever and will not lose any opportunity to advance its interest.
Let me say further, in talking of Masonry in countries dominated by the Roman Catholic Church, that Freemasonry there has a tremendous struggle to live. I am making no argument whatever for any change in our policy in regard to France. I believe that most of our Grand Lodges have felt that certain things are essential in order to recognize any body as being Masonic and I do not propose to argue here for any change in the policy followed by the majority of our Grand Lodges, but I cannot but feel keenly sympathetic towards the brethren of any obedience who must struggle for existence in Roman Catholic countries. I know something of the harsh conditions they must meet and that men do under these circumstances preserve their identity as Freemasons and their organizations as lodges is a strong testimony, I am sure, to the earnestness and faith of their belief. Nearly every French Freemason, and I met some of those who belong to bodies recognized by the Grand Lodge of England, can tell some convincing facts as to what Freemasonry means when it must meet the opposition of those instructed from the banks of the Tiber.
----o----
BRO. CHARLES M. ROE
BRO. CHARLES M. ROE died at Jackson, Miss., Feb. 6, last, while on a business trip through the Middle West. Exigencies of publication, very much regretted, made impossible an announcement of his death in these pages last month. He had of late been so active, and apparently in such robust health that his sudden passing brought a shock as well as genuine grief to his friends, of which he had a very large number.
Bro. Roe, a descendant of Bishop Francis Asbury, and of Rear Admiral Francis Asbury Roe, a famous member of Union Lodge, No. 95, Elmira, N. Y., was not known in the official councils of our Craft - as far as the present writer knows he was never a lodge officer - nevertheless, in his own quiet way, he had an influence in Masonry far above many whose names are prominent in our annals, and that for a reason immediately to be explained.
While manager of one of the departments of the George H. Doran Company he became interested in Masonic literature and saw, as no publisher ever before had seen, how badly the American Craft needed books equal in value and appearance to those published in other fields. The result was the National Masonic Library, issued under the auspices of the Masonic Service Association, and a number of other volumes of similar character, now in preparation, and to be published in due course of time. These issues from a great publishing house will stand in the future as a monument to his inspiring enthusiasm and wise management. May he therefore be remembered "in the long hereafter of our speech and song!"
----o----
"ONE STONE THE MORE"
"One stone the more swings to her place
In that dread Temple of Thy Worth -
It is enough that through Thy grace,
I saw nought common on Thy earth.
"Take not that vision from my ken;
Oh, whatsoever may spoil or speed,
Help me to need no aid from men
That I may help such men as need."
- Rudyard Mainline.
----o----
Great Men Who Were Masons
Rufus Choate
BY BRO. GEORGE W. BAIRD, P. G. M., District of Columbia
A COMPLETE account of the Masonic history of Bro. Rufus Choate is given in the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 1908, page 241.
This famous lawyer and orator was born in Essex, Mass., Oct. 1, 1799. He was so precocious as a child that when only six years of age he could repeat long portions of Pilgrim's Progress. In 1819 he graduated from Dartmouth, and from the Cambridge Law School two years afterwards. For a time he was assistant to the Attorney General, William Wirt, with whom fame has bracketed his name, and then practiced law at Danvers, Mass., for some five years. He was elected to the State Legislature from Salem in 1828, where he distinguished himself by a speech on the tariff. In 1834 and again in 1836 he was re-elected.
In the course of time Choate became the acknowledged leader of the Massachusetts Bar, and was greatly admired by the younger lawyers. In 1814 he became a member of the United States Senate to fill out the unexpired term of Daniel Webster, his beaux ideal as lawyer and orator. In the Senate he distinguished himself by speeches on the Oregon Boundary, the Tariff Bill, the United States Bank Bill, and the Smithsonian Institute; he opposed the annexation of Texas, strongly advocated Daniel Webster for President, and later on was a supporter of Bro. James Buchanan.
Choate possessed genius in the best sense of the word. His knowledge of the law was profound. He was a man of striking personality, handsome even in his old age, and marked out in any company by his attractive and brilliant manners. When to those qualities were added his great ability in forensic addresses, his unsullied honesty of heart and purpose, it is easily understood why he became so famous in his own generation.
In 1858 his health became so impaired that he was obliged to retire from public life. He died at Halifax, N. S., on his way home from a trip abroad, and his body was interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery, where the beautiful memorial shown herewith was erected.
A memoir of him will be found in E. P. Whipple's Recollections of Eminent Men. His writings, sketches, and correspondence were edited by S. G. Brown of Boston, in 1862, in two volumes.
----o----
ABOVE THE BATTLE
RELIGIONS are many, religion is one," wrote an old scribe. By the same token, governments are many, government is one; moralities are many, morality is one; philosophies are many, philosophy is one. Deep down in man, rooted there eternally like the tree Ygdrasil, are needs and powers which take all the forms of Proteus, which pass through as many incarnations as Buddha, embodying themselves in countless institutions. And while the forms and institutions, the creeds, theories, and dogmas come and go, like the "solid hills" in Tennyson's poem, that out of which they arose and to which they ministered goes on forever, just as hunger and appetite remain through all the changes of diet or cuisine.
It is one of the open secrets of Freemasonry, explaining alike the breadth and narrowness of it, that it is based on the enduring principles rather than on temporary forms. It builds on religion, but not on any one theology; it is a "science of morality," but adheres to none of the thousand codes; it teaches charity, but is not partisan to any institutional method; it stands for democracy, the right of every man to a voice and a vote, but not for any one political scheme; it is a teacher of truth, but of no particular philosophy; it demands equality, but not in this or that form; liberty, but not any one man's scheme for it; education, but not any patented curriculum; patriotism, but not any one governmental regime; brotherhood, but no one form of it; immortality, but no particular theory of it.
It has this position, not because it is uncertain of itself or ambiguous in its teachings, but because its genius is to search out and to build on that which lies in human nature underneath the sects that shatter, the creeds that divide. They who, out of ignorance of its character and purpose, seek to harness it to some favorite propaganda or pet theory know not what spirit they are of. Could they succeed - which they never can - the great Craft would vanish with the next shift in the winds of doctrine.
----o----
THE STUDY CLUB
Studies of Masonry in the United States
By BRO. H. L. HAYWOOD, Editor
PART VIII. HENRY PRICE
THE most important event in the history of Masonry in New England, and one of the most important in the history of the whole of the American Craft, was the issuance of a Deputation to Henry Price by the Grand Master of England, Lord viscount Montague, in which Price was authorized to be "Provincial Grand Master of New England and Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging."
There has been much debate over the date of this instrument. The Beteihle Manuscript (see Study Club article last month), written between July 27 and Aug. 23,1737, gave the date as April 13, 1733; this same date was given in the petition for charter of the First Lodge in Boston, July 30, 1733; in the Duke of Beaufort's Deputation to John Rowe in 1768; and in a communication from Grand Secretary French of the Grand Lodge of England. Bro. Melvin M. Johnson believes April 13 to have been correct. But the earliest records of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, written by Pelham, gave it as April 30; so did Ebenezer Swan in the earliest records of the First Lodge of Boston. A number of later writers, such as Drummond, MacCalla, Stillson and Hughan have followed Swan and Pelham; but a careful analysis of the facts preponderate in favor of the date as April 13. This point is of little intrinsic importance, nevertheless it has been made the basis for attacks on the validity of Price's Deputation, of which more anon.
Henry Price received his Deputation in person, while visiting the Grand Lodge of England, and paid for it a fee of three guineas. It was signed by Thomas Batson, Deputy Grand Master, and by the Grand Wardens, and is supposed to have carried the seal of Grand Master Montague. No record of the issuance of the Deputation was entered in the minutes of the Grand Lodge of England, but the same thing holds true of other Deputations known to have been issued, as described in this department last month. A Deputation for a Provincial Grand Mastership was issued privately by the Grand Master, as one of the prerogatives of his office, and was held to be the personal property of the recipient; for these reasons it frequently happened that no minutes of such a transaction were entered in Grand Lodge records. Price's Deputation has been printed in full in Johnson's Beginnings of Freemasonry in America, and in the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 1871, taken from the Beteihle Manuscript of 1737. Price brought his Deputation with him upon his return to Boston in the spring of 1733 and almost immediately laid it before a number of the brethren.
Price was born in London in 1697. The Minutes of the Grand Lodge of England show that in 1730 he was a member of Lodge No. 75, meeting at the Rainbow Coffee House, in London, and as such was doubtlessly well and favorably known to the brethren of Grand Lodge. He was in Boston in 1723, but later returned to London where, as noted above, he was present at Grand Lodge in 1733. Between April 18 and July 30 of that same year he returned to Boston, where he remained during the whole of a long life.
Records of a suit filed by him in Boston in 1733-4 have him described as "Henry Price of Boston," a tailor by profession, in which calling he could not have stood very high in the social hierarchy of the city; but in 1733 Governor Jonathan Belcher appointed him cornet, or standard-bearer, in the Governor's troop of cavalry, with the rank of major, by which title he was always known thereafter; this office, according to the usages of the time, bestowed upon him a certain amount of social distinction. Price formed a business partnership with Francis Beteihle in 1736, to operate a general store and tailor shop, with Price in charge of the latter. But in three or four years Price severed the connection, purchased a lot of land for 100 pounds, erected on it a brick building in which he kept a clothing and dry goods store, and very evidently prospered greatly, for he retired in 1750 in possession of a great amount of real estate. By religion he was an Episcopalian, against which there was a great deal of prejudice in Boston in those times; but later in life, though without any change in his creed, he also purchased pews in three meeting houses not of his faith, a fact that evidences a life-long and sincere interest in religion without the taint of sectarianism.
In 1737 he was married to Mary Townsend. A year after her death in 1751 he married Mary Tilden of Boston. His second wife died in 1759 or 60, and a short time thereafter their daughter, a double bereavement that left Price saddened all his days. In 1771 he married Lydia Randall, from which union two children were born. During all those years Price prospered in business, bought many properties in Boston and suburbs, and for several years had a country home in Cambridge. His home at Menotomy was so large that it was generally described as the "great house." His death occurred in 1780 from an accident while splitting rails, when his axe glanced against his abdomen. From this severe wound he died on the 20th of May at the age of eighty-three, leaving behind him a large estate. All extant evidence go to prove that Henry Price was a man of firm character and fine intelligence, who by his own diligence built up a fortune considerable in that period, and who was accepted socially and commercially among the leading citizens of the Province.
During the past forty years several attempts have been made, notably by a notorious and violently prejudiced American Masonic writer whose name need not be mentioned, to call into question Price's good faith and even to accuse him of having forged his Deputation; such canards fall utterly to pieces against the undeniable record of his consistent character and his reputation. Had he been such a man as his traducers have undertaken to paint him, it would have been impossible for him to make for himself such a place in Massachusetts during the forty-seven years in which he was so active in and about Boston.
Neither could such a man have so long remained the actual or virtual head of Freemasonry in New England--virtual, that is, in the sense that he was looked up to as a father in the Masonic Israel. He was appointed to be the first Provincial Grand Master of New England in 1733, and as such was universally accepted; he served continuously as Grand Master from his appointment until 1737; again from July, 1740, to March 6, 1743-4; again from July 12, 1754, to Oct. 1, 1755; and yet again from Oct. 20, 1767, to Nov. 23, 1768. He was charter Worshipful Master of the Masters' Lodge of Boston; charter Worshipful Master of the Second Lodge; and one of the Worshipful Masters of the First Lodge. Even so late as 1773, when he was seventy-six years of age, he was asked to preside over Grand Lodge in the absence of Grand Master John Rowe. All his Masonic activities were public, known in every detail to the brethren on both sides of the water, and were by all accepted as regular and official; had his Deputation been a forged document, had he assumed leadership unlawfully, the fact would have been discovered very early and made impossible his long and honorable Masonic career.
Henry Price was buried in Townsend, a small Massachusetts town incorporated in 1732, forty-six miles distant from Boston, on the border line of New Hampshire. The original stone placed at the head of his grave, a photograph of which is given herewith, carries an inscription, here copied just as it stands:
"In Memory of Henry Price, Efq. Was born in London about the Year of our Lord 1697 he Remov'd to Bofton about the Year 1723 Rec. a Deputation Appointing him Grand Mafter of Mafons in New England & in the Year 1733 was Appointed a Cornet in the Governors Troop of Guards With the Rank of Major by his Diligence & induftry in Bufinefs he Acquired the means of a Comfortable Living with which he remov'd to Townfen in the latter Part of his life. He quitted Mortality the 20th of May A. D. 1780 Leaving a Widow and two Young Daughters With a Numerous Company of Friends and Acquaintance to Mourn his Departure Who have that Ground of hope Concerning his Prefent Lot Which Refultfi from his undifsembled Regard to his Maker & extenfive Benevolence to his Fellow Creatures Manifefted in Life by a behaviour Confiftent With his Character as a Mafon and his Nature as a Man. An honeft Man the Nobleft Work of God."
Those who have called in question the genuineness of Price's original Deputation and who have sought otherwise to discredit him and his Masonic career before the bar of history have made much capital out of three facts: first, that no record was made of the Deputation in the Minutes of the Grand Lodge of England; second, that in a letter to the Grand Lodge of England under date of Jan. 27, 1768, and while referring to his own Deputations (Price received a second Deputation, as will be later explained, in which his powers were extended) he spelled Montague as "Montacute"; and third, he mentioned in a letter to the Grand Secretary of England in 1768 his second Deputation as having been of the year 1735, whereas it should have been 1734. Reasons for the absence of any Grand Lodge record of his Deputation have already been given. As to his misspelling of the name of the Grand Master who issued his first Deputation that is easily explained by the fact that the name was spelled "Montacute" in Entick's edition of the Constitutions, widely used by American Masons as an official book. The error in the date is really of no consequence at all. Thirty-four years had elapsed since 1734, so that when he wrote the letter Price was seventy-one years of age and forty-six miles away from his books, papers, and documents. Any other man under the same circumstances might have made a similar slip. Also it is worthy of note that a petition which accompanied Price's letter spells the name of Lord Montague correctly and accurately gives the date of Price's second Deputation as 1734. The latter facts would indicate that the errors in Price's own letters were mere oversights.
One will find all these facts, and many others equally germane, set forth at great length and in a manner very interesting to read, by William Sewall Gardner in an address delivered before the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, of which he was then Grand Master, Dec. 27, 1871, printed in full in the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 1871, page 284. Bro. Gardner's estimate of the man, along with a summary of his arguments for the authenticity of Price's first Deputation is embodied in the last pages of his address, in three paragraphs worthy to be quoted:
"It would seem, however, from the evidence now produced that no one could reasonably doubt that the officers and members of the Grand Lodge at London were fully informed of the proceedings of Henry Price, in Boston, who publicly claimed to be the authorized delegate and representative of that Grand Body here; that from 1733, down to the war of the Revolution they were as familiar with his doings as with those of their Provincial Grand Masters in the several districts of England. It cannot even be argued with any degree of plausibility, that they, or the Craft in general, could be ignorant of his pretensions, acts and doings. If they had knowledge of his claim to a Deputation from England, as Provincial Grand Master, or if it is apparent that they ought reasonably to have known it, the conclusion is irresistible that Price held the Commission and office, which he publicly professed to have, under which he openly acted, and which were notoriously throughout America ascribed to him. From all the Grand Officers at London, as well as from all the Members of the Fraternity, from 1733 to 1780, there was universal, undoubted belief in Henry Price, as the legitimate founder, under lawful authority, of Masonry in America. Not a doubt, suspicion, or insinuation were breathed against him. He was entirely, unconditionally, absolutely confided in, upon both sides of the Atlantic. During all the years of his Masonic life he enjoyed the fullest confidence of the Grand Lodge at London. It would seem to be too late now to originate doubt and suspicion against a man of pure character, unsullied name and spotless reputation, after the lapse of one hundred and thirty-eight years [written in 1871], unless the clearest evidence and undeniable proofs of the charges made are adduced. Suspicion and suspicious circumstances are not sufficient to weigh down his more than eighty years of life, characterized by honesty, integrity and Christian virtue.
"In reviewing the life of Henry Price, we cannot escape the impression that the Ancient Society of Free and Accepted Masons, through his persistent labor, emerged from a position of comparative insignificance to one of prominence and great respectability in the Province. When he opened the Provincial Grand Lodge at Boston in July, 1733, the brethren whom he called around him, with the exception of Andrew Belcher, occupied humble places in life, and were not calculated to extend the influence of the Society, nor to make proselytes from among the best men of Boston. But Henry Price set his standard high. He was ambitious that the institution should be known by the good character of its members, and that it should be represented by able and respectable officers. He retained the office of Provincial Grand Master only so long as it was necessary to carry out his cherished scheme. All of his successors were gentlemen of the highest respectability and character, while those who had become members of the lodges gave to the Society a position which commanded the respect of all classes of men. The reverend clergy gave to it their sanction, and aided by the sacred rites of their office, in their churches, the public demonstrations which from time to time occurred. The press spoke in terms of respect of 'that ancient Society, whose benevolent constitutions do honor to mankind,' and of the distinction conferred upon those called to preside as Grand Master over its proceedings. Thus the institution won its way to favor in public estimation. When Price installed his successors, each one with more ceremony and pomp than that of the preceding one, he saw that the honor which he claimed, of being the 'Father of Masonry in America', was not an empty honor, but one which in his day was worthy of pride, and which he well hoped might be ascribed to him in history.
"He had been successful beyond his fondest anticipations. Wealth, political and social distinction, the high authorities in the Province, the teachers of Christian virtue and the leaders in the two great parties of loyalty and liberty, had bowed before the altar of Freemasonry erected by him. Thus he had accomplished all that he dared to dream of in the early days of his labor."
NOTES AND REFERENCES
On Price's Deputation see The History of Freemasonry, Robert Freke Gould; Philadelphia, 1889, Vol. IV, page 330. Beginnings of Freemasonry in America, Johnson, New York, 1924, pages 74, 115. History of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in New York from the Earliest Date, Charles T. McClenachan; New York, 1888, Vol. 1, page 77. History of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, and Concordant Orders. Stillson and Hughan; Boston and New York, 1891, pages 219, 239.
The most complete lay-out extant of data concerning Price will be found in the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts; for 1871, published in Boston in 1872, page 284 ff. In that volume will be found Price's will, page 345, his Deputation, page 347; Tomlinson's Deputation, page 349; Franklin's letters to Price, page 356; Grand Secretary French's letter to Price, page 366; Price's reply thereto, page 368; Price's address at the installation of John Rowe, page 322; etc.
On Price's personal and Masonic career in general consult the following: The Freemason's Monthly Magazine, Charles W. Moore; Boston, Vol. XV, page 163; Vol. XVI, page 129; XVII, page 11, XX, page 266, XXV, page 343; XXVIII, page 301; XXX, pages 95, 148; XXXI, page 125; XXXII, page 33. History of Freemasonry in Canada, John Ross Robertson; Toronto, 1900, Vol. I, page 147. History of Freemasonry in Rhode Island, Henry W. Rugg; Providence, 1895, page 27. Beginnings of Freemasonry in America, Johnson; New York 1924, page 92, etc. History of Freemasonry in the State of New York, Ossian Lang; New York. 1922, pages 10, 13. The Evolution of Freemasonry, Delmar D. Darrah, Illinois, 1920, page 230. History of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, and Concordant Orders, Stillson and Hughan; Boston and New York, 1891 page 242. History of Freemasonry, Robert Freke Gould; Phiiadelphia, 1889, Vol. IV, page 241. Freemasonry in Michigan, Jefferson S. Conover; Michigan, 1897, Vol. I, page 8. Washington and His Masonic Compeers, Sidney Hayden; New York 1866, page 233. Masonic Review, Thomas J. Melish; Ohio, Vol. XXVIII, page 83; Vol. LXIX, page 311.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Why was the issuance of the Price Deputation so important an event? What American Mason preceded Price as a Provincial Grand Master? Who issued Price's Deputation? What was its date? Where and how did Price receive it? Why, do you suppose, did he pay a fee for it? By whom was it signed?
Where was Price born? Where was he made a Mason? When did he return to Boston?
What was his profession? What is the importance of his appointment by Belcher? Who was his business partner? What was his religion?
To what extent did he prosper? How did he build up his fortune? How often was he Grand Master? Worshipful Master?
Where was he buried? What does his epitaph indicate?
Why has his Masonic record been questioned? Name the grounds taken by his critics. Why was no record of his Deputation made in Grand Lodge minutes of England? How did Masonry prosper in Massachusetts under his leadership?
----o----
EDITORIAL
BOARD OF EDITORS
Editor‑in‑Chief - H.L. HAYWOOD
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
LOUIS BLOCK, Iowa
ROBERT L. CLEGG, Ohio
GILBERT W. DAYNES, England
RAY V. DENSLOW, Missouri
GEORGE H. DERN, Utah
N.W.J. HAYDON, Canada
C. C. HUNT, Iowa
CHARLES F. IRWIN. Ohio
A.L. KRESS, Pennsylvania
R. J. MEEKREN, Canada
JOSEPH E. MORCOMBE, California
JOSEPH FORT NEWTON, New York
ARTHUR C. PARKER, New York
JESSE M. WHITED, California
DAVID E. W. WILLIAMSON, Nevada
MT. MORIAH
WHAT is the secret of the mountains? We may see them from afar with indifference, while they hang like cloud shapes in the sky, but once we have ascended to their own places among their peaks and elevated Valleys, they take possession of us in a manner all their own. The sight of granite lifted into the air disturbs us with a shock of astonishment; we are accustomed to think of granite as hidden in the earth. We have been believing that soil and rock should lie under our feet; here they hang over our heads. In the streets of our cities and on our farms we have been living amid human beings, immersed in the buzz of their movements; here we come into a strange solitude, as if to the "one spot of earth devoted to eternity," and it gives us the feeling that, in contrast to this calmness, our ordinary activities are fretful and vain, like the stuff of dreams. Our houses, fields and forests change with the seasons or through the influence of our work; these crags appear to be indifferent to all such permutations, as if that changelessness which men attribute to eternity were here made evident. The beauty of the mountains, the unexpected shapes of slope and cliff, the metallic foliage of the pines, " the stationary blast of waterfalls," the transformations of light, and shade, and color has a startling originality in it, like that of an apparition. And the elemental forces, usually hidden from us by verdure or pavement, here lay aside their familiar disguises, with their
"Characters of the great Apocalypse,
The types and symbols of Eternity
Of first, and last, and midst, and without end."
There is nothing private in these impressions. Men everywhere and always have been moved by them to feel in their beings something that corresponds to the great peaks, so that they have at times tried to make artificial mountains for themselves, like Babel or the Pyramids. This has given sanctity to high places, and hills, and has set a range of peaks across the Great Divides of religion - Ararat, Nebo, Carmel, Zion, Olivet, Olympus; it has given mountains a place in literature and art, like the Mountains of the Moon, the Old Man of the Mountains, and Dante's Mount of Paradise, with its concentric aspiring circles, leading toward the unfoldment of some ultimate mystery. Mountains have a place in man's traditions, because there is something mountain-like in man himself. He lifts his eves unto the hills: he cries out to God. "Thy righteousness is like the great mountains!”
In the center of our Masonic mysteries stands such a peak, Mt. Moriah, commanding the scene like some Fujiyama. It is the symbolical High Place on which Solomon erected his Temple, which is itself symbolical focus. And it is there in our rituals, this temple and its mountain, because that which it typifies is in a Mason's life, if he is really a Mason.
How many there are who live in the Lowest Vales! Unhappy, troubled by many fears, confused, perplexed, apprehensive, they are like men that have lost their way, worried by their own ignorance but helpless, so they believe, to escape from it, or to find the Word of Life that they have lost. Such lives are covered with rubbish; such men almost literally walk in darkness.
The salvation for these lost souls is to erect a Temple in the midst of the rubbish, on some stable hill. Such architecture requires no occult powers, no superhuman skill; it is what any man can do, for the nature of things does not compel one to go unhappy all his days, because each of us possesses in his own self from birth the capacities for such building. If he does not know this secret his Masonry is there to teach him, for it is this ability to transform a log cabin existence into a temple that Masonry teaches; it is this which is its "science of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols."
The foundations on which such a new life may be erected are already in a man's nature if only he will learn to use them. He can develop a sincere desire for better things; he can cultivate a tenacity of purpose; he can learn how to become steadfast of aim; he can summon strength of will; he can discover for himself what is meant by fearlessness of mind and confidence in life. On such a Mt. Moriah of his own - and these are the true qualifications of a Mason - he can build his own King Solomon's Temple, which, once it is finished, is a new kind of life for him, wherein are Wisdom, Strength and Beauty.
* * *
"POOR AND DISTRESSED MASTER MASONS"
IN the article on page 104 by Bro. Phil Roth - in whom moral enthusiasm is so perfectly blended with practical sense - is found a story of Applied Masonry that is as significant of the new mood of American Masonry as anything could be. Once was when Employment Bureaus were looked upon with suspicion because they were not mentioned among the Landmarks or required by Masonic Jurisprudence. As if for that reason our Craft should be forbidden to carry its own teachings into practice! When almost every lodge was a village lodge, when every member knew every other member personally there may have been no need of Employment Bureaus; but in this day, when more than half of the Masonic population is to be found in cities, when hundreds of lodges approach or surpass the "one thousand members" mark, it is impossible to carry out our old tenet of Brotherly Relief by individual efforts. Employment and Relief Bureaus have become a necessity; and not because the individual member is under any the less obligation to practice Relief and Charity inside the length of his own Cable Tow.
It is sometimes objected to Masonic charity that it is for Masons only. In one sense this is true and necessary. Our lodges make no levy for charitable purposes; our Fraternity is not a charitable or insurance society. The Masonic principle is that Freemasons assist each other by way of relief, as when a member meets with an accident or some similar misfortune. The Craft has no monies for charity in general; and as far as that is concerned other fraternities, and churches, clubs, and societies do the same; each takes care of its own.
But even so, and in another real sense, Masonic charity is just charity, charity itself, pure and simple, with no label attached. Though Masons as Masons do not have the use of large funds for relief, as men in every walk of the world they are expected, because of their Masonic vows, to be charitable to all men; and the relief dispensed by lodges and Grand Lodges is only incidental to that Masonic charity which a real Mason carries everywhere in his heart.
----o----
INEQUALITY OF RACES
NOBODY has ever given satisfactory proof of an inherent inequality of races. The current unfavorable opinion of the Negro is based largely on complete ignorance of African native conditions, and of Negro achievements in the industries and arts and in political organization. The glorification of our own race is founded exclusively on a consideration of the cultural opportunities given to the few and on the complete neglect of the cultural primitiveness of the great mass of individuals. This primitiveness shows itself intellectually in the uncritical acceptance of second-hand ideas and emotionally in the ease with which most persons succumb to the power of fashionable passions. – Franz Boas.
----o----
THE LIBRARY
"THE ASSYRIAN CAME DOWN LIKE A WOLF ON THE FOLD"
THE ANNALS OF SENNACHERIB. By Daniel David Luckenbill, Professor of the Semitic Languages and Literatures in The University of Chicago. This is Vol. II of The University of Chicago Oriental Institute Series. University of Chicago Press. May be ordered through the National Masonic Research Society Book Department, 1950 Railway Exchange, St. Louis, Mo. Boards, 9x12 inches, illustrated, 196 pages with index. Price, postpaid, $4.20.
MOST of us know nothing about "Sennacherib, the great king, the mighty king, king of the universe, king of Assyria" (his own description) save Byron's poem that tells how he "came down like a wolf on the fold" and the few pages in the Book of Kings II, chapter 18, etc. It is our loss. He was a great personage, a fact abundantly set forth in his own clay records, an illustration of which will be found on page - .
The account of how he took Jerusalem in 701 B. C. is told in II Kings 18:13 If. with admirable brevity:
"Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me; that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold."
Compare with that Sennacherib's own version:
"As for Hezekiah, the Jew, who did not submit to my yoke, 46 of his strong cities, as well as the small cities in their neighborhood, which were without number - by levelling with battering-rams (?) and by bringing up siege-engines (?), I besieged and took (those cities). 200,150 people, great and small, male and female, horses, mules, asses, camels, cattle and sheep, without number, I brought away from them and counted as spoil. Himself, like a caged bird I shut up in Jerusalem, his royal city. Earthworks I threw up against him - the one coming out of the city-gate, I turned back to his misery.
"The cities of his which I had despoiled I cut off from his land and to Mitini, king of Ashdod, Padi, king of Ekron, and Silli-Bel, king of Gaza, I gave. And (thus) I diminished his land.
"I added to the former tribute, and laid upon him the giving (up) of their land (as well as) imposts - gifts for my majesty.
"As for Hezekiah, the terrifying splendor of my majesty overcame him, and the Urbi (Arabs) and his mercenary (?) troops which he had brought in to strengthen Jerusalem, his royal city, deserted him (lit. took leave).
"In addition to the 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver (there were), gems, cosmetics (?), jewels (?), large sandustones, couches of ivory, house chairs of ivory, elephant hide, ivory (lit. elephant's teeth), ushu-wood, all kinds of valuable (heavy) treasures, as well as his daughters, his harem, his male and female musicians, (which) he had (them) being after me to Nineveh, my royal city. To pay tribute and to accept (lit. do) servitude, he dispatched his messenger(s)."
Sennacherib's Annals, all written in the Royal first person singular, are rich as alabaster, golden as leaves from a book of dreams, redolent of ancient poetries and forgotten mysteries, especially when they relate the rebuilding of Nineveh, and of Sennacherib's "Palace Without a Rival." Hear how he speaks of Nineveh!
"At that time, Nineveh the noble metropolis, the city beloved of Ishtar, wherein are all the meeting-places of gods and goddesses; the everlasting substructure, the eternal foundation; whose plan had been designed from of old, and whose structure had been made beautiful along with the firmament of heaven, the beautiful (artistic) place, the abode of divine law (decision rule), into which had been brought all kinds of artistic workmanship, every secret and pleasant (?) plan (or command, of god); where from of old, other kings, who went before, my fathers, had exercised the lordship over Assyria before me, and had ruled the subjects of Enlil, and yearly without interruption, had received therein an unceasing income, the tribute of the princes of the four quarters (of the world)."
And see what manner of temple-palace he erected, with its great pillars!
"Thereon (lit. therein) I had them build a palace of ivory, ebony (?), boxwood (?), musukannu-wood, cedar, cypress and spruce, the 'Palace without a Rival,' for my royal abode. Beams of cedar, the product of Mt. Amanus, which they dragged with difficulty out of (those) distant mountains, I stretched across their ceilings (?). Great door-leaves of cypress, whose odor is pleasant as they are opened and closed, I bound with a band of shining copper and set up in their doors. A portico, patterned after a Hittite palace, which they call in the Amorite tongue a bit-hilani, I constructed out of the 11,400 talents of shining bronze, the workmanship of the god Nin-a-gal, and exceedingly glorious, together with 2 colossal pillars whose copper work came to 6,000 talents, and two great cedar pillars, (which) I placed upon the lions (colossi), I set up as posts to support their doors."
* * *
AN EXCITING BOOK OF RITHMETIC: REVIEWED
BY CASSIUS J. KEYSER
BOYS' OWN ARITHMETIC. By Raymond Weeks. Illustrations by Usabal. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. For sale by National Masonic Research Society Book Department, 1950 Railway Exchange, St. Louis, Mo. Red (very red) cloth, index, 188 pages. Price, postpaid, $2.10.
HERE is a book that will gladden the hearts and brighten the eyes of millions of boys if they get a chance to read it. And they will get the chance if their fathers and mothers and their other teachers discover the book and learn what it really is.
It is not a book of arithmetic as commonly understood. It is not one of those dead and deadening things known as textbooks. It is a living bit of literature based on arithmetic for the amusement and incidentally for the edification of real boys, of funloving boys, of girls, too, and, I dare say, even of grown-ups, for the book, like all genuine literature, is universal in its appeal.
The author makes no claim to being a mathematician though it is evident that he could have been one had he so elected. Neither is he a professional teacher of arithmetic. He is an eminent professor of romance languages and literature in a great university. But he was a boy once, is now a father of boys, and, though mellowed with the wisdom of experience and years, he is still a boy at heart, in his recollections, in his sympathies and understanding and love. It is that together with a certain rare and amiable genius that enabled Mr. Weeks to write this book of charming stories for the amusement and education of children, causing them to learn while laughing, and to laugh while learning.
He has thus employed a most important principle of human education. For laughter is not sub-human like eating and sleeping, for example. Laughter is a human thing.
"O Laughter, divine river of joy, thou art the blessed boundary line between the beasts and men."
Nay, laughter is even divine. Did not high Olympus often ring with the laughter of the gods! Recently it has been contended by eminent theologians that even the God of good Christians possesses a sense of humor. They must be right for how could He fail to be amused by the claims solemnly made on His behalf by the fundamentalists?
I have said that the book is literature; it is literature based on arithmetic, and the manner fits the matter as neatly as the bark fits the tree. There are more than a hundred short stories. The list of their titles is itself a poem - far more galvanic than the Iliad’s famous list of ships. Here are a few samples chosen at random: Race between ten boys and a cinnamon bear; Opossum eating persimmons; Red mule Absolum; Smile of a crocodile; Dog scratching off fleas; Cats in Catalonia; Moving power of a hornet; The boy, the bulldog and the ice-cream; Standing a fraction on its head; and so on with the range and diversity of a live boy's manifold world.
I regret that there is here no room to quote a few specimens of these stories, for their is no other way to give a right sense of their fidelity, their quaintness, their charm, their pure fun, their fine union of sense and sane nonsense, now reminding one of Tom Sawyer and now of the immortal creations of Lewis Carroll.
In each story there lurks an arithmetical problem; it leaps forth to challenge the boy just as he finishes the reading. What grappling and battling will result, especially if two boys are playing the game together!
Fortunately not all the numbers mentioned in a given story are essential to its problem, for else the boy would not have the delight of discriminating what is essential from what is not. Fortunately the stories are not so arranged that the problems are presented in the order of increasing difficulty, for else the book would not be true to life. Neither would it be true to life if it did not set some problems whose answers are cumberous and some that seem to be genuine but are not.
The book is profusely illustrated by Usabal, who has caught its spirit of humor and fun. The illustrations are alone worth more than the price of the book.
Cassius J. Keyser, Columbia University.
* * *
RELIGION SOCIALIZED AND APPLIED
THE GOSPEL OF FELLOWSHIP. By Charles D. Williams D. D., Late Bishop of Michigan. Published by Fleming H. Revell. May be purchased through the Book Department of National Masonic Research Society, 1950 Railway Exchange, St. Louis, Mo. Cloth, 218 pages. Price, postpaid, $1.60.
BISHOP WILLIAMS established a national reputation for himself in church circles by his early and courageous advocacy of a socialized Christianity. He was one of the first religious leaders to see that religion exists for the community as much as for the individual, and that a Gospel for the individual alone is only a half Gospel. True to the convictions of a lifetime, he made his last book a plea for this insight, and a noble book it is, albeit the author might have given it more literary finish had he lived to see it through the press.
To him the central reality in a socialized religion is fellowship; accordingly he seeks to apply "The Gospel of Fellowship" to every and all social, political, and economic problems, which, as the whole of modern literature attests, are too numerous for comfort.
These problems have grown up out of the nature of things. Out of the break up of feudalism developed the political state as we now know it, with independent nations lying alongside each other; with the discovery of steam in 1789 came industrialism, with its new alignment of social classes; with the development of transportation systems came a shrinking up of the world, with its clash of cultures; and with the rise of democracy came a new social consciousness, with new demands on church, school, and state. The need of readjusting human life to these changed conditions constitutes "the social problem".
Bishop Williams' solution of this problem is the application to it of the spirit and principle of fellowship. Such an effort is both Masonic and Christian in the larger senses of those words, and reflects nothing but credit upon our author. But there is in it a difficulty, a difficulty that stands out above the book: it is that "fellowship" is not defined. We are told that fellowship can solve our economic, political, racial, and religious problems but we are not told what this fellowship is. The indistinct generalized idea of it given by Bishop Williams will not serve; when spread over so wide a territory his idea becomes so thin that at times it becomes almost invisible.
We Masons have the same difficulty in managing some of our own key words; brotherhood, truth, toleration, relief, landmarks. Perhaps it is because we have not yet thought them out. Almost the final achievement of the mind is the definition of a word (not in the dictionary sense of "definition") when it stands for some fundamental idea. Inspirational books help us to make up our minds to travel toward the goal, but they seldomly open any of the gates that stand locked across the path.
* * *
A HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES AND OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR
THE CRUSADES: THE STORY OF THE LATIN KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM. By T. A. Archer and Charles L. Kingsford. Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons: New York. May be purchased through the National Masonic Research Society Book Department, 1950 Railway Exchange, St. Louis, Mo. Cloth, illustrated, index, 467 pages. Price, postpaid, 2.65.
WHEN Mohammed passed away the Caliphs immediately W set to planning the conquest of the world in the name of Islam. They conquered the Near East, North Africa, and, at last, Spain. Unsuccessful in breaking through into France and Italy from the west, they reduced the powers to the east and arranged for the overthrow of Constantinople. Hemmed in by this dreaded Infidel power on the east, south and west the Christian nations of Europe found themselves in terrible straits. If Rome were to fall, what would become of Paris? what would become of England? of Christendom itself? This possible doom hung over Europe like a pall.
Europe met this danger with the Crusades. Inspired by a common fear the kings and princes and bishops let off warring among themselves, pooled their men and money, and set off to attack Islam in its own stronghold.
A stranger thing never happened in all history, or a bloodier, or more romantic. There were no nations in Europe, only dynasties; there was no lasting unity, not even in the church; there was no knowledge of the world outside of Europe; there was no patriotism, only personal loyalty to a leader, and allegiance to a common Faith. Consequently the Crusades became a seethe of cross-currents, of feuds, and of internecine war; kings, princes, counts, dukes, like multitudes of the common folk, perished like snowflakes in the sea.
The moving tale of it all, of how Europe found itself in its defeat, of how Jerusalem was taken and lost again, of how the Knights Templar were created and destroyed, how chivalry waxed into a wondrous bloom, then faded, and how the long troubled era of two hundred years flared finally in the burning of De Molay is told in Archer and Kingsford's The Crusades with clarity and simplicity. No better account has ever been written in one volume.
* * *
A MONITOR FOR GENERAL USE
EUREKA, OR WHAT A MASTER MASON OUGHT TO KNOW. Published by The Peerless Co., Kenmore, Ohio. May be purchased through the National Masonic Research Society Book Department, 1950 Railway Exchange, St. Louis Mo. Paper, 117 pages. Special price in quantities. Single copy, price, postpaid, sixty-five cents.
THIS is a collection of lectures, charges, and addresses compiled by a brother whose modesty has led him to hide himself behind the screen of anonymity. "While we do not claim," he writes, "that these lectures are the best there are, we do say that the ones submitted have been accepted by many as some of the best ever printed and are suitable for use in any Blue Lodge. The order of arrangement being natural and in rotation, they can be used as a whole or separated and any part desired used as the occasion presents." Brethren who have grown weary of repeating the same lectures on the Apron, the Winding Stairs, and other familiar portions of the exoteric work of the Blue Lodge, will find in this little brown volume a variety of forms from which to draw fresh material.
* * *
Freemasonry is the subjugation of the human that is in man by the divine, the conquest of the appetites and passions by the moral sense and the reason; a continual effort, struggle and warfare of the spiritual against the material and sensual. That victory - when it has been achieved and secured, and the conqueror may rest upon his shield and wear the well earned laurels – is the Holy Empire. – Albert Pike
----o----
What to Read in Masonry
THE MAKING OF AMERICAN MASONRY
IT appears that we American Masons have been more interested to learn how Masonry helped to make America than how America helped to make Masonry. At any rate, there has this long time existed a sad lack of adequate literature on the history of Freemasonry in this broad land; why, it would be difficult to say, unless it be that we are so obsessed by the present as to think - as many undoubtedly do – that what happens today is the peak and culmination of time, and what happened day before yesterday is dead and done with, and not worth caring about.
Unless it be accounted for by this prejudice against the past the paucity of readable, comprehensive and reliable histories of American Masonry is a mystery. One thing is certain! If our scribes have left the subject alone it has not been for lack of opportunity, or the failure of an audience, or for any dearth of materials. As for materials they stand about everyone of us mountain high, ready to be worked into precious metals for the enrichment of the Craft; as for an audience, it is a large one, of three million brethren good and true; and as for opportunity, it is endless, and calls loudly to men of knowledge and skill.
This is not to fling a dornick at the works already extant. Quite the contrary! Many of them are good work, true to the plumb and to the square, and fit ashlars for any library, as will be instantly patent to the discerning brother who scans the list below.
Meanwhile, the student's attention is especially called to the files of our American Masonic periodicals, the names of which, in past and present, are almost legion. The Freemason's Magazine, The Masonic Record, The Tyler-Keystone, The American Mason, The Evergreen, The Voice-Review, The New Age, The BUILDER, The Quarterly Review of Masonry, etc.; in the back files of these, and in a score of others, equally valuable, are to be found thousands of articles on every imaginable phase of American Masonic history. In addition to whatever intrinsic value they possess, many of them carry references to now forgotten books or to other sources, often obscure or unknown; only the careful student can appreciate the full value of such references.
It cannot be expected that many brethren could carry complete files of periodicals in their library, as much for the difficulty of securing them as for their cost; but in most cases a studious brother can manage to consult them in some Masonic library. There are such libraries in many cities, a partial list of which is as follows:
Boston, Massachusetts. Fargo, North Dakota. New York City (2). Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Topeka, Kansas. San Francisco, California. Montgomery, Alabama. Washington, D C. South Portland, Maine. Waynesville, North Carolina. Chicago, Illinois (2). Evanston, Illinois. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Spokane, Washington. Hot Spring, Arkansas. Delta, Colorado. Portland, Maine. Baltimore, Maryland. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Duluth, Minnesota. Salem, Oregon. Altoona, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nashville, Tennessee. Fredericksburg, Virginia. Tacoma, Washington (2). Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin. South Pines, North Carolina. Los Angeles, California (2). Winnipeg, Man., Canada. Portland, Oregon. Oakland, California. Muscatine, Iowa. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Beginnings of Freemasonry in America, Melvin M. Johnson.
Benjamin Franklin as a Freemason, Julius F. Sachse.
Centennial Memorial of Aurora Lodge, A. F. & A. M., A. D., 1801-1901, Frederick A. Currier.
Dedication Memorial of the New Masonic Temple, Philadelphia, Sept. 26, 29, 80,1878, Compiled by the Library Committee of the R.W. Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania
Franklin Bi-Centenary Celebration, Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
Freemasonry in America Prior to 1750, Melvin M. Johnson.
Freemasonry in Canada, Osborne Sheppard.
Freemasonry in Michigan (2 vole.), Jefferson S. Conover.
Freemasonry in Pennsylvania, 1727-1907, as Shown by the Records of Lodge, No. 2, F. & A. M., of Philadelphia, From the Year A. L. 5757, A. D. 1757, Compiled by N. S. Barratt and Julius F. Sachse.
Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, edited by Charles W. Moore.
History of Brother General Lafayette's Fraternal Connections With the R. W. Grand Lodge, F. & A. M., of Pennsylvania, published by the G. L. of Pennsylvania.
History of Brother Stephen Girard's Fraternal Connections With the R. W. Grand Lodge, F. & A. M., of Pennsylvania, published by the G. L. of Pennsylvania.
History of Freemasonry (American Edition), R. F. Gould
History of Freemasonry in Canada, J. Ross Robertson.
History of Freemasonry in Maryland, Edwart T. Schultz.
History of Freemasonry in Ohio From 1791, W. M. Cunningham.
History of Freemasonry in Rhode Island, Henry W. Rugg.
History of Freemasonry in South Carolina, Albert G. Mackey.
History of Freemasonry in the State of New York, Ossian Lang.
History of Lodge No. 61, F. & A. M., Wilkesbarre, Pa., Oscar Jewell Harvey.
History of St. Andrew's Lodge, No. 16, A. F. & A. M. Henry T. Smith. '
History of the Grand Lodge and of Freemasonry in the District of Columbia, Kenton N. Harper.
History of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, Morcombe and Cleveland.
History of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in New York From the Earliest Date Charles T. McClenachan.
Indian Masonry, Robert C. Wright.
Jews and Masonry in the United States Before 1810, Samuel Oppenheim.
LeTellier's Lodge at Honolulu: A Masonic History, Ed. Towse.
Life Story of Albert Pike, Fred Allsopp.
Little Masonic Library, Masonic Service Association.
Mackey's Revised History of Freemasonry, Robert I. Clegg.
Masonic Light on the Abduction and Murder of Wm. Morgan, P. C. Huntington.
Masons as Makers of America, Madison C. Peters.
Memoir of Sylvanus Cobb, Jr., Ella Waite Cobb.
Military Lodges, R. F. Gould.
Military Lodges, Alfred Lawrence.
Minutes of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania and Masonic Jurisdiction Thereunto Belonging, published by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
Mormonism and Masonry: A Utah Point of View, S. H. Goodwin.
Old Masonic Lodges of Pennsylvania, "Modern and Ancients." 1730-1801, Which Have Surrendered Their Warrants or Affiliated With Other Grand Lodges, Vols. I and II, published by G. L. of Pennsylvania.
Pioneering in Masonry, Lucien V. Rule.
Proceedings of the R. W. Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.
Report of the Masonic Overseas Mission on Efforts to Secure Governmental Permission to Engage in Independent War Relief Work Abroad.
Reprint of the Minutes of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania (six volumes), compiled by Joshua L. Lyte.
Sacred Mysteries of the Mayas and the Quiches, Auguste Le Plongeon.
Scarlet Book of Freemasonry, M. W. Redding.
Souvenir Album, Showing the Various Places of Meeting of the R. W. Grand Lodge, F. & A. M., of Pennsylvania, for the Past century and a Half, Together With Interior Views in the New Temple, prepared under the direction of the Committee on Library.
Story of Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 4, Free and Accepted Masons, Providence, Rhode Island, 1799-1924, William Evans Handy.
Story of "Old Glory". John W. Barry.
Study in American Freemasonry, Arthur Preuss.
Thomson Masonic Fraud, Isaac Blair Evans.
Washington and His Masonic Compeers, Sidney Hayden.
Washington, the Great American Mason, John J. Lanier.
Washington, the Man and the Mason, Charles H. Callahan
Washington’s Masonic Correspondence, Julius F. Sachse.
----o----
THE QUESTION BOX
LIST OF BOARDS OF RELIEF AND EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS
Where can I find a list of Boards of Masonic Relief and of Employment Bureaus? We are thinking of organizing some thing of the kind in our own city and would like to correspond with a few Secretaries before doing so.
M. J. W., Ohio.
You can find a list right here, brought up to date for us by Bro. Andrew J. O'Reilly, Secretary of Masonic Relief Association of the United States and Canada, and many thanks to him for his kindness:
Akron, Ohio. Masonic Relief Association, R. A. Walkup, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Albany, N. Y. Board of Relief, Lewis J. Barhydt, Secretary Masonic Temple.
Alexandria, Va. Board of Relief, Edgar Warfield, Secretary 300 Prince St.
Atchison, Kansas. Board of Relief, Guy W. Sharp, Secretary, 308 Commercial St.
Atlanta, Ga. Masonic Board of Relief, Walter C. Taylor, Secretary, City Hall.
Bakersfield, Calif. Masonic Board of Relief, A. D. Whittemore, Secretary.
Baltimore, Md. Masonic Board of Relief, B. Friedman, Secretary, 109 W. Lombard St.
Barrie, Ont., Can. Masonic Board of Relief, Alfred Wilkes, Secretary.
Baton Rouge, La. J. S. Busse, Secretary-Treasurer, P. O. Box 617
Beaver Falls; Pa. Board of Relief, J. L. B. Dawson, Secretary.
Billings, Mont. Masonic Board of Relief, C. S. Bell, Secretary, 406 Stapleton Block.
Binghamton, N. Y. Board of Relief, A. P. Kelsey, Secretary Masonic Temple.
Bloomington, Ill. Masonic Board of Relief, Bloomington, Ill.
Boston, Mass. Board of Relief, John A. Blake, Secretary, 207 Masonic Temple.
Brockville, Ont., Can. Board of Relief, W. H. Kyle. Secretary.
Brooklyn, N. Y. Williamsburgh Masonic Board of Relief, John Milford, Secretary, 827 Bedford Ave.
Buffalo, N. Y. Masonic Relief Board, M. O. Denny, Secretary 2 Masonic Temple.
Buffalo, N. Y. Masonic Service Bureau, E. Earle Axtell, Secretary, Room 6, Masonic Temple.
Butte, Mont. Masonic Board of Relief, George T. Wade, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Calgary, Alberta, Can. Masonic Board of Relief, Masonic Temple.
Camden, N. J. Joseph B. Davis, Secretary, 817 Hadden St.
Charleston, S. C. Masonic Board of Relief. J. Berkman, Secretary, 4 Carolina St.
Charlotte, N. C. Masonic Board of Relief, H. A. Franklin. Secretary-Treasurer, 1704 Cleveland Ave.
Chattanooga, Tenn. Masonic Board of Relief.
Chillicothe, Mo. Masonic Board of Relief.
Chicago, Ill. Board of Relief, Nicholas E. Murray, Secretary 5812 West End Ave.
Chicago, Ill. Board of Relief, W. O. Robinson, Agent, 77 W. Washington.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati Relief Association. Rolland L. Kraw, Secretary, 602 Southern Ohio Bank Bldg
Cleveland. Ohio. Board of Relief, Isaac Morris, Secretary, 3515 Euclid Ave.
Cleveland, Ohio. Masonic Employment Bureau, R. S. Rovers Sec'y and Supt., 316 Claxton Bldg.
Clinton, Iowa. Board of Relief, Dr. E. F. Martindale, Secretary.
Colorado Springs, Colo. Masonic Board of Relief, Oliver E. Collins. Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Columbia, Mo. Masonic Board of Relief.
Columbus, Ohio. Columbus EmpIoyment Bureau, W. S. Andrews. Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Concord, N. H. Board of Relief, John H. Wasson, Secretary.
Cortland. N. Y. Board of Relief, Charles H. Jones, Secretary.
Council Bluffs, Iowa. Masonic Relief Board, W. E. McConnell, Secretary, 414 Broadway.
Cumberland, Md. Masonic Relief Committee.
Dallas, Tex. Masonic Board of Relief, W. C. Lemon, Chairman, 300 Austin St.
Davenport, Iowa. Davenport Relief Board, C.E. Harrison. Agent, 1201 Bridge Ave.
Dayton, Ohio. Board of Masonic Relief, W. A. Marietta, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Decatur, Ill. Masonic Relief Board, Elmer O. Brintlinger, Secretary, 543 N. Maine St.
Denver, Colo. Board of Relief, Dr. M. H. Dean, Secretary, 219 Masonic Temple.
Des Moines, Iowa. B. F. Stretson, Charity Agent, 4th floor, Masonic Temple.
Detroit, Mich. Masonic Board of Relief, Fred J. Lawrence Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Dubuque, Iowa. Board of Relief, C. W. Walton, Secretary 1072 Main St.
Duluth, Minn. Masonic Board of Relief, H. VanBrunt, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
East St. Louis, Ill. Masonic Board of Relief.
Edmonton, Alberta, Can. Masonic Board of Relief, Lorne Muir, Secretary, P. O. Box 517.
El Paso, Tex. Masonic Board of Relief, Forest E. Baker, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Evansville, Ind. Masonic Relief Association, Fred H. Ruff Secretary Masonic Temple Association, Third and Chestnut St.
Fort Wayne, Ind. Fort Wayne Relief Board, J. M. Stouder Chairman, 122 E. Columbia St.
Fort Worth, Texas. Masonic Relief Association, E. F. Green Secretary-Treasurer, 215 1/2 Main St.
Fresno, Calif. Board of Relief, S. B. Leas, Secretary.
Galveston, Texas. Masonic Board of Relief, Walter L. Norwood, Chairman
Grand Rapids, Mich Masonic Board of Relief, David Farbs 225 Ottawa Ave.
Great Falls, Mont. Great Falls Relief Board, O. B. Kotz, Secretary, P. O. Box 112.
Guelph, Ont., Can. Masonic Board of Relief, A. Jeffray, Secretary, 54 Perston St.
Hamilton, Ont., Can. Masonic Board of Relief, H. R. Clark, Secretary, 24 Poulette St.
Hannibal, Mo. Masonic Relief Board, W. H. Blackshaw, Secretary, 1241 Paris Ave.
Hartford, Conn. Hartford Masonic Board of Relief, George A. Kies, Secretary-Treasurer, Masonic Temple.
Helena, Mont. Masonic Board of Relief, Wm. T. Hull, Secretary, care Nat'l Bank of Mont.
Honolulu, T. H. Masonic Board of Relief. Wm. Bell, Secretary.
Houston, Tex. Houston Board of Relief, J. E. Chestnutt, Chairman, 302 Main St.
Independence, Mo. Masonic Board of Relief, F. Walker, Secretary.
Indianapolis. Ind. Masonic Board of Relief, Rev. Willis D. Engle. Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Jacksonville, Fla. Jacksonville Relief Committee, W. S. Ware Secretary, 210 Masonic Temple.
Jeffersonville, Ind. Masonic Board of Relief, Wm. G. Young. Secretary.
Joliet. Ill. Masonic Board of Relief, E. W. Willard, Secretary, 407 Union St.
Joplin, Mo. Joplin Relief Board. M. Wyler, Secretary.
Kansas City, Kansas. Masonic Board of Relief, J. R. McFarland. Secretary. Court House.
Kansas City, Mo. Masonic Board of Relief, W.S. Lane, Secretary, Masonic Temple, 9th and Harrison Sts.
Kingston, Ont.. Can. Masonic Board of Relief, W. A. Bearance Secretary-Treasurer, 493 Princess St.
Kirksville, Mo. Masonic Board of Relief.
Knoxville, Tenn. Knoxville Relief Board, Dr. J. D. Henderson Secretary, Box 475.
Leavenworth. Kansas. Leavenworth Relief Board, Geo. W. Leek, Secretary.
Lethbridge, Alberta, Can. Masonic Board of Relief, John A Livingstone, Secretary, P. O. Box 94.
Lexington. Ky. Masonic Board of Relief, John W. Lancaster Secretary, 129 Cheapside.
Lima. Mont. Board of Relief, S. W. Vance, Secretary
Lima. Ohio. Masonic Relief Board, Fred Barrington, Secretary, 901 Albert St.
Lincoln. Neb. Masonic Board of Relief, Fred W. Tyler, Secretary, 1204 A. St.
London. Ont..- Can. London Benevolent Association, Inc., Rt. Wor. J.W. Metherall. Pres.-Chairman, 633 Queens Ave. W. Bro. H. J. Childs. Secretarv-Treasnrer, 293 Dundas St.
London, Ont., Can. Masonic Board of Relief, A. Ellis, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Los Angeles, Calif. Masonic Board of Relief, Dr. J.M. Dunsmoor, Secretary, 435 Stimson Bldg.
Louisville, Ky. Louisville Relief Board, Charles H. Boden Secretary, 961 S. Second St.
Lowell, Mass. Masonic Board of Relief, Lucius A. Derby, Secretary.
Manila, P. I. Masonic Board of Relief, R. E. Clarke, Secretary, 105 Escolta.
Maryville, Mo. Masonic Board of Relief, Dr. L. C. Dean, Secretary.
Meadville, Pa. Masonic Board of Relief, Edwin M. Hoffman Secretary, 545 Terrace St.
Memphis, Tenn. Memphis Relief Board, Chas. E. Lodge, Secretary, 4th and Court Ave.
Mexico City, Mexico. Masonic Board of Relief, C. T. Craig, Secretary, Aparto 858.
Milwaukee, Wis. Masonic Service Bureau, P. A. Roth, Field Secretary, 2nd floor, 470 Van Buren St
Minneapolis, Minn. Masonic Board of Relief, R. A. Saunderson, Secretary, 420 Masonic Temple.
Missoula, Mont. Masonic Relief Board, Levi Whithee, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Montreal, Que., Can. Masonic Board of Relief, Alexander Strachan, Secretary, 271 Prince Arthur St., West.
Muskogee, Okla. Masonic Relief Committee, F. L. Walton, Secretary.
Nashville, Tenn. Masonic Relief Board, Aaron Bergado, Secretary, 610 Church St.
New Albany, Ind. New Albany Relief Committee, Hugh J. Needham, Secretary, Room 207, Post Office Bldg.
New Haven, Conn. Masonic Board of Relief, S. A. Moyle P. O. Box 872.
New Orleans, La. Louisiana Relief Lodge No. 1, John A. Davilla, Secretary, 301 Masonic Temple.
Newport News, Va. Masonic Board of Relief, A. L. Evans Secretary, 228 29th St.
New York City, N. Y. Masonic Board of Relief, Robert S. Wardle, Secretary, 71 West 23rd St.
New York City, N. Y. Italian Board of Relief, F. W. Chillemi Secretary, 156 Franklin St., Astoria, L. I
New Westminster, B. C., Can. Masonic Board of Relief, A. Minn, Secretary, Custom House.
Oakland, Calif. Masonic Board of Relief, R. G. Evans, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Omaha, Neb. Masonic Board of Relief, Chas. Bradley, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Ottawa, Ont., Can. Masonic Board of Relief, D. A. Esdale, Secretary.
Pasadena, Calif. Masonic Board of Relief, Luciene A. Parmalee, Secretary.
Pekin, Ill. Masonic Board of Relief, F. W. Soady, Secretary.
Peoria, Ill. Masonic Board of Relief, Chas. H. Toddhunter, Secretary.
Peterborough, Ont., Can. Masonic Board of Relief, Henry Rush, Secretary.
Pocatello, Idaho. Masonic Board of Relief, E. G. Houde, Secretary
Portland, Maine. Masonic Relief Board, Almon L. Johnson, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Portland, Oregon. Masonic Service and Employment Bureau, N. H. Atchison, Manager, Multnomah Hotel.
Portland, Oregon. Masonic Board of Relief, P. P. Kilbourne, Secretary, Multnomah Hotel.
Pueblo, Colo. Masonic Board of Relief, Wm. Peach, 40 Masonic Temple.
Quincy, Ill. Masonic Board of Relief, Paul G. Duncan, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Rahway, N. J. Masonic Bureau of New Jersey, R. A. Vertseeg, Secretary.
Raleigh, N. C. Masonic Board of Relief, Wm. P. Little, Secretary, care Wake Co. Savings Bank.
Regina, Sask., Can. The Masonic Council of Regina, J. G. Lowrie, Secretary, 3273 Retallock St.
Richmond, Ind. Masonic Relief Board, Clarence W. Foreman, Secretary.
Richmond, Va. Masonic Board of Relief, B. C. Lewis, Jr., President, 1015 E. Maine St.
Rochester, N. Y. Masonic Service Bureau, H. G. Oliver, Manager, 61-63 Clinton Ave., North.
Sacramento, Calif. Masonic Board of Relief, A. V. Henning, Secretary, 302 Capitol Nat'l Bank Bldg.
Saginaw, Mich. Saginaw Board of Relief, C. J. Phelps, Secretary, 410 Bearinger Bldg.
Salina, Kansas. Masonic Board of Relief, W. G. Dewees, Secretary.
Salt Lake City, Utah. Masonic Board of Relief, F. J. Keller, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
San Antonio, Texas. Masonic Employment and Relief Bureau Leland S. Wood, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
San Diego, Calif. Masonic Board of Relief, R.W. Belding, Secretary, Masonic Temple
San Francisco, Calif. Masonic Board of Relief, Leo Bruck Secretary, Masonic Temple
San Jose, Calif. San Jose Relief Committee, W. J. Anthes, Jr., Secretary, Sciot's Club.
Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Can. Masonic Board of Relief, E. I. Scott, Secretary
Savannah, Ga. Masonic Relief Association, A. L. Maxwell, Chairman, Court House.
Scranton, Pa. Masonic Relief Association, Ernest I. Paine, Chairman, 731 Connell Bldg.
Seattle, Wash. Masonic Relief and Employment Bureau, Harry M. Welliver, Secretary 5193 Arcade Bldg
Sedalia, Mo. Masonic Board of Relief, J. Rautenstrauch, Secretary, 703 W. 7th.
Sioux City, Iowa. Masonic Board of Relief, Charles L. Guiney Secretary, 302 Motor Mart Bldg.
South Bend, Ind. South Bend Relief Board, F. M. Boone, Secretary, Tribune Printing Co.
Southern Pines, N. C. Masonic Board of Relief, R. H. Chandler, Secretary.
Springfield, Ill. Masonic Board of Control, J. R. Orr, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Springfield, Mass. Springfield Emergency Fund, Howard L. Kinsman, Secretary, 43 Maplewood Terrace
Springfield, Mo. Masonic Relief Board, M. F. Smith, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
St. Johns, New Brunswick. Masonic Board of Relief, Alexander R. Campbell, Secretary, 26 Germains St.
St. Joseph, Mo. St. Joseph Board of Relief, Orestes Mitchell, Secretary, 304 Corby-Forsee Bldg.
St. Paul, Minn. Masonic Board of Relief, Andrew B. Swansstrom, Agent, Masonic Temple.
St. Louis, Mo. Masonic Board of Relief, Chas. H. Schureman, Secretary, 2207 S. Grand Ave.
St. Louis, Mo. Masonic Employment Bureau, Wm. C. Heim Secretary, 2159 Railway Exchange Bldg.
St. Louis County, Mo. Board of Relief, Homer N. Lloyd, Secretary, 517 Meramec St., Clayton.
St. Thomas, Ont., Can. St. Thomas Relief Board, Fred W. Judd, Secretary, 379 Talbot St.
Stockton, Calif. Masonic Board of Relief, E. H. McGowen, Secretary.
Syracuse, N. Y. Masonic Board of Relief, S. D. Solomon Secretary, 712 S. A. &c K. Bldg.
Tampa, Fla. Masonic Board of Relief, D. C. Hill, Secretary 1323 Franklin St.
Terre Haute, Ind. Terre Haute Relief Board, Charles H. Traquair, Secretary, 320 N. Seventh St.
Toledo, Ohio. Masonic Executives' Association, Joseph J. Devlin, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Toronto, Ont., Can. Masonic Board of Relief, J. B. Nixon, Secretary-Treasurer, 154 Bay St.
Troy, N. Y. Masonic Relief Board, F. E. Bowen, Secretary National State Bank.
Tulsa, Okla. Masonic Relief Board, Frank S. Davison, Secretary, 316 E. 3rd St.
Utics, N. Y. Masonic Board of Relief, Arthur D. Evans, Secretary.
Vancouver, B. C. Masonic Board of Relief, Lewis E. Frith, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Vancouver, Wash. Masonic Board of Relief, C. A. Parrish, Secretary, 807 Main St.
Vicksburg, Miss. Board of Relief, Dan G. Flohr, Chairman, 1322 Washington St
Victoria, B. C. Masonic Board of Relief, Stewart M. Manuel, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Washington, D. C. Masonic Board of Relief, Wm. Mehn, Secretary, Masonic Temple.
Waterbury, Conn. Masonic Board of Relief, O. A. Ziglatzki, Chairman.
Wheeling, W. Va. Masonic Relief Association, Thos. T. Meek Secretary, Scottish Rite Cathedral.
Wilmington, Del. Masonic Board of Relief, Walter I,. Morgan, Secretary, 3rd and Franklin Sts.
Wilmington, N. C. Masonic Board of Relief, H. E. Walton Secretary, 19 S. 9th St.
Windsor, Ont., Can. Windsor Relief Board, John Fry, Secretary.
Winnipeg, Man., Can. Masonic Board of Relief, John McCrea, Secretary, 63 Albert St.
Woodstock, Ont., Can. Masonic Board of Relief, John Morrison, Secretary.
Worcester, Mass. Masonic Board of Relief, Arthur H. Burton, Secretary, City Hall.
Ypsilanti, Mich. Masonic Relief Committee, J. R. Dell, Chairman.
----o----
Keep within compass
And then you'll be sure
To avoid many troubles
That others endure.
