The Builder Magazine 

May 1930 - Volume XVI - Number 5 


FREEMASONRY IN THE CIVIL WAR 

BY ALBERT PIKE 

At the Triennial Convention of the General Grand Chapter held in St. Louis, 
September, 1 868, a banquet was held in the new Masonic Hall on Tuesday 
evening, the 15th with 320 guests present. During the program of speeches there 
were many loud calls for Albert Pike, who finally arose, amid a thunderous 
applause, and delivered an impassioned speech about the record of the Craft during 
the Civil War. His address was doubly significant; first, in view of the fact that he 
had himself been an officer in the Confederate Army, and secondly that his being 
called upon was a gesture of friendship as between the North and the South. Surely 
it is a matter for just pride that our Fraternity was the first in the field to heal over 
the wounds of that internecine strife. 


Companions! Have you ever realized until now, as fully as you do now realize it, 
the true meaning of that word, Companion? We generally think that, while we call 
a Master Mason Brother, we only call a Royal Arch Mason Companion, which 
simply means one associated with us, perhaps for the day, in the day's work; from 
whom we separate at night without a care whether we shall see him on the next day 
or not, or into whatever paths fortune may take us on the next morning. Is that the 
meaning that Masonry attaches to the meaning of the word Companion? If that is 
the meaning, if that has been the meaning that you and I, and the rest of us, have 
heretofore given to the word Companion, it seems to me that tonight, in this 
glorious assemblage, the Royal Arch Masons from all the States and Territories of 
this great Union, must have learned that there is a different meaning to the word 
Companion from that which we have heretofore attached to it. 


When she whom we love, when she whom we loved in our youth placed her little 
hand in ours, and at the altar, in the presence of the minister of God, pledged her 



faith to us that she would love, honor and obey us all our life, she became our 
companion through the thorny ways of life. When out in the great desert, through 
which now the steamhorse is carrying the blessings of civilization to the extreme 
West, thirty odd years ago, when I clasped hands with a bosom friend on that 
prairie, when my life was in his hand and his life in my hand, and we were there 
together, hand in hand and heart to heart, depending on one another, almost alone 
in the world, he was my companion, as Masons should be companions to one 
another in the dark days of trouble. Ah ! shame upon the Mason, shame upon the 
Mason who could go away from such an assemblage as this, and carry in his heart 
one single feeling of malice or ill will to any worthy and true Mason in the world. 
Shame upon the man who, after coming here and seeing these intelligent faces, 
these faces that will put to shame the Legislatures of two thirds of the States of the 
Union, the seeing these faces, that would put to shame two thirds of the Parliament 
of England and of the Congress of the United States; shame upon the man who 
recollects that here, in this hall, are assembled the representatives of the States of 
this great Union of States, that not long ago were disbanded by the convulsions of 
civil war, during which the bonds of the Masonic Fraternity were not weakened, 
thank God, and seeing us met here again as Brothers; not coldly welcomed, when 
we have clasped hands with you here, on your own soil, west of the Mississippi; 
not coldly received, as some of us feared, perhaps, that we might be; but when in 
every Northern face we meet a smile of glad welcome and rejoicing as we once 
more clasp hands together; shame on the man who can carry away from this 
assemblage one single unholy feeling that should not belong to a pure Masonic 
heart. God pity the man who will not here lay on the altar of Masonry every feeling 
of rivalry, every feeling of ambition, every feeling of ill-will in his heart toward his 
Brother Mason; no matter what rite you believe, at what altar of Freemasonry you 
worship, Freemasonry is one faith, one great religion, one great common altar, 
around which all men of all tongues and all languages can assemble; in which there 
can be no rivalry, except a noble emulation of rites, orders, and degrees, which can 
best work and best agree. 


In the Name of All humanity! 


My brethren, how can I return you my thanks? Shall I return them in my own 
name, because you have so highly honored me as to call upon me again and again 
to address you ? No. I know the compliment was not paid to me alone. I know it 



was but an expression of the Masonic love and regard and affection that you of the 
Northern States feel toward the brethren whom you think erred in the late civil war, 
but toward whom you maintained, through that war, those feelings of charity, 
Masonic kindness, love and affection, that become Masons to entertain toward one 
another in the convulsions of civil war. Shall I thank you in the name of my State ? 
Shall I thank you in the name of Tennessee ? Shall I thank you in the name of the 
whole South? No thanks that the South could return to you, if the South had 
authorized me to speak on behalf of the whole body of Masons in the South, with 
my single tongue, could adequately express the thanks you deserve for the 
kindness you have shown on this occasion. I return you the thanks of universal 
humanity. I return to you - and this nation ought to return to you - thanks for 
teaching them the great lesson, that brethren of a common country, with the same 
blood flowing in their veins, may fight a desperate and bloody war for years; may 
expose their lives breast to breast, in supporting that which they believed to be 
right - a portion supporting the rights of States as they understood them, and the 
other portion supporting the glorious old flag - the stars and stripes; that through it 
all, thank God, Masonry has furnished an example of charity and toleration, that 
shall teach the men of the South to respect the men of the North for fighting for 
what they believed to be right, and shall also teach the men of the North to respect 
the men of the South for fighting for what they believed to be right in regard to 
their States. 


At any rate, whether they have that charity or not - whether they believe they were 
honest or not - they shall at least have charity to forgive their Brother, though he 
offend against them ninety and nine times. I thank God, my brethren, that the news 
of this great assemblage will go over the whole world; that it will not, as it ought 
not, be confined here in our own country, but that the cry shall go over the whole 
world, to the honor of Masonry, that after a long and bloody and devastating civil 
war - when, having come away fresh from our ruined homes and impoverished 
communities among a people who were triumphant over us, we have come here 
and trusted to your magnanimity, because it is the loser that can afford to be 
magnanimous more than the winner. And that we have been met with open arms, 
with no coldness or reservation, as Masons ought to meet; and if there was a latent, 
lurking, hidden ill-feeling, in the bosoms of any of us, that right here now we 
should all take the oath, and I propose to you to take it - that we swear that we will 
bury all feelings here under the altar of Masonry; that we here sacrifice upon the 
altar of Masonry all feelings of ill-will, jealousy, and rivalry, and ambition, within 
Masonry and without; and, moreover, that we will hereafter, by our lives, 



conversations, or teachings, make Masonry a great power in this world; that we 
will show mankind that we have intellect, learning, power and might, to make 
Masonry a great power for the benefit of the human race; and Masonry will never 
be true to her mission till we all join hands - heart to heart and hand to hand - 
around the altar of Masonry, with a determination that Masonry shall become, at 
some time, worthy of her pretensions; no longer a pretender to that which is good, 
but that she shall be an apostle of peace, good- will, and charity, and toleration. 


— o — 


The Real Cagliostro 
His Memorial to the French Parliament 
BY BRO CYRUS FIELD WILLARD 
(Concluded from April) 


WOULD anyone believe that innocence could be reduced to such a degree of 
misfortune that a decree of prise de corps would be regarded as a favor from 
Heaven ? 


Such was my situation. After five months captivity, when I received legal notice of 
this decree, the bailiff appeared to me as an Angel from Heaven who had 
descended into my prison to announce to me the liberty to see a lawyer, and the 
right to vindicate myself. 


The decree was dated December 15th and it was declared to me on January 30th, 
and the same day I submitted to an examination. I believe that it would but 
imperfectly fulfill the promise I have made to the public to show myself as I am 
did I not put before their eyes, a document which will give a clear idea of my 



character, my innocence and the nature of the accusation brought against me. [Note 
This has been written from memory but my memory is good and I can assure the 
reader that there is no essential omission. ] 


EXAMINATION OF THE COUNT DE CAGLIOSTRO. January 30, 1786. 


Question. What is your age ? Answer. 37 to 38 years 


Q. Your name? 

A. Alexander Cagliostro 


Q. The place of your birth? 

A. I cannot assert whether I was bom at Malta or Medinah: I have always been 
with a tutor who told me that my birth was noble, that I lost my father and mother 
at the age of three months, etc. 


Q. How long have you been in Paris? 
A. I arrived here January 30, 1785. 


Q. When you arrived here in what neighborhood did you live ? 

A. At the Palais-Royal, in a furnished hotel, where I remained twenty days more or 
less 


Q. When you arrived had you the money necessary to set up a house? 



A. Most assuredly: I brought with me all that I might need in order to take a house. 


Q. Where did you take this house? 

A. In the rue St. Claude, near the Boulevard. 


Q. Who took this house, you or the Prince? 

A. I requested M. de Carbonnieres to go over this contract, never having made one 
before in any part of the world. It is for this reason that I begged M. de 
Carbonnieres to make the necessary arrangements and bargainings, for the house 
as well as for the upholsterers, the carriages, etc., etc. From time to time I 
furnished him the money necessary to pay for these different matters and for which 
he gave me afterwards the receipts. 


Q. Who has provided for your livelihood? 
A. Always myself and for everything. 


Q. But the Prince went to eat with you? 

A. Although he came to my house, it was none the less at my expense that this was 
done. Some times, however, when he came to dine and brought with him friends 
or proteges, he ordered that they bring from his house one or two dishes. But 
nevertheless, in spite of that, I did not fail to reimburse my cook every evening for 
any outlay made during the day. 


Q. Did you see the Prince immediately on your arrival ? 
A. No, not until two or three days later. 



Q. What did he say to you when you saw him for the first time ? 
A. He persuaded me to remain at Paris and not travel any more. 


Q. Did the Prince come every day to dine with you ? 

A. In the beginning he came but rarely to dinner, but since then he came three or 
four times a week. 


Q. Have you known a lady called la Motte? 

A. Certainly: the first time I saw her she told me that I had seen her in men's 
clothes at the foot of my stairway at Strasburg; that she had asked me news of the 
Marquise de Boulainvilliers; that I had answered her that she was at Saveme and 
she had departed the same day to join her. 


Q. Have you seen her since in the house of the Prince? 
A. Most certainly. 


Q. Was she with one of her nieces? 
A. No. 


Q. But you have made a performance with the niece? 

A. Permit me to relate to you the facts: (See the narrative on page 23 and 
following pages). 



Q. They say that you put a crucifix on the neck of the girl and ribbons of black, 
green, red and other colors, with an apron having a fringe of silver, and that you 
made the said girl swear on her knees? 

A. That is false. I only recollect that the Prince added some ribbons to the attire of 
the girl in order to please her. I believe that I also found in my pocket an apron of 
ordinary Masonry, but I am not sure that it was used on the girl. I would defer to 
the memory of the Prince whether or not it was used and what he says will be the 
truth for me. 


Q. Did you put a sword, I do not know how, on the girl? A. I do not know any such 
thing, but having my sword at my side I may have taken it off. 


Q. And with regard to the oath ? 

A. That is false. I have already told you why I did all that I have done on that 
occasion. 


Q. Is it true that after the second performance and the girl having withdrawn, you 
passed with the Prince and Madame de la Motte into another room, in the middle 
of which was a poniard, crosses of St. Andrew, a sword, crucifixes, crosses of 
Jerusalem, some Agnus Dei, and besides these, lighted candles, to the number of 
thirty, giving a great light; that you made Madame la Motte take an oath, declaring 
that it was necessary that she swear she would tell nothing to any person of what 
she would see; that you said then to the Prince: "Well, Prince, take that which you 
know"; that the Prince opened his secretary, from which he took an oval box of 
white wood filled with unmounted diamonds; that you added: "Pay attention, 
Prince, there is another one of them which you know"; that in fact the Prince took 
it and said to Madame de la Motte, "Well, Madame, I am giving you six thousand 
francs and these diamonds which you will give to your husband and tell him to 
make the voyage to London quietly in order to sell them or have them mounted, 
and he is not to return until he has executed all that?" 


A. That is false; false and very false; and I have the proofs to the contrary. 



Q. What proofs can you produce? 


A. First, every time that this magnetism was produced, it was M. de Carbonnieres 
who prepared the room, and, after the second performance was finished, he 
brought in a respectable person whom 1 do not wish to name. But the Prince will 
tell you who he was, as I do not care to call a man respectable for such a folly. 
Prince Louis and both these persons will say truly that there was in that room 
neither poniard nor cross nor candles, and the servants will bear witness whether 
the room was more lighted than usual. 


Q. Is it true that you have said, or made the Prince believe, that he would be raised 
up to the Ministry of the King? 

A. That is false. I have always advised him to leave Paris and withdraw to 
Saverne, because he would be able to do much more good there and live more 
tranquilly. 


Q. Is it true that you have said, or made the Prince believe, that your wife was the 
intimate friend and confidant of the Queen, and maintained a daily correspondence 
with the Queen? 

A. Parbleu! This is too hard to swallow. If the Prince said that, with all the respect 
I owe him, I can only say that it is a deception false in character. 


Q. M. the Reporter showed me then a little note and asked me: "Are you 
acquainted with this note, yes or no?" 

A. I do not know what this note is, and I am not acquainted with the handwriting. 
My wife and I have never been at Versailles, we never have had the honor to 
know the Queen, and we never have left Paris since we came here. Besides that, as 
my wife does not know how to write, how could all this be possible? [Note It 
often happens that the Roman ladies, even the best brought up, do not know how 
to write. It is a precaution they take in order to avoid love intrigues.] 



Q. Has the Prince ever given diamonds to you or to your wife? 


A. Never have I known of any other thing than this: When I was at Strasburg I had 
a very curious knob of a cane, containing a repeating watch, surrounded with 
diamonds. I made a present of it to the Prince. He wished to offer me some other 
jewels in exchange, but I refused them, having always had more pleasure in giving 
than in receiving. It is true that every time my wife's birthday came around, the 
Prince made her some small present, but 1 believe that all these consisted of was 
this: in a Saint- Esprit, in a circle around my portrait which was in pearls, the 
Prince caused them to be replaced with small diamonds, and a little watch with its 
chain in small diamonds, of which there were five a little larger than the others. As 
to the rest of my diamonds they are known in all the foreign courts of Europe, 
where I have been. The proof is easy to obtain. I am at the Bastille, my wife is 
there likewise, as well as all my fortune. You have only to examine and convince 
yourself of the truth. 


Q. But you make expenditures; you give a great deal and take nothing, you pay 
everybody; then what do you do in order to obtain money ? 

A. That question has no relation to the matter in action, but I am willing to satisfy 
you. What matters it to know whether I am the son of a monarch or the son of a 
poor man, and why I travel without wishing to make myself known? What matters 
it to know how I act in order to procure money for myself ? As long as I respect 
Religion and the Laws, as long as I pay everybody, as long as I do good only and 
never evil, the question you ask me becomes needless and is not at all suitable. 
You should know that I have always taken pleasure in not satisfying the vulgar 
curiosity on that point, in spite of all they have said about me when they circulated 
the story that I was the anti-Christ, the Wandering Jew, the man of 1400 years, the 
Unknown Philosopher, and in short, all the horrible things that the malice of the 
wicked could invent. I am pleased to avow to you, however, that which I have 
never disclosed to anyone. Learn that the resources are these: that immediately I 
go into a country, I have a banker there who furnishes me with all that I need, and 
who is reimbursed for it afterwards. For example in France I have Sarrasin of 
Basle, who would give me all his fortune if I wished it; even as at Lyons M. 
Sancostar would do likewise. But I have always begged these gentlemen not to say 



that they were my bankers. I have besides other resources in various things which 
are known to me. 


Q. Did the Prince show you a note with the signature, Marie Antoinette de France? 

A. I believe that 15 or 20 days before being arrested he showed me the note of 
which you speak. 


Q. What did you say about it? 

A. I said that I could not believe any other thing than that Madame la Motte was a 
cheat and was deceiving the Prince. Indeed I have always told the Prince to 
beware of her and that she was a vile wicked woman, but the Prince never wanted 
to believe me. I have always thought the note was a forgery. 


Q. Look at this note and tell me if it is the same? 

A. M. the Reporter showed me then a note on which I saw the name of Marie 
Antoinette de France. But having noticed that it was covered with figures, I 
replied: "I am not able to testify that this is the same, because there are figures on 
it which I have not seen before." 


Q. You may know that these figures were made by us. 

A. That is all the same to me. I say that I am not able in my conscience to certify 
that this is the same. Besides that, I examined it too little before, since it was an 
affair that did not concern me and so it was of little consequence to me to know 
whether it was real or a forgery. 


Q. Is it true that before entering the Bastille you wished to buy a house for one 
hundred and fifty thousand francs? 



A. That is false. I remember one day, while having my hair dressed by my 
wigmaker, some persons spoke to me about a summerhouse that a company of my 
friends wished to buy and I said that I would like to take it for myself. But I held 
this talk as only in the air and without any purpose. The persons who wished to 
buy this house were M. de Bondy and others. [Note The Examination was closed 
after I recalled this last circumstance, and M. the Reporter did not believe that it 
was necessary to add it to my answer.] 


I promised after I had made myself known that I would answer those things which 
concern me in the injurious charges which the Countess de la Motte permitted 
herself to make. This task will be as fatiguing to me as it will be tedious to the 
public. Nevertheless I shall fulfill this duty scrupulously while begging the readers 
who know me and those who are ready to appreciate me, not to give themselves 
the trouble to read this part of my defence. 


REFUTATION OF THAT PART OF THE MEMORIAE OF THE COUNTESS 
DE LA MOTTE WHICH CONCERNS THE COUNT DE CAGLIOSTRO. 


Extract from the Memorial: 


The Countess de la Motte thus begins in her exordium, page 3 : 


"Here is introduced one of those persons whom the ignorant vulgar call 
extraordinary Men, an Emptric, Dreamer on the Philosophical Stone, False 
Prophet in the Sects in which he says he is educated, Profaner of the only true 
worship, and called by himself Count de Cagliostro. Yes, depository on the part of 
M. de Rohan of the splendid Necklace, Cagliostro has cut it up in pieces in order 
to increase by it the occult treasure (I) of an unheard-of fortune." 



Whatever one might say of the style which reigns in the defense of the Countess de 
la Motte, it has at least one great advantage of including a great many insults in a 
very small space. However, it is not my intention to set myself up as a censor of 
the grammatical part of her memorial. I would have passed over in silence even 
this slight observation if, satisfied with wounding the language, the Countess de la 
Motte had respected in her writings the public, decency and truth. 


Let us then pass on to the insults. 


"Empiric in the art of human cures." 


1 remember having heard this word often in the mouth of certain persons; but I 
have never been able to know exactly what it meant? If they wish by this to 
designate a man who without being a Doctor yet has a knowledge of Medicine, 
who goes to see the sick and never wishes pay for his visits; who cures the poor as 
well as the rich and receives money from no one; then in that case I confess it and 
have the honor to be an empire. 


"Low Alchemist." 


Alchemist or not, the qualification of "low" becomes only those who beg and 
crawl. Everyone knows whether the Count de Cagliostro has ever asked favors or 
board and lodging of anyone. 


"Dreamer on the Philosopher's Stone." 


Whatever may be my opinion on the Philosopher's Stone. I have kept silence and 
the Public has never been troubled with my reveries. 



"False Prophet," etc. 


I have not always been so. If M. the Cardinal de Rohan had believed me he would 
not have trusted the Countess de la Motte and we would not be where we are now. 


"Profaner of the only true Worship." 


This is more serious. I have always respected Religion. 1 deliver my life and 
exterior conduct to the inquisition of the law; as to my inner life, God alone can 
demand an account of it. 


"Styled by himself Count de Cagliostro." 


I have borne the name of Cagliostro throughout all Europe. As to the quality of 
Count one can judge by the education I have received and by the respect that has 
been shown me by the Mufti Salshaym, the Sherif of Mecca, the Grand Master 
Pinto, the Pope Rezzonieo [Clement XIII] and the greater part of the sovereigns of 
Europe whether it is not rather a disguise than a title. 


"Depository of the splendid Necklace." 


I have never been the depository of the splendid Necklace. I have never ever seen 
it. 



"Cagliostro has cut it up in order to increase by it the occult treasure of an unheard- 
of fortune." 


If my fortune is so surprising, if I am the possessor of an "occult treasure" I have 
no need then to cut up a necklace in order to enrich myself. 


When a man is rich enough and great enough, to be able to scorn the favors of 
sovereigns all his life and refuse constantly gifts that the common run of mankind 
can receive without degrading themselves, he does not tarnish the glory of a life 
without reproach in a moment. He does not descend suddenly from the 
magnificence of a Prince to shameful actions to which man can be led only by an 
excess of misconduct and dissipation. 


The Countess de la Motte continues: 


In order to conceal his theft, Cagliostro commanded M. de Rohan by the power he 
has created over him, to cause to be sold and to have mounted small portions of 
the diamonds at Paris by the Countess de la Motte, and to cause to be mounted and 
sold in England more considerable portions of them by her husband. 


The intention of the Countess de la Motte has been in this story, which is void of 
all probability, to turn into ridicule M. the Cardinal de Rohan by representing him 
not as my friend, but as a slave so submissive to my will that when I command 
him to become an accomplice in a theft, of which the profit would have been 
entirely mine, he does not hesitate to obey me. 


Such an assertion which combines at the same time extravagance and indecency 
does not merit a serious answer. 



It may however become valuable in this lawsuit, inasmuch as it contains a formal 
avowal that a part of the diamonds coming from the necklace had been sold in 
France by the Countess de la Motte, and that another part had been also sold in 
England. 


We find in the Memorial of the Countess de la Motte, on page 23, the following 
expressions: 


Here are the vast plans of Cagliostro which though veiled at first are developed by 
the beginnings, the progress and an issue equally murderous for the Cardinal and 
the Lady de la Motte. 


The development of which the Countess de la Motte here speaks, these vast plans 
which are at first veiled, and which are developed afterwards by beginnings, some 
progresses, and an issue, imply at least an entire year dedicated to intrigue before I 
succeeded in making myself master of the Necklace. But how can this supposition 
be reconciled with the fact? 


I came to Paris in 1783 for the first time, but I remained here only thirteen days, 
occupied from morning till night in treating the sick. It was certainly not then that I 
could occupy myself with intrigue. Let us see if it is not possible that I may have 
mixed in it on my last trip. 


The complaint returned by the Attorney-General makes known the fact that the 
negotiations relative to the Necklace were made at the end of January, 1785. It 
shows also that the jewelers put their acceptance at the foot of the proposition 
presented by the Cardinal, and that the Necklace was delivered in the morning of 
the first of February. I arrived at Paris (and the fact is easy to verify) on January 
30,1785, at nine o'clock in the evening. 



Everything was then consummated at the time of my arrival excepting the delivery 
of the Necklace, which took place thirty-six hours later. 


I was at Lyons during the negotiations; and I was at Bordeaux at the time of the 
appearance of the false Queen in the thicket of Trianon. 


Would I then come to Paris expressly to gather the fruit of an intrigue that another 
than myself had plotted? 


What absurdity ! 


Yet I am decreed under arrest and the dungeons of the Bastille re-echo for the past 
six months with my groans and those of my unfortunate wife. And still the cries 
of oppressed innocence have not yet been able to reach the ears of the most just of 
Kings. But let us continue with this libel. 


The Countess de la Motte after having pretended to have proved the necessity of 
arresting me and treating me as a swindler and an ethereal being, etc., expresses 
herself thus: 


What will he answer to the first article of his examination. His name, his surname, 
his titles, he the Count, the woman attached to his fortunes, the Countess de 
Cagliostro? 


It was not enough, then, for the lawyer of the Countess de la Motte to calumniate 
and insult me. He attacks me in the most easily affected part of my being. He 



seeks to vilify my wife. I could have pardoned everything personal to myself, but 
my wife? What has she done to him? What has she done to the Countess de la 
Motte ? How can a man who has a public character permit himself to abuse it by 
steeping in bitterness the heart of an innocent and virtuous woman, who is adverse 
in no sense to his party, against whom he has neither complaint nor decree and 
whom he can reproach with nothing except the misfortune of having linked her 
fate with mine? 


As to the proofs of the celebration of our marriage, which they claim the right to 
demand, I engage myself, if it is necessary, to make them public when I shall 
recover the liberty of my papers. 


The Countess de la Motte dares to say that one of my servants boasts of having 
been for 150 years in my employ; that some times I assume to be 300 years old 
and at other times I boast of having assisted at the wedding of Cana. It is for that 
reason, in order to parody the miraculous transformation of that unnatural element, 
that I have conceived the idea of multiplying the necklace after cutting it up into a 
hundred pieces and then delivering it entire, so they say, to an august Queen. 


That I am sometimes a Portuguese Jew, sometimes a Greek, and sometimes an 
Egyptian from Alexandria, from whence I have brought allegories and sorceries 
into Europe. That I am one of those extravagant Rose-Croix who possess the art 
of conversing with the dead; that I treat the poor for nothing in order that I may 
sell immortality to the rich for some price. That my society is composed of 
visionaries of all classes. She finishes by letting it be understood that I have 
committed various wrong acts in certain courts of Europe, and that some of these 
are within the knowledge of Madame Bohmer. 


The reader may depend on it that I shall not answer in detail all this torrent of 
insults and absurdities. 



I have already said that I have been educated as the son of Christian parents. I 
have never been a Jew nor Mahometan. These two religions leave certain 
ineffaceable marks on those professing them. 


The truth of what I say can be proved and rather than leave a shadow of a doubt in 
this respect I will submit myself to an examination more shameful for those who 
require it than for him who suffers it. 


Moreover 1 desire that the Countess de la Motte would deign to particularize the 
deeds that she ascribes to me. Let her without fear say who is the rich person to 
whom I have sold immortality. Let her be kind enough to cite one of those high 
deeds which have made me known in all the Courts of Europe. Above all I defy 
her to declare what are the evil deeds she ascribes to me and which are within the 
knowledge of Madame Bohmer. 


If the Countess de la Motte is content to speak of me in vague insulting phrases 
and to make perfidious omissions when so speaking, and does not answer these 
formal challenges, I declare to her, once for all, that I shall be pleased to make to 
all her omissions and all her insults, past, present and future, a very laconic 
response which is very clear and energetic, and which the author of the 
"Provincials" made formerly in a like case, to a powerful society, a response 
which politeness forbids me to put in French but which the lawyer of the Countess 
de la Motte can explain to her and which is, Mentiris imp entissine. [Thou best 
most shamelessly. ] 


The Lady de la Motte relates afterwards, in her own fashion, the story of the 
magnetism exercised on her niece, that is to say, by adding to it many 
circumstances contrary to the truth and making them enter into this story of the 
Necklace with an awkwardness and air of improbability which she does not even 
take pains to disguise. She puts in the mouth of the Cardinal de Rohan, an 
Academician and man of the Court, phrases of a meanness so repugnant that the 
worst of footmen would blush to have uttered them. She hears behind a screen the 
sound of the kisses which a good angel and her niece give each other reciprocally. 



On a table, she says, were heaped objects most suitable to excite terror. These 
were crossed swords, ribbons of different colors, crosses of different Orders, a 
poniard and a carafe of extremely clear water. 


As the limit of horror she says: "This sombre spectacle was illuminated by an 
astonishing light." As a sequel to all this bizarre apparatus I make the Countess de 
la Motte swear to keep the secret, and then I order the Prince to go and find a great 
white box. He opens it and the Prince gives the commission to the Countess de la 
Motte to sell, and cause her husband to sell, a certain quantity of diamonds. 


One must believe either that the Countess de la Motte has lost her mind entirely or 
else she has great confidence in the credulity of her judges, to hope that she may 
get out of this affair by circulating such absurd stories. 


I have already given an account on page 40 of my memorial and the following 
pages, of how it occurred and the honest motive which induced me to lend myself 
to this comedy. M. the Prince of Luxemburg (2) and M. de Carbonnieres can 
testify if there is need of it as to the truth of my answer as given in my 
examination. 


"On the first or second of August," she says, "M., the Cardinal, showed the 
Countess de la Motte a little note which he folded from top and bottom so as to let 
her read the middle only. The Lady de la Motte read (this deserves attention), 'I 
send by the little Countess,' and as a continuation a number of figures which the 
Lady de la Motte was not able to add up. She read again: 'In order to quiet these 
unhappy wretches; I would be sorry if they were in difficulties. 'On reading this 
M. de Rohan exclaimed: 'Has she deceived me, this little Countess? But that is 
impossible, I know Madame de Cagliostro too well.' There is no ambiguity here, 
for the Countess de la Motte was present and to whom he truly might have said: 
'Have you deceived me ? But I know Madame de Cagliostro too well '. " 



Always fables and never proofs nor even probability. What does Countess de la 
Motte wish to say by this equivocal language? To whom was this letter addressed? 
She does not speak of the address; by whom was it written? By my wife? But she 
does not know how to write as I have already said. By me ? I never write in 
French, and very rarely in Italian. By M. the Cardinal de Rohan? If so, why would 
he read to the Countess de la Motte only a part of the letter and carefully hide 
from her the remainder? Why this exclamation on reading three or four words 
from a letter written by him? What is this deceit of which he suspects my wife for 
a moment? Why in speaking of her does he name her at one time with familiarity 
as "the little Countess" and the next time with respect as "Madame de Cagliostro?" 


It is clearly seen that in this part of the memorial of the Countess de la Motte, she 
has sought to implicate my wife in an affair of which she never had the slightest 
knowledge in order to lay on me all the blows at once. 


The Countess de la Motte thus terminates her long diatribe: 


This Person must learn by a new education that while the enlightened Tribunals 
have not for a long time now condemned men to capital punishment for sorcery, 
properly so called, yet the same Tribunals are keeping in store judgments when the 
sorcery is accompanied with witchcraft, with thefts and swindlings, and above all 
when they are multiplied by scholars and in schools. 


Thus the Countess de la Motte regrets not to be in that happy time when an 
accusation of sorcery would have brought me to the stake. Then she represents me 
as instructing scholars in sorcery and giving them lessons in theft and swindling. 
Who are the men vile enough to come and listen to the lessons of such a master? It 
is certainly not in my society that she will find them. It is not necessary, I think, to 
name here the persons who have done me the honor to visit my house; but I can 
say with truth that there is not one of them whom, the man the most delicate and 
most finical in his social relations, would not be honored to know. 



I am persuaded, moreover, that the Countess de la Motte has done me all the evil 
she did, less from hatred of me than with the purpose of exonerating herself. 
Whatever has been her intention, I pardon her, as much as is in me, for the bitter 
tears she had made me shed. Let her not think that this is an affected moderation 
on my part. From the depths of the dungeons where she caused me to be dragged I 
invoke for her the elemeney of the Law. If at last when my innocence and that of 
my wife shall be recognized, the most just of Kings shall think that he owes some 
indemnity to an unfortunate foreigner who settled in France only on the faith of 
his royal word, and that of hospitality and the rights of nations, the only 
satisfaction I shall ask is that His Majesty will be kind enough to accord at my 
prayer, a pardon and liberty to the unfortunate Countess de la Motte. This pardon, 
if I obtain it, cannot injure Justice. However guilty may be the Countess de la 
Motte, she has been punished enough. From my own bitter experience the world 
can believe there is no crime, no matter how great, but six months in the Bastille 
will expiate it. 


You have read, judges and citizens. Such is the man who was known at Strasburg, 
at Bordeaux, Lyons and Paris, under the name of the Count de Cagliostro. I have 
written this to satisfy the Law; and it will satisfy all other sentiments save that of 
vain curiosity. 


Will you say that this is not enough? Will you insist to know more particularly the 
country, the name, the motives and resources of this unknown ? What matters it to 
you, Frenchmen ? My country is for you the first place in your empire, where I 
submitted with respect to your laws. My name is that which I have made honored 
among you, my motive is God; and my resources are my own secret. 


When, in order to relieve the sick or feed the poor I shall ask to be admitted into 
your doctors' associations or into your benevolent societies, then you may question 
me; but to do, in the name of God, all the good that I am able to do is a right 
which requires neither name nor country, proofs nor bail-bonds. (3) 



Frenchmen, are you only inquisitive? You read these frivolous pamplets where 
malice and levity are pleased to pour ridicule and infamy on a friend of man. 


Do you not wish on the contrary to be good and just? Do not question him but 
listen and love him who has always respected Kings because they are in the hands 
of God, governments because they protect them, religion because it is the law, and 
law because it is the complement of religion; and finally, men because they are 
His children like himself. 


Once more, do not question him further but listen and love him who came among 
you to do good, who suffered himself to be attacked, in patience, and defended 
himself with moderation. (4) 


(Signed) THE COUNT DE CAGLIOSTRO. 


(1) Madame de la Motte spelled tresor, treasure, as thresor. Cagliostro makes fun 
of her ignorance. 

(2) The Due de Montgomery-Luxembourg was Deputy Grand Master of the Grand 
Orient. 

(3) It is very difficult to render into English the force and eloquence of this passage 
in the original French. 

(4) This Memorial helped to tear down the Bastille three years later. 


— o — 


The Freemasonry of the English Speaking World 



A Review of Sir Alfred Robbins 


By BRO. J. HUGO TATSCH, Associate Editor. 


IT is a safe venture to predict that no book by a modem Masonic writer has been 
awaited with so much interest, or will receive such a hearty reception, as English- 
Speaking Masonry. Its author, R.W.Bro. Sir Alfred Robbins, P.G.W., President, 
Board of General Purposes, United Grand Lodge of England, is better known in the 
United States than many an American Grand Master; his name has been a familiar 
one to the Craft for many years. His never to be forgotten journey to the United 
States, in 1 924, when he visited ten American Grand Lodges - an itinerary in 
which Iowa was included because of its internationally known Grand Lodge 
Library - lingers in the memory of those who know what an outstanding event it 
was, and has been deeply etched in the hearts of the Craftsmen who were 
privileged to hear and meet him. Not only was his visit an important one from the 
standpoint of Lreemasonry, but it was also of great significance as an expression of 
the cordiality and good will existing between the English and American people. 
This is indicated by the meeting which took place at the White House between 
Calvin Coolidge, then President of the United States, and Sir Alfred Robbins. As I 
look back upon this meeting, it is not inappropriate to also make a reference to 
Lady Robbins, whose personal charm and graciousness is vividly remembered, and 
who contributed in no small way to the success of the mission of her husband. 


English-Speaking freemasonry comes to our shores at a singularly appropriate 
time, for as Brother Robbins says in the opening lines of his book, the year 1930 
marks "the bicentenary of the Craft's official introduction into the United States." 
He also pays a graceful tribute to the American Craft by saying that "American 
Masons have never failed to own what is due to the parent Grand Lodge to which 
they owed their birth and infant nurture. . . . English-speaking Masonry, indeed, 
whether acting under independent jurisdiction or remaining within the sovereignty 
of the United Grand Lodge of England, has kept its torch alight and held its banner 
high for over two centuries." 



The undertaking of such a book as Brother Robbins has so ably prepared is a 
difficult task, one which no one is better qualified to judge than himself. Brother 
Robbins modestly disclaims any marked qualifications for his task; in speaking of 
the historian who would essay the task, he says: "But not least of all his 
qualifications should be a portion of literary ability as will cause his endeavor to 
interest as well as enlighten his readers." Those who read the new book will soon 
realize that the volume is interesting as well as informative, and is a book that is 
pleasingly different from the usual presentations. The author avoids a difficult 
situation very skilfully and tactfully by saying: "To Masonic friends, and especially 
some in the United States, who have assisted him with facts and hints, he is 
sincerely grateful; but he finds it impossible to quote every source of information, 
whether oral, written, or in print." He protects himself against responsibility for 
inevitable errors by saying that he has had to rely upon certain documents by 
quotations which have been extracted from the writings of other authors. "It is the 
lot of every first writer of a comprehensive h story," he says, "to receive a 
multitude of corrections or suggestions on points of detail." Such errors as may be 
found in the new book are insignificant, and in no way affect the worth of the 
undertaking and the splendid panorama it unrolls before the fascinated reader. 


The purpose of the book is most concisely told in these words: 


The book is an endeavour fairly to set before all interested in Freemasonry, 
whether or not from the inside, the inner meaning and outer expression of a world- 
spread Fraternity. Nothing is revealed a Mason should preserve; what is told is 
what all may know. It mainly deals with English-speaking Freemasonry, which 
covers that of England, Ireland, Scotland, the British Dominions and 
Dependencies, the United States, and a number of Lodges in South America, thus 
embracing fully three-quarters of the Masonry of the world. 


The scope of the work is best told by the table of contents, herewith presented: 



I. What is Freemasonry? 

II Masonic Origin and Growth. 

III. The Grand Lodge Era Begins. 

IV. Grand Lodge Develops. 

V. Grand Lodge Divides. 

VI. United Grand Lodge. 

VII Success and Semi- Schism. 

VIII. English Masonry Extends. 

IX. The Rising Tide. 

X. Early Twentieth-Century English Masonry. 

XI. The Great War and After. 

XII. England's Grand Lodge and Its Work. 

XIII. The Grand Lodge of Ireland. 

XIV. The Grand Lodge of Scotland. 

XV. English-Speaking Masonry in the Americas. 

XVI United States Masonry Before Independence 
XVII. American Masonic Independence Accomplished. 
XVIII Fruits of America's Freedom 

XIX. English Masonry in Canada. 

XX Its Work in the Eastern Hemisphere. 

XXL Masonry's Educational and Beneficent Results. 



XXII. A League of Masons. 


Chapter I opens with a definition and a declaration which will instantly find a place 
with the other great definitions and declarations that have been made: 


Freemasonry can be defined as an organized system of morality, derived from 
divine wisdom and age-long experience, which, for preservation from outer assault 
and inner decay, is veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbol. The. influence of 
divine inspiration is with it throughout. Every English Masonic Lodge is dedicated 
to God and His Service. Each candidate for membership declares his belief in the 
Supreme Being. Guidance from on High is sought step by step. Keeping strictly 
aloof from all doctrinal differences and political divisions, it demands from its 
members, whatever their race, tongue, or creed, a recognition of the Eternal and of 
the Light which comes from Above, loyalty to their country and obedience to its 
laws, with Strict regard for the rights and liberties of their fellow-men. 


Coming from such an eminent authority, one whose utterances can be accepted as 
es-cathedra, when considering the position he holds in the Mother Grand Lodge, 
this quotation should effectively silence the enemies and calumniators of 
Freemasonry. The entire chapter is an inspirational presentation, worthy to be 
placed in the hands of each Mason as a chart by which he is to progress through the 
Fraternity, and to reflect honor upon himself and the Craft in his life before the 
world. 


Like all real scholars of the Craft, Brother Robbins flouts the claims of prehistoric 
origins, and distinguishes clearly between legend, tradition and fact in the opening 
paragraphs of Chapter II. He says very truly: Freemasonry, like Churches and 
States, can stand on its own merits, and needs no false bolstering of its strength. Of 
late years an assiduous and hard-working School of Masonic students, has arisen in 
England, Ireland, the United States, and Germany, determined on a thorough 
Search for truth. This School, pursuing the methods of the higher criticism, has 
sought proof for all assertions, and has treated legend as the English Church does 
the Apoerypha - to be employed for example of life and instruction of manners. 



The result, while ridding Masonry of many pleasant stories and fabulous 
pretensions, has been to strengthen its hold on serious adherents by showing that 
its evolution has been natural and its development sure, and this because it rests on 
foundations of precept and practice which nothing can shake. 


As an active member and Past Master of the famous Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 
2076, nothing short of such a declaration is to be expected. 


The succeeding chapters, treating of English Masonic history, are unique in their 
treatment of the subject. The reader is not bored by the presentation of dry 
statistical data, nor by a chronological recital of events which has a soporific effect. 
On the contrary, the pages are alive with interesting facts, and carry the reader 
along in a manner which shows that Freemasonry is not a thing separate and apart 
from the period in which it finds itself. Brother Robbins portrays underlying causes 
which expressed themselves in effects that are confusing to only those who try to 
study Freemasonry as an isolated specimen beneath a powerful microscope. The 
Fraternity invariably eludes such attempts; the student who would know the Craft 
as it really is must make a different approach. 


Some peculiar situations develop in the book. One such is on page eighty-five, 
where we read of Francis, second Earl of Moira, later Grand Master of Masons, 
fighting in the American Revolution and opposing our troops at Bunker Hill - 
where Joseph Warren, Provincial Grand Master, fell in serving his country. Later 
the valiant British soldier distinguishes himself further at Brooklyn and White 
Plains, as well as at Camden and in "the last flicker of British success" at 
Hobkink's Hill. Such extracts not only reveal Masonic history unknown to us in 
America, but their presentation illustrates the proverbial sportsmanship of our 
overseas cousins, to whom defeat in contests of skill is nothing to sulk about, but to 
be borne with a smile and unbroken spirit. 


Another sidelight of the book, one which will appeal to the students of the Craft, is 
the reference to the Duke of Sussex aiding in the formation of a Masonic library 
for the Grand Lodge of England. This institution, not so widely known as some 



others, is to be housed in the magnificent Memorial Temple now under 
construction at London - an undertaking which R. W. Bro. Sir Alfred Robbins has 
supported and promoted in a degree not so well known in America as it should be. 


American Masonic students are fairly well familiar with the history of the English 
Craft up to the time of the Union of 1813; but we are not so well informed on what 
occurred after that memorable event. Brother Robbins makes up for this deficiency 
in his book; and he tells us some interesting things about the Prince of Wales (later 
King Edward VII) becoming a Mason. Very few of us have access to the 
Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of England for the period of 1868-1875; there are 
some interesting things to be read between the lines of English Masonic history 
relative to the Prince's Freemasonry, the visit of the Earl de Grey and Ripon, Grand 
Master, to the United States, and the change of Grand Masters when de Grey and 
Ripon became a convert to Roman Catholicism. The story is charged with a 
dynamic force that is very apparent when one considers the religious and political 
background of the period, especially in Continental Europe. The break with the 
Grand Orient of France is told by Brother Robbins - having to do with the new 
declarations of what Freemasonry was, and with the banishment of the Bible from 
the Masonic altars of French lodges. 


The part that English-speaking Masonry played in the events of 1914-18 is not 
overlooked. Upon the outbreak of the World War in 1914 the ties which existed 
between the Craft on both sides of the Atlantic were strengthened. At Grand Lodge 
in 1914, a message was read from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, "your oldest 
child in the Western Hemisphere," expressing not only deep concern for the 
English brethren and their dependents who were suffering in body and estate, but 
offering all the Masonic succor within their power, consistent with citizenship in a 
neutral nation. Similar expressions came from other sources; and special 
recognition was given to them in 1917, when the bi-centenary celebration of the 
founding of the Grand Lodge of England made such action particularly significant. 
Twenty-eight American Masons, representing sixteen Jurisdictions of the United 
States, from Massachusetts and New York through Iowa and Michigan to Colorado 
and California, were present at the Bi-Centenary Celebration June 24, 1917. 



Sticklers for the doctrine of physical perfection, an outworn heritage from 
operative days and of no importance today, will find food for thought in the 
following quotation from Brother Robbins' text. Speaking of difficulties which 
needed adjustment he says: 


They included such alterations in procedure as to permit the entrance into Lodges 
of private soldiers as well as those of commissioned or non-commissioned rank, 
and to provide for the admission of candidates who, being in all other respects fit 
and proper persons to be made Masons, were able, even though blind or maimed, 
to explain or exemplify the working of the Craft. 


With the story of the Grand Lodge told from its origin to present times, Brother 
Robbins carries on the account with a chapter telling of its work. The vast amount 
of work done requires funds; there is an annual income of approximately $500,000. 
England has a custom which we in America should observe: each Master Mason is 
given a parchment diploma of membership, for which he pays a slight fee - five 
shillings, I believe. Such documentary evidence is something which has many 
unexpected uses. There are also direct levies upon the membership for Masonic 
charity; what a protest there would be in the United States if such procedure were 
followed here ! The entire levy upon London brethren goes into the central fund; in 
the case of brethren in the Provinces, half goes to the Grand Lodge and the other 
half to the Provincial Grand Lodge; overseas brethren are not called upon for 
contributions. There is also an assessment for the Building Fund, and voluntary 
contributions are expected for the Million Memorial Fund, for which nearly 
$5,000,000 has been raised. With a membership about a sixth of that we enjoy in 
the United States, the English brethren have raised nearly $5,000,000 for their 
Memorial Temple while we in America, with three million Masons, have not yet 
succeeded in raising half of that amount for the George Washington Masonic 
National Memorial. Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that Freemasonry in England 
is primarily that of the Craft and Royal Arch; the English Fraternity is not 
burdened with additional degrees, orders or "side shows." 


A perusal of a list of countries in which English Freemasonry is at work would be 
an excellent lesson in geography - Bermuda, Bulawayo, Cape Coast Castle, 
Coomassie, Cyprus, Funchal, Fiji, Mashonaland, Madeira, Sierra Leone, Solomon 



Islands, Zanzibar - to mention a few spots. "They are rallying points for Britons," 
says our gifted author, "and in them men of the same race and tongue come 
together for common converse, Masonic, social, and persona], fraternal and 
friendly alike. There is no social organization other than Freemasonry which 
covers so wide a field, or does so much to preserve touch between Britons and 
their fellows in the far parts of the world." 


The story of Freemasonry in Ireland and Scotland is also told in a graphic manner, 
and the contributions these two Jurisdictions have made to the development of 
Freemasonry during two centuries are not slighted. A full chapter is given to each 
Grand Lodge. 


The chapters devoted to American Freemasonry will be read with particular 
interest. We all like to see how others regard us. Brother Robbins is no superficial 
observer; he says well, "A Masonic visitor to the Americas, both North and South, 
has to avoid judgments formed on first impressions, just as should all in the reverse 
direction." 


Opening with mention of his visit to the United States in 1924, already alluded to 
in an earlier paragraph, Brother Robbins says: 


On his return [from the visit], he reported through the Grand Master to Grand 
Lodge that, in regard to such differences as are plainly visible between the system 
of Grand Lodge and Private Lodge government in the United States and the 
English Jurisdictions - differences, it is ever to be understood, in degree but not in 
doctrine - national characteristic and local circumstances always and most steadily 
have to be borne in mind. A marked divergence in national psychology accounts 
for the one difference which to the Englishman is most apparent, and that is that 
what English Masons present to the mind's eye is in America represented to the 
bodily vision. It is impossible openly to say more; but the manner in which the 
English Masonic working has developed across the Atlantic, must impress those 
Brethren who desire to know what are the differences in practice, and how and 
why they arose. When an enquiry of this kind is undertaken, it must be with the 



preliminary recognition that American Masonry is very largely descended from the 
Antients, and from military Lodges working under Irish Masonic influences. And it 
must not be forgotten that, when the time was considered to have come at the 
Union for a simplified assimilation of the two "workings," Britain and the United 
States were engaged in a four years' war, which left very rankling feelings behind. 
Even if American Freemasons had been likely to adopt the simplified method in 
happier times, nothing was less probable in the first quarter of the nineteenth 
century than a following of English example. 


The study suggested would have fully to realize the temperamental and 
psychological differences between the English and the American peoples - 
differences more easily observed than accounted for. There are problems which 
directly touch American Lodges alone, and those which directly touch only 
English Lodges; but, at the most, they are non-essential. It is always to be 
remembered that the forty-nine American Grand Jurisdictions are independent of 
each other, having no central authority, acting on their own regulations and by their 
own methods of government within their several boundaries. As a consequence, 
the composition of the various Grand Lodges, the method of selection of the 
several Grand Masters, and even the term of service of these high officers, vary 
greatly with the Jurisdiction, just as does the working of the Private or Subordinate 
Lodges. 


Brother Robbins pays just tribute to M. W. Bro. Melvin M. Johnson, Past Grand 
Master of Massachusetts, 1914-16, in designating him as a "painstaking, patient 
and accurate chronicler," and quotes from his book, The Beginnings of 
Freemasonry in America, regarding the introduction of the Fraternity in the 
American Colonies. An entire chapter is given to "United States Masonry Before 
Independence," with two others following in which the story of American 
Freemasonry is ably epitomized. The story is carried down to the present, with 
mention made of Massachusetts constituting lodges in China, Canal Zone and 
Chile, and New York doing likewise in the Near East and in Finland. He closes 
with a reference to the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, saying: 


By this superb erection American Masons will specially commemorate the First 
President who took the oath to the Constitution on a Masonic Bible, and whose 



Chair, occupied by him while Master, is regarded by American Masons with the 
same reverence as the Germans give to the Master's gavel used by Frederick the 
Great as head of the senior Lodge among those which compose the Grand National 
Mother Lodge of the Three Globes, most ancient of the traditional three Old 
Prussian Grand Lodges with headquarters in Berlin, and having its home on ground 
given by Frederick himself. 


Our near neighbor, Canada, has also had the benefit of Masonic influence in its 
history; the story is told in a chapter devoted to the Dominion. In early days, there 
were close relationships between the seaboard towns on the Atlantic, and the 
student of Colonial Freemasonry cannot disregard this fact. Later years saw the 
same fraternal relationships continue as the Craft followed the course of empire to 
the west; today the brethren of Washington and British Columbia, fronting on the 
Pacific, cross the invisible boundary line and unite in the ceremonies of our ancient 
and honorable Fraternity. 


The final chapter is a practical recommendation for still closer union between 
English-speaking Masons. The basis is stated in a short sentence: "Reverent 
recognition of the Eternal, resolute renouncement of the political - these are the 
foundation and corner stones of the Masonic system." Bro. Robbins presents an 
ideal we all can cherish; I will close with his own words: 


Bound to each other by ties or common origin, identical ideals, and never broken 
friendship, English-speaking Freemasonry all the world through could render 
inestimable service, not only to the Brotherhood but to mankind, by more intimacy 
of association, elevation of idea, and intensity of aim. The task is worthy the 
devotion of all, and English-speaking Masons in every clime should arise to so 
supreme an occasion. Then even the War which provoked these thoughts will have 
had its compensations. Out of the eater will have come forth meat, and out of the 
strong will have come forth sweetness. The far flung battleline will have given 
place to the faring Brother-line; and severe though the labour the reward will be 
sure. 



O 


What Did a Grateful Republic Intend? 


By BRO. LEONARD G. COOP, Missouri. 


FOR the benefit of those who did not read my articles in the March and April 
issues of THE BUILDER, a very brief digest of their contents is here given. They 
touched upon the treatment (or more accurately the lack of it) afforded some of the 
really disabled veterans of the World War by the Veterans Bureau, may be 
instructive. 


In the March issue the case of a Mason who committed suicide in 1 924 was 
related, in which the Bureau admits that: 


" . . . the cause of death was directly due to and proximately the result of mental 
disease which disability was held as incurred in service. ..." 


Although the merits of this most distressing case have been repeatedly brought to 
the attention of the Bureau, and in particular to the Director individually, and in 
addition discussed in detail last January with Mr. L.B. Foster, the personal 
representative of the Director, the Bureau has refused to grant either compensation 
or insurance benefits in this case. 


He filed his claim in February, 1920, and committed suicide in March, 1924. 



Quoting from the World War Veterans Act regarding mental diseases, we find, 
under Title 11, Section 200: 


. . that an ex-service man who is shown to haves or, if deceased, to have had, 
prior to January 1, 1925, neuropsychiatric diseases - developing a 10 per centum 
degree of disability or more - shall be presumed to have acquired his disability in 
such service. ..." 


Medical evidence in this veteran's folder at the Bureau should prove to any fair- 
minded individual, or group of men, that he was suffering from a severe mental 
condition practically from the day that he was discharged. 


It is understood that Gen. Frank T. Hines, Director of the Veterans Bureau, is a 
Mason and belongs to Temple-Noyes Lodge, No. 32, Washington, D. C., and for a 
Mason to permit such rank injustice to another Mason is almost unbelievable. 
Masons most emphatically should not receive more consideration than those who 
are non-Masons, but does not the denial of even common justice to a brother 
Mason emphasize and aggravate the shame of such misuse of what is practically 
despotic power? 


It is freely granted that as a rule it is a physical impossibility for the Director to 
review all individual claims; anyone who understands Bureau matters will readily 
realize this. But this particular case was brought to his personal attention, not once, 
but repeatedly, and was, in - addition, fully discussed with his personal 
representative, so that there seems to be no possible excuse for such outrageous 
injustice. 


If this claim were an isolated one there might be some conceivable excuse 
conceded him, but it is not isolated. The writer has full and complete records of 
many more that are fully as distressing and equally without adequate excuse. 



There was no question of any misconduct disease in this claim; and when the full 
history is known to any fair-minded man he will be amazed that such injustice 
would be tolerated (if not actually authorized), particularly by one Mason toward 
another; he is now dead and no longer able to defend his rights. 


The story of the totally disabled blind veteran (Wm. J. Shackelford) which 
appeared in the April issue, was but another illustration of what is going on widely 
throughout the country, and again it must be insisted it lies largely within the hands 
of the Director of the Veterans Bureau to stop such things, if he chooses, and when 
he chooses. 


Mr. Shackelford crashed, from 900 feet, in an airplane during service, and there is 
abundant official record concerning his injuries; but outside of one small check for 
back compensation, mailed to him last month, he has never received any 
compensation nor any insurance benefits, and is not (at the time this article is 
written, April 20, 1930) receiving anything from the Veterans Bureau. 


This case is an illustration of multiplied Bureau technicalities and concentrated 
rigidity; it is one of the worst cases that has come to the attention of the writer, and 
that is saying quite a good deal. 


If space would permit, it would be interesting to make a full copy of what the 
Regional Office Rating Board of the Bureau in St. Louis had to say about this 
particular claim in 1928. This Board saw him personally many times, and were 
able to confer with the doctors who had made the examination, while all those at 
the Central Office who are responsible for the unjust and rank decisions have never 
seen nor talked to the veteran. 



A few excerpts from the St. Louis Board's findings, dated November 2, 1928, will 
be illuminating. This report first gives a history of injuries in the service as 
disclosed by official records, then of the treatment in hospitals, and finally the 
relationship between those injuries and the injuries received in an automobile 
accident in 1927. 


The Bureau's own consulting eye specialist, a physician of national reputation, 
closes his exhaustive study of the case relative to the injuries to the veteran's eyes 
by stating: 


". . . it may be assumed that his airplane crash in 1919 was the etiological factor in 
the optic atrophy ... his present loss of vision even if aggravated by the 
automobile accident of 1927 may be properly ascribed to the airplane crash while 
in active service in 1919." 


The Rating Board's decision continues: 


"... this Board has made a very careful and painstaking study of all disabilities . . 
it impresses us that one thing stands out and that is that this veteran unquestionably 
suffered disabilities on his whole right side as well as his head and eye from the 
airplane crash - to make a decision that all of his disabilities existing at the present 
time are wholly attributable to the automobile accident is, in our opinion, to shut 
our eyes to the real facts in the case.... Dr. 'X' is consulting specialist in this office 
and is considered an authority on eye . . . diseases. Much reliance has been placed 
by this Board upon the statement and conclusion of Dr. 'X'. . ," 


This Rating Board then allowed him service connection on eye, fracture of leg, 
crushing of knee, and multiple facial scars, concluding their report by stating: 



. . the granting of service connection for the above disabilities is an exercise of 
our best judgment as to what we believe to be the facts - and reflects the intention 
and spirit of the law. . 


Yet in spite of this decision the veteran is receiving nothing at the present time 
from the Veterans Bureau, due to the wonderfully sympathetic and highly 
intelligent attitude of those in authority in the Central Office in Washington. 


To express the feelings induced by contact with the victims of such injustice in any 
adequate manner, would probably seem to those without such knowledge, 
intemperate and exaggerated - it will be better to let the reader make his own 
comments. 


Ordinary publicity is ignored by the Veterans Bureau; and not until some Senator 
or Representative demands the names of those who have made an iniquitous 
decision, and then insists on their punishment, may the Bureau be expected to 
change its hide-bound, red-tape entangled methods of procedure. 


We have heard much over the radio, and through various forms of publicity, as to 
the enormous sums being spent for the relief of the veterans, and apparently there 
is much opposition in Congress, at the present time, to bills that would add many 
more millions to the present staggering costs. 


If the proposed new legislation becomes a law, the question is here seriously 
raised: What possible good will be accomplished if the director and his 
bureaucratic advisors continue to flaunt their power in the faces of the lawmakers 
and of the citizens in the manner illustrated in the two claims digested in the 
foregoing paragraphs ? 



What will undoubtedly happen, as has repeatedly occurred in the past, is that new 
laws, or the liberalization of old laws, will compel the Bureau to take care of some 
of the cases now denied under their maladministration, while it at the same time 
opens more widely the gates to thousands of veterans whose present disabilities are 
in no way connected with their service. 


There is every reason to believe that it will still continue to be the policy of the 
Bureau to deny as many claims as possible, and I this regardless of merit. 


The present laws are liberal in their intent and were clearly designed to cover a 
large majority of the very claims that are now being denied, but so long as such 
men as the director has chosen, either on their own initiative, or by being forced to 
make decisions in accord with the director's official wishes, continue to disregard 
the existing laws, which are the wishes of the people, as enunciated by Congress, 
just so long will we have injustice and privation, with consequent deaths and 
suicides. And the Veterans Bureau will continue to be held in just contempt by all 
those who know anything of the actual facts. 


A word regarding the employee of the Bureau at their various Regional Offices. 
There are, and have been many times when Regional Rating Boards would have 
given justice, if they had so dared, but they must needs follow policies and 
precedents as laid down by authorities in Washington; quickly would they lose 
their positions if they did not. 


The following is a verbatim report of the conversation which was held between the 
writer and the medical member of one of the Regional Rating Boards in connection 
with a case which will soon be tried in a Federal Court for insurance benefits. 


It was such a palpable miscarriage of justice that a special protest was made 
against the decision which had been rendered, and this doctor was asked how he 



could possibly give such a decision in the light of the evidence in this disabled 
veteran's case. His reply was: 


"A representative came from the Central Office while you were away and picked 
out a few cases that our Rating Board could not see any way out of giving 
compensation and this representative jumped all over us and intimated if we could 
not discover a way to deny service connection to appeal the ease on some minor 
technicality, and they would take care of it as they had had more experience in this 
line." 


If space would permit, a great many more instances could be cited indicating to 
what extreme lengths the Veterans Bureau will go to evade the law, quite possibly 
in pursuit of a policy they erroneously believe to be in the interests of economy, 
but which in the final analysis will but cost the government millions of dollars 
more, and this because new laws will be passed to endeavor to correct the very 
conditions now created and maintained by long-time prevailing Bureau 
administration. 


A few words at this time, with an illustrative case, in connection with this 
Government Insurance, of which we hear so much, and of the wonderful benefits 
( ?) that are to be derived by veterans taking out government insurance in 
preference to that offered by the old line private companies. 


Apparently compensation is considered by the Veterans Bureau as a gift to the 
disabled veterans; in reality it should be thought of as an obligation. Suit in court 
cannot be brought for payment of compensation, at least there is hardly any 
possibility of winning any suit that might be attempted. But Government Insurance 
is a contract, it is something that was purchased and paid for by the veteran, by no 
flight of imagination may it be held as a gift. Yet thousands are finding out, to their 
dismay and sorrow, and disgust, that it is necessary to bring suit in a Federal Court 
to force the Bureau to pay them that to which they are entitled, because they have 
paid for it. 



To anyone who has followed any number of these suits, it is plain to be seen that 
the disabled veteran is very decidedly at a disadvantage when it comes to a trial in 
a Federal Court; it would take too long to prove this statement in this article, but it 
can be proved beyond the peradventure of a doubt, and as a matter of fact is 
probably readily comprehensible to thinking minds. 


For many disabled veterans, government insurance is quite probably the only 
insurance that he can now secure; and in this particular instance the government 
has been liberal in permitting the disabled veteran to acquire or reinstate a prior 
policy. However, the collecting of benefits on this policy (even after it has been 
issued, and after he has paid premiums for a number of years) is quite another 
story. In other words, if insurance has been granted, and the veteran dies, having 
carefully kept up his premium payments, then his beneficiary may not have quite 
so much trouble in collecting. This, however, is by no means always certain; in fact 
in one case that I have in mind the veteran died within three weeks after discharge, 
with his policy still in force, and the beneficiary has not yet been paid, but she has 
been forced to start suit for her rights. 


The main difficulty that the veteran is likely to encounter is, if, and when, he 
becomes permanently and totally disabled. It is this outrage against justice that has 
caused the large majority of the thousands of suits, all over the United States, to be 
filed. 


The writer can cite several cases where outside insurance companies have been 
paying permanent and total benefits for years to veterans who happened to have 
been insured in private companies. But these same men have been compelled to 
sue the Federal Government for benefits from their government insurance, 
although the government claims to be liberal in their decisions in connection with 
disabled veterans. This, in reality, has not been demonstrated to be a fact. 



Bro. Caspar W. Bruns, 32d, of St. Louis, Mo., whose pictures appear with this 
article, took out government insurance in April, 1927, and since then has paid his 
premiums regularly. He is now suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, moderately 
advanced, active; pulmonary laryngitis, chronic; heart disease, and also arthritis of 
the spine. 


Quoting from the Bureau's own decision dated Oct. 19, 1928: 


" In view of the fact that this veteran has been hospitalized for a period of one year 
and the recommendation of the hospital authorities that he will not reach a 
condition of arrest by further hospitalization, he has been rated as allowed 
temporary total disability from Sept., 1928, to Sept. 1, 1931, in accordance with the 
terms of Section 202 (3)." 


In effect this means that tile Bureau's own examiners have decided that he has been 
totally disabled since Sept., 1927, and will continue to be totally disabled until 
Sept., 193 1, a period of four years without a break. 


It would be interesting to place this case before any disinterested reputable life 
insurance company to see whether they would have denied the man the benefits of 
the insurance he had bought and paid for, when he is in the condition that is shown 
by the Bureau's own hospital report. 


Demand was made for payments of insurance benefits in February, 1928. The 
director denied his request June 27, 1929. Suit was filed August 3, 1929. On 
November 5, 1929, the Government asked for another 60 days in which to answer 
his petition. January 6, 1930, the government filed a demurrer on an absurd 
technicality. The case has been set for trial for May 22, 1930, and if he is lucky, the 
suit will be tried on that date. 



It is needless to mention that this veteran must keep up his insurance premiums 
during all this time, and as he is utterly unable to work, these premiums must be 
taken from the small amount of compensation he now receives. 


For two years and three months he has been trying to secure that to which he is 
justly entitled and may have to wait yet another year before it is finally settled. 


Thus you have a concrete illustration of government ideas and methods when you 
purchase government insurance; it is something to think over very carefully, very 
critically. 


It might be well for veterans who are now in good physical condition, and who are 
now considering government insurance, to hesitate somewhat before making their 
final decision; for Bro. Bruns is but one of many that are having trouble. 


There are thousands of suits already filed against the government, and undoubtedly 
more will follow. Do you desire to have the expense and worry over a suit in a 
Federal Court if you too become permanently and totally disabled, or do you wish 
to have the thought constantly in your mind that those dependent upon you may 
have to wait for years and years before they finally, if ever, get the benefits for 
which you paid? 


The Government has almost unlimited strength and resources, this is unquestioned, 
but government officials may use that enormous power to try to make it impossible 
for you and your loved ones to secure that which is rightly their due. 


After much observation and experience in these government suits, the statement is 
made, that, where the suit is based on the benefits from the old War Term 
Insurance (carried during service) the Veterans Bureau apparently secretly hopes 



and trusts that you will die before your case comes to trial; they know full well 
how difficult it is for a deceased veteran's dependents to win a suit when the 
veteran himself is not there to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the 
truth, about himself. 


Disabled veterans are now dying at the rate of ten daily (according to a recent 
statement made by the Veterans' Bureau) . 


The attorneys for the Bureau well understand that if they can secure continuance 
after continuance of suits, the law of averages will strongly operate in the Bureau's 
favor before the suits do come to be tried, and as strongly operate against the 
veteran 's. 


To think that many of these boys, who in the country's hour of need sacrificed 
everything, are now compelled to die knowing that they have not received even 
that which the law specifically provides they shall receive and for which they fully 
paid, due to an intentional and premeditated delay and procrastination on the part 
of those who are government paid to do this work in their behalf. A delay that it is 
hard to avoid stigmatizing in the harshest terms, but which is certainly morally 
indefensible. 


Personally the writer would much rather earn his living working as a day laborer 
than receive the pay of the Veterans Bureau, with its easy hours and substantial 
vacations, if thereby he would be compelled to be the direct cause of denying some 
of the claims with which he is fully acquainted, and for which he has been working 
for years. 


Right at this moment there is a disabled veteran who is unquestionably 
permanently and totally disabled, who has paid for his government insurance up to 
date, and he tells me that he now has nothing to live for anyway, and that the only 
way in which he can force the government to grant his insurance benefits will be 



by committing suicide. His case has been in court for many months and the delays 
have well nigh broken his morale. It will not be at all surprising if this boy does 
precisely what he states that he intends to do. 


Solemn promises have been made by me to some of these pathetic veterans while 
on their death-beds, that I would fight for the rights of their dependents and loved 
ones; and so long as I have health and strength and am financially able to do so, I 
shall continue to fight the callous incompetency, the unnecessary red tape, the 
delay and personal indifference, that abounds in the Veterans Bureau; particularly 
the individuals who compose the appeal groups, and others in authority in the 
Central Office in Washington. 


The time is fast coming when the old pension system will be revived, it seems to 
be the most probable solution, and if I am not very much mistaken the director of 
the Bureau knows this full well. 


Meantime Director Gen. Frank T. Hines has it in his power to cause thousands of 
cases to be properly rated if he so chooses; likewise he has it in his power to cause 
meritorious claims to be denied. 


WHICH SHALL IT BE! 


NOTE 


The author hopes that every reader interested in just administration in behalf of the 
deserving disabled ax-service man will take the time to write a letter of protest to 
his Senator or to his Representative; and that he will also pass this magazine on to 
others interested injustice. 



O 


Masonic Clubs of the A.E.F. In the Great War The Heather Hill Masonic Club 


By BRO. CHARLES F. IRWIN, Associate Editor 


ONE of the finest organizations within our American Army was the Engineer 
Corps. And among its diverse branches were the Railway Units. Of this number we 
find the 13th Engineers scattered all over France doing yeoman work in the way of 
building and operating the American system of Railways and associating with the 
Allied forces in handling their railroad problems. 


The personnel that constituted this branch necessarily consisted of highly trained 
men in the railroad business of our country and represented every section of our 
land. Some of the biggest American Systems have to their credit an unusually 
percentage of their employees enrolled on their Honor Flags. Occasionally you can 
still discover in their important Depots in the large cities the huge red banners with 
the white stars upon them, indicating that these business organizations have long 
memories about the deeds their men and women performed during the crisis that 
confronted our nation. 


The 13 th Engineers consisted of men drawn from all parts of the country, with 
Chicago men representing quite a large percentage. From the account of this Club 
which came to me years ago from several fragmentary accounts we learn that the 
Club was born in England. The Regiment was in Camp at Camp Bordon in that 
kingdom, when on August 8, 1917, a group of their members, who were 
Craftsmen, met and formed their Club. To this Club they gave the name "Heather 
Hill" from the adjacent hills covered with the beautiful heather of the British Isles. 



At that time they selected as their officers the following: 


President - Lieut. George S. Case, Auburn Park Lodge, No. 789, Chicago. 


Vice-President - Capt. Thos. P. Horton, Frontier Lodge, No. 45, La Crosse, Wis. 


Treasurer - Sergt. Maj. J. F. Hays, Owensboro Lodge, No. 30. 


Assistant Treasurer - Private Frank Girdiner, Wellington Lodge, No. 160. 


Secretary - Sergt. A. G. Wyant, Geary Lodge, No. 139. 


I have learned that Vice-President Horton and Secretary Wyant are deceased. 


From a letter mailed to the Club at Blois and dated as follows: 


Postal Sector 215, 

15 May, 1918 

Pvt. Waldo E. Oettinger Secy. 
Masonic Club, F. &A.M. 



APO 726, AEF 


Dear Sir: 


In a recent army issue of the army edition of the New York Herald, my attention 
was called to the announcement of the existence of your Masonic Club. 


There was also a Masonic Club formed in our regiment, having been in existence 
Since August 8, 1917. The organization took place on one of the Heather Hills 
surrounding Bordon Camp, England. There the club acquired the present name of 
the "Heather Hill Masonic Club." We have banded ourselves together to extend 
brotherly love of our fraternity, helping the needy and caring for our dead so far as 
possible. 


In the name of our club, as Secretary, I extend you most hearty congratulations, 
wishing you success and offering you any assistance and co-operation that we are 
in a position to give. 


Fraternally, G. M. KING, Secretary, 
Co. D, 13th Ang. (Ry.) 

U. S. Army. 


we come upon evidences of a change in officers within the Club, Brother King 
replacing Brother Wyant as Secretary. 



When the Club was organized a number of Committees were formed and among 
them was one which they called the "Preparation Committee," consisting of Bros. 
G. H. King and J. A. Elliott. We do not know for sure just what the duties of this 
Committee were, but our-own intimate knowledge of some of the ceremonies 
developed in many of the overseas clubs leads us to suspect that these husky 
Engineers were abreast of the same. If so, then the way of their initiates was most 
strenuous and the sands most hot. 


From a copy of the menu and program of one of their banquets which was sent to 
me by Bro. Sam. E. Ferguson, of Olathe, Kan., I take the following: The second of 
the accompanying illustrations reproduces the first page of the card. 


MENU 
Sandwiches 
Olives Pickles 
Oranges 

Cakes Chocolate Doughnuts 
Cigars 

PROGRAM 

Music of the 13th Engineers' 
Orchestra 

THE STAR-SPANGLED 
BANNER 


Opening Address: 



Bro. Col. N L. Howard 


History or the Club: 

Bro. F. G. Taylor 
Addresses by 
Bro Lt. Col. C. L. Whiting 
Bro. Maj. W. C. Am 
Bro. Maj. E. Schultz 
Addresses and Presentations 
of Jewels by 

Bro. Lieut. S. S. McConnell 
Closing Music: AMERICA 


These references to individual brothers rescue from oblivion a very few of the 
roster of this Club. We are hoping that some former member of this Club will read 
this sketch and mail in to us a copy of the complete roster so that we may type it 
and file it with other rosters we are accumulating of various Masonic Clubs in the 


A. E. F. 


The last page of the card is devoted to a brief sketch of the Club history. For the 
benefit of our membership who are accumulating research material we give it here 
in full. 


HISTORY OF THE CLUB 



The Heather Hill Club was founded by a small body of Masons on August 8, 1917, 
in Bordon Camp, England. Led by Bro. Perry, one of the most congenial members 
of the A.F. & A.M. we ever met, we climbed to the top of a high hill overlooking 
our camp and the surrounding country, which is the Historical Salisbury Plain. 


Thereafter, being led in prayer by Bro. Perry, under the Blue Canopy of Heaven 
and the Ever Watchful Eye of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, sentinels were 
posted and a Lodge of Masons was duly opened. 


After due deliberation this Club was formed and, due to the great quantity of both 
Scottish and English heather growing on the hill, the beautiful Scottish Heather 
was adopted as our Emblem and from it the Club received its name. 


The Club has grown from a membership of thirty-two at that time to some three 
hundred at present. We have held our meetings under the greatest difficulties - in 
the open, under the ground, and often under shell fire and air raids from our 
common enemy called the Central Powers. 


Never for a moment have we forgotten those Masonic principles taught us in our 
early lessons, never tiring and always extending a helping hand to the needy. 


Herbert Clark, Printer, 338 rue St. Honore, 


There are a few stray indications as to the territory covered by this migrant Club 
indicating the duty which carried their regiment from one end of the battlefront to 
the other and far back into the intermediate and rear sections of our A. E. F. 



In the Report of the Overseas Mission (p. 175) we come upon this: "Proceeding on 
April 6th (1919) to Nimes, he (one of the Mission) investigated that leave area 
from a Masonic point of view and determined that it would close so shortly 
thereafter as to require no service from the Mission. Proceeding to Marseilles that 
afternoon, he conferred with Brothers Charles M. Conant, Capt. A.C. Gilbert, and 
other brethren regarding the "American Masonic Club" at Marseilles. The 
following day he attended a meeting of the A.M.C. at Marseilles, held in 
conjunction with the "Heather Hill Masonic Club" of the 13th Eng. (which was 
about to return home), at the Macaroni Factory in Camp Covington outside 
Marseilles, and addressed about 400 brothers." 


Another reference to this regiment indicates that it returned to Chicago intact and 
was demobilized. 


Turning to the minutes of the "Masonic Club, A. P. O. 726," we come upon this 
paragraph: "Feb. 5, 1919, a pamphlet was submitted for examination by a brother 
present, describing Heather Hill Masonic Club of the 13th Engineers, who carry a 
traveling charter (?) granted from the Grand Jurisdiction of North Dakota; having 
their first organization on the high hill back of Wennall Downs Camp, Winchester, 
England, tyling the lodge, there formed, by sentries and administering Masonic 
Rites." 


When I came into possession of this reference I wrote immediately to Grand 
Secretary W.L. Stoekwell, at Fargo, N. Dak (Oct. 27, 1928) asking his verification 
of this story. In reply he informed me that there was a mistake, since North Dakota 
had issued but one dispensation for a Field Fodge and that was to the 165th 
Infantry. 


I can conceive of no other explanation than that it may have been the Banquet 
folder above referred to and quoted by me. It will be noticed that the brethren 
"opened a Fodge." Now we can understand what happened. The brethren having 
all proved themselves by showing membership cards in home Fodges informally 
constituted themselves a "Fodge" in the same manner as did the brethren on the 



Cunarder in August of 1917, and called themselves the "Saxonia Lodge, No. 1, 
somewhere at Sea." And as did the brethren in the Punitive Expedition into 
Mexico, 1916, who styled themselves the "Sierre Madre Lodge, Sin Numero." 


I have attempted, for a number of years, to obtain responses to letters I have 
written to various former members of this Club whose lodge numbers and 
locations were known to me. None has ever been returned to me nor have any 
replies come. 


It is chiefly through the information from Brother Sam E. Ferguson that it has been 
possible to furnish the information contained in this sketch. He says: 


. . . my entire family was engaged. Two boys, Aviators, and a daughter, a Nurse, 
with wife and I keeping the home fires burning. 


We do not know how the menu card came into Bro. Ferguson's hands. We wrote 
him for further information but he failed to reply to the letter. 


There is scarcely a doubt but some one of our readers will prove to have been a 
member of this Club. If so, we urge upon you to send to us your account of your 
Club as you remember it, especially telling the various parts of England and France 
and possibly Germany, in which your Club functioned. Also, if you have a copy of 
Brother Taylor's "History of the Club," which he read at the January Banquet, we 
would appreciate the loan of the same that a copy may be made for our research 
files. 


Also, if any of the brothers (whose names are found in this sketch) comes upon his 
name, we trust he will communicate with us so that we may add to the file further 
information concerning this Club's history for future use. 



THE AMERICAN MASONIC CLUB OF LE MANS, FRANCE IN my series of 
"American Masonic Lodges in the World War," I published in the April, 1929, 
issue of THE BUILDER, the History of Sea and Field Lodge, No. 3, Le Mans. " 
This was a Field Lodge under dispensation of the Grand Lodge of New York. The 
history of that Lodge was intimately associated with the Masonic Club which 
constitutes the study of this series as denoted above. 


I have been quite fortunate in establishing for some years a brotherly relationship 
to W. Bro. Harry B. Mook of New York City, who was the active originator of the 
Club and Lodge at Le Mans, and to him must go the major credit for the 
preservation of its records. 


From letters and from magazine and newspaper reports of the Club, I have also 
obtained material upon which this paper is founded. From a letter to me from W. 
Bro. Mook, dated Nov. 2, 1928, 1 quote the following: 


Several months previous to the entry of Masonry into France, a number of 
Y.M.C.A. Secretaries being Masons, organized the American Masonic Club and 
honored me with the Presidency. Our Club house was situated at 45 rue Chanzy, 
quite a pretentious building as you will see by the photograph. The American 
Officers and Doughboys joined in large numbers under the same roof, making the 
undertaking a financial and social success. Here we billeted both Officers and 
Doughboys under the same roof; here they met upon a common level. A request to 
the Commanding Officers of the different camps always brought Military Bands, 
and Jazz Orchestras from the various Units. The female element was supplied by 
girls from the Y.M.C.A., Red Cross, and English W.A.A.Cs. 


Here we had weekly and semi- weekly dances. The place was a Source of 
enjoyment to all. It was no uncommon sight to see a doughboy tag an officer's 
partner and dance with her. 



Now let us return to the location of this Club. Le Mans was from the beginning one 
of the largest and most active areas of American forces in France during the war. It 
is situated in Brittany on the direct route between Brest, Tours, Paris, St. Nazaire. 
Through it passed the major part of the American Forces and within its bounds 
hundreds of thousands of our troops found shelter and more or less extended 
location. 


Subsequent to the Armistice Le Mans became what was known as the "Neck of the 
Bottle." And at its height of activity held over 300,000 troops at one time. Over 
2,000,000 passed through Le Mans. 


All welfare organizations centered their activities in this area. The one doing the 
largest work was the Y.M.C.A. The secretaries of this organization proved to be to 
an unusually large number members of our Craft. Consequently there sprang up in 
the Le Mans area the clubs in which brethren might meet and hold social 
intercourse. 


From an article entitled " American Masonry in France," contributed by R. W.Bro. 
Mook, to the Detroit Masonic News, for January, 1921, he gives the following 
account of the inception of the Club: 


In March, 1919, one of the Y.M.C.A. Secretaries asked me if I thought there were 
any Masons around the "Y" headquarters as it would be a good idea to form a 
Masonic party and give an evening's entertainment to the Sanitary Corps of the 
91st Division (Pacific Coast), every member of which, from the Colonel down, 
was a Mason. They were quartered at Le Fertie Bernard, about 50 kilometers from 
Le Mans. This division hailed from California we had about 50 Secretaries around 
the "Y" Headquarters where we placed a notice on the Bulletin Board, inviting 
such of them as were Masons to meet in my office that evening. Thirty responded. 
The American Masonic Club was organized and I was honored by being elected 
their President. Accompanied by "Y" girl entertainers, we journeyed to Seton (a 



short distance beyond LeFertie Benard) where the Sanitary Corps was encamped, 
and a place that you might call a "theatre." We gave them the entertainment, with 
plenty of "eats" and "smokes." The boys declared it was the best evening that they 
had spent during their two years in France. 


I wish to interpose here that the story of this California Corps is very fascinating 
and will be related later in this series. I am in possession of material furnished to 
me by the Club Officers of the Corps itself. 


Bro. Mook goes on to say: 


Upon our return to town, it was decided that we continue as an organization. I 
obtained a lease on the house at 45 rue Chanzy, complied with military courtesy by 
gaining the consent of our Commanding General, with the hearty endorsement of 
his Chief of Staff (neither of whom were Masons), who bade me "go to it." 


From April 1st to August 1st, the Club became the home of our Masonic Brethren, 
both officers and enlisted men, in the A. E. F. This club and other ones furnished 
the place where the officers and men could meet upon a common level. Both 
thoroughly enjoyed it. The Engineer Corps strung electric lights in our 100 feet of 
garden I had permission to call upon the regimental bands at the different camps. 
Every Wednesday and Saturday nights we gave a dance, with the bands in the 
garden and jazz bands in the parlors, which were spacious and had hardwood 
Coors. "Y" girls, Red Cross nurses, English girls, Jewish Welfare girls, all joined, 
with plenty to eat and smoke. The boys had the time of their lives, and in many 
cases it was with regret that they left for home. They took interest in the place 
because it was theirs. They paid five francs (less than $1.00) for life membership. 


In an article in the American Legion Monthly, published in 1929, a former "Y" 
girl, in giving her experiences in France during the war, informs us of having 
danced at Le Mans with Gene Tunney, who did not prove as expert a dancer as he 



did later as a boxer. She remarks that her feet were in bad condition after the end of 
their dance. I do not know that this dance was in the Masonic Club but it may have 
been. 


Bro. Mook informs us that: 


They were billeted in the club, both officers and men, who held the place in such 
respect that not one ever crossed the portals under the influence of liquor. And so 
were spent four happy months for them and for me. 


On August 1, 1919, the curtain dropped on our Masonic activities in the Le Mans 
region. The boys had all left for home, so we folded our tents and crept away. I 
returned on the Northern Pacific. 


Having myself returned on the Northern Pacific on this same trip I had the pleasure 
of making personal contact with R. W. Bro. Mook and found him to possess a very 
winsome personality. To his untiring efforts much of the Masonic success in the Le 
Mans area is to be accredited. 


Turning to the "Report of the Overseas Mission" we discover, on page 173, the 
following: 


After a conference at Paris, with Bro. Harry B. Mook, Regional Financial Director 
of the A.E.F., Y.M.C.A., in that area, we determined to aid and sustain an 
American Masonic Club in that district. This Club was established with Brother 
Mook as President, occupying the building at 45 rue Chanzy, the rent of which the 
Mission furnished, and its membership approximated 900, besides which it served 
a very large number of men, visitors to that area, or temporarily therein. On April 



9, 1919, Brothers Moore, Lay and Goodrich visited Le Mans, and addressed large 
gatherings of brethren, besides performing other important Masonic work. 


It is from this source then that we learn that the Le Mans Masonic activity was 
made possible on a large scale through the practical assistance furnished by the 
"Overseas Masonic Mission," which was composed of a group of Prominent New 
York Masons, sent to France by a number of the Grand Lodges of our country, and 
bearing with them a large sum of money secured from these same Grand Lodges. 
Thus the brethren who did not get to France during the war should feel that they 
were personally identified in a fine piece of work. This same Overseas Mission 
aided many of the Masonic Clubs in the later days of our location in France in 
1919, parts of which story appeared in various articles of my series in THE 
BUILDER last year. The full story of this Mission will be retold in this present 
series later on 


In a letter to me, at another time, Bro. Mook says: 


We had a roster of over 1000. Life membership was bought for five francs. The 
Grand Lodge Commission from the Grand Lodge, State of New York, furnished 
the funds that helped to get started, but in the main the Club was self-supporting. 


I have come upon the following in the Masonic Standard, an undated number, 
which, from internal evidence, must have been issued late in 1919 or early 1920. It 
is a report by Bro. Mook upon his return to New York on August 14, 1919. 


Never was heard an angry tone. All was peace and harmony. Three large 
connecting rooms with hardwood, polished floors and a marble-floored foyer. And 
all this belonged to the soldier. Did he not pay his five francs to become a life 
member? And what he paid for he thoroughly enjoyed. I was Uncle Harry and 
Daddy to the finest bunch of boys the sun ever shone on. So were spent four happy 
months for them and me. 



Some years ago I received a very kindly letter from Dr. T.M. Shortley, who resides 
at Tidioute, Penn., in which he enclosed a typewritten copy of his membership card 
in the Le Mans Club, which is here given for my reader's information: 


No. 78 


THORNTON M. SHORTLEY is a member of THE AMERICAN MASONIC 
CLUB of LE MANS, FRANCE and has paid his admission fee. A. E. TAYLOR, 
Treasurer. 


The only trace we have as yet secured as to the Officers of this Club are as follows: 


President - Harry B. Mook, New York. Secretary - H. W. Ross, Kentucky. 
Treasurer - A. E. Taylor. 


The fund of money remaining after the close of this Club was left on deposit in 
France to await the rise in exchange rates. The Club voted that the History of the 
Club should be written by Brother Mook and be paid for from this fund. I have as 
yet no knowledge as to whether or not Brother Mook has completed this work but 
am waiting, with considerable interest, the time when his story in complete form, 
with roster attached, shall appear. It will become a very valuable official document 
in the accumulating records of our Craftsmanship activity during the World War. 
This Club appears on our official Register of Overseas Masonic Clubs as No. 5. 


May I again ask all those who have any information on these Army Clubs to write 
to me. 



O 


The Humber Installed Masters Lodge 


By BRO. J. G. WALLIS, England 


This interesting account of one of the most Nourishing and active ret search lodges 
in England may serve to show how the Past Masters of a group of lodges can serve 
the Craft, making available their knowledge and experience. There is no reason 
whatever why there should not be a Past Masters lodge in every city in those 
American Jurisdictions which allow dual or plural membership. And where this is 
not permitted, Past Masters Associations with the same aims might take their 
place. One other prominent research body in England is not a lodge, the 
Manchester Association for Masonic Research, and there is also the more recently 
formed Mersyside Association. While the membership in these two bodies is open 
to Master Masons, there is no reason why there should not be Past Masters 
Associations for the same purpose. 


Bro. Wallis is one of the few surviving founders of the Hall Installed Masters 
lodge, and almost the oldest member. He has served as its faithful Secretary for 
many years, and also as editor of its proceedings 


THE Humber Installed Masters Lodge No. 2494, meeting on the premises of the 
Humber Lodge No. 57, Anne Street, Hull, Yorkshire, was consecrated on February 
2, 1894 - being founded for the promotion of Freemasonry in its literary, 
archaeological, and philosophical characters; to provide a special Lodge as a bond 
of union for Worshipful Brethren who have passed the chair; to undertake public 
lectures and discussions for the improvement of the Brethren in Hull and 
neighborhood, and generally to endeavor to raise the standard of Masonry, and to 
support the principles of the Craft in their highest sense. 



Previous to the formation of the Lodge, a Lodge of Instruction for Installed 
Masters was formed in 1882 - W. Bro. Dr. Bell in the chair - when the objects of 
the Lodge were defined, and a code of By-Laws adopted. 


Many meetings were subsequently held, and the approval and sympathetic co- 
operation of prominent Masons obtained, including many Brethren holding high 
rank in various districts who promised lectures, and were of valuable assistance. At 
a later date it was considered desirable to obtain an established status, and on 
October 6, 1893, it was resolved to apply to the Grand Lodge of England for a 
Warrant of Constitution for a Lodge to be named the Humber Installed Masters 
Lodge; this was accordingly carried into effect, and necessary arrangements made - 
the new warrant was obtained and is dated 14th December. A. It. 5893 A. D. 1893, 
at London, by Command of H.R.H. the M.W. Grand Master, and numbered 2494; 
Signed: Mount Edgcumbe, D. G. M. E. Letchworth, G. S. 


The first W. Master of the newly consecrated Lodge was Bro. M. C. Peck, a 
Brother known all over the province of Yorkshire as a most zealous and 
enthusiastic Mason. Poor over 40 years he was Prov. G. Secretary in the Province 
of N. & E. Yorks, and a Past G. M. Bearer, Eng. He was a most ardent Mason, a 
model Secretary and a profound reader of anything pertaining to Masonry, 
especially in the literary and Archaeological aspect of the Craft, and the Editor of 
the appendix to "Mackey's Lexicon of Freemasonry" brought out in 1883. In his 
death Masonry lost one who did much to raise the caliber of the intellectual and 
historical side of our Order. In a roll of Past Masters for over thirty-six years, it is 
invidious to select any for special reference, the list being one that any Lodge 
might justifiably feel proud of. During the Great War, when Hull suffered so 
dreadfully from Zeppelin raids, and it was difficult to keep Lodges working, the 
Lodge was greatly indebted to the Deputy Prov. G. Master, Bro. Miles J. Staplyton, 
for occupying the chair during those trying years of 1918-19. Other Worshipful 
Masters have occupied the Civic Chair as Lord Mayors of the important City of 
Hull. Others have filled the leading positions in the medical, legal, architectural, 
and allied professions. We must, however, mention our late Bro. G. L. Shackles. 
The name of Shackles is well known on both sides of the Atlantic. Past Master of 
his Mother Lodge, No. 1511 Hornsea, P.M. of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, and 



Master of this Lodge in 1896, he was one of our most zealous and active members. 
He was also a leading authority on Masonic medals and jewels, and possessed the 
largest collection in the world. 


In an address, Bro. J. H. Payne, P. M., said: "In the passing of our Worshipful 
Brother Shackles, Freemasonry has sustained an irreparable loss, while this Lodge 
- of which our late Brother was one of the Founders and the oldest member - 
deplores the death of one of whom vie justly proud. 


"Brother Shackles was a distinguished ornament of the profession to which some 
of us have the honor to belong, and his legal Brethren knew and appreciated his 
worth. I saw him almost daily for many years, and as I think of him I am reminded 
of the words of that eccentric American genius - the poet, Walt Whitman - who, 
when dying, was heard to murmur, 'I love God and flowers and little children.' 
There could be no moral or spiritual bankruptcy for such a man. 


"In the days that are to come we shall in imagination look back again down that 
great Corridor of Time, wherein the lights and shadows have fallen upon us, for 
after all only a few brief moments, for we spend our years as a tale that is told. As 
we look back down that Corridor, with its yearning and haunting memories, 
recalling some of those friends with whom we have walked and talked - and as we 
think of George Lawrence Shackles, the truth of an old saying will once more be 
borne home to us - it is this: “The memory of the just is blessed.'" 


Glancing down the list of Past Masters, we remember with the greatest pleasure 
many of its names - Bro. W. N. Cheesman, an active member of the British Society 
for the advancement of Science, an author of several papers for this Society, an 
authority on "Masons' Marks" and a beautiful exponent of our ritual. Bro. Corris, 
"our silver-tongued orator." Bro. J. Wright Mason, Medical Officer of Health for 
Hull for forty-four years, and an examiner in forensic medicine at the Universities 
of Edinburgh and Aberdeen. "There is gladness in remembrance," gladness in 
thinking of the work many did, not only for the elevation and general welfare of 



the craft, but comforting the sick, relieving the distressed, and alleviating the 
aggregate of misery and woe. 


During its history, the Image has had visits from many of the leading authors and 
lecturers on Masonic subjects, including Pros. W. J. Hughan, R. F. Gould, G. W. 
Speth, T. Inane, J. T. Thorp, and others. 


At intervals of four or five years the Transactions of the Lodge are published, Vol. 
VIII being issued in February, 1930. These volumes are in great request by 
Masonic students, the first seven being out of print. Bro. J. G. Wallis, P. Asst. G. 

St. B. Eng., who has been Secretary of the Lodge since 1912, and acted as Editor to 
all Volumes from the third, can supply a few copies of VIII. 


The Lodge celebrated its Installation on February 7th last, when Bro. T. T. Field 
was installed as W. Master, and the evening being made interesting by a 
presentation of a silver Tea and Coffee Set to the Asst. Sec. Bro. R. Witty, the 
presentation being made by the Dep. P.G. Master. Bro. M.J. Staplyton. 


The Lodge is in a most prosperous condition, Masonically, financially and 
numerically, having the largest number on its roll since its formation. 


That the Lodge has fulfilled in a large measure the aims and objects of its founders 
is evident from the improvement rendered in the ritual among the various local 
lodges in the neighborhood, the greater interest shown in the literary and historical 
side of our order, and the readiness of so many of its members to assist in 
arranging the syllabus of lectures each session. 


— o — 



EDITORIAL 


R.J. MEEKREN, Editor in Charge 

BOARD OF ASSOCIATE EDITORS 

LOUIS BLOCK. Iowa 
ROBERT I. CLEGG, Illinois 
GILBERT W. DAYNES, England 
RAY V. DENSLOW, Missouri 


GEORGE H. DERN, Utah 
N.W.J. HAYDON, Canada 
R.V. HARRIS, Canada 
C.C. HUNT, Iowa 


CHARLES F. IRWIN, Pennsylvania 
A.L. KRESS, Pennsylvania 
F.H. LITTLEFIELD, Missouri 
JOSEPH E. MORCOMBE, California 



ARTHUR C. PARKER, New York 
J. HUGO TATSCH, Iowa 
JESSE M. WHTED, California 
E. E. THIEMEYER, Missouri 
DAVID E.W. WILLIAMSON, Nevada 

CHANGE OF ADDRESS 


WE request all our readers and correspondents to note that the offices of the 
Research Society have been removed to 105 South 9th St., St. Louis, Mo. May we 
especially ask the editors of our exchanges to see that the change is made in their 
mailing lists as soon as possible. 


* * * 


EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE AT PHILADELPHIA 


AT the Third Informal Conference of Masonic Librarians and Educators held a 
year ago at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, it was tentatively suggested - for, these 
Conferences being informal, nothing can be definitely decided as to the future - 
that Pennsylvania should call the next one. The hope that these meetings might be 
continued has been fulfilled, and the Committee on Library of the Grand Lodge of 
Pennsylvania has invited those prominent in Masonic Educational and Library 
work to attend the Fourth Informal Conference at Philadelphia, May 8, 9, and 10. 



This year the program as arranged deals more with Educational work and less with 
Libraries than was the case in the preceding years. 


Prof. C.S. Plumb, Bro. C.C. Hunt, Bro. Silas H. Shepherd and Bro. W. L. Boy den, 
whose names are probably almost household words to readers of THE BUILDER, 
are to read papers. Among others on the program, are Bro. H. V. B. Voorhis, who 
has contributed some useful articles to THE Builder recently, Dr. J. Austin Evans, 
President of the Society for Masonic Research of Toronto, Canada, and M. W. Bro 
Frank S. Moses, who is in charge of the educational work of the Grand Lodge of 
Iowa. THE BUILDER will be represented by our associate editor, Bro. J. Hugo 
Tatsch. 


Bro. William Dick, Librarian and Curator of the Library of the Grand Lodge of 
Pennsylvania, will preside, and Dr. Arthur Mather, Grand Secretary of the Grand 
Lodge of Missouri, is to reply to the address of greeting and welcome of the Grand 
Senior Warden of Pennsylvania, Bro. Otto R. Heiligman. 


These gatherings have in the previous years been productive of much good. They 
have aroused interest, and have stimulated those who have attended them. There is 
every prospect of the present Conference being up to the standard of those held 
previously, and perhaps even setting a new record. This last is not at all 
improbable, for those who have attended all of the former gatherings seem to agree 
that each was better than the one before. 


In the June number we expect to give a full account of the proceedings, as was 
done last year. 



THE FUTURE OF FREEMASONRY 


IN the April number of the Masonic World, Bro. J. E. Morcombe, the editor, has 
an arresting article under the title "Freemasonry at the Crossroads." It is one that 
should have the widest publicity, for, in spite of the assertions by those who love to 
prophesy smooth things, there is a crisis in the affairs of the Craft. 


The keynote of the article is given in the first paragraph, in which Bro. Morcombe 
quotes a Past Grand Master of California: 


I expect that Masonry will continue to exist for a long period of time - forever, as 
the usual phrase goes. But I am not so sure that it will hold its present high place in 
the estimation of men . . . 


This recalls a dictum of Albert Pike, in reference to a state of affairs somewhat 
similar to that with which we are now faced, which existed some years after the 
Civil War. He said that "Masonry, by its nature intended to be exclusive, had 
become popular." 


We all know the really extraordinary influx into the Fraternity that began just after 
the World War, and which reached its peak in 1921, in which year very nearly 
three hundred thousand men became members. The article in THE BUILDER just 
a year ago entitled "Where Are We Drifting ?" may be recalled. In the second of 
the charts there given the curves of gains and losses indicated that in a year or two 
they would meet. This forecast has been fulfilled. In some Grand Lodges the year 
1929 has actually shown a net loss of members, and others are at a standstill. 


This condition is not peculiar to the Masonic Fraternity. It is known, and Bro. 
Morcombe in his article gives the figures, that other fraternal organizations are 



faced with the same conditions, and even more intensely. And not only fraternal 
societies, but clubs and churches are feeling the pinch of slackened interest and 
loss of members. 


Statistics of membership give a somewhat superficial test of an institution's 
condition. Members there must be, obviously, but without knowing the quality 
little of value can be deduced from the quantity. Masonry has in the past attained a 
high reputation in the world, but this reputation was not in the least founded on the 
number of men who were Masons, but on their character. It was because in every 
community it was observed that many of the best men, the men most respected, the 
men most trusted, were of the Craft, that Masonry gained the reputation it has 
enjoyed. And reputation cannot long survive the conditions which give rise to it. 


It is obvious, because it is common human nature, that as soon as any state or 
condition is highly esteemed in the community there will be a greatly increased 
desire to attain to it. In proportion as a society is highly esteemed, and membership 
in it is regarded as a distinction, so will the number increase of those who desire to 
join it for the benefits it will bring them personally. In other words, the more an 
institution prospers the greater the number of parasites who seek to attach 
themselves to it. The condition is inevitable, human nature being what it is. 


It is those who give who make an institution, whether it is a society, a church, or a 
nation. It is those who take without giving who reduce it to weakness. The 
parasites can hardly be wholly eliminated, but when their number grows to be too 
great the organization, or organism, is weakened, becomes sickly, and may even 
die. 


We in America have been bitten by the lust for size, for numbers, for wealth. 
Freemasonry has in every country and in every period reflected in its own way the 
external environment. Some things it yields to, others it opposes, but whichever it 
be, it would not so act but for the existing conditions. The things that are accepted 
as a matter of course in the environment inevitably outnumber those which are 
resisted. That we should be gratified by increase in our numbers is natural, and 



such increase is not in itself evil so long as the level of qualification is maintained. 
But to maintain the standard means that increase in numbers must be set on one 
side as an aim. It is not something to be sought for, but if it comes, it must come of 
itself. 


It is an undoubted fact that it has become altogether too easy for men to enter our 
lodges. The standard has been lowered; and though in theory any brother may 
undertake the task of raising it through the ballot box, in reality he is helpless. In 
most lodges it would be impossible, even could he devote his whole time to it, for 
a brother personally to satisfy himself of the qualifications of every applicant. 
Besides even those who feel the situation most keenly are necessarily affected by 
the actual conditions. They inevitably feel that it is hard to reject a man who is no 
whit worse than many who are already in the lodge. The effect is cumulative, and 
increases in geometrical proportion. And while it may be true that candidates 
should not be accepted for negative reasons, because there appears nothing overt 
against their being received, but that there should be something positive, something 
in their life and character that fits them for initiation, yet it is most difficult to act 
on this principle, for it has come to such a pass that most Masons actively resent 
the rejection of any petition they have presented to the lodge and regard it as a 
personal injury. For one brother, or even a group, to attempt to act in this way 
would mean in most cases a disruption of the harmony of the lodge. It is a choice 
of evils. 


These obvious conditions, that all thinking brethren deplore, do not stand alone, 
they are all really symptoms, by-products of the way in which the Craft in America 
has developed, incidents of its evolution. It is this that makes it so difficult to find a 
remedy. Most expedients that are offered do not touch the deep-seated root of the 
evil. Perhaps there is now no cure but the operation of natural laws. If the represent 
tendencies continue the Fraternity will lose its prestige, many will drop out, fewer 
will seek to join, and finally, it may be, a fresh start can be made. 


Yet we can hardly be satisfied to wait for this process, which may end in death 
rather than cure. We must strive as we can to improve matters. There are thousands 
of Masons who are Masons in fact as well as in name, and could they work 
unitedly much might be accomplished. Much more is being accomplished as a 



matter of fact than we know, even as Elijah learned there were men in Israel who 
had not bent the knee to Baal. The problem is gradually being realized, most Grand 
Lodges are now actively trying to do something to meet it. The first necessity is to 
realize that the body is sick, the next to diagnose the disease. After that there may 
be some hope of a cure if the right treatment can be found. 


* * * 


THE OBJECTS OF MASONRY 


HAS Freemasonry any specific objects? According to some people it has - very 
definite ones. Among them we may note the destruction of all religion and 
overturning of every government, the establishment of a state of anarchy and the 
downfall of civilization and the final triumph of the powers of hell and the 
kingdom of Satan. For further details, General Ludendorff, Leo Taxil, Col. Gustav 
Wolf, Mrs. Nesta Webster and many others may be referred to. But setting aside 
the assertions of our friends the enemy, who may or may not believe what they say, 
has Masonry any objective aim or purpose as a reason for its existence? 


One of our contemporaries has raised the question and has answered it by saying 
that "Freemasonry has always existed for its own sake" and that a man "becomes a 
Mason in order to be a Mason." 


While it is perfectly true that the Fraternity does not exist for the purpose of 
furthering any specific cause, whether religious, political or charitable, yet is it, as 
an institution, entirely self-centered? It certainly was not instituted, nor do men 
become Masons, in order to further the cause of universal education in a particular 
country, or universal peace between all nations or any such aim or purpose; but is 
it true that it has no interest in the welfare of humanity That universal benevolence 
is a characteristic of every true Mason has always been understood; that a society 



of men individually benevolent may not exercise benevolence collectively is 
paradoxical indeed. 


Let us recall a question that most American Masons will remember ? 


Do you seriously declare . . that you are prompted to solicit the privilege of 
Masonry by . . a sincere wish of being serviceable to your fellow creatures? 


Consider too the old charge at the closing of the lodge. After rehearsing the duties 
and obligations Masons specifically owe to each other it is said: 


These generous principles are to extend farther. Every human being has a claim 
upon your kind offices. "Do good unto all." 


And again: 


....by liberal benevolence and diffusive charity; by constancy and fidelity in your 
friendships, discovered the beneficial and happy effects of this ancient and 
honorable institution. 


In the instructions given to the Apprentice it is stated that the tenets of a Mason's 
profession are brotherly love, relief and truth, and we are told that: 


By the exercise of brotherly love, we are taught to regard the whole human species 
as one family; the high and low, the rich and poor, who as, created by one 



Almighty Parent, and inhabitants of the same planet, are to aid, support and protect 
each other 


This statement is remarkable in that it is said that it is by the exercise of brotherly 
love that we come to know these things. 


Under the head of relief it is said: 


To relieve the distressed is a duty incumbent upon all men, but particularly on 
Masons, who are linked together by an indissoluble chain of sincere affections. To 
soothe the unhappy; to sympathize with their misfortunes; to compassionate their 
miseries and to restore peace to their troubled minds, is the great aim we have in 
view. 


It is highly probable that many who hear these words assume without much 
thought that they apply only within the limits of the Fraternity. But this was not the 
original intention. This passage in our Monitors appeared first in Preston's 
Illustrations of Masonry in a context which shows conclusively it was intended as 
of universal application. Preston says: 


The bounds of the greatest nation or the most extensive empire cannot 
circumscribe the generosity of a liberal mind.... A mutual chain of dependence 
subsists throughout the animal creation. All of the human species are, therefore, 
proper objects for the exercise of charity. 


The next section to that in which this appears, is headed "The Discernment 
displayed by Masons in the choice of objects of charity," and it contains some very 
excellent remarks on the subject of the relief of the poor and needy and it is 
concluded thus: 



From this view of the advantages which result from the practice and profession of 
Masonry, every candid and impartial mind must acknowledge its utility and 
importance to the state; and surely, if the picture here drawn be just, it must be no 
trifling acquisition to any government to have under its jurisdiction a society of 
men, who are, not only true patriots and loyal subjects, but the patrons of science 
and the friends of mankind. 


This was the conception of Masonry that was held by the intellectual leaders of the 
Craft when our ritual was still in a formative state, and there could be collected a 
multitude of instances to show that it was accepted and put into practice. Not 
perfectly, not universally, yet there is no doubt that it was held to be a proper 
activity for Masons, both individually and collectively. The idea that Masonic 
lodges should be restricted to self-centered objects is of quite recent appearance, 
and the positive prohibition of external benevolence is to be found only in the 
United States, and fortunately, not yet in very many of our jurisdictions. 


A study of the ritual will show, once the language used is appreciated in its full 
meaning and in all its implications, that a Mason's duty and obligation is first to 
those to whom he is bound by natural ties, second to those to whom he is bound by 
the voluntary ties of the Fraternity, the duty to whom includes also all who are 
united by natural ties to each member, that is those who are dependent on him; and 
finally to all mankind. 


What any one can do to help others is limited, often very limited. But the limits are 
set, or should be set, only by external circumstances and not by a self-centered 
view. Priority of claims comes properly into effect only when claims clash. That 
we are unable to aid a brother because of some material obstacle is no reason why 
we should not help our neighbor whose need is at our door. 


No man lives to himself alone, and the same is true of institutions To become self- 
centred is the beginning of moral deterioration - and on that road finally lies 



dissolution and death. It was said once "What shall it profit a man if he gain the 
whole world and lose his own soul?" What shall it profit the Craft if it counts its 
adherents by millions, and has unlimited wealth and power, if it has forgotten the 
law of its being? It may be true that the average Mason has never thought much of 
these things, and it may not be his fault, but it is a condition that should not be 
acquiesced in, or regarded as normal and proper. Though in truth the problem of 
amending it seems almost hopeless. Probably those who see it had best begin by 
looking for what needs to be reformed in themselves. For it is in the practice of 
moral and social virtues that we learn. 


— o — 


Chronicle and Comment 


A Review of Masonry the World Over 


Masonic Library of Los Angeles. 


In the current number of Freemasonry and Eastern Star is a brief report of the Los 
Angeles Masonic Library Association. Bro. John W. Crawford was elected 
President, and Bro. T. S. Southwick, who has long been librarian, was elected, or 
reelected, Secretary-Treasurer. 


He reported that the demands on the library were greater than ever before. The 
library is at the service of all Masons and their families. It is not official, but is 
supported voluntarily by the LOB Angeles Lodges. It shows what may Be done in 
any center of population by intelligent and enthusiastic work. 



Bro. Southwick also announced that a number of purchases of cut-of-print books 
had been made advantageously, and that many donations of books had been 
received. 


Incidentally we may note that Bro. E. P. Ramsay no longer has any connection 
with Freemasonry and Eastern Star. His retirement from its editorship will be a real 
loss lo the Masonic journalism of the United States. 


The Instruction of Candidates. 


Bro. William C. Rapp, editor of the Chicago Masonic Chronicler, has made some 
pertinent remarks on the above subject in a recent issue of his journal. He believes 
in the wisdom of requiring candidates to learn the "Lecture" or catechism of each 
degree before he is advanced to a higher one, and observes that the efficacy of this 
method of imparting instruction is demonstrated by the fact "that most Masons are 
more completely informed concerning matters touched upon by the catechism than 
in other aspects of the Masonic system." 


It might be observed incidentally, that if so much as is required of our candidates is 
of proved value, it might be well that the whole lectures be learned instead of 
merely the first sections. For as a matter of fact there is nothing in our esoteric 
system that is not comprehended in them. 


Bro. Rapp mentions also a suggestion made some time ago by M. W. Bro. Hohy, 
when Grand Master of Ohio, that additional questions might be asked, for example, 
on Masonic duties and privileges, and on the elements of the Constitution of the 
Grand Lodge and the by-laws of the Lodge. In addition Pro. Rapp suggests (hardly 
seriously, though the matter is serious enough) some ironic questions touching the 
false impressions so many people have of the benefits of belonging to the 
Fraternity. This is certainly a point that needs consideration. All would-be 
petitioners should receive some authoritative information regarding the real nature 



of the Masonic institution, and what is expected of every member. It is possible 
that this might go a long way toward solving the problem of excluding the unfit. 


Masonic Education in Georgia. 


From the Masonic Messenger for March we learn that the following circular letter 
has been sent to the lodges in Georgia, signed by M. W. Bro. Raymund Daniel, the 
Chairman of the Board. The circular reads as follows: 


Dear Brother: 


You will see from the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Georgia of 1929 that 
Grand Lodge not only endorsed the Educational program inaugurated in 1929, but 
made further plans for its enlargement by creating a BOARD OF GENERAL 
MASONIC EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES, the purpose of which is to assist in 
providing speakers and programs for Lodges, County and District Conventions. 
Details are now being arranged. 


May I fraternally request that you name from the active members of your Lodge a 
Committee on Masonic Education, whose duty it shall be to arrange meetings for 
pleasure and benefit in your Lodge during the year. 


May I also ask that you appoint a Masonic Home Committee to bring about a 
greater interest in our Home and children. This being the twenty-fifth year of their 
organization, the Masonic Home is to celebrate its silver anniversary, plans for 
which will soon be ready. The Masonic Home Committee can also be of great 
service in furthering the interest of the Masonic Messenger. 



The two Lodge committees mentioned above are committees that were a part of the 
educational program of 1929. Won't you be so good as to advise me of the 
membership of the two committees as soon as you have appointed them. 


From time to time it will be the pleasure of the Board to endeavor to be of 
assistance to you by bringing certain details to your attention. 


May I assure you of my fraternal love and desire to co-operate with your Lodge for 
the advancement of Masonry. 


Our contemporary also states that a questionnaire is being prepared by which it is 
hoped to obtain information that may guide the Board in making its plans and 
enable it to render assistance where it is needed in the most effective way. 


So many Grand Lodges are now experimenting with "Education" that it seems as if 
there should be some sort of clearing house for the exchange of information on 
methods and results. It is not in accord with common sense to attempt things that 
have been tried elsewhere without finding out how they have worked. Though 
there sometimes appears to be a tendency to undervalue the experience of other 
jurisdictions. 


The Present State of the Craft. 


According to M. W. Bro. J. J. Phoenix, in his address to the Grand Lodge of North 
Carolina at its last Annual Communication, Masonry is facing a critical situation 
throughout the country, as well as specifically in North Carolina. He stated the 
chief factors of the problem as he saw them in the three following propositions: 



1. Loss of interest in meetings and complaint of high cost of Masonry. 


2. Large suspension for non-payment of dues. 


3. Careless methods of subordinate lodge finances and inability to meet Grand 
Lodge obligations promptly. 


He went on to say: 


I earnestly believe these conditions will continue unless this and other Grand 
Bodies make it possible for the Grand Master to maintain close supervision over 
the subordinate lodges, ... No official successfully represents the Grand Master. 
The subordinate lodge officer will not accept a substitute for the Grand Master. 

The Grand Master should be adequately financed so that he could devote 
considerable time to the Grand Lodge work during his term of office. Frequent 
visits should be made to the weaker subordinate lodges and every district meeting 
taken advantage of. It is in district meetings that best results are observed. Here the 
interchange of ideas and discussion of problems result in renewed interest in 
Masonic conditions. I have been impressed with the questions submitted for 
discussion and the general desire for more light. 


The statement that no one can successfully represent the Grand Master sounds 
somewhat curious. Most jurisdictions find that Deputy Grand Masters and District 
Deputies are able to take the Grand Master's place to very good advantage. There 
iB little doubt, however, that the conditions he speaks of do exist, and it is probable 
that the Fraternity in the United States as a whole it in for the period of depression 
that thinking brethren have long been expecting. 


Physical Qualifications of Candidates. 



As is well known there are very considerable differences in the regard given to the 
supposed landmark that a candidate must be physically perfect. Outside of the 
United States little attention is given to this rule, and even within this country 
practice varies from an almost fanatical observance of the letter to the liberal 
interpretation that if a man is able to comply with the requirements of the 
ceremonies, and could give the traditional proofs of his membership in the 
Fraternity, he may be accepted. 


The Square believes that "thinking Masons" are coming to believe that the 
"landmark in reference to physical qualifications" should be changed, to permit 
"the initiation of one who has been maimed" by dispensation. It justly remarks: 


There are many excellent men in the world who, because of some slight physical 
defect, are debarred from receiving the privileges of Masonry. Many of them 
would be a credit to the Craft. They would be infinitely better than some of the 
moral cripples that every lodge must be on the watch to prevent entering the tyled 
limits of the lodge. 


And it goes on to add that "Freemasonry must grow more and more liberal in its 
views," and that it is only a question of time before the change is made. 


One thing in regard to this subject must have occurred to many "thinking Masons." 
Why should the letter of the old operative law that required an apprentice "to be 
able of body" or "whole of his limbs as a man ought to be," a perfectly proper 
requirement for working Masons, be continued in the Speculative Fraternity? The 
lodge, the working tools, and everything else that was objective, has been 
transformed into a purely symbolical system, except this one thing. To be 
consistent we should interpret this old requirement as symbolical of moral and 
spiritual fitness. On the whole it would Seem that this clinging to the rigid literal 
interpretation of the old rule is really a superstition. 



Masonic Research in New Zealand. 


The last part of the Transactions of the Masters' and Past Masters' Lodge, No. 130, 
New Zealand, to come to hand contains the inaugural address of W. Bro. Courtney 
Mills Suckling, on his installation as Master of the lodge for the present year. The 
following paragraphs on the origin and work of this lodge ale of sufficient general 
interest to reproduce in full: 


"The founders of this Lodge had two special objects in view, viz., perfection in 
ritual work and Masonic research and mutual instruction. The former was early 
quietly dropped, and I hope we shad not again venture upon ritual 
exemplifications, and the time is all too short to properly carry out our other 
design, yet the need is great, and no ordinary Craft Lodge appears to be able to do 
much more than a little perfunctory talk (or perhaps argument is the more correct 
term) in their meetings for rehearsal. 


"Our late Grand Master has brought before the Craft the urgent necessity for 
further instruction for the newly raised M. M., and looking back upon my own 
experience, I must admit that he has touched upon one of the great weaknesses of 
our Order. 


"Our Lodge has been striving now for over a quarter of a century to supply 
information and instruction to the Master Mason, which he is generally unable to 
obtain elsewhere, and, although we have labored under many difficulties (finance 
being one), a measure of success has undoubtedly been obtained. 


"Still, I regret to have to say that we are not yet receiving that full support from our 
Sister Lodges which I think we may be fairly entitled to claim. It is but a rare 



occasion for a Master or I.P.M. to seek admission to our ranks, and yet what a field 
of interest, adventure and work is presented to such. 


"There is, I understand, no other similar organization in the world that can claim 
such an honorable record and, avoiding as it does all subjects of political and 
religious differences, it enables men of all ranks to meet upon a common level. 
Never was there a greater need for a true spirit of fraternity amongst all men and a 
spreading of brotherhood amongst peoples of all nations and creeds." 


It is curious with what general indifference the intellectual aspects of Masonry are 
regarded everywhere in the English speaking Masonic world. The reasons for this 
widespread state of affairs seem to call for investigation. This is a subject that 
some enterprising brother seeking a new field of research might well take up. 


Utilization of Past Masters. 


In one of the lodges in Wisconsin a Past Masters' Association 

has recently been formed, as we learn from the Masonic Tidings of Milwaukee. 
Such organizations are not uncommon in other countries, but they do not seem to 
be frequently met with in the United States. The objects of the new Association 
above referred to are thus set out: 


We believe that such an association can be of service to the lodge in various ways, 
viz. : Instruct the officers in the ritual and floor work. I propose this year to delegate 
a number of the younger Past Masters to be present at the visit of the Grand 
Lecturer, each one to make mental notes of corrections made in one particular 
office, and then to follow this up at some near future date with the officers of the 
lodge, each Past Master watching the work of his particular officer and correcting 
him when necessary. 



We also believe that through the association we can pick out a more efficient team 
each year for our Past Masters' night than it would be possible for the Master to do, 
which has been the practice in the past. 


Elsewhere such organizations, though occasionally undertaking instruction in the 
letter of the ritual, conceive that their greatest field of usefulness is in encouraging 
the study of Masonry in general, which really seems a more fitting occupation for 
Past Masters; because, after all, learning the ritual by heart is only the rudimentary 
stage of Masonic knowledge. 


Grand Officers of Massachusetts and Britain Confer. 


The Grand Master of Massachusetts, M. W. Bro. Herbert W. Dean, has recently 
been in England, and from an interview with him published in the London 
Freemason, we learn that an important conference took place between him and 
Grand Officers of the Grand Lodge of England, Scotland and Ireland on their 
respective policies in regard to China, where each of the four Grand Lodges have 
lodges under their jurisdiction. According to American theories of jurisprudence, 
China is open territory, there being no Grand Lodge in existence there, though 
there are District Grand Lodges in the Far East under the different British supreme 
bodies. 


M. W. Pro. Dean also expressed himself as being in favor of the British system of 
many lodges with small membership rather than the large lodges of which so many 
exist in this country. 


Italian Fascism in America. 



In January we noted the widely advertised disbanding of the Fascist League in the 
face of a threatened inquiry by Congress, and it was suggested that it would not be 
surprising if some new organization were formed to take its place. 


We learn, though not from the daily newspapers, that such an organization has 
been formed, under the name of the "Great Federation of Lictors." At its head we 
understand is a man who was very active in the Fascist League, and who is said to 
be closely connected with the Fascismo of Italy. 


A New English "Working." 


In a recent number of the London Freemason appears a rather amusing story of an 
enthusiastic ritualist. For the benefit of American Masons it may be as well to 
explain that in England there is no official standard ritual. Each lodge is 
autonomous in this matter within certain not too sharply defined limits. There are a 
number of "workings," as our English brethren style them, which have a 
considerable vogue, while many older lodges jealously guard their own peculiar 
usages. 


This brother was visiting a lodge and noted certain features of the work that were 
new to him, and afterward he inquired of the Master of the lodge to what school 
they pertained. Was it Emulation working? Or Stability? Logic? Oxford? And to 
each the answer was negative. "Then what was it?" asked the earnest inquirer, and 
the reply was "Intuition." 


Perhaps a little more room for intuition, on the part of qualified brethren, might be 
a good thing in America. 


Proposed Mark Masons Temple in London. 



In England Mark Masonry is an entirely separate organization from the Royal 
Arch. A Master Mason may proceed directly to the latter, while Mark Master is a 
side degree. The Grand Lodge of Mark Masons has hitherto leased premises from 
the United Grand Lodge, but these had to be relinquished to make way for the 
magnificent Peace Memorial Temple that is being erected by the English Craft. 


The Mark Grand Lodge has, however, secured a site on the other side of Great 
Queen Street, opposite to its old premises, and plans have been approved for the 
erection of a temple of their own. Lord Aldenham, Deputy Grand Master, stated at 
the last Quarterly Meeting of the Grand Mark Lodge that the Provincial Grand 
Masters, and the Masters of London Mark Lodges have promised full support of 
the project and pledged themselves to assist the "New Premises Lund" in every 
way possible. 


The Prestonian Lecture for 1930. 


The lecturer chosen for this year was W. Bro. H. T. Cart de Lafontaine, whose 
name will be remembered by some of our readers as the author of several articles 
in THE Bumps in past years. The lecture was given at a meeting of Quatuor 
Coronati Lodge, No. 2076, held in the Albert Hall, London, March 7. The Pro- 
Grand Master, Lord Amthill, was present. 


According to the London freemason, Bro. Lafontaine "broke away from whatever 
tradition exists in dealing with the origin of the Lecture and with the life of 
Preston." His subject was the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences, which were 
apparently treated objectively as well as in connection with the Lellowcraffs 
degree. 



It is curious, though it has so often happened in regard to endowed foundations, 
that Preston's purpose has been entirely ignored in the recent revival of the Lecture. 
His intention was to perpetuate and propagate the peculiar system of catechisms he 
had compiled. Now no one is entirely certain just what they were, while the 
Prestonian Lecturer may select any subject he chooses that is connected with 
Masonry. 


— o — 


MASONIC EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES 


In his address to the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands at its last Annual 
Communication, M. W. Bro. Seldon W. O'Brien, the retiring Grand Master, had 
something to say upon the pressing subject of Masonic Education. The Cabletow, 
Manila, published this part of the address in full, from which we take it with due 
acknowledgments. The editor of the Cabletow remarks that if the program outlined 
by Bro. O'Brien is carried through in the proper manner that the Craft will reap 
incalculable benefit from it. One of the greatest difficulties that American Masonry 
has to deal with is the lack of continuity in any eonstruetive plans owing to the 
constant changes in the executive officers of the Fraternity. This affects both the 
Lodges and the Grand Lodges. Under existing circumstances continuity can only 
be attained by putting such activities in the hands of permanent committees or 
boards. But this is really only a makeshift after all. We hope that Bro. O'Brien's 
successor in office will carry out the plans here outlined. 


TO my way of thinking, one of the greatest problems that confronts Masonry in the 
Philippines today is the education of its membership in the history and philosophy 
Of Freemasonry. The ideals and principles of this great institution, which we 
would implant in the hearts of our brethren and have them apply in their daily lives 
are expressed by symbolism. If we hope ever to weave and build into the character 
of our members the steadying and balancing influence of those purifying principles 
and tenets, and thereby ennoble and beautify their lives? they must know and 
comprehend the true meaning of those symbols. In the ceremonies of our initiation, 



we do not attempt to do more than to indicate the pathway to Masonic knowledge, 
to lay the foundation for the Masonic edifice. The initiate is left to pursue the 
journey or complete the structure for himself through contact with his brethren of 
the Lodge and by reading and reflection. The natural result of our initiatory 
ceremonies, if correctly and impressively conducted, with a proper understanding 
of their meaning, is that the new member is impressed with the seriousness and 
high purpose of the Order. He leaves the Lodge Room fired with enthusiasm and 
eager to forward its noble objects. He is inspired by a glimpse of the spirit and 
meaning of the words of the ritual. But, as the weeks and months pass by, he 
receives little or no encouragement in his pursuit of knowledge; his enthusiasm 
becomes dulled; his keen interest wanes, and he finally drops into the easy rut of 
inactivity and fraternal inertia. It is from this lethargic attitude that so many of the 
members of our Lodges need to be aroused. There is need for reinspection, a 
rekindling of enthusiasm, a reconstruction to the principles of Masonry, on the part 
of many hundreds of our membership. Among them, there must be a revival of the 
true Masonic spirit. I believe that the surest way, although slow and tedious, to 
accomplish this is through a definite and concrete program of education in the 
fundamentals of Freemasonry. 


Considerable thought has been given to this subject in the hope that I might be able 
to offer you some practical suggestions. It would seem that the only feasible way 
for the members of the Craft to obtain the knowledge which they ought to have of 
what Masonry is, its history, its philosophy, and its symbolism, is through their 
own well-directed individual efforts. They must be caused to educate themselves in 
the possibilities of the Order, inspired by the knowledge of what others are doing, 
what can be done, and what must be done to fulfill what we believe to be the noble 
purposes of the Fraternity. In order to bring this about, there must be created a self- 
consciousness on the part of the leading members of the Order that education is 
essentially necessary to the welfare of Freemasonry, and, along with that, some 
practical method must be developed to bring to the membership the knowledge 
which they should have. This I conceive to be a proper function of the Grand 
Lodge. The officers of the subordinate Lodges must be not only good ritualists, but 
wide readers and keen students of the inner meaning of the ceremonies which they 
perform, so that they may sot the Craft at work under good and wholesome 
instruction, and create in them a renewed interest for further light in Masonry. If 
they are to possess these qualifications, the most important requisite is that they be 
provided with the best Masonic literature in order to enable them to take the 
knowledge which has come from highly authenticated sources and remake It into a 



form which the average member of the Lodge can understand and which will give 
him some enthusiasm for the organization of which he is a part. With these ideas in 
mind I would propose, merely as a basis of our future Masonic educational 
program, the following: 


RECOMMENDATIONS. 


1 . That the present Special Committee on Masonic Study and Research be 
abolished, and that there be created in its stead a permanent Committee on 
Masonic Education to assist and cooperate with the officers of the subordinate 
Lodges in devising and adopting some practical plan for the education and 
enlightenment of our Masonic brethren along the lines herein suggested. 


2. That this Committee make every effort to encourage and stimulate Masonic 
research and study on the part of the officers and members of the subordinate 
Lodges, and for that purpose, to prepare and furnish to them suitable courses of 
study on Masonic subjects, with information as to where the literature on the 
various topics mentioned therein may be found, in order to facilitate their studies. 


3. That a general Masonic library be established in Manila and maintained by the 
Grand Lodge with a suitable and convenient reading room, under the supervision 
of the new Committee on Masonic Education, with an ample appropriation for that 
purpose and that an effort be made to obtain the co-operation and support of our 
constituent Lodges and the York Rite and Scottish Rite Bodies of Manila at least to 
the extent of the use of their present libraries in this worthy object. 


4. That in relation to the general library and under the super" vision of the same 
committee, there be established what is known as "Travelling Libraries" for the use 
and benefit of our provincial brethren, who will not be able to avail themselves of 
the books in the general library. 



5, That the subordinate Lodges be urged to purchase and place in the hands of each 
of its candidates a copy of the presentation edition of M. W. Brother Oliver Day 
Street's "Symbolism of the Three Degrees". The set consists of three volumes - 
one for each degree - and the volume pertaining to each degree should be 
presented to the candidate when he is learning the lecture of that degree. 


6. That for the purpose interest in this educational program, a Prize Essay Contest 
be held each year under the supervision of the Past Grand Masters of this 
jurisdiction similar to that of the Scottish Rite Bodies in 1925, with suitable prizes 
to be awarded to the winners of first and second places in the contest. 


* * * 


MASONIC EDUCATION IN IDAHO 


We are indebted to the Idaho Freemasonry for the following report of the 
Education Committee of Idaho, which was presented by its Chairman, Bro. Curtis 
F. Pike (who is also Grand Secretary) at the last annual communication of the 
Grand Lodge. It seems to be of sufficient general interest to reproduce here in full: 


The problems Of our Idaho lodges today are quite different from those of a 
generation ago. Within the memory of men not yet old conditions were much 
simpler. Men in those days had leisure evenings, and the lodge room afforded them 
a place to spend a pleasant hour. Homes were much more isolated and roads were 
of the pioneer type. Having little else to do in the evening, they enjoyed going to 
lodge, where besides disposing of their Masonic obligations they met congenial 
spirits and talked over the problems of the day with the neighbors. 



Then came the automobile, good roads, moving pictures, radio, and many other 
modern forms of attraction and the old days passed away never to return. Men are 
no longer troubled with idle evenings. There are so many things to do and so many 
places to go that there are not evenings enough in the week. 


In order to attend lodge now they must forego some other pleasure or business 
engagement. It is more interesting to turn on the radio and listen to the varied and 
attractive programs that are offered, or to step into the car and speed away on a 
drive to the neighboring town. 


Men no longer need to go to lodge for a diversion. Those who go now must do so 
for a more substantial reason. It must be more because of loyalty to the lodge, love 
of Masonic principles and teachings, or because of a deeper faith in the 
fundamentals of the fraternity. These are new conditions and it can readily be seen 
that the problem of lodge attendance assumes greater importance. 


However, there was probably never a time when the stabilizing influence of 
Masonry was needed more than at the present. Under the swiftly changing 
standards of modem life it seems all the more necessary that the fundamental 
principles of correct living as taught by the Masonic fraternity should be kept 
constantly before our members. The subject of Masonic education assumes more 
importance rather than otherwise as other conditions change. 


The Educational Committee has nothing of a striking or unusual nature to report. 
The cause of education does not lend itself to the dramatic. Education is a growth, 
and growth is seldom rapid or dramatic. It has been a year of painstaking work 
along lines followed for several years past. The chairman of the committee and the 
nine district deputies have followed up the work mapped out in previous years. We 
are pleased to be able to report that some progress has been made and that the 
fraternity generally is in a fairly healthful condition. 



We have written a number of circular letters to the lodges giving suggestions and 
instructions on educational matters. Our monitor contains no form of ceremony for 
the reception of the Grand Master and other Grand Lodge officers. Consequently 
there was always much confusion and dissimilarity in the way it was done in 
different lodges, and often embarrassment to the Master and other officers To 
remedy this condition we prepared a leaflet setting forth the proper form. This was 
approved by the Grand Master and furnished to the lodges. The results were 
noticeable and very beneficial.. Having seen it in operation, however, we are of the 
opinion that still further improvement is possible. 


To assist the lodges in building up their lodge libraries, as well as to give 
individual readers and students the proper information we prepared a short book 
catalog of a few of the leading and most worthwhile Masonic books to be had at 
the present time, giving the list of books and a brief description of each, the price 
of each, names of publishers, etc. I note as we go about among the lodges that they 
are taking advantage of the information furnished and are buying and reading more 
than was formerly the case. • A small Masonic library is a necessity if educational 
work is to be carried on. 


We have written many letters giving suggestions to individual lodge officers and 
committees. We have spent more time in the field than has been done in any one 
year before. We have corresponded with educational committees in other states 
and secured their plans. We have not as yet prepared any uniform course for their 
own lodges, but suggestions have been furnished leaving the choice of work tot he 
initiative of each local committees or Master. We have felt the great work for this 
committee is to stimulate a desire for "Masonic Light" and to direct the work in 
general, leaving details of method to local authorities. 


Quite a number of lodges have formed themselves into study clubs. Special 
meetings are called once a month at which matters of Masonic knowledge are 
presented for instruction. These study programs are generally found helpful. 
Young Masons are taught the meaning of Freemasonry and their interest has been 
aroused. Masters often find these educational programs of assistance in adding to 
the life and interest of the lodge, helping to maintain attendance as well as 



enlightening the members and giving them a more intelligent understanding of 
what the Masonic life should be. 


In almost every community there are men capable of giving instructive talks on 
Masonic subjects. We would strongly urge lodge officers and educational 
committees to take advantage of this situation, and invite capable men to prepare 
themselves on certain selected subjects and present them to the lodge. During the 
past year the Grand Master and I have listened to many presentations that could 
with profit be passed around among the lodges in the community. When a member 
prepares himself on his subject and gives a valuable presentation, it is a waste of 
talent to drop the matter without passing it to neighboring lodges. 


Great progress has been made within the past few years throughout Masonic 
circles everywhere toward preparing materials for Masonic study. Many of the 
large Grand Lodges have committees preparing leaflets and addresses and 
complete courses of study. More Masonic books have been written during the past 
fifteen years than in all the years before - books of a high type of literature. 
Material is to be had in great abundance from various sources. It is our hope that 
another year the Committee may be able to systematize the work somewhat more 
than has been done in the past, by furnishing a more definite and detailed program 
so that the committees may more nearly follow the same course. 


After several years' service on the Committee we are thoroughly convinced of the 
advisability and necessity of continuing work of this nature. It remains the greatest 
problem facing the fraternity. 


Last year $500 were appropriated for the use of the committee, including not to 
exceed $200 for office assistance. $315.36 have been expended for traveling 
expenses; $150 for office assistance; and $17.25 for printing, or a total of $482.61 - 
leaving an unexpended balance of $17.39. 



We desire to further supplement our report by calling on several representatives of 
lodges to report informally to the Grand Lodge on the problems and success of 
their work in their lodges in presenting educational work. 


Curtis F. Pike, 

Chairman of Committee. 


* * * 


THE PRAGUE SUMMER SCHOOL. 1930. 


We have been requested to publish the following information regarding this 
school, which, while having no special Masonic connections except the fact that 
we are informed that many of those connected with its organizations are members 
of the Craft, notably Eduard Benes, Minister for Foreign Affairs. Bro. Roucek, 
several of whose articles have recently appeared in THE BUILDER, is to be one of 
the lecturers. 


The invitation to American tourists to attend the school is given by the American 
Educational Committee. The objects of the school are thus stated: 


The aim of these courses, both of which have the same programme of lectures, is to 
give an outline of Central European, particularly Czechoslovak, civilization for 
those English-speaking travelers who wish to gain a clear knowledge of the actual 
civilization of Central Europe. 



Thousands of tourists travel through Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, during 
the summer months from Germany to the south, and thousands of visitors go to 
Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary), Marienbad (Mariansko Laxno), Jachymov (Joachimstal), 
Plstany, and other famous spas and watering-places of Czechoslovakia. Guides and 
handbooks give them a certain amount of information regarding the civilization of 
the country, but ignorance of the Czech and German languages hinder them from 
comprehending the spiritual life of Central Europe, and especially Czechoslovakia. 
Combine your journey to Prague, or your stay in Carlsbad (or even Marienbad and 
Jachymov) with attendance of the lectures given by experts, and the excursions 
conducted by English-speaking guides to the castles and charming medieval towns 
of Czechoslovakia. 


Any of our readers who expect to be travelling in Europe this summer might be 
well advised to obtain further information about the school, which may be done by 
writing to Clarence A. Manning, Columbia University, 61 East 25 th St., New York. 


— o — 


THE LIBRARY 


The books reviewed in these pages can be procured through the Book Department 
of the N.M.R.S. at the prices given, which include postage, except when otherwise 
stated. These prices are subject (as a matter of precaution) to change without 
notice; though occasion for this will very seldom arise. It may happen, where 
books are privately printed, that there is no supply available, but some indication of 
this will be given in the review. The Book Department is equipped to procure any 
books in print on and subject, and will make inquiries for second-hand works and 
books out of print. 


A MISSOURI FRONTIER LODGE. By Ray V. Denslow. Published by the 
Masonic Service Association of Missouri, 1929, 92 pages. Index. 



THIS little publication is a collection of Masonic documents, woven together by 
the author. The story covers the history of "Franklin Union Lodge, No. 7," at Old 
Franklin, Missouri, between 1822 and 1832. The volume will be of interest to 
historically minded Masons, and to the American historian Or social conditions of 
the frontier. At the time of its organization the Lodge was the most westerly of 
Lodges in the United States, and among the names on its roster may be found those 
of the leading citizens of a century ago. The Lodge had evidently many troubles. 
The prohibitionist will point with interest to the record that the evil of strong drink 
found its way into the Lodge and was one of the causes, together with its 
accompanying trials, of the downfall of the Lodge itself. 


These dramatic incidents suggest a comparison between their and our present-day 
Masonic doctrines. The Lodge felt that any quarrel or business disagreement 
needed the intervention of the Lodge. We try to keep "business and polities" out of 
our Lodges. J.S.R. 


* * * 


KATALOG DER BIBLIOTHEK DER LOGE MINERVA ZU DEN DREI 
PALMEN, LEIPZIG. BY Karl Markert. Part 1. Leipzig, Germany. RM2.75 
($0.70). 


THE American Mason who does not have contact with the Craft in Great Britain 
and continental Europe by means of membership in various research lodges and 
associations, correspondence with overseas brethren, or as a reader of foreign 
periodicals, misses many of the delights which Freemasonry holds for its students. 
His views cannot help but be more or less provincial if his knowledge of 
Freemasonry is restricted to his own Jurisdiction, or his own country. It may come 
as a surprise to such a Mason to learn that the craft in foreign lands functions in 
ways different than his own, and that there is a past and present spirit to the 



Fraternity which can only be understood by a knowledge of its history and 
literature. 


A brief introduction to the bibliography of Freemasonry appeared in The 
BUILDER for August, 1923, pages 250-51, in which the colossal Wolfstieg 
Bibliographic der freimauerischen Literatur was reviewed; another account of the 
same work, with the story of the Beyer and Quint supplements, was given in the 
Iowa Grand Lodge Bulletin, January, 1928, pages 435-37 Both are from the 
present reviewer's pen. Each review gives the essential facts regarding the principal 
foreign catalogues; we have nothing in the English language which approaches the 
Wolfstieg-Beyer-Quint productions in number Or items, wealth of description and 
detailed classification. The two best American lists are the Catalogue of the 
Masonic Library . . . belonging to Samuel C. Lawrence [Boston, 1891], and the 
1873 and 1884 catalogues of the Iowa Masonic Library, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The 
Grand Lodge of Iowa in 1925 authorized a Parvin Memorial Catalogue of the Iowa 
Masonic Library, but no funds were appropriated until 1 929 for this purpose - and 
then only an amount quite insufficient for the work in hand. Let it be said, 
however, that the plan is to make an appropriation yearly until the funds are 
sufficient to produce the catalogue; but unless more than the mere title and author 
of a book is given, the long awaited production will have no such worth as the 
European catalogues already published, or in progress. It is devoutly to be wished 
that at least the great rareties which the Iowa Masonic Library possesses will be 
described in minute detail, such as can be done in most capable fashion by the 
skilled and experienced assistant librarian now working under the direction of Bro. 
C.C. Hunt, Grand Secretary and Librarian. My own activities in that great Library 
from 1925 to 1929 give me a most intimate knowledge of the treasures to be found 
there. 


With this lengthy introduction - which I feel is justified because the present review 
covers only one out of twelve parts to be issued within the next two years or so - 
we can examine Part I in detail. The pages give promise of a good sized volume; 
they measure 11x7 1/2, and Part I has sixty-four pages. There is a frontispiece 
depicting an interior view of the lodge library, with books neatly arranged in 
closed eases. Subscribers to these parts (I state this for the benefit of the half-dozen 
leading American Masonic libraries which have subscribed for the catalogue upon 



my earnest recommendation ) may rest assured that there will be a title page and an 
introduction to the volume when all parts are completed. 


Sixteen pages of the catalogue are devoted to manuscripts alone - and at the very 
outset the author states that only a portion of the collection is listed. Bro. Markert 
whets one's appetite in the very first sentence, in which he tells us that among the 
treasures are manuscripts from the period of the Rite of Strict Observance, as well 
as the diaries of Baron von Hund and material formerly owned by Bro. Johann 
Georg Eck. Von Hund needs no introduction to the students of Freemasonry and 
the older rites; Eck (1746-1808) was an associate of Von Hund and the sixteenth 
Master of the Lodge zip den drei Palmed, Leipzig. The diaries and the Eck material 
are to be published some time in the future. Libraries and students take note! 


To Eck goes the credit for making the first catalogue Of the Lodge; there is a 
manuscript with 476 titles listed, compiled in 1806. Others follow - circa 1810, 
1839 and 1838-1900. Biographies, histories, manuscript songs and lyric poetry, 
occult and mystical papers - these are just a few of the subjects included in the 
manuscript collection. 


Part B opens with encyclopedias and dictionaries. Those who fondly imagined that 
the Mackey Lexicon (1842) or his Encyclopedia (1874) were the first books of the 
kind will be surprised to know that Lenning wrote a three-volume work as early as 
1822; its modern successor is the famous Allgemeines Handbuch der Freimaurerei 
[Leipzig, 1900-01]. I do not find Mackey listed, but Waite's two-volume 
encyclopedia appears, as does Bro. Merz's Ask Me, Brother! Tschoudy's L'etoile 
flamboyante 1766) is the oldest reference work listed; there are many reissues 
known to the student. 


The second section of Part B treats of bibliographies. Here is where the bookworm 
can revel! Bro. Silas Shepherd's fine list of 1923 appears, but what treasures of the 
eighteenth century and the early nineteenth we find included! One could write a 
whole article on them alone. A familiar item is the Barthelmess catalogue of 
Pythagoras Lodge No. 1, Brooklyn, N.Y., 10 and 146 pages, printed in 1859. 



Periodicals are numerous. One observes that the Lodge lacks Vol. 32 of Ars 
Quatuor Coronatorum, and Vols. 4, 6, 7 and 9 of THE BUILDER. Does any reader 
of this review wish to donate these missing volumes to the German Library? 
Another treasure is a goodly run of The American Freemason, Storm Lake, edited 
by the redoubtable Joseph E. Morcombe. Ah, that was a fearless periodical - and 
one really representative of the best the American Craft has to offer. But its worth 
was recognized by too few, and it went the way of all non-commercial publications 
struggling without endowment. 


Sometimes Masonic bibliophiles wonder where the good old treasures go. To 
begin with, here are two rarefies from England - The Free Mason's Pocket 
Companion, (Smith's) editions of 1736 and 1738. The catalogue states that the 
1736 is the "eldest Pocket-companion," but there was one earlier, published in 
1735. There are German translations of the Pocket Companion of 1738 and 1740 at 
Leipzig. 


American Masonic libraries which regard lodge notices, lists, etc., of no account 
can take a lesson from the Leipzig library, which has preserved, in 235 thick 
volumes, rosters of lodges on the exchange list, ranging from 1870 to 1930. What a 
fertile field for the researcher who seeks an answer to the question, was So-and-So 
a Freemason? If we had taken the precaution to preserve the printed lists, etc., of 
our early American lodges, we might be able to claim a few more notable 
Americans as members of the Fraternity. 


Pages 40 to 64 contain titles of Grand Lodge publications, local lodge histories, 
serial works, chrestomathies, addresses, and books on general Masonic topics. 


The compiler, Bro. Karl Markert, is to be congratulated upon his capable 
production. He has set a high standard for those who would bring out similar 
works. The part before me is ample assurance that the remaining issues of the 
catalogue will be sought after by libraries and collectors. The terms of subscription 



are RM 2.75 for each part, equivalent to about seventy cents. Orders can be placed 
with Markert and Petters, Publishers, Leipzig, C- 1 , Germany. Brethren desiring the 
catalogue must agree to purchase the entire work, which is planned to cover twelve 
parts. J.H.T. 


* * * 


THE DIARY OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. Edited by Allan Nevins. Published by 
Longmans, (Green and Co. Cloth, preface, table of contents, introduction, index, 
585 pages. 


NO other diary, it is claimed, has touched American life at so many points, or 
extended over so great a period - 1794-1845 - as that of John Quincy Adams. The 
complete diary first appeared as a twelve-volume work; but it has been out of print 
for fifty years, and thus the republication of its more outstanding passages will be 
welcomed by those of present generations unfamiliar with the details of a life so 
greatly devoted to public service. Born in 1767, Adams was only a lad when in 
1778 he accompanied his father to France on a special mission. Launched on a 
diplomatic career of his own, he saw service for his country in Russia, Prussia, 
Holland, Sweden, France and Great Britain. Later he became a United States 
Senator from Massachusetts, then Secretary of State for eight years, and finally 
President of the United States, being the only son of a President to hold the same 
exalted office as his father. 


One is tempted to touch upon the details of Adams' public life as he develops 
certain aspects in his own observations. Couched in expressive and effective 
language, written in a simplicity of verbiage and style, and breathing the rigid 
Puritanism which we are so prone to consider an unfailing New England 
characteristic, the diary entries grip one, and give us an intimate insight into the 
man and his thoughts. We all have our heroes in American history, and we also 
have individuals for whom we hold scant regard. Others leave no impression; 
Adams was one such in my younger days. In later life, however, I felt averse to 
Adams because of his unreasonable opposition to Freemasonry; yet I confess that 



this dislike has been tempered by my admiration for the man's better qualities, his 
sincerity of purpose and his accomplishments. 


As in my previous reviews of biographies possessing Masonic appeal because the 
subjects were members of the Fraternity, or had played a part in Freemasonry's 
development, comments must be limited to the sections of Masonic interest. Let it 
be stated and emphasized that John Quincy Adams, like his father, John Adams, 
was not a Freemason. Both names loom up in Craft history; the father, because he 
wrote a letter to the Masons of Massachusetts in which he stated that he was not a 
Freemason, but that he held the Fraternity in esteem (this was in connection with 
the anti-Masonic developments of 1798 and 1799); the son, the writer of the Diary 
under review, because he took a still more pronounced part in Masonic 
developments in later years. He became one of the most bitter and most virulent 
opponents the American Fraternity has ever had. Bro. Erik McKinley Eriksson tells 
the story in his "John Quincy Adams: Anti-Masonic Letter Writer," originally 
published in The Iowa Grand Lodge Bulletin, March, 1926, which article forms a 
chapter of The Morgan Affair and Anti-Masonry, written by him and the reviewer, 
and now awaits publication in book form. Briefly, Adams admits in a letter written 
in 1832 that he had little knowledge of Freemasonry until the "murder of Morgan," 
and had been only "an occasional witness of its childish pageantry and the mock 
solemnity of its processions." 


The editor of the present Diary omits the first Anti-Masonic reference penned by 
Adams, but it appeared October 25, 1827, in which he mentions a letter received 
from A. H. Tracy, and to which he authorized a reply that "I am not, and never 
was, a Freemason." Additional sentences under the same date show that he 
accepted the current Anti-Masonic propaganda without question, and displayed a 
credulity which should have been foreign to an experienced politician like himself. 


Yet there are enough Anti-Masonic references in the new publication to warrant 
the purchase of the book by the serious Masonic student and by Masonic libraries. 
Andrew Jackson, Past Grand Master of Tennessee when he was President, is 
referred to in no complimentary terms, when appointments "are conferred upon the 
vilest purveyors of slander during the electioneering campaign, and an excessive 
disproportion of places is given to editors of foulest presses. Very reputable 



appointments have been made." These appointments, and their corollaries of 
removals (which I touched upon in the review of Andrew Jackson: The Gentle 

Savage, in THE BUILDER for ), are mentioned frequently by Adams. 

Thomas Hart Benton is referred to as "a liar of magnitude beyond the reach of 
Ferdinand Mendez Pinto." 


I cannot mention all of the Anti-Masonic references, but one or two are worthy of 
emphasis. Under date of February 28, 1834, Adams writes: 


Mr. Edward Everett brought me a letter from Caleb Cushing, a Royal Arch Mason, 
and member of the Massachusetts legislature, to Mr. Webster. This gentleman had 
written to enquire what was the reason of their delay upon the resolutions 
respecting the distress and removal of deposits and recharter of the Bank of the 
United States. 


Cushing answers, bitterly complaining that all are paralyzed by the Anti-Masons, 
who upon all occasions vote with the Jackson party, and enquired if I could not do 
something to heal this breach. I said that I had done everything in my power, and if 
anything had been done to conciliate the Anti-Masons they would have met every 
advance in the same spirit. * * * 


Truly a strange state of affairs - the Anti-Masons supporting the Masonic 
President! 


A month later this interesting record appears, March 27th: 


At seven in the evening I attended the meeting of the Anti-Masonic members of 
the House of Representatives.... The occasion of the meeting was the presence of 
Mr. Granger, of New York, in the city; and he was present at the meeting. Nothing 



special was proposed, but Mr. Granger was requested to give a statement of the 
condition of Anti-Masonry in the State of New York, and especially in that part of 
it where he resides. He said that in all the western counties of New York Masonry 
was extinct; the lodges and chapters were all abandoned, and almost all of them 
formally dissolved; that the spirit of Anti-Masonry had consequently subsided - 
there was no adversary left to contend with, and as a distinctive party there could 
scarcely be said to be any Anti-Masonry left. If the Freemasons should attempt to 
revive their institutions in those counties, he had no doubt the Anti-Masonic spirit 
would instantly revive with as much zeal and ardor as it had ever manifested. 


Freemasonry did revive in due course of time, and grew steadily in spite of the 
opposition which lurked for many years in certain parts Or the country. As is 
known to students of Masonic history, Anti-Masonry flourished longest in the 
western part of Pennsylvania; hence the following entry of January 17, 1836, is of 
interest to us: 


I was writing an answer to a letter from Thaddeus Stevens, a member of the 
Pennsylvania Legislature, in which he asked my opinion of General William H. 
Harrison's Anti-Masonry. Stevens is the great Anti-Masonic leader in Pennsylvania 
at this time; he is also a partisan of Mr. Webster succession to the Presidency. He 
had a correspondence with Harrison upon Masonry, and was not satisfied with his 
answers. 


The Masonic reader, who will go through the Diary for Masonic references, will 
stop often and long upon other passages, for they are interest compelling in their 
subject and treatment. They shed light on many phases of American history, and 
bring out as commonplaces of the time a number of topics which were destined to 
become important in the story of the American nation. 


An occasional footnote throughout the book illuminates certain entries to the 
delectation of the reader, making him wish there were more. But I suspect the 
editor omitted many that he had prepared, for if he had yielded to such an 
indulgence, tempting as it must have been in view of the fine selections made, one 



probably could not have found the text of the Dorm because of the explanatory 
notes. The Diary is such an excellent cross section of American history and polities 
that a commentary upon it would necessarily be a most voluminous work, and 
entirely beyond the scope of the editor's purpose. 


I know I voice the sentiment of others who have examined the book that the reader 
will return to the volume again and again because of the fascination it holds for 
brethren interested in the story of the American Craft and that of the American 
nation. J. H. T. 


* * * 


MAN'S SOCIAL DESTINY, IN THE LIGHT OF SCIENCE. By Charles A. 
Ellwood, Ph.D., LL.D., Published by the Cokesbury Press, Nashville, Penn. 219 
pages. Price, $2.15. 


IN no period of the man's history has there been so much progress in practically all 
lines of scientific research and discoveries as in the last past hundred years or so. 
Whether it be biology, zoology, botany, chemistry, physics, geology, or 
archaelogy, science has affected our modes of living and our ideas. Whether it has 
made life more miserable or pleasurable to the average man, is very hard to say. 
One of the greatest difficulties in estimating culture or civilization is the fact that 
we always credit it with the good qualities common to all cultures. Furthermore, it 
is only natural that we are very much satisfied with it because it so clearly works. 
But it must be remembered that every civilization and culture has worked; to say 
that it works is the only other way of saying that it is here. 


We patted ourselves on our back until the World War brought us a sudden and 
unpleasant realization that something was wrong with that system of ours. When it 
was all over, we realized that the world had a very severe headache, from the 
effects of which it has not yet recovered. The simple answer lies in the feet that we 



are very slow in opening our mind and in modifying our opinions and theories in 
accordance with the observed facts. The scientist gave us this marvellous scientific 
civilization. He outstripped the rest of the world in the power, vigor and keenness 
of his thought. He is able to set aside his prejudices, open his mind, and make a 
nice bonfire out of the rubbish that cannot be used any more. Mr. Ford, for 
example, changed his "flivver" overnight, so to speak, and substituted his methods 
and the factory system with machinery standing the test of the time. However, we 
cling religiously to our idea" concerning man's relation to man. 


Hence, there has developed a tremendous gap between "science" and so-called 
"social science." Men are interested today in material culture and pecuniary gain. It 
is only natural, therefore, that such men also object to the social scientist who dares 
to examine our social structure and who discovers defects in contemporary 
economic and social institutions. It takes a certain amount of courage to do so, 
because such a social physician opposes the strongest groups of our civilization, 
which are also the pillars of our society. 


Whether or not anyone wants to admit that we have a headache, there have 
appeared recently numerous scholars and men of imagination, who try to diagnose 
the ailment. Whether they can prescribe some kind of aspirin or other cure-all is 
questionable. But even the most casual inquiry impresses us with the names of 
those who see the working of civilization in retrospect and ask whether all this is 
worth the trouble, and, if it is, what does trouble imply. The popularity of Dr. 
Beard's work, Whither Mankind, suggests that his effect is supported by other 
classes of thinkers. R. B. Fosdick's brilliant addresses and publications brought him 
a certain amount of popularity. We all know the following authorities: Ghandi, 
Tagore, Hu Shih, Ferrero, Croce, Spengler, Keyserling, Fabre-Luee, Wells, Barnes, 
Belloe, Shaw, Inge, Trotzky, etc. 


It is true that some of these authors capitalized on their gloomy conclusions and 
made money by lecturing on the topic to our American women's clubs, and other 
American audiences, who simply "eat up" the criticism of visiting foreign 
lecturers. But they performed one service for us at least; they called our attention to 
the problem which is being attacked by some outstanding American scholars at 
home. Bro. Ellwood belongs to that group. 



Bro. Ellwood's book is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant contributions to the 
subject that has yet appeared. The more so because his academic training and 
profession did not hinder his writing in a style which is eminently readable and 
enjoyable. The author's name is known to us as one of the names in academic 
circles. 


The occasion for this work was the invitation of the Faculty of the Vanderbilt 
University School of Religion to Dr. Charles A. Ellwood to deliver the Cole 
Lectures for 1929. 


The author became known outside academic circles about a generation ago, when 
he challenged the facile optimism prevailing at that time. He has now reversed his 
attitude and in a time of widespread pessimism he comes with this book. He treats 
the whole field of human endeavor in a remarkable set of generalizations, and pays 
special attention to the fields concerning social sciences in their relation to physical 
science. He is mainly concerned with the problem of Government and democracy 
as well as with the future of education and the future of religion. 


The whole book is permeated with Masonic philosophy. Anybody acquainted with 
our Masonic problems, whether a member or not, will realize that the lectures were 
delivered by a scholar as well as by a Mason. Note the following statement: 


In the sense of tested knowledge, science may be compared to light in the physical 
world. It illuminates all objects and shows the path of safety as well as dangers. It 
enables us, therefore, to descry practical values. While it cannot furnish us with 
motives, it may modify our motives. It can even indicate to us possible 
consequences, and so in part reveal the future. It may, therefore, reveal to us 
responsibilities and become a basis for our faith and hopes as well as for our fears. 



Translate the statement into Masonic phraseology and you will find one of the 
foundations of our Masonic teachings. 


The thesis on which Bro. Ellwood builds his book can be found, in general, in my 
previous discussion. To be more specific, let me quote him directly: 


Our civilization is imperiled today simply because it is ill-balanced. Our spiritual 
culture lags so far behind our material culture in its development that we have no 
adequate control over the latter. 


The thesis itself is that of the other writers in the field, especially of Beard, Fosdick 
and H. E. Barnes. From that point of view, Bro. Ellwood's treatment cannot be 
regarded as wholly original. It is fortunate, however, that he gives ample references 
to all necessary authorities, and often picks up the thread where his predecessors 
have dropped it. His special contribution is his discussion of the place of religion in 
the future development of our civilization. It is evident that he avoids taking into 
his consideration other civilization and cultures, and limits his survey to those that 
are Christian. Foreign critics may find fault with him in that respect. The more so 
because his assumption is that the Christian civilization is of higher order than all 
others. Thus he can be accused of identifying social sciences with Christianity. 

"The building of a Christian civilization will be, equally with the saving of 
individual souls, the concern of the Church.” To challenge this statement would 
mean to go into the field of comparative religions and to get on dangerous ground. 


The reader is amazed at the accurate generalizations sweeping the book. It breathes 
an optimism probably much needed in the present juncture. However, Just as his 
optimism is the main point of the strength, it is also the chief point of weakness in 
Bro. Ellwood's treatment of his subject. To be fair, one must state that it is an 
optimism founded in the future, rather than on the present state of affairs. In other 
words, Bro. Ellwood always looks on the future with bright-colored glasses, 
without attempting to excuse the points of weakness of the present. 



But the weaknesses of our social structure are also the weaknesses of Bro. 
Ellwood's treatment. His amazing power of abstract thinking nearly prevents one 
from grasping particulars - but when one does, there are numerous statements with 
which one can quarrel. I must admit, very frankly, that he is very hard to pin down. 
I might also say that such weak points are nearly always prefaced by "if' and 
"should." This system, of course, proves again my point of contention that he is 
first of all an optimist, and, secondly, if at all, a diagnostician of the actual facts. 
For example, we find, on page 120: "Patriotism should be regarded as a virtue only 
in so far as it leads to unselfish service, not simply of one's own state, but of all 
humanity." (The italics are mine.) I should like to congratulate Bro. Ellwood on 
this statement. But I dare him to propound it in a Fourth of July oration, or discuss 
it before some of our patriotic organizations, who even go so far as to print a 
blacklist of the type of people, who make statements such as this. 


I simply could not digest this noble statement of democracy: "Democracies ... for 
their own protection are forced to support systems of education; but they are not 
supposed to dictate what opinions shall be taught in the schools, and again in 
proportion as they do so they lose their character as democracies." Again the italics 
are mine. If we apply our individual American cases, then we evidently lose 
entirely the character of democracy - according to Bro. Ellwood. "A free school 
and freedom of teaching are . . . necessary for a democracy." But why forget the 
cases of the Tennessee "Monkey Trial," "Big Bill" Thompson of Chicago, recent 
troubles in the University of Missouri, etc., etc. "Democracies . .. encourage every 
individual to think and judge for himself, and they thus free the whole cultural 
process." There is a whole school of scholars who have written libraries opposing 
this thesis. Let me mention such problems as the "tyranny of the majority," or the 
decisions of democracies made by sentiment or passion instead of by reason and 
real interest. Even such friends of democracy as Lord Bryce, H. J. Laski, G. L. 
Dickinson, W. Lippmann, and others, emphasize that it is the ignorance and apathy 
of those to whom the ultimate power is confined in democracy. Or let us remind 
ourselves that if ". . . war is the mother of autocracy," how is it possible that we 
fought for "democracy" and out of that terrible struggle came more established 
democracies in Central Europe than we ever dreamed of? 


Internationalism - on the basis of Christianity - is the final goal of our education, 
according to Bro. Ellwood. The reviewer is in perfect accord with the writer. But 



objection again must be made to the assumption that "if patriotism is taught in our 
schools, it must be taught critically, or education will foment rather than allay 
political passions and prejudices." Personally I should like to mention my 
experiences as a teacher in American institutions, and enumerate numerous 
instances where I was refused a simple consideration of a teaching position 
because I could not show the qualification of 100-percentism, though I am an 
American citizen, and would define patriotism as Bro. Ellwood. 


Bro. Ellwood seems to have sharpened his razor when dealing with Russia. Let me 
quote "Russia officially sanctions ... a system of sex relations lower than any 
sanctioned by the lowest African tribe." In the first place, does Bro. Ellwood know 
what are the sex relations of the lowest African tribe? What is the lowest African 
tribe? He seems to be confusing promiscuous sex relations with marriage. 
Assuming, however, that he means the Russian marriage system, we might ask, 
how he considers this inferior to our American system, which allows certain 
classes of our people to have six or seven divorces - legal divorces - and which 
awards sometimes even one million dollars to the divorcee? 


But, after all, all these objections lose much of their value when we realize that 
Bro. Ellwood is careful to put any such statement into the realm of possibility, in 
the future. Hence, we may disregard them, and admit that the book is truly 
remarkable. It is a pity that a majority of the "democracy," which is so admired by 
Bro. Ellwood, will not read his book, though it deserves wide publicity. It would 
be interesting to learn how many copies of this excellent work will be absorbed by 
our democracy. That would be probably the best answer to Bro. Ellwood's 
optimism. But, whether his optimism is justified or not, the book is a real 
contribution to our inquiry as to what kind of road we are traveling and whether we 
can improve it and smooth out some spots in this troublesome journey. 



THE UNIVERSAL MASONIC LEAGUE. 


INCREASING interest accompanies the preparations for the annual meeting of the 
League, which is to be held this year at Geneva (Switzerland), August 21 to 24. 
Since the Congress held at Amsterdam last year a number of national and local 
groups have been organized and many new members from all parts of the world 
have joined, hence a gathering is foreseen far exceeding in number any of our 
previous Congresses. 


The program will be interesting and varied. The General Meeting will be divided 
into two sections in order to facilitate broader and full discussions. Administrative 
questions will be disposed of in the opening session so that a whole afternoon will 
be kept free for an ample discussion of important Masonic topics, and Special 
Committees will deliberate as well. Our Measures of Defense will form the main 
subject, and Special Groups for the Youth Problem, for the advancement of Peace 
and for Masonic Publishing (Journalists and Authors) will furnish important 
debating material. 


The Congress will open on August 2 1 , with meetings of the Acting Committee and 
the General Board. On this day and the following morning the members of the 
League will have opportunity to attend to the Congress of the Lufton Associations. 


The Solemn Opening of the Congress will take place in Victoria Hall on August 22 
by the Chairman, Bro. Doctor von Bury, the president of the Swiss National 
Group, and will be immediately followed by the first part of the general assembly. 
The special groups and committees will take up work in the afternoon. 


In the morning of August 23, sessions of the National Groups will be held, and 
these will be followed by those of the General Sections, and at noon by the second 



part of the General Assembly. The afternoon and evening will be reserved for a 
five o'clock tea with the ladies and an excursion on the Lake Leman by special 
steamers. 


In the morning of August 24, one of the Geneva Lodges will hold a Festival 
Communication in honor of the Congress, and a banquet for all its members will 
close the proceeding. 


The Organizing Committee is presided over by Bro. E. J. Sallaz. 


For all information about the Congress, Traveling Arrangements, etc., brethren 
should apply to Central Bureau of the Central Masonic League, Bro. Eugen 
Lennhoff, Managing Director, Vienna (Austria), I., Kohlmarkt 5, III./8. The 
Central Bureau will also furnish any other information desired about the League, 
and will receive applications for membership, as only members of the League are 
entitled to participate in the Congress. 


The Universal Masonic League particularly desires that it should be understood 
that its principles, actions and aims in no way interfere with the authority or sphere 
of action of Grand Lodges. It is an entirely unofficial organization composed of 
Master Masons. 


What the League is working for is individual rapprochement and mutual 
understanding, and the establishment of personal friendships among regular 
Masons from all over the world, with the view of practically forming “The Chain 
Embracing the Globe.” 


— o — 



THE QUESTION BOX 
and CORRESPONDENCE 


THE PROBLEM OF THE DISABLED VETERAN 


I have read with great interest the article by Brother Leonard G. Coop, entitled 
"The Broken Men of the Great War," which appeared in the March issue of THE 
BUILDER. 


Please accept my congratulations and my personal appreciation for publishing this 
very illuminating article. 


Brother Coop was formerly a resident of San Diego, and it has been my pleasure to 
know him intimately for many years and to have a knowledge of his activities in 
connection with the Red Cross and Veterans' Bureau work. 


Brother Coop has always been a man of highest character and one in whom every 
confidence and trust could be imposed, and I am confident that his statements in 
respect to the Veterans' Bureau and the problems of the Disabled Veterans are 
exactly as he knows them to be. I hope you will find it possible to give Brother 
Coop consideration in your future issues, as I feel that the work which he is doing 
should have the backing and support of every right thinking individual. 


May I thank you again for Brother Coop's article, and express the hope that he may 
have the continued support of your excellent publication. 



C. H. H., California. 




Just recently I read an article in the official journal of the National Masonic 
Research Society concerning the disabled ex-soldiers. 1 believe such articles are 
very worth while, and that the public should be informed through articles similar to 
this, as to the actual conditions of disabled men of the World War. Far too many 
people think a generous government is caring for its disabled adequately. The 
situation is certainly full of many complexities. 


The article by Leonard G. Coop in the March issue is good. Hope there will be 
more articles in coming issues, helping to stimulate interest in the disabled men of 
the War. 


Being disabled myself, and compensated, I am anxious that everything possible be 
done to help those who are not compensated, and want you to know that I was 
pleased to read the clear cut case set forth in the March issue. 


L. E. F., Nebraska. 




DuPont Chapter, No. 78, National Sojourners, looks with favor upon the publicity 
you are giving to the relief of World War Veterans, in the article, "The Broken 
Men of the Great War," written by Brother Leonard G. Coop in the March number 
of THE BUILDER. I have also expressed my personal opinion on such publicity in 
a personal letter mailed to you today. Apparently Bro. Coop has the facts, and it is 



good for the brothers of the great Masonic Fraternity to know of the condition that 
exists. 


VICTOR E. DEVETREAUX, 

Second Lieut., Eng. Res., Secretary, DuPont Chapter, No. 78. 


In the personal letter above referred to, Bro. Devereaux expressed himself, in part, 
as follows: 


"I sincerely believe that such article, based on facts that Bro. Coop must have in 
his possession, can only do good. Now twelve Years after the war, it is time that 
our great government give full and complete justice to the men who gave their all 
that this Nation might live. There should be more articles of this nature published, 
in my opinion, by men who have the facts." 




Just finished reading a copy of your magazine and was specially interested in the 
article by Bro. Leonard G. Coop, of Missouri, "The Broken Men of the Great 
War." 


You are to be commended on this, as everybody feels that the public should know 
about the treatment the ex-soldiers are getting. 


Mr. and Mrs. E.E.C. Missouri 



The article by Bro. L.G. Coop in the March, 1930,, issue of THE BUILDER is a 
clear and concise statement of facts which the general public are ignorant of. 


The writer knows Bro. Coop personally and also knows of a number of eases 
where Bro. Coop has aided a deserving ex-service man who has been denied aid by 
the Veterans' Bureau through red tape or some petty distinction of Veteran Bureau 
law. 


I feel safe in saying that sixty per cent of the ex-service men of this country are 
ignorant of the benefits due them. The writer was helped by Bro. Coop in the past 
and knows that his efforts are untiring when any deserving ease is brought to his 
attention. 


I believe that more of these articles will give enlightenment to the Craft and be of 
benefit to a "forgotten legion." 


L. C. D., Missouri. 


* * * 


T H OR TRIPLE TAU? 



Will you please give me the meaning of "Templum Hierosolymae," which is, I am 
told, Dunkerley's explanation of the Triple Tau Cross (being "T" over "H" 
according to him). 


Also, can you recommend to me a book treating on the various emblems, 
hieroglyphical designs or characters, foreign language letters and initials, etc., 
having or claimed to have, any connection with Masonry, and which is well 
illustrated. I am a Royal Arch Mason, Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner, so that 
anything that is written from the viewpoint of any of those bodies would be 
particularly desirable. 


H. C. A., Minnesota. 


"Templum Hierosolymae" is the Latin form of Temple of Jerusalem. In Latin "Hi" 
is roughly equivalent to sound to our "J" and, of course, our word Temple is simply 
the Latin "Templum" with a change of the ending. There is little doubt that the 
monogram "TH" originally referred to the Temple of Jerusalem and was only later 
given a mystical interpretation. We are afraid that there is no such book as you 
desire yet in existence. The only thing that would partly cover your need would be 
Mackey's Encyclopaedia. We understand that a new edition has just been published 
and possibly this would be even better than the old. However, you will find a great 
deal of information along these lines in any one of the different editions. 


* * * 


HELE OR HAIL 


A discussion has arisen as to the proper pronunciation of a certain word occurring 
in our ritual and I am referring the question to you. I refer to the word meaning to 



conceal or hide and which, I believe, is correctly spelled "here" though Mackey - in 
the one volume edition of the Encyclopaedia - spells it "hale." From this author I 
would infer that the word should be pronounced as though spelled "Hale" or "hail" 
and until recently I have always heard it so pronounced. However, Webster's 
International Dictionary, and also the Standard Dictionary, give the pronunciation 
as though it were spelled "heel." The Little Masonic Dictionary by Boy den 
contained in the Dollar Masonic Library confuses the question by uniting the three 
words "hail," "hale" and "here" and stating that they are "used in two senses - 1. To 
conceal or hide. 2. To regularize an improperly made Mason or Masonic body." By 
thus grouping them I assume that the author intended to imply that they were all 
pronounced alike. However, he spoils it all by inserting the second definition 
which does not apply to any of the three spellings but rather to the word "heal", 
pronounced "heel," meaning to cure. 


I realize that so far as its ritual is concerned, Masonry is more or less of a law unto 
itself and it can pronounce a word contained therein as it sees fit dictionaries to the 
contrary notwithstanding. 


I seem to have a hazy recollection that you gave a discussion of this word in THE 
BUILDER at one time, but I have been unable to locate the article. 


I shall appreciate any help you can give me in this matter either by reference to 
THE BUILDER article or by letter or if you prefer through the Question Box. 


F.E.H., Wyoming. 


There seems no doubt that in early American rituals this word was pronounced 
"hail" or "hale," and whenever it was written was almost invariably spelled as in 
the first example. It is probable, too, though more conjectural, that it came to be 
generally understood to be the word "hail" in the sense of greeting, or calling to 
anyone. 



There are, in reality, an unusual number of distinct words variously spelled hail, 
hale, haill, halle, heill, heal, and other permutations of the possible letters. Of those 
still in common use are, hale in the sense of well; heal, to cure; heel, part Or the 
foot; hail, frozen rain; hail, to call or greet. Less common, but by no means 
obsolete is hale, to drag, draw, or haul, which last is really only a variant spelling 
and pronunciation. Also there is the sea term, "heel," to careen, or turn over, 
spoken of a vessel. And to this may be added the gardener's technical term, "to heel 
in," i. e., to cover the roots of plants temporarily with earth. 


Some Of these are derivable from the same root. The greeting, Hail, was originally 
"be hale" or whole, or well. And heal, to cure, is also the same word ultimately. 


The word retained in the Masonic ritual is derived from the Anglo Saxon helan, to 
conceal, and that again is supposed to come from an Indo-European (Aryan) root 
kel, from which the Latin "conceal" itself is derived by another line of descent. 


Vowel sounds in English are very uncertain, and there is no doubt that two hundred 
years ago educated people in England pronounced many words with a long "a" that 
now have a long "e" sound. Conceal was consayl (probably), tea was tay. In fact, 
pronunciations supposed now to be Irish brogue were once good English - when 
the Irish learned them. 


It would thus seem that our word might quite properly be pronounced as it used to 
be, hale or hail. Only in this case, consistency would demand that we say also, 
"concayl" and "revail," so that there is no need to quarrel with those, who, to mark 
its derivation and meaning, prefer to spell it "hole," and to pronounce it according 
to modern usage. As long as the meaning is made clear (and whichever way it is 
pronounced it needs explanation for the average candidate) there seems to be no 
question of principle involved. There is no absolute right and wrong in 
pronunciation. It is a matter of usage, which is always changing. Masonry has 
retained in its formulas many old and obsolete words and phrases, which should be 



carefully preserved, as marks of its antiquity, and which every "Intender" of 
candidates should be prepared to explain. To consult any good dictionary will 
remove most difficulties, in regard to these unusual words, and for the residue 
Murray's New English Dictionary may be consulted. It is to be found in most 
reference libraries. 


* * * 


EVENTS IN ITALY 


Some months ago I saw a notice in THE BUILDER of the book by John Bond, 
entitled Mussolini: The Wild Man of Europe, which book I have since purchased 
and read. 


The events in Italy, as related, concerning Masonry, seem almost unbelievable. I 
have talked to a number of Masons about it and they all feel as I do. I would, 
therefore, appreciate it very much if you could tell me who John Bond is, whether 
he was in a position to get information at first hand, whether the statements in the 
chapter on Masonry are true, and how reliable is the book generally. Any 
information you can give me on these points will be appreciated. 


C.C.M., Ohio. 


Mr. Bond is the correspondent in Italy of the Fellowship Forum. Further than this 
we have no information concerning him. As there is no doubt that this connection 
will lay his work open to suspicion in the minds of many of our readers, we may 
say that the substance of his communications to that journal, and differentiated 
from his comments and presentation, have been borne out from other sources of 
information in all cases where we have been able to check them. 



Speaking generally, the account given by Mr. Bond of the career of Mussolini and 
the rise of Fascism is much the same as that of many other independent observers. 
And in regard to the suppression of Italian Freemasonry and the persecution of 
Masons, there is nothing exaggerated or untrue. Incredible as the relation may 
seem it is, if anything, an understatement of the facts. The article translated from 
the Freimaurer Zeitung of Vienna, which appeared in THE BUILDER for August 
and September of 1927 may be referred to in this connection. 


* * * 


THE CEREMONIES OF OPENING THE LODGE. 


Why are the ss. of all the first degrees given in the opening of the M. M. lodge ? 


A. K., Indiana. 


This is a difficult question to answer for a number of reasons, some of which are 
obvious enough. No answer, in any ease, can be more than conjectural in the 
present state of our knowledge. 


Originally, so far as our information goes, a lodge was regarded as a lodge of 
Masons, and not a lodge of Masons of some particular degree; every grade was 
supposed to be represented. The first thing done was "to constitute" the lodge. In 
this special sense the expression has long been dropped in America, although it is 
still retained in English rituals. The ceremony that is there spoken of as 
"constituting the lodge," is, however, still retained in America, even though the 
term has fallen into disuse, and with this, to a large extent, the realization also of its 



being a distinct part of the whole proceeding. This "constituting" had as its 
culmination the salutation common to all Masons as such, what in our present 
terminology is called the s. Of an E. A., so termed because it is given in the first 
degree. 


All the business of the craft was transacted in the lodge thus constituted and 
opened, with the exception only of such matters as pertained specifically to a 
higher degree. When such matters required attention, further precautions and 
ceremonies were in order. In the Masonry of the British Empire this is often 
spoken of as "raising the lodge" to a higher degree. The converse process is 
"lowering" it. In these additional ceremonies the form of "constitution" is not 
repeated, as it is in this country, for in this respect the rituals of other countries are 
much closer to the older usage. An important part of these additional ceremonies 
was the salutation proper to the degree to which the lodge was "raised." It follows 
that when a M. M. lodge was opened, all these salutations had been given, and 
were also given again in reverse order before the lodge was closed. As we find, 
generally speaking, that in the development of Masonic ceremonial there is a 
powerful tendency always at work to retain as much as possible of old usage in the 
newer arrangement, even if its position and emphasis is quite changed, we may 
suppose it was at work here also, and, though in America we now constitute the 
lodge and open directly in the third degree, we still as a survival of the past, give 
the salutations of all three degrees. 


Another explanation is possible. The procedure can be interpreted as a symbolic 
reminder that all present have progressively passed through the three stages, are 
possessed of their particular secrets and are bound by their specific obligations. 
And, though this is probably only a secondary motive, yet it may have had 
considerable effect in the retention and preservation of the custom. 


* * * 


AN APPRECIATION. 



Some time ago I wrote you asking for information as to the history and meaning of 
the shape of our present Masonic apron. I had expected a letter in reply which 
would contain one or two paragraphs concerning my inquiry. 


You may imagine how pleased and how surprised I was when I received the 
bundle of clipped articles about this matter. That is SERVICE! I wish to take this 
opportunity to thank you for sending me such full information upon this subject. I 
read every word of it. I am more or less a tyro in Masonic scholarship, but I hope 
that I may learn more and more as the years roll on. 


I have told several brother Masons here about the fine service which I have 
received from you. I also stress the value of THE BUILDER. Such work as you are 
doing should prosper, especially among intelligent Masons who are awake to the 
wonderful visions of Masonry which Masonic scholars have left us. 


St. C.V., South Dakota