The Philalethes

Bondage . . . Faith . . . Understanding . . . Courage . . . Liberty . . . Abundance . . . Complacency . . . Apathy . . . Dependency, and again Bondage!

How aptly this applies to Freemasonry !

The anti-Masonic fury of 1826 1840 was not an unchartered storm. It needed but an incident to bring it to fruition. Starting with Abundance and Apathy, Complacency disregarded the storm-signals, and did not shut the windows against the rain.

It happened then, and it can happen now. Bondage can come again if we do not have Faith and Understanding, Courage and more Faith. We must stand up for the principles in which we believe, and which are the working tools of every day.

Beware Complacency; rely on Faith and Understanding, that we may not go back to Bondage.

Complacent in our belief that Freemasonry is invincible; apathetic in our leaden selfishness, and unwilling to turn a hand to combat destructive forces, we rest assured that all is well.

All is not evil. Masonry is not inactive, but too many Masonic leaders are unaware of the trend toward commonplace routine. What we need more than anything else is to wake up to our possibilities - do something that will make Masonry active. Let's get to work!

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OUR EXCHANGES

Since the re-organization of the Philalethes Society some ago, the editor has been too busy getting material for The Philalethes magazine to devote much time to his contemporary publishers.

Now, in looking over our exchange list we are surprised at the very small number of Masonic publications which reach our desk - in spite of the number we carry on our own list.

It is our hope that all Masonic editors may send us current copies of their publication, for which we will be grateful, and will, on request, put their name on our exchange list.

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A BOUQUET TO BROTHER TAYLOR

The Editor of a magazine has only half the job of making it readable. To gather material and prepare it for the printer is only preliminary. The printer must set it in type, "dress it up" and make it an attractive package for the reader.

Brother Laurence R. Taylor, F.P.S., the able Editor of THE INDIANA FREEMASON, and his capable staff have done a magnificent job on the PHILALETHES and making an appeal to the aesthetic, and deserves the sincere thanks of all of us.

Well done, Brother Taylor, and thanks.

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Nine Members Are Named Fellows of Philalethes

By a vote of the Fellows of the Philalethes Society, and under the supervision of Harold V.B. Voorhis, F.P.S., Chairman of the Fellows Committee, nine members of the Society were elected to the honor of Fellow of the Philalethes Society.

In the first group, elected July 15, Henry W. Coil, Roscoe Pound, Laurence R. Taylor and Jose Oller, were elected. On August 20, Edward J. Franta, F. William E. Cullingford, George S. Draffen, John C. Hubbard, and Francis J. Scully were elected to this honor.

Prior to the re-organization of the Society, the Fellows list had been depleted by death, and the present election has brought our Fellows to an approximation of the forty which are allowed by our constitution. There are now thirty-seven Fellows of the Society, of whom two (Robert J. Meekren and H.L. Haywood ) are LIFE FELLOWS; four Foreign Fellows (Gonzales, Philippine Islands; Hepburn, New Zealand; Oller, Panama, and Draffen, Scotland), and 31 Domestic Fellows, a list of which is appended hereafter. It is contemplated that the full complement of Fellows will not be immediately elected, that vacancies may be open for outstanding members of the Society at a later date.

A brief sketch of the activities of the newly elected Fellows of the Society, gives some interesting data about some outstanding Masons. Each has made a special contribution to the Craft, and is worthy of the honor that has been conferred upon him.

DEAN ROSCOE POUND, Dean of the Harvard Law School, is a Past Grand Orator and Honorary Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, AF&AM of Nebraska, Deputy Grand Master, Grand Lodge, AF&AM of Massachusetts, 1916, the holder of the Henry Price Medal of Massachusetts, and the Distinguished Service medals of the Grand Lodges of New York and Rhode Island, and many other honors from Grand Lodges and others. His Masonic Addresses and Writings, and his works on Masonic jurisprudence are among the best found in Masonry. Brother Pound is one of our outstanding Masonic leaders.

GEORGE STIRLING DRAFFEN. Grand Librarian of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, a Masonic scholar who has contributed regularly and continuously to the leading Masonic publications of the world, and is well - known for his Masonic research. A past presiding officer of most of the bodies of which he is a member, Brother Draffen has been world-wide in his activities.

EDWARD J. FRANTA, a member of the Publication Committee of the Philalethes Society a Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota, and currently the Deputy of the Supreme Council, AASR for North Dakota is engaged in newspaper work, being the Secretary-Treasurer of the North Dakota Press Association, a position he has held for many years.

FREDERICK WILLIAM EYRE CULINGFORD, until his retirement several years ago, was Secretary - Recorder of Lodge, Chapter, Council and Commandery of the Charlotte, North Carolina, Masonic bodies, member of and active in Scottish Rite, Shrine, Eastern Star and other affiliated bodies. He presently edits The Eastern Star News, a nationally known magazine for this women's auxiliary organization.

LAURENCE R. TAYLOR, editor of The Indiana Freemason, Past Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter RAM of Indiana, and chairman of the Indiana Grand Lodge Committee on Masonic Education - which originated the Indiana "Mentor Plan" for candidate instruction - has been an active worker in the quarries for many years, has distinguished himself wherever Freemasons read and it has been through his efforts that much progress has been made in Masonic education.

HENRY W. COIL has been a member for many years of the Committee on Masonic Information of the Grand Lodge F&AM of California, has been active in that Jurisdiction, serving as Master of his Lodge High Priest of his Royal Arch Chapter, and Commander of the Commandery of Knights Templar, as well as being Commander of Los Angeles Consistory, AASR. He has contributed to many Masonic periodicals, and done much research in Craft matters.

FRANCIS JOSEPH SCULLY, present Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, F&AM of Arkansas, and a Past Grand High Priest, RAM, Past Grand Master, R&SM and Past Grand Commander, Grand Commandery, KT of Arkansas. A member of the Scottish Rite with the honor of KCCH, and a present or past presiding officer of many of the national Masonic research and literary groups, he has been active in Masonic educational problems for many years.

JOSE OLLER, Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite of Panama, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, and the author of books (in the Spanish language) on Masonic history and philosophy. He has been extremely active in Masonic affairs in his own country.

DR. JOHN C. HUBBARD, is a Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, AF&AM of Oklahoma, a 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason, and active in all the co - ordinate bodies of Freemasonry. He is one of the outstanding Masons of his state. He is very active and has done much to make Masonry better where he resides.

We are happy to welcome these new Fellows, and hope that the honor extended them will be conductive to greater activity for the Philalethes Society and Masonry in general.

Present Domestic Fellows of the Philalethes Society, arranged alphabetically, and not in point of service, are: Elbert Bede (Ore.); Walter A. Braun (Wisc.) Dr. William Moseley Brown (Va.) William Major Brown (Okla.); Alphonse Cerza (Ill.); Carl H. Claudy (D.C.); Phillip H. Coad ( Ohio ); F.W.E. Cullingford (N. C.); Henry Coil (Calif.) Ray V. Denslow (Mo.); George S. Draffen (Scot.): E.J. Franta (N. Dak.); Rabbi H. Geffen (Va.); Reginald V. Harris (Can.); Edward E. Hedblom (Col.); Charles E. Holmes (Can.); John C. Hubbard (Okla.); William H. Knutz (Ill.); Allister J. McKowan (Calif.); James R. Malott (Ariz.); Lawton E. Meyer (Mo.); Roscoe Pound (Mass.); Charles G. Reigner (Md.); Francis J. Scully (Ark.); Ward K. St. Clair (N.Y.); J ames Fairbairn Smith (Mich.); Arthur H. Triggs (Calif.); Harold V.B. Voorhis (N.Y.); John Black Vrooman (Mo.); Lee E. Wells (Ariz.), and Albert L . Woody (Ill.).

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Which Are Our Oldest Masonic Lodges in US ?

By NORMAN I. MORRIS, M.P.S.

Masonic students have often pondered about the oldest Masonic Lodges in this country, but like Mark Twain's remark about the weather - no one seems to have done anything about it. Now, by virtue of appointment to the 200th anniversary committee of his Lodge Brother Morris has dug up some interesting facts not only about his own Lodge, but others.

Submitting the list to the Publication Committee, Brother Morris stated that it was necessary to start from scratch in getting historical data, and that it was his desire that the facts he compiled should be presented to the readers of The Philalethes magazine, that more accuracy and better understanding might result.

Comments from the Pub]ication Committee also suggested that "including and not including" Lodges, might well be clarified by comments from our readers. Furthermore, that disputed matters of dates, chronological order and facts, might also be brought to a proper focus.

The Publication Committee and the editor are all of the opinion that the work here presented is important in its concept, deep in its scope, and worthy of careful and accurate scrutiny.

It is sincerely hoped that the facts gathered may be verified and checked, and that the completed work may be the basis of other studies. Too often Masonic research is spasmodic and not such as to stimulate interest. We think that this start will be the means of greater activity in this line.

A few years ago a committee was appointed to write the history of St. John's Lodge No. 1, of Newark, N.J., and being Associate Archivist, I was fortunate enough to be placed on it. Since that time we have delved through all our old minute books and the history is now nearly completed. We do not, however, expect to publish it until our 200th anniversary in 1961.

Our Lodge (St. John's No. 1, Newark, New Jersey) was instituted on May 13, 1761, and one of the first questions to come up was - "how do we rank in the old Lodges in this country?" No one in our Lodge knew and the few lists of old Lodges available did not stand up to close inspection so the only thing to do was start from scratch and make up a new one. The resulting list is the result of our own investigations. Most of the information was obtained from the Grand Secretaries of the various Jurisdictions and from members of the Philalethes in various states.

The strongest test of anything is to expose it to the light of public rearing and opinion. If this list was published in The Philalethes magazine we could obtain the opinion of Masonic scholars all over the country and in short order would have everyone's approval, disapproval or corrections. It might even be a good idea to extend it to say the fifty or one hundred oldest Lodges in the U.S.A. I stopped with our Lodge because at the time I was not particularly interested with carrying it further.

I am sure a list of this kind would be of interest to most Masons and it might possibly start a lively discussion which would be a good thing for the magazine.

The Oldest Lodges in the United States Still in Existence

1. Saint John's, Boston, Mass., July 30, 1733.

2. Solomon's No. 1, Savannah, Ga., Feb. 21, 1734.

3. Solomon's No. 1, Charleston, S.C., 1735.

4. Saint John's No. 1, Portsmouth, N.H., 1736.

5. Norfolk No. 1, Norfolk, Va. June 1, 1741. (NOTE: Might be Dec. 24, 1733.)

6. Saint Johns No. 1, Newport, R.I., Dec. 27. 1749.

7. Hiram No. 1, New Haven, Conn., Nov. 12, 1750.

8. Fredericksburg No. 4, Fredericksburg, Va., prior to 1752. (Chartered by the Grand Lodge of Scotland, July 21, 1758.)

9. St. John's No. 2, Middletown, Conn., Feb. 14, 1754.

10. St. John's No. 1, Wilmington, N.C., March, 1754.

11. Union Kilwinning No. 4, Charleston, S.C., May 3, 1755.

12. Lodge of St. Andrew, Boston, Mass., Nov. 30, 1756.

13. Saint Johns No. 1, Providence, R.I., Jan. 18, 1757.

14. Blandford No. 3, Petersburg, Va., Sept. 9, 1757.

15. St. John's No. 1, New York, N.Y., Dec. 7, 1757.

16. Lodge No. 2, Philadelphia, Pa., June 7, 1758.

17. St. Tammany No. 5, Hampton, Va., Feb. 26, 1759.

18. Mt. Vernon No. 3, Albany, N. Y., April 11, 1759.

19. Philanthropic, Marblehead, Mass., Mar. 25, 1760.

20. Independent Royal Arch No. 2, New York, N.Y., Dec. 15, 1760.

21. St. John's No. 1, Newark, N.J., May 13, 1761.

Notes in connection with list of Oldest Lodges

No Lodges included not now in existence.

Spelling of the Saint John Lodges given as used by the various Lodges, according to the Grand Lodge list.

Mt. Vernon Lodge No. 3, Albany, N.Y. This Lodge known originally as Union Lodge No. 1 worked with a copy of an English Army Lodge dated April 11, 1759. It was later officially chartered on Feb. 21, 1765.

Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4 of Virginia. The date of the formation of this Lodge is unknown. George Washington was made a Mason in it on Nov. 4, 1752. It was officially chartered on July 21, 1758, by the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

My contention is that if we recognize the antiquity of Fredericksburg No. 4 without a known or recognized charter, we should do the same for Mt. Vernon No. 3.

Edward R. Cusick in a list of Lodges prepared for the April, 1950, trestleboard of St. John's Lodge No. 1 of New York lists, in addition to the above Lodges, the following two:

Kilwinning-Crosse No. 2-237 of Bowling Green, Va., as being established in 1754. According to my information Port Royal Kilwinning-Cross No. 2 became extinct about 1830. The present Lodge was not chartered until 1881.

Union No. 5, Middletown, Del., 1759. According to the Grand Secretary of Delaware their oldest Lodge is Washington No. 1, chartered by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania as Lodge No. 14 on Dec. 27, 1769. The Grand Secretary does not even mention Union Lodge.

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Chat and comment

News, achievements and items of interest about our Fellows and Members - Discussion and comment on Mutual Topics.

- Pfan Mail and Observations -

PRESIDENT AL CERZA, on a vacation trip to Denver, met with some of the local members, for interchange of ideas. His visits with Edward E. Hedblom, F.P.S., and Harry W. Bundy, M.P.S., Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Colorado, he tells us, were exceptional.

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DR. JOHN C. HUBBARD, newly elected Fellow of the Society, is slowly recovering from a sick spell that confined him to his bed. He has been active in the interest of the Society, having sent in several names of Brethren who have recently joined. Thanks, Brother Hubbard

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CHARLES L. ROBLEE, M.P.S., Rockport, Illinois, was a visitor for several days in St. Louis recently, and had a chance to talk over matters pertaining to the Society with the local members. Come again, Chuck.

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BROTHER HAROLD H. THOM, M.P.S., Omaha, Nebraska, writes about the article "Who's Who in Government," in the June issue of The Philalethes. Governor Victor E. Anderson of Nebraska, he says, is a member of George Washington Lodge No. 250, at Lincoln, and Lieutenant-Governor Charles J. Warner is affiliated with Lancaster Lodge No. 54, also at Lincoln.

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Two members of the Society, GEORGE F. STRINGFELLOW of New Jersey, and BRUCE H. HUNT of Missouri, were elected Active Members of the Grand Council of DeMolay, at the annual meeting held early this year. Congratulations Brethren.

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BROTHER J.E. SWIFT TEAL, M.P. S., Wilmette, Illinois, writes that he "passed out" while doing some house-painting at home, fell from a ladder, broke both bones of his right forearm, fractured five ribs, and his skull. He was in the Evanston Hospital for eight days, but is now at home recuperating. All join in wishing him a complete and rapid recovery.

BROTHER J.W. BURNESS, M.P.S., and Representative of the Society in Greece, has two well-written and very interesting articles in the September, 1955, issue of The Royal Arch Magazine. "Freemasonry in Greece" is a story of the rise and development of the Craft in that country; and "The Royal Arch and Ancient Egyptian Ritual," deals with an interpretation and explanation of the Book of the Dead, an old Egyptian papyrus. Both articles are worth reading several times.

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BROTHER CARL H. CLAUDY, F.P.S., Executive Secretary of the Masonic Service Association, while on his annual vacation in Wyoming, became so ill that it was necessary to take him back to Washington, where he is now resting easily. Incidentally, M.W. Brother Claudy also has an article in the September issue of The Royal Arch Magazine on "Some Curious Masonic Words." It helps in an understanding of Masonry to have a word list.

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ALFRED A. NORTHACKER, M.P.S., Representative of the Society for New York state, writes:

"Walter C. Marshal, M.P.S., is presently serving as the Worshipful Master of his Lodge, King Solomon Lodge No. 79, F&AM, New York City, and as such is a colleague of mine inasmuch as I am serving as Worshipful Master this year of Evangelist Lodge No. 600, here in New York City. I only found this out the other day when we met on a pilgrimage to our Masonic Home at Utica, New York. It was, indeed, a pleasant surprise."

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BROTHER SCHUYLER E. CRONLEY, M.P.S., Oklahoma City, writes, to Brother J. E. Swift Teal, author of the article, "Comfort, Honor, Integrity," "May I suggest that he look back across the page to Brother Reigner's 'Vision in Freemasonry' which states, 'Every man's life consists of three aspects, the physical, the intellectual, and the spritual.' I hope that he will then withdraw the comment 'this must not be taken too literally,' where he speaks of William James' statement that a man has three selves. This 'theory' of William James is not only a philosophy, but also a part of Christian belief which makes it doctrinal. Man's whole mess (theory) is because he hasn't taken this three-fold being and the necessities of those aspects of his life literally."

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WYLIE B. WENDT, M.P.S., Louisville, Kentucky, writes: "Relative to the statement of Brother Norman C. Dutt, M.P.S., under 'Chat & Comment' in the August issue, regarding the brief article in the June issue, on 'Multiplicity of Degrees,' in my opinion Brother Dutt did not quote the English law completely.

"Article II of the agreement uniting the two English Grand Lodges in 1813, states:

'That Ancient Masonry consists of three degrees and no more; those of the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft and the Master Mason, including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch. But this article is not intended to prevent any Lodge or Chapter from holding a meeting of any of the degrees of the Orders of Chivalry, according to the Constitution of the said Orders.'

"In my opinion," continues Brother Wendt, "the degrees conferred in England in 1813 consisted of the Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master Mason, Royal Arch Mason and Knight Templar.

"The fact that the word 'Chapter' is used in Article II would imply that the Royal Arch was a separate degree, and not a part of the Master Mason degree, which would not be conferred in a Chapter. The Order of Chivalry referred to, was Knight Templar, as the Order of the Knight of Malta was not combined with the Order of the Temple until a later date."

This ought to bring some comment, clarification and discussion from some of the readers who know their genealogy.

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Lodge Le Progres de l'Oceanie, Honolulu

By NORMAN C. DUTT. M.P.S.

History, and more particularly Masonic history, never fails to bring unusual incidents that are noteworthy and interesting. Lodge Le Progres de l' Oceanie is one of two Lodges that has the rare distinction of being erected on a ship. the other Lodge being Major General Henry Knox Lodge AF&AM, of Boston, Massachusetts, its foundation taking place aboard the U.S.F. (U. S. Frigate) Constellation, in Boston Naval Shipyard.

Lodge Le Progres was founded on a barque bearing the name Ajax, hailing from Le Havre, France, and captained by Master Mariner M. Le Tellier. This took place in the harbor of Honolulu, T.H., known at that time as the Sandwich Isles. Captain Le Tellier was an Inspector and Special Deputy of the Supreme Council AASRFM of France.

The Ajax had first called in Honolulu in 1841, and Captain Le Tellier made good use of his shore leave by seeking intelligence as to the possibilities of erecting a Masonic Lodge in the Hawaiian Islands.

The Ajax called again in 1843 for replacement and necessary overhauling, and now the time was ripe for Masonic activity. Consequently the good captain invited a number of known Masons of various nationalities to his ship, and in the master's cabin he disclosed a document duly authorized and attested, granting him powers to establish Lodges of Freemasons in the Islands of the Pacific Ocean where no other Grand Lodge held jurisdiction.

This certificate named the captain as an Inspector of the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite of France. The Brethren were convinced, and Lodge Le Progres de l' Oceanie U.D., was founded, April 8, 1843. The first communication of this Lodge took place aboard the Ajax, and this date became the one inscribed upon its dispensation.

Due to the slowness of transportation and the irregularity of the mails of that period, the charter finally arrived in 1851, and bore the date of July 24, 1850. It was signed by Grand Commander Due Decuzes and Lt. Grand Commander Viennet of the Supreme Council of the Ancient Accepted Rite (Scottish) of Freemasonry in France, and bore the number 124, as the numerals for Lodge Le Progres.

Captain Le Tellier spoke French only, which was his native tongue. He possessed rare Masonic knowledge, his speeches were short and to the point, and always on some timely Masonic subject. He was always present when his ship came into port.

Our English, Irish and Scottish Brethren and others who follow the English Entered Apprentice charge, may well recall a certain part of the Entered Apprentice charge directing attention to the fact that monarchs have exchanged the sceptre for the trowel, which is no mere idle jest, for no truer words were ever recorded. Two Kings and a Prince Consort served as Master of this particular Lodge in their time. The first king who served in the East was Kamehameha IV, who graced the Oriental Chair of King Solomon three times. David Kalakaua was the next king who served the Lodge in the East. John Owen Dominis the Prince Consort served the Lodge as Worshipful Master for three different years, thus acquainting the Craft that royalty has a common bond in Freemasonry.

The early minutes of the Lodge were destroyed by fire when the Secretary's home was partially destroyed. All business of Lodge Le Progres was conducted in a Lodge Of Entered Apprentices. One exception to this was that in order to ballot, the member must have attained the rank of Master Mason. Another peculiar rule in effect at that time was that all Master Masons present must vote. This regulation was changed by Grand Council decree many years later.

The St. Johns days were carefully observed and celebrated in the best of Masonic custom, protocol and tradition.

During the decade from 1850 to 1860 the Lodge did very little labor. It was during this period that a second Lodge was erected in Honolulu, known as Hawaiian Lodge No. 21, F&AM, under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of California. It has since celebrated its centennial.

The degrees in Lodge Le Progres were worked with an influence of Anglo-American tinge, and showing also the Webb influence, with some of the Scottish Rite workings included; in fact it was the Bar Sinister Ritual. (NOTE: The Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite en Freemasonry has in its system degrees from the 1d to the 33d inclusive).

To this day this Lodge works part of the Master Mason degree in its old form. A letter was written into its minutes empowering it to do so, when it came under cognizance of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge F&AM of California.

In 1905 Lodge Le Progres de l' Oceanie No. 124 AASRFM, transferred its allegiance to the Grand Lodge of California, and became number 371 on its rolls, retaining the same name. One of the main reasons for changing, was that the Islands were becoming more and more the cross-roads of the Pacific, and on the frequent visits of the Brethren to the Mainland, they could not pass the required examination in order to visit Lodge.

The march of time has lifted to fame this first Lodge in the vast area of the Pacific Ocean, and it becomes more famous every day.

Acknowledgment is due Worshipful Brother Erik Palmer, Lodge Historian, Lodge Le Progres de l' Oceanie No. 371, F&AM, PM Americus Lodge No. 535, F&AM, New York, New York. Member of both Lodges.

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New Emblem Selected

By WILLIAM H. KNUTZ, F.P.S.

The request for comments on the proposed design for a new emblem, shown in our last two issues, produced constructive criticism and ideas. Brother Norman Morris of Newark, New Jersey, illustrated his suggestions with a well balanced design possessing many attractive features. We are also indebted to Brother W.T. Masters of Berkeley, California, who submitted a sketch which proved helpful.

A list of all the suggested changes would be too long to print in our limited space. Bringing all ideas into agreement was quite impossible, but a list of those suggested modifications which were in general agreement was compiled by a group of seven members meeting in Chicago in June. This list was sent to Brother Morris with the request that he work them into a final design which he did well.

We appreciate the help received on this project and sincerely trust that you like the new Philalethes Emblem.

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Freemasonry in Denmark

By ALFRED A. NORTHACKER, M.P.S.

Prior to my recent visit to Denmark, I was under the impression that I had both seen some beautiful Masonic edifices as well as the teachings of Freemasonry in practice. However, upon my arrival at Copenhagen Airport, R. W. Svend Jacobsen, Past Grand Secretary of The National Grand Lodge of Denmark, thoroughly convinced me that, although his country is small in area and population, it is one of real stature Masonically.

I learned that although Freemasonry has existed in Denmark since 1743, the first official warrant from The Grand Lodge of England was received by Zorobabel Lodge, the first duly constituted Danish Lodge, on October 25, 1745. This Lodge, a St. John's, or Craft Lodge, is still in existence and confers the three Craft degrees at Freemasons' Hall in Copenhagen.

Twenty years later, Zorobabel Lodge adopted the Strict Observance and in 1785, forty years after its founding, it joined the modified Strict Observance in accordance with the resolutions passed at the convention held in Wilhelmsbad Germany. On April 3, 1791, at Odense, the Lodge, Mary of the Three Hearts, (Maria tin de tre Hjaerter) was constituted, and at Elsinore, on April 8, 1851, the Lodge Kosmos was founded.

On June 24, 1853, the Swedish under the jurisdiction of The Na-Grand Lodge of Denmark is still working, was introduced in Kosmos Lodge in Elsinore and although many other Lodges were at that time in operation, these are the only three in existence today which were established prior to the introduction of this Rite.

Differences in Rites

There are a number of differences between this Rite and ours, but the major ones are:

1. There are three bodies, all under the jurisdiction of The National Grand Lodge of Denmark, these being (a) St. John's or Craft Lodges, (b) St. Andrews Lodges, and (c) Chapters.

The St. John's Lodges work the first, second and third degrees; St. Andrew's Lodges, the fourth, fifth and sixth; and the Chapters confer the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh degrees. Comparison of the degrees of the Swedish Rite with the Rites as we know them is rather difficult as the fourth, fifth seventh, ninth and tenth degrees do not exist as such in any other Rite. Their sixth degree is more or less similar to the Royal Arch degree and their eighth to the British Knight Templar. Comparing the degrees with the Scottish Rite, the similarities are that:

1. The fourth and fifth degrees of the Swedish Rite are similar to the 14th degree of the Scottish Rite; the sixth and seventh degrees are similar to the 16th degree, the eighth degree is like the 18th degree; the ninth degree resembles the 30th degree; the tenth degree is like the 32nd degree, and the eleventh degree is like the 33rd degree.

2. Its members must profess the Christian faith.

3. Masters of Lodges and all Grand Lodge Officers are appointed for life with no given length of term of office.

4. Candidates must wait one year before being eligible for advancement to the next degree, although the fourth and fifth degrees are conferred simultaneously, or on the same day.

5. The altar stands in the East in front of and to the side of the presiding officer and all obligations are taken there.

In St. John's Lodges there are ten officers, i.e., Master, First and Second Deputy Masters, Senior Warden, Junior Warden, Orator, Marshal, Secretary, Treasurer and Conductor. St. Andrew's Lodges have the same affixers, plus two Stewards, and Chapters the same as St. Andrew's Lodges, minus the Deputy Masters. Masters and Deputy Masters, in order to be eligible for such offices, must have obtained the eighth degree and all other officers, the seventh.

Distribution of Members

There are approximately nine thousand Brethren of the Craft in Denmark, of which approximately fifty per cent are members of Lodges meeting in Copenhagen, at Freemasons' Hall.

Five St. John's Lodges meet in Copenhagen, and fourteen in the Provinces, three St. Andrew's Lodges meet in Copenhagen and in the Provinces, while one Chapter meets in Copenhagen one and two meet in the Provinces.

The Chapter in Odense confers only the seventh, eighth and ninth degrees and the Steward Lodge Concordia, the seventh and eighth. Thus, the tenth and eleventh degrees are conferred only in Copenhagen.

Freemasons' Hall - Copenhagen

Freemasons' Hall is located at Blegdamsvej 23 in Copenhagen, and may be easily reached from all parts of the city. Erection of the Hall was started on September 26, 1923, and the cornerstone laid on June 3, 1924. The building was officially opened and the Temple inaugurated October 12, 1927, by King Christian X, Grand Master. Built of steel and concrete it cost an estimated four and one-half million Danish kroner, which at the present rate of exchange is $630,000, and was paid by the Brethren themselves.

The building is square-cut, except for the two gigantic pillars, fifty-four feet high, base to top, that stand on either side of the main entrance doors. It is six stories high and contains a total of 342 rooms, of which only eight are Lodge rooms with anterooms and working rooms. The balance are Grand Lodge Officer's rooms, their offices, banquet and reception rooms, Museum, Library, staff and maintenance rooms, offices, etc.

There is an overage of seventeen Lodge meetings held here weekly October through April, each degree being conferred in a room specifically designed for that degree. The varieties of design are not only expressed in the difference of the sizes of the rooms, but also in the different treatment of the walls and ceilings, the lighting arrangements, color schemes, etc.

While the third degree room is quite different from ours, it being completely furnished and decorated in black, with all the regalia and equipment symbolizing the degree, down to the last letter, the room which appealed to me the most was the one used for the conferral of the first degree. The walls and ceilings in it were so decorated that one immediately gained the impression, upon entering, of being out in the open. When the main lights were extinguished, little lights appearing through holes in the ceiling, again gave the same impression. It is one of the most interesting and beautifully decorated Lodge rooms I have ever seen. In the pergola (anteroom of the main hall), is a plaque containing the following inscription, dedicated to American Freemasonry:

In profound gratitude for the moral and economic aid fraternally rendered by

The Supreme Council Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, U.S.A.

The Supreme Council Southern Masonic Jurisdiction, U.S.A.

The Masonc Service Association of the United States

To needy Danish Brethren and their dependents towards the restoration of the Danish Masonic Temple after the German occupation during the World War 1939-1945

The National Grand Lodge of Denmark has dedicated this Memorial.

Occupied by Invaders

The building was used by the Nazi Occupation forces as a barracks and as a dormitory for several thousand soldiers from September 21, 1943, to May 11, 1945. Although there was considerable damage done, none of the treasures or relics were lost, except one small oil painting. This was because of the fact that an officer of the occupation forces, who had been a member of the Craft in Germany, before the war, warned the members of Grand Lodge, five days in advance of the requisitioning date and that was just enough time to secrete all of the articles of value. The damaged equipment has now been repaired and the destroyed articles replaced, and the building and its contents are just about in the same condition they were in 1939. The building was reopened and reinaugurated September 26, 1946.

The Museum contains many interesting pieces of regalia used by former kings who were Grand Masters, etc., besides an old photograph album containing photos of the wives of former members. In the earlier days, permission for their husbands to join was requested and after such was granted, a photograph was given them for the album signifying their approval. There was also a large reproduction of George Washington presiding as Worshipful Master of Alexandria Lodge No. 22.

On November 11, 1953, a centenary celebration was held in this building, celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the introduction of the Swedish Rite into Denmark, under the auspices of The National Grand Lodge of Denmark and the personal charge of the Grand Master.

It was a pleasure and privilege to make the acquaintance of Brother Jacobsen and his wonderful wife and they left no stone tlnturned to make my visit one to be remembered for many years to come.

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Former Leaders Still Active Craft Workers

Leadership of the several National Masonic bodies is not only an honor, but necessitating ability and experience. Such leadership is farflung and testing the ingenuity and knowledge of all who are thus chosen.

Missouri, often noted for its "show-me" attitude, and its ability to live close to the soil, has a unique situation in that it has, now living, the past presiding officers of three of the National Masonic bodies generally recognized by all the world.

Ray V. Denslow is a Past General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons; Bert S. Lee is a Past Grand Master of the General GTrand Council of Royal & Select Masters, and William Catron Gordon is a Past Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States.

Each is now active, and has been active for many years, in Masonic and civic affairs in his community and state, and none of these Brethren have relinquished interest in, or enthusiasm for Freemasonry.

COMPANION DENSLOW was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, AF&AM of Missouri in 1931, and has been its Foreign Correspondent for many years. He is the oldest living Past Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter, RAM of Missouri, serving in 1919 - 1920. He presided over the General Grand Chapter at Winnipeg, Canada, in 1945. Probably more than any living Freemason, has he brought the Masonic world closer together by personal contact and dissemination of information and Masonic good will. He is presently Grand Secretary - Recorder of Grand Chapter, Grand Council and Grand Commanderv in Missouri.

COMPANION BERT S. LEE, Grand Master of Masons in Missouri in 1922-23; Grand High Priest, Grand Chapter, RAM of Missouri in 1921-22; Grand Master, Grand Council R&SM of Missouri in 1910-11, and Grand Commander, Grand Commandery KT of Missouri in 1911-12. In each case except in the Grand Chapter, he is the oldest living past presiding Grand Officer. He presided at the Triennial of the General Grand Council at Denver, in 1927, serving as General Grand Master for the three preceding years. He is also a vice-president of the George Washington National Masonic Memorial Association.

SIR KNIGHT WILLIAM CATRON GORDON was Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery, KT, of Missouri in 1932-33, now being the sixth in seniority in rank. He has just completed his term of office as Grand Master of the Grand Encampment, and presided over that body at the Triennial held in New York City in August. The triennium under his leadership was one of the outstanding periods of Knight Templar activities in many years.

We pause to do honor to these Freemasons who have served their Brethren well, and who, after completing their terms of office, have continued to carry on the activities in which they have been so zealous.

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THE HAVE PASSED THE VEIL

"Long Loved and Lost Awhile"

STUART PIPER DOBBS, M.P.S.

September 1, 1955

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Capable and Sensible

By CARL H. CLAUDY, F.P.S.

Answering the charge that Masonic leadership today is not energetic, and that Masonic leaders of this decade are not as great as those of past times, M. W. Brother Carl H. Claudy, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, has deflated, for all time, the charges made. His proof of present high Masonic leadership is ample and accurate, and his picture of Masonic growth is encouraging in the face of unnecessary pessimism on the part of Masonry.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) noted English philosopher and economist wrote in 1867:

"Men are men before they are lawyers or physicians or manufacturers, and if you make them capable and sensible men they will make themselves capable and sensible lawyers and physicians.

Paraphrase this to "Men are men before they are Masons" and the same truth is self-evident; leaders of Masonry are "capable and sensible" if they are "capable and sensible Masons" before they have become Masters and Grand Masters.

The writer of these lines has had the advantage of an unusually large acquaintance among the leaders of American Freemasonry. He has attended every Grand Masters' Conference since 1924. He has visited thirty-eight Grand Lodges during more than two hundred Grand Communications. And he decries with all emphasis possible the false idea that American Masonry does not now have the leadership which so many fondly and nostalgically regret no longer appears as it did in the "good old days."

Agreed that a Mackey, a Pike, a Drummond appear once in a century or two. So does a Morse, a Bell, an Edison, a Marconi, Roentgen. The great men in philosophy - Kant, Descartes, Mill, Spencer, come but seldom to the world.

Jesus, Buddha, Confucious are unique.

But there have been, and will be thousands of scientists, philosophers, religious leaders who will carry the torch in the future as others have carried it in the Past.

During the last quarter of a century, Masonry had such great figures as the Johnsons - Melvin and Charles; such philosophers as Roscoe Pound; to follow Mackey and Pike. The Masonic world has had such orators as the Johnsons, Otteson (Iowa), Stockwell (North Dakota), Mohr (Illinois), John G. Brown (Montana), Joseph Fort Newton (Texas and Iowa), Randell (Texas), Poteat (North Carolina), Cruse (New Jersey), but will anyone say they were superior as inspirers of their Brethren to the present Thomas Roy of Massachusetts?

During the lifetime of this author in the Fraternity, every present Grand Secretary has been elected; with all respect to those whom these replaced, he denies that the members of the present corps are any less devoted, able, admirable, than their predecessors.

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WE GET MASONIC INSPIRATION

Designating itself as a monthly bulletin to inform and entertain new and old members - to create a fraternal bond between the Mother Lodge and all who have entered its sacred portals in quest of Light - Masonic Inspiration, edited and published by Brother Charlie Van Cott, is doing a magnificent job of bringing in a small package, a lot of Masonic reading that is interesting, informational and inspiring.

A list of Big League baseball stars who are members of the Craft, Masonic biography, items of special Masonic interest in history, quotations from other Masonic publications, and a world of other interesting material that is not only good reading, but is something that can be put away for future reference, when such material is needed for a Masonic talk or other use.

Congratulations to Brother Charlie, and we are glad to get your fine publication.

It is natural and human for the young to look up to their elders; well does the author remember his opinion of the early Grand Masters he knew, who seemed to him about eight feet tall and able beyond words to tell! Now that he is in the class of the elderly, he knows that they were but devoted men as are the present day Grand Masters. That those he so early venerated were abler men, Masons or leaders than those of today, he vigorously denies!

Be of good heart and cheer! Americans Masonic leaders are not, and cannot be, in the majority of cases, Mackeys or Pikes or Drummonds. How many Presidents of the United States have been Washingtons or Jeffersons or Lincolns?

But there have been, and will be, other great presidents; there have been, are now, and will be, other great leaders of American Freemasonry. He who thinks the past had all the greats denies the evidence plain to be seen by those who have familiarized themselves with present day American Masonic leadership.

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THE MASONIC BOOK SHELF

The Newly Made Mason, by H.L. Haywood, F.P.S. (Life), is one of those books that one picks up and just cannot lay aside until it is read from cover to cover.

Haywood has the knack of getting all the meat of Masonry in the fewest possible words, eliminating all froth and getting the facts so fascinatingly read that it completely tells the story that is needed.

His discussion of the transition from Operative to Speculative Masonry is one of the clearest and most readable things that we have found anywhere. It is simple without omitting any pertinent facts; complete without needless repetition of words. To the Mason who wants a story of Craft Masonry, this book is most highly recommended .

+ + +

The Dentist and the Law, by Wendell Carnahan, M.P.S., published by Mosby and Co., St. Louis, is one of those factual books for professional men that is a valuable addition to the laws relating to certain classes or groups.

It is a fine book, written in language that any layman can understand, and is by one who knows what he is talking about.

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A Long Cable Tow For Needy Oregon Brethren

By ELBERT BEDE, F.P.S.

Many interesting human interest stories undoubtedly would be discovered if there were records of the hardships encountered and overcome by our pioneer Brethren in their devotion to Freemasonry. Attending Lodge was not merely a matter of turning off the radio or TV, hopping into a motor car and traveling a few miles over paved highways, but overcoming obstacles and facing great danger evidently was so much a part of each day for our rugged pioneer Brethren that none of them thought of records of their deeds to be preserved for posterity. However, a story probably without parallel in Masonic history, recording the efforts made by two Freemasons to serve a dozen Brethren is found hidden away in the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Oregon for 1880.

The report of Rocky P. Earhart as Grand Master contained this:

"On the second of January last, I received a communication from the Worshipful Master of Lake View Lodge No. 71, enclosing the charter of that lodge, stating that he felt compelled to take this course from 'the lack of harmony existing among the members of his lodge, and in consequence of the disrespectful treatment shown towards him by the officers-elect,' and urging me to visit the lodge in person and reconcile their differences, if possible.

"Lakeview Lodge is located in the extreme southern part of the Jurisdiction, at a distance of over 500 miles from Salem (home of Brother Earhart), and separated from it by a range of mountains, which, during all the winter months, are covered with deep snow. "

Inasmuch as the Master of Lake View Lodge spoke of officers-elect, the charter could not have been dispatched to the Grand Master until after the annual election in December, which fact, in view of Brother Earhart's description of the 500-mile journey, leads us to wonder how the charter reached him within a month.

Brother Earhart further recorded that, while he was awaiting cessation of the winter storms for an opportunity to visit this Lodge, which he very much desired to do there arrived at his office in Salem James H. Evans, Master-elect of Lake View Lodge, bearing a petition signed by practically all of the twelve or thirteen members of the Lodge praying for the return of the charter and restoration of the Lodge to Masonic privileges.

"Brother Evans"" Brother Earhart said, "safely accomplished the perilous journey, traveling a large portion of the distance upon snowshoes in the dead of winter, arriving in Salem on the day of February." (The day of the month was left blank.)

Brother Earhart did not give the number of days it took Brother Evans to make the trip, but, if twenty miles were an average day's journey on snowshoes over rough country, at least twenty-five days would have been required. Along the trail followed by Brother Evans, settlers were few, if any. Probably there was only one settlement, Linkville (now Klamath Falls).

Through wasteland and mountainous terrain, for hour after hour, day after day, week after week, Brother Evans slogged along, packing whatever he needed for food and bedding, probably carrying a firearm with which to kill game, probably finding his way by compass.

In the mountains blizzards may have made it necessary for the traveler to hole up in the snow. Had he become seriously ill or suffered severe injury he would have perished without trace, while loved ones back in Lake View waited for word of his safety that could come only by his return. The physical endurance required must have been tremendous. Such a trip would be almost certain death for any of us who read this account of Brother Evans' feat.

Brother Earhart recorded that he was impressed by the seriousness and earnestness of one who would make such a trip for no other purpose than to serve Freemasonry that he entrusted to him the charter of the Lodge, "to be delivered to Sam'l B. Cranston, PM, and of the brotherhood of Klamath Lodge U.D." at Linkville "as my proxy to visit the Brethren of Lake View, authorizing him to make due inquiry and investigation concerning their condition and difference, to convene the lodge, and, after due notice, no charges appearing, to install the officers-elect and restore their charter."

"Brother Cranston," the Grand Master related, "loyal to duty and obligation, though without previous notice (there was no means of communication between Salem and Linkville), promptly undertook the journey of 120 miles over the intervening snows, met the Brethren of Lake View, convened the Lodge, made due inquiry concerning their condition and proceedings, and installing their officers-elect, and left the Lodge harmoniously at work." How this report was sent to Brother Earhart was not related.

Brother Evans, of course, had made the 500-mile return trip under the same conditions that prevailed on the trip to Salem, except that he had company for 120 miles from Linkville. Brother Cranston had taken at least six days to cover with Brother Evans the 120 miles to Lake View to serve Brethren he had never seen and probably would never see again, had performed services far beyond the call of duty and had returned alone over the same 120 miles he had covered on the trip to Lake View. He took his life in his own hands the same as Brother Evans had done. Physical endurance required of him also was tremendous.

The membership of Lake View (Lakeview) Lodge is now 160. Klamath Lodge's dozen or so has grown to 700. Brothers Evans and Cranston served their Lodges for a number of years following the incidents here related.

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I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day. - Lincoln

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Freemasonry and the Development of the West

1803 -1877

By CHARLES L. ROBLEE, M.P.S.

A study of Masonry and its effect upon the Mississippi Valley and the West must necessarily start with an examination of the Masons and Lodges which existed within it at the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In 1803, the number of Freemasons west of the Mississippi probably could be numbered on both hands; this condition might be traced to the political and religious background of the Territory - French, Spanish and Romanism. However, four years later there were two Lodges in existence and fourteen years later the first Grand Lodge was Organized. "Freemasonry follows the flag" for with the Stars and Stripes one finds Freedom of Worship, Freedom of Assemblage and Freedom of Speech.

The Secretary to President Jefferson at the time of the Louisiana Purchase was Brother Meriwether Lewis, who actually signed as a witness to the transfer. The Treaty of Cession was signed by two Master Masons, Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe.

Shortly after the purchase of the Territory, President Jefferson sponsored an expedition headed by Brothers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark with instructions to discover "the course and source of the Missouri, and of the most convenient water communication thence to the Pacific Ocean."

The "Mother Lodge of the Mississippi Valley" was Western Star Lodge No. 107 chartered by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1805, and located at Kaskaskia, Indiana Territory (later Illinois). First Master of this Lodge was James Edgar. Many well known Brethren visited this Lodge. In 1807, Louisiana Lodge No. 109 was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and was located in St. Genevieve, Missouri. The second Lodge in the Territory was St. Louis Lodge No. 111, chartered in 1808, whose Master was then the Governor of the Territory, Meriwether Lewis. The first Grand Lodge of the Territory was the Grand Lodge of Missouri founded on Washington's birthday in 1821 with Thomas Riddick, father of the Missouri public school system, as the first Grand Master.

Some Masonic "Firsts"

Masonry had the honor of having as members of its order many "firsts" in the new Territory. The first American explorers of the new Territory were Brothers Lewis and Clark, both of St. Louis Lodge No. 111, of which Lewis was the first Master (1808) and Clark one of its first initiates. The first explorers to travel the famed Santa Fe Trail Captain Zebulon Pike and Dr. John H. Robinson were both Master Masons. These two discovered Pike's Peak in 1806.

The first American physician west of the Mississippi was Brother Aaron Elliot, Master of Louisiana Lodge No. 109. The first postmaster west of the Mississippi, Rufus Easton, was one of the petitioners for the Western Star charter and the first Junior Warden for St. Louis Lodge No. 111.

First Representative in Congress for Missouri was Brother John Scott, charter member and Past Master of Louisiana Lodge No. 109. The first lawyer known to have practiced in the Territory was Brother John Rice Jones also of Louisiana Lodge No. 109.

Other famous pathfinders in the early era of the Territory included Brother Pierre Chouteau, Jr., the Fur Prince, member of St. Louis Lodge No. 111, and colleague in the American Fur Co., of Brother Bartholomew Berthold, of Louisiana Lodge No. 109. The Missouri Fur Company, Competitor of the American Fur Co., was organized in 1820 by three Freemasons Joshua Pitcher, Joseph Perkins and Moses B. Carson.

The list of distinguished Masons in the early life of the Territory is long. All fields of endeavor were represented: Medicine, law, the judiciary, education, ministers, editors, and the government. The first Governor of Missouri was Brother Meriwether Lewis while the first Grand Master and first Governor of Illinois was Brother Shadrach Bond.

Masonic Duels

Unfortunately, during the period we are discussing, the custom of dueling was common. A peculiar code of honor, to our present-day standards, existed. It is regretable but necessary, to point out some of the many Masonic duels occurring during this period. Many of these duels attracted wide attention throughout the Territory. They were frowned upon by the various Grand Lodges; however, most of the latter dodged the issue as often as possible hoping that the solutlon might be found in time.

Then in 1812, a challenge was passed between two Master Masons by a third Master Mason. The latter was hailed before his Lodge, tried and suspended for a year. As this occurred in Kentucky, he appealed to the Grand Lodge of that state. There followed much investigation and an elaborate report by a special committee which set aside his sentence. However, he was called before the Grand Lodge for censure by the Grand Master. The committee's report said the results could be very tragic, but that because of the numerous, previous similar cases, without incurring censure, the whole situation went far to extenuate the offense.

However, it was entirely improper for Master Masons to challenge or convey a challenge to a Master Mason, and therein quoted the familiar fundamental principle "that brothers should live together in peace and harmony." The Grand Master who presided at this occasion was himself a principal in a duel occurring four years later with a Past Master of a Lodge in his home town.

Another Grand Master, United States Senator Andrew Buckner engaged in a duel with another Master Mason, Brother Thomas H. Blake. At the time of the duel Senator Buckner was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Indiana. Also, Shadrach Bond, then Governor-elect of the State of Illinois and Rice Jones engaged in a duel. Bond later became the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Illinois .

With the expansion of Masonry to Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, we must turn toward other Masonic frontiers. The next big event having an outstanding effect upon Ma sonry was the Mexican War and the Santa Fe Trail. The United States went to war and Masonry went along too. The various Brothers gathered in their small groups on the hilltops or in the valleys and there as in the ages past sought Masonic fellowship with each other.

On the 18th of August, 1846, troops of the United States Government took possession of Santa Fe under command of General Kearny. The General on September 22, appointed the following to civil offices: Charles Bent, Governor; Donaisano Vigil, Secretary of the Territory; Richard Dallam, Marshal; Francis P. Blair, United States District Attorney; Charles Blummer, Treasurer; Joat Houghton, Antonio Jose Otero, and Charles Beaubien, Judges of the Superior Court. Of these, Bent, Dallam, Blummer, Houghton, Otero and Beaubien were Masons.

Military Lodges

Most famous of all Grand Masters of this period was Brother John Ralls, "the accommodating Grand Master." Brother Ralls was colonel of his regiment, the Third Missouri Volunteers. During the year 1847, two military Lodges were chartered by the Grand Lodge of Missouri under dispensations granted by the Grand Master. No red tape held him back. The first was Missouri Military Lodge No. 86. The dispensation dated June 12, 1847, was written in long hand by the Grand Master, but carried no seal of the Grand Lodge as the seal was in St. Louis in the custody of the Grand Secretary. This Military Lodge was in Ralls' own regiment and he became its first Master

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Whence and Whither

WILLIAM A. THAANUM, M.P.S.

"Whence" denotes origin; "whither" suggests destination. Within a limited area, origin is defined and destination determined, but in a boundless field, origin is an enigma and destination unknown. "Whence came you and whither are you traveling." From the beginning and to the end; from alpha unto omega, from darkness to light; from ignorance to knowledge; from birth to death and from the grave unto the resurrection.

When we are asked "whence... and whither..." we can but reply that we are embarked upon a journey in search of truth, in the attainment of which we are uncertain but which, with assistance, we have hopes to find. Here we are abruptly faced with the great question of all ages, and it is not our privilege, however much we have expected, to be granted any ready-made answer complete enough to satisfy our intelligence and with the power of enlightenment to make clear before us the path we must travel.

We came out of the West as a profane and in darkness; we hope to travel to the East to become an initiate and enter into light and knowledge, our destination a successful explanation as to the purpose and reason for all life. It is the unending dilemma and we do find ourselves becoming more enlightened as our knowledge expands and our daily experience adds to our wisdom and insight into the universal laws of nature and the unchanging Will of the Almighty Creator.

We may be permitted many years in our travel from the West to the East and the span of time alloted to us to fulfill our duties and discharge our obligations may exceed the normal gift of time to man, yet our search will not be rewarded nor the full goal gained, and the aspiring traveler reaches the last veil through which he must pass. Beyond that veil lies the realm of the immortal. Beyond that veil lies the fruition of our quest and the rewards shall be ours according to the merit of our journey. Did we but know, before we come to the last stage of our mortality, what lies beyond the grave, our steps might be hurried and our preparation shortened, but since we remain in darkness we must slowly feel our way and follow our destined course.

Whence and whither are not words, whose use is confined to our Fraternity, but they are the property of all man-kind. That Freemasonry places them in a very prominent situation in our initiation with such a wise choice to make clear a very important lesson, is merely another instance of the excellence of choice in our esoteric work of a means to convey precisely and exactly the intended understanding and interpretation, an understanding clear as to the present situation and an interpretation which may lead the enquiring mind far beyond the limits of the connection of the words with the existing parts of the ceremony.

Freemasonry suggests to us in its many lessons, allegories and symbols, what is believed to be the best course of action, so that a man may the best enjoy the fruits of his labor, the respect of his fellows, the affection of his family and friends, and the spiritual peace of his service to his God. There is no detailed design upon the trestle board, but in our hands is placed our individual destiny and character, wherein we are free agents in our actions.

To the enquiring mind, by attention to its education and a proper evaluation of the daily experiences, step by step the outline is revealed and his speculative Freemasonry guides to its final form the temple he is building. When we are summoned from our work, may it be to leave behind us the record of such an edifice as may serve as a model for the younger Craftsman and encourage him in his emulation to improve it in both beauty and design.

Whence in the boundless field of arts, sciences and morality, pays tribute to the many who have gone before and whose contributions, so richly enlarging these attributes by the total of their wisdom, have to some extent set the pattern for the whither of perfection to which man aspires as the destination of his journey.

If Freemasonry is to be true to the sources from "whence it came" its votaries must be dedicated to the cause of keeping its inner light aflame, even though it may be veiled in the labyrinth of its present many confusing activities and smothered in its aspects of popularity to attract a horde of dues-paying members.

If Freemasonry is to reach the whither to which it is traveling, there must be reborn the devotion to purpose and the adherence to its principles, which marked the journey of those stalwart Freemasons of the past who handed down to us this institution of such profound and irreplacable value to mankind.

Ralls often told of holding Lodge meetings in the open, on high hills or low vales, while on the march to Mexico. Upon arriving in Santa Fe, Ralls immediately assumed Masonic jurisdiction of the Territory of New Mexico in the name of the Grand Lodge of Missouri. This jurisdiction was maintained until the organization of the Grand Lodge of New Mexico in 1877. The second Military Lodge was Hardin Lodge No. 87 which was composed mostly of Illinois Masons of the First Regiment of Illinois Volunteers. Although Hardin Lodge was always within this country, Missouri Military Lodge No. 86 journeyed to old Mexico, met and conferred degrees there.

One of the most colorful characters in the building of the West was Brother Christopher Carson. "Kit" Carson was born in Madison County, Kentucky, December 24, 1809, a grandson of Daniel Boone. Carson was initiated, passed and raised in Montezuma Lodge No. 109 in 1854. His home was Taos, not far from Santa Fe, site of Montezuma Lodge.

Carson, together with several Brethren from Taos petitioned the Grand Lodge of Missouri for a dispensation to form a new Lodge, to be known as Bent Lodge No. 204, located in Taos. The petition was granted and Bent Lodge was instituted December 15, 1859, with Dr. A. S. Ferris as Master, Ferdinand Maxwell as Senior Warden, and Christopher (Kit) Carson as Junior Warden.

Bent Lodge was named after Brother Charles Bent who, while serving as Governor of the New Mexico Territory, was killed in his home during a Mexican uprising. He was a brother-in-law of Carson, they having married sisters. Upon the surrender of the Bent Lodge charter in 1865, Carson returned to his Mother Lodge, Montezuma No. 109, wherein he remained until his death on May 24,1868.

Kit Carson was truly a Mason in heart and deed as well as in name. He was highly respected by all who knew him, both in and out of the Fraternity and it is with pride that the Fraternity may call one of the greatest men in the West one of its own. According to those who knew him, he exemplified in practice the principles of Masonry, which many of our Brethren today, do not even know in theory.

Another Mason who played an important, but little known role in Masonry in the West, was Brother Elihu H. Shepherd, a leading educator in his day and the man who brought the Royal Arch degrees and Knights Templar Orders west of the Mississippi about 1823.

An Early Massacre

Brother Charles Bent, first American Civil Governor of New Mexico was born in 1799. His father was Judge Silas Bent famous Missouri jurist. Bent was educated at West Point, but resigned the army to engage in the fur trade and the Santa Fe trade. He and his brother built the first adobe fort and the largest trading post in the Mountain Region. It was known as Bents' Fort. (On the bank of the Arkansas River where the Santa Fe trail crossed it.)

In 1846, he became Civil Governor of New Mexico, and thereby was ex officio Superintendent of Indian Affairs. His reports were of great value relative to the manner of life, population, and territory occupied by each tribe.

On January 14, 1846, Bent left Santa Fe for Taos to bring his family back to Santa Fe for protection as a result of rumors of Mexican and Indian revolt. He arrived in Taos on January 18, and that night a band of Mexicans and Indians broke into his house and shot him, then scalped him, while he was still alive. The headless body of Charles Bent was interred January 19 at Taos. Bent was initiated, passed and raised in Missouri Lodge No. 1, in 1822.

Masonry was rapidly moving westward. By 1875, some ten Lodges had been chartered in New Mexico by the Grand Lodge of Missouri. The two Military Lodges were limited to the duration plus six months of the Mexican War, the rest eventually affiliated with the Grand Lodge of New Mexico. In October, 1846, Brother Ralls issued a dispensation for Multnomah Lodge No. 84 located in Oregon City, Oregon Territory.

In California, Lodges were chartered as early as 1848, when Western Star Lodge No. 98 was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Missouri. Other Grand Lodges issuing charters for Lodges in California were District of Columbia, 1848, Connecticut 1849, New Jersey 1849, the latter sending their dispensations by way of the Isthmus of Panama or Cape Horn, instead of the usual overland route. Grand Lodge of Louisiana also chartered a Lodge in 1849, while Illinois and Wisconsin both chartered Lodges shortly thereafter.

The experiences of Masons in those days were varied and interesting. Charters and dispensations were carried in the saddle bag. One of the many anecdotes may be found in the minutes of a meeting in 1847: "On motion it was ordered that a fine of 12 1/2c be assessed against and paid by every Brother who violates the rule of the Lodge, by spitting tobacco juice on the carpet and stations."

The story of Masonry's spread westward from the Mississippi Valley is long and interesting. The majority of the outstanding leaders in those days were Brothers of our ancient rites. By 1846, Masonry had spread from coast to coast. Whereever and whenever the Brothers gathered, real Masonic fellowship was to be found. It can be honestly said, that as Freemasonry led the way in our revolution in 1776 and guided the formation of our Government; so did it lead the way in carrying that government from one end of our Continent to the other.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Denslow, Ray V. - Territorial Masonry

Haywood, H. L. - Famous Masons.

Jones, John J. - Stories of Great American Scouts.

Missouri Lodge of Research - Freemasonry and the Santa Fe Trail.

Missouri Lodge of Research - Freemasonry and the Oregon-California Trail

Missouri Lodge of Research - A Missouri Frontier Lodge.

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Welcome to New Members

We are pleased to introduce the following new members and subscribers of the Society since the last issue of the Philalethes:

Oliver S. Willham, 120 Orchard Lane, Stillwater. Oklahoma.

John I. Taylor, Box 572, Elk City, Oklahoma.

Edmund Robert Sadowski, 6930 Medill Avenue, Chicago 35, Illinois

Charles Edgar Purdum, 2801 N.W. 33rd Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Hartley Franklin French, 77 Tobey Street, Providence. Rhode Island

Dr. J. Floyd Alcorn, 8108 Teasdale Avenue, University City 24, Missouri

Ted Howard Findley 1121 Tuscarawas Avenue, New Philadelphia,

Albin Schwab, 19, Sieveringerstrasse, Vienna, Austria.

Svend F. Jacobsen, 9, Vilvordevej, Charlottenlund Denmark

Loren A. Tribbey, Route 2, Box 261 Carthage, Missouri

John Lindsay Donnison, 19, Premier Street, Kogarah, Sydney,

New South Wales, Australia.

Allen Henry Conradi, P.O. Box 118, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

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NEW SUBSCRIBERS

Paul E. X. Brown, 108 Bradley Street, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia.

M. Sam Johnson, 4975 High Point Road, N.E., Atlanta 5, Georgia.

William S. Shelfer, 599 Moreland Avenue, N.E., Atlanta 6, Georgia.

Spyro G. Arsenis, P. O. Box 21, Aleppo, Syria.

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THESE ARE YOUR REPRESENTATIVES

In the United States

Arizona - James R. Malott, Box 351, Globe.

Arkansas - Dr. Francis J. Scully, Medical Arts Bldg., Hot Springs.

California - Victor L. Jones, 226 E. Alameda Ave., Burbank.

Colorado - Edward E. Hedblom. 1770 Sherman Ave., Denver 5.

Connecticut - Robert H. Nisbet, South Kent.

Delaware - Chester R. Jones, Masonic Temple, Wilmington.

Dist. of Columbia - Carl H. Claudy, 700 - 10th St., N.W., Washington, D. C.

Florida - William James Walker, 1877 Truman Avenue, Jacksonville

Georgia - William B. Schwartz, P.O. Box 1123, Atlanta.

Illinois - Ralph S. Davis, 315 Wisconsin Ave., Oak Park.

Indiana - James Scofield, 722 Conkey Street. Hammond.

Iowa - Realff Ottesen, 910 Davenport Bank Bldg., Davenport.

Kansas - Floran A. Rodgers, P.O. Box 707, Wichita 1.

Kentucky - Wvile B. Wendt 2346 Emerson Ave. Louisville.

Louisiana - Lee Harris, P. O. Box 404, Alexandria.

Maine - Thomas B. Anderton, 287 Long Beach Avenue, York Beach.

Maryland - Charles G. Reigner, 4035 Belle Ave. Baltimore.

Massachusetts - Frank H. Wilson, 27 Bevelly St. Melrose 76.

Michigan - James Fairbairn Smith, New Masonic Temple

Minnesota - William E. Pool, 207 Van Brunt St., Mankato.

Mississipi - Rev. Allen Cabaniss, University, Miss.

Missouri - Herbert A. Gast, 9743 Tesson Ferry Road, St. Louis.

Montana - Frank E. Van Demark, Cut Bank.

Nebraska - Harold H. Thom, 2315 Ogden Ave., Omaha.

Nevada - Harry H. Leavitt, Box 1, Gardenville.

New Hampshire - Nick A. Karagianis, 17 Warren St. Concord

New Jersey - Norman I. Morris, 330 Mount Prospect, Newark 4.

New Mexico - John C. Kost, Jr., Roswell.

New York - Alfred A. Northacker, 1055 New York Ave., Brooklyn 3.

North Carolina - Frederick W.E. Cullingford, 2027 Central Ave., Charlotte.

North Dakota - Edward. J. Franta. Langdon.

Ohio - G.A. McComb, 3615 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.

Oklahoma - Dr. John C. Hubbard, 1501 N.E. 11th St., Oklahoma City.

Oregon - Victor E. Vieira, P. O. Box 51, Grants Pass.

Pennsylvania - William J. Paterson, Masonic Tempe, Broad and Filbert Streets, Philadelphia

Rhode Island - Frank H. WiIson, 27 Beverly St., Beverly 76, Mass.

South Dakota - E.F. Strain, Sioux Falls.

Tennessee - Charles A. Rond, 3200 Cowden Ave., Memphis.

Utah - Stuart Dobbs, 812 David Eccles Bldg.,

Virginia - A. Douglas Smith, Jrt., 1320 Amherst Avenue, Richmond

Washington - Robelt B. Anderson, 1325 N. 167th St. Seattle

West Virginia - Edwin E. Greener, 4069 Cambronne St., Pittsburgh. Pa.

Wisconsin - Walter H. Braun, 2327 N. Holton St., Milwaukee.

Wyoming - Charles C. Lindsay. 500 W. 31st St., Cheyenne.

Other Countries

At-Large - Norman C. Dutt, 525 Nelson St. Berkeley, California.

Central Canada - Sam Harris, High Prairie Alberta.

Chile - Sergio G. Parody, Ave. B. O'Higgins, Santiago

East Canada - Charles E. Holmes, 294 St. Catherine St., W., Montreal.

England - Captain William F. Scalding, "Aylmerton," 123 The Chine, Grange Park London, N. 21, England.

French West Africa - Harry B. DePriest Boite Postale N 227, Dakar, (Senegal)

Greece - J.W. Burness c/o A.P.E. Co., 4 Koral St., Athens

Holland - Dr. E. van der Vlugt, 23 a Lange Voorhout, The Hague.

Mexico - William M. Coddington P.O. Box 111 Edinburg, Texas.

New Zealand - Dr. Ross Hepburn, 5 Ham Road Riccarton. Christchurch, N.W. 3

Philippines - Antonio Gonzales, 140 Gunao Manila.

Scotland - Georgo Prentice, 10 Roman Drive Motherwell Road , Bellshill, Lanarkshire.

South Africa - James Stephen Dunn P.O. Box 111, Kimberley.

Sweden - Carl A. Friman, Box 5058, Gothenburg

West Canada - L. Healey, 1138 Nelson St., Vancouver 5, B.C.

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Pertinent Facts For Prospects

ITS NAME - THE PHILALETHES SOCIETY.

ITS PURPOSE - To give opportunity for Masonic Fellowship and Research. A means of Masonic Discussion.

ITS MEMBERSHIP - Fellows, Members elected for merit.

Members, All Masons who are interested in exchanging ideas and studying Masonry. Subscribers, Groups and persons interested in the activities of the Society.

HOW TO JOIN - Membership is by recommendation of a Member, the submission of an application blank, and the payment of fees and dues.

ITS COST - Joining fee (all groups) $3.00.

Annual dues:

Members $5.00 annually.

Subscribers $3.00 annually.

ITS BENEFITS - Receipt of all publications of the Society, including THE PHILALETHES Magazines, pubished bi-monthy.

WHOM TO CONTACT - Any Fellow or Member of the Society or Arthur H. Triggs, First Vice President, 2117 Funston Place, Oakland 2, Calif.

WHOM TO PAY - LAWTON E. MEYER, Executive Secretary P. O. Box 402, St. Louis, Missouri

FOR FURTHER HELP - See list of REPRESENTATIVES in each State and Foreign country, from whom additional information may be obtained without obligation. These are YOUR representatives - make use of them!

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Why Man Came Last

By M. A. SHAW, M.P.S.

It is obvious to inquire why man comes last in the World's creation; for, as the sacred writings show, he was the last whom the Father and Maker fashioned. Those, then, who have studied more deeply, maintain that God, where He made man partaker of kinship with Himself in mind and reason, did not begrudge him the other gifts either, but made ready for him beforehand all things in the world, as for a living being dearest and closest to Himself.

Since is was God's will that when man canoe into existence, he should be at a loss for none of the means of living and of living well. The means of living is provided by the lavish supplies of all that makes for enjoyment; the means of living well by the contemplation of the heavenly existences; the mind conceives a love and longing for the knowledge of them. And from this, philosophy took its rise, by which man, mortal though he bes is rendered immortal.

Just as givers of a banquet, do not send out the invitations, till they have everything in readiness for the feast; and those who provide football or baseball games, before they gather the spectators in the stadium, have in readiness a number of players or performers to charm both the eye and ear; exactly in the same way the Ruler of All Things, like some provider of contests or a banquet, when about to invite man to the enjoyment of a feast and a great spectacle, made ready beforehand the material for both.

He desired that on coming into the. world, man might at once find both a banquet and a most sacred display, the one full of all things that earth and rivers and sea and air bring forth, for use and for enjoyment; the other of all sorts of spectacles, most impressive in their substance, most impressive in their qualities, and circling with most wondrous movements, in an order fitly determined always in accordance with proportion of numbers and harmony of evolutions. In all these one might rightly say that there was the real music, the original and model of all others from which the men of subsequent ages, when they had painted the images in their own souls, handed down an art most vital and beneficial to human life.

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Suggested Procedure for Masonic Study

By JOHN BLACK VROOMAN, F.P.S.

PART III - Continued from last issue

FELLOW CRAFT DEGREE THE SCHOOL OF MASONRY

Masonic tradition builds around the seven Liberal Sciences, which are the foundation of the Fellow Craft degree. If the Entered Apprentice degree is the beginning of Freemasonry, the Fellow Craft degree is the School of Masonry, for it is here that the knowledge of the Craft is found.

"The Freemasons of the Middle Ages," says Mackey, in his Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, "always anxious to elevate their professions above the position of a mere operative art, readily assumed these liberal arts and sciences as a part of their course of knowledge, thus seeking to assimilate themselves rather to the scholars who were above them than to the workmen who were below the."

Today we find all the subjects taught in schools and universities summarized and amplified in the degree of Fellow Craft. It is here that anyone who wants to enlarge his knowledge, not only of Freemasonry, but of all knowledge, can read, learn and become educated and versed in the very best and most necessary information for everyday use.

Let us not underestimate the factual and outlined material in this degree as a course in life. It is an amazing and complete compilation, and merits the attention of the thoughtful Masonic student.

The Fellow of the Craft in ancient times, was a workman who had perfected certain activities, and was admitted as a trainee in operative building. He was acquiring that knowledge and skill which would prepare him to assume the role of Master workman, or supervisor.

The Fellow Craft of today is the grown man, who has emerged from childhood, has gone through adolescence and is now in the stage of activity, of learning, of acquiring the knowledge and skill which will enable him to meet the problems and perplexities of life. He is in the process of learning to use both his natural talents and to gain information that will enable him to be a better citizen.

In assuming a further obligation in this degree, a greater responsibility is put on his shoulders. He has been given more, and more will be expected of him.

Greater and more solemn obligations give him a keener insight into the tenets and mysteries of Freemasonry.

Again we must emphasize the importance of good supervision in Masonic study. In this degree, and all the material that is contained therein, it is quite possible that the wrong emphasis can be placed on facts and data.

A study of the ritual; a careful interpretation of the several parts of the Middle Chamber Lecture, and the attention to an explanation of its various parts, will do much to sustain and maintain the interest of the Masonic student.

To merely be subjected to the ritual, which might not "take," is not enough. After the ritual has been demonstrated and exemplified, it is possible to make a personal and careful study of the material found within ritual and tradition.

The Mentor is charged with a proper presentation of this material. The student is likewise charged with a diligent study of and attention to the lessons which have been presented.

In this degree, as in every other individual effort and proper assistance by a competent instructor, will make it possible to get the most out of the material available.

PANEL FOR THE SECOND DEGREE

Group chairman or the evening.

II.

Definition: Fellow (of the) Craft.

III.

Purpose of the Degree - Manhood, a period of activity.

A. The Candidate's Ambition

1. Knowledge

2. Accomplishment

3. Service

B. Fellowcraft Degree represents a widening of Masonic Outlook

IV.

First Section - Symbolism and Ceremonies.

A. Preparation

1. Clothing

2. Cabletow

B. Reception

1. Jewels

2. The Square - its place in Freemasonry.

C. Obligation and Penalties

1. Preliminary statements

2. Further Promises - their significance.

3. The Penalty

D. The Working Tools

Second Section - Significance and Development.

A. The Pillars

1. Definition, meaning and history

B. The Winding Stairs

VI.

The Middle Chamber.

A. Admission.

1. Pass

2. Word

3. Letter "G"'

VII.

Summary of Second Degree

(To be continued in the next)

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The mind does not unfold, the creative faculty does not mature the spirit does not expand save under the influence of reverence.