Volume X Number 4
Contents
He Dipped His Pen In His Heart In Memoriam Carl H. Claudy
What is Truth Masonry as an Educational Philosophy
Chat and Comment Menomonie Lodge at Old Fort Howard
Metallurgy as Applied to Masonry A Message from Our President
What's in a Name EDWIN MARKHAM, FREEMASON
A Timely Masonic Philosophy Suggested Procedure For Masonic Study
RECOMMENDED MASONIC READING
Cryptic Masonry
and its Place In the York Rite
Published bimonthly at
Franklin, Indiana
By
THE PHILALETHES SOCIETY,
JOHN BLACK VROOMAN, F.P.S.
Editor
P. O. Box 402, St. Louis, Mo.
ALPHONSE CERZA, President, 130 Akenside Road, Riverside, Illinois.
DR. WILLIAM MOSELEY BROWN, First Vice President, Box 276, Elon College, North Carolina
ELBERT BEDE, Second Vice President, 2316 N. E. 42nd Avenue Portland 13, Oregon
JOHN BLACK VROOMAN, Executive Sector and Editor, P. O. Box 402, St. Louise Missouri
G. ANDREW McCOMB, Treasurer, 3615 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland 15, Ohio
PUBLICATION COMMITTEE
A.L. WOODY, F.P.S., 3502 Wesley Avenue, Berwyn, Illinois.
EDWARD J. FRANTA, F. P. S. Langdon, North Dakota.
LAURENCE R. TAYLOR, F.P.S., c/o The Indiana Freemason, Franklin, Indiana
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He Dipped His Pen In His Heart
By John Black Vrooman
There are times when there are too many words with which to express one's thoughts - this is one of those times.
How can one describe a dawn, the song of a bird, a good life? It is found in the heart, and by the comfort it has brought. So it is with a useful life.
I like to think of Carl Claudy as an interpreter of Masonry in terms of joyful service and a full understanding of what Masonry IS and CAN BE in individual relationship.
Carl Claudy was a: leader. Above all, and more especially in his writings, he tried to make Masonry a personal philosophy to be used, lived and passed on to all who would understand.
If he did nothing else, his friendship and his love made all with whom he came in contact realize the dynamic, vital role that Masonry plays in the lives of men who are touched by its precious beauty. He INTERPRETED Masonry by bringing it to the hearts of his Brethren.
REQUIESCAT IN PACE
Dignity and Decorum
Setting the modern pace has, in some cases, been the cause of a revision - a revision DOWNWARD - of the atmosphere and spirit of Masonic Lodges.
There is, I grant you, a place for fun and for relaxation in the fabric of Masonry, but that place is NOT in the tiled Lodge during the conferring of degrees, or during the transaction of the business of the Lodge.
A slap on the back, unnecessary and unbecoming familiarity, or any and all irrelevant and irreverent undignified horseplay and frolic, are distinctly contrary to Masonic usage.
Masonic dignity and decorum are, both by law and custom, a part of and necessary to, the conduct of the activities of the Lodge. This is why Masonry has not become just another club or social organization, and remains the most stable and constant organization the scored has ever known.
What more can be said? How can one enforce dignity? Frankly, this is not a matter of enforcement, but rather, that of pride in maintaining the institution that has lived so long as THE elite and stabilizing force of the earth. Some things and some institutions are so far above the ordinary, that it is taken for granted that there can be no deviation from their habits - Masonry is one of these.
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1879 - 1957
By ALPHONSE CERZA
President, Philalethes Society
On May 28, 1957, Brother Carl H. Claudy, F.P.S., departed this life at Washington. D. C.; funeral services were held the next day at the Scottish Rite Cathedral.
In our sorrow it is fitting that we turn back the clock and view the life of our departed Brother Carl H. Claudy was born in Washington D.C. on January 13, 1879. His father was Frank Claudy, a graduate of the famous university in Heidelberg, Germany, later a Civil War soldier, noted author, poet, and lecturer. He was a student of Goethe; his collection of books about this famous man and copies of his works now are the property of the Scottish Rite in Washington. His mother was a cultured musician and a member of the "Mayflower Catlin" family. Brother Carl H. Claudy was brought up in a cultured family surrounded with good books. His formal education ended when he completed a year and a half of high school. But he continued to study all his life.
At an early age he went to work at various occupations. When he was nineteen years of age he went to Alaska in the Valdez gold rush; he found no gold but returned with a wealth of new experiences. For a time he worked as a travelling salesman for a manufacturer of emery wheels. Then he returned to Washington to become the editor of a popular science magazine. His ability among publishers was soon recognized. For example, in 1901 he was offered a full-time Job on the Youth's Companion, a popular magazine of the day; this offer he declined.
In 1902 he was married to Clara Fitch Duvall; two children were born of this marriage, Carl H. Claudy, Jr. (editor of The Transmitter, a telephone company publication), and Dr. William D. Claudy (a physician in Washington, D.C.)
Brother Claudy was a famous newspaper man, photographer, and writer before he joined the Craft. He continued his general writing even after he devoted most of his time to Freemasonry. Recently the NationaI Geographic Magazine published a number of photographs taken some years ago by our Brother. He also wrote a monthly column for over thirty years in a trade paper called Adam's Impressions. It is estimated that these columns cover at least 2800 pages of printed matter.
During World War I he served in the Reserves as a major.
The Masonic life of Carl H. Claudy is an impressive one. He has received practically every honor within the Craft. We can only note a few of these. He was made a Mason in Harmony Lodge No. 17, Washington, D.C., in 1908; he served this Lodge as Worshipful Master in 1932. He was Grand Master of Masons in the District of Columbia in 1943. He presided over each of the Scottish Rite bodies in the District of Columbia. He was also made a thirty-third degree Mason.
Brother Claudy joined the staff of the Masonic Service Association in 1923, became Executive Secretary in 1929, and continued in that capacity until his passing.
He belonged to practically all Masonic organizations: he was an honorary member of many bodies, and received practically every Masonic medal that can be awarded.
Brother Claudy was a member of the Philalethes Society, which he joined in 1932 and was the fourth Mason to receive the title of Fellow. From time to time he contributed articles for publication in the Society's magazine.
The Masonic literary activities of Brother Claudy were many and we take note of a few of them only. In January 1923, the first Short Talk Bulletin was issued by the Masonic Service Association. Since that time there has been issued one Short Talk Bulletin a month. These informative booklets (with few exceptions) are the literary gems from the pen of CarI H. Claudy.
Between 1924 and 1931 he was the associate editor of The Master Mason one of the outstanding Masonic magazines ever published.
Brother Claudy was the author of The Lion's Pats, a touching novel with a Masonic background. Some of his other popular books are: Old TiIer Talks, Foreign Countries, The Master's Book, The Unknown Mason, The Old Past Master, A Master's Wages, and These Were Brethren. He was also the editor of the Little Masonic Library.
As a Masonic lecturer he had no equal. He could tell a story to illustrate a point; he could state facts simply and interestingly; and always he had a message that came from the heart. Some months ago it was decided to have him read a number of Short Task Bulletins and to record his voice on phonographic platters. Though this was a project of short duration we are most fortunate because Masons for years to come can still enjoy his voice telling the lesson of the 'particular bulletin.
Above all his literary works his plays stand out. There are twelve of those; most of them were written around a lesson from Holy Scripture; and most of them were written while our beloved Brother was vacationing in Montana. What a gift to give to posterity and the Craft!! What a glorious way to spend a vacation! These plays have been popular for many years and it continue to entertain and inspire Masonic audiences as long as the Craft shall exist.
Until about a year ago he visited most Grand Lodges when they were in session. His failing strength finally made him stop. Last February he missed the February meetings in Washington for the first time. He was always ready to help and he always gave liberally of his time. The number of letters that he wrote each month to Masons throughout the country was enormous.
The entire Craft will miss Carl H. Claudy. He has left a void that will be hard to fill. But the Masonic student will miss him most of all because he was a student to the very last; and he was a teacher in the sense that he was always ready smith a word of advice, a helpful hand, a few words of encouragement.
And as I write these few words about our illustrious Brother I cannot avoid the mist that gathers in my eyes because these many years have proved him to be a real friend. For about ten years I have corresponded with him regularly. Often, when time permitted, and he-was in Chicago between trains. I would visit with him for a short time. I will miss these little visits, the many letters, the friendly suggestions, the words of advice from an old worker in the quarries to the youngest apprentice. But I am happy in the thought that I have known Carl H. Claudy, and that while generations of Masons yet unborn will read his books, I have talked with him, held his hand in fraternal fellowship, and sat at his feet to hear the words of wisdom coming from his lips.
Words fail me to say more about this friend of many. I can only repeat the immortal words first spoken after the passing of another great American: "Now he belongs to the ages."
He is not gone; he still is here
In lessons taught with heart sincere;
The body rests from labors long,
The spirit soars in rhythmic song;
With heavy hearts and softest sighs
We sing his praises to the sick
That God reward our true, true friend.
Because use know 'tis not the end.
And in Carl's life one thing use see:
Great lessons taught by Masonry.
(The September, 1952, issue of The Iowa Freemason has many pictures of Carl H. Claudy and his family and contains a fine biographical sketch by Brother Laurence R. Taylor, F.P.S. A biographical brochure by Brother Taylor has been issued by the Masonic Service Association.
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(A MASTERPIECE)
By ROSCOE POUND, F.P.S.
Roscoe Pound, one of the outstanding interpreters of Masonic Philosophy and Jurisprudence, has written a paper which bears thought and study. His distinguished record in Masonry and in civic affairs give added importance to what he writes. We here present a unique treatment of an old and oft-recurring question. In his "answer," each of us can find a continuity of thought and a personal satisfaction that will be both helpful and pleasing.
(Reflections on Bacon, Epicures, and the Epistle to the Hebrews)
"WHAT IS TRUTH SAID JESTING PILATE; and would not stay for an answer." Bacon thus begins his Essay on Truth. But Pilate did not speak in jest. He said what any educated Roman of the first century A. D. was likely to have said when one brought before him for trial answered that he had come on earth to bear witness to the truth. For education at Rome in the last days of the Republic and in the early Empire was Greek education and was chiefly philosophical. Also the fashionable philosophers were the Epicureans. Their leading contemporary exponent in Latin was Lucretius who died sometime between 55 and 51 B.C., whose great book On the Nature of Things was published after his death and is said to have been edited by Cicero. Moreover, if Epicureanism was fashionable at Rome in Pilate's day it was a fashion taken, as the Romans were wont to take all things, very seriously. Lucretius was a fervent believer in not believing. Epicurus’s theory of truth was the key to all his thought and Lucretius in utter sincerity had complete faith that he had the key to the truth. Cicero wrote: "That on which all men are agreed must of necessity be true," and the argument that things on which all men are agreed are therefore true was used by Grotius in the seventeenth century to prove natural laser and therefore international law.
But what all men agree upon may be only the fashion of thinking of the time and place.
There are fashions in thinking as in everything else. Man is an imitative animal. As the philosopher of imitation put it: "Man imitates his forbears, that is custom. He imitates himself, that is habit. He imitates his neighbors, that is fashion." As fashions of dress often have little or no relation to the purpose of dress fashions of thought may be irrational and may change as fashions of dress change. They ring changes for a period on a general type and then change radically to a new type. Robes and gowns were once ordinary dress. Now they are a fashion for ceremonial occasions, sacerdotal, judicial, or educational. As to hats, the ancients went bareheaded, a style now returning. But there have been the medieval hat, worn on ceremonial education occasions today; the cocked hat once worn generally by gentlemen, now worn by general officers or high naval officers on parade occasions and the top hat, worn by mail carriers and policeman on duty one hundred years ago but now going out of use even for ceremonial occasions. It is worth while to note the relation of fashions of thought to those of dress. Scholastic philosophy prevailed along with the severe medieval dress. After the Renaissance and Reformation rationalist philosophy was contemporary with the showy dress culminating in the eighteenth century. Severe Puritan dress accompanied severe logical interpretation and faith in strict law. Loose dress becoming looser has developed along with the so-called realist thought of today.
I am not urging a fashion theory of thought nor a costume interpretation of history. But the same general conditions that make men dress severely or gaily or sloppily, seem to make them think severely or brilliantly or loosely.
Turn for a moment to the relation of fashions to the purposes of the relations they govern. If there is any activity which is preeminently practical it is military operations. But military dress has been much more a matter of fashion than of adaptation to the exigencies of the field. In the late Middle Ages it was the fashion to wear a light surtout over a knight's armor when dismounted even in battle. Sir John Chandos, a notable English commander in the Hundred Years' War, was killed in battle when he tripped over his surtout. In the seventeenth century when the French Household troops were surprised at Steinkirk they were delayed by having to stop to tie their cravats. In the eighteenth century infantry went into the field dressed for the ballroom and the Hessians were defeated at Bennington because of their heavy head dress which prevented rapid movements in the woods and underbrush. In the nineteenth century British artillery men wore leather breeches in action in India and Lord Roberts tells how he had to stop to cut his with his sword in order to get about quickly in the heat of an action.
Compare with this the fashions of thought. From the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, the era of rationalist thought and gay dress, every branch of learning was a philosophy. To Descartes and to Newton physics bore the name of "principles of natural philosophy." Biology too was natural philosophy. Psychology was mental philosophy. Ethics was moral philosophy. Politics was political philosophy. Austin called his book on jurisprudence, from which he rigorously excluded philosophical method, the philosophy of law. Hegal wrote on the philosophy of religion. Spencer's tract on rhetoric was called the philosophy of style and his philosophical plan of a paragraph should be compared to Sincair Lewis' "realist" doctrines of the paragraph as a device to relieve strain on the reader's eye. The Encyclopedia Britannica discussed the theory of musical composition under the heading "philosophy of music."
Then came a time when it was the fashion to make all learning into history. When biology became dominated by the idea of evolution, that idea and the idea of historical continuity as an evolutionary progress turned everything into historical evolutionary analogies. Spencer sought to construct an evolutionary theory of the physical sciences and a historical evolutionary theory of the social sciences. Freeman sought to put politics in terms of history, saying past politics is present history." Maine turned jurisprudence into historical jurisprudence. In philosophy the history of philosophy succeeded to the philosophy of history.
Today everything must be a science or else it is consigned to the lumber room of outworn superstitions. There are physical sciences and natural sciences, not natural philosophy or natural history. Psychology is no longer mental philosophy. It is a science. Ethics is the science of values, not moral philosophy. Politics is now political science, not philosophy or history. Jurisprudence is no longer called philosophy of law, and historical jurisprudence is under a cloud. It is now the science of law. Economics is now called a science. But it had gone through a stage of philosophical quest of principles. Mill, the great authority in the last century, sought them by philosophical method while Adam Smith lectured on natural law - ideal principles reached through reason. Then it event through a stage of history. In 1859 Marx wrote the first version of the first two chapters of Das Kapital as a theory of interpretation of history. Fifty years ago history of economic theory replaced economic philosophy. Today ethics, politics, jurisprudence economics are the social sciences.
Spencer wrote a treatise on sociology as a volume in a system of philosophy. Now it, too, is one of the social sciences. Now we have a science of religion, not a philosophy of religion nor a history of religion. Divinity schools give a doctorate of theological science. We have a science of language, a science of historiography, and schools of business administration give a doctorate of commercial science.
The term "social science" has been having a marked effect on the branches of learning now given that name. They have to do with ought. But the physical sciences have nothing to do with ought. The idea of today is that ought and criticism of phenomena are unscientific and hence to be avoided in anything that calls itself a science. Phenomenalism holds that reality is in phenomena. Phenomena are sufficiently explained by their own phenomenality. We can observe them. It is futile to criticize them. This fits in with Marxian economic determinism, with Freudian psychological realism, with Neo-Kantian relativism in jurisprudence and with Einsteinian relativist physics. It is unscientific to pronounce judgments of good or bad, right or wrong. They are only subjective opinions, not demonstrable to others. Artistic realism of today is akin to this. It has given us a cult of the ugly. The ugly exists. Therefore the ugly as existent is significant. On every side there is a give-it-up skeptical realism. The spread of the scientific materialism of the nineteenth century into ever branch of learning makes Lucretius read very modern and Pilate's response something that might be uttered today.
THE MEANING OF TRUTH
Truth is a word of at least nine meanings of which the most significant are: Conformity to fact, exact accordance with what is or what has been, or what shall be; conformity to fixed starting points for reasoning; and righteousness - conformity to absolute or postulated standards of conduct. It was used in this sense in St. John's Gospel and in Paul's second Epistle to the Corinthians. Jesus used the word in the third sense. Pilate, as an Epicurean, thought of the first sense in terms of the origin and constitution of the physical universe, as to which Epicurus was thoroughly skeptical. As Mrs. Browning put it, Lucretius "denied divinely the divine." The Epicureans rejected the idea of a divinely created, divinely governed universe. They argued that the world was a badly made affair, full of uninhabitable tracts and dangerous beasts and beset by tempest, fire, and flood. There were no signs of divine creation or of divine ordering. Epicurus said: "There is no ordering of things for many things are made or done otherwise than they ought to have been." He held that the world was only a chance result of the movements of infinite atoms in infinite space. He laid down as principles of physical nature that nothing is created of the non-existent nor is anything existent ultimately reduced to the non-existent. He taught that sensation was the immediate and the only ultimate guarantee of truth. It was a primary fact of our nature and our only means of relation with the external world. Hence he argued we must accept it. Otherwise there was no possibility of knowledge. He excluded miracles, revelation, and inspired writings. This brought him into bad repute with Christian Rome and the Middle Ages, but his method of basing knowledge on observation verified by further observation is the method of modern science.
It is instructive to compare Epicurus' time with ours. The Peloponnesian War had exhausted the Greek city-states. All Greece had fallen into the hands of Philip of Macedon and been swallowed up in the empire of Alexander which included substantially the civilized world of the time. That empire had fallen apart and was being fought for by his generals and successors. There was no such healthy spiritual and political life as in the classical era. Things were big and hard to grasp where they had been small and understandable. The mark of the thinking of the time was disillusionment, as it was the mark of the decades following the first World War. A random element in the operation of the universe, shown to be thinkable by mathematics, is recognized by thinkers today, in contrast to the idea of fixed laws revealed bar observation to the positivists of the nineteenth century on one side and the idea of supernatural control by divine governing authority on the other side.
Pilate's question was no jest. It was a deep and far reaching one. He did not wait for an answer. But must we too give up? Must we yield to the fashion of the time and refer all questions of ethics morals economics, politics and law to the exigencies of science and subject them to debate as to the basic scheme of the physical universe?
Comparing the three, Bacon was writing of truth in the first sense and with respect to the Machiavellian politics and diplomacy of the seventeenth century. Pilate was speaking of the physical universe and of the nature and obligations of men as items of that universe - truth in the first sense. Jesus speaks of truth in the third sense; and for this I turn to the magnificent chapter on faith, chapter 11 of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which, if not written by Paul, as we are now taught, is entirely worthy of him: Faith is the substance, i.e. the being convinced of things hoped for. We need not seek for miracles in the field of physics in order to believe in the substance of things hoped for, i.e. an ideal relation among men; in adjustment of relations among men and ordering of men's conduct toward an ideal of righteousness and an Eternal outside of us that makes for righteousness.
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Masonry as an Educational Philosophy
By JAMES D. CARTER, M.P.S. (Texas)
Part II
THE DISCIPLINE OF LOGIC and experience is valid in bringing each new generation through the various stages of culture to the level presently attained so that it may get on with the business of new intellectual creations and material discoveries. This fundamentally, is the principle of invention or the method of invention well known to operative Masons. Applied and adapted to education, it may provide a method of speeding up the tempo of social progress so as to regain a balance with scientific and technological progress.
Operative Masons were familiar with the need for both internal and external discipline in building activities. Freemasons adopted the compasses as a symbol of the code of morality whereby human desires were circumscribed and passions were kept within due bounds, but it was also found necessary to enact an extensive code of laws with penalties attached to supplement the internal discipline of morality just as society found it necessary to create civil law and penalties. Educationally, this implies that external as well as internal discipline is necessary in schools. The school should be a controlled institution in which students exercise virtues and responsibilities commensurate with ability and skill on various levels of maturation and development. Students should be guided and directed - not for repression but for the fullest development of their capacities and potentialities.
Man was endowed by God with a spirit or soup. It is this Divine Spark which establishes his kinship with Divinity and it, like the physical pole of man, is capable of development. The relation between God and man exists in the nature of things and it does not depend upon a belief. The eternal and universal Fatherhood of God does not come into existence when belief begins: it is already a fact and remains a fact regardless of belief. The education of the "whole man" must not only be concerned with the development and training of the physical capacities of man through experiences in play, construction, use of tools, contact with nature, and expression and activity, but must emphasize the development of the spiritual nature in the "oughtness" of his behavior pattern. Man cannot be well balanced in his behavior unless each of his basic functions receive adequate development and training. Abnormality can only result if the spiritual pole is neglected. Masonry, both operative and Speculative, teaches and continually emphasizes faith in the Supreme Being. No man who does not possess this faith can be a Mason. Masonry does not go beyond this teaching, but leaves the theology to be adopted strictly to the individual and the church of his choice. Masonry insists that God cannot be monopolized or manipulated. Any group that claims to have the only true religion implies that it knows everything there is to know about God, an untenable assumption To protect the rights of the individual to his own theological conclusions and to maintain peace within the institution, the discussion of theology in Masonic Lodges is strictly prohibited. When this concept is incorporated into educational philosophy, it becomes necessary for the school of common and general education to teach faith in God but to refrain from any instruction in theology.
Simple observation reveals that man reacts both rationally and irrationally. Man applies his intelligence in a rational or logical attack upon the problems that he encounters. He also proceeds against problems emotionally Some emotional approaches are desirable and constructive; others, such as anger, fear, hate, cupidity. and their like, are largely disruptive and destructive. One of the first lessons taught in Masonry is the value of character - the rational control of human passions. Logic, the innate disposition to draw inference, to experiment, and to test, is native to the mind. Psychology, which concerns itself with the mental and emotional life of man such as needs, motivation, interest, readiness, and maturation, is important in learning. Learning is logical and psychological and a principle of reversibility operates by which the personal becomes impersonal, the logical becomes psychological, and vice versa. The implication for education is that logic and psychology constitute interdependent poles in the educative process.
Man's first needs are food, clothing, and shelter, but man does not live by these alone - for when deprived of aesthetic values, his soul starves. Operative Masonry developed out of the necessity to build physical shelter; distinctive styles and decorations grew out of his need to express himself aesthetically. Speculative Masonry grew out of a need to build a philosophic shelter from the destructive storms of lusts, passions, and uncontrolled ambitions, and its symbolism became a vehicle to satisfy the need for aesthetic expression. A thing to be useful need not be ugly, either physically or as a result of its use. Freemasonry as a philosophy holds that industry - the activity of economic man - exists for the benefit of all mankind as well as for any individual and must be so managed as to produce the greatest good for all men to the end that all may live a normal and happy life. The Masonic test of any system is: how successfully does it minister human needs - the cultural as well as the practical? Man "ought" to be economic he 'ought' to be aesthetic - his education must satisfy not only his practical and economic needs, but also those of a cultural and aesthetic nature.
Freemasonry is fundamentally an educational institution, but it lays no claim to paramount rights in education. Masonry recognizes that all institutions have educational rights in their respective spheres of activity, but Masonry insists that where conflicts between the educational interests of institutions or individuals and the whole society develop, that the rights of society are paramount. Man at birth is more helpless than the brute creation, and in the early years of childhood, the home is all important in his education, therefore, Masonry exercises an educational function by protecting and strengthening the home. Religious instruction begins in the home and church before the child reaches the age for entrance into the formal educational system; Masonry lends its active influence and support to the right of the child to receive this instruction and to the right of the institution of his parents' choice to give that instruction, free from the dictates of civil government. At the time when Freemasonry became a social power, there were no systems of free education open to all children regardless of social or economic status. Freemasonry and Masons saw the need for such institutions and supported their establishment oftentimes financed exclusively by the fraternity. With the acceptance of the idea of free, state supported public school systems, Freemasonry has assumed a protective role, insisting that the schools be kept directly under the control of the people and free from undue interference by selfish interests. Masons also believe that so long as education remains available to all on a basis of complete equality and free thought and expression on the part of students and teachers is maintained, that it will be extremely difficult for any regime, political, theological, or otherwise, to destroy the basic human freedoms in society. Freemasonry teaches that patriotism is a virtue so long as the civil government remains the servant of the people. It recognizes that the right of such a political order to engage in educational activity is legitimate and should be encouraged, but the agencies of formal education belong first to the people and exist for their benefit and protection. Where to draw the line between individual liberty and the legitimate controls of society is a constant problem - education must discover the proper emphasis to place on these two inescapable principles. Any social, economic, or professional institution is possessed of the same educational rights so long as they are not subversive of free thought. expression and action within the framework established by society. Enlightenment is a thing every Mason and Lodge is pledged to seek and diffuse. From the viewpoint of Masonry, ignorance is a social sin because it breeds quite as much evil in the world as the corruption of conscience.
Masonry seeks to improve the condition of man through education: first the individual and his immediate family, secondly, society as a whole. Masonry maintains that education has a legitimate responsibility for social change through emphasis on the social, moral, intellectual, aesthetic, and spiritual functions of scan. Education for greater earning power provides the economic foundation for the possession of more of the necessities, comforts, and luxuries of material living, but this is only one aspect of social betterment. With increased leisure time, brought about by time and labor saving devices, a greater need develops for a socially desirable use of this free time. Masonry teaches that freedom carries with it full responsibility for socially acceptable action by the individual. If leisure time is employed in activities which are detrimental to public welfare, the primary object of gaining such time has been defeated. Education should not only provide the means for greater economic power and leisure time, but it must provide the individual with a sense of responsibility in their use.
Man being a unity of opposites, competition between these opposites appears to be a law of nature. Likewise, society being a unity of opposites, competition between individuals and groups is native to it. All men are not equal in the original endowment of their nature nor are they equal in opportunity. Men are not equal in abilities and there is no such thing as social equality if that means social uniformity. These inequalities make competition within the society unequal. Equality is an aspiration, a hope, a dream, an ideal difficult for the mind to grasp and more difficult to define. Masonry teaches that equality is the right to the unhindered and normal development of the basic functions of each individual to the fullest extent of his capacity and industry. Masonry teaches that there "ought" to be equality of this nature and seeks to attain it. Education, in cooperation with other institutions, should aid in identifying and eliminating artificial inequalities in individual and group competition in society. Education should recognize competition not only for its potential undesirability but for its capability for constructive use and guide it, as Masonry seeks to do, into those channels. Variations in educational attainment among those individuals of comparable ability and industry is a form of inequality which bears directly on the success of the individual in the competition which he encounters in all phases of life. Formal education is, therefore, not only charged with the responsibility for eliminating such inequality among those being acted upon, but with continually motivating the individual to continue his education to its full capacity.
Summarizing it may be stated that Freemasonry, itself an educational agency, looks upon education, defined in its broadest sense, as the principal hope of man for attaining his ultimate destiny. Further Masonic ideas concerning education may be listed as follows:
Each individual should be generally educated to the full extent to which his capacity and industry will permit and especially along the lines of his special aptitudes.
Education should be both functional and formal because the two are interdependent.
Education should be based upon both development and growth because the two are complimentary aspects of human nature.
Education should be considered as life and preparation for life because the two are inseparable.
Education should be partly religious because man has a spiritual role in his nature.
Education should be both practical and cultural because each contributes to the development of the basic functions of man.
The common basic functions of man provides a need for the teaching of a body of essentials of education - the knowledge of most worth - the values of relative certainty.
Originality and initiative should be cultivated in the individual in the educational process.
Social efficiency should be an aim of education.
Morality should be education.
Instruction should be both psychological and logical because they are interdependent elements in the teaching and learning process.
Control must be exercised, both internal and external, in order to attain the greatest freedom for the individual and to protect society from excess individualism.
Education must be equally concerned with theory and practice because learning is both conceptually and empirical.
Education should draw upon both the cultural pattern and rationality because each makes a valid contribution to the education of the "whole" man.
Education should develop man in the direction which he "ought" to pursue.
All institutions have educational rights which must be respected so long as basic human rights are not violated.
Education should be available to all on equal terms, hence, should be public rather than private because public support is the only adequate means of insuring "total" education.
Education has a legitimate responsibility for social change through emphasis on the "oughtness" of human behavior.
The potentially constructive aspects of competition should be used in education.
Balance should be achieved between philosophic, scientific, and aesthetic aspects of education by recognizing the valid worth of techniques, skills, and concepts in their proper relationships thereby reconciling the dualistic tendencies inherent in man.
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Mutual Topics.
- Pfan Mail and Observations -
Brother John W. Kloss, M.P.S. (Erie, Pa.) writes: Faust a note to say I thought the article by Brother Robert H. Gollmar on MASONIC BAPTISM was fine stuff. I am not a head-in-the-clouds man myself, and find that this sort of writing is good down-to-earth material that is of solid interest. It is also excellent proof that the admonition that Elbert Bede is fond of quoting 'Let your bucket down where you are,' is certainly true. One question you might pass on to Brother Gollmar - is there any connection between the rite he describes and the trials by fire, etc., in the work of Aurora Lodge in Milwaukee?
"One of my hobbies," writes Brother George A. Stracke M.P.S., of Las Vegas, New Mexico, "is to peruse old records. I have observed, in following this pursuit, that in the early history of Masonry in this country, that churchmen, including ministers, were just as active in the extension of Masonry as they were in the extension of the Church.... I have been collecting reports and data beginning with the establishment of the Episcopal Church in New Mexico . . . and getting some notes together . . . for the 90th anniversary of Chapman Lodge (Chapman Lodge No. 2, Las Vegas) . . . and could not help noting the duplication of names, not only of the ministry but also of the Lay leaders.
" . . . of the ministers of St. Paul's (church) 3 have been Grand Chaplains of the Grand Lodge, 5 of the 9 were Masters of the local Lodge . . . this denomination has furnished 8 or 9 Grand Chaplains more particularly in the early years." A good subject for an article for our readers, Brother Stracke, would it not be?
Brother Albert L. Woody F.P.S., writes of the official reception of Most Worshipful Brother Milton T. Sonntag, M.P.S., Grand Master of Masons in Illinois, by the Masonic Standard Club of Chicago on Saturday, June 1, at which he was presented with a gold honorary membership card.
Sunday, May 26 marked the pilgrimage by a group of Masons and their families to White Churchs near Townsend Center, Massachusetts, to honor Henry Price, pre-Revolutionary Masonic leader, and Provincial Grand Master in the eighteenth century.
The church services were held at the Methodist church after which a pilgrimage was made to the grave, with a short service, and the placing of a wreath by the officials. Brother Frank H. Wilson, M.P.S., made the address of the occasion, relating facts about Price's service to Masonry and to his community.
Brother A.V. Cassiet, M.P.S., whose address is 6006 Vine Street, Vancouver 13, B.C., Canada, writes: "From time to time I come across references to ORDRE DU TEMPLE. As I am a member . . . KT., it is natural that I am interested in other bodies claiming to be of Templar descent. If any information of the above Order, such as ritual, organization, can be had, I would be glad to have some one supply me with information."
The members of the Society join with the officers in extending sincere sympathy to Brother Cecil H. Ellis. M.P.S., Chicago, in the loss of his wife on May 17 last. Brother Ellis is the efficient manager of the Masonic Employment Bureau, and extremely active in all phases of Masonry.
Dr. and Brother Charles Gottshall Feigners F.P.S., was the commencement speaker on June 2, at Perkiomen High School, Pennsburg, Pa.. where he was a graduate exactly fifty years before. He writes that of thirty living graduates, sixteen were present at the commencement.
A belated item has reached us from the cold spot in mid-west Canada at which Brother Sam Harris, M.P.S., makes his home, edits the Grand Lodge magazine? and in so many ways practices his operative and Speculative Masonry.
The Freemason, published in Toronto, Canada, lists, in its February-March 1957 edition, a story of his fifty-year gold button to Brother Harris, at the annual assembly of the Sovereign Great Priory, Knights Templar. Brother Harris is a Past Grand Master of Masons in Alberta and extremely active in all phases of Masonry throughout the continent. We add our hearty and richly-deserved words of praise and appreciation.
Commenting on the recent paper published in this magazine by Brother J. Allen Cabaniss, M.P.S. (Mississippi), Brother Frederick T. Parker. M.P.S. (Quebec), remarks: "I have read and retread your article 'Importance of the Fellowcraft's Degree.' with decided interest and appreciation . . . it is exceptionally well done, but what pleased me most was its clarity, its scope and its directness of application . . . indeed, there are two points in my mind - DUTY - . . . have the duties of a Freemason ever been clearly and succinctly stated in The Philalethes? Wordsworth calls it 'stern daughter of the voice of God'....
'Is it not on duty to God, our neighbor and ourselves," he continues, "to develop our God-given faculties so that - a) we honor God; b) we develop ourselves; and, c) we become more extensively serviceable to our fellow creatures, which is Brotherhood? This I feel to be one basic teaching of the Second Degree."
This is certainly thought-provoking, and a decided challenge for some reader to write something by which to interpret the sense of the ritual of the Second Degree which gives this application. Who'll try it?
One of our newest members, Brother Richard E. Davis, M.P.S., Morgantown, finest Virginia is interested in oaths and obligations, their origin, meaning, etc. He writes: "Perhaps the severe penalties (of the obligations) were the result of the seriousness of the penalties then in mode for crimes, some of which we now consider to be minor offenses. If you have any further information, especially where I might find further information (I have Mackey's Encyclopedia), I shall be grateful." There are, to my knowledge, several Brethren who are well-posted on this topic, and perhaps might help Brother Davis become better informed on this subject.
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Menomonie Lodge at Old Fort Howard
By R.H. GOLLMAR, M.P.S. (Wisconsin)
THE STORY OF MENOMONIE LODGE No. 374 at Fort Howard, now Green Bay, Wisconsin, is a fascinating one. Formed in 1823, this was the first Lodge in what is now Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Northern Michigan. Twenty years before the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin was formed; twenty-five years before Wisconsin became a state; and thirteen years before it even became a territory, Masonry came to this locality.
The War of 1812 brought a realization to the U.S. Government of the need for garrisons in the Midwest to protect the settlers and control the Indians. On June 20, 1815, President Madison, approved the establishment of Fort Howard at Green Bay, and in August of 1816 it was garrisoned by the Third Infantry Regiment.
Green Bay, a part of Lake Michigan, is connected to the Wisconsin River by the Fox River. We are told that in 1816 when the troops arrived, farms stretched along the Fox River for five or six miles, and some forty families lived in the village and on the farms.
Fort Howard occupied a reserved tract which also included land for gardens, woodlots for fuel, meadows for hay, and fields to raise provisions. The fort proper was of simple construction with a central parade ground, surrounded by barracks, officers quarters, storehouses and a hospital. Surrounded by a palisade with blockhouses, its neat and clean appearance was a pleasant contrast to the village and farms.
This was civilization in northeast Wisconsin. There was one other town, Prairie du Chien, with Fort Crawford, in the southwest where the Wisconsin River entered the Mississippi.
Into the depressing picture came the U.S. Army to bring an example of industry and neatness, but more important, to bring a social life and standards; undreamed of culture; a market for produce; physicians and a hospital.
By 1824, Green Bay had 160 white people of whom 130 were men, 7 were women and the baIance children. With them lived 1627 Indian men and 4000 squaws and children. The growth in population had been more than matched by a growth in culture. The army had organized a lyceum, Masonic Lodge, temperance society and, in 1826, an Episcopal church.
The officers were determined to preserve a decent standard of living and the fort became the social center of the community. Zachary Taylor, later to be President, was commandant from 1816 to 1818.
Now back to Menomonie Lodge, it's organization, short existence under two Grand Lodges, and it's fading away.
It was the day of the feast of St. John the Baptist, December 27, 1823. Masons had come to Fort Howard with the army. In fact, Menomonie Lodge was almost a military Lodge. Colonel John McNeil was commanding the Third Infantry there and was a Mason. Other petitioners included Major Benjamin Watson who became Senior Warden: Surgeon W.V. Ahtheaton, who became Junior Warden: and, to preserve Masonic democracy, Sergeant M. Gilman. These men gathered at the home of George Johnston, a farmer, on the west side of the Fox River. With them were some civilians who were Masons, and out of the celebration came a petition to form a Lodge.
Wisconsin was then a part of Michigan Territory whose Masonry was under the Grand Lodge of New York. The petition for a dispensation made its way to the nearest Lodge: Zion No. 3 of Detroit, but did not arrive until April. On May 29, 1824, Zion approved the petition and sent it on to Martin Hoffman, then Grand Master of New York. June 12 of the same year, Brother Hoffman issued his dispensation with Robert Irwin. Sr., as Master and Wardens as previously stated.
Some picture of the difficulties of the times can be gained from the following. On August 18, 1824, after it appeared that the problems of transportation prevented a proper installation of officers, Grand Master Hoffman issued a further dispensation waiving the ceremonies of constitution and installation. This was sent to Major Watson on the same day but did not reach him until March of 1825. By that time the Lodge had been installed by a gentleman, Mr. Stevens, whose Masonic authority does not appear. However, his services apparently were satisfactory and the Lodge proceeded to work.
The records of the Grand Lodge of New York show the following:
"September 1, 1824:
"A petition from Robert Irwin and others upon which a Dispensation had, on 12th June, been issued by the Grand Master, praying for a warrant to hold a Lodge in the town of Green Bay, in the county of Brown, in the Territory of Michigan, by the name of Menomonie, recommended by Zion Lodge No. 3, was read and the prayer of the same granted." The number given it was 374.
The warrant or charter was issued on December 3,
18242 with the same officers as named in the dispensation.
Some account of the activities and interests of
Menomonie Lodge as a Lodge should be of interest we learn that the officers
were installed by Mr. Stevens on September 2, 1824, and proceeded to work.
In the period from September to December 27, 1824, the Lodge initiated
8, passed 9, and raised 9. Apparently courtesy work or it's equivalent
existed then, since one Brother was passed and raised who had been initiated
in Washington Lodge Now 13. Major Hezekiah Bradley was raised only. At
the end of that period. the Lodge had 17 Master Masons and 1 Fellow Craft.
The Secretary's return for that year was sent under date of January 10,
1825, and contains this postscript:
"In consequence of the risque in forwarding the funds by our express through the wilderness it is thought proper to retain our dues till the opening of the navigation next spring."
Eighteen twenty-five was another good year with 8 initiated and passed, and 9 raised. Surgeon Wheaton was Master, R.S. Satterlee, Senior Warden, and Robert Irwin, Jr., Junior Warden. Sergeant Gilman is now Tyler, and the strong military membership is shown by the fact that the Treasurer and both Deacons are lieutenants.
Perhaps some part of the interest is disclosed by the bill of refreshments which follows:
"Manominy Lodge in acct with John P. Arndt 1824
Nov. 2d 1 qt. brandy and 1 qt. whiskey, $1.00; Nov. 2d 1/2 quire paper 1/6, 19c; Nov. 11 1 qt. brandy and 1 qt. whiskey, $1.00; Refreshments and cyder, $1.25: Nov. 27 1 qt whiskey, 25c; Dec. 31 1 qt. brandy and one qt. whiskey, $1.00; Refreshments and cyder, $1.25; total, $5.94: Dec. 9 to refreshments and cyder, $1.00; total, $6.94.
"Examined and found correct
R.S. Satterlee
Lewis N. Morris
J. Dean"
In connection with this bill, it is probably significant that two petitions were dated November 10, one November 24 and one November 25. The latter one was the petition of Henry S. Baird, who became Master in December, 1826, after being installed as Senior Deacon in December, 1825.
Brother Baird was a colorful figure in Wisconsin Masonry. He was the first trained lawyer in the state of Wisconsin. He came to Green Bay in September, 1824 with his 14-year-old bride who spoke no English. He was later to be the first Master of Washington Lodge No. 21 at Green Bay when it received its dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin in 1847, and Grand Master of Wisconsin in 1856 and 1857. An address delivered by Brother Baird in 1854 has preserved for us a wealth of material on this early period.
The Lodge first met at the fort in an upper room over the Commissary's store, but was moved out of the fort in the fall of 1825 in an effort to make it less of a military Lodge. It remained a year in a room in the store of Brother John P. Arndt, then in 1826 and 1827 in a small building on the south line of the then village of Green Bay, and finally in an upper room in the store of Brothers R. and A. J. Irwin.
One more interesting chapter in the history of the Lodge is the part it played in the formation of the Grand Lodge of Michigan Territory in 1826. A Lodge was chartered in Detroit in 1764 by the Provincial Grand Master of New York. It was largely a military Lodge. Masonry continued a precarious existence in Detroit through the years and in 1825 Zion Lodge No. 3 of Detroit issued a call for a convention to form a Grand Lodge.
The response of Menominee Lodge No. 374 dated November 7, 1825, is still preserved in the archives of the Grand Lodge of Michigan. The Convention met at Detroit June 24, 1826, with representatives present from four Lodges including Menominee. The latter, however, was represented by proxies. The Grand Lodge met July 31, 1826, and was recognized by its parent Grand Lodge, New York, on June 6, 1827. Lewis Cass, who was then the Governor of Michigan Territory and a Past Grand Master of Ohio, was elected Grand Master and served throughout the Grand Lodge's brief existence.
The transactions of this Grand Lodge are preserved and we find some references to Menominee Lodge (note the difference in spelling used in Michigan), and its members. At the meeting of July 31, 1826, Robert Irwin and Robert Irwin, Jr., were both elected Grand Stewards of Charity. On December 27, 1826, Robert Irwin, Jr. was reported entitled to note. He was also present January 8, 1827, and on February 19, 1827, acted as Grand Secretary, pro tem. A week later we find him acting as Junior Grand Warden, pro tem.
The Grand Lodge reports show the last meeting on August 9, 1827 a quorum not being present, no business was transacted. Anti-Masonry had begun its work. During its existence the Grand Lodge held four special meetings besides its annual meeting in 1827. To the five original Lodges, Zion and 337 at Detroit: Oakland No. 343, Pontiac, Michigan: Monroe (Michigan) No. 375 and Menorainee 374 (later renumbered No. 4); were added by dispensation four more Lodges. These were all in Michigan and were Stoney Creek, Western Star, St Cloud and Friendship. Of these, Stoney Creek is still revered for its refusal to cease meeting during the dark days of anti-Masonry.
Major Henry B. Brevoort came out in 1822 as Indian Agent. We know little about him, but thanks to the voluminous writings of Brother Baird's wife, we do know about his daughter. This young lady joined her father at Green Bay in 1824 and immediately created a social problem. Her beauty overcame the young lieutenants and she became very popular.
Captain Daniel Curtis, who taught the school in 1S24, later had a granddaughter who became the wife of General Philip H. Sheridan of Civil War fame.
Brother Irwin, Sr., the first Master was born in Ireland in 1773 and came to America at the age of three months. His youth was spent in Baltimore and Carlisle, Penn. He married and had two sons, Robert and Alexander. He served with distinction in the War of 1812 and then moved to Detroit. He was an operative mason of a high order and superintended the building of many first class buildings in Detroit. In 1822 he moved to Green Bay where he lived until his death at 77.
Raised in Lodge No. 56 at Carlisle, in 1792, he was the Worshipful Master in 1793. Later he belonged to a Lodge at Greensberg and Erie, Penn., and Zion No. 1 at Detroit. Perhaps most interesting is the fact that he was a charter member of Monroe Chapter No. 1, at Detroit, in 1818. This pioneer Chapter antedated the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Michigan by 29 years. It is not surprising that Governor Cass was High Priest.
Robert Irwin, Jr., came to Green Bay in 1820. He became postmaster in 1822. His brother, Alexander, joined him in 1823, and they became partners in the fur trade. Robert was a member of the first Legislative Council of Michigan Territory from its organization in 1824 until 1830. He was Indian Agent at Fort Winnebago (now Portage, Wis.) when his death occurred July 9, 1833.
There were a number of farmers in the membership, John Lawe, a "leading farmer," was called the "English Jew." He not only farmed but worked as a fur trader for the American Fur Company, owned by Astor. Born in York, England, his father was an army officer. His mother was a sister of Jacob Franks, a Jew who had gone to Green Bay as a clerk in 1792. Later Franks had his own post and brought John in from Canada. John later took over the fur trade and seas noted for his fair dealings and charity. He died at Green Bay in 1846 at the age of 66.
Reverend Eleazar Williams, an Episcopal priest, was to attain fame and notoriety in 1841 when many people became convinced that he was the "Lost Dauphin" of France - Louis XVII. Williams came from New York. His mother was an Indian and he had worked among her people. He had a plan to move the Indians from New York to Wisconsin. It didn't work. He came to Green Bay and met with the local Indian tribes. His plan failing, he married a French woman and settled in Green Bay.
After 1827 no records can be found of meetings and no officers were elected, although Brother Baird tells us that meetings were held until 1830. Brother Baird says that the dissolution was due to several reasons but "principally to the dispersion of and separation of its members." This is difficult to believe because twenty years later, in 1847, when a dispensation was issued for Washington Lodge No. 21 at Green Bay, we find not only Brother Baird but Brothers John P. Arndt, William Dickinson, Robert Irwin, and Lewis Rouse as charter members. Surely these men, with those who must have passed away in the interim, were a sufficient nucleus to have held the Lodge together.
The solution to this minor mystery probably lies in anti-Masonry and the unwillingness of Brother Baird, in retrospect, to admit to a lack of courage in facing up to it. Probably we too would have gone underground.
Thus ends Masonry in Wisconsin, not to be revived until 1840, with a Missouri charter.
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Metallurgy as Applied to Masonry
By DAVID A. MOSS, M.P.S. (Iowa)
AMONG SPECULATIVE MASONS TODAY it is common to think of operative masons as workers of stone. This is natural for we have made common usage of the term "mason" to apply only to the stone mason. There is reason to believe, however, that the ancient meaning of the word carried a far greater connotation and covered a much broader field.
Modern man, like his ancient counterpart, places a high value on buildings, edifices, monuments, etc. Man still labors to provide himself and his family with the finest habitation possible, to provide his government with fine public buildings and to build magnificent edifices for his church. Today, as in the past, most of man's labor finds its ultimate purpose and accomplishment in some form of building. This applies to the artist as well as the workman, for a far greater amount of effort has been applied to the adornment of buildings than to all other art forms combined.
In ancient, unrecorded history man worked basically with stone - his tools, buildings, and even art utilized stone for a medium. Today, of course, we have many forms of materials with which to work and technology is providing us with more and more of these materials at a rapid rate. An analysis of these materials may be of more than passing interest with the notation that a considerable percentage of them are ceramic (stone-like material) or derived from stones. Among the first of the supplementary materials to stone were metals, which, obviously, play an even greater part today than in the past.
Since the art of working stone was one of the first crafts, it is reasonable to assume that the other crafts severe derived in some form from that "mother" craft. It also becomes logical to assume that the word "masons" therefore may have covered arts and crafts which are not included in the meaning of the modern word. For example, it is logical to assume that buildings were constructed before there were architects and that an architect was developed from one of the builders. By like reasoning, the engineer was developed by enlarging upon the special skills of a mason.
How many of us have stopped to consider the material used in the manufacture of the working tools of a mason? Although the tools of today are more highly refined and more extensive than ancient tools, they are still made of metal and, like the tools of any skilled workman, among his most prized possessions. Who, but a mason, could design the tools of a mason? Who, then, but a mason, devised the original tools and made them to his own specifications? Who first conceived the idea of adorning a building with gold, silver or other metals, and then put this into practice? As these metals were worked as well as other metals used for tools, would not a mason have conceived the use of metal to form a more permanent roof or to strengthen a building without the use of so temporary a material as wood? It is not too great a stretch of the imagination to assume, from the foregoing, that the entire great metal industry received its growth) if not its start from the art of masonry, and was, at one time, considered a part of that art or craft, as one chooses to call it. It is not unlikely that metals were first discovered and their properties explored as man was digging for the stone from which to construct his buildings.
The Bible tells us that there were a large number of iron workers and other metal workers used in the construction of King Solomon's Temple. However, in the enumeration of the workmen, these men are not differentiated from the other workmen. It may be noted that an iron worker was accorded the seat of honor at the banquet celebrating the completion of the Temple. Surely this is a sign of his acceptance into the craft.
The earliest mention of the art of metal working in the Bible can be taken from the twenty-second verse of the fourth chapter of Genesis King James Version, as follows: "Tubalcain, an instructor of every artifices in brass and iron." It will be noted that Tubalcain was a sixth generation decendant of Cain, who was eternally cursed by God for the first murder.
Metals have long been divided into two major classifications, precious metals and base metals. Precious metals are usually associated with wealth; and because of their scarcity, have been used as a means of stabilizing values. Perhaps their greater use, however, was in the art of adornment, both of people and buildings. It is obvious that the most enduring of these art forms has been in the use in construction and the adornment of lasting edifices. Jewelry, basins and small ornaments have always been an easy prey for thieves, looters and ravaging warriors. Even the magnificent gold and silver vessels of fabulous value, contained in Solomon's Temple, were removed by the Babylonians at the destruction of the Temple, and were basically preserved, though desecrated, by the conquerors. It will be noted that, when dedicated to the sacred worship of God, the gold and silver art work had a much longer and enduring history than the personal jewelry of the rich or the "royal."
Personal adornment, in the form of gold and silver jewelry, usually was buried with the owner and served only as an impetus for the looting of the grave, bringing about that which is least desired bar the owner and undoing all that the jewelry was intended for in life.
Because of the artificial value of the precious metals, alchemists struggled through the Middle Ages to produce gold from base metals and formed the basis for modern chemistry to the reward and gratification of all mankind although they never succeeded in producing the gold which they and their sponsors so greedily desired.
Although they are valued highly, the precious metals are actually the easiest to obtain in the metallic form, since, because of their properties, they are not attacked by the atmosphere and natural corrosion. For this reason, they occur naturally as metals. Most of the base metals, however, occur as an oxide or other combined form and must be reduced to the natural state by hard works Such is the case with irons one of our most valuable metals though not considered such intrinsically.
Two of the ancient base metals are copper and iron. Undoubtedly copper was discovered and used first, since it sometimes occurs as a metal in nature. The amount of natural copper found, with notable exceptions of a fairly recent date historically, is exceedingly small and undoubtedly early masons learned by hard and tedious processes to produce the metal in usable quantities. The two basic copper alloys, brass and bronze, were probably discovered accidentally through the reduction of zinc and tin-bearing copper ores. However, it is certain that by Solomon's time, the secret of the composition had been discovered and artificial alloys of the desired properties produced.
To the true artisan mad craftsman, iron and copper represent much greater value than the intrinsic value of gold and silver.
These metals are useful and usable, hence the value to the craftsman. Their value was appreciated in Solomon's times hence the honor bestowed upon the iron worker, not the goldsmith.
Perhaps it is the heritage of Cain, but iron and copper have been used extensively for murder, singly and wholesale. The knife which was devised to cut materials was found to be suitable for cutting and stabbing people. This undoubtedly led to a greater amount of work in the development of metals for weapons and war, a practice still going on today. Many of the great technological advances in the field of metallurgy came as a result of the desire to violate one of God's commandments. Yet, ironically, these advances have received their greatest usage, not in war, but in the peaceful construction of a better way of life. A recent foreboding development is the field of atomic physics or nuclear physics. It is believed that this special branch of the study of metals will provide a better life for the world living under the principles of Freemasonry, rather than under the heathen god of Mars. This belief is in accord with the history of previous developments of metals.
It is awesome to contemplate the heritage given us by the early masons in the field of metallurgy. To those who have based their desires for metals upon greed, avarice, murder and war, the gain has been fleeting and insecure. To those who have by labor and a desire to live in a fellowship such as taught by Freemasonry, the reward is rich and lasting. The war lords of Germany did not live to benefit by the properties of stainless steel they developed. This material has the endurance strength and abundance of the base metal combined with the beauty and noble properties of the precious metals. Let no one be misled into thinking that the labor of producing the base metals is easy. Anyone who has had a part in this industry can testify to the hard work, and perseverance necessary to make a product of which an artisan may be proud. Yet, today, these difficulties must be small compared with the problems encountered by ancient craftsmen. After all, many of the advances have been in the field of producing these base metals.
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By ALPHONSE CERZA, F.P.S.
President, The Philalethes Society
THIS YEAR IS ELECTION YEAR for our Society. The Nominating Committee (as announced in our last issued issue) is happy to receive nominations from all Fellows and Members of the Society. The following officers are elected by the Fellows and Members:
President
First Vice President
Second Vice President
Executive Secretary
Treasurer.
All other positions are appointed by the elected officers who serve as the Executive Committee of the Society.
The names and addresses of the Nominating Committee members are as follows:
Harry W. Bundy, Chairman
Masonic Temple,
Denver 3, Colo.
William E. Yeager,
350 Pennsylvania Ave.,
West, Warren. Pa.
Glenn G. Radcliffe,
R.F.D. 4,
Boone, Iowa
The President and Executive Secretary, under our by-laws, must be Fellows of the Society. The other elective officers must be Members in good standing.
The present Fellows of the Society are:
Reginald Harris, Harold V.B. Voorhis, Robert J. Meekren, Ray V. Denslow, William Mosley Brown, John B. Vrooman, Walter H. Braun, Hirsch Geffen, William Major Brown, James Fairbairn Smith, Allister McKowen, Antonio Gonzales, Albert L. Woody, Elbert Bede. Lee E. Wells.
Philip Coad, Charles Gottshall Reigner, Edward E. Hedblom, James R. Malott, Ross Hepburn, Ward St. Clair, Alphonse Cerza, Laurence R. Taylor, Roscoe Pound, Henry W. Coil, Jose Oller, George S. Draffen, Edward J. Franta.
Dr. John C. Hubbard, Dr. Francis Scully, Frederic W. E. Cullingford, Captain William Spalding, Rev. McIlyar Lichliter, Ray Baker Harris. Harry W. Bundy, Melvin Johnson, James R. Case, Wendell K. Walker.
Since the officers will serve for three years it is important that careful consideration be given to the selection of proper officers. Your assistance is solicited in this important task. You can help by sending your suggestions to the Nominating Committee.
My policy since becoming President of the Society has been that whenever possible one man should hold only one job in the Society. It has also been my policy to give due consideration to the geographical distribution of the members in making appointments. I trust that this salutary policy will continue and that in making suggestions the members will try to do this whenever possible.
I want to call attention to the fact that the suggestion made in our last issue under the title, "It Seems To Me" suggesting a central home for the Society was expressing the single opinion of the editor of the magazine and was not the expression of the views of all the others. (NOTED It was never intended to be the official opinion, J.B.V.)
As soon as the Nominating Committee certifies the names to be placed on the ballot, steps will be taken to mail the ballots to those entitled to vote. Due and timely notice will be given of the time and place of the counting of the ballots so that those interested may attend this important event.
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by Alphonse Cerza, F.P.S. President
The Philalethes Society
The Philalethes Society was organized in the year 1928. It had no connection with any previous association and it does not claim an ancient ancestry as many Masonic groups do. There did exist many years ago a Rite of Philalethes. This is clearly described in a few words by Brother Ray V. Denslow, F.P.S., in his recently published book Masonic Rites and Degrees, issued by the Missouri Lodge of Research, as follows:
"The Rite of Philalethes, or Searchers after Truth, which was drawn from the speculations of the theosophists St. Martin and Paschalis, is said to have been invented by Savalette de Langes, keeper of the royal treasure, and was first adopted in the Lodge of Amis Reunis at Paris, about the year 1775. It consisted of twelve degrees: Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master, Elect, Scotch Master, Knight of the East, Rose Croix, Knight of the Temple, Unknown Philosopher, Sublime Philosopher, Initiated, Philalethes or Searcher after Truth. At the death of the founder of the rite, the Lodge of Amis was dissolved; and the rite, not having extended further, ceased to exist. An attempt to revive a rite bearing this name was at one time made in London."
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Edwin Markham was born in Oregon City in 1852, and died in 1940. As a boy he was taken to California; worked at fanning, sheep-herding and blacksmithing. He was educated at San Jose College and too western colleges; was superintendent of schools until 1899 in which year he wrote the poem "The Man With The Hoe."
He became a Master Mason in 1924 in Acacia Lodge No. 92 at Coloma, California, and was nominated in the Grand Lodge of Oregon for the position of Poet Laureate of the United States.
Millet, a French artist who was always on the border of hunger and whose wife died of privation, painted many pictures, among them The Angelus a picture of a brutalized peasant. This painting was the inspiration for Markham s poem "The Man With The Hoe."
This poem has been translated into thirty languages and has been called "the battle cry of the next thousand years."
In countries of the Mediterranean; in the Black Sea; all through the East and in South America have been seen many vivid demonstrations of the thought of this poem.
Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans
Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
The emptiness of ages ire his face,
And on his back the burden of the world.
Who made him dead to rapture and despair,
A thing that grieves not and that never hopes,
Is this the dream He dreamed who shaped the suns
And marled their ways upon the ancient deep?
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By Ted H. Findley, M.P.S. (Ohio)
This quaint and homely philosophy was pert of an address by M:III: Companion Ted H. Findley, Grand Master of the Grand Council, Royal & Select Masters of Ohio, at Beuchner Council, Youngstown, Ohio, in late 1954. Its simplicity and appeal is such, that it is brought to our renders in the hope that its inspiration may be infectious and helpful.
A long time ago, longer than most of use care to think about; a young woman and a young man started down the aisle of the church of their choice; the young woman clinging anxiously to the arm of the young man, who was awkwardly, yet tenderly, carrying a wee mite of humanity.
As they came to the end of the aisle, and there met the pastor of the church at the altar rail, the three of them - the young woman, the young man and the pastor - realized full-well that they were dedicating a new human life, a new human soul, to the very best that life affords.
In the years that followed, that young man and that young woman did their level best to impress on this new human mind a love of the beautiful, a sense of fair play, a pride in its' forbears, a love of country, a faith in God. They fed and they clothed and educated it and they grew old and gray and bent in the job - and finally, they had to leave. But they left with the firm conviction that they were leaving behind them someone to carry on in the high ideals and the fine traditions of the race.
Now that is not a strange, alien and sentimental story at all because that wee mite of humanity of years ago was you - and me.
In the years that have followed, in which we have been on our own, there have been many times, far too many times, when we have become discouraged and disheartened with the greed and the avarice and the selfishness of men and we have wondered whether or not those high ideals that we learned at mother's knee were of any practical value in this intensely practical world in which we live. And then, every once in a while, something happens, some event occurs that re-inspires us with the knowledge that the old-fashioned ideals are still very much in force - that God is still in His heaven and all's well with the world.
May I say that to me, this group of men gathered together to earnestly study the Ancient Wisdom of the race and to improve themselves in the great truths revealed in their Masonry, is one of those occasions.
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Welcome to New Members
Since the last issue of the magazine we are happy to welcome the following new members of the Society:
Arthur L. Miller, 1303 Arkansas Avenue, Pittsburgh 16, Pennsylvania.
Louis Cimino, Route 5, Box 878-G, Tacoma 22, Washington.
Benjamin F. Barron, P.O. Box 338, Oak Grove, Louisiana.
Howard R. Spindler, 228 West 22nd Street. Wilmington 2. Delaware.
Cared B. Wilsons 2714 North Eighth Street, Phoenix, Arizona
Pvt. Ronald M. Lewis, United States 56288785, "K" Company, 38th Infantry Regiment, Fort Lewis, Washington.
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Suggested Procedure For Masonic Study
KEEPING IT SIMPLE ! ! !
By JOHN BLACK VROOMAN, F.P.S., Editor.
At the Fifth Annual Midwest Conference on Masonic Education, held at Indianapolis, Indiana, on November 5 and 6, 1954, Most Worshipful Brother Carl H. Claudy, F.P.S. (Life) talked about Keeping It Simple. What he said then is appropriate now, and bears repeating.
"On this business of keeping it simple," said Brother Claudy, "when you go first to school as a child of six, you play games in kindergarten. I don't suggest that we play Masonic games for our initiates, but what's the next thing you do, when you get in the first grade? The first thing you do is learn the alphabet, then you learn to spell 'cat,' and rat and 'dog.' and finally you progress to four-letter words and five - letter words."
Herein lies the fundamental concept of how - in simplicity lies also, the reason why it is easy to make Masons understand the precepts of Masonry.
Many times it has been said that we are, in these days, traveling at too fast a pace - trying to take in to much territory without absorbing that in which we are interested.
"Simplicity" may also suggest simplicity in material: simplicity in presentation, and simplicity in language. To be simple does not mean that it must be inadequate, but it must be of such a nature that he who reads and learns may be helped by its form and style.
Sometimes, and when he does not know better, a zealous and intelligent Brother will choose a phase of Masonry for study that seems appealing because of its remoteness. Astronomy, geometry, mysticism or deep and forgotten Masonic lore may be fit subjects for an experienced student, but for a novice, it would seem to be rather blocking, than aiding proper understanding.
Better far, that the student take significant Masonic facts and develop them to his own education and enlightenment, then graduate to deeper and more difficult problems.
The phraseology of the degrees, the lectures and the parts of the work, offer many opportunities for interpretation. While the work, or the ritual is not the sole interpreter of Masonry, within it can be found a nucleus for study and advancement.
But first - be simple in your topic; pick one that you can, without trouble, pursue and master.
Simplicity in presentation, can be interpreted in two ways - either as to forums, study groups, or the like, or it may be used to designate studies made by Masonic students for the benefit of others.
Simplicity of presentation suggests avoiding a long-evolved, complicated presentation of facts, zenith elaborate notes and connotations. It reminds one of the orator who met his friend, boasting of his preferment. "What is an Orator?" he was asked. "Ordinarily," he replied, "it is said that two and two are four. If, however, this was stated by an orator, he would put it thus - 'If in the course of human events it becomes necessary to place the digit two in close proximity to the digit two the inevitable and unalterable result will be four'."
Be specific, straightforward and simple in your presentation. It will be appreciated more and understood better.
The third admonition, to be simple in language, is, perhaps, the most important. If a subject is presented in language that is not understood, the interest of the reader is lost. Words of two or three syllables, a phrase common to all, an expression or a description of a familiar and well-known object will do more to make your subject come alive than anything else you can do. Don't get into deep waters by using language that is not understood.
A good teacher will not use language that the pupils do not know, lest the lesson be lost. Likewise, he who is presenting Masonic material to be read and understood, will present it in a manner and in language that are appropriate and telling.
It has offend been emphasized, and it is good to repeat it - that the very best way to make Masonry come alive is to dress it in terms of familiarity and knowledge. The old and valuable example of the McGuffy Reader, with its down-to-earth contact with homely and known objects, is still a good way by which we can make Masonry understood and used by those who are anxious to do so.
Make it simple - yes, make it so simple that the youngest and least informed Mason may study and learn. Make it interesting, so that all Masons may find in Masonry something to which they may be attracted. Make it accurate, that what is learned may be given the stamp of truth. Make it interesting, that all Masons may continue to strive and learn more about Masonry, and by doing so, live Masonry, and make it serve as a leaven by which its tenets may become more useful.
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The Freemason's Pocket Reference Book
By F.L. Pick and C. N. Knight, London and Philadelphia.
Written more for the Masonic readers of Great Britain than those of our own country, this small book is, nevertheless interesting and useful. Its treatment of men, places, events and Masonic trends, makes it easy to read, interesting to remember, and "different" in its approach. One especially interesting article is that on KILWINNING, with a history of that Lodge and its subsequent chronology. This is a book which is a valuable addition to a Masonic Library, and has some rare material for Masonic study.
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They Have Passed The Veil
CARL H. CLAUDY, F.P.S. (Life).
DUNCAN R. HARRISON, M.P.S.
JOHN R. MCNICHOL, M.P.S.
TOM PAGE, M.P.S. (England)
Rest In Peace
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Cryptic Masonry and its Place In the York Rite
by RALPH S. DAVIS, M.P.S. (Illinois)
CRYPTIC MASONRY derives its name from the Latin word crypticus meaning concealed, and from the Greek word krypte meaning to hide: a concealed place or subterranean vault. Mackey says it is a division of the Masonic system which is directed to the investigation and cultivation of the Cryptic degrees and is literally Freemasonry of the secret vault.
Cryptic Masonry teaches through symbolism the concealment of that which later will be found, and is but a part of the age-old Masonic lesson of the loss and recovery.
The origin of these degrees is obscure, like many degrees of Freemasonry, and the exact date of their introduction into this country is not known. Yet they have been worked here for nearly a hundred and fifty years. There is very little disagreement among Masonic students but that the degrees from Entered Apprentice to Select Master have been fabricated from lectures and legends contained in the Ancient Charges.
The Cryptic degrees as conferred in a Council of Royal and Select Masters are not pre-requisite to the Masonic Orders of Christian Knighthood yet they have always been held as Masonic and as supplemental to the degree of Master Mason and to the degree of the Holy Royal Arch. (In Virginia and West Virginia the degrees of Royal and Select Master are conferred in a Royal Arch Chapter.) Because they are not pre-requisite to the Commandery Orders some have thought them not to be a part of the York (or American) Rite, and therefore not connected in any way with the Craft degrees. Contrary, however, to that thinking, they play a vital part in the Craft system, in that they serve to solve the riddle of the "Lost Word."
In the Lodge we are told that the Word is lost, and search was made and it could not be found. In the Royal Arch Chapter, the Word is found (by accident) but only in the Cryptic degrees do we obtain the key to understanding and fully comprehend the meaning of the Word and the mysteries that belong to the Holy Royal Arch.
The historical setting of the Royal Master degree is just before the completion of the Temple. Here we find the answer to that alarming assertion "I fear the Master's Word is forever lost." It also brings forth, beautifully symbolized, that great Masonic idea - that of a laborer seeking his reward.
The Select Master degree is the link that connects the Master Mason degree to the Royal Arch. Without this degree the mystery of the recovery would remain in darkness. It gives a rational account of the preservation of those valued treasures which there buried in darkness for a period of four hundred seventy years. The possession of these two degrees are vital for the proper appreciation of the true significance of Masonry and are absolutely necessary for a thorough understanding of the preceding degrees.
The Super Excellent Master degree bears a direct relation to the Royal Arch degree and while symbolically has no connection with the degree of Royal and Select Master, it has always been conferred in a Council of Select Masters. It is probably the most dramatic and impressive of all degrees. It deals with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. The Cryptic degrees bridge the gap between the degrees of the Symbolic Lodge and the Royal Arch degrees.