The Philalethes

Contents
 
 
 

 It Seems To Me                                                  If Your Lodge Closed Tonight

 The President's Corner                                        Daily Progress in Masonic Study

 Continental Navy Masons                                   49th Annual ISC Session of DeMolay

 OBNOXIOS PUBLICATIONS                        Recommended Masonic Reading

 Masonry West                                                    Key to Freemasonry's Growing

 The Worshipful Master                                        Robert Enoch Withers

 The Village Atheist
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Published bi-monthly at Franklin, Indiana by

THE PHILALETHES SOCIETY

John Black Vrooman, F.P.S., Editor

Box 402, St. Louis, Missouri 63166

OFFICERS

Robert H. Gollmar, F.P.S., President

P.O. Box 194

Baraboo, Wisconsin 53913

William R. Denslow, F.P.S. First Vice President

P.O. Box 529

Trenton, Missouri 64683

Andrew J. White, Jr. M.P.S. Second Vice President

150 East Broad Street

Columbus, Ohio 43215

Carl R. Greisen, F.P.S., Executive Secretary

401 Masonic Temple

Omaha, Nebraska 68102

Ronald E. Heaton, F.P.S., Treasurer

728 Haws Avenue

Norristown Pennsylvania 19401

LIVING PAST PRESIDENTS

Lee E. Wells, F.P.S.

Alphonse Cerza, F.P.S. Life

Dr. Charles Gottshall Reigner, F.P.S.

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Alphonse Cerza, F.P.S. (Life)

237 Millbridge Road

Riverside, Illinois 60546

Bob M. Stowe, M.P.S.

5554 Waterman,

St. Louis, Missouri 63112
 

Volume XXII, No. 3

----o----
 

It Seems To Me

by JOHN BLACK VROOMAN, Editor

THAT more and more, we are overlooking the importance of the local Chapters of the Society, and that we are failing to take advantage of the impetus to be given our Society by spreading its activities nation-wide.

Noted in this issue of the magazine is the formation by our very diligent and active Treasurer, Ronald E. Heaton, F.P.S., of the Norristown, Pennsylvania, Chapter of the Philalethes, starting with a most enthusiastic and dedicated group, and planning activity that can only add laurels to the products such loyalty can bring.

The year 1968-1969 has indeed, been productive of the formation of new Chapters. This is good, but we need a lot more active Chapters. Remember, we are not necessarily seeking a large membership - rather a small, active, interested membership, than numbers without action.

As mentioned in these pages before, there are several localities in which the local members have indicated a desire to expand and erect a new Chapter. This is good, but unless we call to mind Brother Samuel Clemens' (Mark Twain) remark about the weather that everyone talked about it but no one did anything about it - we will still be in the wishful waiting stage of our work. A leader is needed in every city and community in which we have members.

Leadership - yes, that is needed, but let us realize that most of our Masonic leaders are so vitally involved in so many activities that it is wholly impossible for them to take on another task. It is not the idea to embarrass them and cause discomfort; rather, let us seek members who are retired or semi-retired from business, and who can and will devote time and energy to our work.

Some of us are not retired, but just tired, and do not seek more activities, but the two extremes - the very young and the rather elderly, are the source of supply for active participation as leaders in our Society.

A word of explanation! The young Freemason, if he is not too involved in a multitude of activities, with his enthusiasm and interest, can become a key worker in stimulating Chapters. On the other hand, if he has too many other burdens, he can still participate, at least to a degree, and do much with his vigor to carry on.

He who is retired or semi-retired is a logical choice for active participation. In the first place, he probably has been active in Fraternal activities for many years, and well acquainted with Masonic principles and problems. What then, could be more logical than that he, with others of the same kind, could work with the less active members, create in them a desire and zeal for Philalethes, and, working together, build and develop a splendid and interesting group which, while helping each one in the group, would also be a fount of help to the other members and Chapters of the Society scattered everywhere? Like seeks like - water seeks its own level, and Masonic students are prone to work together for mutual benefit. Let us hope that such a condition will bring forth not one, but many new Chapters of the Philalethes Society.

Featured in this issue . . .

IT SEEMS TO ME, Editorial, by John Black Vrooman, F.P.S.

IF YOUR LODGE CLOSED TONIGHT?, by Milo E. Underhill

THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER, by Robert H. Gollmar, F.P.S.

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS

DAILY PROGRESS IN MASONIC STUDY, by Kenneth F. Curtis, F. P.S.

CONTINENTAL NAVY MASONS, by Richard Tutt, Jr.

KANSAS CITY HOSTS 49TH ANNUAL ISC SESSION OF DEMOLAY

OBNOXIOUS PUBLICATIONS, by Edward H. Siems

RECOMMENDED MASONIC READING, by Alphonse Cerza, F.P.S., Life

MASONRY WEST, By Henry L. Haupt

KEY TO FREEMASONRY'S GROWTH, by Allen E. Roberts, F.P.S.

THE WORSHIPFUL MASTER IS MASTER OF THE LODGE, by A. Douglas Smith, Jr.

LOCAL CHAPTER ORGANIZED IN NORRISTOWN, PA.

ROBERT ENOCH WITHERS, by Herbert A. Fisher, M.P.S.

THE "VILLAGE ATHEIST," by Frank Swancara

----o----

If Your Lodge Closed Tonight  ?

Keynote Address of Milo E. Underhill, Grand Master of Michigan
at Conference of Grand Masters in North America Washington, D.C., February 24, 1969

A question I have asked many times of Lodges in Michigan is: "If your Lodge closed tonight, would the community or most of the membership even know that it had closed?"

I am well aware that you have been preached at, lectured at, applauded, berated, and bombarded by words until it is probably impossible for you to absorb any more advice. You have been exhorted to pursue orthodox virtues . . . to be pious, reverent patriotic, honest, diligent, cooperative, neighborly, brotherly and useful. You have been told that the world is like a lost jet pilot who radioed for directions, with the advice that he didn't know where he was going but that he was making awfully good time.

All of this is very good and all of the advice you have received has been excellent and I am sure there is nothing that remains to be said, but . . . I am still going to consume the next fifteen or twenty minutes of your time urging you to pursue some of the unorthodox virtues of life:

The virtue of self-denial

The virtue of excellence

The virtue of a liberal heart and mind.

We, in the Masonic Fraternity ought to pursue the virtue of self-denial in order to discover and fulfill the purpose of our existence. We were not created for ourselves alone but for God and the human race.

God did not give us a heart that we might love ourselves alone . . .

Or brains that we might think only of our own welfare . . .

Or hands and skills and talents that we might serve only ourselves.

God blessed us with heart and brains and skills that we might be part of the commonwealth of man. If we choose to live for ourselves, we are actually choosing to cut ourselves off from the heritage that is rightfully our own.

Yes . .

Practice self-denial that our brains may rule our bodies . . .

Practice self-denial that our spirit may rule our flesh . . .

Practice self-denial that we may live not only for ourselves but that we may live for those we love . . .

For the nation of which we are part ….

For the world to which we belong ….

For all mankind who are our brothers ….

For the God who has created us.

Let us remind ourselves that we did not achieve our status by ourselves.

We are deeply indebted to the Masons of the past . . .

We are indebted to the community which built and maintained our schools ….

We are indebted to our nation of which your community is a part ….

We are indebted to the civilization which has amassed the learning and the wisdom in which we have shared .

We are indebted to God for the gift of life and for the faculty of thought

The practice of self-denial is a discipline necessary for the fulfillment of our true destiny as Masons and human beings.

It is necessary for the welfare of the world to which we belong and upon which we are dependent . . .

It is necessary for the fulfillment of the will and purpose of our creator …

In today's world, "If your Lodge closed tonight, would the community or the majority of the Brethren even know that it had closed?"

In many ways we live in the era of the slip-shod, second-rate, jerry-built and chintzy. If only more people would show in their work the same determination to get ahead that they show when they are driving in traffic.

Yes . . . fine workmanship.

Make excellence your aim in whatever we undertake. Take a motto from the Book of Ecclesiastes: "Whatsoever Thy Hand Findeth To Do, Do It With Thy Might."

Remember the words of the Apostle Paul, "And yet I show unto you a more excellent way." And be always alert to discover the more excellent way. Make excellence our aim in everything, but especially in our Masonry, our religion, our citizenship. If we make excellence our aim in these areas, we will pass along a better heritage to our youth. If we pursue excellence, we will surpass the first sixty years of this century in religion, in politics, in economics, and in social relations for we have not achieved excellence in any of these fields. And remember, we do not build a good reputation on what we intend to do . . . but on what we do.

Have you ever heard of the goon old day?"

I heard about them from my father . . . my children have heard about them from their father and I doubt not that my grandchildren are hearing about them from their father. A.E. Housman wrote, "Get you the son your father got, and God will save the Queen." Too many members of our generation are content to accept that philosophy and live by it. They will be as good as their fathers were . . .

Doing the things their fathers did. . .

Pursuing the policies their fathers pursued ….

Accepting the values their fathers accepted …..

Thinking the thoughts their fathers thought.

And in due time they will get them the sons their fathers got and the cycle will begin all over again.

But being as good as our parents is riot going to be good enough for the world and the hour in which we live.

Yesterday's goodness won't be good enough for tomorrow's need . . .

Yesterday's wisdom won't be wise enough to solve tomorrow's problems …

Yesterday's love won't be great enough to heal tomorrow's wounds.

We must be more brotherly and godly than we have been or we will fail God in our day. The dollar-worshipping religion of the 19th century proved inadequate for the first half of the twentieth century. And don't think that our religion is the final form and that it will meet the needs of the last half of the twentieth century without change or alteration . . . it will not do so.

Some think the activity of our order is adequate . . . it is not.

Where our faith and our Lodge is narrow, we must permit it to grow broad …

Where it is shallow, we must make it profound....

The demand that we be a better generation than the one preceding us is not an unreasonable demand. But it does mean that we will have to give more to the work of the Craft, the church, and the community than our parents ever dreamed of giving. We will be living, we will be dwelling, in a grand and awful time. We will need to love excellence with all our hearts in order to give our money and our time and our energy and ourselves in sufficient measure to meet the needs of our day.

We cannot afford to be satisfied with a mediocre fraternity or with a mediocre service to Almighty God.

We must love excellence, for only excellence is going to suffice.

In this sometimes frightening world, "If your Lodge closed tonight, would the community or the majority of the Brethren even know that it had closed?"

Do you realize that the five countries boasting the highest standard of living in the world, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, the United States, and Sweden, lead the world in murder and suicide?

Yes . . . We will have to hold on to the virtue of a broad and liberal mind in order to meet the challenges of our day. This does not mean that we should tear down a single basic principle and rush into some panacea or new way of life. No, I am not referring to generosity but to the capacity for liberal thinking in religion, politics, economics, and in the area of social relations.

One thing that will help you most in cultivating such an attitude is to read history . . . history . . . history as long as you live. Santayna has warned us that those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat its mistakes. A study of history will accustom your mind to the acceptance of the concept of change. It is a snare and a delusion to imagine that we can turn the clock of history back to the 19th century, or back to the first quarter of the 20th century, or that we can stop its hands at the present hour. As Daniel said, "Blessed be the name of God . . . He changeth the time and seasons." If God changes the times and the seasons, if He changes the very heavens above us which seem to us to be symbols of the eternal and unchanging, if He changes the animal life and the vegetation upon the surface of the world, if at the end He changes our very natures, what grounds do we have for supposing that human institutions, created by the brains of men, made by the hands of men, will continue unchanged? It is idolatrous to think such a thought. Even before the writing of these words, man has begun to explore the moon. Can we now think that there will be no change?

We are born, we live, we die . . . All governed by the immutable law of change. The world and its institutions have changed before our very eyes. Our world and its institutions are going to change even more swiftly and even more drastically. Bertrand Russell has said that in his lifetime he has seen every concept in the field of mathematics that was fixed and unchangeable when he was, a boy . . . questioned and discarded. We will see the same take place in many other areas of life.

Yes . . . Unless we learn to change . . . to think new thoughts, we will find ourselves an anachronism in our own generation . . . change is indispensable to survival in a fast changing world.

At one time this earth was populated by gigantic reptiles. Today, all that is left of those reptiles is their bones. The world changed but they did not change and they perished.

Nations that once lead the world have become third, fourth, fifth rate powers because the world changed while they stood still.

Civilizations rise and fall. The English historian Toynbee counts twenty-one civilizations that have been destroyed . . . not from conquest from without but from deterioration from within.

To remain unchanged in a changing world is to perish.

Our world has changed drastically in the last thirty years. Undoubtedly it will change even more drastically in the future. A few years ago I heard a talk given by Dr. Glenn Seaborg, head of the Atomic Energy Commission. Some of his forecasts were almost frightening. Some of them have already become a reality. During part of this future period, you are going to be in control of the destiny of the Masonic Fraternity, the destiny of your nation.

Unless we can meet change creatively and adapt to it, we are not going to be of very much use to our Lodges, to our Fraternity, to our church, to our nation, or to the world. If we try to turn back the clock, we will be working for the destruction of the society of which we are a part. In order to meet the challenges of tomorrow, we are going to need the ancient Masonic virtues of Faith, and Hope and Love and Charity. We are going to need the traditional virtues of Courage, Honesty, Truthfulness, Honor and Persistence. We are going to need the unorthodox virtues of Self-Denial, Love of Excellence, and Liberality of Heart and Mind.

But above all else, we are going to need God in us, the hope of glory. And if we do not have Him in our hearts, we will not have Him to offer to the world.

Let us remember in whom we put our trust.

"If your Lodge closed tonight, would the community or the majority of the Brethren even know that it had closed?"

If we . . . you and I . . . will interpret into action the living truths of our beloved Craft, we can make of this earth God's footstool and hasten the coming of His kingdom in the hearts of all men everywhere.

To quote Past Imperial Potentate O. Carlyle Brock . . . "Ours can be a Fraternity of destiny."

So with gratitude for the past, with courage for the present and the faith for the future, let us consecrate ourselves to our task to the end that we may bring peace to the hearts of all mankind.

----o----

MEMBERS - Remember that in our next issue of the magazine we will announce the TRIENNIAL ELECTION OF OFFICERS of the Society. Begin thinking of this important event!

----o----

The President's Corner

by Robert H. Gollmar, F.P.S.

As one grows older, it becomes increasingly easy to wax nostalgic about the "good old days." As one who can still remember the "joys" of outside toilets in Wisconsin's subzero weather with a blizzard to traverse in reaching this haven, I recognize the value of modern improvements. There were giants in Masonry in those days and there are today.

I remember well a Past Master of our Lodge. He was a brilliant man, duly licensed to practice law. He did not maintain an office and his appearances in Court were few and far between. He lived on a farm near town and had a small herd of cows. Each morning he came to town and peddled the milk from his cows from house to house. In this day and age we would feel that he lived in poverty.

This man had one besetting sin; he was an alcoholic and he knew it. Unfortunately he exchanged the proceeds from the liquid he sold for stronger potions.

Nevertheless, come Lodge night, he appeared at Lodge; clean shaven, neatly dressed and sober. Here he was a man among men and accepted as such. A silver-tongued orator, Masons came from many miles around to hear him confer a Master Mason degree or deliver the Masonic funeral service. This man was a failure as the world judges, yet he was truly a Masonic giant.

My Brethren, we live in a world of devastating pressures and demands. Some men and women will totter and some will fall as they pursue life's rugged roads. It is very easy for you and I in our smug superiority to criticise and point to the errors of their ways. I am writing this on Good Friday morning and I am thinking vividly of Jesus Christ who could forgive the man who would betray Him and perhaps even worse. the man who would deny Him.

If, through the influence of Masonry, a few men may learn to have greater understanding of those who falter, greater tolerance and understanding for those who fail, then the great institution of Freemasonry will forever serve its purpose.

----o----

Welcome To

New Members

ROBERT E. RENNARD, 314 West 2nd Ave., Cheyenne, Wyo. 82001

ALFRED T. JOHNSON, 6169 Mingo, Lewisburg Rd., North Lewisburg, Ohio 43060

MORRISON L. COOKE, 4633 Southcrest Dr., Louisville, Ky. 40215

THOMAS A. O'HALLORAN, Route No. 1, Box 270, Viewtown, Virginia 22746

LIONEL A. SEEMUNGAL, 60 & 62 Picton St., Port of Spain, Trinidad, W.I.

SAMUAL H.J. WOMACK, 10401 Grosvenor Pl., Apt. 816, Rockville, Md. 20852

HERBERT M. WEBER, 2900 16 St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20011

JAMES C. WELLS, 46 Gulf Breeze Dr., Port Richey, Fla. 33568

MYRON LUSK, 8910 162nd St., Edmonton 52, Alberta, Canada

FRANK F. WEST, 119 South Ash, Ponca City, Oklahoma 74601

LOUIS LUCZU, JR., 12 Linwood Place, North Brunswick, N.J. 08902

WALTER S. QUERY, 1770 Oakland St., Petersburg, Va. 23803

DEAN WINROD, Box 68, Gnadenhutten, Ohio 44629

WILLIAM E. TURNER, 2214 Micklethwait Road, Portsmouth, Ohio 45662

RUDOLF K. LOHS, 3818 Thornton Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236

LAWRENCE I. BRADBURN, 107 North Market St., Rockville, Indiana 47872

FRANK M. STEVER, 1109 W. Main St., Norristown, Pa. 19401

LEONARD R. HEVERLY, R.D. No. 1, Dallas, Pa. 19013.

ALFRED DAPSAUSKI, 4919 Rocky Spring Lane, Bowie, Md. 20715

DONALD M. THOMSON, 4901 Payne Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44103

WESLEY A. BUEHL, 6338 Riverside Dr., Cleveland, Ohio 44017

WILBUR APPLEWHITE, Masonic Temple, Richmond, Va. 23220

ERNEST H. MURRAY, 506 East Front St., Missoula, Montana 59801

RALPH G. LARSEN, 4652 E. Washington St., Chicago, Ill. 60602

CHARLES L. HARRISON, 8722 Semmes Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23503

NORMAN H. PRACHT, 410 Neola Cr., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15237

HAROLD R. KOPFMAN, 8656 South Keeler Ave., Chicago, Ill. 50652

HENRY CONRAD SMITH, 124 East Pine St., Wooster, Ohio 44691

----o----

Daily Progress in Masonic Study

by Kenneth F. Curtis, F.P.S.

Chairman, Membership Committee

Masonic Research Lodges, since just before the beginning of the century, have recovered a vast amount of very interesting information concerning the Masonic Fraternity; its organization, history, and ritual. One of the sources of some enlightening early ritual was discovered in what is known as the Samuel Prichard Expose. It reaches back into the transition years of Freemasonry in England. A thirtieth edition was published in London and is dated October 13, 1730.

The following is quoted from the ENTER'D 'PRENTICE'S DEGREE as read in that ritual. A question has been asked and that which follows is a part of the answer: "The rules of Masonry in hand to take, and daily progress therein to make." We might now ask ourselves, what is the daily progress mentioned as related to the rules of Masonry?

Daily progress today with its above reference will lead the interested inquirer into many fields of study. It is a known fact that some Masons on receiving the degrees feel they have obtained all there is to know about Freemasonry. If only they realized how wrong they are with this assumption. Actually they have just started a life-long study. If they stop studying after becoming a Master Mason, the value of Masonry to them will be a little more than the dues card they are carrying.

To quote from Mackey's Encyclopedia, "The study of Freemasonry is the study of free men and of Freemasonic things which those men have done or are doing. Doctrines are among the things which Masons believe. Landmarks are one of the things they do, and differ from other things they do only because they do them invariably, each time they meet. The laws do not rule them; they rule themselves, and the laws are but the name for what they do in this self-ruling."

It is believed that a large percentage of the members of the Philalethes Society are dedicated students of Freemasonry. It is also a known fact that there are thousands who are not members of the Society, BUT ARE MASONIC STUDENTS.

We have considerable to offer this group of MASONIC STUDENTS. Why not talk to them about the benefits and purposes of the Society. Give or show them a copy of the Philalethes. If they are interested, then send their names and addresses to your membership chairman, so the committee can nominate them for membership in the Society and in your name. By this act you will be making daily progress in conforming to a basic rule in Freemasonry; that of helping a Brother to receive Masonic knowledge from one of the best sources in the world - the Philalethes Society.

Just send the name to -

Kenneth F. Curtis, F.P.S.,

Chairman, Membership Committee,

2455 Raeford Road,

Orlando. Florida 32806

----o----

Continental Navy Masons

by Richard Tutt, Jr., 32d

No. 2. GENERAL JOHN GLOVER - AN ARMY AND NAVY HERO

"Avast, there, General Washington, sir! You'd better get your big foot off that gun'l or we'll all get dumped overboard! This water's freezin' cold!"

Do you believe for one minute that Captain Bill Blackler of Company Two in Glover's amphibious regiment of salty seadogs from Marblehead ever said that to the Commanding General standing up in the boat, foot on the rail, while he and his troops were being ferried across the Delaware River, Christmas night 1776?

Of course not! Nor did John Roads Russell, Isaac Wadden or any other Marbleheaders in the boat say that Blackler made such a remark. They were oarsmen in the same Durham boat with the General making that famous successful crossing under the rugged adverse conditions of snow, sleet and swirling cakes of ice in the rapid current of the river. If all the men claimed to have been in that boat were there, it can be understood why the General had to stand up!

Emanuel Leutze took a few "artistic liberties" in painting the picture of this expedition. So did the Bucks County Shrine Club of LuLu Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., of Philadelphia, with their replica of that boat carried in the Mid-Atlantic Shrine Association parade in Baltimore September 11, 1960. Such delightful "liberties" served to nicely depict the story of this remarkable feat leading to the capture of Trenton from the Hessian General Rall. It was the first favorable turn, at a time when our morale was at its lowest in the War for Independence. General John Glover (then a Colonel) and his regiment (now re-numbered the 14th Continental), of rough, tough, rum drinking fishermen and mariners from Marblehead, by this feat had given General Washington and our new nation its most priceless Christmas present.

Except for Dr. George Athan Billias, whose fascinating book "General John Glover and his Marblehead Mariners" which details all of Glover's exploits throughout that war, have other historians given us the rest of this story. How they fought all day to help win the Battle of Trenton, then without rest ferried Washington's troops plus 950 captured Hessian POW's back to the Pennsylvania side the next night.

"Crossing the Delaware" was not the first "ferrying" exploit accomplished by General Glover and his web-footed Marbleheaders for General Washington. Indeed had it not been for an earlier successful gigantic task that began the night of August 29, 1776, when Glover's men from Marblehead, aided by some of Hutchinson's with seafaring experience from nearby towns, pitted their skills together and evacuated Washington's army entrapped by Howe's Britishers at Brooklyn Heights during the Battle of Long Island, the war would have been lost right then and there. Washington with two major generals, four brigadier generals, many subordinate officers and 9000 men would have been captured by Howe. It would have ended hostilities.

It was a rather bizarre conglomeration of scows, whaleboats, bateaux, sloops, cowhorns *, and other craft which had been secretly assembled near the Brooklyn ferry landing. The mile wide East River at that point had a fast ebb tide current, there was fog and rain with which to contend. The move had to be made under cover of darkness. There could be no shouting of orders, nor use of lights which could reveal the activity. It was a backbreaking job at the oars. Fortunately the fog persisted long after daybreak giving much needed additional time to maneuver before the last man, in the person of General Washington accompanied by Glover, was taken across to Manhattan. Remarkably very little equipment had to be abandoned by our troops. One can readily imagine Howe's chagrin when the fog cleared and he found his "chickens had flown the coop."

Who was this cocky little redheaded terrier, Brother John Glover, who became one of Washington's most trusted generals?

* Cowhorns: Oddly rigged sailboats unique to the Long Island Sound area.

John Glover was born in Salem, Massachusetts, November 5, 1732. He was baptized in the First Church of Salem the same month. He was only four months old when his father died leaving his mother a widow at 28 years of age with four other small boys ranging in age two to six years.

Shortly thereafter she moved to Marblehead where John was educated in the limited school facilities existing at that time.

In his early twenties he became first a cordwainer (shoemaker) then branched out as a retailer of strong liquors, a rum seller. He broadened his business scope with the profits to become a shipowner and merchant, including the fishing business. He exported considerable dried salted fish along with lumber and other merchandise to Spain, Portugal and the West Indies. His brother Jonathan became allied with him in these ventures. Return voyages brought back salt, wines, considerable molasses from which to make rum, cordavan leather, and other products saleable in the Province.

His Masonic career began as one of the initial members at the formation of the new Lodge at Marblehead March 25, 1760. This is authenticated in the records of Philanthropic Lodge A. F. & A. M. and the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.

His military career had started earlier. In 1754 Marblehead supported a regiment of militia in the service of the Province of Massachusetts under the British Crown. Its personnel was composed of the captains and crews from the fishing and commercial fleets of the town. Glover joined this regiment. His first commission, that of ensign, dated March 12, 1759, was signed by the Governor of Massachusetts Thomas Pownal. His second that of captain-lieutenant, dated February 12, 1762, was signed by Governor Francis Bernard. His third, that of captain dated February 3, 1773, was signed by Governor Thomas Hutchinson.

The continuous British oppression led to the formation of a new Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in October 1774, declaring its independence from the British appointed Governor. In essence its instigators, among whom were Elbridge Gerry, Jeremiah Lee and Azor Orne of Marblehead, John Adams and Brother John Hancock, told King George III that his authority over the citizens of this Province was at an end. This was actually our first Declaration of Independence nearly two years prior to that at Philadelphia. It put a price on the heads of these instigators. It also cleaned out all Tories and Loyalists from the Massachusetts militia.

In January 1775 this reorganized Marblehead regiment of 10 companies, 584 officers and men, designated then as the "23rd of Foot," became a unit of the Minutemen. Leading Whigs took over, Glover became second in command. On May 22, 1775, following the death of Colonel Jeremiah Lee, the command passed to Glover, he was sworn in as its Colonel, June 16, 1775. Six days later the regiment joined the Continental Army being formed at Cambridge, it was officially re-numbered the "21st of Foot" on July 1st. Glover was given a new commission as Colonel signed by Brother John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress at Philadelphia.

General Washington took command of the Continental Army July 3, 1775. It was then that Glover met him for the first time and presented to him as rough and tough a lot of salt encrusted sailors as ever trod a deck anywhere. Under this crust, however, their discipline was outstanding, each and every man-jack thoroughly understood the law of the sea, that a crew must work together and obey every command instantly without question. They had learned the hard way that their very lives and safety at sea depended upon strict obedience to the shipmaster's orders. They were well versed in the use of firearms. They had bitterness in their hearts, the British Fisheries Act had destroyed their livelihood and ruined the business of the town of Marblehead.

Their uniforms consisted of tricornered (cocked) hats and short blue jackets of sailcloth material (cotton duck). The breeches (white) were also of sailcloth, wide-bottomed half way between knees and ankles like long culottes and were liberally "tarred" with pitch from pine to make them waterproof. Their boots, typical fishermen's "gallon and a halters," made from heavy locally tanned hides, reached half way to knees and were "waterproofed" by soaking in codfish oils.

In June 1775, prior to General Washington's arrival at Cambridge, Elbridge Gerry a fiery representative from Marblehead to the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts presented a bill to that legislative body requesting the enactment of measures to establish a Navy, Courts of Admiralty and funds to maintain them. This bill was not acted upon at that time. Before the summer was over Washington's Army had completely surrounded Boston from the land side shutting off Lord Howe's and General Gage's supplies from such sources. This forced them to send to England, the Canadian Provinces and the West Indies for munitions, materials, and foodstuffs. Such supplies had to be brought in by sailing vessels.

Sizing up this situation and very likely encouraged by Brother Jeremiah O'Brien's success capturing the British Sloop-of-War Margaretta off Machias, Maine, in June, Colonel Glover and Elbridge Gerry discussed the possibility of arming some local vessels, now idle, to hi-jack these supply lines by water. Glover had in his regiment nearly 600 officers and men well qualified to carry out such a task. General Washington thought well of the idea, the captured booty, particularly munitions, could well be converted for our use by his Army. Without waiting for the Continental Congress to reconvene at Philadelphia in September, on his own responsibility Washington authorized Colonel Glover to find and fit out as quickly as possible a fleet of vessels for this raiding task in the name of the United Colonies of North America.

The first vessel was the Marblehead schooner Hannah belonging to him and his brother Jonathan then laying idle at their other wharf in Beverly. To accommodate expanding business the Glovers had purchased this wharf the year previous. The Hannah upon her return to Marblehead from the West Indies under Captain Richard James was involved in a squabble over a search for contraband arms in June 1775 by the British war vessel Merlin stationed in Marblehead harbor. Glover ordered Captain James not to "heave to" and defied the Captain of the Merlin to do anything about it. They moved the Hannah over to Beverly for safety.

Five other Marblehead vessels were hired and two from Plymouth. The agreed payment was at the approximate rate of one dollar per ton per month (5 shillings 4 pence). Stephen Moylan of Philadelphia was detailed by General Washington to aid Glover in the arming, equipping, provisioning and manning of this fleet which soon became known as "George Washington's Navy."

The new names of these vessels, their former names, owner's names, armaments, rigging, and Captains, have been controversial opinions and contradictorial comments and interpretations expressed about such records as are extant by various historians. For years Beverly and Marblehead have locked horns as to which place is rightfully the Birth place of the American Navy.

Both Glover and Moylan had many problems securing armaments and supplies as well as difficulties with Beverly carpenters who refused to work Sundays, shipwrights, blacksmiths and sailmakers to speed up the fitting-out of this fleet.

After the Continental Navy authorized by Congress in November 1775 finally came into being, Washington's "Navy" was gradually phased out. It was not until 1964 nearly 200 years later, that our Navy Department to ok cognizance of Brother Glover's part in its formation. It authorized naming the Army's Research Ship AGDE-1, then under construction at Bath, Maine, in his honor. It was this author's good fortune to have been present at the launching April 17, 1965, and the commissioning at the Boston Naval Shipyard November 13, the same year. At the conclusion of the Chaplain's Prayer in each event could be heard echoes of "So mote it be" among the many spectators. It was indeed refreshing to hear Admiral Weakley in his address at the commissioning ceremony say:

"General Glover's amphibious regiment was made up of hearty sailing men from Marblehead. They made good seagoing infantrymen since they had learned the disciplines of the sea. When American fighting men engage in amphibious warfare, they are following in the wake of General Glover and his Marblehead sailor-soldiers. We would call them Marines today!"

In effect this would indicate that Brother Glover was actually the first commandant of Marines even though the Corps had not at that moment been authorized by Congress. The legislation that created the Continental Navy and Marine Corps officially was passed by the Congress at Philadelphia November 10, 1775.

Thus Marblehead in actuality was not only the Birthplace of the Navy but that of our Marine Corps. Elbridge Gerry was the real father, Brother Glover its first commandant, a Naval as well as Army hero.

Semper Fideles!

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Kansas City Hosts 49th Annual ISC Session of DeMolay

Adding luster to the 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the Order of DeMolay was the annual session of the International Supreme Council held in Kansas City, Mo., on March 15-19. At the session, Stanley Garrity of Wichita, Kans., was elected and installed as Grand Master of the DeMolay Movement.

The 1969 session was an extra long one, with Tuesday, March 18, set aside particularly for anniversary events which included a memorial service at the graveside of Frank S. Land, dedication of the new Frank S. Land Memorial Fountain at DeMolay Headquarters, and the world premier of the new DeMolay motion picture film, "Young Men on the Go!" All these events took place before more than 300 persons.

The traditional Grand Master's Banquet, which climaxed the session on Wednesday evening, the 19th, had a special speaker in the person of John L. Campbell, Assistant to the President of the U.S., who gave an excellent talk on the Nixon Administration policies and outlook toward youth and youth groups. "DeMolay of the Year" Dale Dissinger of Cincinnati, Ohio, also received the traditional trophy signifying his honor.

Following the banquet, Grand Master Garrity, Deputy Grand Master J. Chris Nungesser, of New Orleans, La., and Senior Councilor Walter O. Helwig of Milwaukee, Wisc., Grand Junior Councilor Chester Hodges of Middletown, Ohio, Grand Secretary George M. Saunders of Chicago, Ill., and Grand Treasurer Chandler C. Collagen of Billings, Mont., were all installed as the elected officers for the ensuing year.

Serving as the Grand Installing Officer was PGM and Grand Secretary George M. Saunders, and as installing Grand Marshal, P.G.M. Joseph S. Lewis.

Active Member H. Roe Bartle, a former Mayor of Kansas City, served as Master of Ceremonies at the banquet and kept everyone awake and in good humor with his wit and offhand comments. Following the entrance of the distinguished head table of Masonic leaders from all over the country and the ISC head table group, outgoing Grand Master Albert P. Ruerat and Mrs. Ruerat entered the Regency Ballroom under the escort of Grand Marshal Robert W. Markham of Rhode Island, to the tune of "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

The Executive Committee meeting and Executive Officers' Conference were held on Saturday, the 15th, followed by the traditional Grand Master's reception Saturday evening. All the Supreme Council members attended a special church service in the church of Grand Chaplain Herbert E. Duncan Sunday morning, and following a scheduled luncheon, the session was officially opened at 2:00 p.m. by Grand Master Ruerat.

Grand Secretary Saunders issued an official welcome, to the people, and Elvis A. Mooney, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, issued an official welcome from the 113,000 Master Masons in the state. The flags of the countries where DeMolay is located were presented by an honor guard of members of Mother Chapter. A total of 113 Active members, Deputies and Honorary Members of the Supreme Council were introduced at the opening session.

The greatest array of Masonic leaders in the country were present at the session and in addition, several of the top Masonic leaders of Missouri were present, and Sprague Carter, the General Grand Master of the General Grand Chapter R.A.M., was scheduled to attend but had to cancel at the last moment when he entered the hospital due to illness.

Ohio Wins RD

For the fourth consecutive year, Ohio won the RD plaque for the highest percentage of RD's (they also had more than 500 qualify for the top total output) and Executive Officer Chester Hodges and R. D. Governer O. Tower Swartz received the plaque with great pleasure.

Essay and Oratory Winners

ISC Active Member William F. Knowland, a Senior DeMolay and former U. S. Senator and Governor from California, read the two finalist essays on the subject: "Young Men on the Go!" Following the reading of the two essays, the Supreme Council members voted the first prize check of $200 to Bruce A. Haverberg, of Arlington, Va., and the second prize check of $100 to Paul Bohannon of Del City, Okla. Each also received a plaque.

The finals of the eighth annual oratorical contest on the subject of "Young Men on the Go!" were held toward the end of the opening session on Sunday afternoon, and John Mooney of Houston, Tex., was judged the first place winner and the runner-up was Mark Radecke of Baltimore, Md. Each received their plaques from Grand Master Ruerat and both were at the session on an all-expense-paid trip from the Supreme Council.

On Monday morning, the usual State of the Order Committee meeting was held, and Monday afternoon and evening the ISC committee meetings continued.

At the Wednesday session, a number of generous contributions were received from national Masonic bodies and they include the following:

A $7,500 grant from both the Southern and the Northern Supreme Councils of the Scottish Rite for underwriting the second International DeMolay Congress; a $10,000 gift from the Supreme Council Scottish Rite SMJ; a $10,000 gift from the Supreme Council Scottish Rite NMJ; a $500 gift from the Royal Order of Scotland; a $500 gift from the General Grand Council Royal and Select Masters; and $1,000 from the Grotto.

At the Grand Master's Banquet, the appointive Grand Officers were installed along with the Elective Officers and outgoing Grand Master Ruerat was presented with his Past Grand Master's collar and jewel, certificate and card by Grand Master Garrity.

At the banquet, Grand Master Garrity was presented with the traditional gavel of Myrtlewood from Oregon by Oregon State Master Councilor Bill McGraw. He was also presented with a handsome engraved desk pen set by Kansas State Master Councilor Skip Marsh, from the DeMolays and the Executive Officer of Kansas Tom Raum.

By 9:40 p.m., the 49th Annual Session of the Supreme Council had been officially closed, and all were looking forward to rounding out the 50th Anniversary Commemoration year in fine style by December 31.

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OBNOXIOS PUBLICATIONS

by Edward H. Siems, Grand Secretary Grand Lodge F. & A. M. of California

EDITOR'S NOTE: M.W. Brother Dwight L. Smith, present Secretary of the Conference of Grand Secretaries in North America, while serving as President of the group, appointed four one-man commissions to conduct special investigations on subjects of general interest to Grand Secretaries. He asked each of them to prepare a progress report for distribution at the annual Conference - not for publication in the Proceedings, but for the information of the Brethren.

The compilation of this report was based on a questionnaire sent to all Grand Lodges in the United States and Canada.

The answers to the questionnaire indicate the problem is non-existent in all but a few Jurisdictions.

The general complaint:

1. "High pressure solicitation."

2. Solicitation by telephone (usually by long distance) indicating, "This is the State Masonic Publication"; implying it is official.

3. Circulation claims excessive or evasive.

4. Phone call followed up with clipped ads from other publications with invoice attached.

5. Invoices, with clipped ad attached, sent without contact.

6. Bills or solicitation almost identical with yellow page listings to indicate relationship with yellow pages in telephone directories, expecting recipient to pay the bill. (Many are paid.)

Can the problem be solved? My answer is "yes." We solved it in California.

In the thirties and forties we had in California at various times no less than fifteen so-called "obnoxious publications."

The mail and telephone calls received in the Grand Lodge office were too numerous to ignore. Our problem was where to begin. We started first by persuasion. It worked with a few but most were defiant.

In 1936 Grand Lodge appealed to the State Legislature for help. It resulted in an addition to the Civil Code, Chapter 409 Statute of 1933 entitled "An act to provide for the registration and protection of the names and insignia of fraternal associations, and to prohibit the wearing, exhibition, display or use of the same, and fixing a penalty for the violation thereof," this Grand Lodge did in November, 1936, register the name, "The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of California," and several insignia, one of which is the Square and Compass.

Our first effort to solve the problem was by adopting legislation by a five-sixths vote.

In substance Grand Lodge said to all Masons in California, "You may not advertise your business or profession in any publication or medium purporting to be Masonic in name or character - nor may you solicit advertising in such a publication without the express sanction of this Grand Lodge." We attempted to reach the Master Masons - not the Publications.

This legislation was enacted for two purposes: First, to remove the stain of commercialism from Masonic activity and, second, to protect the gullible and unwary from the depredation of various racketeering publishers who were using the name, emblems and symbols of Masonry as bait to fleece the public and members of the Craft as well.

Our problem was simplified since at that time, although we had been discussing an official Grand Lodge publication, we had not yet started publishing the same. The problem we were having with other publications, however, was the reason why we determined that our Masonic magazine, the California Freemason, would never solicit or publish any form of commercial advertising.

Our first efforts at Grand Lodge legislation helped some, but a number of publishers paid no attention to our regulations and went their merry way. As a result of this, our Committee on Publications (later the name changed to Commercialism) made a detailed survey of all the advertisers in each of the defiant publications. The Committee, with the full concurrence and support of the then Grand Master, established two fundamental rules.

1. Get the facts, and

2. Let the chips fall where they may.

The results were generally as follows: (Taken from 1955 Proceedings).

Masons constituted 42% and non-Masons 58% of all advertisers.

78% of Masons and 92% of non-Masons were led to believe the publication represented Masonry.

74% of Masons and 82% of non-Masons thought they were helping Masonry by advertising.

24% of Masons and 22% of non-Masons complained of high pressure methods.

77% of Masons and 71% of non-Masons were contacted by telephone.

76% of Masons and 78% of non-Masons considered their advertisments as donations.

14% of Masons and 17% of non-Masons never received a copy of the magazine.

Following the results of this rather complete survey, where the publishers were members of the Fraternity and persuasion was to no avail, charges were preferred against those who wilfully violated our Masonic law.

It was estimated that at that time these publications were extracting a quarter million dollars annually from members of the Fraternity and the public through the misuse of the name of the Fraternity.

At the 1955 Annual Communication Grand Lodge authorized that legal action be brought against the remaining offenders, some published by Masons and some by non-Masons. I am happy to say we were successful in each action. At the present time, and for many years, we have been completely free from such activities.

Our present law on advertising and publications refers primarily to Masons and reads as follows:

Sec. 334. Advertising-Publications. No Lodge, or member of a Lodge, shall solicit, sponsor, insert, place or print advertising of any kind in or for any medium or publication, which purports to be Masonic in name or character, or which is published by or for any body, order or organization requiring Masonic affiliation as a condition to membership. (1954) (Former R.D. Sec. 127, second par.)

You will note because this law is directed to the activity by Masons we deleted the requirement "without the express sanction of this Grand Lodge."

Today it is the rare occasion when we find a member or a non-Mason advertising in so-called Masonic publications. When such a situation is brought to our attention, we contact the advertiser to determine the facts.

If he is a member of the Fraternity, we quote the Masonic law. Usually the offense is committed due to a lack of knowledge of our law. The Brother is grateful to have a good reason for saying "no" to the solicitor.

If the ad is placed by a non-Mason, the facts are explained to him. In each case to date, our efforts have been received with real appreciation on the part of the advertiser. Being alert is the watchword - then a courteous follow up.

Can the problem be solved? My answer is "yes." We solved it in California.

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Recommended Masonic Reading

BY ALPHONSE CERZA, F.P.S. (Life), Illinois

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the formation of the Masonic Service Association. In commemoration of this important event Brother Allen E. Roberts, F.P.S., of Virginia, has written a history of the Association under the title "Freemasonry's Servant." When the desire of the Craft after World War I to help the Masons of Europe in their distress was thwarted b y administrative red tape" and some antagonism of an official nature, the leaders of Freemasonry in the United States decided to do something about it. The result was the formation of the Masonic Service Association.

This history tells all the important events in the life of this great service organization of the Craft. Not only does it issue informational material, educational material, but it maintains regular service in most veteran hospitals. And when catastrophe strikes somewhere in the world on short notice it comes to the rescue.

The Association now has a new address. The Digest is available for $2.00, from the Masonic Service Association, 624 Ninth Street, N. W., Washington, D.C.

* * *

The Research Chapter of New Zealand No. 93 has published an outstanding talk by Brother Ross Hepburn, F.P.S., entitled "The Literature of Royal Arch Masonry." This sixteen page brochure will be welcomed by students of the Royal Arch.

For information relative to securing a copy, please write Dr. Ross Hepburn, 50 Ilam Road, Riccarton, Christchurch, 4, New Zealand.

* * *

Dr. Jose Rizal is often described as the "George Washington of the Philippines." Born of a prosperous and famous family he was given a fine formal education. His native land was under the heal of Spain at the time, and the islands were ruled with an iron hand under the direction of officials of the Roman Catholic Church. The picture of the country was a sad one illustrating much too well the evils that flow from the evils of clericalism, i.e. government dominated by the clergy. Early in life Rizal was fired with the ideal of doing something to improve the lot of his country.

A recent biography tells the story of his life in a most interesting style. All too often one's Masonic affiliation is ignored by a biographer. This book devotes one page to the Masonic influence in the life of Rizal. The sordid tale of his execution and the attempt to smear his reputation by the erroneous reports of his return to the Church and his renunciation of Freemasonry just before his death is treated in detail and conclusively shown to be untrue.

Available from Oxford University Press, Fair Lawn, New Jersey 07410 at $9.25 a copy.

* * *

With the approach of the year 1976 the 200th anniversary of the American Revolution, we can be expecting more and more attention to this important part of American history. Recently published is "A History of the American Revolution," by John R. Alden. The book starts with the year 1763, with the defeat of France by England. And the story is carried forward through the election of George Washington as President of the United States. This is a most interesting book because it explains the conflicts that existed during the time. Many of the things resemble the problems we are having today. The style of the author is excellent. There are many maps and illustrations.

Available from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 501 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10022, at $10.00 a copy.

* * *

Roger Williams and Isaac Backus were the two pioneers in the United States who championed religious liberty. Backus was the most influential Baptist fighting for liberty in the early days when religious establishment was the rule, and the taking of religious liberty as a matter of course. Today we have forgotten about the struggle of those early years and the influence of Roger Williams and Isaac Backus. Finally Backus has come unto his own by the publication of a book reproducing some of his most important tracts. William G. McLoughlin has collected these in "Isaac Backus on Church, State and Calvinism: Pamphlets, 1754-1789."

Available from Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., at $11.95 a copy.

* * *

The Autumn, 1968 issue of A Journal of Church and State completes the tenth year of publication of this fine periodical. This issue contains some very fine articles, among them "Neither Church nor State: Reflections on James Madison's 'Line of Separation'," "Federal Aid to Church Related Colleges," "Religious Liberty in Perspective," and "The Religion of a President."

Single issues available at $1.25 a copy; annual subscription at $9.00 a year. Write to A Journal of Church and State, Box 341, Baylor University, Waco, Texas 76703.

* * *

A question that is gaining more attention each day is whether churches should be taxed. There is much dissatisfaction with the present system of exemption because many churches have taken advantage of the situation of engaging in lucrative businesses and have accumulated a great deal of wealth. A book has just been published which explores all phases of this important subject. It is "Should Churches Be Taxed?" by D. B. Robertson.

Available from the Westminster Press, Witherspoon Building, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107, at $6.50 a copy.

* * *

The enormous cost of books these days turns my thoughts to some that are available at nominal cost from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. 20402.

"A Directory of Information Resources in the United States," is a large 411-page paperback. There is a presentation of all government agencies and a description of the nature of material each issues or has on file. There is a fine explanation of the material and records in the National Archives. And there is a detailed description of the material and services offered by the Library of Congress. Cost $2.75.

"Library Reference Facilities in the Area of the District of Columbia," sets forth a number of items of special interest to Masonic students. The ample library of the Supreme Council, S.M.J., in the House of the Temple, is adequately described. The Masonic Service Association is mentioned. The Folger Shakespeare Library is described as having the best collection in the Western Hemisphere of materials relating to England between 1476 and 1700. These were the years of transition from the operative to the symbolical Craft and the library may contain mountains of material of interest to a Masonic student exploring this period. (No pun intended as none of the material in the library is mountain grown.) Cost $1.00.

"Guide to Genealogical Records in the National Archives," is of great value to anyone doing original biographical research. Cost 50c.

* * *

What transpired at Vatican Council II is of primary interest to Roman Catholics. Several areas are of interest to everyone. One of these is the Declaration on Religious Liberty, particularly in countries that have Concordats with the church making it the official religion and making all other groups illegal.

The adoption of the Declaration of Religious Liberty, in spite of its Booby traps, was heralded as a great step forward. That such a declaration was even issued by a conservative church is probably something to be thankful for.

The closest thing to a complete report on the development of the Declaration on Religious Liberty is "Conflict and Consensus," by Richard J. Regan, S.J., which tells the story of the preliminary work on the Declaration, how the first draft was prepared, how the various other drafts were changed (there were six of them), and how the final draft was prepared and adopted. It seems clear that without the persistent work of the American members of the Council the Declaration would not have been adopted. The reluctance of its adoption, the inclusion of extraneous matters, and the meagre results to date causes one to wonder if all the effort was worth while.

This book is available from The MacMillan Co., P. O. Box 2703, Church Street Station, New York, New York 10008, at $5.95 a copy.

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Masonry West

by Henry L. Haupt

Twice during its more than two hundred and fifty years' of existence, Modern Freemasonry has gone through a period of expansion that took it from a small beginning to a world-wide and a nation-wide distribution. The first Grand Lodge was formed by a few Londoners who sought to rescue the Masonry they saw being "desecrated." Their vision was small. They hoped to control Masonry for London and Westminster. However the general acceptance of Masonry took them by storm.

Within twenty years the Lodge had become "the thing" in all England. Additional Grand Lodges were formed in Ireland and Scotland. There were Lodges in every country of Europe and they had managed to arouse the ire not only of civil governments but of the Pope himself who hurled the lightning bolt of "anathema" at them. In America, three thousand miles away, both Franklin's Philadelphia newspaper and the Boston newspaper of the day printed Masonic news. Franklin had reprinted the First Book of Constitutions for Americans, and peddled them up and down the Atlantic coast to Masons who existed in all of the Colonies.

In the second spread, following the cessation of hostilities of the Revolutionary War, American Masons gathered together their mores and headed westward. Following the French and Indian War the English government had forbidden the colonists to venture beyond the Alleghenies. When the war was over, Masons in each colony formed each their own Grand Lodge, independent of their neighbors, and of those across the seas. They established that American Landmark, exclusive jurisdiction, and fathered the idea that as population increased in any locality, Lodges could be formed, and when enough of them existed they might form their own Grand Lodges. This system grew as states were formed to the westward until the Pacific Ocean was reached and there was no more land. There are now 49 Grand Lodges, one in each state except that the District of Columbia has a Grand Lodge, and Alaska looks to Washington, and Hawaii to California, for their Masonry.

Anyone with a little time can easily complete the picture by referring to the various states by name in the Encyclopedias of Coil and Mackey. Many states have issued histories such as "Goodly Heritage," by Dwight L. Smith, of Indiana. We have also a copy of a History of Masonry in Pennsylvania which was part of a memorial volume put out upon the dedication of Masonic Hall in Philadelphia in 1873.

The historian of Kentucky as quoted by Worshipful Brother Smith, said: "The history of the human race does not record a more amazing episode than the deluge of emigrants who, passing through the Cumberland Gap at the close of Eighteenth Century, spread all over the boundaries of the present State of Kentucky, and within the short period of 20 years converted a boundless wilderness into prosperous farms and commodious villages . . . " But that was but the beginning, within a hundred years American Masonry had spread not only to the Pacific Coast but to Alaska and the far Islands of Hawaii.

What we now propose to do is to call attention to that Masonry which started in London, England, in 1717, crossed the broad ocean to Virginia, passed over the mountains to Kentucky, thence to Missouri and Oregon, and from there into Washington State and Alaska. Remember this is the same Masonry from first to last, from London to Fairbanks. There are differences, true, but a Mason from one may visit a Lodge anywhere and be welcomed and feel at home. Incidentally the experience of Masonry in Australia has been much the same as in this country and so also has it been in Canada, both of which are interesting research projects.

The United Grand Lodge of England issued in 1967 a memorial book: "Grand Lodge, 1717-1967," which every Mason should have, for here is Masonry right from the horse's mouth. On page 247, we read: "New England Colonies. The Art and Craft of Masonry was taken to the New England Colonies by Masons from the old lands who sought greater opportunities in the new. But the names of these Brethren are unknown, except those of John Skene and Jonathan Belcher ...." But Masonry was also brought to this side of the ocean by humbler people who were merchants, soldiers, sailors, and just ordinary people. There is a tradition in Philadelphia that a letter, which cannot now be produced, reported that in the winter of 1715 the writer "met Masonically with his brethren." As mentioned above in both Philadelphia and Boston, Masonry was active in 1730. Franklin became a Mason in 1731 and was elected "grand master" in 1734.

Virginia in the eighteenth century claimed territory westward with no limits recognized. George Washington spent several years surveying territory in which is now West Virginia and Ohio. One source says that Virginia had never had a Provincial Grand Master appointed by England. In 1777 there were 13 Lodges, five warranted by the Grand Lodge of Scotland, four by England and one each by France, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania and one of unknown origin. The Lodge at Fredericksburg where Washington was made a Mason in 1752 was not warranted until 1758. By immemorial right of Masons to meet and make Masons, it had constituted itself. Its warrant when it came was Scottish.

Kentucky was part of Virginia until 1792. However Lodges had been warranted by the Grand Lodge of Virginia such as Lexington in 1788. Five of these Lodges formed the Grand Lodge of Kentucky in 1800. Kentucky warranted Lodges in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and Missouri.

The Grand Lodge of Missouri, being a pivot state in the Louisiana Purchase, was most active in issuing charters to Masonic groups farther West. The original Lodges in Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, and Oregon, held warrants from the Grand Lodge of Missouri.

One of the most interesting of these charters was the one issued to a group of Masons in Oregon City, Oregon (Portland was not at that time in existence). This was requested in 1846 but the way was long and perilous. Missouri authorities placed the warrants in the hands of an Oregon Trailer who said he was going there. However when he arrived in Idaho, he liked the country and decided to stay. The charter languished for a couple of years until he turned it over to another traveler who delivered it, in 1848, to the men who had requested it.

From Oregon, Masonry flowed to Washington State, and from Washington Masonry travelled to Alaska. The first notice of Masonry on the Pacific Coast was a newspaper notice in Oregon City, Oregon, in 1846, calling a meeting of men who might be interested in forming a Lodge. The first Lodge in Oregon, however, has to share honors with the first Lodge in California. Like the famous battle between Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, perhaps no one will ever know who was first. In that case it is possible that a Lodge, Solomon, in Georgia might have preexisted them.

Hawaii of course was independent until 1898 when at its request it became part of the United States. The first Lodge there was chartered by France. There was dissension between 1850 and 1860.

Its eight Lodges give allegiance to the Grand Lodge of California, but of course if they wished might form their own Grand Lodge.

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Key to Freemasonry's Growing

by Allen E. Roberts, F.P.S.

1. THE CASE FOR MANAGEMENT IN FREEMASONRY

EDITOR'S NOTE: Worshipful Allen E. Roberts, a student of management, has consented to write a series of articles on planning, or management, for Freemasonry. They will be based on a book he is now writing for the Fraternity which is tentatively titled, KEY TO FREEMASONRY'S GROWTH. It will be published by McCoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company in 1969. We are grateful to Brother Roberts for the vast amount of time he spends working for the Craft throughout the world, and not just Virginia where he is Deputy Grand Secretary.

Can Freemasonry continue to enjoy the "luxury" of bringing men into the Fraternity and not make them sincere Master Masons? It is time for the leaders of Freemasonry to become what they are in the business world - managers who accomplish what must be done by motivating people. It is time for Grand Lodge officers, and those on the local level, to utilize the knowledge of their subordinates. It is time for all Freemasons to learn and live up to the tenets and precepts of the Order.

The time has not arrived, nor will it ever come, when the Constitutions of Masonry should be scrapped. They are ageless. They cannot be improved upon. They should not be tampered with. Freemasonry is its own image and should be patterned after nothing else. After all, civic clubs and other fraternal organizations were patterned after Freemasonry!

But the time is long past for Freemasonry to let its members flounder by themselves. They need to be guided, and guided with intelligence. The men now entering the Fraternity are educationally superior to those of a century, even a decade, ago. They expect to be, and should be, treated with the respect due their background.

Freemasonry ought not to change, but its leaders must! Every officer, from the Grand Master to the subordinate officers of the Symbolic Lodges, must put into practice the principles of good management.

There are those who cry: "Freemasonry doesn't need management! It's a non-profit organization!" What constitutes a "non-profit" organization? Why doesn't a non-profit organization require management? A casual thought will point out graphically that there must be management, no matter what it is called, in fraternal organizations as well as in every business.

Freemasonry - a non-profit organization - spends thousands of dollars every day. This money goes for necessary salaries to paid employees; for relief; for sickness; for charity, for equipment; for buildings; for supplies; to operate homes, infirmaries, and hospitals; for a multitude of other things, including Masonic education where not nearly enough is invested. Freemasonry is big business, except for the concept of profit.

But what is profit? In the business world, to put it simply, it is income less cost. In any non-profit organization there also has to be a profit, or it could not long exist. Although this profit is not measured in dollars and cents, it is there. It is the value of the benefits offered or derived less unwanted considerations. If the value outweighs the undesirable considerations, the organization has a surplus with which to work - a profit. The type of planning employed will determine the amount of profit enjoyed.

For more years than one can recall, this lack of leadership has been deplored. Everything could be cured by leadership, it has been claimed. I thought so, too. Then I researched a speech for the Northeast Conference on Masonic Education in 1968 (now a Short Talk Bulletin of M.S.A. entitled, "We Can Do It!") I was shocked into a realization that Freemasonry has a tremendous number of leaders from the business and political world - and they are for the most part being Masonically ignored!

Freemasonry does not lack leaders - it lacks planning. Only by adopting the principles of good management can the Fraternity produce the knowledgeable Masonic leadership it must have to prosper. This is the key to Freemasonry's growth.

The lack of management in Freemasonry can be blamed on no one. The management movement is comparatively new. So new that hundreds of business establishments know little or nothing about it. It was not until 1886 that a fellow named Henry R. Towne called this to the attention of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers with these words:

"The management of works is unorganized, is almost without literature, has no organ or medium for the interchange of experience, and is without association of any kind.... The remedy must . . . come from those whose training and experience has given them an understanding of both sides of the important questions involved."

Towne's words can be paraphrased: "The management of Freemasonry is unorganized and is without literature. The remedy must come from those who understand the peculiar concepts of Masonry and have a basic knowledge of the important questions involved."

Planning is a necessity. Unless the Grand Lodge can determine its destination it will be impossible for the Symbolic Lodges to know where they are headed. The members of the Craft will be left to wonder what they are supposed to do to carry out the obligations they took so freely. Chaos is the result and members wonder why the Fraternity does not imitate civic clubs. So, every Grand Lodge and Symbolic Lodge must establish objectives that are understandable and easily communicated to the members.

Grand Lodge goals may now exist, but they exist in such a nebulous way that they are not easily communicated being cast as though in cement and left to harden. They may be unyielding, causing the individual to feel no involvement. Without making the members feel that their endeavors will be worthwhile, goals will not be reached. Goal-setting must involve each member, and it will, if the principles of good management are followed.

With proper planning, goals, or set objectives, will be reached, because the members will be motivated to work for Freemasonry. History has proven that the future belongs to the group which is the first to offer significant opportunities for people to satisfy their needs for growth, recognition, responsibility, and achievement. If Freemasonry will take this initiative, the bulk of the men eligible for membership will be knocking at the doors of Lodges all over the country. Although the Fraternity has been the "status symbol" of fraternalism for centuries, it must not lose ground now to something which, on the surface, may appear to be more rewarding to the individual.

Achievement, growth, responsibility, and recognition are the basic motivation needs imbedded in the essential character of every responsible human being. Freemasonry, through utilizing the principles of good planning, must continue to attract, then teach those who will become teachers, the best men in the world into its membership.

Can there be a better reason to put good management and dynamic Masonic leadership into Freemasonry?

----o----

The Worshipful Master is Master of the Lodge

by M.W.A. Douglas Smith, Jr., P.G.M. - Virginia

A few pointed paragraphs which may be helpful in the conduct of the affairs of the Master's office

BE MASTER!!

Act like one . . . in your bearing be worthy of the title which sets you apart for the time.

a. Be dignified, but not stuffy … in dress, in carriage, and in behaviour in the Lodge.

b. Be friendly, but not frivolous in handling your Lodge or its business.

c. Be firm of opinion, but not inflexible - your election carries with it no sign of infallibility - even Worshipful Masters may err in judgment.

d. Be courageous, but not cocky. The small man throws his weight about, the big man uses the weight of his judgment and ability to carry his point of view.

e. Be exemplary, but not sacrosanct. Feigned piety and self-deification can destroy the value of an otherwise conscientious living of Masonic principles.

BE PREPARED!

a. Be well informed in the Ritual and its meaning, but delegate its performance to your officers.

b. Be well informed as to your duties and responsibilities. Study the Officers' Manual and the Methodical Digest.

c. Be prepared for each meeting - you tell the Secretary what the minutes will be, and share an agenda with your officers.

d. Plan well ahead - even though you may find a change necessary, you can't always get the program you want on the spur of the moment.

e. Time is of the essence - check it for the minutes, for the Ritual, for balloting, for Catechisms, and business - if you are overlong, hold a second meeting.

f. Delegate authority - a good leader directs others and doesn't try to do it all himself.

SHOW LEADERSHIP IN ACTION!

a. Be the first to sympathize and congratulate - in the latter case, especially the new Initiates and members who have done outstanding acts in the community.

b. Be the last to condemn before knowing the facts - many Lodges and good Masons have been ruined because of hasty conclusions based on unfounded gossip.

c. Be always available and never too busy to lend an understanding ear to the problems of your members. Many will come to you BECAUSE you are the Worshipful Master.

d. Be the first to whisper good counsel in the ear of an erring Brother - sometimes it takes more courage than you believe yourself to have, but often it may save a life.

LIVE A BELIEF IN MASONRY AND ITS PRINCIPLES

a. Believe with a great faith in God - Freemasonry does not concern itself with what you believe, but that you believe in God the Creator of all things and without this, all else is lost.

b. Believe with your whole heart that there is a Modern Mission for Masonry in our time. If you think that Masonry is passe and that it has been superseded by civic clubs and other like organizations, then your contribution to its future is limited.

c. Believe that your Lodge and you have a destiny to help meet this challenge, and resolve to make it and you a part of it!

HOPE

Have an eternal hope that the battle is to be won by a continuous fight for that which is good in life.

LOVE

You must love to love people and like things. There is a brief story about a young man and his older sister who on one occasion averred, "I love ice cream." He sagely observed, "No, sister, you like ice cream - you love people."

"HE WHO WOULD BE MASTER MUST FIRST BE SERVANT OF ALL."

In fine:

If you have the wisdom of Solomon; the patience of Job; and the love as described by St. Paul in the 11th Chapter of First Corinthians, you have the basics of becoming a great Worshipful Master.

GOOD LUCK - AND GOD BE WITH YOU

----o----

Local Chapter Organized

in Norristown, Pa.

Thirteen interested Freemasons met in Norristown on Wednesday, April 16, 1969, to organize a Chapter for this area. The group expressed interest in the work of the Society and wanted to meet regularly for fellowship and further instruction.

The Treasurer of the Society, Brother Ronald E. Heaton, F.P.S., announced at the start of the session that he had appointed Brother James M. Alter, M.P.S., Past Master of Unity Lodge No. 719 in Ardmore, President of the Chapter, and Brother Elmer C. Hoffman, M.P.S., of Charity Lodge No. 190, Norristown, Secretary.

The purpose and aims of the Society were explained by the President, and the titles of several papers previously published were mentioned, to give those in attendance an idea of the kind of work that has been done in the past. At the suggestion of the President, Brother Heaton read his paper on "Freemasonry and Freemasons at Valley Forge."

Then followed a truly "round robin" discussion, unique in that all present had something to say. All agreed that a group such as this presented a real opportunity for service, and thus we were organized. It is planned to hold three meetings a year, with the next meeting scheduled for September 29th in Norristown. A tentative program for the meeting was agreed on, and subjects for a paper on a Masonic subject of interest were discussed.

In the meantime we will ask of the members and prospective members to set down their particular interests, and also on what topics they would like more information. From that, we hope to have sufficient information to satisfy the curiosity of those who want to listen, and to stimulate to action those who want to write.

All Master Masons are invited to attend the next meeting, and to participate. If any members happen to be in this area when we next meet, we'd be happy to have you meet with us.

----o----

Robert Enoch Withers

DOCTOR, SOLDIER, STATESMAN, EDITOR, CHRISTIAN GENTLEMAN AND FREEMASON

by Herbert A. Fisher, M.P.S. (Va.)

233 Old Drive, Cheasapeake, Va. 23320

Robert Enoch Withers was born September 18, 1821, the son of Robert Walter Withers, M.D., and Susan Dabney Alexander, of Campbell County, Virginia. As a child he was an ardent sportsman and on hunting trips he always bagged his share of the game. On these expeditions he developed that sharpness of eye and mind that only the hunter can acquire.

He fell heir to all the childhood diseases and came through with flying colors. He was born web-footed, the three middle toes on each foot were joined together along their whole length. He proved no exception to the rule of web-footed creatures having a fondness for water and he was introduced to his father's belt at an early age for frequenting the local creek. He also had a great love for dogs and horses which carried through to his adult life. By the time he was twelve he had read through the Bible several times and had memorized the Sermon on the Mount, many Psalms, and the greater portion of St. John's Gospel.

Robert's father had provided the family with a fine library and between this and the library of a neighbor, Alexander S. Henry (son of Patrick Henry), he read considerably which contributed in no small degree to his well-rounded education. In his early years he was educated by private tutors. He then attended Samuel Miller's Woodburne Classical School in Pittsylvania; and from there to the University of Virginia where he graduated in Medicine before his twentieth birthday (1841).

In 1845 Dr. Withers was the Lieutenant and Drill Master of a troop of cavalry formed at Brookneal, Virginia.

On February 3, 1846, Robert married Mary Virginia Royal, oldest daughter of Joseph Edwin and Elizabeth Gwatkin Royal, of Lynchburg, Virginia. Of this union twelve children were born (eleven girls and one boy).

He practiced medicine in his native county until 1858 at which time he moved to Danville, Virginia. It was from here that he entered the War Between the States, as a Major of Infantry in the Confederate States Army. At the time of his entry into service his tenth daughter was only eight hours old, and in keeping with the times, was named "Virginia Secessia."

Colonel Withers participated in encounters against the Union Forces from the Battle of Bull Run to the Second Cold Harbor. On one occasion, due to the noise of battle and confusion he determined the only way to get his troops to advance was to "mount, join the Color Guard, and with flags flying" they charged the enemy. The troops immediately grasped the situation and advanced causing the enemy to retreat a considerable distance.

During another battle a "Colonel Wood" of the Twelfth Brooklyn Zouaves was wounded and captured together with several of his comrades, including the Surgeon of the Twelfth. Upon examination of Colonel Wood, it was revealed that he "bore. on his bosom the insignia of high Masonic Degree." Colonel Withers, determined to give him a better chance to live than he would have in the crowded field hospital at Manasas, gave up his tent to this Union Officer and his surgeon for approximately three weeks. Thus Colonel Withers, in keeping with the highest principles of Templary, in "having subdued his enemy, regarded him no longer as his foe but extended to him that glorious attribute of Deity, mercy."

They had many discussions about the causes of the war and Colonel Wood was surprised to learn that Colonel Withers was an outspoken opponent of secession until President Lincoln's call for Virginia troops to "coerce" the seceded states. Due to the understanding attained through these discussions, Colonel Wood promised to never again enter the field of battle as an enemy of the South. And, though he was later promoted to Brigadier General, he was assigned staff duties and did not enter the field, thus keeping his word to Colonel Withers.

Colonel Withers received five wounds (the last two, one piercing his right lung and one his pelvis), rendered him unfit for further active duty in the field and he was assigned the Commandant Post of Danville in charge of prison hospitals in that area.

He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 1873, and United States Senator in 1874. He served as a Conservative from March 4, 1875, to March 3, 1881. As Senator he served on several committees including "District of Columbia." He was Chairman of the Committee on Pensions, where his knowledge of medicine proved invaluable.

He also served on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institute. From 1885 to 1889 he served as United States Consul to Hong Kong, being appointed by President Cleveland. He traveled extensively in the Far East while in this position. Upon his return to the United States, he took up residence at Wytheville, Virglnia.

Colonel Withers and his beloved wife Susan celebrated their fifty-fifth wedding anniversary on February 3, 1901. She died one month later. Withers survived his wife by six years, passing away on September 21, 1907, at Wytheville, Virginia, in his 86th year of age.

These honors would be sufficient for most men, but this distinguished Virginian was also:

The Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Virginia, 1871-1873. The Most Excellent Grand High Priest of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Virginia, 1871-1873, the Right Eminent Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Virginia 1875-1878.

Robert Enoch Withers was the twenty-second (the thirteenth individual) Most Eminent Grand Master of the Grand Encampment Knights Templar of the United States of America, 1883-1886. He returned from Hong Kong to preside over the twenty-second Triennial.

He has the singular honor of being the only Virginian to serve in this high office. Morgan Nelson of Wheeling, at that time a part of Virginia, was elected Grand Master but declined to be installed.

Reference and Credits:

Freemasonry in Virginia, by Dr. William Mosley Brown

Templary in the Old Dominion by Dr. William Moseley Brown

Campbell Chronicles and Family Sketches by R.H. Early

History of Pittsylvania County, Virginia by Maud Carter Clement

Autobiography of an Octogenarian by R. E. Withers

The Civil War in Pictures

----o----

The Village Atheist

by Frank Swancara

One writing on his "Version of God" in The New Age of February, 1967, said:

"In the world in which I was a boy every village had its atheist and its idiot; they were classed together, two rarities, two curiosities."

Some of today's octogenarians agree with respect to the "atheist," for in the 19th century the villagers generally believed that God was one and the same as Jehovah. Hence the unbelieving "rarities" thought either that there is no god or one retired "Creator of the Universe," the "nature's god" mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.

One such "village atheist" was Abraham Lincoln. The Catholic historian Christopher Hollis in American Heresy (1930) wrote of him:

"at the age of twenty-five he was an atheist and had written, under the influence of Tom Paine and Volney, an essay 'to abolish Christianity.' . . . He is not to be largely blamed for finding that refuge of skepticism which is so much nobler than a false faith."

The "influence of . . . Volney" would have been greater if Lincoln had known that Thomas Jefferson was the author of most of the translation in English of Volney's Ruins of Empires.

Since Hollis regarded atheism "so much nobler than a false faith," reminds us that Jefferson wrote: (1)

" . . . it would be more pardonable to believe in no god at all than to blaspheme him by the atrocious attributes of Calvin."

Jefferson himself secretly had the status of a village atheist, knowing the comforts and effect of private theism, advising Peter Carr: (2)

"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; . . . If it ends in a belief that there is no God, you will find incitements to virtue in the comfort and pleasantness you will feel in its exercise, and the love of others it will procure you ...."

Of the French atheists he wrote: (3)

"Diderot, D'Alembert, D'Holbach, Condorcet, are known to have been the most virtuous of men. Their virtue, then, must have had some other foundation than the love of God. "

Albert Pike thought of Condorcet when writing:

"Voltaire, Condorcet, and Rousseau uttered words that will ring, in change and revolution, throughout all the ages."

Atheism is not a system, theory, or principle. It is simply an inability to believe what the Fundamentalists say of a Supreme Being, or of Jehovah. There is no "energy or talent" involved, yet there is this paragraph in The New Age:

"It devotes all its energy or talent to out-witting the law, and to destroy the desire to lift others."

Atheism is an absence of belief in supernaturalistic assumptions. Julien Offray De Lamettrie (1709-1751) maintained that "Atheism is the only means of ensuring the happiness of the world, which has been rendered impossible by the wars brought about by theologians." (4)

Lamettries' opinion implies that atheists are pacifists. Like Quakers, some are, e. g. Bertrand Russell, and Rosika Schwimmer whom Mr. Justice Holmes characterized as "a woman of superior character and intelligence, obviously more than ordinarily desirable as a citizen of the United States." (5)

What an atheist is apt to think is that there are laws of nature, just as the Declaration of Independence expressly assumed, and that no supplication will reverse or suspend any. The belief in "The Great Architect of the Universe is favored. It requires no further belief that such Architect once paused to make "for Adam and for his wife coats of skins, and clothed them" (Gen. 3:21) or decreed the infant damnation which caused the Catholic writer Fulgentius to write of unbaptized "little children . . . punished by the eternal torture of undying fire" (Fulgentius, De Fide, sec. 70).

An atheist may want to find God, and is willing to read the arguments consistent with the laws of Nature, but he is driven into firmer atheism by radio sermons which take such assumptions as that God "translated" Enoch, meaning, says the dictionary, "to take up to heaven without dying." ( see Hebrews 11:5).

If the village had also "its idiot," he was probably a Fundamentalist if the idiocy was not congenital. Jefferson once had occasion to write: (6)

"In fact, the Athanasian paradox that one is three, and three but one, is so incomprehensible to the human mind, that no candid man may say he has any idea of it, and how can he believe what presents no idea? He who thinks he does, only deceives himself. He proves, also, that man, once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities the most monstrous, and like a ship without a rudder, is the sport of every wind. With such persons, gullibility which they call faith, takes the helm from the hand of reason, and the mind becomes a wreck."

The village "idiot" was at least saner than the Catholic dignitaries who racked and burned Ann Askew for her failure to believe in transsubstantiation. The story is briefly told in the 11th (1910) edition of Encyclopedia Britannica but is entirely omitted from the Catholic edited edition of 1967.

There can be a "belief in God," without also believing the biblical texts purporting to show that Jehovah commanded cruel acts, even against children, texts on which Jonathan Edwards based his doctrine of infant damnation. One may have a "belief in God" as a Unitarian, Universalist, Humanist, or even a Secularist. John Adams ultimately believed in "an active principle of power in the universe." (8)

"Jehovah," who is still the God of the Catholics and Fundamentalists, was not at first believed in by all Jews, because "even while Moses was receiving the law upon Mount Sinai, they forced Aaron to make them an image of the Egyptian god Apis, and fell down and adored it. (9) The great Catholic scholar Dr. Alexander Geddes (1737-1802) maintained that the claim of Moses to an intercourse with Diety was "feigned" under sheer necessity of overawing a rebellious people. Jehovah being thus a "local god of Israel" (10) was represented as having commanded: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20: 2).

(1) TJ to James Smith, April 11, 1823

(2) Papers, XII, 14-18.

(3) TJ to Thomas Law, June 13, 1814.

(4) Enc. Brit. (11th ed.), title Lamettrie.

(5) 279 U.S. 644. 653.

(6) TJ to James Smith, Dec. 8, 1822.

(7) TJ to Waterhouse, July 19, 1822.

(8) Adams to TJ, Adams Jefferson Letters, II.

(9) Albert Pike.

(10) Jefferson's phrase in letter to William Short, Aug. 4, 1820.