Contents
It Seems To Me Freemasonry In China
Legendary Letter of Jesus Discovered Key to Freemasonry's Growth
The Legend of Enoch Masonry in Jamaica
The Soul of Freemasonry To Masonic Ritualists
Recommended Masonic Reading Guide To Masonic Books
Young Men and Masons LO, THE POOR INDIAN
George Washington's Lodges The Early Grand Lodges of England
Charity A Forgotten Virtue East of the Mississippi
Conflict or Cooperation Astronaut Aldrin Is Member of Craft
Let's Speak
Positively About Freemasonry
On Items of Masonic Research
Published bi-monthly at Franklin, Indiana by
THE PHILALETHES SOCIETY
John Black Vrooman, F.P.S. Editor
Box 402, St. Louis, Missouri 63166
OFFICERS
William R. Denslow, F.P.S., President
P.O. Box 529
Trenton, Missouri 64683
Andrew J. White, Jr. F.P.S. First Vice President
150 East Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
William E. Yeager, F.P.S. Second Vice President
350 Pennsylvania Avenue, W.
Warren, Pennsylvania 16365
Carl R. Greisen, F.P.S. Executive Secretary
201 Masonic Temple
Omaha, Nebraska 68102
Ronald E. Heaton, F.P.S., Treasurer
728 Haws Avenue
Norristown, Pennsylvania 19401
LIVING PAST PRESIDENTS
Philalethes Society
Lee E. Wells, F.P.S.
Alphonse Cerza, F.P.S. (Life)
Dr. Charles Gottsholl Reigner, F.P.S.
Robert H. Gollmar, F.P.S.
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Alphonse Cerza, F.P.S., (Life)
237 Millbridge Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
Melvin L. Pfankuche, M.P.S.
3319 Harwinton Lane
Cincinnati, Ohio 45211
Volume XXIII, No. 1
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by JOHN BLACK VROOMAN, F.P.S.
THAT with the passing of another year - and, in fact, the passing of another Triennial cycle of the Philalethes Society, that we should pause to take inventory.
What has the past taught us, and what will the future give us, in activity of the present? These are matters to ponder. Not resting on our laurels, not basking in the success and failure of the past, we need dedicated cooperation between leadership and membership. Our new officers are planning activities for the future, and are carefully weighing the mistakes and accomplishments of the past, so that we can progress intelligently in carrying out the program of enlightenment and action that the future demands.
Time and time again, in these pages, have been emphasized the need of personal participation by all our members in our activities. We have been asked, what are these activities, and how can every member take a personal cart in them?
The greatest medium of communication, of course, is the Philalethes magazine through the pages of which the members acquaint themselves with some of the essence of the Craft. Not everyone, it is agreed, can or would write articles, but every member has a talent or talents which can be used to good advantage by all of us. It is not unreasonable to ask that these talents be used, and that every member make suggestions to the officers, for a better use of the Society.
Writing for the magazine can also enable our members to participate in the Certificate of Literature contest. While one does not "enter" the contest in the strict sense of making application, every contribution to the Philalethes is automatically an entry into the contest, and the committee in charge of the award considers every article contributed to the magazine as merit will determine the winner.
Our Society has more than 1,500 members scattered in all parts of the world. There is need for local groups to be formed, and the local members activate the work of the Society. In Chicago, Louisville, Bloomington, Illinois, Richmond, Virginia, Norristown, Pennsylvania, and many other localities there have been formed Chapters of the Society, in which the members have enjoyed fellowship and presented papers on Masonic topics, that have contributed to the participation in the work of the Society, and members everywhere can form such small groups by which to localize their efforts, and contribute to the overall activities. What about forming such a Chapter in your locality?
Notes and Queries, a page of information and research conducted by Melvin L. Pfankuche, M.P.S., is a means of communication between our members, allowing members of like tastes to gather information needed in research, and furnishing a backboard of information that is of inestimable value. Let's make the Society active by Participation and action.
Featured in this issue . . .
IT SEEMS TO ME, Editorial, by John Black Vrooman, F.P.S.
MASONIC WEEK IN WASHINGTON
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN SLIDES?
FREEMASONRY IN CHINA by Dr. Donald S. Lien, M.P.S. (Ill.)
LEGENDARY LETTER OF JESUS, by John Black Vrooman, F.P.S.
KEY TO FREEMASONRY'S GROWTH, by Allen E. Roberts, F.P.S.
THE LEGEND OF ENOCH, by William T. Smith, M.P.S.
VOORHIS IS HONORED
MASONRY IN JAMAICA, by A.W. Outcult, M.P.S.
THE SOUL OF FREEMASONRY, by Franklin J. Anderson, M.P.S.
TO MASONIC RITUALISTS, by Bliss Kelly, M.P.S.
COMPLETE PROGRAM OF WASHINGTON MEETINGS
RECOMMENDED MASONIC READING, by Alphonse Cerza, F.P.S., Life
GUIDE TO MASONIC BOOKS, by Alphonse Cerza, F.P.S., Life
YOUNG MEN AND MASONS. by Harold N. Painter. M.P.S.
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S LODGES, by Henry L. Haupt, M.P.S.
THE EARLY GRAND LODGES OF ENGLAND, by Cecil Homer Ellis, M.P.S.
CHARITY - A FORGOTTEN VIRTUE, by Harry E. Tice, M.P.S.
ACTION '70
WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER by Harold V B Voorhis, F.P.S, Life
MASONIC BOOK CLUB FORMED
CONFLICT OR COOPERATION? by Wayne Fjosee
ASTRONAUT ALDRIN IS A MEMBER OF THE CRAFT
LET'S SPEAK POSITIVELY ABOUT FREEMASONRY, by Allen E. Roberts, F.P.S.
NOTES, QUERIES AND INFORMATION, by Melvin L. Pfankuche M.P.S.
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Masonic Week in Washington Will Be Interesting Activities
Attention of all Freemasons, early this year will be centered on Masonic Week in Washington, when Masonic leaders from every part of the world will gather in the Nation's Capitol to plan and execute Masonic activity for the coming year.
Starting at the Washington Hotel, Pennsylvania Avenue at 15th Street, the small research groups will meet to discuss activities and plan for the year. The interest of the Philalethes Society will be focused around the meeting, on February 20, when the Executive Committee - all the officers of the Society, past Presidents and the Editor of the Philalethes magazine, will spend the day talking over the activities of the past year, the proposed participation of the newly-elected officers, financial reports and plans for the Society for 1970. William R. Denslow, president, will announce his committee appointments, the Secretary, Treasurer, Editor and officers will give a resume of their activities, and the budget will be presented for the next year, and plans will be discussed for expansion of personal participation by each officer and member in the coming months.
Public relations will be thoroughly investigated and planned, and each officer will make his suggestions for the advancement of our work. It is hoped that an overall plan for strengthening the work of the Society can be formulated, and further expansion out of the usual news items and other phases of Masonic research and participation can be presented.
In the evening, under the able leadership of Most Worshipful Brother Joseph A. Batchelor, M.P.S., the annual Masonic Workshop of the Society will be held. It is hoped that much discussion and audience participation will be featured.
Those who want to attend the meetings, and need hotel accommodations are asked to make reservations with
Mr. Reyburn Miller, Manager,
Washington Hotel,
Pennsylvania Avenue at 15th
Street, N. W.,
Washington, D. C. 20024
Mention that you are attending the meetings of the Allied Masonic Degrees.
On Saturday morning, commencing at 9:30 a.m., the Grand College of Rites will be opened, and business transacted, followed immediately by the Grand Council, Allied Masonic Degrees, and Grand Master's Council, A.M.D. will have its session. Those who have been installed as Master of a Council, can participate in the meeting of the Installed Master's Council. After luncheon, the Council of Nine Muses will meet under the direction of Bruce H. Hunt, Sovereign Master. Each year some of the outstanding papers of the meetings are presented at this time, and all who are in attendance are invited to attend this meeting.
Great Chief's Council, Knight Masons of Ireland, and Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis will meet for those who are members of these bodies. The annual banquet of the Allied Masonic Degrees will be held in the hotel at 6 o'clock, with the Grand Master of Masons in New York, Most Worshipful Brother Charles Gosnell, as the speaker. The closing events of the day will be resumption of labor by Grand College, and the election and installation of officers, and the fun groups, The Order of the Bath and the Order of Corks.
Sunday morning will start with a breakfast for members of the Knights of the York Cross of Honour, followed by the Consistory of Blue Friars, at which another member will be received into the group. The final meeting of the group will be that of the Grand College, Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests.
Sunday afternoon will move the meetings to the Shoreham Hotel, with registration for the four national groups that meet. Buses will leave the hotel at 9 o'clock Monday morning for the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, where the annual meeting of that group will be held, reports given and other business transacted.
The buses will return to the hotel early in the afternoon, and there will be a reception and tea for the Grand Masters and guests at the hotel at 5 00 o'clock.
The Conference of Grand Masters in North America, and the Conference of Grand Secretaries in North America will each have its opening sessions on Tuesday morning, and will continue all day. The Grand Masters' banquet will be the featured event of the day, at 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday morning at 7:45 a.m., the Frank Land Memorial Breakfast will be held, and both the Conference of Grand Masters and Grand Secretaries will continue their meetings. All delegates will be guests of the Supreme Council, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, at the famous House of the Temple at noon, and the business of the two conferences will be concluded early in the afternoon. The Grand Secretaries banquet will be featured at 7:00 o'clock.
Thursday morning, commencing at 9:00 a.m., the fifty-first annual meeting of the Masonic Service Association will begin, with the report of the Executive Commission, the report of the several committees, a resume of activities in the field through the Field Agents of the Association, luncheon at noon, and the conclusion of business early in the afternoon.
Judging from the past, it is probable that there will be many visitors from many Canadian and foreign jurisdictions, so that the whole will have an international aspect that will give Freemasonry a very important view of Freemasonry in every part of the world.
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Are You Interested In Slides?
Some months ago there appeared in this magazine an article entitled "Modern Tools for an Ancient Craft." Brother Frank Welsh, a Member of our Society, has written me a letter in which he explains a very interesting hobby that he has pursued for many years. He has been collecting slides containing pictures which have a Masonic connection or theme. He has accumulated about 1,500 slides and he acknowledges the help of many of the brethren from all over the world.
Anyone who has slides, or wants any information about slides, or is interested in this hobby are urged to write to Brother Frank Welsh, 7 Woodstock Gardens, Blackpool, England.
Alphonse Cerza
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by Dr. Donald S. Lien, M.P.S.
(A paper read at Chicago Philalethes Chapter October 31, 1969)
It gives me great pleasure to say a few words to you tonight about a subject very near and dear to me, Freemasonry in China. I realize full-well this difficulties of imagining oneself in another country. How many of you, for example, have been on the Mainland of China, Formosa or Hongkong? How many of you have visited Masonic Lodges there? I recall my own first naïve experiences in the U.S. It was in 1928 with my friend Dr. Paul Meng, Head of the Chinese Department of the International "Y" and later the executive Secretary of China Institute in America for many years. He came to meet me at the Railroad Station in New York City. He offered to help me with my luggage but I casually suggested, "Why don't we ask the RED Cap to carry it?" He took advantage of the opportunity to warn me: "Don't mention Red or anything Chinese in any meeting in this country." I said: "that's foolishness! You're full of baloney and hardboiled." I had just come from China and of course thought I knew everything about China, and was eager to convey my wealth of information to anyone who cared to listen.
In 1948, when I once again returned to the U.S., while waiting for the street car at the corner of Chicago Ave. and Superior, somebody came to talk with me in Chinese and a salesman in the Camera Shop on Chicago Ave., talked in Chinese with me, too. Even today, I could not talk Chinese with our Chinese people in Chinatown. I have met American students in the Library of the University of Chicago who could read Chinese classics much better than I do. Now you may understand why I asked whether anyone had visited China. If your knowledge of Freemasonry in China happens to surpass my own, be assured that I am prepared to accept the news gracefully.
While in China, I joined a Chinese Masonic Fraternity whose membership consisted of men from every walk of life, in the city of Chungking. Chungking was the capital of China during World War II. It is 1,400 miles from the seacoast and there were no trains or motor roads leading to other provinces. This fraternal society did not belong to Lodges along the coast which originated from the Grand Lodges of England and California. However, its philosophy, principles, ideals and tenets closely resemble those of our own Lodge here. The only difference lie in the language, customs, ceremonies, costumes, grips, and so forth. We all believe in the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. About four thousand years ago, or two thousand years before Christ, the Chinese had a Society with Symbolism similar to Masonry which was known as the Brotherhood of the Mystic Cross. It had three degrees: Apprentice Brothers, Doctors of Reason, and Grand Master.
Mencius, a disciple of Confucius, wrote several hundred years before Christ: "A Master Mason in teaching his Apprentices, makes use of the Compasses and the Square. Ye who are engaged in the pursuit of wisdom must also make use of the Compasses and the Square." In the Chinese language, the word "Compasses" means "order," and "Square" means "regularity and propriety."
Last year I had the opportunity to spend about six months on a world tour. During that time I visited Lodges in some countries. They paid me great honor as a Past Master. One of my stops included Taipei on the island of Formosa or Taiwan, where I spent several days with the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Free China. Free China's Grand Lodge and our Grand Lodge of the State of Illinois recognize each other and have Grand Representatives to each other. The Grand Secretary spoke at great lengths of the Chinese Masonic Lodges on the Mainland, how they came to Formosa, and present situations and problems. Our past bishop of the Methodist Church, Bishop Ward was one of their Grand Masters, while he was on the Mainland of China. According to the 1954 Transactions of the Missouri Lodge of Research, the first Masonic Lodge, under our present-day system, was established in China when the Grand Lodge of England issued a charter in 1767, this formed the Lodge of Amity No. 225, at Canton. That was 202 years ago. Brother Al Cerza said in the Grand Lodge last year, that the first Lodge in this State, The Western Star Lodge No. 107 was chartered in 1806. That means that the Lodge in China was founded even earlier than our own Western Star Lodge. This Lodge in Canton ceased to exist in 1813. In the meantime the Grand Lodge of England and the Grand Lodge of Scotland issued charters to Lodges working in China. It is believed that at least thirty-three charters in all were issued. In addition to these lodges, there were also lodges connected with military units that worked from time to time in China. In more recent years the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts issued charters to about half a dozen lodges in China. For a time even the Grand Lodge of the Philippines issued charters to lodges in China and at one time helped to form a Grand Lodge in China. This great event took place January 15 and 16, 1949, when a Masonic Convention was held in the Masonic Temple in Shanghai.
Brother David W.K. Au was elected Grand Master and he served for ten years. But the Grand Lodges of England, Scotland and Ireland did not like the idea of a Grand Lodge in China. During World War II many of the Masons in China were persecuted. With the change of government in China, Freemasonry as we know it went out of existence on the Mainland.
While in Taipei last year, there was no opportunity for me to visit a Blue Lodge, but the Scottish Rite meeting proved very interesting. The meeting was conducted entirely in English. I found myself forgetting that I was a visitor in Free China. It seemed as if I were in America. This was especially true in the American Club, where we had dinner after the meeting. In their meetings, language is a big problem. Their membership consists of a very select group of the returned students, English speaking, not from every walk of life, of course, not like the Masonic fraternity which I joined while on the mainland of China.
China has had a group of well-educated scholars and scientists, but they forgot the common masses of people. I repeat: They forgot the common masses of people. As I said this was not like my lodge. I am sorry to report that I don't know whether or not my lodge is still in existence. That's why I am still here and can not go back home. Now Free China Lodges are following Japan's example, in translating the English Rituals into Chinese, so that people from every walk of life can join Freemasonry. While in Japan in 1928 I got lost and had to communicate with a Japanese by writing, not by talking, in order to find my way back to our ship. The Japanese language originated in Chinese, so we could understand each other by writing.
Times have changed. China has changed. The American people have changed. But, there is an everlasting universality in Masonry. This great Fraternity will never change for it is founded on the never changing concepts of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man.
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Legendary Letter of Jesus Discovered
Conjecture of Authenticity Is Raised
by John Black Vrooman, F.P.S., Life, Editor
In Masonic research, one often finds material of special interest that has neither documentation or actual proof, but nonetheless, it makes interesting reading, and adds to our background of the Humanities.
Charles H. Merz, F.P.S., editor of the Sandusky Masonic Bulletin until his death, wrote in the September 1941 issue of that splendid magazine that a letter had been discovered purporting to be written by Jesus, the Christ, and presented it to the readers with the suggestion that it might be possible to follow through its validity. We do not know more than was written by our Fellow, but deeming the matter to be of prime and current interest, are reproducing it here for our readers.
It was reported in the New York Times some weeks ago that Dr. Lionel Casson, - of New York University, had presented a paper containing the text of letters taken from a seventh century Greek - inscribed papyrus. The papyrus, a single sheet with writing on both sides, was discovered in 1936 by the Colt Archaeological Institute of New York, among the ruins of two churches in Auja Hafir, in Southern Palestine.
With other manuscripts found, it was turned over for study and publication to Dr. Casson and Professor Ernest L. Hettich, both of the Classic Department of Washington Square College, New York University.
This so-called apocryphal incident in the life of Jesus Christ, involving an exchange of letters with a sick Assyrian sheik who offered Him haven in return for healing, was told recently by a New York educator who read a paper containing the texts of the letters as taken from a seventh century Greek-inscribed papyrus.
In studying this manuscript from a Masonic point of view, it should be borne in mind that during the life of Jesus there were three religious sects in Judea - the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Essenes. The Saviour has been supposed by many eminent writers to have been an Essene, because while repeatedly denouncing the errors of the two other sects, He has nowhere uttered a word of censure against the Essenes. There is no reason to doubt that there are strong features of resemblance between the Freemasons and the Essenes. In fact, the existence of the Essenes, a Jewish brotherhood of the time of Jesus, not mentioned in the Bible but recorded by other authorities and having suggestive resemblance to features of Christianity, lends strength to the statement that Jesus was an Essene.
In fact, the remarkable coincidence between the chief features of the Masonic and Essenian is accounted for by many historians "by referring them to the same origin." John the Baptist was described by Jesus as having attained the highest degree of Essene purity (Matt. xi., 14), and much of the Sermon on the Mount is expressed in the phraseology of that sect.
The manuscript in question was discovered among the ruins of two churches in Auja Hafir, in Southern Palestine. The translation of the papyrus names Abgar, Toparch (princeling) of the city of Edessa, as the second correspondent. History tells us that Abgar, written also Abagarus, was a name common to several kings of Edessa, in Mesopotamia. The fourteenth of these kings, Abgar Uchomo, is alleged to have been in correspondence with Jesus. The genuineness of this correspondence has found many defenders even in this country. The following is the translation of the papyrus:
"Abgar, Toparch of the city of Edessa," to Jesus, the Benevolent Saviour, who has appeared in the city of Jerusalem, greetings:
"I have heard about you and about the cures which you effect without the use of medicines or herbs. For it is said that you cause the blind to see, the lame to walk, that you cleanse lepers and drive out unclean spirits and demons, and that you heal men tortured with chronic diseases and that you raise the dead. When I heard all these reports about you, I made up my mind that one of two things were possible: either as God descended from heaven you are accomplishing these miracles, or as the Son of God. And because of this I am now writing to beg you to come to me and cure me of my disease. For I have also heard that the Jews are muttering against you and want to do you evil. Mine is a very small city, but honored, and it is sufficient for both of us."
The reply of Jesus was:
"Letter of Jesus Christ, Son of God, to Abgar, Toparch of Edessa:
"You are blessed, and blessed is your city, called Edessa. You are blessed because you have had faith in me although you have not seen me. For it is written of me that those who have seen me have no trust in me, but that those who have not seen me will believe and abide in me. Because you have shown your trust in me, preparations for your health will be made for you in every way. With respect to my coming to you, of which you wrote, I am obliged to fulfill these duties for which I was sent here by my Father, and, after doing so, to be taken up by my Father who sent me. But I am sending you one of my disciples who will cure you of your disease and give eternal life and peace to you and all of yours, and who will make your city safe so that none of your enemies may conquer it. Therefore I have written this letter in my own hand and sealed it with my seal."
The papyrus is important because it gives the full texts, only part of the prescripts being missing, and because it is related to a source independent of the fourth-century "Ecclesiastical History" of Eusebius, from which almost all other accounts of the episode derive.
The manuscript was dated by paleography, which is the study of ancient modes of writing.
The sequel of the episode related to the papyrus is that Abgar, sheik of Orshoene, was cured after the crucifixion and ascension to heaven of Jesus by the disciple Addai, sent to him by the Apostle Thomas. The inhabitants of Orshoene, of which Edessa was the capital, were converted to Christianity in the second century.
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The ideas of our ancient leaders are not revered merely because they come to us from olden times. The ideas have been perpetuated because the basic rightness, the honesty, of their concepts has been proved and re-proved in every age, literally, in many instances, from time immemorial.
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By Allen E. Roberts, F.P.S.
MOTlVATlON MAKES MEN ACHIEVE
Recently Bill Carpenter ran an article in The Pennsylvania Freemason entitled "Are Maconnes Gudder Men Then Odhers?" The answer: "Some maconnes are not so virtuous as some odher menne; but, in the moste parse, they be more gude then they woude be if thay wer not maconnes." Freemasons are better men than they would have been had they not come under the influence of Freemasonry.
Will management be "gudder" for Freemasonry? Yes - if we are properly motivated, if we will really give it a try, if we will learn and then correctly teach the principles of good management, then the Order will be "more gude" than it will be if it doesn't try it.
As far as I can determine, no one else has ever advocated the use of the principles of management for Freemasonry. This is readily understandable when we realize that even industry and government have been slow to accept this "new" concept. For over three years the top leaders (including me) of my department have spent over 300 hours in management seminars. Results are finally becoming noticable, we have moved slowly - too slowly. And not all of the top leaders have accepted the need for better management. Many never will.
So, I am not asking you to take my word that good management is necessary for any organization that doesn't want to stagnate. Talk to the leaders of progressive companies; the professors teaching business in our universities; instructors in the schools that specialize in teaching management; management consultants; authors of the hundreds of books on varying phases of management.
For several months we have been endeavoring to present, through the pages of The Philalethes, the case for management in Freemasonry. And that was the title of the first article. In that it was stressed that Freemasonry should remain exclusively Freemasonry. We also claimed that Freemasonry is NOT a non-profit organization, because PROFIT equals THE VALUE OF THE BENEFITS OFFERED OR DERIVED minus UNWANTED CONSIDERATION. Therefore, management is absolutely necessary. Goals must be set and plans made to reach those goals.
The second article was devoted to establishing the Purpose for the existence of Freemasonry. The evidence points to one primary purpose for the Fraternity - To Make Good Men Better. All goals and plans, and there should be many, must have as their aim the enrichment of the Purpose of the Order. This takes management.
In the third article we tried to prove that we need Masonic managers, and these managers should be Masonic leaders, men who know the ritual and who will use this living ritual as a means of achieving the Purpose of Freemasonry; men who will not set the ritual up as a monument to a dead friend. The need for innovation and creativity within the framework of the Constitutions of the Order we stressed.
"Intelligent Communication Wanted" was the theme of the fourth article. Without good communication, information cannot flow from the top to the bottom and from the bottom to the top; plans will not get off the ground and goals will not be reached, so the Purpose for the existence of Freemasonry is not achieved. Again the necessity for innovation and creativity was stressed, as was delegation of authority, and along with this must go credit and recognition. Without these and the other principles of good management, Freemasonry will stagnate.
Will this management I have been talking about for months work? On paper, and in the seminars I've been attending, it appeared that it would. A test was clearly indicated. To put it to the test a Wardens' Workshop was held late last year.
Surroundings and proper equipment play an important role in the acceptance or rejection of any idea. These are necessary tools to motivate leaders and potential leaders. Many a good cause has gone down the drain because of a dreary atmosphere or out-dated aids. So our Wardens' Workshop was held in a modern hotel with modern visual aids.
Forty-five Lodges were represented by 58 men. Each man was given a "tent-like" card on which he printed his name in bold letters so all of us could become acquainted. They sat around "U-shaped" tables; I sat alone at one long table, as nervous as a statue in a park full of pigeons.
The Workshop was started with a few introductory remarks concerning why we were there and what we hoped to prove or disprove. Then we listened to a tape recording designed to teach us how to listen. After that we determined that the Purpose of Freemasonry is to make good men better, and we decided we would set as our goal for the Workshop better leadership. This we would endeavor to accomplish by improving ourselves, by understanding more about Freemasonry, by improving our overall relationship, and by helping each other.
We listened to David K. Berlo, via a film entitled "Communication from Management's Point of View." We learned that good communication will provide trust, competence, motivation, empathy, recognition, and a dozen other qualities that all men must have to become leaders.
We also learned that the wage earner may be motivated by using KWITA (Kick Workers In The Pants! - and I was told I didn't know how to spell "pants"), but this will not work in a voluntary organization. Attempted force will only cause the leader to be told, in no uncertain terms, what he can do with his orders!
The discussion on communication and its many facets was so lively it continued through the coffee break and afterwards. Then an instructor in management had some of the men participate in a skit that proved the leadership that keeps its workers blindfolded can accomplish but a fraction of what should be achieved. Here the value of the film on communication proved its worth, because between the skit and the film the men learned the value of good management.
After lunch we listened to Dr. James L. Hayes, Dean of the School of Business Administration of Duquesne University, by way of an American Management Association film called "Principles of Management." From this we learned that the successful manager knows how to plan, organize, coordinate, motivate, and control. The discussion that followed proved that the groundwork had been firmly laid for the Lodges represented at the Workshop to have good management in the future. At least, that's what I hoped it proved.
Two evenings later I visited a Lodge that I had attended on several occasions. The Worshipful Master was a fine fellow, but he had not been much of a leader. He had attended the Workshop. What an amazing change took place during the business session! He had put what he had learned two days before into practice! The results turned his meeting into a pleasant experience!
A flash in the pan? No, Sir! The results were the same in three other Lodges I later visited - and even my own! I am convinced these Lodges will have Constructive leadership for the foreseeable future. These leaders will be seeking men who will not be manipulated, men who can be trusted to take a job and see it through to its completion. They learned what to look for in potential leaders - things that amazed them, as their discussion proved.
They also learned that continuity is all important. A year in the life of a Worshipful Master, or Grand Master, is but a breath in the life of God. Without continuity of action, the good that is started ends with the term of the leader. With continuity all that is good will go on indefinitely. This requires frequent meetings with all of the officers elected and appointed, and should include committee chairmen. Participation and open discussion should become the rule. This will result in the best ideas being tried, but more important, those who participate in setting goals will be committed to their achievement.
But the success of any venture in any organization, is motivation. Without this all-important function, failure will result. No one will be motivated to work for an organization he knows nothing about. Without Education there can be no Dedication is proven daily. Throughout the years millions of dollars assured the teaching and the learning of the ritual, a small fraction of this has been spent on teaching the meaning behind the ritual. Those of our members who believe the ritual is the beginning and the end of Freemasonry are dedicated Freemasons. But they are a small minority of the four million Masons in this country. What about the majority?
This majority can be motivated, but not if we continue to sit on our hands and ignore them. The principles of good management must be utilized so that all Freemasons will know they are an important part of the whole. This brings into play what I have been discussing - innovation! Innovation, one of the greatest fears in Freemasonry!
Shakespeare had Hamlet say: "And make us rather bear those ills we have. Than fly to others that we know not of."
Will we continue to let the fear of trying something new, although proven, cause Freemasonry to stagnate? I pray the answer will be a resounding - "NO! Let's try management!"
----o----
Chicago Chapter Enjoys
Interesting Meeting
The Chicago Chapter of the Philalethes Society enjoyed another of its gatherings on Halloween night, October 21, 1969, at the Y.M.C.A., Chicago Avenue and Dearborn Street, with a large and enthusiastic attendance.
After a bountiful dinner and a period of Fellowship, Alphonse Cerza, F.P.S., Life, chairman of the group, introduced each member present, and two fine papers were read, one by Dr. Donald S. Lien, M.P.S., "Freemasonry in China," (reproduced elsewhere in this issue), and "Freemasonry in Latin America" by Bruce D. Hudson, M.P.S., which will appear in a later issue.
Dr. Lien, a native of China, was named Employee of the Year of Central Community Hospital, in Chicago, where he is its Comptroller. He has had much experience and background both in Masonic and fraternal life, and is a past Master of Independence Lodge No. 1090. A.F.&A.M. of Chicago.
A feature of the meeting was an ample discussion period of the topics presented, questions and comments on Freemasonry, and plans drawn for a meeting on February 26, 1970, under the auspices of the Scottish Rite bodies of Chicago, for a panel, or open Forum, at which members of the Chapter, members of the Scottish Rite, their ladies and interested Freemasons may hear a resume of the fundamental essence of the Craft, to better understand it.
The Scottish Rite Bodies of Chicago has invited the Chicago Chapter of our Society to present a program at a meeting of Oriental Consistory, on February 26, 1970, at 8 p.m., at the Cathedral of the Rite, 935 No. Dearborn Street. A buffet dinner will be served at $2.35 a person from 5 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. There will also be special tours of the building up to 7:30 p.m.; this will include a visit of the library of the Rite. The program will consist of a panel of about a dozen of our local members discussing various Masonic questions. After a short intermission there will be questions from the audience answered by members of the panel. The meeting will be open to the ladies, neighbors, and friends and will be aimed at presenting information of interest to members and non-members. The meeting is being arranged by Brother Edward J. Brown, Commander-in-Chief of Oriental Consistory.
In commenting on this meeting, Brother Cerza remarked that it seemed to be a very fine way of acquainting not only Freemasons, but their ladies, with some of the interesting facts of our Fraternity, and suggested that other Chapters of the Society might use this method, not only of interesting new members, but creating a greater understanding of Freemasonry.
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by William T. Smith, M.P.S., Kentucky
There are some things about Enoch that we learn are without contradiction but others are simply conjecture and legend. We leave it to you to choose between fiction and fact, however the whole becomes a very interesting story of a great man.
The Holy Scriptures mention two men by the name of Enoch, one, the oldest son of Cain, (Gen. 4:17, 18), the other, the subject of our discussion, was the seventh Patriarch, the son of dared (Gen. 5:18), the father of Methuselah (Gen. 5: 21) see also (Luke 3:37) and the great grandfather of Noah. Enoch's son Methuselah was born in his sixty-fifth year and he lived for three hundred years more. Enoch means, inaugurator, to initiate and instruct.
The following is from Ewald's History of Israel, page 266.
"Enoch was a good spirit, who was invoked on any new or difficult undertaking, and from the span of his years, that he became the God of the New Year. Though there is little probability that this conjecture is true, the fact of his longevity probably had a great influence on the later traditions crediting Enoch with the discovery of Astronomy."
After the birth of Methuselah, it is said (Gen. 5:22-24) that Enoch walked with God three hundred years and was not; for God took him.
As a reward for his sanctity he was transported into heaven without experiencing death. Thus was the doctrine of immortality plainly taught under the old dispensation. In the Epistle to the Hebrews (11:5) reference is clearly made to Enoch's translation into heaven, a living person. Early Ecclesiastical tradition is almost unanimous in regarding Enoch and Elijah as the two witnesses mentioned in Revelations (11:3). - Peoples Bible Encyclopedia.
All of the following is credited to Mackey -
Masonic tradition closely connects Enoch by numerous references to the early history of the institution. One writer credits Enoch with being the first to give a decisive character to the rite of initiation and to add to the practice of divine worship the study and application of human science.
Another writer, in the Freemasons Quarterly Review says, it seems probable that Enoch introduced the speculative principles into Masonry.
The great span of his life is also supposed to contain a mystic meaning. The three hundred and sixty-five years are equal to the solar revolution and in all ancient rites this number has enjoyed a prominent place, mainly because it was representative of the annual course of the sun which was the peculiar object of worship among many primitive people.
It is believed that Enoch, like the other descendants of Seth, spent most of his life in the vicinity of Mt. Moriah. He differed from the other Patriarchs in that he became a teacher of the Divine Knowledge imparted to him by his contemporaries.
Oriental writers impute to Enoch great learning. One legend says that he received from God the gift of Wisdom and Knowledge, and that God gave him thirty Volumes from heaven, containing the secrets of the Most mysterious sciences.
The Babylonians supposed him to have been acquainted with the stars and they attributed to him the invention of astrology.
The Rabbis maintain that he was taught by God and Adam the proper manner to sacrifice and worship the Deity. The Kabbalistic Book of Raziel says that he received the Divine Mysteries from Adam and the direct line of the Patriarchs.
Enoch is supposed to have passed the pious, peaceful and useful years of his life in the study and teaching the sciences to his children and his contemporaries, until the time came when the crimes of mankind had increased to such an extent, that, in the words of the Holy Writ, "Every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually."
It was then, according to Masonic tradition, that Enoch, disgusted with the wickedness that surrounded him, and appalled at the inevitable consequences, fled to the solitude and secrecy of Mt. Moriah and devoted himself to prayer and pious contemplation.
It was on this spot, Mt. Moriah, first consecrated by Enoch's Patriarchal hermitage which would in later years be made still more Holy by the sacrifices of Abraham, David and Solomon, that the Shekinah, or sacred presence, appeared to him, and gave him those instructions which were to preserve the Wisdom of the ante-diluvians to their posterity when the world, with the exception of one family, should be destroyed by the forthcoming flood.
Enoch, being inspired by the Most High, and in accordance with the instructions received in his wonderful vision, built a temple underground, and dedicated it to God. His son Methuselah built the building. Although he was not acquainted with the motives of his father for the construction. This Temple consisted of nine brick vaults, situated perpendicularly beneath each other and being reached from the one above by apertures left in the arch of each vault. He then caused to be made a triangular plate of gold and enriched it with precious stones and encrusted the plate upon a stone of agate cut in the same triangular form. On the plate he engraved the true name of Deity and placed it upon a cubical pedestal of white marble. He deposited the completed work in the deepest arch. When this subterranean building was completed, he made a door of stone, and attaching to it a ring of iron, by which it might be raised should the occasion require, he placed it over the opening in the uppermost arch and so concealed it that the aperture could not easily be found. Enoch himself entered the vault only once a year and on the death of Enoch, Methuselah and Lamech, together with the destruction of the world by the deluge, all knowledge of this temple and of the sacred treasure therein was lost until, in later years it was accidentally found by another Freemason, who like Enoch was engaged in the erection of a Temple on the same sacred spot.
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Voorhis Is Honored by
Scottish Rite
The sixty-ninth reunion of the Scottish Rite, Valley of Trenton, New Jersey, on Saturday, November 8 and Saturday, November 15, 1969, honored one of Freemasonry's outstanding members, naming the class "The Illustrious Harold V. B. Voorhis, 33rd Degree Class." Harold has had many honors, but this seems to be one of the best. We offer sincere congratulations from all officers and members of the Philalethes Society.
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by A.W. Outcult, M.P.S.
I have always made it a practice, when traveling outside the United States, to try to visit a Masonic Lodge - hopefully one conferring a degree. So far I have been lucky enough to visit lodges in Canada, England, France, Belgium and Germany.
Last September I was able to add Jamaica to my list. I went down to this tropical West Indies island with my wife on a combined business vacation trip and based on my itinerary there would be only one lodge meeting on a night I would be free. That was Moore Keys Lodge No. 2519 in Kingston, which works under the English Constitution.
There are 33 lodges in Jamaica. Twenty of them are chartered by the Grand Lodge of England, 12 by the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and one works under the Irish Constitution.
Moore Keys Lodge, founded in 1894, is in its 75th year. It is a "military" lodge in the sense that all its members are either present or former members of the military, the militia or the constabulary. The night I attended Moore Keys Lodge they were installing Brother and Lt. Colonel Rudolph George Green as Worshipful Master. Wor. Bro. Green is the Officer in Command of the local Army - the first time in Moore Keys Lodge history that their Worshipful Master was also the local Army Commander.
In Jamaican lodges, as in English lodges, the junior Past Master holds an official post known as IPM - Immediate Past Master. He sits to the left of the Master and acts as his advisor and ritual prompter. The IPM in Moore Keys Lodge, Wor. Bro. Ivor H. Spry, installed Wor. Bro. Green in a ceremony somewhat similar to our installation ceremony in New Jersey.
As Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, I had been received initially with some ceremony and seated in the East with a number of Worshipful Masters of other Jamaican lodges. But soon it was announced that the Right Worshipful District Grand Master, R. W. Francis Bowen, and his staff were prepared to enter. I was escorted out of the lodge room and R. W. Bro. Bowen invited me to join his procession. He placed me behind the Senior and Junior Grand Wardens, and with them I re-entered the lodge where R. W. Bro. Bowen was greeted with appropriate honors.
The ceremonies of the evening continued. Jamaican lodges, again like English lodges, open on the Entered Apprentice degree, do certain work on that degree, open again on the Fellow Craft degree, do some work on that degree, open a lodge of Master Masons, and do additional work. Before the evening is over each of those three lodges is then successively closed.
Once Wor. Bro. Green was installed as Master, he then proceeded to install his other officers. He announced the name of the Brother he had appointed Senior Warden (only the Master, Treasurer and Tyler are elected, all other officers are appointed) and he was installed, followed by the other officers. The charge delivered to the newly-installed Worshipful Master and Senior and Junior Wardens was almost identical, word-almost-for-word, with the similar charge given in New Jersey lodges.
Another group was present that evening: the District Grand Staff representing lodges operating under the Scottish Constitution. They wore perhaps the most colorful red-orange regalia I have ever seen in a lodge room.
Before the lodge was finally closed, the Master called on R. W. Bro. Bowen for a few words. Bro. Bowen remarked that he was pleased to see the Grand Lodge of New Jersey represented, since several Jamaican brothers were also members of Alpha Lodge No. 116 of East Orange, New Jersey.
After the lodge was closed, we all retired downstairs for an excellent collation. The usual toasts, starting with "To the Queen and the Crown" and ending (about 12 toasts later) with the Tyler's Toast, rounded out the evening.
Following the toast to all visiting lodges present, I was asked to respond on behalf of all overseas lodges. I thanked the Worshipful Master for his many courtesies that evening, and offered best wishes for a successful and memorable year.
Their altar, is placed directly in front of the Master, not in the center of the lodge room. The lesser lights are not located around the altar but are placed one each at the Master's, Senior and Junior Wardens' stations. And where they place a "tracing board" full of symbols appropriate to the degree they are working on in front of the Junior Warden, we call them "trestleboards" and send them to our members to announce our meetings and other Masonic events.
When we left the Temple, I was driven back to my hotel, the Mayfair, by the Mayfair's owners, Bro. Jim Hughes, and his wife.
On the ride back to the Mayfair, my mind kept coming back to one fact. Sitting in Moore Keys Lodge that evening were Brothers representing at least three different races and probably 10 different nationalities.
To the Freemasons of Jamaica, that lovely jewel of an island in the West Indies, the Brotherhood of Man means exactly that.
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by Franklin J. Anderson, M.P.S. (Mo.)
WHEN a man desires to become a member of the Masonic Fraternity he signs a petition for the degrees stating that he freely and voluntarily offers himself for the mysteries of Freemasonry. After the Lodge receives the petition and the proper procedures have been followed, the hour for balloting arrives and the Master announces that the Lodge is about to ballot on the petition of Mr. John Jones to receive the mysteries of Freemasonry. The ballot being favorable, due record is made that Mr. Jones was elected to receive the mysteries of Freemasonry. On the eve of initiation before any move may be made toward entering the Lodge, the candidate must again assert that he is offering himself for the mysteries of Freemasonry.
Through each of the degrees, either in thoughts expressed or implied, the idea of mystery is conveyed to the candidate.
Scholars, historians, authorities dispute about the age of Freemasonry. At times the disagreement is caused by a lack of understanding of terminology. Freemasonry is over 250 years old if by that term is meant that society which created the first Grand Lodge. If Freemasonry's earliest document, the Regius Manuscript is correctly dated, Freemasonry is nearly 600 years old. If belief in the early date mentioned in that manuscript is sustainable and Freemasons met in the City of York A.D. 926 then Freemasonry is more than 1,000 years old. If by Freemasonry is meant an organization which employs symbols and religious practices which come from the dawn of civilization, then Freemasonry is as old as civilization itself.
Whatever age we may assume Freemasonry has attained, many generations of human life are represented. In all phases of human endeavor, social, political, civic, and in the fields of science, art, and culture vast changes have taken place. Our mode of life has transformed from bare existence to luxurious living; transportation from foot to ox-cart to horse to steam to air; communication from tom-tom to electronics; kingdoms have waxed and waned; the entire world has become much different.
Through all these changes Freemasonry has retained the same ideals, taught the same principles and maintained the Ancient Landmarks of the Fraternity. Through all these ages and changes, to each one who has entered the portals of Freemasonry, the hint of mystery, the desire to know what Freemasonry really is, has ever been present.
The principles and beliefs of the Fraternity, many of the practices, the exoteric work, is published for any to read who care to do so. But there is an undefinable something more, something which we can not explain. A Brother when asked to explain Freemasonry replied, "I know what it is until you ask, but when you ask I cannot explain." Freemasonry is an emotion deep within us, a mystery which we propose to call the Soul of Freemasonry.
In the unabridged dictionary there are several definitions of soul, four of which we find applicable to use in defining Freemasonry.
1. Soul - A person who leads or inspires.
How true this is of the Fraternity as well as of individual Masons. All the good works of the Fraternity must be done - not as an organization - but by Masons as individuals, yet it has been the result of the associations formed within the confines of the Lodge room, the result of inspiration gained from the teachings of Freemasonry, that these beneficial works came to fruition.
Consider the role that Freemasonry has assumed through its votaries in framing the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of these United States and many other important landmarks in our country's history. Consider the part that Freemasonry has played, through its members, in every forward movement of education, civic associations and government on every level. Someone has said that every movement for good in every field has had as its prime movers or most ardent supporters those who were members of the Fraternity. Surely, a part of the mystery, a part of the Soul of Freemasonry is its capacity to inspire and to provide leadership.
2. Soul - The necessary or central part of anything, that part which gives vigor and character.
Consideration of this definition of soul immediately brings to mind the ritual and the laws of Freemasonry as the central and necessary parts of our system which impart vigor and give character when properly used and consciously interpreted.
No composition is more beautiful, more majestic and more satisfying to the peace of mind than our ritual. We love it, we never tire of hearing it, and each hearing brings new meaning to us in each of its words and phrases. Only the Holy Scriptures, divinely inspired excel the ritual in majesty, inspiration and beauty.
The code of Masonic Law, with the Ancient Charges and Constitutions, the basis of all Masonic Laws, the codes of all Grand Jurisdictions give character to Freemasonry.
Each Jurisdiction has its own code or set of laws, yet each lives in harmony with all others. Annually, or oftener, there is an exchange of new laws, a revision of old laws, and an interchange of the activities of each. We need no special dispensation, no passport or visa to visit in sister Jurisdictions, only to be able to prove that we are Brothers. Each Jurisdiction is a law unto itself, the rituals may differ, but we enjoy fellowship one with the other and experience that emotion deep within us which tells us we are Brothers.
H.L. Haywood in one of his articles, commenting on this exchange of ideas between Jurisdictions, gives birth to the idea of nations and religious denominations using a similar system of exchange of ideas and practices. Each becoming more strong, more an entity in itself yet through a free exchange of ideas, laws and freedom, all working harmoniously together. Perhaps here is a field not yet explored that Freemasons could profitably study and promote for the good and eventual benefit of all mankind. Freemasonry does have those qualities which impart vigor and character.
3. Soul - The essential part of a person's identity, that part of a man's nature where feeling, ideals and morals center.
Again it is apparent that in our ritual and our laws the ideals and morals of Freemasonry are set forth and described, but it is in the individual Brother that the feelings, ideals and morals center. The Brother who is a Mason in the purest sense of the term, is the center of, and the living Soul of Freemasonry. Each of us has experienced that special, not to be described thrill, that good feeling which comes to us in every Masonic fellowship, with every handclasp and renewal of acquaintance.
We usually think of a soul as something alive, living, immortal. It is my belief that the mystery, the Soul of Freemasonry is constituted of some part of the living immortal soul of every inspired, devoted Brother who has been Freemasonry's progenitors. Those who during their lives left such an imprint on the minds of their associates that a part of their very selves lives with us still. This thought can be best expressed by a personal incident.
In company with my daughter we visited Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois. We toured the rooms, we viewed the various items on display, we read the placards all in accepted tourist fashion. As we were leaving the last room a placard on the wall read that this was the spot where Mr. Lincoln stood as he was notified of his nomination for the Presidency of the United States. Wishing my daughter to be aware of the historical significance of the place in which we stood I read the placard and told her that here was where history was made. Something in the import of that statement, something in the feeling of the atmosphere filled me with emotion, my voice broke and my daughter was constrained to ask, "Daddy what's the matter?" Now I do not believe in spiritualism or ghosts but I do believe that at that moment, somehow, someway I was moved by the immortal soul of Lincoln. I believe that Freemasons of this day are moved by the immortal souls of Washington, Franklin, Parvin, Ray V. Denslow, Carl H. Claudy and other Masonic stalwarts who labored long and faithfully in the quarries of Freemasonry.
4. Soul - That spiritual and immortal part in man which distinguishes him from beasts.
Freemasonry though not a religion is definitely and distinctively religious, the entire philosophy, all its teachings are predicated upon the existence of God, a God in whom we can place our trust, and from whom strength and wisdom flow in response to our prayers. This definite belief in the Supreme Being distinguishes Freemasonry from other purely social orders. This is the quality which has preserved the identity of Freemasonry through generations although other organizations have started, flourished for a time but because they had no soul, have perished.
The spiritual in Freemasonry signifies our belief in the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man and in the Immortality of the Soul. As an organization we stress more particularly the building of a noble character and moral life yet in every portion of the work we urge a study of and imply a need for the spiritual awareness.
These teachings are most evident in the drama of the Master Mason degree. This is the culmination, the acme of Masonic teaching. Here is set forth the fundamental principles by which man should live with fellowman. Here is the most solemn moment in the life of every candidate in Freemasonry, that moment when he is escorted to the altar and informed that he is to pray alone. Do we always lend to this moment of the degree the dignity and reverence which we should? The drama symbolizes to those of us who are of the Christian faith the crux of the Christian teaching, the promise that if we live according to the Master's precepts we, too, will one day be raised from a dead level to a living perpendicular and Immortal Life. For Brethren of other faiths it dramatically represents their beliefs according to the prophets of old.
Whatever our personal belief, however lax we may be in personal devotions, it seems inconceivable that any Freemason would want to be guilty of irreverence or blasphemy, but if we do not portray this drama with the dignity, the reverence and the majesty it deserves, we are, in a very real sense guilty of these sins.
Freemasonry does have that Spiritual and immortal quality which distinguishes man from beast. It is this - the Soul of Freemasonry - which has enabled our Fraternity to live and serve these 250, 600, 1000 years.
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Freemasonry recognizes no distinctions of religion what-so-ever, but no one should attempt to enter who has no religious belief, as faith in a God must be expressed before anyone can be accepted or initiated, and prayers to Him form an iterative part of the ritual.
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by Bliss Kelly, M.P.S.
My Dear Brother:
Why bother to recite the ritual if the candidate can't hear it? Do you speak distinctly, deliberately and strong enough for the candidate to understand it? Do you really recite it as if you were saying it for the first time for the benefit of the candidate - who is hearing it for the first time? Have you learned to project your voice across the room to him ? Are you sure you understand every word, and have you gone to the dictionary to find out exactly what the ritual is trying to say by using those words?
Why do candidates drop out and never finish the degrees? Why do many never return to lodge after being raised a Master Mason? Why do others pay dues a few years and then allow themselves to be suspended for nonpayment of dues?
Surveys show most of those men, who would otherwise be good, active Masons, never had a chance to be interested in it. They didn't hear enough of the ritual and lectures to learn much about the teachings of Masonry or to permit a true understanding of it. The part of the ritual which they did hear was intoned like a robot and a tape recorder would have been more impressive. They started to learn the categorical lectures, but no one explained why these were necessary and it was more than the candidate wanted to undertake. Besides, he didn't tell his wife anything about Masonry and she complained of being a Masonic widow. Neither the candidate nor the family was told anything about the history, background, meaning of its teachings or activities of Masons and Masonry.
How to be a good ritualist? Remember the late Senator Everett Dirksen? (He was a Mason). He spoke clearly and deliberately and strong enough to be heard and understood. As the result he became a great national leader. To be a leader in anything, especially in Masonry, everyone must learn to speak distinctly, deliberately and strong enough to be heard by everyone who might be listening - especially a candidate.
And when a ritualist does that he helps to make MASONS.
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COMPLETE PROGRAM – MASONIC WEEK WASHINGTON, D.C. FEBRUARY 20-26, 1970
Programs of A.M.D. and Other Meetings for 1970
Program Allied Masonic Bodies
ALL MEETINGS WILL BE HELD AT WASHINGTON HOTEL
15th at Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D. C.
February 20-22, 1970
Friday, February 20, 1970
7:30 p.m. - MASONIC WORKSHOP - THE PHILALETHES SOCIETY Sixteenth Meeting
William R. Denslow, President
Carl R. Greisen, Secretary
Saturday, February 21, 1970
8:30 a.m. - REGISTRATION
9:30 a.m. - GRAND COLLEGE OF RITES OF THE U.S.A.
Thirty-eighth Annual Convocation
M.’.I.'. Charles F. Adams, Grand Chancellor
M.'. I.'. Archibald R. McNeill, Grand Registrar
10:30 a.m. - GRAND MASTER'S COUNCIL, A.M.D.
Thirty-seventh Communication
V.'.William M. Wyman, Sovereign Master
V.'.C. Clark Julius, Secretary
11:30 a.m. - GRAND COUNCIL, ALLIED MASONIC DEGREES OF THE U.S.
Thirty-seventh Annual Communication
M.'. V.'. Henry Emmerson, Sovereign Grand Master
R.'.V.'. Robert L. Grubb, Grand Secretary-Treasurer
Open for the receipt of the Grand Master's and Grand Secretary’s Reports. All A.M.D. members are invited to attend.
RECESS
12:30 p.m. - LUNCHEON (Dutch Treat)
2:00 p.m. - INSTALLED MASTER'S COUNCIL, A.M.D.
Thirty-seventh Annual Communication
M.'.V.'. Murray C. Alexander, Sovereign Master
R.'.V.'. Robert L. Grubb, Secretary
To confer the Installed Master Degree on Masters of Councils present who have not been Installed. All Installed Masters are invited to be present.
2:30 p.m. - COUNCIL OF THE NINE MUSES, No. 13, A.M.D.
Thirty-seventh Annual Communication
M.'. V.'. Bruce H. Hunt, Sovereign Master
M.'.V.'. Harold V. B. Voorhis, Permanent Secretary
All A.M.D. members are invited
3:00 p.m. - GREAT CHIEF'S COUNCIL, No. 0, KNIGHT MASONS
Third Annual Meeting
V.'.E.'. James R. Case, Excellent Chief
K.'. Walter M. McCracken, Scribe
3:30 p.m. - GRAND COUNCIL OF KNIGHT MASONS OF THE U.S.A.
Third Annual Meeting
M.'.E.’. Murray C. Alexander, Great Chief
V.’.E.’. Landis Randall, Grand Scribe
4:45 p.m. - SOCIETAS ROSICRUCIANA IN CIVITATIBUS FOEDERATIS Interim Meeting of the High Council
M.’.W.’. Harold V. B. Voorhis, IXd, Supreme Magus
R.’.W.’. Frederic L. Pike, IXd, Secretary-General
RECESS
6:00 p.m. - ANNUAL BANQUET, ALLIED MASONIC DEGREES
M.’.V.’. Henry Emmerson, presiding
Speaker - M.’.W.’. CHARLES F. GOSNELL,
Grand Master of Masons in the State of New York, Past Sovereign Master, Giles Fonda Yates Council, 1958-59. All present for any of the meetings may secure tickets.
8:00 p.m. - GRAND COUNCIL, ALLIED MASONIC DEGREES
Labor resumed, Committee reports, routine business, Election and Installation of Grand Officers' and closing.
10:00 p.m. - MASONIC ORDER OF THE BATH OF THE U.S.A.
Forty-seventh Assembly
M.’.H.’. Henry Emmerson, Commander-General
R.’.H.’. Harold D. Elliott, II, Keeper of the Bath Records.
11:00 p.m. - YE ANTIENT ORDER OF CORKS
Forty-fourth Cellar
M.’.W.’. William C. Reilly, Grand Bung of America
R.’.W.’. Wilfred W. Minton Prov. Grand Bung of U.S.A.
Sunday, February 22, 1970
7:30 a.m. - CONVENT GENERAL, KNIGHTS OF THE YORK CROSS OF HONOUR
Breakfast in the Hotel
M.’.E.’. Sylvanus F. Nye, Grand Master General
M.’.E.’. Stanley W. Wakefield, Grand Registrar General
9:00 a.m. - THE SOCIETY OF BLUE FRIARS
Thirty-eighth Annual Consistory
M.’.I.’. Harold V.B. Voorhis, Grand Abbot
R.’.I.’. James R. Case, Secretary-General
10:00 a.m. - THE GRAND PRECEPTOR'S TABERNACLE, H.R.A.K.T.P.
Thirty-eighth Annual Ingathering
V.’.E.’. Samuel A. Wise, Preceptor
E.’. George C. Moreland, Acting Registrar
10:30 a.m. - THE GRAND COLLEGE OF AMERICA, HOLY ROYAL ARCH KNIGHT TEMPLAR PRIESTS
Thirty-eighth Annual Ingathering
M.’.E.’. Carl R. Greisen, Grand Preceptor
E.’. George C. Moreland, Acting Grand Registrar
HOTEL
Hotel reservations must be made by addressing post card or letter to Hotel Washington, Mr. Reyburn Miller Pennsylvania Avenue and Fifteenth Street, Washington, D.C., N.W., 20024. Call attention to the fact that you are attending the Annual Meejing of the Allied Masonic Degrees. It will be well to ask for a confirmation. Reservations should be requested at least one (1) week prior to your arrival.
ANNUAL DINNER
The Annual Dinner will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 21, 1970. Reservations are not necessary. Purchase your tickets from the Committee on Saturday morning, February 21st
LADIES' COFFEE HOUR
At 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 21st, our ladies will meet for coffee in the room posted on the bulletin board in the hotel lobby.
COMMITTEE ON TIME AND PLACE
Marvin E. Fowler, Chairman
1904 White Oaks Drive
Alexandria, Va. 22306
Henry Emmerson
4181 Park Avenue
Bronx, N.Y. 10457
Archibald R. McNeill.
Slieve Ard Farm
Pine Plains, N. Y. 12567
Harold V.B. Voorhis
105 New England Ave., Apt. 2B
Summit, New Jersey 07901
Stanley W. Wakefield
41 Amherst Drive
Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. 10706
Robert L. Grubb
P.O. Box 4232
Charlotte, N.C. 28204
Conference Program
Masonic Week, February 22-25, inclusive, Washington, D.C. All meetings |will be in the Shoreham Hotel, except that of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association, which will be held in the Memorial Building, Alexandria, Virginia.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22
Afternoon and evening - Registration
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23
7:00 am. - Deputy Grand Masters' Breakfast
9:00 a.m. - Buses leave for George Washington Masonic National Memorial 12:00 noon - Luncheon 1:00 p.m. - Buses return to hotel
5:00 p.m. - Grand Masters' Tea
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24
9:00 a.m. - Grand Masters' Conference
9:00 a.m. - Grand Secretaries Conference
12:30 p.m. - Grand Secretaries Luncheon
2:00 p.m. - Grand Masters' Conference
7:00 p.m. - Grand Masters' Banquet
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25
7:45 a.m. - Frank S. Land Memorial Breakfast
9:00 a.m. - Grand Masters' Conference
9:00 a.m. - Grand Secretaries Conference
12:30 p.m. - Reception at House of the Temple
2:00 p.m. - Grand Masters' Conference
2:00 p.m. - Grand Secretaries Conference
2:00 p.m. - Grand Secretaries Banquet
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26
9:00 a.m. - Annual Meeting, Masonic Service Association
12:30 p.m. - Luncheon
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BY ALPHONSE CERZA, F.P.S. (Life), Illinois
In recent years the subject of "leadership" has been given more and more attention by Masons and various Masonic groups. In October, 1969 there was published by the Masonic Service Association, a Digest entitled "Leadership" which reproduces several items on the subject and also has some original chapters. It deals with such subjects as: What it takes to be a leader, discovering leaders, motivating leaders, recognizing leadership qualities in others, etc.
Available from the Association, 724 Ninth Street, Washington, D.C., 20001, at $1.00 a copy.
* * *
There is also now available, "Key to Freemasonry's Growth," by Allen E. Roberts, a 162 page cloth bound book, plus a bibliography and an index. This book represents many years of study and experience in the business world. It is emphasized that the need for leadership in the Craft does not mean that any of the Landmarks need be changed or that any of our fundamental principles and moral lessons be abandoned. The foreword by Brother Dwight L. Smith makes this very clear and also calls attention to the need for utilizing modern tools beneficially.
The main theme of the book is that the Craft needs to utilize that talents of the members, that when this is done both the member and the Craft benefits, and that proper management of the non-ritualistic activities of our lodges should be brought up to date. There is also a discussion of motivation and the need for better communication between the lodge and its individual members.
This is a thought-provoking book and one that should have been written years ago. The author's use of research by business of leadership items is well taken, and can be used without sacrificing any of our fundamentals. Both Brother Smith and Brother Roberts stress the fact that Freemasonry can succeed without abandoning any of its special characteristics and for too long we have been listening (luckily without success) to those well-meaning members who want to adopt programs that would destroy the uniqueness of our Craft. The book merits a wide reading and an application of the principles presented. The book is dressed up with drawings on appropriate pages by cartoonist Chuck Larsen.
Available from Macoy Masonic Publishing Co., 3011 Dumbarton Road, Richmond, Virginia 23228, at $5.95 a copy.
* * *
"The Pocket History of Freemasonry," by Pick and Knight has been a perennial favorite since first published in 1953. This excellent book has been completely revised and enlarged by Brother Frederick Smyth and contains an introduction by Brother Harry Carr, editor of Quatuor Coronati Lodge.
Available from Quatuor Coronati Lodge, 27 Great Queen Street, London, W.C. 2, England, at $4.00 a copy.
* * *
The publishing of dictionaries is a common venture these days. The most recently published dictionary is "The Heritage Dictionary of the English Language." It contains short definitions of words, their history in some instances, and in many places there is an indication of how the experts vote on the usage of some disputed word-uses. It contains many pictures in the margin; many of these are significant. For example the word "acacia" is defined and a picture is in the margin. The word "temple" is defined, and there is a picture of the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City. The word "try square" is defined, together with a picture. The word "decollete" is defined as "having a low neckline" illustrated with a picture of Marilyn Monroe amply displaying the meaning of the word! There are some unusual items such as the Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, and Russian alphabets, illustrations of the manual alphabet, and the pictures of many famous persons. It is regrettable that the Masonic emblem was not illustrated with the definition of the word Freemason and that the word "brassiere" is defined but not illustrated!
Available from American Heritage Publishing Co., 551 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017, at $7.95 for the regular edition; thumb-indexed at $8.95; and a deluxe edition for $12.50.
* * *
The Jewish Publications Society has published a book with the title "The Five Megilloth and the Book of Jonah." This volume will be of interest to Freemasons since it contains in Hebrew and also a new English translation of Ecclesiastes.
Available from the Jewish Publications Society, 222 North Fifteenth Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19102 at $5.00 a copy.
* * *
The October 31, 1969 Transactions of the Lodge of Research No. 104, of Atlanta, Georgia, consist of the following fine articles: "Masonry is an Exercise of Involvement," by John A. Dunaway and "Freemasonry in Atlanta in the Nineteenth Century," by G. W. Kitchens.
Readers interested in securing copies can write the lodge at the Atlanta Masonic Temple, 1690 Peachtree St., N. W., Atlanta, Georgia 30309.
* * *
For a number of years last past Brother Bruce H. Hunt has written "A Masonic Review" for the Grand Lodge of Missouri. It is a fine and complete summary of what has been going on in other states and some countries in matters Masonic. The 1969 issue was especially good. Members of the Missouri Lodge of Research automatically receive a copy each year. If you are a member of this research lodge you will have received your copy by this time.
If you desire a copy, they are available as long as the limited supply lasts. Write to Missouri Lodge of Research, 301 W. Fifth Avenue, Fulton, Missouri.
* * *
Brother Alex Home, of San Francisco in recent years has been making a study of the subject of King Solomon's Temple. A fine article on this subject has been published in Ars Quatuor Coronati. We are reliably informed that there is being published in England a full scale treatment of the subject and that the book will be ready for distribution early this year. We will keep our readers advised of the progress of this book as it will be one that every Masonic student will want to read.
The Northern California Research Lodge has issued a leaflet entitled "What is to be Done: The search for renewed relevance, meaning and function." Readers interested can communicate with Brother Paul S. Boren, 1947 Tiffin Road, Oakland, California 94602.
Those who are interested in the career of Cagliostro will want to secure a copy of a French book translated into the English language entitled "Cagliostro: Scoundrel or Saint?" by Francois R. Dumas, translation by Elizabeth Abbott.
Available at $6.95 a copy from the Orion Press, 150 East 35th Street, New York, New York 10016.
* * *
As stated on a previous occasion, Brother Myron K. Lingle prepared "The Word," a play which rearranges the events portrayed in the York Rite in chronological order. The booklet which has this title has been favorably received and the copies are moving fast. There are still a few copies left for distribution.
Available from Alvin L. Crump, 2701 Payne Street, Evanston, Illinois 60201.
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by Alphonse Cerza. F.P.S. (Life), Illinois
New Masons are often surprised to hear that there are thousands of Masonic books that have been published. If the new member enjoys reading he will be interested in securing some of these books, and very often he dreams of building his own Masonic library. There is no better hobby for one who enjoys reading and likes to have a deeper and better understanding of the Craft.
There is always the problem of what books he should read. This, of course, depends on his personal interest, the subjects he wishes to explore, and the purpose of his reading and study. In order to help these new students of Freemasonry in their quest for more light the following list of books is presented. The list is classified according to subjects so that each person easily may make his personal selection among the subjects that appeal to him. Unfortunately, many of these books are out-of-print but many can be read or borrowed from public and Masonic libraries.
I.
GENERAL WORKS
Encyclopedias:
Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia.
Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry.
Collections of materials:
The Little Masonic Library.
Masonic Library (compiled and published by Rob Morris).
George Olver, Golden Remains.
Description of Freemasonry:
Joseph Fort Newton, The Builders.
H.W. Coil, A Comprehensive View of Freemasonry.
William E. Hammond, What Masonry Means.
H.L. Haywood, The Newly-Made Mason.
H.L. Haywood, More About Masonry.
Carl H. Claudy, An Introduction to Freemasonry.
Harold V.B. Voorhis, Facts for Freemasons.
Books of Help for Officers:
L.B. Blakemore, Masonic Lodge Methods.
A.R. Hermann, Designs Upon the Trestleboard.
A.R. Hermann, The Secretary's Book.
Carl H. Claudy, The Master's Book.
Robert Macoy, Worshipful Master's Assistant.
Henry G. Meachem, Our Stations and Places.
Leadership. (M.S.A. Digest).
Allen E. Roberts, Key to Freemasonry's Growth.
II.
HISTORY
General:
Pick, Knight & Smyth, A Pocket History of Freemasonry.
Gould's History of Freemasonry.
Mackey's History of Freemasonry.
B. Jones, Freemasons' Guide and Compendium.
Haywood & Craig, History of Freemasonry.
D.D. Darrah, Evolution of Freemasonry.
Alfred Robbins, English-Speaking Freemasonry.
Ray V. Denslow, Freemasonry in the Eastern Hemisphere. (Missouri Lodge of Research).
Ray V. Denslow, Freemasonry in the Western Hemisphere. (Missouri Lodge of Research).
Coil, Freemasonry Through Six Centuries. (Missouri Lodge of Research).
The Prestonian Lectures.
The Early Days:
Knoop & Jones, Introduction to Freemasonry.
Knoop & Jones, The Early Masonic Catechisms.
Knoop & Jones, A Short History of Freemasonry to 1730.
Knoop, Jones & Hamer, Two Early Masonic Manuscripts.
William J. Hughan, The Old Charges of British Freemasons.
William J. Hughan, Origin of the English Rite of Freemasonry.
Colonial Period:
M.M. Johnson, Beginnings of Freemasonry in America.
J. Hugo Tatsch, Freemasonry in the Thirteen Colonies.
Ronald Heaton, Masonic Membership of the Founding Fathers, (M.S.A. Digest) .
Civil War Period:
Allen E. Roberts, House Undivided.
European:
Eugen Lennhoff, The Freemasons.
Grand Lodge of England:
Grand Lodge, 1717-1967.
III.
PHILOSOPHY
H.L. Haywood, The Great Teachings of Masonry.
Roscoe Pound, Lectures on The Philosophy of Freemasonry.
A.S. McBride, Speculative Masonry; Its Mission, Its Evolution and Its Landmarks.
William Hutchinson, The Spirit of Masonry.
Wellins Calcott A Candid Disquisition of the Principles and Practices of the Most Ancient and Honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons.
IV.
RELIGION
Joseph Fort Newton, The Religion of Masonry.
Henry Josiah Whymper, The Religion of Freemasonry.
H.L. Haywood, Freemasonry and the Roman Catholic Church.
Dudley Wright, Roman Catholicism and Freemasonry.
Samuel Goodwin, Freemasonry and Mormonism.
Thomas S. Roy, Immortality. (M.S.A. Digest).
V.
JURISPRUDENCE AND LAW
Mackey, Masonic Jurisprudence.
Roscoe Pound, Lectures on Masonic Jurisprudence.
John T. Lawrence, Masonic Jurisprudence.
Henry M. Look, Masonic Trials.
Elbert Bede, The Landmarks of Freemasonry.
Luke A. Lockwood, Masonic Law and Practice.
Ancient Landmarks of Freemasonry. (M.S.A. Digest).
VI.
SYMBOLISM
Charles C. Hunt, Masonic Symbolism. Mackey, The Symbolism of Freemasonry.
H.L. Haywood, Symbolical Masonry.
Oliver Day Street, Symbolism of the Three Degrees.
Encyclopedia of Masonic Symbols. (M.S.A. Digest).
VII.
RITUAL AND CEREMONIES
William Preston, Illustrations of Masonry.
Thomas Smith Webb, Freemasons' Monitor.
Jeremy Cross, Masonic Chart. VIII.
VIII.
LITERATURE AND MUSIC
Poetry:
Rob Morris, The Poetry of Freemasonry.
A.C. Stephens, Masonic Songs and Poems.
Little Masonic Library, Vol. 5 (collection) .
Charles F. Forshaw, Masonic Poems.
Inspirational:
Carl Glick, A Treasury of Masonic Thought.
Joseph Fort Newton, Short Talks on Masonry.
Music:
Paul Nettl, Mozart and Masonry.
Henry C. Watson, The Masonic Music Manual.
William H. James, The New Masonic Musical Manual.
Chester W. Mabie, The Mystic Chord.
Jean Sibelius, Masonic Ritual Music. Plays:
Plays:
Carl H. Claudy, Where Your Treasure Is.
Novels:
C.M. Boutelle, The Man From Mount Moriah.
S. Cobb, Jr., The Caliph of Bagdad.
Carl H. Claudy, The Lion's Paw.
Easter, The Sword of Solomon.
Short Stories:
F.E. George, The Lodge in Friendship Village.
E.S. Ellis, Low Twelve.
E.S. Ellis, High Twelve.
W.M. Stuart, Hand to Back.
Biographies:
H.L. Haywood, Famous Masons and Masonic Presidents.
Sidney Hayden, Washington and his Masonic Compeers.
W.M. Brown, George Washington: Freemason.
J.H. Tatsch, The Facts About George Washington as a Freemason.
Hubert S. Banner, These Men Were Masons.
James A. Bell, Famous Masons.
J.F. Sachse, Benjamin Franklin as a Freemason.
William Stuart, Masonic Soldiers of Fortune.
Joseph Fort Newton, River of Years. (Autobiography).
Henry Sadler, Thomas Dunckerley.
Herbert T. Leyland, Thomas Smith Webb.
E. Forbes, Paul Revere and His Times.
William R. Denslow, 10,000 Famous Freemasons.
A. Cerza, Masonic Biographical Sketches. (M.S.A. Digest).
Joseph Warren. (M.S.A. Digest).
IX.
APPENDANT BODIES
General:
H.V.B. Voorhis, Masonic Organizations.
Conrad Hahn, Allied Masonic Groups and Rites. (M.S.A. Digest).
Organizations Predicating Membership Upon Mason Membership. (M.S.A. Digest).
Royal Arch:
B. Jones, Freemason's Book of the Royal Arch.
Cryptic Rite:
Hinman, Denslow & Hunt, A History of the Cryptic Rite.
Knights Templar:
Addison & Macoy, The Knights Templar History.
W.M. Brown, Highlights of Templar History.
Francis J. Scully, History of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar.
Scottish Rite:
Harris & Carter, History of the Scottish Rite, S.M.J.
Charles S. Lobingier, The Supreme Council, 33d, S.M.J.
S.H. Baynard, Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, N.M.J.
H.V.B. Voorhis, The Story of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.
J.F. Smith, The Rise of the Ecossais Degrees.
Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma.
Shrine:
Van De Vanter, Parade to Glory.
MISCELLANEOUS
Negro Freemasonry:
H.E. Davis, History of Freemasonry Among Negroes in America.
H.E. Williamson, The Prince Hall Primer.
H.V.B. Voorhis, Our Colored Brethren.
Women and Masonry:
Dudley Wright, Women and Masonry.
H.V.B. Voorhis, The Eastern Star.
J.M. Kenaston, History of the Order of Eastern Star.
History of the International Order of Job's Daughters. ( Published by the Grand Guardian Council of Illinois of Job's Daughters).
Anti-Masonic:
A. Cerza, Let There Be Light. (M.S.A. Digest).
A. Cerza, Anti-Masonry.
The Holy Bible (Masonic editions):
Holman & Co., contains pictures of King Solomon's Temple, and article by John Wesley Kelchner.
Oxford University, contains article by Joseph Fort Newton "The Bible and Masonry" and a Bible Concordance for Masonic use.
The World Publishing Co., contains pictures of King Solomon's Temple and Concordance for Masonic use prepared by Charles C. Hunt.
Masonic Stamp Collections:
G. Lucy, Freemasonry in the Making of a Nation.
G. Lucy, Freemasons of Many Nations.
Clarke, A Masonic Stamp Collection. (M.S.A. Digest).
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by Harold N. Painter, M.P.S.
FOR many young men who become Masons, becoming accepted to a centuries old Fraternity is an absorbing task. They may feel that they do not have the time to become interested in fraternal fellowship. They know little or nothing about masonry, its nature and its work. They may have heard unfavorable comments. They may not even know the value and importance of belonging to a fraternity.
How can we get young men and their wives to understand the purpose and needs of Masonry? Somehow they must be convinced of the opportunities for meeting many of their civic, social and moral goals.
First, Masonry is an old Institution. Youth must understand that our social problems are also old. Fraternal practices and policies evolved over a long period of time. The cycles of ups and downs frame the morale of today's activities.
Second, youth must learn that abuses must be fought, injustices have to be corrected. They must learn that many men have made personal sacrifices in order for us to live as we do today. Upon these sacrifices we have our personal security and the freedom of living we enjoy today.
Third, youth must understand that the work of the past is a natural growth of the mind of mankind. There are still attitudes that require changing and resistances to be overcome.
The mind of mankind grows towards maturity, just like our own individual minds.
Fourth, it is the duty of all youth, and Masons, to become interested in the problems of our era - civic, social, moral. Human values are never to be sacrificed.
In our Masonic Fraternity young men and women can meet and study our moral problems. Masons practice charity and this brings Masonry into direct contact with civic and social problems.
On becoming involved in Masonry the young man and his wife find themselves in a new environment. Its atmosphere is ancient, but its fraternal practices are industrial-like.
The responsibility for making our new members welcome falls upon the shoulders of wiser and experienced Brethren.
Each Lodge and Chapter should exert every effort to see that its new members should feel at home, and have an active part in an ancient fraternity.
Those with an understanding and a sympathy for the impatience of youth can, by personal contact and through welcoming ceremonies, give newcomers a clear picture of the past gains and the current problems. They should be invited to participate and assert their own views and to accept the personal responsibility that will sooner or later be theirs.
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Modern Style
"Unda'neath this roof,
In storm weatha,
This Buck and Squaw, I join togetha;
Let none but Him who makes the Thunda;
Put this Buck and Squaw asunda."
Proceedings, Grand Lodge of New York, 1925 - Foreign Correspondence, under NEW MEXICO
----o----
by Henry L. Haupt, M.P.S.
George Washington's connection with the Craft is a source of pride to every American Freemason who can thus call the Father of his Country a brother. Some English writers assert that Washington was made a Mason during the old French War in a Military Lodge attached to the 46th Regiment. It is claimed that the Bible upon which he took his oath is still in existence at Halifax, Nova Scotia, although the Lodge itself has been dissolved. However, it was in Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4, A.F.&A.M., Virginia, that he was initiated on November 4, 1752; passed on March 3, 1753; and raised August 4, 1753.
It is further known that the first recorded meeting of a Royal Arch Chapter was held in this same lodge on December 22, 1753, only a few months after Washington was raised. While it is not known for sure that Washington was ever exalted to the Royal Arch, the Masonic Apron which was made for Washington by Madame LaFayette, and which is owned by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, contains the initials arranged in a circle that are associated with that body.
It was our good fortune recently to be able to borrow a copy of "The History of Fredericksburg, Va.," by S.J. Quinn. Brother Quinn, past master of Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4, had previously written a "History of Fredericksburg Lodge," published in 1890, eighteen years previously. From that book we quote some interesting things, for "The records of the town reach back to the close of the Revolutionary War." There was history before that but nobody set it down on paper, or if they did, it has been lost. At any rate, by 1674, it was found to be expedient to establish "one effort or place of defense at or near the falls of the Rappahannock . . . furnished with four hundred and eighty pounds of powder and fourteen hundred and forty three pounds of Shott." That is where the town of Fredericksburg grew up and became one of the important towns of Virginia, which differently from most of the other colonies, had no large city to dominate its trade, learning and politics.
"Next in importance to the churches." writes Brother Quinn, "dedicated to the service of God . . . some the charitable and benevolent societies . . . the oldest of these . . . is the Masonic Institution. Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4, (as later numbered ) . . . was organized on the first day of September, 1752. Under what authority it was organized is not positively known . . . A claim is made that the Masons in the community organized themselves into a lodge and continued (thus) until a charter was obtained" . . . It is further reported that "in the year 1758 Daniel Campbell, for several years master of the lodge, visited Scotland, and at the request of the lodge applied for and obtained a charter for the Lodge from the Grand Lodge of Scotland, which was dated July 21, 1758 ...." Just why a charter from the Lodge of Scotland was obtained rather than one from the Grand Lodge of England is not known. Provincial Grand Masters had been appointed and many lodges then in existence were chartered by them or by the mother Grand Lodge in England.
"In the years 1798 and 1799 the town was the seat of frequent and heated political discussions . . . bitter feeling was shared in the entire town . . . during this excitement . . . a number of members . . . withdrew . . . and organized Fredericksburg American Lodge ...." given the number 63. ". . . It continued . . . until the breaking out of the Civil War, when it became extinct . . . In the bombardment . . . of December, 1862 . . . all of the records of the Masonic Lodge were destroyed or carried away except those from 1752 to 1771..."
George Washington's family lived nearby and his mother lived in the city until the time of her death. As noted the Lodge did not obtain a charter until six years after Washington was made a Mason, presumably therefore it was an "immemorial rights Lodge," such as that of Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, of which Ben Franklin was a member and Master. According to this "landmark" any group of masons could, under certain regulations, form themselves into a Lodge and "Make Masons." This was one of the first things that the new Grand Lodge did away with when it was formed in 1717 in London; for making masons had become quite a racket and was giving the Masonic Craft a bad name.
"On the 27th day of November, 1824, General Lafayette visited the town . . . a splendid mounted guard of honor was organized . . . he and his party, his son George Washington, and Colonel La Vasseur - were escorted to town . . . with martial music. A public reception was held . . . The next day being Sunday, he visited the Masonic Lodge . . . enrolled his name as an honorary member …."
General Andrew Jackson, a Mason and the "Hero of New Orleans" came on the 7th of May, 1833. The occasion was the laying of the cornerstone of the Mary Washington monument (mother of Washington). General Nathaniel Green (a noted Revolutionary War army officer) had been tendered the hospitality of the town in 1783. John Paul Jones another national hero of the period was a native of the Fredericksburg countryside and while it is not known that he was a member of Lodge No. 4, he was a member of the Lodge of "The Nine Sisters" in Paris of which Ben Franklin was an active member at one time, and "was a regular attendant."
On the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone of a monument "To the Confederate Dead," on June 4, 1874, the Lodge took an active part as it did also in the dedication of a second monument to Washington's mother in 1889. On that occasion President Cleveland, Vice President Stevenson, Justice Harlan, and others were present. Washington remained a member of Fredericksburg Lodge until his death. In the meantime, however, he had been a member and Master of Alexandria Lodge, formerly No. 39, chartered by Pennsylvania in 1783. This lodge is still active. When the Grand Lodge of Virginia was formed in 1778, it withdrew from "Pennsylvania obedience," and received a Virginia charter under date of April 28, 1778. "George Washington (with his personal consent) was named Master in the Virginia charter" and was later reelected to that station. While it is sometimes stated that he held this position when he died, he was rather Past Master at that time.
In 1804, says Coil, "Grand Lodge approved the change of name to Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22, conditioned on surrender of the 1788 charter . . . the Lodge objected, not desiring to lose its original Virginia charter in which Washington was named Master." This was arranged for in a resolution in 1805, permitting the change of name with the retention of the old charter. This territory for a time was part of the District of Columbia, but later was receded to Virginia since it was thought that much territory would never be needed for the Capital City. For a time, however another lodge known as Alexandria Brooke Lodge No. 2, existed under the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. This later became Lodge No. 47, District of Columbia, whereas Alexandria-Washington lodge reverted to Virginia in 1846 when the territory was restored to that state.
It is noted that the Pennsylvania charter establishing Lodge No. 39 was granted after the Grand Lodge of Virginia was formed, but this is attributed to the "prevailing military situation" at that time in that part of the country.
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The Early Grand Lodges of England
by Cecil Homer Ellis, M.P.S.
(A talk at (Chicago Philalethes meeting, April 30, 1969)
The subject assigned to me is "The early Grand Lodges of England," but I shall digress momentarily in order to provide a rather sketchy background for the rest of the script. The Greeks claim to have originated Freemasonry more than five thousand years ago and I would not dispute the claim. Archaelogical discoveries at Crete establish the fact that Greek sacred mysteries were flourishing at about 2800 B.C. The votive statuettes unearthed in 1900, bearing aprons, and with their hands placed in their proper positions, astonished all who had received full Masonic light. It is claimed that inasmuch as the Jews were not artisans, King Solomon called upon his friend King Hiram to provide the needed Masons and stonecutters; the Greeks being known as outstanding builders.
Of course, we are all familiar with the fact that the great cathedrals of Europe were erected by Lodges of Masons, formed for the exclusive purpose of creating beautiful structures that would stand through the ages. These lodges might have been called locals of the builders unions with the construction superintendent as the Master of the lodge. Many of the Masonic landmarks of this day stem from the customs of those lodges. Previous to the invasion of Britain by the Romans, in 55 B.C., and under the Druids, who were the priests of the Cells and the Cymri and had among them many customs, like those of Masons, the history of our Order is obscure.
The war between the Romans and the Britons gave check to its increase. It revived, however, under the Emporer Carausius, who shook off the Roman yoke. He held the Masons in great esteem and made his steward, Albanus, who was the first to suffer martyrdom on account of the Christian religion in Great Britain, superintendent over the Masonic assemblies. Under Albanus, the lodges of the fraternity were regularly carried on, and through his influence, a charter was obtained from the Emporer Carausius to hold a general council, to which the name was afterward given, at which he presided in person as Grand Master, so that the first Grand Lodge was held at York (Eboracum) in Britain, in the year A. D. 287.
From this time to the year A.D. 925, due to the constant wars with the invading Jutes, Danes, Scandinavians, and Saxons after the Roman troops had been withdrawn from Britain by the Emporer Constantin Masonry sometimes flourished, at others not. In the year 925 A.D., the King Athelstan began to reign. He appointed his brother, Prince Edwin, patron of the Masons. He granted them likewise a charter, empowering them to meet annually at York; and in this City the first Grand Lodge of England was formed in the year 926 A.D., at which Prince Edwin presided as Grand Master.
The reason for the Grand Lodge being formed at York was that Athelstan for a considerable time kept his court there and received envoys from foreign princes in that city. From this time to 1717 when four London Lodges united to form a new Grand Lodge, later known as the "Moderns," Masonry was sometimes patronized, sometimes persecuted, and sometimes neglected. Lodges, however, met in different parts of England, particularly at York, under the charter granted them by King Athelstan.
In the reign of Queen Anne, Masonry being at a low ebb, the annual festivals, communications, etc., were entirely neglected. On the accession of George I, the lodges, zealous for the welfare of the Craft and anxious to see it under proper direction, resolved to unite under a new Grand Master, to be elected annually as in former times; to revive the festivals and communications; to regulate the ancient usages and customs of the fraternity, and to establish such modes only as might correspond with the practice of the members of which the lodges were principally composed; and the new Grand Lodge was established. Anthony Sayer, Esquire, was elected Grand Master in June, 1717.
The old Grand Lodge, originally known as the Grand Lodge of all England, was re-established by the lodges at York during 1725, having been semi dormant for many years. Records as to the demise of the Grand Lodge of all England are conflicting and vary between 1734 and 1792, with many of the lodges becoming affiliated with the "Antients" and/or the "Moderns." There were at one time during the eighteenth century five rival Grand Lodges in England. They were the "Moderns," established in London in 1717; the York Grand Lodge, established at York in 926 A.D. and reestablished at York in 1725; the "Antients," established by independent lodge; "Antiquity" established in 1779 and "Scottish," established in 1770, calling themselves the Supreme Grand Lodge.
Sir Christopher Wren is said to have been adopted a brother in the Fraternity of Freemasons, on May 18, 1691. However, much valuable information was never recorded. Ancient lodges as well as ancient Grand Lodges, apparently kept no minutes as such. On the other hand a great amount of various recordings have been destroyed by fire, by flood, and by neglect. When the British fired Washington during the War of 1812, all lodge records as well as lodge furniture and other furnishings went up in flames, after which many men of prominence in the Nation's capitol had no official proof of their membership.
There is a definite dearth of historical data anent the earlier lodges established anywhere in the British Isles, including the cities of York and London. There is no knowledge of the number of Lodges, regularly formed in full accord with the customs of the times. A newly organized lodge obtained a charter from the nearest established lodge and until after 1717 (sometimes thereafter) no record was kept of the number of existing lodges. Lodge Mother Kilwinning is said to have issued many charters in Scotland prior to gaining the status of a recognized Grand Lodge in about 1736 and to have issued some eighty charters between 1677 and 1803.
No factual record exists as to the number of chartered lodges prior to the beginning of the eighteenth century, either by the "Grand Lodge of all England," by the Lodge Mother Kilwinning, or by the 1717 Grand Lodge, which initially controlled but four lodges. They sought membership among the aristocracy and other non-operative citizens, which practice and the omission of certain essential teachings antagonized other Masons, widening for a time, the fission between the new Grand Lodge and the older lodges, which were largely operative in character.
It is apparently not known just when non-artisans were first adopted, accepted and/or received into the fraternity. In the beginning Masonry was wholly operative and under the influence of the Church, and the Church was the social center. We must remember that the Church was a large employer of stonemasons whose skill was required in the erection of the many cathedrals, abbeys, churches, etc.
Uniform control of these workers, from the beginners through to the skilled artisans, became necessary; therefore the organization of Masonic Lodge, actually union locals, under the domination of a Master Mason. Some of these lodges existed for hundreds of years, with the first admission of a non-artisan probably beginning during the tenth century. The best that we can come up with is that the beginning of "Accepted" Freemasons came with the chartering of the Grand Lodge of all England, in 926 A.D., by King Athelstan.
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by H. E. Tice
Unfortunately, the term charity has too often been associated with the idea, or I might say, the suggestion of contributions to the material needs of the less fortunate. So when I announce that I am going to speak on the subject of charity, I fear some of you may get the impression that I am going to make an appeal for money. While Masonry does have many lessons about being mindful of our fellowman, it is also true that it does have something to say about our being thoughtful of our Brethren and fellowman in ways other than the giving of material relief to the needy the ill, the shut-ins and the aged.
In my work with these folks I have discovered that some of their greatest needs are love, kindness and understanding. Most of those whom I have visited in homes and hospitals seem to have their material needs fairly well taken care of by their families, their friends or charitable institutions. These sick, shut-ins and aged are not lacking in such necessities as food, clothing, shelter. What they desperately want and ask for is someone to talk to, someone to sympathize with them, to understand their lot in life and someone to give them encouragement. A will to live and perhaps be themselves a comfort and help to somebody around them.
Most of my friends and Brother Masons, from whom I have solicited funds, have willingly dug into their pockets and handed me a bill for the relief of a distressed or underprivileged person, but when I invite them to go visiting with me, they find some excuse for being too busy or too involved in some transaction that prevents their losing time.
May I say most humbly and respectfully that, busy as I am, trying to make a living for myself and family, I have never found visiting a needy person a loss of time or a waste of energy. So in this connection, let me offer three benefits I have derived from visiting:
First - Visiting helps and encourages the person or the patient visited. I have already touched on this, so no further word need be said about it.
Second - Visiting enriches the life of the visitor. Some day when you are feeling out of sorts, and things just don't go according to your plans, take a few minutes to drop by a hospital or the home of a shut-in and with this thought. Just suppose you were in that person's condition, wouldn't you appreciate a pat on the back occasionally?
Third - A visit extends beyond the visit. This may seem strange to some of you, but let me testify that I have seen it work. Take the case of the Brother mentioned in Columbia instead of letting his talent as a newspaper man go to waste, he has turned it into a channel of usefulness to his fellowman by contributing articles to a Masonic publication used by four Lodges in Columbia and is read all over the world. I say "all over the world," because there are members in military service who receive this paper in the far corners of the world.
The editor has in his possession letters from these servicemen who thank him for carrying these articles and who have found encouragement in reading them. I, myself, have been tremendously helped by visiting him in his lovely home and meeting his faithful family.
A young man who was a German prisoner in World War II, lived to return home safely and found such comfort and encouragement from visits by his Brother Masons that he gave up a promising advertising career and entered the ministry. At the spend a short time. I guarantee that your troubles, your imaginations, will soon vanish when you discover how much better off you are than this person. Don't you remember the old, old story about the man who complained about not having shoes until he saw a man with only one foot?
I have a Masonic friend in Columbia, S.C., who was a successful newspaper man, but who is now a paralytic wheelchair invalid. I thought I had troubles, but when I visited him and saw this Brother in his helpless condition, and watched how cheerful he was and how anxious he was to help somebody else, I became ashamed of myself, and promised myself that I would try to stop complaining about my lot in life, and start counting the many blessings I have. Remember the words of the prayer we offer in Lodge meetings, "Accept our thanks for the many mercies and blessings which Thy bounty hath bestowed upon us."
There are so many enrichments that I could mention, but I must hasten on. Simply let me leave you present time he is an assistant pastor in one of our fine Georgia churches.
A retired businessman who suffered a heart attack and came close to death, was visited by a friend and Brother Mason. He was so impressed by such thoughtfulness that now that he has recovered sufficiently so as to drive a car, he saves a part of his retirement pay each year to be able to send fruit and gifts to children in an orphanage. He has in his desk letters from these children thanking him for his oranges, apples and other gifts. Who knows how far such deeds will go out into the future of these children whose lives are so impressionable in their childhood days.
In closing, may I recite to you a poem which has meant so much to me in my visiting:
Pity the fellow who is down and out;
Give him a smile for his sorrow.
For this old world has a funny whirl,
And You may be down tomorrow.
Charity - A forgotten virtue? Well, let's revive it, and try it sometime. You'll never forget it, I am sure. Thank you, and God bless you as you go visiting.
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Action '70
DeMolays are "Young Men of Action!" Not only will "action" be the theme for 1970 but action will be what DeMolay is all about in the coming year.
The 50th Anniversary Year, 1969, was a dynamic year for everyone concerned with DeMolay, and the enthusiasm that the 50th Anniversary Commemoration generated on all levels is destined to carry over into the 1970's.
The upcoming year promises many opportunities for DeMolay members to be active and take part in outstanding activities on the international and jurisdictional levels such as the DeMolay Congress, Leadership Camps and jurisdictional conclaves.
Each chapter also plans and executes its own activities during International DeMolay Week March 15-22. This affords each chapter the opportunity to join a unified effort to acquaint the public with the outstanding goals and activities of the Order of DeMolay.
Along with the international and jurisdictional level activities, each of the nearly 2,500 chapters associated with DeMolay are busy with membership drives, ritual work, social, athletic and civic activities.
In the spring of each year, the International Supreme Council holds its annual session. Along with this year's session, which will be held in Omaha, Nebraska, the third Annual DeMolay Congress will convene. The Congress is a gathering of two delegates from each jurisdiction for the purpose of suggesting to the Supreme Council new programs and activities for the Order. This Congress also reviews current projects.
One of the most popular summertime activities is leadership camp. In 1970 another camp site has been added and a total of six (6) sessions will be available to DeMolay members to learn leadership qualities and DeMolay programs. The camps are located in each geographic area of the United States and run from June through August.
During the summer months also each state or jurisdiction holds an annual conclave where its members come together in fun and fellowship and enjoy several days of DeMolay activities and competition. Normally, new officers are elected on the state level and plans are made for the coming year.
On the chapter level, exciting events are happening. In Wells Maine, Highpine Chapter designated 1969 as "Children's Service Year" and spent the year cleaning up and maintaining a camp for retarded children, and made donations to other camps and scholarship funds. In Massachusetts, the DeMolays selected a day for state-wide participation to give a gift of "life" - blood. The Knoxville, Tennessee, chapter raised $599 to give to the Knoxville Journal's Milk Fund to provide milk and medicine to needy infants.
Far East Chapter, Clark Air Force Base, Philippines, recently held a drive to collect used clothing for destitute villagers near the Base as a civic service project, and when Hurricane Camille struck the southern states Three Pillars DeMolay Chapter in Sacramento, California, promptly went to work organizing a Disaster Relief Drive. Soon they had collected, sorted, and boxed over 11 tons of supplies for the disaster victims. Two airlifts, supplied by the Air Force, were necessary to transport the supplies to Biloxi, Mississippi. The entire project was planned, organized and executed by DeMolays.
The 1970's will be "action" packed for DeMolays everywhere. Take a good look at these "Young Men of Action!" - you will like what you see!
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Welcome to
New Members
E. JAY ROBSON, 5355 Echohill, North Canton, Ohio 44720
ARTHUR L. SHUMWAY, Maplewood Lane, Northford, Conn. 06472
PIERRE BELLEVEAU, 523 South Brooks Ave., DeLand, Fla. 32721
HAROLD S. DAVIDSON, 45 South Devoe Avenue, Yonkers, N. Y. 10705
PETER D. MATHESON, 155 Willow Road, Elmhurst, Ill. 60126
ALBERT L. HEATLEY, 8 School Street, Charlestown, Mass. 02129
JACK ANDERSON, 13 Southwold Road, Des Moines, Iowa 50315
CORNELIO M. AGUIRRE, P.O. Box 1234, Manila, Philippines
ORVILLE P. JACKSON, 107 South Rose, Spring Hill, Kansas 66083
ARTHUR A. OTTHOFFER, 2042 Bluebell Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45224
MARION SHELBOURNE, 517 South 19th St., Paducah, Ky. 42001
ROBERT STEVENS, 11 Clay Street, Milton, Mass. 02186
BENNY M. MOXLEY, 212 Petrick Avenue, Mingo Junction, Ohio 43938
JERRY C. RASOR, 3165 Olentangy River Road, Commercial Point, Ohio 43202
L.C. BRUCE, 9 Butler Drive, P.O. Box 417, Stearns, Ky. 42646
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East of the Mississippi River and
North of the Mason and Dixon Line
by Harold V. B. Voorhis, F.P.S. (Life)
You have probably heard the above statement made as designating the territory of the Northern Jurisdiction of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Such a statement is an anomaly.
The so-called Mason and Dixon Line is a boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland (including what is now Delaware). It was established by two "Mathematicians or Surveyors" from England, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon.
They were employed by the Commissioners of the two Provinces and arrived in Philadelphia on Nov. 15, 1763 and finished their task Jan. 29, 1768. They established a line between Pennsylvania and Maryland at approximately 39d 43' 17" latitude, which never ran past the western boundary of Pennsylvania. Therefore, there is no Mason and Dixon Line west of Pennsylvania. Had such a line continued westward it would have approximately bisected Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
At the north-east corner a circular section of land was laid out in a twelve mile radius from New Castle (then in Pennsylvania) as part of Maryland. At approximately the spot where the circle intersected the eastwest line, a line was extended down through the three lower counties on the Delaware River (New Castle, Kent and Sussex) to a line established eastward in 1751 by Colonial Surveyors. This section now forms the State of Delaware, becoming separated from Pennsylvania at the time of the Revolutionary War. This southern line running from the Maryland line to the Atlantic Ocean at Fenwick Island is approximately at 38d 27' latitude.
Thus should we extend the Pennsylvania-Maryland northern Mason and Dixon Line across New Jersey (ignoring the twelve mile corner circle) it would end up at Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island, a few miles south of Barnegat. But there is no Mason and Dixon Line in New Jersey. Should we take the south line of the Mason and Dixon Line where it goes east on the 1751 Colonial Survey Line, to the Atlantic Ocean, it would miss New Jersey completely.
All of the above shows that the jurisdiction of the Northern Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite has nothing whatever to do with the Mason and Dixon Line. It consists of fifteen north eastern states (originally fourteen when relinquished in 1827 by the Southern Jurisdiction, Wisconsin being added later, it having been at that date a part of Michigan Territory).
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Masonic Book Club Formed
An Illinois corporation not-for-profit has been formed with the name of "The Masonic Book Club." Its purpose is to publish out-of-print classics of the Craft, new books of outstanding merit, and to keep its members advised of current books of Masonic interest. It is felt that there has been a real need for such a group for many years. The activities of the book club will not compete or overlap the work of Research Lodges or other Masonic groups but will be a supplement to these activities.
The present officers are:
Louis L. Williams, President;
Roscoe Bonisteel, Vice-President;
Alphonse Cerza, Secretary;
James Bicket, Treasurer.
There will be an Advisory Board of about ten or twelve of the leading Masonic scholars of the world.
It is anticipated that during the year 1970 the Club will publish a facsimile edition of the Regius Manuscript with suitable commentary as well as a modern translation of the poem.
Membership in the Club will be limited to 333 members. The dues are expected to be $10.00 a year and all money will be used solely for costs of publishing, mailing, and other actual expenses of operating the club. All officers will serve without compensation.
Interested Masons are urged to communicate with either of the following officers:
Louis L. Williams,
402 So. Mercer Avenue,
Bloomington, Ill. 61701
or
Alphonse Cerza,
237 Millbridge Road,
Riverside, Illinois 60546
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by Wayne Fjosee
Committee on Masonic Education and Research, (Utah)
We must ever remember to keep the Church and the Lodge within their rightful jurisdictions, and to remember always that Masonry is not a religion, per se, but neither is the Church a social institution. Masonry has no intent of usurping the rights and privileges of the Church, and with the same breath let me quickly say, that the Church does not desire to take over the secrets of the Fraternity. As was said above, these two fine institutions complement one another, and thereby strengthen the good accomplished within each body. Neither would demand loyalty at the expense of the other, but to each should be given such devotion and service as will assure the continued service of each to the common welfare of mankind.
My first obligation is to the Church. My basic need as a man is salvation. This is to be found only within the Church, and my acceptance of God through faith in Jesus Christ. I have no fear for the future of the Church and Masonry if this basic fact and need of man is kept in right perspective. I want to hasten to say the Masonic Fraternity is, and will continue to be, one of the finest supports for the moral, spiritual, and ethical life of man. Masonry is not a substitute for the Church, but it is one of its staunchest friends. Where Masonry prevails, the Church has freedom to declare the Gospel of Love and Redemption; and, conversely, where the Tyrant closes the door of the Church, Masonry suffers a like blow. It is with sorrow we note the demise of Masonry where the cruel hand of the Tyrant has assumed power over the destinies of a people. Freedom lives best in a Christian atmosphere. Dr. Charles Sinnette, Jr. writes, "Freedom perishes where the direct relations between man and God and man and man, is no longer a possibility." Masonry and the Church, therefore, join hands in the struggle to maintain the freedoms which will assure to man the right to live as a man and not as a slave under tyranny. Either may need to go underground, but neither will give up and surrender to those who would blow out the light on the Altar of Freedom.
Maybe a word should be added concerning those denominations who love and cherish the freedoms we have been speaking of, but who hesitate, and in some instances, demand that their members make a choice between the Church and Masonry. Again may I say I find no quarrel, within myself, as to loyalty both to my Church and the Masonic Fraternity. There isn't anything secret about our Fraternity which is offensive to the best interests of man. There is rather a tolerance here which could well be planted in the soil of some denominations. No one delights in throwing stones, yet must we not say, that, it is wiser to be a critic from within an organization than to stand on the outside and speak in ignorance? No man having stood to the west of the Altar in a Masonic lodge has ever found it true that his membership in the Fraternity robbed him of any privileges as a Christian; rather it enhances his opportunity to be a more devoted Churchman and a nobler Mason.
I truly believe in our Fraternity that we find men who are earnestly seeking the narrow way of which Jesus spoke, and concerning which He said it leads to life abundant and eternal for those who find it. To that purpose, it is my firm belief, the Church and Masonry, stand ready to assist the seeker and point the way toward a better life and a more harmonious existence with the laws of the Creator.
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Astronaut Aldrin Is Member of Craft
From the Kansas Masonic Digest, we learn that Lt. Col. Edwin E. Aldrin, U.S.A.F., NASA Astronaut, who was the one that planted the Stars and Stripes on the moon recently, is a member of Montclair Lodge No. 144, Montclair, New Jersey. The record shows he was raised February 21, 1956, and is also a member of the Scottish Rite and York Rite bodies, and a Noble of Medinah Temple of the Shrine in Chicago.
Edwin E. Aldrin, Sr., his father, is a veteran Mason, having received the 50 year emblem in May of this year. He is a member of Morning Star Lodge, Worcester, Massachusetts, and was raised in 1918. He is also a life member of Aleppo Temple, Boston, Massachusetts. He is a retired officer of the U.S.A.F. with the rank of Colonel, now residing in Brielle, New Jersey.
Astronaut Aldrin was born in Montclair, New Jersey, January 20, 1930; graduated from high school there, and received a Bachelor of Science Degree from U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, in 1951; and a Doctor of Science Degree in Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1963.
He was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Science Degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1967. He and Mrs. Aldrin have three children. The Colonel graduated third in his class of 475 at West Point in 1951, and subsequently received his wings at Bryan, Texas, in 1952. He is a Boy Scout Councilor, and a member of the Presbyterian Church, serving as an Elder.
Astronaut Neil Armstrong is not a member of the Masonic Fraternity but his father is listed on the roster of Mercer Lodge No. 121, St. Marys, Ohio. Astronaut Mike Collins is a member of the Catholic faith.
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Let's Speak Positively About Freemasonry
by Allen E. Roberts, F.P.S.
Freemasonry is a long way from dying! But one would certainly not know this from reading and listening to the dire forebodings of the leaders of some of the Grand Lodges and appendant bodies.
After World War II, the Grand Lodges added thousands of members to their rolls. The petitions were received much faster than the Lodges throughout the country could digest them. Degrees were conferred as rapidly as possible and the new members were taught little or nothing about the Fraternity. For twenty years Freemasonry in the United States has had a severe case of indigestion. At long last, those who entered the Lodges, not knowing that Freemasonry is a way of life and not a social organization, are dropping out. This has caused great alarm in some quarters.
The alarm is unnecessary. Freemasonry never was intended for the masses. Freemasonry never was intended for "bigness." Freemasonry was intended to be a brotherhood of like-minded men, anxious to be of service to their fellowman. It was intended to bring good men together in a philosophical fellowship to make them better than themselves.
There are those who lament because professional men - lawyers, doctors, professors, politicians, teachers, and so on - are not petitioning the Fraternity. But they are! Perhaps they are not petitioning as early in life as did their forefathers, but this is a complex age. Men spend more years in school and learning the technicalities necessary to make a living for their families. More men are entering the armed forces of the country than ever before in peace-times. The power of taxation has forced men to spend more and more time making money than ever before. The technical advances have made it more difficult to "keep up with the Joneses." Time is valuable. Time is money. It cannot be frittered away. Every second must count.
Statements such as: "Our Grand Lodge suffered a tremendous loss this year" will hurt the Fraternity, when read by the un-initiated. The tremendous loss may have amounted to 100 members out of over 50,000 (002%), but the reader may not know this. "Why should I join a dying organization?" he says - and rightly so. Why should he waste his time, and therefore his money. And he looks for a civic club that brags about what it does.
Let's stop talking about great losses; let's speak positively. If we must mention losses, let us talk in percentages. It is more realistic to say: "Our loss in membership amounted to .002%," than crying "tremendous loss." Numbers are often deceiving; percentages are revealing and honest. And it is interesting to note that most of the Grand Lodges that did have losses reduced their membership by less than one percent!
Every Grand Lodge has problems. What organization does not? Every Lodge has problems, but is there a family that does not? Every business has problems, but they do not put them into print for the whole world to read. Not even the stockholders know the seriousness of their troubles. The reports they write and submit are usually glowing. They accentuate the positive. The things that could hurt them are kept within the official family. This practice should be followed by Freemasonry.
It is true that we have Lodges that hold dull meetings. But we have many that hold excellent communications. Let's speak positively! Let's emphasize the work of the excellent Lodges. Let us work quietly with the Lodges that need help. Where an educational program is needed, let us furnish it and not broadcast to the world what we are doing.
There are Lodges that are ritualistically poor. On the other hand, the vast majority of the Lodges have excellent ritualistic work. Let's speak positively! Send help to those few that need it; talk about those that do the work well. It will cause all of them to raise their standards.
Attendance may be poor in some instances, but it is no where nearly as poor as some of the wailing would lead the public to believe. When compared with some civic clubs, it may be considered bad until one remembers no "bribery" is used to make Freemasons attend their meetings. Masonry cannot be used for "contacts"; a business establishment does not pay the dues for a man to be a Mason, nor does it pay for his lunches, and it does not pay his salary while he attends Masonic meetings during business hours. Freemasonry is not subsidized by any business or the federal government.
Where interesting Masonic programs are used, attendance is high; where nothing but degree work is performed, attendance is low. Where Freemasonry has imaginative, dedicated, and knowledgeable leadership, it prospers. When a Masonic leader complains about the ills of his Jurisdiction, he is complaining about himself. He should ask where he has fallen short, not tell the world that Freemasonry is dying.
With travel easier and faster, and technical advances being made daily, Freemasons are being transferred all over the country by their employers. Many want to keep their membership with their Mother Lodge. Several Jurisdictions complain about inactive Masons, but will not permit dual membership, even without their State! Such a law prevents some Masons from being active which they otherwise might be. Most men want to be a part of the whole; they do not want to be just a visitor with no voice or vote in the affairs of the local Lodge. No landmark would be violated if the law of "no dual membership" was repealed, but the cause of Freemasonry would be aided.
Every petitioner of a Lodge should be told before his petition faces the ballot box what Freemasonry is and is not. He should then be allowed to decide whether or not the Order is one in which he desires to be a member. If he chooses to continue, he should be guided every step of the way by knowledgeable Masons. Freemasonry may not have as many "Railings," but the demits, suspensions, and expulsions will diminish. It will have fewer members, perhaps, but those who enter will become Master Masons.
Freemasonry is still the greatest and most powerful fraternal organization in the world. It always will be. Its leadership can make it even stronger by putting into practice the teachings of the Order. With a leadership that practices selflessness, all of the Fraternity's ills will disappear.
Let's speak positively! Freemasonry deserves to be praised!
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Notes, Queries and Information On Items of Masonic Research
BY MELVIN L. PFANKUCHE, M.P.S.
3319 Harwinton Lane. Cincinnati. Ohio 45211
1970 - No. 1
THE NUMBER OF LETTERS CONTAINING QUESTIONS which relate to matters of fact in Masonic history, biography and tradition justify their treatment in a column apart from other portions of the magazine.
Our readers and members are invited to send such material appropriate far use in this column, especially information concerning research currently under way.
The Editor will assist the Sponsor of this column which is supervised and run by Brother Melvin L. Pfankuche, M.P.S.
It must be noted that this page is for EXCHANGE of information and opinion, and does not pretend to provide the final answer to any query.
269 - John Black Vrooman, F.P.S., Box 402, St. Louis, Mo., 63166 needs information about Clerkenwell Court, London, England, where the Knights Templar had a secret retreat for more than 300 years after J.B. DeMolay was burned at stake in 1314. ANY book or references will be appreciated.
270 - Another unusual item has passed our way in the form of a broach in an oval shape with: "Columbia Lodge No. 27, David M. Rice," on the reverse. The obverse has the same letters as the Royal Arch keystone except they are in reverse order. The letters surround a gold heart pointing to the left, a trowel with the point upwards and the palm of a right hand with the fingers pointed upward. World's Masonic Register for 1860 does not list a Columbia Lodge No. 27. This item is believed to date back to at least that time. Does anyone have any ideas?
271 - Samuel Whittlesey (1763 - 18??), served the Grand Lodge of Connecticut as Grand Deacon 180001 and Grand Junior Warden 18021805. He was a Tollanc, Connecticut lawyer and business man who removed to New Jersey about 1806, went west and disappeared. Brother James R. Case, F.P.S., 43 Highland Avenue, Bethel, Connecticut 06801 is searching for materials to complete the life history of this brother and would appreciate any information you may have available. Ohio had a Brother Elisha Whittlesey, born October 19, 1783 in Washington, Connecticut and removed to near Canfield, Ohio, about 1806. Elisha served the Grand Lodge of Ohio as D.G.M., 1820-1823. There seems to be no further connection however, as the Federal Census index for both 1820 and 1830 do not list a Samuel Whittlesey nor does the cemetery where Elisha is buried have any record of our lost brother.
272 - Robert Burns. The Report of the Museum and Library in the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Scotland about 20 years ago stated that when Lodge St. David, No. 133 went dormant in 1843, the Charter was recovered by the Provincial Grand Master and returned to the Grand Lodge. However, the Minute Books, which contain the details of the initiation of Robert Burns into Freemasonry, passed into private hands. The Lodge was reopened in 1869, but the Minute Books have remained in private hands to the date of the above Proceedings. The holder of these Minute Books was asking the Grand Lodge $3,000 or $8,400 for them. Does any brother know if this situation has been remedied since that time?
273 - Past Grand Masters. How many Grand Lodges, and York Rite Bodies have made a serious and continuing effort to locate, catalogue, photograph and if necessary, mark the graves of their Past Grand Presiding or Top Officers? Or for that matter, former elected members of the Grand Body in question and brethren who were important contributors to Freemasonry in the early days of the Craft in our various states and jurisdictions.
SWAP CORNER
FOR NEEDED BOOKS AND
RESEARCH MATERIAL
Readers please carry on all correspondence with individuals in need.
You're on your own!
30 - Swap Corner: Brother Ed Sadowski, M.P.S., wants to trade a bound volume of Grand Council, Wisconsin 1857 through 1876, for bound volumes 1860 through 1868 of Illinois Grand Lodge Proceedings. His address is: 1924 74 Court, Elmwood Park, Illinois 60635.
31 - Swap Corner: Quatuor Coronati Transactions. Brother Tony E. Davis, M.P.S., 1551 Benson, Hwy. 80, Tucson, Arizona 85714, wants to hear from any brother who might be willing to give or sell him odd volumes of the Transactions of Quatuor Coronati Lodge of Research No. 2076, London. England.
32 - Swap Corner: Brother Frederick J. Smith, M.P.S., 1819 North Beard, Shawnee, Oklahoma 74801 needs the following Grand Commandery Proceedings to complete his library.
Grand Commandery, Indian Territory 1895, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1909 and 1910.
Grand Commandery, Oklahoma Territory 1900, 1909 and 1910.