Contents
The President's Corner Meet Our Editor
The Carnicero of the Alamo The Origin of Freemasonry
Current Fellows of The Philalethes Society About John Nocas
In Memoriam Bartholdi's Liberty
The Universality of Freemasonry LITERARY Initiations
THE FORREST FOR THE TREES Abd el Kader: The Tolerant Hero
Fellows of The Philalethes Society 1928 - 1991 Formation of a Chapter
The New World Order
Through Masonic Windows
the philalethes
The Journal of Masonic Research and Letters
Allen E. Roberts, FPS Acting Editor
P.O. Box 70, 110 Quince Ave.
Highland Springs, VA 23075 (804) 737-4498
FAX (804) 328-2386
OFFICERS
Wallace E. McLeod, FPS President
Victoria College - FAX 416/585-456
73 Queen's Park Crescent - Res: 416/488-1097
Toronto, Ontario Canada M5S 1K7
Forrest D. Haggard, FPS 1st Vice Preside
6815 W. 78th Terrace
Overland Park, KS 66204 (913) 642-5519
Royal C. Scofield, FPS 2nd Vice President
655 W. Maryland Ave.
Sebring, OH 44672 216/938-6240
Allen E Roberts, FPS Executive Secretary
P.O. Box 70, 110 Quince Ave.
Highland Springs, VA 23075 (804) 737 4498
FAX 804/328-2386
Henry G. Law, FPS. Treasurer
2608 E. Riding Dr. Wilmington, DE 19808
(302) 737-9083
Harold L. Davidson, FPS Librarian
The Philalethes Society 1903 10th St. W.
Billings, MT 59102 (406) 259-1552
LIVING PAST PRESIDENTS
Philalethes Society
William R. Denslow FPS
Robert V. Osborne, FPS
Dwight L Smith, FPS
Robert L Dillard Jr. FPS
Bruce H. Hunt, FPS
Allen E. Roberts, FPS
John Mauk Hilliard, FPS
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A Bonus Issue
CONTENTS
President's Message
Meet Our Editor
The Carnicero of the Alamo
The Philalethe's Lecture: The Origin of Freemasonry -A New Theory (Part I)
Current Fellows of the Society
About John Nocas
In Memoriam John Nocas II, FPS
About John Nocas II
Bartholdi's Liberty
The Universality of Freemasonry
Masonic Gravestones
Literary Initiations
The Forest For The Trees
Abd el-Kader: The Tolerant Hero
Semi-Annual Meeting Reminder
Fellows of the Society 1928-1991
The New World Order? Commentary - Not a Review
Through Masonic Windows
ON THE COVER
The majestic George Washington Masonic National Memorial building atop Shooter's Hill, Alexandria, Virginia, built to commemorate the memory of one of Freemasonry's greatest members.
Courtesy of the GWMNM Association; photo by Arthur W. Pierson.
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by Wallace McLeod, FPS
The Philalethes Society calls itself "an international society for Freemasons who seek more Light and Freemasons who have Light to impart. " Even though it calls itself "international, " it turns out that I am the first President from outside the United States. This of course makes me proud, but I am certainly not the first Canadian to take an interest in the Society, or to be honored by it. Over the years Canada has provided four earlier Fellows of the Society, though I never had the privilege of knowing them personally. In a sense, I follow in their foot-steps, and it is proper to mention their names and to recall some of their accomplishments.
The first was Reginald Vanderbilt Harris ( 1881-1968), of Nova Scotia. He worked on the editorial board of The Builder, the magazine of the National Masonic Research Association, from 1925 to 1930. He was Grand Master of Nova Scotia, 1932-1935, and later served as its historian. He was one of the founders of the Canadian Masonic Research Association, and was its secretary from its institution in 1949 until his death; indeed, it only survived him by eight years.
Then there was Nathaniel W. J. Haydon (1871-1950), of Toronto; he was the first secretary of the Toronto Society for Masonic Research when it was founded in 1921. He likewise worked for that great magazine Thc Builder, and acted as one of its associate editors from 1923 to 1930; he was also the first librarian of the Grand Lodge Library in Toronto, serving from 1934 until 1949.
Robert James Meekren (1876-1963), of Stanstead, Quebec, was actually Editor-in Chief of the Builder from 1925 until its demise in 1930. He was a full member of the premier lodge of research; Quatuor Coronati, in England, from 1949 on. Even thirty years after his death, we could still do worse than to collect in a single volume some of his articles dealing with the history of the ritual and of the lodge. These three, Harris, Haydon, and Meekren, were among the original forty immortals named as the first Fellows of the Philalethes Society (numbers 9, 19, 30) in 1931.
The fourth Fellow, Charles Ernest Aime Holmes (1880-1959), of Montreal was the first editor and managing director of the Masonic Light magazine of Montreal, when it was founded in 1947. He became Second Vice-President of the Philalethes Society in 1950, and for several years he contributed a regular column on "Freemasonry Overseas " to our magazine. He was named a Fellow of the Philalethes Society (No 77) in 1949.
When Bro. Charles Holmes assumed office, he wrote in our magazine (February 1950, page 8) as follows: "One of the greatest advantages I, personally, have derived from membership ... is the Masonic friendships I've made with Brethren in far distant lands; and I do not mean mere pen acquaintances, but real, deep-down-in-the-heart friend-ships. While oceans separate us we have shared the same Masonic teachings and philosophy.... " More than forty years later, I can endorse these sentiments entirely.
During forty years in the Craft, as I have said before, one sees a lot. One sees Brethren elected to high office who have no idea of what Masonry is, and what it stands for. One sees men with no interest in books being named to Grand Lodge's on Masonic Education. One hears high- ranking officials say, "Our Grand Lodge does not recognize the Philalethes Society, " as if it were some sort of concordant order. One hears of Grand Lodges that take steps to curtail the activities of their Masonic Libraries, because these constitute a pointless drain on resources, and serve no useful purpose. One sees parts of the ritual, unchanged for 230 years, arbitrarily altered in response to external criticism. One observes officers foaming at the mouth because they feel strongly that we should, or should not, recognize Freemasonry of the Prince Hall Affiliation.
About all of these matters I, personally, have strong opinions. But, as a Past Master, I have undertaken "strictly to conform to every edict of the Grand Lodge, " and according to the Constitution of my mother Grand Lodge, "Any violation of the Constitution, laws, edicts, rules, or regulations of Grand Lodge " counts as a Masonic offence. I presume it is the same everywhere. So while I may not agree with various changes or policies that are adopted by different Grand Lodges, it is not my job to criticize them in a public forum.
Furthermore, all the members of these various jurisdictions are obliged to act in conformity with the rulings of their leaders. Therefore let us never, in the Philalethes Society, hear any of our members say anything that could be interpreted as disloyalty to the authorities of their Grand Lodges. That is the quickest way to get the Society outlawed, or its magazine banned. In such matters, out of fairness to the Society, please be discreet and circumspect. The Philalethes Society deserves, and needs, all the support it can get from local Masons and Grand Lodges. We don't have to go out of our way to make enemies of those "dressed in a little brief authority. " We can probably do enough of that just by being honest.
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Charles Snow Guthrie, FPS, will be editing The Philalethes beginning immediately. Brother Guthrie is a long-time Member of The Philalethes Society, and has been a Fellow since 1981. He's no stranger to the printed word. He is thoroughly familiar with the goals, objectives and purpose for Thc Philalethes. We are certain he will be what we've been looking for.
He's an educator. He was an instructor in Cumberland (Kentucky) High School for 12 years. He went from there to Graduate School at the University of Kentucky for two years, then spent 16 years as a associate professor of English at Western Kentucky University. He was Editor of Kentucky Folklore Record for eight years. He says he has been retired for the past eight years, but that's not exactly so. He has never stopped working for Freemasonry. In addition he has written two books for Kentucky Freemasonry.
At his request he's taking the job of Editor of The Philalethes for the balance of the year. He wants to give us a chance to evaluate him and he wants to determine how we receive him.
We think we've found the right man for the right job at the right time. We hope you and he agree.
All items for possible publication must be sent to: Charles S. Guthrie, FPS, Acting Editor, The Philalethes, 1660 Normal Drive, Bowling Green, KY 42101-3536; Telephone 502/842-5415
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By Joseph E. Bennett, MPS
At 5:00 a.m., it was still dark on the morning of March 6, 1836. A norther had been blowing in San Antonio de Bexar for two days, and it was freezing cold. This was the thirteenth day of the siege, which was about to enter its final act. The 182 defenders of the Alamo had known for days how it all would end.
A series of noises rent the dark morning stillness. All three sounds were different, but they told a story better than a thousand words. A bugle call announced that the hour of the final Mexican charge was at hand. The Mexican soldiers, compelled to spend the night on the freezing ground without blankets, rose to their feet. Santa Ana had ordered that all unnecessary equipment be deleted the night before. The soldiers would be better enabled to climb the scaling ladders if they were not carrying too much weight. On the heels of the bugle call, the thunder of running feet sounded to the defenders as if a herd of cattle were stampeding from every point of the compass. The soldiers of Anna were approaching all four outer walls on a dead run.
The third sound was the regimental band as they struck up the music of the deguello, the ancient Moorish battle march. It was a favorite of Santa Anna, and one he invariably employed prior to a battle. It was the musical equivalent of the red flag that fluttered atop the bell tower of San Fernando Church that morning. It meant "no quarter given, no prisoners taken. " Although of Spanish parents, and high born, the general had Romany blood in his veins. Perhaps some long-forgotten blood lust stirred in his civilized breast. The chilling message was quite clear to the defenders, and they were ready for the charge.
The strange chain of events that led up to this fateful confrontation conjures many "what ifs" in the mind of one who ponders how history might have been altered had they not occurred. Pope Clement XII issued a Papal Bull in 1838, condemning Freemasonry, climaxing a long period of activity against the Fraternity. In all the Catholic countries, this meant total obedience to the pope's edict, except in France. There Masonry was not curtailed to any degree. This opportune situation provided a stage for one Andrew Michael Ramsay, a Scotsman, to promulgate his Masonic philosophy. In 1837, as the Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of France, that talented son of a baker made an important presentation of the august body.
Ramsay appeared on the floor of the Grand Lodge, extolling the virtues of an entirely new and different interpretation concerning the beginnings of Freemasonry. He contended that it had actually started during the crusades, and had been founded by the noblemen and Christian knights in the Holy Land. He further maintained that only men of noble birth were privy to the advantages of the Order, and that only later had they united with the Knights of St. John, thereby including members of the building craft. He stressed that it was an altogether moral Order, dedicated to the same precepts as had been set forth in the Masonic groups then working. As Ramsay wove the fabric of his new philosophy of Masonry, his words fell on eager and receptive ears. Those of the nobility and the church hierarchy embraced the entire philosophy and it wasn't long before a system of Masonry called the Ecossais Degrees came into practice. Literally translated, this meant "Scottish Master," and years later a part of the Ecossais work came into use in the Scottish Rite Degrees.
Another event should be mentioned in the sequence of historical happenings that eventually affected the outcome of the Alamo siege. It was the act of Napoleon installing his oldest brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the throne of Spain in 1801. Joseph was a Mason, having receiving the degrees in 1805, and thus was kindly disposed toward the Fraternity. In Spain, he acknowledged the right of Freemasons to meet and work in their Lodges. He also relaxed the old policy of appointing only nobility to high office in the government and church. In addition, Joseph Bonaparte instituted a policy that was of particular interest to families such as that of Santa Ana. He decreed that Spaniards born in New Spain (Mexico) were no longer denied the right to hold high office. These New World Spaniards were called crillos (or creole) and both Santa Anna's parents were of this origin. This policy made it possible for Santa Anna to become an army officer and take the first steps toward national prominence in the future.
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was born in Jalapa, in the State of Vera Cruz, on June 13, 1792. He had every advantage, being descended from wealthy Spanish parents who held the loftiest ambitions for their bright, handsome son. Never had a youngster been endowed with a more promising opportunity, nor with more natural talent with which to capitalize on. There was a serious flaw in the Santa Anna makeup, though. The young man was burdened with numerous reprehensible characteristics, and they would dominate his actions throughout life. He was a liar without conscience, a schemer devoid of loyalty, and treacherous in every dealing. In later years, his personal bravery became very suspect, and lastly, he developed a catastrophic tradition of military defeat. Disregarding his parent's wishes, Santa Anna became a cadet in a regiment of the Mexican army at Vera Cruz and embarked on his long, infamous career.
Santa Anna's first military experience of importance was gained in fighting against the revolutionary priest, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Castillo, a Scottish Rite Mason, who headed a move to overthrow the Spanish government and secure independence for Mexico. The movement began in 1810, and was all over by 1813. Hidalgo was beheaded, and Santa Anna, a young officer of twenty-one, was ordered to San Antonio de Bexar for the next seven years to battle the troublesome rebels in that faraway territory. During this tour of duty in Texas, Santa Anna is thought to have become a Scottish Rite (Escoses) Mason. Masonry had been practiced in Mexico from the beginning of the nineteenth century. The Grand Lodge of Louisiana founded Lodges in Vera Cruz and Campeachy in 1816 and 1817. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania followed with a Lodge at Alvarado in 1824. Very quickly, Masons divided into two political factions, the Escoses (Scottish Rite) and the Yorkinos (York Rite). The membership of the Escoses included the nobility of Mexico, and almost without exception, the catholic clergy. They championed a monarchy and a highly regimented central government, controlled by the nobility. The Yorkinos diametrically opposed the Escoses in this philosophy as they promoted liberal policies and democratic government. The American ambassador to Mexico, Joel R. Poinsett, helped establish five Lodges in Mexico City that came the basis of the Grand Lodge of Mexico eventually.
Poinsett was a former deputy grand master of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina, and a talented statesman, with a long and distinguished record. In addition to the five Lodges mentioned, he is credited with bringing Royal Arch Masonry to Mexico. His most memorable act, however, was one of relative unimportance at the time. He brought a plant home from Mexico and began to cultivate it. It was later christened "poinsettia" in his honor and became a traditional Christmas plant in the United States. It is interesting to note that Poinsett was prevented from being elevated to the office of Grand Master of South Carolina due to his appointment as Secretary of War under President Martin Van Buren.
Though the Hidalgo uprising had been ruthlessly and quickly suppressed by the Spanish, the fires of revolt had not been quenched. Two hopeful rebels, Guadalupe Victoria and Nicolas Bravo, lurked in the mountains, awaiting the appearance of a new champion to lead the fight against Spain. Such a man appeared in 1821, in the person of General Augustine de Iturbide. He was not only a powerful military figure, he possessed an ambition for high public office. He issued a proclamation on February 21,1821, announcing that a provisional government was created and in place, pending the adoption of a new constitution. The Escoses enthusiastically supported Iturbide. Santa Anna was still loyal to Spain, but keeping a calculating eye on developments. When he concluded that the tide was turning in favor of the rebels, he proclaimed his support of Iturbide. The rebels won the battle against Viceroy Juan O'Donoju, and gained their independence at the Treaty of Cordoba on August 21, 1821. The ambitious Iturbide proclaimed himself Emperor Augustin I, and promoted the young turncoat, Santa Anna, to general. The retiring viceroy observed that the young officer would "make his country weep". How prophetic the statement was!
With the sudden elevation in military rank, Santa Anna became a person of importance in Mexico. At a banquet given in his honor in Oaxaca, following his promotion, he humiliated a young Indian boy working at the celebration. The barefoot youngster never forgave the haughty crillo for the insult. He was Benito Juarez. The incident was of no importance to Santa Anna. He had his mind on the next opportunity that might present itself by which he could further his budding career.
Within a short time, General Santa Anna was actively denouncing Iturbide and supporting a movement to force him from office. Iturbide had fueled the revolt by his harsh and oppressive policies. Before long, he was compelled to abdicate his throne and Augustin 1 passed into history. The date was March 19, 1823. The hour of the moderates was at hand, and they busied themselves in drafting a democratic constitution. The constitutional convention was chaired by Lorenzo de Zavala, the former governor of Mexico, soon to be allied with the Texas patriots. Santa Anna was loudly proclaiming his moderate beliefs and certifying that he cared only for the common people of Mexico.
The constitution was adopted in 1824, and in many ways emulated that of the United States. There were, however, some important differences. The constitution named the Catholic Church as the official religion of Mexico. It provided for the legislatures of the respective states to elect a president and vice president by majority vote. If a majority was not achieved, the congress itself would select one or both of the two candidates, Lastly, it provided for the president to temporarily resign at will, and designate the vice president to assume the head of government. The president could return, at his own pleasure, and resume his duties. Santa Anna would use this particular stipulation many times for his own purposes in the years to come.
A York Rite Mason, Guadalupe Victoria, was elected as the first president of the republic under the new constitution. His vice president a Scottish Rite Mason, was Nicolas Bravo. Victoria knew the ambitions of Santa Anna and devised a plan to keep him at arm length. He appointed the general as governor of the State of Yucatan, far from the capital. During a turbulent period in office, Santa Anna proposed the invasion and annexation of Cuba. President Victoria was not interested. Another revolt was in the making in Mexico City, and that commanded his full attention. Vice President Bravo was fermenting a revolt against the regime of Victoria. High on his list of demands was the recall of Ambassador Joel Poinsett of the United States. He, along with Zavala, and the Yorkinos of Mexico City, were of a much too liberal persuasion to suit Bravo. In 1827, Santa Anna returned to his plantation, Mango de Clavo, at Vera Cruz. He was keeping a calculating eye on the unfolding situation in Mexico City. He also took time out to marry Dona Inez de la Garcia, a lady who would become the darling of the Mexican populace and a true asset to the ambitious general.
Santa Anna returned to Mexico City and threw his support behind Nicolas Braveo. This was a major factor in polarizing the Masonic factions of the city, and a "war" resulted between the Escoses and the Yorkinos. Nicolas Bravo, the leader of one faction was Grand Master of the Escoses, while the leader of the opposing side was Vicente Guerrero, Grand Master of the Yorkinos. They actually met in the Battle of Tulancingo, a little northeast of the capital. The casualty list included eight killed, and six wounded. Nicolas Bravo was captured and exiled to the United States, ending the Masonic War. Since the Yorkinos won the conflict, it was only predictable that one of their own be elected president. Gomez Pedraza became the leader of the government. Santa Anna was displeased with the results and led a revolt against Pedraza, forcing him to resign before the end of the year. Vicente Guerrero succeeded him. The activity of Santa Anna managed to keep the political pot boiling.
A great opportunity presented itself for General Santa Anna to gain new public acclaim when the Spanish government landed a military force at Tampico in 1829. They concluded that it would be simple to retake Mexico in the face of all the upheaval and revolt, and that the populace would welcome them with open arms. The Spaniards miscalculated. With Santa Anna at the head of the Mexican force, the Spanish troops were driven back to their ships and soundly defeated. The general was a national hero, and from this time forward referred to himself as "the Napoleon of the West".
The political unrest was not diminished with the expulsion of the Spanish takeover attempt. The vice president, Anastasio Bustamante headed a revolt against President Guerrero. Even though they were both Masons, the friction was bitter and deadly. In February, 1831, President Guerrero was shot and Bustamante took over the palace. His tenure as the head of government was less than a year. Now, the moment had arrived for Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna!
In February, 1833,General Santa Anna was elected President of Mexico. A major campaign commitment for him had been to support the return of the constitution of 1824. The voters approved of the general's promises of a moderate, liberal government, and the country was solidly behind him. Santa Anna was only 40 years old when he was elected president, and Gomez Farias was elected vice president. The wily general now made an unexpected move. He declined to be inaugurated, pleading ill health. He urged that Farias be installed temporarily, as provided in the constitution. Santa Anna's reason was simple. Some thorny problems were being addressed at that particular time and he did not want to be in the middle of a controversy. The government had been pressing for a drastic reduction of military strength, and increased control over the policies and financial affairs of the Catholic Church. Nobody was surprised when a revolt erupted over the explosive issues, which Santa Anna quickly subdued. Abuse was heaped upon the hapless acting president, Gomez Farias. Now the general returned and assumed office as the conquering hero and the elected president of Mexico. Almost immediately, Santa Anna, once more pleading illness, took another leave of absence (at full pay, of course) and returned to Mango de Clavo to ponder his next move.
Abruptly, the general was back in Mexico City proclaiming a new philosophy. He believed the people of Mexico were not ready for self government. He repudiated Vice President Farias, and dismissed congress. Santa Anna called for special powers for himself, and his handpicked new congress ratified his request. The church was solidly behind him, and the people were satisfied with the turn of events. Very soon they would learn just how compassionate the new dictator was in dealing with "his" people.
The government had issued an order for the State of Zacatecas, home of deposed Vice President Gomez Farias to disband their militia. Out of fear that the government would take severe reprisals if they were unable to defend themselves, they disobeyed the order. They were correct. Santa Anna personally supervised a brutal suppression of the Zacatecas uprising in which private property was wantonly destroyed and plundered, citizens killed, and women raped, without any sign of restraint from the general. Upon his return to the capital, he abolished the constitution of 1824. Now Texas demanded his attention.
In July, 1835, R.M. Williamson presided over a protest meeting in San Felipe, denouncing Santa Anna and his government. Williamson announced that General Martin Perfecto de Cos, brother-in-law of the dictator, was marching on Texas with an army of 3,400 men. In August, Lorenze de Zavala denounced the dictator and accused him of treason. Zavala was now a resident of Texas, having resigned his last government post, that of Minister to France. The infuriated Santa Anna announced to the world that he intended to crush the impudent Texas rebels! General Cos crossed the Rio Grande shortly thereafter with a thousand men. He was met and defeated by a band of Texas patriots. Stephen Austin called for volunteers to fight. On December 5, 1835, Santa Anna took personal command of the Mexican army and started his march to Texas.
The Texans overwhelmed General Cos at San Antonio de Bexar on December 10th, forcing him to surrender his Alamo fortress and the command of 1,105 officers and soldiers. Little did the jubilant patriots realize the tragedy that would be enacted on that very spot only three months later. Cos promised to withdraw his troops south of the Rio Grande, and never again bear arms against Texas. His promises, like those of his brother-inlaw, were subject to change without notice. Santa Anna reached the Rio Grande by February, 1836. He dispatched General Jose Urrea to the town of Matamoras, on the east coast, with instructions to push north and conquer the towns of Refugio, Victoria, and Goliad. The general himself would press on to San Antonio de Bexar. On March 2, 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico. That announcement meant little to Santa Anna, for he had begun the siege of the Alamo on February 23rd. Six weeks later, the announcement would be much more important to the Napoleon of the West. Now his full attention was upon the 182 defenders of the little mission. How could they hope to stand up against a force of 5,000 Mexican regulars, many of them veterans of Zacatecas?
The siege of the Alamo lasted for 13 days. When the din of the final assault faded away, there was not a survivor among the defenders except two Negro servants and a handful of women and children who had witnessed the carnage. It was reported that over 1,600 Mexican soldiers died that day as the Texans bought precious time for Sam Houston to ready his little army to meet the great Santa Anna. The men at the Alamo all knew they would die in the battle, and they prepared calmly for the end.
At first, Jim Bowie and William Travis argued bitterly over tactics and the question of who should command. Travis was in charge of the regular troops and Bowie lead a larger contingent of volunteers. The disagreement became academic when Bowie was severely injured by an accident involving a loose cannon the defenders were attempting to place on a platform. Already suffering from acute tuberculosis, it was a miracle that Bowie was still alive with his ribs crushed. He was placed on a bed in the bapistry of the chapel, while Travis assumed overall command. The men were surly and short tempered from lack of rest, the incessant cannonading, and the shortage of food. The bitter weather that came with the norther the day before only made matters worse. They were huddled at their posts in the cold darkness when the bugle rang out and the sound of running feet shattered the silence. The defenders rose to their last challenge as the measured notes of the deguello floated in on the wings of the cold wind.
Masons died that day at the Alamo. Among the first was James Barret Travis. He was found draped over a cannon with a single bullet in his head. The others fell, one by one, as the waves of Mexican infantry swept forward. The cavalry, under orders from Santa Anna, pressed closely behind the foot soldiers in order that none could waver or retreat. Scores of wounded were trampled by their comrades as they were forced ever forward by the Mexican horsemen. Bowie was among the last to die. He summoned one last burst of strength to fire a brace of pistols left by Davie Crockett, and after his ammunition was exhausted, he slashed with his famous knife until he was dead. Reports from those who were present after the battle tell that many Mexican bodies were piled in the doorway of the bapistry.
The firing continued for a full fifteen minutes after the last defender has died. The frenzied Mexican soldiers killed each other in the darkened and smokefilled rooms of the mission. They fired round after round into the dead bodies of the Texas defenders, until Santa Anna finally brought an end to the insanity. By 8:00 a.m., the general was satisfied that it was safe to enter the Alamo. He demanded to see the bodies of Travis, Bowie, and Crockett. He ordered the face of each corpse wiped clean so all rebels could be identified. Santa Anna intended to burn the bodies of all the defenders, and he wanted no mistakes. One of Mexico's famous Masons looked with a great feeling of triumph that day on the faces of brother Masons James B. Travis, James Bowie, James Butler Bonham, and Davie Crockett. One wonders what fraternal thoughts crossed the dictator's mind on that occasion.
The Napoleon of the West was elated over his glorious victory and needed some diversion. He had taught those Texas dogs a lesson they would never forget! Soon, he would sweep the rest of them from the face of the earth. Now, however, he turned his attention to his new San Antonio " bride. " He had taken a local girl into his camp after he arrived, and to satisfy her complaining mother, had gone through a mock marriage ceremony conducted by one of his officers, masquerading as a priest. Santa Anna would leave her behind when he pressed on to other adventures.
On Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, another tragedy struck the Texas volunteer force. General Urrea, under orders from Santa Anna slaughtered 400 Americans at Goliad who had arrived to lend a hand in the struggle for independence. Their commander, James W. Fannin, surrendered his force at Goliad a week before, convinced that to resist would be fatal in the face of overpowering odds. Urrea had promised no one would be harmed, but they were shot and dumped into a common grave a few days later. Fannin was a member of Holland Lodge No. 36, at Brazoria, and had acted as a deacon at their last meeting before the arrival of the Mexican army.
The tenets of Freemasonry had little impact on Santa Anna. The attributes of brotherly love, relief and charity were not part of his character. He had ordered "no quarter" at the Alamo, although he must have known a few of the defenders were Masons, as he was. Stephen Austin was a Mason, and Santa Anna knew him well. Furthermore, the dictator had not hesitated to use a sign of distress when events turned against him a little later. Only the knowledge that members of the fraternity were present would have prompted him to appeal to their Masonic inclinations.
The Mexican army continued eastward in their quest to find and defeat Sam Houston and the main force of Texans. They met at San Jacinto, near Houston, on April 21, 1836. The battle only lasted 18 minutes, as the Texas rebels annihilated the forces of the haughty Santa Anna. Casualties amounted to 530 Mexicans killed, 208 wounded, and 730 officers and men taken prisoner. Houston's force was less than half that, and sustained trifling losses. Houston, himself, was wounded in the right leg.
When Santa Anna perceived that the day was lost, he fled with a small staff. They bogged down at Vince's Bayou, and his escort deserted him. Horseless now, the general was reduced to fleeing on foot. He changed clothes to prevent recognition, but was captured the next day around noon. In a panic of fear, he gave a Masonic distress sign to one of his captors, James Sylvester, who happened to be a Mason. Santa Anna demanded to be taken to Sam Houston, and after some of the Mexican prisoners revealed his true identity through their greetings, his request was granted. The defeated general greeted Sam Houston with a Masonic sign. Later, he identified himself in the same fashion to Dr. James A. Phelps and a group with him who were members of the Order.
Santa Anna signed two treaties at Velasco, one public and one secret. The publicized treaty was issued to placate the Texans, who were determined to execute the Mexican dictator for his bloodthirsty deeds. The secret treaty was one in which Santa Anna personally agreed to accept the terms of the surrender and gave assurances not to bear arms against Texans in the future. The public treaty dealt with the terms of surrender and the particulars on the removal of troops from Texas soil and the granting of independence. Houston was informed very shortly that the government in Mexico, City had repudiated all actions of Santa Anna following his surrender, so his commitments were not binding on them. In addition, President Andrew Jackson was pleading that the Texans not harm
Santa Anna and provoke an international situation into which the United States might be drawn. Jackson wanted to confer with the defeated general, and it seemed a good idea to Houston to grant the request. They prepared for the transfer of the Mexican dictator to Washington, D.C.
Santa Anna had been imprisoned at Orizimbo, the plantation home of Dr. James Phelps, from July to November of 1836. He had received accommodations far better than he had any right to expect. The Masons involved in the matter appeared to have had some influence on his treatment. When Santa Anna departed from Orizimbo, he presented one of his Masonic guards, John Stiles, with his apron, as a token of appreciation for kind treatment. Forgotten were the two attempts at suicide while a guest of Dr. Phelps. The deep depression was gone.
In due course, Santa Anna arrived in Washington and conferred with President Jackson. The dictator was an old hand at double talk and glib conversation. He contended to Jackson that he had been away from Mexico too long, and now had no influence. The upshot of their meeting was that Santa Anna started his voyage home on February 2, 1827. He arrived in Vera Cruz on February 21 st, not penniless and in disgrace, but as a returning dignitary who retired to private life at Mango de Clavo in luxury. He had been gone nearly a year. It would take a little time to calculate his next move. An opportunity presented itself when a French fleet appeared in the harbor of Vera Cruz in 1838.
Several years before, during one of the frequent revolts, the pastry shop of a French national had been demolished by drunken revolutionists. Now, the French demanded reparations in the amount of six hundred million pesos. They brought troops to back up their demands. Santa Anna seized the opportunity. He took command of the Mexican army troops in the Vera Cruz area and met the French. In the ensuing battle, the invaders were soundly defeated and drew back to their ships. Santa Anna had been gallantly leading the assault from the rear, but when assured the danger no longer existed, he went to the head of his command. A departing Frenchman got off a lucky shot and wounded the general on the left hand and leg. The "Pastry War" was over, but the general was about to lose his leg. The amputation was completed, the leg duly pickled, and Santa Anna returned with the severed limb to a hero's welcome in Mexico City. As usual, shortly after the general arrived, another revolution started in the capital.
Santa Anna once more permitted himself to be forced to assume the head of government in Mexico. He overhauled the constitution, granting himself dictatorial powers, and set up shop in the presidential palace. With the Catholic Church and the army behind him, his authority was absolute. One of the first priorities was to provide a funeral for his amputated leg. A procession five miles long slowly conveyed the limb to a state repository, while the black-garbed general solemnly followed. It was a time of excess and self indulgence for Santa Anna.
For a time, the people of Mexico had no choice but to bear the burden of the dictator's extravagance and self-indulgence. He allowed himself excesses far beyond any he had dared attempt in previous years. Then, in August, 1844, Dona Inez died following a long illness, and the tide began to turn for Santa Anna once more. She had been well-loved by the people, and when the general cut the mourning period short to marry a 15year old girl a few weeks later, he had gone too far. The public was outraged and another revolution was inevitable. A moderate faction seized the palace while Santa Anna fled for his life, and a haven of safety in Havana, Cuba. This was the first of three exiles, but this one would be of short duration.
In December of 1845, a resolution was presented to the Congress of the United States that Texas be admitted to the union. Enthusiastically approved, the flag of the United States was raised over the Texas capital at Austin February 19, 1846. Mexico had threatened war if such a step were taken by the United States, and President James Polk was alarmed. He sent James Slidell to Mexico City to pacify the Mexicans with an offer to buy the disputed land south of the Nueces River in Texas, which Mexico recognized as the border between the countries. President Guerrero refused to see Slidell and ordered troops to the Rio Grande. President Polk dispatched General Zachary Taylor and a command of troops to the Rio Grande to secure the border. Mexican General Mariano Arista engaged Taylor at the battles of Palo Alto and Reseca de la Palma in quick succession. The Mexicans were badly beaten, although they had a far superior force. The Mexican War was definitely under way.
Two months later, in May, 1846, General Taylor took the City of Monterrey. Still another revolt in Mexico City deposed President Herrera and a period of turmoil followed. Presently, the new president, Gomez Farias called for Santa Anna to return from Cuba. The general was eager to comply, but the United States had a naval blockade sealing off the coast of Mexico. Santa Anna once more turned to diplomacy. He contacted President Polk and assured him if he could return to Mexico, he would exert all his influence to negotiate a peace after a decent time that would be acceptable to the United States. Polk granted the safe conduct through the blockade. When Santa Anna arrived in Mexico, he busied himself raising an army of 18,000 to 25,000 men and marched north to engage a surprised Zachary Taylor. A Mexican army of 20,000 clashed with Taylor's command of 5,000 at Buena Vista on February 23, 1847. The Mexicans suffered the appalling loss of 2,000 men the first day. This was too much for them, and they withdrew during the night. On March 7th, General Winfield Scott shelled Vera Cruz into submission and marched into the city. The Americans were rolling like a juggernaut. The Mexican people knew now the true measure of Santa Anna. He was not a great and victorious military leader. He had established a tradition of constant defeat, and even worse, his personal courage was suspect. Still, they had nobody to take his place. Onward, the Americans rolled until at last, after many bloody victories, they took Chapultepec on September 13, 1847, and the capital the next day. Thousands of Mexicans had been killed in the vain attempt to stay the United States forces, to no avail. Santa Anna left the capital and had no part in the surrender. He left the country and settled in Jamaica on his second exile. He stayed there until 1850, and moved to Cartagena, Colombia.
Back home in Mexico, General Mariano Arista was having his chance at the presidency, but the job was beyond his capabilities. The enormous debt and internal problems of the republic crushed Arista and he resigned. Incredible as it seems, the cry went out again for Santa Anna. He returned to Vera Cruz on April 1, 1853, and assumed his old post as Dictator of Mexico. Old habits were hard to break, and Santa Anna resumed his old practice of self-indulgence and excessive spending. When all his resources were exhausted, including money from the church and all he could borrow from his friends, the general called in the United States ambassador, James Gadsden. They negotiated a sale of Mexican land south of the Gila River in the Territories of Arizona and New Mexico to the United States. They sold a parcel of land amounting to 45,000 square miles for ten million dollars. Santa Anna spent that money very quickly and knew that the end was near for him as the ruler of Mexico. He resigned and went into exile in Venezuela, for the third and last time.
During Santa Anna's 20-year exile the political pot continued to boil in Mexico. Napoleon III installed Maximillian as Emperor of Mexico in 1864. His rein endured until 1867 before the French were expelled. In this revolution, Benitc Juarez came to power and ultimately became president of the Mexican Republic; Santa Anna appealed for permission to return home. Juarez, an accomplished Mason, remembered the humiliating experience many years before. He refused. It was not until Juarez died or July 18,1872,that Santa Anna was given any hope of returning. Two years later the old dictator returned to his home land.
The splendor of former years was gone The old general, president and dictator was now 80 years old and in very poor health. He suffered from chronic dysentery and gout. He was also in the most extreme poverty and lived on the charity of a few friends from the old days. Toward the end, he became hopelessly senile, and died on June 21, 1876, alone and penniless. He had been perhaps the most gifted leader of his day in Mexico, but had thrown away every opportunity for immortality. His overpowering avarice, perfidy, cowardice and ruthlessness had assured him the contempt of his fellow citizens. He had discarded all esteem in his headlong rush to oblivion. Nobody mourned his passing. Perhaps the only monument to Santa Anna is the artificial leg that American soldiers from Pekin, Illinois carried back to their home state after the Mexican War. It is now on display in a museum in Springfield, where any who wish may gaze at it and ponder over its original owner. Certainly, his memory deserves nothing more pretentious. The butcher of the Alamo has reaped a just reward on the pages of history.
Reference and Source Material
William R. Denslow, 10,000 Freemasons, Volume IV, Transactions of the Missouri Lodge of Research, 1960.
Robert Freke Gould, Gould 's History of Freemasonry, edited by Dudley Wright, Volume III and IV Charles Scribner Sons, New York, 1916.
Albert G. Mackey, Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Masonic History Company, New York, 1917.
Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Volume 5 and 6, Bureau of National Literature, Inc., New York, 1897.
Pete Normand, The Texas Masons, The Fraternity of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Texas 1986.
Lon Tinkle, The Alamo and 13 Days to Glory McGraw Hill, New York, 1958. Edward N. Thompson, Transactions of the Texas Lodge of Research, Volume XXII, 1987.
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A New Theory
The Philalethes Lecture for 1992 (Part 1)
by C. N. Batham
First and most important of all, I wish to say how greatly honoured I felt when I received an invitation to be the speaker at this Annual Assembly and Feast of the Philalethes Society, an organization known and honored, not only in this country, but throughout the Masonic world. When the time comes that I cease to be actively engaged in Masonic matters, there are several events on which I shall look back with pride and pleasure, and I assure you that what is happening today will be one of the foremost in my mind.
Once I had accepted your invitation, the question arose as to what should be the subject of my paper. I could have chosen something commonplace and incontrovertible, about which everyone could have said afterwards, "I agreed with every word he said " But in that event no one would have found it necessary to exercise his mind, and no one would have been called upon to re-examine his beliefs.
Alternatively, I could do what I have done, choose a subject that is highly controversial, a theory of mine that I am certain some of you will not accept. But if you "shoot me down in flames," at least I shall have provoked you into serious thought. That, in my humble opinion, will justify my presence here today. My subject, therefore is, "The Origin of Freemasonry: A New Theory," and I know in advance that there is one person here present who will violently disagree with what I have to say.
It does have one disadvantage. When I came to set down my thoughts on paper, I realized that I could have written a book about it. The paper that eventually emerged would have taken about two hours to read so that I have been compelled to write a much shorter delivery version. As a result, regrettably, my arguments lose much of their force.
By way of introduction, I would remind you that the premier Grand Lodge of England, the mother Grand Lodge of the world, was founded on 24 June 1717, in a tavern with the delightful name of the Goose and Gridiron Alehouse in St. Paul's Churchyard, London. It subsequently acquired the nickname of the Grand Lodge of the Moderns.
Thirty-four years later, on 17 July 1751, a rival Grand Lodge, nicknamed thc Grand Lodge of thc Antients, came into existence. For well over one hundred years, its founders were looked upon without exception as schismatics, as men who had turned their backs upon the mother Grand Lodge of thc world, and, in violation of their Masonic obligations, were determined to destroy it and replace it with a Grand Lodge of their own making.
No words were bad enough for such traitors, and it was not until 1887, when Henry Sadler published his Masonic Facts and Fictions, that the truth was established. He was able to prove that, in the main, those founders were Irishmen, temporarily resident in London, members of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, who had never owed allegiance to the Grand Lodge of England; humble men who had not been made welcome in English Masonic circles, and who were concerned only with establishing a Grand Lodge in London under whose auspices they could practice the form of Freemasonry they had known in their native country of Ireland.
Why do I tell you this? To emphasize that, just because something has always been accepted throughout the entire Masonic world it is not necessarily true.
The theory I am going to challenge, and it is no more than a theory, is the Transition Theory of the origin of Nonoperative or Speculative Freemasonry. It was supported by that great Masonic historian R. F. Gould, and more recently by my predecessor as Secretary of Quatuor Coronati Lodge, the late Bro. Harry Carr.
The Transition Theory holds that men not actively involved in thc operative masons' trade were admitted into operative masons' lodges, lodges that were concerned solely with matters relating to the masons' trade; and that, as the masons' trade declined, these outsiders became sufficiently numerous to be able to take control of those lodges; and by eliminating the trade aspects entirely, they were able to change the ceremonies, and gradually bring about thc evolution of our present-day Non-operative or Speculative Freemasonry.
The theory is that, as this happened in Scotland (which in any case I very much doubt), therefore it must have happened in England as well. But, with the exception of one lodge on the border, which was more Scottish than English in character, there is no evidence that any nonoperative was ever admitted into an operative lodge in England, let alone enough to outnumber the operative members. Nor is there any evidence that any English operative lodge ever changed to a non-operative basis. Moreover--and I wish to emphasize this at the outset--although it is known that some Scottish lodges changed from operative to non-operative, this does not mean it was as a result of non-operative members obtaining control.
Thus, although no English lodge can show that it was active before 1717, three Scottish lodges can prove their existance prior to 1598, at least 119 years earlier, and others are well documented in the early or mid-seventeenth century.
Both trade and social conditions generally differed vastly in the two countries, so there is no foundation whatsoever for stating that there must have been similar developments in the two countries. The population of Scotland was only about onesixth of that of England, and the building trade in Scotland was very small, being confined mainly to the southern part of the country; its concentration there made it possible for control of the trade to be exercised by municipal authorities, rather than by individual lodges, as was the case in England. Communication between the two countries was virtually non-existent; relations between the two peoples were bad; the two countries had always been enemies, frequently at war; and there were no cultural or economic ties between them.
In England the building trade was many times greater, and was scattered over the whole country. A considerable number of written records survive. If there had been a period of transition in England, similar to that in Scotland, then these records would inevitably have recorded it--but they do not.
Moreover, there was no decline in the building industry at this time; indeed, more especially in the seventeenth century, it had never been in a more flourishing condition. In England, there was, in fact, a revolution in the building industry, in which there was no place for the temporary independent masonic lodge--which in any event leaves no trace later than the sixteenth century. The seeds of trade unionism were being sown, though Scotland as yet was immune from this.
In an article in the book GRAND LODGE 1717-1967, which was published by the United Grand Lodge of England in 1967, Bro. Harry Carr wrote of the Transition Theory as though it was an established fact. This is unfortunate as, although the book was an official Grand Lodge publication and therefore bore the stamp of authority, the opinions expressed in the articles were those of the individual contributors, not necessarily approved by the United Grand Lodge of England. Nevertheless, many brethren have assumed that Bro. Carr's account was officially accepted. It must therefore be emphasized that his views have been challenged by several writers since then; and, as he had to admit to me, there is not a shadow of proof to support the theory he had put forward.
The theory that I am presenting is that within the English monasteries there were inner SANCTA, with membership restricted to senior and learned brethren, in which time-honored rites were practiced; and that on the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1538, followed by the disendowment of the religious fraternities in 1547, although most of them disappeared, some survived as secret cells until late in the sixteenth or early in the seventeenth century; then, in more favorable conditions, they emerged, expanded, and gradually evolved into the form of Speculative Freemasonry known to us today.
I cannot prove this; I can only demonstrate that it probably happened. But, as I have already explained, there is no proof either of the Transition Theory, nor of any other theory of Masonic origins that has been suggested from time to time.
In putting forward my theory on a previous occasion, I was told that it "seems to rest on a faulty syllogism: in the seventeenth century there were secret societies and plots; in the seventeenth century masonic lodges existed; therefore masonic lodges had to take on a cloak of secrecy. " That charge I deny.
It is necessary, therefore, to examine each aspect of my theory in turn. The first is to decide whether there could have been inner SANCTA in the monasteries. In every order throughout history, including Freemasonry, there have been degrees or stages. The novice or initiate, call him what you will, has never been admitted to the full knowledge, to the complete mysteries, of the order. There has always been some ultimate stage restricted to the enlightened few, but because it was so secret, so exclusive, so restricted, written records are virtually non-existent, and, as in the case of monastic cells, very difficult to prove.
I will not ask you to rely on my opinions. What do others have to say about the possibility? J. E. Neale (QUEEN ELIZABETH) refers to a formidable and secret organization within the Protestant Church. H. M. F Prescott (THE MAN ON A DONKEY) records that Robert Ashe "inaugurated a secret body of men and imposed on them an oath. " IN BORN IN BLOOD John J. Robinson writes, "Lollardy indeed was subsequently driven underground and did exist for a couple of centuries in secret cells all over England. " Bro. Colin Dyer ("Some Thoughts on the Origins of Speculative Freemasonry," (AQC 95) states, "The entry on the Reformation in the Encyclopedia Britannica refers to religious societies in the 1500s in which the members addressed each other as brethren."
Bernard Jones (FREEMASONS' GUIDE AND COMPENDIUM) is more explicit: "there is reason to believe that hidden away within some of the craft mysteries was sometimes a religious mystery, a secret cell.... We seem to miss some evidence that would more amply and definitely link up the Old Charges with our ritual and we fall back on the idea ... that within the mason craft, as within most other medieval crafts, was a quasireligious body that only just managed to survive the Reformation and the ensuing century and so provided a real but dimly perceived link between the medieval operative and the modern speculative. Straight from operative to speculative in English masonry might to us be a difficult journey, but from operative via a fraternity hidden away at the very heart of the craft and emerging in the days of the Renaissance into an early form of modern symbolic masonry yes, that is a sequence not only natural but perfectly credible. "
What then would have happened to those inner SANCTA when the monasteries were dissolved? Understandably, as I have already indicated, most would have disappeared, but it is an established fact that, from the dawn of history, whenever any movement, especially of religious nature, has been suppressed, elements have survived underground, even though searched for in the most determined manner, an even with adherents subject to the direst penalties.
The early Christians in ancient Rome and members of the underground resistance movements in the last war spring readily to mind. Of such stuff are martyrs made. For such beliefs man went to the stake or faced a firing squad often after the vilest torture inflicted to make them reveal details of their activities and to betray the names of the accomplices.
I suggest that these cells remained underground for fifty years or possibly more, and that eventually they began to emerge and to expand. To judge the feasibility of this, it is necessary to consider the conditions in England at that time and especially during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603).
The break with Rome was essentially to establish Henry VIII as head of the church, rather than to alter fundamentally the nature of the faith. There was an extreme form of Protestantism during the short reign of Edward VI (1547 1553), followed by a more extreme form of Catholicism under Queen Mary (1553-1558); But even then Englishmen and especially Catholics, must have been very apprehensive, as there was a powerful opposition to the Spanish influence of Mary's husband, Philip II of Spain. This was shown in the attempt to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne--the Queen for nine days. Further, with Mary failing to produce an heir, Protestant Elizabeth was next in line to the throne.
During Elizabeth's reign the problem of religion dominated not only aspects of domestic affairs, but foreign policy as well, especially a far as France, Spain, and the Netherlands were concerned
The Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity were enacted when she ascended the throne. The former constituted her a head of all religious and civil affairs, and the latter not only established Protestantism as the official religion, but prohibited the practice of any other faith, Roman Catholicism in particular, and it laid down severe penalties for all who acknowledged or supported the authority of the Pope in England.
In spite of this, the majority of Englishmen remained Catholic at heart, and this problem was the gravest concern of Elizabeth's ministers, who constantly had to face the threat of rebellion at home, and of foreign invasion at the instigation of the more militant Catholics who had fled to the continent.
The-most active of Elizabeth's ministers in the religious controversies was her Secretary, Sir Francis Walsingham (lived about 1530-1590), who was regarded by Catholics, not without cause, as their most violent enemy, and as the minister who was chiefly responsible for the extreme way in which the Queen's religious policy was carried out. His duty was to give effect to the decisions of the Privy Council, acting within the laws of Parliament; but his rabid Protestantism inevitably had a bearing on the way in which he interpreted them.
Early in his life, when Catholic Mary ascended the throne, he had fled to Padua, in Italy where he obtained a complete insight into the methods employed by the statesmen of the province, of whom it was said that they "had got thc maxims of Machiavelli by heart, " and who used any means, no matter how barbaric, to obtain the information they required.
Walsingham turned that experience to his advantage throughout the whole of his career, making full use of the weapons of cunning and deceit, and building up a vast network of secret agents "to catch indiscreet whisperings through every keyhole and behind every arras. "
His spies and double-agents penetrated every movement and every household suspected of being at variance with official
Government policy, often obtaining substantial rewards for their services, whilst the most successful secured themselves pensions. Walsingham even succeeded in corrupting the Secretary of thc French Ambassador in London, and in engaging secret agents to spy on members of their own families.
He became known as "a most subtle searcher out of secrets, nothing being contrived anywhere that he knew not by intelligence. " Amongst his other skills he acquired the knack of opening letters without it being detected, and he was able to decipher even the most complicated codes.
He had been a comparatively rich man but he died poor; although Queen Elizabeth made him a regular allowance out of the royal exchequer for bribing spies (amounting in 1599 to #2,000 PER ANNUM, a very substantial sum in those days), he also spent a considerable amount of his own money on his secret service.
How did this affect the members of the secret cells that had survived? By their very training they would be extreme in their Catholic faith, and so would be in considerable danger, even during the five years that Mary was on the throne.
The sole fact that their religious faith differed from that prescribed by law was sufficient for them to be subject to persecution and torture, followed by hanging and, while Still alive, having their entrails drawn and burned by the executioner, who then quartered their bodies. That sounds horrible to us, but such persecution was normal, deliberate, habitual, and a fundamental characteristic of the age.
There were always individuals who feared any secret organization and, if only to establish their own position with authority, were anxious to denounce its members and see the full rigors of the law applied. No wonder that absolute secrecy prevailed in such groups!
When Walsingham returned to England after Queen Mary's death and was appointed by Queen Elizabeth as her principal Secretary of State, their position would have been especially perilous, and it would have been essential for their very survival for them to have remained hidden.
Jesuits were entering England in increasing numbers and were inciting the Catholic community to rebellion, while foreign Catholics were promising support by armed invasion.
The situation became more dangerous when Mary, Queen of Scots, took refuge in England in 1568. From then until her execution in 1587, there were countless Catholic plots aimed at killing Elizabeth and placing Mary on the throne.
In 1570 the Pope declared Elizabeth illegitimate and a heretic, absolved all her subjects from allegiance to her, and promised reward and benediction to anyone who attempted to murder her.
To Catholics, therefore, Mary of Scotland, the great granddaughter of Henry VII, was the rightful Queen of England; and anyone suspected of even latent Catholicism was in dire danger. One false move or one incautious word would be certain to lead to arrest, torture and execution.
Mary's death undoubtedly removed the greatest danger to Elizabeth in particular and to England in general, and the atmosphere in the country as a whole was more relaxed, but English Catholics were still a menace to the realm, if only because of the threat of foreign invasion was still there, as was shown by the arrival of the Spanish Armada in 1588, financed in part by Pope Sixtus V Even after the defeat of the Armada, Spain and France Still remained threats, either directly or through the invasion of Scotland and Ireland
The religious tension was eased after Walsingham died and when James I came to the throne, but danger still existed. The Stuarts, considering themselves to be Kings by Divine Right, largely ignored their Protestant Parliaments and carried out a pro-Catholic policy. Civil War broke out in 1642, and even after the monarchy was restored, England seemed to be heading for civil war once again, and it was avoided only when the bigoted Catholic James II fled to the continent.
In the midst of this turmoil and uncertainty, and under the general pressures of the times, it is not surprising that the later sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries saw the proliferation of secret societies, formed for purpose for preserving valued traditions.
Here I am going to pause in my narrative for a very special reason. You may think that I am delivering a history lesson rather than a theory about the origin of Freemasonry, but there is a reason for that.
(to be concluded in thc August issue)
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Current Fellows of The Philalethes Society
April 1992
| Arrington, Keith | IA | 145 | 1982 |
| Bell, G. Wilbur | IL | 129 | 1968 |
| Birt, Lewis J. | NJ | 160 | 1988 |
| Carter, James D. | TX | 124 | 1967 |
| Clark, Julius C. | PA | 158 | 1988 |
| Cook, Lewis C. | MO | 133 | 1972 |
| Curtis, Richard H. | MA | 157 | 1988 |
| Davidson, Harold L. | MT | 162 | 1990 |
| Dillard, Robert L., Jr. | TX | 138 | 1978 |
| Dutt, Norman C. | CA | 114 | 1964 |
| Fletcher, Richard E. | VT | 165 | 1991 |
| Foss, Gerald D. | NH | 137 | 1975 |
| French, George H.T. | TX | 146 | 1983 |
| Glassmire, Charles R. | ME | 154 | 1988 |
| Greisen, Carl R. | NE | 107 | 1959 |
| Guthrie, Charles S., Jr. | KY | 144 | 1981 |
| Haffner, Christopher | Hong Kong | 152 | 1987 |
| Haggard, Forrest D. | KS | 139 | 1981 |
| Hilliard, John Mauk | NY | 143 | 1981 |
| Hogan, Mervin B. | UT | 147 | 1983 |
| Hunt, Bruce H. | MO | 117 | 1964 |
| Jackson, Thomas W. | PA | 166 | 1991 |
| Kelly, John E. Jack | TX | 159 | 1988 |
| Koeckert, William F. | OH | 168 | 1991 |
| Law, Henry G. | DE | 151 | 1987 |
| McLeod, Wallace E. | Ontario | 150 | 1986 |
| Morris, S. Brent | MD | 142 | 1980 |
| Nickerson, Herman | NC | 16 | 1989 |
| Osborne, Robert V. | Wl | 131 | 1971 |
| Peacher, William G. | NY-CA | 127 | 1968 |
| Peale, Norman Vincent | NY | 167 | 1991 |
| Pollard, Stewart M.L. | MD | 140 | 1978 |
| Roberts, Allen E. | VA | 111 | 1963 |
| Sands, Richard H. | Ml | 149 | 1984 |
| Scofield, Royal C. | OH | 155 | 1988 |
| Smith, Dwight L. | IN | 121 | 1966 |
| Van Beusekom, Johannis | Guatemala | 153 | 1987 |
| Weir, Thomas E. | MD | 163 | 1990 |
| Worley, Lloyd D. | CO | 164 | 1991 |
By Thomas R. Hall, MPS
I knew John Nocas for most of the time I have been a Mason. I can't say that John and I were close friends, we lived at opposite ends of Los Angeles and there were a couple of generations in the middle. But John always had ready answers for my frequent questions.
There will be others who will chronicle John's many achievements . That list will be long and some will wonder how one man could do so much. What will be lost in this list is that John Nocas only did one thing...he was a Freemason.
I think John Nocas dreamed Masonry when he slept and put on an apron before he got out of bed. He lived the Craft. John set an extraordinary example for others to follow. I first learned about the Philalethes Society from John when he invited me to a meeting. It seemed that some of the members in southern California were in the formation stage of a discussion group. This group would do what the magazine does but in the manner of mano y mano.
At that meeting, I was the only one I didn't know. There were Past Grand Masters, Past Grand Commanders; everyone was at least a Past Master. I was a new Mason with a young family and very little spare time for Freemasonry, and the only title I had was Brother. For John, that was the only title which mattered. John made sure I met everyone and only names were used, Someone else informed me of their respective titles. Yes, it was intimidating; but I was not made to feel uncomfortable in the midst of such luminaries.
I learned important lessons in Masonry that night. The men at that meeting all cared about Masonry and had labored long in the quarries of the Craft. They were there to do more work. The conversation was lively and there was a divergence of opinion over an issue, and then John Nocas called on me and asked me what I thought. I hardly paused before I rose to my feet and offered what little I had to say. It wasn't until the drive home that I realized what John had done.
John had invited me for two reasons, first because he thought that I could learn something and secondly because he felt what every Mason was important and those with the experience should take the time to listen to the new brethren and the new guys should take time to learn from those who have been there.
Shortly thereafter, I joined the Philalethes Society because of John's recommendation. Life membership followed because of the experiences I’ve had with the organization. This is the way things worked with John.
John Nocas made Masonry what should be. . . a living organism, which cares for those within itself as well those without.
John Nocas had a profound effect on my life. He showed me what it was to be a good Mason. He was always active and was always stirring the pot, trying to find ways to help Masonry be more effectively.
I suppose that the reason this anecdote about John stays a little more clearly in my mind than the others I could relate is because it was the first. There are many stories that I could tell about John Nocas. Every man who ever met John has their own story.
John Nocas will be missed. I had many opportunities to thank John for all he did for me; for all he taught me. I never did thank him, though. John was from New England and that probably would have made him feel a bit uncomfortable. I just couldn't do that to my Brother.
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John Richard Nocas II, FPS
March 30, 1915 – February 9, 1992
John Richard Nocas was made a Fellow of The Philalethes Society in 1983. He served the Society as its President From 1986 to 1988. For years earlier he wrote extensively for The Philalethes and numerous other Masonic publications. He was interested in all facets of Freemasonry and received deserved honors in many of them. Among them was the 33ø of the Scottish Rite, and Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in California in 1976.
John had been a writer all of his life. Yet it was at as a basketball player he met his life-long helpmate, Muriel, then a reporter for her school newspaper. That was in Boston, Massachusetts, 55 years ago. They moved to California where they were advised all writers should go. There they stayed and founded a book publishing company that specialized in providing current price lists for plumbers and contractors. For many years it was from these offices that Southern California Research Lodge mailed its voluminous informational bulletins throughout the world.
Muriel and John had three children: Louise, now a doctor; Andrew, now a lawyer; and Pamela, a teacher. They survive him and can take pride in the acclaim their husband and father has left them as a legacy.
The Masonic world became a stage where John and Muriel played leading roles for the benefit of the Craft. From the day he became a Freemason until the day the Grim Reaper called him home, John' s life was dedicated to Freemasonry. Although he had served all the York Rite bodies as a presiding officer, he continued this service. He was the Master of Culver City-Fohay Lodge No 467 when he died. At his funeral on February 13, 1992, at the Old North Church, Forest Lawn Cemetery six Lodges, including his own, participated. An honor guard in full regalia from the Commandery was present.
It is with sadness we must say goodby to our good and faithful friend and Brother. Yet we can recall with affection the joy we had as we trod in his footstep for so many years.
Allen E. Roberts, FPS
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About John Nocas 11 by Allen E. Roberts, FPS
Many years ago I met John Nocas through correspondence. This early correspondence led to an invitation to bring the Virginia Craftsmen (a Masonic Traveling Degree Team) to California in 1976. Consequently John and Muriel met us as we departed the plane in Los Angeles on October 29, 1976.
But this meeting almost didn't take place. After accepting an invitation from the Scottish Rite body that had invited the Team, we found its "hospitality" would be non-existent. I told John via telephone there was no way I would recommend to our men and their ladies that they spend over $1,000 each to perform before a body that wouldn't spend couple of dollars for a meal.
John, then Grand High Priest and a staunch supporter of Southern California Research Lodge, asked me to wait a before declining. A couple of days later he called to say we would be fed and that we could raise some money to help with the expenses if I would conduct a leadership seminar for SCRL. His patience and understanding turned our California visitation into a rousing success. We ended up exemplifying the Virginia work in a Scottish Rite body and a Lodge. And in San Francisco we Raised a California Fellowcraft using the Virginia ritual.
Our friendship grew. In 1978 I again returned to Los Angeles and SCRL to conduct another seminar. Dottie and I stayed with Muriel and John. Then disaster struck. I hemorrhaged seriously and ended up in an intensive care unit. John had to conduct the seminar using my leadership films. Without the help and constant care by Muriel and John, Dottie and I would have been in even deeper trouble.
John became a fellow of The Philalethes Society in 1983, then accepted the office of Second Vice President. From 1986-88 he served as President of the Society with distinction. In between he shared his wisdom and thoughts with the Masonic world through the written word.
All of us will remember John for different reasons. He was a gentle man, and one with firm convictions. He loved Freemasonry and its many facets. He worked for all of them. I'll remember him for all of these.
But most of all I'll remember John for continually practicing Brotherly Love, Relief and his search for Truth. He will remain my friend and my Brother.
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by Jack Soroka, MPS
Have you ever been inside the Statue of Liberty? On September 1 , 1988, my wife and I visited Liberty Island (originally Bedloe's Island), New York. We got off the Circle Line ferryboat and walked up some steps to the pedestal. Inside the pedestal we climbed a double helical stair until we reached the base of the figure. The steel stairs wind round and round like a snail's shell. When Ruth and I finally got up inside the head we looked out the windows in Ms. Liberty's diadem. The crown has a 25 window observation platform that can accommodate 30 viewers. Across the harbor we viewed skyscrapers. The Big Apple had over two hundred of them that stick up into the air like bristles on a monstrous toothbrush. What a spectacular sight to behold!
Within the hollow statue are two parallel stairways that spiral up from the base to the crown. A ladder inside the arm leads to the torch but this is too narrow and steep for public use. Each stairway has 168 steps, with rest seats at every third turn of the spiral. Climbing the 168 steps creates a strong sensation of disorientation. Ruth had the impression of being entangled in some gigantic structural machinery. She said that the iron framework resembled an oil derrick.
"Liberty Enlightening the World" is the largest work of its kind that has ever been completed. The famous Colossus of Rhodes was but a miniature in comparison. A 1974 poll conducted by the U.S. Travel Service found that the Goddess of Liberty was named one of the seven man-made wonders of the United States.
The statue represents a regal woman draped in classical robes and wearing a crown with seven spokes. At her feet lie the broken shackles of slavery. In her uplifting right hand she carries a torch and in her left hand she holds a lawbook inscribed "July 4, 1776"--the date of the Declaration of Independence. The figure weighs 225 tons and is made of more than 300 thin sheets of copper. On the compass she faces SSE. To the shipboard observer Liberty presents an illusion of striding into the path of New York (and America). The green color of the statue is the result of patina or verdigris--the green rust of copper. The wrought-iron armature was designed by Gustave Eiffel, contriver of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The pedestal was designed by Richard M. Hunt, the then-acknowledged dean of American architecture. The statue is one of the most celebrated of Repousse work, which is a process of hammering metal over a mold in order to shape the metal. Her fragile skin needed support not only against gravity but against the high winds in the Upper Bay of New York Harbor. The total structure is so firm that it is said that to overturn the statue one would have to upturn the island itself.
Ms. Liberty commemorates the friendship of the peoples of the United States and France. The figure was built in Paris and shipped to the United States, in 214 cases aboard the French ship Isere in May, 1885. Money for the statue was raised by subscription from the France populace. French Freemasons, especially the Lodge of the Seven Sisters in Paris, provided financial succor and patronage for the project. The pedestal was paid for by American donations. It is a fable that school children paid for the base. Grand Master Henry Martin and his New York Lodges were instrumental in procuring contributions for the building of the 27 meter stone and concrete pedestal.
Frederic Auguste Bartholdi; French Freemason, sculptor, military officer, painter, idealist, patriot, and academician, was the architect of the Statue of Liberty. He was a native of Colmar in Alsace where he was born on April 2, 1834. He was brought up by his mother in Paris. His father was a well-to-do civil servant who died young. Frederic at first studied architecture and painting, but later took up sculpture. His main interest was large-scale pieces glorifying heroic ideas, personalities, and events. He had an obsession for the colossal. He conceded that the face of the statue was his mother's whereas Lady Liberty's body was modeled after that of Jeanne Emile Baheux de Puysieux, his wife, who spent countless hours posing for the figure. His Masonic sculptures are the statues of the Marquis de Lafayette and George Washington. Monument-maker Bartholdi was initiated into Alsace-Lorraine Lodge in Paris on October 4, 1875. In Paris on October 4, 1904 he laid down his working tools.
Ms. Liberty sets my mind thinking of the shortness of our lives and the awesome length of eternity--and that is Art.
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Send all articles
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Publication to:
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1660 Normal Drive
Bowling Green, KY
42101
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The Universality of Freemasonry
by Wallace McLeod, FPS
(Presented to the Annual Banquet of the Allied Masonic Degrees, February, 1991)
Inasmuch as I am not a member of the Allied Masonic Degrees, it is a great privilege for me to be in your midst. As a general rule, I like to find out something about the group I am addressing, and one way to assess it is to see what people have been chosen to lead it. Speaking for myself, I deal mostly with the written word; and so I look at the list of your presiding officers, and in the domain of the written word I see some impressive names.
I see Charles Clyde Hunt (Sovereign Grand Master in 1939), Grand Secretary of Iowa, who put together the splendid Masonic concordance to the Bible; and I see Harold Van Buren Voorhis (1943), for years the most respected Masonic scholar in America; and Ray V Denslow (1946), Grand Master of Missouri, who founded the ROYAL ARCH MASON magazine; and Ward K St Clair (1950), the New York historian; and Wallace Everett Caldwell (1954), Professor of Ancient History in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and William Moseley Brown (1934), and William Leon Cummings (1956), who collaborated with Henry Wilson Coil in producing his great encyclopedia; and your present Leader, Allen Earl Roberts (1990), the most productive and beloved Masonic writer alive today, who is in fact revising Coil 's encyclopedia, who has in recent years been producing one book a year, and whose latest production THE MYSTIC TIE, should be in every Mason's hands. And he is very clear-sighted; in my experience his advice is splendid when followed, disastrous when neglected
For this evening's meeting, I thought that we might try to make you think a bit. We often have trouble recognizing that everyone is each child of God, that (in Paul's words) God has "made of one blood all nations of man for to dwell on all the face of the earth. " Without thinking, we seem to practise discrimination. It is not natural for mankind, as a group, to be terribly tolerant of those who are different. In some sense this must be an inheritance from the distant past, when the family, or the village, or the tribe, had to stake out its terrain and defend it against outsiders. How much easier it would be if we could always think the worst of those others! And we could do this because we didn't know them very well.
There is, as we all know, a tremendous collection of racist jokes--about my ancestors, the Scotch, and about my mother's people, The Irish, and about the English, and the Poles, and the Italians, and the Greeks and the Jews, and the Chinese, and the Blacks. Some are nasty, some are a bit funny.
Part of the humour, and part of the nastiness, depends on stereotyping. Such jokes are not now regarded as acceptable in some circles, because they assume that every member of a particular ethnic group shares certain characteristics. But not all stereotyping is based on fiction. Some groups of people, for reasons of upbringing, or environment, behave predictably. My people, the Scotch, are parsimonious, because their homeland is poor, and the inhabitants have to be careful in order to survive. That is a fact, and there's no harm if you recognize the fact, and so I can have no real objection if you call me a cheap Scotchman.
This stereotyping, this mention of prejudice, brings me around to my main topic, the Universality of Masonry. Modern Freemasonry descends from the British operative masons; six hundred years ago they were all English-speaking, white-skinned Caucasians, and their religion was Roman Catholic. After the Reformation, they became white English-speaking Anglicans (Episcopalians). In those days, people like that were the only ones with any political rights; all others were shut out. What I want to do now is to remind you how far ahead of society Freemasonry was in such matters.
In England, according to the Test Act of 1673, all office holders under the Crown had to take their sacraments according to the usage of the Church of England. All other Protestants, and Catholics, and certainly all non-Christians, were cut off from any sort of public office. In 1776 the Declaration of Independence stated that " all men are created equal," and in theory had access to all political rights. But until that date non-Episcopalians were excluded. And it was another fifty years before the Test Act was repealed in England. But as well as religious prejudice, there was racial prejudice. In 1762 the Earl of Bute became Prime Minister of Britain. We are told that he was "hated by the populace for being a Scotsman, and he was mobbed on his way to the Guildhall banquet. "
How did Masonry fit into this? In September 1721, the Grand Master ordered Rev. James Anderson to prepare a new Book of Constitutions. He was of course a Scotchman, and a Presbyterian minister. He was living in London, and he was subject to thc Test Act. Here was this Scotchman, this Presbyterian, a man excluded from public life, acting as Secretary of the Grand Lodge of England and writing the most influential Masonic book ever published
Roman Catholics were without political power in Britain until 1829, and in America until 1776, and there was often a strong prejudice against them. We don't know when the first Catholic was initiated into the modern Craft, but in 1729, a Catholic, the Duke of Norfolk, was elected Grand Master. Moreover, his successor in 1732, the Viscount Montagu, was also a Catholic. Half a century before the Declaration of Independence
When we go beyond members of the Christian religion, there is a problem for those who believe, in the literal truth of the Bible. Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" Those who take this literally cannot accept the fact that Masonry lets men of different faiths pray together.
Of course Jews were excluded from political life by the Test Act of 1673, and for nearly another two centuries it was not possible for a Jew to receive a peer age. For example, Sampson Gideon,; Jewish financier, was of immense help to the British government during the war of 1742-1759. "It was his ambition to be made a baronet; but, this being considered impossible on account of his religion, a baronetcy was conferred in 1759 on his son Sampson, then a boy of fifteen under education as a Christian at Eton. " The religious barrier against Jews was not removed in America until 1776, and in Britain not until 1858.
At the time when Jews were deprived of political rights, what was Freemasonry's attitude. The first Jewish brethren, Nathan Blanch and John Hart, were initiated in London in 1721. Thc register for 1725 included Israel Segala and Nicholas Abrahams. Daniel Delvalk, who is described as "an Eminent Jew snuff merchant, " was Master of a lodge in 1732. Solomon Mendkz was Grand Steward in 1732, and Dr. Meyer Schomberg in 1734--a century and a quarter before Jews were allowed to sit in the English Parliament.
Now let us move to other parts of the world where Masonry was carried, those parts inhabited by the " fluttered folk and wild--The silent, sullen peoples, Half devil and half child," as Kipling called them. The natives of these regions looked different, and sometimes they behaved differently. One could only suspect the worst. We begin with the New World. We know that Europeans who came to America did not fully appreciate those who were already here. We've all heard how General Philip Sheridan as late as 1869 said, "The only good Indians I ever saw were dead." Nearly century earlier, in 1776, Joseph Brant the Mohawk war chief, was initiated in a lodge in London. But there were others that came later: the Oneida John Konkipot, who was also involved in the Revolution; and the Cherokee chief John Ross, who was associated with the long march from Tennessee to what is now Oklahoma; and the Seneca General Ely S. Parker, after whom a lodge in Buffalo is named; and the Apache physician Dr Carlos Montezuma.
I move on to a problem that is becoming increasingly vexing for Freemasonry in America. Obviously in a household, or on a farm, or on a ship or in a business, there is too much for one person to do. You must have someone to share the work. You can hire him, but that takes money. You can marry her, and persuade her that all her effort is for the good of the family. But the cheapest way is to own him. Black slavery started with the use of prisoners of war, but it developed into a large-scale business. If you are going to look upon a whole section of the human race as fit only for slaves, you will have to rationalize your treatment.
In 1885, Gilbert and Sullivan in "The Mikado, " could say,
There's the nigger serenader, and the others of his race,
And the piano organist--I've got him on the list!
They never would be missed--they never would be missed!
As we all know, the Thirteenth Amendment had been ratified in 1865. In 1906 Theodore Roosevelt wrote, "Negroes, as a race and in the mass, are altogether inferior to the whites." And the great humanitarian, Dr Albert Schweitzer, said, "My general rule is never to trust a black. "
But on 6 March 1778 a black man named Prince Hall had been made a Mason in Boston; within the next three years some other blacks were made Masons, and they formed a lodge which they called African Lodge No 1. In 1784, Prince Hall wrote a letter to England, explaining the situation, and petitioning, "as Poor yet Sincere Brethren of the Craft, " for a Warrant of Constitution. The Grand Lodge of England did in fact issue a warrant, in 1784, to African Lodge No 459. By any standard you wish to invoke, granting of a charter by the mother grand lodge made the lodge regular, and ensured that its members were legitimate Masons.
There is a sequel to the story, which I need only mention, so soon after M.W.Bro. Howard L. Woods addressed the Annual Assembly and Feast of the Philalethes Society last evening (see this magazine, volume 44, number 3, for June 1991, pages 3-6).The question of Prince Hall Masonry is divisive, and at present several states have taken a stand on each side of the question. I say no more about it, except to emphasize that eighty years before the Emancipation Proclamation we had black Masons who were perfectly regular.
We move on to India. A missionary there writing in 1841 said that Hindus were "obsequious, deceitful, licentious, and avaricious .;. destitute of all that is good, and distinguished by almost all that is evil. " A Masonic Lodge was established in India in 1732, but it was composed of Englishmen. The first Mason who actually came from India was a Moslem prince, Omrat-ul-Omrah, who was initiated in 1775. This did not break down the barriers; nearly forty years later, when another Moslem was to be initiated, the Secretary of the Lodge, and another member, refused to attend, "saying that they were obligated not to be present at the Initiation of a Turk, Jew or Infidel, and they considered all Mahomedans, TURKS. " There was still religious prejudice even within the lodge. But it soon crumbled.
A Parse, Maneckji Cursetji, joined a French Lodge at some date before 1843. The first Hindu Masons, Raganatha Sastri and Murugesa Mudaliar, were initiated in 1857. In due time, Freemasonry in India came to be very tolerant of all faiths. It was the custom to have five volumes of the sacred law available for the altar, for Hindus, Moslems, Sikhs, Parsees, and Christians. This attitude is reflected in Kipling's poem, "The Mother-Lodge," written in 1896. He lists some of the members of his lodge.
There was Rundle, Station Master,
An' Beazeley of the Rail,
An' 'Ackman, Commissariat,
An' Donkin' o' the Jail;
An' Blake, Conductor-Sergeant,
Our Master twice was 'e, [all Englishmen]
With 'im that kept the Europe-shop,
Old Framjee Eduljee. [Parsee]
We'd Bola Nath, Accountant,[Hindu]
An' Saul, the Aden Jew, [Jew]
An' Din Mohammed, draughts man [Moslem]
Of the Survey Office, too;
There was Babu Chuckerbutty, Hindu]
An' Amir Singh the Sikh, [Sikh]
An' Castro from the fittin'-sheds,
The Roman Catholick! [Catholic]
Next, we move to the Far East. European travelers there found it hard to get used to the people. That great egalitarian Karl Marx spoke with scorn of China's "hereditary stupidity. " And in 1870, in the tolerant United States, Bret Harte could say, in his "Ballad of Truthful James, "
Which I wish to remark-
And my language is plain-
That for ways that are dark
And for ways that are vain,
The heathen Chinee is peculiar.
A Masonic Lodge was established in China in 1767, but once again it was composed of Englishmen. The first Chinese Mason was The Boen Keh in 1857. In 1864, Amane Nishi, a Japanese who was studying in Holland, was made a Mason there. And of course now there are many Masons from both races. So we do make progress.
What I have tried to do is to remind you of how Freemasonry was ahead of society in recognizing non-Episcopalians, non-English-speaking people, and non-whites, as full and equal brethren. Thc Rev. Dr. James Anderson, in his summary of The Charges of a FreeMason (1723) said that, by its non-sectarian nature, "Masonry becomes the Center of Union, and the Means of conciliating true Friendship among Persons that might have remain'd at a perpetual distance. " Masonry accepted dissenters, and Roman Catholics, and Jews, at a time when their political rights were strictly curtailed It admitted American Indians, and black men, and men from India, and the Far East, at a time when they were Still spoken of disparagingly. In all these instances, people who were from different backgrounds were able to meet together as equal on the level.
The prophet Malachi says, "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?" This, according to my friend and Masonic brother, Dr George H. T. French of Texas, is one of the sources of the Masonic concept of the Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of God. And let us never forget how essential the doctrine is to Freemasonry. We look out at the world, and we see all the stress and tension, all the hostility and rivalry, between country and country, between race and race. How can we solve these problems?
What can we do?
Masonry makes answer
With its never-changing plan-
The Fatherhood of God,
The Fatherhood of Man!
So it has been. So may it continue.
[A longer version of this talk, with documentation, was published in the Proceedings of The Heritage Lodge (Guelph, Ontario Canada), volume 14 [1990-1991] pages 23-38.]
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by Nelson King, MPS
I want to present to you two Literary Initiations, or more correctly, portions of two Masonic Initiation Ceremonies. One was written in the 1860's and first published in February of 1865, the other was written in the 1880's and first published in January of 1983. One is an epic novel, the other an expose of international intrigue, fraud, and dishonor. Which is which? What are their Titles? Who were the Authors? Where did their information come from?
In the meeting room, twelve members of the Lodge, dressed in satin ceremonial robes and wearing black hoods reminiscent of those worn by members of the Ku Klux Klan, sit in leather chairs at a red marble conference table. None of the black-clad disciples, or wolf pack as they are also known, knows the identity of any of his eleven brothers. The Grand Master is the only one who bares his face. In addition to the twelve disciples, two Masons stand post at the entrance to the meeting room, their faces covered, each carries an axe.
The ceremony begins.
There is an uneven series of knocks at the door. "Your Worshipful," a disciple announces. "A pagan wishes to enter."
The Grand Master strikes the table with one blow of his axe. Immediately the oversized door swings open and slams against the inner wall. Two guards escort the initiate to the center of the room where he faces twelve Masons with his back to the Grand Master's throne. The pagan as he is called, is wearing a plain black hood and a blindfold. His identity is known to the Grand Master, but to no one else. He is asked one question by each of the disciples, but the pagan does not answer; instead one of the guards speaks for him.
Once all of the ritual questions about purpose and belief and reason for wanting to become a member of this Lodge are answered, the pagan is turned to face the Grand Master, who asks; "Pagan, are you prepared to die in order to preserve the secrets of this Lodge?"
The initiate now answers for himself; " I am. "
"Do you have the necessary quality of contempt for danger?"
" I do. "
"Do you have the necessary quality of courage? "
"I am courageous."
"And, pagan, are you prepared to fight and perhaps face shame, even death, so that we, who may become your brothers, may destroy this government and form a presidency? "
"I am."
Then the blindfold is removed. It takes a moment for the initiate's vision to become clear, because this is the first time since entering the compound that he has been allowed to see light. The blindfold serves a purpose other than security. It also represents the power of the Lodge. "For without membership one is blind; with the help of the order, however, the way is clear. "
There follows three more pages, including an obligation, and then the initiate is admitted, into the Order.
Now to the next book.
Having entered the courtyard of a large house where the Lodge had its headquarters, and having ascended a darkened staircase, they entered a small well-lit anteroom where they took off their cloaks without the aid of a servant. From there they passed into another room. A man in strange attire appeared at the door. Willarski, stepping toward him, said something to him in French, in an undertone and then went up to a small wardrobe in which Pierre noticed garments such as he had never seen before.
Having taken a kerchief from the cupboard, Willarski bound Pierre's eyes with it and tied it in a knot behind, catching some hairs painfully in the knot. Then he drew his face down, kissed him, and taking him by the hand led him forward. The hairs tied in the knot hurt Pierre and there were lines of pain on his face and a shamefaced smile. His huge figure, with arms hanging down and with a puckered though smiling face moved after Willarski with uncertain, timid steps.
Having led him about ten paces, Willarski stopped.
"Whatever happens to you," he said, "you must bear it all manfully if you have firmly resolved to join our Brotherhood. " Pierre nodded affirmatively. "When you hear a knock at the door, you will uncover your eyes," added Willarski. "I wish you courage and success," and, pressing Pierre's hand he went out.
Left alone, Pierre went on smiling in the same way. Once or twice he shrugged his shoulders and raised his hand to the kerchief, as if wishing to take it off, but let it drop. The five minutes spent with his eyes bandaged seemed to him an hour. His arms felt numb, his legs almost gave way, it seemed to him that he was tired out. He experienced a variety of most complex sensations. He felt afraid of what would happen to him and still more afraid of showing his fear. He felt curious to know what was going to happen and what would be revealed to him; but most of all he felt joyful that the moment had come when he would at least start on that path of regeneration and the actively virtuous life of which he had been dreaming since he met Joseph Alexeevich. Loud knocks were heard at the door. Pierre took the bandage off his eyes and glanced around him. The room was in black darkness, only a small lamp was burning inside something white. Pierre went nearer and saw that the lamp stood on a black table on which lay an open book. The book was the Gospel, and the white thing with the lamp inside was a human skull with its cavities and teeth. After reading the first words of the Gospel: " In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God," Pierre went around the table and saw a large open box filled with something. It was a coffin with bones inside. He was not at all surprised by what he saw. Hoping to enter on an entirely new life quite unlike the old one, he expected everything to be unusual, even more unusual than what he was seeing. A skull, a coffin, the Gospel--it seemed to him that he had expected all this and even more. Trying to stimulate his emotions he looked around. "God, death, love, the brotherhood of man, " he kept saying to himself, associating these words with vague yet joyful ideas. The door opened and someone came in.
By the dim light, to which Pierre had already become accustomed, he saw a rather short man. Having evidently come from the light into the darkness, the man paused, then moved with cautious steps toward the table, and placed on it his small leather-gloved hands.
The short man had on a white leather apron which covered his chest and part of his legs; he had on a kind of necklace above which rose a high white ruffle, outlining his rather long face which was lit up from below.
"For what have you come hither?" asked the newcomer, turning in Pierre's direction at a slight rustle made by the latter. "Why have you, who do not believe in the truth of the light and who have not seen the light, come here? What do you seek from us? Wisdom, virtue, enlightenment? "
Further on in the ceremony Pierre is informed of the seven virtues, corresponding to the seven steps of Solomon's Temple, which every Freemason, should cultivate in himself. These virtues were;
1. Discretion, the keeping of the secrets of the Order. 2. Obedience to those of higher ranks in the Order. 3. Morality. 4. Love of mankind 5. Courage. 6. Generosity. 7. The love of death.
"In the seventh place, try, by the frequent thought of death," the Rhetor said, "to bring yourself to regard it not as a dreaded foe, but as a friend that frees the soul grown weary in the labors of virtue from this distressful life, and leads it to its place of recompense and peace. "
There follows about eight more pages of the initiation ceremony, and Pierre is admitted in to the Order.
Do you know from which books these two passages were taken?
The first may surprise you, as it is the initiation ceremony of Propaganda Due, better known as P-2 the clandestine Lodge of Freemasons in Italy. And is quoted from the book "St. Peter's Banker: Michele Sindona," written by Luigi DiFonzo, who says that the ceremony, and obligation, which are in his book were described to him by two former members of P-2, including Lieutenant Colonel Luciano Rossi, onetime member of P-2's execution squad, who committed suicide six weeks after being interviewed.
The second passage comes from Book Five of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. Tolstoy took the ceremonies of the Freemasons from his study of books and manuscripts in the rich collection at the Rumyantsev Museum in Moscow. In a letter to his wife in the autumn of 1866 he wrote, "After drinking my coffee I went to the Rumyantsev Museum and sat there till three o'clock reading very interesting Masonic manuscripts. I can't describe to you why the reading produced on me a depression I have not been able to get rid of all day. What is distressing is that all those Masons where fools. "
"You may wonder why Tolstoy was so interested in the Masonic movement and what connection it has with the main thread of the novel. In reality he was profoundly sensitive to the fundamental wrongness and consequent rottenness of the system under which everything depended on the wish and whim of an autocrat, and he felt a keen interest in the group which--through often rashly and with mixed motives--aimed at overthrowing the established order and replacing it by a better one. That this is not clearly expressed in the novel, was no doubt, due to the censor. "
The forgoing statement was made by Aylmer Maude in the Translator's Preface, to War and Peace.
I have presented to you two Literary Initiations, I am sure that there are many more to be found. These two books can be found in any Public Library or any book store, and may be one of the many reasons why the general public gets so confused as to what is, or is not Freemasonry, just as you and I understand that these two stories do not contain our Ritual and that we do not recognize the participants as Freemasons. But that is another topic for another time. Tonight I just wanted to show that Masonic Education does not have to be dull or boring, and that it can be found in great literature or even in the comics, for as Little Orphan Annie, said about Daddy Warlocks, "With all his mines an' oil wells in the orient--Daddy's been out there hunnerts o' times--but he says one time he travelled to the East, but didn't make a dime, meant more to him than all th'other trips he'll ever make--I don't get it--do you?
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By Davy Crockett, MPS
"Talk doesn't cook the rice" began Brother Francis G. Paul, .Sovereign Grand Commander, in a recent article in the Northern Light (May/1989). Brother Paul has identified with absolute precision the most significant issue in Masonry today. The issue is to focus on a strategy of improving the Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of God.
Today we are in a state of confusion. We debate trivia. We argue about Masonic history. We clash over ritual. We bicker at the credibility of Masons one hundred years ago. We insult Masons who have been dead for 200 years and more. Enough!
I quote from a Mason who received the Gourgas Medal in 1952. He was a Professor and Dean of the Harvard Law School for 37 years, and for those cynics who remain unimpressed with these credentials The Supreme Council 33ø Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Northern Jurisdiction stated the following in their book published in 1953:
. . . "his addresses concerning Freemasonry interpreted its message in a manner never excelled or even equaled. His researchers are wide and profound. In this book there have been assembled all his more important Masonic addresses which exist in print or manuscript. No one can be a real student of the philosophy of Freemasonry without them " (Pg Xii)
This grand old Mason lived to be ninety four years old. The bibliography of his writing (i.e. the names of his books, with publishing data) fill 245 printed pages. In my opinion the greatest statement that he made about twentieth century Masonry was the following:
"My brethren, we of all men owe it to ourselves and to the world to be universal in spirit. Universality is a lesson the whole world is learning and must learn. But we ought to know it well already. We ought to be upon the front bench of the world's school, setting an example to our more backward schoolfellows. Wherever in the world there is a Lodge of Masons, there should be a focus of civilization, a center of the idea of universality, radiating reason to put down prejudice and advance justice in the disputes of peoples, and in the disputes of classes, and making for the peace and harmony and civilization that should prevail in this great Lodge of the world. "
I am of course quoting from the Masonic Addresses and Writings of Roscoe Pound, Page 101.
We listen to the words of Pound. We also listen to similar words in the Lodge ritual. But my Brethren, we are not cooking the rice. We are obsessed with proving that we are right and someone else is wrong. We are cutting down trees and the forest is becoming smaller.
In the past three months I have worked full time 8 to 12 hours a day, five to seven days a week purchasing and studying roughly $3,000 worth of Masonic books and pamphlets ranging from Thaddeous Mason Harris's Discourses published in 1801 to a dozen copies of the Philalethes Journal dated between 1985 and 1989. Between those two extremes I have studied work by Charles W. Moore, Gould, Mackey, Oliver, Webb, Cross, J.F. Brennan, John W. Simons, Morris, Stillson, three years of the Builder by the National Masonic Research Society, American Lodge of Research, Drummond, Pike, Roberts, Foss, and numerous Lodge histories.
My objective in this project was to write the article Masonic Ritual from England to New Hampshire, which was recently published by the Philalethes Society. But I learned something else in this wonderful experience. I learned that throughout history, Masons, like the rest of the world spend a great deal of wasted time cutting down trees instead of building the forest.
Listen to Charles W. Moore after he returned from a trip to England in January 1856. He is upset with how they are working ritual in England! Charles W. Moore was the publisher of the most successful Masonic Journal in American history. He was also the Grand Secretary of Massachusetts for 34 years.
"If...the Grand Lodge of England is now right, she was wrong for at least an entire century preceding the year 1814, when her present system of work was matured and adopted. If she is right now, then the Grand Lodge of this country, in common with the Grand Lodge of Ireland and Scotland (we say nothing of the mixed systems of the continent), are just so far in the wrong. " (Pg. 68)
Did it really make any difference how England preferred to perform ritual? Is this an appropriate attitude for a leader in Masonic publications? Will this implement Brother Pound's plea for a society that is universal in spirit? Do you doubt that we could not find a similar example of contemporary bickering in Masonic publications today? Try this one from Coil's encyclopedia:
"Mackey never admitted error nor corrected a mistake. " (Pg 390)
Now listen to Mackey:
"Doubtless the well-settled and carefully nourished prejudices of some will be shocked by any attempt to expose the fallacies and falsehoods which have too long tarnished the annals of Freemasonry. But such an attempt cannot, if it be successfully pursued, but command the approval of all who believe with Cicero that history is the witness of time, the light of truth, and the life of memory. " (Mackey's History, Vol. 1, P. xi)
Is there a Mason alive today that has anything good to say about George Oliver, the English Mason 1782-1867?
Yet listen to the brilliant scholar Roscoe Pound from the 1953 Scottish Rite publication:
"Oliver's Masonic philosophy is an obvious product of a clergyman in the age of the romantic philosophy who read and reflected upon Hutchinson. And yet it is not true that there is no new life in Oliver. Except for Krause nothing so well worth while has been pointed out for Masonry as the end which Oliver found for us. I cannot but feel that it is a great misfortune that his philosophy is being peddled out to a new generation of grandiloquent fragments through Grand Lodge orations and articles in the Masonic press instead of being apprehended as a whole." (Pound's addresses 1953, p.65)
In summary, let us all seek the inclusive goal of universal spirit. As an analogy, each of us is a tree. Let us stop cutting down each other, and build the forest. It is true that Mackey, Oliver, Anderson, and other pioneers of Masonic work made mistakes. We all make mistakes. The inclusive goal of Masonry, however, is not to broadcast to the world how stupid someone may have been. The purpose of Masonry is to cook the proverbial rice of harmony and universality of spirit. That my Brothers is the message of Oliver.
----o----
Abd el Kader: The Tolerant Hero
by Jonathan M. Jacobs, MPS
The word "Arab Nationalist," today brings to mind such people as Gamal Nasser, the late president of the United Arab Republic. If we look for a leader of a Jihad, or Holy War, most people would look to the feeble attempts of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to proclaim a Jihad against those countries engaged against him. An Islamic cleric leading an independent nation brings to mind the Ayatollah Khomeini, or, from the last century, Mohammed Ahmed, the Mahdi of Khartoum fame. There was one man, however, that predated all of these men, an Islamic scholar, Arab Nationalist, leader of a Jihad against French colonialism in Algeria, the Emir Abd el-Kader. Abd el-Kader was many things in his long life. First, he was, throughout his long life, a practicing Muslim, Islamic Scholar, and a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed. Second, he was one of the first, if not the first Arab Nationalist of the modern era. He led a 15 year Jihad against the French attempts to colonize Algeria. Third, in a strange twist of fate, as an exile in Damascus he was responsible for saving the lives of between 12,000 (Morris, p. 577) and 15,000 (Churchill, p. 318) Christians. Fourth, Abd el-Kader, exiled Emir of Mascara, ex-Sultan of the Arabs of Algeria, was also a Freemason.
The remarkable story of Abd el-Kader began at his birth, in his small family village in the Oran Province on the western edge of what was the Ottoman Empire, in May of 1807. He was the fourth child of Mehi-ed-deen. Mehi-ed-deen was a Marabout, a religious noble, and a sherif, direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed (Churchill, p. 1). His mother was Leila Zohra (Ibid., p. 10); the name translates into English as "Creature of God. " In his youth he was described as "frightened at a shadow" (Ibid. , p. 1) , but he hoped to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Marabout. To that end he learned to read and write by age five and at age fourteen, he became a "Hafiz," one who had memorized the Koran, in toto. He also excelled in horsemanship (Ibid., p.2). He also pursued knowledge, acquiring a library on everything from Aristotle to astronomy (Ibid., p. 13). All of these things were exceptional for his community, but a fly whisk was to change both Abd el-Kader's life and all of Algerian history.
In April of 1827, the Ottoman Dey, Hussien, was trying to mediate a dispute between two local merchants and the French Consul, Deval. The dispute was over a contract between the merchants and the old French directory, which had been abolished in 1799. Hussien was reputed to be very excitable; what happened next has been passed down in two versions. The French version (the one that made it into the history books) is that Hussien Dey hit Deval with a fly whisk (Cole & Ireland, p. 618).In the Algerian version, an agitated Hussien Dey was waving the fly whisk. His servant, not wishing to be hit, was starting to back away. He bumped the Dey's arm and propelled the fly whisk into the French Consul. While this was hardly a major physical assault, the Consul sent a report back to Paris. The French government responded by blockading Algiers for three years and then dispatched, in 1830, an expeditionary force. On July 5, Algiers fell to the French. The fly whisk incident was used as a pretext to invade and colonize Algeria (Ibid., pp. 618).
For two years nothing much happened; the native Arabs and Berbers were used to invasions by European powers. It quickly became more; French power and influence were expanding (Churchill, p. 14-15). The Sultan of Morocco, frightened of the increasing French influence, sent his army into Algeria, but then pulled it back (Ibid., pp. 20-21). The local Arab chiefs, meeting in the city of Mascara decided to take action themselves. They wanted a leader, a Sultan; their choice was Mehi-ed-deen. He, saying that he was a man of peace, refused. Then the chiefs drew their swords and gave him a choice, accept or die! Mehied-deen still insisted that he was a man of peace, but said, "But since you insist on my being Sultan, I consent; and abdicate in favor of my son, Abd el-Kader. " The chiefs agreed, though Abd el-Kader was less than enthusiastic about his sultancy (Ibid., pp. 24-25).
Abd el-Kader arrived in Mascara and was greeted by the acclaim of the crowd. He went to the mosque and spoke briefly to the assembly saying, "I will know no law but the Koran!" As he reviewed the Arab troops, he yelled from his horse, "The Jihad! The Jihad! Liberty and independence are only in the Jihad (Ibid., pp. 25-27)."
The Jihad against the French started; the first target was the fortress port of Oran. The Algerians outfought the French; Abd el-Kader displayed both excellent leadership and personal bravery. In route, the Algerians engaged French cavalry. As a lancer thrust this weapon at him, Abd el-Kader held the lance between his left arm and his body and beheaded the Chasseur with sword (Ibid, pp. 33-34). The French had just taken the fortress at Mostaganem and the Algerians attacked. The French, hoping to catch Abd el-Kader at, Mostaganem launched an attack from Oran. Abd el-Kader boldly split his forces and attacked the French as they attacked his rear. The French were routed and retreated to Oran. The Algerians continued the siege of Mostaganem, but after a brave fight, retreated (Ibid., pp. 33-34). The Algerians possessed no artillery at the time; they would never be able to match the French in this critical area. Without artillery, the Algerians could never effectively fight a force garrisoned in fortresses. This was one of the two reasons for the eventual French victory. The second factor was the rivalry of other Arabs. Just before the attacks on Oran and Mostaganum, Abd el-Kader had to fight a rival Arab tribe that was marching on his position (Ibid., p. 35).
Throughout 1833 and 1834 this pattern continued; the Algerians outfought the French, but the French were always able to retreat to a defended city. The French, however, were tiring, and in 1834 sued for peace, retaining Algiers but recognizing Abd el-Kader as Emir of Mascara (Ibid. pp. 42-43). The negotiations were conducted by his agent in Oran, Mordecai Amar (Ibid., p. 49). It is interesting to note that both Amar and Abd el-Kader's chief spy in Algiers, Durand (Ibid., pp. 68) were both Jewish.
Abd el-Kader was now the ruler of a nation. As Emir, he attempted to revitalize the Oran region. He established a small regular army, established munitions works (including cannon foundries), suppressed banditry, and established a cadre of Cadi's, or judges to administrate justice Ibid., p. 62) The latter were so successful that it was said, "A girl might have traveled the length and breadth of the land with a casket of diamonds on her head, without fear of molestation (Ibid., p. 63). "
The treaty collapsed in 1835, after the French cavalry, short of forage, crossed the border and cut down crops ((Ibid., p. 75). Both armies started to move. One of the first battles was at the Macta River. As the French entered the narrow valley, the Algerians swept down on them. The French were routed, again; the Algerians beheaded most of the French and piled their heads in a pyramid. The Emir Abd el-Kader, who arrived at that section of the battlefield twelve hours later, was appalled at the mutilation (Ibid., pp. 76-7).
The Battle of Macta stunned the French. Theirs, the French politician, said of the French King Louis Phillip's Algerian policy, "It is war badly made!' In November of 1834, the new French commander, Marshal Clausel, launched an attack on Mascara. He had 12,000 men and the Emir of Mascara had 10,000 men and only four cannons (Ibid., p.79). The Emir Abd el-Kader stopped before Mascara; a set piece battle ensued. The French, through superior firepower, won a hard fought victory; Mascara fell (Ibid., 79-83). The Emir, however, still was able to hold some of his army together and retreat; the French again sued for peace (Ibid., p. 84).
In a bloody war of this type, with its religious and social overtones, it could be expected that incidents like the mutilations of Macta would be commonplace. It also could be expected that the Emir Adb el-Kader would become a brutal leader full of excesses. Neither was the case. In one case a French prisoner said to the Emir, "As for me, I will never renounce my religion! You may cut off my head, but you will make me a renegade never!" Abd el-Kader's responded, "Be perfectly easy, your life is sacred with me. " The prisoner was not injured. In another instant, he was offered several captured women; his response was "Lions attack the strong; jackals, attack the weak(Ibid., p. 210)." The Emir issued orders prohibiting the mistreatment of the French prisoners of war. Only once was this order violated; one of the Algerians beheaded a prisoner. Abd el-Kader ordered the guilty man to receive 750 blows on the soles of his feet (Ibid., p. 216-18). While there were many such examples like this perhaps the most telling commentary of the Emir's humanity was from a French General. "We were obliged to conceal these things as much as we could from our soldiers; for if they knew them, we should never have got them to fight with due ardor against Abd el-Kader (Ibid., p. 211). "
The war continued. In 1836 the Emir, as part of his plans for industrial development, established a fortress of his own at Tekedemt (Ibid., pp. 125-27). The French launched an attack on tekedemt in May of 1841. Abd el-Kader fought them all the way. On May 25, the French found the fortress in flames; the Emir had abandoned it (Ibid., p. 197). The Emir boldly used his cavalry to sweep the plains below, attacking nearly to Algiers, nearly two hundred miles away (Ibid., p. 203). The war, after this point, evolved into a series of dashing cavalry actions. The Emir was constantly outgunned and overmatched. In December of 1847, Abd el-Kader finally surrendered; it had taken over 100,000 French soldiers to win the war (Ibid., p. 2 70) . By that time, the Algerians numbered a mere 2000 combatants (Ibid., p. 258).
The French had promised Abd el-Kader exile in St. Jean D'Acre or Alexandria, but he was detained at the fortress of Lamalgue until arrangements could be made with the Ottoman government (Ibid., p. 271). The French Revolution of 1848 intervened. Abd el-Kader was then moved to the Chateau of Pau; the new French government could not figure out what to do with their prisoner (Ibid., pp. 276-78). Abd el-Kader, with his reputation for humanity and honor was respected by many including the Archbishop of Tours (Ibid., p. 281); the two became friends. The French government, now a republic, stalled; Abd el-Kader remained unperturbed, but the other Algerians in his household became furious. The French, as a security measure, moved him to the Chateau of Ambroise and limited his communications and visitors (Ibid., pp. 285-86). The sequestered Emir used the time well, writing two books; one, THE UNITY OF THE GODHEAD, was a brilliant commentary on Islam (Ibid., p. 289). In 1849 he received the newly elected President of the Republic, Louis Napoleon, the nephew of the late Emperor(Ibid., 290-91).
It was Louis Napoleon that finally released Abd el-Kader. The President, who was soon to become Emperor Napoleon III, arranged to have him sent to the Ottoman city of Bursa, in what today is Turkey (Ibid., pp. 296-98). He was also given the then princely sum of S20,000 per year for life (Morris, p. 575) . The Turks in Bursa didn't like the exiled Emir, and Abd el-Kader didn't get on well with the Turks. Under the auspices of Louis Napoleon, he was allowed to move to Damascus (Churchill, p. 303). All accounts report that the Emir received a tumultuous hero's welcome; the welcome is said to have rivaled that of the medieval conqueror of Jerusalem, Saladin (Ibid., p. 305). While Damascus was part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, its population, like Algeria, was Arab; the inhabitants spoke the same language as Abd el-Kader, Arabic, while the Turks in Bursa spoke Turkish. The Emir was accompanied by his wife (he had only one), ten of his children, and a thousand man Algerian body guard, consisting of those men that had fought beside him in Algeria. From his arrival there in 1855, Abd el-Kader began to follow the life that he had always wanted, that of a deric and scholar. He established an Islamic school where he, with 60 other Islamic scholars, taught. (Morris, p. 5 7 5) . He kept only half his annuity for personal and family use, using the rest for charitable purposes (Churchill, p. 302). His life was yet to change again. In the spring of 1860, riots against the indigenous Arab Christian population began in what today is Lebanon. Abd el-Kader was appalled; he wrote to the local leaders there, both religious and secular, imploring them to cease. He went to the Pasha of Syria (the Ottoman provincial governor), warning that there may be an uprising in Damascus (Ibid., p. 311-13). His warning went unheeded, but his prediction was correct. On July 9, 1860, the rioting spread to Damascus (Churchill, p. 313[Morris, p. 576, gives the date as Monday the 6th of July. As 7/6/1860 fell on a Friday, the 9th seems to be the correct date.]).
Abd el-Kader went to the mob and attempted to dissuade it; he failed. The rioters arrived at Damascus's Christian Quarter, quickly setting it ablaze. While other men might have thought that words were enough, Abd el-Kader took action. He and his Algerians bravely entered the blazing Christian Quarter and began rescuing as many people as they could. He then escorted them to his own home, which quickly filled. He then went to the neighboring homes and persuaded the residents to open their homes to the Christians (Churchill, pp. 313-316). Then the mob approached his house.
Abd el-Kader drew his sword and, accompanied by members of his bodyguard, confronted the mob. "Wretches, is this how you honor the Prophet," he yelled. "May his curse be upon you! Shame on you, shame! You will yet live to repent! You think you may do what you like with the Christians; but the day of retribution will come. The Franks will yet turn your mosques into churches!* * Not a Christian will I give up! They are my brothers! Stand back, or I give my men the order to fire!" The mob withdrew. There is some question today if the Algerians actually had enough weapons to successfully repel the mob, as the Pasha had been reluctant to allow a supply of weapons to reach them (Morris, p. 576). The small boy that had been "afraid at a shadow" was long gone.
Abd el-Kader made arrangements to protect the Christians that were in his care for over a month. All told, Abd el-Kader had, through his bravery and tolerance, saved the lives of between 12,000 (Morris, p. 577) and 15,000 (Churchill, p. 318), all Christians. The man who had led a Jihad against the French also saved the life of the French Consul in Damascus(Churchill, pp. 31718)
* * That phrase refers to the cause of the rioting. It was believed that the Arab Christians were planning to aid the French in an attempt to colonize Syria-Lebanon. This fear, at that point in time, was unfounded (Churchill, p. 309).
The governments of the world honored Abd el-Kader's heroism. He received awards from Prussia, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and Greece. The French awarded the Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honor to their former prisoner; the French Grand lodge awarded him a star (Churchill, p. 320). He also was recognized as a brave and devout man by Muslims. In response to a letter from a Muslim leader who praised his actions Abd el-Kader wrote, "Truly it is the case to say, 'to God we belong and to him we return. ' When we think of how few men of real religion there are, how small the numbers of defenders and champions of the truth when -when one sees ignorant persons imagining that the principle of Islamism is hardness, severity, extravagance, and barbarity it is time to repeat these words, 'Patience is lovely; in God let us trust (Ibid., pp. 322-23) ! " Faith was the hallmark of Abd el-kader; his fellows often asked if being named after the "patron saint" of Algeria brought him luck. He always responded, "I trust in God alone (Ibid., p. 11)."
In June of 1864, at the Lodge of the Pyramids in Alexandria, Egypt, Abd el-Kader was made a Freemason; this was courtesy work for the lodge that he had petitioned, Lodge Henri IV, in Paris. Several non-traditional questions were put to him by that lodge; the questions and his answers were published (Morris, pp. 579-81). Many other Muslims had entered the fraternity by that time (Jacobs, pp. 8-9); the questions seem to have been designed to allow him to explore the topics, not for the purposes of qualification. One of these questions was, "How do you understand the tolerance of the Masonic Fraternity (Morris, p. 590).
Abd el-Kader's reply was one of the most eloquent arguments for tolerance in Freemasonry. "We know that God did not create man in vain and without design, that is because he is wise and makes nothing uselessly. . . " he wrote. "The intention of God in creation was that his creatures should be cognizant of his attributes and works (Ibid, p.595)". In short, Abd el-Kader held that diversity was the creation of God and that tolerance was the celebration of that diversity.
The final years of Abd el-Kader’s life were spent in charity, prayers, and teaching, again the life that he had wanted since his early childhood. Damascus offered little Masonic activity; attempts to form a lodge there failed (Jacobs, p.9). In May of 1883, the Emir Abd el-Kader died and was interred in Damascus (Kaddache, p. 100). In 1965 the mortal remains of Abd el-Kamar were removed from Syria and entombed in a hero’s grave outside of Algiers, the capitol of an independent Algeria, free of French domination. *
Abd el-Kader left a legacy to the world as an Arab Nationalist, described even as the "living symbol of the Arab Nation (Kaddache, p. 104). " A Masonic legacy exists as well. By 1890, several lodges had been established in French Algeria. Their membership was almost totally Arab and not French; their aprons included a green triangle, green being the symbolic color of Islam (Redding, p. 457). This was due, in part, to the example set by Abd el-Kader.
There is yet another legacy of Abd el-Kader, found not in the middle east but in middle America. In ca. 1846 admirers of the Emir and his struggle against the French founded the town of Elkader, Iowa, which today is the county seat of Clayton County, the location of Elkader Lodge #72, and a sister city of Mascara, Algeria. Elkader maintains a museum to Abd el-Kader and is possibly the only town in America named for an Arab Nationalist.
Throughout his long life, the Emir Abd el-Kader exemplified the qualities of heroism and tolerance not merely to the Arab world or to Freemasonry, but to the world.
----o----
Finger Lakes Chapter
Presents
Semi-Annual
Meeting of
The Philalethes Society
Rochester, NY-Sept. 12, 1992
For a registration packet for an exciting
Meeting, open to the ladies (with a special
Program for them) write right now to:
A. Wayne Engbrecht
9 Dortmund Rd.
Rochester, NY 14624
For the 90’s
Fun – Unity – Education – Leadership
----o----
Fellows of The Philalethes Society 1928 - 1991
May, 1992
| Imbrie, George H. | MO | 0 |
| Clegg, Robert I. | IL | 0 |
| Field, Cyrus Willard | CA | 1 |
| Moorhouse, Alfred H. | MA | 2 |
| Evans, Henry F. | CO | 3 |
| Rapp, William C. | IL | 4 |
| Easterling, Emerson | OR | 5 |
| Block, Louis | IA | 6 |
| Crutcher, Ernest | CA | 7 |
| England, William | N Zealand | 8 |
| Harris, Reginald V. | N Scotia | 9 |
| Merz, Charles H. | OH | 10 |
| Murray, Ernest E. | MT | 11 |
| Rear, Seneca A. | MO | 12 |
| Saunders, Alfred H. | NY | 13 |
| Tatsch, J. Hugo | NY | 14 |
| Voorhis, Harold V.B. | NJ | 15 |
| Beaman, A. Gaylord | CA | 16 |
| Hobbs, Alfred M. | Safrica | 17 |
| Blight, Reynold E. | CA | 18 |
| Haydon, Nathaniel W.J. | Ontario | 19 |
| Vibert, Lionel | England | 20 |
| Plumb, Charles S. | OH | 21 |
| Wirth, Oswald | France | 22 |
| Mossaz, John | Switz. | 23 |
| Wright, Robert C. | OR | 24 |
| Haywood, Harry LeRoy | NM | 25 |
| Bedarride, Armand | France | 26 |
| Choumitsky, Nicolas-Andre | France | 27 |
| Marchesi, Jose | Spain | 28 |
| Fischer, Leo | P.I. | 29 |
| Meekren, Robert J. | Quebec | 30 |
| Hunt, Charles C. | IA | 31 |
| Ward, John S M. | England | 32 |
| Schmidt, Hugo | Germany | 33 |
| Cock, Maurice | Belgium | 34 |
| Bey, Mehmet Rachid | Turkey | 35 |
| Fischer, Julius | Belgium | 36 |
| Pollock, Frederick | England | 37 |
| Crossle, Phillip | Ireland | 38 |
| Morgan, Alfred W. | England | 39 |
| Kipling, Rudyard | England | 40 |
| Espinoza, Carlos U. | Venezuela | 41 |
| Shepherd, Silas H. | CA | 42 |
| Bingham, S. Clifton | Nzealand | 43 |
| Claudy, Carl H. | DC | 44 |
| Moister, William | Safrica | 45 |
| Corneloup, J. | France | 46 |
| Brown, William Moseley | NC | 47 |
| Vrooman, John Black | MO | 48 |
| Calvert, Albert F. | England | 49 |
| Waite, Arthur Edward | England | 50 |
| Cantrey, Sam B. | TX | 51 |
| Allen, J. Edward | NC | 52 |
| Braun, Walter H. | WI | 53 |
| Johnson, Charles H. | NY | 54 |
| Quincke, Walter A. | CA | 55 |
| Callon, Herbert I. | England | 56 |
| Brain, Clarence | OK | 57 |
| Leyns, Fred B. | MI | 58 |
| Parker, Arthur C. | NY | 59 |
| Clift, James M. | VA | 60 |
| Zahn, John E. | CA | 61 |
| Lacey, Decatur N. | WA | 62 |
| Geffen, Hirsch | GA | 63 |
| Brown, William Major | OK | 64 |
| Smith, James Fairbairn | MI | 65 |
| McKowen, Allister | CA | 66 |
| Denslow, Ray V. | MO | 67 |
| Gonzales, Antonio | P.I. | 68 |
| Kramer, Suesskind | S Africa | 69 |
| Woody, Albert L. | IL | 70 |
| Bede, Elbert | OR | 71 |
| Harvey, George R. | CA | 72 |
| Lepage, Marius | France | 73 |
| Wells, Lee E. | CA | 74 |
| Coad, Philip H. | OH | 75 |
| Reigner, Charles Gottshall | MD | 76 |
| Holmes, Charles E. | Quebec | 77 |
| Hedblom, Edward E. | CO | 78 |
| Malott, James R. | AZ | 79 |
| Hepburn, Ross E. | N Zealand | 80 |
| Remick, James K. | CA | 81 |
| St. Clair, Ward K. | NY | 82 |
| Knutz, William H. | IL | 83 |
| Kinney, Harold H. | CA | 84 |
| Triggs, Arthur H. | CA | 85 |
| Meyer, Lawton E. | MO | 86 |
| Cerza, Alphonse | IL | 87 |
| Taylor, Laurence R. | IN | 88 |
| Pound, Roscoe | MA | 89 |
| Coil, Henry Wilson | CA | 90 |
| Oller, Jose | Panama | 91 |
| Draffen, George S. | Scotland | 92 |
| Franta, Edward J. | ND | 93 |
| Hubbard, John C. | OK | 94 |
| Scully, Francis J. | AR | 95 |
| Cullingford, Frederick W.E. | NC | 96 |
| Harris, R. Baker | DC | 97 |
| Spaulding, William F. | England | 98 |
| Walker, Wendell K. | NY | 99 |
| Johnson, Melvin M. | MA | 100 |
| Case, James R. | CT | 101 |
| Lichliter, McIlyar | MA | 102 |
| Bundy, Harry W. | CO | 103 |
| McComb, G. Andrew | OH | 104 |
| Cummings, William L. | NY | 105 |
| Pugh, Charles H. | NC | 106 |
| * Greisen, Carl R. | NB | 107 |
| Heaton, Ronald E. | PA | 108 |
| Gollmar, Robert H. | WI | 109 |
| Denslow, William R. | MO | 110 |
| * Roberts, Allen E. | VA | 111 |
| Curtis, Kenneth F. | FL | 112 |
| Erikson, Jerry R. | CA | 113 |
| * Dutt, Norman C. | CA | 114 |
| Emmerson, Henry | NY | 115 |
| Hahn, Conrad | CT-MD | 116 |
| *Hunt, Bruce H. | MO | 117 |
| Yeager, William E. | PA | 118 |
| Wilson, Frank H. | MA | 119 |
| Wendt, Wylie B. | KY | 120 |
| * Smith, Dwight L. | IN | 121 |
| Adams, Charles F. | NB | 122 |
| White, Andrew J., Jr. | OH | 123 |
| * Carter, James D. | TX | 124 |
| McGaughey, Charles K.A. | KY | 125 |
| Ela, Benjamin W. | ME | 126 |
| * Peacher, William G. | NY-CA | 127 |
| Stowe, Bobby M. | MO | 128 |
| * Bell, G. Wilbur | IL | 129 |
| Anderson, Franklin J. | IA | 130 |
| * Osborne, Robert V. | WI | 131 |
| Hopp, Eugene S. | CA | 132 |
| * Cook, Lewis C. | MO | 133 |
| Home, Alex | CA | 134 |
| Marsengill, Jerald E. | IA | 135 |
| Callaway, Walter M., Jr. | GA | 136 |
| * Foss, Gerald D. | NH | 137 |
| * Dillard, Robert L., Jr. | TX | 138 |
| * Haggard, Forrest D. | KS | 139 |
| * Pollard, Stewart M.L. | MD | 140 |
| Williams, Louis L. | IL | 141 |
| * Morris, S. Brent | MD | 142 |
| * Hilliard, John Mauk | NY | 143 |
| * Guthrie, Charles S., Jr. | KY | 144 |
| * Arrington, Keith | IA | 145 |
| * French, George H.T. | TX | 146 |
| * Hogan, Mervin B. | UT | 147 |
| Nocas, John R. | CA | 148 |
| * Sands, Richard H. | MI | 149 |
| * McLeod, Wallace E. | Ontario | 150 |
| *Law, Henry G. | DE | 151 |
| * Haffner, Christopher | Hong Kong | 152 |
| * Van Beusekom, Johannis | Guatemala | 153 |
| * Glassmire, Charles R. | ME | 154 |
| * Scofield, Royal C. | OH | 155 |
| Leslie L. Walker, Jr. | TX | 156 |
| * Richard H. Curtis | MA | 157 |
| * Julius C. Clark | PA | 158 |
| * John E. Jack Kelly | TX | 159 |
| * Lewis J. Birt | NJ | 160 |
| * Herman Nickerson | NC | 161 |
| * Harold L. Davidson | MT | 162 |
| * Thomas E. Weir | MD | 163 |
| * Worley, Lloyd D. | CO | 164 |
| * Fletcher, Richard E. | VT | 165 |
| * Jackson, Thomas W. | PA | 166 |
| * Peale, Norman Vincent | NY | 167 |
| * Koeckert, William F. | OH | 168 |
----o----
Formation of a Chapter of The Philalethes Society
The following is the Article pertaining to the formation and chartering of Chapters of the Philalethes Society.
In this case "the proper form " for requesting a Dispensation is simply a letter which should contain the following:
a. The names of those requesting the Dispensation
b. The proposed name for the Chapter (which may be changed prior to issuing)
c. The names of the of ricers: President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer
d. The city (or area) where the meetings will be held.
This should be sent to the Executive Secretary, along with a check for $10, payable to The Philalethes Society. If all is in order, a Dispensation will be issued immediately.
Note. AII members of the Chanter must be members of the International Philalethes Society; however, non-members may attend meetings as guests.
ARTICLE VIII. CHAPTERS
A Dispensation to form a Chapter of The Philalethes Society may be obtained from the President, provided:
a. The formation of a Chapter does not conflict with the laws of the Grand Lodge
A Dispensation will be considered, provided:
a. A letter is signed by five Master Masons, one of whom must be a Member or Fellow of the Society, naming the proposed officers, city where the Chapter will meet and sent to the Executive Secretary with the fee of $10;
b. All signatures on the Dispensation are those of members of the Society, or Master Masons who have filled out an application and the applications, along with the proper fees, are included with the Dispensation.
To obtain a charter, the Chapter must return the Dispensation, along with a fee of $50, a copy of its bylaws which have previously been approved by the Board of Directors, and a transaction of its meetings, all of which must be received by the Executive Secretary by January 1.
Charters will be presented at the annual meeting.
No Chapter may be named after a living person, or a city
Each Chapter shall make an annual report by January 1 to the Executive Secretary. Failure to do so for two consecutive years shall result in the forfeiture of the charter, and all property of the suspended Chapter shall become the property of the Society
Note: The complete Bylaws of the Society will be found in Seekers of Truth, the 60-year history of The Philalethes Society
Send to: Allen E. Roberts, FPS, Executive Secretary, PO Box 70, Highland Springs, VA 23075-0070
Chartered Chapters of the
Philalethes Soclety
VlRGlNIA
Charles S. Sarbaugh, Secretary 804/264-2050
P.O. Box 9136
Richmond, VA 23227
WM. M. TAYLOR
R.A. Ford, Secretary 713/682-5272 Ho.
4802 De Milo Dr. 241-5562 Wk.
Houston, TX 77092
WESTERN RESERVE
William P. Koeckert, Secretary 216/561-3463
14413 S. Woodland Rd.
Shaker Heights, OH 44120
CHESTER COUNTY
Robert M. Bair, Secretary 215/269-7097
364 Lincoln Ave.
Downingtown, PA 19335
SOUTHWEST
E. "Andy" Hentschel, Sec.
3718 Warpath Dr.
San Antonio, TX 78238
KENTUCKY
James B. Wall, Sec. 502/366-3270
7807 Bluebonnet Rd.
Pleasure Ridge Park, KY 40258
HIGH DESERT
James B. Brown, Pres.
13965 Smoketree Rd.
Victorville, CA 92392
LOWELL THOMAS
William H. Metrey, Pres.
1356 First Ave.
New York, NY 10021
LUX QUARO
James A. Finch, Sec. Ho: 519/451-2369
103 Connaught Ave.
London, Ontario N5Y 3A5
Canada
* FAX 519/473-2876
SAN DIEGO
John Robert Hughes
1715 E. Westinghouse St.
San Diego, CA 92111-7139
CENTRAL ILLINOIS
Edward R. Ahlenius, Sec.
2025 East Lincoln ?2214
Bloomington, IL 61701
JAMES BUCHANAN
Robert C. Hosler
560 Buttonwood Farm Rd.
Millersville, PA 17551
JOHN ROSS ROBERTSON
E. G. Ted Burton, Sec. 416/833-0188
PO Box 1095
King City, Ontario LOG 1KO
ELU
Ralph H. Martin, Pres.
JC Park No.6
Evanston, WY 82930
EUREKA
James Madrid, Secretary
647 Isabel St.
Los Angeles, CA 90065
VALLEY FORGE
Russell A. Wenner, Sec.
608 Delaware Ave.
Lansdale, PA 19446
HAWAII
Herbert G. Gardiner, Pres.
3418 Paty Dr.
Honolulu, Hi 96822
MlCHlGAN CHAPTER OF RESEARCH
Ronald B. Blaisdell, Sec.
1620 Woodbrook Dr.746
East Lansing, Ml 48823
ORANGE COUNTY CHAPTER
Norman B. Leeper, Pres.
2097 Smokewood Ave.
Fullerton, CA 92631
YORK MINSTER
Roger S. VanGordon, Sec. 317/253-8651
5656 Ralston Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46220
SAMUEL CLEMENTS
Dennis Zahrt, Pres.
2920 Mapleleaf Rd.
Bettendorf, IA 52722
LONG ISLAND
Great Neck, NY
OKLAHOMA
James R. Onkst 405/677-7651
5009 Judy Dr. OF 405/739-2950
Del City, OK 73115
FINGER LAKES
Richard Friedman, Sec. 716/377-6175
16 Kerry Hill
Fairport, NY 14450
ROBBIE BURNS
Edward M. Gair, Sec.
7752 Chimineas Ave.
Reseda, CA 91335
SOUTHERN MARYLAND
Stanley E. Stepnitz, Sec.
11304 Maryvale Blvd.
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
SAN FRANCISCO BAY
Jorge Soto, Pres.
2832 Petar Pl.
Antioch, CA 94509
LIGHT FROM THE EAST
George M. Eckman, Sec.
319 Lakewood Dr.
Jacksonville, NC 28546
FLORIDA
Wilbur Allaback, Sec. 407/677-9100
4366 Roanne Dr.
Orlando, FL 32817
FORT WASHINGTON
Samuel J. Capozzolo, Sec. 513/542-7874
4000 Hamilton Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45223
FAX 513/542-3811
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP
J. Kenneth Gibala, Sec. 301/933-4902
PO Box 7803
Gaithersburg, MD 20898-7803
DR. GEORGE T. KENNEDY
James A. Kerr, Secretary 519/631-8383
114 Crescent Ave.
St. Thomas, Ontario
Canada N5P 2K3
FAX 519/631-9122
----o----
Commentary-NOT a Review
by Allen E. Roberts, FPS
The New World Order is a tome written by one Pat Robertson. He's the fellow I'm assuming (always dangerous) is a male, because others address him as such who would like to be President of the United States. He's also the fellow who stilled the waves to keep a hurricane from striking the Tidewater area of Virginia. He also brings in a lot of money as God's spokesman on earth.
This book has absolutely nothing new in it. It's a rehash of stuff that has been floating around for years. A casual scan of his bibliography will convince the reader the book isn't worth taking valuable time to read.
Robertson attacks Freemasonry through fabrication, misstatements and outright lies. Frankly, this surprised me. I truly thought he was as sincere in his beliefs as anyone in his position could be. It's disturbing to learn how easily we can misjudge somebody else. As one fellow said to me, "How can the son of a good man be so devious? "
Not a single reliable Masonic author is quoted within these pages. Nor is one listed in the bibliography. Albert Pike is there, as he always is in anti-Masonic diatribes. Pike knew little or nothing about Craft Masonry as such. He took some French degrees and using his vivid imagination turned them into what became degrees for the Scottish Rite -an appendant organization. Manly Hall is the other Masonic "authority" quoted. Hall specialized in "comparative religion " and "analytical psychology. " He, like Pike, knew little or nothing about the principles and teachings of Freemasonry -and both had vivid imaginations. Both of them may well be perfectly correct in their thinking and their writings -but they are not reliable in matters connected with Freemasonry.
Robertson has nothing new in his condemnation of Freemasonry. He, like all anti-Masons, follows the same misguided paths laid out a hundred or more years ago. The all-seeing eye on the dollar bill designed by Charles Thompson, a Freemason, is a Masonic symbol, BUT it represents, not the God of Christianity, but the Egyptian god Osiris, says Robertson (and hundreds of other anti-Masons before him (pp. 35-36).
A Bavarian named Adam Weishaupt formed a highly secret order called the "Order of the Illuminati " which was going to take over the Freemasons. Robertson claims it did in France, "it is believed, " and this was responsible for the French Revolution (pp. 67-68). There's nothing new in this false claim; it has been around for over 200 years. But the best the claimers can state is "it is believed. " It should be noted that Robertson (and all of his tribe who have gone before) uses a flock of "weasel" words to trap the unwary. Other phrases found throughout this book: "Can we not believe?"; "it is reported"; "we may have discovered."
Words mean what the listener believes they mean. For many years I've said in my seminars: "Meanings are in people -not in words. " Meanings change more rapidly than we may believe. "He' s Square" was complimentary a short time ago; not any more. "Profane" meant (and still means) "without the temple''; but that's not the interpretation today. "Lucifer" was the god of light " until a couple of hundred years ago; this description was twisted and is now also "satan. " (Note: Robertson capitalizes that last word.) Let me hasten to add for the non Masonic reader -the words "satan, " "devil, " "Lucifer " have absolutely no place in any Masonic ritual.
Enough.
What's the purpose of this book, other than raising money? I think the answer is found in this statement in the following words: "The Christian Coalition is launching an effort in selected states to become acquainted with registered voters in every precinct. This is slow, hard work. But it will build a significant database to use to communicate with those people who are regular voters. When they are mobilized in support of vital issues, elected officials listen" (p. 261).
Has the 1996 Presidential campaign started? May God help us if this fellow is ever elected.
Allen E. Roberts, FPS
----o----
by Allen E. Roberts, FPS
The Conference of Grand Masters unanimously passed a resolution to assist the "emerging Grand Lodges in Eastern Europe. " The Masonic Service Association was asked to be the collecting agency for the receipt of funds for this purpose. Interested? (We all should be.) Send contributions earmarked for this purpose to the MSA at 8120 Fenton St., Silver Spring, MD 20910.
* * *
The Phylaxis magazine dedicated its First Quarter 1992 issue to the late Jerry Marsengill, FPS, Editor of Thc Philalethes at the time of his death. Joseph A. Walkes, Jr., President of The Phylaxis Society devoted several pages relating his experiences with Jerry. The "Tribute to Jerry Marsengill " by John Mauk Hilliard, FPS and immediate Past President of The Philalethes Society, was carried in its entirety. The Royal Arch Mason, which Jerry also edited, noted with sorrow the untimely death of this great man and Freemason. In its recent issue it quoted words of praise from many other publications, including The Philalethes.
* * *
Betty Marsengill thanks the many friends of Jerry and her for their cards and best wishes. I'm happy to report that she was immediately given the job she and Jerry had performed together as manager of the Masonic building in Des Moines. She is high in her praise of the way the Masons and bodies in Des Moines are looking out for her welfare. And she thanks the Society for its kindness (which shall continue). Without her support Jerry would never have been able to accomplish what he did for Freemasonry. We certainly wish her the best of everything in the years ahead.
* * *
From J.A. Fergusson, PGM (Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba) Conference Secretary, comes this document: "The Conference of Grand and District Grand Lodges of Canada held in Winnipeg on March 21, 1992, unanimously recommends the acceptance of Prince Hall Grand Lodges, as approved by the Conference of Prince Hall Grand Lodges, as being regular Masonic Grand Lodges. " And it adds: "This resolution was passed unanimously by all delegates present. " The President of The Philalethes Society, Wallace McLeod, FPS, presented an historical account of Prince Hall Masonry to the delegates. The Masonic tenet of Brotherhood is expanding!
* * *
PGM Dean Tillotson, MPS, we are informed by Arizona Masonry, has been again honored by his Brethren. Tucson Lodge No. 4 has officially named its library 'W. Dean Tillotson Masonic Library. " Dean has long been in the forefront of Masonic education in Arizona. He expertly hosted the Virginia Craftsmen who helped his Grand Lodge begin the 100th anniversary of the constituting of the Grand Lodge of Arizona in October 1981.
* * *
Members of Southern California Research Lodge will be found in every jurisdiction. Those members may request SCRL to send a free copy of The Craft and Its Symbols for presentation to its new Entered Apprentices. The 2000th such copy was recently presented. In addition SCRL has sold more than 5,000 copies of this book at a special low price. It has dozens of other excellent Masonic books at discounted prices. Want more information? Contact: Ralph Herbold, MPS, PO Box 6587, Buena Park, CA 90622.
* * *
Unbelievable! "Library Notes" in the Dallas Scottish Rite Herald printed outright lies. These have been circulating for years, to the detriment of the Craft. They have been debunked time and time again. Evidently the perpetrators don't read or research what they pass along to the unwary. What are these lies (they can't honestly be called "myths")? a. The Governors of every one of the original thirteen states at the time Washington was inaugurated were Masons. FALSE. From Lexington until the inauguration thirty different men served as governors; only ten of these were Freemasons. 2. More than 50 signers of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were Masons. FALSE. Nine were Freemasons. (Ten Masons signed the Articles; 13 signed the Constitution.) 3. The Boston Tea Party was organized in St. Andrews Lodge. FALSE. So great has been the secrecy surrounding this affair, no one to this day knows where it was organized, and NOT A SINGLE PARTICIPANT is known. 4. George Washington was elected Grand Master of Virginia, but did not accept. FALSE. He was never elected Grand Master of anything. He was proposed for the nonexistent office of General Grand Master of a non-existent General Grand Lodge. Want the facts about these and many other "myths" or distortions? See my columns in past issues of The Northern Light, or read The Mystic Tie available from Anchor Communications.
* * *
In the pages of The New Mexico Freemason the Grand Master suggested each of us should practice "Masonry by Exemplification. " He added: "To someone you are the exemplification of Masonry. You and you alone can influence the life of someone near, and usually without realizing it. " Well said. His Grand Lodge now permits 19-year-olds to petition a Lodge.
* * *
The Wisconsin Masonic Journal informs us that three Lodges in Superior assisted in the dedication of the new city library. The Lodges presented the library with three copies of a video tape. Nothing was said about supplying it with good Masonic books!
* * *
Contrary to what we reported earlier, the Grand Lodge of Idaho DID recognize the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Oregon not merely the Prince Hall Masons in Idaho.
* * *
Envy, jealousy and all the other vices of mankind have been with us always. The Masonic Square of England tells us about this in an article about the 'Prentice Pillar. ' It's a beautiful part of Roslyn Chapel built in the 1400s by Laird St. Clair. According to legend the master mason couldn't follow the model of a pillar he had received, so he left to view the original. During his absence an apprentice followed the model and built the pillar. The master was furious. He killed the apprentice.