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 Masonic quotes by Brothers

THE BUILDER MAGAZINE

November 1921

volume 7 - number 11

Memorials to Great Men Who Were Masons

GENERAL RUSSELL A. ALGER

BY BRO. GEO. W. BAIRD, P. G. M., DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

GENERAL RUSSELL A. ALGER was born in Medina County, Ohio, in 1836, and died at Detroit, Michigan, in 1907. He was buried in Elmwood Cemetery, where the memorial shown in the frontispiece of this issue of THE BUILDER, was erected.

His ancestors were English and Scotch. His grandfather, John Alger, took part in many battles of the Revolution. His father was one of the early settlers on the Western Reserve, Ohio, where he emigrated in 1820, sharing in the hardships of the pioneers, and dwelling in a log hut.

Russell Alger was left an orphan at the age of twelve, and became the head of the family, a younger brother and sister depending upon him. He worked for his board and clothing, and was permitted to attend school three months in the year. But he was soon advanced to better wages, and relieved by the thrift of the younger brother and sister. This early thrift and responsibility probably led to the distinguished career which followed, and which the Child Labor Law of today would have prevented. His labor as a farm hand brought him the best wages of that day. He worked his way through the Richfield Academy, sawing wood at night, and doing other chores. At an early age he began to teach school, and this occupation is what probably developed his mind, for there is no better way to reach a good understanding of a subject than to teach it.

He began the study of law in 1857 - an apt student, with acquired and natural application, and no disposition to seek pleasure. After having been graduated in the law, and admitted to practice in Ohio, his health became impaired, and he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he soon became a leader.

Shortly afterward the Civil War broke out, and Alger enlisted as a private in the Second Michigan Cavalry. He was promoted to a Captaincy and became a Major all within a year. His record as a soldier was brilliant, as might be expected of a boy who had been so early thrown on his own resources. He had served in more than sixty battles and skirmishes during the first year of the war. In October, 1862, he was promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry, and in February, 1863, was made a Colonel of the Fifth Michigan Cavalry. He commanded the first Federal Regiment to reach Gettysburg, and rendered splendid service there. He was commended for bravery by General Custer, and in 1865 was brevetted Major General.

General Alger took up his residence in Detroit in 1866, and became president of two large lumber companies possessing immense estates, which led to fortune. He was an enthusiastic business man, delighting in the employment of men and the development of industries, but expressed disapprobation for "stock speculations," "selling of futures," etc. He said he hasd often tried to make his word his bond, and in this he succeeded, for everyone had implicit confidence in him.

He was a Republican in politics, from the beginning of the party, but was never a candidate for office until 1884 when he became a delegate to the national convention, and the same year was nominated and elected Governor of the State, serving one term and declining renomination.

In 1888 he was brought forward by his friends for the Presidential nomination which, however, went to Harrison.

Alger became Secretary of War in 1897, while McKinley was President, and served with great credit, but feebleness obliged him to resign before the expiration of his term. He corrected many objectionable methods in the War Department, and always in a pleasant way. He was easily approached, always ready to listen to reason, but very determined in his decisions.

General Alger was married in 1861 to Miss Annette Hemy, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and nine children were born to them.

His Masonic membership was held in Corinthian Lodge No. 241, F. & A. M., Detroit, Michigan. He liked to talk Masonry, particularly Scottish Rite, and never lost his interest in it.

THE MASONIC SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES

BY BRO. SAM H. GOODWIN. P.G.M., GRAND SECRETARY, UTAH

THE BUILDER has carried several articles during the past three years, descriptive of the formation and activities of the MASONIC SERVICE ASSOCIATION. This material has not been in the nature of propaganda. The writer has always felt that the merits of the MASONIC SERVICE ASSOCIATION would prove themselves, and that his personality should not be injected into the situation in any Jurisdiction which did not join the Association, as might be the case if THE BUILDER were to sum up the arguments favoring such an association in its columns.

In recent weeks, however, has come to my desk a copy of the report of a Fraternal Correspondent of a certain nonmember Grand Lodge which is so absolutely misleading as to justify a reversal of this position. He says:

"The National Masonic Service Association is also pressing for recognition. Some twenty-three American Grand Lodges have given adherence to it. This movement seems to have attained its greatest strength and several Grand Lodges, five at least, which became members of the Association, have given notice of withdrawal."

The facts are that at this writing, October 1, there are thirty-four Grand Jurisdictions which are members of the Association. These are:

Six have joined and withdrawn: ALABAMA, COLORADO FLORIDA, IDAHO (Rejoined September, 1921), KENTUCKY, WASHINGTON.

The following summary of the arguments for and against membership in the Association is contained in the Report on Correspondence of that eminent Brother, Sam H. Goodwin, P.G.M. Grand Secretary of Utah. Because we believe it to be a fair statement of the case we feel that the brethren of our Grand Lodges, whether members of the Association or not, are entitled to study for themselves and draw their own conclusions.

GEO. L. SCHVONOVER,

Chairman Executive Commission, M.S.A.

PERHAPS the outstanding feature of the year among American Grand Lodges has been the Masonic Service Association. To be sure the flocking of candidates to our lodges, and the heroic efforts of lodge officers to meet this unusual demand for our degrees have been the object of much comment. But this movement has been so far from being dissociated from the Association, that it has really emphasized the need of such work as that contemplated by this organization. The lodges have been making members as never before but the deepening conviction that membership under such conditions is very far from being an unmixed blessing -may be, in fact, a menace has led thoughtful, far-seeing Craftsmen to cast about for means and methods of developing this material, of shaping these rough ashlars for the Builder's use, that they may not presently be found in the "rubbish of the Temple."

As was to be expected, when the question of what to do, and how to do it came up, differences of opinion appeared. Fortunately we are not all cast in the same mold, have not been subjected to the same laws of heredity and environment, and no less fortunately the Masonic Fraternity has within its membership so large a percentage of men who do their own thinking. We do not, cannot see things and measures in precisely the same light. But we may endeavor, if we will, to appreciate the other fellow's viewpoint: no harm can be done at all events by an attempt to ascertain the grounds upon which he rests his conclusions.

The year just closed has witnessed two movements in connection with the Masonic Service Association. One within the Association itself, and to be seen in the efforts made, as it were, to find itself - to survey, and to give some degree of definiteness to the boundaries of the field it is entering. The other has been among the members, or possible members, of this Association. Among these there has been on the one hand a settling of membership upon a firmer basis, a renewal of pledges to cooperate and to support the work. On the other hand, some jurisdictions which had accepted membership tentatively have drawn back for reasons to them sufficient. Perhaps the phenomenon most difficult to understand is the active propaganda carried on against the Service Association by certain erstwhile leaders of Masonic thought in their respective jurisdictions. This opposition has not been very extensive, and we are more than inclined to believe, not very effective.

It is not our purpose here to argue the value of this organization - there are others who can do that much more effectively. We do want, however, to note some of the objections urged against the Masonic Service Association, and then to direct attention to some of the general results, which to us appear to justify its support by all Craftsmen, who believe that the whole is greater than any of its parts, and that unity of effort and not isolated endeavor is.the desideratum to be sought.

The principal objections urged by those who have entered the lists against the Association are:

1. That there is no call or occasion for such a movement. "There is nothing that can be attained by its existence," says one committee. A rather positive statement, it seems to us, where there may be abundant room for difference of opinion. A careful consideration of the Plan and Scope of the Association, the plans developed later and the influx of members referred to above, seem to contradict the committee's statement.

2. That the financial burden entailed would be too heavy to be borne. Taken as a lump sum the amount furnished by any jurisdiction might seem to be considerable. But considered from the membership point of view, the enormous burden of one-half the price of a very ordinary cigar given once in twelve months does not impress us, as it seems to the objectors. We really feel that almost any of us, even though somewhat indisposed, could stagger along under such a tremendous load !

3. That the payment of five cents per member for the work of the Masonic Service Association represents "An invasion of the sovereign rights of each Grand Jurisdiction," and "a surrender of sovereign rights and powers of our Grand Body." That would be really fearsome, if there were a scintilla of truth in it. Let us see. Grand Lodge makes the donation of a certain amount for the Masonic Service Association. That amount was suggested only, not demanded, not imposed. Grand Lodge could give it or withhold it or fix on some other amount as it pleases, and if it gives this sum, through its representatives it has a voice in saying how each year's contribution shall be expended. Now, Grand Lodges are getting back of the George Washington Memorial Association. Illinois, Indiana and Washington are giving thousands of dollars to this object; the Grand Masters who made recommendations against the Masonic Service Association are heartily in favor of the work of She Memorial Association: the Chairman of the drive in Illinois to secure "the full quota of $1.00 per member" (not five cents per member) was a member of the committee, which attended the Cedar Rapids Conference and later joined in an adverse report. "Full quota of $1.00 per member" ? Did some one suggest that $1.00 per member be raised, and was that "some one" Illinois? Verily, we suspect not. The same "suggestion" reached Utah from outside sources and Utah "went over the top" at once with the full amount and no one ever suspected that Grand Lodge sovereignty was being knocked into a cocked hat. $1.00 per member! That would pay the contribution to the Masonic Service Association for a period of twenty years ! And Utah, as does every other member of the Service Association, has much more to say concerning the expenditure of the five cents given than it does as to what shall be done with the $1.00! Some things are funnier than others - this is one of them. "We love to strain at a gnat," while we gulp down a camel without batting an eye.

4. That we do not need it - will get nothing we do not pay for. "We . . . can live comfortably and happily without it"!  No doubt that is true if we are content to measure our Masonic responsibilities by what satisfies us and concerns us only. The principle of isolation, the practice of limiting Masonic obligations by state boundaries: these have been outstanding characteristics of Masonic endeavor in the past, and they may continue to be dominating features in some jurisdictions in the future. But we are glad to think that the bulk of the rank and file of Masons and not a few Grand Lodges are coming more and more to an appreciation of that fundamental declaration to be found in the Book, which we insist shall lie on our altars and of the contents of which we know so little: "None of us liveth to himself alone."

5. One other objection may be cataloged here in the words of a recent Grand Master (one of those who support the $1.00 assessment for the George Washington Memorial Association, but sees bankruptcy in a five cent contribution for the Masonic Service Association): "It (the Masonic Service Association) is such an organization as is contemplated in the term General Grand Lodge." The absurdity and absolute groundlessness of this charge disarms one, the conditions whence it springs are so hopeless: what can one say? We shall do no more than to quote a few words from the Grand Secretary of North Dakota: "The persistence with which they dig up ghosts and skeletons of General Grand Lodges, which have been positively and finally laid to rest by the Masonic Service Association, would lead us to believe that there is no such thing in their minds as honesty of Masonic purpose."

Without undertaking to argue the points, the following are some of the general and desirable result coming from the Masonic Service Association:

1. It has disclosed the existence of a remarkable unanimity in thought and point of view among the Craft and the Grand Lodges of this Country. How else can we account for the favor with which the idea of organized, unified service has been received?

2. It has given unmistakable emphasis to the conviction that the era of "Words, words, more words, no matter of the heart," is passing and that the time has arrived when Masons must "Suit the action to the word," if they are to keep peace with themselves and retain the respect of the world.

3. It has shown that the Masonry of this Country will have none of the General Grand Lodge idea. Those who profess to see in this organization a General Grand Lodge in the making, or, "a wedge" that will open the way for such, we are confident represent few besides themselves.

4. It has given unmistakable confirmation to the conviction that a majority of American Grand Lodges, and we doubt not of American Masons, believe in coordinated effort directed to the accomplishment of definite ends.

If no other results were accomplished, those here named are ample to justify the organization and the support of the Masonic Service Association.

ROMAN CATHOLICISM AND FREEMASONRY

BY BRO.  DUDLEY WRIGHT, ENGLAND

PART VII

ON SEPTEMBER 25th, 1865, a further fulmination against the Freemasons was launched by the Roman Pontiff, Pius IX, an Allocution delivered in a Secret Consistory, the document being known from its first two words, Multiplices inter.  It was worded as follows:

"Venerable Brethren: Among the numerous machinations and artifices by which the enemies of the Christian name have tried to attack the Church of God, and sought to shake and besiege it by efforts superfluous in truth, must undoubtedly be reckoned the perverse society of men called Masonic, which at first confined to darkness and obscurity, now comes into light for the common ruin of religion and human society.  Immediately that our predecessors, the Roman Pontiffs, faithful to their pastoral office, discovered its snares and frauds, they considered there was not a moment to lose in holding in check by their authority, and in striking and lacerating by an admonitory sentence as with a sword, this sect pursuing crime and attacking holy and public things.  Our predecessor, Clement XII, by his Apostolic Letters, proscribed and rebuked this sect, and dissuaded all the faithful not only from joining it but also from promoting or encouraging it in any manner whatever, since such an act would entail the penalty of excommunication, which the Roman Pontiff can alone remove.  Benedict XIV confirmed by his Constitution this just and legitimate sentence of admonition and did not fail to exhort the Catholic Sovereign Princes to devote all their effort and all their solicitude to repress this most immoral sect, and defend society against a common danger.  Would to God these monarchs had listened to the words of our predecessor! Would to God that in so serious a matter they had acted less feebly! In truth, neither we nor our fathers would then have had to deplore the many seditious movements, the many incendiary wars which have set the whole of Europe in flames, nor the many bitter misfortunes which have afflicted and still afflict the Church. But the rage of the wicked being far from appeased, Pius VII, our predecessor, struck with anathema the sect of recent origin, Carbonarism, which had propagated itself, particularly in Italy, and inflamed by the same zeal for souls, Leo XII condemned, by his Apostolic Letters, not only the secret societies we have just mentioned, but all others, of whatever appellation, conspiring against the Church and the civil power, and warned all the faithful to avoid them under penalty of excommunication.  Nevertheless, these efforts of the Apostolic See have not had the success expected.  The Masonic sect of which we speak has not been vanquished or overthrown; on the contrary, it has so developed itself that in these troublous days it exists everywhere with impunity, and carries an audacious front.  We have, therefore, thought it our duty to return to this matter, since, perhaps from ignorance of the guilty intrigues clandestinely carried on, an erroneous opinion may arise that the character of this society is inoffensive, that its institution has another object than that of succouring men, and assisting them in adversity, and that in this society there is no need to fear for the Church of God.  But should this not comprehend how this sect departs from the truth? What is the object of this association of men belonging to all religions and every belief ? To what end these clandestine meetings, and the rigorous oath exacted from the initiate, binding them never to reveal anything of what may be discussed? Wherefore that unheard of atrocity of penalties and chastisements which the initiated bind themselves to accept should they fail to keep their oath? A society which thus avoids the light of day must surely be impious and criminal.  'He who does ill,' says the apostle, 'hates the light.' How different from such an association are the pious societies of the faithful which flourish in the Catholic Church! With them there is no reticence, no obscurity.  The law which governs them is clear to all; clear also are the works of charity practised according to the gospel doctrine. Thus it is not without grief that we have seen Catholic societies of this nature, so consolatory and so well calculated to excite piety and succour the poor, attacked and even destroyed in some places, while, on the contrary, encouragement is afforded to secret Masonic societies, so inimical to the Church of God, so dangerous even for the security of kingdoms.

"Venerable Brethren, we feel pain and bitterness to see that when it is requested to rebuke this sect according to the constitutions of our predecessors, some persons show themselves indulgent, almost supine; whereas, in so grave a matter, the exigencies of their functions and their charges demand that they should display the greatest activity.  If these persons think that the Apostolic Constitutions, fulminated under penalty of anathema against occult sects and their adepts and abettors, have no force in the countries where the said sects are tolerated by the civil power, they are assuredly very greatly in error.  As you are aware, Venerable Brethren, we have already rebuked, and now anew rebuke and condemn, the falsity of this evil doctrine.  In fact, can it be that the supreme power of pastoring and guiding the universal flock which the Roman pontiffs received from Christ in the person of the Blessed Teacher, and the supreme power they must exercise in the Church, should depend upon the civil power, or could they for any reason be constrained and done violence to thereby? Under these circumstances, for fear lest youth and unthinking men should allow themselves to be led astray in principle, and for fear our silence should offer any opportunity of protecting error, we have resolved, Venerable Brethren, to raise our apostolic voice, and confirming here in your presence the constitutions of our predecessors, on part of our apostolic authority we rebuke and condemn this Masonic society and the other societies of the same description, which, although differing in form, tend to the same end, and which conspire overtly or clandestinely, against the Church or legitimate power.  We desire that the said societies should be held proscribed and rebuked by us, under the same penalties as those which are specified in the previous constitutions of our predecessors, and this in the sight of all the faithful in Christ, of every condition, rank, and dignity, and throughout all the earth.  There remains now nothing wanting to satisfy the wishes and solicitude of our paternal heart than to warn and admonish the faithful who should have associated themselves with sects of this character to obey in the future wiser inspirations, and to abandon these fatal counsels, in order that they may not be dragged into the abyss of eternal perdition.  As regards all others of the faithful, if they wish solicitude for their souls we strongly exhort them to be upon their guard against the perfidious language of sectarians, who, under a fair exterior, are inflamed with a bunting hatred against the religion of Christ and legitimate authority, and who have but one single thought and single end, viz., to overthrow all rights, both human and divine.  Let them well understand that those affiliated to such sects are like the wolves which Christ our Lord prophesied would come disguised in sheep's clothing to devour the flock; let them understand they are of the number of those whose society the apostle has also forbidden to us, eloquently prohibiting us from even saying unto them - Hail!

"May the All-Merciful God, hearing our prayers, grant that with the aid of His grace the insensate may return to reason, and those who have gone astray be led back to the path of justice.  May God grant that after the suppression of the depraved men, who, by the aid of the above-mentioned societies, give themselves up to impious and criminal acts, the Church and human society may be able to repose in some degree from such numerous and inveterate evils!

"In order that our vows may be heard, let us also pray to our Mediatrix with the All-Clement God, the Most Holy Virgin, that Mother Immaculate from her birth, to whom it has been granted to overthrow the enemies of the Church and monstrous errors.  Let us equally pray for the protection of the blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, by whose glories built this noble city has been sanctified.  We have confidence that with their assistance and aid we shall the more easily obtain what we ask of the Divine bounty."

It is problematical whether Pope Pius IX would not have stayed his hand, or his pen, if he had possessed the foreknowledge of the storm of criticism, satire, derision, and ridicule which his puerile denunciation aroused in all sections of the public press throughout the land, but infallibility is not a term inclusive of foreknowledge.  Courteous attention is always accorded the opinions of the heads of all religious bodies by the members of the "fourth estate," even when they travel beyond the bounds of reason, but here there was a general consensus of opinion that, in common parlance, the Pope had made himself "look silly," and many papers did not hesitate to express this opinion in the plainest possible language.

The Times in a leading article wrote:

"The telegraph informed us a few days ago, as much to our surprise as to our satisfaction, that the Pope, in Secret Consistory, had delivered an allocution denouncing all secret societies, and particularly the Freemasons and the Fenians.  Although we knew that the Roman Catholic clergy were uniformly hostile to the Fenian movement, we could hardly have expected that the Pope himself would come forward with such vigour and promptitude to render us a service at such an opportune moment.  The text of this unexpected allocution has now reached us, and will be found today in another column of our impression.  It will be seen that though it does not denounce the Fenians by name, it is directed against all secret societies 'by whatsoever name called, which conspire against the Church and civil power.' There have been few secret societies which answer to this description more exactly than the Fenians; and the Roman Catholic clergy, it has been amply proved, had as much reason as any other class of the community to assist in the suppression of this disorderly brotherhood.  We may, therefore, congratulate ourselves on having for once the cordial assistance of the Pope in our Irish policy. We cannot but be very much obliged to so exalted a personage for thus going out of his way to support us against the machinations of Mr. Stephens and Mr. John O'Mahoney.  We are, indeed, somewhat afraid that these conspirators and their American allies will derive more satisfaction from the dignity of being by implication made the subjects of a Papal allocution than they will be afflicted by the tremendous denunciations which are launched against them.  Nevertheless, it cannot but be well, as far as it goes, that the head of the Roman Catholic Church should have formally supported his subordinates in denouncing these foolish and wicked conspiracies.  Our New York correspondent lately informed us that among the extraordinary hallucinations of Fenianism in America was a rumour that a special order had been issued from Rome, expressed in true papal Latin Fenianos non esse inquietandos.  If anything can disabuse an Irish-man of a favourite delusion, or induce an American to relinquish a smart fabrication, the rumour in question ought to be effectually dispersed by this papal thunderbolt.

"But in thus expressing our acknowledgments to the Pope for his well-intentioned services, we must, at the same time, indulge our surprise at the main purport of the document before us.  The denunciation of Fenianism is, as we have said, only implied incidentally.  The Papal thunders are more immediately directed against a very different society; and if the allocution is to have any effect it will somewhat diminish the satisfaction with which we receive it that it consigns to perdition, along with the Fenians, all the members of a society which is as numerous in England as in Ireland, and which spreads its ramifications over almost every country in the world.  This unhappy society is none other than that of the Freemasons.  'Among the many machinations,' says the Pope, 'by which the enemies of the Christian name have dared to assail the Church of God, to destroy and sap it by methods alien from the truth, must doubtless be reckoned that wicked association of men called Masonic.' Such an alarming exordium will probably be as surprising to the Freemasons as to every one else; but it is only an appropriate introduction to the vehement denunciations which follow.  Freemasonry is a 'dark society - the enemy of the Church and of God, and dangerous even to the security of kingdoms.' If Freemasons do not give up their 'wicked assemblies' they must expect to be 'hurried along into the abyss of eternal ruin.' They 'are kindled with an ardent hatred against the religion of Christ and legitimate authority.' They are the wolves in sheep's clothing of whom it is predicted in the Gospel that they would come to devour the flock.  They have lost their reason, their acts are 'impious and criminal' and their errors 'monstrous.' The Popes, it appears, have long ago detected their snares and deceptions, and one after another have resolved, 'without losing a moment' to 'strike and lacerate with a sentence of excommunication as with a sword this sect breathing crime and attacking civil and sacred life.' No fewer than four pontiffs appear to have launched their thunders against these enemies of all enemies of all justice and religion, and nothing can exhibit the intense iniquity of the society in a stronger light than that it has survived these excommunications and in these distressed days everywhere shows itself and lifts its audacious front.' The paternal heart, therefore, of the present Pope compels him to suppress these wicked men and relieve society from such enormous and inveterate evils; and terrible are the punishments which he threatens for this benevolent purpose.  In the first place, all the Freemasons are in danger of eternal ruin, and all the other faithful must refuse them any countenance if they would avoid sharing their fate.  They are to be interdicted from all Christian society, for the Pope assures us that they are the very persons with whom the apostle forbids us to eat, or so much as to exchange salutation.  Finally, the divine aid, and that of the Virgin and the Apostles, is solemnly invoked, and the Pope concludes by expressing his conviction that with such assistance he shall succeed in extirpating this abominable association.

"We cannot but ask ourselves in simple astonishment - what does all this mean? Is the Pope inspired or frenzied, or is he merely practising his Latin so as to keep his hand in for the Emperor Napoleon when he commences the withdrawal of his troops from Rome? The Pope, we know, in Secret Consistory, talks neither English nor any other modern language, and it may be that this astonishing fulmination is only his way of saying that he disapproves of Freemasonry.  We are all more or less familiar with the Freemasons.  We know that they have an elaborate organization, and call each other long names, that they wear upon occasions very strange aprons, that they preserve certain antiquated ceremonies, and, above all, that they give very good balls and excellent dinners, and are generally a very hospitable and liberal set of men.  We know, again, that the Freemasons profess to take certain solemn oaths, and to be in possession of some secrets which explain the whole mystery of political society upon architectural principles, or something equally magnificent.  But as to assertions that they devote themselves to 'unheard-of atrocities of penalties and chastisements in case they should break their oath,' we feel pretty sure the Pope must be misinformed.  We have never observed that they were oppressed by any such weight as would necessarily hang over their minds if they were at all times conscious that a single inadvertence would expose them to such tremendous danger.  It would require, in fact, even in a Roman Catholic, a very strong faith in the infallibility of the Pope to accept his description of this Society.  Indeed, we sincerely condole with the Roman Catholics if they are to be absolutely debarred, for the future, from enjoying Masonic hospitality.  Must the faithful, as a French journal inquires, immediately cut their Masonic friends, and refuse them even a distant bow? Freemasons, so far as we know anything about them, are neither revolutionists nor atheists.  If we are not mistaken, Lord Palmerston himself is one of their number, and the late Marshal Magnan, one of the pillars of the new French regime, was the head of the Order in France. What can the Pope be thinking of to select this innocent and convivial association for these tremendous denunciations? If he had simply consigned all the Fenians, in so many words, to eternal perdition unless they, immediately repented and revoked their wicked errors before the nearest priest, the allocution might have appeared to possess some point, some justification. But what have the Freemasons done to provoke such a demonstration? It is said that the Archbishop of Paris lately gave great offence at Rome by attending the funeral of Marshal Magnan.  The Archbishop was probably profoundly ignorant of the wicked devices of the Marshal and his fellow Masons, and ordinary observers must avow themselves equally in the dark.  In truth, it reminds us of Jupiter thundering in a clear sky, to witness these rattling thunderbolts let loose upon so unobtrusive a society as the Freemasons.  Jupiter, like Homer, must, we suppose nod sometimes, and the Secret Consistory must, one would think, have gone to sleep, and this allocution must have been delivered and have been listened to in a dream.

"We have, in short, often had occasion to remark, that the Papacy is either greatly above or greatly below the level of commonsense.  In the present instance, we have not much hesitation in deciding in which category the papal allocution is to be placed.  We can only explain such an uncalled for burst of pontifical wrath on the supposition that the Pope is profoundly ignorant of the circumstances of modern life and society.  In Italy, indeed, where the excessive jealousy of the Church tends to invest even the most innocent combinations of men with a political meaning, it is possible that even Freemasonry may assume some definite character of antagonism to the papal pretensions.  But that the Pope can think it worth this violent allocution only proves how completely he is in the dark as to the real influences which are actuating men's minds. It is not Freemasonry, nor any other secret society, which has withdrawn from Catholicism so much of the intelligence of Italy and all Europe, and has robbed the Papacy of its ancient possessions. It is simply that general advance of free thought and of personal liberty which has exposed at once the unfounded character of the papal claims and the injurious nature of their assumptions. Ridiculous, in some respects, as are such exhibitions, it is impossible not to feel a certain melancholy when we behold the Papacy thus fighting in the air.  In former days it at least knew in what direction to strike, and its blows were as well aimed as they were vigorously delivered.  At the present day it appears to have lost at once its sagacity and its vigour.  It is blind to its real danger, and its language is as impotent in its violence as its blows are feeble and misplaced.  It lives in the world of four centuries ago, and judges alike of men and of events by a medieval standard.  If the Pope could but leave the Vatican for awhile, and place himself in one of the real centres of modern life, in London or Paris, or even in Florence, he would discover at once that he had been living, writing, and speaking entirely in the clouds.  Such societies as the Freemasons may have been formidable a few centuries ago, but they are of about as much importance to the course of civil and religious life as any other of the now extinct associations of the middle ages.  With a similar blindness to his real position, the Pope is said to be firmly convinced that the French troops will never be withdrawn from Rome, and he obstinately refuses, therefore, to come to terms with the only government which, when that inevitable event takes place, can afford him any effectual protection.  He and his Church resemble nothing so much as the city to which they cling.  A new world has grown up all around them, and they remain venerable but decaying monuments of an ancient but now overthrown empire.  The very foundations of Catholicism are sapped, its temporal and spiritual dominion is passing away, and the Pope vaguely conscious of some impending danger, summonses a Secret Consistory and launches his excommunications against Freemasonry!"

The Liverpool Mercury was even more trenchant in its criticism of this absurd document, and its comments could not have afforded much satisfaction to the Roman Catholics in the northern Midlands.  Its leading article on the Bull was as follows:

"The recent papal allocution against the unfortunate Freemasons is one of the very oddest things we have come across for a long time.  All of a sudden, without any imaginable why or wherefore, just when the queer but harmless fraternity of Freemasonry is about the very last subject in men's thoughts, the Holy Father comes out with a tremendous volley of anathemas in the best style of ecclesiastical Latinity, against a set of people of whom the world knows nothing worse than they have an uncommonly eccentric way of promoting certain very innocent and laudable objects. When all mankind is thinking about Schleswig-Holstein, or the cattle plague, or the cholera, or President Johnson, or the Fenians, or the bank rate of discount, or the Italian elections, or some other topic of intelligible mundane interest, infallibility flares up into a blaze of holy wrath against a respectable (though rather funny) body of men who are chiefly known by giving good dinners and wearing curious aprons, and who have never been credibly accused of doing or meaning harm to any living creature.  What, in the name of all that is rational, is the pother about? What horrid crimes have the Freemasons been perpetrating or meditating? There do happen to be secret societies in the world - our own Fenians, for instance - against which a little papal invective might seem not absolutely out of place; yet His Holiness has not a word to say about Fenianism, unless some remote allusion to it can be faintly detected under one or two of his sonorous generalities.  But what have the poor Freemasons done to bring down on their heads this lava torrent of denunciation and abuse? What on earth can it all mean? We are told that our Archbishop Manning, from a loyal wish to do the British Empire a good turn, asked His Holiness to launch a handsome fulmination against the Fenians, and that this Allocution is the result. If so, the Archbishop must be considerably pleased.  Can it be that His Holiness has made a mistake, misunderstood the drift of the archiepiscopal suggestion, and hurled his thunders in the wrong quarter?

"We are not going to pause for a reply, for we might have to pause for a long time. We have not the slightest expectation that infallibility will so far condescend to human weakness as to explain its own oracles. All that we are permitted to know is that these Freemasons are the most wicked wretches that ever conspired, in a favourite phrase of the papal vocabulary, to 'violate all laws human and divine.' They are pernicious, perverse, impious, immoral, audacious, criminal, and perfidious, depraved, and all the other ugly adjectives known to allocutionary billingsgate. They 'pursue crime and attack holy things.' They 'give themselves up to impious and criminal acts.' They hold 'fatal councils,' and make it their business to drag others into the same 'abyss of eternal perdition' to which they are hurrying themselves. They have but one single thought and single end, namely 'the overthrow of rights, both human and divine.' They are at the bottom of all the mischief that is and has been in the world for at least a century or two. To their account must be set down the many seditious movements, the many incendiary wars, which have set the whole of Europe in flames, and the many bitter misfortunes which have afflicted and still afflict the Church.' Such is the papal reading of the philosophy of modern history. It is a sin and shame that civil governors should tolerate these implacable foes of all that is good and holy. The venerable pontiff cannot contain himself for rage when he remembers how they and their abettors have been excommunicated over and over again, and yet nobody seems to mind it. Clement XII put them down; and Benedict XIV put them down again; and so did Pius VII; and so did Leo XII; and yet they are not really put down at all, but flourish more exuberantly than ever, 'existing everywhere with impunity and carrying an audacious front.' What can have possessed the 'Catholic sovereign princes' that they have not devoted all their efforts and all their solicitude to repress this immoral sect and defend society against a common danger? However, let it be hoped that Catholic sovereign princes and the faithful generally will be roused at last to a sense of their perils and their duties. Henceforth let it be quite understood that these horrid Freemasons, one and all, are excommunicated, and that their guilt and its punishment are shared by all who 'promote or encourage them in any way.' These wolves in sheep's clothing 'are of the number of those whose society the apostle has forbidden to us, eloquently prohibiting us from saying unto them, Hail!' No true Roman Catholic from this time forward must so much as say, 'How do you do?' to an acquaintance of the aproned fraternity. It really is not quite so clear as one could wish that there would be any particular sin in a true Roman Catholic killing the first Freemason he meets. It is at least certain - as far as infallibility can make it - that the Freemasons are the arch enemies of the Church, religion, law, government, truth, morality, and everything else which men count sacred, and that all the heresies, seditions, revolutions of modern times may be traced to the machinations of this thrice accursed sect. With that stupendous perversity civilized society persists in seeing nothing in Freemasonry but a somewhat fantastic sort of benefit society, organized for purposes of charity and good fellowship!

"This is really imbecility in excelsis. The force of infallible folly surely could no further go than in launching this prodigious piece of ecclesiastical thunder against a body of decent gentlemen, whose 'machinations,' though they may begin (for aught we know) with a droll ceremonial which frightens raw novices half out of their wits, end in nothing more terrible than good cheer and a mutual benevolence fund. The Pope's last is certainly his best. We have had many curious allocutions in our time, but this beats them all. Serious comment on such a heap of stark, raving nonsense is impossible. The spectacle of absurdity in a towering rage, a silliness foaming at the mouth, is one that at once defies and disarms criticism. There is nothing to be said of it except that it is a pity that an ancient institution which has outlived its day cannot make a more respectable preparation for its inevitable end. The temporal power of the papacy is justly doomed as an offence against civilization, a wrong to Italy, and a scandal and hindrance to the very religion whose name it takes in vain; but no chivalrous enemy can desire that it should make itself unnecessarily ridiculous. We sincerely sympathize with those multitudes of enlightened and right-minded Roman Catholics to whom it must be unutterably painful to them to pity a pontiff whom they would fain, if possible, reverence."

The Dublin Evening Mail was no less scathing in its comments. A short leader in that paper said:

"We echo in our columns today the last peal of thunder from the Vatican. It is designed to frighten the Freemasons; but it only makes known the force of the now impotent thunderer. Amid the empty sound and puerile verbiage of this allocution, a whispered confession of real motives tells the tale of the crime of Freemasonry in papal eyes: 'A false opinion may arise that the end of this society is inoffensive, and that this institution has no other end but to succour men and to aid them in adversity, and that the Church has nothing to fear from this society. Who, however, does not understand that this is far from being the truth? What does this association of men of all religions, of all creeds, mean?' It is truly strange that, wrapped up as it may be in any amount of fustian, the secret design of the Vatican heart is never successfully concealed in an allocution. Nothing can be more true than that the papal power has everything to fear from every peaceful and kindly 'association of men of all religions and of all creeds.' It is, therefore, the thunder is directed against a form of association which peculiarly tends to unite men in bonds of charity, mutual tolerance, and good will. The present allocution is, in fact, not merely a denunciation of Freemasons, but a practical comment upon the Roman reading of the divine proclamation of 'Peace on earth, good-will to men.' Pio Nono and his Secret Consistory proclaim, according to their version, 'Peace on earth to men of good-will,' but only to those whose will is good towards the papal system. Carried out to its logical end, the proposal 'to strike and rend' as with a sword 'the Masonic Society' is an anathema against all forms of union or association between men of different creeds - it is an edict of non-intercourse among fellow subjects, kinsmen, friends."

The Gloucestershire Chronicle prophesied an early downfall of the Papacy, based upon an estimation of its apparent effete and decadent condition:

"There are some constitutions," the writer said, "which, when about to break up through old age or some heavy infirmity, betray traces of their earlier vigour by bursting forth at times into paroxysms of passion as impotent as they are ridiculous. This seems to be the case with the Pope, who, some time ago, in a secret consistory held at Rome, delivered an allocution, or, more properly, an anathema, chiefly against the Masonic Society, and also against 'all other societies, of whatever appellation, conspiring against the Church and the civil power.' Europe is rather astounded; it can hardly believe its eyes when the explosive document is thrown before it. Various reasons are assigned for the papal thunder in a clear sky, for the revival of absolute dictation to the governments of the world, as though the spiritual power of the papacy were this day an acknowledged fact, in full supremacy, when the truth is it is nothing more than a feeble voice issuing from a throne both spiritually and temporarily shaken almost to dissolution.

"Some allege the Pope takes this left-handed way of administering a heavy blow to the Emperor of the French, because he is about to withdraw his troops from Rome, and has also countenanced Masonry in France; in this manner revenge the Emperor's withdrawal of his military protection and planting a spiritual thorn in the bosom of his subjects. This has always been the subtle policy of Rome, to make mischief between sovereigns and subjects; she scatters a few religious seeds of discord, and rejoices to set a spiritual at variance with the temporal allegiance. A small spite this, now, especially in our age; but the allocution is full of little cat-spittings, so to speak. Again, it is said, the Archbishop of Paris stands rebuked for having attended the funeral of Marshal Lamoriciere, who was formerly the Grand Master of Freemasonry in France; also that Dr. Manning, being desirous of obtaining the Pope's denial of any sympathy with Fenianism, suggested a denunciation of all secret societies, thus believing the net would be large enough to haul in the Fenians together with Freemasons and Carbonari; lastly, it is stated the allocution is a sort of protest against the decline both of the faith and influence of the Church in Italy, as though the falling-off were to be traced, not to the inherent weakness and corruption of Rome herself, but to the 'perfidious nature of sectarians, who, under a fair exterior, are inflamed with a burning hatred against the religion of Christ and legitimate authority and to have but one single thought and single end, viz., the overthrow of rights both human and divine.' It is possible some truth may underlie every one of the motives thus suggested; at any rate, 'Rome has spoken,' and if all the world attended to Rome's senile mutterings, every Freemason would be excommunicated, in the blessed company of Fenians, Carbonari, bandits, and brigands.

"The holy horror of the Pope at Freemasonry is depicted in very strong language, with a remarkable display of ignorance, and a total unconsciousness of history. He describes it as 'that perverse society of men, vulgarly styled Masonic, which at first confined to darkness and obscurity, now comes into light for the common ruin of religion and human society.' He calls it 'a most immoral sect.' At its door he lays 'the many seditious movements, the many incendiary wars, which have set the whole of Europe in flames; as also the many bitter misfortunes which have afflicted and still afflict the Church.' He speaks tremblingly of 'Clandestine meetings,' 'rigorous oaths,' an unheard-of atrocity of penalties and chastisements to be inflicted upon the perjured Mason; and he winds up with an emphatic conclusion: 'A Society which thus avoids the day must surely be impious and criminal.'

"We could add a few more choice specimens of papal eloquence, but these are sufficient for our purpose, unless, indeed, we might be tempted to give our Masonic readers the opportunity of knowing what a disgusting, outlawed, and excommunicated set of vagabonds they really are, as seen through the infallible microscope. 'Let them well understand that those affiliated to such sects are like wolves, whom Christ our Lord prophesied would come disguised in sheep's clothing to devour the flock; let them understand they are of the number of those whose society the Apostle has also forbidden to us, eloquently prohibiting us from even wishing them god-speed.'

"Now, these are truculent expressions which are sufficient to raise the hair on the head of those benevolent gentlemen - there are thousands of them - who, thinking no harm, sit down to dinner after the labours of the lodge are concluded, and drinkings; a glass of wine to all good brethren scattered over the face of the globe, believe they are friends with the world. What a dreadful portrait has the Pope drawn of them, in revolutionary costume, eager to slay, burn, and destroy! Now, none would imagine after reading the allocution, that at the close of the eighth century, the popes conceded to the Masons of Como the exclusive monopoly of erecting churches; they were associated as a craft or brotherhood; they were invested by papal bulls with extensive privileges; they were subject only to their own laws, and were untaxed. 'The lodges of the north' built Strasbourg and Cologne cathedrals; they were encouraged and protected by ecclesiastical authority; Europe abounds with their labours, and the marks of their secret craft are still upon the stones, just as they are Masonically accepted this day. William of Wykeham and Waynefleet, both Bishops, were Grand Masters in England; several of our own Bishops, both past and present, have been Masters of lodges. What then becomes of the Pope's history, and of what force are his denunciations? Masonry has always remained the same; its principles are unchanged; the symbolical teachings were the same in the Como lodges as they are this day in London; the secrets are the same; the ceremonies are identical. The simple fact is, when the Masons ceased to be working societies, and were unnecessary for building churches, Rome threw Masonry on one side, like a useless glove. More than this, Rome will never suffer any intellectual movement over which she has lost the control. But Masonry laid down the trowel and the hod, practically, and confined itself to the speculatively teaching, which was once marvellously united to every stone in building; then the Church of Rome quarrelled with the institution because it presumed to work out a system of morality and religion upon the same foundation of revelation with the Church, but quite distinct from the Church, yet in agreement with the fundamental doctrines of the Church, at the same time not interfering with any Mason's allegiance to the Church. The cause of offence was that this was done without consulting or admitting any ecclesiastical authority.  This is the secret of Rome's unmitigated hatred of Masonry; it is her insatiable desire to govern the whole machine of thought and action by priestly hands; while justice and inquisitors exist, the Pope can scarcely with a grave face inveigh against clandestine meetings, rigorous oaths, and the atrocity of penalties and chastisements! We are as certain that the monstrosities imputed by the Pope to Freemasonry are as false as that Freemasons have anything to fear from the Virgin Mary, 'to whom,' says the Pope, It has been granted to overthrow the enemies of the Church and monstrous errors'; or that the Pope will be 'protected by the blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, in his crusade against Freemasonry.' One great principle of Freemasonry is not to interfere with the peculiar religious forms of belief professed by any of its members; armed with this neutrality the Freemason will listen without hatred to the invocation of saints to come down and extinguish the institution; he will only be sorry that such an excess of mistaken zeal should be so uncharitably exercised; for we read in the news-papers the assemblies of Freemasons are already disturbed by ignorant Roman Catholic mobs, who are ready to back the Pope's mild language with any amount of physical assistance.

We know a considerable amount of prejudice exists against Freemasonry even in this country, perhaps chiefly because feminine curiosity remains unsatisfied, or because an exclusive law shuts out the public.  For its harmlessness and innocence we might summon the testimony of the many eminent characters in the world who have sanctioned its proceedings from manhood to old age with their countenance; for its benevolence, we can only point to the noble charities sustained from year to year with unostentatious munificence; for its influence we can appeal to the friendly understanding among Masons, and to their kindly offices one towards another.  We are told by those who have pursued the real symbolical science of Masonry that it is a fascinating study, demanding the fullest exercise of the mental faculties; that it applies the old scriptural system of instruction by emblem and figure to the acquisition of moral and scientific truths, which are grouped together, engage the memory and captivate the imagination.  This, we believe, is the real work of Masonry, and, no doubt, where people have the requisite gifts, nothing can be more lofty or improving, but, in the absence of such qualities, the general body of Masons is content with superficial knowledge; the brethren know enough to come in and out of the lodge, they are ready with their money for any emergency; they will give to good fellowship; there is a freedom of thought which delights them when they are confident they are speaking in the bosom of the family where there is no skeleton and no misinterpretation of the language used.  This is the English aspect of Freemasonry - a set of open-hearted, good-humoured, charitable fellows, brimming over with benevolence, thinking no evil, somewhat mystified with signs and words, but on the whole merry and wise. How different from the Pope's idea! Slouched hats, dark clothes, daggers, manifestos shrouded in vapour, conspirators deadly against popes, and kings and saints, and churches."

The scathing and adverse comments were by no means limited to English newspapers.  Much space could be occupied with extracts from various foreign newspapers on the Pope's allocution, but two only must suffice.  La Siecle wrote:

"A million of our fellow-citizens are struck with the most terrible engine which the representative of God upon earth can dispose of.  It is true they perform their ordinary business just the same as though interdicted from fire and water.  The worst that can happen to them is that they cannot be sponsors if they should be asked to do so; but this is an occasion which does not often present itself, and they may find consolation in the circumstance that it will save them the cost of comfits.  What interest can the Church of Rome have in thus exposing the impotence of its spiritual chastisements and the complete indifference with which modern society hears the rumbling of the Church's thunder? What man will give up the title of Freemason, or who will hesitate to become a member of a lodge, through fear of excommunication? The era of these papal thunder peals has passed, and the Papacy should renounce these miserable parodies of the past which had its grandeur."

More expository from the Masonic point of view was the criticism of the New York Reporter in which paper the following article appeared:

"Freemasonry has been denounced and suspected, in consequence of its being a secret Order.  Secrecy in all things, where secrecy is maintained, is not only consistent with innocence, but is also imperatively enforced by necessity, as well as demanded by every consideration of policy.  The direct benefits flowing from Masonry are, of course, intended for, and should be participated in, only by its members - by those who have been regularly initiated into its mysteries and contribute to its support.  They are secured by a knowledge of universal language, which is used as a test of brotherhood.  This universal language (universal to Masons) is, under no circumstances, communicated to the world at large. The words and signs of it are secret; for to communicate them would at once destroy its utility.  And, strange as it may seem to the uninitiated, our Society professes to have no secrets beyond these.  There is little, very little, in the lodge to gratify the eye of the inquisitive.  We do not tempt them with offers to unfold some mighty mystery; we can impart to them no superhuman wisdom; we possess not the elixir of life, nor the philosopher's stone, nor the spells of the Tarshun; we cannot and do not profess to be bound by any ties but such as are consistent with our duty towards ourselves and families, our neighbours, our country, and our God.

"About the general end of lodge transactions, every one can know as much, as any of its members; but fear of any apprehension on this subject, we would briefly state that nowhere are order and decorum more strictly enforced than in our lodges; our business there is charity and brotherly communion, the admission of candidates, and the transaction of such other matters as necessarily pertain to every association.  Now, all this is of such a character, that it may with great propriety be kept to ourselves.  We are brothers - members of a large family - met for the purpose of transacting our own business, with which the world has no concern; and why should the world be permitted to witness its disposition? Does a needy brother receive assistance, it is not for us to vaunt it, and it might not be agreeable to him to proclaim his wants before strangers, or to have the fact of his being relieved published; and it would certainly be impolitic and uncharitable, by publicity, to trammel the discussion of character; and how could the announcement of the rejection of candidates for our confidence be otherwise than prejudicial to us, by exciting enmity and dissatisfaction in the world.  We seek not coalition with the world, made up of a thousand creeds; our objects are few, and their pursuit is quiet and secret; and we have, as Masons, naught in common with the mass of mankind.  We do not meddle with politics, nor the extension of the creed by proselytism; we seek only to cultivate the social virtues among ourselves, to benefit each other by deeds of love, and indirectly to benefit the world by our own improvement."

(To be concluded)

THE EVERLASTING NECESSITY FOR BROTHERHOOD

Had mankind from the day of the flood, steadily followed some of the lessons taught them by the industrious bees, had they associated themselves together in lodges, and taught and faithfully practiced Toleration, Charity and Friendship; had even those of the human race done so who have professed the Christian faith, to what imaginable degrees of happiness and prosperity would they not have attained! to what extreme and now invisible heights of knowledge and wisdom would not the human intellect have soared! Had they but practiced Toleration alone, what a Garden of Eden would this earth be now! Blood enough has been spilled for opinion's sake, to fill the basin of an inland sea! Treasure enough has been expended and destroyed to have made the world a garden, covered it with a network of roads, canals and bridges, and made its every corner glorious with palaces; and the descendants of those who have been slain would have thickly peopled every continent and island of the globe.

The earliest of all lessons taught mankind was the necessity of association; for it was taught in unmistakable terms by his own feebleness and weakness. He is an enigma to himself.. Launched, blind and helpless, upon the great current of Time and Circumstance, he drifts, like a helpless vessel, onward to eternity a mere atom.and mote of dust, clinging to infinity, and whirled along with the revolutions of the Universe. He knows nothing truly of himself and his fellows. His utmost effort never enables him to get a distinct idea of his own nature, or to understand in the least degree the phenomena of his mind. Even his senses are miracles to him. He remains feeble as a child. Between him and the future is let down a curtain, dark, palpable, impenetrable, like a thick cloud, through which he gropes his way and staggers onward. At every step Destiny meets him in some unexpected shape, foils his purpose, mocks at his calculation, changes the course of his life, and forces him into new paths, as one leads a blind man by the hand; and he never knows at what unexpected moment the arm of Death will be thrust suddenly forth from behind the curtain and strike him a sharp and unerring blow.

The sudden shifting of a wind, a few cold drops of rain, an unseen stone lying in his path, the tooth of an unregarded serpent, a little globe of  lead, the waving of a rag near to a shying horse, a spark of fire on a great boat of a dark night, upon a wide, deep river; all are to him Death's messengers, and overtake him with a peremptory fate. Stumbling over some object at every step, he needs constant sympathy and unremitting assistance. Fortune smiles today and frowns tomorrow. Blindness or palsy makes the strong man an infant; and misfortune, disaster and sad reverses trick him like gaunt hounds, lying in wait to seize him at a thousand turnings.

Unfortunately, the obvious truth that every man either actually needs, or will at some time need, the charitable assistance, or, at least, the friendship, the sympathy, the counsel, and the good will of others, like other truths, produced but small effect upon the early human mind. Pressed by the urgent necessities of the moment, by which alone, ordinarily, men's actions are governed, they did associate themselves with communities, and institute civil government, as often, perhaps, for purposes of aggression as of defense or other associations. We hear and know nothing for very many centuries, and then, except where the light of Masonic tradition reaches, dimly and obscurely only, as in the case of the Eleusinian Mysteries; whose purpose we can merely guess at from the faintest possible revelations, - hardly able to say more than their forms and ceremonies bore a faint resemblance to some used in our time-honored institution. It is highly probable that they had a philosophical and religious rather than a charitable object. - Albert Pike.

----o----

AN APRIL MORNING

Once more in misted April

The world is growing green.

Along the winding river

The plumy willows lean.

Beyond the sweeping meadows

The looming mountains rise,

Like battlements of dreamland

Against the brooding skies.

In every wooded valley

The buds are breaking through,

As though the heart of all things

No languor ever knew.

The goldenwings and bluebirds

Call to their heavenly choirs.

The pines are blued and drifted

With smoke of brushwood fires.

And in my sister's garden

Where little breezes run,

The golden daffodillies

Are blowing in the sun.

- Bliss Carman.

THE COMACINES - THEIR PREDECESSORS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS

BY BRO. W. RAVENSCROFT, ENGLAND

PART III

THE COMACINE LODGES

AND NOW let us endeavour to trace the constitution of these Comacine lodges, and to ascertain something of their relation to the world at large.

It is capable of proof that in the seventh century the Magistri Comacine were a properly organized body, having different degrees of rank. The higher order were called Magistri, and were competent to act as architects. With and under them worked the Colligantes: these appear to have consisted of novices and craftsmen.  These Magistri Comacini are first mentioned by name in the laws of the Longobard King Rothairis (A.D. 652).

In the under church of S. Clemente at Rome there is a fresco of the tenth century which shows the master mason directing his men, and some think they can discern beneath the toga a master's apron.  For my own part, although I looked carefully for it, I should not like to say it is undoubtedly there; but be this so or not, there is no mistaking the Master who is named Sesinius, and who somewhat angrily directs his men, calling them sons of Pute.  Under the life of S. Clemente, Voragine in the Golden Legend gives a different version to the Masonic traditions of Sesinius, but which scarcely corresponds with the fresco.

An Italian writer, referring to these guilds (Cesare Cantu Storia di Como), says: "They were called together in the Loggie (hence Lodge) by a grand master to hear of affairs common to the order, to accept novices, and confer superior degrees on others.  The chief Lodge had other dependencies, and all members were instructed in their duties to the society and taught to direct every action to the Glory of the Lord and His worship - to live faithful to God and the government - to, lend themselves to the public good and fraternal charity." "Strength, force and beauty were their symbols; Bishops, Princes, men of high rank who studied architecture fraternized with them." "From the tenth to the thirteenth centuries grand masters took oaths of discretion and fidelity. Masters coming from other lodges were received and employed, Apprentices were not paid in the same manner as Craftsmen, and all questions were settled in Council."

One other authority under this head may suffice - Signor Agostino Segredio, who, in his work on the building guilds of Venice, says:

"While we are speaking of the Masonic Companies and their jealous secrecy we must not forget the most grand and potent guild of the Middle Ages, that of the Freemasons; originating most probably from the builders of Como (Magistri Comacini), it spread beyond the Alps.  Popes gave them their benediction, monarchs protected them, and the most powerful thought it an honour to be inscribed in their ranks; they with the utmost jealousy practised all the arts connected with building, and by severe laws and penalties (perhaps also with bloodshed) prohibited others from the practice  of building important edifices.  Long and hard were the initiations to aspirants, and mysterious were the meetings and the teaching, and to enable themselves they dated their origin from Solomon's Temple."

Some go so far as to say these guilds of craftsmen in the Middle Ages expanded their ritual to the extent of giving to their working tools moral, and even spiritual, significance.  That may be a not unlikely outcome of their system, but whether so or not, they had their symbols, without doubt.  This is illustrated in a house at Assisi having the date on its door 1405, but perhaps of greater antiquity, shown to this day as that of the Comacini, and on the keystone to the entrance is still to be seen carved the open compasses containing a rose. This badge also, together with a Masonic square, the Comacini have left on the castle at Assisi, where also they worked.

But the greatest distinguishing badges of the order are the endless knot and the Lion of Judah.  The endless knot appears to mark off the work of the earlier when the more elaborate carvings and the richer details of later centuries prevailed.  This endless knot is to this day one of the most beautiful and interesting of ornamental details in connection with the carving of stone, and while its pattern is varied in many ways, its principle is one and the same throughout.  It consists generally (mainly, indeed, but not always) of a cord of three strands -sometimes of two - and this cord generally is without beginning or end; sometimes, however, it has a beginning and end, but without a break, and its interlacings are so intricate as to give it the name of "Intreccia."

It is to this day known in Italy as King Solomon's Knot, and finds its place on the surface of arches, in the capitals of columns, on altars, tympana, arcades and panels, but perhaps in its most beautiful development, in screens.  Those in S. Clemente at Rome are wonderfully fine, and, be it remembered, as we shall see presently, this ornament comes home to us in our Celtic crosses and monumental slabs.  It is not disjointed like some Byzantine surface decorations, but consistent to its character throughout.  It is everywhere the badge of the same Brotherhood - the sign-manual of the same Guild of Craftsmen.  The symbolic allusion in this remarkable badge would appear to be the inscrutable character of the Divine Being whose ways are past finding out, and whose existence is without beginning or end - an unbroken unity.  Whether the three-fold strands have reference to the Trinity in such unity or not, it is impossible to say, but such would be by no means an unlikely thing; or the allusion may have been to the threefold cord which is not quickly broken.

One is struck by the extraordinary amount of this ornamentation to be found in Italy, much still in situ, and one would almost say still more in fragments, built into walls and varied in character to a remarkable degree.  The churches about Como, chieflys perhaps, that of S. Abbondio, have some rich illustrations of the Comacine knot-work.  When we remember that the two great pillars which stood at the entrance to King Solomon's Temple were adorned with network as well as other devices, we get at least a suggestion that here may be the origin of King Solomon's knot, and this is emphasized by the fact that there stands in the court of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem a pillar having a basketwork capital with this identical interlaced pattern.  Does it not look very much as if the traditions of the network had lingered and found expression again in this product of a later age?

It is interesting in passing to note that the Romans had a similar, but less intricate pattern in a great deal of their paving, and might not that have been in their day the working out of a "Temple tradition" received through the Etruscans, and the type of the fuller knot developed by  the Comacines? As regards the Lion of Judah, there is more difficulty; indeed, there is here the mystery which enshrouds all the grotesque work of the Middle Ages, whether lions, griffins, or other monsters.  Leader Scott would have us believe the lion here is the type of Christ, and that when columns are on the back of lions, as at Pisa and Siena, they represent our Lord as the Pillar of Faith, springing from the tribe of Judah; while, when surmounting the column, He is figured as the Door, the latter being the earlier form - viz., that which prevailed from before A.D. 1000 to 1200, while the former held from A.D. 1200 to 1500.  This all fits in with such representations as at Monza, where the lion is nursing a lamb; but when, as at Assisi or Siena, the lion is eating man or animals one wonders how this symbol applies.  This wonder is increased by finding lionesses and cubs, as at Siena.  True, it may be that some such representations in a rough and coarse way may suggest the absorbing power of Christianity, or convey something akin to what we read in the Apocalypse about the "wrath of the Lamb." But if Ruskin and others who have studied the subject can only guess at a meaning for these st