THE PENNSYLVANIA FREEMASON Issued Every Three Months By
The Right Worshipful Grand lodge of The Most Ancient and Honorable Fra ternity of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania and Masonic Jurisdiction Thereunto Belonging, through its COMMITTEE ON MASONIC CULTURE- William E. Yeager, Past Grand Master, Chairman; William E. Montgomery, G. Edward Elwell, Jr., Frank R. leech, William A, Carpenter, Charles A. Young and Ashby B. Paul. APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED TO BE PRINTED BY
CHARLES H. NITSCH Right Worshipful Grand Master WILLIAM A. CARPENTER, Editor Mailing Address: The Masonic Temple, Broad and Filbert Streets, Philadelphia 7, Po.
Vol. IV
February, 1957
No. 1
Peace 'tS More Than a Word The word peace has been printed billions of times uttered in billions of prayers, spoken milli~ns of tim es over the radio and voiced thousands of times by every member of the human race in all the languages of earth . And still we have'' wars. It is high time to consider that peace is more than a word. It is more than a spot of ink on a piece of paper, or a sound on our lips. Peace is everything that · makes life worth living. Peace is God on both sides of the table in a conference. Peace is goodwill in action. Peace is world-wide neighborliness . Peace is co-operation and team -work ; it is pulling with people instead of pushing them around. Peace is sanity and common sense in human relations. P eace is open -mindedness. It is a willingness to listen as well as to talk. It is looking at both sides of a situation obj ectively. Peace is patience. It mea.ns. heping ~ur tempers, r ising above petty . Irntatwn, . takmg the long-look. It means keepmg .our s h~rts on and giving time a chance to work Its magic. Peace is h aving the courage and humility to admit mistakes and take the blame when we are wrong. P eace is international courtesy . It is good sportsmanship in world affairs. Peace is tact, and tact has been defined ~s the ability to pull the stinger of a bee without getting stung. . Peace is vision. It is being big enough to g1ve up small individual advantages for the universal advan tage of a warless world. Peace is using the Golden Rule as a measuring stick in solving world problems. Peace is the open hand instead of the clenched fist. It is tolerance and understanding toward men of everv class, creed and color. Pea ce is ~ mighty faith. It is a radiant belief in the potential goodness and greatness of men. It is a dynami c confiden ce that war can be aholished forever. P eace is a thing of the heart as well as the head. It is warmth, a magnetism, that reaches out and draws people together in a co mmon pur pose. P eace is top-level thinking, feeling, acting. It is r ising above tanks, planes and atom bombs as a way of settling disputes. Peace is a way of living. -W.A.C.
Are Ma~onnes Gudder Men Then Odhers? (Conlinuedfrom page 2)
"So1ne 1naconnes a.re not so virtrtou.s as some odher 1nenne; but, yn the 1noste parte, thay be more gude then thay woulde be :>1 tha.y u ;ar not 1naco1U1.es." In other words, while he would not claim that Masons are better men than others, and admitted that some Masons are not so virtu ous as some other m en, of one fact he could be, indeed, was s ure : that in the m ost part Masons are better men than they would be if they were not Masons. In this truth we find much of the glory of Masonry. Its influence through the centuries has been such that, in the most part, those who have followed its teachings have become better men than they otherwise would have been. If this were all that could be said in its favor , surely this, and this alone, would be a sufficient excuse for its being.
Errata et Addenda By WILLIAM E. MONTGOMERY An amateu r historian such as the present wTiter is dependent to a considerable degree upon friends and associates in his effort to k~ep the fa cts straight and up-to-date. In connectwn with several articles appearing in " The Pennsylvania Freemason," it therefore seems appropriate to express appreciation to: (1) Brother Arthur L. Miller of Pittsburgh who called attention to an error in the arti cle on Capitular Masonry in P ennsylvania, in which it was asserted that the Royal Arch degree was fi rst conferred in this co un try in Philadelphia in 1758. The s tatem ent was correct wh en applied to P ennsylvania but covered too much territory in referring to the entire coun try. At the Communicati on of the Grand Chapt~r of P ennsyl vania in D ecembeT, 1953, the Grand High Pries t of Virginia in his remarks called attention to the fact that the first documentary evidence of the conferring of the Royal Arch degree is in the possession of Fredericksburg Lodge, No .4, of Virginia and bears the date of December 22, 1753, at which time and place three brethren were " raised to the Degree of Royal Ar ch Mason. " (2) Brother Edward Barth of Philadelphia who was kind enough to send a photograph of a bronze plaque which was erected just a bout a year ago near Benjamin Franklin's grave in Christ Church burial gro und at 5th and Arch Streets in Philadelphia. The plaque contains the unique and witty epitaph which Franklin wr ote as a young man and which was q uo ted in the August 1956 issu e of this publication. Broth er Barth cites the fact that the s tone marking the graves of Benjamin and De?~rah Franklin is in accordance with the p r ov1s10n s of Franklin's will . . . " a marble stone, 6 ft. long, 4 ft. wide, plain; with only a small molding a round the upper edge ." (3) Bro ther W illiam J. Paterson, Grand Lodge's effici ent Librarian and Curator, wh.o forwarded a clipping from The Phdadelphm Inquirer of October 24, 1956, in which ref-
erence was made to The Free Quakers Meeting H ouse (where Grand Lodge held its sessions from 1790 to 1799) , described in the November issue of this quarterly publi cation. The clipping states that the Free Quakers were a group of Friends who defied the principles of the sect and took up arms in the Revolutionary War. It also conveyed the interesting and welcome n ews that, because the structure is a fine r epresentation of Colonial architecture and has historical s ignificance, it will be preserved when the Mall is completed northward from Independence Hall.
Report of Extension Fund Committee (Continued from page 5)
as the Treas urer but in the many, many other ser vices which he cheerfully and willingly rendered, including the monthl y statis tics as to the progress of the various Lodges, which he made up and furnished to the m embers of the Committee. He was also most liberal with his time, efforts and money, and still is continuing with his fine work. Brother Richard A. Kern , Past Right Worshipful Grand Master has been a tower of str ength and h elp to the Committee, not only with the work h e performed in his own Lodge but with his counsel and advice to the Committee in general. Broth er Charles H. Nitsch, the Present Right Wors hipful Grand Master, from the very beginning, when he su cceeded Brother Edward F. Roberts as an Officer of the Grand Lodge, was extremely free with his time and effort for the benefit of the fund and , in a large measure, the s u ccess of the fu nd is due t o his interes t. Every Grand Mas ter, begin ning with Brother George H. Deike, William E. Yeager, Albert T. Eyler and Ralph M. Lehr, assis ted the Committee in every manner poss ible to perform its job. In addition to the work of r aising the necessary fun ds, the work of the Committee has brought t ogether m any Masons of the City of Philadelphia who have becom e fas t friends because of working together and because of their respect and admiration for one anoth er. This by -prod uct , as it were, mu st be co nsidered just as important to th e welfare of the Freemasons of Philadelphia in particular, and the Fratern ity in general, as the rais ing of SS00, 000 or more. Possibly at some future time, someone with the necessary literary a bility and the inquisitive nature required, will resear ch the work of the Committee and p roperly evaluate the services of all of those wh o meri t commendation, including officers and members of individual Lodges . Footnol.e by t.lr e R. JTI. Grand Mast.cr: Hrot.lr c r Jl'lorris Ru.b e r g, Past;. Mas ...cr of / .odge No. 9 1, rvho wrote t.h e abot;c artr c lc, l .S too urodest t o credit hirnsc lf wi th tire t.retncnc~ons cun~unt of work Ir e lw s done iu u ss i.s t.ing i n ru tsiug t.lus J.und. / Is S ecretory oft ltc 1-lospi t.al E:'Ctensiott Co~nnu.ttee, Ire /Jn s wrii.Lett hu.urlrer1s of lc t. t.ers, 1net. wtl.h tn._any grou.ps fro n t. vuriou.s J...o d pcs antl s u gges te~l vora'!rts ute t.h ods of p rocedrtre: Tire ~reern~sou.s ut PJJ_tladclplria are fort u.uat.e 1n.c/ccd ttt llavtug tire serv1ccs of t his clcdicat.e d llfasou..
FREEMASON AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL GRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF PENNSYL VANIA
VOLUME
IV
NUMBER 1
FEBRUARY • 1957
A Message from Our Grand Master COMMITTEE ON LANDMARKS I have frequently been asked "What is the Committee on Landmarks?" ARTICLE 13, SECTION NINE of the Ahiman Rezon reads, "The Committee on Landmarks shall cons ist of all the Past Grand Masters, who in conjunction wi th the Grand Master.and the Deputy Grand Master, shall be a Standing. Committee,. to which shall be referred all questions touchmg the Ancient Usages, Customs, and Landmarks of the Frater~itX, and the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of P ennsylvama. ARTICLE 12, SECTION ONE of the Ahiman R ezon reads: " The Past Grand Masters shall be r egarded as the conser vat ors of the Ancient Usages, Customs and Landmarks of Freemasonry, b y reason of their experien ce . . . . " ARTICLE 12, SECTION TWO of the Ahiman Rezon reads in part " ... He (The Grand Master) is supreme in all matters concerning the Fraternity. . . . " ARTICLE 12, SECTION THREE of the Ahiman Rezon reads: "To him (The Grand Mas ter ) belongs the general supervis ion and government of the Fra ternity . For these purposes h e is empowered: "To a ppoint Distri ct De pu ty Grand Mas ters, the Subordinate Officers of the Grand Lodge, Trustees, Standing Commi ttees and Special Committees whose appointment is n ot oth er wise provided for; and all employees who may be necessary in the conduct of the b us iness of his of-fice ... To issue edicts (Edicts of the Grand Master have the authority of Masonic Law) regarding the action of Lodges, or for the governmen t of the same their officers and members ... To cause Masons to be made' in his presence at any time and any place, a Lodge being opened by him for that purpose, To grant, and a uthoriz.e to he granted, Dispensations for making Masons, for constit uting Lodges, f or passing to the Chair, fo r laying Corners tones, fo r forming Masonic processions, and for the burial of unaffiliated Master Masons . . . . " ARTICLE 12 SECTION FOUR reads: " He shall be ex-officio, chairman of ~ny Committee, whose sessions he m ay think proper to attend ... " Thus from the above, the Grand Mas ter is ves ted wi th tremendous authority . The Grand Master is charaed to keep, s upport, maintain and abide by all of the Ancient Usages, Cus toms and Landmarks of the Fraternity . How does one define Ancient Usages, Customs and Landmarks? Much has been written on the subject. Great Mason ic scholars h ave delved deeply into this s ubject. Some Grand Lodges have enumerated
the Landmarks for their Jurisdictions. In these tabulations they vary from as few as three to as many as fi fty -fo ur. The prevailing idea of the Ancient Landmarks is that ~h ey are those time honored and universal customs of Freemasonry wh rch have been the fundamental laws of the Fraternity from a period so remote that their origin cannot be traced, and so essential that they cannot. be modified or amended without changing the character of the Fratermty. The philosophical theory can be applied to s ome fundamental t enet or principle and we can cite as an example, Joseph Fort Newton's statement that the Landmarks are "The Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man, the Golden Rule and the hope of a life everlasting." I r epeat, The Ahiman Rezon s tates that " The Past Grand Masters shall be r egarded as the conservators of the Anci~nt Usa~es, C~,stoms and Landmarks of Freemasonry, b y reason of therr expenence. All our P ast Grand Mas ters are dedicated Mason s. The combined experience of these Brethren must be used to the fullest extent by the Grand Master presently holding office. It is m y desire that mee tings of the Committee on Landmarks be held at r egular intervals and there should be included in these meetings, the Senior Grand Warden, J unior Grand War den, Grand Treasurer and Grand Secr etar y . It is m y desire that the Committee on Landmarks be consulted on m atters beyond the "An cient Usages, Customs and Landmarks of the F raterni ty." The Committee sho uld be con s ulted .on all matters . of policy that would affect the welfare of the Fraterm ty . I do no~ .w1sh to impl y that your present Grand Master is r eluctant to make decJstons . I t is a m a tter of common sense to combine the opinions of those Brethren who hav~ been Grand Mas ters with the opinions of those wh o will be Grand Mas ters in the fut ure. Surely the Grand Lodge will profit by s uch disc ussions . It is possible that a Grand Master in his en t husiasm, rna! not always use his power wisely. Let me quote. from an address dehvered by the late Senator Reed of Missouri who m an address m the Senate said " He is a foo l, he is every kind of a fool that has ever cursed the earth or cursed himsel f, who thinks that any power will always be u sed wisely or justly ." To make a beginning of what I hope will res ult in regula r s tated meetings of the Committee on Landmarks, the Past Gran? Masters ~ nd the Grand Office rs will s hortly be invited to attend a sesswn some trme duriTJg the mon th of March at which time matters of great importance will be brought up for discussion.
~~~~ CHARLES H. NITSCH, Grand Master