Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-06-10

was based the legend Of the ancient
charges; that 1t had secret words and
modes Of recognition, designed as are
the methods of modern trades unions
to confnethe methods of association to
its own membership; that by the en-.
became afterward a cloak for another
and shrewder element, and that thus
speculative Masonry was engrafted
upon the body Of the operative craft.
In other words. that previous to the re.
vival of 1717 a soul was supplied to
what had before been an automaton,
or at best dimly-conscious body. and
that then Masonry, as we now know
1t, had Its birth.
It has been wondered at that this,
alone of all the medieval guilds, should
have survived, and in its later devel-
opment should have had universal ex.
tension, yet to this the answer is sim.
pie. The art of the architect and the
builder in stone is of all the work of
man most enduring. Perpetuity can
only be hoped for symbolism which
has unchanging expression in the
changing ages. Other men employ
their skill and their labor upon things
that are perishable; these slowly hew
into. shape and beauty the very founda-
lions of the earth 81 always take off
my hat" says Oliver Wendell Holmes,
IF stop to speak to stone-cutter at
his work. 'Why?' do you ask me?
Because know that his is the only la
Dor that is likely to endure. A score
or centuries have not effaced the
mark of the Greeks or Romans chisel
on the block of marble"
Eighteenth Century.
Some very fortunate conjunction of
time and circumstances conspired to
give this organization, newly shaped
and given conference in the early
years of the eighteenth century imme-
diate and unpreceGen growth. To
appreciate these conditions would re-
quire an analysis of the new and
broader ideas, social and political,
which were stirring England and Eu-
rope at that time. That chapter of
Masonic history has not yet been writ
ten in it's fullness And certainly 1t is
not subject. to be touched upon in this
necessarily hurried sketch. Suffice it
If we merely record the rapid multipli-
cation Of lodges in the British Isles.
Within very few years the name
of Freemason, to denote very mys-
terious person and bound by close and
secret ties to his fellows, had found
fixed place in English literature. Nor
did this long remain merely insular
association Masonic centers were
speedily established in the countries
Of continental Europe. And at once
began a gradual variation, which has
persisted to vex latter-day priests and
Masonic genealogists. AS shoots from
some common stock, If transplanted to
widely separated points, will show diff
ference of fruit or foliage, SO has Ma
sonry varied with the peoples among
whom it has taken root. The general
type remains true, but bud and bios.
som and fruit vary widely from that
borne by the parent stem. In France
the secret form of the fraternity sug.
gested it as a protection for political
intriguers and conspirators. The i'm
pulsive Gaul read into the simple
forms of Masonry \ that his own ar
dent and altruistic soul demanded OF
an association. In Germany it was
seized upon by the mystic and passed
through protean transformations into
all shades of illuminism. Thus IL Eu
rope, by interplay of social and politi
cal interests. there were developed
hundreds of degrees, termed Masonic
and most elaborate systems Of rites
Most of these had but brief existence
and now only exist in the collection
which continental grand lodges have
kept as curiosities of the craft. They
all represented attempts on the part OF
men, with minds newly freed, to en-
compass the deeper things of destiny
and the material problems Of the race
in formulas Task as vain, as weari
some and as endless as that Of Sissy.
plus!
Time of the first introduction of Ma
sorry into what is now the United
States has been disputed question
and heightened but very pleasantly
conducted controversy has ragged be
tween Masonic authorities Of Massa
chusetts and Pennsylvania, both claim
ing honors. It is tedious subject
except for students, and while the
writer is of the opinion that Pennsyl
vania has produced greatest weight OF
evidence, the matter is here of little
consequence. On June 5, 1870, the
first regular authority for the assem-.
bly, of Masons in America was issued
by the Duke of Norfolk, grand master
of the craft in England. This author
ity was addressed to Daniel Coke OF
New Jersey, appointed him provincial,
grand master of New York, New Jer
sey and Pennsylvania. In 1888 Henry
Price, of Boston, was nominated pro
vincial grand master for New England
and soon thereafter a similar appoint
ment was made for the territory Of
the Carolina. By these officers ant
others regular lodges were instituted
in the principal towns of the British
colonies of North America. These
were afterwards formed into provincial
grand lodges. At the end of the Rev
olution these provincial bodies, follow
ing examples Of the colonies, declared
themselves independent of the mother
grand lodge Tor rather grand lodges
for schism existed and two sover
eign bodies were warranting lodges,
From that time on, with the excep