‘Chapter of Rose Croix hosts lodge of research’

    

Most of the brethren present at Saugerties.

I conclude the Magpie Month of May with news of The American Lodge of Research’s visit to George Clinton Chapter of Rose Croix Saturday. Officers from both groups presented talks from the lectern in Saugerties.

RW Bro. Christopher Winnicki, Senior Master of Ceremonies of The ALR, opened the day with his research into the first edict of the Roman Catholic Church against Freemasonry. This presentation connected many historical dots involving a succession of popes and a variety of European monarchs and their empires before concluding that Pope Clement XII’s 1738 ban on Catholics joining Freemasonry had less to do with any alleged fault of our fraternity, and more to do with one pope’s desire to excommunicate a certain royal personage. A fascinating thesis worth hearing directly from this scholar.

Sublime Prince Marc Eskridge, 32°, MSA, HGA, who serves as Commander in Chief of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Consistory, discussed the Core Values imparted by the rituals of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction. Zeroing in on the 20°, Master ad Vitam, he explained how a lesson in Integrity was taught ironically through the history of Benedict Arnold’s disloyalty during the American Revolution. Citing another Revolutionary War leader, Benjamin Franklin, as presented in the 25°, Master of Achievement, Eskridge explained how this Founding Father’s prowess in science, industry, and commerce most definitely made him a hero in Service to Humanity.

SP Robert Rhoades, 32°, Past Most Wise Master of the Chapter, discussed possible influences of Freemasonry on Colonial America, in which he urged the brethren to be wary of broad assertions of the Craft’s importance in our nation’s early years. Not all signers of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were Masons, for example, only some of them. “Let’s not embellish the accomplishments of an already accomplished organization,” he cautioned. 

And closing the enlightening day, The American Lodge of Research’s Worshipful Master, Yves Etienne, 33°, MSA, who has served in the East of the four bodies of the Valley of New York City, treated the brethren to “Who Is, or What Is, Tubal Cain?” This exploration of the genealogy of the first artificer in brass and iron, who is central to Masonic ritual, examined one Biblical generation after another. In this way, Etienne peeled back many layers of knowledge to reveal symbolic and other significance to these Biblical figures that Freemasons can appreciate.

The American Lodge of Research meets in New York City, but also devotes one meeting per year to traveling beyond the city and holding special meetings with lodges and other Masonic groups. The four bodies of the Valley of the Hudson are dispersed around the Hudson Valley, north of New York City.

Many thanks to RW and Ill. Dave Barkstedt for setting it up. We had a great time!

     

‘Brent Morris visits The ALR!’

    

Most of the group present at The ALR March 31 for Brent Morris Night inside the Colonial Room of Masonic Hall.

Still scrambling to catch up on recent events, so let me recount The ALR’s two latest meetings.

First, March 31. We had big plans for the evening—initially. We aimed to present Fellowship diplomas to three heroes in the field of Masonic learning: Arturo de Hoyos, S. Brent Morris, and Piers A. Vaughan. You know them. No need to recapitulate their curricula vitae.

The American Lodge of Research has three tiers of membership. We all begin as Corresponding Members; after satisfying writing criteria, we may, possibly, one day, maybe, be elected to Active Membership; and those happy few, if they excel at research or other service to the cause of Masonic learning, might be considered for election, by the Actives, to become Fellows. We award that last one extremely seldomly. (There are other research lodges that bestow their honors with less diligence, but that’s their problem.)

Brent and Yves.

So, we learned early that Art wouldn’t be able to travel to New York City on that night. We learned late that Piers wouldn’t be able to attend also. But, frankly, when you have Brent Morris on the bill, you’ve got all you need. And that’s without the magic tricks. Actually, the lodge could have spent a minute preparing. In the division of ceremonial labor, when our Marshal escorted Brent to the East, where he was greeted by Worshipful Master Yves Etienne, it was Conor who introduced our guest to the lodge, and then I presented the diploma. That should have been vice versa, as Conor, himself a Fellow, designed and published the diploma, and would have spoken to what this distinction means. I, having known Brent many years, would have introduced him with an embarrassing wealth of biographical triumphs. But, it went the way it did and, for better or worse, that actually wasn’t my only snafu of the night. I know everyone’s memories of the occasion will be filled with what went right, which was Brent’s presentation to the lodge.

With Art and Piers sharing the billing, we had planned a “Stump the Band” kind of event, with everyone pitching questions to our new Fellows, as knowledgable and experienced as anyone can be, but I doubt there’d have been any stumping. With Brent solo, he instead told us about the labor that went into cracking the cipher that long concealed the Craft rituals of the Rectified Scottish Rite.

If you have read Committed to the Flames, Art’s and Brent’s book on this secret code, its author, and the rituals themselves, then you know all about it, but the brethren present were new to this subject. (And, if you know the book, you’ll recall The ALR factors into the story.)

Brent’s illustrious career has encompassed teaching mathematics, statistics, computer security, and cryptology at Duke, Johns Hopkins, and George Washington universities, as well as The National Cryptologic School. This will get the conspiracy goofballs worked up, but he also was a cryptologic mathematician at the National Security Agency for a quarter-century. So you can see why he’d want to decipher a vexing code that possibly only its creator ever knew.

I’ll try to summarize the story. Circa 1826, Robert Benjamin Folger, age 23, a physician and a new Mason at Fireman’s Lodge 368 (and later in I.R.A. 2) here in New York, filled a pocket-sized commonplace book with his own cipher of the Rectified Rite’s Craft rituals. This was not like anything you’ve seen in any Masonic ritual book, nor was it the Pigpen Cipher, or any other coded alphabet that might come to mind.

The code had been cracked twice in the twentieth century, first by W. Bro. Wil Baden in the 1950s, another New York Mason; and again by Mr. Donald H. Bennett in the ’80s. Proving it’s a small world, Bennett was inspired by the article “Fraternal Cryptography” Brent recently had published on the subject. Neither man was aware of Baden’s success.

Brent Morris sporting his UGLE regalia.

Baden cracked the code using what they call the “matched plain and cipher” technique made possible by the inclusion of some English text in Folger’s pages, which Baden compared and contrasted with symbols in the cipher. Bennett employed the “cipher text only” method involving “classical cryptanalytic techniques.” His findings are revealed in his paper “An Unsolved Puzzle Solved” in Cryptologia magazine.

Honestly, it’s a bit much for me to comprehend, but some basics were discovered: Folger’s code masked English words; it is read from left to right, top to bottom; the same encryption style is employed throughout, and twenty-six symbols stand for English characters; words are represented by clusters of symbols; and identical repeats of many words are seen. Get Committed to the Flames for the full story.

The book also contains the amazing (to me, at least) biographical details of Folger’s medical career and Masonic activities. Not your typical lodge sideliner!

The Q&A was fruitful and continued into the dinner hour. I was serving as Acting Secretary for the meeting, and it was my pleasure to bring to the lodge’s attention one petition for membership submitted by an aspiring brother from Indiana. Maybe you’ve heard of him: Chris Hodapp! I emailed my congratulations to Chris within minutes of the lodge closing. (I mean we voted him in!)

The next evening with The ALR came a month later when we hosted our annual table lodge on April 29. Worshipful Master Yves provided the ritual (in my twenty-nine years, I don’t think I’ve seen the same table lodge ritual twice), and we heartily toasted seven times in the company of Grand Master Steve Rubin, then in his final week in office. Always a great time.

At The ALR annual table lodge on April 29.

In lieu of an after dinner speaker, the Grand Master used his traditional time for remarks to have us all rise and share a little about ourselves, which is an important exercise, especially in a research lodge where practically everyone hails from a different Craft lodge.

As reported elsewhere on The Magpie Mason, we will gather again next Saturday—the 30th—at Ulster Lodge 193 in Saugerties. Then we’ll conclude the year on Tuesday, June 30 at Masonic Hall for our Annual Meeting, with elections and installation. Hope to see you around.

     

‘The ALR and AASR on May 30’

    

Click to enlarge.

The American Lodge of Research’s greatly anticipated visit to Saugerties is near. Be there Saturday, May 30 at Ulster Lodge 193 when we will join forces with the local Rose Croix chapter for a day of Masonic learning.

Our Worshipful Master and Senior Master of Ceremonies will speak from the lectern, as will officers from the Scottish Rite Valley of the Hudson.

The image above has all the details.

George Clinton Chapter of Rose Croix meets in Ulster Lodge’s building. (The valley’s lodge, council, and consistory are dispersed about the region.) All Master Masons are welcome.

The Hudson Valley is my favorite part of the state—at least once you’re north of Seventy-Second Street. 

My one memento of former Scottish Rite labors is a Past MWM jewel, which I think I’ll wear to our meeting.

Hope to see you there. (This is not Memorial Day weekend, which will be the previous week.)

The ALR’s next meeting will be our annual, for the election and installation of officers, on Tuesday, June 30. We’ll be back at Masonic Hall in Manhattan. Anticipate a 7:30 tiling. Colonial Room on ten.

     

‘New book: The Dream of a Noachide’

    

A. Terán photo

Grand Master Steven A. Rubin presents RW Thomas Barat his regalia as our Grand Representative near the Grand Lodge of Hungary at Abravanel 1116’s Table Lodge on March 25.

Full Magpie coverage of last night’s unforgettable ALR meeting is forthcoming but, first, some great news about one of our brethren. Bro. Thomas Barat has authored a newly published book!

Egy Noachita Álma is a Hungarian text for the youngest Entered Apprentice as well as for the petitioner seeking admission to the worshipful lodge. The Dream of a Noachide, in English, is available, partially (minus Hungarian Masonic history), online here.

It has been an exciting week for Bro. Tom. Last Wednesday, his lodge, Abravanel 1116, welcomed the Grand Master to its Table Lodge for the traditional apron presentation, as Tom was invested with his regalia as the Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of New York near the Grand Lodge of Hungary. Huzzah!

Tom is in the Masonic blogosphere too. Click here.

And we will bring him to the lectern of The American Lodge of Research one night, and I’ll let you know when that is scheduled.

     

‘An Evening with Brent Morris and Piers Vaughan’

    

This month’s meeting of The American Lodge of Research will land on Tuesday the 31st, and a special event is planned.

S. Brent Morris and Piers A. Vaughan are two of our recently elected Fellows, and on this night they will receive their Fellowship diplomas. Not content with an awards presentation, the pair will anchor a “stump the band” kind of discussion forum. Bring your most pressing, most probing, most personally vexing questions to the panel.

(Grand Lodge disclaimer: Neither Brent Morris nor Piers Vaughan is an attorney. Please restrict your questions to Masonic topics.)

In my own opinion, Brent and Piers will make an odd couple of Fellows, as Brent is best known as a historian who brings to light lost facts and their significance to the Craft, and Piers specializes in the unseen intuitive meanings of Masonry and its kindred sciences. This will be a memorable night at The ALR.

We’ll be in Masonic Hall, inside the Colonial Room at 7 p.m. Collation will follow in the French Ionic Room.

     

‘The ALR on the road to Saugerties’

    

UPDATE: Due to snow in the forecast, our meeting is postponed to Saturday, May 9.

UPDATER: Okay, we’re going on Saturday, May 16—and that’s final!

UPDATEST: We’re aiming for Saturday, May 30 now.

Ulster 193 is located at 19 Russell Street
in Saugerties.

The American Lodge of Research is going back on the road next month in May for a meeting way up in Ulster County.

We will meet jointly with Ulster Lodge 193 in Saugerties on Saturday, February 21 May 9 16 30. The details are being worked out, but anticipate a 10 a.m. opening. There probably will be two speakers presenting with a lunch break in-between.

The ALR has the freedom to travel about the State of New York for such purposes. In recent years, we’ve gone to West Point Lodge 877 and Dunwoodie Lodge 863. It’s a healthy tradition that I hope we continue. It’s hard to get everyone organized, so maybe it has to be a once-a-year effort, but it’s rewarding to get out of the city and meet new people. I’ve even been to Ulster Lodge before, not for a lodge meeting, but for a Cryptic Rite festival about four years ago. Hope to see you there.

     

‘Grand Masters fete Lafayette at The ALR’

    

Almost everybody in attendance last night
at The American Lodge of Research.

Research lodges typically don’t get a lot of glitz (it’s safe to say we prefer that) but, twenty-four hours ago, The American Lodge of Research had five grand masters partaking in our celebration of the moment in 1824 when the Marquis de Lafayette was knighted a Templar.

The ALR concluded New York Freemasonry’s celebration of the bicentenary of Lafayette’s farewell tour of the United States, sponsored by the Masonic Order and heavily involving New York. We assembled, appropriately, inside the Colonial Room but, admittedly, this was not exactly the meeting we planned, as fate interfered and kept a special guest from joining us. It was a full evening anyway. Our keynote speaker was David Dixon Goodwin, Past M.E. Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar, who explained the early history of Chivalric Masonry in the United States.

Yves and David.

Actually, he began with a recapitulation of the story of the medieval Knights Templar, careful to point out how none of that connects to the modern Masonic Templars, but that “we represent the same values in today’s world.” My takeaway is the KT story in America follows a seemingly boilerplate trajectory we know from Masonry here generally. A whiff of a trace of ritual is in one record in the 1780s. Before you know it, there’s a grand encampment in one state, Pennsylvania being first in this case. Then other states. Big names get involved, such as Thomas Smith Webb, DeWitt Clinton, and Joseph Cerneau. Cerneau’s presence confounds orthodox enforcers of recognition rules (like the Pennsylvanians, I’d say). Then a move to establish a national structure, called the General Grand Encampment gains popularity, albeit without Pennsylvania’s support initially. And then, the grand commandery system we know today is birthed and spreads from six such bodies in 1827 to forty-three in 1900—despite Masonry’s ups and downs during the nineteenth century—to more than sixty today.

The part of the meeting diminished by circumstance was to be a display of Masonic regalia connected to Lafayette. Livingston Library Executive Director Michael LaRocco was scheduled to return to The ALR to exhibit the apron Morton Commandery 4 is believed to have presented to Lafayette, but he was unable to join us. Thanks to Worshipful Master Yves Etienne, we did get to see one of twelve silver chalices used in KT’s ritual libations that dates, at least, to this Lafayette visit to New York.

Columbian Commandery silver chalice used
when Lafayette was made a Sir Knight in 1824.

No way of knowing if the great man drank from this particular goblet, of course, but it was used in the historic ceremony that day more than two centuries ago.

The lodge was blessed with more than the usual showing of visitors. The Most Worshipful Steven A. Rubin, Grand Master of Masons in the State of New York, was accompanied by Grand Treasurer Alberto Cortizo, Senior Grand Deacon Gustavo Teran, Grand Historian Pierre de Ravel d’Esclapon, and Grand Marshal Peter Unfried. Two exceptionally special guests, who sojourned further than from several floors above, were Most Serene (I hope I have that correct!) Malerbe Jacquet, Grand Master of the Grand Orient d’Haiti, who was accompanied by Gaétan Mentor, Past GM of the Grand Orient.

If you’re keeping score, we’re up to four (4) grand masters.

The Worshipful Master is keen on introducing dignitaries and permitting time for their remarks—and presenting gifts. Past Grand Master Bill Sardone, also a PGM of DeMolay International, (five GMs now) was escorted to the East for brief comments, which he always manages to craft with good humor.

Our Worshipful Master gives lots of gifts. Last night our distinguished guests received plaques commemorating the evening. Here, MW Bill Sardone receives his.

In addition, he too spoke of medieval Templar history, recollecting the discovery in 2001 by a Vatican archivist of the fourteenth century trial transcripts and other documents from the prosecution of the military order, and how a collection of reproductions of those documents are in the Livingston Library. (It was exactly seventeen years ago when The ALR hosted the unveiling of those impressive facsimiles next door in the French Ionic Room. A memorable meeting!)

Grand Master Jacquet with Past GM Mentor.

Past Grand Master Mentor, continuing on Templar thoughts, explained that “the Templar ideal is not conquest, but is the mastery of the self” and displays faith and action intertwined. Grand Master Jacquet, speaking French and interpreted by Mentor, spoke of Lafayette as he is known as “The Hero of Two Worlds,” explaining how the Marquis earned that appellation for his role in both the American and French revolutions. Jacquet reminded the brethren (sometimes we forget) of Haiti’s own revolt, gaining independence from France at the close of the eighteenth century.

MW Steven A. Rubin

Always the final speaker in any setting, Grand Master Rubin congratulated the lodge on its efforts in education, and described how the revamped Masonic University and other recent initiatives can cooperate with The ALR and the Livingston Library to help Masons gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of Masonry.

In other news, the backdoor of Masonic Hall again is closed to traffic. The next Stated Communication of The ALR will be next March on a date to be determined. And there is a new research lodge in the works! To be named Veritas, it will focus on Masonic philosophy, rather than history, and I look forward to sharing more information as it becomes available.

     

‘When Lafayette was knighted a Templar’

    

The American Lodge of Research will meet four weeks from tonight for a special Lafayette night.

The ALR

Wednesday, October 29

7 p.m.

Masonic Hall, Renaissance Room

For more than a year, New York Freemasonry has been celebrating the bicentenary of the Marquis de Lafayette’s farewell visit to the United States of 1824-25, and The ALR will close out the commemoration with a look at perhaps an underreported aspect of that history: the day the Hero of Two Worlds was made a Masonic Knight Templar.

Our keynote speaker will be M.E. David Dixon Goodwin, Past Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States. We will display artifacts of that fraternally historic day, and a fantastic feast will follow the presentation.

Click here to RSVP for dinner.

Masonic Hall is located at 71 W. 23rd Street in Manhattan. Photo ID is required to enter the premises. Master Masons are welcome. Attire: suit & tie with apron.

     

‘A new year at The ALR’

    

The American Lodge of Research’s 2025-26 officer team, installation team, members, visitors, and other well wishers last night in the French Doric Room. (The seersucker outfits in lodge are explained by the intense heat felt in New York City in recent weeks.)

Last night was the occasion of the annual meeting of The American Lodge of Research, which spelled the end of my time in the East and the beginning of the 2025-26 term. Congratulations to RW Bro. Yves Etienne on his election and installation as our Worshipful Master!

Yves assembled a full complement of officers that, we hope, will lead our lodge into the middle of the century. (Starting tomorrow, we’ll be closer to the year 2050 than to 2000. Drink up!) For the first time in all the years I’ve been hanging around, we have Masters of Ceremonies, Stewards, a Marshal, and a Chaplain. We don’t even have proper officer aprons for them!

Special thanks to MW Bill Sardone for presiding over our elections and for leading the installation ceremony and for keeping things organized. And thank you to each of our guests, some of whom traveled from far away places. Boston. Romania!

Now that my tenure is finished, I’m a little sad for being no longer needed in that way, but it’s okay because I’m still involved, serving now as Tiler. Plus, I’ll continue publishing the trestleboard and contributing in other ways, like publicity & social media. And editing the book of transactions. Maybe the Annual Report to Grand Lodge too. I will find that Holy Grail of plastic storage boxes if it costs my soul.

The ALR’s next meeting will be Wednesday, October 29. Hope to see you there.

     

‘A valediction at The ALR’

    

And speaking of newsletters (see post below), the June issue of The ALR Today, the trestleboard of The American Lodge of Research, was disseminated this week. Amid the coverage of the previous meeting, a preview of the next meeting, and publicity for new books and podcasts and Grand Lodge’s Masonic University and more is the outgoing Worshipful Master’s message. Excerpted:

“Don’t let me in the East of any more Masonic groups. I barely know what I’m doing!”

In a more analytical disposition, he advances a few ideas to reform the lodge’s operations.

➤ Regarding the annual book of transactions, he points out The ALR hasn’t gone to press in a decade and a half for want of material to publish. The presentations in lodge mostly are PowerPoints, which are useless in book publishing. The Master suggests switching to a digital magazine format, be it annual, semi-annual, or quarterly.

➤ For membership, he proposes discontinuing the trigradal form (Corresponding Membership, Active Membership, and Fellowship), and offering plain Membership, with election to Fellow reserved to the few “who have made a difference in Masonry.” The logic is, without books to mail to Corresponding Members, what exactly is the correspondence? I don’t think this anarchist realizes how difficult, legally, that one will be to achieve because of Grand Lodge law.

➤ On the slightly less perilous side, the Worshipful Master pitches a revamp of the lodge’s meeting schedule. The current (and maybe original since the launch in 1931) scheme has three Stated Communications and other occasional events on weeknights throughout the year. By switching to Saturdays (like many—maybe most?—research lodges in the country), the brethren can enjoy more time together. Or maybe make a combination of Saturdays and weeknights. This might be a hard sell too. Everyone is accustomed to coming to Masonic Hall on weeknights for all their meetings, and it’s hard to assess a group willingness to be cleaved from family, religious custom, and recreation for another Masonic meeting, but, as noted, it works elsewhere.

➤ Perhaps more easily achieved could be his idea to lengthen each term from one year to two, and to open four meetings each year instead of the three. He reasons:

“We reorganize the officer line every year—that is, after every three Stated Communications. This is difficult because, naturally, we need a reliable stream of industrious future officers which we do not have. My idea is to embrace the schedule many research lodges across the country keep: the two-year term, with four meetings per year... Instead of having to find a new officer or two after three meetings, we’d have eight meetings. There are more opportunities for more brethren to get involved.”

➤ More ambitiously, he pitches an idea gleaned from a research lodge in another state that travels and devises weekend getaways around its meetings. That lodge visits historic sites, enjoys meals together, and does other things before and after its Saturday morning tiled/tyled meetings. The ALR has legal permission to travel about the State of New York already. It’s merely a question of logistics to plan the occasional weekend trip to someplace, combining the lodge meeting with a thematic visit to a relevant locale.

The Master also offers a list of frustrating tasks he’ll keep working at, one of which is the not-so-simple procurement of a box. The lodge needs a durable container for the paraphernalia used during the meetings. It needs to be both large enough to hold the stuff, and small enough—that’s the rub—to fit into our storage locker. So, something 17 inches wide and 17 inches deep is being sought, but is maddeningly elusive. “In this search, I am become Ahab,” he confesses. I share this detail to enlist your help. Please leave a comment below if you have any leads.

The ALR’s Annual Meeting will take place on Monday the 30th at 7 p.m. in Masonic Hall. RW Bro. Yves Etienne will be installed in the Solomonic Chair, so come out and cheer him on. The all-star installation team—the Harlem Globetrotters, the 1927 Yankees, the ’94 Rangers of installation teams—will be MW Bill Sardone, RW Paul Huck, and RW James Gregg.

     

‘The ALR: Installation’

    

I can’t believe the year is nearly finished, but in three weeks The American Lodge of Research will host its Installation of Officers when I will be safely ushered to the sidelines where I belong. RW Bro. Yves Etienne will ascend to the Solomonic Chair; the officer team will advance; and a new face or two might join the line.

If you can get to Masonic Hall on Monday the 30th, we’ll be in French Doric on 10 at 7 p.m.

Being a research lodge, our Installations are brief, fast, and perfunctory because those involved already have been feted, at least once, elsewhere over the years, so there’s no dinner, cocktails, etc. Wait, I just learned there will be a mini-collation!

I am drafting a farewell speech that I have trimmed to a perfect forty-five minutes, and I predict there won’t be a dry eye in the room.

Returning to civilian life, my Masonic activities will be centered on my three research lodges, plus whatever occasional, annual, or sporadic events of a like nature that catch my eye.

Hope to see you on the 30th.

     

‘Franco-American history at The ALR’

    

Our presenters last night at The American Lodge of Research were Bro. Chris Ruli and Bro. Erich Huhn, who discussed Lafayette and Tocqueville, based on both Frenchmen’s tours of the United States in the 1820s and ’30s.

The American Lodge of Research contributed to New York Freemasonry’s celebration of the Marquis de Lafayette last night by hosting Bro. Chris Ruli, author of Brother Lafayette.

Ruli published the book last summer, in time for the bicentenary of Lafayette’s farewell tour of the United States, having been invited by President (and Freemason) James Monroe and hosted jointly by the Masonic fraternity. Hailed as The Hero of Two Worlds, the young French officer played significant roles in the American Revolution. At age 66, he sailed to the United States and undertook a tour of all 24 states (albeit with only one step into Mississippi!) and the District of Columbia between August 1824 and September 1825, and was feted by civil, military, and Masonic authorities everywhere as “The Nation’s Guest.”

Bro. Lafayette’s portrait hangs
outside our lodge room.

Speaking to the lodge, Ruli retraced Lafayette’s travels and explained the tour’s significance to Freemasonry and how it should be understood in historical contexts, including the anti-Masonic movements of the nineteenth century. Lafayette visited a variety of locations here in New York State and was initiated into Royal Arch Masonry at Jerusalem Chapter and into Templary in Morton Commandery in New York City.

Before Chris took to the lectern, Bro. Erich Huhn, the Junior Deacon of the lodge, discussed another Frenchman’s historic ties to the United States: Alexis de Tocqueville. His tour of the country spanned through 1831 and 1832 and resulted in the landmark book Democracy in America.

Tocqueville, a historian and political philosopher, came to study the nature and habits of Americans, noting, among other things, how the citizens of the growing republic were self-reliant and enjoyed the practice of banding together in voluntary associations, a common reality completely different from life in Europe.

Huhn explained how Freemasonry’s teachings fit into Tocqueville’s observations, particularly the ways lodges of that period served as workshops in democratic practices.

The ALR’s next meeting will be Monday, June 30 at 7 p.m. inside the French Doric Room of Masonic Hall in Manhattan for our annual elections and installation of officers. Before then, though, we’ll get together for a festive board to commemorate a significant event in New York Masonic history. Details to come.

     

‘Passing Timothy Ridicule’

    

From Masonry Dissected, printed London, 1730.

Last night was the occasion of the first meeting of The American Lodge of Research since our October Stated Communication, and while it didn’t feel like four months apart, it was great to see everyone again.

This time we met jointly with Dunwoodie Lodge 863 in New Rochelle. It is tradition at The ALR to exercise our prerogative to travel about the state to hold joint communications with lodges that don’t mind having us over. We try to do it once annually, but the previous visit was in December 2022 to West Point Lodge 877.

The program last night was not research papers, but something quirky. We traveled through time and space to 1730s London to learn about the Craft rituals worked then and there. You probably know I’m talking about Masonry Dissected, the ritual exposure compiled by one Samuel Prichard. The book is what gives us our first look at a Third Degree, so it is historically very important. While it is not the first ritual exposure, it is the first to include the obligations, making it sexier than the competition. If you don’t know it, find it online and marvel at how different, yet also how similar, these early ritual renderings are to ours today. There’s no floor work—that may be found in ritual exposures from later in the eighteenth century—but the spoken content of the lectures appears in detail. We trust its accuracy because of the very successful sales of the book as proven by the number of times it was printed, meaning it was Masons themselves buying it up for use in learning their ritual.

So you’re wondering about the title of this edition of The Magpie Mason. Near the end of the Fellow-Craft’s Degree lecture, the Master of the lodge asks the candidate’s name, to which “Timothy Ridicule” is the printed reply. During the degree, the candidate, naturally, would say his own name, but Prichard is said to have been a disgruntled former Mason, so I’ll guess Timothy Ridicule is some shade thrown at the ancient accepted Order. (I’ve been using it for dinner reservations for twenty years.)

My thanks to Worshipful Master Shawn and the brethren for welcoming us to give this presentation. And special kudos to Dunwoodie’s Brother Senior Deacon for being the 1730 Worshipful Master and posing the questions of the lecture to me. And thanks also to The ALR’s officers and members for journeying out to Westchester!

The degrees back then were very brief, compared to what we today know. No lengthy orations of any kind. Those would take shape several decades later thanks to William Preston and other writers. Lectures in the eighteenth century were interactive in a question-and-answer format led by the Master of the lodge. Just like our modern Opening/Closing, which once were part of degree work. When your Master is installed and that ritual charges him to present a lecture at every meeting, he is not being told to elucidate in a monolog on any particular subject. He is, historically anyway, promising to lead the lodge in this Q&A-style recapitulation of a degree.

I have edited, modernized spelling, etc., but here is the “Fellow-Craft’s Degree”:

Q. Are you a Fellow Craft?

A. I am.

Q. Why was you made a Fellow Craft?

A. For the sake of the letter G.

Q. What does that G denote?

A. Geometry, or the fifth Science.

Q. Did you ever travel?

A: Yes, east and west.

Q. Did you ever work?

A. Yes, in the building of the Temple.

Q. Where did you receive your wages?

A. In the Middle Chamber.

Q. How came you to the Middle Chamber?

A. Through the Porch.

Q. When you came through the Porch, what did you see?

A. Two great Pillars.

Q. What are they called?

A. J. B., that is J****n and B**z.

Q. How high are they?

A. Eighteen Cubits.

Q. How much in circumference?

A. Twelve cubits.

Q. What were they adorned with?

A. Two chapiters.

Q. How high were the chapiters?

A. Five cubits.

Q. What were they adorned with?

A. Network and pomegranates.

Q. How came you to the Middle Chamber?

A. By a winding pair of stairs.

Q. How many?

A. Seven or more.

Q. Why seven or more?

A. Because seven or more make a just and perfect lodge.

Q. When you came to the door of the Middle Chamber, who did you see?

A. A Warden.

Q. What did he demand of you?

A. Three things.

Q. What were they?

A. A sign, token, and a word.

Q. How high was the door of the Middle Chamber?

A. So high that a cowan could not reach to stick a pin in.

Q. When you came to the middle, what did you see?

A. The resemblance of the letter G.

Q. What did that G denote?

A. One that’s greater than you.

Q. Who’s greater than I, that am a Free and Accepted Mason, the Master of a lodge?

A. The Grand Architect and Contriver of the Universe, or he that was taken up to the top of the pinnacle of the Holy Temple.

Q. Can you repeat the letter G?

A. I’ll do my endeavor.

The repeating the Letter G

In the midst of Solomon’s Temple there stands a G. A letter for all to read and see;

But few there be that understand what means the letter G.

Q. My friend, if you pretend to be of this fraternity,

You can forthwith and rightly tell what means that letter G.

A. By sciences are brought to light bodies of various kinds,

Which do appear to perfect sight, but none but males shall know my mind.

Q. The Right shall.

A. If Worshipful.

Q. Both Right and Worshipful I am,

To hail you I have command,

That you forthwith let me know,

As I you may understand.

A. By letters four, and science five,

This G aright does stand,

In a due art and proportion;

You have your answer, friend.

N.B. Four letters are B**z; Fifth science Geometry.

Q. My friend, you answer well,

If right and free principles you discover,

I’ll change your name from Friend,

And henceforth call you Brother.

A. The sciences are well composed of noble structure’s verse, a point, a line, and an outside; but a solid is the last.

Q. God’s good greeting be to this our happy meeting.

A. And all the Right Worshipful Brothers and Fellows.

Q. Of the Right Worshipful and Holy Lodge of St. John’s.

A. From whence I came.

Q. Greet you, greet you, greet you thrice heartily well, craving your name.

A. Timothy Ridicule.

Q. Welcome, Brother, by the grace of God.

N.B. The reason why they denominate themselves of the Holy Lodge of St. John’s is because he was the forerunner of our Savior and laid the first parallel line to the Gospel. Others do assert that our Savior Himself was accepted a Freemason whilst He was in the flesh, but how ridiculous and profane it seems, I leave to the judicious reader to consider.

The End of the Fellow Craft’s Part.

Dunwoodie meets in the Masonic Care New Rochelle campus, formerly the College of New Rochelle. Hard to believe it has been more than five years since the fraternity acquired the property, but all is not well in New Rochelle. The local politicians oppose the remaking of the campus into assisted living space—despite a number of residences for senior citizens existing in town already. I wonder what’s really on their minds.

Bro. Erich, The ALR’s Junior Deacon, and I arrived a few hours early and promptly explored some of the campus. It is frozen in time—deserted and with the abandoned accoutrements of student living evident everywhere. Beautiful stone architecture though. Castle-like Gothic style. I didn’t take any photos because the overcast day, frigid temps, and lifeless campus made a depressing scene. But while walking around and in and out of various buildings, we bumped into Past Grand Master Bill Sardone, a loyal booster of The ALR, who showed off the several spaces occupied by the Masonic Model Railroading Club.

It’s all in the early stages, but a few set-ups are working, with multiple trains running amid functioning scenery, like a Sinclair service station and pumping oil derricks. The club has accumulated more trains than it likely will be able to run, thanks to donations from around the country, but there is so much space on the campus I hope they can assemble it all in harmonious electric cycle one day soon. Send an email here to get involved.

The ALR will be back at Masonic Hall for its March 31 Stated Communication when we’ll welcome Bro. Chris Ruli, author of Brother Lafayette, to discuss the Marquis’ return visit to America in 1824-25. Also, the aforementioned Bro. Erich will tell us about Alexis de Toqueville’s thoughts on Freemasonry as gleaned from his historic tour of the United States in 1831-32.

That’s a fifth Monday. A lodge of Master Masons tiles at seven.

     

‘Bunker Hill at Masonic Week’

    

As reported here earlier this year, the Worshipful Master of The American Lodge of Research is interested in seeing that lodge’s brethren revive (or maybe start anew) a local Order of the Sword of Bunker Hill to give The ALR something that combines light ritual work and a little conviviality. Well it looks like the Grand Order of the Sword of Bunker Hill has joined the schedule of Masonic Week offerings, becoming the first event for the Wednesday night.

So, if any ALR Masons plan to attend this annual weekend in February in Virginia, and will be free on February 5 to receive the Order of Bunker Hill, please contact the Master and maybe bring the project closer to fruition.