‘2027 Cambridge Conference plans’

    

Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076 (EC) is the first Masonic lodge of research, having been set to labor 140 years ago. At this time, there are only forty-one members, of whom five are American. Adam Kendall of California will be installed in the East on November 12.

The plan is coming together for Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076’s Cambridge Conference next year. The details—theme, speakers, registration, etc.—are posted, so make plans for the first weekend of September 2027. From the publicity:

Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076

Cambridge Conference

‘Rituals: Pasts & Present’

September 3-5, 2027

Queens’ College, Cambridge

Click here

The 1720s and early 1730s saw the introduction of radical new Masonic ritual, with the Second Degree reflecting the emergence and incorporation of Enlightenment values and the Third Degree introducing the Hiramic legend. Other degrees and degree systems followed over succeeding years and decades. Notwithstanding this, in many jurisdictions there is a belief that ritual is in some manner immutable and not open to change.

This Conference outlines why that has not been and is not the case. 2027 marks the approximate tercentenary of the introduction of Third Degree and the anniversary provides an opportunity for our speakers, panellists and delegates to discuss, debate and contextualise the evolution of Masonic ritual in Britain, Ireland, Europe, America and elsewhere.

We have a slate of world-class speakers and papers that cover the Blue Degrees, the Royal Arch, European rituals, the Swedish and Scottish rites, and much more. This is the first occasion on which such a breadth of topics will be considered and debated and promises to be a fascinating and ground-breaking event.

Queens’ College

The Mathematical Bridge, built 1748-49.

The venue, Queens’ College, Cambridge, is also outstanding. Queens’ was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou and spans the River Cam with the Mathematical Bridge. Its alumni include Erasmus, who studied at the college from 1506-15.

Queens’ College

Old Hall was built in 1449 as an original part
of the college.

Accommodation is available in College and we will have access to both the College Bar and dining facilities. The Conference Dinner on Saturday evening will be preceded by a drinks reception in the Old Hall. The dress code for the weekend is relaxed smart/casual, albeit with a jacket and tie, or suit, or dress, for the Conference Dinner and Reception. Partners are welcome to attend, as are all members (and non-members) of QCCC. A range of books and regalia will be available courtesy of Lewis Masonic.

Please diarise the Conference, which will be exceptional. And book here for a great few days.

Speakers to include:

Dr. Ric Berman,

Conference Chair

Ric Berman researches, writes and speaks on eighteenth and nineteenth-century English, Irish and American history, with an emphasis on Freemasonry, the largest and most consequential society in Europe and America. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the author of numerous journal articles and ten books, and has delivered keynote lectures worldwide. Ric holds an MA and Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and the University of Exeter, respectively, and undertook post-doctoral research at the University of Oxford’s Modern European History Research Centre. A Freemason for more than forty years and twice Prestonian Lecturer, Ric is a Past Master of three English Lodges including Quatuor Coronati, and chairs QCCC. He is also an American Freemason, a member and honorary member of lodges in seven states, a Blue Friar, and a Fellow of the Philalethes Society. 

Professor Jan Snoek

Jan Snoek’s presentation provides an overview of the current state of academic research into the development of the Masonic degree system in the first half of the 18th century. It traces the development of ritual from a single degree in Scotland and England, into two degrees in both Scotland and London, then three degrees in London; the subsequent appearance of the Scots Master’s Degree in London and its spread to France and Germany; and finally, the development of a ‘Royal Arch’ degree in Paris and its expansion to England. Jan was awarded a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Leiden University, the Netherlands, in 1987 for a thesis on initiation rituals. From 2000 until his retirement, he worked as a ritual specialist at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, where he illustrated his publications on ritual theory with examples from Masonic rituals. He is the author of more than 100 publications on Masonic rituals, including “The Early Development of the Degree of Scots Master in Germany and Neighboring Countries.” He was initiated in 1971 and has been an active Freemason since.

Robert Cooper

Bob Cooper will examine and seek to shed light on the origins of the Third Degree and will suggest that these lie in Scotland. Bob also will provide the context to this argument, including a brief history of Scotland at that time and its national network of lodges. Bob is the former Curator of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, having served for some thirty years from 1994. He is the author of numerous books and articles on all aspects of Freemasonry and has appeared in several television and radio programs. He was initiated in The Lodge of Light 1656 and is a Founder Member and a Past Master of Lodge Edinburgh Castle 1764. He also is a Past Master of Sir Robert Moray 1641, the premier Scottish lodge of research, and of Quatuor Coronati 2076.

Leif Endre Grutle

Leif’s paper looks at the origins and development of the Swedish Rite, a unique set of rituals practiced across the Nordic countries. Leif was born in Bergen, Norway, and graduated from the Norwegian School of Theology in 1998 as Candidatus Theologiae, a degree ranking between Master and Ph.D. in Theology. He took holy orders in 2001 and worked as provost in the Church of Norway. Leif was initiated in 2004 into the Norwegian Order of Freemasons and is Knight & Commander with the Red Cross, the XI and last degree of the Swedish Rite. He joined Niels Treschow Lodge, the research lodge of the Order, in 2012, and served as Master from 2017-23. He is co-editor of Acta Masonica Scandinavica, the annual transactions of Scandinavian Masonic research, and his research has been published in both this and other publications, including AQC and Heredom.

Lucio Artini

Lucio’s research focuses on the relationship between Freemsonry, politics and the Catholic Church, and his presentation (with Martino Cartella), will explore this theme. Lucio was born in Arezzo, Italy in 1960, and holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Florence. He has written articles for L’Uomo and Officinae and in 2014 published “Beato Gregorio X il Papa Crociato: il Papa templare?” He has spoken at conferences globally, including those organized by Quatuor Coronati and ICOM, and is a member of the Loggia Lorenzo il Magnifico 52, Florence; and Mount Sinai Lodge 8993, London. The paper will be delivered by co-author, Martino Cartella.

Jay Hochberg

Jay’s paper examines the links between Thomas Reid, William Preston and the (American) Fellow Craft Degree. Jay is a Freemason under the Grand Lodge of New York and celebrates his thirtieth anniversary in the fraternity in 2027. A Past Master of two research lodges, in New York and New Jersey, he has written about Freemasonry for both Masonic and the general media, and has spoken before Masonic and general audiences for twenty-five years. Outside the fraternity, he is an editorial professional, having regressed from award-winning journalist to political press secretary to his current grind as a freelance copywriter/editor, which he somehow rationalizes is a legitimate use of his BA in Journalism from New York University.

Erich Huhn

Erich’s paper aims to bring a new understanding to the way Freemasonry developed in the United States, not out of whole cloth but through the ritualistic innovations of appendant/concordant bodies and Grand Lodge committees. Erich is a Ph.D. candidate in History & Culture at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. His research focuses on the way Freemasonry and fraternal organizations helped reinforce middle-class values and are used as tools of social “placing” throughout the long nineteenth century. Erich has written New Jersey’s Masonic Lodges (Arcadia Publishing, 2019); he is Secretary of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786; Senior Warden at The American Lodge of Research, New York City; and QCCC Local Secretary to New Jersey.

Jan Paulus

Jan examines the role of Irish Freemasonry during the period of political upheaval that accompanied the outbreak of the Irish Civil War and the early years of the Irish Free State. Jan is studying for a Ph.D. in History at St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge. He holds an MPhil in Internatonal History from Trinity College, Dublin; and a BEd in History and English from Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz.

Dr. Victor Serafimov

Victor’s paper examines how different ritual traditions have been transmitted, adapted and sometimes combined across Eastern Europe. Bulgaria is one example, where the Schröder/AFAM tradition is predominant alongside Emulation and Scottish-derived workings. He also looks at comparisons in Turkey, Hungary and other European jurisdictions. Victor is the 2026 winner of the Norman B. Spencer Prize. He is a member and Orator of Lodge Vitosha 121; and a member of Lodge Quatuor Coronati 40, both under the United Grand Lodge of Bulgaria, and is the Local Secretary for QCCC. Victor holds a Doctorate in International Public Law from Southwest University; a Masters in Law from Sofia University; a Diploma in English and European Law, University of Cambridge; and an MBA, American University in Bulgaria. He runs a Strategic Advisory Consultancy and is an Adjunct Law Professor at the American University in Bulgaria and a former board member of Bulgarian National Television and Bulgarian National Radio.

Daniel Stanford

Dan’s paper provides a commentary on the Irish Royal Arch Degree and a history of its evolution. Dan is a Past Master of Corinthian Commercial Lodge 245, and currently a Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies and elected member of the Grand Lodge of Instruction of Ireland. He is also active in Mark and Royal Arch Masonry, and other orders in Ireland.

Dr. Mike Kearsley

Mike takes a personal look at the Royal Arch and how it is often misunderstood, where it is understood at all. Mike was born in Lancashire and lived in New Zealand for many years before returning to the UK. He returned to NZ once again in 2020. Mike was initiated into Freemasonry in Hawera Lodge, Taranaki, NZ, and passed and raised in Mairehau Lodge, Christchurch, NZ. In the UK, he joined David Bonner Lodge, the musicians lodge of the Province of Middlesex, becoming Master in 2010 and thereafter Secretary. He is also a member of Temple of Athene Research Lodge (Master, 2013) and Quatuor Coronati. Mike is a prolific researcher and author, a past Provincial Grand Orator for Middlesex, and in 2011 was awarded the Norman B. Spencer Prize. He was appointed Prestonian Lecturer in 2014 and ANZMRC’s Kellerman Lecturer in 2019. He is also a former editor of The Square.

Ben Williams

Ben’s paper will examine the evolution and purpose of the York and Scottish rites, and their impact in America. Born in England but living and working in the US, Ben is a Past Master of Norwood Lodge 111 and Telluride Lodge 56, and currently serves as Secretary for the Research Lodge of Colorado. He is very active in both the York and Scottish rites, as well as numerous appendant bodies and orders. A Past Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of Colorado, he has also served as the Chair of the Grand Lodge Education Committee for six years. Ben is an Intellectual Property and Patent Attorney based in Denver and Los Angeles. He is the founder of Williams Intellectual Property, Inc., a firm he established in Denver in 2012, and expanded to Los Angeles in 2022, when he became a registered patent attorney admitted to the California Bar. In 2026, he joined Fabian VanCott (est.1874) as intellectual property counsel.

Click here to register for the conference, the ensuing reception and dinner, and even accommodations at the college. Questions? Write here.

(Listen, I know I don’t belong in this company. You think I don’t know that? I know that. But it’ll be okay. While I have spoken on this subject several times in the New York City area the past two years, what I’m writing for next September will be more detailed and will have greater context. It’ll be written before the April 1 deadline, so I’ll have months to prepare for the oral delivery. It’ll be okay. Right? Tell me it will be okay!)

     

‘Gan is new Canon Portal Lecturer’

    

The ubiquitous Richard Gan (Master of QC2076 for starters!) has been named the next Canon Portal Memorial Lecturer, according to an announcement from the Mark Master Masons in England. From the publicity:

Richard Gan

We are delighted to announce RW Bro. Richard Gan, JP., P.Prov.G.M. (Middlesex), as the next Canon Portal Memorial Lecturer. Richard will explore the remarkable life and legacy of Frederick Binckes, whose vision and service had a profound influence on Mark Masonry.

Binckes played a pivotal role in the development of the Mark Degree, the Mark Benevolent Fund and the establishment of Mark Masons’ Hall. His wider contribution to Freemasonry and its charitable institutions was equally significant.

We look forward to welcoming Richard and to another engaging and enlightening occasion of Masonic history and fellowship.

Synopsis of the 2026 Canon Portal Memorial Lecture—“Frederick Binckes: A Remarkable Freemason”—Frederick Binckes was an outstanding Victorian Freemason who had a profound and lasting effect on many different aspects of Freemasonry, and was instrumental in putting Mark Masonry on the map. He was appointed Grand Secretary of Mark Grand Lodge in 1861, and served concurrently as Secretary of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys for more than twenty-eight years. Binckes had a considerable influence on the expansion of the Mark Degree and its acceptance into mainstream Masonry, both at home and overseas, the creation of the Mark Benevolent Fund and the establishment of Mark Masons’ Hall in Great Queen Street.

He also played a key role in the Royal Ark Mariner being brought under the protection of Mark Grand Lodge, as well as the formation and early development of the Royal and Select Masters, and the Allied Masonic Degrees.

To arrange a delivery of the Fourth Portal Lecture in your Province or District, please contact R.W. Bro. Gan here.

We also extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to W. Bro. Dr. John Walter Hawkins for his dedication, service, and scholarly contribution in delivering the previous lecture.

Perhaps you know Bro. Gan from Masonic Week. If not, here is a little biograpy from Lewis Masonic:

Richard Gan is a senior Freemason and a Grand Officer in all the major Orders of Freemasonry. He retired in June 2010 as Deputy Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons. Born in 1950, he was educated at the Becket School, Nottingham, and is a graduate of London University where he took an Honours Degree in Geology and subsequently studied part-time for a Masters Degree in Education. He is also a graduate of the Open University, where he took a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Management Studies. Whilst at the Institute of Education he combined winning a double distinction in the Post Graduate Certificate of Education whilst also serving as President of the Students’ Union. He has enjoyed a number of successful careers in education and Masonic administration before finally becoming Editor of The Square, an independent magazine for Freemasons, retiring in 2014. He is a full member of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, the premier lodge of Masonic research.

The Canon Portal Memorial Lecture is a fairly recent tradition, established 2018, in English Mark Masonry. Gan is the fourth to be so honored and set to labor. The lecture was created by the Mark Benevolent Fund at its sesquicentennial anniversary to honor the history and legacy of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of England and Wales.

It is named for Canon George Raymond Portal (1827-89), a founder of both the MBF and the Mark Grand Lodge, serving as its Grand Master, 1869-73. A giant in various Masonic orders in England (Grand Master of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters, England and Wales in 1871 and Grand Master of AMD at the time of his death), Portal was not unknown in the United States. During his Mark grand mastership, he served as representative to the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Iowa.

His too brief obituary in Vol. II (1889) of Ars Quatuor Coronatorum simply reads:

Click to enlarge.

The April 13, 1889 edition of The Freemason: The Organ of the Craft, a Weekly Record of Progress in Freemasonry Literature, Science and Art, reports:

Yet once again, within the brief period of a few weeks, the melancholy duty devolves on us of recording the death of one of the ablest and most experienced members of our Craft... We are sorrowing over the loss of a reverend brother who had secured both Grand and Provincial Grand Lodge honors; and had not only presided as Grand Master over the Mark and other degrees or systems of Masonry, but had likewise been their guide, philosopher, and friend during so long a term of years that his loss, if not irreparable, will be most difficult to repair.

Bro. the Rev. Canon Portal, almost from the time of his initiation until his death, was a busy as well as an able member of the Craft. Two years after he had been made a Mason, we find him presiding as Master over one of our most important Provincial Lodges, and assisting in the resuscitation of another, which, but for his fortunate intervention would, in all probability, have then and there disappeared from the roll of Grand Lodge. Five years later, in conjunction with other Oxford brethren, he took a leading part in the revival of one of our oldest and now one of our most distinguished Metropolitan lodges, while, about the same time, his voice was frequently heard in Grand Lodge on the stirring question of the Canadian lodges and their alleged neglect by the home authorities.

In 1856 he turned his attention to the Mark Degree, and on the establishment of the Mark G. Lodge was appointed one of its Grand Chaplains. Thenceforward he appears to have devoted almost the whole of his attention to this particular branch of Masonry, and there can be no question that the Mark is chiefly indebted for its success to the efficient services rendered by our late Bro. Portal in one or other of the numerous offices he filled almost from the date of his advancement, but more particularly as Deputy Grand and Grand Master and President of its General Board. In him, too, the Mark Benevolent Fund has lost one of its founders and early patrons, while the Allied Degrees and Royal and Select Masters will hardly know themselves now that he who had presided over their respective councils from their organization as Grand Bodies is no longer here to watch over and protect their interests.

In short, Freemasonry has lost in Bro. Canon Portal one of its most cultured and most capable members, who had been the friend and associate in Masonic labor of many of the chief dignitaries of our Order, and who leaves behind him not only many sterling memorials of his wisdom and strength as a ruler, but likewise a reputation for kindliness as well as ability which few will rival, and none surpass.

Congratulations, Bro. Gan! I hope your lecture will be published for those of us who cannot attend your stops in England.

     

‘R.A. “Bob” Gilbert has died’

    

Manifestation

A figure sat within the chair

Which was not previously there;

A voice spoke in the darkness then

More subtly than the voice of men:

The message in the ear it spell’d

Was one great secret long withheld

And while I live, or when I die,

O Grave! where is thy mystery?

 — A.E. Waite

Tabatha Cicero photo

Chic Cicero and Bob Gilbert at a Golden Dawn conference, Bayonne Masonic Temple, 1998.

Bro. Robert A. “Bob” Gilbert died today, according to the sad news gradually making the rounds. I can’t eulogize him, having met him only twice, but he opened my eyes in a way that makes me very thankful.

Gilbert served as Prestonian Lecturer in 1997, traveling across England presenting “Freemasonry in Popular Literature.” And he went beyond the borders of the UGLE, somehow, improbably, visiting my obscure lodge in New Jersey.

Click to enlarge.

Bayonne Lodge 99 Worshipful Master Jeremiah Hawkins finagled the visit. As I recall, it actually was a Wednesday night meeting of my lodge, Menorah 249, and not Bayonne 99, when this occurred, but no matter. I never learned how Jeremiah booked Gilbert, but just now realized, thanks to the photo at top, that Gilbert was in town for an International Golden Dawn Conference hosted in my lodge’s building. (As I type this, the brethren there are outside the building celebrating their home’s centennial anniversary. Vivat!) That’s Tabatha Cicero’s photo of husband Chic with Gilbert, taken at that conference.

What the Prestonian Lecture experience did for me was to leave a first impression about Masonic learning. This was 1998, and I had been a Mason for about a year—and was starting to wonder why there wasn’t more to it, but felt too inexperienced to ask Where’s the rest? So, a guest lecturer, sojourning from England(!), to give a talk within a prestigious tradition, showed me here is one way to find what I seek. If not for that night, I may have abandoned the fraternity within a year or two. Therefore, to me, Bob Gilbert, Masonic historian, proved inspirational.

Five years prior to his visit to this humble lodge, he had been Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076. His byline is found in different volumes of Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, and he authored and edited books. Also was renowned as a speaker in locales around the world.

The Bob Gilbert we’re likely to read about in the coming days is the mystical seeker who delved into the works of Arthur Edward Waite and the Golden Dawn but, also in those subjects, he was a perfectionist for historical accuracy. He knew those who lack a factual grounding in such pursuits are at risk of believing anything. That is not helpful, to say the least. Which reminds me of the talk he gave the second time I encountered him, at the October 2008 Rose Circle conference at Masonic Hall.

He was no longer a member of QC2076, but I hope there will be a typically comprehensive obituary in the upcoming AQC.

Alas, my Brother.

     

‘Nepotism, patronage, and a Grand Master’

    

QCCC

Magpie coverage of the 250th anniversary celebration of American Union Lodge is forthcoming but, first, something in the mail.

Volume 138 of Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, the 2025 book of transactions of Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076, is reaching U.S. mailboxes. Bro. Ric Berman has a brief piece in the Notes & Queries section titled “The First Grand Master of and in New York.” This provides some intriguing biographical info and previously elusive context to the story of British Army Captain Richard Riggs, who was appointed Provincial Grand Master here on November 15, 1737.

(“In New York” is an allusion to Daniel Coxe, who was appointed Grand Master of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York—and who resided in New Jersey—in 1730.)

Riggs would serve until 1751 but, like Coxe before him, seems to have exercised no known Masonic authority. Except for several newspaper notices concerning a few meetings of a couple of lodges, there exists no information on the Craft’s existence in the Province of New York during his tenure.

Ric’s essay traces the nepotism and patronage that evidently fueled Riggs’ advancements in both the military and Masonry. (When the reader follows the connecting of those dots, he’ll be grateful for living in a society where no such naked inequity is possible!)

To receive AQC every year, simply join the QCCC ASAP.

     

‘Oscar nights: looking at early U.S. Masonic history’

    

Looks like Oscar’ll be busy on Thursdays.

In two weeks, Bro. Oscar Alleyne will attend Quatuor Coronati 2076 in London, where he is a lodge member, to present his paper “John Batt: Mercenary, Opportunist and Hero.” From the publicity:

Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076

Thursday, February 19 at 4 p.m.

“John Batt: Mercenary,

Opportunist and Hero”

Freemasons’ Hall, London

The paper explores the enigmatic personality of Sergeant John Batt, a member of military Lodge 441 under the Irish Constitution who is attributed with the creation of African Lodge 1. His initiation of Prince Hall and fourteen men of color enabled what is known today as Prince Hall Freemasonry. A comprehensive view of the facts surrounding John Batt and military Lodge 441 will be examined from the perspective of Batt’s actions as a mercenary, an opportunist and a “hero.” The research underlying this paper suggests that the currently accepted start date of African Lodge 1–and thus Prince Hall Freemasonry–is incorrect. Dr. Alleyne will provide evidence that will demonstrate that it was March 6, 1778, and not 1775, that was the trigger date. The paper is based on new research combined with a detailed examination of the early Prince Hall archives.

Oscar’s paper can be read in AQC 139 here. Please note that paper is in copyright.

If you were lucky, you heard Oscar present this a couple years ago at The ALR. A week later, he’ll be back at Masonic Hall to speak at the Livingston Library. From the publicity:

Chancellor Robert R. Livingston

Masonic Library

Thursday, February 26 at 6 p.m.

“Mark My Word! Building a New City”

Masonic Hall, Manhattan

A lesser-known, intriguing story of Masonic links to the establishment of the first city in the USA after the Revolutionary War for Independence. Brother Oscar Alleyne has been published in several widely distributed Masonic journals, participated as a keynote speaker in research and educational conferences on Freemasonry, and received multiple awards for his distinguished service to the Craft. He served as the Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of New York from 2018-21. He is the Senior Grand Warden for the Grand Council Allied Masonic Degrees of the United States of America and the President of the Grand Witan of the Masonic Order of Athelstan, USA. He was coroneted a 33º Scottish Rite Mason and is an Active Member of The American Lodge of Research, a member of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076, UGLE. He is a Fellow and First Vice President of the Philalethes Society as well as a past President and Fellow of the Masonic Society.

No cost for the lecture only. RSVP here! ​Priority seating for Friends of the Library!

     

‘Celebrate World Logic Day!’

    

CIPSH

Logic teaches us to guide our reason discretionally in the general knowledge of things, and to direct our inquiries after truth, as well for the instruction of others as our own improvement. It consists of a regular train of argument, whence we infer, deduce, and conclude, according to certain premises laid down, admitted, or granted. In it are employed the faculties of conceiving, judging, reasoning, and disposing; all of which are naturally led on from one gradation to another, till the point in question is finally determined.

William Preston

Illustrations of Masonry

1775

Logic. The art of reasoning, and one of the seven liberal arts and sciences, whose uses are insulated in the second degree. The power of right reasoning, which distinguishes the man of sane mind from the madman and the idiot, is deemed essential to the Mason, that he may comprehend both his rights and his duties. And hence the unfortunate beings just named, who are without the necessary mental quality, are denied admission to the Order. The Old Constitutions define logic to be the art “that teacheth to discern truth from falsehood.”

Albert Mackey

An Encyclopædia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences

1874

Logic is that science which directs us how to form clear and distinct ideas of things, and thereby prevents us from being misled by their similitude or resemblance. Of all the human sciences, that concerning man is certainly most worthy of the human mind, and the proper manner of conducting its several powers in the attainment of truth and knowledge. This science ought to be cultivated as the foundation or groundwork of our inquiries; particularly, in the pursuit of those sublime principles which claim our attention as Masons.

Middle Chamber Lecture

Standard Work and Lectures

Grand Lodge of New York

Looking around the world today, evidence of logic might not be obvious, but today is World Logic Day nevertheless. Most regular Freemasons in the United States are instructed, to some extent, in Logic during the lecture of the Fellow Craft Degree. Maybe your lodge employs the New York version above or something similar, or perhaps something closer to the Preston quotation at top. They suffice. Logic is essential in understanding Geometry. In understanding anything, really. With logic, for example, one studying Masonic history is immune to silly Templar nonsense notions. But what of the history of logic? As far as we know, this dates back about 2,500 years to Aristotle. Sure, many philosophers have defined logic since Aristotle’s time, but he was the first. Or at least his writings are the earliest still extant, so we have to start with him.

H. Cart de Lafontaine

In “The Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences,” his Prestonian Lecture for 1930, Henry Philip Cart de Lafontaine (fascinating man!), while Master of QC2076, writes:

Logic is the name given to one of the four main departments of philosophy. It is the science of the processes of inference. There are three types of inference: the first being from particular to particular, which is called analogical inference; the second is from particular to universal, which is inductive inference; the third is from universal to particular, which is deductive inference.

We will illustrate these three types in order to give a clearer meaning, and we will employ the names of three Greek cities in the illustrations, though any others might quite as well be substituted.

Suppose I say, “Border war between Thebes and Phocis is evil,” and then make the further statement that “Border war between Thebes and Athens is similar to that between Thebes and Phocis.” From these two, I draw the analogical inference that “Border war between Thebes and Athens is evil.”

Again, I may say that “Border war between Thebes and Phocis is evil,” and follow up that assertion with the assertion that “All border war is like that between Thebes and Phocis.” From these two statements I draw the inductive inference that “All border war is evil.”

I now start with this inductive inference that “All border war is evil,” and I follow on with the statement that “Border war between Thebes and Phocis is border war,” and draw the conclusion by deductive or syllogistic inference that “Border war between Thebes and Athens is evil.”

You will see that this is rather like an algebraical problem; by eliminating certain factors, you arrive at a definite conclusion of analogy, induction, and deduction. We owe to Aristotle this triple distinction.

World Logic Day is the creation of the sometimes illogical and detestable UNESCO, which proclaimed the first such observance for this date in 2019. That proclamation says, in part:

The ability to think is one of the most defining features of humankind. In different cultures, the definition of humanity is associated with concepts such as consciousness, knowledge and reason. According to the classic Western tradition, human beings are defined as “rational” or “logical animals.” Logic, as the investigation on the principles of reasoning, has been studied by many civilizations throughout history and, since its earliest formulations, logic has played an important role in the development of philosophy and the sciences.

Despite its undeniable relevance to the development of knowledge, sciences and technologies, there is little public awareness on the importance of logic. The proclamation of World Logic Day by UNESCO, in association with the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences (CIPSH), intends to bring the intellectual history, conceptual significance and practical implications of logic to the attention of interdisciplinary science communities and the broader public.

A dynamic and global annual celebration of World Logic Day aims at fostering international cooperation, promoting the development of logic, in both research and teaching, supporting the activities of associations, universities and other institutions involved with logic, and enhancing public understanding of logic and its implications for science, technology and innovation. Furthermore, the celebration of World Logic Day can also contribute to the promotion of a culture of peace, dialogue and mutual understanding, based on the advancement of education and science.

So, if your lodge meets today, be sure to rise when permitted and tell the brethren about World Logic Day, and maybe even toast this occasion during the Festive Board—especially if you work Logic ritual.

     

‘Time to join/renew to receive AQC 138’

    

It is time to renew with (or join) QCCC for 2026. Quatuor Coronati Correspondence Circle is the corporate side of Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076 in London. Membership in the lodge is limited to a small number of scholars who are elected, but guys like you and me may join QCCC, the principal benefit of which is possession of the treasury that is Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, the lodge’s annual book of transactions.

QC2076 will meet one more time this year for its installation of officers next Thursday at Great Queen Street. Bro. Richard Gan will be seated in the Solomonic Chair and will present his inaugural paper. From the summons:

Printed Masonic Periodicals

in England 1793-2024

Richard’s paper tracks the progress and regress of Masonic publishing through to the present day, a time when there is no longer any Masonic periodical with a national circulation in England, the last having ceased hard-copy publication in December 2024 when it transferred online.

Richard L. Gan was born in 1950 Bradford to Polish parents. He was educated at the Becket School, Nottingham, and graduated in Geology at London University, where he also took a Master’s Degree in education; in addition, he holds a Degree in Management Studies from the Open University. Richard’s professional career included teaching, educational management and Masonic administration.

He retired in June 2010 as Deputy Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons and thereafter was editor of The Square until 2014.

Richard was initiated in Ribblesdale Lodge No. 8020 in Nottingham in 1977 and promoted to Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies in 2008. He is a Grand Officer in all the major Orders of Freemasonry and in addition has served as the Grand Principal Conductor of the Work (Assistant Grand Master) in the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters and as Provincial Grand Master in the Mark for Middlesex.

Richard lives in Lincolnshire and writes and researches on subjects that include Victorian Freemasonry and the Orders beyond the Craft. He was elected a full member of Quatuor Coronati Lodge in 2014. He has been a regular Masonic speaker and has delivered more than fifty talks and lectures on a range of Masonic subjects; he has authored four monographs, six papers and eight books.

For next year’s meetings, the lodge has scheduled:

Thursday, February 19

Rob Hammond

“Does Freemasonry

Follow the Railroad?”

Thursday, May 14

Paul Calderwood

“Welsh Freemasonry

& the Unlawful Societies Act”

Thursday, June 25

Rod Taylor

“Masonic Firing Glasses”

Thursday, September 10

Daniel Johnson

“Solomon’s Temple in Myth & Ritual”

The 2026 Prestonian Lecture

Thursday, November 12

Installation Meeting

Installation Paper

Someday I will visit, I keep telling myself. Click here to join QCCC or click here to renew your membership.

     

‘Installation congratulations’

    

Felicitations are due to Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076 upon its installation of officers yesterday. We knew in advance that Bro. Trevor McKeown was destined for the Solomonic Chair, but did you know Bro. Gerald Reilly was joining the officer team?

Gerald Reilly

Gerald, a legend from the dearly missed Masonic Light group and co-author of The Temple That Never Sleeps, is Inner Guard now. Well done, brethren, and congratulations!

Click here to see the meetings scheduled for the coming year.

Click here to read the list of all officers and members.

Click here to take your place in the Correspondence Circle, the lodge’s publishing business whence comes the annual AQC volume.

     

‘Four Crowned Martyrs Day’

    

Today is the Feast Day of the Four Crowned Martyrs, namesakes of the famous Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076 in London, the first lodge of Masonic research.

Like so much in embryonic Masonic letters, the legend of the Four Crowned Martyrs vexes the reader. In short, there are competing stories about them which not only render divergent narratives, but even tell of different martyrs! What all these saints do share in common is being murdered on the orders of Emperor Diocletian. Not how you want to go.

Today, I’ll share a short piece written by one of the lodge’s first members, Bro. Adolphus Frederick Alexander Woodford, a Past Master of Lodge of Antiquity 2 and a Past Grand Chaplain of the United Grand Lodge of England. (More of his amazing biography at bottom.) This explanation of things appears in Vol. 1 of Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, the research lodge’s book of transactions for the period of 1886 to 1888. (I’ll also add that the Arundel Manuscript mentioned below has no originative connection to the Codex Arundel, Leonardo da Vinci’s writings on geometry and other subjects. However, both batches of papers were collected by the Earl of Arundel during the early seventeenth century.)

The Quatuor Coronati.

The Legend of the Quatuor Coronati is very interesting to Freemasons because in the legend, as in the Arundel MS.—a transcript of the more important portions of which follows—the Quatuor were originally four Craftsmen by name Claudius, Castorius, Simphorianus, and Nicostratus, “mirificos in arte quadrataria,” which though it is translated the “art of carving,” is literally “the stone-squarer’s art,” or the art of stone-squaring. They are distinctly called “artifices” artificers, although as the legend shows us, to the four artificers are joined four milites; whilst one Simplicius, converted to Christianity by the four during the progress of events narrated by the legend, is added to the stone-squarers, making nine in all. They are declared to have been Christians, “occulte,” secretly. Diocletian ordered an image of Æsculapius to be made, and after a contest and dialogue with “quinque Philosophi” Simphorianus, who appears to be the leader and spokesman, adds Simplicius to the number —now five—and refuses, on their behalf and with their consent, to make the image. They are brought before Lampadius the Tribune, who after reference to Diocletian, orders them to be stripped and beaten with scorpions, “scorpionibus mactari,” and then, by Diocletian’s order, they were placed in “loculi plumbei,” leaden coffins, and cast into the Tiber.

A certain Nicodemus is said to have raised the coffins and taken them to his own house; levavit says the legend.

Two years afterwards, Diocletian ordered the soldiers to pay homage to a Statue of Æsculapius, but four “Cornicularii,” or wing-leaders of the city militia, refused. They were ordered to be put to death in front of the image of Æsculapius by strokes of the Plumbata, “ictu plumbatarum,” and their bodies cast into the streets to the dogs, where they lay five days.

Then Sebastianus, with Pope Melchiades, is said to have taken up the bodies and buried them in the cemetery on the road to Lavica. By the use of the word “Arenaria,” allusion is made to the sandpits in which slaves and criminals were buried, but Christians never. But in order to conceal the catacombs from their persecutors, opening and entrances were made and used in the Arenaria to deposit the bodies of martyrs and the like in the catacombs. Here they seemed to have remained till the ninth century.

For though Melchiades appointed the day, 8th November, in the fourth century, and it is recognized as such in the Sacramentary of Gregory 200 years later, and Pope Honorius in the seventh century built a church to their especial honor, it was not until the ninth century apparently that Pope Leo translated the relics of the nine worthies to the restored and embellished church on the Cœlian Hill, now called the Church of the “Santi Cuatro Incoronati,”—Incoronati in modern Italian being identical with Coronati in mediæval and classic Latin.

It will be seen that the names have become confused as time has run on, and various appellations have been given to the four and the five. Originally the legend gives Claudius, Castorius, Simphorianus, and Nicostratus, and to these Simplicius is added. The remaining four in one of the earliest legends are said to be Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victorinus. This makes nine in all—nine worthies—concerning whom there is no reason to disbelieve, no a priori objection to, the perfect truth of the legend. Clear it is that in process of time the facts of the story itself have become a little confused and the names intermingled, but there is no doubt from very early days the four or five have been commemorated on the same one day. In one martyrology, November 8th is thus commemorated “Senas ornantes idus merito atque cruore, Claudi, Castori, Simplicii, Simphoriani, et Nichostrate pari fulgetis is luce coronæ.” One early writer terms them fratres, but whether he means fratres in blood, in confession, or fratres collegii does not clearly appear.

From Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, Vol. 1

As is well-known, the Sarum Missal of the 11th century gives the names as in the Arundel Hagiology, but the names vary much in different legends and service books. Some of these differences are no doubt scribal errors, and some attest remarkably the variability and the uncertainty of tradition. For instance we find Castulus, Semphorianus, Christorius, Significanus, Clemens, and Cortianus, all applied to some of the nine. In some MSS. the five are found, not the four; in some, the four are mentioned, not the five. Nothing can be decided from such mutability of the legend, or even safely argued.

In one of the Steinmetz Constitutions, they are simply described as Claudius, Christorius, and Significanus, while in the beautiful illumination from the Isabella Missal, four only appear—with the emblems of Craft Masonry one and all: the square, the plumb rule, the trowel, and the gavel—though five are mentioned in the commemoration prayer, Simphorianus, Claudius, Castorius, Simplicius, and Nichostratus. This is explained in the Arundel legend by the fact that Simplicius was not one of the original four, but being a fellow-workman and secretly desirous of becoming a Christian, he was baptized by Quirillus, the Bishop, and so suffered martyrdom with the other four.

It may be observed here, that the legend is in itself purely Italian in its inception, though it has spread probably with the Craft Lodges into Germany, Gaul, and Britain.

There are several old Acta and Gesta Quatuor Coronatorum and several special Legends, Martyrologies, and Hagiologies, of the Coronati, and the subject still requires study and illustration, as no doubt many valuable similar MSS. remain unknown and uncollated in the Vatican Library, and the greater libraries, and even private collections of MSS. To Mr. J.0. Halliwell Phillipps, the English Craft owes its introduction to this most ancient legend and valuable link between the Freemasonry of the past and the Freemasonry of the present, as contained in the “Masonic Poem.”

The Arundel Legend is taken from a fine MS. of the 12th century, in the British Museum. Its proper reference is Ar : MSS., 91, f 2186. There is another copy of the legend in the British Museum, Harleian MSS., No. 2802, f 99. There is also a short notice of the Quatuor Coronati in Regius MS., 8, c, 7 f 165, of the 14th century.

In the Harleian MS., 2082, Simphorianus is given as Simphronius; in the Regius MS., the names are as in the Arundel, but in different sequence.

In Alban Butler’s Lives, the Four Crowned Martyrs are named Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victorinus; and he adds, “five other martyrs called Claudius, Nicostratus, Symphorianus, Castorius, and Simplicius, who had suffered in the same persecution are buried in the same cemetery.” — A. F. A. Woodford

The following biography of Woodford also comes from this first AQC volume.

Rev. Adolphus Frederick Alexander Woodford, born in 1821, gazetted Christmas Day, 1838, Ensign and Lieutenant Coldstream Guards, retired in 1841, matriculated at Durham University 1842, took B.A. degree and License of Theology in 1847, and M.A. degree some years after. Ordained Deacon in 1846, curate of Whitburn, near Sunderland, 1846-47, ordained priest July 1817, and in the same year presented to the Rectory of Swillington, Leeds, which he resigned in 1872. In 1852 he was Chaplain to Sir John Lowther, Bart., as High Sheriff of Yorkshire.

Initiated in the Lodge of Friendship, Gibraltar, No. 278, in 1842, and subsequently joined the following Lodges—Marquis of Granby, Durham, No. 124, in 1842, W.M. in 1844 and 1845; Philanthropic Lodge, Leeds, No. 304, in 1854, W.M. in 1858 and 1859; and Lodge of Antiquity, London, No. 2, in 1863, D.M. in 1878, under H.R.H. the Duke of Albany. He was exalted in Concord Chapter, Durham, No. 124, in 1848; joined the Philanthropic Chapter, Leeds, No. 304, in 1863, and its first Z.; and St. James’ Chapter, London, No. 2, in 1874, Z. thereof in 1882. Appointed Provincial Grand Chaplain of Durham in 1847, Provincial Grand Chaplain, West Yorkshire, 1860, and Provincial Grand Senior Warden, 1857, and finally Grand Chaplain of England in 1863.

Was first Chairman of the West Yorkshire Charity Committee from 1859-1870. He has been a constant contributor to the Masonic press, few names being better known than “Masonic Student,” one of his many noms de plume, and was the editor of the London “Freemason” and of the “Masonic Magazine,” from 1873 to 1886; and the author of Kenning’s Cyclopoedia, “Defense of Freemasonry,” “The Sloane Manuscript,” and other works—as well as of the learned introduction to Hughan’s Old Charges of the British Freemasons.

Bro. Woodford would die in 1887, so he didn’t see AQC Vol. 1 brought to fruition. He is one of the stars of this book, having written a variety of items in its pages, including an English translation of the legend from that Arundel Manuscript’s Latin. His name probably is familiar to you Rosicrucians, as he was among the organizers of the HOGD.

In closing, I just want to explain that a big part of my laughter at the silly notion of Templar origins of Freemasonry derives from my wish for more Masons today to learn about the Four Crowned Martyrs and thereby appreciate the connection that stonemasons Claudius, Castorius, Simphorianus, and Nicostratus have to us. I’m not at all against embracing Christian history and legend, I just think what we choose to believe ought to make some sense because Masonic Templarism is fallacious.