‘A work of art, grand in conception and birth’

    

As you know, the 140th anniversary of the dedication of Liberty Enlightening the World comes October 28. I’m not aware of any local Masonic buzz about it, but if you happen to be in North West England, one lodge has an evening planned around the sculpture. The image above has all the details.

Queen’s Jubilee Lodge’s name refers to the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, celebrated in 1887, the year the lodge was constituted. It is part of the Provincial Grand Lodge of East Lancashire.

Of course more commonly known as the Statue of Liberty, the landmark at the time of its construction also was referred to as the Bartholdi Statue (or Monument), for sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the Freemason from France who designed the colossus. (Its skeleton was made by Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel before erecting the tower in Paris that bears his name.)

The Gilded Age indeed was a golden age for Masonic dedications of public infrastructure great and small in New York, and the Statue of Liberty was not overlooked. Its pedestal’s cornerstone-laying on August 5, 1884 was attended by our top officers, led by Grand Master William A. Brodie.

Address by MW William A. Brodie,

Grand Master

Men and Brethren here assembled: Be it known unto you, that we be lawful Masons, true and faithful to our country, and engaged by solemn obligations, to erect magnificent buildings, to be serviceable to the brethren, and to fear God, the Great Architect of the Universe. We have among us, concealed from the eyes of all men, secrets which cannot be divulged, and which have never been found out; but these secrets are honorable, and not repugnant to the laws of God or man. They were entrusted, in peace and honor, to the masons of ancient times, and having been faithfully transmitted to us, it is our duty to convey them unimpaired to the latest posterity. 

William A. Brodie

Unless our craft were good, and our calling honorable, we should not have lasted for so many generations, nor should we have been honored with the patronage of so many illustrious men in all ages, who have ever shown themselves ready to promote our interests and defend us from all adversaries. We are assembled here today in the face of you all to erect a statue representing liberty enlightening the world, a work of art grand in its conception and birth.

As Auguste Bartholdi sailed into the bay of New York a few years ago, the sight of the great city before him was grand, but grander the thought which found lodgment in his mind, of placing at this entrance to the continent, something that would welcome to these shores all who love and seek liberty, and the thought at this time crude though grand, gave birth to this statue; grand in its figure—colossal in size; grand in its practical use—lighting the storm-tossed mariner to a safe harbor, and grand in its very name and the significance thereof: “Liberty Enlightening the World.”

Liberty—of thought, of conscience, of action, that true liberty that is not license, but which finds its highest development in obedience to constituted authorities and law. Enlightening—how necessary enlightenment to true liberty and the highest appreciation thereof. World—yes, to the whole world does our continent open its arms and bid it welcome to the blessings of liberty.

The question may and no doubt will be asked, Why call upon the Masonic fraternity to lay the cornerstone of such a structure as is here to be erected? This fraternity is called upon to lay the cornerstones of public edifices in this country, as has been answered. First, because it has become a common practice the world over; the adoption of a custom so ancient that the memory of man cannot run to the contrary; a custom which prevailed centuries before modern secret societies were thought of. Secondly, because the Masonry of the present day is but ancient operative masonry, with the operative portion dropped and the speculative retained. And as our ancient brethren erected grand old works of architecture that adorn the cities of the world, and which have come down to us covered with the mold and moss of centuries, or lie in ruin’s silent data, so ancient that history fails to reach back to the distant point—so in a speculative sense, the Masonic fraternity of the present age are called upon to erect the magnificent works of modern architecture, by laying the cornerstones thereof. But there is a special reason why we should be called upon for this special duty of today. No institution has done more to promote liberty and to free men from the trammels and chains of ignorance and tyranny than Freemasonry, and we as a fraternity take an honest pride in depositing the cornerstone of the pedestal of the statue of “Liberty Enlightening the World.”  And which we pray God may deserve to prosper by becoming a beacon light of liberty to all men and promoting harmony and brotherly love throughout the world till time shall be no more. Amen.

Masonic ceremony dominated the day’s festivities. Our brethren provided additional orations, music, prayers, deposit of a time capsule, and, of course, the consecration ceremony.