‘Watching Washington at Federal Hall’

     
Every year, New York Freemasons stage a re-enactment of the first inauguration of George Washington as president of the United States on (or about) the anniversary of the historic occasion in 1789, and the 2016 event has been announced. I assume the George Washington Inaugural Bible will be on hand. From the publicity:

George Washington Presidential

Inauguration Re-enactment

Friday, April 29

11 a.m.

Federal Hall

26 Wall Street

Manhattan

Please join us as we commemorate the inauguration of George Washington and the Heroes of 1776—many of whom were Free and Accepted Masons—and to proclaim our heritage.

Magpie file photo

Statue of Washington at Federal Hall, NYC.

Two hundred and twenty-seven years ago, on April 30, 1789, George Washington was sworn in as the nation’s first president, and gave the first inaugural address. The American government was based in New York that year. Congress had met for the first time on March 4, 1789 in the former city hall at the corner of Wall Street and Nassau Street, which a year earlier had been redesigned by Pierre Charles L’Enfant in the Federal architecture style—the first such building design in America—thus the building was renamed Federal Hall.

This event is sponsored by the George Washington Inauguration Reenactment Committee of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York.


Click here to read about Washington and his adding “So help me God” to his oath.
     

‘Knuffels to Rotterdam’

     

From her Facebook page, Betty Langenberg
with two of her beloved dogs.

Freemasonry, going back to the first grand lodge’s first book of jurisprudence, published 1723, is said to be best understood when it “becomes the Center of Union, and the Means of conciliating true Friendship among Persons that must have remain’d at a perpetual Distance.” The authors weren’t talking about geographic or physical distance, although in retrospect that may make sense, but were alluding to the artificial barriers of religious opinions that estranged Roman Catholics from Protestants, and that also divided Protestants by their differing denominations. And then there was politics! In modern times, that Center of Union that closes any “perpetual distance” often exists on the internet. The term “E-Masonry” was coined in the book The Temple That Never Sleeps, written by Josh Heller of Pennsylvania and Gerald Reilly of the United Kingdom. Heller is the co-founder, with Chris McClintock of Ireland, of a discussion forum named Masonic Light; Reilly is one of that group’s original conversationalists. T3NS, as the book is known among us, recounts the history of the group, making clear the wonderful alchemy created when Freemasons of numerous backgrounds, from a galaxy of lodges, and of both sexes unite in respectful discussion of all things Masonic. (Actually, “All Things Masonic” was the name of the original e-group. It became Masonic Light in May 2000 after Yahoo! acquired the e-groups.)

It is difficult to explain the bond that existed among those of us who were regular participants in the free flowing conversations that made this group so special. On February 20, 2004, Tim Wallace-Murphy phrased it this way:


“Perhaps I am simply a romantic old Irish curmudgeon who still has both feet planted firmly in mid-air, but … there is indeed a spirit of community among us, one which manifests itself in compassion for any members illness or miss-fortune; delight in members’ achievements and a growing sense of fraternity that crosses all man-made boundaries of class, culture, religious belief, as well as those barriers imposed by nature such as geographical location. ’Tis surely better to progress slowly over a long period of time to create an ambience which lasts longer than we will as individuals.”


I’d better come to the point.

I was admitted to this eclectic and wonderful group in January 2001. Not finding anything remotely akin to the Masonic education I expected from my lodge and the many Masonic fraternities I had joined since 1997, I looked to the internet for informative and inspiring Masonic discussion and instruction. Yahoo! Groups were big at the time. I signed up for a number of them, including Paul Bessel’s MasEd (as in Masonic Education) forum, and it was there where I encountered a female Mason named Betty Langenberg from the Netherlands. Specifically, she was with—at that time—Pythagoras Lodge No. 5, under the Dutch Grand Lodge of Freemasonry for Men and Women, located in Rotterdam. (Later in life, she would affiliate with Loge Ziggurat in the Hague.)

More than the novelty of “meeting” a woman Freemason, it was Betty’s knowledge, wisdom, warmth, and humor that cemented many friendships between her and many of us in the group.

On March 8, 2001, after consulting with both Josh and Chris, I invited Betty to join us on Masonic Light. It would initiate a whole new dynamic in our group discussions. Janet Wintermute arrived after a few days. Then Nadia from Athens. And Vera from Belgium. And many more over the years, most electing to avoid conversation, and others commenting in reserved tones, but many gregariously joining in the sharing of Light. I’d say we all benefitted. Personally, by the time I was being installed Master of my lodge in 2004, I felt I possessed a somewhat worldly perspective on Masonic life. I certainly was more understanding of the Craft’s teachings, and their diverse interpretations, than most of my peers who served in the East of their lodges near me at that time. There probably were about fifty MLers (there have been many hundreds who have been members these sixteen years) whose participation in the group discussions have enriched my personal Masonic experience immeasurably. I will remain indebted always.

And there were private chats outside the group.

Sister Betty and I talked (I mean e-mails) at some length, off and on, for many years. Our respective frustrations with Masonic bureaucracy. Our mutual love of tobacco. The weirdness on the streets of the Netherlands I sometimes followed in the news. Her repeated offers to let me crash on her couch should I ever visit her country. I regret not acting on this, not only because I haven’t traveled to the Netherlands since 1990, but naturally because it would have been amazing to meet up and make the personal connection (and maybe even get a tour of her lodge and grand lodge!). I never closed that “perpetual Distance.” There just never seemed to be enough time.

We all have so little time.

Betty Langenberg wrote poetry. (Click here to read a few poems.)

Brother

Brother, is there something between you and me?

The east is glowing in a golden candlelight,

we listen to Mozart, and think in different languages,

Yet, I understand you, as you understand me.

I dont know your place in your society,

I do not know to which God you daily pray,

There must be thousands things that seperates you and I.

Brother, is there something between you and me?

You make the sign and know the word.

I know you now,

although you live under a different sky;

You are my brother, seated next to me.

Brother is there something between you and me?

Between us, in the chain, the secret lives.

I heard your heart, as you heard mine,

and from countless miles, we recognize.

Betty passed away January 6 after a long illness. She was 66 years old. Her funeral service was held January 12. Her remains were cremated.

I didn’t intend to post this edition of The Magpie Mason on the fifteenth anniversary of Betty’s joining us on Masonic Light. I wanted to do it in January, but I sometimes procrastinate, and especially did so here. By the time I stopped dreading writing this and got to it, I observed the coincidental timing. I accept this in a very positive way!

What also is positive, and also with fortuitous timing, is Josh’s new effort to get Masonic Light revived and buzzing again. ML (and I think probably all Yahoo! Groups) has been quiet and still for several years, as we all have migrated to more modern social media platforms. To rally everyone, I launched Masonic Light 2.0 on Facebook in 2014 for the fourteenth anniversary of ML’s founding. It ain’t the same.

Betty almost always concluded her posts to the Masonic Light group with “Knuffels from Rotterdam” (or from a rainy Rotterdam, or a cold Rotterdam, or a sunny Rotterdam). Knuffels are hugs.

I close this tribute to my Masonic sister and friend with Knuffels to Rotterdam. Goodbye.
     

‘Things to do in March’

     

Now through May 8

Mystery and Benevolence:

Masonic and Odd Fellows Folk Art

from the Kendra and Allan Daniel Collection

Folk Art Museum

2 Lincoln Square

Manhattan

Click here.

March 4 and 5

Red Book Conference

New York City

Click here.

Saturday, March 5

7 p.m.

The Four Ages of Man: Myth or Truth

by Robert Blejer 

School of Practical Philosophy

12 East 79th Street

Manhattan

From time immemorial and from cultures around the world there have been stories and conjectures about a Golden Age that existed when mankind first made an appearance. As in the story of the Garden of Eden, life was a paradise free from strife and unhappiness. However, the paradise lasted only for a time; eventually something led to a life less than golden. Frequently, this movement has been described in descending order of spiritual understanding and moral values, with the various stages being named after the four primary metals: gold, silver, bronze and iron.

Join us for a presentation on the Four Ages of Man as we uncover the qualities of each age and consider questions such as: what leads to the decline, is it universal or individual, is it ordained and inexorable or a choice and under humanity's control? Finally, what lessons can the seeker of truth take from these stories?

Tickets cost $25, which includes refreshments, and are available here.

Wednesday, March 9

7 p.m.

Mariners Lodge 67 Stated Communication

and Maritime Festive Board

Work of the Evening:

Talk by Bro. Robert G. Davis titled

“The Journey to the Mature Masculine Soul”

Masonic Hall

71 West 23rd Street

Manhattan

Doric Room, Eighth Floor

Bro. Davis is a Freemason of over thirty years standing, having served in numerous Blue Lodge, Scottish Rite and York Rite capacities. He is a Past President and Fellow of the International Philalethes Society, a Past President of the Masonic Restoration Foundation, and the author of Understanding Manhood in America, Freemasonry’s Enduring Path to the Mature Masculine, and The Mason’s Words: the History and Evolution of the American Masonic Ritual.

Maritime Festive Board Menu—a Southern-style Feast: Low Country Fried Chicken; Barbecue Beef Short Ribs; Chicken Fried Steak with White Pepper Gravy; Macaroni & Cheese; Mashed Potatoes with Brown Gravy; Creamed Spinach; Long-Cooked Collard Greens; Buttermilk Biscuits; Soda, Seltzer and Mariners Punch.

Cost per person of the Festive Board is $35, plus transaction fees. Click here.

Saturday, March 12

9:30 a.m.

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research

and Education 1786

Papers will be presented

535 Main Street

(Hightstown-Apollo Lodge 41)

Hightstown, New Jersey

Sunday, March 13

Grand Master’s Day at Tappan

Click here.

Thursday, March 17

7 p.m.

2016 Wendell K. Walker Lecture:

by MW William J. Thomas, Grand Master

Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2

Masonic Hall

71 West 23rd Street (room TBA)

Manhattan

(details to come, and will be updated here)

Friday, March 18

7:30 p.m.

“Freemasonry and the Mystic Schools of the East”

by Bro. Mohamad Yatim

Atlas-Pythagoras Masonic Lodge 10

Westfield, New Jersey

Master Masons only.

March 18-19

SteinerBooks Seminar and Party:

Engaging the Heart

NYU Kimmel Center

60 Washington Square South

Manhattan

SteinerBooks’ annual spiritual research seminar at New York University’s Kimmel Center will feature professionals actively engaged in the world in developing new heart forces in social life, law, medicine, and education. Aonghus Gordon, Peter Gruenewald, Maureen Curran, and William Manning will explore contemporary problems and offer new models and paradigms to find creative solutions and opportunities for building a more human future. Read all the details here and plan to make the short walk up town for the After Party on Saturday, March 19.

Anthroposophy NYC is honored to host the SteinerBooks Spiritual Research Seminar After Party for a second year at our branch home just a few blocks away from NYU. Following last year’s well attended and spirited evening, we’ll again be offering a meeting place for seminar attendees to gather after the weekend’s events to enjoy warm company, live entertainment, biodynamic wines, and light refreshments. The party will commence shortly after the close of the seminar on Saturday. We invite everyone to join us for hearty post-seminar conversations before heading out to explore the NYC nightlife. Thanks to SteinerBooks for their collaboration and to all those who filled our branch last year. We look forward to another evening of living community!

Saturday, March 19

1 p.m.

Discuss Spiritual Laws with Dr. Lonnie Edwards

Rosicrucian Cultural Center

2303 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd.

Manhattan

Once we learn to tap inner resources, living will be an invigorating affair continuing. We need to keep foremost in our consciousness certain principles, conditions and laws to gain access to spiritual tools and to arrive at permanent solutions to life's challenges. Through lectures, participation in meditation, and visualization exercises, we will be given the opportunity to experience the value of discussing these principles in a group setting.

Facilitating the discussions will be Dr. Lonnie Edwards, Vice President of the EGL Board of Directors, and author of Spiritual Laws that Govern Humanity and the Universe.

Tuesday, March 29

“The Relations Between Freemasonry

and the Vatican”

by Bro. Pierre F. de Ravel d’Esclapon

Cocktails at 6:30 and lecture at seven

Masonic Hall (room TBA)

$20 per person

Open to Masons, family and friends

To benefit Holland Lodge Historical Society.

March 31 through April 2

New England Masonic Academic Convocation

Grand Lodge of Massachusetts

186 Tremont Street

Boston

Tickets and necessary information here.

     

‘Masonic Week in review’

     
Since Masonic Week was only two weeks ago, I don’t feel overly remiss in now getting to sharing some news and photos from the event. We gathered at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City in Virginia for the annual meetings and other happenings we enjoy.

What follows is by no means a comprehensive report of the activities, but is more like a “names in the news” summary. I do the best I can. I do not and cannot attend every meeting, so if I have omitted anyone, it’s nothing personal or intentional. It’s just difficult to keep track of all the elections and appointments. As so many brethren of The Masonic Society are ascending to the top echelons of the national governing bodies of the Masonic Week constituent fraternities, I use various “TMS” designations to identify Fellows and Members of The Masonic Society.

So, at The Masonic Society’s February 13 dinner, results of the elections of new officers and board members, and the elevations of new Fellows were announced to the more than fifty brethren and guests in attendance.

Ken Davis, The Masonic Society’s new president, displays the ceremonial gavel he is about to present to his predecessor, Jim Dillman of Indiana. Jim has guided the Society through a period of creative growth that is about to blossom in ways that will compel the Masonic world to take serious notice of our various doings. Sorry for being vague, but the announcements of the new initiatives are coming soon.

New Officers: Ken Davis of New Mexico is The Masonic Society’s new president. Patrick Craddock of Tennessee is the First Vice President, and I am the Second Vice President. Three new members have been added to the Board of Directors: Oscar Alleyne of New York, John Bizzack of Kentucky, and Mark Robbins of Minnesota.

Two TMS brethren were elected to become Fellows: again, John Bizzack, a frequent contributor to the pages of The Journal of the Masonic Society, and Michael A. Halleran, The Journal’s Executive Editor, and Past Grand Master of Kansas, and author, etc., etc.

Oscar Alleyne

In addition, Alleyne was the keynote speaker at the Society’s banquet. In remarks titled “The Masonic Scholar,” he employed humor and personal experience to illustrate the need for sober-minded responsibility in conducting Masonic research, especially in this age of frivolous internet sources offering misleading content. “I watched a young brother declare ‘Eureka!’ last week,” Alleyne said. “He visited a lodge in Montreal that had a set of aprons on display. One had these symbols: a set of blood drops, and a severed head. Well, this young brother said he stumbled upon an important find. He scoured the internet and found several references to John the Baptist—this apron, therefore was proof that John the Baptist was central in the Masonic world, and he was going to write a paper on it. This was exciting stuff.”

Courtesy A&ASR Jacksonville

“I politely informed him that the apron was for the Ninth Degree of the Scottish Rite, and that the jurisdiction he hails from no longer uses this apron, and it wasn’t anything significantly special. His response, deflated at best, was a resounding ‘Crap!’”

S. Brent Morris, Grand Abbott of the Society of Blue Friars, welcomes
BF No. 105, Michael Halleran of Kansas, to the Consistory.

The Society of Blue Friars is a small group of a highly select membership: published authors in service to the Craft. One new Friar, having been nominated by a current Friar, is named each year by the Grand Abbott—TMS Founding Fellow S. Brent Morris of Maryland—and the 2016 inductee is none other than new TMS Fellow Michael A. Halleran, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature: Freemasonry in the American Civil War. In addition, he is the creator of Hiram A. Brother, a Freemason of legend who is the diarist known through the pages of Bro. Brother’s Journal. Each new Blue Friar speaks on matters of Masonic significance at the annual meeting, and Halleran regaled his audience with a Brother biography steeped in the colorful humor for which the illustrated history is known.

Jeffrey Nelson tries on the Grand Chancellor’s collar and jewel at the Grand College of Rites’ meeting of February 13. It looks good! That’s retiring Grand Chancellor Lawrence Tucker at right.

TMS Founding Member Jeffrey N. Nelson of North Dakota was installed Most Illustrious Grand Chancellor of the Grand College of Rites of the United States of America. At the meeting of the Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests, he also was appointed Grand Outer Guard. The GCR’s new Right Illustrious Senior Vice Chancellor is TMS Founding Fellow and Board member Aaron M. Shoemaker of Missouri. He unveiled the College’s new website that week.

On the GCR agenda are a few very important items:

• Those of us who love Collectanea can look forward to the reprinting and availability of previous editions.
• Some procedure must be devised for the issuance of regalia, and the return of the regalia. Sometimes there is a problem retrieving a jewel or something else important. It’s a vexing worry in the event of an officer’s death, so I’m curious to see how this develops.
• A tax-exempt foundation will be incorporated so that the GCR may receive artifacts, intellectual property, and other gifts in a manner that permits the donor to benefit from an income tax deduction. This has been in the concept stage for a few years, and I hope it is brought to fruition.
• In other news, some more practical goals are coming into view. Fellows of the GCR can look forward to membership jewels (die-struck pieces with cloisonné decoration) and certificates. No date announced on this, but it’s in the works.
• Mitchell-Fleming Printing, Inc., a vendor familiar to several Masonic fraternities, is the new printer of Collectanea, the new edition of which should be reaching our mailboxes in the coming weeks.

TMS Member Lawrence E. Tucker of Texas, having just completed his year in the Grand East of the GCR, was installed Most Venerable Sovereign Grand Master of the Grand Council of Allied Masonic Degrees of the United States of America. Upon taking office, the Most Venerable has the privilege of appointing the new Grand Tyler, and Tucker named TMS Founding Member John C. Elkinton of Texas to the position.

The 2016 Grand Council of Allied Masonic Degrees
of the United States of America.

MV Douglas Moore was the retiring Grand Master. He is very soft-spoken, so it was a little difficult to discern everything he said in his allocution, but he made some excellent points, including a call on all AMD councils to get organized within their respective states and to organize annual meetings. I doubt he meant business meetings, but rather what we in New Jersey have, for a number of decades, called Ingatherings. AMD brethren come together for a day of presenting papers and conferring a degree and whatever else. Always a great time.

I was there in 2002 when the Marvin E. Fowler Award was first presented, so I always take an interest in the new honoree. This year it is William R. Logan, Past Sovereign Grand Master.

The AMD Grand Council meeting has gotten shorter in recent years (thank you Moises?), but it’s still a full afternoon. Thankfully there usually are emotional highs, like the Fowler Award presentation, and other revelations:

MV Prince Selvaraj of Ontario and MV Doug Moore.

MV Prince Selvaraj, a very familiar face at Masonic Week for a number of years, is the Immediate Past Sovereign Grand Master of AMD in Canada, and now he also is Honorary PSGM of AMD for the United States.

Bro. James, secretary of the unfortunately named Illuminati Council in Illinois, presents outgoing Grand Master Doug Moore with honorary membership in that AMD council.

Illuminati Council (God, I wish for a name change there) No. 495 in Illinois sent its secretary, Bro. James, to the meeting to bestow honorary membership on Doug Moore. It obviously was a touching gesture that surely has an interesting backstory.

In other news, International Relations Committee Chairman Allen Surratt reported there is interest in both Italy and Brazil to see the Allied Masonic Degrees expand. The feasibility of this is being investigated.

RV Mohamad and MV Doug.

And finally, for this meeting, among the advancement of the line officers, my friend Bro. Mohamad (TMS Member) is the new Junior Grand Deacon!

The irrepressible Reese Harrison of Texas.

Also in the AMD, Founding Fellow Reese L. Harrison, Jr. of Texas exited the East of the Council of Nine Muses. Unique in the AMD fraternity, Nine Muses consists of only nine members—well, nine muses—appointed for life, who rotate through the officer stations.

As is custom, the outgoing Sovereign Master presents a lecture of Masonic interest (not necessarily a research paper), and Reese spoke of metrics. Not as in sterile calculations of dimensions, but speaking movingly of a Mason’s need to lead a balanced life. Without invoking either the traditional 32° or Kabbalah, he spoke plainly of the perils of losing sight of the important aspects of life—family, community, business, et al.—while spending too much time pursuing the ultimately frivolous honors the Masonic fraternities confer. There is a practical problem for Masonic bodies, he explained, where someone accepts appointment to a board of trustees as just another honor, but is incapable of executing the fiduciary responsibilities. (I’ve seen that a number of times in my years in Freemasonry.) He spoke at length, I think without notes, recounting anecdotes and imparting wisdom drawn from a long (no offense, Reese) life. Perhaps an unexpected subject, especially from one who has been a Masonic Week regular for four decades, but a fitting and always timely one.

Former TMS Board Member Fred Kleyn is the new Master of Nine Muses.

In the Operatives, known formally as the Worshipful Society of Free Masons, Rough Masons, Wallers, Slaters, Paviors, Plaisterers and Bricklayers, the new Deputy Grand Master Mason for the Region of the United States of America is TMS Fellow George R. Haynes of Pennsylvania.

In the Order of Knight Masons, congratulations to you all.

Masonic Week 2017 will take place at the same hotel February 8 through 12. See you there.

I check into my room, go to the window to see what view there might be, and am confronted with multiple Templar crosses etched into the glass! Coincidence or Masonic conspiracy?!

 TMS Founding Members بافين دن. and Reed Fanning.

Reed and Prince Selvaraj of Ontario.

Michael, and TMS Members Ted and Ray.

TMS Founding Member Roberto and TMS Fellow Paul.

Although Stephen Dafoe quit the Masonic fraternity some years ago,
he is missed, and his presence is felt still.

Ted is the unofficial Masonic Week photographer.

Mohamad and Aaron in AMD regalia.

     

‘Grand Master’s Day’

   

Magpie file photo

It’s that time of year! Well, not really. Grand Master’s Day 2015 was canceled for October 4, but has been rescheduled for March 13, 2016 at DeWint House in Tappan, New York.

Masons, family, and friends are invited to take part in what I consider to be one of the most enjoyable afternoons on the Masonic calendar. I have been attending since, I think, 2009, and the weather has been perfect all but once, and even that was just a little brief rain.

A terrific buffet brunch at The ’76 House (110 Main Street, Tappan) begins at 11:30 a.m. Seating is very limited, so advance payment is required to hold your place. Make $25-per-person check payable to The ’76 House, and remit to Ken Merring. Contact him here.

At 1 p.m., the festivities at DeWint House (20 Livingston Avenue, Tappan) will begin. The program starts with brethren from West Point Lodge No. 877 presenting the colors with the assistance of cadets from the U.S. Military Academy and Masonic War Veterans of the State of New York, the National Sojourners, and the Heroes of ’76. In addition to addresses by both Grand Master William J. Thomas and Deputy Grand Master Jeffrey M. Williamson, there will be entertainment provided by the Chorus of Tappan Zee, and Mr. Jack Sherry appearing in his guise as Benjamin Franklin.

Continuing the tradition, a tree—a sycamore this time—will be dedicated in honor of the Grand Master.

Click here to see more of this wonderful historic site and museum, but better yet, get there some time to visit. If you cannot attend Grand Master’s Day, go to DeWint House during its regular hours and see this treasure for yourself.
    

‘Prestonian Lecturer visits LORE’

     
Five weeks have passed already, so before that becomes five years, let me share a little about the visit of the 2016 Prestonian Lecturer to New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education No. 1786. We hosted a dinner in Scotch Plains January 14 to welcome Bro. Richard “Ric” Berman of the United Grand Lodge of England.

Berman visited our beloved research lodge to present his historical lecture. Forty-five Masons from all over New Jersey, plus Pennsylvania, New York, and the Czech Republic(!) gathered at the Stage House Tavern to be among the first in the world to hear Bro. Ric’s lecture, titled “Foundations: New Light on the Formation and Early Years of the Grand Lodge of England.”

Courtesy Martin Bogardus

Prestonian Lecturer Ric Berman and David Tucker, Master
of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education No. 1786.

Magpie file photo

I keep seeing this photo all over the web.

The Prestonian Lecture is an English Masonic tradition that dates to 1822. It is named for William Preston, the author and printer and ritualist whose book Illustrations of Masonry provides the basis of the ritual used in New Jersey and most of the English-speaking Masonic world to this day. He died in 1822 and bequeathed the sum of £300 to the United Grand Lodge of England for the purpose of endowing a lecture of Masonic education that would be presented to the brethren every year. This endured to the 1860s, when it fell into abeyance, but the tradition was revived in 1924 and—except for the years of World War II—has continued to the present day, with the UGLE’s Board of General Purposes selecting a Prestonian Lecturer annually.

In 2016, the honoree is an authority on 18th century Freemasonry, having published three books on those early decades of the Craft. Ric holds a doctorate in history from the University of Exeter, and a master’s degree in economics from Cambridge. (In a previous life, before becoming the academic researcher and author who joined us that night, Ric had a career in international finance.) He was a Senior Visiting Researcher at Oxford’s Modern European History Research Center, and a Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University. He has been a Freemason since the late 1970s, and currently serves as Treasurer of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, the first lodge of Masonic research and education, and he is a past master of the research lodge in Middlesex, England.

Available from Amazon, etc.

The lecture is available in book form for purchase—with proceeds benefitting the Library and Museum of Freemasonry at UGLE’s headquarters—from on-line retailers, like Amazon, so I won’t recapitulate its content in detail, much less divulge spoilers. “Foundations” guides us from medieval times to the 17th century and Freemasonry’s embryonic years, to the first decades of the Grand Lodge of England. We all know about the Antients versus the Moderns in competition for Masonic hegemony, and of the Jacobites’ battles against the Hanoverians for control of the state, but the intrigues also extended into Parliament. Tories and Whigs who were Freemasons organized themselves into factions that set the Craft very far apart from all other clubs and societies in England.

“The Grand Lodge of England was the creation of an inner circle at the Duke of Richmond’s Masonic lodge in Westminster,” said Ric, explaining some of the politics. “Its members included aristocrats and politicians alongside senior public officials, such as an undersecretary of state and the government’s anti-Jacobite spymaster, and William Cowper, a leading magistrate and the clerk to the Parliaments, the highest ranking administrator at the House of Commons and House of Lords.”

“The magistracy and the government’s association with Freemasonry gave the organization a judicial and political imprimatur that was reinforced by many instances of de facto official endorsement,” he added. “Prominent examples include the raising of the Duke of Lorraine and the initiation of the Duke of Newcastle, and the initiation of other senior figures, including Prime Minister Robert Walpole, Frederick, Prince of Wales, and numerous members of both Court and Parliament.”

Ric spoke for about forty minutes, and the Q&A went another half an hour, and still the brethren crowded around Ric for private conversation for long after that, but I had to steal him away to return him to the hotel so he could get some rest before his trip to Virginia the next morning. (No one knows this until now, but Ric had been functioning on almost no sleep or food for the twenty-four hours previous to our dinner-meeting.) This Prestonian tour took Ric from North Carolina, where he spoke at four events in four nights, to Des Moines, to our event, and finally to Virginia before returning to England. He indicated he would like to return to the United States later in the year.

Courtesy Martin Bogardus

Martin Bogardus and Prestonian Lecturer Ric Berman.

New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education No. 1786 especially gives warm fraternal thanks to the brethren of Inspiratus Lodge No. 357 for providing our guests copies of the “Foundations” book, which made for a perfect souvenir of the evening. Also given away freely that night were petitions for joining our lodge, which hopefully will result in a larger L.O.R.E. family.

It was a memorable night of savory food, great company, and brilliant Masonic Light—actually, a number of the brethren told me how much they loved the meal—and while our lodge had budgeted a thousand dollars to pull it off, the whole thing cost us less than fifty bucks. I say we should do it every year!