‘The Economist: Hand wash, not handshakes for Masons’

     
It’s so new it is dated April 25, but the new issue of The Economist features a story from the United Kingdom about Freemasons’ initiatives to aid their countrymen during the pandemic with donations of everything from toilet paper and face masks to parking spots and hand sanitizer. Click here, but if you have no account with the publication, read on. The following is copyright © 2020 The Economist.

Out of the shadows

The freemasons want to be known

for hand wash, not handshakes

Covid-19 offers a chance

for some good publicity

The freemasons, a centuries-old network of fraternal lodges, have long provided fodder for thriller writers and folk with overactive imaginations. Suggestions of conspiracy range from the outlandish to the banal. Steve White, a former chairman of the Police Federation, a cops’ union, claimed they blocked reforms to the service. Masons roll their eyes at such claims. “There is The DaVinci Code and the keyboard warriors going crazy,” sighs Matt Felgate, a freemason from Lincolnshire’s Provincial Grand Lodge. “But much to my disappointment, it’s mainly about making yourself a better person.”

Covid-19 gives Mr. Felgate and his fellow masons the chance to step into the limelight, and demonstrate another side to their institution. He has transformed his gin distillery into a factory pumping out hand sanitizer. Masons in Scunthorpe have made more than 1,000 facemasks for carers. Other lodges have bought thousands of masks from China or are lending nurses their car parks. For once, being able to call in favors from a network of contacts seems positively altruistic. In Belfast, masons managed to find some 3,000 packs of loo roll. “I got together with someone I knew who owned a toilet-roll factory,” says Leslie Weir of the local lodge. “It’s just nice to be seen. We may have some secrets but it’s not a secret society.”

Masons emphasize that such charitable efforts are nothing new. Indeed, they claim their brotherhood is the second-biggest institutional donor in Britain. As well as being a good in itself, such public acts of philanthropy help to counter the brotherhood’s reputation for secrecy. David Staples, chief executive of the United Grand Lodge of England, the lodges’ governing body, says dispelling the public’s misconceptions about freemasons is a priority.

That includes dismissing the idea that the organization is set on advancing an agenda. “We’ve got trade-union leaders right through to captains of industry,” he points out. “I wouldn’t have a clue what our members’ political leanings are.” He nevertheless hopes that their efforts during the current crisis will be rewarded by a boom in initiations—including, perhaps, your correspondent. “When all this is over, please do come and visit us,” he urges.

     

‘Moe & Moe present two Michaels’

     
Moe & Moe Productions (that’s Mohamad and Moises) proudly present two online events starring two Michaels to help get us through this time of enforced Refreshment:

 Click images to enlarge.

     

‘Weird Fact Wednesday: Jack White’s newly upholstered bench’

     

All images courtesy Third Man Upholstery

I’ve heard of “the furniture of the lodge,” but this is something else!

Third Man Upholstery

You know Jack White is a rock star, but did you know he is a master upholsterer and furniture repair expert too? I suppose it is wise to have something to fall back on.

This edition of Weird Fact Wednesday concerns the news of how White gave new life to a piece of former Masonic seating used inside a one time Masonic temple that today is an arts center. A few hours ago, CityBeat published the story, based on photos from White’s upholstery company’s Instagram account.

CityBeat says:


One of White’s most recent projects is a vintage Masonic bench, which he restored—and added a bit of creative flair to in the form of a built-in amplifier—as a gift to Johnny Wirick’s Masonic Sounds Studio inside of Dayton, Kentucky’s The Lodge, a century-old Masonic lodge that has been renovated into a bustling arts hub over the past decade.

When asked where he plans to put the bench, Wirick said White told him he had a “dream” it would go into The Lodge’s Blue Room (the Masonic Sounds Studio).

The lodge room seating, as it was.

The work in progress.

Et voila!

Click here to see all the photos White shared on his Third Man Upholstery Instagram page. Be sure to watch the brief video of White, armed with a Les Paul, demonstrating the amp inside the bench. Also, note the hilarious photo captions.

Click here for The Lodge in Kentucky (although it is right outside Cincinnati, Ohio).

Click here for the CityBeat story.
     

‘The Nine Lives of Benjamin Franklin’

     

Profs & Pints Online will present “The Nine Lives of Benjamin Franklin” with Richard Bell, associate professor of history at the University of Maryland, on Wednesday night, and $12 will get you in. That’s 7 p.m. Reserve here. From the publicity:


Benjamin Franklin’s genius is a puzzle. Born the tenth and youngest son of a decidedly humble family of puritan candle-makers, his rise to the front ranks of science, engineering, and invention was as unexpected as it was meteoric. Despite having only two years of formal schooling, he would end up receiving honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and St. Andrews, as well as the 18th century equivalent of a Nobel Prize for physics.

Like his hero Isaac Newton, Franklin was driven by a perpetual dissatisfaction with the world as he knew it. He optimized, tinkered, and improved. Hardly the tortured genius, he took a schoolboy’s pleasure in everything he made. Experimenting was a constant source of beauty, pleasure, and amusement for him, even when things went wrong (which they did all the time).

In this talk, Professor Richard Bell will examine many of Franklin’s ideas to make life simpler, cheaper, and easier for himself and everyone else. It turns out that those ideas encompassed not only natural science and engineering—the kite experiments and the bifocals for which he is justly remembered—but also all sorts of public works, civic improvements, political innovation, and fresh new business ideas. His experimenter’s instinct, his relentless drive to build a better world one small piece at a time, even encompassed innovations in medical device design, in music, in cookery, and in ventriloquism.

Dr. Bell, a hilarious and engaging speaker who ranks as a Profs and Pints crowd favorite, will discuss what lessons—and great intellectual habits—we all can learn by examining Benjamin Franklin’s life. Tickets are $12. Live, interactive talk broadcast via Crowdcast technology. A recorded version of the talk and Q&A will remain available at the ticket link.
     

‘Stamp Club to carry on’

     

Courtesy GWMSC

The stamp club brethren chatting before the meeting in February.

The George Washington Masonic Stamp Club lives on, according to a note from Walter Benesch, immediate past president. Walter led the group for almost the entire last 30 years, and indicated that the club would fold unless others met the challenge of providing direction into the future. They hosted their annual meeting February 20 where Stefan Benjamin Dodson was elected president for this two-year term.

Walter tells me the new president is almost half Walter’s age, and that the new webmaster has assumed the duties of cachet master as well. “A major turn-over,” he says, “but all positive.”

Masonic philately is not what it used to be. I think the George Washington Club is the last remaining Masonic stamp club in the country. It meets every February at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia, where it confers the Master of Philately Degree on its members. Life membership costs $20.
     

‘Moises to deliver the Truman Lecture’

     

Missouri Lodge of Research’s Truman Lecture Series will continue as scheduled, but with this difference: It will be shown online.

Moises Gomez, once and future Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, will present his well traveled “Freemasonry and the Underground Railroad” on Saturday, May 16 at noon Central Time.

There is no cost to join in, but it will be carried via Zoom, so you’ll need to have an account set up, and you also will register here. From the publicity:

Freemasonry and 

the Underground Railroad

Once again, many Freemasons stepped in and gave of themselves with considerable risk to do what was right. Slavery is a significant part of American history, and led to the Civil War that turned brother against brother, and culminated in voting rights, civil rights, and the end of segregation in America.

This is a powerful lecture which deals in Toleration, Equality, Justice, Truth, Sacrifice, Acceptance, and Respect for others.

Open to all Master Masons, family and friends.

“The time is right to always

do what is right.”

  

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Research Lodge was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Missouri, AF&AM on September 30, 1941 under the direction of MW Harry S Truman for the purpose of gathering and disseminating historical information pertaining to the origin and development of Freemasonry and to its members who have contributed to its growth and development.

One of the annual events that the Missouri Lodge of Research sponsors is the Truman Lecture, which has hosted a number of notable Masons over the years on a variety of topics. Most remarkable about the series is that it represents Freemasonry in action, the act of presenting to its membership a breadth of knowledge and information by some of the most notable speakers in the contemporary craft.

Membership in MOLoR is open to any Master Mason in or out of the state of Missouri. In-state members may participate as active members, with access to lectures and events in the state. Out-of-state correspondent members receive MoLAR’s quarterly newsletter, an annual book selection published by the Lodge of Research, and all of their other correspondence materials.
     

‘Free at last: The Journal of the Masonic Society!’

     

It was way back on March 17 when Parabola, one of my favorite magazines, made available for free a PDF of its “Alone & Together” issue from 2012. “Quarantine reading,” they call it, to ease some of the pain of enforced “social distancing,” and it makes me happy to announce that the Masonic Society is revealing its first several years of publications to you today.

As this edition of The Magpie Mason goes to press, we have our first twenty issues of The Journal of the Masonic Society available for reading via our website. Click here.

I think more will be forthcoming—we’re still working it out—but, in the meantime, enjoy!

It is not a secret that The Journal of the Masonic Society revolutionized Masonic publishing in the United States when we launched in 2008. Practically overnight, other publishers realized they had been complacent and estranged from the expectations of their readers. From various grand lodge periodicals to The Knight Templar and The Philalethes, the editorial boards and other governing bodies recognized they had an immediate need to revamp their periodicals. Making editorial content relevant and graphic design attractive became urgent goals, thanks to the unexpected competition hatched by Journal Editor Chris Hodapp, his team, and the many contributors whose writings and photography have made us so proud all these years.

If you came to the Masonic Society later, and are not familiar with these early years, check it out. If you’re somehow still not a member of the Masonic Society, you can remedy that right here.
     

‘Sketches from an Esoteric Notebook’

     

Bro. Julian Rees, the noted UGLE Freemason turned Droit Humain Freemason, offered the following thought, “to sustain us all in this uncertain time,” via social media:


“As I write this I am sitting in the garden surrounded by evidence of life. I can see a butterfly fluttering round a bush. I can hear a bird showing off his vocal range. I can feel my own heart beating. I am not a fatalist, but I do recognize that at any moment the butterfly may stop, the bird fall silent, and my heart seize up forever.”


The “this” he was writing resulted in his new book, published three weeks ago, titled Freemasonry for the Heart and Mind: Sketches from an Esoteric Notebook. It seems to be unavailable in the United States right now, pending, I suppose, the post-pandemic return of normal shipping. From the publicity:


Julian Rees has been writing about Freemasonry for many years, promoting the deeper, esoteric aspects of the Freemason’s Craft. His speculative writing on the symbolism, allegory, and ritual aspects has become for many the touchstone of Masonic education and information.

In this compendium, he writes about the different aspects of brotherhood; the power of allegory; the spirituality inherent in the Craft; the reality of Freemasonry stripped of extraneous matters; the importance of Truth in all areas of Freemasonry; about the way we can make sense of chaos and invest in harmony, order and peace; and the importance of the tools the Freemason uses in his work and on his path.

Here he gives us some insights, some old some new, arranged in themes to illustrate the rich tapestry of Freemasonry.


From his bio:

Julian Rees was initiated in Kirby Lodge 2818, under the United Grand Lodge of England, in London in 1968. He was Master in 1976-77 and again at the centenary of the lodge in 1999-2000. He served as Junior Grand Deacon of the UGLE, and he is a holder of the Silver Matchbox Award of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement. He has been honored by the Institut Maçonnique de France with the Ordre Maçonnique de Lafayette, and served as Master of the German-speaking Pilgrim Lodge 238 in 1978-79. He is currently a member of the International Order of Freemasonry for Men and Women, Le Droit Humain, in London.

Rees was a regular contributor to the quarterly magazine Freemasonry Today since its founding in 1997, and served as deputy editor and news editor from 2003 to 2007.

In 2003, he delivered the prestigious Wendell K. Walker Memorial Lecture in New York, titled “Through Ritual to Enlightenment.”

He was one of the founding members of The Cornerstone Society, serving as Secretary for a number of years, and has given talks about Freemasonry in numerous lodges around the world.

He is the author of five works on Freemasonry:

• More Light: Today’s Freemasonry for Men & Women
• Making Light: A Handbook for Freemasons
• The Stairway of Freemasonry: 30 Short Talks and Questions
• So You Want to be a Freemason?
• The Tracing Boards of the Three Degrees in Freemasonry Explained
• Ornaments, Furniture, and Jewels

Julian recently has been writing for The Square, England’s independent Masonic journal, and is the editor of the Droit Humain publication for the UK: The Freemason.
     

‘Masonic Society Journal 48’

      

The cover of the Spring 2020 issue of The Journal of the Masonic Society shows the Egyptian Room of Freemasons’ Hall in Dublin, the headquarters of the Grand Lodge of Ireland. Listen, I’ve been telling you to join TMS for twelve years, so if you’re not reading The Journal, see a psychiatrist, okay?

Issue No. 48 (Spring 2020) of The Journal of the Masonic Society is hitting members’ mailboxes now and, while Editor-in-Chief Michael Poll doesn’t do “themes,” this issue seems to follow a line of thought.

In his inaugural message, the Society’s new president encourages the reader to take on Freemasonry like a discipline to study and master. It’s an activity. While every member of the Masonic Society obviously has a desire to learn about his fraternity, the next simple step is to undertake even a modest personal investigation into what it all means. “Every answer found within Freemasonry begins with a question,” he writes. “Did you know that you can look up an answer to a question you have?”

Writing from his desk, Editor Poll asks “Is Freemasonry a Moral Philosophy?” Such thinking, he says, “is understood as a component of philosophy dealing with ethical questions of living and interacting with others.” He quickly decides that, yes, the Craft does impart a moral philosophy, citing the Hiramic legend as the obvious example, but he concludes our Order’s shortcoming is in how we teach the lessons but promptly jump to something else. “It is like having a glass of fine wine and gulping it down in one large mouthful.” But there is no easy fix either, he explains. “We should recognize that integrity is more than a word and that Freemasonry is far more than a club. We should become what our teachings say we should be.”

Secrecy, Ciphers, Codes, and Hermeneutics

My fellow New York City Mason John Beatty of Schiller Lodge 304, professor emeritus at Brooklyn College, invites us into the world of “Secrecy, Ciphers, Codes, and Hermeneutics.” In addition to explaining the differences among these systems, Beatty walks us through the process of making sense of their workings—and does so in a fun and engaging style that brings in examples from literature and film to illustrate what he means. There are reasons why Masonic codes have been discarded, but Masonic symbols endure. Read his findings to find out more.

Masonic Society Founding Fellow and former Board member Mark Tabbert is director of collections at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Virginia, and in these pages he illumines the “Lighthouse of Freemasonry.” This beacon is the Memorial itself which, Tabbert recounts, is modeled on the lighthouse of Ostia of ancient Rome, but serves the Craft today as “the light of George Washington’s character, the light of Freemasonry…the light that calls good men to be better.” Mark’s essay is of special interest to Ohio Masons, as he provides a history of how the Memorial was highly cherished and supported by the brethren of that state.

My friend W. Bro. Marty Bogardus, senior warden of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786, treats us to a think piece titled “The Tipping Point of Freemasonry,” which takes an unflinching look at the danger that could befall any of us, should the function of our rituals lose their urgency, in our minds, and become mere form. “To rekindle our love affair with Freemasonry, we must continually witness the conferring of every degree through the eyes of one who has just knocked at the door of Freemasonry.” Amen, brother.

Bro. Mark St. John, senior warden of Urim (what a name!) Lodge 111 in Louisiana, reveals to us “The Ashlars of the Temple,” which is full of lessons describing the realities of life in the fraternity. Just as there are obvious differences between rough stones and hewn, and between ashlars used for constructing exterior walls and interior walls, so too are there differences among Free and Accepted Masons themselves. “It is important that a Brother find his place and be given the ability to excel, all while acting by the character shaped for him by our ritual and lessons.” (I wish someone had been there to advocate for me like this 20 years ago!)

The taboos inherent in updating Masonic classic books are overcome by The Journal’s Book Reviews Editor Michael Moran and Bro. Seth Anthony, both of Pennsylvania. Using a book from 1985 titled The Exemplar: A Guide to a Mason’s Actions written by then Pennsylvania Grand Master William A. Carpenter, the brethren cited the methods they employed to make the text sound right to the modern ear, and listed a number of specific revisions they made in that process. Success was achieved by respecting the original writing, while also bringing additional cooks into this editorial kitchen. Good for them on enhancing an existing educational text for today’s Masons!

In the Travel section, Masonic educator par excellence Michael Poll tells us of his recent trip to a Grand Lodge of Alaska communication. (The Masonic Society’s third president was MW Bro. Bo Cline, past grand master of that jurisdiction.) Michael was invited to speak there, but he listened a lot also, concluding that this grand jurisdiction is doing what the thinking Mason would want. In music, he says, “you can hit all the right notes and keys, but without feeling, it’s empty… [and] I felt something very strong in the Grand Lodge of Alaska.” You can trust Mike on this one—he is a descendent of Beethoven, and he once jammed with Chuck Berry!

TMS Founding Fellow and Masonic éminence grise Tom Jackson of Pennsylvania also was in Alaska with Mike, and the text of his speech to the grand lodge rounds out the features of this issue of The Journal. If you’ve ever heard Tom speak or are familiar with his writings, you know candid commentary and brotherly tough love gird his presentation. In “Masonic Education: Looking to the Future,” tells us again that education is key to making Freemasonry in the United States stable and viable. It is learning that builds the foundation of the useful individual Mason, and it is the learned individual Mason who makes the lodge that will be there for the next generations, and that lodge will benefit the world. “Historians are finally acknowledging the influence that our Craft has had on some of the greatest leaders that the world has ever known at a time when we are failing to educate our own membership of this influence,” Jackson admonishes. “Instead of trying to raise our standards and to improve our image in society, we continue to reduce our standards and to lower the requirements to become a Mason and to remain a Mason.”

“This world truly needs an organization based upon a foundation of the philosophical purposes of Freemasonry,” he adds, concluding on a hopeful note. “If we are deserving of our heritage, then we must undertake a program of educating ourselves and our membership.” (I am envisioning every member of the Masonic Society saying “So mote it be.”)

There are regular features rounding out this issue of The Journal. The full-page calendar of Masonic events takes us through the end of spring, from research lodge meetings across the nation and abroad, to conferences, Masonic Cons, and Esotericons all over—but, of course, I bet everything has been postponed due to the pandemic. In photography, TMS Second Vice President Gregory Knott leads us on a tour of the International Peace Garden, located at the geographic center of North America, and shows us the Masonic sights there. On the back cover, Journal Art Director John Bridegroom treats us to a close-up shot of a Commander Noah collar jewel. (If you don’t know what that is, you should join the Society!) And in the very insightful book reviews, look for critiques of new books by Alain de Keghel, Walter Willets, Louie Blake Sarmiento, and R. William Weisberger. In “News of the Society,” Chris Hodapp and I share what we were able to glean from the recent Masonic Week activities in Virginia. Lots of great photos, and to make a long story short: It looks like members of the Masonic Society are ascending to the leadership posts of these quirky Masonic groups!

It’s the best 45 bucks you’ll spend in Freemasonry. Click here.

     

‘Gordon Davie, R.I.P.’

     

Magpie file photo

Prestonian Lecturers Gordon Davie, John Wade, and Trevor Stewart, September 2009.

Bro. Moises shared on Facebook the sad news of the death today of Bro. Gordon Davie of the United Grand Lodge of England, and a Past Prestonian Lecturer. I met him only once, but he made an impression.

  

Magpie file photo

Bro. Gordon Davie

Hard to believe it’s been more than ten years since, but in September 2009 there was a very special event that Bro. Rob and I put together in New Jersey. Collaborating with Bro. Trevor Stewart, we arranged a banquet at which Trevor and two other Prestonians took turns at the lectern while we lucky ones supped on a five-course feast. We called it the Prestonian Gala. You can see a little more about that here.

Anyway, between the serious discussions of historical importance both Trevor and Bro. John Wade brought to light, Davie gave us the story of the early days of the Grand Stewards Lodge with some wonderfully hilarious factual details.

Magpie file photo

It was a great night thanks in large part to Bro. Davie. I wrote it up for an early issue of The Journal of the Masonic Society. This photograph of the jewel of the Prestonian Lecturer, that I use repeatedly here on The Magpie (and that many others have borrowed), is of Gordon’s jewel.

Alas, my brother.

Davie was a Past Master of Quatuor Coronati 2076, whose website says:

Gordon Davie was initiated into the Chelsfield Lodge, No. 6405, Province of West Kent in 1964. He became Master of Chelsfield Lodge, No. 6405, in 1964, and has been Master of the following lodges: Lodge of Regularity, No.91 (1988); West Kent Masters Lodge, No. 5778 (1998); Founder & PM of Good Neighbour Lodge, No.83789 (1984); Helios Lodge, No.8311 (1987); West Kent Provincial Grand Stewards Lodge, No.8565 (1976); Fiennes Cornwallis Lodge, No. 9279 (2000); West Kent Lodge of Charity, No.9610 (1999); and Lodge of St Julian, No.5076. Appointed Provincial Grand Steward (Kent ), 1969; Provincial DGDC, 1973 (West Kent), Provincial DC, 1977-8 (West Kent), APGM, 1988-93 (West Kent); AGDC, 1978; PSGD, 1988. Nominated Grand Steward by the Lodge of Regularity, 1988, and Secretary to the Board of Grand Stewards, 1988, he was Cornwallis Lecturer, 2004, and Prestonian Lecturer, 2005.

    

‘Time To Toast meet Tea At Three’

     

Courtesy chairish.com

I heard a brother of grand rank got a little wobbly and needed to be helped into a chair at the proposal of this gesture, but it’s for a worthy cause. Thanks to a good brother Mark Mason in Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire, we have Tea at Three now.

Time to Toast (#TimeToToast) arrives when the hands on the clock form the angle of a square at the nine o’clock hour, and Tea At Three (#TeaAtThree) does likewise at, yes, 3 p.m.—scandalously an hour ahead of conventional tea time—but, again, it’s for the noble and glorious purpose of Masonic solidarity at this time of forced absence.*

Now I’m inspired to announce something for the 9 a.m. hour. Hmmmmm. Yes! Nic at Nine (#NicAtNine). We all shall light our pipes, or whatever is handy, at nine o’clock in the morning. Some suggestions:

Photos courtesy Pipes & Cigars

*There is no truth to the slanderous rumor that Freemasons dial 998 for special responses during emergencies! Just wanted to put that out there.
     

‘Masonic librarians to go electric for annual meeting’

     

The president of the Masonic Library and Museum Association announced today that a web-based virtual meeting will take the place of the physical annual meeting scheduled for September.

Who knows if it’s a premature decision? The announcement is to allow travelers ample opportunity to cancel flights and hotel bookings. The event had been planned for September 11 through 13 at Grand Rapids, Michigan.

“It is our plan to hold an electronic meeting to conduct the business of the organization,” said Brian Rountree in his April 4 letter to the membership. “At this time, it is hoped we can arrange to host a meeting on Saturday, September 12 at 3 p.m. Central time.”

Bro. Rountree, MLIS, is grand librarian of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba.
     

‘2020 Prestonian Lecture book now available’

     

The book of the 2020 Prestonian Lecture was published a few days ago, and now is available for purchase via Amazon.

A System of Morality: Aristotle and English Masonic Ritual by George Boys-Stones can be had in Kindle format and as a paperback. From the publicity:


English Freemasonry defines itself as a “system of morality,” but what does that phrase mean? This new study traces it back to the work of William Preston (1742-1818), who argued that Freemasonry teaches a philosophical approach to virtue. According to Preston, the rituals of Freemasonry are designed to lead the initiate through the ethical thought of Aristotle. His view proved popular, and was decisive in shaping the ritual approved for use by the United Grand Lodge of England shortly after its formation in 1813. Almost all English lodges, and many others throughout the world, still use a ritual derived from this one, and, perhaps without realizing it, continue to pay silent testimony to Preston and to Aristotle in their work.


I had Bro. Boys-Stones booked to present his Prestonian Lecture next month at my lodge in Manhattan and my research lodge in New Jersey, but Coronamania intervened. We’ll get those events rescheduled. In the meantime, I’m getting this book!

Every year, the United Grand Lodge of England selects a worthy brother to serve as the Prestonian Lecturer; in this capacity, he travels the jurisdiction to deliver his lecture in lodges and other venues. Sometimes they travel abroad. This tradition was commenced upon the death of William Preston in 1818 with a bequest to the new grand lodge, and has continued uninterrupted (excepting the years of the Second World War) since.
     

‘Weird Fact Wednesday: Solomon and the iron worker’

     

Iron Worker and King Solomon by Christian Schussele, oil on canvas, 1863. On display at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, near the Masonic Temple.

The subject of this edition of Weird Fact Wednesday isn’t genuinely weird, but there is a good story about it.

There is an artwork titled Iron Worker and King Solomon that you probably are familiar with. It originated as a painting by Christian Schussele of Philadelphia, who created it in 1863 for one Joseph Harrison, a renowned builder of railroads. (Schussele died in New Jersey in 1879.)

The 1996 edition of Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia says this painting is owned by Joseph’s great grandson, John P.S. Harrison, who was raised a Master Mason at Holland Lodge 8 in New York City on November 26, 1935. Without checking with the lodge’s secretary, I’ll assume Bro. Harrison is deceased.

But, in 1889, says Coil’s, “John Sartain, America’s most famous etcher, made a 25 by 36 inch etching of the picture for the Harrison family,” and “he did another 18 by 25 inches for William M. Bradley & Co. of Philadelphia, who sold prints for a number of years.” The Philadelphia Print Shop Ltd., which offers one today for $600, puts the date at 1876 and says:


“Harrison’s fortune was made in steel manufacturing, so the [painting’s backstory] had a special significance to him. The symbol of the iron worker was also an important one for the industrial northern states, whose heavy manufacturing capability allowed the North to win the Civil War and preserve the Union. This striking print is one of the best examples of John Sartain’s mezzotinting, and it is a classic American image.”


Later, the plate was sold to Macoy Masonic Supply Co. in Virginia, says Coil’s, “who continue to sell a great many prints.” I think this is how many of us today know the image. It also had been published, with a lighthearted modification, in the quarterly publication of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 for years. The Library of Congress makes a photo of the print available here.

So, what is the story conveyed by the painting?

Joseph Harrison, the steel and railroad magnate, compiled a book in 1868 for private circulation titled The Iron Worker and King Solomon. The copy the author personally inscribed and gave as a gift to the artist Schussele can be viewed in Google Books via the Pennsylvania State University library system, which itself received the book from the Class of 1932.

Harrison writes of a “Rabbinic legend” that tells the story of a blacksmith who crashes the celebration party thrown after the completion of King Solomon’s Temple. I have to admit I do not know the origins of this legend—maybe the Talmud—but this is the story on which the painting is based:


And it came to pass when Solomon, the son of David, had finished the Temple of Jerusalem, that he called unto him the chief architects, the head artificers, and cunning men working in silver and gold, and in wood, and in ivory and stone, — yea, all who aided in working on the Temple of the Lord.

And he said to them, “Sit ye down at my table, for I have prepared a feast for all my chief workers and artificers. Stretch forth your hands, therefore, and eat and drink and be merry. Is not the laborer worthy of his hire? Is not the skillful artificer deserving of honor? Muzzle not the ox that treadeth out the corn.”

And when Solomon and the chief workmen were seated, and the fatness of the land and the oil thereof were upon the table, there came one who knocked loudly upon the door, and forced himself even into the festal chamber. Then Solomon the King was wroth, and said, “What manner of man art thou?”

And the man answered and said, “When men wish to honor me, they call me Son of the Forge, but when they desire to mock me, they call me Blacksmith; and seeing that the toil of working in fire covers me with sweat, the latter name, O King, is not inapt, and in truth I desire no better.”

“But,” said Solomon, “why comest thou thus rudely and unbidden to the feast, where none save the chief workmen of the Temple are invited?”

And the man replied, “Please ye, I came rudely because the servant obliged me to force my way; but I came not unbidden. Was it not proclaimed that the chief workmen of the Temple are invited to dine with the King of Israel?”

Then he who carved the cherubim said, “This fellow is no sculptor.”

And he who inlaid the roof with pure gold said, “Neither is he a worker in fine metals.”

And he who raised the walls said, “He is not a cutter of stone.”

And he who made the roof cried out, “He is not cunning in cedar wood, neither knoweth he the mystery of uniting strange pieces of timber together.”

Then said Solomon, “What hast thou to say, Son of the Forge? Why should I not order thee to be plucked by the beard, scourged with a scourge, and stoned to death with stones?”

When the Son of the Forge heard this, he was in no sort dismayed, but advancing to the table, snatched up and swallowed a cup of wine, and said, “O King, live forever! The chief men of the workers in wood and gold and stone have said that I am not of them, and they have said truly. I am their superior. Before they lived, I was created. I am their master, and they are all my servants.”

And he turned himself round and said to the chief of the carvers in stone, “Who made the tools with which you carve?”

And he answered, “The Blacksmith.”

And he said to the chief of the workers in wood, “Who made the tools with which you hewed the trees of Lebanon, and formed them into pillars and roof for the Temple?”

And he answered, “The Blacksmith.”

Then he said to the artificer in gold and ivory, “Who makes your instruments by which you work beautiful things for my Lord, the King?”

And he answered, “The Blacksmith.”

“Enough, enough, my good fellow”, said Solomon. “Thou hast proved that I invited thee, and that thou art all men’s father in art. Go wash the sweat of the forge from thy face, and come and sit at my right hand. The chiefs of my workmen are but men. Thou art more.”


And so the painting depicts the iron worker seated at the right of the king’s throne, the place of honor.

Anyway, Coil’s reports that Holland Lodge’s Harrison loaned the painting to the Union Club of the City of New York and that it is on display there. Last October, I asked the librarian there about it, but she says the club has no record of it. Turns out that Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts acquired it, I think in 1990, thanks to money donated by an anonymous benefactor. We can see it exhibited there.