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BACK NEXT Summer 2008 Issue 45 Letter from the Editor Grand Lodge News News and Views On The Level International News Beyond the Craft Perambulating the Lodge Masonic Dining and Celebration Interview: The Grand Chancellor The Orator Walking the Way of Saint James Abd el-Kader: Algerian Nationalist and Freemason Province of Cambridgeshire Library & Museum Brother Lightfoote's Journal Review: Committed to the Flames Review: The Mythology of Secret Societies Review: The Dawn of Astrology Letters to the Editor Internet Library & Museum of Freemasonry Grand Lodge Quarterly Communication Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter RMBI Masonic Samaritan Fund Grand Charity RMTGB Canon Richard Tydeman: Looking unto the Rock Copyright 1997-2008 FREEMASONRY TODAY Designed and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited

FREEMASONRY TODAY Masonic Biographies Abd El-Kader: Algerian Nationalist and Freemason Freemasonry can count many extraordinary members in its history, but surely one of the greatest must be Abd El-Kader – an Algerian nationalist, a Sufi Saint, and a towering figure of nineteenth-century Islam. Abd El-Kader was born at Guetna near Mascara in Algeria on 6 September 1808. He was a descendent of the Prophet Mohammed and by the age of fourteen he was a recognised Hafiz – someone who had memorised the entire Koran ... Mozart's Genius and Masonry This year Austria is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth, on 27 January 1756, of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the greatest composers of all time. In Salzburg, the city of his birth, celebrations include performances of all of his operas; in Vienna, celebrations under the banner of Mozart Year 2006 are taking place, including substantial exhibitions at the refurbished house in the Domgasse near the cathedral, where he wrote Figaro, and ... Nicholas Stone: Accepted Freemason In the summer of 1718, one year after the formation of the London Grand Lodge, the second Grand Master, Mr. George Payne, requested that Brethren donate ‘any old Writings’ concerning masonry. Accordingly, several manuscripts were produced. However, it was subsequently reported that, sometime in 1720, ‘several very valuable Manuscripts… concerning the Fraternity… particularly one writ[ten] by Mr. Nicholas Stone the Warden of Inigo Jones’ were tragically ‘burnt’. Although ... Architect, Freemason and Visionary: Victor Horta The exit from the Gare Midi in Brussels leads straight out into the wide square named after Baron Victor Pierre Horta. Further along, in the rue Americaine, is Musée Horta and you cannot go far in Brussels without encountering places and buildings bearing his name, and sporting the romantic curves and classical proportions of Art Nouveau, with which he is associated. He was undoubtedly one of the most famous 19th century architects and skilled ... Advancing Medical Science The years between 1830 and 1860 were rich years for Freemasonry, since in that period many of the men were born who later shaped the Craft. But one man, Henry Solomon Wellcome, who was born in that period, went on to be not only an exemplary Freemason, but also the leader of what became a world-wide pharmaceutical empire, and an extraordinary collector and archaeologist. Henry Wellcome was born in Almond ... Philip Duke of Wharton, Grand Master 1722-23 In May 1722 the French government informed their British counterparts of a plot: a planned rising by the supporters of the Stuart cause, the Jacobites. It was to be aided by Irish regiments based in France and Spain. Details of the plot were not immediately known but the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and Secretary of State, Lord Townshend, transformed Hyde Park into a military camp, requested Dutch military assistance and recalled troops ... John Pine: The Sociable Craftsman In 1731, the only surviving copy of King John’s Magna Carta bearing the royal seal was damaged in a fire. To record its appearance before it further deteriorated, an engraving of the document was made. An alderman of the city of London was so delighted with the result that he gave the artist twenty guineas ... Murder and Masonry In the sparse, hushed courtroom, the judge prepared to pronounce sentence of death. Looking straight at the prisoner, he said; ‘We both belong to the same Brotherhood,’ (he faltered here) ‘and though that can have no influence with me, this is painful beyond words for me to have to say what I am saying, but our Brotherhood does not encourage crime, it condemns it.’ This was the culmination of a sensational trial, sensational not only ... The Greatest Virtuoso With these words, Captain Elias Ashmole made the first known personal record of initiation into a lodge of Accepted Free Masons, anywhere in the world. Elias Ashmole: “the greatest virtuoso and curioso that was ever read of in England before his time”, declared contemporary Anthony à Wood. I have been fascinated by this luminous “saint of the gnostic church” for many years. In ages of greatness he has been seen as great; in an age of straw-men ... Alvin Langdon Coburn: Artist - Photographer “Searching for beauty to photograph opens our eyes to a new world of beauty; this is perhaps one of its most valuable gifts to us, it makes us increasingly mindful of an ever-richer and more glorious beauty in men and things, and in the panorama of the universe. Yet, behind the ever-changing beauty of the material world, there abides, immutable and serene, an Eternal Beauty which is its Cause, and the guarantee of its perfection ..." New Light on Sir Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren is undoubtedly England's most celebrated architect; for Freemasons there has long been the whisper that he was also a Brother. Contemporaries clearly stated that he became a Mason, yet many writers have tended to regard these accounts as little more than fables. However, evidence reveals that there has been a fatal flaw in the way historians have approached the origins of the craft, and which places the story of Wren's ... Obituary - MW Bro. Rt. Hon. Lord Farnham, 1931-2001 It was with considerable sadness that the news was received that, after a long illness, MW Bro., the Rt. Hon. Lord Farnham, Past Pro Grand Master, had died on 22 March. In Grand Lodge on 14 March, the MW. The Grand Master referred to him as ‘my trusty and much loved Pro Grand Master’ who ‘has served the Craft with great distinction, at home and abroad’, sentiments with which all who knew Lord Farnham would heartily agree. Born in 1931, after education at Eton and Harvard, and service as a Lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues), he entered the City as a merchant banker with Brown Shipley; he served as Chairman 1984-91. He was later to be ... Obituary On 7 March 2000 one of the great figures of 20th century Freemasonry, Sir James Stubbs, died aged 89 after 69 years of service to Freemasonry. James Wilfrid Stubbs was born 13 August 1910 at Barkway, Hertfordshire, where his father was Rector. His Grandfather, William Stubbs, had been Professor of History at Oxford, Bishop of Chester, Bishop of Oxford and Chancellor of the Order of the Garter ... Samuel Wesley Samuel Wesley was the son of Charles Wesley, the hymn-writer and nephew of John wesley, the founder of Methodism. Charles, his brother, had a prodigious musical talent and was a strong influence on Samuel. In 1778 the Wesley family moved from Bristol to London and settled in Marylebone. Here the two boys performed at a number of concerts. Charles at the age of twenty adopted the profession of music and built up a reputation and practice as a teacher. Samuel is particularly remembered for introducing the music of J.S.Bach to this country ... Who Was Lord Petre, Anyway? I am a Companion of Pythagorean Chapter No 79, a member of the Petre Group. The Group is named after the 9th Lord Petre (1733-1810), a man about whom I knew nothing until I began researching a lecture for my Mother Chapter. What I found was so interesting I thought I should share it with readers. The founder of the Petre family fortunes was William Petre who was born in Exeter early in the reign of King Henry VIII and went on to hold office under all the Tudor monarchs after him, up to and including Queen Elizabeth I ... Masons and Biographers Since the pioneering work of Lytton Strachey’s Eminent Victorians (published in 1918), the art of biography has changed dramatically from respectful homage to a searchlight examination of every aspect of the subject’s life - however damaging. It is therefore surprising that in the lives of masons published in the 20th century, little if anything is mentioned of their association with the Order. We are proud of the long and illustrious line of men who have been Freemasons, and it is therefore both fascinating and often sad to read of their lives and see how the subject is, or is not, treated ... Gilbert & Sullivan Sullivan was musical, the son of a clarinettist, bandmaster and Professor of Wind Instruments at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall in Middlesex. After acquiring knowledge of English Church Music as a chorister in the Chapel Royal, Sullivan Jnr entered the Royal Academy of Music in 1856. Two years later he turned from a projected career as a pianist to conducting and composition while a student of the Leipzig Conservatoire. During this period, he became enamoured of the music of Schubert, returning to Leipzig in 1867 with Sir George Grove to discover ... Stukeley and the Mysteries William Stukeley (1687-1765) was without doubt one of the foremost British antiquarians of the 18th century. He was also a Freemason, being initiated on 6 January 1721 at the Salutation Tavern in Tavistock Street, London. During a meeting at the Fountain Tavern on the Strand on 27 December 1721, a new lodge was constituted by consent of the Grand Master, and Stukeley was chosen as its Master. He would later record how ... Henry Jermyn, Grand Master of the Freemasons? Dr James Anderson’s Constitutions of the Antient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons was compiled with Grand Lodge’s authority, appearing in 1723, 1738 and 1746. The 1738 edition contained a brief history of English Grand Masters prior to the formation of Grand Lodge (1717), including Inigo Jones, Sir Christopher Wren and Henry Jermyn, Earl of St Alban. After Anderson died, the 1746 edition appeared minus the historical section, and ever since, Grand Lodge has held that there were no 17th century Grand Masters ... Lu Ban, The Chinese Masonic God It is a little known fact that within the mythology of Chinese deities there is a god of artisans, concerned with bricklayers, painters, carpenters - and stonemasons. This god is particularly revered in Hong Kong, and is called Lu Ban or Lu Pan. According to tradition, Lu Ban was born Kung-shu Tze in 506 BC in the Kingdom of Lu where he became a skilled carpenter. Becoming a recluse on the Shi Lan mountain, he perfected his skills. He is reputed to have constructed the palace of the Queen of the Western Heaven, Xiwang Mu upon the K’un Lun mountains ... Making History On 27 March 1638, Elias Ashmole married Eleanor Mainwaring. While it seems that the couple had met in London (where Ashmole was soliciting in Chancery), Eleanor seems to have spent most of her short married life at her father’s house at Smallwood in Cheshire, just over the Staffordshire border. Ashmole visited regularly ... Making History For many centuries, Freemasonry has been woven into the deepest fabric of western history. But mythology has all too often overtaken the facts. This series aims to put the record straight, beginning with a two-part investigation into the first accepted record of initiation into a ‘speculative’ lodge of Free Masons. Elias Ashmole was initiated, in the midst of Civil War, into an apparently non-operative and possibly “occasional” lodge at Warrington ... Famous Masons Not every Prime Minister has been a Freemason. Winston Churchill KG was an exception. Building on his army career, Churchill blossomed as a war- correspondent in the Boer War, during which conflict he was captured and imprisoned. Executing a daring escape, he emerged from captivity a national hero. Young Winston entered Parliament as the Unionist representative for Oldham in 1900, but soon fell in with a dissident group of young Tories, whose members included Ian Malcolm, Lord Percy, Edward Stanley (later the seventh Earl Derby), all centred upon Lord Hugh Cecil, a younger son of the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury. Critics dubbed them the Hughligans, or Hooligans ...   Masonic Biographies © FreemasonryToday 1997-2008