THE CONVENTION THAT CHANGED THE FACE OF FREEMASONRY
We are indebted to Wor. Brother Allen E. Roberts, a
noted Masonic scholar and author, for accepting
the challenge of preparing this Short Talk
Bulletin. It is another example of his concern
for the work of the Masonic service Association.
For more than one hundred forty years many
Freemasons have been misinformed. They have
not been told the full story of one of Freemasonry's most important events.
This story starts in December, 1839. It began
with a resolution adopted by the Grand Lodge of
Alabama, which requested all Grand Lodges to
send a delegate to the City of Washington on the
first Monday in March, 1842, "for the purpose
of determining upon a uniform mode of work
throughout all the Lodges of the United States
and to make other lawful regulations for the interest and security of the Craft." (The emphasis
is mine, for this indicates what I mean when I
say we have been misinformed.)
The Convention was held on March 7, 1842,
"in the Central Masonic Hall at four and a half
and D Streets N.W." Ten Grand Lodges were
represented. And these representatives refused to
seat a delegate from the Grand Lodge of
Michigan, declaring that it had not been
established under constitutional principles. The
report was made by Charles W. Moore, Chairman of Credentials Committee and Grand
Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
The Convention upheld his report.
After due deliberation, it was concluded that not enough Grand Lodges were
represented, and there was not enough time to formulate a uniform ritual that
would be acceptable to all Grand Lodges. Differences of opinion among the
committee selected to develop a uniform mode of work were too many and not reconcilable. The Convention voted to request each
Grand Lodge to appoint some well-versed
Mason and style him as a Grand Lecturer to
report to a Convention to be held the following
year.
The report of another Committee was to
have important, immediate, and far reaching effects on the Grand Lodges of the country. The
"Committee on General Regulations Involving The Interests and Security of
The Craft" reported in several areas. It recommended that the Representative
System "already adopted by some of the Grand Lodges" be extended to all Grand
Lodges. To protect the Fraternity from unworthy men claiming to be Masons, the
Committee recommended that "certificates of good
standing of visiting Brethren who are strangers"
be made available by the Grand Lodge to which
they belong. "These certificates will not only
shield the Institution," said the committee,
"from the undeserving, but will furnish the
widow and orphans of the deceased Brethren the
best evidence of their claim upon the
Fraternity."
This Committee also considered as "reprehensible" the practice "of receiving promissory notes for the fees for conferring
Degrees, instead of demanding the payment
thereof before the Degrees are conferred."
The Committee considered it an "impropriety" to transact "business in Lodges below the
Degree of Master Mason, except as such that appertains to the conferring of the
inferior Degrees and the instruction therein." It credited the Grand Lodge of
Missouri for bringing this to the attention of Freemasons everywhere. The Committee went on to say "Entered Apprentices and
Fellow Crafts are not members of Lodges, nor
are they entitled to the franchises of members."
The suspension of a Mason for non-payment
of dues was also considered by the Committee. It
believed that uniform legislation should be
adopted by the Grand Lodges to protect the
Fraternity.
It wasn't long before several Grand Lodges
changed their laws to conform to the recommendations of this Committee. Certificates or cards
were issued by Grand Secretaries to members of
Lodges. And Grand Lodges ordered lodges to
set cash fees for conferring degrees. Representatives were appointed by some Grand Lodges
that had never done so before. And many Grand
Lodges changed from conferring all business in
the Entered Apprentice Degree to that of the
Master Mason Degree.
Maryland was one Grand Lodge that acted
almost immediately on these suggestions. on
May 16, 1842, it voted to elect one Grand Lecturer to attend the conference in I843. It ordered
the Grand Secretary to procure certificates to
issue to Master Masons in good standing. It
ordered all Lodges to conduct their business in
the Master Mason Degree. It said "that when a
Mason is suspended for any cause whatever, he
is for the time of such suspension debarred from
all rights and privileges of the order."
In 1842, some Lodges in Virginia started
conducting their business in the Master Mason
Degree. So it went over the next several years,
but it was as late as 1851 before the Grand Lodge
of Maine changed from working or conducting
its business in the First to that of the Master
Mason Degree.
It might be well to consider why some of the
leaders of Freemasonry were concerned about
the looseness of the ritual, as well as many other
facts of the Fraternity.
Looking back to the year 1826, and the two decades that followed, it is found
that in 1826, one William Morgan, who had purported to be a Freemason,
disappeared. Freemasons were accused of murdering him, although there has
never been any evidence that he was harmed in
any way. He merely disappeared. This set off a
hue and cry against Freemasonry. In many instances, Grand Lodges could not find a quorum
to meet. Lodges turned in their charters by the
hundreds. Freemasons quit by the thousands.
Freemasonry was in deplorable condition.
During this period many of the ritualists and
the men who had been dedicated to the principles of Freemasonry were lost to the Craft.
Many died. Others quit because of the persecution handed down to their families because they
would not renounce their membership in the
Order. For these and various other reasons,
Masonic Lodges were not operating anywhere
near their capacity.
This was the state of affairs in the late 1830s,
when Alabama called for a Convention to rectify
many of the things that had gone awry. These
were some of the things causing the Convention
meeting in Washington to make the recommendations it did. These were some of the
things carried into the Baltimore Convention of 1843. The
Convention which we have heard so much
about .
The ritual in its various forms did take much
of the time of those attending the Baltimore
Convention from May 8 to 17, 1843, meeting in
the Masonic Hall on Saint Paul Street with sixteen of the twenty-three Grand
Lodges in the United States represented. But many hours were taken to discuss
the several points brought out during the convention held in Washington. And it
approved everything that had been accomplished in the District.
The evening session was opened with the address of the President of the
Convention, John Dove of Virginia. His opening remarks stated the purpose for
the Convention: "For the first time in the Masonic history of the United States
of North America, the Craft have found it necessary and expedient to assemble by
their representatives, to take into consideration the propriety of devising some
uniform mode of action by which the ancient landmarks of our
beloved Order may be preserved and
perpetuated, and by which posterity in all times
to come may be enabled to decide with certainty
upon the pretensions of a Brother, no matter in
which section of our blessed and happy land he
may reside; and, finally, and we hope no distant
date, to transfer those inestimable privileges to
our Brothers throughout the Masonic World."
Dove's statement shows that much more than
the ritual was involved.
The following day, May 9, the "Committee on the General Object of the
Convention" submitted its report. It said: "The objects of the
Convention are two-fold, viz.: 1. To produce
uniformity of Masonic Work; 11. To recommend such measures as shall tend to the elevation of the Order to its due degree of respect
throughout the world at large."
Four standing committees were appointed:
1. On the work and lectures in conferring
Degrees.
2. On the Funeral Service.
3. On the ceremonies of Consecration
and Installation.
4. On Masonic Jurisprudence.
It is interesting to note the prominent
Masons who were appointed to the Committee
on Work. John Dove, at the insistence of the
Convention, became the Chairman. John
Barney of Ohio, S.W.B. Carnegy of Missouri,
Charles W. Moore of Massachusetts, and
Ebenezer Wadsworth of New York were the
other members.
On the morning of May 10, this Committee recited the lecture of the First
Degree. The Convention adopted the work of the Committee by a vote of fourteen
to one. Ebenezer Wadsworth of New York, cast the dissenting vote. The following
day, the Committee reported "on the opening and closing of ceremonies of the First
Degree" and their work was accepted by the
Convention. Then the Chairman of the Committee, John Dove, assisted by Charles Moore,
reported the lecture of the Second Degree. This
work was also accepted by the Convention. But
evidently Ebenezer Wadsworth was not happy
with the work that had been accepted by the
Convention. He "requested to be excused from
serving longer on the Committee on Work." He
was excused and Brother Edward Herndon, of
Alabama, substituted.
At the Friday morning session, "the opening
work of the Third Degree was accepted by the
Convention with a vote of twelve to one "with
New York dissenting."
On Monday morning, May 15, the following was reported: "The undersigned
Committee on the Dedication, Consecration and Installation of Lodges, etc.,
having had the several subjects submitted to them under consideration, beg leave
respectfully to report that they have examined and carefully compared all the various
authors and systems which they have been able
to obtain, and present the following, viz.:
"That the forms in the 'Monitor,' under the
authorship of M.W. Thomas S. Webb,
republished in 1812, possesses the least faults of
any which have been before them, and has a
high claim to antiquity, and having been in
general use as a standard work for nearly half a
century, possess no errors of material as to require alteration, except as follows." There
followed six minor changes that it recommended
be made, three of them in the Installation
Ceremony.
Concerning the "Certificates of Good Standing," the Convention said that the Washington
Convention of 1842 earnestly recommended to
the consideration of the Fraternity "such Certificate, and where it has escaped attention in the
deliberations of any Grand Lodge, this Convention call it to their view, as
being a check admirably calculated to preserve the Fraternity
from unworthy Brethren from a distance, and an
additional means of protection to the good and
the deserving."
The Convention adopted a resolution that
was to have far-reaching and controversial effects:
That a Committee be designated to prepare
and publish at an early day, a text book,
to he called "The Masonic Trestle-Board,"
to embrace three distinct, full and complete
"Masonic Carpets," illustrative of the three Degrees of ancient Craft
Masonry; together with the ceremonies of consecrations, dedications and installation; laying of cornerstones of public edifices; the Funeral service,
and order of processions. To which shall be
added the Charges, Prayers and Exhortations, and the selection from scripture,
appropriate and proper for Lodge service.
The Committee further report, that they
deem it expedient that a work be published
to contain archaeological research into the
history of the Fraternity in the various
nations of the world.
The Committee on Masonic Jurisprudence
reported it had considered whether or not "the
evils which this Convention has met to rectify
and remove, have arisen from any defect or fault
in the present system of organizations as
adopted by the Fraternity of the United States."
It concluded the evils existed, mainly because of
the individual action of the numerous Grand
Lodges in the United States. Intercommunication between Grand Lodges did not
exist. The "purity and unity" of work prevalent
in Europe was therefore missing.
"UNITY throughout the whole Masonic
family is essential," claimed the Committee.
"Any system of polity tending to throw
obstacles in its way must be wrong. The simple
truth that we are all Brethren of one family, and
look up to one common Father, the Lord our
God, is the basis of all the ancient
constitutions . "
To correct the "evils" that prevailed, the
Committee said it had considered two plans:
"1st. A General Grand Lodge of the United
States.
2nd. A triennial convention of representatives of the several Grand Lodges of the
United States."
It went on to state:
"Your Committee,
without encumbering their report with long
arguments, beg to recommend the latter course
as being that, which in their opinion, will best attain the end proposed."
So, contrary to what
many Freemasons have been led to believe, the
Baltimore Convention of 1843 did not recommend the establishment of General Grand
Lodge. It did recommend "the several Grand
Lodges of the United States to enter into and
form a National Masonic Convention."
The Jurisprudence Committee had also considered a question about whether or not a Lodge
could try its Master. It concluded: "The Master
is an integral part of its government, unable to
sit in judgment on himself, and yet without
whom the Lodge could not act, without, as it
were, committing felo de se (suicide). The Committee offered the following, with which the
Convention concurred .... "a subordinate
Lodge has not the right to try its Master, but that
he is amenable to the Grand Lodge alone."
The Committee considered sojourning
Masons as "freeloaders." It believed all Masons
living in the vicinity of a Lodge and not a
member of it should be required to contribute "a
sum equal in value to the annual dues per capita
of the subordinate Lodge in whose jurisdiction
they reside." The Convention voted to recommend that all Grand Lodges take this recommendation under advisement.
In an attempt to bring unity "Throughout the
world in all things pertaining to Masonry," the
Convention approved a recommendation to send
"a Delegate from the Masonic Fraternity of the
United States to their Brethren in Europe."
On the evening of May 15 the Committee on Work exemplified the opening and
closing of the Lodge in "the Third Degree." The ceremonies for opening and
closing a Lodge were exemplified on the morning of the 16th. Then the
Convention adopted a resolution thanking the
Grand Lodge of Maryland for its hospitality. It
was especially appreciative of Maryland assuming all expenses. This was followed by the
presentation of the "Lecture of the First
Degree."
It was "Resolved, that the interest of the Masonic Fraternity, and the good of
mankind may be greatly promoted by the publication of a periodical devoted to
Free-Masonry. This Convention, therefore, cheerfully and earnestly
recommend the Free-Mason's Monthly
Magazine, edited and published by another
Charles W. Moore, of Boston, Massachusetts~
as eminently useful and well-deserving the
generous patronage, support and study of the
whole Fraternity." The Convention concurred.
Each delegate contributed $5.00 to defray the
expenses of printing. It was resolved to hold the
next Convention in Winchester, Virginia, "on
the second Monday in May, in the year I846."
This was never held.
The evening session of May 16th was devoted
to the degree work. "The President repeated the
first section of the F.C. and M.M. Degrees; and
Brother Moore, the second sections of the same
Degrees. The Committee then exemplified the
work in the Third Degree."
On the morning of the last day of the Convention, the Master Mason Degree was exemplified. Then, while the President was absent
from the hall, "Brother Carnegy took the
chair," and a resolution praising John Dove of
Virginia was unanimously adopted. Albert Case
of South Carolina was also thanked for his work
as secretary. The concluding session was held in
the afternoon of May 17th. The Convention approved a letter, read by the Secretary, Albert
Case, to be sent to "the Masonic Fraternity of
the United States." Each paragraph contained
the flowery language of the day pleading with
the Freemasons of the country to unite in love,
friendship and brotherhood.
This letter, written immediately following the
anti-Masonic craze that began in 1826, called
upon all Lodges "to exercise their powers and
cleanse the sanctuary" of unfaithful Masons. It
concluded by asking all Freemasons to "Be true
to your principles, and the great moral edifice
will stand beautiful and complete. Together,
Brethren, be true and faithful."
The President thanked the delegates for the compliments paid him, and for their
diligent work. He called upon the Chaplain to dismiss them with prayer. The
Convention was then adjourned sine die.
The Convention was ended, but its accomplishments would change the face of
Freemasonry throughout the United States.
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