Today
our Lodge is celebrating its 475th meeting, What a Great Number!
Without
going into numerology, the Number 4 could stand for the 4 corners of a lodge or
for the 4 directions East and West, South and North from where from all over the
World so many Brethren have been coming to meet at Masonry Universal for 475
times.
475
times to gather in Geneva, in this Lodge, to net the web of our universal
brotherhood - somehow to work as real webmasters well ahead the times of IT
technology.
The
numbers 7 and 5 are of great significance to all Masons; these numbers should
therefore well deserve special reflections to be given at another occasion.
475
gatherings means a lot of time, great moments , so many initiations leading to
so many achievements, but sometimes also, because this is human, to
disappointments and errors, but also, because this is Masonic, to relieves and
renewed regaining of strength marking the memory and history of our Lodge.
Brethren
I am not a historian nor a specialist of Free Masonry in general , nor in its
particular aspects in Geneva . The purpose
tonight is just to try to give you the envy to do some personal reading
and research in area we do not speak that often about. Please accept, that some
quotations I will make, are in the original langue in which the where
made, in French. Let my add that it is by pure coincidence, that some aspects
I will speak about, have just been considered in the last review of the Alpina
magazine.
We
do not know very much about the Masonic life before the 18th Century
in Geneva, except from a some documents earlier to 1791 about a Lodge called
“l’Union” which was one of the most active, distinguished and aristocratic
one.
Briefly
mentioned , in 1791 the discipline was harsh: absent Brethren where
summoned to pay a fine for absence; the membership was of
85 Br. Interesting to mention is that there where 2 categories of members,
those who where co-owners of the Lodge and the others who where simple Masons.
To
become a Mason was not very democratic: the entrance fee , which was of 2 Louis
d’Or was extremely high; not to mention that the newly entered . apprentice
had also to pay the entire cost of the reception banquet.given in his honour.
Some
of the members where therefore quite wealthy and influential, among them we find
an important figure:. Prince Edward, 4th , son of King Georges III,
future father of Queen Victoria. Edward was initiated on 5th August
1789. at the age of 22. Just to mention that the military education of Prince
Edward was made by a Genevois, Jacob de Budé, who was a General serving England.
The
Masonic career of Prince Edward was quite speedy. He was made a MM, two
months only after his Initiation on 4th November 1789and appointed
Junior warden on 9th December.
The
announcement of his departure from Geneva at is recorded
in the minutes of the Lodge meeting of 13th January 1790. as
follows :
“le
Vénérable en lui témoignant toute la douleur que causait à tous les différents
frères son départ précipité, l’engagea à accepter les pleins pouvoirs
pour entretenir et cimenter davantage de relations d‘amitié qui existent
entre la Grande Loge Nationale d’Angleterre et notre Grand Orient National ;
ce que le T.C.F. Edouard a accepté, en assurant que ce dont on le chargerait
pour le bien de ce G.O. et notre R.L. en particulier lui serait agréable.
Nine
years after his departure from Geneva, Prince Edward became Duke of Kent.
He
became Grand Master of the Grand Ancient Lodge of England in November 1813 and
it was him, by the election of the Duke of Sussex , who put an end to the
partition among Masonry in England with the creation UGLE.
This
may explain why for more than 250 years, the Court of England had nearly always
an unspoken sympathy for Geneva, just to mention as possible consequences he
Victoria Hall, the Monument Brunswick, may be la Société des Nations, etc.
etc.
May
be this could also explain, among other many other reasons, why we, here in
Geneva, at MUL, continuing a long Masonic tradition, feel so close to London.
In
1791 Jews where not admitted to FM
in Geneva. The candidate had to swear over the Bible that he was a Christian.
The proceedings where conducted under the Scottish Right which was also adopted
by l’Union des Coeurs in 1810.
Charity
was very important. Donations and all sorts of relief where granted to the poor
and distressed e.g. to people –
non Masons - who lost their belongings during a fire, or
that they paid a Watchmaker
apprenticeship to a poor young man of Geneva.
The
charitable activities of the Lodge contributed to build up a lesser negative
perception towards Masonry among the Genevois. Philanthropy sustained by Masons
is still vivid in Geneva, for example
with the support of the
organisation of our school kitchens,. well known under the name “les cuisines
scolaires”. serving every day many of our
kindergardens and primary schools.
In
1789 Geneva enters in troubled times, there where severe riots.
On
the 26th January Jean-François Fatio, junior warden of his lodge, a captain of
the Garde de Genève, is shot dead at Saint-Gervais.
Only
two weeks later on 10th February Geneva has a new Constitution, written by the
Conseil General, of which most Br.
of la Loge l’Union are members .
On
the same day the Lodge gathers to thank the GAOTU for the peace brought back
entre
tous les enfants de notre chère République.
Relieved
the Genevois sing a beautiful song, from which I’d like to give you an extract,
sometime we should sing it today:
Voici
le brouillard qui s’élève,
Et
revenir la clarté
Vois
cette triste Genève
Elle
a repris la gaieté
Une
paix libre et sincère
Enfin
chez nous a paru
Célébrons
cette journée
Vive
le dix février !
Que
dans ce jour, chaque année
Nous
puissions nous écrier :
Tout
Genevois est mon frère
Et
je l’avais méconnu
Ah
! L’eusse-tu cru, compère
Compère,
l’eusse-tu cru.
The
tradition to receive visitors was very strong. The records of visitors from
abroad are indeed impressive..
May
be this is also something which we have inherited from these days at MUL.
In
1794 the French Revolution touches Geneva.
Many members of the then existing 11 regular lodges are victims of the
Revolution and deprived from their civic rights.
Geneva
lives a social earthquake. It seems difficult to find out to which extend
certain Lodges did become - or not - some sort of Clubs Révlutionnaires.
Two at least did.
In
a similar context, there are still many questions to be answered about the
origins of the French Revolution and to which extend French Masons participated
to it. You all know about the credo of liberté, égalité, fraternité,
which seems very Masonic.
The
liberty to form associations and reunions of citizens as a “Droit naturel”
dates back to years around the French Revolution. This right was already
proclaimed by the American Constitution in 1776. In France, it was in 1790 as
well as in Geneva where is was nearly suppressed in 1803 when he right to form
an association was placed under strict government and police control.
In
1830 a Movement of Regeneration and Independence had brought enough strength to
re-establish the former liberties which where finally granted by the First
Federal Constitution of 1848 in Art. 46 stating
“Les
citoyens ont le droit de former des associations pourvu qu’il n’y ait dans
le but de ces associations ou dans les moyens qu’elles emploient rien d’illicite
ou de dangereux pour l’Etat”.
This
article granting the freedom to from associations not contrary to the law, the
morality and decency and not dangerous for the State still exists in the
prevailing federal Constitution in Art. 56.
As
Masons of our constitution we are all aware and remembered of our duties in this regard in an address at the closing of
each Installation with the words “to
square our conduct by the principles of morality…
and to be faithful to our Country and our Laws”.
Considering
this, it may, among many other reasons, explain why, before this liberty and
freedom to form association was granted, Masonry had to be secret and protected
by king and rulers. You are all aware of the JW’s report
“Being armed with a drawn sword
to keep of all intruders and cowans to Masonry”
Unfortunately
freedom of ideas, religion and faith is intolerable in times of intolerance,
Such times existed in totalitarian states and under the dictatorships and
ideologies sympathetic to them in the 1930thies.
It
so happened in Switzerland with a Constitutional Incentive led by a Swiss
Colonel (Colonel Fonjallaz from Lutry) addressed to the Federal Government on
31st October 1934 asking to modify
the article 56 of our Federal Constitution as follows:
.
“Les
citoyens ont le droit de former des associations pourvu qu’il n’y ait dans
le but de ces associations ou dans les moyens qu’elles emploient rien d’illicite
ou de dangereux pour l’Etat. Cependant les associations franc-maçonniques et
les loges Odd-Fellows, la Société
philanthropique « l’Union », les sociétés semblables et celles
qui y sont affiliées, sont interdites en Suisse ».
In
short, they wanted Masonic
associations to be forbidden by the federal Constitution in Switzerland.
The
argument used by the supporters of this Incentive was easy to be found:
they
just declared that these societies were a danger for the State, and therefore in
breach of the Constitution. During
a long period of three years between the deposit of the incentive and the
federal vote which took place on November 28th 37 there where hatred
debates all over this country, fuelled by conservative church circles and
Fascist friendly movements under the name of “Union Nationale”, led by
Gorges Oltramarre and his press “Le Pilori”
The debates were specially fierce in Geneva,
as Gorges Oltramarre was from Geneva and “Le Pilori” published here.
.
They
pretended that Masons where responsible for the joining of
Switzerland to the League of Nations (UN after WWII), that they supported
Pacifism and that they where
dangerous for the State because they were dependent from universal powers abroad,
especially these led by Jewish Masonic alliances .
Yet,
as for every vote, the federal Government had to take a position.
On
4th September 36, a year before the vote,
the Conseil fédéral strongly takes stance against the incentive
and we come to the extraordinary situation on which - in his High Authority -
the Government he explains Masonry and some of its origins in an address to the
Federal parliament - and thus to
the public completed by the recommendations of experts of constitutional law.
Allow
me to quote in the original official version of 1936:
L’ordre
des francs-maçons s’est fondé en Angleterre au début du 18ème
siècle environ : il dérive probablement des corporations et de « gildes »
de tailleurs de pierres et de maçons plus anciennes. Dès l’an 1730
environ, on trouve quelques « loges » dispersées (ou Bauhütten »)
en Suisse. En 1844, elles s’associèrent
en « Grande Loge Alpina ».
and
then comes a review of the « Prinicpes
maçonniques généraux de la Grande Loge Alpina » in
10 different observations or descriptions based on principles adopted at an Alpina Great Lodge meeting in Basel
in 1933. such as
I.
L’Alliance franc-maçonnique est une association d’hommes libres qui fait
monter son origine aux corporations ou
confréries maçonniques du moyen-âge.
Elle
reconnaît encore aujourd’hui, comme moyens d’enseignement les prescriptions
morales autrefois en vigueur chez ces corporations et conservées dans divers
documents, notamment dans ce qu’on appelle « les anciens devoirs des
Francs-Maçons ».
It
would be too long here to quote all statements at length. It would certainly be
worth quote them all. . Let
me just give you
two others:
Statement VII
La
loge est un milieu paisible et neutre dans lequel les passions humaines ne
doivent pas avoir accès. etc.
And
number IX. L’Alliance elle-même,
son histoire, ses principes et son but ne sont point un mystère. t Cependant il
n’est pas permis aux Maçons de communiquer les signes servant essentiellement
à se reconnaître réciproquement et les usages propres à sauvegarder l’influence
morale que la loge est appelée à exercer.
Despite
the reassuring explanations given by the Government the vote was very emotional.
Nearly 2 million participated at the ballot. Thanks Haven the incentive was
strongly rejected by all but one canton by 66% of the voters. In Geneva
by 60%. Which was not that strong as compared to Basle with 80% . May I remeber,
that in these days, in Switzerland, women did not have the right to vote.
Well
– all this happened 70 years ago. Did these events leave traces ?
Let
me conclude with a few questions.
What
would the ballot be today ?
How
would each of us have acted when caught in a debate in 1936 ?
How
do we act when somebody fears Masonry or tells
nonsense about it ?
How
cautious have we to be, when travelling in to countries not that friendly to our
order ?
Do
we take for granted that our relatively tolerant society, will always remain
tolerant ?
Who
knows ? - What can we do ?
What
is sure, for the present and futures times, is that our constant care, task and
duty as Masons, - whenever possible - is to act for the benefit of tolerance,
freedom and mutual respect: - this giving us strength inside the Lodge as
brethren, and outside the Lodge as
responsible citizens
References:
François
Ruchon : Histoire de la FM à Genève de 1736 à 1900. éd. Slatkine 2004
Alain
Bernheim : les débuts de la FM à Genève et en Suisse. Éd. Slatkine 1994
Personal
archives
Federal
Chancellery in Berne, database
.
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