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From ...... CATHOLIC RESTORATION

Vol. v, No.1 First Quarter, 1995

THE CULT OF LIBERTY

Pages 46-47

It had been a tradition in America to have the cornerstone of major public and private buildings and monuments "consecrated" with full Masonic rites, ever since Freemason George Washington, in 1793, had personally laid the cornerstone of the Capitol, with the assistance of the Grand Lodge of Maryland. The cornerstone of the Washington Monument was also laid in a Masonic ceremony.

The ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone was set for August 5, 1884. It poured rain. The decorated vessel Bay Ridge carried about a hundred Freemasons, along with some civil officials, to Bedloe's Island. Freemason Richard M. Hunt, the principal architect of the pedestal, handed the working tools to the Masonic officers.

Then Freemason Edward M., L. Ehlers, Grand Secretary and a member of the Continental Lodge 287, read the list of items to be included in the copper box within the cornerstone: a copy of the United States Constitution; George Washington's Farewell Address; twenty bronze medals of Presidents up through Chester A. Arthur [including Washington, Monroe, Jackson, Polk, Buchanan, Johnson and Garfield, who were all Freemasons]; copies of New York City newspapers; a portrait of Bartholdi; a copy of Poem on Liberty by E. R. Johnes; and a list on parchment of the Grand Lodge officers.

The traditional Masonic ceremony was observed. The cornerstone being found square, level and plumb, the Grand Master applied the mortar and had the stone lowered into place. He then struck the stone three times, and declared it duly laid. Then the elements of "consecration" were presented, corn, wine, and oil.

The "Most Worshipful" Grand Master then spoke a few words. He posed the question:

"Why call upon the Masonic Fraternity to lay the cornerstone of such a structure as is here to be erected?"

His answer was:

"No institution has done more to promote liberty and to free men from the trammels and chains of ignorance and tyranny than has Freemasonry."

The principal address was given by the Deputy Grand Master:

"Massive as this statue is, its physical proportions sink into comparative obscurity when contrasted with the nobility of its concept. Liberty Enlightening the World! How lofty the thought! To be free, is the first, the noblest aspiration of the human breast. And it is now a universally admitted truth that only in proportion as men become possessed of liberty, do they become civilized, enlightened and useful."

The statue arrived in dismantled pieces in June of 1885. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886. President Grover Cleveland [Freemason] presided over the ceremony and Freemason Henry Potter, Episcopal Bishop of New York gave the invocation. Freemason Bartholdi pulled the tricolor French flag off the statue's face. The main address was given by Freemason Chauncey M. Depew, a United States Senator.

There is another indication that the masonic notion of liberty - freedom from the laws of God, the Church, and of legitimate civil government - has deeply influenced our culture. It is the appearance of the "Liberty Cap" on many official seals in America, as well as in the engravings of scenes of the American Revolution, dating from the eighteenth century.

The Liberty Cap is a shallow, limp cap, somewhat resembling a woolen ski cap. Its origin is in ancient times, when freed slaves would be given this sort of cap to wear as a sign of their freedom. Hence the symbolism is that the wearer is freed from some sort of slavery.

Slavery to what ?

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CATHOLIC RESTORATION

Editor - Father Donald Sanborn

2899 East Big Beaver Road, Suite 308

Troy, MI 48083-2400