Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Bro. T. S. Parvin (Grand Secretary And Librarian, Iowa).
Bro . T . S . PARVIN ( Grand Secretary and Librarian , Iowa ) .
THE " Iowa Masonic Library" in all its departments , now materially enlarged from the original design , as well as its work ( which in both good and evil report has been styled " Parvin's hobby , " yet it has always boon a work of love ; so " love's labour lost , " good enough in Shakspeare ' s day , never has been lost to us , to our employers , or the great public , from which neither Masonry nor Masons can bo separated and isolated in this nineteenth century ) , has had a material growth during the year now closed .
It is with these feelings of " good works " well done that at the close of each Masonic year we come to the preparation of the annual report that is to present to the Grand Lodge and the Masonic—yea , the universal world—what has been accomplished
in this , our chosen field of labour , including an account of our individual stewardship as tho instrument or agent oi Iowa Masons and Masonry in the building of the intellectual temple , without which the physical temple of Masonry would become like the shadow in a weary land .
It may not be inappropriate , as we enter upon the second half century of the Library's history , to present a brief sketch , and in the nature of an autobiography , of the Librarian ' s work ih " this department of labour and literature , inasmuch as he became the founder and builder of the library , which has now bcccme of world wide celebrity .
From my early youth to my majority I was denied , by reason of tho rheumatism , which lamed mo for life ; tho privilege of engaging in the sports of the period with boys and young men of my age and schools . With the village library I became acquainted and a borrower and reader in my eighth year . The Bible , Pilgrim's Progress , Robinson Ciusoe , iEsop ' s Fables , and the Histories and Biographies of the Old World , especially Plutarch's Lives—a
strange mixture of taste—and a mother ' s guiding example , these were tho books earliest read and best remembered . Then , too , I formed a taste for libraries and library work , and later became the Librarian , in my sixteenth 3 ear , of the College Literary Society of which I was a member . This was my first experience as Librarian , the year 1832 , the same year that Iowa , or a small part , was ceded by Blackhawk and his Indians to the United States , and where , later , I was to renew and continue my earlier library work .
In the autumn of 1835 I entered the law office of Wright and Walker , judges of the Supreme Court of Ohio and tho Supremo Court of Cincinnati , and was at once placed in sole charge of their law library , the largest then in the west . Hon . S . P . Chase , Hon . Bellamy Stover , and Hon . Rufus King , and others of National fame , were among thoso who were its bonowcrs , and upon whom I regularly waited as an enthusiast in my work .
Upon the organisation of the territory of Iowa , 4 th July 1838 , 1 became Private Secretary to the Governor , Robert Lucas ; was by him appointed the first Territorial Libiarinn , and purchased , by his direction , the library for which Congress had appropriated in the organic act the sum of 5 , ( 00 dols .
Later , in 1857 , I founded the library of the State Historical Society , of which I was one of the foundeis ( and ever its largest contributor ) , by donating a series of volumes , of which two years later I sold to the executive department of the state government a
duplicate set for ICO dols . in gold . Of this library , in 1864 , I became Librarian , and previously , in 1860 , upon the re-opening of the State University , of whose faculty I was a member , I became its Librarian . In these positions I remained a few years , and prepared catalogues of each and all of them .
But my greatest and most continuous service in connection with library work was in creating the library of thc Grand Lodge of Iowa , in January 1844 , by donating to it a single volume , thc only Masonic work , except Cross's Chart ( a Masonic text book ) , I
then possessed . The Grand Lodge recognised thc library in January the next year ( 1845 ) as an Institution , and on 7 th June 1848 enacted a law , Section 13 , of 1 E 66 ( the earliest copy accessible to tho general reader ) , which reads :
" The Grand Secretary ( by viitue of his office ) is hereby constituted Grand Librarian , and directed to take charge of the ' Grand Lodge Library , ' snbject to such regulation as the Grand Lodge shall prescribe . " The Grand Secretary , as Librarian , has ever since , under that law , had and remained in charge of the " Grand Lodge Library , " the title upon the erection in 1884 of the library building being changed to that of the " Iowa Masonic Library . "
The reports of thc library were made in connection with these of the Grand Secretariat 1846-1848 . In June 1849 , the Grand Secretary , as " Grand Librarian , " " presented his first annual report" oi the Library , which has been annually continued since that year .
In the year 1890 ( September ) the " Iowa Library Society " was organised . Of this the Librarian was one of the active founders and present President ; as such , and as Librarian of the Iowa Masonic Library , by vote of the Grand Lodge he represented the same in the "National Library Association" and was delegate to
, the "World ' s Congress of Librarians , " both held in Chicago in July 1893 , during the " World ' s Columbian Exposition . " With the brief exception of four vears , 1840-1843 , he has been activel y engaged in library work , as Librarian , since 1832 , a period of fifty-eight ( almost three scoie ) years .
The real value of every act is measured by its good results , ¦ these come in different forms and under different circumstances , lo neither the Grand Lodge nor the individual members arc the results always apparent immediately , but they are sure . If not to the present , yet to the future we may confidently leave tho verdict upon our labours as Librarian .
u 1 Librarian ' s work has of late years become one of the learned professions . " Library schools have been established in charge of professional Librarians , from which students arc graduated for thc practice of the profession , and ladies and
Bro. T. S. Parvin (Grand Secretary And Librarian, Iowa).
gentlemen may now learn , except the knowledge of books , in a couple of years that which took long years of study , labour and practice for your Librarian to learn of library management . The Grand Lodge in its library work enters , with the second half century of its history , upon a new and fifth epoch :
The first extended from tho founding of tho library by the Grand Secretary in 1844 , to 1873 , when tho first and only full catalogue was published . The second from that year , 1873 , to 1882 , when the Grand
Lodge obtained by purchase ( what it would but for its folly have received by gift ) the Bower Masonic Library . The third , 1882 to 1885 , when the library and office were removed into the library building , and the title of the library changed to " Iowa Masonic Library . "
The fourth , 1885 to 1894 , the close of the first half century of the library and the Grand Lodge history . In the last period , about a decade , tho library proper has much more than doubled in size , and the entire museum been created .
The past is a matter of record , the present is ours , but what shall the future be—time and future Grand Lodges alone can tell ? The Grand Lodges of tho past have done their duty by the Library , and deserve well of all tho Brethren . —Bro . Parvin's Report , as Grand Librarian , which was presented at the June 1894 Communication of tho Grand Lodge of Iowa .
Lead The Searchers For Light.
LEAD THE SEARCHERS FOR LIGHT .
ONLY one affiliated Master Mason in four is a subscribing member of a Chapter . This statement carries with it its own moral . Three Master Masons out of every four upon this North American continent are not yet in possession of the genuine secrets of a Master Mason . Is it not meet that those who know should tell them where to obtain them ? Are we—members of the
Royal Craft—fully alive to a sense of our responsibilities and duties in this matter ? Are wo doing our whole duty by deserving , yet uninformed Brethren ? Are we mindful of our obligations to the Chapter itself ? Shall wo make no further effort than that now boing made for tho prosperity of Capitular Masonry and the extension of its sublime teachings ?
One , whose festival is annually honoured in all Chapters of R . A Masons , who employed " tho first words of God ' s revealed will to man , " in thc commencement of his own undying books , tho dear old dreamer who , upon tho Islo of Patmos , was permitted to peer within tho veil and to see things that are reserved for the
enjoyment of thoso who shall have been admitted to the presence of the Grand and Ineffable Triune Council of tho Universe ; he who had seen tho true Light , and whoso namesake was but the forerunner of that Light , even as the true word is preceded by another—that loving and lovable teacher of Brotherly love has
written for our learning : " In the beginning was the Word , and the Woid was with God , and the Word was God . " By ignorance and by error , man has oft-times lost the Word , mistaken the truth , bi . on blinded from seeing tho true Light . Masonry has been beautifully called " a search for truth and the lost word . " Shall
we lead the searchers to ask where it shall be given unto them , to seek where they shall find , to knock where it shall be opened unto them ? Shall we teach them to knock for further light in Masonry at the doors of our Chapters , to seek within the vaulted chamber for the lost word , to find in the presence of the Council that of
which they are in search—the true Word that was " in the beginning , " that was " with God , " and that " was God ? " Or shall we be content to leave them in possession of uncompleted teachings and of substituted words , when the genuine ones are within their reach ?
The idea of canvassing for material for any Masonic Degree is naturally repugnant to most Masons , even if not directly prohibited in tho case of the higher degrees . Brethren who simply join the Chapter , Commandery or Lodge of Perfection because of the solicitation of friends , are not usually calculated to make the most
useful or enthusiastic of members . But when worthy and well prepared Master Masons are known to be looking for further Light in Masonry , we hold it to be the duty of those who have seen the brilliant brightness that is reflected from the altars ol Capitular Masonry , to direct the steps of less informed Brethren
to tho source whence it emanates , and to the Light which it sheds upon that which was hitherto so veiled in obscurity as to be virtually lost for those who have not been privileged to enter within the veils—in fact , to the lost word itself—the virtual completion of the Master Mason ' s degree . —E . T . D . CHAMBEBS , of Quebec , in " Voice of Masonry . "
MESSRS . CASSELL & Co . are making rapid progress with a new and enlarged edition oi Dr . Brewer's " Dictionary of Phrase and Fable . " It is to be published in parts , the first of which is just ready . Dr . Brewer is one of the lucky workers who carry their
youthful energy with them in their eighties . He is in his eightyfifth year . He has completely revised his book , and written for it a large quantity of new matter . A portrait of Dr . Brewer is issued as a frontispiece to Part I .
MESSRS . CASSELL & Co . have made arrangements to publish a serial issue , in sixpenny monthly parts , of " The Universal Atlas , " which has 117 pages of maps and an index to 125 , 000 names . The first part will appear simultaneously with a fresh issue of ' The Popular Educator " on thc 25 th of September .
THE second volume of " Social England , " edited by Mr . H . D , Traill D . C . L ., was to be published by Messrs . Cassell & Co . to-day , and will be issued simultaneously in America . The book will contain the history of thc period from tho accession of Edward I . to the death of Henry VII .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Bro. T. S. Parvin (Grand Secretary And Librarian, Iowa).
Bro . T . S . PARVIN ( Grand Secretary and Librarian , Iowa ) .
THE " Iowa Masonic Library" in all its departments , now materially enlarged from the original design , as well as its work ( which in both good and evil report has been styled " Parvin's hobby , " yet it has always boon a work of love ; so " love's labour lost , " good enough in Shakspeare ' s day , never has been lost to us , to our employers , or the great public , from which neither Masonry nor Masons can bo separated and isolated in this nineteenth century ) , has had a material growth during the year now closed .
It is with these feelings of " good works " well done that at the close of each Masonic year we come to the preparation of the annual report that is to present to the Grand Lodge and the Masonic—yea , the universal world—what has been accomplished
in this , our chosen field of labour , including an account of our individual stewardship as tho instrument or agent oi Iowa Masons and Masonry in the building of the intellectual temple , without which the physical temple of Masonry would become like the shadow in a weary land .
It may not be inappropriate , as we enter upon the second half century of the Library's history , to present a brief sketch , and in the nature of an autobiography , of the Librarian ' s work ih " this department of labour and literature , inasmuch as he became the founder and builder of the library , which has now bcccme of world wide celebrity .
From my early youth to my majority I was denied , by reason of tho rheumatism , which lamed mo for life ; tho privilege of engaging in the sports of the period with boys and young men of my age and schools . With the village library I became acquainted and a borrower and reader in my eighth year . The Bible , Pilgrim's Progress , Robinson Ciusoe , iEsop ' s Fables , and the Histories and Biographies of the Old World , especially Plutarch's Lives—a
strange mixture of taste—and a mother ' s guiding example , these were tho books earliest read and best remembered . Then , too , I formed a taste for libraries and library work , and later became the Librarian , in my sixteenth 3 ear , of the College Literary Society of which I was a member . This was my first experience as Librarian , the year 1832 , the same year that Iowa , or a small part , was ceded by Blackhawk and his Indians to the United States , and where , later , I was to renew and continue my earlier library work .
In the autumn of 1835 I entered the law office of Wright and Walker , judges of the Supreme Court of Ohio and tho Supremo Court of Cincinnati , and was at once placed in sole charge of their law library , the largest then in the west . Hon . S . P . Chase , Hon . Bellamy Stover , and Hon . Rufus King , and others of National fame , were among thoso who were its bonowcrs , and upon whom I regularly waited as an enthusiast in my work .
Upon the organisation of the territory of Iowa , 4 th July 1838 , 1 became Private Secretary to the Governor , Robert Lucas ; was by him appointed the first Territorial Libiarinn , and purchased , by his direction , the library for which Congress had appropriated in the organic act the sum of 5 , ( 00 dols .
Later , in 1857 , I founded the library of the State Historical Society , of which I was one of the foundeis ( and ever its largest contributor ) , by donating a series of volumes , of which two years later I sold to the executive department of the state government a
duplicate set for ICO dols . in gold . Of this library , in 1864 , I became Librarian , and previously , in 1860 , upon the re-opening of the State University , of whose faculty I was a member , I became its Librarian . In these positions I remained a few years , and prepared catalogues of each and all of them .
But my greatest and most continuous service in connection with library work was in creating the library of thc Grand Lodge of Iowa , in January 1844 , by donating to it a single volume , thc only Masonic work , except Cross's Chart ( a Masonic text book ) , I
then possessed . The Grand Lodge recognised thc library in January the next year ( 1845 ) as an Institution , and on 7 th June 1848 enacted a law , Section 13 , of 1 E 66 ( the earliest copy accessible to tho general reader ) , which reads :
" The Grand Secretary ( by viitue of his office ) is hereby constituted Grand Librarian , and directed to take charge of the ' Grand Lodge Library , ' snbject to such regulation as the Grand Lodge shall prescribe . " The Grand Secretary , as Librarian , has ever since , under that law , had and remained in charge of the " Grand Lodge Library , " the title upon the erection in 1884 of the library building being changed to that of the " Iowa Masonic Library . "
The reports of thc library were made in connection with these of the Grand Secretariat 1846-1848 . In June 1849 , the Grand Secretary , as " Grand Librarian , " " presented his first annual report" oi the Library , which has been annually continued since that year .
In the year 1890 ( September ) the " Iowa Library Society " was organised . Of this the Librarian was one of the active founders and present President ; as such , and as Librarian of the Iowa Masonic Library , by vote of the Grand Lodge he represented the same in the "National Library Association" and was delegate to
, the "World ' s Congress of Librarians , " both held in Chicago in July 1893 , during the " World ' s Columbian Exposition . " With the brief exception of four vears , 1840-1843 , he has been activel y engaged in library work , as Librarian , since 1832 , a period of fifty-eight ( almost three scoie ) years .
The real value of every act is measured by its good results , ¦ these come in different forms and under different circumstances , lo neither the Grand Lodge nor the individual members arc the results always apparent immediately , but they are sure . If not to the present , yet to the future we may confidently leave tho verdict upon our labours as Librarian .
u 1 Librarian ' s work has of late years become one of the learned professions . " Library schools have been established in charge of professional Librarians , from which students arc graduated for thc practice of the profession , and ladies and
Bro. T. S. Parvin (Grand Secretary And Librarian, Iowa).
gentlemen may now learn , except the knowledge of books , in a couple of years that which took long years of study , labour and practice for your Librarian to learn of library management . The Grand Lodge in its library work enters , with the second half century of its history , upon a new and fifth epoch :
The first extended from tho founding of tho library by the Grand Secretary in 1844 , to 1873 , when tho first and only full catalogue was published . The second from that year , 1873 , to 1882 , when the Grand
Lodge obtained by purchase ( what it would but for its folly have received by gift ) the Bower Masonic Library . The third , 1882 to 1885 , when the library and office were removed into the library building , and the title of the library changed to " Iowa Masonic Library . "
The fourth , 1885 to 1894 , the close of the first half century of the library and the Grand Lodge history . In the last period , about a decade , tho library proper has much more than doubled in size , and the entire museum been created .
The past is a matter of record , the present is ours , but what shall the future be—time and future Grand Lodges alone can tell ? The Grand Lodges of tho past have done their duty by the Library , and deserve well of all tho Brethren . —Bro . Parvin's Report , as Grand Librarian , which was presented at the June 1894 Communication of tho Grand Lodge of Iowa .
Lead The Searchers For Light.
LEAD THE SEARCHERS FOR LIGHT .
ONLY one affiliated Master Mason in four is a subscribing member of a Chapter . This statement carries with it its own moral . Three Master Masons out of every four upon this North American continent are not yet in possession of the genuine secrets of a Master Mason . Is it not meet that those who know should tell them where to obtain them ? Are we—members of the
Royal Craft—fully alive to a sense of our responsibilities and duties in this matter ? Are wo doing our whole duty by deserving , yet uninformed Brethren ? Are we mindful of our obligations to the Chapter itself ? Shall wo make no further effort than that now boing made for tho prosperity of Capitular Masonry and the extension of its sublime teachings ?
One , whose festival is annually honoured in all Chapters of R . A Masons , who employed " tho first words of God ' s revealed will to man , " in thc commencement of his own undying books , tho dear old dreamer who , upon tho Islo of Patmos , was permitted to peer within tho veil and to see things that are reserved for the
enjoyment of thoso who shall have been admitted to the presence of the Grand and Ineffable Triune Council of tho Universe ; he who had seen tho true Light , and whoso namesake was but the forerunner of that Light , even as the true word is preceded by another—that loving and lovable teacher of Brotherly love has
written for our learning : " In the beginning was the Word , and the Woid was with God , and the Word was God . " By ignorance and by error , man has oft-times lost the Word , mistaken the truth , bi . on blinded from seeing tho true Light . Masonry has been beautifully called " a search for truth and the lost word . " Shall
we lead the searchers to ask where it shall be given unto them , to seek where they shall find , to knock where it shall be opened unto them ? Shall we teach them to knock for further light in Masonry at the doors of our Chapters , to seek within the vaulted chamber for the lost word , to find in the presence of the Council that of
which they are in search—the true Word that was " in the beginning , " that was " with God , " and that " was God ? " Or shall we be content to leave them in possession of uncompleted teachings and of substituted words , when the genuine ones are within their reach ?
The idea of canvassing for material for any Masonic Degree is naturally repugnant to most Masons , even if not directly prohibited in tho case of the higher degrees . Brethren who simply join the Chapter , Commandery or Lodge of Perfection because of the solicitation of friends , are not usually calculated to make the most
useful or enthusiastic of members . But when worthy and well prepared Master Masons are known to be looking for further Light in Masonry , we hold it to be the duty of those who have seen the brilliant brightness that is reflected from the altars ol Capitular Masonry , to direct the steps of less informed Brethren
to tho source whence it emanates , and to the Light which it sheds upon that which was hitherto so veiled in obscurity as to be virtually lost for those who have not been privileged to enter within the veils—in fact , to the lost word itself—the virtual completion of the Master Mason ' s degree . —E . T . D . CHAMBEBS , of Quebec , in " Voice of Masonry . "
MESSRS . CASSELL & Co . are making rapid progress with a new and enlarged edition oi Dr . Brewer's " Dictionary of Phrase and Fable . " It is to be published in parts , the first of which is just ready . Dr . Brewer is one of the lucky workers who carry their
youthful energy with them in their eighties . He is in his eightyfifth year . He has completely revised his book , and written for it a large quantity of new matter . A portrait of Dr . Brewer is issued as a frontispiece to Part I .
MESSRS . CASSELL & Co . have made arrangements to publish a serial issue , in sixpenny monthly parts , of " The Universal Atlas , " which has 117 pages of maps and an index to 125 , 000 names . The first part will appear simultaneously with a fresh issue of ' The Popular Educator " on thc 25 th of September .
THE second volume of " Social England , " edited by Mr . H . D , Traill D . C . L ., was to be published by Messrs . Cassell & Co . to-day , and will be issued simultaneously in America . The book will contain the history of thc period from tho accession of Edward I . to the death of Henry VII .