Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Grand Lodge Of Switzerland And The War.
We claim the inalienable right Avhich God has given equally to all men at their birth , the right of life , liberty , and happiness . In recalling these elementary principles of progressive civilisation , Ave not only appeal to the people
by whom they are UOAV forgotten , outraged and tramp led under foot , but also to all friends of humanity , not to doubt the result , not be discouraged by the present condition of affairs . When the blind fury of the belligerent powers
shall be exhausted or satiated Avith blood , the voice of reason Avill be heard . Already , at the commencement of the war , the rupture of domestic ties , the stagnation of trade , the dearth of provision , the incalculable loss to commerce
ancl industry , have brought the world to a just appreciation of tho scandalous revelations AAdiich have leaked out from dip lomatic circles . What Avill it be towards the end , when account shall have been taken of the number of families plunged into
mourning , how many have been maimed for life , IIOAV many toAvns and villages have been plunged into misery and desolation .
The clay Avill certainly arrive when the truth Avill be aided by the moral effect , produced by public misfortunes . To work , then , throughout the Masonic Chain of Union , commencing with our own dear country—this happy Helvetia , Avhose Government has no other
policy than to Avork for the happiness of the people ; where the people have no other ambition than to HA ' happy at home , and at peace Avith all the world ; where the tAvo races shelter themselves under tho
federal protection side by side in the most perfect harmony , and Avithout any other rivalry than their lo \* e of progress , and their zeal for tho prosperity of their country . To work also , all neutral poAvers ! Can they stand by and not turn either to the right or to the loft , in
order to take , sooner or later , the part of pacificators ? To Avork , then , in the heart of tho nations at war , not onl y to offer assistance to the victims of the Avar , but also to endeavour to heal the Avoundod pride of the nation .
It may be permitted to us to express our thoughts upon this subject . To us it belongs , more than to any others , to have a kind word to those Avho suffer for the honour of their fla" -. Our manifest would be presumptuous , if on our part
, it Avas not the strict fulfilment of a duty . Wo Swiss , speaking the French , German , and Italian languages , and yet belonging to neither nation , declare to our misguided brethren that their quarrel does not in the least touch the question of honour of race .
France and Germany represent the Latin and the German races of the human family , and if it is necessary , a power greater than the belligerents should recall them before it is too late . This power is Public Op inion . Our words are but one of its Aveakest echoes , ancl none of us have the least idea what immediate
effect they are destined to produce . Already similar protestations have been made , and haA e passed nnperceived . Who can say that they haA * e not , nevertheless , silently worked their way , in the town as Avell in the country—to the domestic hearth and to the workshop" ? The triumphs of moral
force are not noisily announced . Every manifestation seems at first struck Avith inanity ; and , notwithstanding , the triumph of truth ordinarily arrives sooner than expected . It Avill be Avith the abolition of war as Avith the suppression of slavery ; and what
yoke more heavy , more ancient , or more cruel has Aveighed upon humanity than the domination of brutal force and the potheosis of the conqueror . Certain it is that , if Freemasonry is to be faithful to its traditions , she Avill not miss the opportunity of
displaying anew her civilizing influence—what she has clone before to pacify the people , lacerated by political passion or religious hatred—and what she has done in another ago to guarantee the civil ri ghts of man , it now remains for her to complete by all
the influence at her disposal . In realit y , the abolition of Avar of is but one of the items of a more general question . Modern society , it is true , acknowledges individual liberty , but it has hardly yet recognized the duty of protecting it .
HoAvever that may be , the catastrophe in which Ave are assisting dominates over every other interest . It seems to us sufficientl y demonstrated that , even for the victors , there is no Averse plague than Avar . It is otherwise in vain that AVO appeal to tho ' * ' last argument of kings . " What avails political treaties made Avith the edge of tho SAvord , if new occasions occur for the effusion of blood ?
It is in vain also that , no matter what military poAvers may oppose henceforth , one against the other , to supplant each other iu the political preponderance of Europe . Tho ambition of contemporaries docs not bond before the force of arms ; they advance irresistib . y in civil
and social amelioration . The latter in the present day ha \* e cast themselves against the ancient entrenchments of tho military . The day will come Avhen the banner of humanity will be seen floating over the ruins of the antiquated fortress . In the name of the Swiss Grand Lodge " Alpina . ' ' J . J . EUCICI , Grand Master . BOUSEMJLUST , Grand Sec .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Grand Lodge Of Switzerland And The War.
We claim the inalienable right Avhich God has given equally to all men at their birth , the right of life , liberty , and happiness . In recalling these elementary principles of progressive civilisation , Ave not only appeal to the people
by whom they are UOAV forgotten , outraged and tramp led under foot , but also to all friends of humanity , not to doubt the result , not be discouraged by the present condition of affairs . When the blind fury of the belligerent powers
shall be exhausted or satiated Avith blood , the voice of reason Avill be heard . Already , at the commencement of the war , the rupture of domestic ties , the stagnation of trade , the dearth of provision , the incalculable loss to commerce
ancl industry , have brought the world to a just appreciation of tho scandalous revelations AAdiich have leaked out from dip lomatic circles . What Avill it be towards the end , when account shall have been taken of the number of families plunged into
mourning , how many have been maimed for life , IIOAV many toAvns and villages have been plunged into misery and desolation .
The clay Avill certainly arrive when the truth Avill be aided by the moral effect , produced by public misfortunes . To work , then , throughout the Masonic Chain of Union , commencing with our own dear country—this happy Helvetia , Avhose Government has no other
policy than to Avork for the happiness of the people ; where the people have no other ambition than to HA ' happy at home , and at peace Avith all the world ; where the tAvo races shelter themselves under tho
federal protection side by side in the most perfect harmony , and Avithout any other rivalry than their lo \* e of progress , and their zeal for tho prosperity of their country . To work also , all neutral poAvers ! Can they stand by and not turn either to the right or to the loft , in
order to take , sooner or later , the part of pacificators ? To Avork , then , in the heart of tho nations at war , not onl y to offer assistance to the victims of the Avar , but also to endeavour to heal the Avoundod pride of the nation .
It may be permitted to us to express our thoughts upon this subject . To us it belongs , more than to any others , to have a kind word to those Avho suffer for the honour of their fla" -. Our manifest would be presumptuous , if on our part
, it Avas not the strict fulfilment of a duty . Wo Swiss , speaking the French , German , and Italian languages , and yet belonging to neither nation , declare to our misguided brethren that their quarrel does not in the least touch the question of honour of race .
France and Germany represent the Latin and the German races of the human family , and if it is necessary , a power greater than the belligerents should recall them before it is too late . This power is Public Op inion . Our words are but one of its Aveakest echoes , ancl none of us have the least idea what immediate
effect they are destined to produce . Already similar protestations have been made , and haA e passed nnperceived . Who can say that they haA * e not , nevertheless , silently worked their way , in the town as Avell in the country—to the domestic hearth and to the workshop" ? The triumphs of moral
force are not noisily announced . Every manifestation seems at first struck Avith inanity ; and , notwithstanding , the triumph of truth ordinarily arrives sooner than expected . It Avill be Avith the abolition of war as Avith the suppression of slavery ; and what
yoke more heavy , more ancient , or more cruel has Aveighed upon humanity than the domination of brutal force and the potheosis of the conqueror . Certain it is that , if Freemasonry is to be faithful to its traditions , she Avill not miss the opportunity of
displaying anew her civilizing influence—what she has clone before to pacify the people , lacerated by political passion or religious hatred—and what she has done in another ago to guarantee the civil ri ghts of man , it now remains for her to complete by all
the influence at her disposal . In realit y , the abolition of Avar of is but one of the items of a more general question . Modern society , it is true , acknowledges individual liberty , but it has hardly yet recognized the duty of protecting it .
HoAvever that may be , the catastrophe in which Ave are assisting dominates over every other interest . It seems to us sufficientl y demonstrated that , even for the victors , there is no Averse plague than Avar . It is otherwise in vain that AVO appeal to tho ' * ' last argument of kings . " What avails political treaties made Avith the edge of tho SAvord , if new occasions occur for the effusion of blood ?
It is in vain also that , no matter what military poAvers may oppose henceforth , one against the other , to supplant each other iu the political preponderance of Europe . Tho ambition of contemporaries docs not bond before the force of arms ; they advance irresistib . y in civil
and social amelioration . The latter in the present day ha \* e cast themselves against the ancient entrenchments of tho military . The day will come Avhen the banner of humanity will be seen floating over the ruins of the antiquated fortress . In the name of the Swiss Grand Lodge " Alpina . ' ' J . J . EUCICI , Grand Master . BOUSEMJLUST , Grand Sec .