on the same basis; nay, even more, her very existence will depend upon her attitude towards these principles of social ownership.

We socialists explain political parties as expressions of groups of individuals having common economic interests at stake who unite to capture the government, for thought it is the economic power that dictates, it is the political power that executes. Hence the necessity of labor to fight the capitalist class politically as well as industrially. The same conditions that necessitated the organization of labor unions on the industrial field brought into existence the socialist party on the political field.

As the political expression of the economic interests of the working class, the socialist party wishes to capture the government in the interests of the working class, and if Brother Gompers wishes to "get the tentacles of governmental agencies from off the throats of the workers" he will well try to capture and control these agencies instead of cooperating with the very forces that are forging the chains of industrial slavery upon the wrists of the workers. I sometimes wonder if Brother Gompers is aware that we socialists wish to abolish the class state founded on force, and substitute in its place an industrial form of government. We look upon and use political democracy as a weapon to inaugurate industrial democracy, and any close student of political science can see the governments of today gradually assuming an industrial form.

Brother Gompers charges the socialists with trying to capture the trade union movement, but in reality, the labor movement is governed by economic forces beyond the permanent control of either. Despite the attitude of Brother Gompers towards industrial unionism, as advocated by the socialists within the labor movement, as opposed to his craft unionism, economic evolution is forcing the craft unions into closer federation, in fact, unconsciously becoming the embryo of the future industrial organization of th cooperative commonwealth.

Unless Brother Gompers completely reverses his fossilized philosophy, the next twenty-five years will show him to be the most discredited labor leader the world has ever known. He admits that if he was in Germany, he would be a member of the socialist party, and that the United States is two decades behind Europe in labor legislation. Then why does he not profit by the experiences of his European trade union brethren and advocate independent political action by labor? They did not get their labor legislation in Europe by tying the labor movement to the kite of the capitalist politicial partes, and I cannot see how conditions are so different in this country to warrant Brother Gompers in assuming that the capitalist parties here can serve the interests of both, capital and labor. If the Mulhall exposures did not, over twenty years of labor lobbying at Washington, ought to have convinced Brother Gompers by this time that all efforts in that direction are futile.

The 1915 convention of the A. F. of L., against the wishes of the socialist delegates, went on record as opposing getting the eight-hour day by legislative enactment, yet last August we saw Brother Gompers in Washington working for the passage of the Adamson bill and advocating the reelection of President Wilson for his part in the enactment. This, too, in spite of the fact that President Wilson intended to ask for a compulsory arbitration bill when Congress reassembled, and which he did in his message to Congress in December.

The A. F. of L. convention just adjourned, desiring not to embarrass President Wilson in his eight-hour day plan, refused to go on record as to their attitude towards it, appointing an investigating committee instead. Yet they went on record as opposing compulsory arbitration, which I take to be, either that they would not embarrass President Wilson, or they had reversed their attitude towards an eight-hour day, by legislative enactment. That the working class want an eight-hour day no one will deny, and I doubt whether the rank and file care how they get it.

A CORNER OF THE LIBRARY

33

The same situation exists with regard to social insurance. The labor movement of the whole world, with the exception of Brother Gompers and his faction of the A. F. of L., are in favor of such legislation. There were a few opponents in other countries once, but their opposition disappeared when the legislation became operative. Now that the insurance system has been introduced, anyone who would suggest its repeal in a European labor convention would be considered a lunatic. The religious and political liberty we boast of so much today is empty and meaningless without completing the triad by adding industrial democracy. You may call us opportunists, if you like, but we are in favor of anything that will strengthen the position of the working class in their struggle upwards towards the goal of industrial democracy, the economic cornerstone of universal brotherhood. GUS LIMBERG, 32°, Memphis, Tenn.

Note. To our mind Brother Limberg's whole argument is knocked into everlasting smithereens and rendered absolutely futile by one expression found in the fourth paragraph of his communication; he says, "the socialist party wishes to capture the government in the interests of the working class.' Masons, and in particular, Scottish Rite Masons, will never assist any one in capturing the government in the interests of any class. Scottish Rite Masonry stands for all the people without any regard whatever, to class distinctions. It is our idea that all men are brethren, and there is, or should be, no such things as class distinctions. Before the law every man stands upon the same footing as any other man, and there should be no special privileges attaching to any man or body of men. Socially and spiritually, every man has an inalienable right to select his own associates to the exclusion of all persons who, from these points of view, are personae non gratae. But politically, no man is entitled to shut out any other man, no matter what his affiliations may be, so long as he obeys the law of the land; and in all things political, the interests of all are to be considered as of vastly more importance than the interests of any sect or organization or any body of men of any kind.-Editor.

B

A CORNER OF THE LIBRARY

BY MYSTICUS

FLORA MACDONALD AND PRINCE CHARLES EDWARD STUART ONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE!"-A halo of romance surrounds the personality of the celebrated young Stuart prince, who made such a gallant attempt to win back his kingdom of Great Britain from the House of Hanover, in the ever-memorable year 1745. That king of romance writers, Sir Walter Scott, has immortalized Prince Charles Edward, in his novel of Waverley. The story of Bonnie Prince Charlie, the idol of the Scottish clans, will live as long as Scotland endures. Freemasons of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite have a peculiar interest in the annals of the Royal House of Stuart and the Jacobite exiles who fled to France with the dethroned James II of England. It was the Chevalier Ramsay, a Scottish Freemason, tutor to the children of James III (the so-called Pretender), who established a Masonic Rite in France, founded upon the first three degrees, which Rite was the nucleus of the present splendid high degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Ramsay's Rite, often called Stuart Masonry, was fabricated as an instrument for effecting the restoration of the Stuart family to the throne of England. "The Chevalier St. George, or the Old Pretender," says Albert Mackay, "sought to find in the high degrees of Masonry a support for his political views, but with no better results than those which had attended the attempts of his father (James II).

"His son, Prince Charles Edward, who was commonly called by the English the Young Pretender, took a more active part than either his father or grandfather in the pursuits of Masonry; and there is abundant historical evidence that he was not only a Mason, but that he held high office in the Order and was for a time zealously engaged in its propagation; always, however, it is supposed with political views.

"In 1745 he invaded Scotland, with a view to regain the last throne of his ancestors, and met for some time with more than partial success. On September 24, 1745, he was admitted into the Order of Knights Templars, and was elected Grand Master, an office which it is said that he held until his death. On his return to France after his ill-fated expedition, the prince established at the city of Arras, on April 15, 1747, a Rose Croix Chapter under the title of Scottish Jacobite Chapter. In the patent for this Chapter he styles himself 'King of England, France, Scotland, and Ireland, and, as such, Substitute Grand Master of the Chapter of Herodem, known under the title of Knight of the Eagle and Pelican, and since our misfortunes and disasters under that of Rose Croix.

On the death of Prince Charles Edward these so-called Stuart degrees, or rather, I should say, Jacobite degrees, were absorbed into the Rite of Perfection, which consisted of twenty-five degrees. They lost their political significance, and were shorn of the Jesuitical influences of the College of Clermont. Many of them survive today in our higher degrees, in a revamped state. There is some extremely interesting history connected with the old Jacobite degrees, which we hope to develop in a future article. But to return to our gallant prince. When the sun of the Stuarts set forever on the bloody plain of Culloden, Prince Charlie fled the striken field with a few followers to the mountain fastnesses of Scotland. His wanderings in the highlands and the islands of the western coast have been described in numerous Jacobite memoirs. His hairbreadth escapes from the British soldiers bordered at times on the marvelous. Though an enormous price was set on his head by the government, something like $150,000, no one attempted to betray him to his enemies. The loyalty of the Scottish clans to their beloved young chieftain is one of the splendid things in history.

1

Perhaps the most romantic and thrilling incident in the career of the prince is his escape from his pursuers under the guidance of Flora Macdonald, the brave and beautiful Scottish lassie, whose heroism and unselfish devotion place her "high among the heroines of the world." We are in receipt of a interesting brochure by Dr. James A. Macdonald, editor of the Toronto Globe, Canada, entitled "Flora Macdonald, a History and a Message.' It is handsomely illustrated and contains much data that is new to many of our readers. Flora Macdonald was born in South Uist, an isle of the Hebrides, in the year 1722, and was well connected. Her education was excellent. After assisting the prince to escape, in the marvelous manner described in Dr. Macdonald's brochure, she was arrested by King George II's soldiers and carried a prisoner to London, but was eventually pardoned. In the year 1750 she was married to Allan Macdonald, son of a gentleman who had befriended the prince. They lived happily together and raised a family of five interesting children. And now comes the incident in Flora's career that many Americans are unaware of. She and her husband with their five children sailed for North Carolina in 1774, "confident," as Dr. Macdonald says, "that the New World would more than make up in life's rewards for the troubles and trials they had experienced in the Old." In the autumn of 1775 they settled at Cross Creek, now Fayetteville; the name of their plantation was Killiegray. Says Dr. Macdonald: "Here Flora thought to spend the rest of her days with her family in peace and quiet. But even before the Macdonald's arrived, the storm of the Revolutionary War was threatening, and it was difficult for late-comers to realize its significance. Hundreds of Highlanders who settled in North Carolina after Culloden were still haunted by the oath which they had been obliged to sign. This fearsome document, which was not revoked until 1782, was calculated to keep back any Highlander who signed it from even the appearance of disloyalty."

N. C.

Flora and her husband, Allan Macdonald, were loyal adherents of the House of

Published by the Scottish Society of America. Flora Macdonald College, Red Springs,

A CORNER OF THE LIBRARY

35

Hanover; they had not lived long enough in America to fully appreciate and understand the motives which led the natives to rebel against their king.

The Tory Governor, Martin, had commissioned a certain Scottish gentleman,. Donald Macdonald, as a brigadier general of the forces to be raised in the State. Gen. Macdonald erected the royal standard at Cross Creek and started his men for Wilmington, which was the grand rendezvous of the royalist regiments. Flora had urged them on with fiery ardor, addressing the troops in Gaelic.

"But," writes Dr. Macdonald, "neither Flora's patriotic fervor nor the clansmen's ardor could save the Royal Highland regiment from the disaster of a few days later. On their march to Wilmington, the orders were to rush a bridge over Widow Moore's Creek an hour before dawn, and to attack the enemy on the opposite bank. At a sudden blast of the bugles and a wild skirl from the bagpipes, they made a rush in the dark. Their cry rang out in the night: 'King George and broadswords!' But the clever American patriots, among them Highlanders as good as the best, outwitted the loyalists. In the night, the planks had been lifted from the sleepers of the bridge and the logs barked and greased. When the onrush came, the entrenched patriots swept with their fire the bridge and the bank beyond. Confused, surrounded, defeated, some seven hundred or more loyalists, including all their chief officers, were taken prisoners. The private soldiers were released under bonds not again to take up arms. Allan Macdonald and his son remained prisoners until eighteen months later, when they were released on parole, and according to the records were exchanged in New York, November, 1778, for American officers of equal rank in the hands of the British. Allan rejoined his regiment in Nova Scotia.

"Throughout those terrible months of distress and fear Flora suffered all the anguish which war brings, but made no complaint. Owing to the part she had taken in the early months of the Revolution she was made to endure the consequences, and the family of Kenneth Black, with whom she lived after she left Killiegray, had to suffer also. Meanwhile, two of her children had died, and were buried at Killiegray. She could seldom hear from her husband, but at length a letter came, advising her to return to Scotland. She was loath to leave her dear ones in America, and her heart was sad as she thought of those lonely graves of her children at Killiegray. However, she had the opportunity to secure passports for herself and her youngest daughter, Fanny, as far as Wilmington, and decided to venture upon the long journey home. They succeeded in getting to Charleston and there took passage on a British vessel for Scotland. At Wilmington, in order to meet her expenses, Flora sold her precious silver, prized because of its beauty of old English craftsmanship, more prized because it was the gift of admiring friends in London, when as 'the Prince's Preserver' she was the center of popular interest.

"The voyage from America to Scotland was marked by an engagement between the British vessel and a French warship. In the thick of the fight the British seamen appeared to waver. At this Flora sprang forward and incited the men to new courage and victorious effort. She suffered a broken arm for her daring part of the conflict.

"In Nova Scotia, Allan Macdonald, of the 84th Regiment, was given his discharge in 1783, as an officer on half pay. He rejoined his wife in Skye and they had a few quiet years together on the Kingsburgh estate. Flora died on March 5, 1790, and the funeral cortege of many thousands attended her when she was laid to rest, while the pipers played the Corona h, the lament for departed greatness.

"The nobility of her character and the romance of her life led hundreds from all quarters of the kingdom to visit her grave in the churchyard of Kilmuir."

It is a pity that Flora Macdonald and her husband could not have joined their fortunes for good or evil with the American patriots in North Carolina. But fate willed it otherwise. The House of Hanover had pardoned her rescue of the Prince Charles Edward, and she had sworn fealty to the British Crown. She was

no turncoat. Concerning herself she said: "I have fought for both the House of Stuart and the House of Hanover and have been worsted in the service of each." She regarded her life as a failure. But such is not the case. She lives in the annals of Scotland forever. Wherever a Scottish heart beats, the name of Flora Macdonald is held sacred as the most perfect type of loyalty and duty.

The old Highland settlement of Cross Hill still remains. We find the same names existing-Macdonald, MacKenzie, MacCaskill, etc. Wherever the clansmen go they carry their traditions, folk lore, lovely songs, and military spirit. As a writer in the World's Work has said: "The Highland clansmen is the most formidable warrior in the world, the most devoted follower, proudest of his traditions, his family record, and his country. A fair half of this Spartan race are this day citizens of the United States. For centuries the other half has fought the battles of the world. No legion of Caesar or band of Knights Templars has such a record as these who broke the old guard of Napoleon, and whose tartan is familiar in every corner of the world."

It is an interesting fact to note that the Scottish Society of America has endowed a girls' college at Red Springs, North Carolina, known as the Flora Macdonald College. The president of this institution is Dr. C. G. Vardell, a brother Mason, be it known. A great educational work is being carried on here that will redound to the credit of the Cape Fear Highlanders of North Carolina.

OTHER BOOKS RECEIVED

Kahn, Otto H. Art and the People. New York: Shakespeare Tercentenary Celebration Committee, 1916. 30 pp.

The democracy of art emphasized. "Art," says the writer, "and particularly the art of music and the stage, is a serious and important cultural element in the life of a community."

Larson, Christian D. In the Light of the Spirit. New York: T. Y. Crowell Co., 1916. 194 pp.

Says the writer: "The higher we go in the realization of the One Life and the soul of Silence the greater becomes our wisdom and power." An inspirational work dealing with soul develop

ment.

-My ideal of marriage, New York: T. Y. Crowell, 1916. 109 pp.

A plea for idealism in marriage. Says that the current views of sex, marriage, love, courtship, conjugal attraction, and all other subjects of a kindred nature are "thoroughly materialistic, and therefore unsuited to the new time and the new order of things."

Weaver, F. S., The new creation. Vera, S. Dak., 1916. 124 pp.

A criticism of modern methods of worship. Discusses the symbolisms of the bible, etc.

A VERY COMFORTING STATEMENT

This life is only a part of life. We may not have positive proof of this, as a fact in nature, nor may we dogmatize upon any of the experiences of any other life. But reason and conscience both proclaim that God is just and nature is kind, and, if these deductions are true, then those who have not become proficient here must have opportunity elsewhere, and those who have completed the work here must have greater opportunities somewhere else; because none of us has yet achieved the ideal.-Oriental Consistory Bulletin.