MAGLCBrodeur

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CLARENCE ARTHUR BRODEUR 1865-1923

ClarenceBrodeur1923.jpg

SPEECHES

FEAST OF ST. JOHN, DECEMBER 1906

From Proceedings, Page 1906-216:

Most Worshipful Grand Master and Brethren: It is with a great deal of misgiving that I face this audience of representative Masons gathered here to celebrate the Feast of St. John. This afternoon I think the Brother on my right, whom your ballots elected two weeks ago to the position of Junior Grand Warden, expressed himself very forcibly when he said that the delight of partaking in a feast like this, with a probability before him of being called upon for an after-dinner speech, was not an unmixed blessing. I think there is, in addition to the general lack of ease which accompanies a position like that of those who are called upon to address you this evening, — there is an added feeling that it is a very great treat to hear the other speakers and that this is a very important meeting; and the greatness of the task grows in proportion to the greatness of the treat.

I noticed in the papers the other day that they have been trying by court-martial some of the Russian admirals and officers because they surrendered to the Japanese in the Battle of the Sea of Japan; and in the course of this trial it was brought out that these people who were upon the Russian ships for weeks were in absolute terror, in great dread, of the approaching catastrophe which they all saw must come; and they were overwhelmed and practically beaten before the battle came at all. This testimony came to the attention of people who up to that time could not understand why it was that the celebrated Russian naval officer in Paris committed suicide a short time ago. and it appeared at once that it was for practically the same reason. You remember it is said that the Russian admiral in Paris, whose room was on the fourth floor, suddenly, in the middle of the night, Jumped from the open window to the pavement four stories below, and was dashed to death. Kind friends gathered and picked him up; and the officers at once began an investigation; and they searched his room, and the hotel; and they finally found that this man had been impelled to this deed of violence to himself by this same fear of the Japanese vessels; he had the same fear of the Japanese vessel that was coming to meet the foe, the country of which he was an admiral, and this fear had impelled him to take his own life. I say they found this. They searched long and diligently, and they found the model of a Japanese man-of-war in his room.

Brethren, there is a statement going around in this country which shows that whenever we wish to do great homage to a man we give him all the credit for It, — we call him a "self-made man." If by this statement is meant thai any man has made himself what he is, by himself and himself alone, the statement is not true. We are all of us under obligations to all these influences, active in us, and in the making of mankind, silent influences, but influences which nevertheless have a strong effect upon the character of men always. A man is under obligations to his early training under the love of his mother, and to the men he meets and the friendships he forms and the places he visits, and to all those influences which insensibly mould the character and make him better or worse than he would otherwise be.

This principle has been put into practice among all the nations of the earth, and in all ages of men. We say in our second degree that it is to the Greeks and not to the Romans that we are indebted for all that is great in architecture; and it is a matter of history that the people of those days, the boys and girls, were led to contemplate the beauties of architecture, in order that the influence of these great efforts which artists had prepared might sink into their minds and produce even greater architects and sculptors than had been before. And so in Rome, the people of Rome were wise enough to tell their children how this or that man had been incited to some deed of heroism or self-denial by the thought that it was for his country; and so they made the boys of those days great generals, great in war, and able to carry the arms of that Republic to victory, making the Empire of Home the greatest empire the world had ever known. The people of Switzerland look back in their history to the days when a man dedicated himself to the cause of freedom, — a man who never lived, a man who is a mere creature of (he imagination, William Tell, but who has exerted as great an influence on succeeding generations as any man who did live.

Now, we of this day have added one means whereby the life of our people is made the greater and the richer to those who will follow us in the future. The ancients used to take children and young people to visit great buildings, and used to tell them stories of the prowess of men who had gone before. These were all good, but to these has been added in these later days the placing of pictures of one sort and another upon the walls of the homes and the schools so that these may exert the influences of their beauty upon the minds and characters of the young. A few years ago I placed upon the walls of my study a copy of a great picture, Huffman's "Christ in the Temple." Yon are doubtless familiar with it; it is a very well-known picture, and a very dear one to many of us, — a boy of twelve years of age standing amidst the scholars and doctors, listening to them and asking them questions and answering them — a boy with a rapt expression, a beautiful face;—and after a little while my four-year-old boy came into the room and discovered the picture for the first time. Placing his hands in his pockets he stood there, swaying back and forth, it seemed to me, for five minutes, looking at the picture, then turning his little back and going off, to be seen no more for an hour or two. And so each day this little lad trotted in, stood watching the picture, examining it, and then trotted off again without a word, What its influence had been on him I do not know, but I have every confidence to believe that in the great making of a human soul there are influences at work which make themselves fell upon the young life and, in days when strength and force of character are needed, will bring them forth to be applied in all the exigencies of life.

So in this Temple of ours I have been impressed again and again, as I have been through its rooms, with the meaning and the influence which those portraits on the walls are exerting on the Masonic character in this day and generation. Our Worshipful Grand Chaplain voiced this sentiment in his prayer, when he said that though they had passed from among us they had not ceased to do their work, even to the present time, and thai to-day they seemed to come very close to us, almost to touch us, and to extend their hearty hopes that the Fraternity at large would be blessed in the days that are to come.

Brethren, what a wealth of influence is being exerted by these people whose portraits hang upon the walls. Some of them have been dead for years, and yet their subtle influence, exciting itself, has come from them upon your heart and mine as we sit there iu the Grand Lodge, and is making us fitter for the duties that are coming to us. Ever since this Government was formed there has never been a time when we have not been able, in any exigency, to call upon men whose nobility of ideal has been heightened and Increased by the principles of Masonry. They have always been ready when the occasion arose, and naturally they have taken charge. They have taken the possibilities, and have wrought them into successful conclusions. I look with joy on the face of Paul Revere, the bell maker, the notes from whose bells rang across the waters of the Charles to the waiting patriot on the further bank; and this man, who was taking his life in his hands, rode across the country that he might "spread the alarm, through every Middlesex village and farm." John Marshall I look upon with the most profound admiration every time I go to take a look at that picture, because, when Supreme Justice of this country. he made possible the making and building up of this great and mighty nation by the wisdom of his decisions, making it possible that you and I to-day might enjoy the blessings of freedom in a growing democracy. And so with others. There are many of them, if I could only take time to speak of them in an address of this sort.

Now, these people, pure souls, who preach their story from day to day, — these men find most of us metaphysicians, willing to enroll ourselves in one of two classes—either willing to decry ourselves and others, and to make the countercharge that mankind to-day is not fit for noble things in life; that it has gone to lower ideals since the days when the fathers were present on earth; and those who say that the times are out of joint, that the opportunity comes but seldom to people who are ambitious to serve where they are wanted. The first are like the ancient arrow maker, who, at his home, is sitting by the side of his beautiful daughter, and on the way there is coming the suitor for this daughter's hand; and the poet goes on to say:

"He was thinking, as he sat there,
Of the days when with such arrows
He bad struck the deer and bison,
On the Muskoday, the meadow;
Shot the wild goose, flying southward.
On the wing, the clamorous Wawa;
Thinking of the great war-parties,
How they came to buy his arrows,
Could not fight without his arrows.
Ah, no more such noble warriors
Could be found on earth as they were!
Now the men were all like women,
Only used their tongues For weapons!"

And yet at this very moment there is standing before him the young man who was to he sent by the Great Spirit to be the prophet and leader of his nation, to lead his people, through peaceable methods, to the civilization which they never had known before. And to-day there may be before us a man, a public man, who, when the right time and opportunity come, will carry forward the principles of our Order and all of these things which make for better citizenship and a purer Republic, carry them forward to heights which they never occupied in the past. And those of the other class, — to what shall we liken them? The longer one lives in the world the more surely one realizes, it seems to me, that most men in this world find just about the thing that they are looking for; if pleasure, they find it; if wealth, they find it; and if service, they find it. I believe that there is for every man who is born into this world a distinct work to do. In the great symphony of life every man has a part to play, a part that is appreciable to the Leader, and a part without which there will be no perfect harmony. I once asked the conductor of a great symphony orchestra what was the use of so many people playing so many different instruments. He told me that each one had its own part to play. "But," I said, some of these people seem to have but a note or two to play at a time, and that very rarely. Are they necessary to the production of the music?" He answered, "Oh, I know we could get along without them if we were simply a military band on the street, but for the perfect rendering of the music we need them all." "But do you know when one of them plays his note?" I asked. "Oh, yes," said he. "When I first went into this business for a living I could hear only the sound of the instrument I was playing; but as I gave myself more to my profession and studied the work, I came before long to hear one after another of the other instruments, and now there is not an instrument in this great assembly that plays even a single note that I cannot hear."

So in this great symphony which men call life every man has a part to play, without which the great theme will halt and Ihl: iu its movement, and which, played, will swell the great chorus of the Redemption.

These people whose portraits hang on the walls of our Temple, and have hung there these many moons, testify to the great principles of the Order which they so loyally supported, and they are saying to us to-day, as we meet them, "Guard well these things which we have transmitted to you. Not simply hand them on, but guard these things well, and pass them on to succeeding generations, that every generation may see the labor of the fathers and be satisfied with the attainments of those who have preceded them."

Thus, as we carry out this great work of ours in the symphony which it is our business to lake part in, thus are we carrying out the work which these men have given us to do, and thus are we making it possible that "the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former;" and that the Masonic Fraternity in the days which are to come shall lift high and ever higher the principles which make for God, for home, for native land. [Applause.]

MEMORIAL

From Proceedings, Page 1923-434:

On October 19 the Grand Lodge suffered a great loss in the passing of R.W. Clarence A. Brodeur, who served it as Senior Grand Warden in 1910. R.W. Bro. Brodeur was one of those whom the Fraternity delighted to honor. As Principal of the State Normal School at Westfield for twenty-two years he won a large and honored place among the leading educators of the state. As a Deacon in the Second Congregational Church of Westfield for more than twenty years he was a leader in the religious life of the community. The people of Westfield and the surrounding country looked up to him as a leader in civic and social betterment. To Freemasonry he gave a service of almost incredible extent when one considers the many activities of his very full life. All the bodies of the York, Cryptic, and Scottish Rites benefited by his intelligent, loving, and zealous service. His was a rare and generous personality, endearing him to a great circle of friends and acquaintances who mourn his loss and will always cherish his memory.

From Proceedings, Page 1923-510:

Born, September 25, 1865.
Died, October 19, 1923.

Clarence Arthur Brodeur was born in Colchester, Vermont, September 25, 1865, the son of Charles and Priscilla (Marsh) Brodeur. He received his early education in the schools of that town and at Burlington, Vermont. Ambitious for further education, but lacking funds, he taught school in Franklin, N. H., during 1882 and 1883, earning money with which to start on his college course. In September of 1883 he entered Harvard University, graduating with the class of 1887. Writing here the bare facts that he entered and graduated from the University does not adequately indicate the really dramatic setting of that college education, which was achieved in the face of almost insurmountable difficulties and accompanied by hardships that would have discouraged anyone less determined than he.

The old assertion, "A self-made man" was literally true of the life of Rt. Wor. Bro. Brodeur. His parents being unable to assist him in securing a college education he set out to accomplish his purpose alone. The marked success with which he accomplished his purpose is greatly to his credit; but it cost him much in those things which the average college graduate holds most dear. There were no softening memories of those difficult college years for the determined Vermont boy, for he was obliged to live miles away from Cambridge, and had to arise before dawn to assist in the work about the farm where he Iived. He started early on his long walk to the University and worked hard throughout the day, not only in the class rooms, but at any place where he could secure snatches of employment between classes to swell his slender finances, but in spite of such handicaps he graduated in 1887 with distinction, and took with him from college a groundwork of general knowledge which in later years elevated him high in the ranks of Harvard's distinguished graduates.

Rt. Wor. Bro. Brodeur's first work after graduation was as principal of the Hunnewell Grammar School in Wellesley, which he began in the fall of 1887. After a year in this position, he resigned to become principal of the Franklin High School, remaining two years in that Massachusetts town. After resigning from the position at Franklin he entered the Boston University Law School, where he pursued the study of law from 1890 to 1892. Immediately after graduating from the Law School he went West to Tacoma, Washington, where he was admitted to the bar of Pierce County.

His inclination toward educational interests, however, appears to have outweighed his recent touch with law, and he soon accepted a position as instructor in the Tacoma High School, but held the position only a year before returning East. On his return to Massachusetts he became Superintendent of Schools in Warren and Wales, holding that position for three years. In 1896 he became Superintendent of Schools in Chicopee, Mass., a position he filled with unusual distinction for five years. In 1901 Rt. Wor. Bro. Brodeur was chosen from a distinguished list of applicants to become principal of the Westfield State Normal School, in Westfield, Mass. In this position he served continuously up to the time of his death, having held the longest tenure of office of any principal of the school.

Gifted with a genius for leadership, coupled with a judicial temperament, perhaps influenced by his study of law, he became an ideal principal of an institution of the importance of the Westfield State Normal School, and accomplished remarkable results with the comparatively small Faculty with which he was always obliged to carry on the work of the school.

Rt. Wor. Bro. Brodeur was active in Westfield civic affairs, although seldom a candidate for any office. He was Moderator of the town meetings for several years, and, although a strict parliamentarian, he never let his determination for regularity temper his better judgment. As a result, there were few protests from his decisions. In church affairs he was exceptionally active. He attended the Second Congregational Church of Westfield, where he served as Deacon and Clerk, and Superintendent of the Sunday School. He gave generously of his time and money to its support.

Rt. Wor. Bro. Brodeur was married June 24, 1887, to Miss Cornelia Latta, daughter of Charles Gilchrist Latta, of Wellesley, Mass. To this union were born two daughters and four sons; the daughters dying in early childhood. His wife and four sons survive him.

Rt. Wor. Bro. Brodeur's Masonic record, beginning in 1900, was rapid, brilliant, and most useful to the Craft. He was Raised in Belcher Lodge, Chicopee Falls, Mass., September 11, 1900. He was Senior Warden of that Lodge in 1900 and 1901 and Worshipful Master in 1901 and 1902. Upon his removal to Westfieid he affiliated with Mount Moriah Lodge, and was Senior Deacon in 1905, 1906, 1912 and 1913, and was Worshipful Master in 1915 and 1916. In 1908 he was appointed District Deputy Grand Master for the Sixteenth Masonic District, holding that office two years; and in 1910 was elected Senior Grand Warden in this Grand Lodge. He was a brilliant and pleasing public speaker, and from the time of his first connection with the Grand Lodge was much in demand where Masons were assembled, not only in western Massachusetts, but throughout the entire jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge, and often in other New England states.

He was exalted in Unity Royal Arch Chapter, Chicopee Falls, Mass., April 24, 7901, and affiliated with Evening Star Royal Arch Chapter, Westfield, in 1902. After serving in the offices of Scribe and King, he was High Priest in 1904 and 1905. He was Deputy Grand High Priest in 1921. In Cryptic Masonry he received the degrees in Springfield Council, Royal and Select Masters, on April 9, 1902, became a Charter member of Westfield Council, and was Thrice Illustrious Master from 1914 to 1916. He was Knighted in Springfield Commandery, Knights Templars, No. 6, on January 22, 1906; was Prelate, 1913, 1914, 1915, and 1919 ; Senior Warden, 1922; and elected Captain General, October 3, 1923.

In Scottish Rite Masonry he received the degrees in Evening Star Lodge of Perfection on December 5, 1906; Massasoit Council, Princes of Jerusalem, on January 2, 1908; Springfield Chapter of Rose Croix, January 30, 1908; Massachusetts Consistory, Boston, April 24, 1908; and affiliated with Connecticut Valley Consistory, Springfield, on December 5, 1918. He was Chancellor of the latter Consistory from 1918 to 1923. He was Thrice Potent Master of Evening Star Lodge of Perfection at the time of his death. He received the 33d Degree, Honorary, from the Supreme Council, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of the Northern Jurisdiction, at its annual session in Cleveland, Ohio, in September, 1922.

The early influences which shaped the life of our departed Brother are unknown to us, but we must believe that the home influences which surrounded. him embraced wise and Christian parents, and perhaps, also, he imbibed something of the spirit of Col. Ethan Allen, that invincible and virile soldier of the Revolution, whose spirit still animates the lives of the dwellers on the shores of that historic Lake.

Like our traditional Grand Master, "he was cut off in the midst of his usefulness," but the example of his life and the good he wrought will be undying, ever multiplying in influence for the upbuilding of humanity.

Respectfully submitted,
EEdwin A. Blodgett,
Edward G. Marshman,
Stanley L. Plaice,
Committee.


Distinguished Brothers