GIFT OF E 37 I Oaylord Bros. PLAN FOR THE UNIVERSAL ORDER OF THE HOLY GRAIL PURITY GOOD CITIZENSHIP SERVICE WILLIAM SKINNER ELDREDGE Copyrighted 1919 By William Skinner Eldredge 1336 Garden Street Santa Barbara, California U. S. A. ... X Dedication x To my beloved mother, Catharine Elizabeth Bennett Eldredge, who, in her eighty-fifth year, carries the heart and hope of a maid in her breast, from whose lips I never heard fall an impatient word, and whose prayers, softer than rays of light and stronger than bands of steel, have ever guided me towards the Light, I gratefully dedicate THE PLAN FOR THE UNIVERSAL ORDER OF THE HOLY GRAIL. William Skinner Eldredge. 9731 Good Citizenship :-: Preliminary Remarks :-: It is hardly necessary to explain the signifi- cance of the words, Holy Grail, nor to enter into a discussion of that sacred symbol, for which men have fought and about which God- inspired poets have dreamed and written. It is the lodestar of the most fascinating history and romance of the race Holy Grail symbol of supreme self-sacrifice and token of final and complete redemption to all who in spirit par- take of its wine of eternal life and love. The vision, which is outlined on these brief pages, after having persisted for several years, gradually unfolding its splendor of possibili- ties, was hastened in its public birth by a pro- phetic dream. Thrust aside time and again as being too Utopian to be practical, it would not be denied. Men and women of the twen- tieth century are the dauntless pioneers of a Democracy whose foundations shall be laid in Purity, Justice and Service. The two words which dominate the world today are Ideal and Achieve. No attempt is made here to detail the work- ings of The Universal Order of the Holy Grail, Tk Kcl> Gx.il x Purity save in the most general way. The plan is fundamental and all-inclusive. Its sole pur- pose is to exalt and to give concrete effective- ness to clean living, good citizenship and ser- vice. This may best be accomplished, not by means of more laws for the world is weighted down and weary with laws but by holding before the minds of men A VISION THAT CONTAINS WITHIN ITSELF ITS OWN INSPIRATION AND POWERS OF FUL- FILLMENT. Other questions, regardless of their merit, must never be wrought into the workings of the order. This order will not concern itself with any shadows of the past. Every man and woman on God's great earth shall have the supreme privilege of attaining to its highest honors, fellowships and protection. But it will con- cern itself most mightily to see that our chil- dren are instructed and safeguarded as they have never been before ; to surround our moth- ers and our unborn babies with the care that is due them; to strike a higher note in our institutions of learning and in our army and navy; to recognize the inherent goodness in all men and women and to make this a cleaner and a better world in which to live. Good CitJ2nKip :: Servic* X Outline of the Plan ;-; Membership Membership in the order may be held by any human being above the age of twelve, of any sex, race, color, creed or condition of life. The Progressive Star The first degree of the order we have called the PROGRESSIVE STAR, as it will embrace a period of ten years in its completion. It will really be a ten years' course of instruction in purity, good citizenship and service. This is the most important of the degrees, as it is the foundation for all that follows and will carry our children through adolescence well up into full manhood and womanhood. It will be con- structive in its teachings, and while it will be especially adapted to the unfolding needs of growing children, holding ever before their vision the glory of the good, it will be equally helpful to those of more mature years. Merely to illustrate the possibilities of this degree, we suggest the following list of virtues which could be specialized during the ten year period, the white light of purity to run through the entire course. TKe Holy Grail :-: Puritj (1) PURITY, (2) TRUTHFULNESS, (3) THE MEANING OF THE FLAG, PATRI- OTISM, (4) HONOR, (5) JUSTICE, (6) GENEROSITY, (7) LOYALTY, (8) SER- VICE, (9) EQUALITY, CONSIDERATION, TOLERANCE, (10) FIDELITY. Emblems of the Progressive Star Degree The emblems of this degree will be ten in number. The first will consist of a bronze but- ton with the Holy Grail in the center. To this button one point will be added upon the completion of each year of faithful member- ship until it becomes a ten point star. This star will entitle its possessor to membership in and participation in all the honors and work- ings of the Sir Galahad degree. All emblems of this degree will be numbered and their history kept on file. The emblems of this degree will not be the property of those who wear them. They will be granted annually by Sir Galahad lodges to worthy members, who will return them at the close of the year, when they will be entitled to one containing an added point. In this way Good Citizenship :: Service they will be purchased over and over again and acquire a sentimental value far in excess of the small amount the badge itself will cost. It might thus happen that a button which had been worn with honor by a president, gov- ernor, bishop, or other noted man or woman, would fall to a poor boy in the slums of a city, or perchance to a boy or a girl who lived in meager surroundings far from a city, and to them it would become a most potent talisman, inciting to nobility of life and strong efforts in advancement. A single button in time might thus insure to society the saving of many boys and girls who otherwise would have been lured into paths of vice. While Progressive Star lodges will be insti- tuted and directed by Sir Galahad lodges, the working degree of the order, it will be expected that all charter members of the Sir Galahad degree will wear the successive emblems of the Progressive Star degree during business hours, from 9 A. M. to 5 P. M., to show their hearty accord with the spirit of the order, and also to bestow upon the emblems themselves a heritage of honor that will be priceless to future generations. The Holy Grail :-: Purit? Temples of Purity and Good Citizenship Eventually every state should have one, or more, according to its size, great central Tem- ple of Purity and Good Citizenship, situated for accessibility and beauty. In it should be halls, reading rooms, a superb lodge room, gymna- sium, a swimming tank, dormitories, a fine din- ing room, etc. These temples should be dedi- cated to the boys and girls of the state. When they reached the proper age, and so desired voluntarily, they should be sent there to be initiated into the order. The cermonies should cover several days and be made as impressive as possible. As they would be the guests of the order, no money could be used while there, as their every need would be plentifully sup- plied. They would be instructed in the things they should know scientifically instructed. In every possible way the beauties of purity would be impressed on their tender minds ; the power of purity, the wisdom of purity, the joy of purity, as well as the glory of good citi- zenship and service. Their minds would be ever held towards the light, directed to high ideals. It would be epochal with them, and the very finest of our men and women would Good Citizenship :*: Service add to the occasions by lectures as well as by personal contact. Two Initiations THE PROGRESSIVE STAR DEGREE will be divided into two periods of tive years each, and at the end of the first period those who had proven themselves faithful would return for instructions in the second period. They would then be crossing the threshold to young manhood and womanhood. What a power they would wield over incoming classes ! Every boy and girl in the state would be privileged to receive the invaluable inspira- tions of these occasions. Here all would stand on the same level and be saturated with the same lofty ideals. There could be no lavish display while they were the guests of the order, as they would all wear the plainest, simplest white. When they returned shining to their homes, schools and churches, they would be veritable bands of crusaders, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of Purity, pledged to keep their ranks clean, and they would do it, guarding the less fortunate, determined to achieve the Sir Galahad degree, Round Table, Ten Wise Virgins, or to become missionaries of purity The Holy Grail :-: Purit? to their own or other lands. Nor would the high inspirations of these occasions be allowed to ooze from the children : knowing them as we would, and their individual problems, special encouragement by means of strong personal letters would be given them from time to time. We have many departments in our nation, but no Department of Boys and Girls. Is it not time to supplement the magnificent efforts of our schools and churches by a great uni- versal movement? By a little wisely directed effort hundreds of thousands of our young who are left to drift could be turned into channels of clean and noble living. Institutions of Learning High school, college and university stu- dents, etc., who finish their courses clean should have points to the number of their years as students added to their diplomas and become known as Holy Grail men and women. The moral standing this will add to their attainments will crystallize their common decency into preference in their chosen voca- tions. Any institution in which at least 95% of Good Citizenship :: Service ##<&r-graduates have sworn allegiance to the Holy Grail will be granted the banner of the order. As the day follows night, thus, when once any well known institution of learning has achieved this distinction, in self defense other similar institutions will strive for that great honor also. Public Service National, state and county capitols, city halls, etc., may display the banner of the order only when they are 100% clean. Every presi- dent, governor, or public official or represen- tative of any kind should be expected to be clean. The Army and Navy The day has passed when an army may con- sist of men who have largely laid aside thoughts of advancement to enlist, living on a pittance, the best years of life spent in drill and review during times of peace. Their stay in the service should be a period of intensive training not only in the science of war, but also, and more especially, in the arts of peace. The army and navy should become universi- The Holy Grail :: Purit? ties, trade schools, business colleges, and every man in the service should be privileged to marry. Every man in the service, from the President down, should be urged to take the oath of allegiance to the Holy Grail as a just debt to a holy mother, a supreme service to humanity and a crowning achievement of patri- otism. Purity is power. One clean man on the firing line is worth three unclean ones, and it is right that we should recognize this valuation in men. When an enlisted man in any branch of the service has completed seven years of clean service, together with the three years more necessary to round out the ten point star, either in or out of the service, he should be rewarded with a bonus of at least twenty-five hundred dollars by the nation as a partial recognition of the unpriceable value of his clean life to his country. This nation can not afford to hold purity as a pauper unworthy of recognition or investment. The efficiency which seven years of clean service would in- sure would in a decade give us reserve which no power could break. Under such a plan it would no longer be a question as to how to get men to enlist; rather, enlistment for a seven Good Citizenship :-: Servica year term would soon follow competitive exam- inations. The Sir Galahad Degree This will be the administrative degree of the order, and to institute it a certain number of men and women of known integrity should be chosen and pro-rated among the states. Every lodge of this degree will have the over- sight of the workings of the forder inj its allotted jurisdiction. These lodges will also meet annually in both national and state con- ventions to apportion finance, regulate the dis- tribution of emblems and to direct all branches of work in the order. They will also elect dele- gates to the Round Table. The Round Table Degree This will be an international degree. It will meet biennially to further the interests of world purity. The attainment of the Round Table will be one of the finest honors that can come to any man or woman. The full expenses of this degree will be met by the Sir Galahad degree ; lack of financial ability must never be a bar to any worthy member. The HoljJ Grail :-: Purity Distinctive Features To remain national and international in scope, The Universal Order of the Holy Grail must ever remain distinctively a layman's movement, officered exclusively by laymen and women. Nor must it ever in any way become allied with other reform movements. This order is unique in that it will appeal to every father and mother in the world; all desire the best for their children. There is no minority, large or small, opposing the best for their young. We at least are unanimous in that, and to remain unanimous this order will exalt purity, good citizenship and service, and these great qualities only. Nor will any loop- hole for possible misunderstanding of its sole purpose be allowed to exist for one moment. Regardless of all other things, here all can con- scientiously strive side by side, and in the striving there will grow into the race con- sciousness a realization of the hitherto vapor- ous ideal of universal brotherhood. Certainly it is to be expected that the leaders of every religion will lend this movement their unquali- fied support, and that all secular 'teachers will co-operate to the ful| extent of their sincere ability. Good Citizenship :: Service The Ten Wise Virgins This will be the exclusive woman's branch of the order, and it is destined to become the greatest of all orders in its possibilities for good to humanity. The most important part of life is pre-natal. Many of our children are endowed with tenden- cies before birth which render them most sus- ceptible to vice and crime in its coarsest aspects. To stand helpless before such condi- tions is a confession of impotence unworthy of men and women of the twentieth century. They can and must be met and overcome, and in their solution many other problems which are a growing menace will also be solved. Homes of Motherhood Adjoining the great Temples of Purity there should be very ample grounds filled with bun- galows dedicated to motherhood. Here every woman who is to become a mother may go without expense to herself or family at least four months before her baby is born, and remain for two months after its birth. Here she would be in the midst of the most beauti- ful surroundings, breathing in an atmosphere TK Hoi? Grail :: Purity of the loftiest ideals and ministered to with the tenderest care ; and here, in the holy Home of Motherhood, her child would enter the world stamped with nobility. This should especially apply to mothers whose home surroundings are meager and whose duties are heavy. Many women are on a treadmill of toil from birth to old age; never a vacation worthy the name, overworked, destitute of the advantages of refinement. To them the bearing of children often becomes a curse. When the benefits which would accrue to motherhood become understood even in part ; when it is known there is no ulterior motive, no thought of tampering with one's religious or political preference ; when a few mothers have returned to tell of their glad stay at the center, the love they found and the disinterested care ; when they return with their sweet, healthy babies ; when other mothers see the new light in their eyes, the new hope in their hearts, the finer intelligence, the broader charity and the freedom of venom towards others, other fathers and mothers to be will covet the bless- ings of the center also. Good Citinship Service Who will serve at the home of motherhood and who will serve in the homes that for a time have been left without the mothers' guiding hands? Members of the Ten Wise Virgins; they will have complete supervision in both places. Every woman should consider it a supreme privilege to belong to this branch of the order, receive its instructions, share in its fellowships, and surround her life with its pro- tection, for any insignia they may choose to wear will be backed by the entire moral force of the nation. Every well woman should covet the honor of serving at least once in each place during her lifetime, once at the center and once in the home of some mother to be. When Capital goes to live with Labor they will make the great at-one-ment. When ser- vice is exalted to its proper place social distinc- tions will disappear. When a nation becomes as one great family, the Brotherhood of Man will no longer be a myth. While The Universal Order of the Holy Grail is, and ever must remain, AN ORDER, "of the people, by the people and fof the peo- ple," the day is not distant when any state that The Hoi? Grail :-: Purity does not expend as much in the construction and maintenance of Temples of Purity and Good Citizenship for its children, and Homes of Motherhood for its daughters, as it expends in the construction and care of its capitol buildings and grounds, will feel that it has fallen short of the high ideals for which it was created. The Order of the Holy Grail Self Supporting In a comparatively short time the order would be generously self supporting. The cost of the emblems of the Progressive Star degree would be one dollar per year for ten years. That would amount to about two cents per week for character insurance for each child in a family. What other investment, great or small, gives promise of such magnificent fruit- age? Ten years of clean living should enable every one to contribute one dollar per month for the good of humanity. That should be the assessment for membership in the Sir Gala- had degree of the order. Members of the Ten Wise Virgins would doubtless contribute a specified amount. Good Citizenship :: Service If, as we confidently believe, we may expect to see at least from five to ten per cent of our population enrolled in the Sir Galahad degree, together with a much greater number in the Progressive Star degree, it will be readily seen the income would be very large, and that without imposing a burden on anyone. Nor is it too much to expect that employers will be most enthusiastic in the support of an institution which will place at their disposal men and women of high ideals and fine intelligence. Moreover, many grateful parents, classes and societies will build, furnish and endow a bungalow, or bungalows, at the beautiful Homes of Motherhood, and find in so doing one of the sweetest ministries which the heart of man can dream of. Conduct The order will be conducted on the honor system. The ten-year test in the Progres- sive Star Degree will prove most efficient, and unworthy members will naturally eliminate themselves during that period. Moreover, the social, material and spiritual advantages of purity are so vast, so definite and concrete, that Th Hoi? Grail :-: Purity when once they have been accorded a proper recognition they will not be readily spurned. The very badge of the order will be a most potent protection to the one who -wears it. Good Citizenship :-: Service Emblems of the Holy Grail The Progressive Star Degree A bronze button with a reproduction of the Holy Grail in the center, one point to be added each year until it becomes a ten point star. The Sir Galahad Degree A white ten point star with the Holy Grail in the center, enclosed by a circle of blue. This emblem may be made of enamel, or of rubies, diamonds or pearls, and sapphires. The Round Table Degree The Holy Grail surrounded by braided heads of golden wheat enclosed by a circle of dia- monds or pearls. The Ten Wise Virgins The emblem of the Sir Galahad degree on a cross of gold. The Banner of the Order The emblem of the Sir Galahad degree on a shield of yellow on a field of white. The color of the Holy Grail on all the em- blems excepting those of the Progressive Star degree will be ruby. Syracuse, N. Y. PAT. JAN. 2 1.1 908 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY