The Rosicrucians in America. The False vs. the True Order of the Rosy Cross, by Dr. Clymer

7/30/2019 The Rosicrucians in America. The False vs. the True Order of the Rosy Cross, by Dr. Clymer

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T H E R O S I C R U C I A N S

T H E R A N D O L P H F O U N D A T I O N

O F T H E

AU T H E N T I C O R D E R O F T H E

R O S Y C R O S S I N A M E R I C A

AF E R S U S

VT H E SP U R I O U S AN C IE N T AN D MYSTICAL ORDER ROSAE CRUCISFabricated by

H. SPE N CER LE WIS

B a ron M u n ch a u sen of the O ccul t

A C rafty Challenge an d a Sin cere Offer

for a Genuine Investigation an d

W h at Becam e of I t

O f special in terest to Rosicrucians, stud ents o f the mystic andoccult fra ter nal orders, Mem bers o f A . M . O. R. C. and r ight -

mind ed men and wom en who believe in honor and a square deal


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N o t C o p y r i g h t e d

P ervi iss ion to copy granted . T hecourtesy of credit is requested.


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The Rosicrucians in AmericaTHE FALSE

V S .

T H E T R U E O R D E R O F T H E R O S Y C R O S S

H . Spencer Lewis, the Baron M un chausen of O ccult , recent

fab ricator of the spurious A. M . O . R. C. and fore

most bunk artist of these times, issues a crafty

challenge of public debate

to

The Randolph Founda t ion of the au thent ic Fra te rn i ty long

established. H e is surp rised to receive in retu rn a sincere

invitation to join the authentic order in a complete

and genuine investigation as to all his claims andthe issues between the false and the true O rder

M r. Lew is could not he dare not submit to such a test . H is

claim s are false, his O rd er spu riou s and he

knows it so he ran aw ay

Some interesting correspondence and a few pertinent observa

tions on the ways and methods of a bunk artist

B y R . S w i n b u r n e C l y m e r

Addit ional copies available on applicat ion of al l interested part ies, including members of

A . M . O .R . C .

Publ i shed by

T H E R O S I C R U C I A N F O U N D A T I O N

Q u a k ert ow n . P en n s yl v a n i a


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A C H A L L E N G E A N D T H E A N S W E R

because of the careful ly selected membership and the st r ict regulat ions and requirements of its N eop hytes has always app ealedwith un usual in terest to the curious and the gullib le. T h is si tuat ion presented golden opportuni t ies and made i t possible, alsoadvantageous , for adventurers and pre tenders to organize spur i ous, so-called Rosicrucian O rd ers.

Since about the year 1614 when the Grand Fraterni ty f i rs tbecame known as the Rose Cross and by other Rosicrucian appel la t ions, pseudo-masters , mercenary pretenders and designing impos

tors of the Old World have inst i tuted and carr ied on al l kinds of spurious, so-called Rosicrucian organizations, who, for their owngreedy profi ts and other ignoble purposes, gathered into theirfolds the curious and gul lible and, un fo rtu nat ely, m any earnest ,though uninformed, seekers who were qual i f ied for entrance intothe Temple of the real and genuine Order .

If the charlatans b uilt a labyrin th aroun d the Auth ent ic O rd er inthe Old World where the August Fra terni ty had i t s b i r th wi th theRenaissance and i ts marvelous growth during the Reformationand where its influence was so great, it is not at all strange and to

be expected that pseudo-masters and rank pretenders should establ ish spurious orders under Rosicrucian names and appel lat ionsin the New World .

On All Fools D ay, in 1915, H ar ve y Spencer Lewis, the Baro nMun chausen of the Occult the cleverest and mo st resourcefulpromoter , the most ingenious organizer , the most brazen impostor ,and the most successful m aster fab ricato r o f Spurious O rde rs of th is genera t ion organized in the Ci ty of N ew Yo rk a spur iousorder , for which he plagiar ized a Rosicrucian name,* and launchedit as the Ancient and M yst ic O rder o f Rosae Crucis A. M . O.R. C. I t was not ancient , having no actual h istory or antecedents prior to 1915; i t was not mystical unless mystical meansbeing deceptive, and it certainly was not of the Rosy Cross or inanywise a genuine or Auth ent ic Rosicrucian O rd er.

Mr . Lewis or iginal ly declared tha t he had brought for th theaforesaid spurious R. C. O rd er of i r regu lar birth by vir tue of somesort of uncertain and undefined authori ty of some dubious F. R. C.or f ict it ious R. C. O RD E R in France. T h e story, a bi t thin, was notat al l convincing and d id n ot deceive m any at least n ot enough to

make the enterp rise a p aying and going concern. H o wev er, a pro-

* See m on ograph , T he R ight to the Ex clusive Use of R osicrucian N am es.

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moter so resourceful would not let so small a tr if le as properauth o r i ty trouble him anyway, not much he would try again.Under date of September 20, 1916, he issued to himself a beautiful seal adorned parchment containing some sort of baffling, mysterious and heretofore unknown hieroglyphics, entitled P r o n u n -

z i a m en t o F . R . C . N o . 9 8 7 6 0 1 in which he made the astoundingannouncement that a separate jur isdict ion of the Rosae CrucisO rd er h ad been established in Am erica und er Supreme Pontiff High Ancient Shekah El Mor ia Ra of Memphis and tha t theofficial seal was being forwarded to the M o s t P e r f e c t M a s t e r

P r o f u n d i s , H . Spencer Lewis , a t N ew Yo rk. ( I ta l ics ours .)Indeed and verily, that should have been sufficiently impressive tobeguile and allure all the gullible victims in the land forthwith intothe fold but business was not so good he s truggled along unti lthe night of June 17, 1918, when, it seems, the New York Policeraided the inner s a n c t u m s a n c t o r u m of the M o s t P e r f e c t M a s t e rP r o f u n d i s , la id their unholy and profane hands upon P r o n u n - z i a m en t o F . R . C . N o . 9 8 7 6 0 1 and took i t with them, thereuponall his associates abandoned the enterprise and its Most PerfectM a s t e r r e t i r e d i n t o s i l e n c e profundis , declar ing that W e h a v e n e v e r c l a i m e d t o h o l d a n y w a r r a n t , c h a r t e r , - p a t e n t o r a u t h o r i t y

f r o m a n y f o r e i g n co u n t r y . (Italics ours.)H ow ever , th e silence was not so profoun d well not so pr o

found as might be desired for the sake of those sincere, true seekers of the truth and the Rosy Cross who have been misled anddrawn into the vicious net of this master schemer and concoctor ofan a l togeth er d is tor ted , defo rmed mo nstrosity which concoctionhe called A. M. O. R. C. to give it the deceptive appearance of beingsome sort of a Rosicrucian organization.

We next hear of Mr. Lewis in 1920 in San Francisco, where heopened shop with the financial assistance of a successful candym anu facturer . Business imp roved somewhat, but it was nothingto speak of. I t was th ere in the city of the G olden G ate that heconfessed, by written confessio, by word of mouth and by hisactions, to his close associates that he had no Rosicrucian Authority and laid bare to them in glaring and unmistakable reality thecomplete plans of his monstrous scheme and its money-makingpossibilities, according to the report and written statements ofthe afo resaid cand y m anu factu rer. Again his associates deserted

him. F ind ing himself witho ut f inancial assistance and th ings goingwrong generally , he moved.

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H is next app earance was in Tam p a, F lorid a, in the land o f f lowers and romance, where Ponce de Leon sought the Founta in of Youth. O ur M ast er des igner and fabr ica to r of spur ious secreto rde r s may no t have d runk f rom tha t f a r - famed Fo unta in o f Youth, but he did renew his hopes for the successful and immediateexecution of his lo n g-delayed plans- in fact, ten year s or m or edelayed but pat ience o r rat h er pe rsis tence is a vir tue even untowicked schem ers and th eir vile plans. It was th ere, abo ut the yea r1925, tha t he formed a par tnership wi th another of myst ic ten dencies and occult inclinations, who possessed considerable means,

that is to say, c a s h so essential to put into full swing and com pleteexecution the aforesaid schemes and plans.

With cash in hand and apparent ly a complete real izat ion of hisfondest hopes and wildest dreams also at hand, a replica, in asmall way, of an ancient Egypt ian Temple was constructed beneathand surrounded by date palms, somewhat s imilar to, but not exact lyl ike, the Temples of the Ini t iate Priests of Ancient Egypt .

With the ancient Egypt ian Temple for scenery or as a background and with the aforesaid cash for pract ical ut i l i ty and driving

force, our Baron Munchausen of the Occul t launched and let dr ivea campaign of high-powered advert is ing and the most cleverlydes igned organ iza t ion sa lesmanship to or ganize a spur ious O rderRosae Crucis, the l ike of which had never been known in Mystic,O ccult and Frat ern al Circles and, of course, en t i rely co n trar y to,and in conflict with, the basic and elementary precepts of the RoseCross and all Ro sicrucians but th at was o f lit t le or no concernthe drive or camp aign was a success the o rgan izat ion was inpro gress in a big way memb ership app licat ions f lowed to T am p a simp ly rushed in, in go o dly num bers. A t last , af te r ten lon g

years or more of hop ing, s t ruggl ing, at tem pt ing, fai ling A. M . O.R. C. was at last o rgan ized and estab lish ed a financial success, with

sufficient working capital and the coffers so long empty were filledand bulging over with cash.

There in Tampa the membership of A. M. O. R. C. expanded toundue propo r t ions the Baron was at t he he igh t o f h is power atthe pinnacle of his glory he was weal th y and able to m ake his annual , even semi-annual , pi lgr images to the East , to the ancient temples of his ancient and mystic o rd er (hie) and co nfer with h is own

Internat ional Counci l which he a l so organized and planted abroad.But it was vain and fleeting glo ry the success was too goo dto be t rue on the last joint vo yage o f his p artn er , him self and

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their wives, he and his partner quarreled and fell out, becausewell , that is another s tory of a personal nature and should notconcern us here-anyway, about the year 1927 he moved again,this time to San Jose, California--by no means penniless but with

ample cash in pocket.In San Jose he reconstructed the repl ica of his E gypt ian T em ple,

and sta rt ed business on an entirely different basis. N o mo re outs iders or par t ner s he would be the s o l e author i ty and managerof the concern, so he app oint ed his son R alp h h is G rand Secretary,cons t ructed a pr int ing plant and rad io s tat ion and pre pared for a

bigger and bet ter camp aign for memb ers. H is efforts were not without success; he built a fine home for himself and another for hisson, Ralph, and then came dissension in the ranks, membersbecame suspicious and began to ask ser ious and embarrassingquest ions the largest lod ge of a thousand m embers and i ts m aster deserted law suits fol lowed and t roubles real, ser ioustroubles-began to disturb the peace and wreck the plans of them aster fab r ica tor of the spur ious A. M . O. R.C. T h e end of histroubles are not yet and will not be until he hauls down his false

colors and discontinues the wrongful use of Rosicrucian appellat ions and also discontinues his aforesaid deceptive practices.

We have given this br ief , breezy sketch of the Baron Munchausen of the Occul t to enable the reader to bet ter understand andenjoy the contents of this booklet.

We have said, we have insis ted and often rei terated that Mr.Lewis is not a Rosicrucian; that he never had at any time any rightor authori ty to organize or conduct any kind of a RosicrucianO rder or in s t i tu t ion ; tha t he fabr icated A. M . O. R. C . ; th a t he tookor stole a Rosicrucian name for i t ; that i t is, therefore, a spurious

and not a genuine Rose Cross O rd er ; that his methods are deceptive, his claims false, his practices destructive and in no senseRosicrucian, but contrary to and in conflict with every true preceptof genuine and noble Rosicrucianism and that he has deceived,defrauded and misled thousands of t rue, s incere, though uninformed, seekers of the Rosy Cross by leading them into A. M. O.R. C. under the bel ief that they were joining the authent ic RoseCross O rd er and th at he could and wou ld m ake them Ro sicrucians.

M r . Lewis has borne up pr e t ty well almo st hero ica lly under

the cons tant bo mb ardment of these charges at t imes when thet ruth has borne down upon him too hard and became unbearable ,he devised schemes whereby he hoped to b l u f f his way out and from

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under by bo ldly, b ut so m ewhat indiscreet ly, issuing chal lenges toa public debate.

H e ine , in Th e Re turn H om e in h is P ic tu res o f T rave l s , s ays :

I calld the d evil , and he came,And with wonder his form I did closely scan;

H e is not ugly, and is no t lam e,

But rea l ly a handsome and charming man.A man in the prime of life is the devil,

Obliging, a man of the world, and civi l ;A diplomatist too, w e l l s k i l l d i n d e b a l e ,He talks qui te gl ibly of church and state.

So, even so, this shr ewd, cr afty, s killful , cun ning, ar tf u l Baro nMunchausen of the Occul t would debate secret things in publ icplaces and would talk quite glibly about the Rosy Cross, holyor ders and sacred inst i tut ions. H o wev er, when he pro po sed sucha makeshift and subterfuge as a public debate to decide the issuesraised, he did not ant icipate that his chal lenge would bring forth

an offe r and pro p osal fo r a real, genu ine an d co m plete invest igationand f inal determ inat ion o f al l issues and when, to his surp rise andutter chagrin he received such a proposal, w h a t d i d h e d o ? H e d idthe only thing he could do h e r a n , like the sly fox that he is, andtook to cover at the first mention of a real and genuine investigation.

T h is booklet deals with M r. Le wis chal lenges to publ ic debateand our counter-offer and proposal of a genuine and completeinvestigation, and the final determination of all issues as to theauthent ic ity of the Rando lph Fo und at ion of the Rosy Cross inAm erica and as to M r . Le wis false claim s an d his spurious,Ancient and M yst ic O rder Rosae Crucis .

We trust the interested reader wil l fai thful ly fol low throughand carefully consider the entire contents; i t will surely leave theconviction in his mind th at M r . Le wis claims are a lto get h er falseand that his fabricated A. M. O. R. C. is wholly spurious.

The quest ion may occur to the s incere s tudent and invest igator:Why have we not tested the authenticity of the conflicting claimsin the cour t s of the lan d ? T h ere are oth er reason s ; ho wever, thefollo wing reason will be sufficient: T h e co urts are Pu blic Fo rum s,

their proceedings are public and as a tribunal in which to try theissue as to which have and give the authentic secret teachings ofthe Rose Cross, the courts , al though conducted in an orderly man


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ner, are but sl ightly less objectionable than a public debate, becausein both forums and in ei ther event i t would mean the exposure of the secre t work of the Authent ic Fra terni ty .

W e invite an d' ur ge all in tereste d stud ents of the O ccult , allsincere investigators and seekers of the Rosy Cross and especiallya ll mem bers of AM O R C to give careful a t tent ion to the contentsof this booklet .

Fra ternal ly submi t ted,R. S w i n b u r n e C l y m e r .

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T h e B a r o n M u n c h a u s e n o f t h e O c c u l t H is

S p u r i o u s A . M . O. R. C . a n d H i s C h a l l e n g e s o f O p e n P u b l i c D e b a t e

In 1928 we published a brochure entit led T h e R o s i c r u c i a n s W h a t t h ey a re, an d w h a t t h e y a r e n o t . After briefly discussingthe auth entic O rder , its origin, pur po se, laws and p rinciples, wemade a few pert inent observat ions about cer tain clandest ine Rosi crucian or ganizat ion s then op erat ing in Am erica. W e did notmention M r. H . Spencer Lewis by nam e o r A . M . O. R. C., th ename of his spurious order which he was then, and is now, operating. T h e reference, ho wever, was so per tinen t and ap p lied to himand his fabrication with such unmistakable force and deadly accuracy that Mr. Lewis recognized it to be a reference to himself andhis brain child, A. M. O. R. C., and on June 8, 1928, he issued to

us a ch allenge to a public deb ate. T h e ch allen ge as set fo rt h ina letter to us of that date is in almost the same words and in substance is the same as the recent challenge contained in his letter tous of December 12, 1933, herein printed v e r b a t i m .

We ignored his first challenge to publicly debate the questionsand issues involved, some of which cannot be publicly discussed,none of which can be sett led by such metho ds. W h en he m ade th atchallenge, he was simply b l u f f i ng , as will fully and clearly appearas we proceed. M o st of all, he hop ed and p rayed th at we wouldignore or refuse his offer of public deb ate. T h at such was his

intention, as well as his hope, appears from the hide-bound restrictions he placed upon it by specifically stipulating that his challengemust be accepted u n d e r a ll o f t h e p r o v i s i o n s a b o v e s t a t e d , andw i t h n o ex cep t i o n s . So, taking ful l advantage of our ignoringhis challenge and our failure to then call his bluff, he published hisletter, to which he appended the following note under a conspicuous headline:

C H A L L E N G E N O T A C C E P T E D

N o te . T he foregoing le t te r was mai led, r e g i s t e r e d , on June 8th, and reached M r. Clymer Jun e 13th. D idMr. Clymer accept this opportunity to have the whole

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wide wo rld disprove his sta tem ent s? N ot a t a l l ! H epromptly re turned the chal lenge marked Refused.Once again he has shut the door against any methodical,

public, sincere investigation of his claims, even though

he writes letters to n ewspap ers and persons, and publishes

many pamphlets, boastfully stating we court the strict-

est investigation.

Hence this bookletour only method of bringing thefacts before the public.

We kne w then, as we know now, th at M r. Lewis was and is not a

Rosicrucian; that he never possessed any Rosicrucian authority and

tha t A. M. O. R. C., which he fabricated and launched in 1915, iswholly spurious and absolutely clandestine. W e knew and un der-

stood his methods of highpowered salesmanship, his clever propa-

ganda, deceptive advertising, appealing to every selfish instinct of

mankind, all of which is contrary to every Rosicrucian law and

principle. W e knew and esteemed him to be the cleverest p ro -

moter, the most ingenious organizer and the most resourceful and

inventive fabrica tor o f spurious fra ter n al orders th at this gen era-

tion has produ ced. W e kn ew o f his false and fabu lous claims and

that neither he nor his synthetic, fabricated and spurious A. M . O. R. C. could stand a real test. W e knew then, as we kn ow now,that at the suggestion of a r e a l t e s t he would take th e d efensive, back and run. H e has always run from every rea l test, except

whe re he could wor m , squirm, talk, bluff or pay his wa y out. W e

should have called his bluff then as we have now, though we must,

in candor, confess that we did not then know the Baron quite as

well as we do n ow he had not then com pletely won or fully estab-lish ed h is u n d is pu t ed r ig h t to t he tit le o f T h e B a ro n M u n c h a u -

s e n o f t h e O c c u l t . H e ha d n ot th en ta ken o r m a in ta in ed as

many different, inconsistent or impossible positions or made as

ma ny false and grou ndless claims and he had not gro wn so bold,

at least not yet quite bold enough to openly declare himself the

supreme Rosicrucian Authori ty in America and his spurious and

clandestine order to be the Authentic Rosicrucian Brotherhood

although he has, year by year, con ferred upon him self ma ny spe-

cial honors, titles and degrees and as by slow but steady accretion

he has claimed more and more Rosicrucian rights and authori ty

and has encroached more and more upon the rights of the Authen-

t ic and Legit im ate O rder, he had not then, as recently, a t temp ted

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to steal i t lock, stock and barrel and to take it unto himself in i ts

entirety.

T h e B a r o n s S e c o n d C h a l l e n g e N o t S o

S u c c e s s f u l T h e T r i c k D i d N o t W o r k

In 1933 w e p u b l i s h e d a n o t h e r b o o k l e t u n d e r t h e t i t l e o f T h e A u g u s t F r a t e r n i t y -T h e A u t h e n t i c O r d e r o f t h e R o s e

C r o s s F o u n d e d j n A m e r i c a i n 1858 b y D r . P . B. R a n d o l p h ,t h e R o s i c r u c i a n , a n d H . S p e n c e r L e w i s , t h e B a r o n M u n

c h a u s e n OF THE O c c u l t , in which we made a b r ie f rev iew of

one ch ap ter o f the synthe t ic , fict it ious , soca lled H is t or y of th e Rose

C ro s s O rd e r b y H . Sp e n c e r L e w i s ; c o r r e c t e d s o m e o f h is g ro s s

m is represen t a t ions an d fa lse impl ica t ions and m ad e a few te l ling

o b s e rva t i o n s o n th e m e t h o d s o f t h e s ai d B a ro n M u n c h a u s e n o f t h e

Occult and h is spur ious Ros ic ruc ian O rd e r , A . M . O. R. C ., f a b r i -

ca ted and b rought fo r th by h im in the yea r 1915.

Now, inasmuch as Mr. Lewis knows that he is not a Rosicrucian; that he is without any semblance of actual RosicrucianAu th o r i ty; th a t his or der is spur iou s; th a t his so-called H isto ry of the O rd er is un auth entic and wh o lly f ictit ious and th at his meth od sare un-Rosicrucian and unethical, he realized that he could notanswer the fac ts or just i fy himself in pr int . In oth er wo rd s, touse rather undignified, but expressive slang, his hand had beencalled and he was on the spo t . D id that stop him ? I t wouldhave been sufficient for most men under l ike and similar facts and

circumstance , but not for the Baron Mun chausen of the O ccult ,who is an adept at wriggling himself out of t ight places, at bluffinghis way out of a bad situation, and in hiding or obscuring the truthby direc t in g a t tent ion away f ro m the facts by ra is in g fa lse or im m aterial issues and argu ing and talkin g abou t som eth ing else. H e isnot only a good wr iggler but also an exper t jum p er he can jum pfrom one proposi t ion to another so quickly, make so many appar ent ly marvelous c la ims so fast , asser t author i ty f rom so manydifferent sources and from points so far distant that no one could

possibly answer him in the allotted time of a joint debate in oneevening or check the accuracy of his many statements and claimsin so short a t ime- so he kn ew if the w o rst came to th e wo rst andhis challenge was accepted, he might be able to save himself byemploying a l l the craf ty methods and decept ive t r icks of a shrewddeb ater . T h er e is an ar t in pub lic de b ating by which th e tru e is

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made to appear false and the false is given the appearance oft ruth, to which art Mr. Lewis is not a s t ranger.

Besides , The Baron Munchausen of the Occul t i s resourcefuland most cunning in assuming the role of injured innocence andin turning accusations and posit ive proof of shameful guil t intosympathy, thus creating an avenue of escape for himself.

By his dextrous art and adroit skil l he created out of the geniusand vision o f his own mind A. M . O. R. C. in 1915 witho ut au th o r

ity o r righ t or even the slighte st justification. By the excellence ofhis cunning craft and the extreme cleverness and endless varietyof his bag of tricks he has sustained i t and made i t grow andpay by constant shif t ing of scenery and making of bet ter promisesand more enticing appeals to the curious, the gull ible, the trustful ,the credulous and the uninformed seekers of mystic and Occultlore.

Even now in the face of complete exposure he would save himself and his spurious clandestine O rd er by the ingenuity of his

cunning. H e will pu ll ano th er life fo r t h e c a t f rom his Bag of T rick s, an old t r ick that wo rked once for him like magic hewill take ano th er chance m aybe it will wo rk again. H e willboldly issue a challenge to joint public debate in the nature of ast inging rebuke to his accuser. H e will show his gener o sity andm ake it easy and cheap fo r his ad ver sar y he will pay all expenses,hire the hall, advertise it in his own inimitable way, manage theaffair and keep it under his control so that if there is a miscarriageof plans and the debate takes place he will have every advantage

and will be in the position to turn it into a magnificent publicitystunt fo r A. M . O. R. C. to be br oad cast far and n ear. But thedeb ate m ust not take p lace it is not so intended the adv ant ageof a refusal to debate with him outweighs all other possibil i t ieshe will , of course, make the terms apparently fair, yet a b s o l u t e l y i m p o s s i b l e o f a cce p t a n ce, and then, when his challenge is refused,as it must be, he will play his trump card : he will publish and broadcast the challenge and stress the refusal to show that there was nomerit in our claims because, he will argue, we were afraid to meet

him in pu blic deb ate. H e will m ake much ado abo ut it , the gulliblewill swallow it and he will save his face and incidentally secureadd i t ion al mem bers fo r his or ganizat io n . I t is a gr eat t r ick, i f itwo rks so, acco rd ingly, he issued and we received his challengefor a joint publ ic debate v e r b a t i m as follows:

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RADIO STATION! WOHTD

THE ROSICRUCI AN ORDER

Kn ow n os " TH E A N C IEN T , M YST IC OR D ER R O SAE C R U C IS" ' t h ro u g h o u t f l i c w o rl d

A Non-Sectarian fraternity Devoted to the I n v o l u t i o n and Study of the Higher Principle* of Lifeas Found Expreiicd in Mini and Nature

S UP RE M E TE M P LE F O R N O R T H A M E R I C AR O S I C R U CI A N P A R K S A N J O SE . C A L I F O R N I A . U . S . A .

December 12, 1933

Lir. R. Swinburne ClymerBeverley Hall'

Q u a k e r t o w n , P e n n a .

Pear Sir:

In your recent brochure, in which you take opportunity to criti-cize ALORC, and condemn it as illegal, clandestine, and guilty ofthievery and plagiarism, you issue a challenge to the wnole wide worldto disprove the statements contained therein.

You have also stated in letters to newspapers, and to inquirers,that you courted the "strictest investigation.11 And, for several

years, you have written letters to us stating tnat you would welcomean open Investigation of your claims for yourself, and your charges

against us.

Therefore, since you "gladly welcome tne opportunity to prove andfully demonstrate the' truth of my statements before any competent andimpartial tribunal," we are taking you at your word, ana believe tnatyou wi11 not mind traveling a little distance and affording tne thou-sands of seekers and inquirers an opportunity to hear you present yourproofs of the charges you make against us, and at the same time, sup-port your claims and contentions of your alleged facts.

Therefore, we hereby challenge you to a public debate under thefollowing circumstances:

Ho. 1 Tnat tne debate be aeld in the city of.Chicago, because ofits central location in this country, and because it is less than naif

way across ti.is country for you to journey. Or, because you are anxiousto control all Rosicrucian activities in California, and have spent con-siderable money in attempting to influence Californians in tneir under-standing of your sole rights and authority, tne debate may take place intne city of San Jose. You may cnoose eitner of t;:ese cities.

no.. 2 Tne hall, auditorium, tneatre, or otner public place for thedebate is to be cnosen by us to accommodate a thousand persons, or what-ever number v/e believe will attend, and we will pay the entire expensesfor the rent of the hall for the night of the debate.

No. 3 You are to argue in person for, and in behalf of your chargesand contentions, and the writer of this letter will argue and speak inbenalf of Ai.ORC and present counter charges and defense.

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Mr. R. Swinburne Clymer 2 December.12, 1933

No. 4 You are to present for examination to any committees ofthe audience, or to any dependable, sincere investigator attendingtne debate, all such letters, documents, records, or papers as willshow your exclusive right to i,.aintain and operate the only trueRosicrucian Order in America; and you are to submit for 'similar ex-amination all such papers, documents, or letters as will prove yourcharges of illegality and the clandestine nature of AliORC, and itsalleged fraudulent activities in America. And you are to bring with

you such books of your teaching's and lessons as will shov; that youhave the genuine Rosicrucian teachings for sale or distributionthrough your organization. And, with the provision that you bringthese things for examination and presentation, the AKORO will bringsimilar papers, documents, books, records, lessons, and so fort.a,for the purpose of disproving your contentious, and at the same timereveal the activities of your organization and tne points of yourwork, wiiich you have been careful to conceal from all public investi-gation.

Wo. 5 And you will permit your speeoh and argument, as well asmy own, to be taken down in shorthand by a staff of efficient ste-nographers whom we will provide, supplemented by any you wish to pro-vide; and you will also permit your speeches in the debate, and duringthe entire session, to be broadcast by radio, published in the news-papers, or recorded in public magazines.

No. 6 And you will be willing to answer questions submitted bymyself pn behalf of our organization, or submitted by persons who willattend the debate, just as I will be willing to answer similar cjuestions that are pertinent to tne issue.

No. ? Members of our organization, and members of your organiza-tion shall have equal and first privilege in filling tne seats of theauditorium or hall for the debate.

llo. 8 Tne debate to be neld on some weekday night, preferablyon a Saturday evening, between the first of February and tne.first ofi.iarch; and you may set tne date, which date, hov/ever, may have to bechanged by mutual consent, when the time comes to find the proper halland make an engagement with the lessee thereof.

Ho. 9 You are to answer this challenge, and either affirm or denyyour intention to comply therewitn, by tne first day of January, 1934.

If you accept this challenge for a debate, under all of tne provi-sions above stated, and with no exceptions. we will advertise the de-bate in a number of large public magazines of this country, and throughmany other channels of nationwide publicity.

Of course.it should be understood, and would be understood by everysane person, that the documents, papers, and proofs which you are tosubmit, and whicn we will submit, will be of a material, concrete form

of matter tnat is tangible enough to be photographed and sensed by theoojective faculties of man; and tnat no spiritual evidence for spiritual

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Ur. H. Swinburne Clymer 3 December 13, 1933

authority shall be considered tangible and definite in connection withthe material rights and privileges you claim to possess as head of theonly real Rosicrucian Order in this country.

Yours very truly,

IilPSRATOR

HSL:AA

THE RO&CRUCIAN ORDER

Retur n in 5 days

S A N J O S E , C A L I F . , U . S . A .

!$] ' ; j t ' r r

i (- vL n

Mr.. R. Swinburne ClymerBeverley HallQuakertown, Penna.

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A n A r t f u l S t r a t e g y

A C l e v er A t t em p t t o M a k e a V i r t u e o f S h a r p P r a ct i ce a n d S u b t l eS h r e w d n e s s

The gentleman errs , unwitt ingly, of course, when he s tates thatwe issued a challenge to the whole wide world to disprove thestatements contained in our recent brochure, T i i e A u g u s t F r a t e r n i t y , O r d e r o f t h e R o s e C r o s s i n A m e r i c a an d H . S p en cer

L ew i s , T h e B a r o n M u n ch a u s en o f t h e O ccu l t , although neitherMr. Lewis nor anyone else can disprove the truth of the s tatements

contained therein.The Baron misrepresents us, in part, when he says that we have

s l a t e d i n l e t t e r s t o n e w s p a p e r s tha t we cour ted t h e s t r i c t e s t i n v e s t i g a t i o n . We have never wr i t ten le t ters to newspapersthat i s a favor i te method of propaganda employed by Mr . Lewis .W e do not care to use it . H o wever , we do court the s tr ictestinvestigation of the proper kind and in a proper manner , which

does not mean that we are willing to, or will any reasonable beingexpect us to, publicly expose the points of our secret work orexhibit the p r ivate lessons of the Auth entic O rder to pseudo-masters of cland estine Ro sicrucian O rd ers or to the curious seekersof Occult lore.

W h at we did say in our recent bro chure we quote it v e r b a t i m is :

I have writt en th at which follows because I kno w itto be t h e t r u t h . Let it be clearly understood that I assume

full and complete responsibility for all statements madeand will gladly welcome the opportunity to prove andfully demonstrate the truth of my statements before anyco m p e t en t and i m p a r t i a l t r i b u n a l . "

We said a n y co m p e t e n t a n d i m p a r t i a l t r i bu n a l and, of course,th at is exactly wh at we mean t and intend ed certainly by nostretching of the imagination or clever circumvention or craf tystratagem can it be construed to mean a public debate, under suchprovision s and con dit ions as prescr ibed by M r. Lewis such an

offer and ch allenge m ay be stra tag em p ar excellence, but it begsthe wh ole q uestion and igno res all vital issues it is, in tru th andin fact , th e wo rst kind of pe tty subter fuge a clever device orskillful artifice used to escape just censure and to evade the real

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questions at issue.There are cer ta in s tandard rules of publ ic debate and cer ta in

courtesies due th e pa r t y challen ged as well as cer tain well-definedrights and p r ivileges to wh ich the par ty ch allenged is alwa ys en ti t ledwhich were com pletely igno red by M r. Lewis.

If we were disposed to debate such issues in public in joint discussions, we would not accept a challenge so manifestly unfair , without modification . H ad we accepted we wou ld have insisted uponour r ight s as the challenged pa r t y all of which were d esigningly

withheld in the foregoing challenge.Let the s incere and interes ted reader careful ly note and thought fully an alyze the requirem ent s and st ipu lation s of M r. Lewis, setfor th in provision s numb ered 4 and 6 of his challen ge. H e requ iresthat we present for examinat ion to a n y committee of the audience,or to a n y o n e attending the debate, al l let ters , documents , recordsand papers to show our exclusive r ight to maintain the only trueRosicrucian O rd er in Am erica, and to show the clandestine n atur eof A. M . O. R. C. and its al leged fr aud ulen t activit ies . T h is wecould do. T h ere is abun dant p ro of of the authen t ic ity of the R an

dolph Fo und at ion of the Rose Cross O rder in Am er ica , and o f ourexclusive r ight to m ain tain such auth entic O rder , and also pr o o f in great abundance to establish the clandestine nature of A. M. O.R. C. and its f raud ulent activit ies in Am erica. H o wev er , it wou ldrequire considerably more t ime than one evening, or the three orfour hou rs al lo tted to a joint deb ate, to subm it, much less to p ro p erlyconsider, the evidence which will conclusively prove both propositions, viz. , that ours is the authentic and A. M. O. R. C. is the clandestine O rd er . And , if the p roo f were so subm itted, wh at assurance

is there that the committee from the audience would be c o m p e t e n t and i m p a r t i a l f Since it is M r . L ew is de b ate, his own idea, jus t asA. M . O . R. C. is his o wn b rain child, and since he pro po ses tohave and to keep absolute contro l of it just how wou ld he selectthe committee from the audience to pass upon and judge our creden tials and the evidence offered? You do nt suppose he wouldp lay a tr ick on us and f ix the com mittee in ad van ce? T h at is notl ike ly we would n ot tempt him by affording the o pp or tun ity .

H e next requires th a t we br ing a ll books (pr ivate un pub lished

books) of our teachings and ( inner and secret) lessons as will showthat we have the genuine Rosicrucian teachings; that we revealour activit ies and the points of our work (secret activit ies andsecret work) which have been, and of course always will be, care

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fu lly guar d ed and con cealed fro m all public invest igation in brief,he requires that we, as Supreme Grand Master , violate our solemnvows and sacred oath and publicly disclose and lay bare the profound inner teachings of the Auth ent ic O rder . Fu rth er , he requiresthat we answer any question submitted by himself or any personwho m ay at ten d the debate that is, i f we do not volun tar i ly disclose all desired information, he reserves the right to dig in andget the rest by p rying with questions. T o be sure, a pseud o-m asterof a cland estine Rosicrucian O rd er with none of the true secrets,

real m ysteries and auth entic teachings has not hing to lose andeveryth ing to gain by such an arrangem en t . A Rosicrucian G randM ast er of the Auth ent ic O rder will not and cannot consent tosuch an unh oly and impo ssible arran gem ent . N one other than apseudo-Rosicrucian would make such a proposal or desire the secretwork exposed.

It was not M r . L ew is intention to expose and re veal himself tobe a pseud o-Ro sicrucian. T h at was entirely in adver ten t and incidental; his fixed design and real purpose were to prescribe such

terms as would be impossible of acceptance; so as to thereby absolutely insure himself against any possibil i ty of our acceptance, andto avail h imself of our refus al as an avenue of escape. T h e trickdid no t wor k. W e did not pro po se to let him get awa y so cunningly and so easily.

H e had pro po sed a m akeshi ft of an inves t igat ion that wouldsett le no issue, one that would increase the controversy, furtherembit ter the contestants and leave the earnest seeker of the t rueor der s t ill confused by the con troversy for which reason M r.L ew isdesires to continue and increase the cont rov ersy. It enables him bydecept ive methods and high pressure advert is ing and salesmanshipto secure members from among the uninformed seekers of the realRosicrucian Order .

W e do not wan t to prolon g the con troversy we want the issuessett led once and for all t ime; therefore, we propose a full , completeand real investigation that would sett le all controversy, determineevery issue and decide which of the two organizations is authenticand which is cland estine. Acco rd ingly on the 29th d ay of D ecemberwe fo rwarded to M r . Lewis our an swer by wire via Western Union,

which telegram or night letter was confirmed by our letter of thesame d ate in which the telegram is set for th v e r b a t i m , omit t ingon ly the ad dress the let ter in full, v e r b a t i m , is as follows:

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J CLASS OF SERVICE prr.IRCD ^

U N I O NNEWCOMB CARLTON, t

Sen d the following message, sub ject to the terns on hacl{ hereof, which are hereby agreed lo

T a-Il Sp en ce rLew is, ------------------------

S t r e e t a n d N o . A M O R C. O .________________

J NO. CASHORCHG.V

CHECK

TIME FILED

s r

19 S3

P l a c e S a n . . J o 3 Q -^ - C a l i f o r n i a . _____________________________

,Kcccipt of., your letter Deoember twelfth. is acknowledfled,5

under all conditions asprescribed "by you^cannot. be accepted .Stov> IIp::pvor^

I understandyo.ur challenge to neaii that yoa desire and Intend to propose

a conplobe,Investigation of all natters in controversey between us bo be

made'byan.d~baQre an impartial and competent tribunal*therefore^ to that

.extent .jantL.to bhat end I aeoept your challenge .Stop I will soon* subnii b to

you_a_oountor proposition t i l l ch,if acoepted and agreed to by you v;lll

effectively and finall; settle all matters of controversoy between us as

.well' as between your or^anizatjcn ant the authentic order.Stop Conflrnation

hereof and letter follows, R. Swinburne ClymerS e n d e r ' s a d d r e ss

f o r re fe r en ceT H E Q U I C K E S T , S U R E S T A N D S A F E S T W A Y T O SE N D M O N E Y

I S B Y T E L E G R A P H O R C A BL E

S e n d e r ' s t cl cp h o r

Fr a t e r n i t a s R o s a e Cr u c i s

T h e R o si cr u ci a n O r d er , o r

R os i cr u cia n B r o t h er h ood T H E S E E

B ev er l y H a ll

Q u a k er tow n , P a .

December 29, 1933.

M r . H . S p e n c e r L e w i s ,San Jose, Cal i fornia.

D e a r S i r : I confirm m y night let ter to you o f this date, w o rd fo r word,

as fol lows:

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Receipt of your le t ter December twelf th is acknowledged.Your challenge under all conditions as prescribed by you cannotbe accepted. H ow ever , I un ders tand you r challenge to mean thatyou desire and intend to propose a complete investigation of allmatters in controversy between us to be made by and before animpartia l and competent tr ibunal; therefore , to that extent andto th at end I accept your ch allenge. I will soon submit to you acounter-proposition which, if accepted and agreed to by you, willeffectively and finally settle all matters of controversy between us

as well as between your organization and the authentic order .Confirmation hereof and le t ter follows.

R. Sw i n b u r n e C l y m e r .

I f ind myself in accord with your general idea that there shouldbe th e strict est in ves tigat ion of o ur con flicting claims concerningourselves and our respective organizations of which you and I arethe heads, as to our and their Rosicrucian practices, teachings,authenticity and authority, in order that all sincere seekers mayknow the truth and no longer be misled and deceived by false

claims and misrepresentations.I repeat that I gladly welcome the opportunity to prove and

fully demonstrate before any c o m p e t e n t an d i m p a r t i a l tr ibunal, thetruth of all statements I have made concerning you and A. M. O.R. C. and others which I have not, but will make.

T h e chief and fat al objection to your ch allen ge and theplan that you outline thereunder is , that it will not be decisive ofor settle a single con tro vers ial issue. I will, within 30 days, m akefull reply to your le t ter of the 12th instant and submit for yourconsideration a detailed counter-proposition, as indicated in mytelegram, that will effectively and finally settle all controvertedquestions and all points at issue between us.

V ery t ruly yours ,

R. Sw i n b u r n e C l y m e r , G r a n d M a s t e r .

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PATRONS ARE REQUESTED TO FAVOR THE COMPANY BY CRITICISM AND SUGGESTION CONCERNING ITS SERVICE

C l a s s o f S e r v i c e

T h is i s a f u l l -r a tcT e l e g r am o r C a b l e g r am un le s s i t s de f e r r ed cha r ac te r i s in d ica ted by a s u i t ab les ig n a b o v e o r p r e c ed i n g t h e a d d r e s s .

W E S T E R NU N I O N

NEWCOMB CARLTON, r WILLCVER. r

Th e filing time mi nlicrwn in llio dn to lino on full-n

Received at

D L D a y L et t e r

NM N ight Metaage

N L ~ N i g h t L et t e r

L C O D e f e r re d C a b le

NLT = Cable Night Le t ter

W L T = W e e k -E n d L e t t er

:E-l>iteoiDENT

o tc lccnuna an d day lo t tv ra . and the t ime of rece ip t a t des t ina t ion na n liown on a l l mcasagca , i s STAN DA RD TIM E.

TTO 10 P 11 ^OIiLCT

SAN .TOSS CAT,IF C4S A'iniO 30-1933

v 8tIT!'ntn^ Otv\ r?nA8TIS0 n..

OITA' TOWlj WiWJ.

WIGHT V3TTW! THIRTIETH F 81*35!enw U5WI8 DStilVW SI) T'-?ITV'

F m -m,

1TOSW W OTI 01J m . CO

1 8 1 4 F I

RETURNRECEIPT

tieceiocd from the Po stmaster the Reg istered or In sured Article^ the orig in al

number o f which ap pears on the fa ce of^this Card-.

(Signatu re or n am e of addressee)

(Signaturo of addressees agent)

Date of delioery 19 J ^ r

Form tiBJ 1 I I . 8. OOVEBNI^NT IMIm i n t i n g o r r i c

W estern Union showed de livery of our te legram to M r. Lewisat 8.35 o clock A. M . on D ecemb er 30, 1933, receip t o f which is

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also shown by his reply thereto hereinaf ter set for th.

Our foregoing le t ter was forwarded to Mr . Lewis by Regis teredAir M ai l on D ecember 30, 1933. T h e re turned regist ry cardsigned by his personal s ignature acknowledged receipt of same onJanuary 2 , 1934.

Mr. Lewis did not wait for the receipt of our let ter of confirmat ion. Lie wou ld have not hing to do with a real investigation th atwould com pletely and finally settle all issues and, as M r. Lewisfully realized, would also completely and finally settle him and hisc landes tine O rder . T h erefo re , h e m a d e h a s t e t o ca l l of f a ll n e g o t i a t i o n s . So, on Jan u ar y 1, 1934, he dispatch ed to us his telegram ,as fo l lows :

2 7 I I O ^ S A H J G S E C A L PF 1 2 1 5 P

R C CLY!:'ER=

QUAKERTO-"!! PEHN3

V'E REGRET THAT YOU HAVE AG AIN REFUSED TO A^ REE TO OUR ACCEPTANCE

OF THE CHALL ENGE YOU ISSUE D IM YOUR LATE ST rO OK LET Ti l l ' IS SECO'ID

TI E 7E HAVE ACCE PTED YOU.R B OASTED CH ALLEN GE A! 10 EACH T H E YOU

EI TH ER EVA: EN THE I ".SUE OR AS IN IH IS CASE SOUGHT TO -OD I.FY YOUR

i1? I 'M ' AL CHALLENGE STOP S IN CE V'E HAVE R EE" VERY L IB ER AL IN OUR

a c c e p t a k c e s o f y w h f l a u n t e d d e s i r e s c o .-'-a a s p u b l i c a t i o n s o f o u r

l e t t e r s " 'Ei . iE i : c VS ALE-0* COL.OA V! t ARE NO'1 FI N AL L Y A'- '1- Ci '1 VI . ET EL Y

T: -I IUV)P : I " I T - . ANY ;"E :o r I AT IONS '71TH .YOU PEN I ' ' f ' - 'A RL ANY

CONS! \ TI >1, OF YO'. IR INS IN CERE AND Si lAL LO"- N -! / ' .LF-NRES STOP . IT

| p. OH | TE E VI PEN f THAT YOU H AVE NEVER TRUL Y TES IR ED AN OPEN PU B L IC

L>E;;ATE=

H SPENCER L EW IS .

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A S e l f - E x e c u t e d P o r t r a i t o f t h e

B a r o n M u n c h a u s e n o f t h e O c c u l t

Is not th i s te legram a remarkable phototype and perfect model

of it s send er? D id ever mo r tal man d raw a more perfect p ictureof himself or more completely demonstrate and emphasize hispred om inat ing t ra i t s than M r. Lewis has in th is te legram ? I tshows clearly the inner workings of his mind and reveals the shallow and insincere mask of all his petty scheming and bolddesigning.

H e is in a t ight place all his schem ing has gone wro n g. In steadof the expected and hoped-for refusal of his chal lenge to debate,he has received a proposal for a genuine and complete investigat ion that wil l ascertain and make known the ful l t ruth and nothingbut the t r uth th at will ruin him and destr oy A. M . O. R. C.G reat heavens- he cannot accept that prop osit ion . ITe cannot submit to such a test- to a real test . W at ch him squirm see himwiggle and how does he t r y to wiggle ou t?

Lie says: W e r egre t th at you have again refused to agree toour acceptance of the challenge you issued in your latest booklet.T h at is a twister . H e uses 21 twisted word s in a labo red at tem ptto conceal the t rut h, to confuse and mislead the read er. Le t usuntwist his statem ent and get the facts st raight . M r. Lew is has

never accepted our pro po sit ion let him call it a challenge togive us an opportuni ty to prove the t ruth of our content ions beforean y c o m p e t e n t and i m p a r t i a l t r ibu nal and, m oreo ver , he neverwill . W e did not challen ge him to an open public d eb at e; th at washis idea, he challen ged us now he is asham ed of it and wouldsaddle it on to us. W e are standing by our pro po sit ion. I t is M r.Lewis th at is on the run. H o w much do you suppose he reallyregrets our refusal to debate with him?

Let us fol low his telegram . H e furt h er says: T h is is the sec

ond time we have accepted your boasted challenge and each timeyou have either evaded the issue or, as in this case, sought to modifyyou r or iginal ch al len ge. Po or M r. L ew is! ITe wou ld have youbel ieve th at we h ave m istreated him' he seeks yo ur sym path y.H e wou ld h ave you b elieve i t was us and n ot he who was sq uirm ing

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how he would like to shif t the b lame! U n fo rtu n ately for him,the facts are that in both instances he issued the challenges for apublic deb ate in ne ither case did we accept his challenge. W ehave not modified our o r igin al propo sit ion we are s t i ll s tandingon our o r igin al pro po sal as the r eade r m ay see fo r h imself it isclear ly evident that i t is Mr. Lewis that is shif t ing and attemptingto confuse.

T h en he s ay s : Since we have been ver y libe ral in our acceptanceof your flaunted desires, as publications of our letters were (will)

revealed (reveal) , we are now f inally and completely throughwith any negotiat ions with you pending toward any considerationof you r insincere and shallow challenges. Is th at not a per fectpicture of assumed injured innocence and r ighteous indignation?Yet he lab or s in vain to shift the blame o r to just ify himself. A ft ermuch profound wiggling and twisting, he wiggles himself out ofhis own bad situation and ho w? By simply declar ing himself out and all bets off. In oth er word s, he ran aw ay H E d a r e n o t S T A N D A R E A L T E S T so he ran, and as he ran he declared us to be

run ning from him. D id you ever sit in a fast-mo ving tr ain loo kingout of the window when the whole country-side seemed to be moving awa y from you ? It was just an illusion, yet it ver y ap tly illustrates M r. Le wis s ituation. H e has always been on the run andhas always declared or intimated that others were running fromhim.

An d finally he says: It is quite eviden t th at you h ave nevertru ly desired an open public deb ate. Yes quite evident. T hislast s tatement contains the only true implications and correct s tate

ment of fact contained in his telegram . W e never intend to joinin public debate with Mr. Lewis. We have, we trust, set forth hereinample and sufficient reasons in justification of our course.

N ot withs tand ing the forego ing te legram and M r . L ew is act ionin declaring all negotiations off, we desired to give him every opportunity to join in a real investigation before a committee or tr ibunalentirely capable and competent to judge and determine every issue,with ample authority to make full and complete investigation of all and every fact and, above all, a tr ibunal that is wholly impartialand with o ut interest, except in do ing justice with full po wer to

ren der a f inal judgm ent and decree binding on both p ar t ies. T h er efore, accordingly, on January 24, 1934, we forwarded to him byRegistered Mail our promised counter-proposit ion and plan of investigation, v e r b a t i m , as follows:

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Fr a t e r n i t a s R o s a e Cr u c i s

T h e R o si cr u ci a n O r d er , o r

R os icr u cia n B r o t h er h oo d T H E S E E

B ev er l y H a ll

Q u a k er toi vn , P a .LtJanuary 24 , 1934 .

M r . H . Sp e n c e r L e w i s ,San | ose, Cal ifo rn ia.

D e a r S i r :

Supplement ing our te legram and le t ter of December 29 , 1933,and in accordance therewith, we make further reply to your let terof December 12, 1933, and submit herewith our counter-proposi-t ion and plan of investigation, which will afford you a fair andadequate opportuni ty to establ ish in a proper way your claims toRosicrucian authent ici ty and authori ty, without exposing yoursecret work, and that will finally, effectively and conclusively settleall issues between us.

Since you star ted your Rosicrucian organizat ion, about the year1915, witho ut due war ran t of auth or i ty, we h ave m aint ained thatyou and your organizat ion are clandest ine; that we only possess therightful authori ty, and that ours is the authent ic Rosicrucian Fratern ity, Brotherhoo d or O rder . On the o th er hand, you have m ade

the same claim for you rself and your or ganizat ion . Both cannotbe r ight . T his cont ro versy has grown to undue prop or t ions . T ocontinue it will serve no good purp ose. It shou ld be sett led. It isour sincere hope that it can be sett led an d en ded. It is with t hishope that we make this offer of sett lement, without in the leastdegree receding from our posi t ion.

It seems to us, that if you are acting in good faith, if your claimsare well founded and can be proven, that you will accept our offerand regard the plan of inquiry as a golden opportuni ty to establ ish

your Rosicrucian authority, authenticity and your exclusive rightto establ ish and maintain the authent ic Rosicrucian Fraterni ty,O rder or Brot herh oo d in Am erica. If you elect to evade the issue,to refuse a fair and proper invest igat ion, and you are not wil l ingto abide by the results of such an investigation, then how can you

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expect anyone to believe that there is a scintilla of merit or truthin your Rosicrucian claims?We also feel confident that all just, fair-minded, thoughtful

persons will , at once, agree that the plan of investigation is fair,ju st an d ad equate, th at it af fords and offers to yo u a fo r tu n ate an dgenuine opportunity to prove and conclusively establish your claims,un der a bind ing agreem en t on o ur p art, t hat , if you do so establishyour claims, you will have the exclusive right to carry on and maintain the only Rosicrucian organization in America, without furtherhindrance or criticism on our part, and that if you cannot stand a

search ing inv estigation and cannot establish the tr uth of you r claimsunder this plan, then, that you should, sportsmanlike, confess thetruth that you have no Rosicrucian authority, discontinue the useof the name, all Rosicrucian appellations and symbols in your workand conduct it honestly under a name, appellation and symbols thatwill mislead and deceive no one.

Many sincere men and women, more or less interested in theoccult sciences, have joined your organization, upon your representat ion th at it is the authentic Rosicrucian O rder and Bro th er

hood. M an y of them st ill believe th at they have received fromyou the true Rosicrucian teachings and inner work, and that theyhave become and are Rosicrucians. O n the ot her hand, man y oth erequally sincere and earnest seekers have joined our organizationupon our representat ion that ours is the authentic Fraterni ty andthat we alone have and can give the true, authentic Rosicrucianteach ings. In simple justice to ou r resp ective fo llo wers and also tothe many interested seekers who desire to affiliate themselves withthe Fraternity, yet do not because they are confused by our conflicting claim s the issue should be and m ust be settled, once and fo r alltime.

We have courted and earnest ly desired the str ic test , mostsweeping and comp lete invest igation of our respective claims. W ehave said many times, and here repeat, that we would gladly welcome the opportunity to prove and ful ly demonstrate our c la imsand the truth of all statements which we have made concerning youand your organizat ion, before any i m p a r t i a l an d c o m p e t e n t t r ibunal .W e mean exact ly that . An im par t ia l t r ibun al means one th at isfair. A com peten t tribun al, in this case, means one capable and

qualified to judge Rosicrucian evidence, to determine Rosicrucianauthori ty and authentic i ty, that understands fra ternal usage andlaw, and that can reach a correct conclusion and render true judg-

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ment. It also m eans one in which the right s of all p art ies will befully protected and the secret work and inner teachings of theAuthentic O rde r wil l not be exposed and its usefulness th ereb ydestroyed, and that is as i t should be, without regard to whethei i t

be your organ ization or ours, th at is auth entic. _ _You cannot meet or avoid meet ing the foregoing proposi t ion

re gard it as a challenge, if you like by cha llen ging us to me et youin joint debate, in the"manner as set forth in your let ter of December 12, 1933, in public, before a mixed audience to be composedpr incipally of our respect ive fo llo wer s. Such an audience, 1 **

tribunal , and if competent , would not be impart ial .Of course, you know and we know, as al l are bound to know,

if they reflect but slightly, that a public debate of the issues betweenus, because of the nature of the issues, would be a mere farce andpro ductive of no good. It would be decisive of no issue and wo uldnot settle a single co nt ro versy at issue. O n the oth er han d, itwould permit of much bluffing, blustering, ballyhooing, the makingof careless statements and the discussion of immateiial matteis ,that would confuse rath er than enlighte n those present . D o youdesire th at? W e do not . D o you want to confuse and co nf ou nd .

We do not . W e want th e issues clearly defined and an amp leopportunity to prove our assert ions and also to give you the sameopportunity to do l ikewise, in a proper manner, under protectivedue-guards, before an impart ial and capable tr ibunal with the aln -ity and au th o rity to co rrect ly, right eo usly and jus tly decide t leissues, and one whose findings and jud gm en t will be decisive, b i l l

ing and final.Let us keep in mind that the controversy between us and the

issues involved concern ou r respect ive Rosicru cian pi actices,methods, teachings, authentici ty and authori ty; that these issues

cannot possibly be properly disposed of in two or three hours of public discussion, supplemented by documents to be hastily anccasually examined by any committee of the audience, 01 an ydependable, s incere inv estigator at ten ding the de b ate th at m ayor m ay not be imp art ial , comp etent , s incere or depen dab le. T oproperly dispose of all of these issues, all statements and testimon y should be under the sanct ion o f an o ath and sub ject to i igidcross-examination; all documentary evidence should be given caie-ful examination and th ou ghtf ul con sideration . T o con clusivelyestablish the authentici ty of the Randolph Rosicrucian foundation

in America in 1858 and our Rosicrucian authori ty and authentici ty30


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may require the examination of many documents in corroborationof our s tatements or test imony; to show your many changing, confusing claims and shifting positions to be without merit and tocompletely refute and disprove all your many different and diverseclaims of foreign authority, wil l require the examination of manydocuments , the test imony of many witnesses in America and thedep ositions of m an y foreign witn esses abr o ad. A ll of this willrequire time, but if we are afforded the same opportunity, whichwe now offer to you, we are prepared to prove every claim we havemade; to disprove and completely refute al l your claims to Rosicru

cian authentici ty and authority.I t must be remembered tha t the authent ic Rosicrucian Fra

tern ity, O rd er or Bro th erho od is a secret society; th at its inner work

is secret and ever has been, and is now closely guarded and fullyprotected by the sacred, binding oath of i ts members; that no member who has prepared and proved himself wor thy, who receivedthe deep er and p rofo un d secrets and who, in reality, became aRosicrucian, has ever violated his oath or exposed the real, deeperand profoun d secrets of the order altho ugh it must be admit ted

th at some neop hytes have proven u nwo rth y, have been false to theirvows and have exposed some of the pre l iminary and probat ionarywork. H ow ever , th is has not in jured the O rder . T h erefo re , it mustappear to every reasonable creature, since one of the real andimportant questions at issue is the a u t h e n t i c i t y o f t h e s e c r e t w o r k that the issues between us cannot possibly be discussed in publicdebate and that a real Rosicrucian cannot and will not answer publicly a n y questions that a n y b o d y may ask.

If you are a real Rosicrucian and your organization has and

imparts the real , authentic Rosicrucian work, I have not the r ight ,nor the slightfcst desire to expose it and to destroy its usefulness.On the other hand, if ours is the Authentic Order, then, in all

ju st ice and f a ir p la y, yo u h av e no r ig h t to dem and o f us, as yo u did ,that we appear in public and reveal the activit ies of our organization and the p oints of ou r wo rk , which we h ave caref ully concealed from all public investigation.

All those who have the s l ightes t unders tanding of f ra ternallaws and the elementary, fundamental principles upon which allgenuine secret, fraternal or occult societies and orders are founded,

will know and understand that they do not give undue publici ty totheir activities nor seek to secure members by high-pressureadv ertis ing or pub licity s tunts . T h ey will , a lso, read ily un der

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A C H A L L E N G E A N D T LI E A N S W E R

stand that t rue and genuine Rosicrucians do not vulgar ly f launtthemselves before the curious and generally uninterested public inspectacular publicity stunts, by broadcasting a public debate overthe air. T h is in itself, aside fro m all o th er reason s, is a valid an dsufficient reason for our refusal to accept your challenge of publicdebate under all of the provisions (as stated by you) and with noexceptions, alth ou gh we are quite willing an d anxiou s to h ave areal and proper investigation and to meet you on every issue, without the slightest evasion or mental reservation.

We believe that you will readily agree that there is no f inerbody of se lec t men, of bet ter genera l repute , of higher moral andethical s tand ards than the M aso n s. T h ey are al l bound by asacred oath, which most of them understand and scrupulouslyrespect. T h ey are not only o bl igated to assis t and pro tect o th erMaso n s, but to ren der justice Alike unt o all men. It is o nlyMasons of outs tanding abi l i ty and f i tness , of learning and under standing of fraternal law, of keen perceptive sense of r ight and

ju st ice an d of tested honor, t h at ar e selected fo r m em b ersh ip on

the Comm it tee of Mason ic or F ra te rn a l Jur i sprud ence of the G randLodges of the respect ive Maso n ic jur isdict ion s. T h ere fo re , menselected from said Committees are well qualified, fully equipped andmost competent to pass upon the issues correctly and to justlydecide all matters of controversy existing between us, and certainlythey m ay be relied upon to be fair and im p art ial. W e b elieve th ata tr ibunal composed of such men, so selected from said Committees, would be an i m p a r t i a l an d c o m p e t e n t t r ibunal .

We have not approached, e i ther direc t ly or indirec t ly , any

Grand Maste r he re ina f te r re fe r red to , or consul ted wi th anyMaso n s occupying official positions in any Mas o n ic bo dies. H o w ever, we believe that the M ason s h ere in af ter r eferr ed to willgladly render for us any service possible, upon our joint request.Therefore, we invite and urge you to join us in a request to theG rand M aste rs of the G rand Lo dges (Blue Lo d ges) of the Sta tesof Califo rnia , Ohio and N ew Yo rk to each ap po int a mem ber f ro mtheir Committee on Jurisprudence having the qualif ications hereinset forth and specified, to act as a tribunal, to determine, in the

mann er and upon the conditions as h ere inaf te r set fo rth , all issuesand all controversies now existing between us.

We have suggested three members to const i tute the t r ibunal ,which we believe to be sufficient fo r all pu rp oses. H o w ev er , we ar ein no sense adverse to a tribunal composed of five or seven members,

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to be designated and appointed by the Grand Masters of four otherGrand Lodges of any other States in the United States or by theI ligh Officer of any Grand Body of the higher degrees of Masonry,either of the York or Scottish Rites, provided that such members,so designated and appointed, shall possess the qualifications hereinprescribed and that no two members of the t r ibunal shal l be fromthe same State. I f you p re fer a trib un al of five or seven members,you may designate the Masonic officers who may appoint such addit ion a l mem bers of the T r ibun a l.

T h e use of the word p art ies herein shall be und erstood tomean yourself and your organizat ion as one party, and myself andmy organizat ion, as the other party.

W e p r o p o s e t h a t t h e p a r t i e s h e r e t o e n t e r i n t o a n

A G R E E M E N T A N D S T I P U L A T E A S F O L L O W S :

1. T h at th ere sh all be appointed, in the m ann er as above setforth, a Committee or Tribunal whose members shal l be learned inF rat ern al Jurisprud ence, each of whom shall have been, or is now,a member of the Commit tee on Jur isprudence of the Grand Lodgeor Grand Body whose Grand Master , or High Officer shal l appoint

him. P ro vided , of course, th at no person who has been or is nowa mem ber of the organiza t ion s of ei ther p ar ty, and/ or who hasbeen associated with e i ther party, and/ or who entert a ins anyprejudice against Rosicrucianism or Rosicrucians or the part ies orei ther of them, and/ or who has form ed or expressed any opinionon the merits of the controversy between the parties shall be eligible to serve on the T rib un al. T h e fact th at some of the officersand members of e i ther party are a lso Masons shal l not in i tse lf disqualify any Mason to serve as a member of said Tribunal .

2. T h at each memb er of said T ribu n al shall take and subscribe to an oath to fairly and impartially try all issues submittedto them and to render true decisions on the facts, in accordance

with justice and generally accepted fraternal law and practices andto keep secret and not to divulge any evidence produced beforethem.

3. T h at we submit a ll issues and al l m atters o f contro versybetween us to said Tribunal, which shall have full power andunlimited jurisdiction to try and determine all issues, to determineall quest ions of procedure and to make rules and regulat ions governing its hearings, the conduct of the parties, their counsel andthe em ployees of the T ribu n al . A m ajor i ty of the T ribu n al shallconst i tute a quorum for the purpose of a l l hearings necessary to

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be had before the Tr ibuna l , and a major i ty of those present a t anyh earin g m ay decide an y question of p ro ced ure . . ()vif.evc?!. a m a"

jo r it y of the T r ib u n a l sh all be n ecessary to m ake the final fin din gs

of fact and to render f inal judgment.4. T h at the final findings of fact and judgm ent o f the I nbuna l ,

which findings and judgment must be in writing, shall be binding

and conclusive on the parties.

5. T h at the p arties shall equ ally advan ce all expenses of theT ribu n al and, as soon as the mem bers of the 1 n b un al a i e app ointed ,

each par ty hereto sh all deposit with the tem p o rary chan man thesum of One Th ousand ($1 ,000 .00) D o l la r s , a to t a l o f Two Thou sand ( $2,000' .00) D ollars, to be used by him for the d efr aying ofthe pr el im inary expenses of the f irst m eeting of the T n b u n a . T hatthe Tribunal, at i ts first meeting, shall estimate the probable costand expenses of the hearings and shall give to each party noticethereof . T h ereaf te r each par t y sha ll pay to the Secre ta ry- T reasu rerof the Tribunal such sums from time to time as he shall determineand demand, and said funds so paid shal l be used for the defrayingof all expenses of the investigatio n and the co mp ensation pei diem

and expenses of the mem bers of the Tribun al. I he Sec ieta iy-Treasurer shall keep an accurate account of all moneys so received

and disbursed. 6. T h at IT. Spencer Lewis and R. Swinbu rne Clymer sh al l each

secure from the corporat ions having t i t le to the piopeity andassets of their respect ive organizat ion their consent to entei intothis contract and authori ty to bind them and their assets for thepaymen t of all costs and expenses of th e I ribun al and the invest i gation as herein provided and they shall file ceitified copies of the

resolut ion of the Bo ard o f D irecto rs or I rustees o f such auth o i ltywith the Secretar y of the I ribu nal at t he time of the fii st m eetin g.The Tribunal shall determine the sufficiency of such authority andif insufficient sh all requ ire evidence o f pro p er auth oi ity to be filed.

7. T h a t the T r ibun a l sha ll de te rmine the compensa t ion to bepaid to each member per day for each and every day such membershall use his time and services in connection with this investigation.I t shal l a lso determine the per diem al lowance for each member ofsaid Tribunal and shall pay out of said funds all expenses of eachmember upon his fil ing an account thereof with the Secretary-

T reasu rer . 8. T h a t the T r ibun a l shall emp loy competent repo r te rs to

take and t ranscr ibe a ll tes t imon y, a rgum ents of counsel and / or o f

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the parties, which testimony when transcribed shall be availablefo r the examinat ion o f the par t ies and/ or the i r counsel. T h ey shallalso employ such experts as they deem necessary or advantageous inthe performance of their duties for the purpose of the examinationof any documents submitted or otherwise and accountants for thepurpose of making the audi ts here inaf ter provided for .

9. T h at unti l the T ribu n al shall hold its f irst meeting andorganize , the member f rom the S ta te of Ohio shal l be temporaryChairman and af ter each par ty has f i led with him their respec

tive specifications and answers, as herein provided, he shall callthe f irs t meeting of said Tribunal, to be held at some place to bedesignated by him, in a city centrally located in the United States.Before calling such meeting, however, he shall give each partyheret o th irt y da ys not ice to be presen t and test ify at such meeting.The Tribunal shall f irs t organize by electing from its own membership a Chairman and a Secretary-Treasurer and shall prescr ibesuch general rules for its procedure as it may deem necessary andadequate, and as soon as it shall have been organized, it shall proceed to h ear th e test imo ny of H . Spencer Lewis and R. Swinburne

Clymer and such other witnesses as the parties tender, with allmembers, or a major i ty of the said members, present, and shallreceive and file such documentary evidence as the parties desire tooffer.

10. T h at the T ribu n al, acting thro ugh its Ch airm an, or Secretary, as it may determine, may call such meetings of the Tribunal,with due notice to the parties, as it may from time to time deem tobe necessary, such meetings to be held in a city centrally locatedin the United States .

11. T h at the T r ibu n al shall appor t ion the Un ited S tates in todistr icts and designate a member to hold hear ings therein to takethe testimony of all witnesses tendered by either party, whichdesignation may be changed from time to time to suit the convenience of the mem ber previous ly des ignated. T h e Tr ibu n al m ayalso appoint any of i ts members to make personal and secretinvestigations in America of any claim made by either party, andalso to travel abroad to fully investigate the claims of ei ther par tyas to foreign Rosicrucian authority and their affiliations and con

nections with oth er Aut hen tic Rosicrucian bodies. And t he reportsand findings of such members, when made in writing and signed bythem, shall be received and considered as evidence by the Tribunal.Provided, however , that ei ther par ty may offer evidence in rebuttal

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urer for the purpose of paying the expenses of the hearing.

1115. T h at n eith er p ar ty will rely on an y tech nicality or pleadany technical defense, such as legal rights under any statute ofl imitation, latches or negligence of the other party and that theTribunal shall decide all issues wholly unhampered by technicalit ies of any kind whatever.

16. T h at th e pro ceedings o f the I ribunal shall be pr ivate antisecret. T h e secret wor k of each party , wheth er revealed by thetestimony of witnesses or by documents, introduced into evidence,shall be fu lly pr ot ected by rules to be prescr ibed by the 1 ribunaland no part of the testimony or any document which may tend to

reveal any part of the secret work of either party shall be copied,pho tographed , pho tos ta t ted or o therwise reproduced . ^ No p ar tof the proceedings shall be published, except the final findings olfact and the final judgm ent o f the Tribun al. E ach p art y and theiicounsel and all emp loyees o f th e T ribu nal shall bind th emselves bya special oath not to reveal any part of the evidence or any part olthe pro ceedings to anyone. N either par ty nor theii counsel shallmake or receive copies o f anv of the evidence. H o we ve i, they shallhave free access to such evidence, to examine and study the sameunder the supervision of the Secretary who shall be the custodian

thereof . 17. T h at the part ies shall have a r ight to app eal a t all he al

ings and proceedings in person and with their counsel oi by andthrough counsel and shall have the full and unrestricted light ofcross-examination of witnesses. T h e counsels ap p ealing foi eitheiPart y need not be atto rn eys at law. H ow ever, th ey shall be mem bers in good standing of the respective organizations for whichthey shal l appear before the Tribunal .

18. T h at the Gr and M aste rs or oth er Maso nic Officers appointing the members of the Tribunal shall give each party notice

f his appo intm ent and th at within 60 days af t er the 1 r ibunalhas been appointed each party hereto shall fi le with the tempoiaiyChairman his specifications, setting forth his claims and all accusations and charges which he desires to make against the opposingParty and shall at the same time serve by Registered Mail a copyf the same upon the opposing party, who shall have thiity daysafter the receipt of the same in which to file his answer thereto, andat the same time shall serve a copy thereof on the opposing paitybY Registered M ail . Wh en the tem po rary Chairman has receivedthe answer of each party, or when the time for the fil ing of same

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b u n a l f o r t h e ^ u r p o l e o 7 o e U P Ca H t h fil'St m eetinS o f t he T r i 'evidence and shall mve e lgan iza t l n and fo r the first h earin g of

and place where such h eir i r t y d ays not ice of the t imCeach p a r ty, t h a t is t o s a y " ! ^ u w h e r e u Pon a n d w h e r ea t

Lewis, shall appear and l l ' f C 'ym er and H ' SPenCeldocuments as they desire to L I ' ) Wlth theTribunal suchvided, however, that either n 1 ' 'n t evidencc> !t beinS Pro '

at any subsequent t ime b efo re^ ! reC?U t h c th e r t0 t eSt ,fy 19. T h a t -ill ..I 2. th e 1 r ibunal.

o r gan iz at io n s m ay V T a l l V b v t h ' ^ m em b er s o f t h c resp ect ivethey shall testify at any hen-I, the PPo slte pa rt y to testify andthe T r ibun a l he ld fo r t-ln* * des igna ted be fo re any member o f rig h t to ta ke the te st :m ,:>U' PfSe anc! eit h er p a rt y sh all h ave the

opposite party at anv t im,- ; Y a t t rn ey emp loyed by the

said atto rn ey shall not ref C nnectlon wit!> his or its affairs andlege, said p rivilege beino- te ?t l^y b ecause o f an y leg al privi-

said att orn eys being h ^ e , I Y WU,Ved by the P art ies h ereto andany and all m atte rs within ^ n


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by the Tribunal, who shall be the sole judge of its relevancy, andthe weight to be given to it .

22. T h at th e main or chief issue between the part ies to bedetermined and decided by the Tribunal is s tated as fol lows:I V h i ch p a r t y i s t h e A u t h en t i c R os i cr u ci a n F r a t er n i t y , O r d er o rB r o t h e r h o o d , w h i ch h a s t h e s u p er i o r R os i cr u ci a n r i gh t s a n d a u t h o r i t y a n d w h i c h i s, t h e r e f o r e , cl a n d e s t i n e. That a l l o ther cont rover sies between the parties are declared to be incidental and secondaryto the main or chief issue above stated. H o wever, the Tribu n al shall

pass upon all incidental matters in controversy that are in any way

m ater ial and/ or relevan t to the main issue. 23. T h at in the event of a disagreemen t of the part ies over

any point or matter not covered by this stipulation, that cannot bedisposed of by mutual supplemental s t ipulat ion or agreement of the part ies , the Tribunal shal l have ful l power to decide the same.

24. T h at in the event ei ther par ty shall at any t ime beforefinal judgm ent abando n the proceeding and/ or refuse to continueor com plete the invest igation , th e I ribu nal sh all nevej th eless continue the same and proceed to final judgment.

25. T h at in the event of the death o r resignat ion ol any mem

ber of the Tribunal before final judgment, the Masonic Officerthat original ly appointed said member shal l designate and appointanother, possessing the same qualifications, to serve in his placeand stead.

26. T h at af t er the evidence has been closed by the Tr ibun al ,it shall, on due notice to each party, call a meeting of the entiieT ribunal. A majo rity, however, shall constitute a quorum , foi thepurpose of hear ing argum ent s of the part ies and/ or thei i counsel,i t being st ipulated and understood that ful l and ample oppoitunityshall be given to each party to present all arguments and to make

full presentation of his or its case. 27. T h at within ten days afte r said argumen ts each p ai ty shall

file with the Tribunal, certified under oath, a detailed statement ofhis or i ts expenses incurred in connection with the investigation,including the expenses and fees of counsel or attorneys, which saidfees shall not exceed T en Th ou sand ($10 ,000 .00) D ollars , to be

audited and approved by the Tribunal , which appioval shal l befinal.

28. T h at th e f indings of fac t of a m ajor i ty of the T i ib un al

and their decisions shall be final, conclusive and binding on thcpart ies . T h e par t ies hereto es

Documents

The Rosicrucians in America. The False vs. the True Order of the Rosy Cross, by Dr. Clymer