The Relationship Between Russian and French Freemasonry ( 1905 – 1945 )
ed further reception ceremonies during which , after rigorous examination , numerous Russians were brought to Light and elevated to the various blue degrees and , in some cases , to the 18 th degree . He listed twenty-six new initiates , a mixture of aristocrats , intellectuals , and wealthy bourgeois , with several characteristics in common : they were all in favor of constitutional reform , were either associated with or members of the K-D , and were capable of obeying the law of silence . They included the lawyer and future minister of justice Paul Pereverzev ( 1871 – 1944 ), who was initiated in November 1907 and received the Fellowcraft and Master degrees in 1909 .
In spring 1907 , Kovalevsky and Kedrin went to Paris to ask the GODF to recognize the two lodges . Kovalevsky took sole charge of the mission , however , and instead of approaching the GODF , as planned , he went to the GLDF , which gave its consent for the lodges to be established and regularized . This led to a misunderstanding when the two men returned to Russia : the Brethren of The North Star decided , predictably , to join the GODF . The ceremony to light the fires of Renaissance Lodge was arranged in January 1908 to coincide with the visit to Moscow of seven Brethren from Saint Petersburg ( Orlov-Davydov , Margulies , Bebutov , Makharov , Maydell , Kedrin , Demyanov ). There were enough Brethren present to open a provisional lodge , in the home and under the gavel of Bazhenov , in order to confer the Apprentice degree on Prince Sergey Urusov and Viktor Obninsky , both K-D Duma deputies ; Councilor Onisim Goldovsky ; the
65 lawyers Balavinsky and Ivan Sakharov ; and the actor Sumbatov-Yuzhin .
On the following day , there was a debate about which of the French obediences the new lodges should align with . The Muscovites also decided in favor of the GODF . Bazhenov and Bebutov were chosen to travel to Paris . A meeting of Masons from both cities was then held in Saint Petersburg to endorse the formation of the Moscow lodge and the appointment of the two delegates . Kovalevsky , whose stated preference was for the GLDF , argued with Kedrin on the subject and , in a fit of anger , resigned and left the room along with several others who were loyal to him ( Gambarov , Roberti , Anichkov ... ). They later opened Cosmos Lodge , a daughter of the Parisian Cosmos . Orlov-Davydov replaced Kovalevsky as Worshipful Master of The North Star . Bebutov who thought Orlov-Davydov was ungenerous and dull , explained the appointment on the basis that the lodge needed a patron .
On February 2 , 1908 , Bazhenov and Bebutov travelled to Paris , where they were received by Louis Lafferre , Grand Master of the GODF , and elevated to the 18 th degree . On their return , they sent a letter to the Council of the Order asking it to delegate Brothers Bertrand Sincholle , vice president of the Council of the Order and member of Rénovateurs Lodge , and Gaston Bouley , Grand Secretary for foreign affairs and Grand Chancellor of the Grand College of Rites , to establish the lodges . Their action was applauded by the two lodges , which held further initiations in