The Builder Magazine

November 1915 - Volume I - Number 11

 

THE ESTABLISHMENT AND EARLY DAYS OF MASONRY IN AMERICA

BY BRO. MELVIN M. JOHNSON, GRAND MASTER, MASSACHUSETTS

CONCLUSION.

MAY I conclude with a few words concerning recent Pennsylvania claims to precedence? After conceding that the Pennsylvania Lodges prior to 1734 were held without Charter or Warrant, a most astounding argument is offered to the effect that they made themselves regular by confederating in a Gland Lodge; in other words, irregularity plus more irregularity, plus still more irregularity equals regularity. It is contended that in 1731 these unwarranted Lodges came together and formed a Grand Lodge which was a "sister" and not a daughter to the Grand Lodge of England. The complete answer to this argument is given by Pennsylvania herself. Her application to Price in 1734; her sending Franklin as a proxy several times to the Grand Lodge in Boston in the early days; her application again to Massachusetts in 1749; her application immediately thereafter direct to England for a confirmatory Deputation which was issued to her and accepted and acted upon by her in 1750; her payment April 10, 1752, of 31:10:0 to the Grand Lodge in Boston as a charter fee; her acceptance and action under a Warrant received from England bearing date July 15, 1761; and indeed all her Masonic acts since 1731 are consistent only with the complete recognition by Pennsylvania of the fact that all of her lawful Masonic authority flowed directly or indirectly from England. Just as it is sound law and good reasoning that a tenant cannot deny the title of his landlord, so it is equally sound reasoning that a deputized Lodge or Grand Lodge cannot deny the authority of the source issuing the Deputation accepted and exercised by it. After nearly two centuries of Masonic life during which it has recognized the Grand Lodge of England as its lawful predecessor, and as the one Body in the world having the primary right in those early days to issue Warrants or Deputations covering Pennsylvania, it is a little late to claim for the first time in 1908 and for a present day historian to contend that "The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania was a sister and not a daughter to the Grand Lodge of England." It is, in fact, a daughter of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and, therefore, a grand-daughter of the Gland Lodge of England.

It is entirely correct that "the movement in Massachusetts was not an independent one, but subordinate to the Grand Lodge of England." But Pennsylvania having in the early days again and again acknowledged itself to be subordinate to England and to Massachusetts, it is now too late for Pennsylvania to expect that the novel modern theory of some of her recent sons will be permitted to upset the facts of history. Pennsylvania is too great a jurisdiction; she has too grand a history; she is too highly respected in the Masonic world; she has too much claim to Masonic grandeur and pre-eminence in many directions to stoop at this late day to belittle Franklin and others of her great men; to belittle Price; to belittle Massachusetts; and indeed to belittle the Grand Lodge of England itself by the attempt now being made to distort history.

While it does not particularly concern this discussion, I cannot let pass without notice the same historian's statement that the legitimate Grand Lodge of England (which had been nicknamed "Moderns") was superseded by the rival organization known as the "Ancients" (this being the schismatic Grand Lodge), and that such supersession has continued down to the present time. Every impartial Masonic historian and student in the world knows better. In 1813 there was a fusion or union of the two rival Grand Lodges in England known as the "Moderns" and "Ancients." On St. John the Evangelist's Day in 1813 there was a very elaborate ceremony of union. The story of the union and its attendant circumstances are thoroughly detailed by Bro. Albert G. Mackey in the fifth volume of his History of Freemasonry, Chapter XLIII. A learned paper on this subject is to be found in XXIII Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, 215. The ceremony of union is given in full in the Minutes of the United Grand Lodge of England, and may be found also in Bro. W. J. Hughan's "Memorials of the Masonic Union of A. D. 1813" published 1874; Revised, augmented and republished by the Lodge of Research in 1913. Original programs of the ceremonies and of the music are in the archives of Massachusetts. So far were the "Moderns" from being superseded, that their Gland Master, the Duke of Sussex, became then the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge. I call attention to this statement more particularly that it may illustrate how much weight is to be given to the other claims with which we have been dealing made by the same historian.

Recapitulating briefly the facts, we find that prior to 1733 many Lodges met without authority; that a regular Commission issued to Daniel Coxe for a part of North America in 1730, but that this Commission was never exercised; that after Masonry became an organized Institution and meetings of Lodges without a Charter or Warrant were prohibited, no lawful authority was ever exercised in America until July 30, 1733, when Henry Price organized a Provincial Grand Lodge in Boston under the authority granted him by the Lord Viscount Montague, then Grand Master of Masons in England. It is thus that the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts is the Mother Grand Lodge of America, and that Henry Price is the "Founder of Duly Constituted Masonry in America."

NOTE.

Recognition has widely and frequently been made of Massachusetts as the oldest Grand Lodge in the Western Hemisphere.

No effort has been made to collate with any thoroughness the instances, but a few which come to mind as this is being prepared for the printer are as follows:

By England. There has been frequent recognition by the Grand Lodge of England of Massachusetts as the oldest jurisdiction in America. The earliest instances have been heretofore referred to. More recent is a letter from the Grand Master of England to the Grand Master of Massachusetts, dated Feb. 7, 1912, in which he speaks of that Grand Lodge as "The oldest Lodge on this (the North American) continent, and which originally owed its Warrant to the Grand Lodge of England." The most recent instance is a resolution of the United Grand Lodge of England, unanimously passed on Sept. 2, 1914, reading as follows:

"That Grand Lodge expresses its thanks to the Most Worshipful Grand Master for communicating the letter his Royal Highness has received from M.W. Bro. Melvin Maynard Johnson, Grand Master of Mason of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and desires to associate itself with his Royal Highness' deep appreciation of the expressions therein contained, as voicing a sincerity of Masonic feeling especially welcome to Grand Lodge as coming from its 'eldest child in Western Hemisphere.' "

By Canada. See the Address of Grand Master William David McPherson at Grand Peace Festival, held at Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, July 16, 1914, to be published in memorial volume, also his 1915 annual address.

By Nova Scotia. See "Early History of Freemasonry in Nova Scotia," by M. W. Bro. Hon. William Ross, June, 1910.

By the District of Columbia. Massachusetts was given seniority in ceremonies of dedication of Washington Monument, Feb. 21, 1885. This was after a formal hearing by a Committee before which Massachusetts and Pennsylvania presented their claims to seniority. The decision was in favor of Massachusetts.

By Idaho. M.W. Curtis F. Pike, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Idaho, in a letter to the writer dated April 8, 1914, says, "It occurs to me as I write that Massachusetts is the oldest Grand Jurisdiction in America, if my memory of Masonic History is correct."

By Indiana. See Proceedings. of May, 1852.

By Louisiana. See 11 Moore's Freemason's Magazine 167.

By Maine. See 1887 Mass. 236.

By Maryland. At a banquet in Baltimore, Md., in 1885, the representative of Massachusetts was called upon to respond to the toast "The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, the Mother Grand Lodge of Masonry in America."

By Missouri. M.W. Van Fremont Boor, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, in a letter to the writer, dated April 29, 1914, refers to Massachusetts as "The oldest Grand Jurisdiction in the United States."

 By Pennsylvania. As set forth in earlier chapters.

Also:

Wor. Alfred P. Reigh, a learned Masonic student and Past Master of Washington Lodge No. 164 of Pennsylvania, in a letter dated Sept. 9, 1852, refers to Massachusetts as "The oldest Grand Lodge in the United States."

The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania on June 16, 1834, on motion of a Committee of which Past Grand Master Michael Nisbet was Chairman, unanimously adopted a resolution, "For the celebration of St. John the Baptist's Day, 24th of June A. D. 1834, A. L. 5834, being the Centennial Anniversary of the Establishment of the First Lodge in Pennsylvania, of which Lodge Bro. Benjamin Franklin was the First Master."

M. W. Sereno D. Nickerson of Massachusetts on June 10, 1903, said: "At the time of this Centennial the orator (R. W. George W. Dallas) was the Attorney General of Pennsylvania and ex-United States Senator; afterwards Minister to Russia, Vice-President of the United States and Minister to England. He was Deputy Grand Master, and six months later was elected Grand Master. He was then fighting the battle with anti-Masonry in his State. His father was a distinguished lawyer in Philadelphia, Secretary of the Commonwealth when Franklin died, and Secretary of the Treasury under President Madison; he must have known Franklin well, and lived until the son, born only two years after Franklin's death, was twenty-seven years old. It is simply absurd to claim that the orator, under such circumstances, did not know the history of his Grand Lodge, did not know whether they were celebrating the true date of the 'Establishment of the First Lodge in Pennsylvania, of which Lodge Bro. Benjamin Franklin was the First Master.' It is not improbable that there were Brethren present who had heard the story from Franklin's own lips. Only forty-four years had elapsed since Franklin's death, and probably the incidents of his life were as familiar as household words to some Brethren then present."

On Sept. 26, 1855, Bro. James King was orator at the dedication of the new hall on Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, and there and then referred to the illustrious Franklin as "The First Master of a Masonic Lodge in Pennsylvania."

On Sept. 26, 1873, Past Grand Master Robert A. Lamberton of Pennsylvania, President of Lehigh University, in an oration at the dedication of the Temple in Philadelphia said: "The Lodges in Philadelphia, doubtless desiring to place themselves under the immediate jurisdiction of that Grand Lodge (Massachusetts), accepted and recognized the power of R.W.G.M. Price to appoint Benjamin Franklin as the Grand Master; Massachusetts authority gives the date of this appointment the 24th of June, 1734. From a contemporary account it is certain that on that day at the celebration of the Feast of St. John the Baptist he appeared as 'Grand Master.' Franklin evidently had doubts of the regularity of the powers of the Lodge or Lodges over which he exercised authority, for, signing himself as Grand Master on the 28th of November, 1734, he wrote from Philadelphia to the 'R.W.G.M. and Most Worthy and Dear Brethren in Boston,' requesting that a Deputation or Charter be granted by the R.W.G.M. Price, by virtue of his commission from Britain. 

He continued: "It is needless to follow on the history of the Grand Lodge, as then constituted, and of which Franklin, in 1749, again became the Grand Master by appointment of R. W. Thomas Oxnard." It would seem that Brother Lamberton was disposed to give full credit to Massachusetts.

By Tennessee. See 9 Moore's Freemason's Magazine 316.

By Vermont. At the laying of the corner-stone of the Bennington Monument.

By Lafayette. In this connection it is interesting to recall a letter written by General Lafayette on Aug. 29, 1824, to the Master of St. John's Lodge of Boston, in which he refers to that Lodge as "The first Lodge on the Continent of America."

 

AGNOSTICISM

Agnosticism, as now stated, assumed not simply the impotence of the

human, but of the Divine reason; for a God man cannot know is at

the same time a God who. cannot make himself known. Our inability

to reach Him is possible, only because of His inability to become

intelligible.

--Albert Pike

 

THE END OF EVIL

Evil on itself shall back recoil,

And mix no more with goodness, when at last,

Gathered like scum, and settled to itself,

It shall be in eternal restless change

Self-fed and self-consumed.

--John Milton.

 

THE MYSTERY

If it touches the heart of a Poet,

The gods and the ages will know it;

For over the waters and crags of time

The winds of the world will blow it.

--Edwin Markham.

 

MY BROTHER KNEELS

My Brother kneels, so saith Kabir,

To stone and brass in heathen wise,

But in my brother's soul I hear

My own unanswered agonies;

His God is as his fates assign;

His prayer is all the world's--and mine.

--Poems of Kabir.

 

THE BIBLE IN MASONRY

BY THE EDITOR

Joseph Fort Newton

BROTHER Toastmaster: Time is a river and books are boats. Many volumes start down that stream, only to be wrecked and lost beyond recall in its sands. Only a few, a very few, endure the testings of time and live to bless the ages following. Tonight we are met to pay homage to the greatest of all books--the one enduring Book which has traveled down to us from the far past, freighted with the richest treasure that ever any book has brought to humanity. What a sight it is to see five hundred men gathered about an open Bible- -how typical of the spirit and genius of Masonry, its great and simple faith and its benign ministry to mankind.

No Mason needs to be told what a place of honor the Bible has in Masonry. One of the great Lights of the Order, it lies open upon the altar at the center of the lodge. Upon it every Mason takes solemn vows of love, of loyalty, of chastity, of charity, pledging himself to our tenets of Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. Think what it means for a young man to make such a covenant of consecration in the morning of life, taking that wise old Book as his guide, teacher and friend! Then as he moves forward from one degree to another, the imagery of the Bible becomes familiar and eloquent, and its mellow, haunting music sings its way into his heart.

And yet, like everything else in Masonry, the Bible, so rich in symbolism, is itself a symbol---that is, a part taken for the whole. It is a sovereign symbol of the Book of Faith, the Will of God as man has learned it in the midst of the years--that perpetual revelation of Himself which God is making mankind in every land and every age. Thus, by the very honor which Masonry pays to the Bible, it teaches us to revere every book of faith in which men find help for today and hope for the morrow, joining hands with the man of Islam as he takes oath on the Koran, and with the Hindu as he makes covenant with God upon the book that he loves best.

For Masonry knows, what so many forget, that religions are many, but Religion is one--perhaps we may say one thing, but that one thing includes everything--the life of God in the soul of man, and the duty and hope of man which proceed from His essential character. Therefore it invites to its altar men of all faiths, knowing that, if they use different names for "the Nameless One of a hundred names," they are yet praying to the one God and Father of all; knowing, also, that while they read different volumes, they ale in fact reading the same vast Book of the Faith of Man as revealed in the struggle and sorrow of the race in its quest of God. So that, great and noble as the Bible is, Masonry sees it as a symbol of that eternal Book of the Will of God which Lowell described when he wrote his memorable lines:

"Slowly the Bible of the race is writ, And not on paper leaves nor leaves of stone;  Each age, each kindred; adds a verse to it, Texts of despair or hope, of joy or moan. While swings the sea, while mists the mountain shroud, While thunder's surges burst on cliffs of cloud,  Still at the prophets' feet the nations sit."

None the less, much as we honor every book of faith in which any man has found courage to lift his hand above the night that covers him and lay hold of the mighty Hand of God, with us the Bible is supreme What Homer was to the Greeks, what the Koran is to the Arabs, that, and much more, the grand old Bible is to us. It is the mother in our literary family, and if some of its children have grown up and become wise in their own conceit, they yet rejoice to gather about its knee and pay tribute. Not only was the Bible the loom on which our language was woven, but it is a pervasive, refining, redeeming force bequeathed to us, with whatsoever else that is good and true, in the very fiber of our being. Not for a day do we regard the Bible simply as a literary classic, apart from what it means to the faiths and hopes and prayers of men, and its in weaving into the intellectual and spiritual life of our race.

There was a time when the Bible formed almost the only literature of England; and today, if it were taken away, that literature would be torn to tatters and shreds. Truly did Macaulay say that, if everything else in our language should perish, the Bible would alone suffice to show the whole range and power and beauty of our speech. From it Milton learned his majesty of song, and Ruskin his magic of prose. Carlyle had in his very blood, almost without knowing it, the rhapsody and passion of the prophets--their sense of the Infinite, of the littleness of man, of the sarcasm of providence; as Burns, before him, had learned from the same fireside Book the indestructibleness of honor and the humane pity of God which throbbed in his lyrics of love and liberty. Thus, from Shakespeare to Tennyson, the Bible sings in our poetry, chants in our music, echoes in our eloquence, and in our tragedy flashes forever its truth of the terribleness of sin, the tenderness of God, and the inextinguishable hope of man.

My brethren, here is a Book whose scene is the sky and the dirt and all that lies between--a Book that has in it the arch of the heavens, the curve of the earth, the ebb and flow of the sea, sunrise and sunset, the peaks of mountains and the glint of sunlight on flowing waters, the shadow of forests on the hills, the song of birds and the color of flowers. But its two great characters are God and the Soul, and the story of their eternal life together is its one everlasting romance. It is the most human of books, telling the old forgotten secrets of the heart, its bitter pessimism and its death defying hope, its pain, its passion, its sin, its sob of grief and its shout of joy--telling all, without malice, in its Grand Style which can do no wrong, while echoing the sweet-toned pathos of the pity and mercy of God. No other book is so honest with us, so mercilessly merciful, so austere yet so tender, piercing the heart, yet healing the deep wounds of sin and sorrow.

Take this great and simple Book, white with age yet new with the dew of each new morning, tested by the sorrowful and victorious experience of centuries, rich in memories and wet with the tears of multitudes who walked this way before us--lay it to heart, love it, read it, and learn what life is, what it means to be a man; aye, learn that God hath made us for Himself, and unquiet are our hearts till they rest in Him. Make it your friend and teacher, and you will know what Sir Walter Scott meant when, as he lay dying, he asked Lockhart to read to him. "From what book?" asked Lockhart, and Scott replied, "There is but one Book!"

----O----

LET THERE BE LIGHT

Let there be light ! In world's dim dawn

When all earth's hopes depended on

The spread of that effulgent glow

To germinate all things below,

Then wisdom's laws, by His command

Made ready evolution's hand.

Then were the clouds of chaos riven

When that decree by Him was given.

Let there be light!

 

Let there be light ! The edict spread

O'er all the universe, where sped

The essence of the Power Supreme

Alight with glory's potent beam

Which woke to action, growth and force,

Each slumb'ring atom in its course,

While life's prodigious prospects bright

Took shape at earliest dawn of light.

Let there be light !

 

Let there be light ! In darkened hours,

When hov'ring clouds with threatening powers,

By superstition's gruesome hand

Are spread o'er mystic beauty's land,

Swift as the lightning's flash from heaven

The blest decree to worlds is given,

And lights revealing hope and love

Break through the darkened clouds above.

Let there be light !

 

Let there be light! By symbols known

That wonderful decree is shown

Expressing each true heart's desire

That lights of truth from mystic fire

Which burns in each appointed place,

May spread their gleam o'er all the race

And they, in glow of beauty find

Pare truths long sought by all mankind.

Let there be light!

 

Let there be light ! When nations rise,

And war clouds hover o'er the skies,

When thunders of the battle break

O'er lovely plains, and havoc wake,

VVhen devastation's scorching breath

Is borne through lands on wings of death,

When horrors of the conflict rage

And leave their marks on hist'l y's page

Let there be light!

 

Let there be light ! Nay, seek no more

To stop each devastating war

While leaving causes of the strife

To stay and harass human life;

While war lords yet their systems nurse

To make mankind's condition worse.

Think well of these, of moral laws

Which, violated, gave the CAUSE !

Let there be light!

 

Let there be light ! When they, in war,

The rights of liberty ignore

And scatter baneful dangers wide

'Mong friends and foes, all laws defied,

Vain are the pleas ignobly made

For wholesale murder's cruel aid,

Nor can diplomacy atone

For willful acts of murder done.

Let there be light!

 

Let there be light! In time of peace,

That each oppressive system cease

Should be our aim, and never wait

Until remonstrance be too late;

Till outraged manhood's hosts, in wrath,

Poise up across the oppressor's path,

And freedom's warriors' bold stand

At length brings peace through every land.

Let these be light!

- Lewis Alexander McConnell.

----o----

 

THE WAY OF DITTY

This truth comes to us more and more the longer we live, that on what field or in what uniform, or with what aims we do our duty, matters very little, or even what our duty is, great or small, splendid or obscure. Only to find our duty certainly and somewhere, and do it faithfully, makes us strong, happy and useful men, and tunes our lives into some feeble echo of the life of God.

- Phillips Brooks.

----o----

Masonry is not an exposition of a manufactured ritual, nor is it a new revelation. It expresses the underlying principles which govern all the religions which the race has loved, and is founded upon the accumulated traditions which are necessities to humanity.

- Sir Gilbert Parker.

 

THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF MASONRY

BY BRO. J. H. MORROW, CALIFORNIA

ONE of the most beautiful of natural phenomena is the dew. We rise up early in the morning, throw open the casement, and there, spread out before us on earth's green carpet, lie myriads upon myriads of gems more brilliant than ever graced a queenly brow. It is as though God before rolling up the canopy of night had laid the stars for a moment upon the earth for man's nearer view.

As we gaze, entranced, the sun asserts his majesty, and along invisible paths the wealth of magic beauty vanishes in thin air. But each crystal drop has left refreshment in its wake. The tender blade of grass, the new-born leaf of the shrub, the unfolding petal of the blossom has each in turn gathered fresh life and renewed vigor.

And so, in a way, is spirituality. Heaven sent, it comes to earth to quicken men's souls into new life. It is all that the dew is to nature, but it is far more. It more closely resembles the gentle rain in the depth and permanence of its effect.

A dove brought a seed from the skies, and it said to the man, "The seed I bring is precious beyond all price. Its name is the Knowledge-of-God. I would fain plant it where it shall find constant nourishment, so that it may germinate and grow and bear fruit for the healing of the nations."

Reverently the man uncovered his head, and humbly bared his breast. "O gentle dove," he said, "vouchsafe that this seed may find lodgment in my poor heart." And the dove replied, "So let it be," and straightway it planted the seed in the human breast so freely offered.

And there flew to earth another dove, and the seed it brought- was called Faith, and this seed, too, found lodgment in the man's heart. And still another dove brought the seed of Hope, and another the seed of Charity, and a fourth the seed of Brotherly Love, and again a fifth the seed of Immortality; for these seeds, too, the man's breast gave welcoming place 

The name of the man was Freemason. The life he lived, and the deeds he wrought, be they small or great, are known to all, but the vision of the doves and the planting of the seeds were for his eye alone.

Brethren, if I have indulged in metaphor and resorted to parable, it has been but to stimulate the imagination that you may the more easily rise with me to the plane upon which Masonry in its teachings and their fulfillment rests. The first seed implanted in the heart of the Freemason was the Knowledge-of-God. To put our trust in Him is the initial and the directing step in the journey of life. With Him as our guide, our mentor, we can press forward without doubt or fear. As Christian, Jew, Brahmin, or Mohammedan, each may call Him by a different name, but to one and all He is the Great Architect, the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and as we learn to accept His guidance, He becomes better still the Heavenly Father, drawing us to Him with bonds of love. "We feel His presence, e'en unseen," and we walk by faith, and are sustained by hope in its whispered promise of eternal life. And so it is with the other seeds. In the exercise, for example, of charity through the promptings of brotherly love--charity which softens and modifies our judgments, makes us conscious of our own shortcomings, and renders us responsive to the appeals of those in distress--we become partakers of the Divine nature and thus children of God.

"To worship rightly is to love each other; Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer." "Each loving life a psalm of gratitude."

King Solomon's Temple is long crumbled into dust, but we as Masons are taught that we may rear another in its stead. The plan lies upon the trestle board of the Supreme Master. Happy is the man who builds according to that plan. For the temple site is the human heart, and the temple is known as character. Masonry is character-building, and whether we be Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, or Master Mason, our duties are clearly defined, and our accountability made clear.

Now, character is what we are, and must not be confounded with reputation, which is what men think of us. If character be sound, be good, be true, then reputation can safely be left to take care of itself. Men covet reputation, but reputation is only secure when it rests upon a moral foundation. Hypocrisy, deceit, false pretensions may achieve their ends for a while, but sooner or later the sham will be found out, and the structure so faultily built prove but a house of cards. Therefore, the question which concerns me as a Mason is not what do men think of me, but what do I think of myself ?

In the light of Masonry I am able to judge myself. The plan lies before me. My obligations are emblazoned upon the walls of my remembrance. How have I hewn and laid the foundations of my character? How have I built the superstructure? Dare I apply to the walls the plumb and square and level of righteousness ? The heart of the man who received the seeds from the doves knew as the days and the years went by how well it had cherished the divine gifts. So, as I lay my head at night upon my pillow, and turn upon myself the eyes of introspection, I can search my soul.

Shall I be discouraged by the faults I find? Nay, not so. If I only realize that I have tried to build a temple acceptable to the Supreme Architect, I have not wholly failed. To be able to discover the fault shows that I have not lost sight of the plan, and am not deaf to the still small voice of conscience. And the wonderful thing in character-building is that so long as life lasts opportunity is given all to correct the faults. Fortunate, indeed, am I if the faults be those of days rather than of years. Yet it were better to begin all over again, though the structure eventually remain incomplete, than never to have made the attempt. But I must not put off the rebuilding to "a more convenient season," for "the night cometh when no man can work." Opportunity is mine, but it is limited. The sands remaining in my hour-glass I cannot see.

Still, I must not despair. Hands of brotherly love are outstretched to help me.

Toil though we may, none toils alone-- A brother's hands help lift the stone My arm is powerless to place; And love is beaming from his face.

Furthermore, we cannot contemplate the sublime truths of Masonry without receiving a reciprocal blessing. It is an immutable law that like begets like. Out of the abundance of the harvest is the promise of another garnering of like kind. And we sow without doubt, knowing that as we sow so shall we also reap. What is true of nature is true of spirituality. Of all the gifts of the inner life, the highest is that of love. Brotherly love unifies Masonry, and in its expression ennobles the lives of the brethren. It is this ennoblement, this enrichment so evident in innumerable instances, that draws men to our sanctuaries, humble and voluntary applicants for admission. They have discovered in the influences of Masonry a transforming power for good which they would fain enjoy.

Sculptured in profile on a New England mountain cliff is the noble face of a man. Tradition foretold that one day the counterpart would appear in human form. And the story runs that a lad was wont to visit the spot, watching in his boyish faith for the fulfillment of the promise. Alas, many passed, but never one who in lineament and expression reflected the heavenly beauty of the face of the granite hills. From boyhood the watcher grew to youth, and from youth to manhood, and still his dream remained unfulfilled. The tocsin of war sounded, and he hastened to the defense of his country's flag. Bravely, honorably, heroically he did his part, but often on picket duty in the gloomy watches of the night or amid the fitful sleep of the turf-pillowed bivouac, that radiant face of the distant mountain would reveal itself, and he would study it with the eyes of introspection. The war ended, and it was vouchsafed to him to return to his home. From force of habit he repaired to the mountain. There stood the face, as it had stood for ages untold, not an attribute impaired. Lost in reverie the soldier in his faded uniform became unconscious of surroundings, and unaware of the gathering of an awe-struck group. The tradition was at last come true; the counterpart in human form was there--but he did not know it.

Like begets like, beauty begets beauty, love begets love, holiness begets holiness, but the discovery is left to others.

Frequenting the almost inaccessible peak of a lofty mountain was a bird of snow-white plumage. Its name was Purity, and to him who should find one of its spotless feathers was the promise of eternal life. Many essayed to find a feather, but discouraged by the obstacles became disheartened and dropped back to the Valley of Ease---all save one. Undaunted, though bruised and bleeding, he pressed upward. Often he stumbled, sometimes he slipped backward, but only to regain lost ground and to keep on climbing. Would he ever reach the top ? His strength was giving out, when suddenly the shadow of the bird rested upon him. With one last effort he stretched forth his hand, but only to grasp thin air. He fell and died, and then, lo the miracle ! From the pitying breast of the hovering bird descended a feather, and rested on the palm of the nerveless hand. The gift of eternal life was won.

Brethren, the spiritual rewards of Masonry are not to be sought in the Valley of Ease. They may be summed up in one phrase--the satisfaction of feeling that we have endeavored to walk uprightly in every path of life, and to discharge our duties to God, to country, to home, to our fellow-men in conformity with the sublime teachings of the Order. The rest may be left to Him who noteth even the fall of a sparrow.

"Oh ! the cedars of Lebanon grow at our door, And the quarry is sunk at our gate; And the ships out of Ophir, with golden ore, For our summoning mandate wait; And the word of a Master Mason May the house of our soul create ! While the day hath light let the light be used, For no man shall the night control ! Or ever the silver cord be loosed, Or broken the golden bowl, May we build King Solomon's Temple In the true Masonic soul!"

And the meaning is this--that we do not have to go far afield to discharge our Masonic obligations, and to be spiritually quickened. In the pursuit of wealth men often travel to the uttermost parts of the world and endure danger and privation without end, alas, sometimes in vain, not realizing that mines of golden promise lie buried at the very doorsteps of the homes they have spurned. So the demands for the exercise of Masonic virtues lie close at hand. The stranger, hopeless, distressed, is knocking at our gate for admittance. The tearstained faces of the widow and the orphan are lifted in appeal to our windows. The brother, needy in a material or in a spiritual sense, is mutely stretching out his hand for help and sympathy along the pathway of our daily routine. Our homes are demanding of us the highest expressions of love. Our city and our country are expecting us to exemplify civic righteousness. And the voice of God is ever ringing in our ears, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto Me."

It is a misnomer to speak of the spiritual side of Masonry. If there be another side it is foreign to our Order, and I know it not. Spirituality is the life of Masonry. Blest is he who is privileged to partake of it, and to help rebuild the Temple of King Solomon.

 

FREEMASONS AS BUILDERS

(A Series of Researches into the Operative Efforts of the Craft

III.THIE TEMPLE AT IOWA CITY, IOWA

ERECTED and completely equipped for slightly less than $50,000.00 the Temple occupied by the Brethren at Iowa City, Iowa, is at once compact, convenient and commodious. It is designed to meet Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery needs. The Brethren have ventured further into club house arrangements than we have previously illustrated in this series. Iowa City is the home of Iowa State University, and the presence of a large number of Masons in the student body probably accounts for this.

The basement story (not illustrated,) is occupied by a dining room, kitchen and heating plant. The first floor is arranged around a central "Exchange," utilized for social features as well as a Commandery Drill Hall. Two Game Rooms, a Billiard Room, the Secretary's Office and Vault, and a Reading Room, all have openings into the Exchange. In the forward part of the building, separate parlors and cloak rooms are provided for the ladies and Brethren, both readily accessible from the main entrance.

In the second floor, additional cloak rooms are provided. The Armory, with a generous balcony, is well adapted to the uses of the Commandery, and opens directly into the Lodge Room. The Ante-Room, Committee Room and Preparation Room open into the Lodge Room also, while (as in all plans thus far presented) the paraphernalia and storage room parallels the Lodge Room. East and West. A high ceiling in the Lodge Room affords opportunity for mezzanine floors all around it, thus permitting the introduction of a pipe organ and other accessories, if desired.

 

THE RELATIONSHIP OF MASONRY TO THE LIBERATION OF SPANISH AMERICA

BY BRO. HENRY BIXBY HEMENWAY, A.M., M.D., ILLINOIS

(Note.--The following article has been written at the earnest solicitation of the Editor. It is submitted, not as a completed study, but that it may aid others who wish to follow a similar path. Unfortunately, such a study should occupy much time, and the investigator should be able to follow the path into many countries, and to search through documentary records. Citations are here given to shorten, if possible, the preliminary work of other students.-- H. B. H.)

ONE of the most inviting fields for the Masonic investigator is that which pertains to the relationship between this great order and governmental history. It is not probable that any one would be so rash as to affirm that Masonry was the cause of the War of the Revolution. On the other hand, there are many who believe that the Revolution would not have been successfully begun, continued and ended were it not for the aid of that body of patriots. If this be granted, the next question to arise is whether the revolution was the incidental result of the teaching of Masonry, or was the organization used by the leaders of the movement because secrecy was necessary for their operations. Were these leaders driven into the society for mutual protection ?

Apparently it was the oppression of the Huguenots in France and the constant annoyance of the Scotch Irish by the English government that developed in each of those oppressed a spirit of determined endurance, and a love of liberty, which they strongly exhibited on coming to America. This had much to do with the starting of the revolution. Both of these peoples were patrons of Masonry, and the two leading spirits of the movement which resulted in the formation of the Grand Lodge of England, June 24, 1717, were James Anderson, a Scotch Presbyterian clergyman, and John Desaguliers, a French Huguenot. One of the fundamental principles of Masonry is religious liberty; and it therefore received the condemnation of the Roman See. While Masonry has no opposition to the Roman church as a religious institution, it does oppose its attempt to connect spiritual and temporal power. As between monarchy and democracy that church has in the past always been arrayed on the side of monarchy. It was therefore a natural result that a large proportion of the leaders in the American revolution were members of the fraternity, though it must by no means be forgotten that some loyal members of the Roman church gave important moral, financial, and personal support to the cause.

In the minds of such men as Washington, Masonic membership was another evidence of a man's reliability and fitness for trust. Silence and circumspection had been taught him. If therefore there were some important business to be done in the interest of the colonial army or government, it was natural that it should be safeguarded by those fraternal bonds. If a council were necessary, it was not unlikely that it might be protected by the privacy of the military lodge. There was a double test of safety in the membership in the order, and the position in the army. The practical influence of this association impressed itself upon the Marquis de Lafayette, and he became an enthusiastic Mason.

It has been said that when Lafayette came to this country he had upon his staff a young native of Venezuela by the name of Miranda. It has been supposed that Miranda here became a Mason also, and it has often been said that Washington was his ideal. After he left the United States he settled in London for a time. There he established a secret society for the avowed purpose of freeing Spanish America from the European yoke. This society, we have been told, was founded on Masonry. It inculcated republican doctrines, and was formed principally, if not exclusively, of Spanish Americans who were pledged, in different degrees, to work for South American freedom. Into this society the great leaders of the southern rebellion were initiated--San Martin, Bernardo O'Higgins, Bolivar, Sucre and the rest. At Cadiz, we are told, (1) a subordinate society was established affiliated with the mother organization, and known under the name "Sociedad de Lautaro, o Cabelleros Racionales." Subsequently a Logia Lautaro was established in Buenos Aires, and another at Santiago, Chile.

It will also be remembered that almost immediately after the success of the Spanish revolution, Masonic lodges were formed throughout Latin America, and that the political leaders were Masons. Further, though the Roman church was not disturbed in its ministrations, wherever the Masonic influences were the strongest, there the temporal power of that church was the most restricted.

The general evidence, therefore, tends to show a direct relationship, not only between the revolution in the English and that in the Spanish colonies, but between both and the Masonic order, either as a causative, or as an executive agent.

It is only within a relatively short time that the study of history has approached scientific accuracy. Formerly it was the custom of a historian to take what came to hand without special question, unless he found that statements or evidence did not agree. The consequence was that misstatements were kept alive, and by their very frequency they became convincing. If, as sometimes happened, many writers went to the same source for their information, a mistake in the original caused the error of many; still, in the place of being really the evidence of many, it was the evidence of only one, oft repeated.

In the sketch of Miranda's life in the International Encyclopedia it is said that he resigned from the Spanish army in order to fight with the French in the United States. The Encyclopedia Britanica says: "He entered the army, and served with the French in the American War of Independence. The success of that war inspired him with a belief that the independence of Spanish America would increase prosperity. He began to scheme a revolution, but was discovered and had only time to escape to the United States. Thence he went to England." As will be seen later this account is almost entirely wrong, though that writer refers in his bibliography to the only critical study of the subject which has been made. The Encyclopedia Americana repeats the former error about Miranda's service in our Revolution, even giving the dates, 1779-1781. It also refers to his formation of the Gran Reunion Americana, which is correct. The other encyclopedias are silent as to this society, and the Logia Lautaro.

The misstatement relative to Miranda's service in our Revolution is repeated by Dalton, (2) Hirst, (3) Eder, (4) Garcia Calderon, (5) and Chisholm. (6) Chisholm gives no authority for any of his statements, but he dwells at some length upon Miranda's influence in the liberation of the Spanish Americans, and his formation of the Gran Reunion.

Turning now to South American sources, (but Professor Pennington, of the University of Cordoba, Argentina, and Garcia Calderon of Peru, should also be so ranked,) we find the two best recognized authorities for this period of history are B. Vicuna Mackenna of Chile, and Bartolome Mitre of Argentina. Mackenna, in his "Ostracismo de O'Higgins" in speaking of Miranda says (7) that he went to the United States and fought for freedom, with Washington as his hero, and Lafayette as his companion. Mitre, the poet, historian, general, and President, wrote large histories of San Martin and Belgrano. In the first of these he says (8) of Miranda that he was "a soldier of Washington in the war of North America, Comrade of Lafayette, a General with Dumoriez in the early campaigns of the French revolution, a companion of Madame Rolland in prison, the confidant of Pitt in his plan of insurrection of Spanish American colonies, distinguished by Catherine of Russia, by whose favors the important mission which was imposed was fostered, and considered by Napoleon as a crazy man, fired by hot blood. In a similar manner Mitre speaks in his life of Belgrano (9) of Miranda's having known Hamilton when under the orders of LaFayette and Washington he had fought for the independence of the English colonies.

We have been thus particular to refer to many accounts which speak of Miranda's service here because they are all in error, but evidence of the mistake is likely to be overlooked. The only critical life of Miranda which the writer of these lines has found is that by Professor William S. Robertson, which is hidden in a copy of the Proceedings of the American Historical Society. (10) Robertson has taken the pains to verify his study by searching through official documents and private diaries. In marked contrast with the methods of Mitre, Mackenna, and the others cited, he makes it a rule to state the evidence. What he says may be taken as reliable so far as he goes, and from his account, unless otherwise specified, the following sketch is taken:

Francisco Miranda was born of Spanish parents in Caracas, Venezuela, probably June 9, 1753. Blanco gives (11) the year as 1756, and Vicuna Mackenna (12) as 1758. He was educated in a college in his native city, and according to his statement to President Stiles, at Yale college, he received his B. A. degree in 1767. He later studied law "for a year or more" at a college in the city of Mexico. (The father of Mexican independence was Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a creole priest, who received his B. A. degree in the city of Mexico in 1770, (13) after his education in the college of Valladolid, Mex. It is therefore more than a possibility that Hidalgo and Miranda met at that time. It must be remembered that the word "creole" does not imply mixed blood, as many imagine, but is descriptive of those of pure Latin blood, born in America.) In Caracas it is probable, as has been stated, that one of Miranda's companions during those early years was Manuel Gaul, who later took an active part in the revolution, and who was punished for translating and publishing the "Rights of Man." Incidentally we may here mention that later Thomas Paine became one of Miranda's intimate friends, and that his "Rights of Man" became one of the potent influences for the revolution of Spanish America. Miranda was an enthusiastic student, and before he became of age he went to Spain, and there applied himself to the study of mathematics. His sympathies at that time were intensely Spanish. In 1772 he was commissioned a captain in the Spanish army. He served in Africa against the Moroccans. During the summer of 1777 charges were made against him, and he was imprisoned for a short time, at the instigation of the Inquisition, he thought. However, the official report of his commander in November of that year said, in contrast with the report relative to many of his fellow soldiers: "This captain performs his duties well."

During his early service he came under the command of Cagigal, who was ever thereafter his firm friend. In March, 1780, Miranda was transferred from Madrid to Cadiz. Early that spring the French and Spanish governments cooperated in hostile operations against England, and in the Spanish force sent to the West Indies Miranda was on the staff oś Cagigal. In August, 1781, Miranda was brevetted Lieutenant Colonel. In September Miranda was sent to Kingston, Jamaica, ostensibly to arrange for an exchange of prisoners, but really as a spy. There, with the aid of a Boston man by the name of Fitch he purchased some ships. The English commander received at the least a strong reprimand from his superior for the transaction; and Miranda found charges preferred against himself, and was arrested in the absence of Cagigal, but immediately released on Cagigal's return. Envious fellow officers later made other charges involving both Cagigal and Miranda. Cagigal was transferred to Spain. April 16, 1783, Miranda wrote to Cagigal that he was disgusted with his treatment, and saw no chance for justice, though he was "more innocent than Socrates"; he had therefore determined to return to Europe by way of the United States. In spite of his desertion from the command, and in spite of the knowledge of the government that after leaving the service Miranda had been engaged in intrigue and plotting against the Spanish authority, in 1799 the Council of the Indies fully exonerated both Cagigal and Miranda of the charges made. Early in the summer of 1781, and while Cagigal was in command, Pensacola was captured from the English. It is possible that Miranda was present at this siege; but aside from this there is no evidence that he was within the present bounds of the United States before the spring of 1783, when he landed at Charleston to make his tour of the country.

Because the West Indies were very properly regarded as in "America"; because the Spanish and French nations were warring in the West Indies together against the English during the latter part of the war of the Revolution; and because Lafayette, a Frenchman, and some of his compatriots were with the American army, though not with the sanction of the French government; and because Miranda and Cagigal were serving in the Spanish army in the West Indies, it was, perhaps, natural that some non-critical historian should draw the inference that those Spanish officers were serving with Lafayette in the Colonial army. While the incidental effect of the Spanish campaign might have been helpful for the Colonial army, this was not its object. By the treaty of 1783 England surrendered title to Florida to Spain as a result of the Spanish victory. Since Miranda was not serving with Washington and Lafayette in the Revolution, it follows-that the inference was unfounded that his observations at that time led him to an appreciation of Masonry, and that he was made a Mason in the Military lodge, or anywhere in the United States at that time.

From time to time Miranda sent letters to the Spanish government demanding justice and protection, but he did not dare to visit Spain. However, the Spanish government kept a close watch of all his movements, and at one time expected to capture him in France. This official espionage, and the consequent records, makes it easy to trace his wanderings. The Spanish government feared that he might dispose of valuable plans of Spanish fortifications to the English.

After a tour of the United States Miranda went to England. Complaints from his friends in Spanish America, combined with his own feeling of injustice received, and contrasted with his observations in the United States, begot in his mind a scheme for freeing Spanish America from the Spanish rule. He visited most of the European countries to study their governments, and secured from Catherine of Russia financial aid and encouragement in his scheme. He got Pitt thoroughly interested for England; and in the expectation of commercial advantages to be received, there seemed to be a prospect of naval and military assistance from Britain. Miranda also received encouragement from Alexander Hamilton and from Rufus King that the United States would also assist. It was probable that during his American tour he discussed this project with Washington, Smith, Sayre, Adams and others, some of whom became his firm friends. It was here that he made the acquaintance of Thomas Paine. After his trip through Europe, and another sojourn in London, he entered the French contest for liberty. Later, with the turn in fortunes, he was imprisoned in the Bastile, at the same time that Madame Rolland was there incarcerated. On being released he returned to London, and continued to plan for action in America.

 At this time there was a young Chilean at school in Richmond, England. He was the natural son of Ambrosio O'Higgins, then Viceroy of Peru, but was known then as Bernardo Riquelme. Needing an instructor in mathematics, chance sent the young O'Higgins to Miranda, but their discussions were not limited to pure science. They studied maps together, and discussed the great problems of the western hemisphere. It was about this time that Miranda organized the Gran Reunion Americana, with headquarters in London, though from a statement by Mitre (14) we infer that it was organized in Paris in 1797. It is natural that we should find few records of this most important organization--in fact, the wonder is that we find so many. It is also natural, considering all the circumstances, that its existence should be covered by the assumption of various names.

Professor Pennington, of the ancient university in Cordoba, Argentina, close to the seat of San Martin's most strenuous exertions in connection with the secret organization, gives this account: (15) "General Francisco Miranda, a native of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, was the first South American to dream of the greatness of the various South American Colonies if they could be freed from Spanish dominion and converted into independent states. In order to carry his ideas into effect, he established a secret society called the 'Gran Reunion Americana' with headquarters in London. This parent association gave birth to many branches and affiliated societies of which the principal was the Sociedad de Lautaro, or of Caballeros Racionales, which in 1808 had more than forty members in Cadiz alone. The meetings of these societies were secret and protected by rites and pass-words derived from Freemasonry. There were various degrees, the first involving a promise to work for American independence and the second accepting Republican principles. The fifth grade was the highest and most responsible, as it involved more than mere expressions of opinion and professions of faith."

Chisholm says: (16) "Erected on the models of the Lodges of Free Masonry that wielded such a beneficent influence for humanity during the eighteenth century, and conforming in great part with Masonic principles and methods, the "Reunion" included in its rolls many of the foremost patriots of Spanish America. There were found registered the names of Nariiio, San Martin, Fretes, Cortes, Yznaga, Bejarano and many others who represented every Spanish American colony from Cuba to Chile. When Miranda had satisfied himself that Bernardo [O'Higgins] possessed those qualities of character that would render him steadfast as well as enthusiastic, he opened before him the great purpose of achieving the independence of all the Spanish Colonies in America by one concerted and irresistible movement, and O'Higgins joined the lodge and took the necessary oaths of fidelity and service. It is interesting to know that a few years later Simon Bolivar also joined the same order, took the same oaths and fulfilled with equal fidelity the solemn engagements which joined him with San Martin and O'Higgins in overthrowing the power in America of the King of Spain." (Though this indicates that O'Higgins was not an original member, I am satisfied from many items that he was one of the founders of the organization in Paris, in 1797.)

In February, 1797, Pedro Jose Caro came to London, representing that he owned large properties in Cuba and in the city of Mexico, and attempted to get the English government interested in the scheme for freeing Spanish America. The Spanish officials thought that he was an escaped conspirator from Caracas. About the same time Antonio Narino, a conspirator from Santa Fe, failed to secure a favorable hearing from the English government. "It is possible that both these emissaries were sent or directed to London by Miranda. It is also possible, as stated by Miranda later, that other alleged agents, from South America were sent to London while the master intriguer remained in Paris." (17) "It is clear that the arrival of Miranda in England early in the following year was with the full knowledge and consent of the English government." (18)  On January 17, 1798, Miranda addressed a communication to Pitt beginning with the words: "The undersigned, principal agent of the Spanish-American colonies, has been named by the junta of deputies of Mexico, Lima, Chili, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Santa Fe, etc. to present himself to the ministers of H. B. M., in order to renew in favor of absolute independence of these colonies the negotiations begun in 1790," (19) etc. "Nothing is known of the alleged Spanish junta which was to take cognizance of the negotiations. Nevertheless, it is possible that some revolutionary spirits from Spanish America, like Caro and Nariiio, did meet in Paris and discuss a plan of campaign." (20) Apparently the junta was the mother lodge of the Gran Reunion.

In his original scheme Miranda planned a constitutional monarchy, binding the states in a federation, with an Inca at the head; this monarchy to extend westward from Brazil and the Mississippi, and from parallel 45 degrees north to the Cape Horn. (21) In the new version it was to be a federation of republics, and one of the propositions included the cutting of canals connecting the Atlantic and Pacific at Panama and through Nicaragua. (22) Though Robertson does not mention the Gran Reunion by name, he says: (23) "Miranda may well have been the founder of a revolutionary club which later developed into a great international association of Spanish American revolutionists, that was transported by the leaders to the different parts of Spanish America."

Vicuna Mackenna speaks (24) of the departure of Bejara, Caro, Iznardi, O'Higgins and others to arrange for the entrance of the Gran Reunion Americana into the Spanish peninsula; and Mitre tells us (25) of the Sociedad de Lautaro o Caballeros Racionales in Cadiz. Vicuna Mackenna tells us (26) that the Lojia Lautarina (Chilean for Logia Lautaro) was founded in Buenos Aires in 1812, and Mitre says (27) that in 1717 a lodge of the Lautaro was established in Chile, to be composed equal parts of Chileans and Argentinos. It will be remembered that the rebellion of all the Spanish American colonies began at practically the same time, about 1811, and that the names of the leaders in each country are among those enrolled in the Gran Reunion or its branches. I have somewhere seen the statement that Hidalgo, who sounded the signal for the Mexican uprising from his pulpit in Dolores, was a member of this organization. Certain it is that there was an organized secret body of Mexicans in the plot, but I have not found definite evidence as to its official connection with the Gran Reunion.

As to the meetings of the Buenos Aires lodge, Mitre tells us (28) that it sometimes met in the factory of Vieyetes, or in the country house of Orma; but more frequently in that of Rodriques Pena, who was the sinew of this association, of which Belgrano was the counselor; and which showed sometimes the enthusiasm of Castelli, or the prudence of Vieyetes, or the high reason of Passo.

The organization having ceased to-exist, Vicuna Mackenna has been able to publish a copy of the constitution and by-laws of the Lojia Lautarina. (29) "The mother lodge is composed of thirteen Caballeros, aside from the President, Vice President, two secretaries, one for North America and one for South America, an orator, and a master of ceremonies. The number cannot be increased. No Spaniard or foreigner can be admitted, nor more than one ecclesiastic." Whenever a brother is made the governor or magistrate in a section of the country he shall assist in forming a subordinate lodge. When one of the brothers is elected Supreme Governor, he shall plan nothing of grave importance without having consulted the lodge. The objects of the institution are to assist and protect each other in the conflict of civil life, and to support the opinion of the others, but when it is opposed to the public, they should nevertheless preserve silence. Every brother should support, at the risk of his life, the determinations of the lodge. Two-thirds constitute a quorum. A brother, who by word or sign reveals the secret of the existence of the lodge shall be put to death by the means most convenient. There is no mention of any connection with the Masonic order, and no stipulation that the members shall be Freemasons.

Mitre says (30) of these secret societies that they were composed of South Americans with the object of the emancipation of South America, and its foundation upon the republican plan. They resembled greatly in their organization and in their political plans the societies of charcoal sellers formed upon the Masonic rites, and which have not only the Masonic forms, but also their symbols.

Garcia Calderon says (31) that "from Mexico to Chili the same revolutionary fervour engendered the partial movements of 1808 to 18L1. Conspirators similar to the Italian carbonari, lodges in which men spoke of liberty in the midst of ingenuous rites, and university students who read the Encyclopaedists, were preparing the great crusade." And again he says: (32) The Masonic lodges worked in silence against the power of Spain and Portugal, and upheld the humanitarian ideas of French philosophy. In the lodge of Lautaro, San Martin and Alvear received their initiation as revolutionaries. In Mexico the lodge of York was transformed into a Jacobin club."

The very plain implication of Garcia Calderon is that there was a vital connection between the revolutionary secret societies and Freemasonry. It is true that in those early years there were no Masonic lodges established as such. So long as the old regime lasted such organizations were prohibited. It is probable, however, that there were many Masons scattered through the countries, and that they met occasionally as Masons. We may perhaps suspect that Miranda and O'Higgins may have received Masonic light, either in England or in France. In speaking of the early days of the independent Mexico, Rives says (33) "The nearest approach to a social or political organization was to be found in the Masonic lodges, which had been successfully established near the very beginning of independence. The fundamental principle of that order --the fraternity of all men and the apparent indifference of its members to theological beliefs had always arrayed the Roman Catholic Church against it, and indeed against all secret societies. Damnantur clandestinae societates, were the words of an infallible Pope; and so long as ecclesiastical authority was in full vigor in New Spain Freemasons were not tolerated in the kingdom. But when Mexican delegates sat in the Spanish Cortes under the Constitution of 1812 some of them were initiated under the ancient Scottish rite, so that in 1820 and afterward Masonic lodges were established in Mexico, and came to be exceedingly influential bodies."

"The first Masonic lodge in Mexico was established in 1806 by Spaniards. There were at that time four lodges in the peninsula, which had been founded by Englishmen--two at Gibraltar, one at Cadiz, and one at Madrid--and it may be reasonably assumed that from these the Mexican Masons first derived their existence. It is reported that Hidalgo, who first raised the cry of independence, became a Mason about 1807. At any rate, the existence of this first lodge was short lived, for it was denounced to the authorities in 1808, and many of the brethren were imprisoned and prosecuted before tribunals of the Inquisition. Later on the Spanish troops which landed in Mexico after 1811 brought in their ranks a number of Masons; and still later the Mexican delegates to the Spanish Cortes were initiated in Europe, and on their return founded lodges, which, deriving apparently from French sources, followed the Scottish rite. These lodges were chiefly composed of men who were fairly well-to-do or were of recognized professional or commercial standing, and they thus naturally came to form in a short time a nucleus for those who were not favorable to the idea of a republic." (34)

The York rite was introduced into Mexico by Mr. Poinsett, the American Minister, in 1825, and became the great force of the populist movement for a republic. The two rites nominated candidates for the Presidency and the Yorkino candidate was an Indian by the name of Gerrero. Not content with battles of ballots the parties actually went to war. From that day to this Masonry has been powerful in Mexican politics. When the writer was in Mexico several years ago, he asked an acquaintance if he were a Mason. The reply was: "No, I never meddled with politics." (35)

According to the "Diccionario Enciclopedico Hispano-Americano," pages 687-703, Masonry was introduced into Brazil in 1816, and the first regular lodge was established in 1820. In Colombia it was introduced in 1820, and in Peru in 1825. The Grand Lodge of France founded the first lodge in Uruguay in 1827. In 1857 a lodge and chapter were founded in Guayaquil, Ecuador; and the Grand Lodge of Venezuela was established in 1865. In addition to these lodges, we aretold that the Grand Lodge of England has established lodges throughout Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, which are still in active operation.

The immediate founding of Masonic lodges throughout Latin America so soon as the bonds of Spain had been broken is an indication of their probable existence, sub rosa, at an earlier time. The fact of the immediate disbandonment of the Gran Reunion, and of the Logia Lautaro, is strongly indicative of their giving place to another organization. The way that prominent men in South American politics during the last century referred to these three organizations more or less together, suggests that the Logia Lautaro, was simply another name temporarily adopted by members of the Masonic body who were banded together for a special purpose. Otherwise it would have been natural for these old companions in the struggle for freedom to have continued their organization, and to have kept thus alive the principles of the order among their children and grandchildren. * * *

Masonry cut no small figure in the settlement of the Texas problems, and Poinsett's activity in Mexican politics wrecked his mission.

When the Spanish government, through its London and Paris spies. became aware of the intimacy between Miranda and Bernardo O'Higgins, the commission of his father, Ambrosio, was cancelled, and the father ordered home for explanation. Ambrosio died in Peru, and probably never knew why he had been deposed.

Miranda was evidently a scholar of no mean ability. He was an enthusiastic maker of plans, but unable to carry them to perfection. Bolivar was perhaps the strongest of the great South American Caudillos, but he was also intensely selfish, and was willing to sacrifice any one and any thing to obtain his own advancement. O'Higgins was faithful and patient, working much of the time very quietly. San Martin combined in himself the good qualities of all, and having served as Grand Master of the Logia Lautaro for years, and having won the freedom of Argentina, Chile, and Peru, turned his army over to the northern "Liberador" who demanded supreme command, and then went into voluntary bal;lishment in France, that his presence might incite no possible opposition to his brother Caudillo, Bolivar. Whether or not San Martin was ever brought to light in a Masonic lodge, no truer Mason, nor one who more clearly illustrated the principles of our noble order, probably ever lived.

(1) Mitre, Vida de San Martin, Vol. 1, p. 135.

(2) Venezuela, p. 81.

(3) Argentina, p. 77.

(4) Colombia, p. 32.

(5) Latin America, p. 66.

(6) The Independence of Chile, p. 101 and ff.

(7) p. 44.

(8) Vol. 1, p. 82.

(9) Vol. 1, p. 113.

(10) 1907, Vol. 1.

(11) Documentos para la Historia de la Vida. Publica del Liberador,

Vol. 1, p. 80, note.

(12) La Ostracismo de O'Higgins, p. 44.

(13) Noll & McMahon, Miguel Hidalgo y Castillo, p. 7.

(14) Belgrano, Vol. 1 p. 113. Also see Blanco, Op. cit. p. 17.

(15) Argentine Republic, p. 142.

(16) Independence of Chile, p. 102.

(17) Robertson, Op. cit. p. 316.

(18) Robertson, Op. cit. p. 317.

(19) Chatham MSS, 345.

(20) Robertson, Op. cit. p. 320.

(21) Robertson, Op. cit. p. 272 and ff.

(22) Robertson, Op. cit. 319.

(23) Op, cit. p. 338.

(24) Op cit. p- 49

(25) Vida de San Martin, Vol. 1, p. 135.

(26) Op cit. p. 269.

(27) San Martin, Vol II, p. 30.

(28) Vida, Belgrano, Vol. 1, p. 303.

(29) Op cit. 269

(30) San Martin, Vol. 1, p. 135.

(31) Latin AmeriCa, P. 65.

(32) Op, cit. p. 81.

(33) The United States and Mexico, Vol. 1, p. 62.

(34) Rives, Op. cit. Vol. 1, p. 163.

(35) (For information as to the influence of Mexican Masonic lodges see Ward's Mexico, Vol. II, p. 408, Suarez, Historia de Mexico, 77-79; Zavala, Ensayo Hist. Vol. 1, 346 Tornel, Breve Resena, 43-46.)

----o----

 

REVELATION

I made a pilgrimage to find the God:

I listened for his voice at holy tombs,

Searched for the print of his immortal feet

In the dust of broken altars; yet turned back

With empty heart. But on the homeward road,

A great light came upon me, and I heard

The God's voice singing in a nesting lark;

Felt his sweet wonder in a swaying rose;

Received his blessing from a wayside well;

Looked on his beauty in a lover's face;

Saw his bright hand send signal from the sun.

 --Edwin Markham.

----o----

Look up, not down; look out, not in; look forward,

not back; and lend a hand. 

--E. E. Hale.

----o----

 

IN FELLOWSHIP

By C. M. Boutelle

 

My foot to thy foot, howe'er thy foot may stray;

Thy path for my path, however dark the way.

 

My knee to thy knee, whatever be thy prayer;

Thy plea my plea, in every need and care.

 

My breast to thy breast, in every doubt or hope;

Thy silence mine too, whate'er thy secret's scope.

 

My strength is thy strength, whenever thou shalt call;

Strong arms stretch love's length, through darkness, toward thy

fall!

My words shall follow thee, kindly warning fond,

Through life, through drear death--and all that lies beyond !

----o----

 

REALIZATION

In the quiet hours of evening, I doze by the study fire.

My mind on the plans of a palace, from lintel to towering spire.

Tinted its windows with colors, caught from the rain-bow at dawn,

Painted by hand of a Master, designs, man hath not drawn.

 

Stately columns of marble, carved to adorn its halls

Scenes from the noblest subjects, hang from its Jasper walls,

Truly a noble structure, wrought by the mind of man,

Shrine for some priceless Jewel, Flawless - Beautiful - Grand.

 

Yet were its corridors empty. hollow they sound to my tread

Cold and silent its chambers, as the presence of something dead.

A something seems to be lacking a feeling that dulls my pride -

As I gazed at my garnered treasures, What is missing? I sighed.

 

A beaver came to its portals, his garments tattered and worn -

All he once had, had long been Riven, to silence the sufferer's moan,

Bound un the wounds of cripples, dried he the widow's tear

Holding the babe to his bosom, lovingly quieting its fear.

 

Knelt by the side of the sinner, Yea - the scarlet woman of vice,

He whispered the old. old story, Love of a merciful Christ -

A light shone forth from his features, with a wondrous peaceful glow -

Surely, I said, 'tis a prophet come from the long ago.

 

He calne to my gorgeons portals, in the chill of the evening tide,

Glanced at its cold. chill beauty. shivered and turned aside -

Amazed, I caught at his garments, Hold stranger, a reason I pray

Why quiver and turn to the darkness? - Enter, I beg thee and stay.

 

See - I have built me a palace, Jewell'ed its walls with arts,

Columned its halls with marbles, treasures from many marts

Yet I admit a yearning, Something - I have not attained

Seems to be casting a shadow, o'er pleasures I hoped to have gained.

 

He bowed his head as in sorrow, then stepped to the door by my side,

Glanced in at my marvelous beauties, then turning, sadly replied -

Brother, I see a widow, haggard, weary, and worn.

Three little hungry orphans, nowhere to call their own.

 

Thrown to the mills of Mammon, crushed neath its cruel stones,

Ground into shekels of silver, matters little their moans.

'Tis only the price of a picture, one of your Jewels of art

Yet can I see on the canvas, tears from a broken heart.

 

Down in the slums of a city, a brother striving to rise,

Striving to gain his manhood. the spirit within him cries -

Give me the hand of friendship. that is mv prayer for help.

Did'st answer his call my Brother? Assist with part of thy wealth?

 

'Tis only the price of a column such as I see in yon nave,

Yet, I see by that column, the form of a Brother's grave -

What if its price had been given, with a smile and a word of cheer

Life might not have been failure, but brighter while he were here.

 

And so in the halls of your palace, lofty - gorgeous - wide,

Built from the tears of suffering, built with the spirit of Pride

Empty its heart to me Brother, cold as yon marble glove

The soul of the builder has never awaked to the beauty of "Love."

 

This is the Jewel missing, this, - the shadow that falls

Over your princely palace, over your lordly halls -

Search for this precious treasure, not in some distant land

Not in some wondrous building, wrought by the hand of man.

 

Deep in thy spiritual nature, search for its hidden ray

This pure white stone of the Temple; Light of a new born day -

Buried perchance in the rubbish, trampled and covered from sight,

The gift that was sent by a Master, burns with a luster bright.

 

I gazed at my royal palace, it slowly crumbled to dust

Judged bv this humble Brother, merciful, candid, - Just.

Again, will I build a mansion, my labor has not been lost,

Each "Great Truth" discovered, ever has labor cost.

 

Here at my hand the quarries, here in the walks of life

Here will I rear a building, here in the midst of strife

I will build with the widow's blessing, paint with the orphan's smile,

Trim with the rays of gladness, caught from the face of a child.

 

Its columns in place of marble, shall be the strength of man

Saved from the life of madness, upright, noble, grand -

Wisdom, Strength and Beauty, they shall support my naves,

Keyed by the stone so priceless, the Great White Stone that saves.

 

I turned to thank my critic, only to find him gone,

To find that I had been dreaming, into the early dawn.

Light in the East was shining with glow of a crimson flame,

I thought of my dreamland treasures, thought of them only with shame.

 

Life seemed purer, grander, - the restless longing ceased

Words cannot express it, this message out of the East -

Thy search for treasure's ore, a whisper drifted down

Thy soul can name the Jewel, that which was "Lost" is "Found."

 

- L. C. Stewart, Florida

 

DEMOCRACY AND MASONRY

BY BRO. H. R. BEST, SOUTH DAKOTA

BEFORE I became a Mason I was often assured that Masonry had nothing to do with religion, but with this statement I cannot agree, as it seems to me that it has much to do with religion. Of course, it does not deal specifically with orthodox creeds, but the very vitals of religion are involved, woven and interwoven through it all. A man must have religious convictions, who passes through its sacred symbols, otherwise he would be a conscienceless hypocrite. No man, who is morally impervious, can be a true Mason.

In the next place:--Since "We meet upon the Level and we part upon the Square," it seems to me that the great Masonic Brotherhood has before it a sublime mission at this particular time in the world's conflict of ideas. In such an age as this, it is not difficult for a man to speak on some phase of life; it is however a difficult task, in an age so complex, to survey the field of life, weigh the various forces of progress, compare the organizing ideals and arrive at an accurate generalization of truth. Still, I believe that thoughtful people will agree that the outstanding social fact of our day is the democratization of life.

The history of the race reveals a constant tendency to Aristocracy. Aristocracy always ends in the oppression of the weak. In the crude stages of the race, we see the strong man by brute force assume the leadership of his clan and wave the big stick. With the same motive, later, he becomes a soldier and with his army he conquers his fellows, going through slaughter to a throne. This is the Aristocracy of Force. This vantage he passes on to his offspring and thus we have the idea of "The Divine Right of Kings" and all its pernicious results. This is the Aristocracy of Heredity. Later, as men form larger ideas of culture, we have born the Aristocracy of Culture and Learning. Here men feel that because they have swallowed a college curriculum of classical heathenism, they are lifted above their fellows and it is not consistent with learning to bear the burdens of society. Then, as creative genius has produced wealth, we have, especially in this country, built up an Aristocracy of Wealth, which class has insisted on its right to plunder the public and outrage decency "within the law," or in spite of it, and claimed immunity from punishment due social criminals.

Now, over against the philosophy of Aristocracy, of the privileged few against the unprotected many, of selfishness against the public weal, we have this modern uprising of the masses, the unfolding of a new democracy. Look at Art. There was a time when painters, for the most part, thought only of the gorgeous, the outstanding in nature; now they find beauty everywhere, in some dull cut by the way, some meadowbrook with its pastoral scenes or a peasant's hut with parents and lusty off-spring about a simple board. These are sufficient to inspire the genius of the modern painter. Again, look at the field of Literature. Once the poem was inspired by the idle luxury of the court and dedicated to some voluptuous queen. To-day, we are inspired by everyday-flesh-and-blood people whom we can know and love and serve. We are learning to "Live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man." Then look at Fiction. Once the heroes or heroines must always, in the end, turn out to belong to the Aristocracy. Now, instead of princes in disguise and masked knights and an endless procession of impossibles, we have a new moral picture being drawn in modern books in which the heroes and heroines are found among the men, who swelter at the forge or women who stand behind counters. We are getting "Inside the Cup" and cleaning out "the drains" even under the pulpits of "sacred evils." We are finding the sources of a new life in helping folks who wrestle with hunger in an empty bread tray. This same tendency may be seen in education. The day when the educated man was defined as the man who had swallowed all the heathen gods and goddesses has gone as it ought to go. We are learning that education is not stuffing people on the debris of ages, but awaking the potentials of personality and turning a man loose in a world to create some utility. The new education is culminating in The Kingdom of the Commonplace. We are finding that every man and woman has in them the elements of greatness, which should be developed to the maximum of individuality. This individuality is finding its medium of immortality through social service and thus:

"The common deeds of the common day  Are ringing the bells in the far away."

We are ever in danger of hanging on to cast-off husks of truth and losing sight of the vital organism that seeks a newer habiliment. This evil is what I call social appendicitis and in the classic phrase must be "cut out," else we endanger the whole social body. Now in this new democracy, this kingdom of the common-place, we can all have a part. It does not destroy individuality but creates it. Altruism is the law of life and produces the maximum of personality. It calls every man to live for public weal. It enthrones every man as his own priest, prophet and king. Any religion, politics or economy, that gives the destiny of people into the hands of a few, is dangerous and must be resisted. The man, who is emancipated from the slavery of selfishness, must stand for the emancipation of all.

Now friends, in the light of these ideals, it seems to me that our Fraternity, based as it is on ideals of equality, can be a mighty factor in overcoming these ancient evils and enthroning the people. With the regard for history and a proper use of ancient foundations, we should build thereon the structure of "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity," that shall truly bless the world. It is this vision that thrills me; it is this hope that makes me join my little mite to yours in order that we shape with true horizontals and erect with correct perpendiculars the Temple of Life. If this be the spirit that animates our brotherhood, we shall play well our part in that drama of life.

 

THE GREATER TRAGEDY

BY BRO. LOUIS BLOCK, P. G. M., FRATERNAL CORRESPONDENT OF IOWA

(Responding to many requests, we reproduce the "Afterward" of Past Grand Master Louis Block in his report as Fraternal Correspondent of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, as expressive of the horror of world-war, and the ruin wrought to the finer fellowships of humanity. What the war means to Masonry is shown by the following Resolution adopted by the German Grand Lodge, dated Berlin, May 29th, 1915:--"In view of the attitude of Italian Free Masons, who, inspired by French sympathizers, took part in the political struggle leading to the war, and thereby violated the cardinal principle of Masonry expressly forbidding such methods, the German Grand Lodge hereby severs all former relations with Italian and French Free Masonry. Toward Free Masons in other hostile lands The Grand Lodge affirms the decision adopted at an earlier date, that all relations of various Grand Bodies be suspended from the outbreak of hostilities.")

Beauteous the love of country is,  The love that gives so willingly its life--  But, oh, we long for that more beauteous day  When love no boundaries shall know. When man  So love his fellow-man, where'er he dwell,  That he refuse to slay him. Nor yet dare  Send a soul into that great beyond  While yet that soul's experience on earth  For which God sent it forth is incomplete.  Beauteous the love of country is  The love that gives so willingly its life--  But may that day more beauteous soon come  When man, though loving not his country less Shall more than country love his fellow-man."

When we started upon our journey to visit the Grand Lodges just one year ago, it was with the pleasantest of anticipations. For the world then lay smiling beneath the sunshine of peace, and the prosperity of the people everywhere was most pleasing to behold. Involuntarily there flowed from our lips the sentence hallowed by so many sacred memories: "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"

But scarce had the warm winds of summer begun to turn the green of the fields into the gold of the ripening grain, when a dark cloud blotted out the sunlit landscape, and we found ourselves shuddering beneath the somber shadows of an awful war. Shocked and stunned we cowered aghast before a perfect welter and whirlwind of hate, that seemed ready to tear from the human heart every last vestige of brotherly love. Never had human eye beheld a war so vast, so awful. The madness of murder and the lust to kill seemed to have set the heart of man aflame, and none knew how soon the horrible holocaust might wither even the new world with its blight. Mighty hordes of what once were men, led on by leaders filled with the lust of empire, by crowned-heads goaded on by commercial greed, swept down upon one another and left the land a blackened and smoking waste. Nation after nation has slipped into the flood and been whirled away into the mad maelstrom. Even as we write the sons of sunny Italy, after having so long withstood temptation, have at last succumbed to the horrid infection, and are now storming their way northward into the land of the Teuton, swept on by the fire of conquest.

The madness seems to be in the air, and we on this side must curb our desires, master our passions, and pray God for strength to resist, or we, too, shall be swept away into the horrid flood of flaming destruction.

Just think of it! Twenty-nine million men flinging themselves at each other's throats; was ever horror so frightful known before? Civilization? Was there ever any real civilization; will there ever be any ? Will men never be better than beasts? What is to be the end of it all? Will peace ever smile on us again, or will this bloody, burned, and sorely burdened world blow itself into blackened splinters as a culmination of the catastrophe ? Far better so than that man should live on hating man, with the fire of brotherly love forever cold and dead in his stony heart!

And yet, and yet, we Masons cannot endure to have it so. We cannot, we dare not let it occur, that this structure of brotherly love, which with such sore and sharp endeavor we have so steadily struggled to raise throughout the ages, should thus come toppling and tumbling into the dust ! We cannot suffer the temple of humanity to be thus ruthlessly torn down! Our hearts cry out against any such dire disaster as that.

Why is it that in every Grand Lodge we have visited since this horrid war broke out, the Grand Master has deplored in heartbroken accents this awful thing that has befallen us ? Was it not that he felt that the very foundation of our structure was being threatened, so that a mighty trumpet call was needed to rally men round about the standard of human brotherhood, to drive back the hordes of hate and save man from self destruction ?

When you take from Masonry its basic principle of Brotherly love you have nothing left, absolutely nothing, not even an empty last year's bird nest. So that with so much hate raging round the world the very life of our order is itself at stake.

And in heaven's name what was there to fight about? Before this awful war broke out men lived in comparative comfort and happiness no matter what flag flew over their heads. Peace and prosperity reigned both sides of the line dividing nation from nation. What then did it matter to the ordinary individual whether he lived in France or Germany? Either place was better then than is now the one into which both are merged; one for which there is no fitter name than "Hell-on-Earth!"

What was the cause of it all? Was it true that nations could no more stand prosperity than could individuals? Was there a grasping greed for gain that, under the pretense of preserving peace, built a vast military machine made for murder on a mighty scale? Precipitating the greatest war the world has ever known is scarcely preserving peace.

Side by side with this foolish pretense of "fighting for peace" stands that equally palpable pretense of patriotism--of patriotism preached for the very purpose of hiding a passion for plunder. Away with such vile patriotism as that ! A nation that cannot treat another nation fairly, but hungers to devour it; that is not willing to live and let live, is not worth dying for, much less living for. When my nation grows so mad with greed that it will not do right, then it becomes my duty in a higher and nobler loyalty to humanity to abandon that nation to its fate. Yet my first duty is to try to save it from itself. The cry, "My country, right or wrong," is wrong and not right. For it we should substitute, "My country, may she ever be right and do no one wrong!"

What is our duty as American Masons in this present crisis? Surely in loyalty to our underlying principle as an institution; in loyalty to the real welfare of the people, it must be to hold up the hands of our President in the hour of his strenuous struggle for peace. Not since the days of Abraham Lincoln has a lonely leader in the White House pled so patiently with his people for the truth, and the right, and the love to prevail, and we were unworthy and traitorous ingrates did we fail to respond to his appeal.

For he pleads the cause not of America alone, but of that of humanity as well, and if we, turning a deaf ear to his call, shall join the blood-mad hordes of Europe, then we, too, shall both deserve and meet the fate that shall surely be theirs. "For they that take the sword shall perish with the sword !"

Here in the western world two great nations facing each other with never an army, a fort, or even a single soldier to guard thousands of miles of border, have for over a hundred years preserved the peace that blesses mankind, a thing which Europe, with the greatest armies and the mightiest war-machines the world has ever known, has most miserably failed to do.

Yea, my brethren, man's road to hope and joy is never along the way of war, but ever along the path of peace. As Masons we are here on earth to learn to subdue our passions and improve ourselves in Masonry, which, after all, is but another name for the divine art of human brotherhood. Let us pray that we may be ever true to our mission, ever loyal to the high calling that is ours, that each one of us in his own humble place may do his level best to speed the coming of the day--

"When the war drums beat no longer,

And the battle-flags are furled

In the parliament of man,

The federation of the world !"

Then, and then alone, shall we be content to leave the issue in the hands of the Great Architect.

----o----

 

MASONIC LIVING

Do we try to live Masonically

As we perform our daily tasks ?

Do we carry out the teachings

That's the question that- HE asks.

 

Do we apply to every second

Throughout every living day

The truths of the Square and Compass

We will find that it will pay.

 

Do we divide our daily lives

By the Gauge as we've been taught,

Do we always use the Gavel

On every word and thought ?

 

Do we meet upon the Level

Will our acts the Plumbline stand

Is our parting Square and honest

Do we hear the lodge command.? ..

 

Do we in the daily building

Of our lives and thoughts and minds

Have in our hearts the Trowel lesson

And use a love cement that binds?

--James T. Wray, W. M.

Evanston, Ill.

 

----o----

 

THE HIGHER FATALISM

Whether the time be slow or fast,

Enemies hand in hand

Must come together at the last

And understand.

 

No matter how the die is cast

Or who may seem to win,

You know that you must love at last!--

Why not begin?

--Witter Bynner.

 

HEW TO THE LINE

BY BRO. J. N. SAUNDERS, G. S. W., KENTUCKY

THE chief tendency of the students of Masonry, manifested by almost all of them, is to create a mysticism to which is given a forced interpretation by which they attempt to connect, as of simultaneous origin, the symbols of Masonry with incidents of the pre-Christian era.

The men who do this assemble isolated facts, assume as true whatever links are needed to complete the chain and in ecstacy of delight exclaim--I have found it! I have found it!!

To the thoughtful man, who declines to follow blindly, but demands to be shown, this species of Masonic interpretation and this class of Masonic history is indeed laughable. An apt illustration is found in the blindly accepted interpretation given as the Masonic lesson of the forty-seventh proposition of Euclid-- that Pythagoras, an illustrious member of the Order, upon discovering the square described upon the hypotenuse of a right angle triangle is equal to the sum of the squares described upon the other two sides, sacrificed an hundred oxen. This the lesson, in substantial entirety, as usually taught is both meaningless and historically incorrect.

Pythagoras was born about 582 B.C., and there is no historical inference that justifies intelligent conjecture of the origin of Masonry for more than a thousand years after that time, unless such assumptions are indulged as would discredit the verity of all history.

Pythagoras was a scholar and a traveller, and is due the honor of having raised mathematics to the rank of a science. He had no connection with Masonry, for Masonry did not exist. He did belong to a brotherhood based upon the ideal of abstinence and hardihood and even community of goods, but by no justifiable stretch of the imagination can it be in any way connected with any fact which leads even to reasonable supposition that he was a Mason, or that Masonry, or any antecedent organization from which it was derived, existed at that time.

How much more satisfying to the man of thoughtful intelligence is it to discard all such patch work combinations of fact, deduction, imagination, fabrication and sheer nonsense, and look the facts squarely in the face. Masonry is a noble institution, the gradual outgrowth of the divinely implanted social instinct by which men of similar tastes have been drawn together into what is now a powerful and cohesive organization, but the growth of which has been gradual, and made possible by men who have themselves left no data by which to judge with accuracy the place and period of its origin. Its growth was a slow development which did not attract the attention of the writers of history until its full attainment. The symbols now employed to convey its precepts have been of gradual adoption, and are but the result of the love of all men for figurative expression of truth. Why not let us seek a direct approach to the reason for the symbols employed ? The reason that addresses itself, in simplicity, to the open mind is more to be relied upon than that which requires genius to conceive and pages to express, and whose line of reasoning is so occult as to addle the brain and bewilder the understanding of the plain man who in plain way seeks plain facts in plain fields of plain truth.

The geometric diagram alluded to but reveals the fact that in a right angle triangle the square of the base line added to the square of the line of altitude is equal to the square of the line connecting their terminal points and on which line depends the perfect angle.

How simple the application of this figure to the very object of Masonry--the perfect character in man. The square of the foundation or base line represents the physical efforts of man, the square of the line of altitude represents the intellectual and moral uplift of man, and the sum of his physical efforts added to. the sum of his intellectual and moral aspirations form his character. As the square of the level base line added to the square of the upright altitude equals the square of the line on which depends the perfect angle, so the sum of man's physical efforts if level with industry and honesty added to the sum of his intellectual and moral aspiration, if upright, collectively form the character on which depends the perfect man.

Why then does not the geometric diagram serve as a symbol to portray the perfect man rather than to recall the fabled butchery of beef cattle by a man who had no connection with our Order ? It is a more satisfying explanation to me, and the same objection prevails to many of our strained interpretations of strained coincidences upon which some base the conclusion that Solomon had really felt our grip and heard our secret pass word.

----o----

 

THE WINDS OF GOD

Across the azure spaces,

Athwart the vasts of sky,

With winnowing of mighty wings

The winds of God go by.

 

Above the meres and mountains,

With unseen sandals shod,

Above the plains, with choric strains,

Sweep by the winds of God.

 

"Peace !--in His name !" they murmur;

"Peace--in His name!" they cry--

"Oh, men, give ear ! Do ye not hear

The winds of God go by

--Clinton Scollard.

 

MEM0RIALS TO GREAT MEN WHO WERE MASONS

BY BRO. GEO. W. BAIRD, P. G. M., DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

THE handsome bronze statue of Frederick The Great, in Washington, is a replique of the one in Dresden, and was presented to the United States by the Present Emperor, Wilhelm. It was unveiled on the 19th of November, 1904.

It has not the prominent location it deserves: It stands on the Esplenade in front of the Army War College, at the foot of Four-and-a-half Street, near the extreme southern end of the City, and is out of the usual path of tourists.

At the unveiling and dedication of this splendid work of art there was the entire Diplomatic Corps, in Uniforms officers of every Corps of the Army and Navy in full-dress uniform; Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, Governors of States, etc.

Among the special guests was General Lowenfeld, the representative of the Kaiser.

The stops, which held the veil, were broken by the Baroness Von Sternberg, wife of the German Ambassador. The invocation was by the Bishop (Protestant Episcopal) of Washington, Mr. Satterlee: The presentation speech was by the German Ambassador, Baron Von Sternberg; the acceptance by Mr. Roosevelt, the President of the United States; the principal address was by the Hon. Charlemagne Tower, our Ambassador to Germany, and the benediction was pronounced by the Rev. Mr. Menzel of the German Luthern Church.

After the President had signified his acceptance of this memorial from the Emperor of Germany, a protest against its acceptance and installation was received by the President, from the Polish Catholic Federation, whose see is at Chicago; but the President had already accepted it.

However, on the 19th of the following January (less than two months after the dedication) a bomb of high power was exploded on the base of the Statue by some unknown person or persons. The bomb had a time fuse, which gave the vandal an opportunity to escape. The injury to the statue was small.

The Polish Catholic Federation was suspected, but an Irishman was afterward arrested in New York against whom there was evidence, but was released on the claim of insanity.

The protest of the Catholic Federation claimed that Frederick II was a despot and that the statue should find no place on “soil mad sacred by the blood of martyrs of liberty."

Frederick the Great was an admirer of George Washington and a friend of the new Republic: It must not be forgotten that the war of George III upon the Colonies was unpopular in Great Britain: so much so that the king was unable to get men in England to enlist and was obliged to go into Hesse Darmstat and Hess Castle, in Germany, to hire the "Hessians" to fight the Colonists: It was then that Frederick the Great learned of and forbade further enlistments of Germans for the purpose. Frederick the Great sent a sword to Washington with the Message.

From the oldest General

living to the

Greatest General.

Frederick the Great was a Mason of the 33d degree, and has the credit of revising the Ritual of the Scottish Rite, giving it to us substantially as we now have it.

 

THE INEFFABLE NAME

BY BRO. GEO. W. WARVELLE, ILLINOIS

(Scattered through the Reports of Brother Warvelle, as Committee on Fraternal Correspondence of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Illinois, are many scholarly and wise little essays on matters of vital interest and instruction. These little essays deserve a wide reading for their accuracy, their lucidity, and their importance to the Craft, and we are permitted, by the kindness of the author, to reproduce them from time to time; beginning with the following little gem, which will give our readers a foretaste of what is to come.--The Editor.)

We often hear the interrogatory, "What's in a name?" And, usually, the question so propounded is pregnant with the answer, "Nothing." Indeed, this is a generally accepted opinion. But, is it really true ? Let us investigate it a little, for the reason, if none other, that what is known as the ineffable Name is the very essence of the Masonic system.

It would seem that in primitive thought the personal name of an individual was not regarded merely as an attribute--a simple designation. On the contrary it was treated as an integral part of the man himself-- of his being. Hence, it followed that an injury or insult to a name reacted upon the person who bore the name. Notwithstanding our great intellectual advance have we wholly outgrown this primitive thought? Consider your own case. Would it not seem as though you had lost your personality if you should be deprived of your name? Can you, by any effort of the imagination, really disassociate yourself from it? Is not an injury to your name still resented by you as an injury to yourself--you, the conscious Ego ? Then is not your name, in fact, a part of yourself ? And, this being true, is it not easy to extend the idea, with even greater force, to the name of the deity ? As has been well said by Prof. Brinton, "for the practical purpose of life the name confers or creates personality. This fact exerted a profound influence in the earliest development of religion. The vague sense of spiritual power first became centered in the idea of an individual, or a personal god, when it received a name." And we can readily understand, if the names of men were held so dear, how sacred must be the names of the gods. And we may further understand why this feature should have become a component part of all religions when we remember that it has for its basis the primal conception of the name as a part of the Self.

It was also thought in an earlier and ruder age, as it still is among many savage tribes, that the essential power of deity was lodged in the name, and that a knowledge of this name would enable one to exert practically the same power as the deity himself. And so, we find the gods of the ancient world sedulously concealed their names. Particularly is this true of the Semitic nations and it has been surmised that it was the fear of some such subjection of their deity, through the malicious use of his name by an enemy, which led the early Jews to conceal it so effectually that it is now lost. This name--the true divine name--as it was not to be spoken, has now come to be described as the "Ineffable Name" and as such it figures in the symbols, rituals and philosophy of Freemasonry.

It is a curious fact, however, that the doctrine of the ineffable Name is not confined to any one form of religion, nor to any particular people or age. It is held in common by many widely differing faiths, being found in the rudest superstitions of savage races as well as in the most developed faiths of civilized peoples. But this is only another evidence, if such were needed, of a widespread belief of the fact that the name is of the essence of being.

* * *

At the present time the current transcription of the tetragrammaton J H V H is Jehovah, but the pronunciation as well as the derivation of this name are still matters of controversy. By some modern critics the name is derived from the names of Egyptian divinities, supposed to have been nationalized by Moses. Others derive it from an Assyrian form of the divine name, but all of these derivations are in large measure conjectural. It is contended by some of the scholars that as the name of the national deity it must have been older than the time of Moses, as the name of the mother of Moses is compounded with it. For the most part, however, Jehovah is regarded as having been originally a family or tribal god, either of the family to which Moses belonged or of the tribe of Joseph. That it was, in fact, only a special name of El which became current within a powerful circle, and which, on that account, was all the more fitted to become the designation of the national god.

In the earlier periods of its history the name was not associated with any idea as high as that of "creator," but as the religion of Israel developed in spirituality and depth it became invested with new and richer meanings. So, too, primarily, Jehovah was strictly Israel's God, and it was not until long, very long, afterward that He came to be regarded as the God of the Universe.

Thus far we have employed the name of Jehovah, but this is not really a word of any language, neither is it the name now generally recognized and used by the biblical scholars. The Jews, of later periods, at least, either from religious awe, or from a misunderstanding of Ex. XX, 7; Lev. XXIV, 16; abstained from pronouncing the divine name, and whenever it occurred in reading substituted therefor the word Adonai (Lord). As only the consonantal outline of the word was written, (thus J H V H) in time the true pronunciation became lost. Subsequently the revisers of the Jewish scriptures, known as the Massorets, punctuated this consonantal outline with the vowels e (for a) o a of the word Adonai (Adonay) and thus we get the present name which, it will be perceived, is distinctly a hybrid form. It is now generally agreed among scholars, however, that the true pronunciation of the name is Jahwe (Yahwe), a conclusion which is supported not only by the linguistic argument derived from the fact that the various contracted forms in which the name appears, either separately or in compound proper names, are all reducible to Jahw, but also by the testimony of ancient tradition. * * *

The meaning of the name is involved in some obscurity. It does not seem that the Hebrew phrase lends itself very readily to translation into idiomatic English, and the scholars are not wholly agreed with respect to its etymology. The translation furnished by the Authorized Version of the Scriptures in Exod. III, 14, "I am that I am," is the one employed in all Masonic liturgies. The Revised Version gives the same translation with the marginal readings, "I am because I am," or, "I will be that I will be." The Douay Version, following the Latin Vulgate, renders it "I am who am," and-" He who is." The English rendering of the Septuagint seems to be, "I am he who is," or "who exists." The biblical scholars, as a rule, translate the phrase, "I will be what I will be," and "I will." This latter seems to be the true grammatical reading, as the words, in the original, are in the future tense. The root, however, is 'to be," and the essential meaning throughout the scriptures is "the being," or "the everlasting."

The foregoing states the long held and generally received opinion concerning the meaning of the phrase As previously stated, however, the etymology of the word Jahwe, is still unsettled and many of the biblical critics are of opinion that the better translation is, "He who causes to be," or "He who causes to happen." This view is now held by a very large number. It will be perceived that it still emphasizes the essential fact of being and, it is contended, in a much more satisfactory manner than the vague "I will be what I will be." It is also more in consonance with the views of the Israelites concerning the Deity at the time of its probable origin.

But, however we may translate the phrase, or eve though we may be unable to state its meaning in words the ideas which it connotes are the highest conception of God that can be framed--sublime and comprehensive --the great mystery of Nature which is at the heart of all things and connects all things into one whole. But that great mystery we may never know, for it is no given to the finite to comprehend the infinite. As a fitting conclusion I quote the words of Kant (Critik de Urtheilskraft, pg. 197): "Perhaps in all human composition there is no passage of greater sublimity, no amongst all sublime thoughts any which has been more sublimely expressed, than that which occurs in the inscription upon the temple of Isis (the Great Mother-- Nature) :"

"I am whatsoever is--whatsoever has been what soever shall be: and the veil which is over my countenance, no mortal hand has ever raised."

----o----

 

NO CHURCH BUT MAN

A creedless love, that knows no clan,

No caste, no cult, no church but Man,

That deems to-day, and now, and here

Are voice and vision of the seer,

That through this lifted human clod

The inflow of the breath of God

Still sheds its apostolic powers,--

Such love, such trust, such faith be ours.

 

We deem man climbs an endless slope

Toward far seen tablelands of hope;

That he, through filth and shame of sin,

Still seeks the God that speaks within;

That all the years since time began

Work the eternal Rise of Man;

And all the days that time shall see

Tend toward the Eden yet to be.

 

Too long our music-hungering needs

Have heard the iron clash of creeds.

The creedless love that knows no clan,

No caste, no cult, no church but Man,

Shall drown in mellow music all

The dying jangle of their brawl;

Such love with all its quickening powers,--

Such love to God and man be ours.

--Sam Walter Foss.

----o----

 

THE FATHERLAND

Where is the true man's fatherland?

Is it where he by chance is born?

Doth not the yearning spirit scorn

In such scant borders to be spanned?

Oh, yes ! his fatherland must be

As the blue heaven wide and free !

 

Is it alone where freedom is,

Where God is God and man is man ?

Doth he not claim a broader span

From the soul's love of home than this ?

Oh, yes; his fatherland must be

As the blue heaven wide and free.

 

Where'er human heart doth wear

Joy's myrtle wreath or sorrow's gyves,

Where'er a human spirit strives

After a life more true and fair,

There is the true man's birthplace grand,

His is a world-wide fatherland !

 

Where'er a single slave doth pine,

Where'er one man may help another--

Thank God for such a birthright brother--

That spot of earth is thine and mine !

There is the true man's birthplace grand,

His is a world-wide fatherland.

--James Russell Lowell.

 

EDITORIAL

(The Builder is an open forum for free and fraternal discussion. Each of its contributors writes under his own name, and is responsible for his own opinions. Believing that a unity of spirit is better than a uniformity of opinion, the Research Society as such, does not champion any one school of Masonic thought as over against another; but offers to all alike a medium for fellowship and instruction, leaving each to stand or fall by its own merits)

 

THE MASTER

HEAR now the history of a word as it has come down to us from days of old. In the ancient Guilds of artisans, the skilled metalsmiths of the Middle Ages, an Apprentice toiled for seven years at his tasks. When at last his hand was trained, and he had wrought some beautiful thing, perhaps in beaten silver, he brought it to the Master of the Guild and said, "Behold my experience !" Having worked for seven long years, the sum of all his impassioned patience and aspiration was in that tiny bit of shining metal; it was a symbol of his character which, as the word tells us, is something carved.

Like every man who achieves a delicate and difficult task, he had made many mistakes, had spoiled many a piece of metal, had dulled the edge of many a tool. He had spent painful days and nights in labor, and his Masterpiece, his Experience, was the sum and reward of all his Experiments. He had given himself to his task with enthusiasm; he had obeyed his Master; his faith had made him faithful - and the whole was in that tiny bit of silver. He might now take his kit of tools and go out as a journeyman, a Master of his Craft.

Which story is a parable of how a man becomes a Master Mason, not by receiving a Degree, but by the attainment of a habitual mastery of his appetites and passions by the Reason and the Moral Sense; a habitual mastery, as Pike reminds us, not a never-failing mastery - for that is a trophy which few mortals win in this world. The task of every man is to take the raw material of his life, with whatever of glowing passion or hard heredity it may hold; take it as it is, and by patience in spite of blunders, by perseverance in face of failures, by loyalty to an Ideal and fidelity to a noble Life-plan, shape it into a constant beauty and enduring worth.

No man who has tried it needs to be told that this is no easy task, albeit for some it is easier than fold others - it was easier for Emerson than for Burns, who tried so hard and failed so much. By the same token, since every man fights a hard fight, no one can boast over his fellow; and if, by reason of rare power or a sweeter ancestry he is unhampered by the failures of his fathers, it is the more reason why he should be an inspiration and aid to his fellow men. No man wins this victory all at once, or once for all. Let him who thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall, for the enemies of Mansoul are many and exceeding cunning.

As Huxley said, "it does not take much of man to be a Christian, but it takes all there is of him," and he might have added that it takes all his time. Just so, if one would be a Master Mason in very truth, and not in name only or the wearing of a pin, he will find that it asks for all that he has of wisdom and of wit, the while he divides his time into labor, rest, and the service of his kind. How well Wordsworth knew who he wrote:

" 'Tis the most difficult of tasks to keep

Heights which the soul is competent to gain:

Man is of dust ;"

and as all are made of the self same dust, it become us to be gentle as it behooves us to be just. More an more, as we grow older, and learn the perils of the roar and remember how often we have failed and how fe we have wandered, the words of Goethe come to mine

"If during our lifetime we see that performed by others to which we ourselves felt an earlier call, but had been obliged to give up, with much besides, then the beautiful feeling enters the mind, that only mankind together is the true man, and that the individual can only be joyous and happy when he has the courage to feel himself in the whole."

Here is the great Fraternity in whose heroic and inspiring fellowship we live, and by whose inspiration we may win victory - man in God, and God in Man willing the God to be! Yet in each soul there is some thing unique, something not to be found anywhere else, a beauty peculiar, particular, precious, as no two leaves on a tree are alike, and no two sunsets the same. Each man must make Research to find that hidden Pearl of Eternity within his own soul; that star which shines for him alone - "My Star," as Browning called it; and having found it, let him follow it and he will find himself, his Brother, and his God. Even so, each of us by mastery of himself, may add a pearl of great price to the common wealth; each may set a new star in that sky which arches over our human world.

What though a man win wealth and the applause of fame, and have not Charity, it is nothing; what though he sway the world with his eloquence and miss the high prize of "self-knowledge, self-reverence and self-control," even if men erect an obelisk of gold above his grave it is a monument to a failure. He only is wise who lives a simple, sincere, faithful life, building on the Square by the Plumb, toiling in the light of Eternity; as Browning would say, did we alter one word in his lines -

"Masonry is all or nothing; it's no mere smile

Of contentment, sigh of aspiration, sir -

No quality of the finelier tempered clay

Like its whiteness or its lightness; rather, stuff

Of the very stuff: life of life. and self of self."

* * *

 

MASTERS OF TOMORROW -

Naturally, in a Society of more than ten thousand members one finds men of varying types of thought, as well as of different degrees of interest and training; and it is not easy to edit a journal in which all will find equal inspiration and value. What will appeal to the veteran student is often over the head of the young man who, though he is the Master of his Lodge, is really an Apprentice in the study of the history and philosophy of Masonry. Many men, many minds; but we are finding the range, and while it is difficult to hit so many marks at the same time, our aim is to reach every man who has an interest in Masonry.

Frankly, as we have more than once confessed, our chief concern is for the young men - the shock-heads, God bless them ! - who are to take our places and lead the Fraternity forward in the days to come. Sixty years ago Robert Lowe, in the beginning of the University Extension movement in England, made the slogan, "We must educate our masters;" and that is also a necessity in the development of Masonry. More young men new to the study of Masonry are enrolled in this Society than in any other body of Masonic students on earth; and it is of vital importance to the future of the Order that they be started right, not only as to the facts of Masonic history, but also, and much more, as to its spirit, its meaning, and its mission among men.

Unless the masters of tomorrow are led to see clearly what Masonry is, what it is trying to accomplish, and in what spirit it labors, the future will suffer from a misunderstanding, if not a misuse, of Masonry. Once they really see what Masonry is, they will not think of it as a kind of secret annex to the club-life of the day, or what is still worse, as a mere weapon with which to fight a party or a sect. They will know that it is a great fellowship of free men for the practice of righteousness and the culture of good-will, seeking to train men for the service of humanity, to heal the bitterness of the world, and to promote its peace !

In this behalf we toil, seeking the truth for the love of it and the freedom which it gives, insisting that facts be distinguished from conjectures, and history from tradition; granting to the occultist every liberty to exploit his fantastic philosophy, but reminding him that the glory of Masonry is its simplicity, its moral teaching, its spiritual faith and its practical value. Nor can we ever be turned aside one iota from the path wherein our fathers walked, in whose tradition we stand and upon whose foundation we build; keeping in mind the young men who are to make the future greater than today, and loving Masonry more than we love any theory of it.

 

REAL RESEARCH -

The essay on the influence of Masonry on the liberation of Latin America in this issue, like the thesis by Brother Street in the last issue of The Builder, is a piece of real research, as interesting as it is valuable. Happily we are able to present both of those admirable articles in full, without chopping them up into sections, as, unfortunately, we had to do with the splendid seriesby Grand Master Johnson which now comes to a close. Brother Hemenway is widely known in other fields of scholarly labor, as for example his monumental volume, which has become a standard treatise, on "Legal Principles of Public Health Administration," which welds the two sciences of law and medicine into the one science of Public Health. His interest in Latin Americah Masonry grew out of his labors on the literary staff of the Chicago Evening Post, and his essay is the fruit of long research in a field hitherto little explored.

Robert Burns was wont to regard his contemporaries as an "unco squad," but we have no such mind toward our fellow-workers, albeit we wish some of them would mend their ways - as when our Brethren take our little paragraph on "When is a Man a Mason?" and fire it off as their own. No matter; what we had in mind was to express appreciation of the department called "The Deeper Problems," conducted by Brother Frank Higgins, in the Masonic Standard of New York. Nor do we forget the careful and accurate essays of Brother J. L. Carson, contributed to the Virginia Masonic Journal, a selection of which in permanent form would make a book worth while. Readers of these pages will soon meet Brother Carson face to face, and we are quite sure they will agree with us both as to the quality of his work and the fineness of his spirit.

* * *

 

MASONIC EDUCATION -

Grand Master Bledsoe, of California, in a letter to the Lodges of his Grand Jurisdiction in regard to the Study Side of Masonry, has some pertinent things to say about the necessity and the difficulties of Masonic Research. He announces the appointment of a Committee on Masonic Education - which Committee is already in conference with this Society - to formulate a plan of procedure. A few sentences will show the drift of the letter of the Grand Master:

"There is among the Brethren a pronounced craving as well as necessity for additional information and education along the lines of the true spirit, purpose, philosophy and destiny of Masonry. . . Masons as well as profanes are becoming more appreciative of the fact that the real genius of the institution lies not in its obligations, lectures, floor work or mere mode of operation, but in its broader conception - its relation to human life, its opportunity for true service, its development of the social and fraternal element in man's make-up. This tendency is made evident in the suggestions and requests coming to the Grand Master's office, from time to time, for the service of those who, skilled in Masonic lore, traditions and symbolism, may interest and instruct the Brethren through the medium of articles, lectures and the like. In this behalf I have felt extremely chary about recommending every ambitious Masonic lecturer who feels the 'call' to go forth and instruct the fraternity. . . The subject matter of Masonic lectures is a matter meriting genuine concern. 'Masonic Symbolism,' a frequent subject, as well as source, of inspiration, because of its illimitable bounds and possibilities has been in some instances overworked. In the same strain much so-called 'Masonic History,' as the same is dilated upon by lecturers, is nothing more nor less than 'Masonic Hysteria!' "

* * *

 

CORRESPONDENCE

THAT FIRST SCOTTISH RITE MASON

Dear Brother Editor:- It seems to me that Brother Warner in his letter entitled the First Scottish Rite Mason, got things twisted as to facts and dates. It is surely news to read that "Morin was commissioned by the Grand Orient of France to carry the Rite of Perfection to North America," whereas his commission bore date of Aug. 27th, 1761, that is, ten years before the Grand Orient of France came into existence. As his commission has been printed so often, I am at a loss to know how any one could have fallen into such an error. Some writers say that Morin was commissioned by the "Council of Emperors," others by the Grand Lodge of France, and that his commission was signed by eight persons and by Daubantin, "by order of the Grand Lodge." But no one can pretend that it was authorized by the Grand Orient before that body existed. Nor is it correct to say that Morin was a Scottish Rite Mason. The error is common enough - even Samuel Oppenheim, in his history of "The Jews and Masonry in the United States Before 1810 " stumbles into it - but that is all the more reason why it should be pointed out and set right. Of course, an editor cannot keep tab on all his correspondents, but I think this matter of sufficient importance to call your attention to it, for the benefit of others who may be confused by it. Accept my fraternal regards and best wishes.

Russell Furgeson, Ohio

(Brother Furgeson is entirely right both as to the Commission of Morin not being authorized by the Grand Orient of France, and as to the error, all too common, of calling Morin a Scottish Rite Mason; and we are grateful to him for calling attention to the facts. Morin was never a Scottish Rite Mason nor was Francken, nor was Hays. They all belonged to the Rite of Perfection, which consisted of twenty-five degrees, and not to the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, which consists of thirty-three degrees. Even Masonic historians, as Brother Furgeson points out, are continually falling into this error, and thereby making confusion worse confolmded. The Body at Albany, created in 1767, belonged to the Rite of Perfection, as did the Bodies at Charleston, created in 1783. We had no Scottish Rite on this Continent until Col. John Mitchell and Dr. Frederick Dalcho established the Supreme Council for the United States on the 31st day of May, 1801. By the kindness of a Brother of the Rite, we have this testimony of Hon. Giles Fonda Yates Grand Commander of the Supreme Council for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, in an address delivered by him on Sept. 5th, 1851, to the Northern Supreme Colmcil. In the course of his address Brother Yates said that, after having revived the Lodge at Albany, New York, which was founded by Francken, one of the deputies of Morin-

"Having been made aware of the new Constitution of the Thirty Third Degree, ratified on the 1st of May, 1786, conferring the Supreme Power over our Rite on Councils of nine Brethren, I hastened to place myself in correspondence with Moses Holbrook, M. D., at the time Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council at Charleston, and with my esteemed friends, Joseph McCosh, Grand Secretary of the last named Council, and Brother Gourgas, at that time Gr. Sec. Gen. of the H. E. for this Northern Jurisdiction. Lodges of Perfection in the Counties of Montgomery, Onondage, Saratoga and Monroe in the State of New York, were successively organized, and placed agreeably to the Constitutions under the superintendence of the Grand Council before named. The establishment of this last named Body was confirmed, and all our proceedings in 'Sublime Freemasonry' were legalized and sanctioned by the only lawful authorities in the United States, the aforesaid Supreme Councils."

By all means let Brother Warner continue his studies, and give the Craft the results of his researches, but the value of his work will be enhanced by keeping these facts and distinctions clearly in mind. Fifteen years ago, Brother George F. Moore, now Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction, said that the history of the Scottish Rite had not been written, and that statement is still true. Here is a rich field for a careful student. - The Editor.)

* * *

 

MASONIC POETRY

Dear Brother: - I have been much pleased with the selection of poetry in The Builder. To every Brother who has endeavored to subdue his passions and improve himself in Masonry, there are endless allusions to Masonry not alone in literature and in social life, but in Nature. If you have space to spare at some time in the future, I believe many Brethren have never seen Brother Greenleaf's beautiful poem "The Temple," and it would do them good to read it.

I have also applied Gerald Massey's beautiful thoughts to my ideal of Masonry to much advantage. Our whole Masonic teaching so centers about the thought of Immortality, that this from Massey cannot be out of place in our literature:

"Although its features fade in light of unimagined bliss,

We have shadowy revealings of a Better World than this:

A little glimpse when Spring unveils her face and opens her eyes

Of the Sleeping Beauty in the soul that wakes in Paradise;

A little drop of Heaven in each diamond of the shower

A breath of the Eternal in the fragrance of each flower!

A little low vibration in the warble of Night's bird

Of the praises and the music that shall hereafter be heard!

A little whisper in the leaves that clap their hands and try

To glad the heart of man, and lift to Heaven his grateful eye.

A little semblance mirrored in old Ocean's smile and frown

Of His vast glory who doth bow the Heavens and come down!

A little symbol shining through the worlds that move at rest

On invisible foundations of the broad Almighty breast!

A little hint that stirs and thrills the wings we fold within,

And tells of that full heaven yonder, which must here begin!

A little springlet swelling from the fountain head above,

That takes its earthly way to find the ocean of all love!

A little silver shiver in the ripple of the river

Caught from the light that knows no night forever and forever!

A little hidden likeness, often faded and defiled

Of the great, the good All-Father, in His poorest human child!

Although the best be lost in light of unimagined bliss,

We have shadowy revealings of a Better World than this!"

 

The first part of this letter was written a month ago, and I enclose a copy of "The Temple." by Brother Greenleaf, which in my opinion is the most beautiful Masonic poem, except "Every Year” by Pike. Remember this also, Mom Massey: "There is no pathway man hath ever trod, by faith or seeking light, but ends in God."

Fraternally yours,

S. H. Shepherd, Wis.

 

(Between the first part of his letter and the last, Brother Shepherd has paid us a visit, and we shall not live long enough to forget it. He is a man for whom Masonry has done much, and who would do something for Masonry in return, one who is seeking, what all of us are seeking to be what St. Paul said we should be, "God's poems." His study of Landmarks has made him known to our readers, as we trust other studies of his will do in days to come. Cicero advised busy men, especially lawyers - for he was a lawyer - to read a little poetry every day, if only to keep open a window toward the City of Light. Otherwise, he said, the soul will become dry and hard amid the dust and din and litter of our labor. Keeping this danger in mind, we have thought it worth while to select snatches of great music for our pages, if so its melodies may accompany the work of the Builders. Brother Shepherd understands our purpose, and has sent us two sweet songs; perhaps others will do likewise. - The Editor. )

* * *

 

"TRAVEL."

Dear Sir and Brother: - First let me congratulate you most heartily upon your success in making a magazine which is worthy of the best in Masonry. It might be invidious to say that The Builder is the first Masonic periodical in which are united intelligence, high purpose, reverence, and literary ability, but it is the first one that I have seen. While true to the Landmarks and to the spirit of the Fraternity, you know the difference between history and tradition, and between fact and allegory. It is dangerous to trust the interpretation of our ritual to a literal-minded man, or to that of a visionary. Fortunately, you are neither.

But my present wish is to suggest what I believe to be the alternative meaning of the word "travel," as used, for example, in the phrase "travel for at least one year." It does not always mean journey, I think, but sometimes labor; and it is the same word that is now-a-days usually spelled "travail." The word in its present spelling, "travel," has also the meaning of labor, and was frequently used in that sense in the early days of Masonry.

It has always been used in this sense by the Shakers, who speak of "travelling in the gospel," "travelling out of sin," etc. I find in a book on Shakerism, published a hundred years ago, the "travail" of Freemasonry compared with the Shaker "travail." Regensburg Regulations, 41, as published in The Builder for September, reads: "No Master shall make any laborer a parlierer, although he may have served his term as an apprentice, but who has not at least traveled one year."

There is a curious analogy in the double meaning of the word "journey," derived from the French "jour," a day. It came to mean a day's travel, or a day's travail. In Masonry, a journeyman was a man who worked by the day, not a traveler. Our ancient Operative brethren set great store by day's wages. The third Regensburg Regulation contains this: "Day wages shall continue, and in no way shall the contract system be used." This insistence upon the day-labor system, and upon rules in favor of the "journeyman" or day's-work man, in distinction from the contract laborer, throws an interesting side-light upon one of the Chapter Degrees.

Regensburg Regulation 25, begins thus: "Even though a craftsman has journeyed and worked as a stonemason, and made advancement in the order, he should not be accepted as a Master if this experience be less than two years." Here "journeyed" may mean either "served as a day's-workman," or "passed from place to place." The well-known double meaning of the old word "hail," which sometimes signifies welcome, and sometimes to conceal, is an interesting parallel. This is of slight importance for publication, but it may interest for a moment.

Fraternally yours

Harlow H. Ballard, 33d Hon., Mass.

* * *

 

WHITHER.

Dear Brother Editor: - After reading the letter from Brother Arthur B. Rugg, of Minneapolis, headed "The Realization of Truth," one finds it rather difficult to decide whether or not Brother Rugg places the seal of his approval unon "The Great Work." Like you, Brother Editor, I am not of those who regard a difference of opinon as a personal insult. However Brother Rugg seems to have taken Masonry, the Great School, Christianity, and Mary Baker Eddy, and tangled them up in such a manner as to render it well nigh impossible for one to distinguish the point at which he is driving. For instance, he says "The question would not be the demonstration of a future life, but the realization of the truth of the continuity of life." May we not ask, whither this discussion leads?

Fraternally,

Alwyn Vickers, Alabama.

* * *

 

FAITH IN EACH OTHER

Dear Brother: - What are the essentials of success in the attainment of the ideals of Freemasonry by the earnest Mason? In answer thereto, and as an illustration. the following advice, suggestion, or hint by Brother George W. Kendrick, of Past Grand Master of Pennsylvania, will be found a valuable guide:

"No longer are men banded together in our Fraternity to erect physical structures to overcome physical foes. The light that we follow leads to a keener insight, a better understanding and a nobler expression of the human faculties. The materials with which we labor are constituent elements of every human being, and our purpose is to learn how to use the materials to construct temples of the mind and soul which will be pleasing to the eyes of the Great Architect. For this work certain essentials are preliminary to success. We must have faith in each other; confidence in the success of our efforts as long as they are rightly directed, and we must cast out every hatred and all uncharitableness. Constituted as we are, we strive ever toward the highest and best, confined to no creed, not bound by any political or social lines. Our strength is greatest and our opportunities for good are most numerous, and therefore our responsibilities weightiest, in times like these, when suspicion lurks in every corner, ready to be swept by the winds of ignorance and discontent to shake the foundations of confidence in God's greatest work - Man."

Yours fraternally,

John C. Yorston, Philadelphia.

* * *

 

WHO'S WHO

Dear Brother Newton: - As a basis for certain historical research it seems to me that there should be made a directory of all distinguished Masons in this country before a given date, as nearly as could be discovered. This should be made from the old Lodge records, and the collected names should be arranged alphabetically. The record should give the name, lodge record, and dates. The fact that a certain name is not found is not conclusive evidence that he was not a Masons hint the finding of a name recorded is proof that he was a member of the Order. There is no question as to the fact that Masonic membership has been used as a means of influence in governmental affairs.

You recently stated positively that Thomas Paine was not a Mason, and only the day before I read your statement an admirer of Paine said just as positively that Paine was a Mason. This admirer of Paine was the son of an English clergyman who was born in the early part of the last century. I do not know upon what evidence either statement was made - but in such matters we must remember that formerly the records were frequently not well kept, and that degrees were loosely conferred. Further, though Paine might not have been a Mason in this country, he may have joined the Order in France.

Sincerely yours

H. B. Hemenway, Illinois.

(The basis for our statement that Paine was not a Mason was the positive statement to that effect in more than one of his biographies. Mackey is also explicit on the point. The notion that he was a Mason is probably due to the fact that he wrote an essay on Freemasonry, but the essay, while ingenious in its argument, betrays a vast incomprehension of the Order. Still, he may have joined the Fraternity in France after he wrote his essay, and if there is any record or proof of that statement we shall be very glad to know it. The suggestion of Dr. Hemenway is a good one, especially as regards distinguished men - our Presidents, for example - some of whom are said to have been Masons, while others deny, or have no proof, that they were Masons. - The Editor.)

* * *

 

THE CABLE-TOW

Brother Editor: - May I not call the attention of the Brethren to the following history of the Cable-tow as found in "The Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man," by Albert Churchward? No doubt you are familiar with it, but it will interest many by showing how far back he traces the Cable-tow, and also as suggesting that we have not considered the meaning of what is one of the first things we meet in Masonry. You surely have begun at the beginning, and your discussion of the Cable-tow makes one realize how much there is of interest and importance in the first simple things of the craft. The Passage from Churchward is as follows:

"How many of our Fraternity know the real import and meaning of the Cable-tow? Originally it was a chain or rope of some kind, worn by the initiate, or those about to be initiated, to signify their belief in God and their dependence on Him, and their solemn obligations to submit and devote themselves to His will and service; and the fact that he is neither naked nor clothed is an emblem that he is untutored - a mere child of nature - unregenerate and destitute of any knowledge of the tree God, as well as being destitute of the comforts of life. This is the state in which we find ourselves as candidates. The chain was used by the Druids and Egyptians as a symbolism, as above stated. Also that he was being led from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge of the one true and living God, Creator and Judge of all. That the fope appears around the neck of more than one in these picture scenes - seven in some - is only a symbol of 'the seven powers' - as 'the seven ropes,' and each one of the weavers of these represents one of the seven attributes of Horus I. in their sacerdotal duties. Originally it was one only which was associated with Horus I. and Amsu - the risen Horus or Horus of the Spirit. Horus, having been led or passed through dangers, difficulties, darkness and death in the underworld, emerged as Amsu, the first risen man-god, and attached to his crown of two feathers - denoting the two lives, earthly and spiritual - is this cable-tow or rope, as a symbol that it is a 'power' which has led him through from earthly to spiritual life."

Fraternally yours

David Duncan, California.

----o----

 

THE FUTURE OF MASONRY

If Masonry is to be a factor in creating a noble future for our race, we must not be content to learn only the truths of the dead past, we must also master the knowledge of the living present. We must prove ourselves to be "sons of the Light," and assimilate into our lodge work the truths of modern thought and research. An institution resting on nothing but its past, is a mummy, not a living body. He who makes Masonry a living, working reality in the world is the real Mason.

- Speculative Masonry by A. S. Macbride.

 

THE LIBRARY

"IN A NOOK WITH A BOOK"

THE JEWS AND MASONRY

THOSE who have not seen the booklet entitled "The Jews and Masonry in the United States Before 1810," by Samuel Oppenheim, a reprint from the publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, will find it exceedingly interesting and valuable. The author, albeit not himself a Mason, has given us a fine piece of historical research, taking up, first and briefly, the relation of the Jews to Masonry in general, and then tracing the presence and influence of Jewish Brethren in the early days of each of the Grand Jurisdictions of the country. As a kind of text, he quotes the words of Rabbi Isaac Wise:

"Masonry is a Jewish institution whose history, degrees, charges, passwords, and explanations are Jewish from the beginning to the end, with the exception of only one by-degree and a few words in the obligation. The beauty and pride of Masonry is its universal character, its tendency to fraternize mankind, and its being free from the elements which have been ever the efficient causes of hatred, persecution, fraud, and rude barbarism."

Turning to Massachusetts, we find a very good sketch of the life and Masonic services of Moses Michael Hays - sometimes spelled Hayes - who, as a deputy of Francken and Morin, brought the Rite of Perfection to the old Bay State. From this account, he was a gracious and noble man, of fine character, of beautiful home-life, devoted to the interests of Freemasonry; though after his death, and owing to prejudice against his race made use of by anti-Masonic fanatics - always experts in matters of prejudice - his good name was assailed. Howbeit, he was Grand Master of Massachusetts, Paul Revere serving as Deputy under him, and is entitled to all the honors that belong to the memory of a good man and Mason.

Passing to Rhode Island, we find that the author makes out a fairly good case in favor of that blurred, battered and much-debated scrap of paper which records a tradition which haunts the annals of that Grand Jurisdiction, to the effect that Masonry was brought to the Island in 1658; that is to say, long before the "revival" of Masonry in 1717. The scrap of paper reads as follows, as far as it can be read:

"Ths ye (day and lnonth obliterated) 1658 wee mett att y House off Mordecai Campunall and affter Synagog Wee gave Abm Moses the degrees of Maconrie.

For the most part, Masonic historians have been wont to pay scant attention to such a document, as Grand Master Johnson does in his study of the Early History and Establishment of Masonry in America; but the argument of Oppenheim is worthy of notice.

At any rate, he offsets, to a degree, the arguments against it, such as that there was only one degree in the Masonry of that day - about which no one can be dogmatic - and other points of like kind. For the details of the discussion, we must refer our readers to the little book under notice. All through the author is careful to give his authorities, and his essay is valuable as showing how early and how deeply our Jewish Brethren were interested in Masonry in America.

* * *

 

MASONRY AND MUSIC

It was in accord with ancient usage, and with the eternal fitness of things, for the Grand Lodge of Illinois to issue its well-edited and neatly bounded book of "Appropriate Odes for Use in Masonic Work," concerning which Brother Isaac Cutter, Grand Secretary, Camp Point, Ill., can furnish information. We say that it is accord with ancient custom, for the Masons of olden time were wont to sing a great deal, especially in times of festival and play; and they had many such times of feast and fun - which shows that our bread-and-butter Masons of today are well-descended - as witness the collections of their songs which remain to this day. Indeed, one scholar, seeking the origin of the word Mason, has actually traced it back to the word "table.” Perhaps his derivation will not pass muster; no matter, it serves to show the fun and frolic which marked the social life of the older Masonry.

The object of the Grand Lodge of Illinois is to enrich the ritual work of Masonry with a more liberal use of appropriate music, and its purpose is as wise as it is worthy. There is much in Masonry which no word, no symbol may express, and which only music, the most infinite of all the arts, can utter; so much of that sweet, eternal mysticism which is like fragrance from the Fatherland of the soul; and we need to make a better and wiser use of the only art which carries the soul forward out of the shadows of Time into the light of Eternity - that holy sacrament of song whereby things inaudible may be known and loved. The advent of great temple organs in our temples bespeaks this deep need, and foretells the higher ministry of Music in the Masonry of the future.

* * *

 

THE MASON-BEES

If our readers are not familiar with the work of Fabre, whom Maeterlinck called the Homer of the insects, now is the time to make friends with one of the wisest, sweetest, greatest souls of this or any other age. His biography, by Legros, is a volume of shining pages, made vital by a thousand human touches that evoke laughter and tears, with here and there, like swift flashes of spirit-lights, passages that send a ray of light into the deep mystery of the world. Behind it and within it is a human soul so simple, so artless, so unconscious of its greatness, so unforgettably lovely, and a genius as rare, surely, as ever the round world has seen. Those who have read his Mason-Bees, his studies of the Fly, the Spider, and the little soft populations in the grass, can testify to a new sense of the infinite ingenuity of Nature; of God first, God last, God infinitesimally vast. When long time has passed, and the awful war has become a sad echo in the world, the name of Fabre will still shine like a white star.

* * *

QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION

In the June issue of the Masonic Journal of South Africa I read an address by you on the Ministry of Masonry, in which you refer to a description of the initiation of a Mason by Count Tolstoi. Will you not give the reference more specifically ? - H.K.B.

It is found in "War and Peace," by Tolstoi - a book the reading of which will make vivid the great battles now raging in the east - but as that prodigious novel is published in many editions to give you the pages would do little good. You can find it, however, by turning to Part five, chapter two.

* * *

My dear Brother: - I am an old man, and I find that there grows upon me a feeling - I do not say a fear - that when my body dissolves in death my mind will also melt into the universal whole and lose its identity. Is this a common experience? -  H.L.P.

Indeed, yes; perhaps due to the natural lowering of vitality, and a slackening of the pulses of life. Yet there is no reason in fact for feeling so. Every analogy of nature, as far as we can see, tends in another direction. No atom is ever lost as we now know, nor can any element be changed into another element. Water may be separated into oxygen and hydrogen, but neither gas loses its identity or ceases to be. Hydrogen holds its own through every change. Nor can force be destroyed, and this must be true of the force - if such it be - which we call mind. When Emerson died, not one atom of his body was destroyed, not one element lost its identity. Why fear, or feel, that his great and pure mind, amid whose white shadows men saw truth as the face of God, was dissipated and lost? Every fact we know tells us that such a feeling is without basis, save, as we have said, in physical conditions.

* * *

In your book, "The Builders," you express wonder that St. Thomas, the patron saint of architecture, is not honored by Masons along with the two Saints John. I have been unable to find any basis for saying that Thomas was, or is, the patron saint of architecture. What is your authority?

- W.W.H.

It rests upon a lovely legend, never better told than by E. A. Green, in his "Saints and their Symbols," as follows. When Thomas was at Caesarea, it was shown him in a vision that he should go to Gondoforus, king of the Indies, to search for skilled builders to erect the most beautiful palace ever seen. He obeyed, and the king received him gladly, furnishing him with architects and money. Thereupon the king went away for two years. When he was gone, Thomas spent the money for charity. The king returned, and was so angry that he cast the Saint into a dungeon, intending to devise for him some horrible death. But the king's brother died, and four days later appeared to the king and told him that he had seen a shining palace which Thomas had built for him in heaven. Then the king released the Saint. It is with reference to this legend, which is as old, almost, as the church, that Thorwaldsen when he made his statue of St. Thomas, now in Copenhagen, revealed him with a square rule in his hand - the Saint of the Builders.

* * *

Recently a visiting Brother was examined by a committee of our Lodge, and proved very proficient, it was reported, except that he could not give the Masonic Word, which he said was communicated to him in so low a voice that he could not hear it. The Master declined to admit him, which gave rise to some discussion afterwards, and I put it to you. - C.G.C.

The Master, of course, was within his rights, but it is a rule, we believe, that no one thing taken by itself shall be made a test of whether a man has received the degrees of Masonry. It is entirely possible that the Brother was right in saying that the word was whispered to him in so low a voice that he could not understand it; we have known cases of the kind. Moreover, it is an unfamiliar word in a different language, and might slip the mind. Had the Brother been an importer, he would have had the word, or something very like it.

* * *

What relation to a Mason should a woman be to give her the privilege of wearing a Masonic emblem ? If the privilege goes to a wife, widow, mother, sister, daughter, does the daughter still hold it after marrying a man who is not a Mason ? Similarly, does the mother of a Mason hold the privilege if his father is still living and not a Mason? Does the rule hold for the Chapter, Commandery, and Scottish Rite? - P.G.M.

The custom of extending the protection and courtesy of Masonic fellowship to the ladies of Masons, while not a matter of legislation - so far as we are aware - is as beautiful as it is useful. It obtains in all Rites of the Order, and we see no reason why a daughter should forfeit her privilege by marrying a non-Mason, if she cares to invoke it. As it is, chivalry is not enough practiced among us, especially in the North and West, and this custom is a part of the chivalry of the Order.

* * *

In 1866 the State of Louisiana issued for revenue purposes, two Lottery stamps of the value Of 7 1/2 and 12 1/2 cents; the former of which has, as its most prominent feature, the Masonic Square, compass and letter G. Why, and with what authority was the Masonic emblem used? - W.I.M.

Brother Richard Lambert, to whom we referred this inquiry, says that, so far as the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, of which he is Grand Secretary, show, there was no Masonic authority for such use of the emblems. He recalls that at that time the whole state was in the hands of the negroes - the Governor and Legislature being of that color - and he thinks the negro lodge might have granted the privilege. Brother Lambert, whose address is Masonic Temple, New Orleans, would thank Brother Mitchell to let him see the stamp.

* * *

THE CABLE-TOW

Regarding the inquiry about the Cable-tow, it may interest the Brethren to know that it has no symbolic meaning in English Lodges where it is used only in the first degree, when its physical use only is explained.

- E.E. Murray, Montana.

Might the Cable-tow not be a symbol of that moral cable by which an apprentice is raised to the plane on which the Fellowcraft is supposed to stand? And in the Fellowcraft degree might it not be a symbol of re-enforcement - a buckler - an added strength, to assist the Craftsmen in making the rough ashier a perfect one ? I would suggest that we make the Cable for ourselves, using honor truth, justice, chastity, charity for the links thereof; forging it true and strong, then welding this mystic Cable to our hearts let us anchor it firmly to God, Home, and Country. - J.H. Jones, Iowa.

But the Cable-tow is something already woven, by which we are brought into the Lodge, and by which we may be taken out if we be unworthy, or unwilling, to proceed. What is it in a man by which he is drawn into Masonry, and which, later, becomes the measure of his obligation when he vows to do certain things if within the reach of his cable-tow? Here is something very wonderful, if we think of it, and worthy of deep thought.

* * *

THE 47th PROBLEM

The symbolism of the 47th Problem of Euclid, to my mind, is as follows: The problem demonstrates that in the building of an edifice there are certain unalterable laws that govern the result. If these laws are deviated from in the slightest degree the result will be at fault. Every man is the architect of his own destiny. To gain a desired and pure attainment, proper means must be employed. Do not delude yourself. The laws governing conduct are as inviolate as the laws of Euclid. - E. E. Murray, Montana.

Allow me to suggest as the longer leg of the Pythagorean triangle, Charity. Conscience says "Ought." But Conscience may be sadly warped by education. Charity, being the very breath of the Spirit of God which is in every man, unerringly reveals the truth. Hence Conscience, guided by Charity, cannot go wrong. And he who to a square Conscience adds a square Charity (which never faileth) Wlll live on the square to God, his neighbor and himself. - A. S. Harriman, Grand Lecturer, Vermont

Let us take the square on the hypotenuse as representing our duty to God, the square on the base our duty to neighbor and the square on the altitude our duty to ourselves. Let the base signify Conscience, one side of the square Reason - the altitude Intellect, and one side of its square Sentiment. Thus, Conscience acted upon by Reason results in the fulfillment of our duty to our neighbor. Intellect acted upon by Sentiment results in the fulfillment of our duty to ourselves. But in the faithful performance of our duty to our neighbor and ourselves, we cannot fail to fulfill our duty to God. Therefore, our duty to God essentially necessitates and embodies the conscientious discharge of our several duties to our neighbor and ourselves. - Leland Kress, Iowa.

* * *

Years ago I read a book called "Ginx's Baby," and I halve often wanted to know who wrote it. Perhaps you can tell me. -

With pleasure. " Ginx's Baby, his Birth and Other Misfortunes," was written by Edward Jenkins, the son of a Canadian minister, who died last year at Upper Norwood, England. He wrote other books, one that attracted some attention being "Little Hodge"; but none equalled the fame of Ginx's Baby, which ran through sixty-six editions in a few years. Our copy happens to be the eleventh American edition. It is one of the keenest satires ever written on sectarianism and its folly when applied to charity work.

* * *

Will you be good enough to tell me something of the personal history of Edward Waite, the author of the "Secret Tradition in Freemasonry?" I have looked in vain for any material regarding him. - W.L.J.

In an early number of The Builder we shall publish a sketch and appreciation of Brother Waite - an honored and dear friend - as an introduction to one of the most fruitful and suggestive lectures on Masonry which we ever remember to have read. If our Brother will wait a wee bit, he will receive more than we could give him in a brief space.

* * *

I am not quite satisfied with what has been said, either by Prof. Pound or by Mrs. Roome, about Pike and his Indian troops. After reading the military reports of the battle of Pea Ridge, on both sides, it seems to me that Pike miscalculated his ability to restrain the force he had raised. This is not to his discredit, especially when it was against his judgment.

- O.H.N.

Manifestly, this is too large a question for our space here but the Brother will find new material on the subject in a volume entitled "The American Indian as a Slave Holder and Secessionist," by A. H. Able, published by Arthur H. Clark Co., Cleveland. It deals not only with the question here asked, but with the whole history of the Indian policy of the Confederate government.

* * *

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

The Worship of the Solar Disk, by H. R. Evans. The New Age.

Freemasonry as a Means of Preserving the Peace of the World, by Sir Gilbert Parker. London Freemason.

The Scriptural References in our Ritual, by J. Young. Transactions Lodge of Research, Leicester, England.

G. F. Fort. by A. E. Bear. Miscellanea Latomorum, London.

The Grand Lodge of Virginia, by J. L. Carson. Virginia Masonic Journal.

The 47th Problem of Euclid, by F. C. Higgins. Masonic Standard.

From the Bridewell to the Bridal Altar. Oriental Consistory Magazine.

 

BOOKS RECEIVED

The Jews and Masonry in the United States Before 1810, by Samuel Oppenheim. Bloch Pub. Co., 40 East 14th St., New York.

Odes to be Used in Masonic Work. Grand Lodge of Illinois.

The Acacia Fraternity, by W. F. Cleveland. Iowa Masonic Library.

Let There be Light, by George B. Winslow, Grand Master, Kentucky.

Miscellanea Latomorum, Vol. 2, London.

The Authorized Version of the Bible and its Influence, by A. S. Cook. G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York.

When a Man Comes to Himself, by Woodrow Wilson. Harper & Brothers, New York.

Fabre, Poet of Science, by C. V. Legros. Century Co., New York.

Goethe, by Paul Carus. Open Court Pub. Co., Chicago.

Mithraism, by W. J. P. Adams. Open Court Pub. Co., Chicago.

* * *

CONTINUATION OF QUESTIONS ON "THE BUILDERS"

Compiled by "The Cincinnati Masonic Study School'

275. What are all things human (not excepting the church itself) apt to become? Page 51.

276. What did the great orders of antiquity accomplish in ages of darkness? Page 524

277. Is it possible to trace Masonry along historical lines ? Page 79.

278. Who were the Four Crowned Martyrs' Page 85.

279. How did Freemasonry during the Middle Ages assist those who were persecuted by bigoted fa natics and what was the religion of the latter? What is said of Masonic Toleration? Page 100.

280. What condition of thought existed in the middle ages? Page 100-141-148.

281. For whom were the Masonic Lodges of the middle ages a sure refuge ? Page 100.

282. State the mission of Freemasonry in the Middle Ages; draw your own conclusions as to its present mission, and formulate your part in the work of sustaining that mission. Page 121-289-290.

283. What were some of the laws which the old Craft-masonry sought to train its members to make them good and true men? Page 132-133-134.

284. What is said of the morality of 1724 ? Page 128-134-175.

284a. How does Lowell define Freemasonry Page 272.

285. What is known of the so-called Wm. Morgan incident and what was its effect? Page 227.

285a. Name some of the eminent men of history who have been Masons. Page 232.

286. What are the two aspects of the nature of man, which lift him above the brute and bespeak his divine heredity? Page 270.

287. "To fit one's self to know the Truth" (Page 59) as related to acting on the square or building character; what is it? Page 275.

288. What symbols betray the unity of mind and its kinship with the eternal? Page 26, 58.

289. Give dates and description of Cleopatra' Needle, (The famous Obelisk) and the discoveries made incident to its removal to New York City in 1879 Page 33.

290. Who was Osiris and how did he meet death? Page 43.

291. What is said of the resurrection of Osiris? Page 46.

292. What is said of Osiris forming a secret Order and how does it compare with Masonry? Page 47, 48.

293. What reason is given for the claim that Masonry had its origin while the Temple of Solomon was building? Page 79.

294. What is said of the antiquity of Masonry, based on records of the middle ages? What had it in its keeping? Page 97.

295. What is the value of Leader Scott's theory as to the link between the Roman College of Artificers and Freemasonry? Page 98.

296. What does an inscribed stone dating from 712 prove as to the antiquity of Masonry ? Page 89, 90.

297. How must we regard Masonic legends and symbols in relation to the early history of the race? Page 97.

298. How far back do we have records of old time Masonry? Page 102.

298a. How far back do we have records of North American Masonry? Page 206.

299. What are the "title deeds" of our order ? Page 102.

300. Give name, date, record and a digest of the oldest record of Masonry. Page 104, 105.

301. When was the first time the name Freemason was known to have been recorded? Page 104.

302. What is the Regius M. S. ? Page 104, 106.

303. How was the Regius document regarded by Gould and Albert Pike? Page 106.

304. Give name, date, record and digest of the second oldest record of Masonry. Page 106.

305. According to the Regius M. S. and the Cooke M. S. where did Masonry originate? Page 104-108.

306. What is the Cooke document? Page 106.

306a. What is the purport of the Harleian MSS. ? Page 126.

307. What document was discovered in the Bodleian Library at Oxford? Page 111.

308. What caused the Freemasons to be persecuted before the Reformation and in what year in England was a statute enacted curtailing the privileges of Freemasons? Page 122.

308a. To what purpose did some Masons devote themselves up to the revival in 1717? Page 124.

309. What led to the revival of Freemasonry in 1717 ? Page 124.

310. Has ever any order claimed such a legendary or traditional history as Masonry? Page 128.

311. Why was it that during the purely operative period the ritual of Masonry was naturally less formal and ornate than it afterwards became ? Page 142.

312. What is known of the existence of Masonry in England and Scotland prior to 1717? Page 159.

313. Where did the name "Accepted Masons" come from? Page 160.

314. What is said to be the earliest reference to the initiation of a Speculative Mason in England' Page 161.

315. What caused the renewed interest in Freemasonry in England in 1666? Page 168.

315a. What was the condition of Society in 1724 ? Page 175-176.

316. Why did Masonry alone of all the trades and professions live after its work was done preserving not only its identity of organization but its old emblems and usages and transforming them into instruments of religion and righteousness? Page 185.

316a. Give a short sketch of the various schisms of Masonry and what resulted? Page 213-219.

317. What is said of founding the Grand Lodge of England in 1717? Page 181, 182. When were the various Grand Lodges united, and what was included in the articles of union? Page 220 Note 1, and 221 Note 1.

318. What is said of Masonry as being an ancient institution and what does it do for its members ? Page 239.

319. Why are some people opposed to Freemasonry ? Page 245.

319a. Why criticize Masonry ? Page 252.

320. What are the real obstacles that thwart the nobler aspirations of humanity and why is jealousy the worst of them all ? Page 246.

320a. Does Freemasonry belong to any one age or to any religion? Page 253.

321. What and by whom were the many arts handed on to the Pyramid Builders of Old Egypt ? Page 9.

322. What was the symbol of the Pyramid as compared to the square temple of the early Egyptians ? Page 15.

323. What may be hidden in the undiscovered chambers of the Pyramid, what would be the result of discovery? Page 18.

324. How did Albert Pike, in his letter to Gould, describe Freemasonry and its Symbolism? Page 18.

325. What is said of the antiquity of the simple symbols of the Masons as related to the famous Obelisk known as Cleopatra's Needle in Central Park, N. Y.? How old is the Obelisk supposed to be ? Page 23.

326. Of what is the pyramid an image, as stated by Plutarch ? Page 27.

327. What is said of the Pillars ? What did they represent in the old solar myths ? What did they represent in India and among the Mayas and Uncas? Page 28, 29.

328. What is written on the walls of the Pyramid concerning death ? Page 40.

329. How long did Pythagoras have to wait to be taught the hidden wisdom of Egypt ? What use did he make of it? Page 47.

330. Who was Pythagoras and what secret order did he found? Page 48.

331. What does St. Paul say of the early teachings and mysteries ? Page 50.

332. What does Plato say of the men in the early ages who established the mysteries and what were their intentions? Page 52.

333. What qualifications are necessary for knowledge of higher things ? Why ? Page 58.

334. Can fitness for the finer truths be conferred ?

335. Without moral development, what would be the result of the teaching of the sages? Page 63-1.

336. What is meant by those "fit to receive it," that is those who understand the hidden teaching of the world ? Page 63.

337. What did Pythagoras say of the science of numbers? Page 15

 

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