The Builder Magazine
May 1920 - Volume VI - Number 5
MEMORIALS TO GREAT MEN WHO WERE MASONS
STEPHEN
DECATUR
BY BRO.
GEO. W. BAIRD, P. G. M., DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
ONE OF the idols of the Navy was Captain Stephen Decatur, who
lost his life in a duel in 1820. There were two Stephens of the surname
Decatur - father and son. The elder served faithfully and well during the War
of the Revolution, was a member of Veritas Lodge No. 16, in Maryland, and
later a member of St. John's Lodge No. 20, also located in the same State. The
Decaturs were Huguenots, and of French descent.
Stephen Decatur II, is the subject of this essay. He was born
in Maryland in 1779, and initiated into St. John's Lodge October 12th, 1799,
at Newport, Rhode Island. We are indebted to Brother Gilbert Patten Brown for
this Masonic record.
Stephen Decatur II was appointed a Midshipman in 1798, and
served with distinction under Captain Barry, Captain Bainbridge and Captain
Dale. While under the command of Captain Valentine Morris, Lieutenant Decatur
became active against the Barbary Pirates, those wolves of the Mediterranean
who had been for ages levying tribute on every sail that passed in or out of
the straits. Gibraltar itself gets its name (Gib-al-Taric) from a famous chief
of the pirates, and the word "tariff" comes from Tarifa, the seaport where
these robbers made their headquarters. It was strange that European
governments sanctioned this high-sea tariff, and it is equally strange that a
new government should be the first to forcibly oppose it. But this followed so
soon upon the war with France (for it was a de facto war) when our
Commissioner, Pinkney, said to the French Deputies, "Millions for defense, but
not one cent for tribute," that it was thought worth while to "buck" a second
time.
Like Paul Jones, Decatur was said to be the pink of politeness,
courteous, punctillious and courtly, but it was an easy matter for him to be
led into a quarrel. He was one of the best seamen of his day, and it was a
time when sail was the propelling power and the importance of proficiency in
seamanship could not be over-estimated.
Decatur was a man of correct judgment; he neither over nor
under estimated his adversary. His plan for cutting out and destroying the
Philadelphia (one of our frigates captured by the Barbarians) was admirable,
and it was wholly executed by himself. So successful was the plan that it at
once brought him into the limelight. And it was also so successful in
disturbing the balance of the Barbarians that they were, from that time,
practically out of the grafting business. A grateful Congress voted Decatur a
sword, two months' pay and a Captain's commission, and two months' pay was
also voted to the officers and seamen engaged with him.
Later he took part in an allied attack on a flotilla of gun
boats, which he boarded, and, in a hand-to-hand fight, conquered the enemy. A
Tropolitan Captain killed Decatur's brother, a Lieutenant, but soon thereafter
Stephen crossed swords with that pirate and killed him. Out of eighty men who
opposed Decatur that day, fifty-two were killed or wounded, while Decatur's
loss was but fourteen.
The War terminated in 1805 and Decatur was inactive until the
War of 1812. In that war he commanded a frigate, and captured the Macedonian
in a desperate fight. Decatur found a strong enemy, but conquered him. For
this victory Congress voted him a gold medal. He also captured the Hornet, but
soon the enemy appeared in such force that Decatur, with his squadron, found
it prudent to remain in the sounds of Long Island rather than to go out upon
the open sea. Finally, however, he was cornered and captured by a superior
force. After his parole he was obliged to face a court of inquiry, which
honorably acquitted him.
Decatur commanded a fleet of three ships in 1815, in the
Mediterranean, when he fell in with the Algerine frigate Mashouda, taking the
Algerine Admiral Rais Hammida and nearly one hundred of his officers and men
besides nearly four hundred other prisoners. On board Decatur's flagship, the
Guerriere, there were fourteen killed and wounded.
In 1815 Decatur was appointed Navy Commissioner, which office
he held until his death, which occurred in a duel with Commodore Barron.
Barron had been Decatur's commander and they had been very close friends. But
during the war with Great Britain, while Barron was in Europe Decatur saw the
urgent need for his return and was irritated at Barron's delay. The real
reason, as afterwards discovered, was that Barron had not the necessary funds
for his return trip. Decatur made some disparaging remarks about the delay,
which reached Barron's ears. He might have stood these remarks from some one
for whom he had not such an intimate liking, but from Decatur who had been so
near and dear to him, he could not stand them, and so challenged Decatur to a
duel.
They fought on the district line between the District of
Columbia and Maryland, on a spot called the "Bladensburg Duelling Ground"
because of so many duels having been fought there. Both fell at the first
fire, Barron severely and Decatur mortally wounded.
Decatur's body was placed in a vault in Washington until 1846
when it was removed to St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal Churchyard, in
Philadelphia, where the beautiful fluted column, with a Tuscan cap, and on a
cubic plinthe, marks the spot. The column is surmounted by an American eagle,
emblem of freedom. The eagle is seen poising upon the globe. Perhaps the
artist hoped for this emblem of freedom to extend its influence over the whole
globe. Surely no greater champion of freedom ever trod the globe than he who
rests beneath this beautiful column.
WASHINGTON’S MASONIC CONNECTIONS
BY BRO.
ARTHUR M. ELLIS, CALIFORNIA
The
historical data herewith presented bearing on the Masonic connections of
Brother George Washington is of particular value to the Craft in that it has
been obtained from sources entirely independent of Masonic records or
traditions.
JOHN ADAMS, President of the United States, wrote a letter June
22, 1798, more than a year prior to Washington's death, in which he spoke of
Warren of Massachusetts, and other Masons, adding "Such examples as these and
a greater still in my venerable predecessor would have been sufficient to
induce me to hold the Institution and Fraternity in esteem and honor as
favorable to the support of civil authority, if I had not known their love of
the fine arts, their delight in hospitality, and devotion to humanity."
This contemporaneous endorsement of Masonry and the unqualified
recognition that Washington's connection with the fraternity was sufficient
warrant for giving approbation to it do not serve to quiet the clamors of the
enemies of Masonry. There are yet persons of influence who declare that
Washington discarded Masonry before the Revolutionary war. One of them
recently stated in print, "The Alexandria, Va., lodge has no claim on him, nor
has any other subsequent to 1768."
Masons are possessed of sources of information that serve to
make such statements ridiculous, but a resort to Masonic records and
traditions is of little avail with the hostile profane. There seems to have
been no serious attempt to examine the matter from the standpoint of the
unbiased historian. What proofs, if any, are there apart from the records and
documents under the control of Masonic lodges, that Washington was a constant
adherent to the Craft throughout his life and that it continued to receive his
approval and support ?
There are two important sources, which are not Masonic, which
are not now and which never have been, under Masonic control, and which are
available to those who seek the truth. The first is the collection of
Washington's correspondence in the Library of Congress; the second is the
newspapers of Washington's time. The contents of these are set forth in
Sachse's Masonic Correpondence of Washington and in Pennsylvania Sesqui-Centennial
Celebration of 1902 but no attempt has ever been made to critically consider
these and other public evidences in a group by themselves, and to appraise
their weight as such independent proof.
In 1834 and 1849 the United States Government purchased large
portions of Washington's papers from his family. These were stored in the
Department of State until 1903. They were then transferred to the Library of
Congress and first became available to the historian. Amongst them are many
letter books in which the secretaries employed by Washington placed copies of
letters and replies. There are also original drafts of various letters
entirely in the handwriting of Washington himself.
An examination of these documents and other data such as stand
entirely free from every possibility of contamination or bias through
connection with the Craft discloses the following:
The General Advertiser, a newspaper published in Philadelphia,
in its issue of Saturday, January 2, 1779, gives a full account of the public
celebration of St. John's Day, Dec. 28, 1778. Washington is there named as
having been the seventh person in the order of the procession. Three hundred
brethren marched in great solemnity to Christ Church.
Elkanah Watson, who afterward served this country as an agent
in France, delivered a large quantity of gunpowder to Washington at Cambridge
in 1775 when need of it was critical. The acquaintance thus begun was never
dropped. In 1782 Watson and his partner Cassoul sent a highly ornamented
Masonic apron to Washington from France. In his memoirs, published in 1856,
(page 135), Watson quotes the letter with which they transmitted the apron. In
it they. speak of Washington as being "a brother" and subscribe themselves as
having "the favor to be by all the known members your affectionate brothers."
The original draft of Washington's reply to this, all in the
handwriting of Washington, is in the Library of Congress. Amongst other things
he uses in it the following expression: "For your affectionate vows permit me
to be grateful and offer mine for true Brothers in all parts of the world."
The original letter is owned by the Grand Lodge of New York, but the draft has
never been in the possession or control of any Masonic organization.
The Pennsylvania Packet, published in Philadelphia, in its
issue of July 13, 1784, reads:
"Alexandria, July 1. On Thursday, the 24th ult. the brethren of
Lodge No. 39 met at their lodge room to celebrate the Festival of St. John the
Baptist, . . . after which they walked in procession accompanied by their
illustrious brother his excellency General Washington to Mr. Wise's tavern,
where they dined and spent the remainder of the day in enjoyments becoming
their benevolent and respectable institution."
In Washington's diary, Feb. 12, 1785, appears this:
"Received an Invitation to the Funeral of Willm Ramsay, Esqr.
of Alexandria - the oldest Inhabitt of the Town; & went up - walked in
procession as a free mason - Mr. Ramsay in his life time being one & now
buried with the ceremony
&
honors due to one."
In 1789 Washington became President, the capitol then being New
York. Rhode Island kept out of the Union until the following year. It then
acquiesced. In order to cement the friendly feeling Washington then made the
first Presidential tour and he visited Newport. Many different bodies there
paid their respects to him. King David's Lodge presented a written address
which most unequivocally was limited to fraternal relations. It read:
“To George Washington, President of the United States of
America. We the Master, Wardens and Brethren of King David's Lodge in New Port
Rhode Island with joyful hearts embrace this opportunity to greet you as a
Brother, and to hail you welcome to Rhode Island.... We felicitate ourselves
in the honor done the brotherhood by your many exemplary virtues and
emanations of goodness proceedil from a heart worthy of possessing the ancient
mysteries
of
our Craft; being persuaded that the wisdom and grace wit which heaven has
endowed you, will square all your thoughts, words, and actions by the eternal
laws of honour equity, and truth, so as to promote the advancement of all good
works, your own happiness, and that of mankind.
"Permit us then, illustrious Brother, cordially to salute you
with three times three and to add our fervent supplications that the sovereign
architect of the universe may always encompass you with his holy protection."
Washington's reply is as follows in part: "Being persuaded that
a just application of the principles which the Masonic Fraternity is founded,
must be promotive of private virtue and public prosperity, I shall always be
happy to advance the interests of the Society, and to be considered by them as
a deserving brother." The original address and letter are in the collection of
the Boston Athenaeum. They were published in the Newport Herald, August 26,
1790. A copy of each is in Letter Book II, fols. 27-29, Library of Congress,
in the handwriting of William Jackson, Wasington's Secretary.
In 1791 Washington went on his second Presidential
tour throughout the South.
St. John's Lodge, Newbern, North Carolina, presented
him an address on his arrival there April 20, 1791. In it they speak of him as
a "true and faithful brother, the skilful and expert craftsman, the just and
upright man." In his reply Washington spoke of the Masonic organization as
being "a fraternity whose association
is founded in justice and benevolence." Copies of both address and answer are
in Letter Book II, folios 47-49, Library of Congress, in the handwriting of
William Jackson.
Prince George's Lodge of Georgetown, South Carolina, presented
him a somewhat similar address, April 30, 1791. In it they said among other
things:
"We behold in you . . . a Brother of our most ancient and most
honorable Order . . ." In reply, Washington said in part, " . . . I am much
obliged by your good wishes and reciprocate them with sincerity, assuring the
fraternity of my esteem. I request them to believe that I shall always be
ambitious of being considered a deserving Brother."
These are entered in Letter Book II, fols. 60-61, in
Jackson's handwriting.
The Grand Master of South Carolina was General Mordecai Gist.
He had been a Brigadier General and Master of Military Lodge No. 27 in the
Maryland line. He wrote an address in behalf of the Grand Lodge, May 2, 1791.
In a portion of it he said:
"When we contemplate the distresses of war, the instances of
humanity displayed by the Craft afford some relief to the feeling mind; and it
gives us the most pleasing sensation to recollect, that amidst the
difficulties attendant on your late military stations, you still associated
with, and patronized the Ancient Fraternity. Distinguished always by your
virtues more than the exalted stations in which you have moved, we exult in
the opportunity you now give us of hailing you brother of our Order, and trust
from your knowledge of our institution, to merit your countenance and
support."
Washington in his reply made two positive statements
that should be carefully noted. One was "I recognize
with pleasure my relation to the brethren of your Society, and I accept with
gratitude your congratulations on my arrival in South Carolina. Your
sentiments on the establishment and exercise of our equal government are
worthy of an association, whose principles lead to purity of morals, and are
beneficial of action."
The other was: "I shall be happy, on every occasion to evince
my regard for the Fraternity."
Copies of the address and reply are in the Library of Congress
in the handwriting of Jackson. The address was printed in the Charleston City
Gazette, May 6, 1791.
A somewhat similar address was made by the Grand Lodge of
Georgia and it was replied to by Washington briefly in the same general
manner. Copies in Jackson's handwriting are in Letter Book II, fols. 77 and
78.
After 1792 the capitol was Philadelphia. On Jan. 3, 1792, the
Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania presented him an address in which they declare it
is done "in the pride of Fraternal affection," and express the hope that
Washington "may be long continued to adorn the bright list of master workmen
which our Fraternity produces in the terrestrial Lodge."
Washington's introductory sentence in reply was:
"Gentlemen and Brothers, I receive your kind congratulations with the purest
sensations of fraternal affection."
The address and reply are copied in Letter Book II, fols.
104-105 by Dandridge, Secretary to the President.
The Massachusetts Grand Lodge in the same year addressed him,
saying amongst other things that they had dedicated their Book of Constitution
to him, being "convinced of his attachment to its cause, and readiness to
encourage its benevolent designs."
In his reply Washington speaks of the lodge as "a Society whose
liberal principles must be founded in the immutable laws of truth and
justice," and says further, "To enlarge the sphere of social happiness is
worthy the benevolent design of a Masonic institution." Copies of both address
and reply are in Letter Book II, fols. 106-108 in the handwriting of
Dandridge.
On September 18, 1793, the cornerstone of the capitol building
at Washington was laid by Washington in concert with the Grand Lodge of
Maryland, and Lodge No. 22 from Alexandria, Virginia. Washington wore the
apron which had been presented to him by Lafayette. Numerous accounts of this
great Masonic event are in existence. The Maryland Gazette of Annapolis, Sept.
26, 1793, states that the cornerstone was laid by Washington, and on it was
deposed corn, wine and oil. The New York Journal and Patriotic Register of
Oct. 19, 1793, speaks of the Masonic procession as having been brilliant. The
account given in Columbian Mirror and Alexandria Gazette in its issue of Sept.
25, 1793, has been adopted by the official accounts of the laying of the
corner stone issued by the United States Government - House Document No. 211,
1896, Hundredth Anniversary of Capitol, p. 121 et seq.; History of U. S.
Capitol - Senate Document No. 60, 1900, Vol. I, p. 14 et seq. This account
states that Washington wore the Masonic apron given to him by Lafayette, that
he acted as Grand Master pro. tem. and that the corner stone was laid by him
"and his attendant brethren.
In December, 1796, the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania addressed
Washington, the occasion being the publication of his intention to retire from
public life. In his reply he addresses them as "Brothers" and says in part: "I
have received your address with all the feelings of brotherly affection,
mingled with those sentiments for the Society, which it was calculated to
excite." The address and reply are copied in Letter Book III, pp. 244-245, in
the handwriting of G. W. Craik, his secretary.
In March, 1797, Washington retired from the presidency and
returned to Mt. Vernon. Lodge 22 thereupon invited him to a Masonic dinner and
also presented him an address in writing. Washington attended the lodge April
1, 1797. His answer was then read in open lodge. The introductory portion of
it runs: "Brothers of the Ancient York Masons of Lodge No. 22: While my heart
acknowledges with Brotherly Love your affectionate congratulations on my
retirement from the arduous toils of past years, my gratitude is no less
excited by your kind wishes for my future happiness.'
The letter of the lodge, the address and Washington's reply are
copied in Letter Book II, folios 294-295, in the handwriting of Tobias Lear,
Washington's Secretary. Claypool's American Daily Advertiser of Philadelphia,
in its issue of April 11, 1797, gives an account of the meeting of Lodge 22.
After the meeting an "elegant" dinner was had. At this Washington offered the
toast, "The Lodge at Alexandria, and all Masons throughout the world."
In the same month the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts forwarded an
affectionate address to Washington, signed by Paul Revere, Grand Master. The
delivery of this was delayed for some unexplained reason. On its receipt
Washington at once forwarded to Revere a letter of apology for his delay in
answering. He also wrote a most careful and significant letter to the Grand
Lodge. The original draft of this letter, entirely in the handwriting of
Washington himself, containing several interlineations and modifications in
his own hand, is in the collection of manuscripts in the Library of Congress.
In this he addresses the members of the Grand Lodge as "Brothers." One of the
significant statements contained in it is the following: "My attachment to the
Society of which we are members will dispose me always to contribute my best
endeavours to promote the honor and interest of the Craft." He concludes the
letter with the following: "With the assurance of fraternal regard and best
wishes for the honor, happiness & prosperity of all the members of the Grand
Lodge of Massachusetts."
In 1798 trouble with France had reached such a stage that
Congress ordered an army to be raised and made Washington Lieut.-General. In
November he was in Baltimore and the Grand Lodge of Maryland presented him an
address in which they stated that it was "the greatest boast of their Society,
that a Washington openly avows himself a member of it and thinks it worthy of
his approbation." The draft of Washington's reply, sent from Elkton, Maryland,
Nov. 8, 1798, is in the Library of Congress. He addresses the members of the
Grand Lodge as "Gentlemen & Brothers." In it he makes the following
unqualified declaration:
"So far
as I am acquainted with the principles and doctrines of Freemasonry, I
conceive them to be founded on benevolence, and to be exercised for the good
of mankind; I cannot, therefore, upon this ground withhold my approbation of
it."
It is
subscribed thus:
“I am,
Gentlemen and Brothers,
Very
respectfully
Your most
ob't servant."
The Maryland letter was Washington's last written communication
bearing upon Masonry. His funeral, as is admitted everywhere, was a Masonic
one. Dr. E. C. Dick, Master, and Rev. James Muir, D. D., Chaplain of Lodge 22,
performed the funeral ceremonies. The General's apron was on the casket
together with his sword. Details as to the funeral were published broadcast
throughout the country.
Opponents of the Craft have sought to make capital of a letter
written by Washington to Rev. G. W. Snyder in 1798 prior to his letter to the
Grand Lodge of Maryland. They overlooked his second letter to Snyder, Oct. 24,
1798, in which he reiterates his faith in Masonic lodges. Rev. Snyder had
written to Washington and charged that "some of the lodges in the United
States" had caught the infection and cooperated with the Illuminati and
Jacobins. He further said that he thought Washington might block the progress
in "the English lodges over which you preside." The term "English lodge" had a
meaning at that time as distinctive and well-recognized as contrasted with
American Lodges as now are the York Rite and Scottish Rite. Immediately after
the American revolution a movement was started to withdraw the lodges of this
country entirely from allegiance to the English Grand Lodges. Many of the
lodges, however, insisted on retaining their English charters and it was
several decades before the American lodges had full possession of the field.
There were three "English lodges" in Quebec until very recently, as contrasted
with the great number of "Quebec" lodges." Hence, when Washington wrote that
Snyder was in error as to his presiding over the "English lodges" and that he
had not been in one more than once or twice in thirty years he was literally
correct. Such statements were called for in his reply as naturally as would a
similar answer be prompted now from a member of a Commandery who had never had
any connection with the Scottish Rite if he were urged to take some action
with respect to the activities of the Scottish Rite. Washington was urged by
Snyder to act in the "English lodges."
The details available from Masonic sources which cover the
skeleton of fact above outlined and give to Washington's Masonic connection
its life and color are far more important than the dry memoranda here set
forth. It may be serviceable, however, to many readers to have at hand the
foregoing succinct statement of indisputable facts established in complete
independence of any Masonic connection or influence that show the unreserved
recognition by Washington of his Masonic affiliation and also his unqualified
approbation of the fraternity throughout his life.
-------o------
ON THE
WAY
--------------
BY BRO.
G. A. NANCARROW, INDIANA
--------------
As we
travel on our journey
From our morning to our night,
Touching flowers by the wayside,
Sometimes losing in the fight;
As we taste of joy and sorrow,
Zeal and languor, love and hate,
Let us know, my wayside brother,
That there is no kinder fate.
When our
Parent came to planning
What His children here should do,
He, in wisdom, gave us labor-
Some for me and some for you;
Knowing well that, big and little,
Human hands will shape or mar
Just as idle boys make mischief
And the idle monarchs war.
By our
labors we must progress
On the rugged road we climb;
By our effort and endeavor
Live a growing life through time.
For this stop is but a moment
Twixt the life that we have done,
And another in the cycle
Of our evolution's run.
Would we
in the life to follow
Find a higher plane than here;
Would we walk above the level
We are treading in this sphere;
We must earn our fee of entrance
E'er we knock upon the door;
We must pay the price in labor
Or move backwards from this shore.
God holds
out His hand to aid us
Up the steeps that we must climb
Through this vale of failing effort
Toward that promised life sublime.
Let us grasp the hand He offers
Sending one hand down below,
To pull up some fainting brother
With a longer way to go.
--------o------
Good citizenship implies more than a mere negative goodness,
merely refraining from law-breaking of any sort. Duties of a positive nature
are imposed and these are incumbent upon us as a part of our Masonic
obligation. It can be insisted that we are bound, even more than others, to
support the institutions of the Republic and to uphold the American ideal and
principles. That such institutions and principles are akin, in very essence,
to the ideas and ideal of Masonry, is plain to those within and without the
Fraternity. - Robert Sterling Teague, P. G. M. Alabama.
---------o--------
The crown of all faculties is common sense; it is not enough to
do the right thing, it must be done at the right time and place. Talent knows
what to do; tact knows when and how to do it.
- W.
Matthews.
THE
CRYPTIC DEGREES
By Bro.
GUSTAV A. EITEL, MARYLAND
PART III
FROM
Moore's Free Masons Monthly Magazine for November, 1848, we have the following
account of the introduction of the Royal and Select Masters' Degrees, by
Albert G. Mackey, M. D., whom we in have come to consider authority on all
Masonic subjects upon which he writes:
"The
proper jurisdiction under which the Degrees of Royal and Select Master should
be placed is a question that is now beginning to excite considerable
discussion and much embarrassment among the fraternity. It is, therefore, the
duty of every brother who wishes this 'questio vexata' amicably and
judiciously, settled, to communicate to his brethren whatever he may suppose
will conduce to this 'consummation most devoutly to be wished.' Allow me to
throw in my mite. "The history of these degrees will show that the Chapters
and Councils are now contending for that to which neither ever had any
legitimate right. And it seems to me that the former are as much justified in
taking the jurisdiction of these degrees from the latter, as these were in
taking it some years ago from the administrative body of the Ancient and
Accepted Rite, to which it originally belonged. The controversy terminates in
a contest for the distribution of the spoils of war.
"These
degrees of right belong to the Supreme Council of the 33d Degree, Ancient
Scottish Rite, and the claim to them has never been abandoned by that body.
At the establishment of the Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem, in
Charleston, S. C., on the 20th February, 1788, by brothers Joseph Myers,
Barend M. Spitzer and A. Forst, Deputy Inspectors-General of Frederick II., of
Prussia, Myers deposited in the archives of the Council certified copies of
the said degrees from Berlin, in Prussia, placing them at the same time under
the care and jurisdiction of this body. Copies of these degrees are still
retained in the archives of the Supreme Grand Council at Charleston."
(Brother
Mackey then refers to the communication sent by the Grand Chapter of Maryland
to the Grand Chapter of South Carolina, and its action there-on as quoted
elsewhere, in which an adverse report was made by the committee, and the Grand
Chapter decided that it was improper and inexpedient to issue a jurisdiction
of these degrees, and thus interfere with the rights and privileges of their
brethren and companions in another and higher order of Free Masonry.)
Continuing, he says:
"The
Supreme Council for the Southern States has never abandoned its claim to these
degrees. It has organized Councils of Royal and Select Masters, in other
States, as, for instance, in Mississippi and South Carolina, either directly,
or through the intervention of its subordinate Councils of Princes of
Jerusalem, and although no application has lately been made to this body for a
charter for a Royal and Select Council, I see not how, without impairing its
rights, it could refuse to grant a charter when applied for by 'true and
trusty' persons. In fact, the degrees continue to be given by our Inspectors,
and as there are now no Royal and Select Councils in South Carolina, the old
ones being extinct, the degrees can only be obtained from such authority.
Brother Barker, who, perhaps, constituted as many Councils of Royal and Select
Masters as any other man in the United States, did so only as a Deputy
Inspector-General and the agent of the Supreme Council, and, therefore,
although I have not time to hunt up statistics, I have no hesitation in
believing that half the Councils and Grand Councils in the country owe their
existence, and with it their original allegiance, to the Ancient Scottish
Rite.
"The
matter, however, has now become inextricably confused, and I know of but one
method of getting out of the difficulty. Although the Supreme Councils of the
33d are not willing to have their authority and rights wrested from them vi et
armis, I have no doubt - but I do not speak officially - that for the good of
Masonry they would willingly enter into any compromise. Let a convention of
Royal and Select Masters be held at some central point. To this convention
let the most intelligent companions, legitimately possessing the degrees,
whether from Councils of Royal and Select Masters, as in most of the States,
from Royal Arch Chapters, as in Virginia, or from Councils of Princes of
Jerusalem, or from Grand Inspectors-General, as in South Carolina and
Mississippi - let the wisdom there congregated be directed to the amicable
settlement of this dispute. The important point is not to have these degrees
placed in any particular order, but to make the mode and manner of conferring
them, whether it be before or after the Royal Arch, uniform throughout the
country. The decision made for two successive triennial meetings by the
General Grand Chapter, viz., in 1844 and 1847, as tending to destroy this
uniformity and produce 'confusion worse confounded,' can not but be regretted
by all good Masons."
It will
be seen that the degrees were cultivated in South Carolina, or at least the
Select Degree, at an early date. In consequence of the authority by which the
degrees were conferred, the Grand Council system was not recognized, but the
Supreme Council was regarded as the lawful governing power. Accordingly, in
1858 and 1859, nine Councils were chartered by that body. In deference to the
usage in other jurisdictions the Supreme Council (Scottish Rite) waived its
claims and a Grand Council was formed in Charleston on February 15, 1860. The
Minutes of this Assembly were published with the proceedings of the Grand
Chapter.
Companion
George W. Warvelle, LL. D., Pas Grand Master and Grand Recorder of the Grand
Council of Illinois, is another Masonic scholar and writer who emphatically
dissents from the Scottish Rite claims and theory. For more than a score of
years he has been searching for "facts" in lieu of "fables" and "traditions."
The discoveries of his research have been presented from time to time.
Space
prevents reproducing all he has written on this subject. One of his earlier
contributions is:
GENESIS
OF THE DEGREE OF ROYAL MASTER MASON
AN
ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE THIRD MASS CONVENTION OF THE ROYAL AND SELECT
MASTERS OF ILLINOIS, AT PEORIA, SEPTEMBER 6, 1893.
I had
found in my reading that much - nearly all - that had been said or written
upon this subject in recent years was but a repetition of old statements made
at a time when the knowledge of the Rite was very limited, and the sources of
information not as accessible as at present; that little or no attempt was
made at verification, and that, in many instances, these same old statements,
taken oftimes at second hand, had been coloured, changed or distorted in the
retelling to suit the varying fancies of the narrators. It was the confusion
created by these discordant recitals that stimulated me in the first instance
to investigate the subject for myself, and it was the facts as I found them
that induced me to communicate them to you. I entered upon this work with
neither prejudice or bias, and in my investigations I sought only to ascertain
the truth. I endeavoured, so far as I was able, to separate the real facts
from the fancies and fictions into which they had become imbedded, and to
weigh, with impartiality and fairness, the evidence that was offered in
support of the various theories which at different times have been advanced.
The effect of my inquiries was to cause a thorough revision of many of my own
previously conceived opinions concerning these degrees and the complete
rejection of a number of matters that had formerly commanded my implicit
belief, and as the conclusions which I announced were in many respects opposed
to certain generally received and hitherto unquestioned theories of origin, I
have, during the year that has intervened, continued my researches with a view
to demonstrate either their correctness or fallacy. In so doing I have
necessarily expanded my field of operations and at the same time examined with
greater scrutiny the ground already traversed, and while, in a few minor
particulars, some slight changes have been made, the general tendency of my
search has only been to strengthen the position which I assumed in my address
of last year.
I have
brought together for your consideration today a few facts relating to the
degree of Royal Master, some of which have only been discovered within very
recent years, and to them I append my own conclusions. If these latter should
differ from those reached by men who are older and wiser than myself I can
only say, it is with no disparagement of the thoughts or opinions of others
that I offer my own; I reason from the light that is within me; possibly I am
mistaken, but I think I am right, and so thinking I do not hesitate to express
my views.
The "high
degrees" in this country, at the commencement of the present century, may well
be said to have been "without form and void." They consisted, in the main, of
a chaotic mass of pompous titles, borrowed in many instances from extinct
orders and societies, with feeble expositions of Masonic legends strangely
blended with Hermetic philosophy and weak imitations of medieval chivalry.
They were conferred with little or no attempt at ritualistic elaboration,
while the dramatic effects which constitute such conspicuous features in the
liturgies of today were practically unknown. As a rule they were composed of
nothing more than a meagre recital of traditional history, supplemented
possibly by a brief "lecture" or catechism, while many possessed not even this
amount of substance. With the exception of the Capitular degrees no effort
had been made at organization, and the warrant of a Master's lodge was
generally considered a sufficient authority to legitimatize the conferring of
any and all degrees of which any of the members might be possessed, if, as was
sometimes the ease, the conferant did not himself claim powers still greater.
A lingering recollection of the Rite of Perfection was preserved in some
localities by individuals who claimed authority under the original grant of
power to Stephen Morin and a little band of zealous Masons at Charleston,
S.C., had vainly endeavoured about this time to assert an organized expression
of the ineffable grades of that system under the name of Ancient Accepted
Scottish Rite, while a rival society, with the same object in view, was soon
afterwards started in New York. The best efforts of both bodies were,
however, productive of but little in the way of tangible results, and it was
not until fifty years afterwards that the matchless genius of Albert Pike gave
shape and purpose to the Scottish Rite.
Among the
many degrees that ambition or avarice brought into existence or rescued from
oblivion about this time was that of Royal Master Mason. From whence it was
derived or how it originated we know absolutely nothing, and though there has
not been wanting astute historians to trace its genealogy and declare its
primary symbolism, no proof has yet been offered to substantiate the
statements or support the theories which these ingenious gentlemen have
advanced.
While the
"high degrees" of every kind and nature were conferred indiscriminately by any
person who might see fit to arrogate a power for that purpose, yet they were
in the main dispensed by a number of gentlemen who posed under the dignified
title of Inspectors General and who claimed absolute dominion over the entire
Masonic world as "Princes and Chiefs of Exalted Masonry." The authority for
this broad claim rested upon a delegation of power said to have been
transmitted from Frederick II of Prussia at various times subsequent to the
year 1762, and upon the assumption that Frederick himself possessed "the
sovereign Masonic power over the craft." (4) With these claims or pretensions
we as Cryptic Masons would have little or no concern were it not that certain
high dignitaries of the system which was established upon the remains of the
defunct Rite of Perfection have at various times asserted a right of control
or dominion over all of the Cryptic degrees, and that these claims have been
wholly relinquished only within very recent years. In view of these facts an
inquiry into the legitimacy of the claim is imposed upon every one who seeks
to discover origin or trace descent, yet it is not my purpose at this time, to
open the questions involved nor to discuss the subject in its general phases,
and, save as it may incidentally occur, I shall attempt no argument with
reference to Scottish Rite claims as applied to the Cryptic degrees in
general, but will briefly summarize so much thereof as refers to the Royal
Degree.
So far as
I have been able to learn no Inspector of the Rite of Perfection ever made a
personal assertion of any knowledge of the Royal degree or claimed any rights
in connection therewith in virtue of his Inspectorship; the name itself cannot
be found in any of the patents, diplomas or other documents issued in
connection with that rite, although in most cases a full enumeration of the
degrees possessed by the patentee and which he was authorized to confer were
set forth in every grant of power. Nor did the Supreme Council A.A.S.R. at
its establishment in 1801 make any claim with reference thereto, nor does the
name thereof appear in any of the documents which it issued at that time. At
the institution of the Supreme Council a full scale of degrees was adopted and
announced to the Masonic world; they were thirty-three in number, including
those theretofore exclusively controlled by the Symbolic Lodge, Their names
and numerical progression were all set forth in orderly arrangement, and over
the system thus promulgated the Supreme Council claimed original and exclusive
jurisdiction. This claim, with the exception of the Symbolic degrees, has
generally been recognized as just, and for years has been acquiesced in by the
Masonic powers of both hemispheres. Of the degrees composing the curriculum
of the new rite, some - the majority - were taken from the old Scale of the
Rite of Perfection; some were appropriated from the many "detached" degrees of
the period, and some were invented for the occasion by the framers of the
system; eclecticism in Masonry was then the order of the day, (5) and the
right to appropriate and had was not seriously disputed. But the Supreme
Council asserted jurisdiction only over the regular series of degrees which it
then promulgated as its own; whatever else might have been in the possession
or within the knowledge of its members was left with them for their disposal
or use, and in the manifesto which announced its organization this fact was
distinctly stated. In that remarkable document it was said that some - not
all - of the Inspectors were it the individual possession of other degrees,
"given in different parts of the world," which they conferred at their
pleasure upon those who were high enough to understand them." (6) A partial
enumeration of such detached degrees then followed, and, while a mention is
made of "Select Masons of 27," no reference can be found to the degree of
Royal Master. This statement is the basis of the Scottish Rite claim of
dominion over the Cryptic degrees, and while it is possible that among the
side degree of which "most of the Inspectors" were in possession, there might
have been that of Royal Master, yet there is no proof that such was the fact.
But even conceding that it may have been known to some of the members it was
nevertheless individual property and the Supreme Council never officially
asserted a jurisdictional right thereto until fifty years afterwards. In 1827,
ten years after the formation of Councils and Grand Councils of the dual body
of Royal and Select masters, and nearly twenty years after the regular
organization of either degree as separate bodies, Bro. Moses Holbrook, then a
high officer of the Southern Supreme Council, reported to the Grand Chapter of
South Carolina that he had ascertained that the degrees of Royal and Select
Masters were brought from Berlin, Prussia, by one Joseph Myers in 1778, (7)
and that certified copies thereof, which he had been privileged to inspect,
were deposited with the Council of the Princes of Jerusalem at Charleston.
This statement, although not emanating directly from the Supreme Council,
which at that time was practically in a moribund condition, has formed the
mainstay of all subsequent claims in which direct authority has been sought to
be asserted by that body. I have no doubt but what Bro. Holbrook's report was
made in perfect good faith and a sincere belief that what he had ascertained
was true. The period of his report was an age of credulity in all matters
connected with Masonry; myths and fictions were readily received as
incontestable facts; forgeries passed current without question, and histories
evolved from the vivid imaginations of the writers supplied the place of more
authentic data. But later years have discredited the facts upon which Bro.
Holbrook relied, and the student of today classes the Berlin constitutions in
the same category as the pious frauds of the early Christian churchmen. ln
1850, or thereabouts, the Southern Supreme Council, at the instance of Bro.
Mackey, (8) formally assumed jurisdiction of both degrees by granting charters
of constitution, and this right was maintained until 1870, when by resolution
the Cryptic Council was recognized as "a separate and distinct organization in
Masonry," and further control over it was "relinquished." (9) There were at
this time twenty-eight Grand Councils in existence.
Neither
the Grand Consistory nor Supreme Council established at New York by Bro.
Joseph Cerneau ever made any claim to the Royal degree, notwithstanding it was
so reported for many years, nor did any of its Inspectors claim authority over
the Rite. No inquiry, therefore, is raised with respect to this body.
The
Northern Supreme Council was established at New York in 1813, but not until
three years after the organization of a Council of Royal Masters in the same
city. Its powers and authority were derived from the parent body at
Charleston and it professed only to exercise jurisdiction over the 33 degrees
which then as now constituted the Scottish Rite. From its organization until
1844 it was practicedly dormant, and it was not until 1860 that its present
career of activity commenced. In 1850 this body, for the first time, asserted
a claim over all of the degrees of the Cryptic Rite including the
Super-Excellent, alleging that it had been the custom "from time immemorial"
to communicate them "in the side chambers of our Holy Temple." (10) The
Northern Sup. Council at this time consisted nominally of four individuals
but was centred, in reality, in the person of Bro. James J. J. Gourgas, then a
very old and infirm man. The action of Bro. Gourgas in making this claim was
doubtless prompted by the attitude then recently taken by the Southern Sup.
Council, and while the Southern body never made any claim with respect to the
Super-Excellent, I presume Bro. Gourgas thought he might as well take all as a
part. The fiction of authority was maintained by the Northern Supreme
Councils, (11) regular and irregular, until the time of the "Union" in 1867
when by common consent the matter was dropped and has not since been heard of.
Such, in
brief, is the history of Scottish Rite claim and dominion over the Royal
degree. It was never a part of the Scottish system; illustrates none of its
symbolism; has no connection, directly or indirectly, with any of its degrees,
and no right of control, other than that which flows from simple
appropriation, has ever been shown. It is difficult at this time to
understand the reasons which prompted the leaders of that rite to retain such
a tenacious hold upon it, and the only rational explanation that can now be
advanced is that it was held under a mistake of fact and that to the imperfect
knowledge of the times must we attribute the first assumption of authority
over it.
From all
that I have thus far been able to learn, I am strongly of the opinion that the
degree of Royal Master was invented during the early part of the present
century and that it had its origin at the city of New York. If it existed
prior to the year 1800 or was ever conferred at other places no record thereof
has ever been found nor is any reference made thereto in contemporary
documents. I have made a most diligent search through all the channels of
information that were at my command and have through an extensive
correspondence pushed my inquiries in every direction from whence a knowledge
of this subject might be expected. By whom it was invented we do not know,
yet it is certain that for its promotion and diffusion we are indebted to Bro.
Thomas Lownds. This fact has been placed beyond dispute by the comparatively
recent discovery of the old minute book of the Council established by Lownds
at New York, and a number of hitherto doubtful questions in connection with
the early exploitation of this degree have, by this discovery, been definitely
solved.
From
these old records it would seem that on Sept 2, 1810 at St. John's Hall in the
city of New York, sixteen persons met and organized a Council of Royal Master
Masons, to "be known and distinguished by the name of Columbian Grand
Council." This was the first systematic effort at organization ever made of
either of the Cryptic degrees, for while Bro. Eckel, at Baltimore, was wont to
organize Councils for the purpose of conferring the Select degree, yet such
Councils seem to have been of a temporary character and for the purpose of
each particular occasion only. The fact that sixteen persons met for the
purpose above indicated establishes, as a necessary corollary, the further
fact that at this time the degree was in existence and had been conferred by
other authority and that parties were then in possession of it. This fact is
further emphasized by entries in the record of the admission of persons as
"adjoining" members. The natural inference, therefore, is that prior to the
establishment of Columbian Council, the degree like many others of that period
had been conferred by individual communication. It was for many years
supposed that this Council owed its existence to Joseph Cerneau, who at that
time was a resident of New York and an active worker in a Scottish Rite body
which he had established there. In many of the arguments which have been
advanced to sustain the Scottish Rite theory of origin, this statement has
been repeatedly made as an historical fact, and until the discovery of this
record, was accepted by a majority of the Masonic historians as true. But it
now, seems that Cerneau was never in any manner connected with this body
either as an officer or member and his name is not even mentioned once in the
entire record. Nor is there the slightest intimation that the degree was
either derived from or subsidiary to the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite
or any superior body of any kind, and, unlike most of the Inspector's degrees
which were endowed with much florid rhetoric in the statement of the authority
by which they were conferred, it seems to have been organized in much the,
same manner as the Capitular degrees had been a few years preceding. Nor is
there any reference to the Scottish Rite with respect to qualifications for
the degree which seems to have been conferred, without regard to other
affiliations, on Master Masons. Indeed, the only titles or other matters
appended to the names of the officers or members was their rank in Symbolic
Masonry or their lodge affiliation and during the earlier years this latter is
found after the names of all candidates receiving the degree.
A strong
reason for believing that Thomas Lownds was the originator or at least the
first disseminator of the Royal degree in America, is afforded in the fact
that in Columbian Council he also conferred other degrees now totally unknown
and which so far as I have been able to learn, were never conferred by any of
the Inspectors connected with the Supreme Councils either at Charleston or New
York. These degrees, in name if not in substance, were distinctively English,
and by no process of reasoning can they be connected with the high degree
systems of any of the continental rites. Thus on Dec. 7, 1810, a Council of
"Knights of the Round Table" was opened by the "Illustrious Abbot, Lownds,"
(12) and on March 4, 1811, a Chapter of "Illustrious Knights of the Hon. Order
of the Garter" was opened by "Grand Prelate Lownds.", (13) it will require no
demonstrations to show that both of these diversions were the inventions of
the times, and it is but fair to ascribe them to the man who organized this
body and for more than ten years presided at every meeting thereof.
In my
address of last year I adverted to the fact that it is to Columbian Council we
are indebted for the Super-Excellent degree as a regular part of our system.
It is true that a degree bearing this name was conferred in connection with
the Royal Arch, both in England and America, as early as 1760, and at one time
I supposed the two to be identical. But since I last addressed you I have
secured copies of the rituals of both the Excellent and Super-Excellent
degrees of the old Royal Arch system and find them to be essentially different
from the present degree both in historical scope and symbolic teaching, while
an inspection of the old Royal Arch ritual, of which I also now have a copy,
demonstrates that it could have had no connection therewith and must have been
fabricated after Webb's adaptation had been made. The inference is
irresistible that it was invented in New York, probably by Lownds himself, at
or near the time when he first gave it publicity. The first mention of the
degree which I have been able to find is under date of Dec. 22, 1817, when a
Super-Excellent "Lodge" was opened in "ample form" and several Companions
received. From this time forward it was regularly "worked" and finds frequent
mention in the minutes, wholly displacing in about a year after its
introduction the "Invincible Order of the Round Table."
Columbian
Council, from the time of its organization until 1823, met regularly as an
independent body, but in this year a Grand Council was formed to control the
degrees of Royal and Select Master, and Columbian Council surrendering its
title of "Grand," became a constituent of the new body as No. 1 of its
registry.
In 1816
it would seem the Council abrogated the rule which permitted Master Masons to
receive the degree, and from this time on only Royal Arch Masons were
accepted. In December, 1817, a communication was received from Boston, Mass.,
showing that a Council of Royal Masters had been established there "within the
present year," and that "they acknowledge, with much respect, the senior
establishment in New York, and with their advocates do honour to same." They
further pray for "written sanction" and "that they may be confirmed in their
Masonic labours." The sanction was granted. It would thus appear that this
Council was regarded at this time as a legitimate source of authority for the
dissemination of the degree.
In
December, 1821, the Council of Select Masters, established by Cross,
petitioned Columbian Council for a union and such proceedings were then had as
resulted in a merger of the two bodies. The minutes with respect to this
interesting event are, however, extreme meagre and perhaps "absorption" would
more fitly characterize the action than any other term that could be
employed. Thereafter the Select degree was regularly conferred in the same
order as at present, but the name of the body continued to be Columbian
Council of Royal Master Masons.
On
January 18, 1823, it was resolved that it was expedient to form a "Grand
Council of Royal Master Masons and Select Masons" for the State of New York,
and in pursuance of such resolution a Grand Council was on January 25 duly
organized, which claimed "of right the government and superintendence of all
Royal Master Masons and Select Masons in the said State."
Such,
brethren, is a rough outline of the beginning of the Royal degree in America
so far as the same is now known. To Thomas Lownds must be ascribed the credit
for its life, and to Columbian Council the honour of its first organized
existence.
In 1818,
Bro. Jeremy Cross, who had previously obtained the Select degree at Baltimore,
in some manner became "possessed" of the Royal degree as well, whereupon he
joined the two together under one government and out of the plentitudis of his
own power established a new system which he christened "Councils of Royal and
Select Masters," and of which he at once became the missionary and apostle.
This (1818) is the earliest date at which the title "Royal and Select Masters"
was used, and all reference thereto at any time anterior must now be regarded
as a mistake or a fabrication.
In
1827-8, Bro. John Barker, emulating the fame and envying the gain which Bro.
Cross was acquiring as a "disseminator" of Cryptic light, resolved to enter
the field himself. As Bro. Cross had credentials from the "Grand Council of
Select" at Baltimore, which subsequent developments have tended to show were
spurious, (14) so Bro. Barker travelled as the "agent" of the Southern Supreme
Council, 33, but the authority thereof has never been shown and is subject to
much doubt. At all events neither party worked for or accounted to any other
than themselves, and the charters given by them purported to be issued only on
their own authority. In later years attempts have been made to substantiate
the claim of Scottish Rite origin and consequent jurisdiction by the labours
of Barker. As a matter of fact, however, Barker's "agency" was simply an
excuse for some show of authority. I do not understand that he ever had a
commission from the Supreme Council for this purpose. His charters were
granted in his own name and not in the name of the Supreme Council; his
rituals were modifications of the Cross lectures, and the "emoluments" of his
"agency" enriched no one but himself. It was at one time supposed that Barker
obtained his degrees from Cross, but it would now seem that he was greeted in
Columbian Council, Nov. 25, 1821, (15) receiving the degrees from the hands of
Thomas Lownds.
Through
the labours of Cross, Cushman and Barker, the degree has been preserved and
disseminated, and while the methods employed by these ancient worthies have at
times been severely criticized, it must be remembered that age and environment
have much to do with the formation of judgment and shaping of opinions. The
itinerant lecturer and degree peddler was an established feature in American
Masonry until as late as 1840. His services, never lavishly rewarded, did
much to shape, protect and perpetuate the uniformity of ritual and symbolism,
and while the present age has outgrown the crude methods of the fathers, we
can well afford in the enjoyment of the legacy they have bequeathed to us to
condone their faults and forgive their transgressions. It is immaterial at
this day that they made merchandise of degrees or sold charters on
manufactured authority; they but followed the precedents of the times. Their
motives were good and presumably their wares were worth the price which they
charged, and posterity, as a rule, has done honour to their memory.
Now one
word more regarding these addresses and I have finished. I did not expect
when I addressed you last year that all of my statements would meet with ready
assent or my conclusions pass unchallenged. Old myths die hard and men do
not, as a rule, give up the convictions of a lifetime without a protest. But
nothing has more strongly characterized the literary life of Masonry during
the past twenty-five years than its freedom from the shackles of unverified
tradition and imaginative history. The love of truth, "for truth's sake" has
exerted a strong influence upon the work of the later day historian and his
active efforts have been directed in attempts to show the past as it was and
not what it should have been in order to sustain fanciful theories or old
traditions. To do this he must at times appear a veritable iconoclast, and
the worshippers at the shrines he shatters regard him with but little favour.
That my work in this respect should be criticised and questioned I fully
expected, but I was not prepared for the personal attacks, vilification and
abuse which, in some quarters, a difference of opinion seems to have
provoked. I shall continue, however, in the path I have marked out,
regardless of the sneers, denunciations, or super-arrogant airs of superior
learning which some of my captious critics have employed in the discussion of
my views and opinions. I believe the statements of fact which I have made to
be correct and feel that my conclusions are sound. Should time and
circumstances permit I shall have more to say on the Cryptic Rite at our next
meeting, shattering, perhaps, another idol or two and opening up a new vista
with a broader horizon and higher mental plane. Nothing is now to be gained
by concealment or a blind adherence to old beliefs or antiquated fictions.
Let us fully, freely and fairly, investigate the old canons for ourselves,
with an abiding confidence in the apostolic injunction that "the truth shall
make us free."
Another
contribution by Companion Warvelle (1907) is "The German and French
Traditions" which has been copied by nearly all the correspondent writers.
Although
printed in our 1908 proceedings they will well bear reproduction in this paper
with his other writings, from which we have copied so free.
I presume
there are few of you who at some time have not seen or heard the old and
persistent story of Joseph Myers' importation of the Cryptic degrees. As the
story goes, Myers brought the degrees from Berlin, Pruska, and in the year
1781, or 1788, for the accounts differ, he deposited the rituals in the Lodge
of Perfection at Charleston and thereafter committed the authority for their
diffusion to the Chiefs of Sublime Masonry resident in that city. It was not
until about forty years after the alleged deposit, and not until many years
after the establishment of Grand Councils, that the Chiefs made the facts
known. Inasmuch as they were unable to produce the original rituals or any
evidence of Myers' authority in the matter, the Masonic students have always
regarded the statements as a sort of pipe dream on the part of the Chiefs, and
as something unworthy of credence.
I am
inclined to believe that the story, to some extent at least, rests on a
knowledge of the practices of the early German lodges and the coincidences
found in the Select Master degree. Thus, from the earliest descriptions of
the Council chamber that have come down to us we find a prescription of
triangular tables, with a light on each angle, to be placed before the
officers in the East. Neither the ritual nor its accompanying lectures
furnish us with any very satisfactory explanation of this furniture. In the
absence of such explanations we can only conclude that it represents an
archaic survival, the original significance of which has been lost. But this
form of table, and arrangement of lights, was employed in the German lodges
during the first half of the Eighteenth century, and particularly is this true
of the lodges located at Berlin. From the fact, therefore, of the coincidence
of custom in the Berlin lodges and in the Select degree in America, it would
be an easy matter for a lively imagination to deraign a descent of the latter
from the former.
I have
lately come across a little book published at Sulzbach, Germany, in 1803. In
this book the author, speaking of the initiation of Prince William of Prussia
by Frederick the Great in 1740, describes an old and rare engraving in his
possession.
He then
describes the picture of which I venture a free translation as follows:
"The King
sits in the Master's chair. Before him is an altar-shaped table upon which,
in the form of a triangle, are placed three burning tapers. Near them are
laid a sword, a gavel and skull. At the left hand of Frederick stands a
warden. Before the table, without either sword or hat (which two brethren are
holding) stands Prince William taking the oath."
I do not
profess to be an adept in the translation of eighteenth century German but I
think I have faithfully rendered the spirit of the original. From the
foregoing it will be seen that the East of the early German lodges resembled
in some respects the East of a Council of Select Masters and it is from this
circumstance, probably, that the Chiefs of the Sublime Degrees at Charleston
evolved the romance of Joseph Myers' importation of the Rite. A very searching
investigation a few years ago revealed the fact that the Cryptic degrees are
utterly unknown in Germany and, so far as could be ascertained, had never been
heard of in that country.
For many
years the French tradition of Cryptic origins and diffusion was received
without question. Even such a Masonic scholar as the late Josiah H. Drummond
endorsed the stories, for there were two of them, and in his published
writings stated them as historic facts. Further investigation subsequently
induced him to discard his earlier opinions and to characterize the legends as
untrue, or, at least, as not proved. Many persons, however, still cling to
the old exploded fables and the pseudo historian still drives his trade, as is
apparent from the lucid expositions which from time to time appear in the
Masonic press.
One story
is that Henry A. Francken, a Hebrew peddler of eighteenth century high degree
Masonry, in the year 1767, introduced the degrees of the Cryptic Rite into the
States of New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island by the institution of
Councils. As late as 1875 this story was generally accepted as correct. Just
how, or where, or when, Francken received his degrees was never stated, but he
was an Inspector General of the "Ineffable and Sublime" degrees and as the
Inspectors generally carried everything that any reasonable person could ask
for, so it was assumed that he came rightfully by the Cryptic grades and had
authority to sell them. Francken's stock in trade was supposed to have been
imported from France.
Another
story was that Joseph Cerneau brought the degree of Royal Master to the City
of New York, and in the year 1807 established a Council for its exploitation.
Cerneau's authority was supposed to have been derived from the Grand
Consistory in France.
Both of
these romances passed current as genuine Cryptic history and were accepted by
Mackey and other writers. And particularly were they received by those who
sought to trace the genealogy of the Cryptic degrees through the Scottish
Rite.
With
respect to the first story there is not a scintilla of evidence to show that
either of the Cryptic degrees were in existence in 1767, or that Francken ever
heard of them, or that he ever conferred them. The whole story seems to be a
pure fabrication. It grew out of the fact that Francken visited the City of
New York in 1767, and while there conferred the degrees of the Lodge of
Perfection on two gentlemen from Albany. Subsequently he gave them a warrant
for the establishment of a lodge. The old records of these transactions, at
one time supposed to have been destroyed, have been recovered, and there is
not the slightest reference to the Cryptic degrees or a shadow of a foundation
for the oft repeated yarn of Francken's introduction of the Rite.
The other
tale is equally destitute of truth. Cerneau was a resident of New York in
1807, at which time a Council of Royal Master Masons was organized and from
this circumstance the imaginative historians deduced the fact that he was the
organizer. The old minutes of this Council were found a few years ago and
from them it appears that Cerneau had nothing to do with its organization and
that he was not even a member of the body.
But old
myths die hard. The Scottish Rite historians are loath to relinquish their
long maintained hold on the genesis of the Cryptic degrees, and
notwithstanding that the falsity of their claims has been often demonstrated
they still continue to assert both the German and French traditions in support
of their contentions. From time to time, in his "historical Notes," and under
other captions, Companion Warvelle has contributed much more on this subject,
all of which we would like to present for our Companions, but we are reminded
that paper and printer's ink cost money, and we will have to be content by
quoting the closing paragraph of one of his later "Notes."
"* * *
Now what we want from the men whose views are not 'erroneous' is some tangible
evidence, properly authenticated, to show the conferring of the Royal Master's
degree at any time prior to the year 1805, at any place other than the city of
New York, and by any other person than Thomas Lownds. To show the conferring
of the Select Master's degree at any time prior to the year 1790, at any place
other than the city of Baltimore, and by any other person than Henry Wilmans.
To show the conferring of the two degrees combined into one system at any time
prior to the year 1818, at any place other than Hartford, Conn., and by any
person other than Jeremy Cross. Will the gentlemen who have the 'facts'
please produce them?"
Your
committee believe they have "culled" nearly all the important data connected
with the origin and the dissemination of the Cryptic degrees and have
presented the views of the most prominently known Masonic students, historians
and writers who have contributed to the history of the degrees covering a
century or more.
Of those
dissenting from the Scottish Rite claim or theory, Companion Schultz has
devoted most of his research to the Select degree, while Companion Warvelle
seems to have made the tracing of the Royal Master's degree his favourite
study.
(4) See
circular Sup. Council, S.M.J., Dec. 4, 1802. (5) Pike's Dissection of a
Manifests, p. 40. (6) Manifesto Sup. Council A.A.S.R., 1802. See also
Dalcho's Orations, Charleston, 1807. (7) Mackey says the degrees were first
introduced in 1783. See address to Grand Council S.C., 1870. (8) See address
to Grand Council of South Carolina, 1870. (9) Pro. Sup. Council S.M.J., 1870.
(10) See Reprint N.M.J., Vol. 1, Pt. I, pp. 212, 214. (11) "See
Constitutions N. M. J., 1860. (12) See Proceedings Columbian Council, p. 5.
(13) Ibid. (14) Cross purported to work under a commission of this kind and
his original grant of power was until very lately to be seen in New York. The
genuineness of this document has been questioned, however, and Bro. Drummond,
who caused a photographic copy to be taken and submitted to experts, now
pronounces the commission a forgery. Bro. Schultz, of Baltimore, after an
investigation is of the same opinion. (15) See records Columbian Council, p.
31
FOR THE
MONTHLY LODGE MEETING
CORRESPONDENCE CIRCLE BULLETIN NO. 38
Edited by
Bro. H. L. Haywood
THE
BULLETIN COURSE OF MASONIC STUDY FOR MONTHLY LODGE MEETINGS AND STUDY CLUBS
FOUNDATION OF THE COURSE
THE
Course of Study has for its foundation two sources of Masonic information: THE
BUILDER and Mackey's Encyclopedia. In another paragraph is explained how the
references to former issues of THE BUILDER and to Mackey's Encyclopedia may be
worked up as supplemental papers to exactly fit into each installment of the
Course with the papers by Brother Haywood.
MAIN
OUTLINE:
The
Course is divided into five principal divisions which are in turn subdivided,
as is shown below:
Division
I. Ceremonial Masonry.
A. The
Work of the Lodge.
B. The
Lodge and the Candidate.
C. First
Steps.
D. Second
Steps.
E. Third
Steps.
Division
II. Symbolical Masonry.
A.
Clothing.
B.
Working Tools.
C.
Furniture.
D.
Architecture.
E.
Geometry.
F.
Signs.
G.
Words.
H. Grips.
Division
III. Philosophical Masonry.
A.
Foundations.
B.
Virtues.
C.
Ethics.
D.
Religious Aspect.
E. The
Quest.
F.
Mysticism.
G. The
Secret Doctrine.
Division
IV. Legislative Masonry.
A. The
Grand Lodge.
1.
Ancient Constitutions.
2. Codes
of Law.
3. Grand
Lodge Practices.
4.
Relationship to Constituent Lodges.
5.
Official Duties and Prerogatives.
B. The
Constituent Lodge.
1.
Organization.
2.
Qualifications of Candidates.
3.
Initiation, Passing and Raising.
4.
Visitation.
5. Change
of Membership.
Division
V. Historical Masonry.
A. The
Mysteries--Earliest Masonic Light.
B.
Studies of Rites--Masonry in the Making.
C.
Contributions to Lodge Characteristics.
D.
National Masonry.
E.
Parallel Peculiarities in Lodge Study.
F.
Feminine Masonry.
G.
Masonic Alphabets.
H.
Historical Manuscripts of the Craft.
I.
Biographical Masonry.
J.
Philological Masonry--Study of Significant Words.
THE
MONTHLY INSTALLMENTS
Each
month we are presenting a paper written by Brother Haywood, who is following
the foregoing outline. We are now in "First Steps" of Ceremonial Masonry.
There will be twelve monthly papers under this particular subdivision. On page
two, preceding each installment, will be given a list of questions to be used
by the chairman of the Committee during the study period which will bring out
every point touched upon in the paper.
Whenever
possible we shall reprint in the Correspondence Circle Bulletin articles from
other sources which have a direct bearing upon the particular subject covered
by Brother Haywood in his monthly paper. These articles should be used as
supplemental papers in addition to those prepared by the members from the
monthly list of references. Much valuable material that would otherwise
possibly never come to the attention of many of our members will thus be
presented.
The
monthly installments of the Course appearing in the Correspondence Circle
Bulletin should be used one month later than their appearance. If this is done
the Committee will have opportunity to arrange their programs several weeks in
advance of the meetings and the brethren who are members of the National
Masonic Research Society will be better enabled to enter into the discussions
after they have read over and studied the installment in THE BUILDER.
REFERENCES FOR SUPPLEMENTAL PAPERS
Immediately preceding each of Brother Haywood's monthly papers in the
Correspondence Circle Bulletin will be found a list of references to THE
BUILDER and Mackey's Encyclopedia. These references are pertinent to the paper
and will either enlarge upon many of the points touched upon or bring out new
points for reading and discussion. They should be assigned by the Committee to
different brethren who may compile papers of their own from the material thus
to be found, or in many instances the articles themselves or extracts
therefrom may be read directly from the originals. The latter method may be
followed when the members may not feel able to compile original papers, or
when the original may be deemed appropriate without any alterations or
additions.
HOW TO
ORGANIZE FOR AND CONDUCT THE STUDY MEETINGS
The lodge
should select a "Research Committee" preferably of three "live" members. The
study meetings should be held once a month, either at a special meeting of the
lodge called for the purpose, or at a regular meeting at which no business
(except the lodge routine) should be transacted--all possible time to be given
to the study period.
After the
lodge has been opened and all routine business disposed of, the Master should
turn the lodge over to the Chairman of the Research Committee. This Committee
should be fully prepared in advance on the subject for the evening. All
members to whom references for supplemental papers have been assigned should
be prepared with their papers and should also have a comprehensive grasp of
Brother Haywood's paper.
PROGRAM
FOR STUDY MEETINGS
1.
Reading of the first section of Brother Haywood's paper and the supplemental
papers thereto.
(Suggestion: While these papers are being read the members of the lodge should
make notes of any points they may wish to discuss or inquire into when the
discussion is opened. Tabs or slips of paper similar to those used in
elections should be distributed among the members for this purpose at the
opening of the study period.)
2.
Discussion of the above.
3. The
subsequent sections of Brother Haywood's paper and the supplemental papers
should then be taken up, one at a time, and disposed of in the same manner. 4.
Question Box.
MAKE THE
"QUESTION BOX" THE FEATURE OF YOUR MEETINGS
Invite
questions from any and all brethren present. Let them understand that these
meetings are for their particular benefit and get them into the habit of
asking all the questions they may think of. Every one of the papers read will
suggest questions as to facts and meanings which may not perhaps be actually
covered at all in the paper. If at the time these questions are propounded no
one can answer them, SEND THEM IN TO US. All the reference material we have
will be gone through in an endeavor to supply a satisfactory answer. In fact
we are prepared to make special research when called upon, and will usually be
able to give answers within a day or two. Please remember, too, that the great
Library of the Grand Lodge of Iowa is only a few miles away, and, by order of
the Trustees of the Grand Lodge, the Grand Secretary places it at our disposal
on any query raised by any member of the Society.
FURTHER
INFORMATION
The
foregoing information should enable local Committees to conduct their lodge
study meetings with success. However, we shall welcome all inquiries and
communications from interested brethren concerning any phase of the plan that
is not entirely clear to them, and the Services of our Study Club Department
are at the command of our members, lodge and study club committees at all
times.
QUESTIONS
ON "THE LOST WORD"
What is
the master symbol of Blue Lodge symbolism? Why should we be cautious in our
endeavours to ascertain the origins of the symbolism of the Lost Word?
How were
brethren in the early days of Masonry sometimes "made Masons"? Have our
researchers yet been able to discover what the "Lost Word" was? What would
those who hold to the theory that the Royal Arch Word is the "Lost Word" lead
us to believe? Is there any evidence to prove beyond a doubt that this word
was really the "Lost Word"?
Do you
agree with Brother Haywood that the "Lost Word" was never a component part of
the Blue Lodge work which was later taken away from the Blue Lodge and
transplanted into the Royal Arch degree? If so, what are your grounds for so
agreeing? If not what are your reasons for disagreeing with him?
What is
the Legend of the Tetragrammaton? What was the custom among the Jewish people
relative to pronouncing the name of Deity? How was the use of the name
restricted? What finally became the penalty inflicted upon one who spoke the
name aloud? What further restrictions were placed upon the use of the name?
How was the name spelled?
When and
in what manner did the true pronunciation of the name became wholly lost? What
did this result in after the Exile was ended? What did the priests and scribes
have left upon which to base their search? What were the vowels of the word?
Of what
did the Tetragrammaton become the centre, and how did the search for the word
spread?
Did the
form of the legend always remain the same? What various forms did it take?
Has the
symbolic idea centred in the search for the "Lost Word" been confined to
Masonry alone? Do we find it in modern literature?
SUPPLEMENTAL REFERENCES
THE
BUILDER: Vol I. - "The Fourth Degree," by Bro. W.F. Kuhn, p. 44. Vol II.-
"Some Deeper Aspects of Masonic Symbolism," by Bro. A.E. Waite, p.175; "The
Lost Word," by Bro.W.F. Kuhn, p. 327, Vol.III. - "The Lodge," by Bro. H.W.
Ticknor, p. 198; "The Lost Word," Question Box Department, p. 189. Vol.IV. -
"The Symbolism of the Master Mason Degree - The Lost Word," by Bro. Oliver Day
Street, p. 322. Vol. V. "The Legendary Origin of Freemasonry," by Bro.Dudley
Wright, p. 297; "What a Master Mason Ought to Know," by Bro. Hal Riviere, p.
130.
Mackey's
Encyclopedia:
Incommunicable, p. 349; Ineffable Name, p. 351; Tetragrammaton, p. 781;
Twelve-Lettered Name, p. 809; Unutterable Name, p. 817
THIRD
STEPS BY BRO. H.L. HAYWOOD, IOWA
PART III
- THE LOST WORD
WE COME
now to the crux and the climax of Blue Lodge symbolism, the master symbol by
means of which all other symbols have their meaning. Well will it be for us
walk warily here, not only because the origins of the symbolism of the Lost
Word are bound up with an ancient and tangled tradition; not only because it
has been so often prostituted to the level of magic and superstition, even in
recent times; but also because it is the embodiment of one of those ideas so
high and so deep that they contain whole systems of philosophy and theology
within them. It is like the "flower in the crannied wall" of Tennyson's poem;
if we could understand it, "root and all, and all in all," we would know "what
God and man is."
Much has
been written about the "Mason's word" as employed in old days, when brethren
were sometimes "made Mason" by having that secret term entrusted to them;
research has failed to show what this word was though some scholars believe it
to have been that sovereign name which stands at the centre of the Holy Royal
Arch. Some who hold to this last named theory would have us believe that this
transfer of the word from the Blue Lodge to the Royal Arch degree was so
disastrous to the symbolic structure of the Blue Lodge that, to patch up the
damage, a substitute word was devised to take its place until the candidate
passed on to the higher grade. But as there is little or no evidence to prove
that the great word of the Royal Arch is the same as the "Mason's Word" of the
old lodges that theory must be left suspended in the mid-air of conjecture.
II
For my
own part - and I can speak here for no other - I can not believe that the Blue
Lodge system was ever rifled of its chiefest treasure to grace the forehead of
a "higher" grade nor can I see why we should think that the Third degree, just
as it is, has lost the one key to its mysteries. The search for a lost word
is not the search for a mere vocable of a few letters which one might write
down on a piece of paper, it is the seeking for a truth, nay, a set of truths,
a secret of life, and that secret truth is so clearly set forth in the Hiram
Abiff drama that one is led to wonder why anybody should suppose that it had
ever been lost. "The Lost Word" does not refer, so it seems to me, to any
term once in possession of the Third degree and accidentally lost, but rather
it denotes the ancient Tetragrammaton, or "four-lettered name," for which
search has been made these two and a half millenniums.
According
to a very old tradition (how much actual history ma be in it we can not know)
the Legend of the Tetragrammaton goes back to ancient Israel as far as the
time of the Exile. Like all people of that day the Jews saw in a person's
name, not a mere handy cognomen whereby a man might be addressed, but a kind
of sign standing for the personality of the one who bore it. Jacob was Jacob
because he actually had been a "supplanter," as that name means; and he later
became Israel because he was a "prince of God." Jacob's name was a revelation
of bis character. So was it with all names. Therefore was it that the
ancients held proper names in a reverence difficult for us to understand, as
is hinted in an old Chaldean oracle:
"Never
change native names; For there are names in every nation, God-given, Of
unexplained power in the Mysteries."
Bearing
this in mind we can understand why the Jews throw, about the name of Deity the
wrappings of secrecy and sanctity. At first, after the dread secret had been
imparted to Moses, the people pronounced the name in whispers or not at all.
They were bidden never to use it except on the most solemn occasions as
witness the Third Commandment which reads, when literally translated, "Thou
shalt not utter the name of thy God, idly." As time went on the priests
forbade them to do more than hint at it, one of the priestly commands in
Leviticus reading, "He that pronounceth the Name of the Lord distinctly, shall
be put to death" (Ch. 24, v. 16). At last, only the High Priest was permitted
to utter the Name at all, and then on some great occasion, such as the Day of
Atonement. At the same time, it must be remembered, the Jews were using no
vowels in their writing; for some strange reason only consonants were ever
written or printed; therefore only the four consonants, JHWH, were ever seen.
III
When the
Jews were taken into Exile, all trace of the true pronunciation was lost,
either because the High Priest was killed before he could impart it, or died
in Babylonia before a successor entitled to the secret could be found.
Consequently, the Exile was no sooner ended than priests and scribes began
their search for the Lost Name. The four consonants only did they have; what
the vowels were nobody could learn, nor has anybody since discovered.
IV
This
Tetragrammaton became a storm centre of theology and around it a great mass of
symbolism gradually accumulated. So deeply did it sink into the imagination
of Israel that the later Jewish theosophists who built up the speculative
system which we call the Kabbala made it the very core of their teaching; and
through the Kabbala, the literature of which was so popular even so late as
Reformation times, the legend of the Lost Name made its way into the thought
and literature of medieval Europe. But the form of the legend did not always
remain the same; "now it is a despoiled sanctuary; now a sacramental mystery;
now the abandonment of a great military and religious order; now the age-long
frustration of the greatest building plan which was ever conceived; now the
lost word of Kabbalism; now the vacancy of the most holy of all sanctuaries."
Whatever the disguise the quest was always the same, a search for something
strangely precious which men believe had been lost out of the world but might
be found again.
This
wonderful symbolic idea still retains its power to cast a spell over us, as
witness its use by modern writers. Eugene Sue incorporated it in his haunted
tale - "The Wandering Jew." Tennyson wove it into his Arthur epic, where it
has assumed the form of the search for the Lost Grail, the cup used by the
Lord at his Last Supper. Henry Van Dyke has embodied it in his book of
stories, "The Blue Flower," and Maurice Maeterlinck has woven about it a
strangely beautiful drama, "The Blue Bird."
Shall we
not add to that list the drama of the Third degree? Surely, "that which was
lost" can refer to nothing else, as the evidence, both internal and external,
does so abundantly seem to show. If that indeed be the case how it does light
up with prophetic meaning the whole mystery of the Third Degree! for it shows
that the candidate is on no hunt for a mystic term to be used like a magic
spell, still less is it some mysterious individual that he seeks. That for
which he really searches, is to discover the Divine in himself and in the
world.
Going out
to find God we need not wonder when he finds no one word, or one thing, to
reward his labours; nor need we be disappointed if he is "put off with a
substitute," for though his search is not fruitless it is not altogether
successful, as is fitting when we recall that the complete unveiling of God
can not come to any one man in any one lifetime. That hope must ever remain
an ideal to us humans in the shadows of our earth life - a flying ideal,
eluding us while it beckons us, leading us over the hills of Time into the
tireless searchings of Eternity.
---------o--------
CELEBRATION OF HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF BROTHER El.ISHA KENT KANE, ARCTIC
EXPLORER
On March
30th Kane Lodge No. 454, F. & A. M., located in New York City, celebrated the
hundredth anniversary of the birth of Elisha Kent Kane, the famous arctic
explorer, after whom the lodge is named.
The
celebration was the occasion for awarding a Kane Lodge gold medal for
distinguished achievement in exploration. It had been the purpose to award
this medal to Brother Rear Admiral Robert Edwin Peary for his success in
reaching the North Pole, Brother Peary having been a member of Kane Lodge
which had been the recipient of many arctic mementos as memorials of his
several trips to the north. Admiral Peary's death, however, precluded a
personal presentation and the medal was presented to his widow, being received
from the lodge by her son, Robert E. Peary.
The medal
bears upon its obverse the ancient seal of Kane Lodge, representing an
explorer swathed in furs, standing in an arctic waste and holding aloft the
American Flag. About this design is a chain emblematical of fraternal bonds,
and outside the chain there appears an inscription noting that the medal is
awarded for "Predominant achievement in exploration."
A brief
sketch of Brother Elisha Kent Kane, for whom Kane Lodge is named, follows:
ELISHA
KENT KANE
Elisha
Kent Kane was born in Philadelphia, February 3, 1820. He died in Havana, Cuba,
February 16, 1857. As a lad, he showed an adventurous spirit but no particular
scholastic ability. His father was, therefore, somewhat doubtful of his
future. His interest in study developed rapidly when he became a college
student.
It was
first intended that he should go to Yale but later the University of Virginia
was selected. Here he made rapid progress in his studies but in his eighteenth
year he suffered a severe attack of rheumatism, which permanently affected his
heart. He was obliged to leave college and a year later was entered as a
medical student in the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
On
graduation from medical school he entered the navy and made a voyage to China
as physician to the legation. On the way out, he visited India and Ceylon, and
later journeyed to the Philippines. He decided to practice in Canton but
within six months suffered a severe attack of rice-fever and determined to
return home. After his recovery, he made a trip overland visiting Borneo,
Sumatra, India, Persia and Syria. A special permit as given him by Mahemet Ali
to explore the ruins of Thebes. He made various studies in Egypt but again was
taken ill with fever and obliged to abandon his work.
When well
enough, he returned to America and later made a trip as naval surgeon to
Africa. There he was attacked by the coast fever and invalided home. His
adventurous spirit, however, demanded outlet and as soon as he was
convalescent he secured service as inspector of hospitals in connection with
the Mexican War. He went to Vera Cruz, was wounded in an engagement, once more
succumbed to fever, this time to typhus, and once more had a long
convalescence.
When Lady
Franklin pleaded with the United States to assist in a search for the lost
expedition headed by Sir John Franklin, Dr. Kane volunteered. This expedition
was known as the First Grinnell Expedition and sailed for the north with Kane
as surgeon in May, 1850. The vessel returned in September, 1861, without
having found trace of Franklin. Dr. Kane at once made preparation for a second
expedition. This was again aided by Mr. Grinnell and is known as the Second
Grinnell Expedition.
In the
little brig Advance, in which he had sailed a year before, Kane now set colt
as commanded for Smith's Sound. The Advance was there caught in the ice and
the party obliged to remain with her through two arctic winters. Two of the
number died and all suffered from scurvy. In the spring of 1855, Kane
abandoned his vessel and in small boats made a 1300 mile trip south, where he
was picked up by a relief ship under the command of Lieut. Hartstone, U. S. N.
He was brought back to New York in October, 1853, after an absence of thirty
months. Dr. Kane at once wrote an account of his journey, feeling that his end
was approaching. The hardships he had sustained had quite undermined his
limited physical resources. The book had an enormous sale and the name of Kane
became world famous. The author, however, failed rapidly. He went to England
and then to Cuba for relief and died at Havana just after his thirty-seventh
birthday His body was brought north with imposing ceremonies. It was met at
every city by great crowds of mourning people. It lay in state repeatedly and
was beheld by thousands. It lies buried in a cemetery near Philadelphia.
SEA AND
FIELD LODGE NO. 4
BY BRO.
MAJOR CHAS. T. ARRIGHI. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
ONE DAY in November, 1918, in the ancient, dirty and
over-populated city of Marseille, France, four Americans were in the Officers'
mess room in the buildings facing the Place Victor Hugo, which, formerly the
home of the Faculte des Sciences, later used as barracks for French-Algerian
troops, was at that time being used as Base Headquarters of Section No. 6,
A.E.F.
The four Americans were known to each other as Masons and
consisted of Major Charles T. Arrighi, a Past Master of Howard Lodge No. 35,
New York, the Y.M.C.A. Secretary of that Section, Charles M. Conant, of
Amicable Lodge, Cambridge, Mass., Major Basil G. Squier, of Manila Lodge No.
1, Manila, P. I., and Captain Alex H. Fairchild, of McAllen Lodge No. 1110,
McAllen, Texas. The conversation had turned on the subject of instituting
Masonic activities in Marseille, a growing demand for such an undertaking
having become noticeable. Brother Arrighi stated he had written to his home
lodge inquiring as to the possibility of securing a charter from the Grand
Lodge of New York State and had received a reply informing him that efforts
were being made to comply with his request and also that a Masonic Commission
was endeavoring to secure permission to come overseas for the purpose of
starting Masonic activities.
This meeting led to other informal meetings and talks by the
four brothers, to which were invited other enthusiastic Masons.
Brother Conant then conceived the idea of a Masonic Club, and
working along these lines got in touch with local French Masons who most
generously offered the use of the French Masonic Temple at 24 rue Piscatoris,
which had housed several ancient French Lodges, some for a continuous period
of seventy-five years. The French Lodges whose home was here were: Parfaite
Sincerite, founded in 1767; Reunion des Amis Ghoisis, 1801; Phare de la
Renaissance, 1859; Parfaite Union, 1863; Verite-Reforme, 1875; Amis du
Travail, 1882. The years stated are the years in which these lodges were
founded as Free and Accepted Masons, but most of them were outgrowths of more
ancient Operative Masonic Societies and direct descendants of such. This
building was admirably situated for the new club, being convenient to all
sections of the city where the Americans were stationed.
Rue Piscatoris is a very narrow, winding street, reached from
Cours Litand, one of the main thoroughfares, by a series of stone stairs of
varying steps, the ascent of which reminded the brothers of their progress in
the Second degree to the famous Middle Chamber.
Arriving at the door of number 24, one mounted another stone
stairs, which brought him to an open courtyard furnished with tables and
chairs, and which became a most popular rendezvous where the brothers could
sit warm evenings, converse and indulge in light refreshments.
To the right of the courtyard was a door entering into the
building proper, opening which one found himself in a comfortable-sized room
also equipped with tables and chairs, which was used by the French brothers
for social purposes. The walls bore many bulletin boards of the various
lodges, Masonic pictures, portraits and devices. At one end of the room was a
small stage and a piano. To the left of this stage was an anteroom that led
into the lodge-room.
It was in the banquet hall, as the first described room was
known, that was held on the evening of Thanksgiving Day, 1918, the first
meeting of the A.E.F. Masonic Club of Marseille, with Brother Charles M.
Conant as President and Treasurer, and Brother Fred G. Redwin as Secretary.
Anyone who could prove either by examination or the presentation of membership
card or certificate that he was a Mason, was eligible for admittance and at
this first meeting there were about 150 American Masons present. A
subscription was taken up for the purposes of entertainment, and the evening
was most pleasantly passed in this "get-together" meeting. Refreshments in the
shape of sandwiches and coffee were procured from the Base Commissary,
supplemented by various light beverages procured from the French brothers
charged with the care of the establishment.
This meeting was but the first of a series of such gatherings.
The room was available for use by the Americans three times a week, and every
Wednesday night an entertainment or dance was given, the talent for the
entertainments being furnished by Brother Conant from the various Y.M.C.A.
entertainers that happened to be in town at the time.
The club was a success from the start. The meetings were well
patronized by American Masons and on entertainment nights the room was usually
packed to the doors.
Many Americans, brought to these entertainments by their
Masonic friends, witnessing the good-fellowship and perfect harmony existing,
became interested and the demand for a chartered Masonic lodge grew stronger
and stronger. Brother Arrighi, in the meanwhile, had been corresponding with
brothers in the States, in an endeavor to secure the necessary authority to
confer degrees, but delays in postal transit prevented a speedy accomplishment
of his request. Finally, not until March 1919, he received a letter from R.’.W.’.
T. Channing Moore, who informed him that he, together with M.’.W.’. Townsend
Scudder, Past Grand Master of the State of New York, as Chairman, R.’.W.’.W.
C. Prime, R.’.W.’. George S. Goodrich and R.’. W.’. Merwin W. Lay, were in
Paris, having come from the United States under the auspices of the Y.M.C.A.
as a Masonic Commission to investigate conditions and further the Masonic work
in the A.E.F. A few days later, Brother Moore and Brother Goodrich arrived in
Marseille and were presented to the club, whom they informed that a
dispensation would be granted for a lodge in Marseille. This good news was
joyfully received and it seemed as though the ambition of the brothers in
Marseille would be realized. But, alas, the inevitable flies appeared in the
ointment, for two weeks later when Brother Prime arrived with the
dispensation, he was also the bearer of the news that the dispensation could
be used only under pre-war restrictions; that only classes of not more than
five could be initiated, passed or raised at a time; that two weeks must
elapse between degrees, and that candidates hailing from homes outside of the
States of New York, Massachusetts and Oregon, would have to receive the
consent of their home jurisdiction before degrees could be conferred upon
them. This, in view of the fact that it was probable that the Base would be
evacuated by the American forces in two or three months, meant that only a
very few candidates could be accepted, and after a conference between Brothers
Prime, Arrighi, Conant and Hood, it was decided with deep regret not to accept
the dispensation.
Brother Prime returned to Paris with the document, but the
disappointment as voiced throughout the American forces was so intense that
Brother Conant made a hurried trip to Paris, and after an interview with
Brother Scudder, in which the situation was explained to him, all the
objectionable restrictions were eliminated, and Brother Conant returned in
triumph to Marseille, the proud bearer of the dispensation.
No delay was made in calling a meeting of Sea and Field Lodge
No. 4, and it was held in the lodgeroom of the Masonic Temple on the evening
of April 16, 1919, the charter members present being:
W. M.
Charles T. Arrighi, of New York.
S. W.
Charles M. Conant, of Massachusetts.
J. W.
Bishop E. Shirey, of Pennsylvania.
Treas.
Clarence E. Mayo, of Oklahoma.
Secy.
William F. Hood, of Wisconsin.
S.D. John
Bonner of Texas.
J. D.
Carrol E. Griffin, of Montana.
In addition to the above mentioned officers, the Worshipful
Master appointed the following:
S. M. C.
- Alex H. Fairchild, of Texas.
J. M. C.
- Jesse R. Ayer, of Michigan.
S. S. -
Hiram Jennings, of California.
J. S. -
John C. Fletcher, of North Carolina.
T. -
Allison Webb, of Ohio.
This first meeting was devoted to organizing and installing the
various officers.
On account of the temporary nature of the lodge, the initiation
fee was fixed at the minimum, $20.00, with no dues, as the expenses being
light, no rent to tee paid, etc., it was not desired to make the initiation
burdensome on the applicants, many of whom were de pendent on their meager
army pay. It was ruled by the Master that inasmuch as service abroad deprived
a man of his franchise as a voter, he therefore temporarily was without United
States residence and could justly claim his station as his residence, and that
all applications would be based on these premises.
It was decided that the seven charter members would constitute
an examining committee to pass on applicants and that the applicant should be
judged as to fitness for membership from personal examination,
his
army record and the testimony of his comrades.
On account of the various jurisdictions from which the officers
of the lodge hailed, and the variations in ritual, it necessitated, as the
lodge was operating under a New York dispensation, that they all conform to
the work standard in New York State. This caused a little raggedness in the
rendition of the ritual at first, but the rough spots were soon ironed out by
a little practice.
Paraphernalia was loaned by the French, but owing to the
absence of an altar, one had to be improvised out of a desk belonging to one
of the minor French officers. The bible was furnished by the Y.M.C.A. and the
square and compass hand-hammered out of steel by Brother Bonner. The aprons
were made by the seamstresses of the Base Salvage Repair Shop and the costumes
for initiates were obtained from the same source.
Thirty-one applications for initiation were acted upon, all
having been thoroughly investigated, also forty applications for affiliation.
Affiliation in Sea and Field Lodge No. 4 being only temporary, it did not
affect the status of the affiliate in his home lodge.
The second meeting, at which the first degree work was
performed, was held on April 21st with the Worshipful Master, Charles T.
Arrighi in the East and all officers at their respective stations.
Shortly after the opening, it was announced that Le Venerable
Grand Maitre Aime Mognier, 33d, and head of all Masonic activities of Southern
France, sought admittance. He was received, together with a delegation
consisting of Masters of the local lodges, by the Master who made an address
of welcome in French, necessarily short as he was not exactly a fluent speaker
of that language. Brother Mognier responded, translated as follows:
"It is indeed a pleasure and an honor for me to be present at
the first meeting of the American Lodge No. 4, Sea and Field. As a member of
the Council of the Grand Orient of France, and as Worshipful Master of a lodge
of the Orient of Marseille, I assure you, my dear brethren, of our entire
fraternal affection. As we declared to you on the occasion of your first visit
and reception at the solemn meeting of the French rite, it is with all our
hearts that we offer you in its entirety the halls of the Masonic lodges of
the Grand Orient of France. In the name of the Grand Orient of France I salute
your Worshipful Master, your worthy officers and you, my brethren. Our
affection for America is already of long standing, and today since this
frightful war has permitted you to know us better, we hope that sentiments of
a new and great reciprocal affection will be established between us and that
our relations will be of intimate friendliness. To the glory of our Masonic
ancestors, American and French. Our heart is with you."
At the conclusion of his remarks, Brother Mognier embraced the
Master and saluted him with a kiss on each cheek, in due French form, which
rather unexpected honor was bravely borne by the embarrassed Master. After the
Grand Honors were given, the distinguished visitors were seated in the East
and the meeting was continued.
During the work, thirty-five candidates were initiated in full
form. For the first section they were disposed of in batches of ten, nine,
nine and seven. The second section was performed on one only, the others being
seated west of the altar where they could benefit by the instruction.
Notwithstanding the unfamiliarity of some of the officers with
the standard New York work, the degree was presented in a dignified and
impressive manner, the trifling irregularities in ritual which existed proving
to be no impediment to the effective performance of the ceremonies.
At this meeting there were present the seven charter members,
fifty brethren who had all been duly examined and vouched for, thirty-five
candidates and fourteen visiting French brothers; a total of 106.
Receipts for the evening were $550.00, quite a fair start
financially for the infant lodge.
After the meeting, all adjourned to the banquet room where a
supper of sandwiches, cheese and coffee was furnished, and the balance of the
evening was passed in social intercourse.
Up to and including the last meeting of June 4th, there were
twenty-one stated communications and three special meetings. June 4th was the
last meeting, as Brother Arrighi was to sail for the United States on June 7th
and the dispensation had been granted with the understanding that the charter
would lapse with his withdrawal from Marseille, also the city was being
evacuated as an American Base.
Before closing the lodge sine die, a contribution of 2,000
francs to the French Masonic Building Fund was made as part recognition of
their great hospitality and use of their temple free of rent. An artistic and
appropriate memorial, done by one of the local artists, was framed and also
presented to the French lodges.
Notwithstanding these expenses, the cost of several
entertainments, the usual expenses of a lodge for printing, etc., and the
small fee charged for membership, there was finally, at the close of the
lodge, turned over to the Grand Lodge of New York, in addition to the
percentage of fees due the Grand Lodge, the sum of $678.00 to be added to the
Charity Fund, or to be devoted to such other purposes as the Grand Master saw
fit.
The net results as to the activities of Sea and Field Lodge No.
4 in respect to creating Masons were that 137 candidates were initiated,
passed and raised; 5 candidates were passed and raised fqr other lodges and
140 brothers temporarily affiliated, which with the original charter members
of seven, made a total of 289 members after an existence of exactly seven
weeks.
Materially it is evident that the lodge prospered. Morally and
spiritually it is also evident that the lodge was an instrument of great good.
Marseille, even in peace times, has an atmosphere not only of right-living,
which was greatly magnified by war-time conditions. The city was congested,
its normal population of 500,000 being more than doubled by the great influx
of troops from all parts of the globe - French and British Colonials, black
and white, Asiatics, Brazilians, Americans, swarms of refugees from the
devastated portions of France, and riffraff from Paris, the shores of the
Mediterranean, Spain and Italy. It made the city a veritable rabbit warren of
things unclean in person and mind, where vice of the most loathsome kind and
crime of all varieties flourished, and human life, let alone morals, wasn't
worth a sou.
In this plague-spot of rotten and noisome influences, Sea and
Field Lodge No. 4 proved a haven of clean, wholesome character, where Masons
and their friends could meet in pleasant surroundings and be free from the
degrading and revolting influences of the city. In that lodge-room as Masons
they met and conversed, and as many testified, it was the nearest approach to
home that they had encountered since their arrival on those alien shores. Here
it was that they all met on that common level of true Masonic democracy, where
the humblest private could talk as man to man to his colonel without the
restrictions of military regulation, and in this way better understanding and
closer relations were established.
The lodge exerted a wholesome effect on the entire American
establishment in that section, and operating as it did in those weary,
homesick days existing between the Armistice and the actual return home, it
proved a steadying and uplifting influence to a sagging morale.
----o-----
THE COIN
OF GOD
BY BRO.
L. B. MITCHELL, MICHIGAN
Not mere
existence counts for worth,
We came,
we're here as parts of earth,-
As parts
of its all-nature plan.
We live
and think and pose as man;
But
higher values there must be
Above
just mere nativity.
And if
there’s value we must pay
The price
beyond the right to stay,-
The price
above the normal need
Or
privilege that we may plead,-
The price
that pays for something worth
More than
can be derived from earth.
We must
meet values in the things
Beyond
what mere existence brings;
Our
entries on the balance sheet
Must for
the higher realm be meet,
And if
thereon are credits made
‘Twill
show that we in kind, have paid.
And just
as we invest in gold,-
The
soulful things of worth untold,-
Just as
we pay the price of life
Above its
elemental strife,-
Just so
much then will worth appear,-
The coin
of God, so precious here.
------o-------
It is
expedient to have an acquaintance with those who have looked into the world;
who know men, understand business, and can give you good- intelligence and
good advice when they are wanted. - Bp. Horne.
SPECULATIVE MASONRY
BY BRO. PAUL N. DAVEY, MISSOURI
INTRODUCTION
"WE WORK in speculative Masonry," so runs our Monitor, "but our
ancient brethren wrought in both operative and speculative." Therefore he who
would become proficient in Masonic "work" must become proficient in
speculative Masonry. But what are we to understand by the word
"speculative.?"
Laying aside the monitor we open our Century Dictionary and
turn to the word "speculation," finding that it means, among; other things,
"the pursuit of truth by means of thinking, especially logical analysis." The
pursuit of truth is a phrase having a familiar Masonic ring to it, reminding
us of "the search for Truth and the Lost Word." We need not know much of Greek
or the rules of etymologic correlation to know that the term "logical
analysis" is a close correlate of the word analogy. So then if we indulge in
speculation we are to pursue truth by thinking, by logical analysis and
analogy.
Looking up the definitions of all the words closely related to
the word speculative, we find that to speculate means, in the sense in which
we are considering it, to look into, to inspect, to scrutinize closely, to
look under, to contemplate, to meditate, to reflect, to theorize concerning,
to conjecture, to philosophize by the a priori method, to investigate the
occult, to look into mysteries or secret arts, to employ magical means. And
so it would seem that the speculative Mason has some job laid out on the
trestle-board when he starts in to speculate. But whether he be merely an
humble seeker after more Masonic light or a Masonic savant seeking material
for another ten-tome "History of Freemasonry" or an exhaustive commentary of
"Masonic research" - if not born with a speculative mind or not brought into
that "light by which Master Masons meetly work" - he must learn to speculate,
or the great and enthralling volume of Masonic knowledge will ever remain for
him a sealed book. So long as he but continues to wear more threadbare the
circumambulatory path around the lodge room; so long as he contents himself
with merely memorizing what he fondly but mistakenly regards as "the work"; so
long as he contents himself with trite and timeworn platitudes; so long as he
neglects or refuses to think and to speculate; just so long will he remain
standing just where he first started in his search after Truth and the Lost
Word - a profane, standing without and in front of (pro) the veil of the
ancient temple (fane) of the mysteries of Freemasonry. Moreover, if "we work
in speculative Masonry" only and a modern Mason declines to speculate, what
kind of Mason is he?
"But," some newly passed Fellow Craft may exclaim, "I was
notborn with a speculative mind and I know nothing of the particular 'light'
you refer to! How shall I go about learning; to speculate?"
The question is not one easy to answer in so brief an article
as this but an attempt will be made. But first, my young brother Fellow
Craft, as an illustration that will later assist your understanding of the
explanation, turn to the word "habit" in your dictionary: note that it has two
definitions: first, "a natural or acquired proclivity, disposition, or
tendency to act in a certain way"; second, "the garments, such as hat, coat
and shoes customarily or generally worn." (Reflect on these two definitions of
the word habit for a moment before passing on.) At about the age you began to
cover your nakedness with a habit (garments) you also began, through a natural
and acquired proclivity and tendency to put on certain other habits of
thought. As a small child you exclaimed "I see the light!" and no one could
have convinced you that you did not see the light. Later on, science proved
to you that the human eye receives only shadows and that a ray of pure light
unbroken by shadows, while imperceptible to your sense of sight, would destroy
that sense. But a thought-habit and a speech-habit had become fixed upon you,
and you still both think and say "I see the light," do you not?
As a schoolboy, you studied spelling, arithmetic and history.
In recitation (observe that word "recitation") you were compelled to cite the
authority of your text-book, to spell each word just as it was spelled in the
book, to solve your problem by the method prescribed by the book, to relate
each incident, with its date, as contained in the book, accurately and
literally. If asked some question related to the subject of your lesson that
you could not answer, your reply was "I don't know; that is not in my book."
This method of teaching was all right in its way and for its purpose, but it
produced in your mind another group of thought-habits. One of these was the
inability or indisposition to speculate - to look beneath the literal meaning
of words; and you became prone to deny that words could have any other meaning
than the literal, every-day, "common-sense" meaning which accorded with the
sense in which they were used. And so, perhaps, you came to an insistence of
the literal interpretation of Holy Writ, and to a like understanding of the
Masonic ritual and monitorial lectures.
"Freemasonry," you were told as an Entered Apprentice, "is a
beautiful system of morals veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols." But
you never asked to look behind the veil or be told what it was that the
symbols illustrated. So the beautiful system still remains "veiled" from your
eyes. You were content with a literal and "common-sense" interpretation of
what you heard and saw. Perhaps you have yet to learn that the greatest of
all Masonic symbols is a word, that of all the other symbols the most
important is a Substitute word-more, that not only is every word used in the
ritual and lectures a symbol but that there are in your Masonic work a large
number of substitute words.
But before proceeding to speculate concerning one of the most
interesting of these substitute words, again be warned that before you can
become qualified and duly and truly prepared to enter upon that speculation,
it is necessary that you divest your mind and consciousness of your acquired
thought-habits, particularly your dependence upon, adherence to, and
insistence upon the literal meaning of words; divest your mind and
understanding of these habits as completely as you would divest your body of
its clothing, particularly your shoes. (In passing, pause and speculate upon
this word "understanding": note the connection of thought between that word
and the human foot, the under-most member upon which the whole body stands
erect.) The ancient Egyptians ideographically represented that faculty of
abstract thought to which we give the name understanding by a naked human
foot, and this ideology has come down to us through seventy centuries and is
preserved in our word "understanding." Moses, before questioning the Most High
in order to obtain from Him a revelation of His true character and name, put
his shoes from off his feet, thereby symbolically freeing his understanding of
all preconceived thought-habits and rendering it as capable of receiving the
impressions of divine truth as his feet had been free and untrammelled at his
birth.
Among the Hebrews, in the time of Boaz, a man removed his shoe
as a token by which he unreservedly confirmed some business transaction - an
act of warranty, in which he symbolically declared a clear understanding of
what he had done and that his mind was free from restriction, reservation or
meditated fraud. The Moslem of today removes his shoes before entering a
mosque or communing with Allah in prayer, symbolically divesting his mind of
error, heresy or schism, as well as divesting that mind and heart of all the
vanities and superfluities of life. And so you, my brother Fellow Craft, must
divest yourself of your thought-habits, particularly the idea and belief that
all which makes up your Masonic "work" is to be accepted in no other than its
literal sense. If you have done this, we may proceed to approach the veil
through which we must pass before our "beautiful system of morals" will appear
to us; not, as at present, "veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols,"
but as the most marvellous system of moral philosophy ever evolved from out
the wisdom of all the ages that have passed.
Let us take the word "Fellow" as it appears in "the Degree of
Fellow Craft," and, remembering that in the lodge we are shown only the veils
and illustrations, some of which have become sadly torn and unskilfully
patched, let us put all that we have seen, or heard, or read pertaining to the
degree of Fellow Craft out of our minds - simply take the English word
"fellow," and, using the method of old Socrates, speculate upon it.
THE DEGREE OF FELLOW CRAFT
And first, let us put to this word "Fellow" the same question
that Joseph put to his brethren when they came down into Egypt to buy corn,
and, wishing to test them, he spake harshly unto them saying, "Whence come
you?" Whence came our English word fellow?
Through the sciences of philology and etymology we learn that
it came into what is now England at a time long before there was an English
language. It was carried thither in some ship sent out by some king of Tyre to
trade with the natives of "the Islands of the North," as far north as what are
now called Iceland and Shetland. Only the men who brought it to these islands
spelled it fellah (if the man chanced to be a seaman from Alexandria) or falah,
if a man of Tyre. This word fellah was of ancient Egyptian origin; from the
Egyptian it passed into the Arabic, and from the Arabic into the Syrian,
returning again into the Coptic (the later Egyptian). In an ancient day, and
to this day, fellah denotes a tiller of the soil, one engaged or employed in
the craft of agriculture. The Arabs, who were not tillers of the soil but
subsisted on the milk and flesh of their herds principally, applied the word
fellah to the Egyptians, who were agriculturists, as a word of reproach or
contempt. Either an Egyptian or a Syrian sailor of that long-past day,
desiring to express his contempt for the unskilful character of a brother
seaman, in place of the word "land-lubber" used today, would have called him a
"fellah," meaning that he would doubtless make a better farmer or haymaker
than a sailor; and it is interesting to note that our word "fellow" is still
used as a term of contempt. The word fellah is today restricted to an Egyptian
peasant or farm-hand.
The climate of the North Atlantic Isles is more rugged and damp
than that of Egypt, Arabia or Syria. Men do not dare expose their throats and
vocal chords by opening the mouth in speaking any wider than is necessary. So
the word fellah became felaghe in the Iceland tongue then felagi; after the
Danish invasion, it was rendered in the English tongue, felaghe, later as
felag, denoting one who accumulated tillable land (as did Boaz); later, after
the reign of Alfred, it passed from felawe through many forms, until finally
it became fellow. But, while as a modern English word, its former application
has been lost to a great extent, the fact remains that this word (as well as
the word "fallow," freshly plowed land) came from a very ancient root that
meant to cleave, or plow, the soil, and that at the time our Masonic "work"
began taking on its present form the word "fellow" applied almost exclusively
to the Craft of Agriculture, the companion or associate craft of
Architecture. For men who delve in quarries, square the stones, and lay them
in mortar, must eat - must receive their wares in corn, wine and oil. Do you
begin to perceive why a certain pretty little pastoral romance related in the
Book of Ruth, in which Boaz, the agriculturist, played a leading role, was
apparently dragged into a system seemingly based only on the science of
geometry and the arts pertaining to architecture? Do you understand that
Agriculture is the Fellow Craft of Architecture, and that as such it was
allegorically honoured as one of the two great pillars that together support
the Temple of Civilization?
My inquiring young brother Fellow Craft, the foregoing is but a
hint to put you upon the track of discovery - a mere glimpse of the splendid
treasures of Masonic knowledge that may become yours if you will but consent
to think - and to speculate. On the next occasion when you attend a meeting
of a lodge of Fellow Craft, in "clothing yourself" in the emblem of purity, at
the same time divest your mind and consciousness of your thought - habits
before entering the lodge-room; when you have entered, listen thoughtfully,
not idly or critically, and reflect, meditate, speculate; observe all that is
presented to your view, not casually nor mere cursorily, but contemplate,
scrutinize; look under, through and behind - and speculate - concerning the
ornaments of the lodge, the sheaf of wheat suspended above the picture of
falling water, the metal devices that tip the rods of the stewards; speculate
as to the hidden meaning of certain words - particularly one that should be
well known to you.
And then, should we meet again, we will speculate further
concerning what you have heard and seen.
SYMBOLISM
IN TEACHING
BY BRO. R.C. BLAGRAVE, ONTARIO
TEACHING by symbolism makes an appeal to the mind through the
eye rather than the usual channel of the ear. The method is particularly
valuable as a means of impressing abstract truth upon the unlearned. It is
also of value to the better educated as a medium for the communication of
truths and impressions which cannot be fully articulated within the limits of
human language. Truth, through symbolism, teaches the consciousness in a
unique way; it suggests mystery, stimulates the imagination, and inculcates
reverence. The chief defect of the method is the danger of fixing attention
upon the symbol or figure itself, rather than upon that which is meant to be
conveyed. It is interesting to note that symbolic ritual is preserved in our
time mainly in secret societies and the Catholic religion. In ancient times it
was the generally recognized form of instruction in Jewish worship and in the
mystic cults. Symbolic rites and ceremonies are not chance methods or forms:
there is always a fittingness or oppositeness in their significance. In
ancient times there was more than appropriateness, there was an underlying
philosophy which related the symbol fundamentally to the truth.
The science of numbers, in the elementary stages, is simple
enough to be grasped by even the juvenile intelligence, but as it progresses
it discovers certain fixed relations and proportions which indicate a more
complex and profound significance. Upon these unalterable relations are
developed the general laws of geometry and chemistry, which, in their final
application, define and explain the structure and composition of the material
universe. Hence the study of the science of numbers was in ancient time, not
only of practical scientific value, but also lead the mind into a
contemplation of the mysteries of the universe, and the cosmic plan of the
creator. The study of the significance of numbers was, accordingly, attended
by a sense of mystic reverence as the human mind felt itself to be following
the Divine mind into the secrets of creation. In the contemplation of fixed
and fundamental geometric relations the exploring mind was impressed with a
mystic sense of the nearness of the great Architect Himself, so that the quest
became nothing less than a religious passion. Secret societies were formed to
further the science, as well as having the religious purpose of leading their
members into mystic relation with the great Creator and Architect through a
contemplation of geometric facts and forms impressed symbolically. Symbolic
rites and figures were a concrete setting forth of mathematical truth so that
those who were unable to penetrate the philosophical significance of numbers
might, nevertheless, hold mystic communion with the Creator of the universe.
Symbols became, therefore, a nice setting forth of scientific truth, and
objects of reverent adoration. The societies were schools of religion as well
as of science and philosophy.
The astute and inquisitive mind of the ancients were aware of
the fact that beside the material universe about them there was also a moral
universe within whose phenomena did not yield so readily to mathematical
analysis and synthesis as the one which had been giving up its secrets to the
scalpel of numbers, squares and angles. There were moral relations between man
and man, and there were conscientious relations between man and the Creator,
which bore in upon the awakening mind, for which some guidance and direction
were insistently demanded. There must be some authenticated standard of
conduct as between man and man, and this standard of conduct must in some way
express the will of the CreatorCthe quest was to know the will of God.
The criteria to hand were the sense of right, or the moral
conscience, within, and the laws of creation as expressed in numbers and
squares, without. After all, was not the same God the author of both? Might
there not, therefore, be some fixed relation between the science of conduct
and the science of numbers? Might not the application of scientific discovery
to the moral relations of mankind lead to conformity to the Divine Will ? The
ancient philosophers answered these questions in the affirmative. The mystical
and moral value of numbers constituted the main thesis of the Pythagorean
philosophy. So it came to pass that, in the ancient mysteries, the symbolism
that interpreted the science of numbers, and related the devotee in a mystical
way to the Creator, was made to serve also the additional purpose of moral
instruction. Modern Masons fully appreciate the value of such instruction as
they remember that early S.T. and E. has a moral significance and serves to
inculcate the practice of virtue in all its genuine professors.
It was a further appreciation of the unity of all creation that
lead the ancient philosophers to attempt to answer other and more difficult
questions by a like process of reasoning. What was the origin of life? Through
what agonies had mankind attained its present status? What is to be the end of
it all? There was abroad an abundance of legendary material. If the science of
numbers could furnish but little satisfaction in answer to these great
questions might it not happen that symbolism could be made to furnish the key
to unlock the mysteries? Hence the legendary accounts of life's origin,
struggles, triumphs and destiny, were adapted and incorporated in a dramatic
and symbolic ritual, by the ancient societies, which served to furnish some
answer to the problems of life in the form of an impressive and concrete
method of instruction. So it came about that science, philosophy and religion
met and mingled in glowing and elaborate symbolism in Greek and Egyptian
mystery cults, through which they effectually served human society in relating
the mind and heart to the ways and will of the Creator.
But there was still another channel through which truth was to
be made available to mankind It is but natural the Creator should care for His
creatures. They were eager to know truth, and were exploring the universe
without and within to find it. Surely the One who made all things, and made
them for a purpose, must needs have within Him a desire to meet mankind with a
full revelation of truth. The scientific method was helpful as far as it went,
but it was at the best, as a solution of life and guidance for life, only
tentative. The volume of the Sacred Law is the record of the Creator's
revelation of Himself. "The Almighty has been pleased to reveal more of His
Divine will in that holy Book than by any other means." Even in that record,
through a large portion of it, the symbolie method is used for guidance and
instruction. The construction of the Tabernacle in the wilderness by the skill
of Bezaleel and Aholiab, was carried out according to the plan revealed to
Moses on the Mount, and included squares, angles, and oblongs, as well as
sacred numbers and figures.
The secrets of a Master Mason which were given to Hiram the
widow's son, consisted of geometrical knowledge, and of the mystic value of
sacred numbers and proportions; so that the building of the Temple was a
setting forth of the Divine plan of Creation. The sacrificial system of the
Temple ritual served to inculcate a conscientious dread of sin, and a desire
for righteousness and purity. The prophets preached the righteous glory of
God, and the awful retribution which is the inevitable nemesis of wilful sin.
Modern Speculative Masonry is eclectic and synthetic. It draws
from the riches of all these ancient sources, and sets forth in symbol, type,
and allegory, mystical and moral truth, and Divine revelation.
We have preserved for us in the symbolism of our lodges the
geometrical discoveries and valuations of the ancients, with their mystical
and moral significance. These are particularly represented in the form of the
lodge, in our movements within the lodge, and in the square and compasses.
An explanation of the meaning and purpose of life is set forth
in the orderly development of the three degrees. In the First degree, under
the symbolism of light, our birth into the world is depicted. In the Second
degree the rough and perfect ashlars indicate the progress we are expected to
make in the development and application of our corporeal and intellectual
faculties. The Third degree dramatically sets forth the inevitable dissolution
of "our house of the tabernacle,” and ensures, for the faithful, the glorious
promise of eternal hope beyond the grave, in "the bright morning star whose
rising gives peace and salvation to the faithful and obedient of the human
race."
Above all we preserve in our lodges, under the sacred letter,
and upon the sacred altar, the V.S.L., the direct revelation to man of the
nature and will of the great Creator, as well as of man's whole duty to Him in
this world, and of his destiny in the world come.
For all these things we rejoice in the great Masonic heritage
as a pure cement of truth, of love and of fellowship.
-----o------
WHERE
LEADEST THOU THE RACE?
BY BRO.
GERALD NANCARROW, INDIANA
O Time,
Thou tireless traveler,
Where
leadest thou the race?
Was it
for naught that we were brought
Into this
toilsome place?
From thy
beginning to thy end
How great
a wave, O Time?
Shall we,
God's sons, forever crawl,
Or shall
we reach and climb?
In years
long gone, primeval man
Arose
from couch of stone,
And,
stretching up his bestial soul
He
started for the Throne.
And so
has man through million years,
Reached
up and ever on;
And will,
through million years to come,
Reach on
till God is won.
For this,
O Time, thou wert conceived,
For this
and this alone;
The
Father draws His children up
Through
eons to their own.
------o-----
An Allegory is a means of conveying instruction in veiled form.
The real subject of the allegory is hidden under the disguise of another
subject. The inner meaning of the lesson must be sought under or behind the
lesson presented to the senses and emotions. Only through the exercise of the
mental faculties and the moral powers will the real lesson be apprehended,
understood and applied. - Oriental Consistory Bulletin.
EDITORIAL
THE
PUBLIC SCHOOL
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL is the one great democratized Institution
existent in the world. The flower of its genius is best expressed in these
United States. To the Masonic Fraternity it stands as the most consistent
expression of the ideal of Masonry, translated into fact and practice, that
there is. Of all agencies that minister to a Democracy, such as we have, the
public school is the most indispensable, nay, more. It is questionable whether
a Republic could ever be a success without such an Institution existent,
training and developing the youthful citizenry for the later duties that they
must assume, in the great common field of responsibility and citizenship.
Within the school, the public school, be it observed, the
prototype of what America should be on a large scale is discovered. The plane
of equality is there observed rigidly and justly. There are no favors bestowed
regardless of whether a child's antecedents be rich or poor, learned or
ignorant; he shares alike with every other pupil, the cultural and educational
opportunities. Individual responsibility is there enforced. None may do the
pupil's work save the pupil himself. If we would carry this practice into the
larger activities of life, the duties of citizenship would of necessity be
responded to not by a select few, but by all.
In times of war the burden of the battle would not have to be
carried by those who were willing to do so, but it would be impressed upon
everyone who shared the privileges which the Nation guaranteed unto the
individual. Even so do we recognize the first principle of the public school
being the first safeguard and bulwark of American Democracy. Common
privileges, common responsibilities, common duties - these are the things
which warrant an attainment of real fellowship and fraternity later on.
Those political demagogues who would transform society so as to
reduce us to a dead level in which initiative would be handicapped, may well
learn something from the public school.
A common fallacy that has been existent has been due to
attributing to either heredity or environment the capacities and genius and
likewise the retrogressive tendencies that characterize individuals. The truth
of the matter probably would be, if scientists could but agree, that both
these factors had much to do in the development of the individual. Common
observation, however, reveals very frequently that with the best hereditary
legacy, man may make little of himself, and with environmental conditions
conducive to real development, men very often turn out in a disappointing way.
In the school this fact is wonderfully evident. Such a level as man
legitimately would morally aspire to already exists here, and in this environ
is tested the real worth of the potential man. This indicates to us the only
sort of equality that can ever reasonably exist, and guarantees both equity
and justice to all concerned. If within the school there is obedience to the
requisites of success, the one so gifted can attain the highest pinnacle.
Within the school there is no injunction served that will
prevent any student acquiring excellence over another, and who can conceive of
an injunction being served which did not cultivate emulation of the worthy
example of scholastic excellence? Further, reward is invariably according to
merit. A child that is not fitted for the sixth grade, capable of assuming the
duties that study involves there, will not be found there, if his place is in
the second grade. And such condition is but miniature of what ought
legitimately to exist in the greater world without. Fairness and justice and
reward for ingenuity, initiative and sacrifice ought always to go
unchallenged. It may indeed afford us a greater benefit if we make a study of
the public school as showing in an exemplary way what we should be without.
Casual observation persuades us that we do well to comply with
the standards of government as it is exemplified in the school life. We have
heard of the objections raised In certain quarters owing to the lack of the
teaching of religion in a specific way in connection with the school.
Naturally the criticism has come from churches, the most aggressive being the
Roman Catholic church. The teaching of religion and the fostering of its
tenets and principles was conceived by the Fathers to be the function of the
church, hence they safeguarded domination of the school by the church or
making the school auxiliary to the church by stating emphatically as a
constitutional principle that the church and state should remain separate.
This was not done from a bias against religion. It was a fullfledged
recognition of how the church in times past had subverted the teaching of
religion by training men to a blind submission to the church's interpretation
of certain things fundamental to human happiness which had by the church's
arbitrary ruling proved derogatory and painful.
It was recognized that ecclesiasticism had in the past taken
the lead of religion. A full consciousness that religion could exist
independent of churches seems to have animated the founders of this republic.
Our great task today, then, is to prevent such encroachment by
ecclesiastical powers as would bring the church and the state once again into
a relationship where the controversy as to which should dominate and direct
people's affairs would agitate the minds of a great people.
We have, through the clearmindedness of the Fathers, gained an
appreciation of what is the legitimate province of the church. It is to
actuate a citizenry with a dominant love of service for God and always for the
good of all mankind. It should motivate men with an unselfish passion for
their common good. It should proclaim that religion is not a thing strictly
for ecclesiastical interpretation, but is that response to divine instruction
within men which prompts them to a disinterested service arising from a
consciousness of relationship both to God and to man. An acquaintance with the
sacred books that tell of religion is necessary to reveal to the pupil the
compelling power of religion as it has revealed itself in the world. These
books have left men Godwise and enabled them to live Christlike.
The very guaranty of freedom contained in the Constitution of
the United States to which we have referred, however, is a mandate against
interference with the public school system. No institution can claim that in
its private or parochial system it is engaged in a function superior to that
of the States. To criticise the public school system as "godless" because the
public sehool adheres to the constitutional distinction, is to violate the
very freedom which that constitution guarantees. If any church attacks the
public school system of this republic on this ground, that church is opposed
to this republic. The study of history proves to the most critical student
that free education goes hand in hand, and necessarily so, with true freedom.
Freedom of conscience, and freedom to worship according to the dictates of
conscience, like the other guarantees of human rights contained in the
constitution of the United States, are and should be for free citizens, who
accept the responsibilities as well as the benefits of their citizenship.
There is food for thought in this suggestion, which may well be taken to heart
by those who oppose our free school system. They oppose it with a motive which
is contrary to our whole system of government. An advocate of dogma does not
honestly believe in true freedom - he wants a kind of freedom which he can
dictate. If he can begin that dictation in the untutored mind of the young, he
can warp the mature mind which is to grow up out of the untutored. If he has
not this control, he well knows that dogma by the fiat of any man or set of
men must eventually answer at the bar of Truth. He further knows that an
answer, formulated by a church with such a record of opposition, will not be
in harmony with our American
constitutional guarantees. - Robert Tipton.
THE
LIBRARY
EDITED BY
BRO. ROBERT TIPTON
The object of this Department is to acquaint our readers with
time-tried Masonic books not always familiar; with the best Masonic literature
now being published; and with such non-Masonic books as may especially appeal
to Masons. The Library Editor will be very glad to render any possible
assistance to studious individuals or to study clubs and lodges, either
through this Department or by personal correspondence.
It will be our aim to publish in this Department each month a
list of such publications as we may be able from time to time to secure for
members of the Society. However, a book listed herein this month may be out of
stock next month, and further copies unobtainable, and for this reason it is
recommended that when ordering books or pamphlets from these lists the latest
monthly issue of THE BUILDER be consulted, and no orders be made from lists
more than thirty days old.
In the monthly reviews the names and addresses of the
publishers of the books are given in order that our readers may order such
books direct from the publishers instead of through the Society.
FAMOUS
LEADERS OF INDUSTRY
"Famous
Leaders of Industry," by Edwin Wildman, Editor of "The Bookman." Published by
Page Company, 53 Beacon St., Boston. Mass. Price $2.00.
A SHORT while ago we had the pleasure of reading
"Reconstructing America," by Edwin Wildman, Editor of "The Bookman." It was a
pertinent collection of views on our present great problem, by men from all
walks of life in the country. It was such a compendium as would be eminently
suggestive in the hands of all those who are trying to mold public opinion
along lines that would be conservative, safe and sane.
We are again indebted to Mr. Wildman for a timely service in
the gift of his book, "Famous Leaders of Industry." It is a veritable
chronicle of the romance of greatness achieved by famous leaders of industry
in America. In the hands of the young man, it ought to be stimulative and
inspirational. Especially serviceable is it at this time, when there is so
much abroad to discourage individual initiative.
The short sketches of the lives of such men as P. T. Barnum,
Thomas A. Edison, Henry Ford, Hudson Maxim and Charles M. Schwab should be
conducive to arousing our youth from the state of inertia, or allaying the mad
frenzy for amusement that has so gripped so many Americans. We rarely read of
today, or see about us young men who frequent the Doctor's or Lawyer's office
or the Public Library for the obtaining and studying of books of serious
import, which would warrant us in believing that the good old fashioned
American ambition is still alive among us. Such a book as this one of the
"Famous Leaders" series will no doubt render a very efficient service in the
interests of the rising generation. It is in itself a protest against that
crass stupidity which believes that mass
movement allows no room for
individual genius and enterprise. May it find its way into the hands of the
youth of our country.
* * *
A NEW
JEWISH TRANSLATION OF THE SCRIPTURES
"The Holy
Scriptures." For information regarding the publication and price, address The
Jewish Publication Society of America, Broad Street and Girard Avenue,
Philadelphia, Pa.
We are delighted to note the issuance of a new translation of
the Holy Scriptures by the Jewish Publication Society of America. The
translators have done a splendid work in their translation and as stated in
their preface have applied themselves to the sacred task of preparing a new
translation of the Bible into the English language which, unless all signs
fail, is to become the current speech of the children of Israel.
It is the work of the ripest scholars among the Jewish people
in America, and a work of immeasurable value to all those who desire to know
the Bible as the Jews themselves translate it.
We heartily commend its circulation.
* * * * *
AN
ANALYSIS OF LIFE FROM MANY PHASES
"A Lover
of the Chair," by Sherlock Bronson Gass. Published by Marshall Jones Company,
212 Summer St., Boston, Mass.
Lovers of good literature will find a treat in Sherlock Bronson
Gass's book, "A Lover of the Chair." It is not a book that can be read without
arousing the imagination. We were reminded in our reading of it of the
statement of a certain great man which was to the effect that to get the best
out of anything one must apply all his energy and have his faculties well
sharpened, as only after the worthy effort will the treasure be yielded.
It is a keen analysis of life from many phases, and well
balanced in its; observations. Lovers of the esthetic will enjoy "A Lover of
the Chair." It is a fling, as the author intimates, at the spirit of our age,
and he has succeeded, as it is further evinced, in accomplishing his task with
very good humor.
* * *
THE PRICE
WE ARE PAYING FOR OUR LACK OF GREAT MEN
"The
Nemesis of Mediocrity," by Ralph Adams Cram. Published at $1.00 by Marshall
Jones Company, 212 Summer St., Boston, Mass.
This book is one of several written by the eminent American
architect, Ralph Adams Cram. We wish that they might all be placed in the
hands of thoughtful readers who are concerned about the future happiness of
this and every other country in the world. Dr. Cram is indeed no mean prophet.
His analysis of history in these small but weighty volumes, and his capacity
to discern the great significance of world movements, either in the past or
the present, makes the reading of his books greatly worth while. It may be
said by some that he is tinged with pessimism, but to say this would be to
overlook the undercurrent which reveals him to be a man of profound faith in
the ultimate adjustment of things. The volume under consideration brings home
to us the price that we are paying by trusting our political, civic and
religious des tinies to people of mediocre capacities. His contention that
there is a dearth of great men is amply convincing when we take account of
world conditions at the present time. The fallacies attendant upon what Dr.
Cram has designated as the Democracy of Method as contrasted with the
Democracy of the Ideal is amply illustrated.
While some may take exception to what he suggests as a possible
way out of our world difficulties, viz: by returning to monastic practices in
community living, none however can read and not be profoundly stirred by the
challenge that is set forth in his works and backed by his acute observation
of great historic epochs.
* * *
A NEW
WORK ON PSYCHIC RESEARCH
"The Book
of the Damned," by Charles Fort. Published by the Boni Liveright Company, 105
West 40th St., New York. Price $1.90.
We can do no better in commending this book than to insert a
foreword in connection with it.
In this amazing work - the result of twelve years of patient
research - the author presents a mass of evidence which has hitherto been
ignored or distorted by scientists, pointing to the certainty not only of life
in other planets, but of communication between them and this earth.
Things which would be incredible without the formidable mass of
evidence adduced, support the author's argument, which he develops in a
fascinating manner with strong touches of sardonic humor and flashes of sheer
poetic insight.
* * *
FOR
BETTER THINKING AND N0BLER-LIVING
"The
Higher Powers of Mind and Spirit," by Ralph Waldo Trine. Published by Dodd,
Mead & Co., 4th Ave. and 30th St., New York. Price $1.75.
Ralph Waldo Trine possesses in marked degree the ability to
state old philosophic truths in terms of modern thinking. To those who have
been permitted to enjoy the counsels of the wise men of the past, many of his
sayings will sound quite platitudinous. Nevertheless the age always requires
men who can become vehicles of inspiration and uplift to those who are too
busy with the busy toils of a material nature. Trine may be considered the
foremost and best loved of the exponents of new thought in the country today.
His latest volume, "The Higher Powers of Mind and Spirit," transcends the
usual channel in which the new thought test travels.
The chapters on the World War and International Peace show his
grasp of big problems in a very practical fashion. His plea for the
understanding of the life of the man of Galilee is both wise and suggestive,
and his observation upon military training, revealing that Universal Training
is not incompatible with the best interests of Democracy, is very timely.
His little book will enhance in value the treasury of books on
better thinking and nobler living.
MAY BOOK
LIST
PUBLICATIONS ISSUED BY THE SOCIETY
1915
bound volume of THE BUILDER $3.75
1916
bound volume of THE BUILDER 3.75
1917
bound volume of THE BUILDER 3.75
1918
bound volume of THE BUILDER 3.75
1919
bound volume of THE BUILDER (for delivery about
February
1st or 15th) 3.75
Philosophy of Freemasonry, Pound 1.25
1722
Constitutions ( reproduced by photographic plates from an original copy in the
archives of the Iowa Masonic Library, Cedar Rapids). Edition
limited, 2.00
"The
Story of Old Glory, The Oldest Flag," Bro. J. W. Barry, P. G. M., Iowa, red
buffing binding, gilt lettering, illustrated. A story of the Flag and Masonry,
1.25
"The
Story of Old Glory, The Oldest Flag," paper covers .50
"Further
Notes on the Comacine Masters," W. Ravenscroft, England. A sequel to "The
Comacines, Their Predecessors and Their Successors," a Masonic digest of
Leader Scott's book "The Cathedral Builders" and containing the latest
researches of Brother Ravenscroft which present a very logical argument for
the connection of Freemasonry of the present day with the Roman Collegia and
traveling Masons of the early times, paper covers, illustrated .50
Symbolism
of the First Degree, Gage, pamphlet .15
Symbolism
of the Third Degree, Ball, pamphlet .15
Symbolism
of the Three Degrees, Street, 68 pages, paper covers. The lessons and symbols
of each degree traced to their origin, in every instance that it has been
possible to so trace them. Brother Street gives many explanations of our
symbols in this little book on which our monitors but vaguely touch
.35
Deeper
Aspects of Masonic Symbolism, Waite, pamphlet .15
* * *
PUBLICATIONS FROM OTHER SOURCES IN IN STOCK AT ANAMOSA
"The
Builders," a Story and Study of Masonry, by Brother Joseph Fort Newton,
formerly Editor-in-Chief of THE BUILDER $ 1.50
Mackey's
Encyclopaedia, 1919 edition, in two volumes, Black Fabrikoid binding
15.00
Symbolism
of Freemasonry, A. G. Mackey 3.15
Masonic
Jurisprudence, A. G. Mackey 3.15
Masonic
Parliamentary Law, A. G. Mackey 2.15
Freemasonry in America Prior to 1750, Melvin M. Johnson, P.G.M.,
Massachusetts 1.35
Concise
History of Freemasonry, Robert Freke Gould 4.50
* * *
The
foregoing prices include postage and insurance or registration fee on all
items except pamphlets. The latter will be sent by regular mail not insured or
registered.
THE
QUESTION BOX
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 Question Box and Correspondence Column are open to all
members of the Society at all times. Questions of any nature on Masonic
subjects are earnestly invited from our members, particularly those connected
with lodges or study clubs which are following our "Bulletin Course of Masonic
Study." When requested, questions will be answered promptly by mail hefore
publication in this department.
MORMONS
AND MASONRS
I would like to know, through the Question Box in THE BUILDER,
if Brigham Young, the Morman, was a Mason, and if there is any objection to a
Morman becoming a Mason ?
L. L.,
Montana.
We do not believe that Brigham Young was ever a member of the
Masonic fraternity.
From Gould's History we learn that the Grand Lodge of Illinois,
in 1842, granted a dispensation for a lodge at Nauvoo, the Mormon settlement,
in which 286 candidates were initiated, and nearly all passed and raised. The
Grand Lodge appointed a committee to examine the work of the lodge, and this
committee made a favorable report, whereupon the dispensation was continued
and dispensations granted for three more lodges, two at Nauvoo and one at
Keokuk, Iowa, the territory of Iowa being at that time under the jurisdiction
of the Grand Lodge of Illinois. At the next session of the Grand Lodge the
records of these lodges were withheld, and after examination, the Grand Lodge
refused charters and withdrew the dispensations. The Nauvoo lodges were
composed mainly of Mormons, who continued to work in spite of the action of
the Grand Lodge, and refused to deliver the dispensations to the committee
appointed to demand them; at the next session of the Grand Lodge these
associations were declared to be clandestine, and all those hailing therefrom
were suspended, and a circular to that effect was ordered to be sent to the
other Grand Lodges and published in all Masonic periodicals. The Keokuk lodge,
or certain members of it, sent in a petition to have their dispensation
renewed, averring that they had not violated Masonic law to their knowledge.
The Grand Lodge ordered an investigation during the recess, but it does not
appear that any further action was taken.
On February 4, 1866, the Grand Master of Nevada issued a
dispensation for Mt. Moriah Lodge at Salt Lake City, Utah, under which the
lodge was organized the next day. Soon afterwards a question arose in relation
to the treatment of Mormons, who claimed to be Masons, and it was submitted to
the Grand Master. He, undoubtedly aware of the Illinois Mormon episode, for
reply issued an edict forbidding the admission as visitors, and the
affiliation as members, of Mormons claiming to be Masons, and the reception of
petitions from Mormon candidates. The lodge was deeply aggrieved and even
indignant, but submitted to the order of the Grand Master. A meeting was held,
however, and a petition sent to the Grand Lodge to modify the edict, so that
Mormons, not polygamists, would be excepted from its operation; also the
dispensation was returned with a petition for a charter; but the Grand Lodge
approved the edict of the Grand Master, declined to grant a charter, and
continued the dispensation: the lodge was "worse than sorrow-stricken"; but
worked on, obedient to the edict, for another year. Then a petition for a
charter vitas presented to the Grand Lodge, but accompanied with the statement
that, unless they could have a charter unrestricted by the edict, they
respectfully declined to take any; the Grand Lodge promptly accepted the
surrender of the dispensation, and refused to grant a charter. They then
presented a petition, reciting the circumstances, to the Grand Lodge of
Montana at its session, October 8, 1867. That Grand Lodge declared the
assumption of the petitioners, that the Grand Lodge of Nevada did not possess
the power to decide who are not proper persons to be admitted into its
subordinate lodges, was "subversive of the principles of Masonry," rejected
the petition for a charter, and referred the petitioners to the Grand Lodge of
Nevada for a "redress of their alleged grievances," as that Grand Lodge was
"abundantly qualified, as we believe they are disposed, to render justice in
the premises." The petitioners then applied to the Grand Master of Kansas for
a dispensation, which he issued November 25, 1867, and a charter was granted
by the Grand Lodge, October 21, 1868.
The Master and Wardens of Wasatch Lodge, chartered by the Grand
Lodge of Montana, October 7, 1867; Mount Moriah Lodge, chartered by the Grand
Lodge of Kansas, October 21, 1868; and Argenta Lodge, chartered by the Grand
Lodge of Colorado, September 26, 1871, all located at Salt Lake City, met in
convention January 16, 1872, and on January 17, 1872, "regularly organized"
the Grand Lodge of Utah. Wasatch Lotdge had previously worked under
dispensations dated October 22, 1866, and Argenta under dispensation dated
April 8, 1871. The Grand Lodge of Missouri chartered Rocky Mount Lodge, June
1, 1860, but it surrendered its charter the following year.
After this new Grand Lodge had begun to function, an important
question arose in consequence of its peculiar surroundings. A member of one of
its lodges joined the Mormons, and for this cause, upon regular proceedings,
he was expelled by his lodge, and the expulsion confirmed by the Grand Lodge.
The matter attracted the attention of the other Grand Lodges, and many of
them, at the request of the Grand Lodge of Utah, took formal action in
relation to it. It was objected against the expulsion, that Masonry never
interferes with the religious views of any member of the fraternity. This was
admitted, but the expulsion was quite unanimously sustained on the ground that
acts, in violation of Masonic or moral law, are not justified, nor the
perpetrator thereof shielded from punishment, although such acts are in
accordance with, and are enjoined by, his religious views. Freedom of
conscience, to the extent of committing crime, is no more tolerated by
Masonic, than by civil law.
We have been promised by a prominent Utah brother a series of
articles on Mormonism and Freemasonry in that State for early publication in
THE BUILDER.
* * *
OWNERSHIP
AND CONTROL OF CHICAGO MASONIC TEMPLE
A Detroit
Mason recently told me that the Masonic Temple
in Chicago was owned and
controlled by Catholics and rented by them to the various Masonic bodies
meeting therein. Is there any truth in this statement? A.H.W., Ohio.
The Masonic Temple, located at State and Randolph Streets,
Chicago, was originally owned by a stock company, the stock being widely
scattered among various interests. The stock was, however, gradually absorbed
and merged into a trusteeship known as the "Masonic Temple Trust"; the
controlling interest in the building being owned by the estate of N. W. Harris
and A. O. Slaughter, and the Barhydt and Bodman estates, the minority
interests or stock being held by various individuals and Masonic bodies.
So far as is known none of the stock is held by Catholic
interests.
The building is managed by the real estate firm of Willoughby &
Co., Chicago, composed of E. M. Willoughby and J. E. Swanson, both of whom are
members of the Lodge, Chapter, Council, Commandery, Consistory and Shrine.
Twenty Lodges, three Chapters, one Council and two Commanderies
hold their meetings in this building.
A. M.
Millard, President
Masonic Bureau of Service and Employment,
Chicago, Ill.
* * *
THE BLUE
LODGE EMBLEM
Will you please explain through THE BUILDER why the letter "G"
is placed inside the square and compasses ? Why not the level or trowel, or
some other symbol?
E.C.M.,
Kansas.
No reason can be given. "G" is one of the more important
symbols; emblem makers have therefore attempted to make use of it in Masonic
lapel buttons, watch charms, etc. Its beins incorporated with the square and
compasses is purely accidental H. L. H.
* * *
"THE
WHITE SHRINE" AND THE "ORDER OF AMARANTH"
What is "The White Shrine," also the "Order of Ama ranth"?
O.I.O., North Dakota.
Both the "White Shrine" and the "Order of Amaranth" are degrees
to which only members of the Eastern Star are eligible
The "Order of Amaranth" was invented by J. B. Taylor, of
Newark, N. J., but it was amplified and improved by Robert Macoy of New York.
The Supreme Council of the rite was established June 14, 1873, with Robert
Macoy as Supreme Patron and Robert Morris as Supreme Recorder.
The "White Shrine" was founded by Charles D. Magee, Chicano.
Ill.. in 1894. It is at the present time an active and
growing organization.
C.C.H.
CORRESPONDENCE
A
PROPOSED REMEDY FOR DISAPPOINTMENT AND APATHY IN MASONRY
(The following suggestions are made in response to the
editorial "A Confession and a Challenge" in the March issue of THE BUILDER.)
It cannot be denied that thousands of Masons finish their
degree course in Masonry with a feeling of disappointment and the thought,
generally unexpressed, that they have not received all that they had been led
to expect to receive. This is because they enter into Masonry with the
expectation of receiving something that cannot otherwise be obtained - an
unexpressed "some thing" which is traditionally supposed to be attainable in
Masonry, and nowhere else; yet we do not take the trouble to explain to the
candidate for Masonic membership just what he has a right to expect to find.
The result is "Masonic Apathy" in thousands of our members.
As a remedy for this condition the following suggestions are offered:
Before the candidate receives his first degree let him be given
a short, carefully prepared lecture, preferably uniform for every
jurisdiction, and incorporated in the monitor, just as are the printed
lectures of the various degrees, in explanation of the history of Masonry,
what Masonry is, and what Masonry has stood for throughout the years. Let this
lecture be given with utmost seriousness in a most impressive manner, and by
the very best man for the purpose in the lodge, whether an officer or not.
The lecture might well be somewhat in the form of a "charge"
and, for example, similar to the following, it being understood that the
example given is but a rough suggestion merely for the purpose of illustrating
the idea:
Mr. A. B., you have made application to this lodge to be
received among us, and among all the duly recognized Masons of the world as an
equal - more than an equal, as a brother. It has been the pleasure of this
lodge to favorably act on your petition and to grant your request.
But before proceeding with the actual conferring of Masonic
degrees upon a candidate, it is the custom of this lodge to explain to him
what Masonry is, and what he may expect to find in it for himself, and what
Masonry, as an organization, and through its individual members, of which you
aspire to the honor of becoming one, owes to the world.
You doubtless have heard it said that Masonry is not a
religious organization, that it is not a political organization, and that it
is not a charitable organization - or if you have not heard these statements,
you hear them now - and they are all true. That is, all are true in a narrow
sense - in a wide sense they are all untrue, for Masonry is the custodian of
the greatest religious faith, the belief in God and the immortality of the
soul. Masonry, without partisan afflliation or narrow political creed, is a
supporter of civic righteousness, sturdy citizenship, and freedom to worship
God each man in his own way. And Masonry regards with charity the works and
acts of all men. Never in your Masonic life forget or neglect these principles
of Masonry, for by remembering them and acting in accordance with them you
will do your duty in carrying forward the proud history of Masonry.
The history of Masonry has been many times written yet never
wholly correctly, and in all probability never will be. The origin and early
history of Masonry is lost in the distant past; the later history of Masonry,
that is its history as an organization such as we now know it, is in many
respects incomplete and confused. Masonry's documentary history extends back
little beyond 1717, but from internal evidence, which you will later have the
privilege of yourself considering as a fruit of your Masonic studies, it
plainly appears that Masonry, broadly considered, is many, many, yes, hundreds
of years, older than 1717.
When I refer to the internal evidence of Masonic age, I refer
not to Masonry's history as APPARENTLY taught in the degree work, but to its
history as REALLY taught by the work in the lodge - its teachings by means of
symbols, the manner in which its Great Truth is taught, its concealed
references, and so forth. All these things can become plain to you only by the
most careful consideration and utmost thoughtfulness on your part, to-wit, by
YOUR OWN Masonic labor.
The history of Masonry, as APPARENTLY taught by the degree work
is frankly, to a great extent, a hodge podge of historic untruths, or at best
historic truths inaccurately presented. You are not to consider the degrees as
history, but rather to consider them as allegories, each teaching by one of
the most ancient methods known to the human mind, an important moral truth.
First learn the lesson of the particular allegory and then, if you so please -
and I sincerely trust you will - discover by the study of Masonic history just
what is history and just what is purely allegory.
The degrees of Masonry are those of the Master's lodge,
popularly called the "Blue Lodge"; those of the Royal Arch Chapter; the
cryptic degrees of the Council; the chivalric degrees of the Commandery, and
the degrees of the Scottish Rite. The Blue Lodge degrees, when received,
constitute you a Master Mason, so far as your right to receive the privileges
of a Master Mason are concerned. The other degrees are to aid you to a better
understanding of what the Blue Lodge degrees are intended to teach you. It is
no concern of any Master Masons' lodge whether or not you take the so-called
"higher degrees," and do not take what I have said to you as an attempt to in
the least influence you in the matter - but this I may say: That Master Mason
who rightly understands the lessons of the Blue Lodge and diligently practices
them is the Masonic equal of any Mason, no matter what that Mason's degree may
be, and no amount of degree taking can make a true Mason of any man who does
not practice the teachings of the Blue Lodge.
You doubtless have heard of the "secrets of Masonry." If you
expect to obtain the TRUE SECRET of Masonry by the mere taking of degrees, you
are inevitably destined to disappointment. For the TRUE SECRET is an
unexpressible knowledge of how to act and how to conduct yourself throughout
your life, learned, each man for himself, by thoughtful contemplation of the
simple teachings of Masonry.
Insofar as you learn this TRUE SECRET you will be able to do
your part in helping Masonry to do its duty in the world. That duty of Masonry
is that it exert all its forces and all its influence toward the betterment of
the world by all means possible, and more specifically by making good citizens
and by preserving man's inalienable right to life, liberty, the pursuit of
happiness and freedom to worship God each man in his own way.
And now, Mr. A. B., I, in the name of this Master Masons'
lodge, wish you God speed on your introduction into Masonry.
Harold A.
Kingsbury, Delaware.
* * *
WHAT
MASONRY MEANS TO A MONTANA BROTHER
The March editorial entitled "A Confession and a Challenge" has
prompted me to set down a few lines; not as an acceptance of the "challenge,"
for there are many pointed questions in the article beyond my poor ability to
answer, but more to give my own experience. My Masonic career has many points
in common with that of the composite doughboy:
I am a man in my late thirties, and never had the slightest
interest in Masonry till a little over three years ago. What prompted me to
ever take an interest? I do not know, unless it was the subconscious influence
exerted by the fact that most of my friends were Masons. However, no one of
them ever asked me to petition the lodge. I just found out one day that I
wanted to be a Mason.
I received the M. M. Degree December 7th, 1916, was made a
Royal Arch Mason January 31st, 1917, took the Commandery all in one day on
March 12th, 1917, and the Shrine May 25th, 1917. At the December Reunion of
the Scottish Rite in the same year I took the degrees through to the 32nd. In
April, 1919, I was accepted into the Council, and also received the
Super-Excellent. Thus you will see that I took my Masonry in rather frequent
doses, without having time to digest as I went along.
During the past three years I have had the honor of holding
office in my Blue Lodge, and am at present the Master. I also hold office in
one of the higher bodies.
The foregoing is not set down with any idea of being a boast.
It is simply a statement of facts in the life of one Mason of the millions who
live in America today.
Should a friend or brother of the Blue Lodge ask me, "Would you
advise me to take all the degrees I can?" I should say "Yes, if you are
prepared to read and study in the wonderful field of research and inspiration
opened up for you." I should advise him especially to take the Scottish Rite,
the most wonderful influence for moral and spiritual uplift and inspiration
extant.
Our Doughboy says, ". . . But I've stopped learning about it,
and really know less than when I was studying the first three degrees. There's
some mystery about it. I don't understand yet what it's all about. I've rushed
through. I've seen it all. But I haven't digested it." '
Who among us has "digested" it all? To whom is its great
mystery an open book? And along the same lines, who understands all the
teachings of the Scriptures, the Apocalypse of St.
t
John, or the Kabala, or the Avesta of Zoroastrian teachings ?
No two persons receive the same impressions, or derive the same
benefit from a given topic of study. But is not each one bettered by reading
the works of, or books about the great thinkers, patriots, or philosophers?
Why has Doughboy stopped learning about Masonry when he has at his command
such books as "History of Freemasonry and Concordant Orders," "A Concise
History of Freemasonry," "Morals and Dogma" of the Scottish Rite, "Mackey's
Encyclopsedia," "The Comacines," "Legenda" of the various Scottish degrees,
and a host of others?
To me Masonry is not a sect, a faction, a creed, or a religion.
Masonry is an influence, an inspiration, and a philosophy. The benefits are
not to be derived but in a minute part from the hearing of degrees, the
"patter" of the work. Lodge meetings are most necessary, and the degrees are
the very heart of the Order. But if Masonry is put off when lodge closes, to
be resumed only at the next meeting; then it is not fully appreciated. Masonry
can, and should be taken into the home for study, inspiration, and practice.
Masonry is not the finding of a word spelled with letters. It
is not being able to memorize a ritual, or the wearing of a pin. Masonry is
not the bare reading of records of the past, or facts of the present.
Masonry is the change for the better effected in the lives of
its members; the instilling of toleration for the opinions of others, of
charity in its broadest meaning, and the desire to get into action for fellow
men, instead of drifting along. Masonry is the mystery of life and how best to
live according to each one's ability and circumstances.
A Montana
Brother.
* * *
THE FREE
PUBLIC SCHOOL
The following resolution recently adopted by the Grand Lodge of
Mississippi should be of interest to readers of THE BUILDER:
THE FREE
PUBLIC SCHOOL; THE GREATEST UNIFYING FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY IN
THE UNITED STATES
The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of
Mississippi, in Annual Communication, declares:
It regards the free public school the chief bulwark of the
State and Nation, to be kept under the sole dominion and direction of the
State, and so far as the efforts of Free Masonry in Mississippi is concerned,
its voice, vote and influence will at all times be exerted in keeping it so.
It regards any individual or other influence, be it political
or ecclesiastical that seeks to destroy the free public school system as now
operated in this country, as an enemy of our American institutions, the State
and Nation, and the object to attack by the institution of Free Masonry.
It demands that all teachers in our free public schools, to
whom are entrusted the foundation of our national endurance, should be those
who cherish the value of the great opportunities of true Americanism above all
other power on earth, be it political or ecclesiastical; those who recognize
the authority only of a just and merciful God who rules over heaven and earth,
and also, that of this great American government.
It demands that the highest type of manhood and womanhood may
be secured as teachers in our free public schools, that they be paid
generously, and be required to realize that loyal, efficient service will be
expected at their hands.
It demands that all teachers employed in our free public
schools be required to take an oath of allegiance to the State and Nation,
particularly in all matters affecting the free public school system, as
against any other influence whatever.
Be it further resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be
furnished our Senators and Representatives in Congress and also the
legislative bodies in Mississippi, now in session.
Adopted February 25, 1920.
J. W.
McCant, Mississippi.
* * *
HE WHO
HAS NOT MASTERED THE ENTERED APPRENTICE DEGREE CAN NEVER RECEIVE MASTER'S
WAGES
The editorial in the March number of THE BUILDER is highly
significant.
The doughboy went "over the top" in France, is nearly "over the
top" in Masonry, having attained the 32nd degree, and is asking the question
"What does Masonry really try to teach ?"
I would suggest that he go back and take the Entered Apprentice
degree over again and "learn to subdue his passions and improve himself in
Masonry," using the four cardinal virtues to do so, that when he has truly
mastered and can put into practice Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and
Justice, his passions will be under control. Without this foundation upon
which to build, his Masonry will be but "sounding brass" as he has found it.
He will then be ready, but not before, to be instructed in the
mysteries of the letter G. and learn the wages of a Fellow Craft. When he has
mastered this degree he will be ready for the life-long quest "to receive the
wages of a Master Mason." This will keep him employed and intensely interested
through life.
He will find that he will never "receive Master's wages" unless
he masters the Entered Apprentice degree.
A. K.
Bradley, Texas.
* * *
THE
LESSER LIGHTS
I wish to thank you for the copy of THE BUILDER for September,
1918, recently sent me in reply to my query for information concerning the
situation of the lesser lights in the various jurisdictions. My difficulties
are now settled, which goes to show how important it is to have a complete
file of THE BUILDER.
It may be of interest to you to know that in Cornwall Lodge,
Cornwall, Ontario, the lesser lights are placed at the corners of the lodge
room, in the northeast, northwest and southeast, if I remember correctly.
In our lodge rooms we have not only the altar lights, which are
referred to in the ritual as the "auxiliary lights," but also lights on the
officers' pedestals, and on the walls above their three chairs. The latter are
used only in the First degree.
W. Harvev
McNairn. Ontario.
-------o-----
KEEP ME
STRIVING
BY BRO.
GERALD NANCARROW, INDIANA
O keep me
striving after Thee, my God,
I ask no
lighter way to tread;
I seek
not flowers but e'en the rod
And feed
my soul on hunger's bread.
For I
would grow to Thee in nature's part
Not at a
bound to scale the heights,
But by
the hungerings of my heart
Reach up
and on through blackest nights.
To win to
Thee though eons intervene,
Though I
shall labor through the dust
A
thousand groping lives which lie between -
I shall
for Thou hast said I must.
------o-----
Experience is the successive disenchanting of the things of
life; it is reason enriched with the heart's spoils. - J. Petit-Senn