WHAT IS FREEMASONRY
THE VOICE OF
FREEMASONRY - 1881
IN the mind of the intelligent
young Mason, who, of course, is
constant in his attendance
upon all lodge meetings, questions
like these will continually
arise: " What is the meaning of all
these solemn and mysterious
ceremonies .
"What is the true
explanation of these symbols so continually
presented to view?" "What
is the interpretation of these curious
allegories so frequently
repeated in our hearing?" In short,
"What is Freemasonry, and
what is its object? "
To obtain Masonic light and
knowledge, he learns "the work,"
and becomes a very "bright
" Mason, when upon serious
reflection, he discovers
that he has only obtained a knowledge
of a certain series of
words, which in themselves, afford no
instruction. He eagerly
reads a "Monitor," and obtains no
knowledge of the symbolism
of Freemasonry that he did not
already possess as a
profane. He reads Masonic publications,
from which he gleans much
information connected with what
may be termed Masonic
"diplomacy," reads learned
disquisitions on Masonic
"jurisprudence," but does not find that
information of which he is
in search. He is continually informed
that Freemasonry, in some
form, has existed from time
immemorial, and that the
wisest and best of all nations and in
all ages have been but too
proud of the honor of being enrolled
among the members of such
an ancient institution. He knows
that to-day the Society of
Freemasons is the leading social
organization of the world,
and has no reason to doubt that it will
continue to exist through
all future generations. By reading, he
learns that the grand old
institution has descended to us from
the remote past. It has
seen nation succeed nation, as the
centuries have rolled past;
in its time, dogmas, religious and
political, have swiftly
sped their way and disappeared in
oblivion, yet Freemasonry,
unsullied by political, strife, free
from religious dogma of
man's invention, remains changeless
and, unchangeable - the
same to-day as yesterday, and will so
continue forever - the
chain connecting the past and present
with the future.
Those members of the
Institution who have been favored with
the privilege of examining
the structure in all its parts, - who
have descended to its
foundation and wondered at its strong
supports, - have critically
examined its finely proportioned
columns and pilasters, -
have stood upon the checkered
pavement and admired the
implements displayed thereon, and
received rudimentary
instruction respecting their use, - have
been conducted through the
middle chamber, and received
lessons in science, and
finally been permitted to enter the most
holy place; yea, have even
assisted in the rite of sacrifice at the
holy altar; those of us who
have been so highly favored, should
know the meaning of all
these symbols and allegories, - should
fully understand the import
of these solemn rites and
ceremonies in all their
allusions, and should be willing to
communicate that knowledge
to our less informed brethren. It
is their right to demand
information, and it is our duty to
communicate to them all
that each is entitled to know.
Freemasonry does not
consist merely of the ceremonies and
so-called "Lectures,"
connected with the initiation and
advancement of candidates;
these are merely the frame work
of the structure, or, more
correctly, the key which unlocks the
door to the treasure-house,
- and are only intended to serve as
a means of impressing upon
the mind of the candidate, in a
manner not to be
misunderstood or easily forgotten, the most
vital and salutary lessons,
not of mere morality, but religious
and political doctrines,
comprising within their scope, our
entire duty to GOD, our
country, our neighbor, and our own self.
Freemasonry is DUTY, and
Masonic "work" is the performance
of every duty, religious,
political and social.
Religion is defined by the
best lexicographers as "the
recognition of GOD as an
object of worship, love and
obedience - right feelings
toward GOD as correctly understood
- piety;" and another
definition is "Religion is Godliness, or real
piety, in practice;" which
practical religion consists in the
performance of every duty
to GOD and our fellow-men, in
obedience to His laws, or
from love of Him and His works.
With these definitions in
view, Freemasonry is eminently a
religious institution. It
cannot be sectarian, for men of every
creed, and every phase of
religious thought, are admitted
within the portals of its
temples, and among its members we
find the followers of Moses
and Confucius, of CHRIST and
Zoroaster, standing side by
side, laboring in the interest of
Freemasonry - the benefit
of humanity.
Masonry is a religious
institution, but its religion is that of
nature and primitive
revelation - that religion in which all men
may agree, and in which
none can differ - and to that purely
religious element, as a
foundation, it is indebted for its origin
and continued existence,
and without which it would be no
more worthy of
consideration than any one of the multitude of
ephemeral imitators, which
from time to time have arisen,
flourished their brief day,
and passed into decay and
forgetfulness. The religion
of Masonry is not Christianity, or
even a substitute for it,
as that religion is explained by the
dogmas of the various
creeds, any more than it is peculiar
Judaism, or Brahminism, but
it is the foundation of all creeds -
the true religion as
expounded by the Great Teacher who
taught His disciples to
raise their aspirations to "Our FATHER
which art in heaven; " that
religion so fully defined by St.
James, who says, "Pure and
undefiled religion before GOD
and the FATHER is this,
that ye visit the fatherless and the
widow in their affliction,
and keep yourselves unspotted from
the world."
Politics is correctly
defined as "the science of government; that
part of ethics which has to
do with the regulation and
government of a nation or
state; the defense of its existence
and rights against foreign
control or conquest; the preservation
of its safety, peace and
prosperity; the augmentation of its
strength and resources, and
the protection of its citizens in
their rights with the
preservation and improvement of their
morals." With this
definition in view, Freemasonry is also a
political institution; not
the tool of party, not laboring in the
interest of any individual
or section, but for the benefit of the
whole body politic.
Freemasonry may, therefore,
be defined as being a system
and school of Religious and
Political Philosophy, in which its
doctrines are suggested by
allegories and concealed under
symbols.
An allegory is a narrative
containing a double meaning, a literal
rendering, and at the same
time a spiritual allusion. The
allegory was a favorite
figure among the ancients, and the
Jewish Rabbins made use of
it to such excess that in the
Hebrew writings it is
extremely difficult to distinguish the
allegory from the true
history. This style of instruction has ever
been used by Christian
teachers, and in Freemasonry, what
are known as "traditions"
are but allegories - Masonry has no
traditions.
A symbol is a visible sign,
with which a spiritual idea is
connected. The first
records of the world were in hieroglyphs, -
a collection of symbols;
letters of the alphabet are but symbols
of spoken sounds, - words
are but symbols of ideas, and in all
ages visible symbols have
been used as most vividly acting
upon the minds of the
people, and thus we find that all
propositions, religious,
political or scientific may be expressed
by means of symbols.
Symbolic representations of things
sacred were coeval with
religion itself, and even at the present
time a religious symbolism
is practiced which has descended
to us from the most remote
antiquity. Masonic "traditions" and
legends are allegories -
spoken symbols - by the utterance of
which spiritual things are
better understood, and by the
exhibition of visible
symbols, a deep and lasting impression is
made upon the attentive
mind.
To study the symbols made
use of in Masonry, and endeavor
to elicit from them the
ideas they were originally intended to
express, without which
knowledge the practice of the tenets of
our profession would be of
no force, because not understood,
is a labor of love for the
intelligent Mason. The ability of an
individual to rehearse a
certain series of words, with
appropriate action, as is
comprised in what is commonly
termed the "work," is
merely evidence of a retentive memory,
or capacity as an actor;
and it is frequently found that the
brother who can scarcely
recite sufficient of the catechism -
improperly called "Lecture"
- to enable him to "work his way"
into a lodge, is foremost
in true Masonic labor, and a most
active and zealous brother,
fully understanding the full meaning
of all the symbols
presented to his view, and showing by his
daily conduct that he
endeavors practice the lessons they
convey.
Every portion of the
ceremonies of Masonry is full of meaning;
nothing is done which, when
properly understood, does not in
the most impressive manner,
convey some lessons calculated
to make all who witness the
ceremony wiser and better men
and consequently more
worthy citizens; and any portion of the
ceremonies which does not
convey such lessons is an
innovation, and should not
be tolerated. In the performance of
our solemn rites no haste
should be allowed, nor omission be
tolerated, and the Master
of a lodge, who abridges the
ceremonies, or allows his
officers to shorten them by omitting
any portion of the
instruction the ritual provides, is guilty of a
violation of his duty as a
Mason, and neglectful of the vow he
assumed as Master, when he
promised in the most solemn
manner that he would never
close his lodge without giving a
lecture for the instruction
of the brethren. A few trivial questions,
selected at random from the
catechism, should in no case be
accepted as even to the
letter fulfilling the requirements of the
law, but a lecture, on some
Masonic subject should be
delivered for the
instruction of the young Masons, before the
close of every lodge
meeting, and thus the requirements of the
installation obligation be
fulfilled in the spirit as well as to the
letter. Being instructed in
the principles of the Institution, in all
their applications, the
object is evident - the spiritual elevation
of man-but in order to
accomplish this end we must be true
ourselves, by continually
endeavoring to practice all the
precepts inculcated by the
lectures and allegories and
illustrated by the symbols
of Freemasonry.
