The Builder Magazine 

April 1917 - Volume III - Number 4 


OPINION ON MASONIC SUBJECTS - A FRATERNAL 
FORUM 

(Announcing a Monthly Department of Personal Opinion on Present-day Masonic 
subjects) 

Edited by BRO. GEO. E. FRAZIER, President, The Board of Stewards) 

RESULTS speak louder than words. In reviewing the first two years of the Society, 
the Board of Stewards have been especially impressed with its loyalty to its original 
ideal, the character of its membership, and the increasing use now being made of its 
resources. Mere numbers give no adequate idea of its real strength, but it is surely 
significant that the Society has enlisted the interest of fourteen thousand Masons in 
two years. Its members include not only the rank and file of the Craft, but a large 
percentage of the leaders and students of Masonry in America, and not a few 
representative scholars from abroad. Indeed a list of the present members of the 
Society in any state shows a striking combination of the veteran Masonic leaders and 
the progressive young men of the jurisdiction. 


Naturally the high character of the membership is making itself felt month by month 
in the contents of The Builder, whose leading articles provoke a wide response both in 
the Society as well as in the Masonic press of the country. This response finds 
expression in the correspondence column of The Builder, which increases in interest 
and value with each issue, and also in answer and comment direct from individual 
members. Because of the directness, vitality and farreaching interest of this response, 
the editor has taxed the limits of space devoted to it, often withholding new articles to 
make room for letters of reply or elaboration not infrequently as instructive as the 
original article. Fortunately this demand has been met in part by the Correspondence 
Circle Bulletin, edited by Brother Clegg, which is now an added and invaluable 
monthly feature. The Board of Stewards is in entire sympathy with the Study-Club 
movement, and wishes to make all possible provision to facilitate its growth and 
advancement. 



All of which shows a very real and vital interest in the study of Masonry, and the 
development of our work so far reveals the wide range of Masonic activities— as a 
glance at the Index of the first two volumes of The Builder will make plain. We have, 
then, a trinity of working tools. First, we have fourteen thousand leading Masons who 
are reading The Builder, and the number is rapidly growing. Second, we have a hearty 
response from our members not only in appreciation, but in comment, criticism, and 
practical suggestion looking to the application of Masonic study to everyday life. 
Third, we have a list of contributors of serious articles which embraces the names of 
many of the finest Masonic students at home and abroad. Surely all this is as much an 
evidence of the strength and virility of Masonry as beautiful temples, the perfect 
exemplification of the ritual, or large numbers of candidates, excellent as all these are. 


Your Board of Stewards has, therefore, felt the need of adding a department to The 
Builder that will bring the experience and special information of its past and present 
contributors to bear on present-day Masonic problems. We have accordingly 
established a department of personal opinion, which will appear monthly commencing 
with an early issue. This department will be edited by the President of the Board of 
Stewards, and he will invite contributions to the department each month from each 
writer who has contributed one or more articles to the magazine. At least four and not 
more than six such expressions of personal opinion will make up the department for 
each month. In order that opinions may be compared and opposite viewpoints fully 
considered the President will announce a subject for each month in the form of a 
query. Some possible subjects are: 


a. Shall Masonic lodges encourage the formation of local Masonic clubs for social 
purposes ? 


b. Shall American Grand Lodges unite in a National Grand Lodge? 


c. Shall lodge dues be increased to cover the financial support of Masonic charitable 
institutions? 



d. Shall Masters and Grand Masters be elected from the floor without regard to 
service in subordinate offices ? 


e. Shall present Masonic orders favor the promotion of new systems of Masonic or 
quasi-Masonic degrees ? 


f. Shall Lodge officers be financially interested in the sale of Masonic supplies ? 


g. Shall Masonic lodges appoint committees to investigate the non-sectarian 
administration of the public schools ? 


You are asked to read over again the typical subjects just given. Please note that they 
are subjects actively discussed in the official correspondence of practically all grand 
lodges. They are live topics on which Masons have opinion, and on which Masonic 
judgment must be passed. The subjects do not involve the discussion of politics, 
religious creeds or personal prejudices. 


The subjects given are intended merely to sketch outthe possibilities of this 
department. Each member is earnestly invited to suggest other and better topics. 
Please remember that the department is not open to discussion on international 
policies or on religious organizations or on sects, cults and theories of personal 
application. The department is for the expression of personal opinion by our own 
former contributors on subjects that are alive in the administration of the Masonry of 
today. 


The contributing editors of this department of personal opinion assume responsibility 
only for what each writes over his own signature. Each opinion must be expressed in 
one paragraph of not more than six hundred words. All those who have contributed 



articles to The Builder are invited to become contributing editors. The list will grow 
as all new contributors to The Builder will also become contributing editors to this 
department of personal opinion. Please note carefully that this department offers the 
only vehicle in Masonry for comparing the personal opinions of leading Masonic 
students as to present-day Masonic problems. With this in mind one can readily 
appreciate the possibilities before us for constructive thinking of a high order. 


The Correspondence department of The Builder will be continued and will afford each 
member of the Society an opportunity to reply to any expression of opinion that he 
finds of especial interest. It is the hope of the Board of Stewards that this new 
department may stimulate many Masons to Masonic inquiry that will in turn lead 
them to contribute articles to The Builder, and to join our list of Contributing Editors 


GEO. E. FRAZER, President of the Board of Stewards. 


FOR TO-DAY 


Above all, that I may not be a coward! That I may have courage courage to be 
unmoved by the uncertainties of life, and without dread of loss, whether of friends, of 
health or of fortune: That I may come with a firm and tranquil mind to the work of 
this day, fearing nothing— ready to meet bravely failure or deprivation. 


That I may bring to the day's efforts, good humor and a cheerful regard for all with 
whom I may come into contact: That I may not judge others hastily or with bitterness. 


That I may not be grasping, but content with a fair share of this world's goods, willing 
to let others have theirs: That I may be diligent in the performance of duties and 
cheerful in manner: That I may be earnest in pursuit of the right. 



That I may stand with open mind ready to receive the Truth in small affairs and in 
large— whether in learning new and better methods or in receiving that philosophy 
necessary to a brave, tranquil, well-poised, well-harmonized life. John Brisben Walker 
(Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association) 

WORDS OF STRENGTH 

By Friedrich Schiller, Bom Nov. 10, 1759. 

There are three lessons I would write, 

Three words as with a burning pen, 

In tracings of eternal light, 

Upon the hearts of men: 

Have hope. Though clouds environ now, 

And gladness hides her face in scorn, 

Put thou the shadow from thy brow, 

No night but hath its morn. 

Have faith. Where'er thy bark is driven— 

The calm's disport, the tempest's mirth— 

Know this— God mles the hosts of heaven, 


The inhabitants of earth. 



Have love. Not love alone for one, 


But, man as man thy brother call, 

And scatter, like the circling sun, 

Thy charities on all. 

Thus grave these lessons on thy soul— 
Hope, Faith and Love and thou shalt find 
Strength when life's surges rudest roll, 
Light when thou else wert blind. 


MASONRY AND KING SOLOMON'S TEMPLE 


BY THE LATE BRO. WM. A. PAINE, JAMAICA 


Paine, William A., of English parentage, date of birth unknown; a man of business 
and a gentleman of the old school; Master of King Solomon's Lodge, Kingston, 
Jamaica, also a Royal Arch Mason; lost his life in the earthquake disaster at Kingston, 
Jan. 14th, 1907. He was a man of noble character, of winning personality, learned in 
the lore of Freemasonry, devoted to its service, and a pioneer in his jurisdiction in the 
cause of Masonic study. The essay here published is of unusual value for its wide 
research and its clear reasoning; and while all of its readers may not agree with the 
position taken, they must reckon with its argument opposing the Jewish claims of 
Masonic origin. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT (For the above information and photograph, and for Brother 
Paine's thoughtful paper herewith begun, we are indebted to our Brother Member, E. 
T. Skinkle, 33d, of Chicago.) 


PARTI 


IT is necessary that we look at this important and instructive factor in the system of 
Speculative Freemasonry from two separate and distinct points— the positive and the 
negative. 


The positive asserts itself from the fact that Solomon's Temple, the traditions 
connected therewith, and prominent Jewish Scriptural characters, are very extensively 
introduced; and, in fine, that the Jewish Ceremonials and Types are considerably 
availed of as the foundations on which the three Craft Degrees have been erected. 
With a limited knowledge of the origin and history of the Ritual, and of the 
Symbolism in Freemasonry, it is not to be wondered at that a very large proportion of 
Masons consider they are orthodox in holding the opinion that Solomon, King of 
Israel, and the two Hirams, were Freemasons, and that Speculative Freemasonry 
originated at the building of the First Temple. I need hardly say that it is only natural 
every Jewish Mason should hold firmly to such a view. 


The negative side of the question is this:— "That Hiram Abiff was not slain. Solomon 
and the two Hirams were not Masons, and that Freemasonry did not originate at the 
Temple." And as I shall be able to show that we have Masonic history to support this 
negative, and that we have only to deal with a series of interesting and instructive 
legends, the sooner we recognize and admit the same, by placing the Temple and the 
Jewish characters connected therewith under the legitimate and intelligent 
classification,— allegory. The sooner we seek for the origin of the Fegend of the 
Temple, and the period in the history of Freemasonry, when it was introduced, the 
earlier and the better shall we be able to understand really what Speculative 
Freemasonry is; or, as in the words of one of our important charges, "Be the better 
able to distinguish and appreciate the connection of our whole system, and the relative 
dependency of its several parts." 



If so great a Masonic student as Dr. Oliver, in his early career, believed literally all 
that had been told him in the Lodge Room, is it to be wondered at that the like 
erroneous view still exists? The Doctor's experience can be best given in his own 
words: "The Legend of the 3d when given as a naked and unexplained fact, and 
recited with all the solemnity of truth, 99 out of every 100 candidates believe it 
implicitly, and would esteem it a casus belli if any one were to express a doubt 
respecting the most improbable particulars which it professes to record; and when I 
was first initiated at an early age, I confess that such were my own impressions." 


Ragon, who died in 1866, and was considered one of the ablest of French Masonic 
writers, thus refers to the 3d:— "All the fables which are introduced to excite the 
wonder and astonishment of the Neophyte, and repeated as undoubted facts as 
preserved by an ancient and accredited tradition, may be termed fanciful 
monstrosities, because the Holy Scriptures tacitly disprove them, for they contain no 
reference to the circumstances which constitute the Legend." 


Grand Master Dalcho, in one of his orations, says: "I candidly confess that I feel a 
great degree of embarrassment, while I am relating to Ministers of God's Holy Word, 
or to any other gentlemen, a story founded on the grossest errors of accumulated ages; 
errors which they can prove to me to be such, from the sacred pages of Holy Writ, and 
from profane history; and, that too, in a minute after I have solemnly pronounced 
them to be undeniable truths, even by the Holy Bible on which I have received their 
obligation." 


Oliver says also, on the same subject: "It is indeed indefensible as a sober matter of 
History, and the most rational application of it, which the W. M. could make at the 
conclusion of the ceremony, would be - to explain to the Candidate, that the drama in 
which he has sustained so conspicuous a part, is merely symbolical; and, then subjoin 
the reference. This course would be plausible, and prevent the Candidate leaving the 
Lodge, either with a fallacy on his mind, if he believes it to be true, or with a 
conviction that a clumsy and unworthy imposition has been practiced on him; which, 
from a better knowledge of the facts, he at once repudiates with a combined feeling of 
pity and disgust." ******* 



Such being the opinions of eminent Masonic writers, printed and published for the 
instruction even of entered apprentices, let us then ascertain the true definition as 
given by Oliver and others. "Freemasonry is confessedly an allegory, and as an 
allegory only must it be supported, for its traditional history admits of no palliation. 
Whoever would remove Freemasonry out of the category, as an allegorical institution, 
might as well destroy its existence; for in no other character would it be able to hold 
its own. It is one consistent and intelligible assemblage of symbols, and any attempt to 
explain it, by reference to facts, is sure to fail: instead of a clear, beautiful, and 
harmonious system connected in all its parts, a distorted caricature will be produced 
without a single redeeming trait of character." 


Dalcho, holding similar views, says in addition: "Neither Moses, nor Solomon, nor 
Joshua, nor the two Hirams, nor the two Saints John belonged to the Masonic Order. It 
is unwise to assert more than we can prove, and to argue against probabilities. There 
is no record, sacred or profane, to induce us to believe that Masonic these holy and 
distinguished men were Freemasons. To assert which may make the ignorant stare, 
but will rather create the contempt than the admiration of the wise— let Freemasons 
give up their vain boastings, which ignorance has foisted into the Order, and 
relinquish a fabulous antiquity, rather than sacrifice common sense." 


I invite your attention to the consideration of this fabulous antiquity as applicable to 
Solomon's Temple. Locke, the philosopher of the 17th century, and whom we know 
was a Freemason, says: "Religion is the only tie which will bind men, and where there 
is no religion, there can be no Masonry." Max Muller asks us to bear in mind— "That 
without a belief in a personal immortality, religion surely, is like an arch resting on 
one pillar, or like a bridge ending in an abyss and Bulwer Lytton truly adds: 
"Though all the world were carved over, and inscribed with the letters of divine 
knowledge, the characters would be valueless to him who does not pause to inquire 
the language, and meditate the truth." These three quotations supply religion, 
immortality, symbolism, a most appropriate triad, pointing to the pillars of wisdom, 
strength, and beauty: for wisdom abides in the man, who, with revealed religion as his 
guide, is strengthened in his belief in immortality, by recognizing the beautiful 
symbolism of Freemasonry, by which it inculcates so important a dogma. 



Dr. Oliver considers that wherever and whenever the true God was worshiped, in the 
midst of idolatry, as in the time of Israel's apostacy under Ahab and Jezbel, that such 
worshipers of Jehovah were the representatives of ancient speculative Freemasons, 
and therefore he adds, at the erection of the First Temple, the Jews represented the 
pure speculative element which, joined to the Tyrian pure operative Masonry, was the 
first combination of speculative with operative. This can only be viewed at the most 
as merely sentimental— nothing historical as bearing on the point that either the Jews 
were architects, or that Solomon and the two Hirams were Freemasons. Nor can any 
such sentimental amalgamation of the Jew and Tyrian, at the first temple, be urged as 
analagous to the combination of Pagan and Christian architects in the time of 
Constantine the First at Bysantium, or of Romanistand Protestant architects in the 
17th century under Wren at the erection of St. Paul's Cathedral. 


Findel, that great German Masonic writer, entirely ignores Jewish origin and Temple 
traditions, and although admitting much that is historical, is only willing to trace 
Freemasonry from the German Gilds of the middle ages. Fort, a renowned American 
writer, admits Jewish influence not Jewish origin, but that influence as of a period 
long subsequent to the Second Temple, for he commences his line of argument at the 
early Bysantium period of architecture. 


Woodford, Past Grand Chaplain of Grand Lodge of England, and equally a writer of 
note, considers "our present speculative system, in its modem development, as 
undoubtedly lineally and archaeologically the successor of the Gild Fraternities of the 
operative Masons, but he asks 'whence did the Gilds obtain the Masonic legends?' and 
he adds, I am not inclined to give up the legend of the temple, or even a connection 
with the ancient mysteries altogether." 


Mackey, the American Masonic writer, referring to the 3rd degree, says, "When I 
speak of the antiquity of Freemasonry, I must say, if I must respect the axioms of 
historical science, that its body came out of the middle ages, but that its spirit is to be 
traced to far - remoter periods, for Freemasonry is the successor of the Building 
Coiporations of the middle ages— and through them with less certainty, but with great 
probability of the Roman Colleges of Artificers— its connection with Solomon's 
Temple as its birthplace may have been accidental or a mere arbitrary selection of its 
in ventors, and bears therefore only an allegorical meaning. The Temple of Solomon 
has played an important part in Freemasonry. Time was, when every Masonic writer 



subscribed to the theory that Masonry was there first organized, that there Solomon 
and the two Hirams presided as Grand Masters, initiated the symbolic degrees and 
invented the system of initiation, and that - from that period in unbroken succession 
and unaltered - form has it passed to us, down the stream of time." But Mackey goes 
on to say, "The modem method of reading Masonic history has swept away this 
edifice of imagination as efficiently as the Babylonish King demolished the structure 
itself, upon which it is founded. No writer who values his reputation as a critical 
historian would now attempt to defend the theory that Masonry originated at the 
building of the First Temple." 


Findel, Fort, Mackey— three of as great celebrities in Masonic literature as are to be 
found entirely ignore the Jewish origin; and if we bear this in view, together with the 
other important fact, that Freemasonry is only a beautiful system of symbolism and 
allegory, we cannot but admit that the Rabbi Mamonides' Commentary on the 
Legends of the Talmudists is very appropriate, and a fitting Commentary on the 
Symbolism of Freemasonry. His words are: "Beware that ye take not the words of the 
wise men in their literal signification, for this would be to degrade and sometimes to 
contradict the Sacred Doctrines. Search further for the hidden sense, and if you cannot 
find the kernel, let the shell alone, and confess you cannot - understand it." 


(To be continued) 


-o- 


THE PERFECT ASHLAR 


BY BRO. H. A. KJNGSBURY, MASSACHUSETTS 


Kingsbuiy, Harold A.; bom, Westfield, Mass., August 27, 1882; graduate in Chemical 
Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass., 1907; graduate in 



Law, National University, Washington, D. C., 1910; graduate in Patent Law, George 
Washington University, Washington, D. C., 1911; Member of Bar of District of 
Columbia; Member of Bar of Supreme Court of United States; Assistant Examiner 
U.S. Patent Office, 1908-1912; at present, Assistant Patent Counsel, The New 
Departure Mfg. Co., Bristol, Connecticut; Washington Centennial Lodge No. 14, 
Washington, D. C.; Mount Vernon Chapter No. 3, Washington, D. C.; Scottish Rite 
Bodies, 4d to 18d, Springfield, Mass.; 19d to 32d, Massachusetts Consistory, Boston, 
Mass. 


IN the case of many of the symbols used in Masonry it almost seems as though the 
ritual writers must have followed the rule, "The importance to be given a symbol in 
the ritual should be inversely proportional to the real importance of that symbol." 
Particularly does this rule seem to have been applied to the case of one of the Jewels 
of the Lodge— the Perfect Ashlar or Perfect stone Cube. For this symbol, though 
casually dismissed with but two or three brief sentences in the monitorial instructions, 
is, in reality, of very considerable importance and interest and deserving of the careful 
attention of the Mason. 


The Perfect Ashlar is one of a group of three Jewels. Thus the symbol calls the 
Mason's attention to one more of the many (not less than twenty) references, in Craft 
Masonry, to the number Three - the most significant of all the numbers (unless it be 
Seven) held in veneration in nearly every ancient system of religious philosophy, and 
even having, in some of those systems, notably that of Plato, the importance of a 
symbol of Deity. 


Stone, the material of the Perfect Ashlar, was considered of great importance in many 
of the ancient religions and, indeed, in some was worshiped. Stone worship existed 
among the early American races. There is good reason for believing that the Peruvians 
worshiped stones, as the protectors of their crops. The Greeks originally used unhewn 
stones to represent their deities. The Thebans represented the god Bacchus by a stone. 
In the Kaaba at Mecca is a stone, Hajar al Aswad, which was worshiped by the 
ancient Arabians and which present-day Mohammedans regard with veneration. The 
Druids represented their gods by stones. 



Stone is so evidently the symbol of Permanency, Faith and Trust that it seems almost 
unnecessary to cite examples here. But any one familiar with his New Testament will 
recall the incident of the giving of the name Cephas, or Peter, meaning a stone, to 
simon, who stood for the permanency, faith and truth of the Early Christian Church, 
and will recall that Christ said, "Thou art Peter and on this rock I will build my 
Church." 


The cubical form of-the Perfect Ashlar serves to further identify it as the symbol of 
Permanency, Faith and Truth as the Cube, from the time of the Ancients has had this 
significance. We have an example of it in Revelations (XXI, 16) where the New 
Jerusalem is described as having its length, breadth and thickness equal, each to the 
other, giving, of course, a cubical form to the city. 


The fact that Masonry uses a hewn, rather than an unhewn stone, for symbolizing 
Truth, furnishes an interesting example of the ways in which the introduction of 
(comparatively) self-evident conceptions derived from Operative Masonry has 
worked, in some instances, curious changes in the more abstruse symbolistic systems 
which Masonry has, apparently, inherited from the Hebrews and the Egyptians. That 
is, in the Masonic system, following at this point suggestions from Operative 
Masonry, the hewn and perfect condition of the Perfect Ashlar is understood to 
emphasize and make yet stronger the symbol's reference to Truth, whereas in the 
symbolistic systems of the Hebrews and the Egyptians a rough, unhewn cubical stone 
was considered to symbolize Truth and a perfect, hewn stone was understood to 
symbolize Falsehood. 


However interesting and important the various other symbolic significances of the 
Cube may be, the symbolic suggestion that perhaps most concerns the Mason of 
today, and particularly the American Mason of today, is this:— The Cube is the symbol 
of the state and it is placed in the Masonic Lodge to constantly remind the Mason, of 
the State, or political structure, of which he forms a part, and to recall him to those 
duties which he, a citizen, owes to that State. 


If one views a cube with his eyes slightly above the top of it, and opposite one of its 
vertical edges, he will find that, as indicated in the figure, there are three faces visible, 



and three invisible, to him. The three visible faces symbolize the three departments of 
the State, the Legislative, which makes the laws, the Judicial which interprets them, 
and the Executive which executes them. The three invisible faces symbolize the 
invisible soul of the State, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. As these three invisible 
faces are necessary to complete and make stable the Cube so are Liberty, Equality and 
Fraternity necessary to complete and make stable the State. 


The Perfect Ashlar, in its character of a symbol of the State, represents an ideal to be 
striven for— the perfect State has not yet been finally developed. But, upon his first 
entrance into Masonry, the Mason is presented with Working Tools with which to 
shape and to gauge his work— the Gavel, symbolizing Force, and the Gauge, 
symbolizing Rule or Law. And the Perfect Ashlar reminds the Mason that his entered 
apprentice's Working Tools are given him to use and that it is for him, a citizen, to 
apply them, using Force, properly held in restraint by Rule or Law, to, so far as in him 
lies, make his ashlar a Perfect Ashlar and his state a perfect State. 


-o- 


CONSTRUCTION 

Destruction has its millions within its awful thralls; 

To do its bidding night and day, and mandate all its calls. 
Another host in other parts Construction does employ; 

To build our homes and cities fair, and all that we enjoy. 

Construction and destruction have been fighting hand to hand 
Since this old world began to turn, and neither rules the land. 
But what construction does today to build in modern ways 



Destruction lays in desolate waste in future struggling days. 


One hand can swing the mighty sword, and in its awful swath 
The lives of millions fall like grain - why reckon up the loss? 

But two hands do the building as we raise the wall again; 

Two hands bind up the wounded, and two hands construct again. 

One hand can raise the fire-brand from the smoldering coals of hate; 

Two hands must stop the raging flames before it is too late. 

One hand can give the signal for the largest guns to boom 
Two hands must raise above the dead the flowers into bloom. 

Two hands can build with stone on stone the highest wall that's laid; 

One hand can burst the fatal shells, and debts alone are made. 

One hand may wield destruction as it goes along life's path; 

Two hands must do the healing, as we reap the aftermath. 

Why not use the brick and mortar, not the rifle and the sword? 

Why not use the trowel and level, at Construction's signal word? 

Why not use the square and plumb-line as we raise our friendships kind? 
For destruction's not external until cherished in man's mind. 



What's within brings forth the harvest; thoughts rethought make up the seeds; 
That same harvest may be useful, or a useless growth of weeds. 

Why delay internal plantings when destruction's passions yield? 

Go into internal pastures; there prepare the fertile field. 

There prepare it for the planting, like a garden fair to see; 

Sow it, watch it, tend and weed it, 'til from weeds the ground is free. 

By and by the crop grows stronger, and no weeds can therein grow; 

For the harvest forth is coming - a repayment for the sow. 

By destruction things are severed from their proper place in life. 

By construction brought together; fitted 'gainst a social strife. 

By destruction strong connections are at once asunder tom; 

By construction once well welded - and redone by son unborn. 

When our lives are in their fittings and each unit has its place 
The design has form and beauty which the artist's brush would trace; 

With the back ground and perspective, and our hopes the foreground fill - 
There's constmction in the picture; beauty through the artist's will. 

Faith it takes for all constmction; faith it takes to plan to do; 

Faith it takes at the foundation, and to see the matter through. 



Faith it takes when all's destruction to rise up and build some more; 

Faith it takes when broken idols lie upon the tiled floor. 

Hope in all constructive action is the active force to move. 

Faith is passive in the planning, and the two, resultants prove. 

Hope moves faith into an action which before was in the breast, 

And the two are both constructive counting for the very best. 

The resultant is construction, in both matter and in mind; 

Putting useful things together which apart, serve not mankind. 

Two hands, with a mind and feeling make for charity and love 
They produce the world's resultant guided by a Force above. 

By Geo. N. Foster, Lincoln, Nebr. 

— o — 

Justice is as strictly due between neighbor nations, as between neighbor citizens. A 
highwayman is as much a robber when he plunders in a gang, as when single; and a 
nation that makes an unjust war is only a great gang of robbers. - Franklin. 





MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE 


BY BRO. ROSCOE POUND, DEAN, HARVARD COLLEGE OF LAW 


I. THE DATA OF MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE 


At the outset we may well ask ourselves why do we say Masonic Jurisprudence? Why 
not simply Masonic Law ? Is there a science of Masonic law as distinct from Masonic 
law itself? For in its original and etymological meaning and in the best usage, 
jurisprudence means the science of law. It is true there are two other uses of the term. 
The French use it to mean the course of decision in the courts as contrasted on the one 
hand with legislation and on the other hand with doctrine or the consensus of opinion 
of learned writers and commentators. To some extent this French usage has been 
received with us, particularly in the phrase "equity jurisprudence," signifying the 
course of decision in Anglo-American courts of equity, which has gained currency 
through the classical work of Judge Story. But it must be obvious that Masons do not 
employ the word in this sense. Although the course of decision in Masonic tribunals 
in the form of rulings of the Grand Masters and action of Grand Lodges thereon and 
of review of trials in or by Grand Lodges, is an important form of Masonic law; it 
furnishes but a part, and relatively a modem part, of the materials of what we are wont 
to style Masonic jurisprudence. 


By a not unnatural transition from the French use of the term it has come to be used 
also chiefly in this country, simply as a polysyllabic synonym for law. Medical 
jurisprudence, for the forensic applications of medicine, has much vogue. Dental 
jurisprudence for the law of interest to dentists, engineering jurisprudence for the law 
of interest to engineers, architectural jurisprudence for the law of interest to architects, 
are heard occasionally. These seem quite indefensible. But even if they were not to be 
critized, they would not warrant Masonic jurisprudence, for the latter term calls to 
mind not that part of the general law of the land which has special interest for the 
Mason, but the internal law of the fraternity itself. We come back, therefore, to our 
question whether Masonic jurisprudence is simply a grandiose name for Masonic law 
or whether, on the other hand, there is a science of Masonic law distinct from the law 
of each Masonic jurisdiction? Is there, in other words, an organized body of 



knowledge above and behind each particular local Masonic law upon which the latter 
rests as fully and truly as the particular legal rules of one of our commonwealths rest 
upon the principles of general legal science and the principles of Anglo-American 
legal tradition? For the moment I shall assume that there is, and my purpose in this 
course will be, not to expound dogmatically the rules of Masonic law which obtain 
here or elsewhere, but to show, if I may, that there is a science of Masonic law, to 
examine its material and its methods, and to set forth its principles. 


In studying the law of politically organized society we say that it may be expounded 
dogmatically, that is, the content and application of its several rules and principles 
may be investigated and set forth, or it may be studied by one of the methods of 
jurisprudence— analytical, historical, or philosophical. In truth dogmatic study is of 
little value except as it makes use of and rests upon these methods of legal science. 
They justify themselves in the end by making for effective understanding and 
criticism and improvement of the law of each state. But they are methods of legal 
science generally, while the dogmatic method is applicable not to jurisprudence but to 
a particular body of law. We may study a particular body of law analytically, that is, 
we may investigate the structure, subjectmatter and rules of a legal system in order to 
reach by analysis the principles and theories which it logically presupposes, As a 
method of jurisprudence, however, the analytical method is comparative. It involves a 
comparative study of the purposes, methods and ideas common to developed systems 
of law by analysis of such systems and of their doctrines and institutions in their 
matured forms. Again, a particular body of law may be studied historically. That is, 
investigation may be made of the historical origin and development of the legal 
system and of its institutions and doctrines, looking to the past of the law to disclose 
the principles of the law of today. But here also, as a method of jurisprudence the 
historical method must be comparative. It involves a comparative study of the origin 
and development of law, of legal systems, and of particular doctrines and institutions 
in order to draw therefrom universal principles of legal science. Finally, a particular 
body of law may be studied philosophically. That is, investigation may be made of the 
philosophical bases of the institutions and doctrines of a legal system in order to reach 
its fundamental principles through philosophical speculation. When this method is 
pursued comparatively and the philosophical basis of law generally and of general 
legal institutions and universal legal doctrines is sought, in order to reach universal 
principles, the philosophical method becomes a method of jurisprudence. Formerly 
these three methods, the analytical, the historical and the philosophical, contended for 
the mastery. Today we recognize that no one of them is self-sufficient and that 
jurisprudence must employ each of them in order to achieve a well-rounded science. 



If we apply these ideas to Masonic law, we may say that a dogmatic exposition of the 
law of any jurisdiction would, indeed, very likely be profitable. But it would be 
relatively of little value, certainly of little permanent value, unless it made use of and 
rested upon the analytical, the historical and the philosophical methods. Moreover 
these methods should be developed comparatively, as methods of a Masonic legal 
science, if they are to give their best results. On the other hand these methods are not 
pursued for their own sake. In the end they must justify themselves by making the law 
of each Masonic jurisdiction more scientific, better organized, more easy of 
comprehension and of application and more effective for the puiposes for which it 
exists. Unless he can give us principles of systematization, of criticism and of 
improvement in those parts of our law which are subject to change, the jurist has no 
claim upon the attention of a craft of workmen. 


Another preliminary question confronts us. How far are we justified in speaking of 
Masonic law? Is the body of rules to which we give that name law in any proper sense 
of the term? Are we warranted in applying to it the methods and in attaching to it the 
ideas which are appropriate when treating of the law of politically organized society ? 


There are three common uses of the term "law": (1) Law as used in the natural and 
physical sciences; (2) natural law or law of nature as the term has been used by writers 
on ethics, politics and the philosophy of law; (3) law in the juridical sense. In the 
sciences, law is used to mean deductions from human experience of the course of 
events. Thus the law of gravitation is a record of human observation and experience of 
the manner in which bodies which are free to move do in fact move toward one 
another. Similarly Grimm's law in philology is a record of the observations of 
philologists as to the manner in which consonantal changes have taken place in the 
several Aryan languages. By natural law ethical, philosophical and political writers 
mean the principles which philosophy and ethics discover as those which should 
govern human action and the adjustment of human relations, and hence as those with 
respect to which obligatory rules of human conduct ought to be framed. Law in the 
juridical sense is said to be the body of rules, principles and standards recognized or 
enforced by public or regular tribunals in the administration of justice. Obviously 
there is an idea in common here, namely, the idea of a rule or principle, underlying a 
sequence of events, whether natural or moral, or judicial. In this wide sense, therefore, 
we may speak of the rules or principles which underly a sequence of events in a 
fraternal organization as law, just as we should so style the rules or principles 



underlying a sequence of events in a political society. But this wide use of the term 
law has been the subject of much objection and much dispute and we may put 
ourselves on firmer ground by looking at certain analogies between the rules which 
govern the decision of controversies and the adjustment of relations in a politically 
organized society and those which govern disputes and adjust relations in religious 
organizations and in fraternal organizations. 


At bottom we mUst rest the whole structure of state and law upon the hard 
fundamental fact that in a finite world, human demands are infinite. If there were 
enough material goods to go around and enough room so that each of us might move 
in the widest orbit his fancy could picture or hiS desires could dictate without coming 
into collision with hiS felow men, we should not need any elaborate system of 
balancing conflicting interests nor any elaborate machinery for putting into effect the 
standards for delimiting and enforcing interests which result from such balancing. 
Unhappily the material goods of existence do not suffice to give to each everything 
which he may claim or which he does claim. Hence to conserve the values of life and 
to eliminate waste men organize themselves and organize or invent rules and 
standards and principles by which to eliminate waste and make the available stock of 
values go as far as possible. In the beginning these organizations are simply groups of 
kindred. Presently religious and maternal organizations develop. Subsequently 
political organizations arise. In time trade and professional associations are added. All 
these seek in one way or another to secure to men values which might otherwise be 
dissipated. They have their justification in the necessity of conserving what would 
otherwise be lost in the struggle of individuals to satisfy infinite claims upon a limited 
store. Accordingly, if we look for a moment at the state, we see that it eliminates 
waste by means of the law in several ways. For one thing it furnishes a rule of 
decision in case of dispute and thus obviates resort to private war when controversies 
arise. One has only to consider what happens today in case of an industrial dispute in 
order to see what this means. 


In an ordinary dispute between man and man today we have a measure of conduct 
which is ascertainable within reasonable limits in advance. If the dispute becomes 
acute, one party or the other may summon his adversary before a public tribunal and 
may have the dispute adjudicated upon the basis of settled rules, according to a settled 
procedure, and with reference to settled modes of redress. When the judgment is 
pronounced, it is not optional with the defeated party to adhere to it or not. The whole 
power of the state is behind it and the force of organized society may be invoked to 
carry it out. In an industrial dispute on the other hand, we have no clear measure of 



conduct. Each party is referred to his individual sense of fairness and to the general 
sense of fairness of the public at large. But in a highly diversified community in which 
groups and classes with apparently divergent interests understand each other none too 
well and have conflicting ideas of justice, general public opinion is seldom 
sufficiently definite and consistent to serve as a restraint upon the partisan notions of 
justice entertained by the contending parties and hence is left to be the judge of its 
own case. With no clear predetermined measure of adjustment of such controversies, 
with no settled mode of procedure, with no settled mode of redress and no strong, 
permanent tribunal, backed by the moral sense of the community, long tradition, and 
the force of the state, to pronounce and give effect to a judgment, there is no way to 
satisfy or to coerce the disputants and in practice, as like as not, the interests of each 
and the interests of society suffer equally. Society struggles to maintain its interest in 
the general security and to prevent waste under such circumstances by seeking peace 
at whatever sacrifice, ft is not a question of equal and exact justice. The paramount 
demands of peace and good order are to be met first. The policy is not "let justice be 
done though the heavens fall," but "peace at any price." Hence society endeavors to 
put pressure upon the disputants, directly, indirectly, openly or covertly, to submit to 
arbitration and to abide the award. A public service company may be threatened with 
forfeiture of franchise. A private owner may be threatened with extra-legal 
sequestration of his property. Both parties may be threatened with a report as to the 
causes of the dispute and the issues involved to be made public after an official 
inquiry. Press, pulpit and platform may exhort and rebuke. Thus in one way or another 
a compromise or an arbitration may be brought about. But when such a result has been 
achieved, no guide has been provided for the next dispute. No precedent has resulted. 
Nothing has been accomplished beyond averting or terminating a condition of private 
war in that one case. The whole process is crude and wasteful. Every time that this 
happens we act over again the inception of law. The Roman magistrate who stepped 
between the contending litigants and called out, "Let go, both of you," the praetor who 
pronounced the interdict, "I forbid that violence take place," and the indirect devices 
whereby a case for arbitration was formulated, not upon direct statement of their 
claims by the parties but through indirectly inducing or coercing a reference or an 
arbitration, testify to a general condition of which the special condition that obtains in 
a modern industrial dispute is perhaps the last remnant. By furnishing a rule for 
decision and by furnishing a guide to conduct the law enables society to reconcile 
conflicting interests, to conserve values and to eliminate waste. 


This same problem of reconciling conflicting interests, of conserving values and of 
eliminating waste arises in every group— in religious and fraternal organizations no 
less than in political organizations. And it is met in the same way. By slow and painful 



development of customs through experience, followed by deliberate formulation of 
rules invented for the puipose, men select out of the great mass of possible claims 
those which seem to call most urgently for security, define them, weigh them against 
other recognized inter ests and devise means for giving them effect. This process of 
recognizing, delimiting and securing interests when carried on by a political society is 
called lawmaking and the rules and standards of conduct and rules and principles of 
decision thereby set up are called law. In like manner the rules and standards of 
conduct and the rules and principles of decision developed or devised to secure 
interests and conserve values In the universal medieval church are called the canon 
law. No less justly may we apply to the rules and standards of conduct and the rules 
and principles of decision evolved or devised to secure interests and conserve values 
in our universal fraternal organization the name of Masonic law. For if it is said that 
we cannot enforce our law as the state enforces its law— that the sheriff and his posse 
looms in the background of the latter while the former is but hortatory— the answer 
must be that our law has behind it the same sanction that was behind the law of the 
medieval church, namely, excommunication and that this is essentially nothing else 
than the sanction of the earlier stageS of the law of politically organized society— 
namely, outlawry. The group in each case casts out the individual who, through 
defiance of its law threatens a waste of the values which it seeks to secure. 


Assuming, then, that we are justified in speaking of Masonic law, what are the 
component parts of our Masonic legal system; what are the jural materials with which 
the Masonic lawyer must work ? I venture to distinguish three types of rules: (1) The 
landmarks; (2) the Masonic common law; (3) Masonic legislation. I cannot deny that 
in so classifying the jural materials of Masonry I am influenced by our Anglo- 
American distinction of constitutional rules, common law and legislation. And one 
should not turn to such an analogy hastily or unadvisedly. For I shall endeavor to 
show in another connection that Masonic jurisprudence has suffered in this country 
from overzealous attempts to mould our law by the analogies of the political law of 
the time and place and from the hasty assumption that our American legal and 
political institutions might be relied upon to furnish principles of law for a universal 
fraternity. Nevertheless the craft has engaged the hearty service of great lawyers for at 
least two centuries and the revival from which we date the Masonry of today took 
place in a time and in a country in which certain legal and politic ideas were 
universally entertained and were almost taken to inhere in nature. Hence we have 
more than analogy— we have, if not a causal relation, at least a relation of great 
influence. 



Presupposing this three-fold division, we have first, the landmarks, a small not clearly 
defined body of fundamentals which are beyond reach of change. They are the 
prescriptive or unwritten constitution (using constitution in the purely American 
sense) by which every thing must be judged ultimately and to which we must all 
conform. Second, we have Masonic common law— the body of tradition and doctrine, 
which falling short of the sanctity and authority of the landmarks, nevertheless is of 
such long standing, and so universal, and so well attested, that we should hesitate to 
depart from it and are perforce wont to rely upon it whether to apply our own law or 
to appreciate the law of our neighbors. 


These first two elements of Masonic law rest in tradition and in doctrinal writing. 

They take the form of: (a) Tradition— the mode of conducting Masonic affairs which 
has been handed down from master to master, from lodge to lodge for centuries and 
embodies the experience of countless sincere, zealous, well-informed brothers; (b) 
treatises, of which Oliver's Institutes of Masonic Jurisprudence and Mackey's Masonic 
Jurisprudence are the best types; (c) decisions of Grand Masters and review thereof by 
Grand Lodges, recorded in the published proceedings of Grand Lodges, chiefly in 
America; and (d) reports of the committees on correspondence of our American Grand 
Lodges, in which the decisions in other jurisdictions are reviewed and criticized and a 
comparative and universal element is introduced which is of the highest value to the 
Masonic jurist. These committees on correspondence have been much kicked at and it 
cannot be denied that the work of some of them at times has been crude. Yet for the 
present purpose their work has been invaluable. No one who has studied Masonic 
jurisprudence attentively can fail to testify to the unifying force exerted by these 
committees. The stimulus of their criticism, even when ill directed has made our local 
Masonic jurists pause to think of the rest of the Masonic world; it has exerted the 
scientific influence which is always involved in comparison; it has worked 
everywhere for universality in our welter of independent local jurisdictions, each 
ambitious to make its own law. 


The two main elements just enumerated make up the unwritten law of Masonry. A 
third element, namely, Grand Lodge legislation, of which our American Grand 
Lodges have been exceedingly prolific, constitutes the written law of Masonry. 


A moment's digression is required to explain these terms. As soon as legal systems 
attain any degree of maturity, they are made up of two elements: A traditional element 



and an imperative element. Following the Roman jurists, the traditional element is 
generally known in jurisprudence by the name of the unwritten law— jus non 
scriptum— and the imperative element by the name of the written law— jus scriptum; 
not that we do not find the principles and rules of each today only in writings, but 
because the latter was deliberately and authoritatively reduced to writing at its 
inception. 


Our main interest is in the unwritten law— the traditional element— which, except as 
local decisions inteipret or apply local legislation, proceeds or purports to proceed on 
universal lines and is or seeks to be in principle permanent and general, even as 
legislation is ephemeral and local. 


Let me develop this point a bit. As has been said, a developed legal system is made up 
of two elements, a traditional element and an enacted or imperative element. Although 
at present the balance in our law is shifting gradually to the side of the enacted 
element, the traditional element is still by far the more important. In the first instance, 
we must rely upon it to meet all new problems, for the legislator acts only after they 
attract attention. But even after the legislator has acted, it is seldom if ever that his 
foresight extends to all the details of his problem or that he is able to do more than 
provide a broad, if not a crude outline. Hence even in the field of the enacted law, the 
traditional element of the legal system plays a chief part. We must rely upon it to fill 
the gaps in legislation, to develop the principles introduced by legislation and to 
interpret them. Let us not forget that so-called interpretation is not merely 
ascertainment of the legislative intent. If it were, it would be the easiest instead of the 
most difficult of judicial tasks. Where the legislator has had an intent and has sought 
to express it, there is seldom a question of interpretation. The difficulties arise in the 
myriad cases with respect to which the law maker had no intention because he had 
never thought of them— indeed perhaps he could never have thought of them. Here 
under the guise of interpretation the court, willing or unwilling, must to some extent 
make the law, and our security that it will be made as law and not as arbitrary rule lies 
in the judicial and juristic tradition from which the materials of judicial law-making 
are derived. Accordingly the traditional element of the legal system is and must be 
used even in an age of copious legislation, to supplement, round out and develop the 
enacted element, and in the end it usually swallows up the latter and incoiporates its 
results in the body of tradition. Moreover a large field is always unappropriated by 
enactment, and here the traditional element is supreme. In this part of the law 
fundamental ideas change slowly. The alterations wrought here and there by 
legislation, not always consistent with one another, do not produce a general advance. 



Indeed they may be held back at times in the interests, real or supposed, of uniformity 
and consistency, through the influence of the traditional element. It is obvious, 
therefore, that above all else the condition of the law depends upon the condition of 
this element of the legal system. 


Another feature of the twofold composition of developed legal systems is of no less 
importance. The traditional element rests at first upon the traditional mode of advising 
litigants on the part of those upon whom tribunals rely for guidance or upon the usage 
and practice of tribunals. Later it rests upon juristic science and the habitual modes of 
thought of a learned profession. Thus the ultimate basis of its author;ty is reason and 
conformity to ideals of right. On the other hand the imperative element rests upon 
enactment. It rests upon the expressed will of the sovereign. The basis of its authority 
is the power of the state. 


The parallel with Masonic law is exact. With us, the most important of our jural 
materials are in the traditional element. 


First, we must rely upon the traditional element to meet all new problems, and the 
normal course of growth in Masonic law is: (1) A new application of a traditional 
principle by the decision of a Grand Master; (2) review thereof in a Grand Lodge; (3) 
comment thereon by the various committees on correspondence; (4) the growth of a 
consensus of opinion on the subject among Masonic jurists; and (5) incoiporation in 
some text book of Masonic law or in declaratory legislation. Secondly, we must rely 
on the traditional element to fill all gaps in Masonic legislation. Thirdly, we must rely 
on it to interpret legislation and to develop legislation. Fourthly, above all, as we are a 
universal institution and ought to legislate cautiously, we must rely on the traditional 
element to furnish the principles of legislation and a critique of legislation. We are not 
like a political organization- -mere will has no place in any theory of Masonic law- 
making. 


Accordingly it is of the first importance to have a theory of the unwritten law of 
Masonry and an organized, systematic science of this traditional element of our law- 
in other words, to have a science of Masonic jurisprudence. 



What are the data of this science ? What are the materials which we may use in 
constructing it? 


I take it they are five: (1) History; (2) general Masonic tradition; (3) philosophy; (4) 
logical (or systematic) construction on the basis of history, philosophy and tradition; 
and (5) authentic modern materials of Masonic common law. 


Let me take these up in order. First as to history. Here there are two questions: (a) 
What materials does Masonic history furnish which are important for Masonic 
jurisprudence; (b) what is the function of history in Masonic jurisprudence how and 
for what puipose should we use history in this connection ? On such an occasion one 
can only speak summarily. In a few words, the historical materials which are 
important for the Masonic, jurist seem to be five: 


(1) The manuscript constitutions of British Freemasons— a series of manuscripts the 
oldest of which go back to the fourteenth century, which are the foundation of 
authentic Masonic history. These are of especial importance on the subject of the 
landmarks. Thus, when we trace in the manuscripts the old charge to be true to God 
and holy church and the new charge of 1738 that if the Mason understands his art 
aright he will never be a stupid atheist, history reinforces the tradition contained in the 
master's obligation. 


(2) Seventeenth and eighteenth-century notices of English Masonry prior to 1717. 
From these materials we are able to see how Masons met and what they meant by a 
lodge prior to the rise of Grand-Lodge Masonry and are enabled to distinguish 
between the landmarks and the common law as to Masonic organization. 


(3) Old lodge records in England and Scotland. These also throw great light upon the 
organization of the Craft prior to 1717. When we find presidents and wardens and 



deacons as the highest officers of lodges, we see again what was from the beginning 
and what is simply common law. 


(4) Eighteenth-century writers who had or purported to have access to traditions 
current among Masons at and prior to the organization of the Grand Lodge of England 
in 1717 and to old manuscripts not now extant. Even if some or much of the 
information which they purport to give on the basis of such traditions and such 
manuscripts is apocryphal, it has entered into the stream of subsequent Masonic 
tradition and may not be overlooked. 


(5) Grand Lodge records, beginning in England in 1723, which show the settled 
practice of the formative period of Masonry as we know it today. 


Of these five classes of historical materials, the fourth calls for some special notice. It 
is made up of three well-known books which have exerted an almost controlling 
influence upon our ideas of Masonic history and have largely determined Masonic 
tradition. These books are: Anderson's Constitution (1723, second edition 1738), 
Preston's Illustrations (1772) and Dermott's Ahiman Rezon (1756, second edition 
1764). It would be out of place to attempt an appraisal of their historical value here. 
Moreover the thorough-going critique of Gould, which has definitely overthrown 
much which had long been accepted on the authority of these books has not wholly 
destroyed their importance for Masonic jurisprudence. As Hobbes puts it, "authority 
not truth makes the law." It may well happen that historical mistakes may become 
fixed in the legal fabric. For example, Lord Coke very likely erred in much that he 
laid down in his Second Institute as to the history of our Anglo-American 
constitutional doctrine of the supremacy of law. Yet his writing is the foundation of 
our public law and his results have amply justified themselves. It is no fatal objection 
in practical affairs that the conclusions must sustain the premises. Hence if Anderson 
and Preston and Dermott cannot be vouched for landmarks, they must be read 
diligently in order to reach the sources of much of our Masonic common law. 


Let us turn now to the other question, what are the uses of Masonic history ? One use 
is to correct tradition, as for example, in the case of the apocryphal long list of royal 
and noble Grand Masters. Another is to hold philosophy in bounds, as for example, in 



the case of the controversy which raged once in one of our American Grand Lodges as 
to the wearing of white gloves, on the theory that gloves were unknown at the time of 
the building of the temple, or, again, in the rejection of the letter G on philosophical 
grounds by another of our Grand Lodges. Another use is to test doctrinal (systematic, 
logical) exposition, as in the case of Mackey's twenty- five landmarks. But this 
correction by history should not be pressed too far. It should not be used as the basis 
of rejecting settled Masonic common law, shown by universal practice since the end 
of the eighteenth century. For example, nothing is better settled than the doctrines of 
territorial jurisdiction in Craft Masonry and the impropriety of invasion of 
jurisdiction. If there are no landmarks here, there are settled principles of Masonic 
conflict of laws which are a part of the universal law of the Craft. 


Our second main source of law is tradition. Today this is set forth in the form of 
doctrinal exposition and Grand-Lodge decision. Much of it is declared by Grand- 
Lodge legislation. It is of the highest value in fixing the principles of Masonic 
common law. But elsewhere it is dangerous. It must always be corrected by careful 
historical consideration of whether the tradition in question is authentic, immemorial 
and pure. 


Our third main source of law is philosophy, that is, deduction from principles found 
by philosophical study of the ends and purpose of Masonry- for example, deduction 
from the principle of universality, from the principle of organization of moral 
sentiments of mankind, from the principle of furthering human civilization. It may be 
compared with the metaphysical method in jurisprudence which seeks to deduce all 
legal rules from or correct them by a fundamental principle of human freedom. 
Philosophy is chiefly useful as a check on Masonic history. For example, if one were 
to look only to history, he might make a strong argument that the dinner or banquet 
following the work on important occasions was a landmark. Certainly as far back as 
we have accounts of Masonic work we find the brethren sitting about the board in this 
way. But consideration of the purposes and ends of the order shows us at once that we 
have here but an incident of ordinary human social intercourse. So in the case of the 
objection to white gloves above referred to. The Masonic philosopher perceives at 
once that we have here a traditional symbol and that purely historical considerations 
cannot be suffered to prevail. 



Our fourth main source of law is logical construction. It has the same place with us as 
juristic science has in the law of the state. It is of the first importance if the data are 
sound and are well used. Mackey's famous text book of Masonic jurisprudence (1859) 
is still the best example of the use of logical construction. 


The fifth main source of Masonic law is to be found in authentic modem materials of 
Masonic customary law and in settled Masonic usage since the last half of the 
eighteenth century. Indeed the general principles of this settled usage have all but the 
force of landmarks. Thus Mackey recognizes: (1) Landmarks; (2) general laws or 
regulations; (3) local laws or regulations. Here the second is substantially what I call 
Masonic common law and the third what I call Masonic legislation. Mackey says of 
the second: "These are all those regulations that have been enacted by such bodies as 
had at the time universal jurisdiction. They operate, therefore, over the Craft 
wheresoever dispersed; and as the paramount bodies which enacted them have long 
ceased to exist, it would seem that they are unrepealable. It is generally agreed that 
these general or universal laws are to be found in the old constitutions or charges, so 
far as they were recognized and accepted by the Grand Lodge of England at the 
revival in 1717 and adopted previous to the year 1726." This would receive 
Anderson's first edition without question as a conclusive exposition of the principles 
of the traditional element. Today it is clear that we cannot accept it. But the idea at the 
bottom of Mackey's system is sound. 


I take it we must distinguish two things, (a) We may perceive certain settled principles 
adhered to by all regular and well-governed lodges since the last quarter of the 
eighteenth century. For example, with one exception it has always been recognized 
that at least three lodges are required to set up a Grand Lodge. But we must be 
cautious here. It will be noticed that Mackey assumes that fluidity is at an end by 
1721. We cannot accept this proposition. We must recognize a great deal of fluidity 
till much later. But Ma,sonry is not bound to retain forever the fluidity of the first half 
of the eighteenth century, (b) Next we must differentiate from the principles 
themselves the development of these principles (i) by logical deduction and juristic 
speculation, and (ii) by judicial empiricism in the decisions of Grand Masters and the 
review thereof by Grand Lodges. 


The latter is almost wholly American and much of it is worthy to rank with the best 
achievements of legal development in any political organization. If the law of the 



medieval church became for a time the law of the world and gave ideas and doctrines 
to the law of the state which are valuable for all time, it is not at all impossible that 
our universal organization, coming much later to the work of law-making, may in its 
turn develop legal ideas of universal value and thus contribute indirectly to the 
furtherance of civilization while contributing directly thereto in its ordinary work. 


— o- 


AT REFRESHMENT 


BY BRO. GEO. W. WARVELLE, ILLINOIS 


I CONTINUE to hear complaints from certain quarters concerning the wasteful 
extravagance in the matter of refreshments, together with suggestions as to the good 
that might be accomplished if the money so expended were applied to works of 
charity and pure beneficence. But, notwithstanding these oft repeated admonitions 
from those who stand on the watch towers of zion, the Craft jogs along in the same 
old way and the banquet is still a potent factor in Masonic life. And yet, this is strictly 
in keeping with the old precedents; a faithful adherence to the old land, marks. 


Freemasonry, in its inception, was strictly a convivial institution, all reports to the 
contrary notwithstanding. In later years it took on liturgic features, but the old 
customs, in large measure, were continued and in modified forms are still practiced. 
The custom of "refreshment" may be traced back to the mediaeval Gilds, while the 
oldest records of the Masonic Fraternity, as a speculative society, contain references 
to the feasting (including drinking) at the craft meetings. 


The seventeenth century has left many authentic references to the conviviality which 
characterized the meetings in those days. Thus, Plot in his history, when alluding to 
the Masons, says: "When any are admitted, they call a meeting (or Lodge as they term 



it in some places) and entertain with a collation according to the custom of the place; 
This ended, they proceed to the admission of them." Plot was not a Mason. Ashmole, 
in his diary, notes a meeting he attended at London in 1682. Of this he says: "We all 
dined at the Half-moon Tavern in Cheapside, at a noble Dinner prepared at the Charge 
of the new accepted Masons." And so, it will be seen that from very early times a feast 
was an important part of a Masonic meeting. 


It has been suggested, by some of the English scholars, that this custom of a feast 
originated in the actual necessities of the occasion; that many of the members of the 
early lodges came long distances to attend the meetings and frequently on foot. 
Hence, it was necessary that they should be provided with refreshment of some kind 
either on their arrival or before setting out on their return journey. You will see, 
therefore, that the J. W.'s call to refreshment was not an empty formality in those 
days. 


It would seem that in the old days the feast always preceded the work, a custom that 
has not yet died out in England. And as in nature the tendency is to constantly revert 
to earlier types, so in human institutions we may observe the same phenomena. In 
many localities the six o'clock dinner has taken the place of the eleven o'clock 
banquet, while the old-time flow of post prandial oratory has been eliminated. This 
was the custom of the Grand Lodge of England far into the historic period, as witness 
the minutes of the "assembly and feast" at Stationers Hall on June 22, 1721, when 
"after Grace said, they sat down in the antient manner of Masons to a very elegant 
Feast, and dined with Joy and Gladness." After this followed the regular business, 

and.then the Grand Master ordered the Warden "to close the Lodge in good Time." * * 
* 


But the banquet is too firmly entrenched to be obliterated by any shell fire the 
disciples of the new thought may pour upon it. The Freemasons are still, even as in the 
old days, a social brotherhood and the customs of the fathers will long continue, 
notwithstanding the edict "The Banquet must go." From the dawn of history we may 
find the custom in connection with fraternal societies. It is not peculiar to 
Freemasonry. In fact, our Masonic ancestors simply borrowed the custom from those 
who preceded them. Long years ago, in ancient Greece, the banquet followed the 
initiations into the mysteries, as witness the following, which I quote from the 
"Golden Ass" of Apuleius: 



"All the uninitiated having been sent away, the priest clothed me in a new linen 
garment, and, taking my hand, let me into the penetralia of the sanctuary. You will 
perhaps, ask, studious reader, and be anxious to know, what was then done. What was 
done, ask you? I would tell, if it were lawful to tell; thou shouldst know, if it were 
lawful for thee to hear. But I will not detain in long suspense you, who are, perchance, 
in a state of suspense with religious anxiety. Hear, therefore, and believe, for the 
things I narrate are true. I approached the confines of death, and, having trod the 
threshold of Proserpine, I was earned back through all the elements. At midnight, I 
beheld the sun glittering with clear light; 1 approached the gods of Hades and of 
Heaven, and adored them face to face. Thus have I related to you things, which, 
although heard by thee, thou canst not know. . . After this, I celebrated a most cheerful 
banquet in honor of my birth day into these rites; pleasant was the banquet and lively 
the entertainment." 


I direct your special attention to the closing lines of the above paragraph. They simply 

show that mankind and human nature are much the same in all ages and all lands. * * 

* 


A few years ago Admiral Dewey is reported to have said, that he attributed his robust 
health and length of days to these facts: that he had entered the navy and kept away 
from public banquets. Perhaps all of us cannot take the first part of his prescription, 
and perhaps also, the real worth lies in the latter part of it. Certain it is, that while the 
12-inch gun may have slain its thousands the deviled crab and the overripe lobster 
have laid low their tens of thousands. It is not given to all of us to die in behalf of a 
great cause. In fact, few of us care to die. But everyone is privileged to incur 
indigestion and other gastronomic ills, and this privilege the most of us insist in 
availing ourselves of with remarkable persistence. 


It is said, however, that the fatalities which mark the history of public feeding do not 
constitute its worst reproach; that the gleater harm consists in the undigested ideas 
which every well regulated banquet is bound to liberate. Bad food and poor talk make 
a combination that is fatal to the soundest human system. Thus is it written: 



Avoid the groaning board, my son, 
The devilled crab, the Melbaed peach, 
But, deadliest of all, avoid 
The after-dinner speech. 

MASONIC JEWELS 


Does the square that you wear mean the test by your God 
Of the work that you do, and the word that you speak, 

Of the will of your mind, the thought of your heart, 

Of the Past that is gone, of the Future you seek? 

The Compass you wear, does it mean that you move 
Within the true bound appointed and sure, 

Restricted desire, pleasure defined, 

A yielding of self to the bonds that endure ? 


The Triangle too— great emblem of Him 

Who is Maker, and Master, Beginning and End,— 

Do you wear it to show that He is to you 



The Source and the Aim that all others transcend? 

What means the gold trowel that hangs at your chain ? 
Does it tell of the mortar of Love that you spread? 

Of the joint well cement with fine brotherly love? 

Of the stones that now lie in the well-mortared bed? 

If 'tis not so, then take the poor jewels away; 

The meaningless bauble will only deceive 
Yourself and the others you meet on your way 
As meaningless lies which none ever believe. 

John George Gibson. 

NOTES ON THE ORIGIN OF CO-MASONRY 

BY BRO. ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE, ENGLAND 


IT is said that in or about 1 879, several Chapters under the obedience of the Supreme 
Council of France, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, revolted from that authority 



and re-incorporated themselves as La Grande Loge Symbolique de France. The 
rebellion, as usual, was fomented by the Grand Orient. 


It is impossible from the confused evidence to decide what Degrees were conferred by 
the new body, but they were probably the Craft Grades only and not the High Grades 
of the Scottish Rite. The central body appears to have governed Lodges and not 
Chapters. 


One of the separated Lodges, the nature of whose dissatisfaction is shown by its title 
of Les Libres Penseurs, held its meetings at Pecq, a village in the department of Seine 
et Oise. 


This Lodge on November 25, 1881, proposed that Mile Maria Desraimes, a writer on 
humanitarian subjects and the rights of women, should be admitted to Freemasonry. 


The proposers were the W. M. Hubron and six other Master Masons. The initiation 
took place on January 14, 1 882, in the presence of Brethren drawn from all parts. 

From her subsequent history, the candidate must have been also passed and raised, but 
there are no particulars in the sources to which I have had access. 


The Lodge was suspended, but whether by the authority which it had helped to create, 
by the Supreme Council, or by the Grand Orient, does not appear. 


On March 14, April 1 and April 4, 1893, Mile Desraimes, acting under the influence 
of a certain Docteur Georges Martin, was concerned in the initiation, passing and 
raising of 17 candidates. The information does not say whether they were women only 
or members of both sexes, but the former probably. 



Some kind of Temple was founded about the same period, place not indicated; a 
Constitution was framed; and an androgynous Masonic body thus came into existence, 
under the title of Grande Loge Symbolique Ecossaise, being identical with that of the 
Schismatic body already mentioned. 


Its one Lodge at the moment was called Le Droit Humain and that which it 
communicated was termed Universal Joint Freemasonry. 


In 1900 the Lodge in question adopted the 30 Degrees superposed on the Craft Grades 
by the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. 


This was brought about by the intervention of French Masons said to be in possession 
of the 33rd Degree. 


In 1903 there were centres at Benares, Paris and London. 


At the same period Joint Freemasonry in the British dominion is stated to have used a 
Craft Ritual appertaining to the Grand Lodge of Scotland. 


The movement seems to have spread from France to India and thence to England. 


The title in the British dominions was altered from Joint Freemasonry to Co-Masonry 
about 1905. 


The first English Lodge was called Human Duty and is, I infer, number 6 on the Roll. 



In 1908 there was a feud in London, which has resulted in the foundation of an 
independent branch, the reason being that the original body, under Annie Besant and 
her vice-regents, constituted an automatic and irresponsible headship, in opposition to 
Masonic principles. 


The English Ritual used by Universal Co-Masonry has been printed and had reached a 
second edition in 1908. It is called The Dharma Working of Craft Masonry, Dharma 
being the title of the Lodge at Benares. 


The Ceremony of the Installation of the Worshipful Master and the Investiture of 
Officers has also been printed. 


In the Ritual of the Three Degrees the variations from our own form are at once 
numerous and slight, but there are also certain new things introduced. 


Some of them may be tabulated as follows: 


(a) The W. M. is called throughout the Right Worshipful Master, following the 
Scottish fashion. 


(b) The rubrics are much fuller. 


(c) The Entered Apprentice is taken three times round the Lodge and is brought back 
on each occasion to the centre. 


(d) The second circumambulation is opposite to the first, or against the sun; the third 
is the same as the first, or with the sun. 



(e) In the Second Degree, after the usual circumambulations, the Candidate is placed 
in the centre and passes through five stages or experiences, corresponding (1) to work 
on the rough stone; (2) the arts; (3) Sciences; (4) the Humanities, and (5) apparently 
rest after work, with the idea of work to follow. 


(f) In the Third Degree the Obligation is shortened and certain significant covenants 
are not found, presumably because women take it. The wording also differs. 


(g) The wording differs throughout in many places and some of the prayers are 
changed. 


THINGS NOT MADE 


Thou art what we are; Thou art what we do; Thou art what we say. Thou art all things, 
and there is nothing which Thou art not. Thou art that which is made and all that is not 
made. 


—Egyptian Scriptures. 


— o — 


CORRESPONDENCE CIRCLE BULLETIN— No. 7 


Edited by Bro. Robert I. Clegg, Caxton Building, Cleveland Ohio 



THE OFFICERS OF A FODGE AND THEIR DUTIES by Bro. Robert I. Clegg 


If we may properly assume that the officers of the Lodge form the machinery of 
Masonry, the means to make its labor most useful and efficient, the power plant of the 
institution; then the Master is the governor or regulator, the very spark-plug of the 
motor. Upon him rests responsibility for the rate of progress, the dignity of the work, 
the spirit of the labor. With him much may be done, without him all is undone. 


Of necessity, therefore, he must be obeyed and he ought to be worthy of such 
obedience. So it was of old. Let us turn to that ancient account of bygone laws and 
read from the White Book of the City of London of what in those days of the past they 
esteemed due and right from the members to the officers of the "mysteries," the gilds 
of the Masons and the other operative and speculative crafts seven centuries ago. 


OF THE PENALTY FOR REBELLING AGAINST THE MASTERS OF THE 
MYSTERIES 


"Item, it is ordained that all the mysteries of the City of London shall be lawfully 
regulated and governed, each according to its nature in due manner, that is no 
knavery, false workmanship, or deceit, shall be found in said mysteries, for the honor 
of the good folk of the said mysteries, and for the common profit of the people. And 
in each mystery there shall be chosen and sworn four or six, or more or less, according 
as the mystery shall need; which person, so chosen and sworn, shall have full power 
from the Mayor well and lawfully to do and perform the same. And if any person of 
the said mysteries shall be rebellious, contradictory, or fractious, that so such persons 
may not duly perform their duties, and shall thereof be attainted (convicted), he shall 
remain in prison, the first time, ten days, and shall pay ten shillings for such 
contempt." 



It was further provided that on a second offense he should go to prison for twenty 
days and pay a fine of twenty shillings, and on a third offense he paid thirty shillings 
and was imprisoned thirty days, and so on for every further case of the like wrong 
doing. 


Why were the authorities so very clear and helpful in stating what the City officials 
held proper to be done in supporting the hands of the respective Masters ? It is not 
necessary to guess at the motives behind their action. We can find them on record in 
the very same code of laws. In the introduction to an ordinance relating to the 
admission of members to these gild bodies, we note: "Because as well as in times past, 
out of memory, as also in modem times, the City aforesaid is wont to be defended and 
governed by the aid and counsels as well of the reputable men of the trades merchant 
as of the other trades handicraft; and from of old it hath been the usage, that no 
strange person, native or alien, as to whose conversation and condition there is no 
certain knowledge, shall be admitted to the freedom of the City, unless first, the 
merchants or traders of the City following the trade which the person so to be 
admitted intends to adopt, shall be lawfully convoked; that so, by such his fellow 
citizens, so convoked, the Mayor and Aldermen aforesaid, being certified as to the 
condition and trustworthiness of the persons so to be admitted, may know whether 
such persons ought to be admitted or rejected;— the whole community demands, that 
the form aforesaid, so far as concerns the more important trades and handicrafts, shall 
in future be inviolably observed, that so no person in future may against the provision 
aforesaid be admitted to the freedom of the City." 


There indeed are the reasons why any city or community might well have a lively 
interest and a friendly confidence in the long-established practices of such an 
institution as ours, and to rely upon the aid and the counsels of good men and true 
assembled lawfully and governed wisely by competent officers. 


From the same source as the foregoing quotations we take the approved obligation 
prescribed for the officers of the old gilds. 


OATH OF THE MASTERS AND WARDENS OF THE MYSTERIES 



"You shall swear, that well and lawfully you shall overlook the art or mystery of 
Masonry, of which you are Master, or Wardens, for the year elected. And the good 
rules and ordinances of the same mystery, approved here by the Court, you shall keep 
and cause to be kept. And all the defaults that you shall find therein, done contrary 
thereto, you shall present unto the Chamberlain of the City, from time to time, sparing 
no one for favor, and aggrieving no one for hate. Extortion or wrong unto no one, by 
colour of your office, you shall do; nor unto anything that shall be against the estate 
and peace of the King, or the City, you shall consent. But for the time that you shall 
be in office, in all things pertaining unto the said mystery, according to the good laws 
and franchises of the said City, well and lawfully you shall behave yourself. So help 
you God and the Saints." 


Today the Master of a Lodge also promises faithfully and impartially, to the best of 
his ability, to perform all the duties belonging to the office to which he has been 
elected; that he will conform to the "constitution, laws, rules, and regulations" of the 
Grand Lodge and will enforce a strict obedience to them. He is likewise at installation 
required to give his assent to the old charges pertaining to the position of Master. 
These are in general the following: 


"You agree and promise to be a good man and true, and strictly to obey the moral 
law; a peaceable citizen, and to cheerfully conform to the laws of the country in which 
you reside; not to be concerned in plots and conspiracies against the government, but 
patiently to submit to the decisions of the supreme legislature; pay a proper respect to 
the civil magistrates, to work diligently, live creditably, and act honorably by all men; 
hold in veneration the original rulers and patrons of the institution of Masonry, and 
their regular successors, supreme and subordinate, according to their stations, and to 
submit to the awards and resolutions of your brethren, when convened, in every case 
consistent with the constitutions of the order; to avoid private piques and quarrels, and 
guard against intemperance and excess; cautious in carriage and behavior, courteous 
to your brethren, and faithful to your Lodge; to respect genuine brethren, and to 
discountenance imposters, and all dissenters from the original plan of Masonry; to 
promote the general good of society, to cultivate the social virtues, and propagate the 
knowledge of the art; to pay homage to the Grand Master for the time being, and to 
his officers when duly installed, and strictly to conform to every edict of the Grand 
Lodge, or general assembly of Masons, that is not subversive of the principles and 
ground- work of Masonry; that it is not in the power of any man, or body of men, to 



make innovations in the body of Masonry; to make a regular attendance upon the 
committees and communications of the Grand Lodge, on receiving proper notice, and 
to pay attention to all the duties of Masonry, on convenient occasions; that no new 
Lodge shall be formed without permission of the Grand Lodge; and that no 
countenance be given to an irregular Lodge, or to any person clandestinely initiated 
therein, being contrary to the Ancient Charges of the Order; that no person can be 
regularly made a Mason in, or admitted a member of, any regular Lodge, without 
previous notice, and due inquiry into his character; that no visitors shall be admitted 
into your Lodge, without due examination, and producing proper vouchers of their 
having been initiated into a regular lodge." 


Various implements of Masonry are at the same time called to the Master's attention. 
Among them are the Holy Writings, the Book of Constitutions (Masonic Code), and 
the By-laws of his Lodge. Of these he is thus admonished: 


"The Holy Writings, that great light in Masonry, will guide you in all truth; it will 
direct your path to the temple of happiness, and point out to you the whole duty of 
man. 


"The Book of Constitutions you are to search at all times. Cause it to be read in your 
Lodge, that none may pretend ignorance of the excellent precepts it enjoins. 


"You will also receive in charge the By-laws of your Lodge, which you are to see 
carefully and punctually executed." 


Several symbols, as the Square, the Compasses, the Rule, and the Line, are at the 
same time used to impress upon the Master's mind with renewed force on this solemn 
occasion the principles of morality, the just limit of desires, the eminence obtained by 
merit, the upright walk in the path of virtue, and the standards of rectitude. Upon the 
Master is especially placed the duty of diffusing light and instruction to the brethren 
of his Lodge. 



Having selected and installed the Master, a brother "of good morals, of great skill, true 
and trusty, and a lover of the whole fraternity, wheresoever dispersed over the face of 
the earth," we may indeed further fairly assume that he will "discharge the duties of 
the office with fidelity." 


THE WORSHIPFUL MASTER 


The prerogatives and duties of the Worshipful Master are many and various. His very 
title, quaint and old, throws a flood of light upon his place and power. Master he is 
truly, but much more than a mere ruler. "Worshipful" means one worthy of honor 
deserving of respect and deference. For many hundreds of years it has been employed 
toward those attaining high position in English civil life. Magistrates are still so 
addressed in that country; their "Your Worship" being equivalent to our "Your 
Honor," and meaning no more or less. To many of our brethren it may strike upon the 
ear at first as savoring of irreverence the misuse of a word commonly employed for 
religious puiposes only. But to us it has no such significance. We so designate the 
officer so addressed because it is he who holds greatest preferment in the Lodge and 
thereupon we continue in speaking to or of him to use that subtle word of distinction 
implying the very aristocracy of pure personal worth and mental merit among his 
skilled fellows. 


From the decision of the Master there can be no appeal save only to the higher body; 
he can invite any member to preside over his Lodge; he can issue a proxy to any 
member to represent him at the Grand Lodge Communication; at the Communication 
of the Grand Lodge he is independent in action— voting as he pleases irrespective of 
any action taken by his Lodge; he alone is the judge as to convening and opening 
Lodge and of the conduct of its business; he determines when special communications 
of his Lodge shall be held and what shall be done therein; he may cut short discussion 
on other business at any time and close the Lodge; he controls the admission of 
visitors; his permission is essential, whenever he is present, to the admission of 
members and candidates; he has charge of the charter or warrant; he appoints 
whatever officers are appointed and he may install all the officers whether elected or 
appointed if so he chooses; in the absence of an officer he appoints the substitute; he 
announces the result of balloting and elections; he appoints all committees; and while 



this is seldom insisted upon he has from of old the privilege of being present at the 
meetings of all committees and of presiding over them at his pleasure —following the 
ancient practice recorded by Anderson nearly two centuries ago that wherever Masons 
congregate together the Master is entitled to govern and direct their labors on all 
Masonic matters; he may vote and also cast another vote in the event of a tie but this 
is not universal though of ancient usage; he is immune from trial by his Lodge; he 
decides points of order without appeal permitted to Lodge, and he presides at trials 
and determines questions of law. 


Before the installation of the Master-elect it is no means uniform in the several 
jurisdictions, usually required that he shall have received the Past Master's degree. 


THE SENIOR WARDEN 


In the absence of the Master the Senior Warden governs the Lodge; in the presence of 
the Master the Senior Warden assists him in the Lodge government. At the 
Communication of the Grand Lodge the Senior Warden is one of the three officers, 
Master, Senior and Junior Wardens or their proxies, charged with the duty of 
representing the Lodge. 


In 1721 we find that the regulations specified that "In case of death or sickness, or 
necessary absence of the Master, the Senior Warden shall act as Master pro tempore, 
if no brother is present who has been Master of that Lodge before. Lor the absent 
Master's authority reverts to the last Master present, though he cannot act till the 
Senior Warden has congregated the Lodge." 


Under some foreign Constitutions it is the case that among the sitting officers of the 
Lodge is the Immediate Past Master and upon him devolves the duty of taking up the 
work in the absence of the installed Master of the Lodge, the Senior Warden 
assembling the Lodge but the I.P.M. assuming the East for all ritualistic and 
monitorial purposes while the Senior Warden is in charge of other matters. With us 
there is not that established method. The Master being absent the Senior Warden takes 



his place and calls to his assistance whatever help he may find is requisite in 
conducting the affairs of the Lodge, opening and closing and performing all other 
functions as if he be indeed the Master of the Lodge. 


THE JUNIOR WARDEN 


The Junior Warden is presumed to have especial control of the brethren at 
refreshment, as the Senior Warden is assumed to be in charge of the Craft when at 
labor. These changes of control within the Lodge are signified by the position of the 
columns placed at the respective stations of the Senior and Junior Wardens. When the 
Master and the Senior Warden are absent or incapacitated in any way, the Junior 
Warden succeeds to the position in direction of the Lodge. 


Let it here be stated that the several officers of a Masonic Lodge do not in the event of 
any vacancy each move up one station or position. The various officers remain as they 
were, as far as this is practicable, and the vacancies are filled for the time by 
appointment. 


One of the prerogatives of the Wardens that they share with the Master and Past 
Masters is that of being eligible to election to the East. 


In the absence of the Master and the two Wardens a Lodge can only be opened and 
transact business by special dispensation. 


Mention has been made of the Master making appointments. It was one time the 
custom, (which yet prevails in some jurisdictions) that the Senior Warden appoints the 
Junior Deacon, and the Junior Warden in turn appoints the two Stewards. Custom as 
to the election and appointment of the respective officers is by no means uniform in 
the several jurisdictions. 



THE TREASURER 


The Treasurer is the banker of the Lodge and has nothing to do with the collections 
which are made by the Secretary and duly turned over to him. Of the receipt of these 
monies he must make due entries and pay them out only on the order of the Master 
and with the consent of the Lodge. Worth while is it to note here that the old custom 
of the Grand Lodge of England provides for the election only of the Master and the 
Treasurer, all other officers being appointed by the former. Evidently the idea behind 
this practice was to avoid any appearance of collusion between the two officers and to 
make each of them all the more directly responsible to the electing body, the Lodge. 
Bonds are commonly and should always be exacted of the Treasurer for the faithful 
performance of his duties. An honest man as Treasurer will not object to every 
safeguard being thrown about and around his financial relations to his Lodge. 


THE SECRETARY 


The Secretary receives all money due to the Lodge and pays them over to the 
Treasurer, taking his receipt therefor. He also observes the proceedings of the Lodge 
and makes a suitable record of all things proper to be written. Both the Secretary and 
the Treasurer make an annual report to the Lodge and the former is as a rule also 
required to transmit this and a copy of the membership roster with all other desirable 
particulars of the work done to the Grand Secretary at such dates or times as the laws 
of the Grand Lodge require. The Secretary is indeed the recording, the corresponding 
and collecting agent for the Lodge, from him proceed all the summonses for 
meetings, regular or special. All dimits, diplomas, and communications are issued by 
him. He is in charge of the seal and the archives. In common with the Treasurer he 
submits his books and Lodge property to the examination of a committee at such 
stated intervals as the by-laws or the pleasure of the Master may dictate. 


THE CHAPLAIN 



Among the appointive officers is the Chaplain. Upon him rests the duty of performing 
such parts in our public and private ceremonies as are required. Manifestly 
Freemasonry pretends not to be a religion but does act as an auxiliary to whatever is 
great and good, "a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night pointing the way, 
teaching a gospel of love, leading men to light and life everlasting." To further this 
practice and profession is primarily the place and function of the Chaplain. 


THE DEACONS 


The Deacons have especial duties. The Senior Deacon is the first lieutenant of the 
Worshipful Master, carrying out his orders in the management of the affairs of the 
Lodge. The Junior Deacon acts in the same capacity to the Senior Warden. The Senior 
Deacon is the immediate connecting link between the Master and all candidates, and 
similarly with all the members and visitors. The Junior Deacon assists the Senior 
Warden upon the inside of the inner door in guarding the proceedings against the 
intrusion of all those not qualified to enter. The two Deacons jointly carry out the 
respective orders of the presiding officer in the proper preparation of the Lodge and its 
adaptation to the several ceremonies. 


The handling of the ballot box, the reception of visitors and their introduction and 
accommodation, the care of the altar and lights, all belong peculiarly to the duties of 
the Senior Deacon. None enter or leave, no one opens the Lodge door, no one 
instructs the Tyler, but with the co-operation of the Junior Deacon. 


THE STEWARDS 


The Stewards assist the Secretary in the collection of dues and subscriptions, keep 
track of the Lodge table expenses, see that the tables are properly furnished at 
refreshment, that every brother is suitably provided for at the banquets, and generally 
assist the Deacons and other officers in performing their duties. So substantially has 
been the labor set for the performance of the Stewards from the days certainly of 
Preston and of Webb who so record their functions. Yes, it is even older for ten 



centuries ago in the old Constitutions we note that then "The Steward shall provide 
good cheer against the hour of refreshment, and each Fellow shall punctually defray 
his share of the reckoning, the Steward rendering a true and correct account." 


THE TYLER 


The Tyler permits none to pass or repass unless they are fully qualified and possess 
permission. Upon his early and punctual attendance will depend very much of the 
success of the Lodge labors. He serves the summonses of the Lodge, prepares the 
room for the Lodge meetings, lays out the jewels and other requisite items (as gavels 
and so forth) for the use of the Lodge, and in the anteroom and the preparation room 
he provides a supply of aprons or whatever else may be required. He is never to open 
the door from without, nor permit it to be opened from within, without the exchange 
of the preliminary alarms between himself and the Junior Deacon. 


REFERENCES- 


Mackey's Encyclopedia: Seal. Appeal, Right of. Secretary. Oath, Tiler's. Tiler. 
Obedience. Treasurer. Officers. Wardens. Past Master. Worshipful. 


The Worshipful Master's Assistant, by Robert Macoy. "Worshipful" as title, THE 
BUILDER, Vol. I, p. 96. The Worshipful Master's Assistant, by Delmar D. Darrah. 


AN APPEAL TO OUR MEMBERS 


Up to the time this issue of the Correspondence Circle Bulletin goes to press more 
than 1 ,000 Lodges and Study Clubs throughout the United States and Canada were 
considering, or had already gone to work on, our plan for the systematic study of 
Masonry. 



We know there are thousands of other Lodges that would welcome the opportunity to 
take up this plan if it were presented to them. 


But how are we to reach the remaining 13,000 Lodges ? 


We should like to be able to do so at an early date as possible in order that they may 
take up the work before the course is much further advanced. 


We have printed in circular form under the heading "1,000 Wide-Awake Lodges" a 
complete list of suggestions for organizing Study Clubs or introducing the study 
feature into the Lodges at regular or special meetings once each month. 


Will you help us to place this circular in the hands of the officers of your Lodge? 
Many of them are not members of the Society and we can not reach them except with 
your co-operation. 


Read on page 8 of this Bulletin what a New Mexico Brother has to say anent this 
movement. Note especially what he says in the fifth paragraph about a brother taking 
his degrees. Does not this parallel your own experience? You will also agree with 
what he says a little further on, that there is something in Masonry that most of us 
failed to get. There is yet time for us to get this "something," and the way to get it is 
through our Study plan. We shall also be helping each newly-raised Brother in the 
future in a way that we ourselves were not helped. 


A number of interested members have heeded our call to send in complete lists of the 
officers of their Lodges. This has enabled us to get in touch with these Brethren who 
might otherwise never have heard of the Society or its work, and as a consequence 



committees have in a majority of these instances been appointed to put the Study plan 
into effect. 


The fact remains that, numerically speaking, we have as yet only scratched the 
surface. If our members who are interested in the progress of the Society and its 
activities in promoting the study of Masonry will lend their assistance very much can 
be accomplished. 


Brethren, the ultimate success of this movement depends as much, if not more, upon 
YOUR INDIVIDUAL HELP, than the work of Brother Clegg and those of us in the 
Secretary's office. 


Therefore we ask you to lend your aid to this movement by sending in a full list of the 
officers of your own Lodge, from the Worshipful Master down to the Tiler. Do not 
depend upon some other member of the Society in your community, but send in the 
list YOURSELF. We would much rather have the lists duplicated than not to receive 
them at all. 




WHAT AN ENTERED APPRENTICE OUGHT TO KNOW 


BY BRO. HAL RIVIERE, GEORGIA 


(The following article, prepared as an address to a newly-made Entered Apprentice, 
appeals to the Editor of this Department as peculiarly in harmony with the puiposes 
for which the Department itself is designed. It would seem to be a worthwhile 
presentation of fundamental facts not now provided for in any Jurisdiction with which 
we are familiar. That it answers many of the questions asked by Initiates, and at the 



same time gives the candidate a glimpse of the high idealism of the Fraternity at a 
time when his mind is most receptive, commends the lecture to us as of great value. 
We believe that a Worshipful Master who desires to give his candidates the best 
possible conception of Masonry, could do no better, on the First Degree, than to 
present this lecture.) 


Once upon a time a certain man named Philip, while traveling from Jerusalem to 
Gaza, came upon a man of Ethiopia, a Eunuch who was an officer in the court of an 
Eastern queen. This Ethiopian was reading the Holy Scriptures but being of a foreign 
tongue and unfamiliar with the history of the Scriptures and the idioms and symbols 
with which they were illustrated, he was not able to interpret what he read to his 
satisfaction. Philip drew near to him and seeing his perplexity asked, "Understandest 
thou what thou readest?" The man replied, "How can I understand unless some man 
shall guide me?" So, my Entered Apprentice Brother, if I should ask you tonight if 
you understand what you have passed through, you would doubtless reply in the 
words of the Ethiopian, "How can I understand unless some one shall guide me?" Will 
you permit me to perform that service for you ? 


Masonry, has been defined as a beautiful system of Morality, veiled in Allegory and 
illustrated by symbols. Now an allegory is a story told to illustrate or convey some 
truth. Some of the most important truths have been handed down to us through 
allegories, that being one of the favorite methods the Master used to convey his 
teachings. It is one of the peculiarities of an allegory that its message may not be 
understood by all men. One must be prepared within his own mind and heart to 
receive the truth or else he sees it not. It is only a few of all those who hear who 
perceive the lesson designed to be taught by the allegory. The great majority, having 
ears to hear, hear not; having eyes to see, see not the beautiful lesson but hear only a 
pretty story that interests for a short while and then is lost. But the earnest seeker for 
truth, he who is duly and truly prepared for its reception, sees beyond the veil of the 
allegory and perceives the beautiful simple truth which it conceals from the multitude 
but reveals to the chosen few. 


A symbol is a visible sign for an idea. From the earliest dawn of creation, man has 
realized that there is a Supreme Being, a Creator who is all powerful. Many were the 
ancient names he bore. As the sun was the most powerful, most wonderful object 
visible to the primitive peoples, they used it as a symbol of the Supreme Being. The 



majority, seeing no further than the symbol, worshiped the sun itself; but the learned, 
the wise, the thoughtful ever regarded the sun as only a symbol of God's power and 
saw beyond it to the Great Father over all. 


So, my Brother, Masonry teaches by allegories and symbols, and it is your part to 
extract from them the truths that will be of service to you in the building of an upright 
Masonic character. If you perceive only the stories that Masonry presents to you and 
do not see deeper into what they are designed to teach, you will miss the best part of 
Masonry, yet you may comfort yourself with the thought that by far the great majority 
of Masons are no wiser than yourself. But if by pondering over the allegories and 
symbols of these degrees you find the hidden truth, a new world of wisdom, strength 
and beauty will be revealed to you. 


In order to understand the symbols of the three degrees it is necessary for you to know 
that, broadly speaking, Masonry has come from two general sources. One of these was 
the societies of stone masons who flourished in medieval times, and who were the 
builders of those great cathedrals that are being so ruthlessly destroyed in France and 
Belgium today. These societies gradually ceased to be bands of operative workers and 
admitted men not really connected with the actual work of building. By the year 1717 
Masonic lodges had become purely speculative. But the working tools of the operative 
Masons, the square, level, plumb, rule, gavel, etc., were still retained as symbols to 
teach important truths in character building. We, as Masons, no longer build temples 
and cathedrals of stone but we build spiritual temples, temples of character, temples of 
upright manhood and integrity. 


The second great source from which Masonry derived its symbolism was the ancient 
Mysteries. The relation they bear to our order will be unfolded to you as you advance 
in the degrees. It is only necessary to tell you here that in every ancient nation that 
attained any degree of civilization, were secret organizations known as the Mysteries, 
having initiation ceremonies. These organizations were composed of the wisest men 
of those nations, and all the higher knowledge of religion, art, and science was taught 
in them alone. Men waited and labored for years to become prepared or worthy to be 
initiated into the Mysteries. It is said that the great philosopher, Pythagoras waited for 
twenty years to be initiated into the mysteries of Egypt. Moses seems also to have 
been an Egyptian initiate, while St. John the Baptist came from the Jewish sect called 



Essenes, which practiced the mystical rites. It has been claimed that Jesus of Nazareth 
was an Essene, his teachings conforming somewhat closely to their practices. 


In the ancient Mysteries of India, the candidate might receive the first degree as early 
as eight years of age. Then began a severe system of mental and moral training to fit 
him for advancement, for with every degree it was intended that he should attain more 
of perfection. He was invested with a three-ply cord called the zennar, emblematic of 
their tri-une God. From that cord we get our cable tow. The candidate was kept a long 
time in darkness before taking a degree, to reflect upon the seriousness of the step he 
was about to take. Truly wanting light, he was taught to worship God as the Source of 
Light. He was conducted regularly around the room— usually a cave or grotto hewn 
out of solid rock— passing from East to West by way of the South, his right side being 
next the altar; the priests chanted, "I copy the example of the Sun and follow his 
benevolent course." He next made a declaration that he would keep himself pure, that 
he would be obedient and would maintain secrecy. After that, he was divested of his 
shoes and clothed in a white linen robe. We read in the Book of Ruth that it was a 
custom in Israel that, to confirm a contract or agreement, a man took off his shoe and 
gave it to his neighbor. You see in all these ceremonies, the beginnings of some of our 
Masonic customs; and with these general principles in mind you are ready to hear an 
explanation of some of the teachings of the E. A. Degree. 


Before initiation, Masonry demands that a candidate be duly and truly prepared. This 
preparation should be mental and moral as well as physical. Our Order subscribes to 
no system of religious doctrine, but it requires that every man who presents himself as 
a candidate for initiation shall declare a belief in one God, all-wise, all-powerful, all- 
good, who reveals himself to mankind; also teaches that there is life beyond the grave. 


The candidate must come of his own free will; must be a man, free bom, twenty-one 
years of age, able to read and write, and his moral qualities must be such as will bear a 
rigid investigation by a committee of Master Masons appointed for that purpose. 
Masonry tries to exclude those who come through mere curiosity or through a desire 
for business or social gain. To be a member of the investigating committee is one of 
the most serious duties a Mason is called upon to perform, and every candidate 
deserves careful consideration; even then, many duly and tmly unprepared make their 
way into our lodges. 



Masonry invites no man. He knocks at the door of the lodge of his own free will, 
bearing nothing that will indicate poverty or wealth, rank or station. At the inner door 
of the preparation room all are equal, and entrance through this door into the lodge 
room is only granted after the candidate has satisfied all present that he is worthy and 
well qualified to gain admission, and comes as an earnest seeker for Light and Truth. 
Gold cannot buy, rank cannot demand; neither can learning guarantee admission 
unless a reputation for generosity, truthfulness and rectitude of conduct be coupled 
with it. 


Secrecy is the first great lesson of the E. A. degree. This great virtue is necessary in 
our order so that Masons will appreciate the lessons taught. As a secret shared 
between two people binds them together, so the secrets of our fraternity bind the 
Brethren together. If our teachings of beautiful truths were scattered broadcast through 
the world, they would become commonplace; so they are taught under secrecy, only 
to those deemed worthy to receive and practice them. Taken with the salt of curiosity 
and expectation, they are the more readily perceived. 


Nothing can more torture a man than the pangs of remorse which a guilty conscience 
can force upon him. Sharp instruments may torture the flesh, but unless the torture be 
unto death a few short days suffice to heal the wounds and only the scars remain to 
remind of the agony endured. But the torture of a guilty conscience is not so. Memory 
of pledges violated, evil deeds done, kind actions left undone comes to us after years 
have passed; comes as we lie upon our beds and chases "Sleep, tired Nature's sweet 
restorer" from our eyes, and makes our bed a hell; comes amid our innocent social 
pleasures and turns our joy to pain; a face, a word or an odor may bring back the 
hateful incidents of a scene that no subsequent life of purity and holiness and rectitude 
of conduct can banish from the memory. Brother, guard well your actions, that 
henceforth no memory of evil deeds disturb your peace or rack your mind and 
conscience. 


We are taught that a Mason should never enter upon any great or laudable undertaking 
without invoking the aid of Almighty God. In the light of that lesson, prayer becomes 
a duty as well as the privilege of every Mason. How few understand the nature and 
effects of prayer. Prayer that has become merely a bed-time custom is not a prayer; it 



is an incantation to soothe the conscience or satisfy the demands of a habit formed in 
more innocent and unsophisticated days. The object and effect of prayer are to bring 
the soul into conscious harmony with the all wise Father, whose laws are true and just 
and righteous altogether. 


"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire," so says the old song. If that be true, (and who says 
not?) how earnestly should the compasses be used to circumscribe our desires and 
keep our passions within due bounds, so that no unrighteous, no unworthy, no 
covetous, no licentious prayer insult the Father whose all-seeing eye looks into the 
innermost recesses of our being. Prayer reveals a man to himself. For what do you 
pray; on what do you meditate; what thought do you ponder over and keep within 
your heart? Be sure that it will find expression in your outer life, for "the within is 
ceaselessly becoming the without." Guard well your thoughts, the source of all your 
deeds and actions. 


The trust of a Mason is in God. But before a man can trust in God whom he cannot 
see, he must learn to trust in his fellow man who is made in God's image. As you 
placed yourself in the hands of this lodge and followed your conductors through the 
ceremonies of initiation, you exemplified your trust in your fellow man. So ever place 
your trust in God and walk uprightly through life, fearing no danger; know that a 
man's worst enemy is himself, and that one with God is a majority. 


Masonic Light is the object of every Mason's search. That is truly a laudable object. 
Light, ever and ever more light; from the first faint perception of those Three Great 
Lights, the Holy Bible, Square and Compasses, until he shuffle off this mortal coil, the 
earnest Mason seeks for Light; seeks in the Holy Bible, that inestimable gift from God 
to man which is given us as a rule and guide for our faith and practice; seeks in the 
symbolism of the Square and Compasses; seeks in the great book of Nature; seeks in 
the hearts and lives of men. If he realize that Masonic Light is a symbol for Truth; if 
he see beyond the symbol to the Truth itself, comprehending it by the light of 
knowledge and wisdom, then the full glory of Masonic Light will shine in his heart, 
and he will go forth to bear the light aloft and let it shine among men. 



As the lodge is a symbol of the world, in the circumambulation of the lodge room the 
candidate symbolizes the progress of a man from ignorance to knowledge, and also 
the progress of the human race from savagery to civilization. Cares and temptations of 
business and pleasure throw obstacles in the way of men and of nations, and challenge 
their capability and integrity. Both individuals and nations must overcome obstacles 
and demonstrate their right to advance to broader fields of usefulness. 


As seen in the West, the light of the sun is ever a declining glory. The East, as the 
birth-place of the sun and source of light, has always been venerated by primitive 
peoples. As devout Moslems pray with their faces toward Mecca, the birth-place of 
their prophet, and as the ancient sun worshipers bowed to the rising sun, so Masons 
give the highest place to the East, as the true source of all Masonic Light and it is 
there the Worshipful Master has his station. Hence a Mason travels from West to East 
on his search for Masonic Light, and hence also the regular upright manner of 
approaching the East and rendering it due respect. 


While demanding that all Masons yield obedience to the tenets of the order, Masonry 
requires no act or belief that will conflict with any of the exalted duties that a man 
owes to God, his country, his neighbor, his family or himself. Reverence for God, 
patriotism and brotherly love are so frequently inculcated and so forcibly 
recommended in the lodge, that the Mason who does not practice those virtues is 
recreant to the trust imposed in him by his Brethren. Truth being the center of all 
Masonic teaching and the highest principles of reverence, patriotism and charity being 
founded on Truth, it follows that he who lives up to the highest principles of Masonic 
duty will naturally practice all moral, social and religious virtues. 


He who is in conscience bound to perform an act, to accomplish a purpose or to keep 
a secret, is bound by ties though invisible, that are stronger than any bonds that could 
be forged or contrived by man. The release of the candidate from the last ties that bind 
him to the world he has left outside the lodge room, coupled with the reception of 
light is a symbol of a new birth, a birth from the darkness of ignorance and 
superstition to the light of wisdom, toleration, generosity and all commendable 
virtues. 



Charity should be a distinguishing characteristic of every Mason. It is in the practice 
of this virtue that man most nearly reveals his kinship to God. Hear Buddha on the 
charitable man: "The charitable man is loved by all; his friendship is prized highly; in 
death his heart is at rest and full of joy for he suffers not from repentance; he receives 
the opening flower of his reward and the fruit that ripens from it. The charitable man 
has found the path of salvation. He is like the man who plants a sapling, securing 
thereby the shade, the flowers and the fruit in future years. Even so is the result of 
charity, even so is the joy of him who helps those who are in need of assistance." If 
the cardinal virtues of Freemasonry, which are Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and 
Justice, were practiced by all mankind, then charity, as an act of almsgiving, would 
cease. For ignorance and intemperance and injustice would be banished from the 
world, and the woes of misery and penury that follow them would then give place to 
joy. But the poor we have with us always; so, as we administer our charity let us 
remember that it is not only those who are in straightened financial circumstances 
who need our assistance, but that the poor in spirit, the despondent, the discouraged 
may be heartened and lifted up by kind and encouraging words. Fet us give 
bountifully of our love and sympathy to every Brother in distress. 


HAVE A QUESTION BOX IN YOUR STUDY CFUB! 


Assuming that your Fodge or Study Club has determined to undertake Masonic study 
on a serious basis, and is working toward our "Bulletin Course," the arrangement of a 
program, in order to hold its interest, should be given careful attention. We are able to 
say, from actual experience, that the reading of Brother Clegg's paper, and the 
supplemental papers which are prepared by the Brethren, should occupy in a formal 
way, no more than one hour. 


Some of the papers will provoke discussion. Others will not, since the material used in 
their preparation will tell practically the whole story, and the authorities given will 
only serve to clinch the argument. 


In any event, discussion aroused will probably not, on the average, consume more 
than another half hour. Experience shows that when the Brethren get themselves 
comfortably seated for Masonic discussion, the formal paper arouses in them an 



ordinarily latent curiosity. And after the pre-arranged discussion is concluded, more 
than one of the faces will suddenly light up, and immediately there will come forth 
some question which has been bothering the Brother. And no sooner will he have 
propounded his, than someone on the opposite side of the room will remember that he, 
too, has a question which he has tried to answer, and failing this, to get answered, to 
no avail. 


Here is one of the very best of symptoms. A discussion of these questions should by 
all means be entered into. Let the presiding officer of the meeting answer them if he 
can. If none of the committee in charge of the meeting are able to answer them all, 
have the Secretary take the unanswered questions down. Let the Chairman then parcel 
out these questions, answers to be brought in at the next meeting. Here are samples of 
the questions that were carried over in one meeting of the kind: 


Why did a Protestant Minister move to take the Bible off the Altar in Lodges working 
under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of France ? 


What is the symbolic significance of the position of the square and compasses in the 
Blue Lodge Degrees ? 


What Grand Lodges does our Grand Lodge recognize? 


What does the word "Orientation" mean, as applied to Masonic Temples ? 


What is the present-day tendency in the administration of Masonic charity? 


What is the significance of "The East" in the Masonic sense ? 



These questions (all of them inspired by Brother Clegg's paper on "Foundations and 
Fundamentals") were carried over to the next meeting. At least six other questions 
were asked and answered. There were brethren present who rather thought that they 
could answer some of the above questions offhand, but it was thought advisable to 
work them up more carefully and give all the best authorities on the subjects 
presented. 


At the succeeding meeting all but one of the above questions were answered, most of 
them fully and all to the satisfaction of the Brethren present. 


Can anyone doubt that this particular meeting was a success ? 


Ninety-six per cent, of the Brethren present at the beginning stayed through until after 
1 1 :00 P. M., when the meeting closed! Many Lodges will feel that this hour is too 
late. That may be true. But the fact remains that young men, finding all at once that 
the study of Masonry, when directed along definite lines, holds a fascination for them, 
and offers them a welcome diversion from the routine of business cares, will want to 
stay by it. And they will go out from these study meetings, not only inspired to further 
work, but actually elated with the opportunity to discover what other men of the 
Fraternity are thinking. This is as it should be. It brings back the Masonry of other 
days, when men glorified in its fellowship, using each meeting of the Lodge to ripen 
the man-to-man intimacy which results in true Brotherhood. 


The plan works. It is working in many, many Lodges. It will work in yours. With 
three or four Brethren willing to make some search— and if necessary research— the full 
attendance of a Lodge can find themselves absorbingly interested in the discussions 
that will be bom, almost automatically, from the reading of a formal paper. 


TRY IT! 



A NEW MEXICO ESTIMATE OF OUR STUDY CLUB MOVEMENT 


In my search through the Masonic exchanges which come to this office, there is no 
item of news more gratifying than that Clubs for the Study of the Science and 
Philosophy of Masonry are being formed all over the land. 


This is truly the supplying of a "long felt want" and is an augury for better things both 
civically and Masonically. 


It is neither my puipose nor province to be a scold, but in common with many of my 
Brethren the realization has been painful that we as Masons are not getting the good 
out of Masonry that we should and we are not giving to the young members that to 
which they are entitled. 


The true story of the average Lodge would read about as follows: 


A profane petitions for membership, he is elected, he is given the first and second 
degrees with little more than the necessary quorum of members present. In order to 
have a respectable number of Craftsmen present at his raising, the Master orders a 
"feed," and, to make sure that they will not slip away, he puts on the second section 
before the feast is spread; then, sad to relate, not more than a handful remain to give 
the "newly Obligated Brother" a prefunctory congratulation at the close of the Lodge 


Whether they have made a Mason or just a member is not the concern of the majority; 
nor are they to be severely criticised, for they received the same kind of a welcome 
from those who preceded them. 


In very truth Brethren it is suiprising, with the circumscribed opportunities for 
learning what Masonry really is, that the Brotherhood entertain so high a regard for 



the order in the abstract. They must instinctively feel that there is a something in 
Masonry that they have failed to get, and that feeling prompts those who become 
students to dig out for themselves those beauties, which with a little help from their 
"better" informed Brethren, could have been acquired in half the time and with more 
accurate deductions. 


The teachings of Masonry are sublime and ennobling, but these teachings must be 
sought elsewhere and beyond the rituals and monitors of our symbolic Lodges. 


The first two degrees are only introductory to the third, and all Masonic students 
concur that the Master's degree contains the basic principles, and is the "stone of 
foundation" upon which the entire superstructure of Masonic philosophy has been 
erected; but how few of us ever realize what that degree really contains. 


It does not make the same impression upon any two men, and the exchange of 
impressions in an hour's fraternal gathering, at the close of the Lodge, or on some 
other night in each month, would be far more beneficial to Masonry in general and the 
Lodge in particular than the making of any number of new "members of the order." 


It is readily perceived that the organization of these Study Clubs has been undertaken 
with the determination to stop the trend of making "members" by giving all, present 
and to come, an opportunity to become Masons in fact as well as in name. 


In this work the Fraternity in New Mexico cannot afford to lag behind, for there is as 
great need of real Masonry here as in any other jurisdiction; and, an appeal is hereby 
made to our Scottish Rite Brethren to take the initiative in the work of organizing 
Study Clubs all over the state. You know much better than they know themselves the 
imperative need for Masonic study by the mass of members with whom you come in 
contact 



These clubs are in no way to conflict with our Scottish Rite Clubs, nor need the 
Scottish Rite be ever mentioned therein; and yet, your patently superior knowledge of 
Masonry, acquired in the Scottish Rite, will prove to be a stronger incentive for others 
to seek what they can there secure than any direct appeal. 


—Scottish Rite Bulletin, Santa Fe, N.M. 


— o — 


THE FOUR HIRAMS OF TRYE 


BY BRO. A.S. MACBRIDE, SCOTLAND 


IT THE TWO * ARTISANS CALLED HIRAM 


IN the traditions of Masonry connected with the M. M. degree, the central figure is 
that of "Hiram Abif." A martyr to fidelity and honour, his memory has been held 
sacred by the Craft. Yet, historically, there is very little known of him. By many, if 
not by the most, of those who troubled themselves to think on the subject, the 
traditions regarding him, until recently, were considered to be mythological legends 
similar to those on which the ancient mysteries were formed, and altogether devoid of 
truth. The fact that in the Biblical accounts of the building of King Solomon's Temple 
there is no mention, nor apparently the smallest hint, of his death, has been accepted 
as a proof that he did not die, during the building of that structure. Dr. Oliver, the well 
known Masonic writer, evidently considered the tradition of his death as mythical, for 
in the "Freemason's Treasury," Lecture XLV, he says: "It is well known that the 
celebrated artist was living at Tyre many years after the Temple was completed." 



But let us examine the Biblical narrative a little more closely than we have hitherto 
done. Assuming for the time being as correct, the generally accepted belief that only 
one artisan of the name of Hiram, or Huram, is mentioned in that historical account of 
the building of the Temple; we are immediately confronted with three contradictions 
demanding attention. These are: 


(1) in the descriptions of his parentage; 


(2) in the descriptions of his qualifications; 


(3) in the periods named of his arrival at the Temple. 


In the first place then, let us look at 


THE DESCRIPTIONS OF HIRAM'S PARENTAGE 


In 2 Chron. H. 14, Hiram is said to be: "the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan." 
In I Kings VII. 14, he is described as: "the Son of a widow woman of the tribe of 
Naphtali." Now, no man can have two mothers, and no mother can belong to two 
tribes. On what supposition then, can these two differing descriptions be reconciled? 
Is it some mistake as to the tribe to which the mother belonged? With writers 
unacquainted with the tribes of Israel, or of the peculiarities of Hebrew history, that 
might be. But the writers of the books of Kings and Chronicles had an intimate 
knowledge of all these things, and we can scarcely suppose for a moment any such 
mistake. 


The tribe of Dan occupied the hilly country in the immediate neighborhood of the 
Philistines and Samson the celebrated warrior and patriot was of that tribe. 



* The word "Artisan" is here used in its proper sense as one skilled in Art; a master of 
Arts. 


Unable to subdue the Philistines the Danites, after the death of Samson, migrated to 
the plains of the upper Jordan around the city of Laish, which was then the granary of 
Sidon. Their proximity to Tyre, no doubt, resulted in intermarriages with the Tyrians; 
and hence, there would be nothing very remarkable in "the Son of a woman of the 
daughters of Dan," being a famous artisan of Tyre. 


The tribe of Naphtali were located in the mountains on the northern border of 
Palestine; and from their nearness to Tyre and the necessities of trade from the sea- 
coast, they had regular intercourse with the Tyrians, and intermarriage would, 
consequently, more or less result. Thus there seems nothing extraordinary in the 
recorded fact, that a Tyrian artisan was "the son of a widow woman of the tribe of 
Naphtali." 


There is little likelihood that, in either of these two cases, the writer of the book of 
Kings, or the writer of the book of Chronicles, would make any mistake in the matter 
of lineage; for on this point the Hebrew writers seem to have been very particular. The 
fact that in both instances the father is not mentioned, adds weight to the correctness 
of the description of the mother; and, if there was only one artisan of the name of 
Hiram at the building of the Temple, we have before us the insuperable difficulty of 
believing that he had two mothers. 


Let us now pass on to consider, in the second place; 


THE DESCRIPTIONS OF HIRAM'S QUALIFICATIONS 



In 2nd. Chronicles II. 14, Hiram is described as: "Skillful to work in gold, and in 
silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, 
and in crimson; and also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every 
device." In 1st Kings VII. 14, he is called: "A worker in brass, and he was filled with 
wisdom and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass." Now, just think 
for a little on these two descriptions. The one is skillful to work metals— gold, silver, 
brass and iron; also stone and timber. In weaving and in dyeing, in engraving and in 
every device, he is an expert. He is an all around architect— a marvel, a genius, a man 
of large experience and, no doubt, of ripe years, whose fame would be sure to go 
down the ages. The other is merely a worker in brass— no doubt a man of good parts, 
but limited in experience and knowledge— probably young in years, and, according to 
the description, as yet only a worker in brass. This statement that his craftsmanship is 
confined to brass is most carefully noted by the historian, for it is reiterated in the 
description. He says: "A worker in brass filled with wisdom and understanding, and 
cunning to work all works in brass," He repeats the words "in brass," as if he was 
afraid that the individual he was describing might be mistaken for some other person 
of the same name, also celebrated as an artisan and a worker, at the building of the 
Temple. 


Considering these two descriptions, is it reasonable to believe that they refer to the 
same individual? They are not loose, nor in any way vague. On the contrary, they are 
very precise and detailed, and no one reading them, without prejudice, would imagine 
them to refer to the same artisan. 


We now come to our third point, viz: 


THE PERIODS NAMED OF HIRAM'S ARRIVAL AT THE TEMPLE 


In 2nd Chronicles II. 13, before the work of the Temple was begun, Hiram king of 
Tyre in his letter to Solomon says: "And now I have sent a cunning man endued with 
understanding," etc. In I Kings VII. 13, after the house of the Lord and the house of 
Solomon had been built, we are informed: "King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out 
of Tyre." In the one statement we are told that before the house was built a skillful 
man was sent to King Solomon by Hiram King of Tyre; in the other that after the 



house was built Solomon "sent and fetched" Hiram out of Tyre. These periods were 
twenty years apart; for the house of the Lord took seven years, and the house of 
Solomon and the courts of the Temple other thirteen years in building. 


To understand the biblical narrative properly one has to keep in view that there are 
several "finishes" mentioned, and that these refer only to certain parts of the work at 
the building of the Temple. The first "finish" is mentioned in I. Kings VI. 9: " So he 
built the house and finished it"— that is the mason-work, or shell of the building. Then 
comes the second part of the work, consisting of the carpenter-work of the roof, and 
of the chambers around about, as stated in verses 9 and 10; and in verse 14, the 
narrative goes on to say: "So Solomon built the house and finished it." The third part 
of the work described, consists of the decorations— the gold plating and gilding. Verse 
22 says: "And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the 
house." The fourth part of the work is stated to have been the internal fittings and 
carvings of the house, and the building of the inner court, and the whole is summed up 
in verse 38, as follows: "And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bui, which is the 
eight month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to 
all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it." 


So far as we have followed the narrative, the house itself, in its plan and 
embellishments, has been finished; but the Temple is still far from being completed. 
The outer courts and the houses of the king, with all their magnificence and 
ornamentation; the pillars of the porch, and the altars and utensils of the inner court, 
have not yet been begun. These were to take other thirteen years to construct and 
finish. In the meantime, let us go on. The house of the forest of Lebanon, the porch of 
judgment, Solomon's Palace, the palace for Pharaoh's daughter, and the great court; 
had all just been built when the sacred narrative is abruptly interrupted by the 
statement: "And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre." All the work of 
building proper had been completed, but many things had yet to be done before the 
sacrifices and magnificent services of the Hebrew religion could be begun and 
maintained at the Temple. But, if Hiram was sent by the king of Tyre before the work 
was begun, why did Solomon, at this particular stage, need to send and "fetch" him 
out of Tyre ? Had he gone back to Tyre after some years of laborious work, and was 
he again needed to complete the building? There are one or two objections to the idea. 
If he did return to Tyre, we would naturally expect the historian to give us some 
indication of his having done so. But, search as we may, there is not the smallest hint, 
or indication of that. All writers on the subject, differing as they do on many points, 
agree that Hiram had the superintendence of the work at the building of the Temple. Is 



it likely then, that he could have gone back, while the work was unfinished? The time 
necessary for such a journey in those days would have so interfered with the progress 
of the building operations that we are scarcely entitled to assume such a thing, unless 
on something approaching substantial grounds. The custom then, and for many 
centuries afterwards, with artisans such as Hiram, was to make their home for the time 
being wherever their work was. Building operations in connection with temples were 
necessarily of long duration. In the present case they had probably already stretched 
over fifteen years. The building of the holy house had occupied seven years, and the 
royal houses and the courts were finished, so far as mason and caipenter work were 
concerned; and, as they occupied thirteen years to complete, we may safely estimate 
that at least eight of these thirteen years had already passed when "Solomon sent and 
fetched Hiram out of Tyre." In all probability then, Hiram had already spent thirteen 
years in Jerusalem and, if alive, was still there. If that was so, why and wherefore did 
Solomon need to send and fetch him out of Tyre? So far as all the records go, the 
periods named of Hiram's arrival at the Temple are not consistent with the course of 
events, and are contradictory to each other; so long as we assume there was only one 
Hiram engaged at the work of the Temple. 


These three contradictions as to the Parentage, Qualifications, and Period of arrival at 
the Temple, which we have now been considering, must apparently remain 
inexplicable, unless on the natural and, at present, the only reasonable explanation that 
there were two artisans of the same name, engaged at the work of that famous 
structure. This hypothesis reconciles those contradictions, makes clear the biblical 
narrative, explains certain hitherto unintelligible statements, and lends corroborative 
testimony to the truth, in its substance, of the Masonic tradition of the death of Hiram 
Abif. In the light of this hypothesis let us now review the whole circumstances 
mentioned in the sacred narrative. 


The first Hiram is "the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan," and arrives at the 
beginning of the building of the Temple. He is an all around artisan, skillful to work in 
stone, timber, gold, iron, etc. He superintends the building operations. It is a task of no 
common difficulty. A great Temple has to be built on the top of a rugged hill, almost 
entirely surrounded by sharp precipices. Immense walls, the lowest of which is to be 
450 feet high, have to be reared up in the valley out from the precipices, and the 
intervening space has to be filled up with earth in order to make room for the Temple 
with all its courts and palaces on the top. This work has to be done under the peculiar 
conditions that neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron is to be heard in the main 
structure, that is the sanctuary; while it is being built. All this would require great 



skill, knowledge and experience. Stonework, timber-work, and metal-work of various 
kinds have to be executed. The Sanctuary has to be covered inside and outside with 
gold. Great curtains, with chembims and other devices, have to be manufactured. 
Carvings on stone, and on timber; engravings on gold and silver; have to be done, and 
done in the highest and most skillful manner possible. The work is not only 
stupendous in its nature; it is also magnificent in its character. Well, the years pass on 
and, at the seventh, the house of the Lord and the inner court have been built. Then 
began the work of the outer courts and the royal palaces. These, while parts of the 
Temple scheme, were not considered as parts of the sanctuary, and hence, sacred 
silence was no longer a necessary condition. All was now bustle. The sounds of 
hammer and chisel, and the stir of toil filled the air, while the great courts and palaces 
were gradually erected. Other eight years passed in this work, and Hiram the first, 
with his wonderful genius and skill, built a structure whose fame has been echoed 
down through the long corridors of Time. Now it is at this stage that Hiram the first 
disappeared and Hiram the second, "the son of a widow woman of the tribe of 
Naphtali" came into view. Everything, except the molten brass-work, has been done. 
Why did Hiram the first not do it? That he was perfectly capable, there can be no 
reasonable doubt. Why then, did Solomon need to send for Hiram the second to do it? 
It is evident that Hiram the first was no longer available. Why? Neither scripture 
narrative nor profane history, so far as we can trace, give any answer to this question. 
But the traditions of Masonry supply a very clear and natural answer. Hiram the first 
was dead, and hence Solomon sent and fetched Hiram (the second) out of Tyre, to 
finish the work. Everything had been completed except the brass-work, and Hiram the 
second is described specially as "a worker in brass." Five more years passed and the 
final finish of the Temple came. The mighty brass pillars— the casting of which was a 
wonderful achievement— the various altars and utensils, the golden candlesticks etc., 
were all made and put in their places and, with full pomp and sacrifice, Solomon 
dedicated and consecrated the house of the Lord. 


In this way, on the assumption that there were two Hirams engaged at the work of the 
Temple the sacred narrative is clear and coherent; and the seeming inconsistencies and 
contradictions we have referred to, disappear. 


But there still remain one or two passages in the narrative which puzzle us. In I. Kings 
VII. 45, we read: "And the pots and the shovels and the basins, and all these vessels, 
which Hiram made to king Solomon for the house of the Lord, were of bright brass." 
In II. Chronicles IV. 16, after ascribing as in the book of Kings, the various things 
made by Hiram— the pillars, the bases, the layers, and the sea with twelve oxen under 



it— we read: "And the pots also, and the shovels, and the flesh-hooks and all their 
instruments, did Hiram, his father make to king Solomon, for the house of the Lord, of 
bright brass." Here we have evidently a parenthetical remark interjected by the writer 
of the narrative with the object of making plain to the reader some fact which would 
be otherwise obscure. The words "of bright brass" arrest our attention. What do they 
mean? They evidently want to emphasize that the pots, shovels, and all the work of 
brass done by "Hiram, his father" were of bright brass that is, malleable brass; while 
the pillars, the bases, the lavers, as mentioned in the context were of cast brass. This 
distinction is associated with the words "his father." Whose father could it be, but the 
father of the person whose work is being described ? In verse II of the last mentioned 
chapter in Chronicles, we read: "And Huram made the pots and the shovels and the 
basins. And Huram finished the work that he was to make for King Solomon for the 
house of God." Now, according to Hebrew scholars the words here translated 
"Huram" in both instances, are distinct, and different in the original. In I. Kings VII. 
40, our translation should read: "And Chirom made the layers and the shovels and the 
basins. So Chiram made an end of doing all the work, etc.": and in II. Chronicles IV. 

1 1 , it should read: "And Chiram finished the work that he was to make for king 
Solomon" etc. 


In view of the distinction in the names, and of the apparent parenthetical character of 
the 45th verse in I. Kings VII. and of the 16th verse in II. Chronicles IV., the reading 
of the sacred narrative appears to be as follows, beginning at I. Kings VII. 40: 


"But Chirom made the lavers and the shovels and the basins, and Chiram made an end 
of the work that Chirom was to have made king Solomon for the house of the Lord: 
the two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the two 
pillars; and the two net-works, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which were 
upon the top of the pillars; and four hundred pomegranates for the two net-works, 
even two rows of pomegranates for one net-work, to cover the two bowls of the 
chapiters that were upon the pillars; and the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases; and 
one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea:-but the pots and the shovels, and the basins; 
and all those vessels which Chirom made to king Solomon for the house of the Lord 
were of bright brass." 


In the same way beginning at II. Chronicles IV. 1 1 , we would read: "But Churam 
made the pots, and the shovels, and the basins; and Chiram finished the work which 



Churam was to have made for king Solomon for the house of God— to-wit: the two 
pillars, and the pommels, and the chapiters which were on the top of the two pillars, 
and the two wreaths to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were upon the 
pillars. He made also bases, and lavers made he upon the bases: One sea and twelve 
oxen under it; But the pots, and the shovels and the flesh-hooks, and all the 
instruments which Churam, his father, did make to king Solomon for the house of the 
Lord were of bright brass." 


This reading of the narrative, seems to us, the only one that gives any appearance of 
consistency and plain sense. The repetition of the name "Hiram" in I. Kings VII. 40, 
and its use in verse 45; the repetition of "Huram" in II. Chronicles IV. 11, and the 
words "Huram his father" are all inexplicable and confusing, as they stand. The 
explanation that makes everything plain and clear is that Hiram the son made the 
pillars, the lavers, etc., of cast-brass, and that Huram his father made the pots, basins, 
etc., of bright or malleable brass. In this view the words "his father" (in the original 
"Abif ') is rendered quite natural and intelligible, and accords with Masonic tradition. 


In all the variations of the Masonic traditions, the Hiram whose death occurred 
immediately preceding the completion of the Temple is named "Hiram Abif." This 
designation becomes significant only in view of the fact that another Hiram, his son, 
also superintended at the building of the Temple and finished the work which his 
father would no doubt have finished had he lived a few years longer. Why should the 
designation "Abif 1 have been given if there was no other Hiram engaged at the 
Temple? It surely, indicates not only another Hiram, but also that the other was the 
son of the Hiram so named. 


The Hiram whom Solomon "fetched out of Tyre" is described as the son of a widow. 
This description accords exactly with the theory now advanced. If Hiram Abif was 
dead and his wife alive, his son Hiram would naturally be the son of a widow. 


The expression "sent and fetched" is peculiar and is also perhaps very significant. It 
seems to indicate in all probability that the King Solomon sent an escort for Hiram. 
Our Rev. Brother Rosenbaum thinks this was to protect him from his father's enemies. 
With this we can scarcely agree. These enemies were all too insignificant to demand 



for him a royal escort. Ordinary guards as was usual for travelers, would have been 
sufficient so far as safety was concerned. A royal escort was, and is a mark of honour 
and it seems much more probable that this respect was shown to the son, in honour of 
the fame and memory of the father. 


This theory of the two Hirams-Artisans at the building of the Temple also harmonizes 
with the statement made by Dr. Oliver to which reference has already been made, viz: 
"It is well known that the celebrated artist was living in Tyre many years after the 
Temple was completed." This statement has been used as an argument against the 
truth of the Masonic tradition regarding the death of Hiram. But if there were two 
Hirams the statement of Dr. Oliver and the tradition of Hiram's death may both be 
true. Hiram the son may very probably have returned to Tyre and lived, let us fondly 
believe, many years the worthy son of a noble father. 


TO A SKELETON 


The MS. of this poem was found in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, in 
London, near a perfect human skeleton, and sent by the curator to the Morning 
Chronicle for publication. It excited so much attention that every effort was made to 
discover the author, and a responsible party went so far as to offer a reward of fifty 
guineas for information that would discover its origin. The author preserved his 
incognito, and, we believe, has never been discovered. 


Behold this ruin! 'Twas a skull, 

Once of ethereal spirit full, 

This narrow cell was life's retreat; 

This space was thought's mysterious seat. 
What beauteous visions filled this spot; 



What dreams of pleasure long forgot? 

Nor hope, nor joy, nor love, nor fear 
Have left one trace of record here. 

Beneath this mouldering canopy 
Once shone the bright and busy eye; 

But start not at the dismal void. 

If social love that eye employed, 

If with no lawless fire it gleamed, 

But through the dews of kindness beamed - 
That eye shall be forever bright 
When stars and sun are sunk in night. 

Within this hollow cavern hung 
The ready, swift, and tuneful tongue; 

If falsehood's honey it disdained, 

And when it could not praise was chained; 
If bold in virtue's cause it spoke, 

Yet gentle concord never broke - 
This silent tongue shall plead for thee 
When time unveils eternity! 



Say, did these fingers delve the mine, 
Or with the envied rubies shine? 

To hew the rock or wear a gem 
Can little now avail to them. 

But if the page of truth they sought, 

Or comfort to the mourner brought, 
These hands a richer meed shall claim 
Than all that wait on wealth and fame. 

Avails it whether bare or shod 
These feet the paths of duty trod? 

If from the bowers of ease they fled, 
To seek affliction's humble shed; 

If grandeur's guilty bride they spurned, 
And home to virtue's cot returned - 
These feet with angel wings shall vie, 
And tread the palace of the sky! 


THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MAUNDY THURSDAY 



BY BRO. FRANK B. GAULT, WASHINGTON 


MASONIC observances and ceremonies are founded upon authentic history or upon 
legends and traditions our race cherishes with unremitting fervor. In our recurring 
commemorations of these time-honored events we, in an appreciative way, reengage 
with those ancient worthies in their notable contributions to human welfare. Thus the 
Maundy Thursday feast reminds us of the closing scenes of the earthly career of the 
Saviour of the world. Yea, more, for by our recurring celebrations of this mystic 
banquet we perpetuate and we accentuate the greatest world-lesson that ever fell upon 
the ears of our common humanity for inspiration and guidance. The outlying incidents 
may be briefly told. 


Our Lord was reaching the culmination of his week of passion. A few days before he 
had entered Jerusalem in triumph amid the waving of palms and the glad acclaims of 
an expectant populace. The people looked for a king. Our Lord was truly to found a 
kingdom but it was to be a spiritual kingdom, investing man with a new worth and 
dignity. Peace on earth, social equality, liberty of conscience, and the worth of the 
common man were to be ruling virtues in this new order of human affairs. 


It was Thursday "Green Thursday," the Middle Ages called it. Approaching night had 
thrown its lengthening shadows o'er the Judean hills. The Son of Man, accompanied 
by the Twelve, leaving the little city of Bethany, passed over "Olive's brow" to the 
upper room in the city of David where, by prearrangement, the great Jewish feast of 
the Passover was to be celebrated. It proved to be the first Maundy Thursday feast, 
now so happily known as the "Mystic Banquet." 


In that land the host met his guests with a laver of water that they might bathe their 
feet after laying aside their sandals, a most welcome attention after travel upon the 
dusty roads. This service was committed to slaves. Upon this occasion there being no 
host, provision for this refreshing act had been omitted. Observing this our Lord arose 
and in simple but gracious manner washed the feet of his disciples not, however, 
without some earnest protests. 



Thus was exemplified in unaffected sincerity and modest condescension the most 
impressive lesson in human service and social democracy the race ever received. In 
thus bestowing upon his disciples this omitted act of hospitality, although the courtesy 
of menials, the Lord gave mankind an object lesson for all time which means that he 
who rules must himself serve. Let us in this festal hour hearken unto this effective 
lesson, centuries old, though too often neglected, that all must serve. It is not the 
obeisance of the inferior to a superior; not a mercenary hope of reciprocal gain; but 
the mercy that is unrestrained. Our civilization is based upon this principle. Our 
firesides, our schools, our hospitals, our neighborliness, our democracy itself, rest 
upon this law of human relationship— we serve each other and together we are servants 
of the common good. However humble that service, if it is needed, it must be rendered 
freely and joyously. 


This simple ceremony concluded, our Lord, turning to his disciples, said, "A new 
commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another." Here is the motive of the 
service-love, good will to men, sympathy, devotion to well being, lending a hand. 


Of kindred origin with the word commandment is mandate, mandatory and 
mandamus. These words, indeed, are identical. The day of the command, the 
Thursday of the commandment, the mandate Thursday, and we have Maundy 
Thursday. 


The literal and formal observance of the washing of feet in a public manner by church 
and state officials has long existed. The emperor of Austria, the king of Bavaria, and 
the czar of Russia are notable examples. Usually the twelve oldest men in the realm 
are selected and the sovereign through servants, performs the ablution. Sometimes 
prelates of the church select twelve very poor men for the rite. 


This incident and the new commandment afford many candid variances of opinion as 
to important features, but these must not be obscured by the imperative lesson,— our 
obligations to our fellow man regardless of race, status or creed. The attitude toward 
humanity exemplified at that Passover feast two thousand years ago is our challenge. 
Democracy must be the ruling principle in the world, and humanity our service, 
aristocracy, royalty, dynasty, imperialism, undeserved privilege, and "man's 



inhumanity to man" must cease to disturb and destroy. The sorrows, the distresses and 
the enmities of today show that the incident and the commandment of that far-off first 
Maundy Thursday feast can not too often be impressed upon a chaotic and unhappy 
world. 


The democracy of service and the service of democracy are the hope of mankind. 


— o — 


THE WORK OF A MASON 


The work of the Freemason is the important work of life. It involves the development 
of his body so that he may be the better enabled to support himself and family; the 
development of his mind so that he may be enabled to think and act intelligently and 
rationally; the development of his soul so that he may gradually evolve into that more 
perfect condition— the Master. 


— W. F. Sharp. 


— o — 


THE MASONIC COMPEERS OF WASHINGTON 


BY BRO. FRANK E. NOTES, WISCONSIN 



GREAT exigencies and great occasions give birth to great men, and many a man who 
under ordinary circumstances would not rise above mediocrity, has, under the spur of 
great demands, become really and truly great. 


There is always a tendency to make heroes of those who took prominent part in the 
birth of the Nation; but when all allowances have been made, the fact still remains that 
in proportion to numbers the years preceding and following the organization of our 
National government produced more men of courage, ability and true patriotism than 
any other period in our history, not even excepting the years of the Civil War. 


Among the colossal figures that stood out prominently in those trying years, the 
Masons of revolutionary times, the Masonic Compeers of our immortal Washington, 
are justly entitled to have their names written high on the pillars of worldly fame. 


There is an unwritten history of the silent but patient influences of Masonry in 
producing the various political associations of that period, and the mighty brotherhood 
of Masonry, ever the friend of liberty, was omnipotent for good. 


While there were doubtless transient meetings of Masons in diflerent American 
colonies from time to time late in the seventeenth and early in the eighteenth 
centuries, it was not until about the time of Washington's birth that the workings of 
the order began to assume definite shape and the written records of Masonry in 
America commenced. In April, 1733, Lord Montagu, Grand Master of the Grand 
Lodge of England, appointed Henry Price as "Provincial Grand Master of New 
England and dominions and territories thereunto belonging." Organizing the Grand 
Lodge in July of that year,, he granted a charter to eighteen brethren in Boston to form 
"First Lodge," a name maintained till 1783 when it was changed to St. John's Lodge. 
If Washington was the "father of his country," Henry Price was in a like sense the 
father of American Masonry. In the following year, 1734, his authority was extended 
to the whole of North America and he granted warrants to brethren for lodges at 
Philadelphia, Pa., and at Portsmouth, N. H.; and in December, 1735, for one at 
Charleston, S. C. 



Prominent in the early history of the country was the Randolph family of Virginia. 
Peyton Randolph was the first president of the Continental Congress which convened 
in 1774. He was also the last provincial Grand Master in that colony. In 1778 an 
Independent Grand Lodge was organized in Virginia and Edmund Randolph, nephew 
of Peyton, became its Grand Master in 1786. He was also Governor of Virginia the 
same year and in 1787 was a member of the convention that drafted the Federal 
Constitution. 


In 1787 an independent Grand Lodge was formed in Georgia and Gen. James Jackson 
became its Grand Master. Distinguished in his state for military valor, he was also, in 
1788, its first elected Governor. 


In the same year the Grand Lodge of South Carolina was organized and in 1790 Gen. 
Mordecai Gist became its Grand Master. 


North Carolina organized its Grand Lodge in 1787. Richard Caswell, who was the 
first elected Governor in that state and who served as such in 1776, 77, 78 and 79, 
and again in 1787, was the second Grand Master in 1788. Also in national affairs he 
was prominent in the Continental Congress and as a member of the Constitutional 
Convention. Another prominent Mason in that state was Wm. R. Davie, Governor in 
1798 and Grand Master in 1790. 


The first Grand Master of Connecticut was Pierpont Edward in 1790. He was a son of 
the famous divine, the Rev. Jonathan Edward, one of the early Presidents of Princeton 
College. 


Gen. John Sullivan was Governor of New Hampshire from 1786 to 1790. During his 
last term a Grand Lodge was organized in that state and he was its first Grand Master. 
Gen. Sullivan is noted for the splendid campaign he made in 1779 against the Six 
Nations of Indians who were fighting with the British troops. 



Gen. Rufus Putman was prominent in Massachusetts, went to Ohio late in the 
eighteenth century and became Grand Master in that state in 1808. 


There were many other prominent men who were Masonic Compeers of Washington, 
but the list is too long to dwell upon. 


How many Masons are familiar with the part that Masons played in the Boston Tea 
Party? It was on the evening of the 18th of December, 1773, when a party of Masons, 
mostly members of St. Andrew's Lodge in Boston, assembled for the purpose of 
protesting against the iniquitous tax on tea. Samuel Adams is said to have been a 
member of that party. Gen. Warren, the first prominent martyr to the cause of 
American Independence and once Grand Master of Massachusetts, was a member of 
that party. Paul Revere, celebrated for his famous ride before the battle of Lexington, 
at that time Junior. Warden of the Lodge and afterwards Grand Master, was a leading 
spirit among the resolute Masons who emptied the tea into Boston harbor. 


While much of the specific wording of the Declaration of Independence is credited to 
Thomas Jefferson, Masons were the leading spirits in the movement. Almost 
simultaneously and perhaps not knowing of the other's action, Samuel Adams in 
Massachusetts and Richard Henry Lee in Virginia wrote vigorous protests in 1774 
against the tyrannous acts of the English government. It was Lee who in the 
Constitutional Congress, June 12, 1776, made the motion that the colonies were and 
of right ought to be free and independent. 


The battle of Lexington was the result of an attempt on the part of the British soldiers 
to arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams as arch traitors, but they were warned and 
escaped to Philadelphia. Of the fifty-six members of the Continental Congress who 
signed the Declaration of Independence, twenty-two are known to have been Masons 
and quite a number of others are believed to have been members of the order, but the 
imperfect records of those days leaves a doubt as to their membership. Of the 
committee of five appointed to prepare the Declaration, three, viz: Sherman, 
Livingston and Adams, were Masons. John Hancock, who was the president of the 
Congress, was the first Mason to affix his signature. He was afterwards for thirteen 



years Governor of Massachusetts. Of the first eight signers of the declaration, seven 
were Masons. The Masons were the head and front of the movement. 


Besides Hancock and Adams, the following Masons signed the Declaration: 


Josiah Bartlett, first to vote for and second to sign. He was at first a prominent 
physician, afterwards a lawyer and for six years Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of 
New Hampshire and the first Governor of that state. He was also Grand Master of the 
Grand Lodge in 1798. 


William Whipple, bom in Maine two years before Washington, prominent as a lawyer 
and a Judge of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire for three years. 


Matthew Thornton, bom in Ireland in 1714 and an advocate of ability; for six years a 
member of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire. 


Robert Treat Paine, born the year before Washington in Boston; was for fourteen 
years a justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. 


Elbridge Gerry, a member of the Constitutional Congress five times, member of the 
Constitutional Convention, Governor of Massachusetts in 1810-T 1 and Vice President 
at the time of his death in 1814. It was from his work of districting the state that we 
get the word "gerrymander." 


Stephen Hopkins, Speaker of the Massachusetts Assembly in 1 742 and for several 
years following, Governor of the state for thirteen years and for severalyears a 
member of the Continental Congress. 



Roger Sherman, prominent in the legislative affairs of Connecticut, member of the 
first and several succeeding Continental Congresses, and one of the five members of 
the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. Among his distinguished 
descendants were Senators Wm. M. Evarts of New York and Geo. F. Hoar of 
Massachusetts. 


Philip Livingston, member of the Continental Congress and of the Constitutional 
Convention, and one of the Committee of five who drafted the Declaration. 


Oliver Wolcott, member of the Continental Congress for several years and Governor 
of Connecticut for eleven years. 


Francis Lewis, a native of Wales, who engaged in commerce and amassed a large 
fortune much of which he spent in the cause of American liberty, was a member of the 
Continental Congress from New York, in which state he died at the ripe old age of 90 
years. 


John Witherspoon, a Scottish Doctor of Divinity who came to the Colonies after he 
had made a reputation as one of the strongest preachers of his age. He became 
president of Princeton College in 1768 and by his wise administration greatly raised 
the rank of that institution. Sat in the Continental Congress for three years at a time at 
two different periods. 


Francis Hopkinson, head of the Navy during the Revolution, Judge of the Admiralty 
in Pennsylvania for ten years to 1789 and then, as an appointee of President 
Washington, a United States Judge till his death in 1791. 


Lewis Morris, a wealthy resident of New York who risked his fortune in the cause of 
liberty and whose large estates were burned by the British in 1776. 



Benjamin Rush, the most noted physician of his age, who, with Richard Henry Lee 
moved the adoption of a resolution for independence early in June, 1776. He was 
treasurer of the U. S. Mint in Philadelphia from 1799 till his death in 1813. It was 
after him that Rush Medical College in Chicago was named. 


Benjamin Franklin, Grand Master of Pennsylvania in 1784 and the most distinguished 
diplomat and scientist of that period. George Ross, a judge of the Pennsylvania 
Admiralty Court who died in 1779. 


Richard Henry Lee, who, although a Virginian, took strong grounds against Slavery in 
1761. In 1784 he was president of the Continental Congress and was the first U. S. 
Senator from Virginia. His younger brother, Francis Lightfoot Lee, was also a signer 
of the Declaration. 


Benjamin Harrison, four times a member of the Continental Congress, twice Governor 
of Virginia, and the father of William Henry Harrison ("Old Tippecanoe"), the ninth 
President. 


William Hooper, a native of Boston but a representative for several terms of North 
Carolina in the Continental Congress. These twenty-two Masonic signers of the 
Declaration were a sturdy group— men for the most part of great learning and 
influence. By occupation eleven of them were traders and farmers, eight of them were 
lawyers, two were doctors and one a minister of the gospel. Seven of them served 
their states as governors and gave a combined service of 48 years or an average of 
about seven years each. Seven of them were judges, mostly of the highest courts, and 
rendered a combined service of 64 years or an average of about 9 years each. Two of 
them were Grand Masters of Masonic Grand Lodges. 


Statisticians tell us that science and modem methods of living have greatly increased 
the average span of human life in these latter days. But the twenty two Masonic 



signers of the Declaration, living for the most part under primitive conditions, far 
outran the average age of their fellows both in those times and now. Only two of them 
died before the age of 50; twelve of them were over 70 years of age; five of them were 
over 80, and one reached the age of 90 years; while the average span of life for the 
whole twenty-two was 70 years. The earliest death among them was in 1779, the latest 
in 1814. This is a remarkable exhibit of the strength of mind and body of the leading 
founders of the government of our great Nation. 


They did their work well and were an honor not only to themselves, their families, 
their communities, their states and the Nation, but they honored the great brotherhood 
to which they belonged and were among the noblest representatives of true Masonry, 
which has always stood for the highest patriotism. Of them may well be said, 


"When mature growth had marked their manly brows, 
They sought our altar and they made their vows— 
Upon our tesselated floor they trod, 

Bended their knees and placed their trust in God. 
Through all their great and glorious lives they stood 
As true, warm brothers, foremost e'er in good; 

And when they died, amid profoundest gloom, 

Their mourning brethren bore them to the tomb." 


Upon their coffins were the aprons placed 
Of Masonry, which through their life they graced. 
The profound gratitude of men unborn 


Will follow them until the dawn of morn 



When Nations, true to Christian brotherhood 


Shall nevermore shed unprotected blood. 
When Peace, the angel guest of heaven divine, 
Brings greatest happiness to all mankind. 

LINCOLN 


Would I might rouse the Lincoln in you all, 
That which is gendered in the wilderness, 

From lonely prairies and God's tenderness. 
Imperial soul, star of a weedy stream, 

Bom where the ghosts of buffaloes still dream, 
Whose spirit hoof-beats storm above his grave, 
About that breast of earth and prairie-fire— 

Fire that freed the slave. 

— Vachel Lindsay. 


Let The Light Shine 



The essence of Free Masonry is light. Its function is to illumine. To be sure Masonry 
has its secrets and mysteries, but so has sunlight. The one may be understood by the 
adept as the other has been analyzed by the scientist. Opaque objects on the earth cast 
shadows and in the movements of the planets the sun becomes eclipsed. So in 
Masonry there are emblems of darkness and ceremonies wherein light is extinguished; 
but these are only for contrast. Light, ever increasing light, is the ideal. 


And yet there are dimmers in the Masonic World. A lodge is such if it fails to 
illumine, and so is a Mason who does not let his light shine before men. Such lodges 
and such brethren are like opaque objects in nature. Light either does not permeate 
them, or if it does, it stays there instead of shining through or being reflected by them. 
They not only shut ofl light from others, but really stand in their own light; for if a 
lodge would flourish, or if a brother would get for himself the best that Masonry can 
give him, that lodge and that brother must let the light shine, not within only, like an 
electric light with dimmers on, but through them and from them out into the world 
upon human institutions and upon humanity outside the Craft. 


The final test of Masonry is its altruism, what it accomplishes, not for itself and its 
votaries only, but for humanity; and he is the best Mason and does the most for his 
lodge and the advancement of the Order, who most carries out into the business, 
political and social world, the light with which he himself has been illuminated in the 
lodge room, and who most lets that light shine, through his beneficent words and 
deeds, for enlightenment and enlivening of his fellow men. 


—Calvin Graves Greene, 33d Hon. 


— o — 


THE THINGS I SHARE 



I thank Thee, Lord, for strength of arm 
To win my bread, 

And that, beyond my need, is meat 
For friend unfed: 

I thank Thee much for bread to live, 

I thank Thee more for bread to give. 

I thank Thee, Lord, for snug-thatched roof 
In cold and storm, 

And that beyond my need is room 
For friend forlorn: 

I thank Thee much for place to rest, 

But more for shelter for my guest. 

I thank Thee, Lord, for lavish love 
On me bestowed, 

Enough to share with loveless folk 
To ease their load: 

Thy love to me I ill could spare, 

Yet dearer is Thy love I share. 



—Robert Davis. 


— o — 


EDITORIAL 


HAIL! COLUMBIA 


SLOWLY our Republic is being drawn into the vortex of world- war, which it cannot 
much longer honorably avoid. Indeed, by the time these words are read it may already 
have made the plunge, taking up its great white sword in behalf of the humanity of the 
nation and the humanity of the world. Peace without victory, peace at any price, are 
becoming increasingly impossible in theory and in fact. They are not just who will not 
fight for justice; and there is one thing better than keeping the peace - that is having a 
peace that is worth keeping. 


No nation can turn hermit and live apart from the world, shut in by a narrow, selfish 
nationalism. The world is too small, too closely bound together, too delicately 
organized. In 1870 England held aloof and saw Prance crushed, but she prepared 
disaster for herself. This lesson is for us, because we have behind us three generations 
of national isolation, and that policy is now obsolete. It is not whether America shall 
enter the war - that hangs in the balance - but whether she shall enter the world, not for 
conquest but for co-operation, for service, for sacrifice, if need be, in behalf of a 
common civilization. 


Some things there are more precious than life, without which life is not worth living - 
Liberty, Justice, Mercy. If these precious things can be secured by wise delay, by moral 
power alone, let us give thanks; but if moral power is finally set at naught, let the 
aggressor meet an invincible defender of humanity! If that issue is drawn, no one need 
be told where American Masons will stand: they will insist that the flag should stand for 



the protection of our citizens, and that our citizens stand for the protection of the flag! A 
little high school girl wrote these words, and through them her gentle hand will touch 
the heart-strings of thousands of men: 

"This is my flag. For it I will give 
All that 1 have, even as they gave - 
They who dyed those blood-red bands - 
Their lives that it might wave. 

This is my flag. I am prepared 
To answer now its first clear call, 

And with Thy help, oh God, 

Strive that it may not fall. 

This is my flag. Dark days seem near. 

O Lord, let me not fail. 

Always my flag has led the right, 

O Lord, let it not fail." 

* * * 


THE NEW THINKING 


Every movement, every institution, has two wings, and must have if it is to fly very far. 
Time out of mind they have been called the Radical and the Conservative; the one 
looking to the future, and the other seeking to conserve the hard-won inheritance of the 



past. Both are needed, but they must be held in balance, each serving the other and 
working together, else the result will be disaster and wreck. Between those who will let 
nothing alone, and those who will allow no change at all, there is a middle path of 
cautious and reliable progress. If we do not conserve what we have gained, we cannot 
improve it. Nor can we really conserve it without improving it. But we must have not 
only the wish but the ability to improve, else we shall lose what we have while 
blunderingly trying to get what we want. 


Now these principles apply equally to Masonry, and ye editor confesses that he is a 
radical in heart but a conservative in thought, having the disposition to improve and the 
desire to conserve, seeking, as John Bright was wont to say, to "make the past glide 
easily into the future." For that reason, he would have Masons be doers as well as 
dreamers, conservatives but not mere preservatives, and radical without being 
revolutionary - in short, Builders and not mere Agitators. For the same reason he is 
ready and willing to listen to Brethren of the radical wing of the maternity, who are 
making themselves heard of late, assured that they ought to be heard because they have 
something to say, as witness the following words from a letter before us: 


"How can the Society undertake a progressive study of Masonic fundamentals with its 
back turned to the future ? The facts are, Brother, the Society has not dared to touch on 
a single vital issue before us. While it may be a subject highly interesting to a close 
student, you would hardly admit that a controversy over some technicality in the 
records of the Mystics of the Middle Ages is a matter of vital importance to us here in 
the flesh and blood now. I am a radical in thought, and although as were promised that a 
circle would be drawn that would include all, we find that the promise has not been 
fulfilled. If the motive back of the formation of the Society visas the hope of diverting a 
rapidly growing radical sentiment into conservative channels, I will admit that in part 
you have succeeded. But the tide will turn and you will soon have to take cognizance of 
the radical wing of the Society. Among the present-day subjects of vital interest to the 
Craft are the following: 


Universal military training, would it be used to defeat or to aid Masonic Brotherhood ? 
Famous Masons who are working for a league to enforce world-peace. Are Masons 
neglecting the public schools, if so what will be the ultimate result? President Wilson’s 
challenge to the liberals of the world on world peace, is it a challenge to Masonry or 
Democracy? What is Masonry doing today to uphold the right of free speech, free 



press, and free public assembly ? Where must Masonry stand tomorrow on present-day 
subjects, if its future is to be as honorable as its past? Is Masonry an institution with 
definite objects in view; if so, what are they? Is Masonry merely a set of rules for 
individual conduct? Can Masonry squarely turn from its age-old admiration of its past 
and resolutely face the problems of the future? Shall Masonry organize to combat the 
growing influence of Romanism in American politics? Can Masonry afford to allow its 
membership to form its opinions from a controlled press ? 


But I hear you saying that these are political, moral and economic questions, and have 
no part in the program of Masonry, nor are they proper subjects for discussion in our 
journal. If this is your thought, Brother, then I ask you where under high heaven can a 
poor soul go for reliable information? Far be it from me to detract from the glory of 
Masonry's past, but I am interested more in a glorious present and a bright and shining 
future. Before the coming of the Builder, recent Masonry was like the Chinese Empire, 
great in bulk, unwieldy, selfsatisfied and with no particular object in view worthy of its 
manhood or traditions." 


Here is the typical radical - God bless him - eager, utterly sincere, impatient, a pace- 
maker but not a peace-maker, who would transform the Masonic Lodge into a debating 
society, and so upset things that it would take a generation to set them right. We respect 
his motive - even if he suspects the motive which prompted the founding of this 
Society; we admire his idealism and enthusiasm; but we cannot agree with his method. 
And, after all, it is all a matter of method; since all of us want to do what is wisest and 
best, making the present worthy of the past and prophetic of the future. Of course our 
Brother exaggerates, after the manner of his clan, leaving the impression that our 
present studies are devoted to untangling the technicalities of the Mystics of the Middle 
Ages. But if he thinks that honorable past of Masonry, to which he wishes us to be true, 
was made by methods such as he recommends, he had better look into the old records a 
little. 


Far, very far from it. Had our fathers followed such leadership, there would be no 
Masonic Lodge today, or else it would be only an indistinguishable atom in a welter of 
partisan feud. Suppose the church should open its pulpit to issues such as our Brother 
outlines, it would become a place not of devotion but of debate, and injure its influence 
- as, indeed, it has done in so far as it has followed this program. No more can the 
Masonic Lodge commit itself to such a program, unless it wishes deliberately to invite 



destruction. What then shall we do? Ignore present-day issues, turn our back upon them 
and leave them to be fought out in the spirit of feud ? Not at all. Masonry, as an 
organized body, cannot deal with issues of this sort, but Masons can. And it is the 
mission of Masonry so to train men in the spirit of truth, righteousness, human 
sympathy and social obligation that they will face and solve such questions in a spirit of 
justice, wisdom and truth ! 


Once for all ye editor stated his position in respect to this whole matter in "The 
Builders," (pp. 244-250) and he sees no reason to alter it by one iota; but instead all the 
more reason to insist upon it, with due regard for his Brethren who disagree. He feels 
profoundly in the matter, not because he is indifferent to the living issues of this dark 
and troubled time - God forbid - but just because the tendency which our Brother 
voices, now becoming clamorous, means the overthrow of the Order. Speaking plainly, 
yet kindly, he is frank to say that if such a program were adopted by the Masonic Order 
he would leave it instantly, and he would be followed by the vast majority of its 
members. It would no longer be the Masonry he loves and seeks to serve, but 
something so utterly unlike the Masonry whose past is honorable, and so alien to its 
spirit, as to be its enemy. So may it never be, while grass grows and the sun shines ! 


Masons may form groups, if they like, and discuss the questions which our Brother 
suggests, and others of a sort similar; but the Fraternity cannot indulge in such debates 
without disaster. In saying this we are thinking far ahead to a time when the noises of 
today shall have followed the feet that made them into the Silence remembering, too, 
the wisdom of our fathers which has approved itself by results. Our Brother thinks we 
have drawn a circle too small to include him in its embrace. No, no, it is the other way 
round. Somehow, in thinking of this matter, we recall the words of Browning: 


"Oh if we draw a circle premature, 
Heedless of far gain, 

Greedy for quick returns of profits, sure 
Bad is the bargain ! " 



* * * 


SPIRITUAL MASONRY 


From Brother Oswald Wirth, of Paris, comes a very gracious letter, not only expressing 
appreciation of the work of the Society and its journal, but suggesting that it be made 
international. He is the editor of Le Symbolisme, and he gives a hint of the difficulties 
that beset him in publishing a Masonic journal under pressure of war conditions in 
France. Indeed, Le Symbolisme is suspended temporarily, owing to financial 
peiplexities, but we trust that dawn will come soon, and that its gentle labors may be 
resumed. The following exceipt, as setting forth a more spiritual ideal of Masonry, may 
be of interest and profit to our readers: 


"Since 1717, our Order has been especially ceremonial; the material, external side has 
been too predominant. It is not right to be contented henceforth to practice Freemasonry 
ritualistically; we must come to comprehend it, to possess all the intelligence of it. It is 
therefore no longer for men to wish to associate together, pay their dues, and bear the 
symbols by which we must address ourselves, but to have intellects capable of 
comprehending our philosophy. I am formulating no criticism in regard to Masonic 
bodies, and I do not wish to interfere, at least not directly, to reform them. That which 
interests me is the eternal wisdom to which the symbolism makes allusion. It is 
necessary to revive this wisdom, while searching everywhere for the remnants of its 
symbolic coipse. This is the task to which I have assigned myself; but when I have tried 
to communicate to others the fruits of my researches, I have found that Freemasons 
often show less receptivity than the profane. Having been consecrated and initiated, and 
placing there the value of Freemasonry, they believe too easily that they have nothing 
more to learn. This experience decides me to propagate a Masonry of the spirit 
independent of Masonic bodies.” 





If your morals make you dreary, depend upon it they are wrong. I do not say give them 
up, for they may be all you have; but conceal them, like a vice, lest they should spoil 
the lives of other mender. - R.L. Stevenson 


THE LIBRARY 


LIFE AFTER DEATH 


DEAR EDITOR: - In the list of books received by The Builder, I note the work of Sir 
Oliver Lodge, entitled "Raymond, or Life After Death," purporting to give the 
communications received from his son who was killed in Flanders. Remembering what 
you said about "Patience Worth," I have a keen curiosity to know what you think of this 
book. I venture to transcribe the following words written by William Dean Howells 
thirty- five years ago, in his story, "The Undiscovered Country," and quoted in the 
March Atlantic Monthly, fearing that you may have missed them. Speaking of 
spiritualism and its materializations, he says: 


"All other systems of belief, all other revelations of the unseen world, have supplied a 
rule of life, have been given for our use here. But this offers nothing but the barren fact 
that we live again. It is as thoroughly godless as atheism itself, and no man can accept it 
upon any other man's word, because it has not yet shown its truth in the ameliorated life 
of men. As long as it is used merely to establish the fact of a future life it will remain 
sterile. It will continue to be doubted, like a conjuror's trick, by all who have not seen it; 
and those who have seen it will afterwards come to discredit their own senses. The 
world has been mocked with something of the kind from the beginning; it is no new 
thing." 


I do not say that this expresses my view of the matter. In fact, I do not say that I have 
any view, preferring to keep an open mind, and being deeply convinced of a future life 
on other grounds. Perhaps such a matter has no place in our journal, but if it has - and I 



recall your saying that Masonry is concerned with all things human - some of us would 
be glad to know your thought. Fraternally. - T .J.L. 


My Brother, we live in dark and terrible times, and the Unseen World seems very near, 
its gates thronged by a host no man can number of the bravest and the best who are 
giving their lives for the things that make life dear. Death, so multitudinous and 
overwhelming, has brought immortality to light. For many, as for Sir Oliver Lodge, its 
silence is broken by the accents of familiar voices - as in a cablegram that lies before us, 
signed, "A Mother of Five" - and for all the assurance is doubly sure that "Life is ever 
lord of Death and Love can never lose its own." The book by Sir Oliver Lodge is noble 
and notable, not only for what it recites but for the dignity, restraint and austere care of 
the recital. As he says in the preface, only his sympathy with the appalling premature 
and unnatural bereavement due to the war would have induced him to remove the veil 
from his own private grief, and he writes in the hope that his words may help to heal 
hearts wounded by the deep stab of war and death. 


The book is divided into three parts: the first of which tells the brief life of a boy, his 
letters home from the front, his death on the field of honor - a pitiful page by his 
mother, and a memoir by his brother. The second recites the messages supposed to have 
been received from him after his death, telling, in his characteristic manner, of the after 
life, trying to make its conditions real to his friends; of his interest and solicitude for 
them, with many touches as beautiful as they are tender. The third part is a discussion 
by the father of the meaning of it all - a majestic piece of writing, in which the mind of 
the scientist masters the heart of the father, making him critical of evidence, careful of 
fact, and doubly cautious because his heart is involved. Altogether it is a book to make 
one pause and ponder, and does not at all come under the category described in the 
words of Howells thirty-five years ago; because it is the work of a great man of science, 
and because the whole question is looked at in a different light now than then. 


Personally, we are in much the same case as Brother Liggon, wishing to keep an open 
mind and a tender heart - not mistaking sentiment for substance, fancy for fact - and, 
like him, utterly convinced of eternal life on other grounds. Nevertheless, we confess 
that this book has been a great inspiration, in that it has helped to make the unseen 
world more real, more human, and has touched it with light and color and joy. Certainly 
it makes it something more than a "barren" fact, and that means very much to such as 
wait for those who return no more. Of Patience Worth we said that, while we were 



unable to say whether her stories and songs were revelations of the unseen, they were 
worthy of being such, alike for their beauty and grace. And we say the same of this 
book. If it deals at times, in matters seemingly trivial, we remember that they are the 
best kind of personal identification even in a court of law, and not less so in the Court 
of the Dead. 


Nor can we agree with Howells that such communications, as they are now reported 
and studied, are "sterile" of influence and furnish no "rule of life." What it means to 
have a real assurance - to be triumphantly convinced - of the deathless life may be seen 
in the life of Frederick Myers, who, by way of scientific psychic research, came to 
certainty about it. The result was not simply a transformation, but a transfiguration. He 
seemed to have a new character, a new personality - as William James has told us. A 
passionate, disdainful impatient unhandy man, became tender sympathetic endlessly 
patient and above all, radiantly hanny: and the fortitude of his last days, amidst 
atrocious sufferings touched the heroic. No, it does not delete life, but adds a new 
hemisphere to it. 


Such thoughts are surely timely in a world of griefs and graves, and the more so on the 
eve of Easter day, when millions of men, women and little children find their way to the 
House of Hope - in quiet country meeting-houses, in old ivy-covered chapels, in stately 
cathedrals - to renew the ancient expectation of their race. Happy are those to whom it 
is given to see that there is no future life, but that life is one here and hereafter - a vision 
of love, comradeship and character - and that death is a shadowy gate through which we 
pass out of phantoms into reality, out of darkness into light ! 


* * * 


THE EASTERN STAR 


A new and elaborate "History of the Order of the Eastern Star," by Mrs. Jean M'kee 
Kenaston, of the Grand Chapter of South Dakota, lies before us. Taking as her motto 
the saying of Lord Acton, that "history, to be above evasion or dispute, must stand on 



documents, not opinions," the author has done a very careful piece of work worthy of 
the great Order whose story she tells with interest and charm. She has endeavored to 
perform two duties: first, to interest her readers in the records and achievements of 
those honored women and men whose acts combined to make possible the greatest 
fraternal organization of women; and second, to produce some evidence of the value 
and useful character of the Institution - that its claims for Charity, Truth and Loving 
Kindness may be the more readily seen and appreciated. 


The work is well written, and informed by a noble spirit, including a sketch of the 
origin of the order, a biography of its founder, Dr. Morris - one of the best we have seen 
- the history of the General Grand Chapter, and brief accounts of the Grand Chapters of 
the States, as well as foreign Grand Chapters. To which are added the Mosaic Book, the 
Manual of the Eastern Star Degree, the Book of Instructions, and the Rosary of the 
Eastern Star - making the volume as nearly complete as it could well be. The work is a 
distinct achievement in Masonic research, a real addition to our literature, and we 
congratulate the author and the Order, the while we most heartily commend the volume 
to our Members. The book is neatly printed and well illustrated. 


* * * 


"YOU IN AMERICA" 


As an example of noble writing, as an example of the spirit in which the men of Europe 
lay aside their dreams for the bitter reality of war, we venture to reproduce the 
following preface to "The Last Book of Wonder," by Lord Dunsany, of England. The 
dreams of this book will grow more real as the memory of the Europe of today fades. 
Our hope is, that out of the "burning house" not only his dreams, but the man himself 
will be saved to give us more books of beauty, to cast upon us the spell of his charms. 


I do not know where I may be when this preface is read. As I write it in August, 1916, 1 
am at Ebrington Barracks, Londonderry, recovering from a slight wound. But it does 
not greatly matter where I am; my dreams are here before you amongst the following 



pages; and, writing in a day when life is cheap, dreams seem to me all the dearer, the 
only things that survive. 


Just now the civilization of Europe seems almost to have ceased, and nothing seems to 
grow in her tom fields but death; yet this is only for a while and dreams will come back 
again and bloom as of old, all the more radiantly for this terrible ploughing, as the 
flowers will bloom again where the trenches are and the primroses shelter in shell-holes 
for many seasons, when weeping Liberty has come home to Flanders. 


To some of you in America this may seem an unnecessary and wasteful quarrel, as 
other people's quarrels often are; but it comes to this, that though we are all killed there 
will be songs again, but if we were to submit and so survive there could be neither 
songs nor dreams, nor any joyous free things any more. 


And do not regret the lives that are wasted amongst us, or the work that the dead would 
have done, for war is no accident that man's care could have averted, but is as natural, 
though not as regular, as the tides; as well regret the things that the tide has washed 
away, which destroys and cleanses and crumbles, and spares the minutest shells. 


And now I will write nothing further about our war, but offer you these books of 
dreams from Europe as one throws things of value, if only to oneself, at the last 
moment out of a burning house. 


* * * 


ALBERT PIKE'S LETTERS 


By the kindness of Brother J. H. Tatsch, of Spokane, we have a copy of a letter written 
of Albert Pike, which he found some time ago in Goddspeed's Bookshop, Boston. It 



breathes a spirit which endeared Pike to those who knew him, showing the personal 
side in a way not always brought out in our usual conception of the man. Brother Tatsch 
suggests that we make request for copies of other letters by Pike, believing that such a 
request might bring to light, from unknown places, much of value to the Craft. We 
made such a request in one of the earliest issues of The Builder, but gladly renew it, 
hoping that the prophecy may come tme. The Society is anxious to collect all possible 
material about Albert Pike, and we are sure that our Members will assist in every way. 
The letter referred to was addressed to Brother R.S. Spafford, in 1878, and is as 
follows: 


My dear Friend: - 1 thank you with all my heart. Simple words are the best. I am greatly 
touched by your kind words; and the poems come to me as a voice from the old State 
which I left near forty-seven years ago, not unkindly remembering me, now. I live here 
and rarely go out. Gout has lessened by locomotive powers and my inclination to move. 
If you can get about "fluently" come and see me. Please present my very kind regards to 
Mrs. Spafford, and for her and yourself accept all manner of good wishes, and 
especially that this New Year may prove a happy one for you both, until her latest 
breath. 


Faithfully your friend and brother, 


Albert Pike. 


* * * 


BOOKS RECEIVED 


History of the Eastern Star, by Mrs. J. M. Kenaston. Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 
$2.50. 



Ancient Times, a History of the Early World, by J. H. Breasted. Ginn and Co., New 
York. $1.50. 


Lincoln's Cooper Institute Speech, by H. B. Rankin. 


Valley Forge Revolutionary Encampment Commission, by J. H. Fort. 


Installation Address, by B. H. Saxton, Fort Dodge, Iowa. 


War the Cross of Nations, by L. Swetenham. Robert Scott, London. 


The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, by J. M. Whistler. New Edition. London. $4.00. 


THE QUESTION BOX 


THE TK. 


Dear Brother: - As a member of the Craft, I am enclosing a brief letter herewith sent me 
by the Indo-American Book Co., which explains itself: "The Harmonic Series, 
complete in three books, are now out of print, and cannot be furnished. They were 
discontinued because some of the claims set forth therein have been found to be 
untrue." Can you please inform me as to which of the claims as set forth in those books 
have been found to be untrue? Judging by the trend of this letter, it seems plain that 



thousands of Masonic Brethren have been imposed upon. I shall be under obligations 
for any information. - O.B.S., Georgia. 


Thereby hangs a long tale, which we were familiar with at the time we were writing 
replies to the dear Brethren who thought us stupid and unspiritual because we did not 
accept the claims and theories advanced by the TK. (The Builder, Vol. I, pp. 118, 143, 
163, 181, 203-206). Fortunately, we could not tell it then, and it would serve no good 
purpose to recite it now. Let us be kind; it is a case calling less for censure than for the 
sweetest charity which our Order has taught us to cultivate. 


* * * 


THE CONTRACT 


Some time ago you referred, in an address, to a statement by Edmund Burke which you 
said had long been the basis of all your political thinking, and that you first heard it 
used by the late Senator Hoar in a Lincoln-day address in Boston seventeen years ago. I 
see that you refer to it again in one of the sermons preached in the City Temple last 
summer, in the volume entitled "An Ambassador," but you do not give it in full - at 
least I infer that it is only reference. Will you please give it in full and tell me where I 
may find it in the works of Burke? - A.W.P., Michigan. 


It is indeed a remarkable utterance, and may be found in "Reflections on the French 
Revolution," by Edmund Burke - Bohn Library Edition of Works of Burke, pp. 368-9 - 
and is as follows: "Society is indeed a contract. It is to be looked upon with reverence, 
because it is not a partnership in things subservient only to the gross animal existence of 
a temporary and perishable nature. It is a partnership in all science; a partnership in all 
art; a partnership in every virtue, and in all perfection. As the ends of such a partnership 
cannot be obtained in many generations, it becomes a partnership not only between 
those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those 
who are to be bom. Each contract of each particular state is but a clause in the great 
primaeval contract of eternal society, linking the lower with the higher natures, 



connecting the visible and invisible world, according to a fixed compact sanctioned by 
the inviolable oath which holds all physical and all moral natures, each in their 
appointed place." 


* * * 


PRAYER-CHAINS 


Perhaps half a hundred Brethren have sent us the following prayer, saying that it had 
been sent to them with the request that they send it on to nine Brother Masons, forming 
an endless chain of prayer: "O Lord, I implore Thee to bless all mankind. Bring us to 
Thee, keep us to dwell with Thee." So far, good; it is a brief, wise, and universal prayer, 
like a line caught from a vast litany of humanity. But the usual form of the letter adds 
that this prayer was sent by all Masons in the olden time and that all who wrote it would 
be free from calamity, and that those who did not pass it on would be in danger of 
misfortune. What a pity to spoil the beauty of it all, breaking the links which Tennyson 
said bind us as with "chains of gold about the feet of God," with such a bribe and such a 
threat. It becomes a matter of luck, like wearing a rabbit- foot, or some other token 
handed down from old time magic - whereas prayer, if it has any meaning, much less 
worth, is a wish sent Godward, a law of life. Over gainst this superstitious notion of 
prayer set the noble words of George Meredith, in "Beauchamp's Career," and write 
them in your heart: 


"He who has the fountain of prayer in him will not complain of hazards. Prayer is the 
recognition of laws; the soul's exercise and source of strength; its thread of conjunction 
with them. Prayer for an object is the cajolery of an idol; the resource of superstition. 
There you misread it. We that light the living world must have the universal f or succor 
of the truth in it. Cast forth the soul in prayer, you meet the effluence of the outer truth, 
you join with the creative elements giving breath to you. Who rises from prayer a better 
man, his prayer is answered." 


* * * 



MANUAL OF MASONRY 


Brother Editor: - 1 am anxious to find a manual of Masonry that will cover each degree 
and each rite briefly, with such information in general as an ill-read Mason would like 
to find in a small space, and would be obliged if you will cite me to such a book, if 
there is any. - R.P.H., Ohio. 


Ye editor has long wished to write such a book as you here ask for, but he fears that it 
will be among his lost and broken dreams. As it is, the best book of the sort, (so far, is 
"The Problem of Masonry," by J. G. Gibson, whose articles our readers have enjoyed, ft 
is brief, comprehensive, accurate, and written in a style simple, lucid and singularly 
happy in its light and easy grace; the late Brother R. F. Gould furnished an introduction, 
in which he commended the book most highly. It contains a sketch of the history of the 
order, a chapter on each of the first three degrees, on each of the several rites, with 
much else which every Mason wishes to know. It is an English book, and will be 
difficult to obtain for a while, unless copies can be found in this country. 


* * * 


WAR LITERATURE 


Brother Editor: - Perhaps you do not know it, but many ladies also read The Builder, 
and I, for one, very much enjoy it. We read it aloud in our family circle. Some of us 
would like to know what you think are the best books which the war has produced, if 
that is not too big a question. - Mrs. I.B.N. 


So far there have been over three thousand books published about the war and that is 
only the beginning. For generations new books will be appearing, and even then the 



whole story will not be told - nor the half of it. Histories, biographies, memoirs, 
arguments, state documents, poems, stories - there will be a stream of them swelling 
into a flood. We can name only a few. The "Ordeal of Battle," by Oliver, is a very 
strong book, having one of the finest prefaces ever written; while "The War and 
Humanity" by Beck, shows what an American thinks of the vast tragedy - a brilliant 
book it is, too. "Mr. Britling Sees it Through," by Wells, is one of the best war stories 
behind the lines, showing the shock, the awakening, - both spiritual and political - in 
England; also the enthusiasm of the author over his own discovery of religion. 
"Mademoiselle Miss," made up of letters from an American girl serving with the rank 
of Lieutenant in a French Army Hospital at the front, is a book to stir the heart to the 
depth; and So is "My Home on the Field of Honor," by Huard. One of the most brilliant 
series of sketches is "Men, Women and Guns," by "Sapper," matched by "A Student in 
Arms," by Hankey - this last notable for its glimpses of the religious aspects of the war. 
In poetry there are the songs of Rupert Brooke, Emile Verhaven of Belgium, Oxenham, 
and not least of all our own Alan Seeger, who fell in Flanders on July 4th, 1916 - nor 
must we forget Cunliffe's collection of "Poems of the Great War." But, my dear friend, 
much of the deepest and most heart-gripping literature of war will never find its way 
into books, as for example the following letter of a French soldier to his wife, found on 
his body after battle, which you cannot read aloud in your home without choking: 


"My Darling: 


"I am writing this letter to you in any event - for one never knows. If it reaches you it 
will be that France will have needed me unto the end. You must not weep, for I swear 
to you that I shall die happy if I need to give my life to my country. 


"My only care is the difficult situation in which you will find yourself - you and the 
children. How can you provide for yourself and the babies ? Happily you can count 
upon your former profession of teaching and the lull assistance of all my people. How I 
should like to feel sure that some arrangement will be found. 


DISCUSSES HIS CHILDREN 



"As to the education of the little ones, I am not worried. You will know how to direct it 
as well as 1. 1 hope that they can create for themselves an independent position as I had 
hoped to assure for them had I lived. Kiss the dear little ones for their father; tell them 
that he has gone on a long, very long, journey without ceasing to love them; to think of 
them and to protect them from afar. I should like to have Cotte at least remember me. 


"There will be the baby whom I shall not have known. If it is a boy, my wish is that he 
should be a doctor, unless after the war France still has need of officers. You will tell 
him when he is old enough to understand, that his papa gave his life for a great ideal - 
that of our country reconstructed and strong. 


"DON’T BLAME FRANCE" 


"I think I have written the most necessary. Good-by, my darling, my love. Promise me 
not to bear a grudge against France if she has asked my life. Promise me to console 
papa and mamma and to tell the little girts that their father, however far he may be, will 
never cease to watch over them and to love them. 


"We shall find ourselves one day reunited, I hope, near Him who guides our lives and 
who has given me, near you and through you, such happiness. 


"Poor darling, I have not even time to think long of our love, so great, however, and so 
strong. Good-by, the long goodby, true one. Be strong. Your JEAN." 


* * * 


THE INQUISITION 



Brother Newton: - You have several times recommended Hastings' Encyclopcedia of 
Religion and Ethics, and I should like to know what you think of the article on the 
Inquisition. To me it seems a lame and miserable apology for an institution infernal in 
the extreme. Two sentences made me mad in six spots at once: "The tribunal of the 
Inquisition conformed to a very high ideal of justice." And this: "Taking everything into 
consideration we may hold that the institution and workings of the tribunals of the 
Inquisition were the means of real social progress." Surely that is the limit. - G.W.L., 
Nebraska. 


We do not remember to have recommended the Encyclopaedia as a whole, but only 
certain articles in it, notably the one on Freemasonry and the one on Circumambulation; 
but we do say that it is a great work, notwithstanding the article complained of. It was 
the policy of the editor, Dr. Hastings, to entrust articles to men of the communions most 
concerned, and so he selected Dr. Vacandard to write on the Inquisition. The article is 
indeed an unconvincing defense, but it is interesting as showing - what is repeated in 
regard to the atrocities of the present war - how far a man will go in defense of a thing 
which it suits his interest or purpose to explain away. He goes to great length, even 
making such use of Lea's classical "History of the Inquisition" as to misrepresent him 
utterly - actually garbling his words and twisting them every kind of way. It is absurd to 
say that the evils and iniquities of the Inquisition were incidental. They were inherent in 
the very genius of the institution, and foreknown - as, for example, in the Bull of 1256 
which authorized Inquisitors to absolve each other, making a closed coiporation of 
grime. The final verdict of Lea (1 1 1, p. 650) is overwhelming, when he says that the 
Inquisition "introduced a system of jurisprudence which infected the criminal law of the 
lands subjected to its influence, and rendered the administration of penal justice a cruel 
mockery for centuries. It furnished the Holy See with a powerful weapon in aid of 
political aggrandisement, it tempted secular sovereigns to imitate the example, and it 
prostituted the name of religion to the vilest temporal ends. It stimulated a morbid 
sensitiveness to doctrinal aberrations until the most trifling dissidence was capable of 
arousing insane fury and of convulsing Europe from end to end. On the other hand, 
when atheism became fashionable in high places its thunders were mute." That does not 
read like a description of a benign institution, or one that made for social progress. We 
could go into detail? but we are soon to publish an article in three parts describing, in 
cool fact, first, the organization of that infernal machine; second, its procedure; and 
third, its attempt to destroy Masonry. 


* * * 



THE RESURRECTION 


Brother Editor: - 1 do not want to seem to "butt in" and raise a row, but do you 
understand that Masonry teaches the resurrection of the body ? I have often thought of 
this, but never had the nerve to ask anyone. So there now, throw this in the waste 
basket, if you want to. - F .J.D., Minnesota. 


No; Masonry teaches the immortality of the soul, but it does not specifically affirm or 
deny the resurrection of the body - leaving that issue for each man to interpret for 
himself, and so avoid the "row" which our Brother fears. So far as Masonry is 
concerned, a man may believe in the resurrection of the body or not, according to his 
faith. Beyond the fundamental truths of faith it does not go - never adventuring into 
speculative theology which is a breeding place of animosities of many kinds. Personally 
- and our opinion is worth no more than that of another - we do not believe in the 
resurrection of the body, as it is, or used to be, held. Nor do we think the Great Light in 
Masonry teaches it. Certainly St. Paul distinguished very sharply between the "natural 
body and the spiritual body," and when he spoke of the resurrection of the body he did 
not mean our body of "flesh and blood," but our personality, the form and spirit of our 
life. Some of our Brethren may not agree with this, and they are at liberty to disagree 
and we promise not to start a "rough house." 


— o- 


CORRESPONDENCE 


HEBREW AND EGYPTIAN 



If there is any one thing I am thankful for it is to have the brethren give us the titles of 
the books which have helped them on the way to Life and Light. In the last issue of The 
Builder, Brother Henderson mentions two books I do not have as yet, while in regard to 
the third I wish you would lose no time in giving us the bill of particulars, plans or 
specifications to demonstrate that General Pike's volume "Morals and Dogma" needs 
revision. 


As The Builder is a "research" publication may I ask the various brethren to cite 
authorities for some of their more important statements? For instance: Some time ago I 
read an article, I think it was by Brother Norwood, in which he stated that the whole of 
Masonry was comprehended in the stars or the science of astronomy. That bothered me 
for quite a long time for I hardly knew where to look for the information without 
writing him. Shortly afterward, however, I learned of James Morgan Pryse's New 
Testament Restored. This book gave me a great deal of light on the subject. 


In the February issue Brother Norwood has another very interesting article in which he 
refers to the declarations of early Christian Fathers relative to the pre-existence of 
Christianity before the advent of the Master. Pryse also refers to the incautious 
admissions made by early Christian writers regarding this matter but like Brother 
Norwood does not cite any volume to which we can refer. Fortunately, however, I can 
appreciate Brother Norwood's statement for the simple reason that within the week I 
found on the shelves of an old bookshop, an old, badly dilapidated copy of the Rev. 
Robert Taylor's volume entitled Taylor's Diegesis. 


In the same article Brother Norwood states "Egypt has left the records of a Masonry 
where may be found all our signs and most of our words." Here, too, Brother Norwood 
should cite his authority. If I had not found Gerald Massey's two volumes, "A Book of 
the Beginnings," I'd simply have to take his "ipse dixit" and let it go until I ran upon the 
information in some way or other. That, however, is a haphazard way of development 
of the craft and I hope we can secure the information which will enable us to grow 
systematically. 


Thinking it might be of interest to some of the brethren I will quote some of the 
information Massey gives us: 



"So Mote It Be" - vol. I, page 178: "The Freemasons make use of a formula "So MOTE 
It Be," in stead of So Be It, or Amen. This MOTE is purely Egyptian, a rare form of 
May it be. "MET" is to fix, establish. "MET" is an ejaculation. "MET" means to 
pronounce conservative formulae. (Pierret "Met") "So Mote It Be," is the conservative 
formula of the Masons, as it was in Egypt of the Priests." 


The same author also gives us a number of Egyptian words with their Hebrew 
equivalents. 


I quote: 


HEBREW 

mmuth, a coipse, the dead, state of 

dying, dead. 

msa, a dart. 

sair, goat. 

mah, the womb. 

chvt, measuring line. 

chbq, girdle. 

ab, first ancestor, father. 

bnh, to build, metaphorically to beget. 

chbrth, the coupling point or place of 

junction; chprth, the mercy seat and 

place of the two cherubs; in Egyptian 

arks the two scarabs, afterwards 

featherwinged. 

mth, a rod, staff, rod that blossomed, 
branch twig, sceptre, expansion, 
extension 
hah, cry of joy. 

shrth, supposed black marble marble 
pavement tessallated in colors. 
Succoth-benoth" 2 Kings xvii: 30, 
supposed image of the Pleiades. 


EGYPTIAN 
mum, the dead 

mash, an archer, 
ser. goat kind of sheep, 
ma, the mother, 
kept, measured out. 
sevekh, noose, tie, girdle, 
ap, first ancestor, 
benn, engender. 

Khepr-at, house of the two beetles; the crab 
constellation, as a place of summer solstice, the point of 
junction; sign of the god Khepr. 


mata, phallus. 


haa, jubilation. 

srut, sculpture, carve, engrave tessellated. 
Sekht, ark. 



qdm, eastward, Eden, image of the 
eternal and of the beginning, 
qvn, a horn, symbol of male power. 
shba(g), seven - the oath covenant, or 
binding, is synonymous with number 
7 in the Egyptian sefekh as it is in the 
Hebrew read shevag. 
shphchh, typical maid or handmaiden, 
one of a family, as if a noun of unity, 
the concubine or whore. 

kd, a symbolical pitcher Ecc. XII :6. 


bennu-t, the Phoenix constellation, emblematic of the 
resurrection. 

khetam, shut, a circle, closed seal ring with ankh, image 
of life. 

Ka, learn and karunata male symbols. 

Sefekh, seven. 


sefekh, a goddess, consort of Taht. Her name is number 
7. Sefekh is a survival of Khefekh or Khepsh, of the 
Seven Star,s, who was once the "Living Word," 
degraded as the Great Harlot, 
kat. the womb. 


The last words "kd" and "kat" are interesting for the reason that the figures of speech in 
the third degree scripture reading have long been a puzzle to me. This is a clue worth 
following. 


Here is another - relative to the "grasshopper" in the same reading which will be of 
interest to the Mason who is not satisfied with the superficial explanation so often given 
of Ecc. XII. 


This item is found in Note 84, page 169 of the volume "Talks With Socrates About 
Life," published by Scribners, 1891. 1 quote: 


"To be closely cropped was regarded in Athens as a badge of slavery, while flowing 
hair on the other hand was worn only by fops. It was customary for boys to wear their 
hair long until they were admitted to the rights of gitizenship, when it was cut off and 
dedicated to some deity, generally a river god, although a visit was sometimes made to 
Delphi for the express object of consecrating this as an offering to Apollo. Upon 
reaching manhood, they allowed their hair to grow again. Thucydides (1,6) speaks of 
the golden clasps, in the shape of grasshoppers, wherewith the Athenians, in the old 



times before the Persian Wars, were accustomed to fasten their hair in a knot at the top 
or back of the head." 


I think we'll make much greater progress if we can refer to and verify the statements 
made by other research students instead of having to devote so much of our time to gain 
the heights they have already scaled. What do you thi nk ? 


Yours very , sincerely and fraternally, 
John G. Keplinger, Illinois. 


* * * 


DAVID VINTON 


In the January number of "The Builder" just received I notice the inquiry of Bro. John 
Whicher of California, in regard to more light on the life of David Vinton, who is 
reputed to be the author of our hymn, "Solemn Strikes the Funeral Chime." I do not 
have access to the previous article referred to in the March, 1915, number, and so do 
not know how much you may know of him. But my mother was a "Vinton" and I have 
the Vinton Memorial Volume from which I can give you the following information 
which may be of interest to you, to him and to other Masons: 


The said David Vinton was the son of another David Vinton who was a descendent of 
one JOHN VINTON, from whom all the Vintons in America trace their descent. The 
DAVID VINTON, of Masonic note, was bom in Medford, Mass., Jan. 6,1774, and 
married in Providence, R. I., one Mary Atwell who seems to have belonged to a 
prominent Providence family. Our DAVID, after serving an apprenticeship in Boston at 
the goldsmith business with David Tyler, went to Providence and established himself in 
business. He spent his life in Providence, engaged in traffic; not rich but moderately 



successful. He was quite prominent in the Masonic Fraternity, and compiled and 
published a volume entitled, "The Masonic Minstrel," (do you know anything about 
that book?), and according to the book, on a visit to Kentucky on Masonic business, 
died about 1830 when 56 years of age. His wife was a woman of uncommon powers of 
mind, and to her energy and force of character we owe the education and training of the 
children. As early as 1818 Mrs. Vinton wrote a letter to John C. Calhoun, then 
Secretary of War, and secured the admission of her son David to the Military Academy. 
Later, two other sons attended the same school. (The rules then were different, and this 
is the only instance of three brothers attending the same school as Cadets.) After the 
death of her husband Mrs. Vinton purchased an Estate called "La Plaisance," in 
Pomfret, Conn., where she died in 1854. Two of the children became prominent 
clergymen of the Episcopal Churgh. The Rev. Alexander Hamilton Vinton, D. D., was 
for many years. He was a graduate of Brown University and other schools, and after 
practicing medicine for a few years, studied for the ministry and was Rector of St. 

Paul's church, Boston, Mass. Another son was Rev. Francis Vinton who also graduated 
at Brown; was also for awhile at West Point, and for a while served in the Creek War. 
Afterwards he, too, studied for the ministry and became Rector of several large 
Episcopal Churches in Providence, and later of Grace Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. In 1 849 
he was chosen Bishop of the Diocese of Indiana, but declined the honor. In 1 854 he 
lacked only a few votes of election to the Bishopric of New York, at the election that 
elected the since famous Bishop Potter to the place. Dr. Vinton was chosen later 
assistant-minister of Trinity Church, New York, having charge of St. Paul's Chapel in 
that parish. Yet two other sons of DAVID were prominent in Military circles: John 
Rogers Vinton, who fell at Monterey, and was very prominently commended by Gerl. 
Scott for his bravery. He was Brevet Major at his death. Another brother was David 
Hammond Vinton who was also in the Mexican War as Major of Staff and 
Quartermaster. One of the daughters was married to Lieut. George Green of the U. S. 
Army. Truly a remarkable family. 


Fraternally yours, 


Rev. C. L. Nye, Independence, Iowa. 


* * * 



LINCOLN, THE FRATERNALIST 


"Many of the best educated men of this and earlier ages never had any extended 
experience with the schools. A great number of the most religious men, in the history of 
the progress of Man, have been obliged, for conscience sake, to remain outside the 
Churches. And we are beginning to leam that one may be a Fratemalist without being a 
member of a lodge. 


In the last analysis it will be found that the Thought, the Life and the Works of the 
individual count more than the professions. Perhaps no Man of modem times illustrates 
the principle we present more fully than does Abraham Lincoln. He was educated 
without the help or the hindrance of the schools. He was intensely religious without 
being hampered by the limitations of a creed. He was a Fratemalist, "in his heart" 
without having been brought to the Light through the process of Initiation in the lodge. 


Lincoln achieved self-control, self-reliance and self-sacrifice - the three great 
achievements of Man - without any of the "helps" which most of us need, or think we 
need, for the accomplishment of The Great Work of fitting ourselves for the building of 
the Temple - that house not made with hands - a perfect Moral Character. 


Few, if any, of the Great Masters of Life have been able to evolve within the hampering 
limits of the institutions of their times. In almost every case they have either developed 
without the help of institutions or have been ejected from the institutions within which 
they have begun their stmggles for individual perfection. They have usually discovered 
that the "aids" of institutions were merely crutches to emphasize the infirmities of those 
who used them. Strong individuals soon leam that they must “tread the wine press 
alone." 


Before the election of Lincoln to the office of President of the United States, he found 
himself opposed by all of the institutionalists of his day. Almost all of the products of 
the institutions of "learning" despised him openly. The ministers of the church were 
against him almost to a man. In reference to this last he says: "Here are twenty- three 



ministers of different denominations (in Springfield, 111.), and all of them are against me 
but three. Mr. Bateman, I am not a Christian: God knows, I would be one; but I have 
garefiilly read the Bible, and I do not so understand this book. These men know that I 
am for Freedom in the territories, Freedom everywhere as far as the Constitution and; 
laws will permit; and that my opponents are for slavery. They know this; and yet with 
this book in their hands in the light of which human bondage cannot live a moment, 
they are going to vote against me. I do not understand this." 


Later in his experience Lincoln understood. He learned, what all must leam, that 
Principle is one thing and the institution built up around the principle is another. 


So must all of us leam that there is no saving power in lodges, as institutions, but that 
we shall grow and expand only as we understand the Principle and apply to our Life 
and Conduct that which is taught by the society, the association, the fraterluty, of our 
own Free-will and accord." 


"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; 
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." 


Lincoln was bom on February 12, 1809, just ninety-two years after the Masonic 
Fraternity began to teach character building and just ten years before the Odd Fellows 
in America began to establish night schools for the teaching of character formation 
instead of character reformation. Fifty- five years after Lincoln was bom, the Pythians 
began to establish their schools in the United States for the puipose of helping to restore 
reason by the process of fraternal education to a nation that had been captured by 
policy-controlled men, legal-minded men and money-mad men. 


Since Febmary 19, 1864, the fraternal orders have increased in the United States from 
three to over six hundred and some of these fraternal orders have over a million 
members. Perhaps over 12,000,000 men in the United States now belong to these 
various fraternal orders which teach men to shun war, hell and politics. 



Oriental Consistory Official Bulletin of Chicago of February 12, 1917, had the above 
contribution on Fraternity and Lincoln. The word "Fraternalist" is substituted herein for 
the word "Mason" so that it will apply to all fraternities that are teaching Brotherhood. 


Joe Beatty Burtt. 


* * * 


MASONRY AND ITS IDEALS 


Dear Brother: - "Masonry and Its Ideals" - that is the subject, too vast and too profound 
to be more than indicated in an article of this kind. The ideals of Masonry are co- 
extensive with the aspirations of men. Whatever is good, whatever is true, whatever is 
noble, whatever is manly, this appeals to one who has caught the vision of the spirit of 
Masonry. 


Is it not worth while to pause and consider, and, if possible, to discover what is the one 
thing, or the several things, the underlying principle, it may be, that has enabled 
Masonry to survive these thousands of years, not only to survive, but ever to be in the 
van of the army of progress, civilization and enlightenment; that has caused men, real 
men, virile men whose names will be remembered and honored as long as history is 
read or tradition heard to be votaries at her shrine; and that has suffered her to endure 
more vicious and virulent abuse, calumny and anethemas from ignorance, superstition 
and blind hatred than any other institution, save one, of which the world's annals tell 
and yet gloriously triumph ? 


The fact that it is esoteric has no doubt been conducive to its longevity, though that 
would not suffice, and certainly could not explain its remarkable influence and power, 



because other fraternal orders innumerable have had their secret signs, emblems and 
words and miserably perished. Some have adopted this outward manifestation of 
Masonry, and others that, which did not avail to resist the dreadful onslaught of time. 
The soul of Masonry they did not find; its ideals they did not grasp. Whatever stands 
the attrition and test of time is grounded on the immutable principles of right and truth, 


The history of Masonry is a history of the search for light and truth. Every step of the 
candidate from the time he first seeks admission until he beholds the last solemn scene 
is strewn with fragrant flowers of truth. It has been sought at times with patient zeal, 
and again with the feverish and fanatical enthusiasm with which the ancient alchemists 
pursued the philosopher's stone, the universal solvent and the elixir of life. And to what 
end? To teach men to know God and to love the good, the pure and the tme. Masonry is 
non- sectarian, but no atheist can become a Mason; it points to the Supreme Being, and 
teaches the immortality of the soul, and he who profits by the precepts and spirit of 
Masonry must be a reverent man. 


Masonry is, too, a system of morality, the truths of which are veiled in allegory and 
illustrated by symbols. Her puipose is to develop character, which, like an unseen 
garment woven about our souls with invisible fingers from materials of imperishable 
beauty, sparkling with the light of every virtue, guards us from all dangers and permits 
us to stand unabashed and unawed in the presence of the forms clothed with the spotless 
robes of holiness, and to light and show the way of the struggling brother. "Morality is 
her foundation, Truth and Virtue are her pillars, and Brotherly Love is the High Priest 
that ministers at her altars." Her basic principle is the Fatherhood of God and the 
Brotherhood of man. 


Elbert Johnson, Miss. 


* * * 


DETROIT LODGE 



My dear Brother: - We have in our Lodge Library a pamphlet, the title page of which 
reads as follows: "Oration delivered at the City of Detroit, to Zion Lodge No. 1 at their 
request on the anniversary of St. John The Evangelist, December 27th A. L. 5810 by 
brother Harris Hampden Hickman, published at the request of the Lodge, Pittsburgh, 
1811." On the last page of the pamphlet is the following: "The first charter of Zion 
Lodge was obtained in the year 1764 from an authority in the (then) Colony of New 
York, and was renewed in the year 1806 by the Grand Lodge of the State of New 
York." 


Officers of Zion Lodge for the year 1811: 

W. Sylvester Day, Master. 

Bro. Jonathan Eastman, S.W. 

Bro. Augustus B. Woodward, J.W. 

Bro. Philip Lecuyer, Treasurer. 

Bro. James Abbott, Secretary. 

Bro. Harris H. Hickman, S.D. 

Bro. John Anderson, J.D. 

Bro. Andrew W. Vanalstine, Steward. 

Bro. George Johnston, Steward. 

Bro. John Palmer, Tyler 

This book came into the possession of our Lodge in 1816. In two recent numbers of 
The Builder there have been statements made that the first lodge of Detroit was 
founded about 1799. 



It seems to me that Zion Lodge should get into communication with the Grand Lodge 
of New York. 


Yours fraternally 

Wm. M. Simons, Secretary, 

Hiram Lodge No. 18, Delaware, O. 

THE APRON LECTURE 


Written for and suggested by Dr. Walter C. Miller, J. W., of Webb's Lodge No. 166, 
Augusta, Ga. 

The coming years may bring to you success, 

The victory laurel wreath may deck your brow, 

And you may feel Love's hallowed caress, 

And have withal domestic tenderness, 

And fortune's god may smile on you as now, 

And jewels fit for Eastern potentate 

Hang over your ambitious heart, and Fate 

May call thee "Prince of Men," or "King of Hearts," 

While Cupid strives to pierce you with his darts. 



Nay, even more than these, with coming light 
Your feet may press Fame's loftiest dazzling height, 
And looking down upon the world below 
You may exclaim, "I can not greater grow !" 

But, nevermore, O worthy brother mine, 

Can innocence and purity combine 
With all that's sweet and tender here below 
As in this emblem which I now bestow. 

'Tis yours to wear throughout a life of Love, 

And when your spirit wings to realms above 
'Twill with your cold clay rest beneath the sod, 
While breeze-kissed flowers whisper of your God. 
O, may its stainless, spotless surface be 
An emblem of that perfect purity 
Distinguished far above all else on earth 
And sacred as the virtue of the hearth, 

And when at last your naked soul shall stand 
Before the throne in yon great temple grand, 

O, may it be your portion there to hear 
"Well done," and find a host of brothers near 
To join the angel choir in glad refrain 
Till Northeast comer echoes come again. 



Then while the hosts in silent grandeur stand 
The Supreme Builder smiling in command 
Shall say to you to whom this emblem's given, 
"Welcome art thou to all the joys of heaven.” 

And then shall dawn within your 'lightened soul 
The puipose divine that held control - 
The full fruition of the Builder's plan - 
The Fatherhood of God - The Brotherhood of man. 

- J. W. Crawford, "Capt. Jack."