The Builder Magazine 

August 1926 - Volume XII - Number 8 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 

The Druse of Barak - By BRO. JOHN W. SHUMAN, California 

Anti-Diluvian Masonry - An Essay in the Obfuscological Method of Masonic 
Research - BRO. JUSTUS B. WRIGHT, North Borneo 

The Rise and Development of Anti-Masonry in America, 1737-1826 - By BRO. J. 
HUGO TATSCH, Associate Editor, 

Fascism and Masonry 

The Rite of Resurrection - By Bro. R. J. NEWTON, New Mexico 


EDITORIAL 

WILLIAM WONNACOTT 
A MASONIC CRISIS 
CRITICISM 

THE NORTHEAST CORNER - Bulletin of the National Masonic Tuberculosis 
Sanatoria Association 

The Form of the Lodge - By BROS. A. L. KRESS AND R. J. MEEKREN 


AN ANCIENT CUSTOM 



THE LIBRARY 


RECENT TRANSACTIONS. Ars Quatuor Coronatoram, Vol. xxxvii, Part 1. 

Transactions of the Merseyside Association for Masonic Research; Vol. Ill, 
1924-25. 

Transactions of the Dorset Masters' Lodge, No. 3366, for the Year 1925-26, Vol. 16. 
PEARLS AND SAVAGES 

THE QUESTION BOX and CORPESPONDENCE 
COUNT PULASKI 

EARLY LODGES IN THE MIDDLE WEST 
LAFAYETTE 

THE ROSE CROIX AND ALBERT PIKE 

FREDERICK OF SAXONY 

GRAND LODGE OF SOUTH DAKOTA 

A CONTRIBUTION 

BOOKS WANTED AND FOR SALE 

YE EDITOR'S CORNER 


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The Druse of Barak 


By BRO. JOHN W. SHUMAN, California 


THE conflict between the French and the Druse of the Lebanon makes the present 
article by Dr. Shuman a timely one. The Druse religion has been a subject of 
speculation and inquiry to a number of Masonic authors and a good deal has been 
written about this curious sect with a desire to draw some parallel or even to establish 
an identity of origin for their mysterious religious rites and the usages of the Craft. 
Few students of note, however, would agree that any real case has been made out for 
this. Bro. Shuman writes of them entirely as they appear to a sympathetic visitor. 


THE Druse are a group of people numbering about 100,000 and live in the Lebanon 
Mountains of Syria. They are an off-shoot of Mohammedanism, although this is not 
recognized by the Moslems. They intermarry with the Moslems, but it is not lawful 
for them to marry with the Christians. They have preserved a religious and also a 
tribal independence against all comers. 


Their chief doctrine is the "Oneness With God". The Druse's religion— if Such it may 
be called— is secret. Therefore, very little is commonly known of their faith, for their 
doctrines are secretly transmitted. Their "worship" or "meeting" is on some high 
mountain top at midnight on Fridays. 


That by way of introduction. Nevertheless, one is not able to tell a Christian Lebanese 
(an inhabitant of the Lebanon Mountains) from a Druse excepting for the head-dress. 
The Druse and the Moslem usually wears a white cloth about the head; the Christian, 
a black one. 


In the illustration here given can be seen the headdress of the Druse male, the fez or 
tarbush with a white rag wrapped around it, also the white veil like headdress of the 



women. Our host is sitting between his mother and sister and this is the first time 
these ladies have shown their faces for a picture. The veil is becoming thinner in 
Syria and Turkey and is not worn as religiously as it used to be. Mrs. Shuman is in the 
center of the group. Second from her left is a Syrian "Druse"— an American returned 
for a bride— he secured her and later 1 examined her for the American Consular 
passport to America. 


On the steamship Bragga, sailing with us to Syria in September of 1922, there were a 
large number of Syrians going back for a visit, among whom was a most likable 
young man, perhaps thirty years of age, Sam Salem, from West Virginia, returning for 
a visit with his aged parents in Barak. In the hold along with our automobile was his 
super-six Hudson. He had left his wife, "a sweet little Baptist girl", at home. He had 
not been back for ten years and was quite sure that this would be the last chance to 
see his aged father and mother alive— the Oriental is a great respecter of his parents, 
especially his mother. He invited us to spend a week-end at his parents' home— we 
accepted with thanks. In the course of landing, getting settled etc., the weeks soon 
flew by Mr. Salem had, in the mean time, called for tea with some of "his cousins" 
and pressed his invitation, but it was late in December before we could avail 
ourselves of the opportunity. 


The beautiful drive up the Lebanon Mountains or the route to Damascus was by this 
time familiar to us, but the turn-off to Barak was new and interesting. Sam had a 
"driver". No Oriental soils his hands with toil; that is, in his own country, if he can 
help it. Drivers (chauffeurs) are not hard to get out there; good ones are-Sam's was 
not a good one. 


It was raining, as this was the rainy season, which will account for poor photos. The 
narrow Barak road was slippery, and the first camel train we met, with saddle bags 
heavily loaded, took the inside of the road as they always do, which caused us to slide 
off the road, the left rear wheel hung suspended with a sheer drop of eight or ten feet 
and a good chance for the auto and its occupants to roll half a mile. Manpower put the 
machine back on the road and Sam drove the rest of the way. The camel is an animal 
made up of "spare parts" and you never can tell which way he is going to step or what 
he is going to step on. 



We arrived in time for the national Syrian dinner of many courses. I will not tire you 
to name them; suffice it to say that it went from soup to nuts and back again— with a 
dash of Arrak (the spirituous gin of Syria) thrown in. The Druse male when he gets 
religion (Din) does not drink, swear or use tobacco. In that respect the Druse males 
are quite like Americans— Catholics or Protestants, Lutherans or Presbyterians— 
perfectly human, not at all divine. Folks are much alike the world over. 


After dining we took a much-needed walk and one of the first sights that greeted our 
eyes was a big fat sheep being fed mulberry leaves by an old lady. Did I say fed? I 
meant crammed. The sheep was being fattened to sell for the Feast of Ramadan (the 
great Moslem religious feast that corresponds to the Christian Easter). It was tied so it 
couldn't walk the fat off, and stuffed several times a day with fattening food by the 
hand of the feeder. This sheep (like all others) seemed to have no sense at all, but 
swallowed as fast as it could until no mor fodder could be gotten into it— and there it 
stood on it four little legs, panting as if it would burst. Practice makes perfect, and 
these people know how to fatten the sheep gradually so that it is about to die from 
fatty heart, liver, etc., when the feast is due. In other countries, notably France, geese 
are fed in the same manner. 


We then visited a mill. It was exactly like the one the words were written; about in the 
Bible: "Two were grinding at the mill; one was taken, the other left." The same old 
stream that was used in biblical days, the same old stone house (or at least the same 
stones), the same old huge mill-wheel turning the mill stones at the same slow gait, 
grinding the same old slow stream of wheat from the same old hopper the miller (the 
one of the two that "was left") was old and wrinkled and covered with flour— he 
padded about in it, feet bare, with shovel in hand, seemingly unaware of the presence 
of visitors. 


Wheat is the main staple of Syria (in the Bible it is called corn, as it still is in 
England). Bread, the "staff of life", will be mentioned a little later. 



We looked the mill stream over for fish, but it did not contain any. Fishing in Asia 
Minor is a lost art, even the East Mediterranean Sea has few edible fish in it. 


At two o'clock a "clinic" by request was held in the ladies' part of the house (my wife 
accompany). It did not seem possible that so much remediable disease could exist in a 
place so near a big medical center as the city of Beirut. It is only a comparatively 
short time, though, about forty years, since the first medical missionary began 
practice over there; prior to that "the proselyting type" was the only missionary. A 
number of folks with cataracts, skin diseases, etc., were examined, who were 
instructed "how to get well", referring most of them to our hospital clinics in Beirut. 
The immediate value turned out was only about thirty cents' worth, but they were 
most grateful and piled the auto full of leban (cottage cheese), chickens, kubs (bread), 
etc. Such bread is not met anywhere but in the East. It is made from wheat, and it is 
baked in large and thin circular sheets in outdoor ovens; it is tough and pliable and 
looks like a piece of tanned hide. It is used for knife, fork and spoon. 


As we were leaving a man came, leading two struggling young white and black goats, 
saying, "Effendi, these are yours ! " Imagine our chagrin— we had made the mistake of 
"admiring" them! If you don't want a thing in Syria, don't admire it, for it is the 
equivalent of asking for it. 


An interesting incident in Syria is a wedding. While we were with the Druse we saw 
the procession of one, which could be heard for a long time before it could be seen— 
the singing, bells a-ringing (but not much bigger than sleigh bells), laughing and 
shouting-coming around a bend of the road. It was impossible to distinguish the bride; 
all the women's faces were covered. We learned that the groom was waiting at his 
parents' house, where the ceremony was to take place; also that the bride is never very 
hilarious about a wedding. From the motley appearance of the mob, it seemed that the 
whole mountainside had been "invited". We shook hands with a young fellow who 
rode his pony so like a Westerner that he was hailed with "Hey, there, lad, what part 
of the West are you from?" He answered, "From Washington state !" 



Sam's folks were quite anxious that he should remain in Syria, for he was their only 
son and heir to the farm. They wanted us to use our influence upon him to such an 
end. And just to be affable I tried it, but did not get to first base, for Sam answered, 
"Doctor, bring my little wife to this ? No, not for all the land in the Lebanon 
Mountains ! The U. S. A. for me always!" 


Of course, his folks being Druse, did not consider him correctly married. People are 
funny about customs- -just the other day a father had his daughter married to the same 
man the third time here in Los Angeles. The first time they had her married by a 
Justice of the Peace, the second, by a Methodist minister— the husband's church— and 
the third time by a Presbyterian minister— the church of the father-inlaw. 


In America the Lebanons are popularly supposed to be inhabited by wild, lawless 
tribes always at war, and we are often told of massacres by newspaper 
correspondents. These are generally, like the report of Mark Twain's death, much 
exaggerated. We are told of feuds like those existing in the past among the people of 
our own Kentucky hills. The "massacres" reported from the Lebanon are mostly 
between the Druse and Christian sects. Few outsiders know what they are about. But 
as the Druse does not permit marrying with the Christian, and most trouble starts over 
women, it is quite reasonable to believe that the heart, at times, runs away with the 
head, and an "illegal" love-match kindles the powder that sends a bullet flying which 
later is written up as a "massacre". 


At any rate, our Sunday at Barak with the Druse was a happy, peaceful one, one long 
to be remembered. We found the Druse honest, industrious, kind, hospitable, and 
minding their own business. As for patients, in or out of the hospital, the Druse made 
good and appreciative ones. As for any that had turned to Christianity, in Syria we 
met none. 


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Anti-Diluvian Masonry 



An Essay in the Obfuscological Method of Masonic Research BRO. JUSTUS B. 
WRIGHT, North Borneo 


BRO. JUST WRIGHT, as he is usually called (his intimate friends know him by the 
nickname O.K.), is a most remarkable personage. How he joined the Masonic Order 
we do not know. His summer residence is in Borneo among the tufthunters, while he 
usually spends his winters at the South Pole studying the habits of the fearful 
wildfowl that there do congregate. He tells us that there is nothing more thrilling than 
to trace a wild goose to its lair or to seek for the nest of the undomesticated mare of 
the snowy pampas. It was not easy to get him to write an article for The Builder and 
we will not try again. The contribution undoubtedly has some value though just what 
the Editor would rather not say, but if anyone be inclined to take it seriously he or she 
should consult the dictionary as to the definition of the word obfuscate. This may be 
found to adorn a moral and give point to the tale. 


SOME years ago the author, in the course of his unusual avocation, spent a 
considerable period with the Wotjobaluk of Australia; he had been there but a very 
little while when, in the course of some observations, he became convinced that many 
of the people possessed certain of our Masonic signs, and what amazed him most was 
that many of these were those that among us particularly distinguish the higher grades 
and orders of the Masonic institution. For example, he one day saw an old man, 
tastefully clothed in a coating of red seated by a small fire eating a kangaroo. A youth 
or neophyte was standing before him, watching very intently, in a receptive mood for 
the traditional instruction he was doubtless to receive. The old man having separated 
the flesh took the bone and rejected it by a significant gesture, throwing it over the 
left shoulder with his right hand. One of the dogs of the camp immediately seized it 
and ran away. The writer was not near enough to hear distinctly all that was said, he 
did hear the old man, or worshipful master, say "Kilimanyaro," where upon the 
candidate went away into the bush. The deep meaning of this ritual will be obvious to 
Mark Master Masons, and especially to those who have also received certain of the 
Ineffable Degrees of Perfection, which refer to the dog of the stranger and sirius, the 
dog star. 



This incident was the originating cause of a prolonged and careful research into the 
relations of our Masonic system with those of the indigenous tribes and races of men 
in different parts of the world. After an enormous amount of study and personal 
observation the writer has come to a number of very important conclusions. 


In order to present, in the concise form required by an article, the results of many 
years of research, it must be taken for granted that my readers are familiar with the 
working of the Symbolic Degrees as promulgated by Thomas Smith Webb. It is 
essential to our purpose that we adhere closely to the oldest and most authentic 
version. It may be argued by some that the Webb system is not the oldest, ochre and 
pipe clay and this opinion might seem to be substantiated by Richard's "Masonry 
Anatomized," "The Dark Mystery," "Three Loud Knocks" and possibly other 
documents. While it may be admitted that these publications are possibly illustrative 
of the type of ritual in use at their respective periods, it must, on the other hand, be 
granted that they do not contain many essentials which are to be found in Webb. It is 
generally argued from this that we have here proof of innovations or evolutionary 
developments. The painstaking research made by the writer has convinced him that 
there is no such thing as evolution in Masonic ritual. Those things which are present 
today have always been in existence, possibly not in general practice, but preserved in 
higher degrees. It is only because they have come to light in recent years that they 
have at last attained prominence in the ritual of the Blue Lodge. As an example, my 
readers are referred to the ceremony cited above. The consensus of opinion among 
scholars today seems to accept the Mark Master Degree as a late development. Such a 
theory is rapidly dispelled when we see that some of the essentials of that degree exist 
even in the primitive Masonry of the Australian aborigines. It is evident from this 
illustration that the degree has been worked from time immemorial. As a further 
reason for adopting Webb as our guide, it may be stated that this version is older than 
any of the accepted English workings such as Emulation or stability. There are 
variations appearing in one or another of the many extant versions, some of which are 
of real importance, and when occasion demands, these will be pointed out and fully 
explained. This I have treated more fully in my great work on The Masonic 
significance of Bull Roarers. 


Some time after the writer's sojourn among the Wotjobaluk, he happened to be 
present during a portion of the totemic ceremonies of the Wollunqua tribe of Central 
Australia. It would require more space than can be commanded at this time to detail 
the many interesting features of their ceremonies. It was particularly striking, 



however, that at one stage of their ritual a series of eight drawings was made upon the 
ground during as many successive days. The procedure follows closely the traditions 
to which we pay such profound allegiance in attributing to the Master the sole duty of 
drawing the designs whereby the Fellowcrafts and Entered Apprentices are directed in 
their labors. It is taught throughout our ceremonies that the Master Mason drew his 
designs upon the trestleboard, the Fellowcrafts executed them, and the Entered 
Apprentices were bearers of burdens and brought up the materials which enabled the 
Fellowcrafts to properly perform their tasks. Returning to the Wollunqua ceremonies 
I found that one of the elders of the tribe, who was doubtless the Master of the lodge, 
came early in the morning to the ceremonial ground and there, by means of a long 
stick sharpened to the shape of a crude chisel traced the designs upon the ground, 
which had first been covered with either red or yellow ochre. At a later period certain 
of the members of a degree just lower than that of the Master came on to the lodge 
ground and proceeded to execute the designs left by the Worshipful Master, who had 
long since taken his departure. In the patterns filled in by the Fellowcrafts concentric 
circles with points within were a prominent feature; they were outlined by means of a 
series of white dots, the material for which was a kind of kaolin or clay. When the 
Fellowcrafts came on to the ground there were convenient piles of the necessary clay 
already in position for the convenience of the Artificers. On several different 
occasions I made a determined effort to learn when and by whom these rough ashlars 
were brought up. Either it was done in the course of the ceremony proper which I was 
not permitted to witness, or shortly afterward. I was unable to rise sufficiently early to 
put in an appearance at the ceremonial grounds before these piles were in place. 
Doubtless they were brought there by those of inferior grade who would in our 
language be called Entered Apprentices. 


It is also worthy of note that the ceremonial kaolin was not in proper form to be used, 
but had to be prepared by the Fellowcrafts by aid of such working tools as nature 
provides. The Masonic application of the point within a circle is quite evident, and it 
is of interest to note that these circles corresponded in number to the clans taking part 
in the ceremonies. The outermost circles represented those clans farthest from the 
ceremonial ground. Each circle was in a symbolic sense a representation of the 
territory governed by each clan. The point within represented an individual initiate. I 
was later informed that in the course of the ceremonies the initiate is taught that these 
circles represent the boundaries beyond which he is never to suffer any interest to 
take him. He would be venturing on dangerous ground if he neglected to follow this 
advice, and it was not only possible, but probable that he would run into some serious 
danger. It is not hard to see how by easy stages the significance of this symbol has 
fallen into its present impure state. The close association of this important symbol 



with clay need not have its Masonic application pointed out. Charcoal was also used. 
Herewith is reproduced an illustration which shows the Fellowcrafts engaged in this 
great and important undertaking. Those who wish to go further into the subject should 
consult my exhausting monograph, Picture Postcards and the 47th Proposition. 


It is not unusual among the Australian tribes to find three principal characters in the 
ceremony. One illustration has been cited above and quite frequently only three 
performers carry out the whole of the ceremony, the other members of the lodge 
having no other part than that of spectators. Doubtless this is indicative of the early 
existence of the Master's Lodge. The illustration herewith is a photograph of the 
principal characters connected with the Itjilpi totem ceremonies among the 
Warramunga tribe and shows three ornately adorned men, one of whom has 
protruding from his headdress three horns, the ends of which are tipped with the green 
branches of the Australian Acacia. The appearance of the character on the left would 
lead to the conclusion that the significance of Wisdom, Strength and Beauty was not 
entirely lost upon our early Masonic brethren. The acacia symbol taking a prominent 
part in the ceremonies, and the central figure representing Hiram Abiff, doubtless the 
left hand personage represents Hiram of Tyre, in which event the only conclusion that 
can be reached is that the third character is King Solomon. Another most important 
feature is that Hiram Abiff is in the center between the two other characters. This 
cannot be mere chance because Hiram represents the zenith meridian and would 
naturally be between east and west. The reversion of characters is interesting to note. 
Hiram of Tyre is on the right of the central figure instead of the left as in this country. 
That is just what we would expect where the south becomes the point of darkness as it 
does in Australia which is on the other side of the equator, and this, consequently, 
accounts for the change in position. 


Since these ceremonies prove, in such a conclusive manner, the early existence of a 
Master's Lodge, it is to be expected that we would find those of the Fellowcraft and 
Entered Apprentice grade in evidence as well. In both the Walpari and the Tjingilli 
tribes we find ceremonies performed by five men, and in the Wollunqua totem of the 
Warramunga tribe seven principals take part— a perfect lodge. Journeying farther 
afield, we find the same practice among the Hopi Indians of North America, but more 
will be said of them later. Prolonged observation of the Australian tribes, and an 
intensive study of their social organizations has led me to conclude that something 
has been lost from their ceremonials. Doubtless since our modem Freemasonry 
migrated from its Australian habitat, the connection between the three degrees has 



been lost in the native ceremonies. These tribes were doubtless united and the degrees 
were delegated individually to certain of the tribal groups for performance. Since this 
time these groups have, possibly through wars or similar causes, become separated 
and now the connection which originally existed between the degrees can be traced 
only in isolated tribes who seem to have no inter-connection. 


Before leaving the Australian ceremonies, it is necessary to point out one among the 
Thalaualla, which presents another remarkable instance of Ancient Freemasonry. 
Three men, after being decorated with numerous ovals and circles, together With a 
fourth whose distinctive marking consists of cross lines of black, ornamented with 
white form the principal characters in this rite. The last named did not take part in the 
main ceremony, consequently there is a recurrence of the three principals among 
these people. The fourth man was a kind of side performance illustrating an event in 
the history of the Thalamualla, which occurred at the period with which the main 
ceremonies are concerned. He lay down in a small trench, hidden from view behind a 
bush (undoubtedly an acacia), about twenty yards away from the main ceremonial 
ground. As soon as the first and main performance was over an old man drew a line 
along the ground leading to the spot at which the fourth performer lay hidden. All of 
the men walked behind him keeping their eyes fixed on the track as if they were 
following a trail; and on seeing the hidden man pretended to be much astonished. 
Their amazement was manifested by signs and would be readily recognized by 
Masons the world over. Unfortunately the writer was unable to visit this tribe and has 
had to secure his evidence second hand. The original observers did not give all the 
essential details and from my own experience among these natives it would be 
permissible to conclude that the man behind the bush was dead and brought to life 
again. The method of conducting this portion of the ceremony is clearly shown in the 
illustration of an Arunta tribe ceremony presented herewith. The Masonic application 
need not be discussed as it is too evident. 


Some years later, in the course of my wanderings, I paid a visit to the Hopi Indians of 
the Southwestern United states. I was particularly fortunate in being present during 
the celebration of their famous Snake Dance, in fact, I planned my trip so as to be 
there during that festival, and was astounded that many of the things I had seen years 
before in Australia were to be found among these Indians. The similarity of their 
institution and Masonry was even more striking than that noticed among the 
Australian tribes. After making myself known by the use of several Masonic signs, I 
was permitted to enter the kiva during the performance of certain portions of the 



Mishongnovi ceremonies. It might be argued that I was communing with clandestine 
Masons and for this reason had subjected myself to expulsion from our Order, but I 
believe that a broad interpretation of the law would entitle one to defend the practice 
on the basis that we are the clandestine Masons and they the true ones. If any 
expulsion is to be incurred it would have to be on the side of the Indians. They 
seemed to be only slightly concerned with the matter, however, and I assure you it 
caused me no worry. Unfortunately, they would not permit me to photograph the 
interior of their kiva during the performance of the ceremonies, but after leaving their 
neighborhood I sketched the interior as I recalled it and have reproduced my drawing 
herewith. This sketch represents the interior during the repeating of the traditional 
songs. As a matter of fact this particular feature takes place during the fourth of their 
many degree system. We may safely conclude, therefore, that it is the Mark Master 
Degree that is at present being worked in the lodge. 


This fact is further substantiated by the recurrence of the number four. There are four 
men in the East, four rows of semi-circles on the floor cloth, eight men (twice four) 
seated in a semi-circle at the head end of the cloth. In order to avoid disclosing certain 
of the secrets of this lodge the drawing is made to represent a period of refreshment 
which is clearly indicated by the refuse in the rear of the semi-circle of brethren. The 
calling off from labor was occasioned by the delay in the arrival of the sixth candidate 
for the degree. Only one candidate was admitted at a time, and the Old Charges were 
sung to each one separately. You will notice twelve wands on each side of the floor- 
cloth. Four were placed in position for each candidate to indicate that he was being 
advanced to the Fourth Degree. There is one other feature worthy of note, these 
Masons, like their Australian brethren, work only in perfect lodges. You will note that 
there are eight men in the semi-circle at the near end of the lodge— five of these were 
new initiates, leaving three in this group with four in the East, making seven in all— a 
perfect lodge. The Tiler is just within the door of the lodge, but he takes no part in the 
ceremony, and we are at liberty to eliminate him from the number forming the lodge. 
He is smoking, and since he is the only one so engaged, we may conclude that he 
doubtless is the primitive representation of the Pot of Incense. There are many other 
points of similarity which might be indicated, but enough have been recounted to 
prove the assertion that Freemasonry was old when it first came into being in Europe. 


Before leaving this ceremony, however, it would be well to give a brief description of 
the Old Charges which were read to each candidate. They were relations of the 
traditional history of the tribe and were similar in content to the Old Charges of the 



Masons. There are even points of concurrence in context. There appears, for example, 
a relation of the founding of the sciences and arts among the ancients of the tribe. 

This is recounted in the following manner and relates particularly to the science 
which enabled them to construct their dwellings. My information on this point comes 
through a gentleman of unimpeachable veracity who was very well acquainted with 
someone who said he got it from a man who claimed to have lived many years among 
the Indians and to have obtained the tale from the lips of an aged medicine man. 


It began before the great rains, and there was a man, named To-tok-ya, and he had 
two wives, the one named Yungya, who brought forth two sons, the eldest Losh-ta-la 
and the other Losh-la-ta, by the other he had a son named Bay-ish-ta-la and a 
daughter called Shush-ta-la, and these children found all the sciences in the world and 
all the crafts also. Losh-ta-la found building, and he kept sheep and they had lambs in 
the field for which flocks he built houses of stone and timber. His brother Losh-la-ta 
found the art of dancing, and the third brother found the art of making weapons, and 
their sister found the art of weaving. Now these children knew that the Great Spirit 
would take vengeance of the world either by fire or water for sin. Notwithstanding 
they were more curious for the benefit of posterity to prefer these Sciences that they 
invented to their own lives, therefore they engravened them upon two pillars, the one 
of stone and the other of timber, that in event of catastrophe by either fire or water 
one of them would be preserved. Then after the big rains Shush-ha-hi-mu found the 
aforesaid pillars with the Sciences written thereon and founded the tribe of the Snakes 
and taught them the arts he had found. 


The above is a literal translation which comparison with certain of the Old Charges 
will show to be identical in content. 


The similarity should be evident to every Masonic student, but it is brought out much 
more forcibly when we are told that the two sheafs of com which stand at the right 
and left of the East are symbolic representations of the two pillars found by Shush-ha- 
hi-mu. This feature gives us a new insight into the meaning of the pillars in 
Freemasonry. I have treated this more at length in my article on the Cult of the 
Squash entitled Pillars and Pumpkins, which appeared in the "Obfuscological 
Journal." 



We are told that at one portion of the ceremony, which takes place on the seventh day 
of the festival and after the Masters and Wardens have partaken heavily of the 
refreshments offered during its performance, the lodge retires to the kiva and a long 
invocation to the founder of the clan is recited. The highly emotional state into which 
the officers of the lodge have worked themselves doubtless accounts for the 
seemingly hilarious festivities in which they indulge. At one stage, for example, the 
Master pointing to the wiggly drawing upon the floor pronounces a long invocation to 
their ancestor. I was unable to grasp all of what was said, but it ended up with this, 
"Meritango, meri-tango, wotbyjingo! Shush-ha-hi-mu! Ko-mok-to-tok-ya yungya 
shushtala loshtala bayishtala tikive!" which in English means, "Shush-ha-hi-mu, here 
are snakes," and doubtless they all saw snakes. 


While on this matter of refreshment in lodge it might be well to digress somewhat and 
point out the stage of degeneracy into which Masonic lodges had fallen at a date as 
early as 1776. For this purpose there is reproduced herewith an illustration of the 
ceremonies of Convivial Lodge, No. 4321, which might be taken as typical of the 
time. Even in these depths, however, the primitive ceremonials are evident in 
survival. A comparison of this illustration with that representing the three principal 
characters in the Itjilpi ceremonies will enable us to formulate a number of important 
conclusions. It is readily noted that the origin of the collar with its suspended jewel is 
to be found in the crossed markings of the Australian Hiram. The lower extensions of 
these decorations have been lost and only the portion above the convergence retained. 
The suspension of the working tools from the collar thus formed is a comparatively 
simple step in the evolutionary process. Is it to be wondered that at a later date, during 
the period of liberty and license which prevailed in the eighteenth century that a more 
stately and symbolic square, level and plumb should be replaced by a symbol of the 
spirit of conviviality prevailing at the time ? As a result of such a process the bottle 
comes to be the insignia of office of at least two of the principal officers of the lodge. 
Mere over-indulgence could not account for such a substitution and it is entirely 
likely that the bottle symbolized not license, but wisdom. 


Rabelais gives at length the story of the Oracle of the Bottle which was endowed with 
the power of giving the very best advice on all matters. The bottle as a jewel would, 
therefore, be a symbol of wisdom, and would partake somewhat of the nature of an 
Oracle to be consulted by the members of the lodge when they felt the need of 



counsel on matters too complicated for their befogged minds to grasp. When 
Gargantua and Panurge consulted the oracle they were much astonished to find only a 
gigantic bottle which when questioned emitted a faint monosyllabic sound which 
closely approximated "trine". Doubtless this to them was interpreted as an invitation 
and was acted upon promptly. In the state of hilarity attained during the arduous 
labors of Convivial Lodge, the bottles met frequently, the resulting clink was easily 
confused with the "trine" of Rabelais' oracle and in such a confused state of mind it 
might easily be understood as the word "Drink". What more profound wisdom could 
any oracle pronounce? 


Such wisdom can only be interpreted in the sense of a lesson in charity, as an 
admonition to practice both Brotherly Love and Relief. The human race, even during 
the eighteenth century, had not become so degenerate that they could not follow 
teachings which would lead them to practice those lessons we are taught in 
Freemasonry, although the practice might differ in many respects from the modern 
method. The surest way of erecting a monument to our memory, so we are told, is to 
practice charity, and it must be remembered that in being charitable we are exercising 
both Brotherly Love and Relief. We are charitable because we love our fellow men 
and by means of giving we relieve their distress. What could be more simple? 


It is an awe-inspiring spectacle to behold a symbol open to such recondite 
interpretations as that of the bottle. We-have seen it as a representation of wisdom 
exemplified by the oracle and as a symbol of Charity, Brotherly Love and Relief. 
There is nothing that inspires the affections and passions to the same extent as drink. 
One drunkard loves another as no brother loves his twin. As for relief, who is more 
willing to aid another than he whose mind is hazy from an alcoholic revelry. One 
convivial brother will help another home, and this is a great relief as it takes away all 
cause for worry over the after-effects of the meeting. Should money run out in the 
case of one member, there is always another to relieve his wants and to supply him 
with what he most desires. This is charity in its most sublime sense and relief in its 
most effective phase. And, on the morning after, what could be better, nobler wisdom 
than the counsel of the bottle, "trine" ? 


In the matter of head dress we have Still another survival from the primitive. The 
convivial brother on the right of the picture clearly finds his prototype in the King 



Solomon of the Australian brother; while the two central figures are the primitive and 
later counterparts respectively of the Temple Architect. The third figure in the 
Australian ceremony has lost his head dress, doubtless because of the rough nature of 
his duty, but it must have in some respect resembled that of the third brother in the 
eighteenth century else how did the third member of the group become so clad? Such 
things as head ornaments do not arise out of nothing and there undoubtedly was some 
more primitive form than that represented here. 


There is a certain connection between the aftereffects of closing the lodge among the 
Hopi Indians and that of Convivial Lodge. As a purification rite, and a magical 
ceremony designed to keep the brethren pure until the next celebration, we are 
informed that the Masters, Wardens and brethren of the Hopi Lodge imbibed freely of 
a powerful emetic which duly operates. Doubtless the same result was attained in 
Convivial Lodge without the use of any such disagreeable ceremony. [The reading of 
this article has had much the same effect on me. Editor.] 


There are many other features of primitive Masonry which find their counterparts in 
the ceremonies of today. It may be concluded that our modern institution is descended 
directly from our savage predecessors and that Freemasonry has lost nothing in the 
transition. I hope in some future article to elaborate upon the evidence herein 
produced and develop my theory to such a point that it will be accepted by the 
foremost scholars of the world. [Not in THE BUILDER. Editor.] 


— o — 


The Rise and Development of Anti-Masonry in America, 1737-1826 


By BRO. J. HUGO TATSCH, Associate Editor, 



THIS is the first of a short series of distinct though connected articles on 
AntiMasonry in the United states. They are especially timely inasmuch as this is the 
centennial anniversary of the disappearance of William Morgan, the episode which 
precipitated the great wave of hostility to the Craft. The present article is by Bro. J. 
Hugo Tatsch, an Associate Editor of The Builder, and as most of our readers know, 
the Curator of the Iowa Masonic Library at Cedar Rapids. It is intended as a general 
introduction to the subject, and will be followed by one dealing with the Morgan 
Affair itself written by Bro. Tatsch and Bro. E. M. Erikson, Ph. D., in collaboration. It 
is interesting to learn that about five years ago these two brethren started on this line 
of research independently, a mutual discovery of the fact arising when their respective 
articles appeared; "An American Masonic Crisis" by the former, in A.Q.C., Vol. 34 
(1921), and Speaker's Bulletins Nos. 9 and 10 of the M.S.A. Bro. Erikson also 
contributed an article to The Builder for March, 1921, and a series of sketches of 
Anti-Masonic leaders from his pen has recently appeared in the Bulletin of the Grand 
Lodge of Iowa. 


ANTI-MASONRY appeared in America very soon after the revitalized fraternity of 
England made its influence felt in the American colonies. Only twenty years after the 
Revival of 1 7 1 7 took place in England, and within a decade after the first positive 
traces of the Craft are found in Pennsylvania and New England, the first so-called 
antiMasonic sentiment is recorded. The "Pennsylvania Gazette," No. 444, June 9 to 
16,1737— published by our Bro. Benjamin Franklin —relates how Dr. Evan Jones, a 
prominent apothecary of Philadelphia, duped an apprentice, Daniel Reese, who had 
expressed a desire to become a Freemason. Seeing an opportunity for ribald 
amusement, Dr. Jones and several associates put the young man through some absurd 
ceremonies, telling him he was an Entered Apprentice, and directed him to return 
June 13, 1737, for another degree. Further horse-play, coupled with indecencies and 
indignities, were then indulged in. These were followed by a final ceremony in which 
his Satanic Majesty appeared, but who, to the disappointment of the conspirators, did 
not serve to frighten the candidate; whereupon Dr. Jones, the impersonator of the 
devil, threw a pan of flaming spirits upon the apprentice, with such frightful effect 
that he died three days later. 


The publication of the story in local papers, and the blame attached to the regular 
Masons, innocent of any wrong doing and equally strong in their censure and 
condemnation of the act, brought the fraternity into bad repute in certain quarters, and 
enemies of the local Craft did not hesitate to seize upon the occasion to further their 



own ends. The various accounts were reprinted in the colonial papers, and thus the 
occurrence achieved a place in the annals of American Masonry as the first anti- 
Masonic expression in the colonies. 


Aside from the excitement and feeling engendered in Philadelphia by the regrettable 
occurrence, it had no serious effect. Sporadic expressions are found in later years 
which only serve to indicate that Freemasonry was well established. One Christian 
Sauer, an erratic printer of Germantown, took a fling, in 1740, at the free school 
system inaugurated by Benjamin Franklin, and vented his spleen upon it by saying: 
"The people who are promoters of the free schools are Grand Masters and Wardens 
among the Freemasons, their very pillars." 


An early reference to the Craft from an anti-Masonic standpoint appeared in the New 
York Mercury of Dec. 31, 1753, in which considerable space is given to the 
assumption of office by George Harrison as Provincial Grand Master. The occasion 
was made noteworthy by the donation of fifteen pounds toward the purchase of 
clothing for poor children in the charity school; an additional sum was raised for 
indigent prisoners. This prompted the editor to ask: 


Query. Whether the performance of public and private acts of beneficence, such as 
feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, be most correspondent to the Genius of 
Christianity, or the Institution of the Prince of Darkness? 


There were no direct attacks the Craft in Massachusetts until 1751. The Pennsylvania 
affair and the anti-Masonic activities of European enemies were impartially recorded 
in the papers of the colony. On Jan. 7, 1751, some doggerel verse and a picture were 
printed in the "Boston Evening Post" of a very disgusting nature. The brethren of 
Boston were much disturbed thereby, and passed resolutions in local lodges and also 
in Grand Lodge against the publication. 


With this brief introduction, the subject of Anti-Masonry in the American Colonies 
can be dismissed for present purposes. It was not until the last decade of the 



eighteenth century that we encounter what may be termed anti-Masonry in the strict 
sense of the term, and which really had a marked effect upon the Craft. The roots of 
the Morgan Affair of 1826 are found herein, and the student going into the subject 
thoroughly will find much hitherto unconsidered material to examine. 


ANTI-MASONRY IN EUROPE 


The anti-Masonic spirit, which developed in the period of 1797-1825, had its 
foundation in the literature avowedly written to oppose secret societies in Europe, 
which were accused of being anti-Christian, anti-social and dangerous to both state 
and religion. Freemasonry was unavoidably included among the leading societies of 
the period, for the fraternity had made a rapid growth throughout Continental Europe 
from the day it was first introduced in England. 


Space forbids a presentation of the background attached to the story of Anti-Masonry 
in Europe; let it suffice to say for present purposes that the French Revolution, 1789- 
1799, was watched in this country with both interest and anxiety. Many of our people 
were in open sympathy with the French, and Genet, the French minister accredited to 
our government, was enthusiastically received by these. The French popular customs 
were imitated, French revolutionary songs were sung, the American and French 
colors were displayed together. The French Jacobin clubs were imitated by the 
formation of democratic associations styled "Democrat Clubs," and the phrase, "the 
rights of man," was heard at assemblies of all kinds. 


The course of Washington in proclaiming strict neutrality, even though not endorsed 
by many of our citizens, saved this nation from dangerous consequences. The details 
can be learned from any reliable history; we are only concerned with the influences 
which bear upon the development of anti-Masonry. These are found in the principles 
of Jacobinism. Briefly, the Jacobins of France were originally members of a political 
club formed in 1789 which was not extremely radical, but which underwent rapid 
changes until the term "Jacobinism" became synonymous with the promulgation of 
extreme revolutionary opinions. The conservative members were excluded by internal 
processes until the club degenerated into a loosely defined but very dangerous 



organization, which brought about the reign of terror in France under Marat and 
Robespierre at the very time (April, 1793) that Washington issued his neutrality 
proclamation. The horror of the period stirred the civilized world to its depths. Genet, 
in America, misinterpreted the popular opinion, and in his enthusiasm threatened to 
appeal to the mass of the American people if our leaders did not permit activities 
which were threatening to involve us in war with Great Britain. Popular sentiment 
thereupon began to weaken; Genet was recalled in disgrace by his government, which 
would have beheaded him had he returned. He was permitted to remain in the United 
states, and later married the daughter of Governor De Witt Clinton (a Mason) of New 
York, dying at an advanced age. 


The aristocracy and the Roman Catholic clergy suffered the greatest losses during the 
French Revolution. It was but natural, therefore, that they should attempt to fasten the 
responsibility upon some one. The Jacobins, representing the masses, were pointed 
out as the instigators of the misfortunes which had befallen the upper classes. One of 
the representative literary productions of the period was the Memoires poui servir a 
l'histoire du Jacobinisme, by Abbe Augustin Barruel, published in French in London 
in 1797. A second edition followed in 1798; English translations were available 
immediately. The work was also printed in German; numerous abridged editions 
appeared each year from 1798 to 1802. It was printed in Spanish as late as 1827. 


An American edition, four volumes, was published in Hartford, Conn., "printed by 
Hudson & Goodwin for Cornelius Davis, New York," in 1799. 


ROBINSON'S PROOFS OF CONSPIRACY 


A work akin to Barruel's, written independently of it, was Proofs of a Conspiracy 
against all the Religions and Governments of Europe, carried on in the Secret 
Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati and Reading Societies, by John Robinson, A. 
M., Edinburgh. It was announced in January, 1797, two editions appeared some 
months later, a third of 1798 was reprinted in Philadelphia the same year. New York 
and Dublin editions of 1798 are also known. Like Barruel's work, this, too, was 
reprinted in other languages, French and German editions predominating, with one 



printed in Holland, no date given. Barrael acknowledged the priority of Robinson in 
Vol. Ill, p. xiv, London edition of 1798; Robinson refers to Barrael in his second 
edition, page 519. 


Barrael and Robinson asserted that secret societies were responsible for the 
distressing situation in Europe, and did not hesitate to place the odium upon the 
Freemasons and the Illuminati. Thinking people accepted these statements seriously. 
Says Hayden: 


The public mind in the United states was not only agitated with the aggressions of 
France, which threatened a bloody war between our country and our former ally, but 
also that the cause of the frenzied state of the public mind in France, and other parts 
of Europe, was ascribed to Masonry under the name of Illuminism. France, in her 
folly, had attempted to banish every vestige of revealed religion from her domain, and 
had caused it to be inscribed over the gates of her churchyards that death was an 
eternal sleep. False tongues were not wanting to say that Masonry designed to 
overturn all human governments. (1) 


The Illuminati referred to were members of a secret society founded in Bavaria in 
1776 by Adam Weishaupt, professor of canon law at the University of Ingolstadt. Its 
object was: 


By the mutual assistance of its members to attain the highest possible degree of 
morality and virtue, and to lay the foundation for the reform of the world by the 
association of good men to oppose the progress of moral evil. 


Weishaupt, who became a Mason between Nov. 26, 1776, and Feb. 8, 1777, adapted 
Masonic rites and customs to his society; but the activities of Jesuit enemies caused 
its suppression by royal edicts in 1784 and 1785. Weishaupt fled to Gotha and found 
protection under Duke Henry II, devoting his energies to the writing of philosophical 
treatises. 



INFLUENCE IN AMERICA OF THE LITERATURE OF THE PERIOD 


The periodicals of England and America graphically related the startling French 
occurrences to their readers, and it was upon such, supplemented by personal 
correspondence, that non-participants based their opinions. This was particularly true 
in America. The causes of a colossal disturbance are always sought for; whether the 
reasons given be right or not, supporters of various claims can always be found. The 
Barruel and Robinson books contributed to the available information— and 
misinformation. Freemasonry was charged by some to be at the root of the 
difficulties, (2) and it can be perceived readily that a growing acceptance of the 
charge would make the publication of antiMasonic literature profitable. It must be 
remembered that the general public was not so familiar with Freemasonry as it is 
today, the secrecy always associated with the fraternity was not only restricted to its 
essential words, signs and grips which are the sum total of actual Craft esotericism, 
but was also construed to cover membership, places of meeting and the like. 
Therefore, literature purporting to expose the "secrets" of Freemasonry found a ready 
sale among the curious and the gullible, and also, in the times under discussion, 
among earnest, serious and conscientious persons imbued by a legitimate desire to be 
informed on a subject of more than ordinary moment. The gamut of interest ranged 
between the two extremes. 


The elusive reference to be found in the ephemeral literature of the period need not be 
stressed herein; the interest lies in the more enduring publications. Among those are 
the numerous editions of Jachin and Boaz, an alleged expose which first appeared in 
England in 1762, and was reprinted by the thousand from that year down to the 
present day. No doubt many copies circulated in the Colonies. The first American 
edition which has been traced is one of 1796, printed in New York city. It was 
followed by others in New York, Pennsylvania and New England in the years 1797, 
1798, 1802, 1803, 1811, 1812, 1814, 1815, 1817 and 1825; probably there are 
editions which have escaped the Masonic bibliographer. One in Spanish was printed 
in Philadelphia in 1822. 



The exposes mentioned thrived in the soil fertilized by the Barrael and Robison 
volumes. An abridgement of Barrael and Robison appeared in 1802, at Charlestown, 
Massachusetts, entitled Proofs of the Real Existence and Dangerous Tendency of 
llluminism, by Seth Payson, A. M. One of the Barrael volumes was reprinted in 1812 
at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in a volume entitled Antichristian and Antisocial 
Conspiracy which also contained within its covers a reprint of Jachin and Boaz. 


BEGINNING OF CLERICAL OPPOSITION 


The situation in France was viewed with continued alarm by our representative 
citizens when John Adams became the second President of the United states. Saying, 
among other things, that the United States was "at present placed in a hazardous 
position," he issued a proclamation on March 23, 1798, proclaiming May 9, 1798, as 
a public fast day. Rev. Jedediah Morse, Charlestown, Massachusetts, preached a 
sermon on that occasion which opened the way to long and inflamed discussions of 
the Illuminati, and indirectly upon Freemasonry. The Rev. Morse made no allusions 
to the Craft in his sermon, but his silence on the subject was noted as peculiar and 
significant when his listeners later read the Robison book which he had recommended 
to them in his sermon. Other comment followed in the pulpit and the newspapers. 
College presidents and political orators discoursed volubly upon the new menace to 
civilization. The cry had been raised, and the pack was in full chase. 


A dissenting voice dared to question the assertions and the insinuations that had been 
made. "Censor," writing in the Massachusetts Mercury of July 27, 1798, asked for 
proofs. The Rev. Morse, looked upon as the proper person to answer the query 
inasmuch as he had been the first to arouse public interest through his sermon, was 
not loath to take up the fight. Yet he expressed surprise that he should be called upon 
to substantiate statements (Robinson's) which contained such excellent internal 
evidence of their truth. He was astonished, among other things, by the sensitiveness 
and irritation which the Masons had displayed; he had hoped that the manner in 
which he handled his sermon would preclude censure from that direction. The 
controversy waxed warm; Morse spoke again in a formal address on Thanksgiving 
Day, 1798. He was supported in his position by clergymen in other pulpibs; the 
numerous Thanksgiving sermons revived interest in the subject and it swept through 
the countryside. The public did not differentiate With meticulous care between secret 



societies in general and the Craft in particular; the resentment and denial of 
Freemasons that they had nothing to do with the Illuminati fell on inconsiderate ears. 
They had been linked together, and that was all that was necessary to make them 
avowed allies. The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, in protest, drew up an address to 
President Adams on June 11, 1798; it stated its position relative to civil authority and 
declared that Freemasons promoted the public welfare. The reply of President Adams 
is worthy of record herein: 


Many of my best friends have been Masons, and two of them my professional 
patrons; the learned Gridley and my intimate friend, your immortal Warren, whose 
life and death were examples of patriotism and philanthropy, were Grand Masters; 
yet, so it has happened, that I had never the felicity to be initiated. Such examples as 
these, and a greater still in my venerable predecessor (Washington) would have been 
sufficient to induce me to hold the Institution and Fraternity in esteem and honour, as 
favourable to the support of civil authority, if I had not known their love of the fine 
arts, their delight in hospitality, and devotion to humanity. 


The Rev. Thaddeus Harris, Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge, delivered some 
stirring addresses, in one of which he blamed the clergy for the prevailing Illuminati 
excitement. He spoke of them as those "who ply the shuttle-cock of faith, with the 
dexterity of expert gamesters, and have the art of making the multitude fly with its 
feathers." The Grand Lodge of Vermont also went on record (Oct. 23, 1798) in 
dignified defense of the Fraternity. 


Adams appointed a second fast day, set for April 25, 1799. Morse seized upon the 
occasion to voice his opinions upon the subject into which he had precipitated himself 
by his previous Fast Day sermon. In his address— the third and last— he called attention 
to some alleged Masonic correspondence, showing a connection between the Grand 
Orient of France and bodies in America, situated at Portsmouth, Va., and presumably 
at New York, as well as in the French possessions in the West Indies. Apparently, 
Masons were Masons the world over, and that fact was sufficient to brand the 
American Craft as a danger to the government and all social institutions. (3) 



JEFFERSON'S COMMENT ON BARRUEL 


Yet in spite of the clerical opposition from Morse-and it must be remembered that 
there were brethren of the cloth in. New England who did not agree with him, and 
even opposed his utterances— the diatribes fell flat. The political dangers pointed out 
did not hold ground; Thomas Jefferson, although not a Mason, went so far as to 
comment on the absurdity of the Barrael books held forth by Morse as authorities and 
proofs. Others rallied to the assistance of those who declared Morse's position 
untenable, and it was not long before the hue and cry subsided. The Masonic angle 
was definitely cleared away by a letter showing that the lodge at Portsmouth, Va., 
was a reputable organization, and its members honest and industrious citizens of the 
community. Morse wisely refrained from further discussion, and politically, at least, 
the attacks failed. The danger to the Craft was over from that direction until after the 
disappearance of Morgan, when numerous attempts were made to revive the alleged 
connection of Freemasonry with the Illuminati of the previous century. Noteworthy in 
this connection were two seceding Masons, Moses Thacher and Henry Dana Ward, 
both of whom were ministers. 


A review of the Masonic press for the few years preceding the Morgan Affair of 1826 
shows that there was marked opposition to the Craft from Protestant clerical sources; 
but before citing a few of the many instances that can be found, mention should be 
made of one cause contributed by Freemasons themselves. The Masonic writings and 
orations at the period (1800-1825) reveal a boastfulness that reacted seriously after 
1826, and which gave the enemies of the Craft weighty matter in support of anti- 
Masonic utterances. This spirit of braggadocio and arrogance continued to within the 
very year of the Morgan abduction. Early in 1826, the "Christian Telescope," a 
religious paper edited by Rev. David Pickering and published by Barzillai Cranston, 
both Masons, in commenting on an Alabama anti-Masonic situation, said: 


We are truly thankful to find this spirit of intolerance confined to the bigots of 
Tuscaloosa, who will find it hard to kick against a Colossus, which, if it had the 
inclination, could crush them or any other denomination of sectarians, almost without 
an effort, that is in America, where civil and religious liberty have established a 
dominion. 



This was quoted from a Wilmington, North Carolina paper, said to have been edited 
at the time by Rev. Jacob Frieze, also Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Rhode 
Island. 


The most glaring examples of such Masonic boasting prior to the Morgan Affair can 
be found in the expressions of William F. Brainard. His lecture before Union Lodge, 
New London, Connecticut, on Saint John's Day, June 24, 1825, was probably quoted 
more by anti-Masons than any other similar addresses. The following is a good 
example of his indiscreet and uncalled for remarks: 


What is Masonry now? It is powerful. It comprises men of rank, wealth, office and 
talent, in power and out of power, and that in almost every place where power is of 
importance, and it comprises, among the other classes of the community, to the 
lowest, in largest numbers, effective men, united together and capable of being 
directed by the efforts of others so as to have the force of concert through the 
civilized world. They are distributed, too, with the means of knowing one another, 
and the means of keeping secret, and the means of co-operating; in the desk, in the 
legislative hall, on the bench, in every gathering of men of business, in every party of 
pleasure, in every enterprise of government, in every domestick circle, in peace and in 
war, among enemies and friends, in one place as well as in another. 


So powerful indeed is it at this time, that it fears nothing from violence either public 
or private, for it has every means to learn it in season to counteract, defeat and punish 
it. 


REJECTIONS AND EXPULSIONS WERE FACTORS 


Another cause for enmity against the Craft was the unusually large number of 
rejections and expulsions. The latter were published in the Grand Lodge proceedings 
of the time; and considering that reading matter was not so profuse as it is now, and 



that the Craft was a far greater mystery than it is today, it can be readily assumed that 
the publicity thus accruing to the expelled brethren was pronounced. The resentment 
welling therefrom in the hearts of rejected petitioners was far more intensive than the 
feelings engendered in modem times through similar actions. Such individuals would 
be inclined to join anti-Masonic demonstrations, rather than hold aloof. 


A corollary to such rejections and expulsions is the apologetic attitude of Masonic 
speakers, who, taking cognizance of the prevailing but yet lightly provocative anti- 
Masonic sentiment, still offered a defense of the Craft. Rev. John L. Blake, A. M., 
speaking before Friendship Lodge at Gloucester, Rhode Island, in 1825, said: 


In view of the remarks made, it may well be concluded, that Masonry is, in no sense, 
opposed to Christianity, notwithstanding that many nominal Masons are a disgrace to 
the name they bear.... The person who is a dishonor to the Christian church is no 
honor to the Masonic Fraternity. It may be asked then, if the good Mason is not 
almost the good Christian! 


Henry Gassett, a vimlent anti-Mason of his day, points out in the introduction to his 
Catalogue of Anti-Masonic Books (Boston, 1 852) that anti-Masonry existed "in 
Hamilton College, New York, in 1819, and in the Presbyterian Church of the United 
states, in 1820" (page 84). Rev. John G. steams, a writer of anti-Masonic literature 
after the Morgan Affair had taken place, had been made a Mason in Champion 
Lodge, No. 146 (New York), steams, in citing his reasons for issuing his Inquiry Into 
the Nature and Tendency of Speculative Freemasonry, had the following to say: 


In the fall of 1819 I was received as a student in the Literary and Theological 
Seminary of Hamilton, N.Y. In my examination I was inquired of whether I was a 
Mason. I answered in the affirmative. I was then requested to dispense with Masonry 
while a member of that school. I replied that I had already made up my mind never to 
have anything more to do with Masonry. 


EXAMPLES OF RELIGIOUS OPPOSITION 



Just as at the present time we have some narrow and bigoted religious Protestant 
sects, so in the days under discussion preachers were not lacking who believed that 
Christianity's cause was promoted by assailing alleged evils. The seeds furnished by 
Morse and his kind— sincere and honest as they were in their beliefs— were transmitted 
to the outlying settlements of Pennsylvania and Western New York by itinerant 
preachers and circuit riders and found fertile soil. It was they who kept alive the 
distrust of all secret societies long after the political menace of such organization 
from abroad had faded into nothingness. The Roman Catholic opposition, such as has 
developed in a more pronounced manner since the Morgan Affair, was either 
negligible or non-existent. The Roman Catholics were not large in numbers or 
influence; where attention was directed toward them— as in Ohio by Henry Ward 
Beecher in the thirties and forties-they were classed with the enemies of 
Americanism. The charge was made— one that no person would advance today— that 
Freemasons were allied with Roman Catholics "to crush the liberty of the Republic." 
An able illustration of the blindness of popular prejudices and passion! (4) 


The "American Masonic Register and Ladies' and Gentlemen's Magazine" (New 
York), for January, 1821, carries this notice: 


The Western (Pennsylvania) Register says— "We are informed that at the last meeting 
of the Presbyterian Synod of Pittsburg, some of the clergy introduced a resolution to 
exclude Freemasons from the rights and benefits of the Church, except in case where 
they might confess their errors, and abjure their Masonic principles." 


In its issue of March, 1821, a full account is given. It is of value to the student as 
showing the sentiment against the Craft, for it is evident that it was prepared after 
careful deliberation. After a preliminary statement of some length, the committee 
drafting the report recommended that the following resolutions be adopted: 


1. Resolved, That Masonic lodges, especially as composed and conducted in various 
parts of our country, have had, and are calculated to have, a pernicious influence on 



morals and religion, and that attendance on them is unsuitable to the profession of the 
holy religion of our Lord Jesus Christ, Therefore— 


2. Resolved, That it is the duty of all ministers of the gospel, elders, parents, and 
professional Christians, to use their influence to prevent those under their care from 
entering these associations, and induce those who may have entered, to discontinue 
their attendance. 


3. The synod, deeply impressed with concern for the general interest of society, civil 
and religious; particularly with concern for some amiable men, who now stand 
connected with the aforesaid society, recommend them to take with earnestness the 
course of safety for themselves; and in the present crisis of the conflict of the 
kingdom of God with the kingdom of darkness, to show themselves on the Lord's 
side, and to perform zealously, the duties which their attitude in relation to the church 
of Christ, and to those societies, particularly recommend; so as not only to promote 
the cause of godliness generally, but also the eternal welfare of their brethren, with 
whom they may be connected, and upon whom they may exert a salutary influence. 


It should be pointed out, however, that the report was not adopted by the Synod; still 
it has its value herein as showing the marked and organized opposition to the Masonic 
Fraternity at that time in religious circles. The lodges of Pittsburg took cognizance of 
it, as shown by a lengthy article quoted by the American Masonic Register, from the 
Pittsburgh Gazette. 


The Tuscaloosa incident of 1826 previously mentioned herein relates to the action of 
Methodists at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, publicly resolving "that the cause of God, in 
their opinion, could not prosper while connected with Freemasonry." According to 
Charles McCarthy, the General Methodist Conference of Pennsylvania had taken 
action in 1823 forbidding its ministers from becoming Masons. 


The Masonic Mirror and Mechanic's Intelligencer (Boston, May 6, 1926) calls 
attention to the proscription of Masons by Methodists, yet points out that many of the 



New England Methodists are "zealous and good Masons." The issue for Oct. 14, 
1 826 — it should be remembered that the Morgan Affair was not mentioned in its 
columns until a month later— states: 


We learn from the Kentucky Gazette, that an inquisitorial bench has been erected by 
the South District Association of Baptists at Salt-River, Mercier county, in that state, 
for the trial of their minister for the "horrible crime" of being a FREEMASON ! 


As one reads the Craft literature of the period, he is further impressed with the fact 
that both subtle and marked opposition to the Fraternity existed. To illustrate: An 
address delivered June 24, 1818, to the brethren of Washington Lodge, No. 17, 
Hamilton, Ohio, by Bro. William Burke (printed in full in the "American Masonic 
Register" for July 21, 1821), has three columns addressed "To the Members of 
Religiouis Denominations" in which a defense of the Craft against one of the clerical 
aspersions is made. Other instances could be cited, increasing in number a approach 
the Morgan Affair, and, of course, appearing still more frequently after that 
occurrence. The point to be made is that anti-Masonic sentiment was strong for many 
years before the disappearance of Morgan. It was that sentiment which made it 
possible for shrewd political opportunists to further their own ends with such a simple 
and preposterous occurred as the Morgan Affair. 


NEW YORK GRAND LODGE POLITICS 


Another factor to be considered in the anti-Masonic sentiment of the pre-Morgan 
period is the political situation in the Grand Lodge of New York. The two factions 
struggling for supremacy at the time brought undue notoriety to the Craft in the state 
through their efforts to increase factional strength by increasing the number of lodges, 
and the membership of both old and new lodges among the supporting elements. To 
quote R. W. Bro. Charles W. Moore, Grand Secretary of Massachusetts, an active and 
outspoken Mason during the excitement of 1826-40, and who was editor from 1842 to 
1873 of the "Freemasons Monthly Magazine": 



Canvassers, either by appointment, or as volunteers, were active in all the western 
counties, and persons were urged to come into the Institution, who had no more right 
or claim to be there than they had to be in any other good place, or to associate with 
honorable men. They were brought in, forced in without the payment of any money, 
but on notes and due bills and when the time came for a settlement and a readjustment 
of the pending difficulties, and a reunion of the bodies, thousands of dollars rolled 
into the Grand Lodge in due bills, that had never been paid, and which there had 
never been any intention to pay. (5) 


This laxness was one of the causes of the 1826 difficulties and also had an influence 
in the unprecedented withdrawal of members from the Fraternity when the storm 
burst in full force. Bro. Moore supports the statement that the clergy took a 
dominating part in the excitement. On this subject, he said: 


The anti-Masonic excitement soon worked itself into all neighboring towns, broke up 
many of our lodges, spread dissension in the churches, and demoralized too many of 
our clergy, too many (God knows, too many) of whom, trampling their obligations 
under their feet, joined our enemies, and, in many instances, did us more harm than 
all the opposition arrayed against us. 


NOTES 

(1) From a MS. in the archives of the Grand Lodge of Maryland. 

(2) The assertion that Freemasonry was involved in the tragic development of the 
French Revolution is shown to be unfounded when it is recalled that the Jacobins 
suppressed all Masonic lodges. It was not until Napoleon assumed authority that the 
Freemasons were permitted to assemble again. 

(3) Mention should be made at this point of the Act of Parliament, July 12 1799, "for 
the more effectual Suppression of Societies established for Seditious and Treasonable 
Purposes " etc. The situation in France, and in Ireland, was specifically mentioned 
therein. Enemies of Freemasonry mentioned the Act, even though Masonic lodges 
were exempted from its provisions. (See Gould, History of Freemasonry, Vol. II, 
pages 486-88; also Acts of Parliament Referring to Freemasonry London, 1847 and 
1817.) 



(4) "In view of the well-known attitude of the Catholic Church in regard to Masonry, 
it is really remarkable how little Catholics in the United states seemed to mix in this 
fierce strife. Ann Royall, the most widely known woman of her day and country 
(1769-1854)-traveler, author, editor and lecturer-said they 'minded their business' and 
she respected them accordingly. But Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists fell 
greatly under her displeasure because of their hostility toward Masonry." Life and 
Times of Ann Royall, by Sarah Harvey Porter, M. A., 1909, page 107 

(5) Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 1871, page 417. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


For the history of anti-Masonry in the Colonies, the reader is referred to Julius F. 
Sachse's Benjamin Franklin as a Freemason (Philadelphia, 1906); Sachse and 
Barratt's Freemasonry in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1908), and Melvin M. Johnson's 
Beginnings of Freemasonry in America (New York, 1924). 


Extensive histories of the United States cover the French Revolution insofar as it 
affected our country during Washington's and Adams' administrations. The 
"Gentleman's Magazine," London, June, 1794, contains an attack on Freemasonry, to 
which answer is made in "The Masonic Essayist," part two of Masonic Miscellanies 
in Poetry and Prose, by Stephen Jones, London, 1811. Freemasonry and the French 
Revolution is a subject by itself. New England and the Bavarian Illuminati, by 
Vernon Stauffer, Ph. D., New York, 1918, treates of the Illuminati phases; this is No. 
1, Vol. LXXXII of "Studies in History, Economics and Public Law," published by the 
Columbia University Press. The Robison and Barruel books have been listed by their 
full titles in this article. 


The addresses of Rev. Thaddeus Harris, Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of 
Massachusetts are available in Discourses on Public Occasions (Charlestown, 1801, 
and Philadelphia, 1819; also London, 1847-50). 



Among the Masonic periodicals of the period which have been consulted are "The 
Masonic Miscellany and Ladies' Literary Magazine," Lexington, Kentucky, 1822; 
"The American Masonic Register and Ladies' and Gentlemen's Magazine," New 
York, 1821 et seq., "The Masonic Casket," Enfield, New Hampshire, 1823-25; the 
"American Masonick Record and Albany Saturday Magazine," Albany, New York, 
1827-32; the "Masonic Mirror and Mechanics' Intelligencer," Boston, 1824-27, and 
others. 


The Proceedings of various American Grand Lodges have contributed material of 
value, notably those of Massachusetts, 1871. Material was also gleaned from 
numerous pamphlets and brochures published between 1827 and 1840; these will be 
cited in the articles in later bibliographical notes. 


— o — 


The Widow of Naphtali 


An Allegorical Play in One Act 


By BRO. LEON EDWARD JOSEPH, New York 


CAST OF CHARACTERS 


THE WIDOW 
AN OVERSEER 


A GIRL 



A BOY 


THREE CRAFTSMEN 
THREE RUFFIANS 

SCENE— The home of an architect on Mount Ophel in Jerusalem. 
TIME— The eleventh year of the reign of King Solomon. 

THE SETTING 


The scenery for this play can be made as elaborate as the limit of expenditures and 
time will allow, or it can be played with the most simple equipment imaginable or 
without any equipment whatsoever, even without a stage possibly in one end of a 
room with nothing but a blank wall in back. The imagination of the audience can be 
allowed to visualize the setting. 


If scenery is available, either already on hand or to be built to order, it can be played 
either as an interior or an exterior, because in a tropical country most of the activities 
of life are outdoors. The stove was always outside of the house. 


If an interior is decided upon there should be a large door of post and lintel 
construction and one or two large window openings. As this house was either built 
hastily for temporary use or was found by the architect without the necessity of 
building a new house, it need not be elaborate nor have the refinements that an 
architect would put into the house that he would have built for himself. The walls 
were most likely of dried mud or unbumt brick with the post and lintels of the doors 
and windows of single stones of limestone or granite in contrasting color to the walls. 
They are decorated with designs and symbols done in outline in maroon and black. 
There should be one other door on either side backed to match the interior. A mastaba 
(a low platform about two feet high and about three feet wide used as table, seats and 



bed, made of dried mud brick) runs around two walls of the room. Very little other 
furniture is needed, possibly one chair of Middle-Kingdom Egyptian pattern, an 
ashlar about a Cubic cube on which there is a large vase for holding the family water 
supply. If this is built to order it should have a semi- spherical bottom fitting into a 
socket or depression in the ashlar and should be about three feet high. It should be 
painted a yellowish maroon with black decorations. The floor can be covered with a 
plain canvas to match the walls on which are strewn a few antique Turkish rugs. 
Smaller and lighter rugs are strewn upon the mastaba with a few animal skins which 
should be in their natural shapes and untrimmed. They can be either goat, lion, tiger, 
camel, sheep or canine, but bear skins would not be appropriate. 


The trestle board should be made of a cubical box to represent an ashlar as large as 
possible without crowding, up to four foot on edge. It is of granite, perfectly smooth 
on the top, set at a diagonal and raised at the back (to give it a slant of 10 to 15 
degrees) by resting on a cut stone. Through the door and windows should be seen a 
bright blue cloudless sky above low conical hills. The vegetation is grass and low 
bushes with a few olive and fig trees, in the foreground of which can be placed the 
conical outdoor stove of field stones and a ground row of small cut stones to break the 
line of the drop. 


If an exterior is determined upon it is just the reverse of the above setting, the walls 
being the same on the outside as on the inside, but should have a weather-beaten 
appearance. A similar mastaba would be on the outside beneath the window and 
before an extension of the wall on one side which runs off on an angle from the 
house. This wall is about a foot lower than the flat roof of the house and goes down in 
steps until it is as low as the mastaba. It is used to climb to the roof on which there is 
an Egyptian couch covered with an awning of a light Turkish rug or a hand-colored 
striped canvas, supported on undressed but thoroughly dried-out cedar sticks and 
guyed with heavy braided colored rope. The trestle board should be placed on the side 
opposite the door beneath the fig tree, on the other side near the door a small orange 
tree in bloom and with hanging fruit to give color. Further down stage to the extreme 
side the stone stove, which should show usage by being besooted. There should be 
quite a few hand-made hammered brass articles about, both inside and outside, and 
through the door and windows you should see the room as described for the interior. 

It must look as if people of taste and refinement lived there, although it is only a 



temporary structure or one that was originally built for poorer people. The present 
occupants have been there seven years and so it would be arranged for comfort and 
utility. It is plain this must not give the idea of poverty. Ewers, vases, etc. should be 
reproductions of the finest masterpieces of the period obeying the laws of dynamic 
symmetry. 


THE WIDOW OF NAPHTALI 


[At the rise of the curtain there is no one on the stage, it is well lighted with a strong 
tropical sunlight of mid-forenoon. 


A girl's voice is heard in the distance keeping time to her step as she walks. She is 
singing in happy tones to herself, though her words are indistinguishable. The rhythm 
must be vital and joyous, it becomes louder as she approaches until she enters, 
allowing her song to die out without an abrupt ending as she looks around. 


She should be a typical Oriental beauty about 1 7 or 1 8 years old with a slight figure 
not over-developed and masses of long black hair. She is dressed in flowing robes of 
bright colored linen (unstarched), she wears the sandals, necklace, bracelets and 
anklets of the period. On her shoulder she carries a water jug of perceptible weight. 


When she has seen that there is no one about she takes the water jug from her 
shoulder, starts to empty its contents into the large vase, but looking in sees that it is 
not empty and therefore does not pour the water in but places her jug at one side in 
the shadow. She walks over to the trestle board, picks up a man's coat that was lying 
across it, unfolds it before her in admiration, puts the sleeves around her while she 
embraces the rest of the coat. While in this position there is a sound outside of 
somebody having thrown or kicked a pebble that bounces around. She is hurriedly 
putting the coat back in its place and is confused, not knowing whether or not she has 
been seen when the boy enters. Her back is towards him. 



The boy is about eleven years old, bright looking, full of fun, a typical gamin. He is 
dressed in a light tunic which falls to his hips and is girded by a rope. He is 
bareheaded but wears sandals. He has been running and is out of breath. He has not 
seen the business with the coat and as her back is to him he mistakes the girl for the 
widow.] 


Boy: I have been to the Temple grounds. But I— oh, I thought you were the— I— 

GIRL: No. She is not here. 

Boy: She said she'd be here when I got back. Where is she? 

GIRL: I don't know. I just came. There was no one here. 

Boy: Are you her daughter? 

GIRL: No. Her son is her only child [glancing at coat]. 

Boy: He's no child, he's a big man. The most important man in Jerusalem. Why, he's 
next important to King Solomon and King Hiram themselves. 

GIRL: Yes I know. He is wonderful and in spite of all the honors bestowed upon him 
he never forgets his mobher. 

Boy: I hope I'll be a great architect when I grow up. I'll plan big buildings and see that 
they are put up right with each stone in its proper place. Then I'll put beautiful 
paintings and statues all over them. Then the King will honor me and have me sit by 
his right hand. 

GIRL: And will you always remember your mother when you become great ? 

Boy: I cannot remember my mother now. I was so little when she died. 

GIRL: You poor boy. 

Boy: I won't always be poor. 

GIRL: No, of course not. 



Boy: No. I asked the architect if he would make me an apprentice as soon as I am old 
enough. I have been helping his mother, running errands and things, carrying water. I 
must run, get some now. 

GIRL: Never mind, I just brought some fresh water with me from the spring. 

Boy: Did you? 

GIRL: And did the architect say he would make you an apprentice ? 

Boy: Oh, yes, and not only that, he promised to teach me how to draw and make 
plans. 

GIRL: I didn't know that apprentices had to know how to draw. 

Boy: Oh, they don't. But I'm going to work hard so that when I become a man I can 
be a Fellowcraft and after that I'll become a Master and I'll travel all over the world 
where buildings are being erected and earn master mason's wages, like the men do 
who are building the Temple. I wonder what I can do now for the widow? I brought 
enough firewood yesterday for a week, you got the water [resentfully] I couldn't 
find— no one knew— well I wasn't able to get what I was sent for. Maybe they won't 
want me around here anymore, they'll get another Boy. I think I'll go back and try 
again. [Starts to go] 

GIRL: Could I help you? 

Boy [disdainfully]: No. You can't run near as fast as I can. But if you're going to stay 
here— 


GIRL: Yes, I'll stay here if you want to leave a message with me for the widow. 
Boy: How did you know? 

GIRL: Know what? 

Boy: Oh, nothing. But will you wait here with a message? 

GIRL: Of course I will. What is it? 


Boy: The message is— the message is— is— is— well the message is that there is no 
message— that is— er— no message yet but I — am going back and I'll keep on looking 



till I find— till I find — till I have a message. [Starts to go again and is almost off stage 
when he is stopped by being brought face to face with the widow entering] 


The widow is a woman between 50 and 70 years old. Her white hair and wrinkles add 
character and beauty to her face. She is the ideal mother, combining all the rest in 
reality and our dreams. She must not be made a lifeless symbol but must be vivid and 
human. She is dressed in the simple robes of the day but they must be of a quality and 
arrangement as to give distinction and can be embellished with a jewelled girdle with 
pendants. 


WIDOW [ To the Boy ; she does not see the GIRL at first]: Did you see him? Why 
did he stay away? 

Boy: I didn't see him. 

WIDOW : What word have you? 

Boy: I couldn't find anyone who had seen him since high twelve yesterday. 

WIDOW: Did you ask around the Temple? 

Boy: They wouldn't let me go inside but I asked everyone who came in or went out. 
WIDOW : And no one— 

Boy: No, but I'll go back and try again. I'll go wherever you tell me. 

GIRL: What is the matter? [coming forward] 

WIDOW : Hiram was not home at all last night. 

GIRL: But he sent you word? 

WIDOW: No, I did not hear from him. It is such an unusual thing for him to do that I 
became worried. He had not been away from me a single night during all the years 
since his father passed away. So this morning I sent the Boy to the Temple grounds 
and you just heard his answer. Perhaps you saw— no, no, I wrong so good a son to 
harbor such a thought for a moment. 



GIRL: I have not seen him. 


Boy: It's funny that nobody has seen him. 

GIRL: I had expected to see him last night. We were going to walk in the olive groves 
between sunset and the first star. But 1 did not see him, that is why I came here this 
morning. On the way back from Siloam spring, telling myself that I just came here to 
bring you some fresh water, but I really came to hear you speak of him. I did bring 
the water, won't you drink some and rest? This is nice and cool and fresher than what 
the water carriers bring, which is always musty. 

Boy: The water that I bring is fresh. 

WIDOW [taking the cup] : Hiram always saw to it that I had good water. He had 
always tried to think of me no matter how his mind was filled with worries of his 
work. When our man servant took sick last week he could get no one but this Boy to 
help me. But he is bright and willing and this is the first errand I have sent him on that 
he has not accomplished. 

Boy: I'll go back, and I'll run all the way. 

WIDOW: Yes, do. I have been to the top of the hill myself from which I can watch 
the road. I'll go back and wait there. 

GIRL: I'll go with you. 

FIRST RUFFIAN: Hello [outside] Hello, anyone here? [entering] 


The three ruffians are heavy-set, coarse-looking men with dishevelled hair and 
beards. Their coarse garments are torn and begrimed. Their voices are loud and harsh 
with a false bravado tinged with fear, which is also seen in their actions. 


SECOND RUFFIAN [entering with THIRD RUFFIAN]: Sh— there are people here. 
FIRST RUFFIAN: Can we rest a while? 

Boy: What do you want to rest for so early in the day? 



FIRST RUFFIAN: We've been traveling all night and I'm tired. 

SECOND RUFFIAN- We will he on our way as soon as we have rested. 

THIRD RUFFIAN: You cannot refuse hospitality to weary travelers. We wouldn't 
hurt anybody. 

WIDOW: Will you have a drink of cool water? [Fills cup] 

FIRST RUFFIAN: Yes, we are thirsty. [Takes cup and drinks] 

Boy [to GIRL] : I don't believe they've traveled all night, they have no beast of burden 
or even a tent cloth with them. 

GIRL [to Boy]: They are just like the workmen who are building the Temple. 

Boy: And maybe they are men from Tyre. 

SECOND RUFFIAN: Give me a drink, too. 

FIRST RUFFIAN: Though it is fresh water it burns my tongue. 

[SECOND RUFFIAN gives cup to THIRD RUFFIAN] 

Boy: That water is cold. 

SECOND RUFFIAN: It burns my chest. 

THIRD RUFFIAN: It burns my stomach. 

WIDOW: The water came from the spring this morning. 

FIRST RUFFIAN: Who lives here? 

GIRL: A widow and her son. 

SECOND RUFFIAN: I suppose the man of the house will be gone all day. 

THIRD RUFFIAN: We can have a good sleep and be gone before he comes back. 
GIRL: Do you happen to be men of Tyre? 


FIRST RUFFIAN: What of it? 



GIRL: The master of the house is from Tyre. You must have heard of him. The King 
of Tyre brought him to Jerusalem to design and superintend the building of the 
Temple. 

FIRST RUFFIAN: He lives here? 

WIDOW: Yes. This is the trestle board on which he marks out his plans. 

Boy: He's teaching me to become a draftsman. 

FIRST RUFFIAN: Let's see his trestle board. 

SECOND RUFFIAN: What s on it? 

THIRD RUFFIAN: Let me see. 

WIDOW: It's the same one his father used before him. 

FIRST RUFFIAN: Maybe this is what we are seeking. Have you found it? 

THIRD RUFFIAN: There is nothing on it that looks like Temple plans or master 
mason's work. 

Boy: That is a lesson he gave me to study. How to erect a perpendicular. 

GIRL: His mother is worried because he did not come home last night. Maybe you 
know him and have seen him. 

WIDOW : Do you know him ? 

FIRST RUFFIAN: Yes, we know him. That is we'd know him if we were to see him. 

WIDOW : Have you seen him yesterday or today? I feel as though something had 
happened to him. He would not leave me in this doubt to worry if he were alive. 

Boy: Maybe these men will go to the Temple with me. They can get inside because 
they are workmen. Will you? 

FIRST RUFFIAN: No we— we mustn't go there. 

SECOND RUFFIAN: We couldn't get in. 

THIRD RUFFIAN: We'd better stay here. 



GIRL: Can't you see that your presence here is annoying to the widow? You will find 
an inn on the other side of the hill. 

WIDOW: We must not send strangers away. Maybe you have seen him and forgotten 
it. 

FIRST RUFFIAN: Seen him? 

WIDOW: Possibly you may have spoken to him; passed the time of day, or asked him 
some question. 

FIRST RUFFIAN: Let me see, I think I heard someone say that the architect had to 
go to the seaport. He may have to stay there several days. 

SECOND RUFFIAN: Or even a week. 

THIRD RUFFIAN: Or a month. 

FIRST RUFFIAN: If you go round asking about him, people might think he was 
irregular in his habits and it would give him a bad name. 

WIDOW : I wouldn't do anything that would cast reflections on him. 

FIRST RUFFIAN: Of course not. You stay here quietly and wait for him. 

SECOND RUFFIAN: Nor send anyone. 

THIRD RUFFIAN: We'll go and look ourselves for you. 

FIRST RUFFIAN: Yes, we'll go right away. You stay here so that we know where to 
bring word to. 

SECOND RUFFIAN: Come, let's go. [RUFFIANS start towards the door] 

WIDOW : God be with you. 

[Exit RUFFIANS] 

WIDOW : I am glad they have gone. 

GIRL: But you offered them your hospitality. 

WIDOW: One must abide by the customs. 



Boy [looking off]: They slink along as if they were afraid of being seen. 


WIDOW : I seem to feel they knew something about my son. I cannot understand 
what could have kept him away from home all last night. 

Boy: Lots of men stay away from home at night, even some married ones. 

WIDOW: Not men like my son. He would only stay away if he could not come home. 
I feel that some catastrophe has overtaken him. 

Boy: If he had been hurt about the Temple grounds everybody would have heard of it, 
for all the workmen love him. 

WIDOW : That is where we will most likely get news first, so hurry back to the 
Temple and see what you can find out. 

Boy: I'll ask everyone I see. [Exit] 

GIRL: Do not think that I am in any way to be blamed. 

WIDOW: I don't. He always told me when he went to see you. Sometimes I was 
jealous of this new love of his, though I knew that sometime there must be someone 
with whom I must share his love. 

GIRL: You shall always be with us. I could not love him as I do if he were capable of 
leaving you alone. 

WIDOW: The Arabs have a saying that No Tent is Ever Made Large Enough to Hold 
a Wife and a Mother. Perhaps the Lord kept him away last night so I would grow 
accustomed to being alone. 

GIRL: There will be no need of that. Even if we lived apart you would know where 
he was. 

WIDOW: We can only wait and worry. Though to everyone else he is a great man to 
me he is still my little Boy. It is just the same as when he was a child. I cannot feel 
that he is safe when he is out of my sight. 

GIRL: What can we do? 

WIDOW: Wait! Wait! All that a woman can do is to wait and hope. 



GIRL: What would a man do? What would your son do? 

WIDOW: He would search and search. But we cannot look in the most likely place, 
the Temple. 

GIRL: And not finding, what would he do then? 

WIDOW : He would pray. 

GIRL: Then let us pray. 

WIDOW: I have prayed to the Lord all night for him to bring back my son to me. 

GIRL: Let us pray together. Let us pray for news of him. [They kneel] 

WIDOW: Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto me. Hide not thy face 
from me in the day when I am in trouble. Incline Thine ear unto me; in the day when I 
call answer me speedily. My heart is smitten and withered like grass. I watch and am 
as a sparrow alone on the housetop. O Lord send me tidings of my son. 

GIRL: Amen. 

WIDOW: The workmen in the Temple will miss him [rising]. Then they will all 
search for him. 

GIRL [rising]: Then they will find him. 

WIDOW : They will not rest until they find him, whether he is living or— 

GIRL: Don't! Don't! I hear someone coming now. It is the Boy. 

WIDOW: He could not have reached the Temple and returned in so short a time. 
GIRL: Still he may have news. 

Boy [entering]: I saw three fellowcrafts coming from the Temple here. They were 
coming in this direction so I came on ahead. 

WIDOW: Go meet them and ask them to come here. 

Boy: They are almost here now. 

GIRL: I am sure they will bring us news. 



[Enter THREE FELLOWCRAFTS] 


[The FELLOWCRAFTS are dressed similar to the ruffians, but the neat appearance 
of their attire, and their upright, manly bearing makes a striking contrast. They are 
blunt, but wholesome; sincere, but worried. Besides the clothes of the period they 
wear leather aprons in the established manner. They are out of breath from running 
and hill climbing.] 

FIRST FELLOWCRAFT : Is this the Architect's house? 

GIRL: Yes. 

WIDOW: You are welcome. 

SECOND FELLOWCRAFT: Is he home? 

WIDOW: No. 

THIRD FELLOWCRAFT: Where is he? 

WIDOW : I do not know. 

FIRST FELLOWCRAFT: But you are his mother, are you not ? 

WIDOW: Yes, but my son did not come home last night. 

SECOND FELLOWCRAFT: Not been home all night? 

WIDOW: No, I have not seen him since he kissed me on the brow and went away 
yester morn. 

THIRD FELLOWCRAFT: Then I fear some harm must have befallen him. For 
everyone knows he is not a man to neglect his work, or his mother. 

WIDOW: Has he not been at the Temple? 

FIRST FELLOWCRAFT: We discovered at noon today that there was no work laid 
out for us on the trestle board, and upon inquiry we learned that no one had seen him, 
in or about the Temple, since High Twelve yesterday. 



SECOND FELLOWCRAFT: We are one of four parties that were sent in search of 
him. 

THIRD FELLOWCRAFT: We thought we might find him at home. If perchance he 
had been taken sick. 

WIDOW: Now I know that some calamity must have befallen him. 

GIRL: Where can he be? 

FIRST FELLOWCRAFT: If he is alive we will find him. 

SECOND FELLOWCRAFT: But we must go back and report. 

THIRD FELLOWCRAFT: Perhaps one of the other searching parties have already 
found him. 

Boy: May I go along? 

FIRST FELLOWCRAFT: No, you stay here and comfort the widow. 

GIRL: I will try and comfort her. 

WIDOW : What solace can anyone give to a widow if she has lost her only son? 
SECOND FELLOWCRAFT: There is always hope. [Exit] 

THIRD FELLOWCRAFT: If there are any tidings word will be sent to you. [Exit] 
FIRST FELLOWCRAFT: God bless and take care of you. [Exit] 

WIDOW: He may need me. 

GIRL: We would not know where to find him. The workmen will surely find him. 
We must stay here and wait until they send news of him. 

Boy: Let me go. 

WIDOW: No, I would sooner have you stay with me. You are just the age my son 
was when I became a widow. 

Boy: Is there anything that I can do that he would have done ? 



WIDOW: No, but today seems to be the end of everything. You are so much like he 
was when he was of the are that you are, that I would like to believe that you were he, 
and that the past can be lived over again. 

GIRL: You can live in the past, but I have no future, if he is dead. Boy: I won't have 
anyone to teach me. 

WIDOW: Oh, he must come back to me. [Enter Overseer] 

[The OVERSEER is a man of character, forceful, but quiet, dignified, slow but sure 
in his gestures and actions. He is dressed similar to the workmen, but in better 
materials.] 

GIRL: You bring news? 

OVERSEER: I have been sent— 

WIDOW : Oh, do not tell me your news— I can see by your face that there is no hope. 
OVERSEER: You would have me go without delivering my message? 

WIDOW: No, I suppose I must bear hearing it. 

OVERSEER: Be brave. 

WIDOW: Then it is- 
OVERSEER: Yes. Your son is dead. 

WIDOW: Dead ! 

OVERSEER: Dead to this life, but he will live forever in the minds of men in all parts 
of the earth, even in lands undiscovered. You can well be proud of your worthy son; 
he died in the preservation of his honor. 

WIDOW: My son. [She sobbingly sinks to her knees, pressing his coat to her cheek.] 

The GIRL starts toward her to comfort her, the Boy picks up the tools about the 
ashlar and puts them in order.] 


CURTAIN 



o 


Fascism and Masonry 


IN the May number of Alpina, the organ of the Grand Lodge of Switzerland, the 
following article appears the information in which is stated to have been taken from 
the Corriere degli Italiani. What seems rather extraordinary is that those living so near 
in point of distance to the scene of the events referred to should have so much 
difficulty in getting at the facts. The following is a translation from the French of the 
article: 


Here is an account of the anti-Masonic action in Italy taken by a correspondent from 
the Corriere degli Italiani. 


Everyone knows that in the latter part of September and the beginning of October, 
1925, a series of acts of brigandage and crime were committed by fascist units. The 
victims were naturally Freemasons, who suffered in their persons and property, if not 
in life itself. 


It is difficult to discover so far what is happening exactly. But if the government is 
able to prevent newspapers being published they are not able to prevent the walls 
from crying out, nor the truth to pierce the darkness. The first days of October have 
been a veritable Saint Bartholomew's Eve at Florence. The bastinado has reigned 
supreme accompanied by every kind of cruelty. 


The fascist journal, the Idea Nazionale, published in Rome, came out with an article 
on Sept. 25 accusing Freemasonry of seeking to impede and injure the work of 
Mussolini, and reproduced an alleged Masonic circular in which Italian Masons 



appealed for international intervention to combat fascism and to accelerate the 
depreciation of the lira. 


Bro. Professor Ettore Ferrari, Secretary of the Supreme Council, declares that this 
circular is a malodorous and insensate forgery. The Idea Nazionale refuses to believe 
this denial and refuses also to submit the question of the authenticity of this document 
to a jury. On the contrary it continues to publish accusation on accusation. 


On Sept. 25 was published the Orders of the Florentine Fascist organization against 
Freemasonry, from which the following is an extract: "From today we ought to give 
no truce either to Masons or to Masonry. The destruction of lodges is a ridiculous 
measure. We ought to strike them in their persons, their property, their interests 
without respect to anyone. The pressure of our holy violence should permit them to 
give no sign of life . . . ." 


This manifesto is signed by the "Directory of the Florentine Fascio." The italics are in 
the original. 


From words to acts is but a step, and it was quickly taken. On the night of Friday, 
Sept. 25, Saturday, Sept. 26, the fascists began to hunt down the Freemasons. Bro. 
Berti, Professor of Medicine, and Bro. Biondi, manufacturer— as many others— were 
killed with clubs in the open streets. During the day of Sept. 26 the bastinado 
continued on a grand scale as likewise on the following days. 


On Oct. 3 the Fascist Directory published another manifesto, of which the following 
passages are quoted: 


"The war against Freemasonry continues with increasing intensity. We have started 
on the right course and our first action, insignificant as it has been, might seem to 
have routed the enemy. Folly ! The enemy is more ready, more warlike, than at the 



beginning. The struggle against Masonry is desperate, and one object alone 
constitutes our program. Freemasonry must be destroyed and Freemasons must have 
no civil rights in Italy. 


"To gain this end all means are justified, from the club to the revolver, from breaking 
windows to the purifying flames. 


"To sum up, the Masons should be allowed no rest. They must be kept under constant 
surveillance, personally, in their correspondence and their mode of life. Anyone who 
belongs to the sect must be erased from the list of those with whom it is proper to 
have any communication. All their actions, every gesture, should be picked up. Their 
life must be made impossible. If they are employed in the public service they must be 
discharged at once. If employed in a commercial firm their employers must discharge 
them under penalty of having their business destroyed. Those who are professional 
men must be Boycotted. To this end the action continues ..." 


It is needless to say that with such encouragement the action has continued, and 
probably the villainies and deeds of violence committed will never all be known. 


When it is remembered that the Italy of today owes its birth to Freemasonry it is 
impossible to avoid the thought that fascism would have attained its object in a more 
suitable and stable fashion if it had respected the lodges— centers of liberty, and of 
free thought. 


It makes one ask if it is appropriate to convene— as is actually being done— an 
International Congress on Moral Education at Rome ! What education and what kind 
of morals do fascist surroundings teach ? 


LATER DEVELOPMENTS 



In the German Masonic periodical Die Leuchte for June the following appears among 
general news items: 


The worst that might have been expected (in Italy) has not come to pass. It appears 
that the Government and Freemasonry have arrived at a modus vivendi. This is 
confirmed by the withdrawal of Farinacci. The Grand Orient of Italy has returned to 
its quarters in the Palazzo Giustiniani, and is to be allowed time to put in order its 
archives and with all its furniture to remove to new quarters. As is known, the 
Government has decided to use the present buildings of the Grand Orient as an 
extension of the Senate House. The property of the lodges all over the country that 
was seized is also to be returned to its owners. The Grand Orient remains 
permanently in existence but the lodges will not begin to work until they have 
adjusted themselves to the new regulations covering the Society. The worst of these is 
the requirement to return a list of their members, and this also is to apply to lodges 
working under the Grand Orient of Italy in other countries. 


The Rivista Massonica, which had not been published for five months, appeared once 
more in April. It is, of course, restricted from making any criticism in regard to the 
arrest of members of the Order, and particularly in regard to General Capello. It is 
merely mentioned that he is awaiting his trial in good spirits. 


Whether it was the King who prevented the complete destruction of the organization, 
or whether it was the influence of American money it is not possible to say. But it is 
certain that a former Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite, of the Fera Group, Bro. 
Raoul Palermi, was in Washington at the same time as the Italian Debt Commission, 
and according to the American journals had much to do with the speedy and 
successful conclusion of the negotiations. 


A LETTER FROM ITALY 



To this article we append a letter from the Editor of the Rivista Massonica, who 
wishes to correct two statements made by the author of the article that appeared on 
page 97 in the April number of THE BUILDER: 


I receive regularly in exchange of my Rivista Massonica your magazine, THE 
BUILDER, official organ of the National Society of Masonic Research. 


In the number that reached me lately (April, 1926) I have read a report on the 
"Condition of Masonry in Italy," by an American citizen, Past Master of an American 
lodge. 


In my capacity as Editor of the Rivista Massonira and being sure of the sentiments of 
the Masons receiving it, I thank not only the author of that report, but also, and more 
so, the Editor of THE BUILDER, which, by publishing it, has opportunely made 
known to American Masons, at least in part, something of the present conditions of 
the Order in Italy. We are glad that the Masonic Press of America and the American 
brethren are following the misfortunes of Italian Masonry with fraternal and 
affectionate sympathy. 


But without going into a particular examination of this account I feel it indispensable 
to rectify two affirmations in it, substantially erroneous, owing doubtless to imperfect 
knowledge of the present state of things. Our good brother, the author of the report, 
affirms that after the promulgation of the Law on Secret Societies, the Grand Master 
dissolved the Order by a communication to the Press, so that the Grand Orient in Italy 
is represented only by the Grand Master Domizio Torrigiani. It is not so. The 
communication, or better the Decree of which we speak, dated the 22nd of 
November, 1925, establishes in the first paragraph that: "All the Masonic Lodges and 
all the Masonic aggregates of any kind, obeying the Grand Orient of Italy, are 
dissolved, and cease to exist," and in the second paragraph: "That the Grand Orient of 
Italy remains to continue the life of the Masonic Order and will conform itself to all 
requirements of the Law on Associations. 



Then not only to the Grand Master, but to him and the Grand Orient together, will 
remain the continuation and representation of the Order. 


But, with a decree under the same date, communicated only to a few brethren, for 
besides the lodges, all Masonic organizations were dissolved, and also the Committee 
of the Grand Orient, the Government and Council of the Order, it was declared that 
the Grand Orient was represented by an Executive Committee composed of the 
Honorary Grand Master, Prof. Ettore Ferrari, the effective Grand Master, Adv. 
Domizio Torrigiani, by the Assistant Grand Master, Prof. Giuseppe Meoni, and by 
five members, appointed with the same decree, two of which are residents in Rome 
and three in different parts of Italy. 


This Executive Committee will provide as soon as possible for the reconstitution of 
the dissolved lodges, and of the necessary organs, for the regular functioning of the 
Order. 


Also a second rectification is necessary, though much less important. The Rivista 
Massonica, which was begun 55 years ago, publishes the acts of the Grand Orient, but 
it has not the character of an official organ, it is published only under my direction 
and personal responsibility. 


I should be very much obliged to you if you will kindly accept and reproduce entirely 
in the columns of the well-known and authoritative magazine, THE BUILDER, this 
letter in order that the American Masonic world may have precise knowledge of the 
body in which at present and temporarily is invested the representation of the Order in 
Italy. 


With fraternal salutations, I have the honor to remain, Yours faithfully, 


Ulisse Bacci. 



It would thus appear that the pressure of the persecution of Italian Masonry has been 
somewhat relieved. Whether this is to be permanent or is merely a lull in the storm 
remains to be seen. The requirement that the membership roll must be submitted to 
the government might easily prove in the event to be a sinister one, should the fascist 
attack be renewed. We, however, sincerely hope that this may not be the case. Italian 
Masons have shown in every possible way their disposition to submit to the law of 
their country, and this ought to count for something even with their enemies. 


Bro. Sir Alfred Robbins, Chairman of the Board of General Purposes of the United 
Grand Lodge of England, who, as our readers will recall, has been a contributor to 
THE BUILDER, analyzed the situation in an article published recently in the 
Christian Science Monitor, an article well worth reading. He quotes a statement of the 
Dictator Mussolini which was debated in the Italian Senate on the bill against secret 
societies to the effect that the suppression of Masonry was one of the original aims of 
fascism, and not merely an opportunist political move. The statement, of course, need 
not be taken at its face value. But he made the further illuminating remark that 80 per 
cent of Italian Masons belong to the professional classes and that very few belonged 
either to the upper circles of society, the capitalists or the working classes, and from 
that he argued that Masonry had as its primary object the advancement of its 
members' own careers. In itself it does not seem to be a crime, nor prejudicial to the 
state, that professional men should seek to advance their own interests. As Bro. 
Robbins says, "the logic is far to seek," and adds, 


"It is of value to know that the true reason for the assault upon Italian Freemasons is 
simply that they belong to the middle class. Since one of England's greatest statesmen 
with sarcastic solemnity protested against being charged with the atrocious crime of 
being a young man there has been nothing in high politics quite to equal this." 


The conclusion would seem to be that the middle classes have less influence than the 
proletariat because of their relative inferiority in numbers, and less power than the 
capitalists and aristocracy because of their relative poverty, and therefore there is no 
need to consider them. Yet the middle class is the intellectual backbone of every 



civilized nation and discrimination against it must inevitably react against a nation's 
prosperity. 


— o — 


The Rite of Resurrection 


By Bro. R. J. NEWTON, New Mexico 


AT the next meeting of your lodge when a certain degree is conferred ask as many as 
you can of the brethren present just what it means, or symbolizes? Whom does the 
candidate represent? Is there anything hidden which they do not grasp or understand? 
You must be prepared for disappointment in your search for information for you will 
find that many, and even the most regular attendants and participants in the work of 
this degree, will display a lamentable lack of any knowledge about it except that 
given by the words of the ritual. 


Certain writers claim, and probably with some considerable degree of truth, that this 
rite was practiced by primitive peoples in prehistoric times. They say that while men 
were still living in family groups, before the development of the tribe, when one man 
was hunter, fisher, provider, husband and protector for a group of females and their 
children, he drove away or killed the boys of the group as they developed into young 
manhood and perhaps challenged him for the favor of his younger females. Later 
when families gathered together into tribes for mutual protection the heads of the 
family groups, faced by the necessity of keeping the younger men with them as 
fighters and hunters, to save their pride, or their "face", as the Chinese say, and to 
save themselves the admission that they now needed and gladly accepted the help of 
the youngsters, whom formerly they had driven from them, developed a ritualistic 
play or ceremony in which the boys were figuratively slain and then revived, or 
resurrected under an entirely new name and identity, and enlisted in the tribal group. 



It is claimed that this custom has come down through thousands of years and is 
practiced by savage tribes today. Certain it is that most of them have some forms and 
ceremonies to fittingly celebrate the coming of age of their youths and recognition of 
their assuming the duties of manhood. So it is reasonable to assume that we have 
adapted or adopted this practice in the development of Freemasonry in its present day 
form. 


The attainment of the Master's degree by an operative Mason was similar to the 
attainment of manhood and the recognition of proficiency in the Craft might well be 
celebrated by a ceremony similar to that performed when a young man attained his 
majority. 


Speculative Masons claim for this ceremony a deeper and a spiritual meaning. To 
them it typifies the beginning of a new life. The old man with his sins of omission and 
commission has died. The new man is risen, his soul purged from all dross, ready for 
combat against the forces of evil and to battle for the right. If all of our candidates 
could get this vision of the rite, the world would be changed in a short time. 


Again, it is claimed that the ceremony typifies the death and the resurrection of the 
human soul with its promise of immortality to all. Or the passing of the Saviour down 
into the "Valley of the Shadow" and His triumphant return to light and life. This is a 
beautiful thought and one upon which a writer could dwell at great length. The minds 
of the candidate should be turned in these channels, for meditation thereon will be 
good for the soul. 


But I wish to turn your thoughts to another view of this ceremony and connect it up 
with the First Degree and the great lesson of charity and brotherhood therein. When 
next you gather about a brother, think of him as "down and out" either physically, 
spiritually or financially and that you, his brethren, are gathered together to lend him 
a helping hand. Go farther than that and think of him as one of our consumptive 
brethren either in your own home town or a thousand miles away in the great 
Southwest. In either place he probably needs your aid. Perhaps he may be like any 
one of those whose cases I shall cite to you. If they were there before your eyes, your 



help would be instant and adequate. Is there any reason why you should be slower to 
lend your aid, when they are a thousand miles away? 


Our Masonic tubercular brethren have rightly been called our Grand Lodge of 
Sorrow. Here are the stories of a few members of this lodge. As you read these brief 
histories, remember, that but for the grace of God, someone else might be reading the 
same kind of thing about you. Will you help in the "resurrection" of these unfortunate 
brethren? If so, write to Francis E. Lester, Executive Secretary of the National 
Masonic Tuberculosis Sanatoria Association, Las Cruces, New Mexico, for 
information how you can give aid and assistance. 


"ARIZONA LODGE HELPED WITHOUT HOME LODGE AUTHORITY" 


Brother No. 15. Grand Lodge of Iowa. King Solomon Lodge, No. 5, Arizona, made 
loan of $50 to brother which home lodge paid and advised not to advance any more 
without authority from them. King Solomon Lodge later advanced him $100 more 
when he was in need of help, but did not ask home lodge for reimbursement. 


"WHEN FAMILY WORRY RELIEVED RECOVERY FOLLOWED” 


Brother No. 19. Grand Lodge of Arkansas. Patient very despondent account 
destitution of wife and baby at home. Home had been taken away from them on a 
mortgage. Brother growing worse account worry. Sold overcoat for $2.00 to send 
wife. Sojourners' Club finally got story from him, though be did not seek help. Wired 
$50 to wife at once and advanced him $10, which be sent her, though he needed many 
things for his own comfort. Notified his home lodge, but they replied that he was 
delinquent $6 dues, which club offered to pay. Some pressure applied and they 
remitted dues and later did their duty. With assurance that wife and baby were cared 
for, patient began to improve and was later returned to home, received his 
compensation in lump sum, paid club all money advanced, recovered home and 
resumed care of family. 



"MONEY WITHOUT GUIDANCE NOT ALWAYS HELPFUL” 


Brother No. 21. Grand Lodge of Mississippi. Aided to come to El Paso by home 
lodge, but shortly thereafter became destitute and applied to Associated Charities for 
aid, which was given. Also assisted by El Paso, No. 130, by home lodge and Grand 
Lodge, Mississippi. Out of money contributed he helped wife and children at home. 
Lived in basement room, cooking, eating, sleeping, etc. Described as a "rathole" by 
charity worker. Lost ground steadily under such conditions. Removed to Associated 
Charities lodging house. Finally sent home by El Paso, No. 130. Total amount 
contributed by Associated Charities, El Paso, No. 130, by home lodge and Grand 
Lodge might have saved him, but no existing agency to handle and compel 
compliance with conditions necessary to recovery. 


"SAN ANTONIO MASONS SENT HIM HOME" 


Brother No. 22. Grand Lodge of Tennessee. Came to San Antonio from Arizona, very 
sick. Had appealed to home lodge but did not get immediate relief. Anchor Lodge, 

No. 44, gave emergency relief and later all bodies, San Antonio, made up a fund to 
send family home. 


"WOULD UNLOAD BROTHER ON TEXAS CHARITY" 


Brother No. 32. Grand Lodge of District of Columbia. Brother came to El Paso 
seeking health and became patient in private sanatorium and funds gave out, was 
assisted by home lodge to pay expenses to extent of $25 monthly for few months 
before death. Also authorized funeral expenses of $125. Before granting relief home 

lodge wrote: Bro. has been in Texas for about two years and it would seem that 

he is entitled to treatment in that institution (the State Sanatorium) as other citizens or 
residents of that state." Query? Why should Texas taxpayers pay for hospitalization of 
former citizen of Washington who never contributed anything to upbuilding of Texas 



and only came to state for benefit of health? Secretary wrote further, "We desire to do 
all we can for our unfortunate brother." (But willing to do it at expense of Texas 
taxpayers and place this brother upon public charity.) 


Secretary later wrote, "This lodge desires to express its fullest appreciation of the 
services rendered in looking after our deceased brother during his illness." 


“HOME LODGE HELPED CARE FOR SICK WIFE" 


Sister No. 35. Grand Lodge of Ohio. Wife of Master Mason who was finally 
compelled to ask home lodge for loan to tide him over emergency due to lack of 
employment and to meet payments on home. 


Wife had been sick for some time. Home lodge wired El Paso Relief Bureau to 
advance $125 at once to cover needs for next month. Some few months later with his 
wife very much worse and finances still very low he again appealed for help, and 
received $150. Still later an operation became necessary and was performed, though 
her life was despaired of. She rallied for a few days and died. Home lodge advanced 
money to pay expenses of final illness and funeral. 


DELINQUENT HUSBAND - DYING WIFE - RELIEF BUREAU HELPED" 


Brother No. 37. Grand Lodge of West Virginia. Daughter of this brother very sick and 
later died in El Paso. Relief Bureau appealed to by father because husband was not 
providing for her. Mother and brother came out to look after sick woman and 
children. Husband arrested for non-support but brought home by officers day wife 
died. Father advanced money for expenses and to bring body and family home. 



“PATIENT REFUNDED LODGE'S ADVANCE" 


Brother No. 40. Grand Lodge of Virginia. Brother was robbed on arrival and had to 
apply for fraternal assistance. Home lodge, Chapter, Council, Consistory and Shrine 
contributed to his needs until he secured funds with which he later reimbursed them. 
Total of $371.62 for sanatorium care and other expense. All funds handled through 
Temple Lodge, Albuquerque. 


“LOOK TO OTHER SOURCES FOR HELP" 


Brother No. 44. Grand Lodge of Louisiana. Brother is patient in sanatorium at 
Albuquerque, and asked that home lodge be notified of his condition, which was 
done. They advised Temple Lodge, Albuquerque, that they bad not agreed to pay his 
expenses. "We sent him money to get to a sanatorium, but notified him that be could 
not expect the lodge to pay his expenses indefinitely, but to look to other sources for 
some of his expenses. The lodge will not be responsible for anything for his account 
until we have been consulted " 


"MORE THAN HIS SHARE OF TROUBLE" 


Brother No. 49. Grand Lodge of Missouri. Home lodge had helped him for some time 
before they sent him to El Paso, and during past two years or more have bad to help 
him every month. He works when able but has to rest at intervals. Divorced from first 
wife and responsible for support of 1 6-year-old daughter. Married again and has small 
boy by second wife. Cannot support himself to say nothing of two families. 


Daughter convicted of delinquency at home and second wife secured divorce. Spent 
six months in state sanatorium at Carlsbad, Texas. Not enough to put him on his feet 
permanently. Will need help indefinitely unless he can be placed in hospital and kept 
there until complete arrest effected. 



"WILL NEED AND WILL GET MORE HELP" 


Brother No. 61. Grand Lodge of New Mexico. After four years' illness was compelled 
to ask fraternal assistance as a loan. Arrangements made with Chapter, Commandery 
at Albuquerque, and A1 Malaikah Temple, Los Angeles, and Grand Lodge, New 
Mexico, to advance $60 monthly for ten months for support. This period expired Dec. 
31, 1925, but brother's condition is such that he will require further assistance. 


"CARE FOR HIM AS IF YOUR OWN" 


Brother No. 85. Grand Lodge of Kansas. After arrival worked for taxicab company 
which was too strenuous and brought on two hemorrhages which put him down and 
out for several months. Temple Lodge, Albuquerque, advised home lodge of his 
condition. They advanced $150 and advised to take care of him the same as if he was 
a member of your own lodge. "We are not in a position to go strong in this matter but 
are more than willing to take care of our brother." Temple Lodge aided brother in 
collecting sickness insurance, and with the assistance of his own brother, no more aid 
was needed. Improvement in condition enabled him to secure light work. 


— o — 


EDITORIAL 


R. J. MEEKREN Editor-in-Charge 


BOARD OF EDITORS 



LOUIS BLOCK, Iowa 
ROBERT L. CLEGG, Ohio 
GILBERT W. DAYNES, England 
RAY V. DENSLOW, Missouri 
GEORGE H. DERN, Utah 
N.W.J. HAYDON, Canada 
R.V. Harris, Canada 
C. C. HUNT, Iowa 
CHARLES F. IRWIN. Ohio 
A.L. KRESS, Pennsylvania 
F.H. LITTKLEFIELD, Missouri 
JOSEPH E. MORCOMBE, California 
JOSEPH FORT NEWTON, New York 
ARTHUR C. PARKER, New York 
JESSE M. WHITED, California 
DAVID E. W. WILLIAMSON, Nevada 


WILLIAM WONNACOTT 



WE have just received the sad news that Bro. Wonnacott, Grand Librarian of the 
United Grand Lodge of England, and one of the foremost Masonic scholars of the 
day, died at St. Mary's Hospital, London, on July 8. 


Bro. Wonnacott was an architect by profession who became a Masonic student. 
According to English custom he was a member of a number of different lodges and 
chapters and held Provincial Grand Rank for Hertfordshire. He will be best known to 
members of the National Masonic Research Society as a Past Master of Quatuor 
Coronati Lodge. He was elected to full membership in the lodge in 1912, and became 
Master in 1916. 


His death will be a great loss to Masonic scholarship, on account of his sound 
historical learning and his intimate acquaintance with rare and curious documents 
connected with the Craft. He was working on the interesting subject of the Preston 
ritual, and had collated all the known remnants of this system. So far as we know this 
work remains unfinished. 


Those who knew him personally, even if only acquaintances, will feel his loss even 
more keenly. He was an ideal man for his position and was ever ready to make 
visitors welcome and to furnish inquirers with information without stint. Others must 
pick up the fallen working tools, for a master has been called from his labors, and his 
brethren mourn. 


* * * 


A MASONIC CRISIS 


THAT unity makes for strength is an adage of some antiquity, and one whose 
veracity has been proved many times in the past and doubtless the future will offer 
additional examples. There are many crises facing the Masonic world today and 



though linked together by bonds of the strongest kind there seems to be no concerted 
action by the Freemasons in general. There is no body which can be looked to as a 
"rule and guide" unless it be the Mother Grand Lodge of the world, but there is 
nothing stronger than a moral obligation to inspire the Grand Lodges of the world to 
follow in her footsteps. So many times in the past two hundred and nine years has this 
implicit duty been neglected that it is useless to even mention it as a possible remedy 
for what has come to be a perplexing situation. No one would seriously propose any 
attempt to subordinate the present Grand Jurisdictions scattered over the face of the 
globe to the control of the United Grand Lodge of England, and it is certainly with no 
such aim in view that this is written. The question does arise, however, of what shall 
be done about the so-called clandestine French lodges? How about the Italian crisis? 
What about exclusive territorial jurisdiction? How shall ritualistic changes be treated? 
There are many other queries of equal if no more importance that should be treated in 
a uniform manner by the Grand Lodges of the world, at least according to some 
recognized principles. All this would seem to be a plea for a Universal Grand Body, 
or to paraphrase an old term, a Grand Lodge of All the World. That such would be a 
good thing even if possible is a question for debate and for debate only. There are too 
many sides to the matter for it to be discussed here. 


If there are matters which seem to call for a uniform and unified action by the Grand 
Lodges of the world, there are others of a purely national character which demand 
unity among the forty-nine Grand Lodges of the United States. Such action by the 
Grand bodies on matters outside their own jurisdiction in which they are as vitally 
interested as in matters exclusively their own can never be realized until each and 
every one of our Grand Lodges abandons the good old American game of "passing 
the buck"; "if you will, I will," from New York to Florida, from Florida to California, 
from California to Washington, and thence to Pennsylvania, who, being last in line, 
says, "After you, my dear New York," and there we are, ready to start the eternal 
circle again. 


Because of petty jealousies, "I have more money than you," or "my ritual is older than 
yours," and what is even worse, "if you don't play my way, I'll take my ball and go 
home," there seems to be no hope of ever getting all of the Grand Jurisdictions in the 
United States to put their shoulder to the wheel and push. With such expressions of 
un-Masonic spirit in evidence on all sides there seems no hope for concerted action 
until the rulers of the Craft decide that the time has come when each and every Mason 
is a Mason, and as such is entitled to the consideration which our ritual teaches is his 



right. We are brought then to another phase of the question: Shall there be a United 
Grand Lodge of the United States of America? So far as we are concerned the answer 
is "No", and emphatically "No!" unless there is no other way out of a purely childish 
difficulty. This very childishness would, however, preclude any possibility of any 
such plan being realized. This lack of harmony among the Grand Lodges is 
responsible in a large measure for the existence of a deplorable condition. One which 
affects each and every one of the Grand bodies in some measure; one which has been 
aptly termed the "Curse of the Craft"; a blight which should and could easily be 
removed, if peace and harmony prevailed and everyone would lend his assistance. 

The particular problem in mind is that of the tubercular Masons in the Southwest. 
There are thousands of them incapable of taking proper care of themselves and 
financially unable to secure proper treatment. The cost to each individual Mason to 
meet this need would be slight and the burden could be equitably distributed. Proper 
care, it has been estimated, could be provided for the sum of one dollar per year from 
each of the 3,000,000 odd Masons in this country. It would be an achievement to be 
proud of, while a cause of constant reproach would be removed. The Grand Lodge of 
New Mexico is in back of the movement, and many of the other Grand Lodges have 
sanctioned it. New Mexico is spending money to convince the others that it is worth 
while and has practically succeeded, but the time has come when more than 
convictions are needed. These Grand Lodge sanctions do not buy food, medicine and 
hospital care. It is cold, hard cash that "talks" and does the work. Let the Grand 
Lodges of the United States show the world that for any cause sufficiently big to be of 
national importance they can put their resources to work and act with that unity which 
produces strength. If forty-nine Grand Masters would give up "passing the buck" and 
go into their annual meetings this year with a determination to put this cause over, we 
would see a new era in Craft Freemasonry. 


* * * 


CRITICISM 


IRONY, sarcasm, satire and parody, any form of literary expression which appears at 
its face value to say one thing while really meaning another, is a potent and 
devastating weapon of criticism. But it is a sword with two edges, and like that of the 
cherub set to guard the gates of Paradise after our first parents were expelled, it turns 



every way. In less figurative language it often misses its effect because it is taken 
literally. To appreciate its force a certain quickness of apprehension, not to say 
intelligence, is required. 


One of the most remarkable instances of this in literary history, the Modest Proposal 
for Preventing the Children of Poor People From Being a Burden to Their Parents or 
the Country, written by the great satirist, Swift. In the form of a letter to the public 
press, and in the character of a smug, well-fed member of the bourgeois class, Swift 
in great detail and with solemn face suggested that cannibalism would be a solution of 
the poverty and destitution then existing in Ireland. Well fattened babes would be as 
succulent, he claimed, as young porkers, and by following this suggestion the general 
food supply would be added to and individual incomes increased, with the added 
advantage that there would be so many fewer mouths to feed. 


Amazing as it may seem, many good people took this literally and very seriously, and 
wrote fierce denunciatory letters to the newspapers. Naturally enough, but it says little 
for their wit or common sense. It does not seem possible that such an utterly 
extravagant proposal could have been taken as intended au pied de la lettre, yet 
apparently there are no limits to the powers of misapprehension possessed by certain 
minds. Leaving the ignorant and uneducated aside (though among these often enough 
mother, wit will put them on the right track) there are the hasty and uncritical who 
jump at an author's meaning and do not fully read what he says, and there are those 
who lacking the sense of humor can neither see the point of a joke nor yet what the 
jester means. 


Perhaps it is a perilous adventure to insert anything of such a light and frivolous 
nature in the weighty pages of THE BUILDER, but even Homer's god-like heroes 
laughed on occasion. Not for a moment, however, would we dream of insulting our 
readers by telling them that an article appearing on a previous page is a skit, a parody, 
a reductio ad absurdum of a kind of Masonic literature of which we fear there are too 
many exemplars. It would be useless in any case, for if the indignant readers of 
Swift's "Modest Proposal" had descendants among us today they would not believe 
even were it labeled "this is a joke - please laugh." And we must say that the 
argument, although leading nowhere in particular has in places such an air of insane 



plausibility that almost, like Festus as he listened to Paul the Apostle, we are 
persuaded to believe there may be something in it. 


There is a certain kind of author, he can be found in every field, but Masonry as a 
subject of research has, it would almost appear, suffered quite unduly from him. He is 
most industrious in collecting material of all kinds, facts, assertions, opinions, 
guesses, rumors, all is fish that comes to the net, and, like the over-praised ant, he 
seems not to care so much what he does as long as he does it. To borrow again from 
St. Paul, the edifice is constructed of wood, straw, hay and stubble, and what wrought 
stone there may be will not stand for it has no secure foundation. 


Collection of material requires no more than curiosity and industry. It must be done, 
of course, for without material no building is possible. But the material must be fit for 
the purpose. In plain English, our facts must be facts, our statements true. This 
requires criticism. To a very large extent this may be carried out by certain rules, 
which may be learned like those of any other trade. But to use the material after it has 
been tested is another matter altogether, and there is no royal road to attain the power. 
Experience helps, but some talent or ability seems to be also necessary. It is the old 
story once more, the craftsman may not be an architect, but the architect must be 
master of the craft. 


— o — 


Blandishments will not fascinate us, nor will threats of a "halter" intimidate. For, 
under God, we are determined that wheresoever, whensoever, or howsoever we shall 
be called to make our exit, we shall die free men. - Josiah Quincy. 


— o — 


THE NORTHEAST CORNER 



Bulletin of the 


National Masonic Tuberculosis Sanatoria Association 

Incorporated by Authority of the Grand Lodge of New Mexico, A.F. & A.M. 

MASONIC TEMPLE, ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. 

OFFICERS AND BOARD OF GOVERNORS 

HERBERT B. HOLT, Grand Master, President 
JAFFA MILLER, Vice-President 
RICHARD H. HANNA, Vice-President 
ALPHEUS A. KEEN, Secretary 

FRANCIS E LESTER, Executive Secretary, Las Cruces, New Mexico 
JOHN W. TURNER, Treasurer 

ARIZONA - Lloyd C. Henning, Holbrook. 

ARKANSAS - Claude L. Hill, Grand Master, Booneville. 

CONNECTICUT - Fred A. Borland, Past Grand Master, South Manchester. 
FLORIDA - Cary B. Fish, Grand Master, Sarasota. 

IDAHO - Will H. Gibson, Grand Master, Boise. 

KENTUCKY - G. Allison Holland, Grand Master, Lexington. 

MINNESOTA - Albert F. Pray, Grand Master, Minneapolis, 



MISSISSIPPI - John R. Tally, Grand Master, Hattiesburg. 

MISSOURI - Wm. W. Martin, Grand Master, Daniphan 

NEW JERSEY - Benjamin F. Havens, Junior Grand Warden, Trenton. 

NEW MEXICO - Herbert B. Holt, Grand Master, Las Cruces. 

NORTH CAROLINA - Dr. J. C. Braswell, Past Grand Master, Whitakers. 
OKLAHOMA - Gilbert B. Bristow, Past Grand Master, Roosevelt. 

RHODE ISLAND - Howard Knight, Past Grand Master, Providence. 

SOUTH CAROLINA - Charlton DuRant, Grand Master, Manning 
SOUTH DAKOTA - L. M. Simons, Grand Master, Bellefourche. 

TENNESSEE - Andrew E. McCullagh, Grand Master, Maryville. 

TEXAS - Dr. Felix P. Miller, El Paso. 

UTAH - Fred M. Nye, Ogden. 

VERMONT - Christie B. Crowell, Grand Master, Brattleboro. 

NORTH DAKOTA - Dr. J. S. Lamont, Dunseith. 

WASHINGTON - Morton Gregory, Grand Master, Masonic Temple, Tacoma. 
WISCONSIN - Fred L. Wright, Past Senior Grand Warden, Milwaukee. 
WYOMING - Frank S. Knittle, Grand Master, Casper. 

ORDER OF THE EASTERN STAR, GENERAL GRAND CHAPTER - Mrs. Clara 
Henrich, Most Worthy Grand Matron, Newport, Ky. 

ROBERT J NEWTON Editor Publicity Director N. M, T. S. A. Las Cruces New 
Mexico. 



MASONIC MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY 


The National Tuberculosis Association is responsible for the statement that the death 
rate from tuberculosis in 1924 was 90.6 per 100,000 living. This means that 906 
people die in every million each year from tuberculosis. 


If there are 3,250,000 American Freemasons, they, with their wives, children and 
dependent relatives number from 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 people. If only 
10,000,000 this population group would sustain an annual loss of 9,060 lives from 
tuberculosis. 


If, as the National Tuberculosis Association estimates, there are nine living cases to 
every annual death, then there may be approximately 80,000 living cases of 
tuberculosis in the American Masonic family if it only numbers 10,000,000. Not ALL 
of them need the help of the Fraternity, but MANY of them do. 


* * * 


THE COUNCIL TAKES UP THE PROBLEM 


Recently the General Grand Master of Royal and Select Masters, Bert S. Lee, sent out 
the following circular letter, which shows that this organization is alive to the 
requirements of the situation. The text of the letter is as follows: 



"On account of favorable climatic conditions certain sections of the States of New 
Mexico, Arizona and Texas have for many years been the Mecca of those afflicted 
with tuberculosis. Physicians throughout the country have been sending their patients 
who had a possibility of being cured to those localities. As a result of this general 
condition Freemasons thus afflicted have for many years been going in large numbers 
to those States. Those who were able to pay their expenses have, of course, taken care 
of themselves, but a very large number representing almost every Grand Lodge in the 
United States haven't been so fortunate and have placed a burden on the brethren of 
those States, which they have nobly borne as best they could. Realizing that it was 
impossible for them alone to do the work they are asking the assistance and 
cooperation of the Grand Lodges of all the states in this work. The Grand Lodge of 
New Mexico has organized the National Masonic Tuberculosis Sanatoria Association 
and has selected their Grand Master, M. W. Bro. Herbert H. Holt, as President. 


"The purpose of this Association as outlined is first to act as an agency, or trustee, to 
receive and administer funds contributed, or acquired for the relief of Freemasons and 
members of their families, suffering from tuberculosis; to secure hospitalization for 
the sick; to render service of any kind according to the need and the ability of the 
corporation; to acquire, erect, establish, maintain and operate, sanatoria, hospitals, 
and other institutions, and second, to disseminate among the Freemasons of America 
and their families and others scientific knowledge and useful information as to the 
causes and methods of treatment for the prevention, relief and cure of tuberculosis. 


"Realizing the magnitude of this undertaking they are soliciting the active cooperation 
of all of the Masonic Grand and General Grand bodies, and they have asked me to 
present the matter to the Grand Councils, who are members of the General Grand 
Council, that the information may be sent to the subordinate councils, thereby 
reaching every Companion in our Rite. I have been studying the situation for a 
number of years and have been on several committees of General Grand bodies at 
which the matter was considered. I realize the serious importance of the question as it 
effects our Masonic brethren and I am more than anxious to cooperate in every way 
possible. 


"This matter was so splendidly handled in the May issue of THE BUILDER, the 
official organ of the National Masonic Research Society, that I have requested the 



Executive Secretary Bro. F. H. Littlefield, to mail to you a copy of the magazine. I 
have also asked M.W. Bro. Holt to send to you any and all literature that he has 
bearing on this subject, that will assist you in formulating a letter to the Councils of 
your state or handling in any other way that you may think best. I urge your active 
assistance in this matter. 


"Fraternally yours, 
"BERT S. LEE." 


* * * 


NEW MEXICO GRAND MASTER VISITS EAST 


MASONIC leaders of Northern and Eastern States are as much interested in the relief 
and hospitalization of consumptive Masons as are the Masons of New Mexico and 
other Southwestern States, according to a statement issued by Herbert B. Holt, Grand 
Master of New Mexico, who recently visited Eastern cities in behalf of the work of 
the National Masonic Tuberculosis Sanatoria Association, of which he is president. 


"In every city I visited I met with a cordial reception and sympathetic hearing," said 
Bro. Holt. "Our Northern and Eastern brethren have come to realize that we of the 
Southwest have initiated a national movement planned to salvage Masonic 
consumptives, whether they are seeking health in the Southwest or are sick in their 
own home towns. 


"As a result of my visits to many cities, I am firmly convinced that American 
Freemasonry will build one or more Masonic Sanatoria; that the necessary money for 
hospital construction and operation will be forthcoming, and that there will be, 
important developments in the next three months in this movement. I cannot, of 



course, make public all that was discussed in my conferences with Masonic leaders, 
but we have secured their attention and interest in 'the greatest problem confronting 
Freemasonry today,' as Grand Master Bryan, of Texas, has so aptly put it. Personally I 
feel that Freemasonry must do this job to fulfill oft-repeated obligations, voluntarily 
assumed. 


"For the sake of emphasis I wish to repeat that Southwestern Freemasons want a 
Masons' Tuberculosis Sanatorium built, and do not seek to say where it shall be built. 
We have no 'ideal location' or 'logical site' to sell or donate. We have not attempted to 
formulate plans for financing, for construction or for operation. We conceive our job 
at this time to be the duty of pointing out the need and completing the organization of 
the National Masonic Tuberculosis Sanatoria Association, incorporated under 
authority of the Grand Lodge of New Mexico. In the fall there will be a meeting of 
the Board of Governors of the Association, representing all Grand Jurisdictions which 
have by that time signified their intention to participate in this work, and the future 
plans and policies for relief and hospitalization of Masonic consumptives will be 
determined. Meantime we shall endeavor to extend emergency relief so far as our 
financial resources will permit." 


* * * 


WISCONSIN TAKES HOLD 


At its recent session the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin appropriated $3,000, as a 
contribution to the publicity and organization work of the National Masonic 
Tuberculosis Sanatoria Association 


* * * 


FLORIDA LINES UP FOR SANATORIUM 



The Masons of Florida believe in the movement for relief and hospitalization of 
migratory Masonic consumptives. They have a problem in their own state, for many 
cases go to Florida from eastern cities seeking climatic benefit. 


The Grand Lodge of Florida contributed $500. 


The Grand Chapter, R. A. M., of Florida, contributed $400. 


The Grand Council, R. S. M., of Florida, contributed $100. 


And now comes word that the Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, have 
contributed $200. 


More important than the financial help is the action of the Grand Master, Cary B. 

Fish, of Sarasota, who has accepted service as a member of the Board of Governors of 
the Sanatoria Association and is ready to serve in any way. 


* * * 


WHAT THEY SAY 


Secretary James J. Davis of the National Department of Labor has enlisted in the 
movement for building of Masonic Sanatoria. In a recent letter to Grand Master 
Herbert B. Holt, of New Mexico, he said: 



The work you describe is one that I have known of for some time, and have always 
admired. I know of the large number of our brethren who go to the Southwest seeking 
relief from the ravages of that most dreaded disease, tuberculosis, and I also know 
what it means to the Masons of that section of the country to help them regain their 
health. 


It is a great humanitarian work that is worthy of the support of every Mason who has 
the good of his Fraternity and his brother at heart. The Masonic lodges in the 
Southwest that have inaugurated this movement and are now supporting it, are to be 
highly commended. The spirit is admirable, but the numbers engaged in carrying on 
the work are comparatively small, and it is easily seen that the need for help from 
other lodges is very urgent if the work is to progress and be successful. I, for one, am 
willing to do what I can to help along this movement, and I hope that all other 
brothers who are able to do so will come forward to do their part in making this great 
work of restoring our sick brothers to health the success it deserves to be. 


Mr. Leon M. Abbott, Sovereign Grand Commander, Boston, Mass.: 


I have been impressed that what these cases need is not only good physical care and 
treatment but that they should be placed in surroundings that are as happy and 
harmonious as possible. Away from home and lifetime friends and ill, one gets easily 
discouraged and home-sick which greatly retards recovery. If a hospital could be 
conducted under Masonic auspices, then there should be on every side the expression 
of that brotherly love which we profess and which should bring to the patient a 
comfort and cheer that would do very much to speed the day of his recovery of health. 


Mrs. Clara Henrich. Most Worthy Grand Matron, Order of the Eastern Star, Newport, 
Ky.: 



I will be only too glad to add a leaflet in my many letters, and commend you for your 
wonderful work. 


Mrs. Minnie Evans Keyes. Right Worthy Grand Secretary, Order of the Eastern Star, 
Washington, D. C.: 


I can think of no greater plan to promote than the one you are seeking to put through 
in the hospitalization of Master Masons who seek the healing qualities of your 
climate. 


Mr. Oliver Day Street, Grand Master, Grand Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Birmingham, 
Ala.: 


Personally I am sure it is a highly commendable work which your Grand Lodge has 
undertaken. 


Mr. Frank Wasserman, Oxnard Lodge, No. 341, F. & A. M., Oxnard, Cal.: 


It is needless to comment upon the invaluable service this institution can render to our 
unfortunate brethren. This movement is the most noble undertaking ever attempted by 
the Masonic Fraternity, and on its ultimate achievement rests the reputation of the 
Craft. I know the necessity of such an institution and have had a rather unfortunate 
experience in the matter myself, having just returned home from a sanatorium after a 
16 months' stay. Fortunately, my expenses were taken care of by my employers with 
whom I have been connected for 1 8 years and in whose service 1 broke down. Had it 
been otherwise, I might have met with the same fate as some of our lesser fortunate 
brethren. 



Mr. Frank C. Mirick, Grand Master Grand Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Pueblo, Colo.: 


I recognize the admirable sentiment which prompts your letter and feel that it is a 
very commendable undertaking and that it has many appealing features about it. 
However, the policy of the Grand Jurisdiction of Colorado is very conservative, 
though the Grand Lodge does its full measure in the administration of charity and 
meets every just demand made upon its benevolence. 


— o — 


The Form of the Lodge 


By BROS. A. L. KRESS AND R. J. MEEKREN 


BEFORE completing our survey of the evidence something must be said about a 
theory, which has apparently been quite widely accepted since the publication of the 
curious diagram in the Carmick MS., of which the designer expressly says, "This 
figure represents the lodge." It will be seen from the illustration that we have here an 
isosceles triangle, the apex towards the east as shown by the compass. At the base is a 
crude attempt to depict a mosaic pavement. The numerals on each side possibly refer 
to those present, fifteen in all apparently, a number undoubtedly traditional. The 
Warden, as was not unusual in early Scots Masonry, was apparently the presiding 
officer, the Craftsmen to the north, the Masters (employers one would suppose) to the 
south, and the apprentices to the west. Two lights only are represented, while plumb, 
gavel, trowel, square and compass are the working tools. The omission of the level 
may be significant in estimating the real meaning of the figure as it has occurred to a 
number of students quite independently that the whole design itself represents the 
form of an old type of this instrument that is frequently to be found among old 
Masonic emblems, especially those originating in Europe. 



The other evidence that can be adduced for this theory is very scanty. There are some 
peculiar records of lodges in Germany and Austria, and a few stray indications in the 
old catechisms. Curiously, and it may of course be significantly, they none of them 
say anything at all about the form of the lodge. The question that comes nearest to 
dealing with it is found only in the three closely related documents which may be 
conveniently classed as the "Grand Mystery Group." In all of these appears the 
following query and response: 


Q. How many angles in st. John's Lodge? R. Four, bordering on squares. 


Following the reply is a small diagram, but different in each case. In the Grand 
Mystery, the printed version, appears a small maltese cross and over it a smaller 
equilateral triangle. In the Essex MS. appears an inverted T, a horizontal line or dash 
with an upright one standing in the middle of it, surmounted by a relatively small 
triangle as in the previous case. In the Institution of Free Masons there is first a dash 
terminated at each end by seraphs, then a plain upright line and above it, but in this 
case separate, a triangle as before. 


In each of these catechisms there is an earlier question and answer which runs: 


Q. What Lodge are you of ? R. The Lodge of St. John. 


and this answer is followed in the first two documents by the same diagram as 
appears respectively in each one later, but in the third it is not the same, but looks 
very much like a figure 5, though it is hard to be certain that this was what the scribe 
intended, but if so it might of course be a reference to the "odd numbers" that "make a 
lodge." 


There is one more reference that might be supposed to have a bearing on the subject, 
and that is the following from the Sloane MS. 3329: 



Q. Where lyes the keys of the lodge-door? A. They ley in a bound case or under a 
three-cornered pavem't aboute a foote and a halfe from the lodge door. 


In addition to this are some very definite statements by various Masonic students to 
the effect that it was "the rule among Operative Masons to set up their lodge in form 
of a triangle" and that this usage continued in Europe all through the eighteenth 
century. Indeed some go further than this, and definitely tell us that in Scandinavia 
and Denmark the lodges are still triangular in form. Upon investigation these 
statements, especially those of the continuance of the usage till the present seem to be 
based on confusion between the form of the lodge and position of the three principle 
officers. As has been remarked [e. g. Bro. Songhurst, A.Q.C., 23 140] the stations of 
these officers must necessarily form a triangle in whatever position they may be 
placed, excepting only on the supposition that they were in a straight line. However 
there is an account of an old German lodge, the "Lodge of the Three Golden Swords," 
at Dresden, about the year 1744, which runs as follows: 


The places of the brethren formed an isosceles triangle. At the upper point was placed 
the Master's table covered with a sky blue damask cloth embroidered in gold and with 
a golden fringe. At the other two corners were placed the Wardens and between these 
three points the chairs of the brethren, thus forming the sides of a triangle within 
which was the tapis. 


It must certainly be admitted that such an arrangement as this might be indicated by 
the Carmick diagram. In fact this presentation of evidence as a whole sounds rather 
formidable; nevertheless examination of the facts alleged may show that it points in a 
different direction from what seems apparent at first sight. Dealing with the old 
Catechisms first. The "three cornered pavement" of the Sloane MS. is not concerned 
with the lodge at all, but the whereabouts of its key. The questions and answers anent 
this last are all very cryptic and enigmatic, indeed they partake more of the nature of 
riddles than anything else, so that however it should actually be interpreted it is 
probable that no real pavement, nor even a representation of one is intended. Then we 
find that in a particular group of these documents, one rather rich in hieroglyphics, a 
certain diagram or character is noted as, apparently, equivalent to the word "lodge," in 



the same way that a square or oblong figure is used even today. Each one of these 
consists of a horizontal and a vertical line and a triangle, in different combinations. 
Whatever may have been intended by the triangle, it must be remembered that the 
question and answer unequivocally inform us that "St. John's Lodge" had four angles 
"bordering on squares." If it had four angles it could not have been three-cornered. 
And whatever "bordering on squares" may have originally meant, it certainly suggests 
that the four angles were right angles. Further, all the Catechisms agree in referring or 
comparing the lodge in some way either to the Temple or to "Churches and Chapels," 
or to both. The first was a rectangular building, and the latter were almost universally 
such, and the general statement could hardly have had the rare exceptions to the 
normal plan in mind. The point is made more definite by the fact that this reference is 
usually made in reply to a question as to the situation, that is the orientation, of the 
lodge. The natural interpretation of the language used is that the plan of the lodge was 
similar to that of "Churches and Chapels," which is as much as to say that it was 
rectangular. Coming to the old German minutes, it is hard to see any definite bearing 
on our problem. True this quaint method of recording attendance might have been 
suggested by such a usage as we are considering; but on the other hand it might have 
been suggested by the fact that the triangle does, in many ways, bear an important 
part in Masonic symbolism. The actual arrangement of these triangles, as may be seen 
from the typical specimen illustrated, cannot possibly be a diagram of the relative 
positions of those present, for that would imply an unheard of arrangement of the 
officers and members and visitors. This being inconclusive we have left only the 
Carmick diagram and the Lodge of the Three Golden Swords. 


We have already noted the fact that the Carmick diagram suggests a composite design 
representing the old triangular type of mason's level, and the absence of this 
implement from the group of working tools depicted has already been noted. The 
superscription says that the design "represents" the lodge. This has been taken to 
mean that it is a plan or chart of the lodge, but it does not necessarily follow. In other 
Masonic designs of the same and earlier date (not that any argument can be built on 
the date as the diagram may have been copied with the rest of the document from a 
much older original) we find them described as the "plan" of the lodge. To 
"represent" may quite well mean emblematic or mnemonic representation and not 
plan or accurate picture. However there is no necessity to press this as an argument 
but it is a possibility to be kept in mind. If then we suppose this diagram to actually 
depict the arrangement of those present at the lodges with which Persifor Frazer, or 
whoever drew the design, was familiar it must certainly be taken in conjunction with 
the exceptional German instance we have quoted. Exceptional it is even though it is 
very possible that it was not unique, in view of the fact that such records have only 



here and there been preserved by lucky chance. But a very important point in the 
description, the significance of which seems to have been missed by those who accept 
the triangular as the primitive form of the lodge, is the definite statement that within 
the triangle formed by the officers and the brethren was first a table covered With an 
embroidered cloth and to the west of that the tapis or floor carpet. The general 
arrangement in essentials appears to be precisely that described by Simonnet. It 
would seem, then, that the triangular form was an exceptional variant, and it would be 
quite in accord with the facts before us to suppose it merely a special development, 
the use of this geometric figure, which as was remarked above, was undoubtedly 
always an important Masonic symbol. 


Before returning from this digression we may note another apparent variation, and 
one much closer to the general line of evolution, and that is the circle. In modem 
English Masonry the symbolism of the circle is developed especially in the Third 
Degree, but even here it is not exclusive of the quadrangular form, for the "Square 
pavement for the high priest to walk on" is still at least an "ornament of the Master's 
lodge." More stress is however laid on the center than on the circumference, and in its 
present form we cannot easily be certain how much of it is primitive. We would 
hazard the conjecture, though, that it is very little. From such information as we have 
at hand it would seem that it was an expansion of an originally minor motif. In 
connection with this may be recalled the fact that Dr. Oliver mentions certain "tracing 
boards" of the 18th century of circular form, and Bro. Dring has published [A.Q.C., 
29-284] a set from the north of England in which the emblems are arranged in a 
circle, enclosed in a square. The fact that these aberran forms are in every case 
conjoined with the norma square or oblong form (even the anomolous Carmick 
diagram shows a square mosaic pavement) will justify us in regarding them as variant 
offshoots from the main tradition. 


Although we have hardly exhausted the evidence that might be relevant to the subject 
it would seem a if we were now in a position to draw some tentative conclusions from 
the discussion of what is before us. The idea of a certain place being sacred or holy is 
universal, and with it goes the concurrent idea that important actions, especially those 
ritually expressed, should only be carried on "holy ground," to use the phrase of our 
old lectures. Then we have seen that part of the process or preparation for the 
sanctifying of a particular and restricted locality is the marking it out, delimiting it or 
enclosing it in some way. All this is apparently the common property of all races and 
tribes in all ages so far as our knowledge goes, and if it be supposed to have a 



common origin then it must be looked for in the dim vistas of the pre-historic past. 
The Operative Masons were not singular, therefore, in making a sacred enclosure in 
which to enter their apprentices, but simply adopted, or rather inherited, a conception 
as old as human culture. It is admitted generally that the voluntary society or 
fraternity, when it appears at a higher level of civilization, takes over the 
characteristics of the clan or gens, which may be regarded as an extended family. The 
initiation into a savage secret society is exactly the same kind of ceremony as that of 
the Boys into the tribe. Looking at it from the other end, if we find a belief in 
witchcraft and the evil eye surviving, Midsummer and Hallowe'en observances lasted 
down till at least the middle of the last century, with harvest observances, mummers' 
dances and the ritual game referred to above of "building the ship"— if such things 
have survived to our day which can only have arisen spontaneously in a naive and 
primitive community, they must a fortiori also have existed in the Middle Ages; and 
if then, it follows that they were known and practiced in the ages before that until we 
get back far enough to reach the level whence they originally sprang. Let us as an 
illustration consider a modern trades union; say that of radio electricians. It is a thing 
of today, yesterday there was no such occupation. But its constitution, its rules and 
by-laws are inherited and adapted from those of other unions, and they again from 
other societies, and they again from parliamentary and municipal codes and rules of 
order, and these can be traced back step by step to a time and stage when discussion 
and argument were regarded as a rather poor substitute for settling questions and 
disputes in the good old way, with spear and battle axe, a substitute that at first was 
frequently rejected in a return to the genuine article. 


But if this process, this law it might be called, is operative at the present time it must 
have been equally so in the past. No man can escape the influence of his age, no age 
can avoid the influence of the one that preceded it. If the various crafts were newly 
organized in the Middle Ages, those who formed those new societies did so on lines 
with which they were already familiar. The Teutonic Gild is supposed by some to 
have been modeled on a clan organization. The gilds that sprang up within the limits 
of what had been the Roman Empire more probably followed that of the 
municipalities or possibly of the collegia. The actual origin is not of importance here, 
the point is that some preceding form was copied, instinctively and inevitably. Now if 
any craft be found to have a rite of initiation, as the masons and carpenters did almost 
certainly, and blacksmiths very possibly (if not probably), then unless we suppose the 
organization to be of immemorial antiquity, those forming them de novo must have 
been familiar with the idea of initiation. In some way, directly or indirectly, the 
tradition of such ritual and its necessity must have come down from the primitive 
stage of culture in which it naturally originates. What we are particularly concerned 



with now is the fact that initiations have to be carried out in a specially prepared 
place— as we might put it today, a consecrated or dedicated place. As we have seen, in 
primitive thought the enclosing or marking out of an area is the same thing as 
consecration, or at least includes its essentials. 


Thus we may legitimately conjecture that the Operative Masons prepared a special 
place where their apprentices were to be entered. In later times at least they seem to 
have called it a lodge, a temporary place of sojourn. The novices also had to be 
prepared before it was proper for them to approach it; we may guess that otherwise it 
would have been "unlucky." This vague term probably best describes the attitude of 
mind of comparatively civilized men to such primitive requirements. And considering 
that these men were builders, and that part of the technique of their craft was the 
laying out and marking the site of a new structure, it would be almost inevitable that 
the lodge enclosure would be regarded as a site, and marked out by the same methods 
and with the same traditional rites. What these may have been in the Middle Ages is 
very much a matter of guess work, though further research might give us some light 
on the subject. It may he suggested here that this consideration is an additional 
argument against the primitive character of the triangular form. We have noted 
already that the circular plan is the one naturally adopted by the earliest builders, and 
that with a change in materials and methods of construction the square plan follows it. 
The symbolism of these forms follows them, is invented for them. But the triangular 
plan is impractical, it is the converse of the circular, for it gives the minimum area for 
the length of the walls built. A deliberate and conscious symbolism is obviously later 
and more sophisticated than natural and traditional forms. 


With changed conditions the Masonic lodge became a diagram drawn on the floor of 
a closed chamber. Then convenience led to its being permanently represented on 
some textile material, following a tendency which, as we have seen, has been 
operative elsewhere. Thus divorced from its original status, the chamber tends to be 
regarded as the "lodge" and the diagram on the carpet, or on a board, becomes but 
part of the furniture. Its size becomes a matter of convenience, instead of being large 
enough to accommodate all present, it had merely to be of such a size as to be clearly 
visible. From that it has suffered various further degradation till now in this country it 
has become a subject for magic lantern slides, and from being a thing so sacred none 
but the initiated might see it, it is published to the world at large. Yet as our lodge 
rooms are oblong or square, perhaps the older form might be more justly considered a 
cast-off husk, preserved in some sort by conservatism and a new use found for it. We 



no longer destroy or obliterate the lodge when it is closed, yet in several ways its 
form is still concealed from the profane. According to the usage of old French 
Masonry, when it was necessary to expel a member, after the sentence had been 
pronounced by the Master he proceeded to close the lodge. By this proceeding the 
symbolical building disappeared from around the delinquent, like the fabric of a fairy 
palace, to which he could never again find the entrance. 


— o — 


AN ANCIENT CUSTOM 


A curious ceremony takes place every year on St. Martin's Day, Nov. 1 1, at 
Knightlow in Warwickshire in England; it is evidently a survival of a very old 
custom. An account of it was published in a daily paper [The Daily News, Nov. 12, 
1881], in which the writer describes having been present at the performance as late as 
the year 1881. The Duke of Buccleuch is lord of the manor of Knightlow, and 
according to an old charter forty towns, or parishes, have to pay a sum called "wrath 
money," or incur certain penalties. The place where the money has to be paid is an old 
tumulus, on the top of which there is an ancient stone with a hole in it, supposed to be 
the socket of a cross. Into this hole the coins have to be deposited before witnesses, 
and before the sun rises on St. Martin's Day. The person paying the money must also 
"go thrice about the cross" and say "the wrath money." The four words in italics are 
here given to mark the point in the ceremony which is important in relation to the 
subject [of circumambulation]. The money paid varies from a penny to 2s. 3 1/2; and 
the whole sum paid on that particular morning only amounted to 9s. 3 1/2, which did 
not pay for a substantial breakfast provided by the steward at the duke's expense, at 
the Oak Inn, stretton, where the whole party went. It was explained that the 
Buccleuch family preserve the curious tradition on account of its great antiquity, that 
antiquity making the ceremony interesting, as showing that the existence of 
circumambulatory rites were common in England as well as in Ireland and Scotland. 

A writer in the Glasgow Herald fourteen years later describes the ceremony of that 
year, and adds that it has survived without a break. His account differs in a few 
particulars from that given above. The proceedings took place before sun rising, 
round the base of an old cross (called the Fee stone) of the time of Edward III, and 
were opened by reading the charter of assembly. The representatives of the parishes 



then dropped their tribute called Wroth Silver or Swarff Penny, into a hollow in the 
stone. Formerly before doing so they had to walk three times round the cross; but this 
part of the formality is now omitted. The penalty for non-payment of these fees is 
20s. for every penny due, or a white bull with a red nose and ears of the same color. 
Wroth silver was formerly collected in various parts of the country, but in 
Warwickshire alone does the custom now prevail. [W. Simpson, The Buddhist 
Praying Wheel] 


— o — 


THE LIBRARY 


RECENT TRANSACTIONS. Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, Vol. xxxvii, Part 1. 


QUATUOR CORON ATI LODGE is to be congratulated on the success of the effort 
to catch up with the time lost during the war. The volume begun in the Part now 
before us contains the transactions of the lodge for 1924. As necessarily transactions 
must always be of the preceding year when published there is now only one year to 
make up for the lodge to be in the normal state in this regard. We understand that the 
problem is one almost entirely financial in character, and all brethren able to do so 
should join the Correspondence Circle, even if not particularly interested in research. 
Many successful manufacturers have found that it pays indirectly if not directly to 
contribute to scientific investigations. The results of Masonic research will in the long 
run be of equal benefit to those charged with the duties of ruling and guiding the 
Craft. 


The present Part contains two papers and the discussions following them and an 
article besides the routine records. The first paper entitled "Masonic Ritual and 
Secrets Before 1717" is by the Rev. Bro. Herbert Poole and was given on the 
occasion of his being elected to full membership in the lodge. It is one of the most 
searching and valuable contributions to this field of research since the discussions 
between Hughan, Gould and Chetwode Crawley. Hughan persisted in his belief that 



early Freemasonry had no degrees in our sense of the term, and only one initiatory 
ceremony, while his opponents in the discussion-which was a model of fraternal 
controversy argued in favor of a two degree system. The latter theory and the 
arguments for it have become in a sense popularized by the reprinting of Gould's 
articles and essays, and by the "Digression on Degrees" in his Concise History, while 
Hughan's arguments remain buried in the formidable tomes of A. Q. C. for all but the 
student fortunate enough to have access to them. 


Bro. Poole makes an attempt at interpreting the stray odds and ends of evidence that 
we have as to the nature of the ceremonies, usages and traditions of Freemasonry 
immediately preceding the Grand Lodge period. Most of it, as he points out, is to be 
found in documents actually later in date than 1717, but he argues strongly that 
though the witnesses are later than the formation of the Grand Lodge, yet the matters 
to which they testify are earlier. He divides the evidence into three main groups: A, 
Indisputably Masonic Documents; B, Manuscripts of unknown antecedents, and C, 
Printed exposures. He puts his latest limiting date at 1730. He rejects Prichard's 
Dissection because of its peculiar character and though he does not explicitly say so, 
we presume he has in mind the contention strongly pressed by Gould and which 
seems to have become an accepted opinion, that Prichard's system was his own 
invention, yet was an exciting cause of the development of the two degrees into the 
present three degree system. However, the Masons' Confession, which appeared in 
print in 1755, is included because it claims to represent the Scottish usages of 1723. 
Nevertheless he rejects the Essex MS. and the Institution as being later than 1730, 
though they are both variants of the Grand Mystery. So close are they to this printed 
document that their omission does not really matter much, except in the exclusion of 
the curious additional matter found in the Essex MS. 


Perhaps Bro. Poole's two most important contributions to our understanding of the 
existing evidence are his suggestions that first of all a certain amount of "horse play" 
may have been traditional among the operative masons, a thing eminently probable in 
itself, and which would seem to give an explanation of some difficulties; and 
secondly that there was a tendency in the period just before the revival to amalgamate 
the two original grades by a process of "telescoping." This, too, is very plausible. If 
the first grade was apprentice, and the second Master or Fellow, the non-operative 
who joined the fraternity, generally in mature age, would be most probably given the 
whole thing at once. The apprentice was normally a boy of fourteen or fifteen years. 
He would receive his second grade at the end of his time or when he came of age. But 



the honorary or "gentleman" mason was not intending to "learn the trade" and he 
would very likely be made a Fellow at once. As however, there was no central 
governing body there would be no uniformity, and procedure might well vary in 
different places. Then again, as lodges came into being (as they apparently had done 
years before 1717) which were composed of non-operatives, it might easily have 
happened that in some places all distinction between the two "parts," Apprentice and 
Fellow, was gradually forgotten, and the two ceremonies from being performed in 
immediate sequence degenerated into a single one. 


The great value of this suggestion is that it resolves the difficulties that made Hughan 
persist to the last in maintaining there was only one ceremony to begin with. The 
evidence he adduces can be interpreted as he did, and the conclusion drawn that in 
certain places there was only one ceremony, while the contention of his opponents 
can also be accepted that in other places there were two. 


In the very interesting discussion that followed, Bro. J. Heron Lepper (then Senior 
Warden of the Lodge and now a Past Master) gave some very interesting details about 
early Irish ritual forms, most of which was of such a character that it could not be 
reproduced. Bro. R. I. Clegg, associate editor of THE BUILDER, was also present, 
and gave as his share a number of points in which American ritual peculiarities might 
help to illuminate the subject. Bro. Daynes, associate editor for England, made the 
suggestion, which Bro. Poole has adopted, of giving a table of the sources and where 
the various documents may be found. This should be exceedingly useful to all 
students, but especially those approaching the subject for the first time. Bro. 
Songhurst, Secretary of Quatuor Coronati Lodge, made some very pertinent and 
trenchant criticisms of the paper. Bro. Songhurst is inclined to think that the forms 
used by the operatives were of the simplest and most matter-of-fact character, and 
that practically everything in what we know as Masonic ritual is of Speculative 
invention and development. Among the other brethren who contributed their 
suggestions were Bros. Rod. H. Baxter and H. G. Rosedale, D. D. 


The second paper was by the same author, and has the same title, as one that has 
recently appeared in THE BUILDER, The Craft in the Eighteenth Century, by Bro. 
Arthur Heiron, the content is not the same though the general subject is, as the title 
indicates. He has drawn once more on the apparently inexhaustible wealth of the 



records of Old Dundee Lodge, No. 18. Those interested in the history of the ritual will 
find much valuable material in this paper and the discussion that followed. 


The third item is a short article by Bro. W. I. Williams on the Goose and Gridiron 
Hostelry. He has gone to original leases granted by the Bishop of London, and now in 
the Record Office, for the dimensions and plan of the building, and its exact situation. 
Three plans are reproduced and help greatly to understanding his account. A number 
of often repeated erroneous statements should receive their quietus from his findings, 
among others a certain engraving that has been frequently reproduced as showing the 
exterior of the original building is proved to be of very modern origin, and the artist 
who drew it has been discovered. It was done purely as an artistic composition and 
with no intention whatever to mislead. Its reproduction as a genuine representation 
has been due apparently to mistake. 


* * * 


Transactions of the Merseyside Association for Masonic Research; Vol. Ill, 
1924-25. 


THIS volume has as a frontispiece an excellent portrait of W. Bro. John Mumby, 
President of the Association and one of its founders and most active members. In his 
Presidential address he discusses several topics, the objects of the Craft and the 
meaning of brotherhood, the question of the interval between degrees, of the 
qualifications of officers, and the place that research and inquiry has in Masonic life. 


The first article is by Bro. Louis Block, P. F. M., and also a Steward of the National 
Masonic Research Society. His subject is Masonic Education, and appeared first in 
the Report on Fraternal Correspondence of the Grand Lodge of Iowa 1924. Then Bro 
James M. Dow gives some brief sketches of well-known Masonic authors under the 
title Prophets: Wise and Otherwise, in which are mentioned such men as Gould, 
Hughan, Speth, Sadler, and so on. It is not possible to go through the whole list, but 
among the many interesting items is one by Bro. John T. Thorp on the Letter G, 



another on the McNab M. S., by Bro. Herbert Poole, another on Westminster Abbey, 
by Bro. J. Walter Hobbs, literary editor of the London Masonic Record, and Bro. 
Lionel Vibert's Prestonian Lecture, The Development of the Tri-gradual System, 
which was also given to the Somerset Masters' Lodge, No. 3706, and was noticed in 
THE BUILDER for May (page 157). The Merseyside Association deserves every 
credit in the publication of this, their third volume, and it is to be hoped that they will 
long be able to carry on the good work they have so well begun. 


* * * 


Transactions of the Dorset Masters' Lodge, No. 3366, for the Year 1925-26, Vol. 16. 


THE Dorset Masters' Lodge is peripatetic, and holds its meetings in different parts of 
the county of Dorsetshire in the same way that some Grand Lodges do. This has a 
number of advantages and encourages Past Masters from all over the Province to 
become members. There is a Correspondence Circle to which any Master Mason may 
belong, among the members of which are more than one American student. 


The papers in this volume are all unusually interesting and mostly by brethren well 
known to readers of THE BUILDER. Bro. H. C. deLafontaine writes on the Hiramic 
Legend, Bro. Gilbert Daynes on the Teachings of Freemasonry, Bro. John Heron 
Lepper on Bygone Customs of the Craft, and Bro. Covey-Crump on the Symbols of 
the Tracing Board. The object the author has in view in this last is to systematize the 
symbols by drawing parallels between those of the different degrees. For this purpose, 
as he says, their history and origin is irrelevant. His main thesis is that in each degree 
(according to the arrangement of emblems followed in England) there is a central 
symbol about which the others fall into natural groups. The Blazing Star, in the first, 
the Letter G, in the second, and the Shekinah in the third. The system as it is worked 
out is both interesting and instructive. 


Bro. Lepper gives us some more valuable data regarding early Irish Masonry. One 
thing that will strike most presentday Masons with amazement is the hour at which 



lodges began their labors, as early as six o'clock in the morning sometimes, and "eight 
was quite a usual hour." And the work took all day, including refreshments and public 
processions, finishing up the "Divarsions" by marching home "with music playing 
and colours flying." 


Bro. Daynes' paper is an answer to the question, "What Is Freemasonry?" It is a 
question that has arisen at some time in every Mason's mind, and that in some sense 
each one must find an answer for himself. Though so often discussed it is always 
new, and Bro. Daynes' conclusions are well worthy of consideration. 


In Bro. deLafontaine's paper be passes in review a number of problems that have 
arisen about this difficult subject. He touches on the title Abif or Abiff and its 
meaning and how it may have come into the Masonic tradition, and more generally he 
discusses the various theories as to the origin of the legend itself and its introduction 
into the Craft system, but without reaching any definite conclusion, in which perhaps 
he shows his wisdom. 


Bro. Frederick G. Hawes, the editor, contributes also a second part of Freemasonry in 
Dorset, which contains the history of St. Aldhem's Lodge, No. 2259, from its 
foundation to the present day. The account embodies many interesting quotations 
from the records of the lodge. 


* * * 


PEARLS AND SAVAGES. By Captain Frank Hurley. Published by G. P. Putnam 
and Sons, New York. May be purchased through the Book Department of the 
National Masonic Research Society, 1950 Railway Exchange Building, St. Louis, 
Mo. Cloth. Illustrated.- Price, postpaid, $7.85. 



THOSE who do and dare have had the respect of the members of the human race 
through many centuries. Especially is this true of those intrepid characters who have, 
in the last four or five centuries, done so much to fill up the blank pages in what 
might be termed the world's book of geography. There is nothing which appeals to the 
human race in general like the spirit of adventure which inspires the explorer to 
venture into the remote fastnesses of the globe to see what can be seen and learn what 
secret the unexplored waste holds locked within its depths. The world does not like 
failure, and those who try and fail are soon lost to memory, but those who succeed are 
welcomed with open arms and treated as heroes. The Vikings of old were a dauntless 
race of explorers and down to the present day the tales of their daring are a delight to 
young and old alike. Today their descendants lead the world in this particular field, 
but it can no longer be said that they are It race of geographic pioneers. That day is 
past and possibly it is to be lamented that there are today so few men who have the 
initiative and courage to face the dangers of the unknown merely in the quest for 
knowledge. It would be better to say that this dauntless spirit which inspired our 
ancient explorers has given way to another and has been succeeded by an equally 
courageous inspiration which forms the impetus behind our pioneers on the frontiers 
of science. And so it is that those fearless spirits which first investigated the interior 
of America, Africa, and other continents which once were dark have been succeeded 
by scientific explorers. Their work is as important as that of the old-time pioneer and 
the frontiers of geography have given way to the boundaries of science. This 
terrestrial globe is rapidly becoming a closed book so far as the discovery of new 
lands and peoples is concerned. The only unexplored areas of great extent are to be 
found within the polar regions, with one exception, and that, the island of New 
Guinea. This area is probably of more interest than the vast unexplored Arctic and 
Antarctic wastes. The polar regions, that is, the unexplored portions of them are, for 
the most part, uninhabited, but there is an area of some 90,000 square miles on this 
Southern Pacific island which has been practically untouched by the inroads of the 
white race. Here in all their pristine simplicity exist savage tribes living even today in 
an age centuries older than modern civilization. They have never reached the Bronze 
Age, and the Stone Age describes the state of their cultural development. Here, then, 
is a veritable paradise for those pioneering spirits who love the unknown and the 
untouched. There is only one hope which should be expressed by everyone: that they 
be allowed to continue their existence unhampered by the fetters of modern 
civilizations until such time as some investigator can gain their confidence and record 
their mode of life and customs after the manner of Spencer and Gillen with the 
Australian tribes and others in other sections of the recently explored world. Let us 
hope that even after this they will not find themselves facing elimination as the 
American Indian does today. Preserve their native haunts and permit them to carry on 
in the only way they understand bringing about a transformation, if one is necessary, 



by gradual stages and not by the more cruel method which was employed by the early 
pioneers on the American Continent. 


Tales of exploration and travel have amused and entertained for many years. The 
scientific results of such expeditions are even more important than the adventures 
which appeal to the casual reader, though frequently they are not as profitable and 
consequently in this day of money madness are inclined to be neglected. Captain 
Hurley's book is one which will afford many hours of amusement and no little general 
education. It is ample payment for the few hours it takes to read it. The only criticism 
that one can offer is that it does not give enough of the scientific results of the 
expedition. One realizes that the work was written for the casual reader and not for 
the student, which no doubt justifies the omission of such data. The interested student 
cannot, however, read the book without a feeling of regret that more has not been 
said, and throughout has a hope that the author will some day tell more of the customs 
of the people he visited than he has seen fit to publish in this work. There has already 
been much written about the coast tribes of New Guinea, and possibly such evidence 
as could now be produced relative to these tribes would be nothing more than a 
rehash of work already done. The missionaries have succeeded in Christianizing 
many of these peoples and consequently such material as might be collected at this 
late date would have little or no value. While this statement applies to the Coast tribes 
it certainly does not affect the Lake Murray peoples who, according to Hurley, had 
never seen a white man until he made his trip. These interior tribes are cannibals and 
treacherous; Hurley frankly confesses his fear of them. This in itself, assures us that 
they are living utterly free from the contamination of whites and makes the recording 
of their customs all the more important and valuable. 


There are some passages through the book which give much in the way of 
ethnological evidence. They are few and far between and deal principally with the 
construction and interiors of the men's houses and communal homes. The 
accompanying illustrations are exceedingly good and their value cannot be over- 
estimated. In fact, the book, for the illustrations alone, is well worth what might 
otherwise seem an excessive price. Aside from this, and a few interesting sidelights 
thrown on the marriage and mourning customs, together with a bit of evidence 
relative to their beliefs, there is nothing of any scientific importance in the whole 
work. The, Lake Murray tribes are totally neglected, possibly for good reasons. No 
explorer is particularly desirous of having his bead tanned and ornamented for future 
use as a war rattle. 



For the passing of a delightful evening or two no book can be more highly 
recommended. The style is light, easily readable, and thoroughly understandable, to 
say nothing of being most entertaining. The geographic descriptions sometimes reach 
the heights of prose poetry and one can see the dense tropical vegetation through the 
eyes of a keen observer and picture to himself the riot of color that presents itself to 
the view of the explorer. 


It may be said that the book is one which commends itself most highly to those who 
read for pleasure and the assimilation of general knowledge. The illustrations will be 
a joy to any student of savage life and customs. 


— o — 


THE QUESTION BOX and CORPESPONDENCE 


COUNT PULASKI 


Among the interesting articles in the February number of THE BUILDER I note one 
on Count Pulaski. May I have the privilege of adding a little additional information 
which may be of interest to the Craft. 


Count Pulaski was wounded in the battle around Savannah, Oct. 9, 1779, and was 
carried on board the American war vessel, the "Wasp," as Savannah was in the hands 
of the British. He was being carried to Charleston, S. C., for medical treatment but 
gangrene set in and he died before reaching Charleston. He was buried at sea, cut 
down in his prime at the age of thirty-one. 



He was made a Mason in a military lodge in Georgia shortly before his untimely end. 
In one of our beautiful squares on Bull street, named in honor of another hero of the 
Revolutionary War, there stands a magnificent work of art erected to his memory by 
the people of Georgia, the cornerstone of which was laid by the Grand Lodge of 
Georgia on the 21st of March, 1824, with full military and Masonic honors. General 
Lafayette presided at the ceremony. On the same street are monuments to General 
Oglethorpe and Sergeant jasper. 


Savannah, the home of one of the oldest lodges in America (chartered 1735), to show 
her veneration for him gave his name to one of her beautiful squares or parks. The 
finest hotel in Savannah at one time was named for him as was also the old fort that 
stands at the entrance of Savannah River. There is also an equestrian statue of Pulaski 
presented to the American Government by the Polish Societies. This statue is in our 
national capitol, Washington, D. C. 

E. W. Allen Georgia. 


* * * 


EARLY LODGES IN THE MIDDLE WEST 


In the article on page 324 of the issue of THE BUILDER for November last, Bro. F. 
T. Cheetham, who has written a splendid story of the life of Colonel St. Vrain, makes 
a few assertions which should be corrected in the interest of accuracy and history. He 
reiterates a statement made in a number of Masonic publications concerning the 
organization of early lodges by French traders who, according to the stories, always 
purchased their goods in Philadelphia and visited lodges in that city, that they, in turn, 
obtained dispensations and established Masonic lodges in western trading posts. I 
believe that this statement is pure imagination, for an investigation of the early 
members of our lodges shows that there were very few French traders listed as 
members, most of them have good old American names. 



It is stated also that lodges were instituted as follows: Western Star, No. 107, as being 
established at Kaskaskia in 1806, as a matter of fact it was established in 1805: 
Louisiana Lodge No. 108, should be Louisiana Lodge, No. 109; St. Louis Lodge, No. 
3, should be St. Louis Lodge, No. 1 1 1. He lists the name of Pierre Chouteau as a 
member of No. 109, St. Genevieve. Pierre Chouteau was a member of the Fraternity, 
but never of St. Genevieve. 


I note that he has given the Masonic membership of General Wm. Clark as St. Louis 
Lodge, No. 111.1 am very anxious to learn where he got this information, because 
General Clark's membership has been somewhat uncertain. From past evidence we 
have he was a member of Missouri, No 12, the successor of St. Louis, No. 111. 


Ray V. Denslow. Missouri. 


Your favor of the 4th inst. enclosing copy of a letter from Bro. Denslow, came while I 
was away on business. In reply to the criticisms of Bro Denslow I wish to say: 


1 . That my authority for the statement that the early lodges at Kaskaskia and St. 
Genevieve were instituted largely by French traders was based upon the statements 
contained in the Reprint of the Official Record of the Grand Lodge of Missouri; 
known by Missouri Masons as the Gouley Reprint, I believe. His statements are also 
reiterated by Maj. Sherman in his Fifty Years of Freemasonry in California, page 42, 
of Vol. 1. At the time I wrote the St. Vrain article, some two years ago, I believed 
these authorities reliable. If the statement is the result of pure imagination, it is clearly 
not my own. 


2. That the best information I can obtain indicates that Western Star Lodge, No. 107, 
was constituted at Kaskaskia June 2, 1806. My authority for that statement is a 
memorandum received from Bro. J. E. Burnett Buckenbam, Librarian of the Grand 
Lodge of Pennsylvania. 



3. There is a typographical error in the MS. of my article as to Louisiana Lodge. I find 
I had it both No. 108 and 109, in the MS. it was No. 109. 


4. In my MS. I gave the number of St. Louis Lodge as No. 111. 


5. Again I relied upon Gouley's Reprint and Maj. Sherman, supra, for the statement 
that Pierre Chouteau was a member of Lodge No. 109 at St. Genevieve. 


6. My authority for the statement that Gen. William Clark was a member of St. Louis 
Lodge, No. 1 1 1, is The History of Saint Louis City and County, by J. Thomas Scharf, 
Vol. 11, page 1775. 


You are at liberty to publish Bro. Denslow's or any other criticism. I fully realize that 
"to err is human." 1 desire to be accurate as to all historical statements and by inviting 
criticism we may be able to eliminate error. I, personally, hold Bro. Denslow in the 
highest esteem. I made a trip to St. Louis hoping to meet him, but found on my arrival 
that he was out of the city. 


I hope I may be able to send you another sketch in the near future for your 
consideration but have been delayed on account of the pressure of business. 


F. T. Cheetham. 


* * * 


LAFAYETTE 



In the letter from me about the Scottish Rite published in the July number of THE 
BUILDER two small errors crept in. In the second paragraph of the fifth section, 
1717 should be 1777, as this is the date that Stark severed his Masonic relations. The 
last phrase of the letter should read, "Appandage to Document 10.” 


In the July number I also notice that again the point is raised as to where Lafayette 
was first made a Mason. In my article in the May number of the Masonic Analyst 
(Portland, Oregon), I stated that he was first made a Mason in France when only 
seventeen or eighteen years old. That this is true I quoted the following from J. F. 
Findel's History of Freemasonry, second revised edition (London, 1869), page 226: 


"At the end of the year 1775 (Dec. 25), the Lodge De La Candeur in which the 
Marquis de Fenelon bad been initiated, was consecrated by the Grand Master in 
person. Among the brethren who attended, one hundred of which are expressly stated 
to have belonged to the aristocracy, were the Duke de Choisel, Marquis de La 
Fayette," etc. 


This, together with his declaration to the Tennessee Grand Lodge in 1825, ought to 
settle the matter. It is possible that in order to learn our work he may have gone 
through it in some army lodge in this country as is claimed. This seems highly 
probable to me, but the point is, where was he first made a Mason? 


Burton E. Bennett. 


* * * 


THE ROSE CROIX AND ALBERT PIKE 



I have just received a copy of THE BUILDER for May, 1926. On page 149 of the 
Editorial Department I find, speaking of the Christian sense of the 1 8d, "neither those 
of the Grand Orient nor those of Albert Pike have been able to efface it." 


The memory of Albert Pike is very dear to me and few, if any, knew him better than I 
He did not make nor pretend to make the rituals of the A. & A. S. R., though he did 
spiritualize them. But he did search long, carefully and exhaustively all the rituals of 
the rite which he could find, and they were many, to learn what his predecessors had 
included in the rituals of the several rites from which sprung our rite, and only those 
familiar with the materials which he had succeeded in accumulating have a right to 
disparage his work. 


He once said from the depths of his heart: 


We seem to stand alone upon the shore of a great sea beyond which, far out of sight, 
lies a land unknown to us. We see the white sails, less and less distinctly, of the ships 
which bear away from us to that other land those whom we have known so long and 
loved so well. 


There are no sails coming back with messages of remembrance and love out of the 
remote regions of that sea. But we know that the Land of Promise is there beyond the 
waters, and we believe that when we in our turn go across them we shall there see and 
know again the Dead whose memories are dear and the tokens of their affection 
precious to us. 


I loved and revered him while he was living and his 33d ring is on my finger as I 
write these words. 



It is becoming more and more common to have those who know his writings, but 
superficially to belittle him - the greatest Mason that ever lived in any country. In 
many more lines than any other man whom I have known he was great, and a hundred 
years hence his memory will shine more brightly, I believe, than that of any other 
man now living. * Why? Because the greatest of the great works which he prepared 
for his fellowmen are, as yet, unknown to the world, because he had not the means to 
make them known through "the art preservative of arts." 


M. W. WOOD, Idaho. 


[The passing reference in the editorial article referred to in this fraternal letter of Bro. 
Wood was not intended in a sense derogatory to the late Albert Pike, nor was it meant 
to convey the impression that the present rituals of the A. & A. S. R. in America were 
composed by him. But it is generally understood that he did revise them all, and a 
comparison of their present forms with 1 8th century versions shows that they have in 
many cases been almost recast. It is possible that those who knew the man himself 
and who have had access to unpublished manuscripts may have information to 
modify the conclusion, but from his published work, and the revision actually made 
in the rituals of the degrees, it seems a natural inference that be intended to bring the 
Scottish Rite into line with Symbolical Masonry by removing every dogmatic, and 
more definitely, every specific Christian requirement. The Rose Croix in its earliest 
known forms was a purely Christian degree, and even more than that it was a Roman 
Catholic degree - at least to the extent that its originators obviously belonged to that 
church. It is no derogation to anyone that he should have revised such a ritual in the 
direction of universality. The ideal is yet far off, but Freemasonry, from its emergence 
into the light of history, has been seeking it. Nevertheless to the Christian the Rose 
Croix will inevitably appear a Christian allegory so long as it is not altered beyond all 
recognition.] 


* * * 


FREDERICK OF SAXONY 



Can you inform me whether the Elector Frederick of Saxony who protected Martin 
Luther was a Mason and how many signers of the Declaration of Independence were 
Masons? 


I have read THE BUILDER'S account of the latter, but it is lost and the above 
information is desired to be used at our local lodge meetings in historical reference to 
candidates. 


H. F. B., New York. 


There is no evidence whatever that Freemasonry existed outside the British Isles prior 
to the eighteenth century, though it may have been introduced into France and the 
Low Countries by Scotch and Irish exiles in the seventeenth century. There was an 
analogous institution in Germany, of the Steinmetzen, but there is no information as 
to non-operatives ever joining it. This seems to answer the first question in the 
negative. 


It is said that twenty-three of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were 
Masons. The following is the list: Peyton Randolph, president of the first Continental 
Congress in 1744, was Provincial Grand Master of Virginia, but 'he died and was 
succeeded by John Hancock, before Patrick Henry's fiery eloquence moved the 
congress into declaring our independence; John Hancock, raised in Merchant's Lodge, 
Quebec, 1760, affiliated with St. Andrew's, Boston, in 1763; Josiah Bartlett was 
Grand Master of Massachusetts; Samuel Adams, member of St. John's Lodge, 

Boston; John Adams, same, see proceedings of Massachusetts G. L., 1733-92; Robert 
Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry, Roger Sherman, Oliver Wolcott, Philip Livingstone, 
Franz Lewis, John Witheupoon, Win. Whipple, Matthew Thornton, Francis 
Hopkinson, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, George Moss, Richard Henry Lee and 
Thomas Nelson, Jr. (Library of Masonic History, Vol. IV); Benjamin Franklin, Great 
Master of St. John's Lodge, Boston; Thomas Jefferson, on the rolls of Lodge of Nine 
Muses in Paris; Benjamin Harrison, Francis Lightfoot Lee and William Hooper 
(Grand Lodge Proceedings of Virginia, 1788-1822). 



* * * 


GRAND LODGE OF SOUTH DAKOTA 


Will you kindly inform me, through the Question Box, as t the genealogy of the 
Grand Lodge of South Dakota in manner similar to same information given as to the 
genealogy of the Grand Lodge of Colorado on page 302 of the October, 1925 
BUILDER. If, as I understand, all lodges of South Dakota, from which the Grand 
Lodge was formed were chartered by Iowa, it would not be necessary to trace the 
genealogy desired further back than Iowa. 


E. E. D., South Dakota. 


The Grand Lodge of Dakota was formed in 1875 by lodges chartered from Iowa. 
ALK 


* * * 


A CONTRIBUTION 


My personal interest in the movement for the relief of tubercular Masons and their 
dependents is best expressed by the accompanying check (for $5.00). 


S. 



BOOKS WANTED AND FOR SALE 


We have an inquiry for a copy of The Archeological Writings of the Sanhedrin and 
Talmuds of the Jews, by W. D. Mahan. 


A complete set of Ars Quatuor Coronatorum from Vol. I and Vol. XXXV is in the 
hands of the Book Department for disposal. Correspondence is invited. Address all 
communications to the Book Department. 


— o — 


YE EDITOR'S CORNER 


In regard to the letter of L.G. in the July number of THE BUILDER, correcting the 
statement made in the introductory paragraph to the translation of the chapter from 
Albert Lantoine's history on Frederick the Great that appeared in June, to the effect 
that the latter writer was official historiographer of the Grand Orient of France, Ye 
Editor, injustice to Bro. Kress' must acknowledge and confess that he alone is to 
blame. He alone gave this misinformation to Bro. Kress; and he has no excuse. It was 
a lapsus calami, or rather a lapsus linguae, as the letter was dictated and not penned; 
and he did it with the correct statement in clear print before him, "official 
historiographer of the Grand Lodge of France." Lantoine hits so freely right and left 
at every opinion he regards as unfounded that we can well believe that no official 
conservators of orthodox dogma can view him with anything but alarm if not 
resentment. 



The author of the article in the April number of THE BUILDER in a recent letter 
gave the same additional information and corrections as appear in that of Bro. Bacci 
which is given above. Circumstances having somewhat changed, there is no longer 
any reason to conceal his identity and his name may add weight to his report of the 
conditions in Italy. The writer is Bro. Frank G. Bellini, P. M. of Garibaldi Lodge, No. 
542, of New York. 


* * * 


A good many correspondents have desired information that would help them in 
planning lodge and chapter entertainments, several having asked specially for the 
names of Masonic plays. The latter will, we hope, be pleased with the original one-act 
drama that we are inserting this month, by Bro. Leon Edward Joseph, Grand Lecturer 
of the Grand Lodge of New York. Bro. Joseph is the Editor of the Little Theatre 
Department of the New York Herald-Tribune as well as being a playwright some 
note.