THE BUILDER MAGAZINE
march 1915
volume 1 - number 3
THE MASTER'S WORD AND THE ROYAL ARCH
BY BRO. S. W. WILLIAMS, GRAND HIGH PRIEST OF TENNESSEE
"The MASTER'S WORD * * * is the reward of study and
devotion, and has never been obtained on any other terms. It has never been
conferred in the ritualistic degrees of the Lodge, and never will or can be. It
is the establishment of understanding in the Soul of man between that higher
self in him, and the MORE and Beyond Self from which he draws his life, and from
which his intuitions spring. This is the Real Initiation: At-One-Ment." ("Mystic
Masonry." by J. Buck.)
Let us see. The Blue Lodge symbolizes this Life, from the
Cradle to the Grave. From our entrance upon the Stage of Life's great Drama,
'till its close, when "Exeunt Omnes" is the order of the Greatest of Stage
Managers, and the "Curtain of Life" is run down. The Chapter comes next in the
Masonic System--capped with the Royal Arch--formerly, and we might say
correctly, termed the HOLY ROYAL ARCH, for such it surely is.
The Past Master's degree has no place in the Masonic
System--being merely a complimentary degree-- a sort of enabling Act to qualify
the Candidate for the Royal Arch degree. The Mark and Most Excellent Master's
degrees are amplifications of the Work of the Blue Lodge and have no part in the
consecutive work leading up to the Royal Arch in the position they now occupy.
Mackey and other teachers tell us that the Royal Arch
degree is the symbolic representation of the state after death. Life's vanities
and follies have passed away; even the first Temple, erected with such care
through Life, has succumbed, and decay and desolation only appear in its stead.
Masonry is a search for Light--More and MORE LIGHT as we
ascend the rounds of the Ladder--and Masonic Light is TRUTH ETERNAL. In his
"Search" the Seeker will discover profound secrets of which he was previously
ignorant. They had never been explained in the Lodge and NEVER WILL BE. However,
they are there for all who will not only "Ask," but earnestly "Seek" for them.
It must be personal, self sacrificing, painstaking and consecrated service,
otherwise we shall fail in our search for these Treasures of Masonry that are
never more than hinted at in the Lodge and never explained.
This is one of the things that each man "must do for
himself" and if not undertaken in the proper spirit, he will find the Door
securely barred against him--and he will "knock" in vain. Thus, if we do not
attain the FULLNESS of Light, it will be our own fault-- we have not properly
used all of the "Working Tools" that were given us in the Lodge and were there
so carefully explained.
The Symbolism of the Royal Arch.
The City of Jerusalem and its first Temple in the Royal
Arch symbolize our Spiritual Natures--Pure and Innocent--fresh from the hand of
our Father in Heaven.
By contact with the World it becomes corrupted by
Sin--crumbles under the assaults of the enemy, and we become prisoners--slaves--
just as our ancient brethren did to the Chaldeans.
After a period of repentance we determine to lead a new
life, and with this end in view, leave our Babylon --where we have been
enchained by the Powers of Sin --to start life afresh.
Our journey across the Desert, with its trials and
tribulations, represents our first efforts to rebuild our Lost Character, and
once more become good and true, and pure before God and Man, i.e.-- to rebuild
the Temple which we have once destroyed.
We struggle on--each day is fraught with cherished memories
of by-gone years--and each night, as we lie down to rest beneath the Starry
decked Canopy of Heaven, finds us nearer our Goal--nearer HOME.
Finally, we reach the spot where we have dreamed that we
shall reap our reward. There, standing on the Mount of Olives, we see --NOT the
prosperous, well regulated City that we remember, with its impregnable
fortifications, soaring Towers, marble Palaces and magnificent Temple erected to
the Most High God, but a mass of unrecognizable ruins.
At first, we are disheartened, shocked, discouraged --but,
remembering our good resolutions, we turn to the God of our Fathers for
strength--and then take up in real earnest our Work in Life-- willing to make
any sacrifice to win, and offer unto Him our services in "Any part of the Work--
even the most difficult."
Under His guidance, we are directed where to begin our
labors. It is a hard task, this digging among the ruins--this removing the
rubbish which Sin and Vice have fastened upon our Souls--but we bravely press on
and are finally rewarded by finding the Keystone of an Arch. It is the Keystone
of Faith in the Arch of God's Promises attained by Loyal and Devoted Service. We
take it up and offer it to the Master, who encourages us, but tells us there is
still more work for us to do if we would win the coveted prize-- this time more
trying and more dangerous.
We return to the scene of our labors--this time to
penetrate this Arch--and, searching amid the accumulated damp and slime of
years, find three squares which we take up to Him who is directing the Work.
They prove to be the Squares of Virtue, Morality and Brotherly Love.
We are put to a further test of our sincerity purpose and
asked if we would be willing to again penetrate this Arch in search of further
treasures. Our answer you well remember--and we are told "Go -- and rest assured
that your valuable services will not be unrewarded."
Gaining strength and courage with each successful effort,
we once more return to the scene of our labors. This time we are more
favored--the Sun is now in a position to shine into the Arch and we discover, in
a remote corner, a strange Box, all covered with Pure Gold, upon whose top and
sides are certain mysterious characters which we do not understand.
We take this up and lay it before the Master -- and then is
brought to Light the Treasure of the Ages -- the Long Lost M. M. Word -- the
symbol of that Divine Love and Truth which passeth all human understanding.
Then it is that we hear those blessed words calling us to
our reward:
"Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into that
higher and holier Life, where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary
findeth rest."
Then we are permitted to enter "That Temple not made with
hands eternal in the Heavens."
We have expiated our Sin and have been forgiven -- and God
has fulfilled his promise and called us Home. The Story of the Royal Arch Degree
is of the Reclamation of a Lost Soul -- Redeemed by Trust in God's Love,
attested by a Life of Faithful and devoted Service.
Light From the East.
We learn from Students of the Great School of India where
many of the most ancient Mysteries are still preserved in their original purity,
that, surrounding this Earth is a Circle of Darkness, and beyond that, seven
Spheres of Light, corresponding to the Colors of the Spectrum--beginning with
the RED and ending with the VIOLET. Beyond this, the Violet gradually fades away
and merges with and into a Realm of Light of ineffable Purity and
Whiteness--millions of times whiter than anything that Mortals can imagine.
All of these Spheres are inhabited by the Spiritual bodies
of Men. Some never get through the Realm of Blackness; others struggle onward
and upward--gradually getting higher and higher in the Spheres of Color --all
struggling to attain the Light which is hidden from the eyes of mortals until
their Spiritual sight is prepared to behold it in all its glory.
TO REVIEW--Thus, we find the Blue Lodge furnishes Rules and
Precepts to be followed in this life; and concludes with the sublime lesson of
Death and a Resurrection to a Glorious Immortality--a life beyond the Grave.
Here the Royal Arch follows and carries the symbolism into that after
life--going back far enough to connect the one with the other.
St. Paul tells us "There is a Natural Body and there is a
Spiritual Body."--I.Cor. XV-44.
The Spiritual Body, with the Soul (its Guide) left the
Physical Body at the close of the Master Mason's degree, and then passes into
the "Valley of the Shadow" --the Realm of Darkness-- representing the Bondage of
Sin in Babylon. Aided by the Wings of Faith in God's Promises and guided by the
Star of Hope, it finally enters the first of the seven Veils of Light--the Red.
Here, freed from the Bonds of Sin for the first time since childhood, it begins
its journey through the Spheres with that "fervency and zeal which should
actuate all Royal Arch Masons."
As the journey proceeds, the Red begins to fade and merges
into an Orange which betokens the first realization of hardship and
weariness--and a weakening of the first flush of enthusiasm which was present at
the start.
We come to the "Bend of the River" and face the perils and
hardships of the Desert. This is symbolized by the Yellow in the list of Colors.
(A yellow flag at the Masthead of a ship at sea is a sign of sickness--of
distress and suffering on board) And, were it not that the Spirit becomes
stronger and Purer with each obstacle that is overcome, many would (and indeed,
very many do) fall by the wayside. Fortitude, in the shape of a kindly guide,
comes to our assistance and the end of the Desert journey is reached.
"We shall now turn our faces to the South--passing through
Syria and toward Damascus.
Once more are we to feast our eyes upon GREEN Hills and
fertile valleys--unforgotten through the years of exile.
Grand old Lebanon comes into view, rearing its lofty peak
into the azure BLUE of a tropical sky and here we find a host of Helpers--
TRUTH, CONSTANCY, FIDELITY, FRIENDSHIP and HOPE--to welcome and cheer us on our
way.
Passing down the Valley of the Jordan many familiar scenes
greet the eye and the Spirit is filled with thankfulness at being once more
permitted to view our native land. We kneel and pour forth a prayer of
thanksgiving to the God of our Fathers.
Presently a single ray of RED (the Color of ZEAL and
enthusiasm) comes down the spheres to us with the thoughts of our years of
bondage--and the RED, mingling with the Blue in its deepest shade, makes the
Heartsease (Indigo Purple) with all its blessed promises of Glories yet to come.
Still pressing on, we climb the Mount of Olives; and there
stand in the VIOLET! All about us are the Angels of Purity and Meekness. There
are blessed recollections passing to and fro like the rustle of Angels'
Wings--and the Guide says "Let us press on."
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A PRAYER
I kneel not now to pray that Thou
Make white one single sin,
I only kneel to thank Thee, Lord,
For what I have not been--
For deeds which sprouted in my heart
But ne'er to bloom were brought,
For monstrous vices which I slew
In the shambles of my thought.
So for the man I might have been
My heart must cease to mourn--
'Twere best to praise the living Lord
For monsters never born,
To bend the spiritual knee
(Knowing myself within)
And thank the kind benignant God
For what I have not been."
--Harry Kemp.
BEETHOVEN
O Psalmist of the weak, the strong,
O Troubadour of love and strife,
Co-Litanist of right and wrong,
Sole Hymner of the whole of life,
I know not how, I care not why,
Thy music brings this broil to ease,
And melts my passion's mortal cry
Into satisfying symphonies.
Yea, it forgives me all my sins,
Fits life to love like rhyme to rhyme,
And tunes the task each day begins
By the last trumpet-note of Time.
--Sidney Laniel.
----o----
"So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind;
While just the art of being kind
Is all this sad world needs."
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF MASONRY
Five Lectures Delivered under the Auspices of the Grand
Master of Massachusetts Masonic Temple, Boston
BY BROTHER ROSCOE POUND, PROFESSOR OF JURISPRUDENCE IN
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
III OLIVER
KRAUSE'S philosophy is concerned chiefly with the relation
of Masonry to the philosophy of law and government. Oliver's philosophy of
Masonry deals rather with Masonry in its relation to the philosophy of religion.
In order to understand this we need only note that Krause was by profession a
philosopher and that the main work of his life was done in the philosophy of law
and of government while, on the other hand, Oliver was a clergyman. As in
Preston's case, Oliver's general philosophical ideas came to him ready-made. He
flowed with the philosophical current of his time. He did not turn it into new
channels or affect its course as did Krause. Hence here, as with Preston, we may
conveniently consider Oliver's philosophy of Masonry under three heads: 1. The
man; 2. The time; 3. His Masonic philosophy as a product of the two.
1. The man. George Oliver was born at Pepplewick in the
county of Nottingham, November 5, 1782. His father was a clergyman of the
established church and his mother was the daughter of a country gentleman. Hence
he had the advantage of a bringing up under conditions of culture and
refinement. He was educated at Nottingham and made such progress that at
twenty-one he was made second master of the grammar school at Caistor in
Lincolnshire. Six years later he was made head master of King Edward's grammar
school at Great Grimsby. In 1813 he took orders but continued to teach. In 1815
he was given a living by his bishop as the result of an examination and at the
same time, as the phrase was, was put on the boards of Trinity College,
Cambridge, as a so-called ten-year man. That is he was given ten years in which
to earn his degree. Thus in 1836 he was able to take his degree of doctor of
divinity. In the meantime he was successively promoted to parishes of more and
more importance till he became rector of Wolverhampton and prebendary of the
collegiate church. In 1846 the lord chancellor gave him an easier and more
lucrative living. He died in 1866 at the age of eighty four.
Beginning in 1811 Oliver was a diligent student of and a
prolific writer upon antiquities, particularly ecclesiastical antiquities and
his writings soon brought him a high reputation as an antiquary. It is worth
while to give a list of the more important of these books since taken in
connection with the long list of his Masonic writings it will afford some idea
of his diligence and activity. I give only those which have been considered the
more important.
1. History and Antiquities of the Collegiate Church of
Beverley. 2. History and Antiquities of the Collegiate Church of Wolverhampton.
3. History of the Conventual Church of Grimsby. 4. Monumental Antiquities of
Grimsby. 5. History of the Guild of the Holy Trinity, Sleaford. 6. Druidical
Remains near Lincoln. 7. Guide to the Druidical Temple at Nottingham 8. Remains
of the Ancient Britons between Lincoln and Sleaford.
To these must be added a great mass of papers and notes on
antiquarian matters published between 1811 and 1866. And be it remembered the
author was, while most of these were writing, a teacher studying during his
leisure hours in preparation for orders and later for his degree and when the
remainder were written was rector of an important parish, a magistrate, a
surrogate for the bishopric of Lincoln and a steward of the clerical fund for
his diocese. This sounds like one man's work and a good measure at that. To it,
however, we have to add a Masonic literary career even more fruitful and more
enduring in its results.
Oliver was made a Mason at the age of nineteen. This
statement, startling to the modern Masonic ear, requires explanation. As Masonic
usage then stood a "lewis," that is the son of a Mason, might be initiated by
dispensation before he came of age. The privileges of a lewis have never been
defined clearly. He was supposed to have a right of initiation in precedence
over all other candidates. Also in England and France he was supposed to have
the right to be initiated at an earlier age, namely eighteen. The constitutions
are silent on this point but the traditional custom was to grant a dispensation
in the case of a lewis after that age. It is hard to say how far this usage has
ever obtained in America. At present it is not recognized. But there is evidence
that it obtained in the eighteenth century as, for example, in the case of
George Washington who was initiated at the age of twenty. At any rate Oliver
became a Mason in this way at the age of nineteen being initiated by his father
in St. Peters Lodge at Peterborough in 1801.
Oliver's father was a zealous and well-informed Mason and a
ritualist of the literal school, that is of the type who regard literal
expertness in ritual as the unum necessarium in Masonry. Accordingly Oliver was
thoroughly trained on this side--which indeed is indispensable not only to
Masonic advancement but, I suspect, to Masonic scholarship--and as a result of
his thorough knowledge of the work and his tireless activity his rise in the
Craft was rapid.
In 1809 Oliver established a lodge at Grimsby where he was
the master of the grammar school and chiefly by his exertions the lodge became
strong and prosperous. He was master of that lodge fourteen years. Thence
successively he became Provincial Grand Steward (1813); Grand Chaplain (1816);
and Deputy Grand Master of Lincolnshire (1832). The latter office he held for
eight years. It should be remembered that the post of Provincial Grand Master
was reserved in England for the nobility. It is interesting to know in passing
that the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts gave him the honorary title of Past Deputy
Grand Master.
The list of Oliver's Masonic writings is very long. He is
the most prolific of Masonic authors and on the whole has had the widest
influence. He began by publishing a number of Masonic sermons but presently as
one may suspect by way of revolt from the mechanical ritualistic Masonry to
which, as it were, he had been bred he turned his attention to the history and
subsequently to the philosophy of the Craft.
His first historical work is the well-known "Antiquities of
Free Masonry: comprising illustrations of the five grand periods of Masonry from
the creation of the world to the dedication of King Solomon's temple." This was
published in 1823.
Then followed in order:
2. The Star in the East, his first philosophical work,
designed to show the relation of Masonry to religion.
3. Signs and Symbols, an exposition of the history and
significance of all the Masonic symbols then recognized.
4. History of Initiation, twelve lectures on the ancient
mysteries in which Oliver sought to trace Masonic initiation and ancient systems
of initiation to a common origin; a matter with respect to which recent
anthropological and sociological studies of primitive secret societies indicate
that he may have hit the truth much more nearly than we had been supposing of
late.
5. The Theocratic Philosophy of Masonry, a further
development of his ideas as to the relation of Masonry to religion.
6. A History of Free Masonry from 1829 to 1840, intended as
an appendix to Preston's Illustrations of Masonry which he had edited in 1829.
7. Historical Landmarks and Other Evidences of Masonry
Explained, by far his greatest work, a monument of wide reading and laborous
research.
8. Revelations of a Square, a bit of Masonic fiction.
9. The Golden Remains of the Early Masonic Writers, an
elaborate compilation in five volumes.
10. The Symbol of Glory, his best discussion of the object
and purpose of Masonry.
11. A Mirror for the Johannite Masons, in which he
discusses the dedication of lodges and the two Sts. John.
12. The Origin and Insignia of the Royal Arch Degree.
13. A Dictionary of Symbolic Masonry, the first of a long
line of such dictionaries.
14. Institutes of Masonic Jurisprudence.
He also published a "Book of the Lodge," a sort of
ritualistic manual similar to the monitors or manuals so well known today.
Likewise he was a constant contributor to English and even to American Masonic
periodicals.
Probably no one not by profession a writer can show such a
list, bearing in mind how many of the foregoing are books of the first order in
their class.
Unhappily Oliver's views of Masonic law were not in accord
with those which prevailed in England in 1840. In consequence when in that year
Dr. Crucefix, one of the most distinguished of nineteenth-century English
Masons, was suspended by the Grand Lodge and retired from Masonic activity
Oliver also incurred the displeasure of the authorities by claiming the right,
though a Provincial Deputy Grand Master, to take part in a public demonstration
in honor of Crucefix in which a large number of prominent Masons joined. This
led to his losing his office by the action of the Provincial Grand Master and to
his withdrawing from active connection with the Craft. But English Masons soon
came to see the soundness of Oliver's views as to the independence which Masonry
must allow to the individual in his belief and opinion as to what is Masonic
law. Accordingly four years later nearly all the Masons in the kingdom joined in
subscribing for a presentation of plate to Oliver in recognition of his great
services to the Craft. But justice was not done to Oliver as it was to Preston
possibly because Oliver was not the type of man to urge it for himself as
Preston would have done. In consequence Oliver was out of touch with active
Masonic work for the last twenty two years of his life. That this was in no way
due to improper obstinacy on his part is, I think, manifest from merely looking
at his portrait--which radiates benevolence and amiability. Moreover all
accounts of his personality agree with the impression one gets from the
portrait. All accounts bear witness to his lovableness, his geniality, his
charitableness and his readiness to oblige. All who have written of him testify
that he was in the highest degree unassuming, unaffected and easy of approach.
That such men as Krause and Oliver should suffer from the jealousies which
greater knowledge seems to engender in those who regard ability to recite the
ritual with microscopic fidelity as the sum of Masonry is not wholly to be
wondered at. The breadth which such knowledge inevitably brings about threatens
the very foundations of the literalism which the strongest men in our lodges
have been taught or have taught themselves is the essence of the institution.
But it is strange and is an unhappy commentary upon human nature that the
arrogant, ambitious Preston could at length obtain justice which was denied to
Krause and to Oliver.
Summing up Oliver's personality, everything confirms the
impression which one derives from the portrait. He was a warm-hearted man, of
zealous antiquarian enthusiasm, of deep faith and of thoroughgoing religious
convictions. We must remember each of these traits when we come to consider his
philosophy of Masonry. So much for the man.
Now for the time.
The dominant philosophy everywhere when Oliver wrote was
what is known as romanticism. In England, which at this period was still
primarily taken up with religious rather than with philosophical or scientific
questions, romanticism was especially strong. Thinkers of the generation after
Kant objected to his critical philosophy on the ground that it lacked vitality.
They asserted that the living unity of the spirit was violated by his analyzings
and distinguishings. They pointed to religious faith on the one hand and to
artistic conception and creation on the other hand as methods which unlike the
critical philosophy did full justice to life. In other words the age of reason
in which Preston wrought and wrote was over and for a season at least men ceased
to expect all things of reason, intellect and knowledge and began to expect all
things of what they called spirit. The younger thinkers especially were filled
with enthusiasm at this idea of deducing all things from spirit and did not see
that they were simply seeking for a new philosopher's stone. They expected
through the idea of the spirit to establish a complete unity of all things, to
break down the existing separation between science, religion and art and to
reconcile all discords. Such an idea of knowledge rightly may be called
romantic. It stands before us sublime and distant. It rouses our enthusiasm or
our zeal to achieve it, and influences us by its exaltation rather than by any
prospect which it affords us of clear and sober realization. That a whole
generation should have been content to put its ideal of knowledge in this form
seems difficult to explain even by reaction from the over-rationalism of the
preceding century. Probably the general upheaval brought about by the French
Revolution must be taken into account and the golden age of poetry which
accompanied this philosophical movement must not be overlooked. Indeed the
connection between the romantic philosophers, the romantic poets and the
romantic musicians is very close. It is not an accident that what I may fairly
call romantic Masonry appears at the same time. This will be manifest especially
when I come to speak of Oliver's views as to the relation of Masonry to
religion.
One of the most representative of the German romantic
philosophers argued that all separation between poetry, philosophy and religion
was superficial and arbitrary. He argued that while the poet regards philosophy
as an expounding of the poetry of life which is to be found in all things, the
philosopher regards poetry as a pictorial form, perceived intuitively, of the
thought which moves in all things. But, he said, religion is a phase of the same
quest for unity. Let me quote his words since they bear strongly upon Oliver's
views: "If it is allowed that the task of thought is to show us the unity of all
things, can philosophical endeavor differ in its essence from the religious
yearning which likewise seeks to transcend the oppositions and unrest of life ?"
This romantic philosophy came into England chiefly through
the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) who wrote while Oliver's chief
literary activities were in progress and died about six years before the most
important and significant of Oliver's writings. The relation of the one to the
other is so clear that a moment's digression as to Coleridge is necessary.
In his youth Coleridge tells us he had been a disciple of
the eighteenth-century rationalists. But he was repelled by the attempt, so
characteristic of the eighteenth century, to reduce mental phenomena to
elementary functions by means of analysis and to discover mechanical laws for
all consciousness. If this could be done, he said, it would destroy the unity
and activity of the mind. At this time he came in contact with the German
romantic philosophy and turned in the new direction. Indeed he was a romanticist
by nature. He revelled, it has been said, in ideas of the absolute in which the
differences and oppositions of the finite world blended and disappeared. He was
a poet and a preacher rather than a thinker and rarely got beyond intuition and
prophecy. Hence there is more than a little truth in the saying of one of his
critics that he led his generation through moonshine to orthodoxy and to a more
pronounced orthodoxy than had formerly obtained. It is said that the
Anglo-Catholic or Puseyite movement of the nineteenth century, which carried
Newman and so many other English scholars into the church of Rome, was a result
of Coleridge's ideas.
What, then, were the characteristics of the philosophy of
the time and place in which Oliver wrote ?
1. Speculation and imagination were the chief organs of
thought. The poetic passed for the only real. Enthusiasm passed for scholarship.
2. Reason abdicated for a season. Conviction, intuition and
faith were regarded as justifying themselves.
3. In the same way tradition became something which
justified itself. This is seen particularly in the so-called Oxford movement and
the Catholic reaction in England. It is seen also in the position of the time as
to the English constitution which Dickens has satirized in the person of Mr.
Podsnap.
4. Reconciliation of Christianity with philosophy became a
recognized problem. For example, Coleridge took this for his chief work.
All of these features may be seen in Oliver's Masonic
writings. The defects of his historical writing, for example, which have utterly
debased popular Masonic history are the defects of a romanticist. A warm
imagination and speculative enthusiasm carried him away. In common with his
philosophical teachers he had thrown off the critical method and had lost the
faculty of discriminating accurately between what had been and what he would
like to believe had been. On the other hand, in Masonic philosophy, where pure
speculation was allowable, these qualities had a certain value. Mill says of
Coleridge that his was one of the great seminal minds of his time. In the same
way Oliver more than anyone else set men to thinking upon the problems of
Masonic philosophy. His style is agreeable. He is always easy to read and often
entertaining. A multitude of readers, who would be repelled by Krause's learned
but difficult pages, have rejoiced in Oliver. Hence he has given a form and
direction to Masonic speculation which still persist.
Turning to Oliver's philosophy of Masonry three important
points may be noted: 1. His theory of the relation of Masonry to religion; 2.
His theory of Masonry as a tradition coming down to us from a pure state prior
to the flood; 3. His theory of the essentially Christian nature of our
institution.
Let me take these up in order.
1. It has been said that reconciliation of knowledge with
religion and unifying of religion with all other human activities was a favorite
undertaking of the romantic philosophy. It was natural, therefore that a
clergyman should be attracted to this type of thought and that a zealous
churchman and enthusiastic Mason who had learned from Preston, whose book he
edited, that Masonry was knowledge, should convert the problem into one of
relating Masonry to religion and of reconciling them. Oliver's mode of doing
this was highly ingenious. Religion and Masonry, he would say, are identical in
their end and they are identical in their end with knowledge. Each is a
manifestation of the spirit, the absolute, that is of God. God, he would say, is
manifest to us, first, by revelation and thus manifest we know Him and know
ourselves and know the universe through religion. Second, He is manifest to us
by tradition, and in this way we know Him and know ourselves and know the
universe through Masonry. Third, He is manifest to us through reason, and in
this way we know Him and know ourselves and know the universe through knowledge
or, as we have come to call it, science. In common with the romanticists he
sought to throw the entire content of life into one interconnected whole; and
this he found in God or in the absolute. Accordingly to him Masonry was one mode
of approach to God, the other two being religion and science. If Krause's triad
was law, religion, morals, given effect by state, church, Masonry, Oliver's is
revelation, tradition, reason, expounded, handed down, developed and interpreted
by religion, Masonry and science.
2. Oliver's theory of Masonry as a system of tradition
seems to have been derived from Hutchinson. The latter deserves a moment's
digression.
William Hutchinson (1732-1814), an English lawyer, is
perhaps the earliest Masonic philosopher. In 1774 by permission of the Grand
Lodge, which then insisted upon a right to censor all Masonic writing,
Hutchinson published his chief Masonic work entitled "The Spirit of Masonry."
Oliver himself has said that this book was "the first efficient attempt to
explain in a rational and scientific manner the true philosophy of the order."
Hutchinson's doctrine was that the lost word was symbolical of lost religious
purity due to corruptions of the Jewish faith. He held that the master's degree
symbolized the new law of Christ taking the place of the old law of Judaism
which had become dead and corrupt. By a bit of fanciful etymologsr he derived
Hiram (Huram) from the Greek heuramen (we have found it) and Acacia from the
Greek alpha privative and Kakia (evil)--Akakia, freedom from evil, or freedom
from sin. Thus, he says, the Master Mason "represents a man under the Christian
doctrine saved from the grave of iniquity and raised to the faith of salvation."
Hutchinson influenced Hemming, who wrote the lectures of the Ancients and a
trace of this influence may be seen in America in the interpretation of the
blazing star in our lectures.
Clearly enough Oliver got his cue from Hutchinson. But
Hutchinson had identified religion and Masonry. This Oliver, as a clergyman of
the established church, could not allow. Instead Oliver sought to unify them,
that is while keeping them distinct to make them phases of a higher unity, to
make them expressions of what is ultimately, though not immediately, one. This
he did as has been seen by regarding each as a mode of approach to God. That
conception led to his theory of Masonry as a body of tradition.
Briefly stated Oliver's theory is this. He held that
Masonry was to be found as a body of tradition in the earliest periods of
history as recorded in Scripture. This tradition according to his enthusiastic
speculations was taught by Seth to his descendants and was practiced by them as
a pure or primitive Masonry before the flood. Thus it passed over to Noah and
his descendants and at the dispersion of mankind was divided into pure Masonry
and spurious Masonry. The pure Masonry passed through the patriarchs to Solomon
and thence to the present institution. On the other hand, the pure tradition was
corrupted among the pagans and took the form of the mysteries and initiatory
rites of antiquity. Accordingly, he held, we have in Masonry a traditional
science of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.
3. Again taking his cue from Hutchinson, though the old
charges to be true to holy church gave him some warrant--Oliver insisted that
Masonry was strictly a Christian institution. He believed of course that
Christianity was foretold and in a way revealed in the Old Testament and that
the doctrine of the Trinity, for example, was clearly expounded therein. In the
same way he held that the earliest of Masonic symbols also taught the doctrine
of the Trinity and that the Masonic references to the Grand Architect of the
Universe were references to Christ. Indeed in his system this was necessary. For
if religion, which to him could mean only the Christian religion, and Masonry
were to be unified it must be as setting before us different manifestations of
the same God. There could be but one God and that triune God, the God of his
religion, he held was made known to us by revelation, by tradition and by
reason. Thus Oliver's interpretation of revelation determined his interpretation
of the other two. If we bear this in mind we may accept his general philosophy
without accepting this particular doctrine. For it needs only to postulate a
more universal and more general religion than he professed, a religion above
sects, creeds and dogmas to hold that such a religion along with Masonry and
along with reason leads to God. Moreover Hindu and Mahommedan may each put his
own interpretation on revelation and join in believing in these three modes of
knowing the absolute. Mackey reproaches Oliver for narrowness and sectarianism.
But the possibilities of his Masonic philosophy are as broad as could be
desired. It was too soon in 1840 to ask a clergyman to go further in its
application than he went.
What then are Oliver's answers to the three fundamental
questions of Masonic philosophy?
1. What is the end of Masonry, for what does the
institution exist? Oliver would answer, it is one in its end with religion and
with science. Each of these are means through which we are brought into relation
with the absolute. They are the means through which we know God and his works.
2. How does Masonry seek to achieve its end? Oliver would
answer by preserving, handing down and interpreting a tradition of immemorial
antiquity, a pure tradition from the childhood of the race.
3. What are the fundamental principles by which Masonry is
governed in achieving its task? Oliver would say, the fundamental principles of
Masonry are essentially the principles of religion as the basic principles of
the moral world. But in Masonry they appear in a traditional form. Thus, for
example, toleration in Masonry is a form of what in religion we call charity;
universality in Masonry is a traditional form of what in religion we call love
of one's neighbor.
As has been said, Krause's was a philosophy of Masonry in
its relation to law and government. Preston's was a philosophy of Masonry in its
relation to knowledge. Oliver's is a philosophy of Masonry in its relation to
religion. Neither of the others has had a tithe of the influence which Oliver's
philosophy has exerted upon Masonic thought. And on the whole his influence has
been valuable and stimulating. A critic has said that "all he had to give was
transcendental moonshine which shed a new light on old things for many a young
doubter and seeker, but which contained no new life." In a sense this is so.
Oliver's Masonic philosophy is an obvious product of a clergyman in the age of
the romantic philosophy who had read and reflected upon Hutchinson. And yet it
is not true that there is no new life in Oliver. Except for Krause nothing so
well worth while has been pointed out for Masonry as the end which Oliver found
for us. I cannot but feel that it is a great misfortune that his philosophy is
being peddled out to a new generation in grandiloquent fragments through Grand
Lodge orations and articles in the Masonic press instead of being apprehended as
a whole.
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NAPOLEON
Here was an experiment, under the most favourable
circumstances. of the powers of the intellect without conscience. He did all
that in him lay, to live and thrive without moral principle. It was the nature
of things, the eternal law of man and the world, which balked and ruined him;
and the result in a million experiments would be the same.
- Emerson
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THE SACRAMENT
"The Holy Supper is kept, indeed,
In whatso we share with another's need;
Not what we give, but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who bestows himself with his alms feeds three--
Himself, his hungering brother, and Me."
--J. R. Lowell. The Vision of Sir LaunfalI
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ERNST AND FALK
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF G.E. LESSING (1778) BY LOUIS
BLOCK,
PAST GRAND MASTER OF MASONS IN IOWA
[Truly, Lessing was a prophet. Almost it would seem that
this second dialogue was written yesterday, or this morning, so pertinent is it
to the present situation among nations, and so eloquent of the mission of
Masonry. With what crystal clear insight that noble German saw what Masonry
means to humanity, how it offers the only basis upon which men of all races and
faiths may meet and live amicably together; and how by its very genius it
becomes, as the Old Charge in the Book of Constitutions said, "the Centre of
Union and the Means of conciliating true Friendship among persons"- -and,
equally, among nations-- "that must have remained at a perpetual distance."
Also, straight as a line of light, his vision goes to the truth that the basis
of human society and the state is spiritual, and that, at bottom, all issues are
religious issues. Hence the wisdom of the Old Charges--and most of all the great
Charge of the Grand Lodge of England--concerning "God and Religion," and their
emphasis upon "that Religion in which All Men Agree." Hear now the simple wisdom
of a great Mason who, over a century ago, lived and wrote so unselfishly, not
for the glory or profit of one race, but for the good of human beings
wheresoever dispersed throughout the earth.--The Editor.]
Second Discourse.
Ernst--Well, where have you been? And still you have not
the butterfly ?
Falk--It lured me from bough to bough as far as the
stream--all at once it was on the other side.
E.--Yes, yes. There are such charmers.
F.--Have you thought it over ?
E.--Thought what over? Your puzzle? Nor shall I catch it,
that pretty butterfly! And it shall give me no further concern. Once to talk
about Free Masonry with you, but never again! For I see well you are like them
all.
F.--How like them all ? They do not all say this.
E.--Don't they? Then there must surely be heretics among
the Free Masons ? And you are one of these? Still all heretics have something in
common with the Orthodox. And that is what I was talking about.
F.--About what were you talking?
E.--Orthodox or heretical Free Masons--they all play with
words, let themselves be questioned and answer without answering.
F.--Think so? Now then, let us talk about something else!
For once you have torn me out of a cozy condition of dumb astonishment--
E.--Nothing is easier than to put you back into that
condition. Just let yourself down here by me and look !
F.--Now what?
E.--The life and the moving to and fro and round about
these ant-hills. What industry and yet what order! Every one carries and pulls
and shoves and no one hinders another. Just see! They even help one another.
F.--The ants live in society like the bees.
E.--And in a still more wonderful society than that of the
bees. For they have no one among them who holds them together and rules them.
F.--Therefore it must be true that order can exist without
government.
E.--When each one knows how to rule himself, why not ?
F.--Will it ever come to that among men ?
E.--Very hardly !
F.--Too bad !
E.--Assuredly !
F.--Get up and let us be going ! For they will be crawling
all over you, these ants, and just now there occurred to me what I must ask you
at this time. I have no idea at all what you think about it.
E.--About what?
F.--About the civil society of men. How do you look at it ?
E.--As something very good.
F.--Incontestably. But do you take it as an end or as a
means?
E.--But I don't understand you.
F.--Do you believe that men were created for the state, or
that the state was created for men ?
E.--Some appear inclined to assert the former. The latter,
however, may be nearer the truth.
F.--That is what I think, too. The state unites men, so
that through this union, and in this union, each single man may enjoy all the
better and more surely his share of happiness. The sum total of the joy of each
member is the happiness of the state. Aside from this there is no happiness. Any
other good fortune of the state for which even a few members suffer and must
suffer is merely the cloak of tyranny. Nothing else !
E.--I wouldn't want to say that out so loud.
F.--Why not ?
E.--A truth that each one decides according to his own
condition can easily be misused.
F.--Do you know, Friend, that you are already half a Free
Mason?
E.--I ?
F.--You. For you declare truths that one had better keep to
himself.
E.--But what he still might tell.
F.--The wise man cannot tell that which he had better keep
back.
E.--Well, as you will Let us not get upon the Free Masons.
I don't want to know anything more about them.
F.--Forgive me! You see at least my readiness to tell you
more about them.
E.--You are joking--Good! The civil life of man and all
state constitutions are nothing but means for human happiness. What then?
F.--Nothing but means! and means discovered by man;
although I will not deny that nature has everything so arranged that man must
very soon stumble upon these discoveries.
E.--This then brought it about that some considered human
society to be nature's end. For all our desires and all of our deeds, even to
the last one, lead along the road that nature travels. So they decided. As if
nature would not bring forth the proper means! As if nature had more in view
happiness as an abstract conception--such as the state, the fatherland, and the
like--than the real happiness of each single being.
F.--Very good! You are coming to meet me along the right
road. Now then, tell me if the state constitutions are expedients of human
origin, shall they alone escape the fate of all other human expedients?
E.--What do you mean by the fate of human expedients?
F.--That which is inseparably bound up with all human
expedients, and which distinguishes these from divine and infallible
instruments.
E.--And what is that?
F.--That they are not infallible. That they not alone often
do not accomplish their purpose but even bring to pass the very contrary result.
E.--An example! if one occurs to you.
F.--Ships and sea-voyages are means for reaching far lying
lands, and at the same time become the reasons why many men never arrive there.
E.--For instance, those who suffer ship-wreck and are
drowned. Now I think I understand you. But we know very well why so many single
men fail to achieve their happiness through a state constitution. State
constitutions are many; one is therefore better than the others; another is very
faulty, contending openly with its own objects and the best is perhaps yet to be
discovered.
F.--Undoubtedly! Suppose the best constitution that can be
conceived of to have been established; suppose all the men in the whole world to
have adopted this constitution; do you not think that even then that out of this
very best constitution itself there must still arise things highly hurtful to
human happiness and of which man in his natural state unfortunately knew
nothing?
E.--I should think that if such things could arise out of
the best constitution that then it would be the best constitution.
F.--And that a better one would still be possible? Well,
then, I will take this better one for the best and repeat my former question.
E.--You seem to have been striving from the very outset to
make clear the accepted conclusion that every human expedient such as you
declare a state constitution to be, can be nothing else than faulty.
F.--Just that.
E.--And it would be hard for you to name one of those
hurtful things that--
F.--That must of necessity arise from the best state
constitution? Oh, ten instead of one!
E.--Just one, first!
F.--Well then, we will suppose the best constitution to
have been discovered; we will suppose all men in the world to be living under
this constitution would all of the men in the world for this reason constitute
but one state?
E.--Hardly. Such an enormous state would be incapable of
administration. It would therefore have to be divided into several smaller
states which would all be governed by the same laws.
F.--That is, men would even then continue to be called
Germans and Frenchmen, Hollanders and Spaniards, Russians and Swedes.
E.--Most surely !
F.--Now there you have it already, for then it would be
true, would it not, that each of the smaller states would have its own peculiar
interests and that each citizen would have at heart the interests of his own
particular state?
E.--How could it be otherwise ?
F.--These different interests would often come into
collision, just as they do now, and two me two members of different states would
be just as little able to approach each other with unprejudiced minds, as is
today a German a Frenchman, or a Frenchman an Englishman.
E.--Very likely.
F.--So that, now when a German meets a Frenchman, a
Frenchman an Englishman, or the reverse, it is no longer simply a case of the
meeting of two men who on account of their like natures are drawn to one
another, but it is a case of the meeting of two particular kinds of men, who are
conscious of one another's differing tendencies, which in turn makes them cold,
reserved, and suspicious toward each other, even before they have had the
slightest thing to do, or to share, with one another.
E.--That is unfortunately true.
F.--Now it is also true that the very thing which unites
men in order to insure their happiness by means of such a union, at the same
time divides them.
E.--Yes, if you understand it that way.
F.--Take a step further! Many of the smaller states would
have widely varying climates, consequently widely differing needs and desires,
widely varying habits and customs, greatly differing moral standards and
consequently very dissimilar religions. Don't you think so?
E.--That is a tremendous step !
F.--Men would none the less still be Jews, Christians and
Turks, and the like.
E.--That is something I dare not deny.
F.--If they were that, then they would also conduct
themselves toward one another in a way no different from that in which our Jews
and Christians and Turks have always treated one another. Not as mere men toward
mere men, but as one class of men toward another class, who are contending for
certain spiritual preferences, and founding principles upon these that would
never have occurred to the natural man.
E.--That is very unfortunately very probable also.
F.--Only probable?
E.--For I thought, as you have assumed, that as all states
could have one constitution, so they could also all have the same religion. Yet
now I cannot see how it can be possible for them to have the same constitution
without having the same religion.
F.--Neither can I. I simply assumed that, in order to cut
you off in your flight. One is as absolutely impossible as the other. One state,
several states; several states, several constitutions; several constitutions,
several religions.
E.--Yes, yes, so it seems.
F.--So it is. Now note the second evil which civil society,
wholly contrary to its intention, brings forth. It cannot unite men without
dividing them, cannot divide them without establishing chasms between them and
running dividing walls through them.
E.--And how terrible these chasms are! How insurmountable
are often these barrier-walls !
F.--Let me add still a third. It is not enough that civil
society should divide and separate men into different peoples and religions--a
division into a few great parts, each one of which would be an entity in itself,
would always be better than no entity at all--but, no! civil society must
continue its separating process even in each one of these parts and so on to
infinity.
E.--How is that?
F.--Or, do you think that a state can be conceived of
without differences in rank or station ? Be it good or bad, nearer or farther
from perfection, it would still be impossible that each member of it should bear
the same relation to the others. Even if they all had a share in the making of
the laws, still each could not have the same share, at least not the same direct
share. There would therefore be superior and inferior members. If at the outset
all of the possessions of the state could be equally divided between them such
an equal division would not survive two generations; one would know better than
another how to use his property, and at the same time he might be compelled to
divide his more poorly managed possessions among a larger number of descendants
than would the other. There would therefore be richer and poorer members.
E.--That is clear.
F.--Now consider how much suffering there is in the world
that arises out of this very difference in rank and station!
E.--How I wish I could still dispute that! But what reason
would I have for contradicting you? Well, now, men are only to be united through
separation, only to be held in union by never ceasing division. Now that is even
so. It can not be otherwise.
F.--That is just what I have been saying.
E.--Well then, what are you trying to do, to disgust me
with civilized life, make me wish that the thought of uniting themselves into
nations had never occurred to men?
F.--Do you understand me so badly? If civilized society had
but the one good that in it alone human reason could be developed, it would
still bless us in spite of far greater evils.
E.--He who would enjoy the fire, says the proverb, must
endure the smoke.
F.--By all means! But because with fire smoke is
unavoidable, dare we for that reason, invent no chimneys ? And he who invented
the chimney, was he for that reason an enemy of the fire ? See, that is what I
am after.
E.--After what? I don't understand you.
F.--The comparison was still very fitting. If man can be
united in nations only through such divisions, are they for that reason good,
these divisions ?
E.--Certainly not.
F.--Are they then sacred--these things that divide ?
E.--How sacred ?
F.--So that it is forbidden to lay hand upon them ?
E.--For the purpose of--?
F.--For the purpose of not letting them become any greater
than necessity demands. For the purpose of rendering their results as harmless
as possible.
E.--How could that be forbidden ?
F.--But it also cannot be commanded, commanded by civil
laws--for civil laws never reach beyond the confines of a state. And this is the
very thing that lies beyond all boundaries and all states. Consequently it can
only be an opus supererogatum and it is only to be desired that the wisest and
best in each state would voluntarily undertake these operi supererogato.
E.--Not only to be desired, but very greatly to be desired.
F.--I thought so ! Very greatly is it to be desired that in
every state there should be men superior to the judgment of the populace who
know exactly just when patriotism ceases to be a virtue.
E.--Very greatly to be desired !
F.--Very greatly is it to be desired that there should be
men who do not submit to the dictates of the religion in which they were born,
and who do not believe that everything which they look upon as good and true
must therefore be good and true.
E.--Very greatly to be desired!
F.--Very greatly is it to be desired that in every state
there should be men whom civic pomp does not blind and civic paltriness does not
disgust, and in whose society the lofty gladly unbend and the lowly boldly lift
their heads.
E.--Very greatly to be desired !
F.--And if it should be fulfilled, this desire ?
E.--Fulfilled ? Of course here and there now and then you
will find such a man.
F.--Not only here and there, not only now and then.
E.--At certain times, in certain lands perhaps a few more.
F.--What if there were even now such men everywhere, and
must at all times be such men ?
E.--God willing !
F.--And what if these men did not live in a state of barren
distraction, nor always in an unseen church ?
E.--Beautiful dream !
F.--To make it short--and these men should be the
Freemasons ?
E.--What's that you say ?
F.--What if it should be the Freemasons, who as a part of
their work were endeavoring to close up, as far as possible, these gulfs by
which men were kept strangers to one another?
E.--The Freemasons?
F.--I said, as a part of their work.
E.--The Freemasons?
F.--Oh, forgive me! I had again forgotten that you didn't
want to hear anything more about the Freemasons. They, are just now beckoning us
to breakfast. Come along.
E.--Not yet! Just a moment! The Freemasons, you say--
F.--The conversation brought me back to them against my
will. Forgive me! Come on! There in the larger circle we will no doubt find
matter for a more profitable conversation. Come on.
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“SOLEMN STRIKES THE FUNERAL CHIME”
AN EXPOSITION - BY THE EDITOR
HOW many tender
memories these old familiar words evoke in the mind of a Mason. Often in the
open lodge - alas, all too often beside the open grave - he has heard them march
with slow, majestic step to the measure of the Pleyel Hymn. Never were words and
melody more fitly blended, and they induce a mood pensive indeed, but not
plaintive, rich in pathos without being poignant - a mood of sweet sadness
caught at that point where it stops short of bitter, piercing grief. Yet few
know when it was written and by whom, though many must have paused to muse over
the faith of which it sings.
The hymn was written
by David Vinton, a lecturer on Masonry and teacher of the ritual in the first
quarter of the last century, whose field of labor was in the South, chiefly in
North Carolina. Unfortunately, his path through life was dogged by the demon of
drink, which left stains upon his character for which he was expelled by a Lodge
in North Carolina. He died, so Mackey records, in Shakertown, Kentucky, in July,
1833, but Morris dates his death six years earlier and says that it occurred
near Russellville, Ky. Morris adds this pathetic fact: "Nor were his own most
beautiful words sung over his grave, on account of lapse from a life of
sobriety."
In 1816 Vinton issued
a volume entitled "The Masonic Minstrel, a Selection of Masonic, Sentimental,
and Amorous Songs. Duets, Glees, Canons, Rounds and Canzonets, Respectfully
Dedicated to the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted
Masons," with an appendix containing a short historical sketch of Masonry and a
list of all the Lodges in the United States. It was printed for the author by H.
Mann and Company, Dedham, Mass., and more than twelve thousand copies were sold
to the Craft. This volume contained his funeral dirge set to the melody of the
Pleyel hymn. As Mackey remarks, "This contribution should preserve the name of
Vinton among the Craft, and in some measure atone for his faults, whatever they
may have been."
From the preface of
the Minstrel we learn that Vinton was appointed by Mount Vernon Lodge, in
Providence, to procure a book of songs for use in the Lodge, and this suggested
the book to his mind, the more so when he was unable to find any book to meet
the need. This quaint volume, yellow with age, and alternating quickly from
grave to gay, from lively to severe, tempts comment, did time permit; but our
concern here is only with his dirge. Originally it had eight stanzas, only four
of which are used in our ritual and burial service, and Vinton little thought
that his lines would be sung for a decade, then laid aside, then taken up again
and sung wherever a Brother Mason is laid to rest, "in the land called America."
II
Whether we hear this
hymn in the tyled recesses of the Lodge, or on a green sward out under the sky,
our hearts answer to its appeal. Albeit in less stately strain and more tender
tone, it strikes the same note that sounds through the 90th Psalm - that mighty
funeral hymn of the human race - with its chant of the swift death of mourning
flowers, of the vanishing of man, and the hush of profound sleep to which all
things mortal decline. How helpless man is, pursued by Time and overtaken by
Death - his life a vapor that melts, his span of years a tale that is soon told.
There is here that nameless sorrow, that unutterable sadness which lingers in
all mortal music whatsoever, and will linger in it while yet we walk in the dim
country of this world where Death seems to divide divinity with God. Evermore,
in hours however trivial or tragic, in moods pensive or gay-
"Solemn strikes the
funeral chime,
Notes of our departing
time;
As we journey here below,
Through a pilgrimage of woe."
Touched by the
twilights of time, the singer meditates and prays. He sees that the vast
machinery of Nature carries forward the entire human race, and, without fail,
drops them into one final sleep. Yet each departs alone - the father without the
child, the wife without the husband, the judge without the court, the statesman
unattended, the babe with no arm around it, aye, and king and peasant alike; and
all walk one dark, inevitable path. In what silence and dignity they go, their
faces all turned in one direction, following the footprints of a many-millioned
multitude into the infinite. We who are compelled to watch their moving figures
are powerless to detain them, and can only say farewell and then weep.
"Mortals now indulge a
tear,
For mortality is here;
See how wide her
trophies wave,
O'er the slumbers of
the grave."
With all our
philosophy and wit, death remains a bitter, old, and haggard fact which no man
may either evade or avert. There is something appalling in the masterful
negation and collapse of the body. It is profound. It is pathetic. Words are
futile, and there is in that last silence what makes them seem foolish. What
avails it what any man may have to say about death ? The real question is, what
are we to say to it, whether or not we shall let it have the last word.
"Not all the preaching since Adam
Has made Death other than Death."
Heart and flesh fail;
and the generations come and go, following the forlorn march of dust. Truly, as
for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth; for
the wind passeth over it, and it is gone.
III
Suddenly the shadow
lifts, light shineth in darkness, and we see how true it is that the soul of man
is the one unconquerable thing upon this earth. How wonderful is this ancient,
high, heroic faith which refuses to admit that the grave is the gigantic coffin
lid of a dull and mindless universe descending upon it at last. Life tries it,
sorrow beshadows it, sin stains it, and yet it is victorious. When doubt deepens
this faith becomes more profound, and out of the blackest tragedy it rises with
a song of triumph. So it has been from the far time when the oldest book in the
world was written, and so it will be until whatever is to be the end of things.
"Here, another guest we bring;
Seraphs of celestial wing,
To our funeral altar come;
Waft a friend and brother home."
Such faith is not a
mere surrender; it is a force prophetic of its own fulfillment. At its touch the
graveyard becomes a cemetery - that is, a sleeping chamber - and dark Death an
All Man's Inn where a fellow pilgrim takes lodging for a night. Those whom we
call the dead are the guests of God, whose love is the keeper of unknown
revelations. Also, our singer sees that the social life of man, its warmth of
sympathy, its sanctity of friendship, its dear love of man for his comrade, has
enduring value. Because this is so; because life is brief at its longest, and
broken at its best, it must be filled with Truth and Love; that so we may bring
to the Gate in the Mist something too noble to die. Hence the wise prayer:
"Lord of all below, above,
Fill our souls with Truth and Love;
As dissolves our Earthly Tie,
Take us to Thy Lodge on High."
O Death, where is thy
victory? Our trust is in God, that He who made us what we are will lead us to
what we ought to be. Higher faith there is none. Even so, Masonry rests
its hope upon the ultimate Reality, the first truth and the last, and it is
therefore that its singer sees, amidst the fluctuating shadows of this twilight
world, an august, incomprehensible destiny for man. As a song of triumph the
four stanzas omitted from this historic hymn are worthy of remembrance:
"For beyond the grave there lie
Brighter mansions in the sky!
Where, enthroned, the Diety
Gives man immortality.
There, enlarged, his soul will see
What was veiled in mystery;
Heavenly glories fill the place,
Show his Maker face to face.
God of life's eternal day!
Guide us, lest from Thee we stray,
By a false, delusive light,
To the shades of endless night.
Calm, the good man meets his fate,
Guards celestial round him wait;
See! he bursts these mortal chains,
And o'er death the victory gains."
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MASONRY AT WORK
[Beautiful is the
Spirit of Masonry, and tireless in its labors. It never sleeps and it takes no
vacations. If by some celestial art one could trace its influence, and make
record of its gracious ministries, what a testimony it would be. But that Spirit
is as modest and shy as it is unwearying in its served, using grips and signs
the better to hide its charities. Nevertheless, in times of trial and crisis it
is dramatically revealed, and men see, for a brief time, what it means.
Therefore ye editor proposes to have a regular department in this journal
wherein to make record of notable instances of Masonry at work, and he invites
his readers to assist by furnishing examples, such as the one given below -
instances of relief, of rescue, of brotherly service and sacrifice in peace and
in war - if so the "human touch" may be felt in the midst of our studies of
philosophy, history, and symbol.]
Here follows a brief
digest of facts of which elaborate record may be read in the Proceedings of the
Grand Lodge of Michigan. While out hunting in Nov., 1909, Brother Harry Brownell
disappeared, and as it was feared that some fatal accident had befallen him,
strict search was made, but to no avail. Whereupon the Craft of Michigan raised
a fund of $1672 for relief and search, but no trace of the missing man was
found. Finally, one Sunday morning in November, 1913, while walking in the woods
near Newberry, Brother Irving Weber was attracted by a shoe lying close to the
road. The singular circumstance excited his curiosity, and upon closer
examination he found the skeleton of the long lost brother. Opening the vest, he
discovered a soft-nosed bullet mushroomed against some pencils in the pocket,
showing that the ball had passed through the body and lodged in the vest pocket.
Evidently, a hunter, mistaking him for an animal, had shot him in the back and
ran away and left him. The remains were taken to St. Charles and buried by his
home Lodge, No. 313.
Of the relief fund,
$376 remained on hand unused. Upon inquiry it was found that the family of
Brother Brownell were left in need, and this sum was presented to his wife on
Christmas morning. It was a complete surprise to the young wife, whose tears
told of her gratitude. During the long search for the body of Brother Brownell,
his father-in-law, Brother Jay Doty, had mortgaged his little home for $950 to
aid in the search. No sooner had this sum been expended than he was smitten with
almost total blindness, incapacitating him for doing any kind of work. In due
course the mortgage was foreclosed, and Brother Doty was without a home. Once
again the Masons took the matter in hand, St. Charles Lodge subscribing a fund
with which it purchased a little home, and with the aid of other Lodges paid for
it, giving Brother Doty a clear title. Such is the spirit of Masonry in
Michigan; and the only reason given for this ministry in the report is as
follows: "
"We should, as God
prospers us as an institution and as individuals, be ready and anxious to aid
those who are not fortunate or who have fallen by the wayside. We are our
brother's keeper, and we cannot pass by on the other side when we see him in
sore distress. If we do, we are not possessed of the Masonic Spirit,
nor does the love of God dwell in
us."
----o----
Knowledge is the
solace of the intellect as religion is the comfort of the soul, and its
acquisition is not a toil but an indescribable delight.
- G. W. Speth.
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GOING TO BED
There is a hall in every house,
Behind whose wainscot gnaws a mouse;
Along whose sides are empty rooms,
Peopled with dreams and ancient dooms.
When down this hall you take your light,
And face, alone, the hollow night,
Be like the child who goes to bed,
Though faltering and half adread
Of something crouching crookedly
In every corner he can see
Ready to snatch him into gloom,
Yet goes on bravely to his room,
Knowing, above him, watching there,
His Father waits upon the stair.
- Madison Cawein.
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ROADS OF MASONIC RESEARCH
By Bro. R.I. Clegg of Ohio
MASONRY is a prolific subject for discussion. Mention any
angle of it and at once there is scope for abundant speculation, for cautious
investigation, and for rigidly intensive and extensive study. Highways and
byways there be through most delightful dales of dallice where the easy-going
student may rest and refresh himself. Hills, too, there are whose loftiest crags
defy scent save only to the hardiest of ambitious climbers. To each according to
his taste, to every one according the test, all having their reward in
proportion to the capacity and capability of him who seeks.
From this broad sweep of the field Masonic it is easy to
see how our society may by the flood of incoming suggestions be overwhelmed to a
degree where performance must lag behind all promises. Editorial willingness to
supply all desired information will wait perforce upon limited space. A plan by
which inquiries can be assigned to competent and co-operative brethren to answer
by correspondence is one method of dealing with that branch of the situation
where for any reason the printed page is too tardy or otherwise insufficient. If
queries or suggestions do not get early attention some of our members will
perhaps naturally assume that their particular choice receives not the
consideration worthy of it. Moreover, on the other hand, it is easy to reach a
rut and stay there notwithstanding the high standard set at the start. Many
essays are too often imitative and not initiative in either matter or manner. To
avoid the whirlpool or the rock will call for all the Masonic enthusiasm,
energy, and equipment of our editorial pilot.
Suppose we set down a few items toward which the taste of
at least one Mason is inclined. The number of them is not comprehensive but
merely illustrative. Neither is the order in which they are mentioned any
indication of their relative importance. The appended queries are readily
increased.
What is the present status of the Morgan question? Have the
various references to his appearance in other lands--such as the one at Smyrna
mentioned in the biography of Ren Perley Poore--been conclusively cleared up?
That the Anti-Masonic situation may have had a great dependence upon purely
political matters is probable but how far has this been established? What
foundation is there for the account by Father Eisenberg of a connection of the
Jesuite with the Morgan mystery? Is there on record anywhere and what is the
report of that early Committee of the Grand Lodge of New York appointed to
collect and submit all the obtainable information on this subject? Did Col.
King, John Whitney, Samuel Chubbuck, or Eli Bruce commit to anyone additional
information not already ventilated by Rob Morris, W.L. Stone, Josiah Drummond,
Thurlow Weed, John Ross Robertson, or other of the better known writers?
What about Leo Taxil? Has any Roman Catholic study of him
appeared since he recanted from that faith? If so, would it be worth
reproduction in synopsis or in extenso? Perhaps Benno Loewy or some other
equally well-informed brother--if any there be-- could be induced to give us an
up-to-the-times character study and biographical account of this curious
individual.
The monitorial work of the Scottish Rite bears strong
impress of the philosophy of Eliphaz Levi. An American investigation at first
hand of the work of this mystic should not be lacking in attraction if
sympathetically and skillfully performed.
What a fascinating subject would be the study of Masonic
plays, operas, songs, and stories ! Mozart's "Zauberflote," Gounod's "Queen of
Sheba," Dumas' "Balsamo" drama, and many others could probably to great
advantage be reproduced. Especially would the words and music composed by Mozart
for the ceremonies of his lodge be well deserving of record.
Much has been written upon the Old Charges and the Regius
Manuscript but a complete modern rendering, particularly of the latter, is badly
wanted. Put into twentieth century English these old treasures would have added
value and a greatly enlarged circle of students. Hughan's "Old Charges" will in
due course be reprinted by the Lodge of Research at Leicester, England.
How many and many a time does the story appear about a Pope
being a member of the Masonic fraternity. Few Masonic magazines have failed to
give it space at some time during lo these long years. Well, what are the facts
? Of late an effort has been made to filter the fiction out of this ancient
tale. For sundry items of much interest about this hardy perennial blossom of
the field Masonic thanks are due my good brethren Messrs. Shaver of Topeka, and
Evans of Denver. Some of these days the data will be jotted down in shape for
publication. Meantime any new or old contribution on this topic will be most
thankfully received and in due course passed along to "The Builder."
What is the historic relation of the Church of Rome to the
Craft and to its predecessors ? That there is a singular and suggestive
connection between them running back into a remote past is very probable, and
that their earlier relations may have been most amicable and cooperative is
equally plausible. No one can consider similar symbolism, also the quaint
reminders of the one set of ceremonies by the other, without an abiding
impression that in the one body the other has found much.
Has the theory of Craft origins not paid too little respect
to the probable deposition within the operative body of cathedral builders of
the teachings and practices of the persecuted and disappearing Knights of the
Temple? From whence naturally comes the Commandery if not by some such route ?
Do the early accusations against the Templars not indicate certain rigorous
tests of obedience and courage employed in their initiatory ceremonies ?
Is it not both desirable and feasible to briefly digest the
several authoritative Masonic Codes? One State will not admit a candidate if
lacking a finger. In another he would not be rejected if he lacked a finger but
could not be admitted if he was without a hand. One State permits the officer's
jewels to be suspended by pin, cord or ribbon and their aprons are blue. Another
State calls for the white lambskin apron and the ribbon-hung jewel for officers.
A stereopticon is forbidden in one State and permitted in another. One Grand
Chapter requires its Royal Arch Masons to wear scarlet bordered aprons while
another approves aprons entirely red. One Grand Chapter has legislated upon the
dimensions of certain of its furniture and properties. Others leave the whole
matter to the individual tastes of the subordinate Chapters. Some Grand Lodges
approve of rituals, others don't. Several require certificates of membership
from visiting brethren. These and many others are instances showing a diversity
of practice that maybe would in time become simplified and systematized were
there any synopsis made and regularly remade of these differences.
What are the conditions of Masonry in other countries? Can
we somehow get an insight of their ceremonies? For instance, there is no
Scottish Rite in Germany but there is an Inneren Orient. What does this last
most nearly compare to in our American series of degrees? How far does the
German civil law interfere with the fraternity? The Rectified Rite is not
unfamiliar to me but cannot discuss it in print. Could we not get that admirable
and scholarly Mason, Edouard La-Tente, to give us a comparative paper on the
Rites of Continental Europe? Maybe that facile linguist, Jose Castellot, at
present head of the Scottish Rite of Mexico, might be induced to tell us of
Masonry as practiced between the Straits of Magellan and the Rio Grande. Of the
three governing bodies of the Craft in France and their relative purposes few
American Freemasons are fully informed. Much misinformation is among us on this
subject. A first step toward mutual respect is to be better informed. And our
knowledge ought to include an acquaintance with the propaganda waged vigorously
in France and Belgium against Freemasonry by the Abbe Tremontin and his
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