THE BUILDER MAGAZINE
april 1916
volume 2 - number 4
MASONIC SOCIAL SERVICE: AN INVESTMENT IN BABIES
BY BRO. T. W. HUGO, 33d, MINNESOTA
(Hear now a story of the Infant Welfare Work of the
Scottish Rite Bodies of Duluth, written at our request, and telling of the
beginnings, the growth, the methods, and organization of the work, together with
something of its results. We present it as the first of a number of examples of
Masonic social service, not only because the work of the Duluth Masons deserves
to be widely known, but also, and chiefly, that others may go and do
likewise--if not in this particular field, then in some other that lies ready at
hand. The following letter from the Commissioner of Public Safety explains
itself:--"Dear Mr. Hugo: I am in receipt of your report of the Infant Welfare
work being done by the Scottish Rite bodies of this city. They are most
certainly to be congratulated on the excellent showing made, and the City
Government, and I believe our citizens generally, fully appreciate the good work
you are doing and the responsibility you have assumed. Very truly yours, B.
Silberstein.")
A YELLOW pup ! But wait a minute; I am a believer in
fairies, and I like to begin a story with "Once upon a time." Although, to tell
the truth, I am scared to death to get down to my vernacular and such common
subjects as I shall have to touch upon in my story when I think of what the
writers on "isms and aints," the fourth dimension, the occult, and so forth,
will think, and the strain the muscles of their noses will have to stand to pull
them down to the normal level again. But "orders is orders," and Ye Editor gets
what he asked for, and I'll bet the whole bunch will back me up. If I use the
personal pronoun it is not egotistically, but to avoid the feeling of immodesty
if I did not, because the personal element comes into the beginning of the
story.
So now, "once upon a time" I was the presiding officer of
the four bodies of the Scottish Rite of the Valley of Duluth, and had been in
that position for twenty-two years. I had seen the Rite built up from the nine
Charter members to about nine hundred; I realized that our strength did not
increase in proportion to our increase in membership; that our sympathy for one
another did not extend any farther than when we had less than half that number;
that if we tried to be brotherly to more than about so many we were always
handicapped by wondering if "that really was his name, and who is he anyhow";
that our attendance did not increase in proportion, nor was our ceremonial work
done any better; that we seemed to be about at a standstill in most everything
but increase in membership. We had some money, were never parsimonious, met in a
Temple that was entirely paid for before we held a meeting in it; but there was
something lacking, and I wondered if it might be myself--so i)egan to fuss.
Having held the office so long, I had become the Masonic father confessor,
general consulting Mason, Masonic probate Judge, and Masonic Probation Policeman
of our town. Now we have the background scene set, and in comes a poor mother
late one afternoon about six years ago with a sick child; she had been to see
some doctors, all of whom told her she must place the baby in a hospital right
away; but having no money or friends they might as well have told her she ought
to feed the baby on champagne, but some person sent her to me. The baby was
fixed up for over night and everybody made as comfortable as possible--except
me. I was mad all through, my red hair stood straight up on end, my nerves stuck
out through my skin, and even my funny bone couldn't see a joke in it.
I played Booth in Macbeth, fumed and stamped, but the
tragedy kept the stage until I made up my mind that if I wanted to get any sleep
I would have to find an antidote, when the thought struck me that if anything
would make a fellow forget his other troubles it would be a smoke of one of our
Brother Buck's cigars, and I made him a pleasant call, lit one of the stogas,
became sick, and was about ready to go home entirely straightened up when--Bang,
Yelp, Whoop! and a youngster rushed in with a dirty, mongrel, yellow pup in his
arms. The pup had been run over by a motorcycle and the feelings both of the boy
and the pup had been hurt, in addition to the hind leg of the pup; my friend of
the medicinal cigar said, "Well, take that howling brute down to the dog
hospital," and the incident closed and the pup disappears from scene. I soon
took my departure, arrived home, went to bed, and everything seemed settled
--until in my sleep the pup began to eat the baby, and before I could reach for
a stick I fell out of the bed and barked my shins. After that I couldn't go to
sleep again for some time, but dropped off when I had made a combination of nine
hundred men, a baby hospital, a work of interest for these men to be engaged in,
and the bigger idea of trying to give the most helpless portion of animate
nature a better chance for their white alley--together with the development of
the helpful spirit latent in Masonry.
By the next meeting I had mapped out a fine speech to be
delivered to the assembled Brethren, I gathered up the usual Masonic platitudes,
dwelling on "spreading the cement of brotherly love" over everything, was
obliged to deal in generalities because I did not know exactly what was wanted
or what would best suit, as I foolishly consulted with several Doctors and each
one told me a different specific to use. But I was game, and after the regular
business I got up and stated that I had asked them to be present on this
occasion for the purpose of;--and then I was off, but soon forgot what I had
mapped out to paralyze them with, fell from grace into the yellow pup story, and
made the statement in a very apologetic manner that we ought to undertake such
work, and--then one brother broke up the meeting by growling, "Well, why don't
you?" That ended it. There were no resolutions, no whereases, not a motion that
a committee "be appointed ,to look into the matter"; it was taken for granted,
and since that time the funds have been forthcoming without comment. We have
given up the idea of the hospital for the present, that is not the first
essential, but it will come in time.
Although we have settled it, I believe, that in the future
a sick baby shall have as good a show to treatment as a yellow pup, because we
have quarters in St. Luke's Hospital, the ultimate will be a regular Baby
Hospital; because babies are no more welcome in the ordinary Hospital than they
are in some well regulated families. But we soon learned by experience that
there were several features of the Infant Welfare work which would bring quicker
and more valuable results than the Hospital. Visiting Nursing, for instance, is
the first and most important portion; it is immediate in its effects, is
educational, a very important feature, because you have to gradually bring those
who may profit by the service up to the point where they will be willing first,
and then anxious for it. Our experience leads us to believe that the visiting
nurse, a proper one, not over educated in the theory, but bubbling over with the
natural, womanly, sympathetic enthusiasm and good nature of the strong, healthy,
female crusader who would be a militant Suffragette riding on a horse all
straddled out if her tendencies had not run into more elevating and useful
channels, is indispensible. It is really wonderful what those women can do; I
can have myself placed in the Anannias class at any time by telling the truth
and sticking to the facts concerning what I know about this matter, so I have to
go light in deference to my standing as a Deacon.
After we had tried out many things, and failed in some, we
found that the next step was to provide means for obtaining medical advice,
although it is remarkable how little, comparatively, the doctor is needed, but
he is needed at times; and the next was to provide Milk Stations where
guaranteed clean milk could be obtained at reasonable prices. These were the
next steps, but of course, all based on the work of the visiting nurse. In our
case the milk proposition was comparatively easy, as there are only three months
during which the hot weather demands any special consideration, but this is a
latitudinal detail which each locality must determine for itself. In our case we
paid ten cents a quart for the inspected milk and sold it for seven cents, the
same price as the ordinary milk dealer's product sold for. About one-fourth we
had to give free, but wherever possible we received some consideration, in order
to prevent the development of the idea of charity and its cold, paralyzing
effect on the moral consciousness. Our Clinics are attended by a practising
physician and a Nurse; one is held each day, except Sundays; and during the
middle of the season we have two physicians employed and three Nurses.
In the working out of our plans we found that a large
amount of our work was undone by the lack of appreciation of the importance of
the job confided to them on the part of the young children to whose care some
infants were entrusted. Then we called them Little Mothers, and educated them in
classes in such matters as they could bring into use in their work of caring for
their little brothers and sisters. We gave them real grown up receptions, cake
and ice cream with three colors in it, and practical instruction, and took them
out for auto rides, as well as the real Mothers, but at different times; for the
Little Mothers make the trip a picnic which would surely waken the baby, if
within a block. We have no trouble in securing the autos, and each is driven by
its owner, no chauffers permitted in the procession. It is the Society event in
Dead Cat Alley and Shinbone Lane when the shining machine makes its way to the
residence of Mrs. O'Levitsky, and takes the Duchess and her family out for an
airing. But I could use this garrulous typewriter-- it used to belong to a
woman--for hours, and still be on the safe side, but I shall have to complete
this story by enclosing some clippings concerning the same subject and summarize
the results.
Summing up, our experience has been very satisfactory; we
have reduced the indigestion and insomnia amongst our Brethren, because we have
cut out the mankilling late suppers and spent the money on the babies; we have
given our members the idea and the certain knowledge that they are doing
something, that they are helping somebody; we have placed Masonry much closer to
the great majority than it ever was or would have been in any length of time
under the old speculative regime; it means something to them now besides a
selfish, cloistercell institution, which although possessed of great potential
strength was too much hampered by old traditions, old customs, Grand Master's
decisions, Obsolete Landmarks, and the endeavor to live under ancient, instead
of modern, conditions, and permitted progress and real civilization to drag it
along, instead of being one of the highest powered motors in the van.
Properly organized, such a work is not an undertaking which
should dismay any group of Masons under ordinary conditions. The overhead
expenses are nothing; the only expenses being for Nurses and physicians, and
such other charges as hospital bills, and attention to the sick. One brother is
Director, and the Autocrat of all the Russias is not in it with his reign; there
is no female on the list, except the nurses, and every dollar is one hundred
cents. Few know who the Director is and no person is strutting around borrowing
glory and doing nothing. The Scottish Rite Bodies furnish the entire funds and
are glad to do so.
Our Masonic Institution, not alone the Scottish Rite,
stands in our City of over 95,000 people as one of its municipal assets and
institutions; the letter of the Director of Public Safety in the Christmas
Calendar will indicate his opinion. The City Health Department still looks after
the pre-natal work, a different subject, but we attend to everything in the
shape of infants. If I have not covered your requirements ask me questions and I
will try and make everything plain, or come up with your skiis and see for
yourself.
(From the report of the work, as submitted to "The American
Association for the Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality," the headquarters
are at Baltimore, Md., we learn the following details of the work at Duluth. The
work was organized in 1911 and is carried on throughout the year. The number of
babies cared for during the year 1913, was 200; for the year 1914, 300, for the
year 1915, 600; the large increase for 1915 being due to the fact that the City
of Duluth's interest in this department was assumed by the Scottish Rite Masons.
The nationalities represented in the babies cared for are Swedish Norwegian,
Finnish, French, German, Italian, Austrian, English, Irish, and three
colored--which throws that the work is neutral. The infant death rate in Duluth
for the year 1910 was 223; for 1914, 187. Free clinics were held in three
districts of the city during the months of June, July, August, and September,
1915. Total number of calls made from June 28th to October 15th 1915, 1,334;
total number of infants on record, 926.--The Editor.
----o----
WHEN OLD AGE COMES
If God grant me old age,
I would see some things finished; some outworn;
Some stone prepared for builders yet unborn.
Nor would I be the sated, weary sage
Who sees no strange new wonder in each morn.
And with me there on what men call the shelf
Crowd memories from which I cull the best,--
And live old strifes, old kisses, some old jest;
For if I be no burden to myself
I shall be less a burden to the rest.
If God grant you old age,
I'll love the record writ in whitened hair,
I'll read each wrinkle wrought by patient care,
As oft as one would scan a treasured page,
Knowing by heart each sentence graven there.
I'd have you know life's evil and life's good,
And gaze out calmly, sweetly on it all--
Serene with hope, whatever may befall;
As though a love-strong spirit ever stood
With arm about you, waiting any call.
If God grant us old age,
I'd have us very lenient toward our kind,
Letting our waning senses first grow blind
Toward sins that youthful zealots can engage,
While we hug closer all the good we find.
I'd have us worldly foolish, heaven wise,
Each lending each frail succor to withstand,
Ungrudging, ev'ry mortal day's demand;
While fear-fed lovers gaze in our old eyes,
And go forth bold and glad and hand in hand.
--Burges Johnson, in Harper's Magazine.
BUILDING DESIGNS
BY BRO. ASAHEL W. GAGE, ILLINOIS
WE often heal that Masonry enables those who understand it
to travel in foreign countries. It is certainly true that an intelligent study
of Masonry draws the individual out of his own small sphere and, by giving him a
broader view, enables him to travel in those distance realms of thought, where
no discordant voices mar the harmony of eternal law. In every man's mind there
exists a universe so grand that it is in reality a reflection of the great plans
of the Grand Architect of the Universe. Masonry leads the way and unfolds the
wondrous mysteries. It is in this higher psychological sense that Masonry
enables those who follow its precepts to travel in foreign countries.
WAGES
We also learn that Masonry enables the traveler to work and
receive master's wages and he thereby the better enabled to support himself and
family and contribute to the relief of the worthy distressed. By wages, however,
is meant not alone returns of a purely financial nature. By studying the Masonic
system of symbolism, the Mason learns to read the laws of Nature and apply them
for his betterment. It makes him of more value to the world and his fellowmen
and being of more value, he receives more for his services. The unfailing law of
compensation, the All Seeing Eye, prevades the innermost recesses of the human
heart and rewards according to merit. It is in this way that the Master Mason
works and receives Master's wages.
A MASTER MASON?
The teachings of Masonry are not disclosed, its secrets
cannot be extorted, no man can receive them until he is prepared for them. The
taking of the Master Mason's obligations does not make a Master Mason. Masonry
points to the Bible as the Great Light for guidance and to the Arts and Sciences
as of value in themselves and in their suggestions of the great force that is
back of them. A conception of this force, an ability to study by symbol, to
prove the unknown by the known, with the same exact conclusiveness that the
geometrician proves the unknown problem by the axiom and the proven proposition
makes the individual a Master Mason.
STUDY
The admonition to travel in foreign countries, work and
receive Master's wages is an admonition limited only by the industry and ability
of the individual.
SPECIFICATIONS OF SUPPLEMENTAL WORK AFTER TAKING FIRST
DEGREE I. KINGS
CHAPTER V.
2. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying
5. And behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of
the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I
will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.
6. Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees
out of Lebanon, and my servants shall be with thy servants; and unto thee will I
give hire for thy servants, according to all that thou shall appoint for thou
knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto
the Sidonians.
8. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the
things which thou sentest to me for, and I will do all thy desire concerning
timber of cedar and concerning timber of fir.
9. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the
sea; and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shall
appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shall receive
them, and thou shalt accomplish my desire in giving good for my household.
15. And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare
burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains.
16. Besides the chief of Solomon's officers which were over
the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that
wrought in the work.
CHAPTER VI
2. And the house which King Solomon built for the Lord the
length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and
the height thereof thirty cubits.
7. And the house, when it was in building, was build of
stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither
hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in
building.
8. The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of
the house; and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out
of the middle into the third.
19. And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set
there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
20. And within the oracle was a space of twenty cubits in
length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height; and he
overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar.
38. And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, (which is
the eighth month) was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and
according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.
SPECIFICATIONS OF SUPPLEMENTAL WORK AFTER TAKING SECOND
DEGREE
I KINGS
CHAPTER VII.
13. And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre
14. He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali and his
father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass, and he was filled with wisdom and
understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to King
Solomon, and wrought all his work.
15. For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits
high apiece; and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.
16. And he made two chapiters of molton brass, to set upon
the tops of the pillars; the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the
height of the other chapiter was five cubits.
17. There were nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain
work, for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the
one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter.
18. So he made the pillars, and there were two rows round
about upon the one net work, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top of
the pillars; and so did he for the other chapiter.
19. And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars
in the porch were of lily work, four cubits
20. And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates
also above, over against the belly which was by the net work; and the
pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.
21. And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple;
and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin; and he set
up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.
22. And upon the top of the pillars was lily work; so was
the work of the pillars finished.
46. In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the
clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.
SPECIFICATIONS OF SUPPLEMENTAL WORK AFTER TAKING THIRD
DEGREE
II. CHRONICLES
CHAPTER II.
1. And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of
the Lord, and an house for his kingdom.
3. And Solomon sent to Huram, the King of Tyre, saying, As
thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him an
house to dwell therein, even so deal with me.
4. Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God,
to dedicate it to Him, and to burn before Him sweet incense, and for the
continual shew bread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the
Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord our God.
This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.
5. And the house which I build is great; for great is our
God above all gods.
6. But who is able to build Him an house, seeing the
heaven, and heaven of heavens, cannot contain Him ? who am I then, that should
build Him an house, save only to burn sacrifices before Him?
7. Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and
in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and
that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in
Jerusalem, whom David, my father did provide.
8. Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees,
out of Lebanon, (for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in
Lebanon) and behold, my servants shall be with thy servants.
10. And behold, I will give thy servants, the hewers that
cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand
measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths
of oil.
11. Then Huram, the King of Tyre, answered in writing,
which he sent to Solomon, because the Lord hath loved his people, he hath made
king over them.
12. Huram said moreover, Bessed be the Lord God of Israel,
that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued
with prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the Lord, and an
house for His kingdom.
16. And we will cut wood from Lebanon, as much as thou
shalt need, and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa, and thou
shall carry it up to Jerusalem.
CHAPTER III.
1. Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at
Jerusalem in Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David, his father, in
the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
3. Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed
for the building of the house of God: The length by cubits after the first
measure was three score cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
8. And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was
according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof
twenty cubits, and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred
talents.
15. Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and
five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five
cubits.
16. And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on
the heads of the pillars; and he made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on
the chains.
17. And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on
the right hand, and the other on the left, and he called the one on the right
hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.
BEECHER ON BURNS
(An unknown friend who signs only his initials writes to
say that several years ago he read in the Brooklyn Eagle the report of an
address on "Beecher as a Lecturer," by Dr. Hillis, in which was quoted an
extract from a little known, unpublished lecture by Mr. Beecher on Robert Burns.
He is kind enough to send us the excerpt, and we can only say that if the whole
lecture was of a piece with this passage, it is a great pity that it was never
published in full. The passage, which we believe our readers will very much
appreciate, is as follows:)
His one nature carried enough for twenty common men of
force and of feeling. He never trickled drop by drop prudentially; he gushed. He
never ran a slender thread of silver water; he came down booming like one of his
own streams, which, when a shower has fallen, rushes down the mountain. All
parts of his nature were subject to this same, sudden overflow. He thought as
dragons charge, he felt love as prairies feel autumnal fires. No man can form an
estimate either of the good or bad that was in him who has not studied Burns'
heart, whose tides were deep as the oceans and sometimes as tempestuous. There
was more put into the making of Burns than any man of his age. That which he had
given forth by no means expressed the whole of what he was. A great deal of his
nature lay like undug treasure and like unpolished gold. His letters were as
wonderful as his poems, and his conversation richer than either. While that half
idiot Boswell was picking up every stray acorn that fell from that rough, rugged
oak, old Doctor Johnson, how much better would it have been if some Ariel had
hung upon the lips of Burns, and recorded the flowers of his inspired eloquence!
Now his spirit walks crowned with praises and wreathed with loving sympathies
all over the habitable globe. And if every man within these twenty four hours
the world around, who should speak the word of Burns with fond admiration were
ranked as his subject, no king on earth would have such a realm; and if such an
one should change a feeling into a flower and cast it down to memory, a mountain
would rise, and he should sit upon a throne of blossoms, now at length without a
thorn.
----o----
A CREDO
Just to be good: to keep life pure from degrading elements,
to make it constantly helpful in little ways to those who are touched by it, to
keep one's spirit always sweet, and avoid all manner of petty anger and
irritability--that is an ideal as noble as it is difficult.
-- Edward Howard Griggs.
QUESTIONS ON “THE STORY OF FREEMASONRY”
BY THE CINCINNATI MASONIC STUDY SCHOOL
(In our January issue we closed the series of questions on
“The Builders," compiled by the Cincinnati Masonic Study School. We shall now
present a shorter, but equally comprehensive list of questions based on "The
Story of Freemasonry," by Bro. W.G Sibley, of Ohio. This little book may be
obtained either from The Lion's Paw Club of Gallipolis, Ohio, or from John H.
Cowles Secretary-General of the A. A. S. Rite, Washington, D. C. Price 50
cents.)
1. When and by whom
was Symbolic Masonry introduced into America? Page 61-62.
2. When and why was
allegiance to English Authority severed? 61-1.
3. What is said of the
Military Lodge of Freemasons in the "Connecticut Line" of the Revolution? What
distinguished Patriot was a member thereof ? 62.
4. How did the great
Edwin Booth regard Freemasonry ? 51-1.
5. What do the charges
contain concerning the management of the craft? 84-1.
6. What were the
ordinances adopted by the chief lodge of Strassburg in 1563? 78-1.
7. What is required of
Masters ? For what cause were fellows of old cast out from the craft forever?
77-1.
8. What statutes of
Masonry were re-enacted in Montpelier, France, in 1586? 78-2.
9. Under what six
general heads are the Ancient Charges to Master Masons arranged? 79-2.
10. What is a Mason to
do under the first specification of the Ancient Charges ? 79-2.
11. What makes a Mason
a good citizen of the Nation in which he resides as defined under the 2d head of
the ancient charges ? 80.
12. What is the status
of a Mason who is a Rebel against the state? 80-1.
13. What is supposed
to be the conversation in the Lodge Room or Ante-Room? Page 84-85.
14. How should Masons
conduct themselves during the session of the Lodge? How at Home? 84-285-1.
15. What do you know
of Masonic Charity throughout the world? Page 112-2.
16. To whom do Masons
give Charity? When? 112-1.
17. How do Masons in
Sweden, Hungary and America dispense Charity? 113.
18. Who was John
Coustos? 20-1. Where and why was he tortured ? 20-4.
19. Who secured his
release? 22-9.
20. What was the
attitude of the French Lodges toward the higher degrees in August, 1766 ? What
caused the Grand Lodge of France to recognize them? 67-2, 68-1.
21. Under what
authority are all the individual organizations of Free Masons? How are they
governed and in what relation do they work together? Page 67.
22. How many degrees
did the original historical Masonry have and to what purpose did they put them ?
Page 56.
23. What is said of
the York Rite? 60-2.
24. How many degrees
and what are their names in the Chapter? What are its chief officers and what do
they represent? Page 61.
25. How many orders
have the Commandery and what are its principal officers called ? Page 61.
26. Where does the
York Rite derive its name and what does it include ? Page 60.
27. When did the three
Degrees seem to come into existence? Page 57.
28. What are the two
separate series of degrees in Masonry called ? 60.
29. What is
Freemasonry? 52-1.
30. What is said of
the dignity of the Fraternity of Freemasons during the latter part of the
eighteenth century? 16-1.
31. What is said of
the historical record of the Royal Arch degree? Page 62-63.
32. When and where
were the Council Degrees introduced into America and what is said of them? 63-1.
33. What is said of
the origin of the Knights Templar? What progress had they made by the end of the
twelfth century? 64-1.
34. What is the
historical record of the York Rite? 62-6. What is known of the council degrees?
63-3. What origin is given of Knights Templar? 64-4. Under what authority does
each individual organization of Masons work and with what result? 67-3.
35. What is said of
the Esoteric Work of Freemasonry? 88-1.
36. Has any effort
been made to exterminate Freemasonry? Page 13.
37. What century was
Freemasonry fought in France? Page 13.
38. Has Freemasonry
ever been attacked ? Where? 13 20. Why? 13 2.
39. What church is
said to be the most inveterate enemy of Freemasonry? Page 14.
40. In what year did
Queen Elizabeth of England order the Grand Lodge to be broken up? 14.
41. Give an account of
the various attacks on Freemasonry from 1429 to the year 1818 inclusive. Page
14-15-16.
42. What was the
nature of the attacks upon Freemasonry in the latter part of the eighteenth century?
By whom made and why? 16-12-17-1
ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE - AN APPRECIATION
BY JOSEPH FORT NEWTON
ONE of the greatest masters of the field of esoteric lore
and method of culture, by far the greatest now living, is Arthur Edward Waite,
to whom it is an honor to pay tribute. In response to a number of requests, and
as prelude to a lecture on the deeper aspects of Masonry, soon to appear in
these pages, we offer a brief sketch of Brother Waite, with a statement of his
conception of Masonry and its service to man in his quest of God. If these lines
induce any of our readers to study his works, they will thank us for having put
them in the way of so wise and skillful a guide, who is at once a poet and a
mystic, the sum of whose insight, set forth on his latest page, is that
"All thoughts, all passions, all delights, Whatever stirs
this mortal frame, Are but the ministers of love, And feed his sacred flame."
By rare good fortune, as we think, our friend and teacher
was born in America--in Brooklyn, New York --and on his father's side traces his
descent back to the earliest settlers in Connecticut. His mother was English,
belonging to the old family of Lovell. The family name, originally spelled "Wayte,"
was attached to the document authorizing the execution of Charles I., and it was
probably the fact that the family found England a rather uncomfortable place in
which to live after the Restoration that sent his ancestors across the sea.
While the poet was still in his infancy his father died, and he was taken to
England at the age of two. He has never returned to America--a fact to be held
against him, but for which we hope he will atone in a time not far away.
Educated privately, he began writing while still in his
early teens, poetry being his first love. His first book, a volume of verse, was
published in 1886. For ten years or more he pursued an active business life, as
secretary and director of public companies, at the same time engaging in
elaborate researches in the fields of magic, occultism, and the esoteric side of
religion and philosophy. How he found time to do both is not easy to know. He
took the whole realm of mysticism for his province, for the study of which he
was almost ideally fitted by temperament, training, and genius-- and, we may
add, by certain deep experiences in his own life, of which he rarely speaks, the
glow of which one detects in all his work, and nowhere more vividly than in his
latest book on "The Way of Divine Union." In later years, as the result of long
study, he has come to deal only with the higher mysticism, as totally separated
from the magical, the psychical, and the occult.
Exploring a hidden world, he has brought to his task a
religious nature, the accuracy and skill of a scholar, a sureness and delicacy
of insight at once sympathetic and critical, the eye of a symbolist and the soul
of a poet--qualities rarely found in union. Brother Waite does not write after
our American fashion-- "hot off the bat," as Casey put it--but in a leisurely
manner, seeking not only to state the results of his research, but to convey
somewhat of the atmosphere of the themes with which he deals. Prolific but
seldom prolix, he writes with such lucidity as his subject admits of, albeit in
a style often touched with strange lights and remote and haunting echoes. Much
learning and many kinds of wisdom are in his pages; and if he is of those who
turn down another street when wonders are wrought in the neighborhood, it is
because, having found the inner truth, he does not ask for a sign.
Always our Brother writes in the conviction that all great
subjects bring us back to the one subject that is alone great--the attainment of
that Living Truth which is about us everywhere. He conceives of our human life
as one eternal Quest of that Living Truth, taking many forms, yet ever at heart
the same aspiration, to trace which he has made it his labor and reward. Through
all his pages he is following the tradition of this Quest, in its myriad
aspects, finding in it the secret meaning of the life of man from his birth to
his union--or reunion--with God who is his Goal. And the result is a series of
volumes noble in form! united in aim, unique in wealth of revealing beauty, of
exquisite insight, and of unequalled worth.
As far back as 1886, Brother Waite issued his study of the
"Mysteries of Magic," a digest of the writings of Eliphas Levi, to whom Albert
Pike was more indebted than he let us know. Then followed the "Real History of
the Rosicrucians," which traces, as far as such a thing can be done, the thread
of fact in that fascinating romance. Of the Quest in its distinctively Christian
aspect, he has written in "The Hidden Church of the Holy Graal"; a work of rare
beauty, of bewildering richness, its style partaking of the story told, and not
at all after the fashion of these days. But the Graal Legend is only one aspect
of the old-world sacred Quest of the truth most worth finding, uniting the
symbols of chivalry with the forms of Christian faith.
Masonry is another aspect of that same age-long Quest; and
just as Brother Pound has shown us the place of Masonry among the institutions
of humanity, and its meaning as such, so Brother Waite shows us the place of
Masonry in the mystical tradition and aspiration of mankind. No one may ever
hope to write of "The Secret Tradition in Masonry" with more insight and charm,
or a touch more sure and revealing, than this gracious scholar to whom Masonry
perpetuates the Instituted Mysteries of antiquity, with much else derived from
innumerable store-houses of treasure. What then are the marks of this eternal
Quest, whether its legend be woven about a Lost Word, a design left unfinished
by a Master Builder, or, in its Christian form, about the Cup of Christ ?
They are as follows: first, the sense of a great loss which
has befallen humanity, making us a race of pilgrims ever in search of that which
is lost; second, the intimation that what was lost still exists somewhere in
time and the world, although deeply buried; third, the faith that it will
ultimately be found and the vanished glory restored; fourth, the substitution of
something temporary and less than the best, but never in a way to adjourn the
quest; and fifth, the felt presence of that which is lost under veils and
symbols close at hand. What though it take many forms, it is always the same
quest, and from this statement of it surely we ought to see that Masonry has a
place in the greatest quest which man has pursued in the midst of time. Our
Order is thus linked with the shining tradition of the race, having a place and
a service in the culture of the life of the soul, leading men in the search for
God, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He is not far from
any one of us.
But this is a long and difficult quest, and we must walk
carefully, lest we trip and fall into the pits that beset the path. Brother
Waite warns us against the dark alleys that lead nowhere, and the false lights
that lure to ruin, and he protests against those who would open the Pandora's
Box of the Occult on the altar of Masonry. After a long study of occultism,
magic, omens, talismans, and the like, he has come to draw a sharp line between
the occult and the mystical. and therein he is wise. From a recent interview
with him in regard to these matters in an English paper, we may read:
"There is nothing more completely set apart from mysticism
than that set of interests and things called occultism. Occultism is concerned
with the idea that there were a number of secret sciences handed down from the
past, and which, roughly speaking, represented the steps toward the attainment
of abnormal power by man, corresponding to the idea of Magic. Magic, of course,
meant many things: it meant the power obtained by man as a result of dealing
with spirits, raising the spirits of the dead, everything that we understand by
the supposed efficacy of talismans, and all that is comprehended in the word
Astrology. My interest in these things has been purely historical and critical.
Occult and psychical research does help, of course, to show
that the purely materialistic interpretation of things does not cover the whole
field. It shows a residue of experience which points to the existent of powers
beyond the ken of man, some of them maleficent, others innocent in themselves,
of which the student may take account. Unfortunately, I have known too many who
follow these things as the be-all and end-all of their interests. I know others
also, and many, to whom the exaggerated pursuit has spelt not less than ruin. I
mean, morally and spiritually. I know, for the rest, that they reach no real
term; very soon they come up against a dead wall."
Here are grave and wise words, spoken out of full knowledge
of history and fact, and he is wise who heeds them. It is no theological bias of
any sort, but the profound fallacy of the occult, and its danger to the highest
life and character, that has moved us more than once in these pages to utter a
like warning to those who would turn aside from the historic highway of the soul
to follow a will-of-the-wisp into the bog. If Masonry forsakes its Great Light
to follow these wandering tapers, it too will fall into the ditch. But to listen
to Brother Waite:
"Symbolism is sacramental. To me all visible things are
emblems. When you come to think of it, is it not true that all the workings of
the human mind are in the form of symbols? These symbols are truly representive
and not mere figments of the mind, and to get at the reality behind the symbol
is the aim of the mystic. The theory of mysticism is that the voice of God is
within, and that the soul has to enter into the realization that God is within.
The question is whether that realization can be fully achieved in this life.
All, or nearly all, the great mystics, held that they only approximated it. The
absolute vision and union lie very far away-- so the quest of the Lost Word goes
on, ever on.
Mysticism is not a way of escape either from one's self or
the world. It is by the realization of the indwelling of God in all around, and
within, in things animate and inanimate, and most of all in the soul of man,
that we attain to knowledge of God--in so far as we attain it in this life.
Thus, it is not a path of escape from the world, as the old ascetics imagine,
but by finding God in the world, the ideal in the real, one with the ideal
within ourselves, that we attain to union with God. We are sacraments to
ourselves. A man building a house would perhaps be surprised if you told him
that he is not merely building bricks and stones, but that he is trying to bring
into being something of the idealism in his own nature, but if he could be
brought to understand that, would it not give a new glory to his work ? "
Thus mysticism, as here presented, is practical common
sense-- bringing to the humblest task the highest truth to lighten and
transfigure our labor. Time does not permit us to speak of the poetry of Brother
Waite, though some think his best work has been done in that field. He himself
thinks of his poetry as "light tongued rumors and hints alone of the songs I had
hoped to sing." We must, however, mention his drama of "The Morality of the Lost
Word," which may be found in his poems, recently collected in two noble volumes,
and we bespeak for it a long study. At another time we shall speak of the poetry
of our friend to whom the world is ever an infinite parable, giving at present
only the following lines as a hint of his poetic purpose and power:
In the midst of a world full of omen and sign, impell'd by
the seeing gift On auspice and portent reflecting, in part I conjecture their
drift; I catch faint words of the language which the world speaks far and wide.
And the soul withdrawn in the deeps of man from the birth of each man has cried.
I know that a sense is beyond the sense of the manifest Voice and Word, That the
tones in the chant which we strain to seize are the tones that are scarcely
heard; While life pulsating with secret things has many too deep to speak, And
that which evades, with a quailing heart, we feel is the sense we seek: Scant
were the skill to discern a few where the countless symbols crowd, To render the
easiest reading, catch the cry that is trite and loud.
For the rest, we confess a great debt to our dear friend
and Brother across the great waters, divided by distance but very near in
thought and sympathy and regard; a man of pure and lofty spirit, tolerant of
mind, noble of nature, in all ways a true Master Mason --and one who does not
forget "that best portion of a good man's life, the little, nameless,
unremembered acts of kindness and of love."
----o----
THE FOUNDATION STONE
Thus saith the Lord God:--Behold, I lay in Zion fol a
Foundation Stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation; he
that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and
righteousness to the plummet. --Isaiah.
SOME DEEPER ASPECTS OF MASONIC SYMBOLISM
by Bro. ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE, ENGLAND
PART I
The subject which I am about to approach is one having
certain obvious difficulties, because it is outside the usual horizon of Masonic
literature, and requires, therefore, to be put with considerable care, as well
as with reasonable prudence. Moreover, it is not easy to do it full justice
within the limits of a single lecture. I must ask my Brethren to make allowance
beforehand for the fact that I am speaking in good faith, and where the evidence
for what I shall affirm does not appear in its fullness, and sometimes scarcely
at all, they must believe that I can produce it at need, should the opportunity
occur. As a matter of fact, some part of it has appeared in my published
writings.
I will introduce the question in hand by a citation which
is familiar to us all, as it so happens that it forms a good point of
departure:--"But as we are not all operative Masons, but rather Free and
Accepted or speculative, we apply these tools to our morals." With certain
variations, these words occur in each of the Craft Degrees, and their analogies
are to be found in a few subsidiary Degrees which may be said to arise out of
the Craft-- as, for example, the Honorable Degree of Mark Master Mason. That
which is applied more specially to the working implements of Masonry belongs to
our entire building symbolism, whether it is concerned with the erection by the
Candidate in his own personality of an edifice or "superstructure perfect in its
parts and honorable to the builder," or, in the Mark Degree, with a house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens, or again with Solomon's Temple
spiritualized in the Legend of the Master Degree.
A SYSTEM OF MORALITY
It comes about in this manner that Masonry is described
elsewhere as "a peculiar system of morality, enveiled in allegory and
illustrated by symbols." I want to tell you, among other things which call for
consideration, something about the nature of the building, as this is presented
to my mind, and about the way in which allegory, symbols and drama all hang
together and make for one meaning. It is my design also to show that Craft
Masonry- incorporates three less or more distinct elements which have been
curiously interlinked under the device of symbolical architecture. That
interlinking is to some extent artificial, and yet it arises logically, so far
as the relation of ideas is concerned.
There is, firstly, the Candidate's own work, wherein he is
taught how he should build himself. The method of instruction is practical
within its own measures, but as it is so familiar and open, it is not, properly
speaking, the subject-matter of a Secret Order. There is, secondly, a building
myth, and the manner in which it is put forward involves the Candidate taking
part in a dramatic scene, wherein he represents the master-builder of Masonry.
There is, thirdly, a Masonic quest, connected with the notion of a Secret Word
communicated as an essential part of the Master Degree in building. This is
perhaps the most important and strangest of the three elements; but the quest
after the Word is not finished in the Third Degree.
THE FIRST DEGREE
Let us look for a moment at the Degree of Entered
Apprentice, and how things stand with the Candidate when he first comes within
the precincts of the Lodge. He comes as one who is "worthy and well
recommended," as if he contained within himself certain elements or materials
which are adaptable to a specific purpose. He is described by his conductor as a
person who is "properly prepared." The fitness implied by the recommendation has
reference to something which is within him, but not of necessity obvious or
visible on his surface personality. It is not that he is merely a deserving
member of society at large. He is this, of course, by the fact that he is
admitted; but he is very much more, because Masonry has an object in view
respecting his personality--something that can be accomplished in him as a
result of his fellowship in the Brotherhood, and by himself. As a matter of
truth, it is by both. The "prepared" state is, however, only external, and all
of us know in what precisely it consists.
Now the manner of his preparation for entrance to the Lodge
typifies a state which is peculiar to his ward position as a person who has not
been initiated. There are other particulars into which I need not enter, but it
should be remarked that in respect of his preparation he learns only the meaning
of the state of darkness, namely, that he has not yet received the light
communicated in Masonry. The significance of those hindrances which place him at
a disadvantage, impede his movements, and render him in fact helpless, is much
deeper than this. They constitute together an image coming out from some old
condition by being unclothed therefrom--partially at least--and thereafter of
entering into a condition that is new and different, in which another kind of
light is communicated, and another vesture is to be assumed, and, ultimately,
another life entered.
THE MEANING OF INITIATION
In the first Degree the Candidate's eyes are opened into
the representation of a new world, for you must know, of course, that the Lodge
itself is a symbol of the world, extending to the four corners, having the
height heaven above and the great depth beneath. The Candidate may think
naturally that light has been taken away from him for the purpose of his
initiation, has been thereafter restored automatically, when he has gone through
a part of the ceremony, and that hence he is only returned to his previous
position. Not so. In reality, the light is restored to him in another place; he
has put aside old things, has come into things that are new; and he will never
pass out of the Lodge as quite the same man that he entered. There is a very
true sense in which the particulars of his initiation are in analogy with the
process of birth into the physical world. The imputed darkness of his previous
existence, amidst the life of the uninitiated world, and the yoke which is
placed about him is unquestionably in correspondence with the umbilical cord.
You will remember the point at which he is released therefrom--in our English
ritual, I mean. I do not wish to press this view, because it belongs of right,
in the main, to another region of symbolism, and the procedure in the later
Degrees confuses an issue which might be called clear otherwise in the Degree of
Entered Apprentice. It is preferable to say that a new light--being that of
Masonry--illuminates the world of the Lodge in the midst of which the Candidate
is placed; he is penetrated by a fresh experience; and he sees things as they
have never been presented to him before. When he retires subsequently for a
period, this is like his restoration to light; in the literal sense he resumes
that which he set aside, as he is restored to the old light; but in the
symbolism it is another environment, a new body of motive, experience, and
sphere of duty attached thereto. He assumes a new vocation in the world.
The question of certain things of a metallic kind, the
absence of which plays an important part, is a little difficult from any point
of view, though several explanations have been given. The better way toward
their understanding is to put aside what is conventional and arbitrary--as, for
example, the poverty of spirit and the denuded state of those who have not yet
been enriched by the secret knowledge of the Royal and Holy Art. It goes deeper
than this and represents the ordinary status of the world, when separated from
any higher motive--the world-spirit, the extrinsic titles of recognition, the
material standards. The Candidate is now to learn that there is another standard
of values, and when he comes again into possession of the old tokens, he is to
realize that their most important use is in the cause of others. You know under
what striking circumstances this point is brought home to him.
ENTERED, PASSED, RAISED
The Candidate is, however, subjected to like personal
experience in each of the Craft Degrees, and it calls to be understood thus. In
the Entered Apprentice Degree it is because of a new life which he is to lead
henceforth. In the Fellowcraft, it is as if the mind were to be renewed, for the
prosecution of research into the hidden mysteries of nature, science, and art.
But in the sublime Degree of Master Mason it is in order that he may enter fully
into the mystery of death and of that which follows thereafter, being the great
mystery of the Raising. The three technical and official words corresponding to
the successive experiences are Entered, Passed, and Raised, their
Craft-equivalents being Apprentice, Craftsman and Master--or he who has
undertaken to acquire the symbolical and spiritualized art of building the house
of another life; he who has passed therein to a certain point of proficiency,
and in fine, he who has attained the whole mystery. If I may use for a moment
the imagery of Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, he has learned how to effectuate in
his own personality "a new birth in time," to wear a new body of desire,
intention and purpose; he has fitted to that body a new mind, and other objects
of research. In fine, he has been taught how to lay it aside, and yet again he
has been taught how to take it up after a different manner, in the midst of a
very strange symbolism.
IMPERFECT SYMBOLISM
Now, it may be observed that in delineating these
intimations of our symbolism, I seem already to have departed from the mystery
of building with which I opened the conference; but I have been actually
considering various sidelights thereon. It may be understood, further, that I am
not claiming to deal with a symbolism that is perfect in all its parts, however
honorable it may be otherwise to the builder. In the course of such researches
as I have been enabled to make into the Instituted Mysteries of different ages
and countries, I have never met with one which was in entire harmony with
itself. We must he content with what we have, just as it is necessary to
tolerate the peculiar conventions of language under which the Craft Degrees have
passed into expression, artificial and sometimes commonplace as they are. Will
you observe once again at this stage how it is only in the first Degree that the
Candidate is instructed to build upon his own part a superstructure which is
somehow himself? This symbolism is lost completely in the ceremony of the
Fellowcraft Degree, which, roughly speaking, is something of a Degree of Life;
the symbols being more especially those of conduct and purpose, while in the
Third Degree, they speak of direct relations between man and his Creator, giving
intimation of judgment to come.
THE THIRD DEGREE
I have said, and you know, that the Master Degree is one of
death and resurrection of a certain kind, and among its remarkable
characteristics there is a return to building symbolism, but this time in the
form of a legend. It is no longer an erection of the Candidate's own
house--house of the body, house of the mind, and house of the moral law. We are
taken to the Temple of Solomon and are told how the Master-Builder suffered
martyrdom rather than betray the mysteries which had been placed in his keeping.
Manifestly the lesson which is drawn in the Degree is a veil of something much
deeper, and about which there is no real intimation. It is assuredly an
instruction for the Candidates that they must keep the secrets of the Masonic
Order secretly, but such a covenant has reference only to the official and
external side. The bare recitation of the legend would have been sufficient to
enforce this; but observe that the Candidate assumes the part of the
Master-Builder and suffers within or in him--as a testimony of personal faith
and honor in respect to his engagements. But thereafter he rises, and it is this
which gives a peculiar characteristic to the descriptive title of the Degree. It
is one of raising and of reunion with companions--almost as if he had been
released from earthly life and had entered into the true Land of the Living. The
keynote is therefore not one of dying but one of resurrection; and yet it is not
said in the legend that the Master rose. The point seems to me one of
considerable importance, and yet I know not of a single place in our literature
wherein it has received consideration. I will leave it, however, for the moment,
but with the intention of returning to it.
(Continued)
SECTARIANISM AND FREEMASONRY
BY BRO. GEO. W. WARVELLE, ILLINOIS
BEING myself a Greek pagan of the New Academy, though not
without a strong leaning toward the Stoics, I have always indulged in the utmost
eclecticism in matters of religion. And because I am unbiased in this respect I
have not only been tolerant of all men's religious opinions, but am enabled to
see beauty and truth in many places where my more circumspect brethren see only
idolatry, superstition and falsehood. In my writings I have always felt free to
roam at my own sweet will through whatever pastures presented themselves and to
cull the flowers that therein grew, without a thought as to their botanical
significance. It is enough for me that they are beautiful. Therefore, whether
uttered by Jesus, Buda or Mohamed, the message of truth is to me the same. But,
I am digressing. However, that is a fault of my composition that, I doubt not,
you have long since discovered.
Now, what is Freemasonry? Is it something apart from the
world, or is it of it? By becoming Freemasons do we cease to possess
individuality? A serious consideration of these cogent questions may not be
unprofitable to us all. Again, is Freemasonry religious or is it only ethical?
If the former, is it cast in any mould or does each one make his own creed? If
the latter, is its morality subjective or objective? And if objective, then from
what sources do we receive our morality ? A few more questions worthy of a
little serious thought.
I have many times heard it stated, that inasmuch as the
legend of the Royal Arch is Semitic, therefore the Old Testament canon should
alone furnish the basis of our religious thought as Royal Arch Masons. Indeed,
this seems to be a generally accepted principle by Grand High Priests, as is
evidenced by the pious hortatorical introductions and fervent conclusions of
their annual addresses in the terms of Old Testament theology. But, while it is
true that the legend is Semitic it is not true that it is Scriptural. On the
contrary, it is distinctly unscriptural. Not only is there not a line in the Old
Testament that supports the legend, but it is opposed by all the known facts of
history. The legend, then, is only a symbol and as such is compatible with all
religions. Hence, there is, and can be, no sectarianism in Freemasonry, for each
may interpret the symbol for himself and all will be right however much they may
seem to disagree.
The Masonic fraternity of the United States is a composite
of many races, with their differing views of morals and religion. It assumes, in
theory at least, to reconcile these diverse and oftentimes antagonistic views by
reducing them to a common formula which the old charges call, "The religion in
which all men agree." It assumes to provide a common meeting ground for men of
different races and religions, and thus to promote the harmony of friendship
among those who otherwise "must have remained at a perpetual distance." But what
is the religion "in which all men agree" ? Does such a thing exist outside of
the fertile imaginations of ritual compilers? Who can define its essence or
state its principles? As a matter of fact is it not a Utopian dream, that never
did and never will become a reality? Notwithstanding that they are all
Freemasons the Christian remains a Christian, the Jew a Jew, the Moslem a
Moslem. They each adore an abstraction which they call God, but each has his own
concept, and this concept utterly excludes that of the others. So has it ever
been, so will it be while frail humanity retains its present mould.
There is, then, no religion "in which all men agree," but
each of us who would truly and reverently worship the Deity "in spirit and in
truth," must be left to form his own conceptions of that Deity, and of His
essence and attributes. This, as I understand it, is what is meant by the
Masonic doctrine of toleration. Not that we must all reduce ourselves to the
dull level of an undefined world-extensive creed.
If this be true then what shall be classed as sectarianism
in Freemasonry? If the Jew prays to Yahweh shall he then give offense to the
Moslem who says there is no God but Allah, or if the Christian seeks his God
through the mediation of Jesus, or perchance the intercession of the Saints,
will he thereby become a stumbling block to the Jew? And how about the pagans,
like your uncle, who look through nature up to nature's God? Must not our
prayers, if they are sincere, be made through the channels of our own faith not
those of another?
I think it may be safely asserted that the all-including
universal church, without denomination, sect or cult, will never materialize.
Indeed, the tendency of the times is in the opposite direction. Nor do I know
that such a church is a consummation at all to be wished. In fact, it seems as
though the religious nature of man requires this diversity; that creeds, sects
and cults are necessary, and that even those which appear narrow, bigoted or
even fantastic may yet afford outlet for the spiritual life of undeveloped
souls.
And so, "let every man be persuaded in his own mind," we
may still be brothers, or, at all events, we can be cousins. However much we may
disagree in articles of faith we may yet be in unison respecting the import of
the symbols.
* * * * * *
There is an old legend of the good St. Ambrose, told by Mr.
Lowell in his melodious verse but which I in the ruder dialect of my simple
prose. Its application to the matter just discussed is so apparent that I offer
no apology for its introduction.
St. Ambrose, it would seem, was a most holy man who by
castigation of the body, by fasting and by prayer, had made his heart as soft to
God's hand as though it was wax. Ever he sought to know the true and reject the
false; often he wrestled with the blessed Word, to make it yield the meaning of
the Lord; all that he might form a creed that naught could assail and that would
contain the essence of eternal truth. And finally his work was accomplished; he
had built the formula of perfect faith; and to all around he said "Thus saith
the Lord." And he knew, by that inward but ever sure sign, that his work was a
divine inspiration. And then, so the story runs, Ambrose said, "All those shall
die the eternal death who believe not as I." And so, it came to pass, in his
pious zeal, that there were some who were boiled, and some burned in fire, and
others sawn in twain, in order that his great desire for the good of men's souls
might be satisfied. But one day as Ambrose was taking a lonely walk he espied a
youth of most graceful mien and beaming countenance resting himself under the
shade of a tree. Then Ambrose drew near and inquired of the stranger how it went
with his soul. It required but little time, however, to ascertain that the heart
of the stranger was hardened and that it had not received the stamp of the one
true creed. This is what the young man said:
"As each beholds in cloud and fire
The shape that answers his own desire,
So each in the Law shall find
The figure and features of his mind;
And to each in his mercy hath God allowed
His several pillar of fire and cloud."
Then the soul of Ambrose burned with holy wrath, and he
said:
"Believest thou then, most wretched youth
A dividual essence in Truth ?
I fear me thy heart is too cramped with sin
To take the Lord in his glory in."
Now, so the story runs, there bubbled beside them where
they stood a fountain of water, and the youth advancing to the stream said,
"Ambrose, thou maker of creeds, look here." And then he took six crystal vases
and set them along the edge of the brook, after which he turned to Ambrose
saying:
"As into these vessels the water I pour,
There shall one hold less, another more,
And the water unchanged, in every case,
Shall put on the figure of the vase;
O thou, who wouldst unity make through strife,
Canst thou fit this sign to the Water of Life ?"
And Ambrose stood abashed, but when he looked up, lo! he
stood alone; the youth, the stream, and the vases, all were gone; and then he
knew, by a sense of humbled grace, that he had talked with an angel, and he felt
his heart change as with meekness and humility he fell upon his knees and
confessed the great sin of his life.
THE TRIAL OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS
BY BRO. HENRY D. FUNK, MINNESOTA
The trial of the Knights Templars in the early fourteenth
century was one of the most brutal travesties of justice known to mankind and
the dissolution of the order was one of the saddest tragedies chronicled in the
history of civilization. The trial began suddenly and was conducted with
unrelenting animosity until the ruin of the Templars was achieved. Owing to the
real or fancied connection of that Medieval order with the Knights Templars of
today an examination of the historic trial may be of interest to the readers of
"The Builder."
I
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE TEMPLARS TO 1307
Shortly after the end of the first crusade, in the year
1119, eight knights under the leadership of Hugo de Payens assumed the task of
forming themselves into guards for the safe-conduct of pilgrims from Europe
traveling between the Eastern Mediterranean sea coast and Jerusalem. The
associates of De Payens were Godfrey de St. Omar, Roval, Godfrey Bisol, Payens
de Montidiel, Archembald de St. Amand, Andrew de Montbarry, and Gundemar who
took the regular monastic vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty, and lived
together according to the rules of the Augustianian friars said to have been
made by Bernard of Clairvaux. So eminently useful was the service of these eight
knights that Baldwin II, king of Jerusalem, bestowed favors upon them and
provided them with headquarters in a part of his-palace located near the spot
where the Temple of Solomon is said to have stood. The association of the
incipient order with this historic site gave to the knights the name of Knights
of the Temple. Their number increased normally at first, the most illustrious
addition being count Hugo of Champagne who became a Templar in 1125. In 1128 the
council of Troyes witnessed the papal confirmation of these knights as a
religious order and then their numbers increased rapidly. (1)
The insignia of the Templars were: a white mantle,
symbolizing purity, and a red cross signifying their readiness to endure
martyrdom. They ate their meals in common, were permitted to keep horses, but
not more than three for each knight, and were entitled to have one servant per
knight. They were allowed to hunt lions but were forbidden to go on the chase
with falcons. Correspondence with relatives was prohibited and every form of
communication with women, including mothers and sisters, was denied. Any
infraction of the rules was punished by expulsion from the order.
From its inception the order proper was composed of knights
of noble descent, born in honorable wedlock, innocent of grave offenses, and
sound in body and mind. New members of this class were admitted without passing
through a novitiate; but at an early date two other classes became identified
with this order: the clergy, or priests, and the servientes, or servants.
Accessions from secular knights by scions of noble families
tended to change the monastic character of the Templars and make them not only
secular but worldly. Then we find at their head a Grandmaster, ranked as a
prince, and other ministeriales such as a seneschal, a marshall, a president of
the war office, a Grand-Preceptor, a treasurer of the order, a drapier, and a
commander of the light cavalry. Their organization spelled efficiency and won
for them the good will of the papacy. Eugene III in 1148 remitted one-tenth of
the pennance to all who made bequests to this order. Alexander III in 1163
allowed them their own clergy, and Innocent III in 1209 prohibited the use of
the interdict against them except by papal consent. Such favors implied
obligations by the recipients which the popes were not slow in demanding of
their beneficiaries: aid for the papal agents in breaking down the independence
of local churches. This service being performed the papacy compensated the
Templars again in 1266 by decreeing that gifts to this order entitled the donors
to the benefits of indulgences in the Holy Land. Consequently many gifts were
bestowed upon them, such as manors, villages, and towns, and their possessions
were multiplied in Jerusalem, Tripoli, Antioch, Cyprus, and Morea in the East,
while in the West they held lands in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and
England. In all these countries they built their temple courts and engaged in
financial enterprises.
They were the leading bankers of Paris and London; the
Templars of Paris acted as bankers for Blanche of Castile, Alphonso de Poitiers,
Robert of Artois, and many other nobles. The order also furnished ministers of
finance to James I of Aragon and Charles I of Naples. The Templar Thierre of
Geleran was the chief adviser of Louis VII of France, and the order's treasury
at Paris was the financial center for the French kingdom. (2)
But the material prosperity of the Templars was their
undoing. From the days of Phillip Augustus to the reign of Philip IV princes and
prelates as also the Knights of St. John were jealous of the power wielded by
the Templars, and it was to be expected that at the first opportunity the
envious would harm them. Unfortunately the Templars were not sufficiently alert
to maintain the order above reproach. They committed a grave blunder when they
permitted an unreasonable increase in the lowest ranks, that of the servientes,
which had been limited to one for each knight. By and by so many churls of every
degree, mechanics, shepherds, stablehands, and swineherders joined this class
that they eventually constituted nine-tenths of the entire order. (3) Among
these were naturally enough many of coarse habits and those who had "the vices
of monks." The popular mind did not distinguish between these "heweres of wood
and carriers of water" and the knights proper. In France it became customary to
describe an intemperate man by saying: "boire |
