THE BUILDER MAGAZINE
august 1919
volume 5 - number 8
PROGRESS OF THE MASONIC OVERSEAS MISSION
BY BRO. GEO. L. SCHOONOVER, P. G. M., IOWA
DECIDEDLY the most significant and far reaching occurrence
of the conference at Cedar Rapids was the report of the Overseas Mission in
which Judge Scudder, a Justice of the Supreme Court of New York, and a most
scholarly and forward looking brother, recited to those present the details of
the negotiations with the government looking to the fraternity being recognized
as one of the official agencies engaged in welfare work among the men of the
army and navy overseas. The Masonry of the United States was so recognized by
the War Department, the activities in which it proposed to engage were approved,
and everything was apparently smooth in the pathway of service along which we
desired to travel, until some agency, not disclosed by name in the report of the
Overseas Mission, by some subterranean methods blocked our way. No reasons were
given which would stand the test of fair and unbiased analysis. Certain
officials stated that "the Masonic fraternity had been the victim of a series of
circumstances." The Mission was refused passports to go to France and engage in
this work as an independent, recognized agency.
After a series of long negotiations the Overseas Mission
was accepted by the Y. M. C. A. as a part of their welfare machine on foreign
soil. They, too, approved the desire and ambition expressed by our Mission, and
passports were applied for by them for our five Overseas Commissioners to go as
Y. M. C. A. secretaries, the basis of their work when they reached France having
been mutually agreed upon.
The application for passports remained pigeonholed in
Washington for seven weeks without a reply. Then Judge Scudder, becoming
somewhat impatient at the delay went to Washington to ascertain the cause. He
found that the passports were to be denied. In making the application for
passports, nothing of the intended purpose of the Overseas Mission to engage in
Masonic activities had been covered up everything was frank and aboveboard.
Without doubt it was for this reason that the applications were held up, and
were about to be refused. Judge Scudder had several copies of the Overseas
Mission's report with him, for by this time it had been distributed to the
several Grand Jurisdictions in printed form. He read considerable portions of
it, notably those which argued the case as it appeared to the Mission, to
certain governmental officials. The results followed one another with miraculous
rapidity. Within an hour from the time Judge Scudder had finished reading this
report, the passports were forthcoming, and the Mission was able to sail. In
fact, so illuminating had been the arguments and reasons set forth in support of
our Masonic contentions for practically a year and a half prior to that time,
that the Mission was informed that if it so desired it might sail as an
independent agency, but because the Mission had given its word to the Y. M. C.
A., this opportunity could not, of course, be availed of. To have done so would
have meant to break faith q with the "Y."
The Overseas Mission sailed the week of February 6, 1919,
more than a year and a half after their original intention, and part of them
returned to New York on May 5,1919. For the following summary of their findings
and activities I am indebted to Brother Scudder, chairman of the Mission, who
recently made an exhaustive report at the Grand Lodge of New York. Unfortunately
I cannot now give this report in his own language, and must for the sake of
space summarize in a few paragraphs his most illuminating survey of the
conditions which they found and the steps which they took to have Masonry play
its part.
They knew the fraternity in America to be aggrieved because
it had not been allowed to participate as it had been promised that it should
do, because that permission had been in effect withdrawn. They only guessed that
our soldier brethren on the other side had longed for them to come, been
disappointed that they did not come, and, finally, felt that they had been
neglected by Masonry. They had joined Masonry for its high aspirations and
ideals; they felt that these had not been lived up to, and so far as their
knowledge went in the premises, they could only feel that the neglect was due to
indifference. When, therefore, our Overseas Mission arrived in France they found
our boys in khaki cold. From their viewpoint it seemed that, the Mission having
sailed when the seas were safe, it was adding insult to the injury, or else gave
ground for an indictment of cowardice. They were homesick, these boys. They had
had no Masonry to lean upon except that of their own construction, and they were
not in a mood to come home and feel that the Masonry which they left behind was
the same Masonry that they had conceived it to be. The Mission found them filled
with but one idea, that of coming home, and they were coming sore at heart,
disappointed, and critical of the fraternity.
Despite the difficulties of travel, of delayed mails, of
military discipline, of some opposition in government circles, of convincing the
overseas supervisors of the Y. M. C. A. of the value of the work which the
Mission had in view, they were able, after five or six weeks of what seemed
inconsequential accomplishment, to begin to make some headway. In time they were
able to reach the hearts of the boys and convince them that the reason for
Masonry's absence from the welfare activities on foreign soil was not one of
choice. They showed them how and why it had been deemed unwise by some
governmental officials to let us go, and that those officials seemed to have the
power to keep us at home. The overseas officials of the Y. M. C. A., at first
incredulous and skeptical, came after awhile to see that the proposed work was
worth while, and the attendance upon Masonic meetings which they finally
permitted in the "Y" huts generally proved to them the desire on the part of
Masons for the Masonic fellowship which had been theretofore denied them. The
meetings became enthusiastic. The clubs formed, and there were more than sixty
of them, mounted to thousands in membership, and the Masonic meetings taxed the
capacity of the huts. Once the Masons in khaki understood the story which the
Mission had to tell, they became once more the firm and enthusiastic and proud
supporters of the Masonic fraternity which they had been when at home. Once the
Y. M. C. A. realized fully how catering to the desire of Masons to meet upon the
level helped to revive its own usefulness in a considerable degree, they lent
their full influence to these new and long-denied activities. The personnel of
the Mission was splendid. Their morale was high, their self-sacrifice complete.
Personal comforts they had none, but they carried the great message of Masonry
all over France and the occupied portion of Germany. They went into Belgium and
Flanders and Italy, likewise, and their reception was a tribute indeed to the at
last partially consummated desire of the Masons of America.
In a private interview, Judge Scudder gave his conclusions
as to the value of the work, somewhat after the following manner:
"It was pitiful to see how little the boys needed to make
them happy. They organized their clubs and did business, as a rule, as nearly in
accordance with lodge practice as they could. The very similarity of their
meetings to those to which they were accustomed in the lodges at home seemed to
make them happy. Small entertainments were sufficient. The opportunity for an
unrestricted -Masonic fellowship was what they craved. Gathered together from
all quarters of the United States, they found infinite joy in merely talking
together, under the club auspices, and spent the next to the last minute of
their leave together in this way. All that was needed was a semblance of the
Masonic intercourse which they loved, and their hearts responded in an
atmosphere of fellowship which made the simplest kind of a meeting a unanimous
success.
"We had some opposition at times much of it. But after the
preliminary weeks of waiting were over, we found that we had made some
substantial progress toward the perfection of our plans. We did not do what we
had covenanted with the Y. M. C. A. to do go over and assume responsibility for
certain huts at our own expense, under their supervision. We did not do it
because we were asked not to do so. The "Y" found in our plan of club
co-ordination a wiser course, and were generous enough to accept it, in fact to
adopt it, and on their own motion, assume much of the expense of it, because
they found that it was a real addition to their own activities, and was helping
materially their own cause. They became convinced that the Masonic fraternal tie
was the strongest tie binding men of the fraternity together the best tie there
is. At first they witnessed our efforts with misgiving, but they became
convinced, and were finally so far won over as to feel that the adoption of our
designs was a substantial drawing card for them.
"This entire work was conducted in behalf of the Masonry of
the United States. No state in particular was mentioned. Every brother was
welcomed, no matter where he hailed from. And the Masonic soldiers are coming
home, convinced that the fraternity had a real desire to serve, that it was
prevented from serving in the first instance by opposition which was able to
control the governmental policy. They are coming home convinced of the good
effects of the fraternity. They appreciate our stand in persisting until we
could get to them, even though we were compelled to forego our desire to do so
as an independent agency. Our fraternity will not be on the defensive before
them as they come back. They will not be bitter they will understand the
obstacles which we had to overcome, and by the manner of our overcoming them,
which they now appreciate, they are convinced that through it all our hearts
were with them. They are proud of their Masonry now. Contrast this with the
opinion they held of it when they believed that they had been forgotten and
there had been those who had not neglected to remind them of it and you will
have some appreciation of the value of the mission. However its work may have
succeeded in measuring up to our own desires, we may be sure that our soldier
brethren now know why we did not get to France sooner, and they know why we had
to come as we did come, in the garb of another agency.
"The delivery of this message has cost the fraternity in
the United States not more than $15,000 expended overseas up to date; if the
work is continued for a year, it will cost us, under the very advantageous
circumstances under which we now work, not to exceed a total of perhaps double
that amount. Is it not worth it ?"
----o----
THE LARGE LODGE QUESTION
BY BRO. A. G. PITTS. SECRETARY PALESTINE LODGE, MICHIGAN
IT is possible, though this might not be suspected, to
treat of the question of large lodges in a way to bring out some really
illuminating points. I shall only indicate the various heads of such a
discussion.
1. THE WHY OF LARGE LODGES
It is noteworthy that they begin in and are usually
confined to cities which have, beside lodges, chapters, commanderies, a shrine,
a grotto and a full complement of Scottish Rite bodies. The exceptions are a few
lodges which do not meet all this competition but the most of it. The
competition is a little less keen not much, because if they have no shrine and
no Scottish Rite still those bodies exist in near-by cities and divide the
interest and the energies of their members in only a slightly less degree. For
the rest those lodges have grown large in imitation or in rivalry of the large
lodges of the other class.
Large lodges in America are the result of the excess of
Masonic bodies in America. If a city lodge has 300 active workers in Masonry,
250 of them will be active chiefly in Commandery, Shrine, Grotto, Scottish Rite
or Chapter. Fifty active workers is hardly too many for a lodge. To have that
many the lodge needs 300 who are active in some branch of Masonry. To have 300
who are at all active in any branch of Masonry she must have at least 1800
members on her roll. Ergo, the smallest number suitable for a Masonic lodge in a
large American city is 1800.
2. INACTIVE MEMBERS
How about the five-sixths of inactive members? One-sixth
will be non-residents. One-sixth will be men who by reason of lack of taste or
of ability never became active and never would have done so whether they had
joined a large lodge or a small one. One-third will be those who have been
active but have ceased to be so, and, in the large cities which we are
considering, one-sixth will be men who never cared for the lodge and never
expected to, but who used the lodge only to get into the "higher" bodies.
It is proper to consider the wishes of these men. Which
will they prefer: to belong to the ideal small lodge or to belong to one which
by reason of its size and its consequent activities has a state-wide, perhaps a
national, perhaps even an international reputation?
3. WHAT IS A SMALL LODGE
American Masons have no notion. I have never known a small
lodge in any American city. Those that have few members are in that situation
because they are just out of the Grand Master's hands. All have the intent and
purpose of growing large. They are already large lodges in intent and purpose,
in heterogeneity, in point of view.
I can see great good in a really small lodge and great good
in a really large lodge. I can see no good in one betwixt and between. And,
unfortunately, that is the situation of nine-tenths of our city lodges. Nearly
all the distinguished Masons who took part in the symposium in the June issue of
THE BUILDER speak of the virtue there is in the close fellowship of small
lodges. Have they stopped to think? There will be just as many cliques and
jealousies, just as many divergencies of taste and sympathy, in a lodge of 100
members, as American lodges are constituted, as in one of 3,000. The cliques and
circles will be smaller, that is all, and consequently more injurious. The man
of education and of scholarly tastes and habits of mind will seek the society of
his kind. He may find them in the lodge of 3,000. He almost certainly will not
in the American lodge of 100 members.
This brings me back to my question, "What is a small
lodge?" The answer is: It is a lodge of men who have similar tastes and
interests and habits of thought and who come together for that reason. If a
lodge is a cross-section of the community no one member will take a genuine warm
and abiding interest in every other member whether the lodge has 100 or 3,000
members.
The Lodge Quatuor Coronati is the typical small lodge. I
need not describe it. Years ago I read of the organization of a lodge to be
confined to the clergy connected with St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Another
genuine small lodge.
The demand is made that Grand Lodges shall legislate
against large lodges. But the large American lodges are the result of American
Grand Lodge innovations. First, the excess of Masonic bodies to which I have
already referred and which has been promoted by grand lodge legislators if not
by grand lodge legislation. Second, by the law, almost universal in America,
that a man may belong to but one lodge. Do you suppose that I, a member of the
largest lodge in the world, would not also belong to one of the smallest if I
were allowed to do so? One that was organized on the basis of a similarity of
tastes and avocations (mark, not vocations) and intellectual interests.
An Englishman who devoted as much attention to Masonry as I
have done would belong to at least four lodges. One because it was his father's
lodge and he was made in it. A second because it was devoted to the study of
Masonry. A third, because he would meet there the men to whom he could give and
from whom he could receive the most useful ideas along his line of thought and
activity. And so on. Nor in any one would four-fifths of the members be running
after "higher bodies," they being practically non-existent in all parts of the
British Empire except Canada which is contaminated by her nearness to the United
States.
Say as much as you like in praise of the British system of
small lodges but don't talk about small lodges for this country. The time is
forever past for them in the United States.
A small lodge is one essentially small and that would
always and in any event be small because however broad a man may be his real
intimates will always be few. A small lodge in America is small only because it
has not yet grown large. It will, with its fifty members, already have educated
men and illiterates, men that read books, men that read magazines, men that read
nothing but newspapers and men that read nothing at all. They will all know one
another well, say your writers. No doubt and that is the reason why they will
avoid one another and the lodge. Where do you find the dry rot, the inactivity,
the somnolence? Where does the situation arise where one circle will blackball
every one of a certain other circle so that no one can be elected and the lodge
is at a standstill? Invariably in the villages where there can be but one lodge,
and accordingly even that weak sort of selection cannot take effect which takes
place in any city where there are as many as half a dozen lodges.
The accepted answer to the famous question, "Is life worth
living?" is: "It depends upon the individual." That is also the answer to the
question, "Is a large lodge justifiable?"
I confess I know of but one large lodge which has justified
its existence. No doubt there are others but I have not happened to know them
and I know many of the other kind. But if there is only one large lodge (and
that the largest of all) which has worked out the excuses and the reasons for
its numbers, that is enough. It proves the possibility of a solution. It kills
all excuse for legislating against large numbers. Let the other large lodges
alone. They will learn.
A lodge of 3,000 members is without excuse or reason for
existence if it is conducted just as it was when it had 300 members. Three
thousand members bring new problems which must be solved. Especially they bring
new possibilities which must be taken advantage of.
I have been secretary of Palestine Lodge for 27 years and
have known her intimately when she had 200 members and when she had 3,200 and at
every stage between.
Now I quote from the June "Fraternal Forum":
Brother Hamilton says: "It is a practically universal rule
that the smaller the membership the larger percentage of members attend the
meetings."
Palestine Lodge, then, is the exception. She will have an
attendance of 600 next Friday. Two hundred take lunch together in the lodge
house every day, not always the same 200 by any means. Fifteen hundred people
mostly members and their ladies will take the annual evening boat ride together
June 18, if the experience of past years is any criterion. She is planning a
dinner for next fall to honor her 500 returned soldiers and she thinks it
necessary to find a room where 2,000 can sit together and be served.
There are never 600 members in her lodge room at one time
but she has learned that presence in her house is the desideratum, not
continuous presence in her lodge room.
From Bro. Street: "A better camaraderie will be obtained
and preserved" (in the small lodge). I defy him to produce a lodge (in the
United States) where there is more solidarity, more maternity or more intimacy
than in Palestine.
"Where initiations are so numerous as they must be in large
lodges little or no time is left for the development of the social or study side
of Masonry."
On the contrary in Palestine Lodge the social side is being
developed every day and for an average of 10 hours every day instead of a few
minutes in the intervals of work twice a month. How can you beat the social
effect of having 200 take lunch together every day and an average of 100 dining
together every day?
My dear brother, if your lodge is large enough the social
side will be developed while the work is going on. Next Friday in Palestine
Lodge at a certain time there will be 300 men listening to after- dinner
speeches and music in Palestine's large dining room, fifty more dining with
ladies in the small dining rooms, fifty carrying on the work in Palestine's
lodge room, fifty more playing together in other parts of the house cards,
billiards, etc., fifty talking or reading in other parts of the house, many of
them in the ladies' drawing room in company with ladies and fifty more coming
and going.
No one can fix his eyes upon his vest and figure out
exactly how Palestine Lodge is run. But the information is not hard to come at.
Lacking the information, one need not assume that she is run just like the lodge
which meets twice a month. Palestine meets formally twice a week but she keeps
open house all the time every day from 11 a. m. to 11 p. m.
The one guiding principle of Palestine Lodge is that a
lodge of 3,000 must not be run like one of 300. If you. try to imagine Palestine
Lodge, as fast as pictures arise before you of the ways of the lodge you know,
discard them one by one. Palestine is different. That is her justification. If
she resembled in any particular the lodge she was when she had 300 members that
would condemn her.
"In every large lodge the proper caution in admitting
members can not be observed."
Our jurisdiction is the city of Detroit, covering, perhaps
100 square miles. We find it necessary to keep two card catalogues one of which
is arranged by wards and districts and streets. It is very hard for any man to
find a decent place to live in Detroit where he will not have a Palestine man on
each side of him within two blocks. Those two members will be on his committee.
Would the situation be improved if we had 100 members, one to each square mile?
What a difference there always is between theory and
experience. In fact we find it easier to appoint suitable and neighboring
committees as the lodge grows. From this point of view 3,000 is the smallest
number that can properly cover a city of the size of Detroit. Nevertheless we
are true to the principle to do nothing as we did when we were 300 strong. I
cannot stop on details but having a big house of our own we can and do insist on
applicants coming down there to be looked over before being balloted upon.
"We have no time for addresses," etc., says Bro. Adams. I
refer to what I have said concerning after dinner programs. We have them twice a
month and a notable speaker each time. We can give any speaker an audience
worthy of him.
Bro. Carson asks: "Can a member of such a lodge know all
the others?" Of course not. How did the idea ever arise that that is necessary?
But I venture to say that there is not a man in Palestine Lodge today who does
not know more members of Palestine Lodge than I knew a month before I was first
elected secretary when she had 200 members and I had been a member four years.
The way to get the members acquainted is to give them a
beautiful big home where they can and do eat together, play together, read
together and talk together for twelve hours every day, and six days every week.
But you must have 3,000 members before you can establish such a home.
Palestine's home represents an investment of $185,000.00.
"Give him the opportunity of spending a social hour with
his friends." We give him the opportunity seventy-two hours of every week.
Bro. Schoonover says the large lodge is negligent on
funeral occasions. Our attendance at funerals is entirely satisfactory if we are
given time to send- notices and not unbecoming in any case. We gathered twenty
to go sixty miles to bury a brother last month and got them all by telephone.
But we have had to change our methods in this matter as in every other. We bury
a larger proportion of our dead than we did when we had 300 members. Here is a
text for a separate article but I must hasten along.
We confer 900 degrees a year and nobody sweats a hair. How
can we do it? Another article is called for. As in every other particular we
have changed our ways since the time when we had 300 members. But I must
expressly deny that there has arisen any tendency to slight or neglect the work
in any particular.
We have not enough officers, and do not make as many past
masters as we ought. This is true but it is an argument for taking off
restrictions instead of for putting on new ones. We have invented half a dozen
ways of making half a dozen past masters a year but Grand Lodge will allow none
of them.
Now it would take another article to tell about the
advantages which Palestine Lodge secures from her large numbers. It may be that
she is the only one on earth that does secure all these advantages. That is the
fault of the individual lodges, not of the system.
Let it be once more stated and emphasized that there is no
excuse for the existence of a large lodge unless it secures the advantages which
large numbers can give.
Let me simply catalogue a few of those advantages:
1. The Palestine Lodge House, a cozy, economical club where
lunch is served every noon and dinner every night. It comprises a large dining
room, two small dining rooms, billiard rooms, card rooms, a reading room,
ladies' drawing room, ladies' sitting room, a ball room, a lodge room, etc. It
is open every day except Sunday. The lodge meets twice a week at 5 p. m. The
members come to lodge from their work. They meet their wives there and have
dinner together. While the men are at lodge the ladies entertain one another.
Formerly they played bridge. During the war they did an enormous amount of war
relief work in the Lodge House. The dining room does a business of $3,000 a
month. From this can be estimated how many meals are sold. Before the war there
was a dancing party in the ballroom twice a month at least. And yet they tell us
that large lodges cannot cultivate the social side! I dare assert that nothing
less than a large lodge can properly cultivate social features.
The Palestine Lodge House represents an investment of about
$185,000.00. There are outstanding about $40,000.00 of bonds. They could easily
be taken up within the next three years. It is likely that they will not be, but
when $40,000.00 is accumulated more bonds will be issued and an addition built.
Plans have been made for a building 50x100 feet and ten stories high. This, it
is estimated, will cost about $250,000.00. The lot is 100x130. Some day
(possibly very soon,) it will all be covered with a new building. At least two
parties are negotiating with us now. one proposition is for a hotel twenty-one
stories high, 100x130 feet, of which the lodge would occupy the floors from the
third to the seventh inclusive
2. Prestige. See the last sentence. Anyone would be proud
to be in partnership with Palestine Lodge. This refers to Detroit. But Palestine
Lodge has an international reputation. It is not a dream that a Mason who was
making a trip from New Zealand to England so planned it that he could stop off
to visit Palestine Lodge. On the other hand your writers write about large
lodges (including Palestine) knowing nothing and caring less as to what they
(Palestine) are really like.
3. The Palestine Bulletin, a twenty-page monthly which also
has an international reputation and which while primarily reporting the
activities of Palestine Lodge has frequently printed original articles equal to
the best of Masonic literature anywhere.
4. Zeal and devotion. A hundred illustrations could be
given. Few ever quit. An average of ten a year are suspended and ten a year
dimitted. That would be in the same proportion as one of each a year for a lodge
of 300 members. One of your wise men said that in the large lodge members soon
get tired and "resign." Of course he knows. What does he mean ?
For many years the Palestine men in Chicago have maintained
"The Palestine Club of Chicago." The members take lunch together every Friday at
Marshall Pield's store for men. Where is your small lodge that an grip men like
that?
5. The Palestine Directory. A book of 200 pages giving the
name, number, business address, residence address, telephone number, and date of
membership of all the members. Also arranged as to business. A Palestine man
hardly dares buy anything without consulting this business directory. Palestine
is notorious or solidarity. It is made a reproach to her.
6. The Palestine Button. Smaller lodges have Lodge buttons
but not until you have 3,000 members are they worth while. Members make one
another's acquaintance in China by the fact that both wear the button.
7. Adequacy for any good work. We sent the tuberculosis
sanitarium $400.00 the other day. We raised thousands of dollars for war relief
work. The Palestine Lodge House Red Cross section was one of the best in the
city. We were used as a headquarters on the occasion of a recent big welcome to
a returning regiment. We spent $600.00 on Christmas boxes for our soldiers in
France. We have published the names and details of the service of our 500
soldiers in a thirty-page book. We are looking after several orphans and
assisting several widows. Masonic homes would be unnecessary if all lodges were
like Palestine and, of course, home relief is better and cheaper than
institutional relief.
8. We can look after our members almost anywhere. We have
twenty in Los Angeles, forty in Chicago, twenty in Cleveland, twenty-five in New
York, and so on. When a non-resident member is sick or in double we notify
members of his own lodge in his own town to look after him.
9. Dignity. Hardly any one in Palestine Lodge fancies that
the lodges exist only to make men eligible to the "higher bodies." Indeed we
have almost killed that idea in Detroit. The newer generation of Masons do not
even realize that such used to be the feeling in Detroit as it is yet in most
cities. Perhaps it is not worth noting but it is a fact that every Mason that
objects to large lodges is a higher degree man. Also that the Scottish Rite
bodies, the Shrine and the Grotto find profit in limiting the number of their
bodies and exaggerating their size. If these brethren would say frankly that
their preference for small lodges is due to the sentiment that they do not want
the lodges to equal in dignity and influence the Consistories and the Shrine
their position would be reasonable at least. A natural objection would be an
improvement on those thus far expressed which are all artificial and laboriously
manufactured.
One of your writers speaks of the great success of the
Shrine and makes that an argument for small lodges. It is a wonder that he did
not say that the success of the Shrine is due to the small size of the temples.
The one in Chicago, for example, has not to exceed 15,000 members. But it is
growing!
I stop solely out of regard for your space. What I have
written is so composed that there are joints which are not connected and which
look like flaws. Let them be pointed out by others. I am willing to come again.
If there be such a thing in America as a Masonic writer or
a Masonic official who is sincerely devoted to the good of Masonry (meaning the
lodges), that man when he knows Palestine Lodge will hail her plan and system as
a new and useful invention, the harbinger of a new era in American Masonry, the
remedy for the worst faults of American Masonry.
----o----
THE HANDCLASP OF THE SOUL
We can never know what life is,
But we know that it is love,
In a world where so much strife is
That alone can merit prove.
There's no moral realm above it,
'Tis the qualifying plane,
Man is glorified to love it
'Tis his limit to attain.
Human Love, "head of the corner"
In the alchemy of man,
Is the real and chief adorner
Of all others in the plan,
Love of virtue, love of beauty,
Love of all things as a whole
In their glorious unity
Makes for quality of Soul.
There is not of earth, a mortal
That behind a creed can hide,
Love alone leads to the portal
There realities abide.
Love, the scandalized for ages
By negation's formal role
Waits to fold their tell-tale pages
In the handclasp of the soul.
Bro. L. B. Mitchell, Michigan.
----o----
ACACIA IN THE ARMY
BY BRO. G. A. KENDERDINE, IOWA
THE SCHOOL OF FIRE at
Fort Sill, Oklahoma, probably brought together as representative a body of
college men among the students and officers as has ever been assembled in the
United States. Practically every educational institution was represented, and
during the early autumn of 1918 a Fraternity and College register was
established at the desk of the School of Fire Y.M.C.A., in the hope of uniting
various college and fraternity men, who were enlisted in, or on the staff of, or
students in the Artillery Training School. No effort was made to canvass the
school for registration. A small notice on the officers' bulletin board, and
another in the "Y" was all the publicity that was given the matter. The register
lay on the desk under the notice of all who desired to open it. From the
appearance of its pages and from the comments of those who found their
fraternity brothers or graduates or students of the same colleges through its
pages, the register was well worth the little effort in its making.
106 colleges and
universities were represented by 272 students registered, and 42 fraternities
were represented by 296 men registered. The apparent discrepancy in the figures
is accounted for by the fact that a number of the fraternities being
professional, permitted duplicate membership.
Although by no means
the largest of national
fraternities numerically, the Acacia
had the largest number of men registered, there being 19, with a representation
of 14 chapters. This data was largely secured through the efforts and pains of
R. G. Buzzard, 2nd Lieutenant Signal Corps, an alumnus of Chicago Acacia. As
soon as Brother Buzzard had noted these names he saw each of the brothers and
called an informal meeting at the Y.W.C.A. Hostess House which was largely
attended and another meeting was arranged for a few days later in the nature of
a six o'clock dinner, followed by a theater party, which was truly an enjoyable
occasion.
Most of the men
present at the dinner were able to appear for the group photograph, though one
or two, as is usually the case, were detained by duty. It is a matter of
considerable pride and satisfaction to Acacians that so representative a
gathering could be assembled, and it speaks volumes for the fraternal is
impulses as well as the calibre of Acacia men. Each one of these men, with the
exception of the writer, was either a commissioned officer in the U. S. Army, or
a student in the Aviation Corps, who was later to obtain commission, and had
therefore added to their threefold Acacia selection still another mark of
recognition.
A few days after the
picture was taken the demobilization order scattered these men far and wide, but
the memory of the Fort Sill "Chapter" will not soon fade, and furnishes one of
the happiest episodes of these men's military experiences.
----o----
KEEPING HIM "FIT"
Our responsibilities
to our wounded are not yet over. The Red Cross acts as the people's
intermediary. Debarkation hospitals in the large cities adjacent to ports are
crowded to capacity and base hospitals are continually increasing their
facilities to care for the wounded who come in with every ship.
One of the greatest
needs that presents itself in hastening the recovery of these boys is proper
recreation. Deprived of the natural physical ability to seek relaxation they are
dependent for mental stimulation on the pleasures that are brought to them.
The Red Cross has
planned out a program of social and physical recreation suited to the needs of
these recovering boys, and calculated to encourage that spirit of cheerfulness
which is so great a factor in their recovery.
Games and sports have
been arranged for under the department of Military Relief, through the
Recreational Committees. These pleasures are suited to the individual needs of
every type of patient. They include film shows, high class vaudeville
entertainments, concerts, educational lectures and such games and sports as may
be indulged in by recovering patients. An important feature of this department
is the Bureau of Musical Activities, and many have been the donations of band
instruments, music, and offers of service from music houses, musicians and
teachers, who are lending their help in gratifying the desire not only to hear
but to create good music that lies in the hearts of our boys. One of the
greatest aids to this service has been in the donation by different teachers of
a definite number of hours each week to provide instruction in the hospitals.
And so, to the
question" Now that the war is done is the Red Cross work over?" we answer "No,
not only is it not over but what has been done is but a beginning." With past
experiences to build on and the future needs so plain to our sight, we point
down the long road ahead and say with hope, confidence and the joy of service,
"the work of the Red Cross goes on."
----o----
A CATHOLIC TREATISE ON MASONRY
PART II ORGANIZATION AND STATISTICS
THE characteristic feature of the organization of
speculative Masonry is the Grand Lodge system founded in 1717. Every regular
Grand Lodge or Supreme Council in the Scottish, or Grand Orient in the mixed
system, constitutes a supreme independent body with legislative, judicial, and
executive powers. It is composed of the lodges or inferior bodies of its
jurisdiction or of their representatives regularly assembled and the grand
officers whom they elect. A duly constituted lodge exercises the same powers but
in a more restricted sphere. The indispensable officers of a lodge are the
Worshipful Master (French Venerable; German Meister von Stuhl), the Senior and
Junior Warden, and the Tiler. The master and the wardens are usually aided by
two deacons and two stewards for the ceremonial and convivial work and by a
treasurer and a secretary. Many lodges have a Chaplain for religious ceremonies
and addresses. The same officers in large numbers and with sounding titles (Most
Worshipful Grand Master, Sovereign Grand Commander, etc.) exist in the Grand
Lodges. As the expenses of the members are heavy, only wealthy persons can
afford to join the fraternity. The number of candidates is further restricted by
prescriptions regarding their moral, intellectual, social, and physical
qualifications, and by a regulation which requires unanimity of votes in secret
balloting for their admission. Thus, contrary to its pretended universality,
Freemasonry appears to be a most exclusive society, the more so as it is a
secret society, closed off from the profane world of common mortals.
"Freemasonry," says the "Keystone" of Philadelphia (Chr., 1885, I, 259), "has no
right to be popular. It is a secret society. It is for the few, not the many,
for the select, not for the masses." Practically, it is true, the prescriptions
concerting the intellectual and moral endowments are not rigourously obeyed.
"Numbers are being admitted . . . whose sole object is to make their membership
a means for advancing their pecuniary interest" (Chr., 1881, I, 6). "There are a
goodly number again, who value Freemasonry solely for the convivial meetings
attached to it." "Again I have heard men say openly, that they had joined to
gain introduction to a certain class of individuals as a trading matter and that
they were forced to do so because every one did so. Then there is the great
class who join it out of curiosity or perhaps, because somebody in a position
above them is a Mason." "Near akin to this is that class of individuals who wish
for congenial society" (Chr., 1884, II, 196). "In Masonry they find the means of
ready access to society, which is denied to them by social conventionalities.
They have wealth but neither by birth nor education are they eligible for polite
and fine intercourse." "The shop is never absent from their words and deeds."
"The Masonic body includes a large number of publicans" (Chr., 1885, I, 259),
etc., etc.
Of the Masonic rule brotherly love, relief, and truth
certainly the two former, especially as understood in the sense of mutual
assistance in all the emergencies of life, is for most of the candidates the
principal reason for joining. This mutual assistance, especially symbolized by
the five points of fellowship and the "grand hailing sign of distress" in the
third degree, is one of the most fundamental characteristics of Freemasonry. By
his oath the Master Mason is pledged to maintain and uphold the five points of
fellowship in act as well as in words, i. e., to assist a Master Mason on every
occasion according to his ability, and particularly when he makes the sign of
distress. In Duncan, "American Ritual" (229), the Royal Arch-Mason even swears:
"I will assist a companion R. A.-Mason, when I see him engaged in any difficulty
and will espouse his cause so as to extricate him from the same whether he be
right or wrong." It is a fact attested by experienced men of all countries that,
wherever Masonry is influential, non-Masons have to suffer in their interests
from the systematical preferment which Masons give each other in appointment to
offices and employment. Even Bismarck (Gedanken und Erinnerungen, 1898, I, 302
sq.) complained of the effects of such mutual Masonic assistance, which is
detrimental alike to civic equality and to public interests. In Masonic books
and magazines unlawful and treacherous acts, performed in rendering this mutual
assistance, are recommended and praised as a glory of Freemasonry. "The
inexorable laws of war themselves," says the official orator of the Grand Orient
de France, Lefebvre d'Aumale (Solstice, 24 June, 1841, Proces-verb., 62), "had
to bend before Freemasonry, which is perhaps the most striking proof of its
power. A sign sufficed to stop the slaughter; the combatants threw away their
arms, embraced each other fraternally and at once became friends and Brethren as
their oaths prescribed," and the "Handbuch," 3rd ed., II, 109, declares: "this
sign has had beneficial effect, particularly in times of war, where it often
disarms the bitterest enemies, so that they listen to the voice of humanity and
give each other mutual assistance instead of killing each other" (see also
Freemason, Lond., 1901, 181; Clavel, 288 sqq.; Ragon, "Cours," 164; Herold, 191,
No. 10; "Handbuch," 2nd ed., II, 451 sqq.). Even the widely spread suspicion,
that justice is sometimes thwarted and Masonic criminals saved from due
punishment, cannot be deemed groundless. The said practice of mutual assistance
is so reprehensible that Masonic authors themselves (e. g., Krause, ibid., 2nd
ed., I, 2, 429; Marbach, "Frei-maurer-Gelubde," 22-35) condemn it severely.
"If," says Bro. Marbach (23), "Freemasonry really could be an association and
even a secret one of men of the most different ranks of society, assisting and
advancing each other, it would be an iniquitous association, and the police
would have no more urgent duty than to exterminate it."
Another characteristic of Masonic law is that "treason" and
"rebellion" against civil authority are declared only political crimes, which
affect the good standing of a brother no more than heresy, and furnish no ground
for a Masonic trial (Mackey, "Jurisprudence," 509). The importance which Masonry
attaches to this point is manifest from the fact that it is set forth in the
Article II of the "Old Charges," which defines the duties of a Freemason with
respect to the State and civil powers. Compared with the corresponding
injunction of the "Gothic" constitutions of operative masonry, it is no less
ambiguous than Article I concerning God and religion. The old Gothic
Constitutions candidly enjoined: "Also you shall be true liegemen to the King
without treason or falsehood and that you shall know no treason but you mend it,
if you may, or else warn the King or his council thereof" (Thorp, Ms., 1629, A.
Q. C., XI, 210; Rawlinson, Ms. 1900, A. Q. C., XI, 22; Hughan, "Old Charges").
The second article of modern speculative Freemasonry (1723) runs: "Of the civil
magistrates, supreme and subordinate. A Mason is a peaceable subject to the
Civil Powers, wherever he resides or works, and is never to be concerned in
Plots and Conspiracies against the peace and welfare of the Nation, nor to
behave himself undutifully to inferior Magistrates; for as Masonry hath always
been injured by War, Bloodshed and Confusion so ancient Kings and Princes have
been much disposed to encourage the craftsmen, because of their Peaceableness
and Loyalty, whereby they practically answer'd the Cavils of their adversaries
and promoted the Honour of Fraternity, who ever flourished in Times of Peace. So
that if a Brother should be a Rebel against the State, he is not to be
countenanc'd in his Rebellion, however he may be pitied as an unhappy man; and,
if convicted of no other Crime, though the loyal Brotherhood must and ought to
disown his Rebellion, and give no Umbrage or Ground of political Jealousy to the
Government for the time being; they cannot expel him from the Lodge and his
Relation to it remains indefeasible."
Hence rebellion by modern speculative Masonry is only
disapproved when plots are directed against the peace and welfare of the nation.
The brotherhood ought to disown the rebellion, but only in order to preserve the
fraternity from annoyance by the civil authorities. A brother, then, guilty of
rebellion cannot be expelled from the lodge; on the contrary, his fellow Masons
are particularly obliged to have pity on his misfortune when he (in prison or
before the courts) has to suffer from the consequences of his rebellion, and
give him brotherly assistance as far as they can. Freemasonry itself as a body
is very peaceable and loyal, but it does not disapprove; on the contrary, it
commends those brethren who through love of freedom and the national welfare
successfully plot against monarchs and other despotic rulers, while as an
association of public utility it claims privilege and protection through kings,
princes, and other high dignitaries for the success of its peaceful work.
"Loyalty to freedom," says Chr., 1875, I, 81, "overrides all other
considerations- The wisdom of this regulation, remarks Mackey (Jurisprudence,
510, note 1), "will be apparent when we consider, that if treason or rebellion
were Masonic crimes, almost every Mason in the United Colonies, in 1776, would
have been subject to expulsion and every Lodge to a forfeiture of its warrant by
the G. LL. of England and Scotland, under whose jurisdiction they were at the
time."
A misleading adage is "once a Mason always a Mason." This
is often taken to mean that "the Masonic tie is indissoluble, that there is no
absolution from its consequences (Chr-, 1885, I, 161) or "Obligations" (Chris
1889, II, 58), that not even death can sever the connexion of a Mason with
Freemasonry (Chr., 1883, II, 331)- But certainly a Mason has the "right of
demission (Mackey, "Jurisprudence," 232 sq.), and this right, whatever be the
opinion of Masonic jurisprudences according to the inalienable natural rights of
man, extends to a complete withdrawal not only from the lodge but also from the
brotherhood. In the scale of Masonic penalties, expulsion" is the most severe (Mackeys
op- cite 514 sqq- )- Besides those who have been expelled or have resigned there
are many "unaffiliated Masons who have ceased to be "active" members of a lodge,
but, according to Masonic law, which, of course, can oblige no more than is
authorized by the general rules of morality, they remain subject to the lodge
within the Jurisdiction of which they reside.
As to unity, Masonic authorities unanimously affirm that
Freemasonry throughout the world is one, and that all freemasons form in reality
but one lodge; that distinct lodges exist only for the sake of convenience, and
that consequently every regular Mason is entitled to be received in every
regular lodge of the world as a brother, and, if in distress, to be relieved.
The good understanding among Masons of different countries is furthered by
personal intercourse and by correspondence, especially between the grand
secretary offices and international congresses (Paris, 1889; Antwerp, 1894;
Hague, 1896; Paris, 1900; Geneva, 1902; Brussels, 1904; Rome, intended for Oct.,
1911) which led to the establishment, in 1903, of a permanent international
office at Neuchatel, Switzerland (Chr., 1907, II, 119). There is no general
Grand Lodge or direction of Freemasonry, though various attempts have been made
in nearly every larger state or country to establish one. Incessant dissensions
between Masonic systems and bodies are characteristic of Freemasonry in all
countries and times. But the federative unity of Freemasonry suffices to prove a
true solidarity among Masons and Masonic bodies throughout the world; hence the
charge of complicity in the machinations which some of them carry on. This
solidarity is openly avowed by Masonic authorities. Pike, for instance, writes
(Off. Bull., 1885, VII, 29): "When the journal in London which speaks of the
Freemasonry of the G. L. of England, deprecatingly protested that the English
Freemasonry was innocent of the charges preferred by the Papal Bull (Encycl.
1884) against Freemasonry, when it declared that English Freemasonry had no
opinions political or religious, and that it did not in the least degree
sympathize with the loose opinions and extravagant utterances of part of the
Continental Freemasonry, it was very justly and very conclusively checkmated by
the Romish Organs with the reply, 'It is idle for you to protest. You are
Freemasons and you recognize them as Freemasons. You give them countenance,
encouragement and support and you are jointly responsible with them and cannot
shirk that responsibility.'"
As accurate statistics are not always to be had and the
methods of enumeration differ in different countries, total numbers can only be
approximated. Thus in most of the lodges of the United States only the Masters
(third degree) are counted, while in other countries the apprentices and fellows
are added. There are besides many unaffiliated Masons (having ceased to be
members of a lodge) who are not included. Their number may be estimated at
two-thirds of that of the active Masons. In England a Mason may act as member of
many lodges. Confirming our statement as to the active members of the strictly
Masonic bodies, which in calendars and year books are registered as such, we
may, upon recent and reliable sources Mackey, "Encyclopedia," 1908, 1007 sq.;
"Annual of Universal Masonry," Berne, 1909; "Mas. Year Book 1909," London; "Kalendar
fur Freimaurer," Leipzig, 1909), estimate the actual state of Freemasonry as
follows: Grand O's, G. L's, Supr. Couns., and other Scottish G. bodies, 183;
lodges 26500; Masons, about 2,000,000; the number of the Grand Chapters of Royal
Arch is: in the United States, 2968 subordinate chapters, under one General
Grand Chapter; England, 46 Grand Chapters with 1015 subordinate chapters;
English colonies and foreign Masonic centres, 18 Grand Chapters with 150
subordinate chapters. The census of craft Masonry (1909) is as follows:
Countries Lodges
Members Great Britain and Colonies (exe. Canada) 4,670 262,651
Canada 727 60,728 United States:
White 12,916 1,203,159 Latin Countries (Europe and S.
America) 2,500 120,000 Other European countries
771 90,700 Africa 53 2,150
Total 22,937
1,767,388
INNER WORE OF FREEMASONRY: MASONIC SYMBOLISM AND OATHS
"From first to last," says Pike (I, 340), "Masonry is
work." The Masonic "work," properly so-called, is the inner secret ritualistic
work by which Masons are made and educated for the outer work, consisting in
action for the welfare of mankind according to Masonic principles. Masons are
made by the three ceremonies of initiation (first degree), passing (second
degree), and raising (third degree). The symbols displayed in these ceremonies
and explained according to the Masonic principles and to the verbal hints given
in the rituals and lectures of the three degrees, are the manual of Masonic
instruction. The education thus begun is completed by the whole lodge life, in
which every Mason is advised to take an active part, attending the lodge
meetings regularly, profiting, according to his ability, by the means which
Masonry affords him, to perfect himself in conformity with Masonic ideals, and
contributing to the discussions of Masonic themes and to a good lodge
government, which is represented as a model of the government of society at
large. The lodge is to be a type of the world (Chr., 1890, I, 99) and Masons are
intended to take part in the regeneration of the human race (Chr., 1900, II,
3). "The symbolism of Freemasonry," says Pike in a letter to Gould, 2 December,
1888 (A. Q. G., XVI, 28), "is the very soul of Masonry." And Boyd, the Grand
Orator of Missouri, confirms: "It is from the beginning to the end, symbol,
symbol, symbol" (Chr., 1902, I, 167).
The principal advantages of this symbolism, which is not
peculiar to Freemasonry but refers to the mysteries and doctrines of all ages
and of all factors of civilization, are the following: (1) As it is adaptable to
all possible opinions, doctrines, and tastes, it attracts the candidates and
fascinates the initiated. (2) It preserves the unsectarian unity of Freemasonry
in spite of profound differences in religion, race, national feeling, and
individual tendencies. (3) It sums up the theoretical and practical wisdom of
all ages and nations in a universally intelligible language. (4) It trains the
Mason to consider existing institutions, religious, political, and social, as
passing phases of human evolution and to discover by his own study the reforms
to be realized in behalf of Masonic progress, and the means to realize them. (5)
It teaches him to see in prevailing doctrines and dogmas merely subjective
conceptions or changing symbols of a deeper universal truth in the sense of
Masonic ideals. (6) It allows Freemasonry to conceal its real purposes from the
profane and even from those among the initiated, who are unable to appreciate
those aims, as Masonry intends. "Masonry," says Pike, "jealously conceals its
secrets and intentionally leads conceited interpreters astray" ([1], 105). "Part
of the Symbols are displayed ....to the Initiated, but he is intentionally
misled by false interpretations ( [1], 819). "The initiated are few though many
hear the Thyrsus" ([1], 355). "The meaning of the Symbols is not unfolded at
once. We give you hints only in general. You must study out the recondite and
mysterious meaning for yourself" ([3], 128). "It is for each individual Mason to
discover the secret of Masonry by reflection on its symbols and a wise
consideration of what is said and done in the work" ( [1], 218). "The universal
cry throughout the Masonic world," says Mackey (Inner Sanctuary I, 311), "is for
light; our lodges are henceforth to be schools, our labour is to be study, our
wages are to be learning; the types and symbols, the myths and allegories of the
institution are only beginning to be investigated with reference to the ultimate
meaning and Freemasons now thoroughly understand that often quoted definition,
that Masonry is a science of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by
symbols."
Masonic symbols can be and are interpreted in different
senses. By orthodox Anglican ecclesiastics the whole symbolism of the Old and
New Testament connected with the symbolism of the Temple of Solomon was treated
as Masonic symbolism and Masonry as the "handmaid of religion" (Oliver, Hist.
Landmarks, I, 128) which,-"in almost every part of every degree refers
distinctly and plainly to a crucified Saviour" (Oliver, ibid., I, 146, 65; II, 7
sq.). Many Masonic authors in the Latin countries (Clavel, Ragnon, etc.) and
some of the principal Anglo-American authors (Pike, Mackey, etc.) dedare, that
Masonic symbolism in its original and proper meaning refers above all to the
solar and phallic worship of the ancient mysteries, especially the Egyptian
(Pike [1], 771 sq.). "It is in the antique symbols and their occult meaning,"
says Pike ( [4], 397), "that the true secrets of Freemasonry consist. These must
reveal its nature and true purposes." In conformity with this rule of
interpretation, the letter G in the symbol of Glory (Blazing Star) or the Greek
Gamma (square), summing up all Masonry is very commonly explained as meaning
"generation"; the initial letter of the Tetragrammaton and the whole name is
explained as male or male- female principle (Pike [1], 698 sq., 751, 849; [4],
IV, 342 sq.; Mackey, "Symbolism," 112 sqq., 186 sqq.; see also Preuss, "American
Freemasonry," 175 sqq.). In the same sense according to the ancient
interpretation are explained the two pillars Boaz and Jachin; the Rosecroix (a
cross with a rose in the centre); the point within the circle; the "vesica
piscis," the well-known sign for the Saviour; the triple Tau; Sun and Moon;
Hiram and Christ (Osiris); the coffin; the Middle Chamber and even the Sancta
Sanctorum, as adyta or most holy parts of each temple, usually contained hideous
objects of phallic worship (Mackey, "Dictionary," s. v. Phallus; Oliver,
"Signs," 206-17; V. Longo, La Mass. Specul.).
As Masons even in their official lectures and rituals,
generally claim an Egyptian origin for Masonic symbolism and a close "affinity"
of "Masonic usages and customs with those of the Ancient Egyptians" (Ritual, I
[first] degree), such interpretations are to be deemed officially authorized.
Pike says, moreover, that "almost every one of the ancient Masonic symbols" has
"four distinct meanings, one as it were within the other, the moral, political,
philosophical and spiritual meaning" (Pike [3], 128). From the political point
of view Pike with many other Anglo-American Scotch Masons interprets all Masonic
symbolism in the sense of a systematic struggle against every kind of political
and religious "despotism." Hiram, Christ, Molay are regarded only as
representatives of "Humanity" the "Apostles of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
(Pike [4], 141). The Cross (a double or quadruple square) is "no specific
Christian symbol," "to all of us it is an emblem of Nature and of Eternal life;
whether of them only let each say for himself" (Pike, ibid., 100 sq.). The Cross
X (Christ) was the Sign of the Creative Wisdom or Logos, the Son of God.
Mithraism signed its soldiers on the forehead with a cross, etc. ([1], 291 sq.).
I. N. R. I., the inscription of the Cross is, Masonically read: "Igne Natura
Renovatur Integra." The regeneration of nature by the influence of the sun
symbolizes the spiritual regeneration of mankind by the sacred fire (truth and
love) of Masonry, as a purely naturalistic institution (Pike [4], III, 81; [1],
291; Ragon, 1. c., 7686). "The first assassin of Hiram is Royalty as the common
type of tyranny," striking "with its rule of iron at the throat of Hiram and
making freedom of speech treason." The second assassin is the Pontificate
(Papacy) "aiming the square of steel at the heart of the victim" ([4], I, 288
sq.). Christ dying on Calvary is for Masonry "the greatest among the apostles of
Humanity, braving Roman despotism and the fanaticism and bigotry of the
priesthood" (ibid., III, 142 sq.). Under the symbol of the cross "the legions of
freedom shall march to victory" (ibid., III, 146).
The Kadosh (thirtieth degree), trampling on the papal tiara
and the royal crown, is destined to wreak a just vengeance on these "high
criminals" for the murder of Molay (ibid., IV, 474 sq.), and "as the apostle of
truth and the rights of man" (ibid., IV, 478), to deliver mankind "from the
bondage of Despotism and the thraldom of spiritual Tyranny" (ibid., IV, 476).
"In most rituals of this degree everything breathes vengeance" against religious
and political "Despotism" (ibid., IV, 547). Thus Masonic symbols are said to be
"radiant of ideas, which should penetrate the soul of every Mason and be clearly
reflected in his character and conduct, till he become a pillar of strength to
the fraternity" ("Masonic Advocate" of Indianapolis, Chr., 1900, I, 296). "There
is no iota of Masonic Ritual," adds the "Voice" of Chicago, "which is void of
significance" (Chr., 1897, II, 83). These interpretations, it is true, are not
officially adopted in Anglo-American craft rituals; but they appear fully
authorized, though not the only ones authorized even by its system and by the
first two articles of the "Old Charge" (1723), which contains the fundamental
law of Freemasonry. As to the unsectarian character of Masonry and its
symbolism, Pike justly remarks: "Masonry propagates ne creed, except its own
most simple and sublime one taught by Nature and Reason. There has never been a
false Religion in the world. The permanent one universal revelation is written
in visible Nature and explained by the Reason and is completed by the wise
analogies of faith. There is but one true religion, one dogma, one legitimate
belief" ([4], I, 271). Consequently, also, the Bible as a Masonic symbol, is to
be interpreted as a symbol of the Book of Nature or the Code of human reason and
conscience, while Christian and other dogmas have for Freemasonry but the import
of changing symbols veiling the one permanent truth, of which Masonic "Science"
and "Arts" are a "progressive revelation," and application (ibid., I, 280; [1],
516 sq.).
It should be noted, that the great majority of Masons are
far from being "initiated" and "are grovelling in Egyptian darkness" (Chr.,
1878, II, 28). "The Masonry of the higher degrees," says Pike [4], I, 311),
"teaches the great truths of intellectual science; but as to these, even as to
the rudiments and first principles, Blue Masonry is absolutely dumb. Its dramas
seem intended to teach the resurrection of the body." "The pretended possession
of mysterious secrets has enabled Blue Masonry to number its initiates by tens
of thousands. Never were any pretenses to the possession of mysterious knowledge
so baseless and so absurd as those of the Blue and Royal Arch Chapter Degrees"
(ibid., IV, 388 sq.). "The aping Christianity of Blue Masonry made it simply an
emasculated and impotent society with large and sounding pretenses and slender
performances. And yet its multitudes adhere to it, because initiation is a
necessity for the Human Soul; and because it instinctively longs for a union of
the many under the control of a single will, in things spiritual as well as in
things temporal, for a Hierarchy and a Monarch" (ibid., IV, 389 sq.). "It is for
the Adept to understand the meaning of the Symbols" ([1], 849); and Oliver
declares: "Brethren, high in rank and office, are often unacquainted with the
elementary principles of the science" (Oliver, "Theocratic Philosophy," 355).
Masons "may be fifty years Masters of the Chair and yet not learn the secret of
the Brotherhood. This secret is, in its own nature, invulnerable; for the Mason,
to whom it has become known, can only have guessed it and certainly not have
received it from any one; he has discovered it, because he has been in the
lodge, marked, learned and inwardly digested. When he arrives at the discovery,
he unquestionably keeps it to himself, not communicating it even to his most
intimate Brother, because, should this person not have capability to discover it
of himself, he would likewise be wanting in the capability to use it, if he
received it verbally. For this reason it will forever remain a secret" (Oliver,
Hist. Landmarks, I, 11, 21; "Freemasons' Quarterly Rev.," I, 31; Casanova in
Ragon, "Rit. 3rd Degree," 35).
In view of the fact that the secrets of Masonry are unknown
to the bulk of Masons, the oaths of secrecy taken on the Bible are all the more
startling and unjustifiable. The oath, for instance, of the first degree is as
follows: "I, in the presence of the Great Architect of the Universe, . . . do
hereby and hereon solomnly and sincerely swear, that I will always hide, conceal
and never reveal any part or parts, any point or points of the secrets or
mysteries of or belonging to Free and Accepted Masons in Masonry which may
heretofore have been known by, shall now or may at any future time be
communicated to me," etc. "These several points I solemnly swear to observe
under no less penalty, than to have my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by
the root and my body buried in the sands of the sea," "or the more efficient
punishment of being branded as a wilfully perjured individual, void of all moral
worth." "So help me God," etc. Similar oaths, but with severer penalties
attached, are taken in the advanced degrees. The principal contents of the
promises are according to Pike: eighteenth degree: "I obligate and pledge myself
always to sustain, that it belongs to Masonry to teach the great unsectarian
truths, that do not exclusively belong to any religion and acknowledge that I
have no right whatever to exact from others the acceptation of any particular
interpretation of Masonic symbols, that I may attribute to them by the virtue of
my personal belief. I obligate and solemnly pledge myself to respect and sustain
by all means and under any circumstances Liberty of Speech, Liberty of Thought
and Liberty of Conscience in religious and political matters" (Pike [4], III,
68). Thirtieth Degree: A. "I solemnly and freely vow obedience to all my regular
superiors.... I pledge myself to be devoted, soul and body, to the protection of
innocence, the vindication of right, the crushing of oppression and the
punishment of every infraction against the law of Humanity and of Man's rights.
. . never, either by interest or by fear, or even to save my existence, to
submit to nor suffer any material despotism, that may enslave or oppress
humanity by the usurpation or abuse of power. I vow never to submit to or
tolerate any intellectual Despotism, that may pretend to chain or fetter free
thought, etc." B. "I solemnly vow to consecrate my life to the ends of the Order
of Knights of Kadosh, and to co-operate most efficaciously by all means
prescribed by the constituted authorities of the order to attain them. I
solemnly vow and consecrate, to these ends, my words, my power, my strength, my
influence, my intelligence and my life. I vow to consider myself henceforward
and forever as the Apostle of Truth and of the rights of man." C. "I vow myself
to the utmost to bring due punishment upon the oppressors, the usurpers and the
wicked; I pledge myself never to harm a Knight Kadosh, either by word or deed .
. .; I vow that if I find him as a foe in the battlefield, I will save his life,
when he makes me the Sign of Distress, and that I will free him from prison and
confinement upon land or water, even to the risk of my own life or my own
liberty. I pledge myself to vindicate right and truth even by might and
violence, if necessary and duly ordered by my regular superiors." D. "I pledge
myself to obey without hesitation any order whatever it may be of my regular
Superiors in the Order" (ibid., IV, 470, 488, 520).
OUTER WORK OF FREEMASONRY: ITS ACHIEVEMENTS PURPOSES AND
METHODS
The outer work of Freemasonry, though uniform in its
fundamental character and its general lines, varies considerably in different
countries and different Masonic symbols. "Charitable" or "philanthropic"
purposes are chiefly pursued by English, German, and American Masonry, while
practically at least, they are neglected by Masons in the Latin countries, who
are absorbed by political activity. But even in England, where relatively the
largest sums are spent for charitable purposes, Masonic philanthropy does not
seem to be inspired by very high ideals of generosity and disinterestedness, at
least with respect to the great mass of the brethren; the principal
contributions are made by a few very wealthy brethren and the rest by such as
are well-to-do. Moreover, in all countries it is almost exclusively Masons and
their families that profit by Masonic charity. Masonic beneficence towards the
"profane" world is little more than figurative, consisting in the propagation
and application of Masonic principles by which Masons pretend to promote the
welfare of mankind; and if Masons, particularly in Catholic countries,
occasionally devote themselves to charitable works as ordinarily understood,
their aim is to gain sympathy and thereby further their real purposes. In North
America, especially in the United States, a characteristic feature of the outer
work is the tendency toward display in the construction of sumptuous Masonic
"temples," in Masonic processions, at the laying of cornerstones and the
dedication of public buildings and even of Christian churches. This tendency has
frequently been rebuked by Masonic writers. "The Masonry of this continent has
gone mad after high degreeism and grand titleism. We tell the brethren, that if
they do not pay more attention to the pure, simple, beautiful symbolism of the
Lodge and less to the tinsel, furbelow, fuss and feathers of Scotch Ritism and
Templarism, the Craft will yet be shaken to its very foundations !" "Let the
tocsin be sounded" (Chr., 1880, II, 179). "Many Masons have passed through the
ceremony without any inspiration; but, in public parades of the Lodges (also in
England) they may generally be found in the front rank and at the Masonic
banquets they can neither be equalled nor excelled" (ibid., 1892, I, 246). For
similar criticism see Chr., 1880, II, 195; 1875, I, 394.
But the real object of both inner and outer work is the
propagation and application of the Masonic principles. The truly Masonic method
is, that the lodge is the common ground on which men of different religions and
political opinions, provided they accept the general Masonic principles, can
meet; hence, it does not directly and actively interfere with party politics,
but excludes political and religious discussions from the meetings, leaving each
Mason to apply the principles to problems of the day. But this method is openly
disowned by contemporaneous Masonry in the Latin countries and by many Supreme
Councils of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish system, by the Grand Lodge of
Hungary, the Grand Orient of Belgium, etc. It was and is practically rejected
also by German and even by American and English Masonry. Thus American Masonic
lodges, at least so leading Masonic authors openly claim, had a preponderant
part in the movement for independence, the lodges of the "Ancients" in general
promoting this movement and those of the "Moderns" siding with Great Britain
(Gould, "Concise History" 419). According to the "Masonic Review" Freemasonry
was instrumental in forming the American Union (1776), claiming fifty-two (Chr.,
1893, I, 147), or even fifty-five (Chr., 1906, I, 202), out of the fifty-six of
the "signers of the Declaration of Independence as members of the Order." Other
Masonic periodicals, however, claim that only six of the signers ("New Age,"
May, 1910, 464), and only nine of the presidents of the United States avere
Freemasons ("Acacia," II, 409). In the French Revolution (1789) and the later
revolutionary movements in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Central and South
America, Masonic bodies, it is claimed, took a more or less active part, as is
stated by prominent representatives of the Grand Lodges in the several countries
and in many cases by "profane" impartial historians (see Congres Intern. of
Paris, 1889, in "Compte rendu du Grand Orient de France," 1889; Browers, "L'action,
etc."; Bruck, "Geh. Gesellsch, in Spanien"; "Handbuch"; articles on the
different countries, etc.). In Russia also Freemasonry finally turned out to be
a "political conspiracy" of Masonically organized clubs that covered the land.
Even with regard to the most recent Turkish Revolution, it
seems certain, that the Young Turkish party, which made and directed the
Revolution, was guided by Masons, and that Masonry, especially the Grand Orients
of Italy and France, had a preponderant role in the Revolution (see "Rivista,"
1909, 76 sqq.; 1908, 394; "Acacia," 1908, II, 36; "Bauhutte," 1909, 143; "La
Franc-Maconnerie demasquee," 1909, 93-96; "Compte rendu du Convent. du Gr. Or.
de France," 21-26 Sept., 1908, 34-38). In conducting this work Freemasonry
propagates principles which, logically developed, as shown above, are
essentially revolutionary and serve as a basis for all kinds of revolutionary
movements. Directing Masons to find out for themselves practical reforms in
conformity with Masonic ideals and to work for their realization, it fosters in
its members and through them in society at large the spirit of innovation. As an
apparently harmless and even beneficent association, which in reality is,
through its secrecy and ambiguous symbolism, subject to the most different
influences, it furnishes in critical times a shelter for conspiracy, and even
when its lodges themselves are not transformed into conspiracy clubs, Masons are
trained and encouraged to found new associations for such purposes or to make
use of existing associations. Thus, Freemasonry in the eighteenth century, as a
powerful ally of infidelity, prepared the French Revolution. The alliance of
Freemasonry with philosophy was publicly sealed by the solemn initiation of
Voltaire, the chief of these philosophers, 7 February, 1778, and his reception
of the Masonic garb from the famous materialist Bro. Helvetius (Handbuch, 3rd
ed., II, 517). Prior to the Revolution various conspiratory societies arose in
connexion with Freemasonry from which they borrowed its forms and methods;
Illuminati, clubs of Jacobins, etc. A relatively large number of the leading
revolutionists were members of Masonic lodges, trained by lodge life for their
political career. Even the programme of the Revolution expressed in the "rights
of man" was, as shown above, drawn from Masonic principles, and its device:
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" is the very device of Freemasonry. Similarly,
Freemasonry, together with the Carbonari, co-operated in the Italian
revolutionary movement of the nineteenth century. Nearly all the prominent
leaders and among them Massini and Garibaldi, are extolled by Masonry as its
most distinguished members. In Germany and Austria, Freemasonry during the
eighteenth century was a powerful ally of the so-called party of "Enlightenment"
(Aufklaerung), and of Josephinism; in the nineteenth century of the
pseudo-Liberal and of the anti-clerical party.
In order to appreciate rightly the activity of Freemasonry
in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and England, and in France under the Napoleonic
regime, the special relations between Freemasonry and the reigning dynasties
must not be overlooked. In Germany two- thirds of the Masons are members of the
old Prussian Grand Lodges under the protectorship of a member of the Royal
Dynasty, which implies a severe control of all lodge act |
