THE BUILDER MAGAZINE
october 1919
volume 5 - number 10
THE PEACE CELEBRATION OF THE GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND
BY BRO. GEO L SCHOONOVER, P. G M, IOWA
Early last Spring, when the development of the armistice
proved that peace was shortly to be concluded between the Allied and the Central
Powers, and that the peace was to be a dictated peace, the Grand Lodge of
England invited the Grand Masters and Grand Secretaries of the Grand Lodges in
all English-speaking countries to participate in a celebration of the happy
event, during the week of June 23-29, 1919. It was not presumed at the time the
invitations were issued, that the final signing of the Peace Treaty would be
delayed as late as the above date. It was fortunate, and indeed striking, in a
way, that the signatures of the various plenepotentiaries were actually affixed
to the Treaty during the week selected.
Those brethren who represented our American Grand Lodges in
London in response to the invitation were as follows: Arizona, A. A. Johns,
P.G.M., Morris Goldwater, P.G.M.; California, William Rhodes Hervey, P.G.M.,
John Whicher G.S.; Colorado, C.M. Kellogg, G.M., Charles H. Jacobson, G.S.;
District of Columbia, Joseph H. Milans, G.M., A.W. Johnston, G.S.; Florida, T.
Picton Warlow, G.M.; Georgia, Robert G. Travis, G.M., Raymond Daniel, A.G.S.;
Iowa, George L. Schoonover, P.G.M.; Kentucky, John H. Cowles, P.G.M.; Louisiana
Rudolph Krause, G.M., John A. Davilla, G. S., Massachusetts, Frederick W.
Hamilton, P.G.M., G.S.; Michigan, Hugh A. McPherson, G.M., Lou B. Winsor, G. S.;
Montana Major Dr. R. E. Hathaway, S.G.W.; Nebraska, John Ehrhardt, P.G.M.,
Francis E. White, G. S.; New Jersey, Austin McGregor, G. M.; New York, W.S.
Farmer, G.M., Robert J. Kenworthy, G.S., Townsend Scudder, P.G.M.; West Virginia
George S. Laidley, G.M., John M. Collins, P.G.M., G.S.-a total of twenty seven.
There were also present representatives of the Grand Lodges
of Scotland and Ireland, British Guiana, Burma, Ceylon, Eastern Archipelago,
Gibraltar, Hong Kong and South China, Jamaica, Madras, Newfoundland, New
Zealand, Nigeria, Queensland, South America and Victoria (Australia), of
Britain's Overseas Dominions.
In the number present, and in representation from all parts
of the globe, it was undoubtedly the most representative and notable gathering
in the history of Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry, and as such deserves careful
consideration, because of its Significance for the future weal of Masonry, as
well as of all civilization.
SHALL FREEMASONRY, as represented in the English-speaking
Countries of the world, make a decided stand in the reconstruction period now
begun in behalf of those age-old principles which are its heritage, and endeavor
to convince the world of the necessity for their recognition as a method of
saving the future? Is the kind of Democracy in which Masonry believes and of
which it is in truth a pattern, to be preserved to coming generations, to the
end that the prophecies of the brotherhood of man shall not continue to be a
mirage ?
These are, in effect, the questions which it was intended
that the Peace Jubilee of the Grand Lodge of England should answer. No agenda of
the meeting was published, and no one ever spoke these questions publicly. But
it was taken for granted that Anglo-Saxons, representing all the
English-speaking countries of the earth, and closely in touch with the
world-problems pushed to the front as a result of the war, could by no chance
gather together in a joint conference, without answering them. Nor was it
intended that what visiting delegations should utter would be direct answers to
any such question. Yet it was as certain as anything human is certain, that once
this group of brethren assembled, loyalty to the mother- tongue and veneration
of a joint heritage of principles would compel that unity of spirit which alone
can settle these questions, and bring true brotherhood to a world thrown out of
joint.
It must have been something like this which inspired the
call for this meeting. It must have been a comprehension, perhaps more or less
dim, that some such significance would attach to the proposed meeting, which
caused representatives twenty-seven in number, hailing from sixteen States of
the American Union to leave their homes and their business to attend, at a time
when every American feels that his personal problems demand his individual
attention. Some good omen must have appeared in the sky. The attendance from the
States was much larger than those of us in touch with the probabilities of
things expected, only a few weeks previously. To those who attended, and to
those others who will hear from their lips the story of Masonic reconstruction
already begun, the prophecies will seem well fulfilled.
A glance at the program of the week will reveal little of
the significance which has been thus expressed. A reception dinner by Grand
Lodge, luncheons and dinners with nine or ten other London lodges, visits to The
Royal Masonic Institution for Boys and another to that conducted for Girls,
visits to various places of interest in and near the city of London, a dinner
with the Lord Mayor, at the Mansion House, a three hour session of the Grand
Lodge itself, (this being the formal Peace Celebration proper,) and various
other courtesies these, with no mention whatever of any conference, do not
convey a real conception of what this week of Jubilee meant, or was intended to
mean.
For be it known that when your Englishman wants to talk
seriously with you, and has a real desire to get acquainted with you and measure
you, he does not tell you that this is his purpose. Instead, he invites you to
dinner. After dinner, you talk, briefly and to the point. If he gives you his
confidence, you are ready to deny all the stories you ever heard about him being
an "imperturbable person," for you find him, at least in Masonic circles, with
his guards down, and a real, living heart palpitating underneath. This, at
least, was the experience of the delegations from the United States. They met
the heads of English Masonry at these luncheons, under conditions most ideal,
not wishing to understand one whit more than the English Masons wanted to be
understood, and to understand us.
The discussions, if such may be called the exchanges of
opinion and of good will which characterized all these festivities, took the
form of after-dinner toasts. An English brother, after the formal toasts had
been responded to, would propose the health of "Our Visitors," and couple with
it the names of those American brethren who were designated to make the
responses. In every case the proposal of this particular toast was accompanied
by expressions of esteem, friendliness and a wish to understand us which must
needs be accepted at par. There could be no thought but that the proposer voiced
the genuine desire of the English brethren, or that the motive underlying his
remarks was a good motive. Frankly and openly were we greeted, not as "cousins,"
but as brothers enlisted in the cause of humanity. The hand of fellowship was
extended, palm opened upwards. The English Masonic leaders, understanding the
needs of the world as they saw them, wanted us to know and appreciate the spirit
in which they faced those problems, and did not hesitate to hope for an equally
frank expression of American opinion upon the same subjects.
Received in such a spirit, the American representative
could do no less than grasp the hand of fellowship so graciously tendered,
particularly when what had been said of welcome and of hopefulness for the
future was so exactly in accord with the things which we, too, have come to see
are the great needs of our Craft. And as the week wore on, friendships ripened
in a never to be forgotten manner. We began to understand and appreciate both
the men who preside over the destiny of England's Masonry, and their opinions.
Everything which a host could do to insure the happiness and tranquility of his
guest was done. Every word which would tend toward the elimination of reserve
was spoken. Consciously was this done at first the passage of the days caused
it to become unconscious. The Anglo-Saxon was coming into his own. He was
understanding himself, and his brethren.
No summary of the meetings held with the various London
lodges would be complete which did not take account of the admirable personality
of H. R. H. Lord Ampthill, Pro Grand Master, who performed the function of
Worshipful Master in one lodge and Installing Officer of another with no less of
grace and dignity than characterized his presiding over Grand Lodge itself.
Withal he was so human that for most of us at least, he ceased to be a part of
Royalty to us, we forgot all else save his breadth of understanding and his
gracious fellowship. We had no opportunity, unhappily, to meet the Grand Master,
the Duke of Connaught, for the reason that he was so indisposed physically as to
be unable to be present at any of the functions. A message from his own pen
expressed his regret for his illness, which was a source of great disappointment
to us all. His warm fraternal greeting to us was deeply appreciated, none the
less, and one of the prized souvenirs presented to us was a beautiful
colorgravure of the Duke himself.
Of the reception accorded us in the various London lodges,
one could not speak in appreciation without distinctions between them, and there
were none such. Warm and sympathetic and fraternal they all were, memorable to
all. If the joint meeting with "Antiquity No. 2" and "Royal Somerset House and
Inverness No. 4" had any characteristic more notable than the others, it was
only in the fact that neither is chartered by the Grand Lodge of England, nor
has a Warrant, because each is older than the Grand Lodge itself ! To sit in
these lodges is to realize something of what "time immemorial" means.
We had opportunity to Witness the installation of a
Worshipful Master, and took an extra breath when he calmly announced his
appointees, beginning with the Wardens and running through a list longer than
most of ours. The Master is the only elective officer in the English lodge, all
the others being appointive. We saw all of the three degrees conferred in full,
and were struck with the simplicity and brevity of the work. The approximate
time of conferring each of the degrees was, E. A., twenty minutes, F. C. about
the same, and the Raising occupied about thirty-five minutes. Let it be set down
that there was no emasculation of a single vital point or part. Nor was there a
mere rush of lip service. The work was done with dignity and solemnity, without
verbiage or redundance, or slurring of syllables. Leisurely and understandingly
it was done, and, while probably less than one-third as many words were used,
the essentials were in no wise neglected. Where as a rule our American rituals
are extended, theirs were condensed; where we dramatize, they explained. They
can teach us much in the matter of ritual.
It is not, however, the purpose of this article to argue
from the impressions gained. A chronicle of the events is asked, and a chronicle
it shall be, reserving perhaps for a further discussion, the tremendous themes
which were suggested by attendance upon these various functions.
If there is to an American visitor an apparent lack in the
intercommunication between the lodges of the various classes, a loss of
something which we in America dearly prize, it cannot be said that within the
lodges themselves there is anything but the closest, most intimate brotherhood.
Their numbers are few, but their tastes are similar, their understanding is
complete, and their meetings, formal though they may be, are satisfying in the
extreme. Again there is the temptation to speak in more detail, for it is in
matters of ritual and internal efficiency and fellowship that, with one
exception, we can learn most from our English brethren.
That one exception, however, overtops all the others. It is
in the matter of their charities. Whatever of social unity may be lacking
between the lodges which compose the Grand Lodge of England, certainly they are
one in their humanitarian instincts. Their financial support of their Boys' and
Girls' Schools makes our American efforts in this direction, even the most
pretentious, loom small in comparison. Consider their annual expenditures mount
to something like five dollars per capita on their entire membership - this sum
taking no account whatever of endowments - and you begin to realize what the
joint efforts of the lodges of England are accomplishing. These sums too, come
from individual pocketbooks, not from lodge treasuries.
We visited these Schools. They are not carried on in a way
to "institutionalize" the children. They are educated in civic duty, and account
is taken of the part which they are hereafter to play as men and women of the
Empire. The Arts and Sciences receive attention, along with practical
tradesmanship. Their teachers are as a rule products of the schools themselves,
this being particularly true of the Girls' School. The result is a family
relationship, and a family tradition, too, which makes for a splendid morale.
The climax of the entire week was the three hour session of
the Grand Lodge at Royal Albert Hall. The introduction of the twenty- five
visiting deputations, each under escort of two Grand Stewards, was itself
productive of a deep impression upon the visitors, and no doubt also upon the
nine thousand members of the Grand Lodge of England there assembled. As one of
the visitors, I confess my inability to describe the emotions which surged
through me when, after being for many presented to the Pro Grand Master, I was
directed to the seat assigned to me and faced the throng. The appeal to the eye
was in itself inspiring. Nine thousand brethren, dressed in the light blue
regalia designating the officers of the lodges represented, gathered together in
that enormous oval building, filling its main floor and the six surrounding
galleries; the Grand Stewards with their red collars, seated in two rows on the
main floor and forming a cross against the back ground in light blue symbolized
in a very real sense the Masonry of England. The knowledge that thousands could
not be assigned to seats bespoke the intense interest felt in the event. The
deep blue of the officials banked in rows upon the rostrum formed a harmonious
contrast indeed.
There was an appeal to ear. The voluminous melody from the
enormous organ had no sooner filled the great audience chamber than one realized
the awesome import of the world-derived gathering. Then those English brethren
sang. Their National Anthem our own in everything but the words employed "Now
thank we all our God" and "O God, our help in ages past." It was a unique
commentary upon the universal belief in the righteousness of the Allied Cause
that this latter song, long suppressed as unfraternal and unchristian, was
revived, and sung with the fervor of crusaders returned from the overthrow of
the antichrist. The business of the occasion was the Peace Jubilee, expressed in
the formalism of moving an address of loyalty to the King, unanimously carried,
of course, the unanimous passage of a resolution expressing the sentiments of
the Craft toward His Majesty's Forces, and a motion tendering the floor to M.W.
Bro. W. S. Farmer, Grand Master of New York, M. W. Frederick W. Hamilton, P. G.
M. of Massachusetts, and M. W. Bro. W. H. Wardrope, Grand Master of the Grand
Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario. The addresses of the Pro Grand
Master, Lord Ampthill, and Brother Right Hon. T. F. Halsey, P. C., the Deputy
Grand Master, were upon a high plane, scholarly, refined and warmly fraternal in
their tone, and were ably responded to by the American and Overseas Dominions
representatives. Brief, one and all, modest, Anglo-Saxon to the core.
It is a peculiarity of the English that the one way in
which they give free expression to their emotions is through some formal,
prescribed method a ritual, or a song. The pleading or exaltation of the orator
they seem to disdain. But given a ritual, or a song, they will render or sing
it, as the case may be, with a dignity, expressiveness and whole-heartedness
which puts to shame the studied oration so common to our Western system. It
carries conviction to man; one must needs believe that the Most High is attuned
to such expression as well, for reverence colored the tone of the voices of the
throng, in a definite though indescribable manner.
Schooled as we had become in the methods of expression of
these people we could not misunderstand the music of English Masonry thus
presented to us. If it was awe-inspiring, it was heartrending, too, for the
hozannas were tinged with a great sorrow, though no suggestion of loved one
lying in Flanders fields was worn. The commemorative jewel of the occasion was
at one with the spirit of the day, and we who had come thousands of miles to
join in that day left the stupendous Albert Hall hushed and reverent and
chastened we had truly seen the great soul of English Masonry, and were to
carry its remembrance to the end of time.
----o----
THE PLAN OF FREEMASONRY
BY BRO. EDWARD B. PAUL. P.G.M. BRITISH COLUMBIA
The following article, written by the author of "The Column
of Beauty" published heretofore, takes a broad and philosophical view of
Freemasonry as a whole. One may study Masonry from the circumference to the
center, from the details to the general, and such is always worth while; he may
also study it from the center to the circumference, from the whole to the parts,
and this also is richly worth while, as the following essay will show.
TO MOST, if not all, of us, the recollection of our
Initiation, Passing, and Raising is fresh and vivid, and stands out from among
our subsequent Masonic experiences with a clearness to be explained by the
novelty of the situations in which we found ourselves, and by the solemnity of
the ceremonies in which we took part for the first time. We perceived, then,
that Freemasonry had a message for us, if we could only comprehend it, and we
relied on the knowledge of our more experienced brethren to explain to us the
many mysteries hidden beneath the ceremonies and symbols of the lodge. As we
continued carefully to imbibe the lessons emanating from the East, much that to
us had seemed dark became brighter; but we felt there was still much to learn.
It is true that each symbol and symbolic act in the lodge was separately
explained, and its moral and Masonic uses elucidated; but the detached parts of
Freemasonry were never, in our opinion, satisfactorily united into one
comprehensive whole, a knowledge of which is necessary in order that the "Noble
Science" may have the influence on our lives and conduct, which is its chief
end. My purpose, therefore, is to endeavour to demonstrate that the allegories
and symbols of the lodge have a correspondence with each other, and are in the
nature of hieroglyphics which can be pieced together and made to reveal, when
deciphered, the lessons they were intended to convey. But as symbols are, from
their nature, susceptible of various meanings, and as all investigators, no
matter how honest their intensions may be, are liable to assign forced
interpretations to some of them, in order that they may fit into a pre-conceived
plan, it is necessary that their pronouncements be submitted to the most
rigorous tests, lest Error and not Truth be the result.
The magnitude of my theme and the necessarily limited space
allotted to me for this lecture, have caused me to make condensations which
detract from the leanness of my arguments, which would require treatment beyond
the scope of a short address. However, I lay the results of my investigations
before you, begging your indulgence for presenting, in mere outline, a subject
of such immense importance.
With this explanatory foreword, I shall now proceed to the
subject matter of my lecture.
There are three aspects of Freemasonry to which I invite
your attention:
1. Freemasonry as Philosophy.
2. Freemasonry as Education.
3. Freemasonry as the Handmaid of Religion.
These three aspects are sufficiently wide in their scope to
deserve much more time for their individual development than is at present at my
disposal. A word or two, however, may help to explain my reason for placing them
Philosophy, Education, Religion in the order here presented.
Philosophy may be conceived as the science which lays down
the principles governing conduct that which states the Moral Ideal; Education,
as the means by which that ideal is attained, or, at least, approached; and
Religion as the outcome of the two the experience of the individual while
realizing, or partially realizing, the Ideal. While these conceptions, no doubt,
suggest my divisions of the subject of my lecture, and the order in which they
are placed, I fear that, in my treatment of them, I may frequently lose sight of
any method which is intended in my design. Indeed, I cannot pretend that this
lecture is worthy of being regarded otherwise than as the expression of random
thoughts arising out of the careful contemplation of our ceremonies and symbols,
and serious speculation as to their meanings.
FREEMASONRY AS PHILOSOPHY
To the philosophical student it will be obvious, in the
course of my remarks, that I use the word "Philosophy" in a very loose way. In
the first division of my subject I shall touch upon the ideal of life, the
nature of the self and the nature of knowledge. In the third the nature of God
and the Immortality of the Soul will be among the problems considered problems
which lie as much in the province of Philosophy as the three treated under the
first head. Perhaps it would have been better to have made a sharper distinction
and substituted "Ethics" or "Moral Philosophy" for the word "Philosophy"
employed here; but, if you will bear in mind this explanation, it seems to me
convenient to allow the term to stand.
"Philosophy is the pursuit of Truth." This is the first and
simplest conception and definition of Philosophy we can form. Can we, with
truth, substitute the word Freemasonry for Philosophy in that definition? Such a
question propounded in a Freemason's lodge can be answered only in the
affirmative. The pursuit of Truth, called by us the search for the Lost Word, is
indeed the sole aim and the chief end of all the teachings of Freemasonry.
But I do not forget that we are distinctly informed that
the "Chief Point of Freemasonry" is the promotion of the happiness of the
individual, and, consequently, of society. That is insisted on in the Charge to
the Brethren in the Installation Ceremony. The ancient Greek moralists also
considered that happiness is "the great end of man, that this is the highest
good, the end for which all beings live, the object which they all pursue." In
this respect, also, Freemasonry agrees with other philosophies in its definition
of the chief end of man.
It may be asked, then, What is the aim of Freemasonry? Is
it Truth or Happiness ? There seems to be no doubt that Happiness is the natural
concomitant of Truth, and that that is the explanation of the apparent
contradiction in the statement of the aims of Freemasonry. Truth and Happiness
would thus have the same relationship which Tennyson points out as existing
between duty and glory:
"He that walks the path of duty only thirsting
For the right, and learns to deaden
Love of self, before his journey closes
He shall find the stubborn thistle bursting
Into glossy purples, which outredden
All voluptuous garden roses."
Thus, the aim of Philosophy and of Freemasonry being the
same, you will see my justification in dealing with Freemasonry as a philosophy.
The nature of that philosophy cannot be clearly explained
without a short allusion to the Allegory of Freemasonry. In that allegory the
candidate is made to represent a human being in his progress from birth to
death, or, as the mental and moral development of a man from childhood to old
age closely corresponds to the mental and moral advancement of the race, he may
be said to represent human knowledge as it ascends from darkness to light.
This ascent is made by three steps. And may I be permitted
to digress a moment to point out that in nature many physical entities or
qualities occur in threes or triads. Thus we have Space and its three
dimensions, Length, Breadth, Thickness; Matter and its three states, Solid,
Liquid, Gaseous. Physical Magnitudes, Length, Mass, Time. Color, Red, Green,
Blue or Violet. Sound, Loudness, Pitch, Quality. Electric Current, Circuit,
Electro-motive Force, Resistance, etc., etc.
A three-fold division is also manifested in man's nature,
which is generally recognized as being made up of three distinct parts, namely,
Body, Mind, Spirit. Browning puts into the mouth of one of the patrons of
Freemasonry, St. John, the Divine, the following words, which beautifully set
forth this distinction:
This is the doctrine he was wont to teach,
How divers persons witness in each man,
Three souls which make up one soul; first, to wit,
A soul of each and all the bodily parts,
Seated therein, which works, and is what Does,
And has the use of earth, and ends the man
Downward: but, tending upward for advice,
Grows into, and again is grown into
By the next soul, which, seated in the brain,
Useth the first with its collected use,
And feeleth, thinketh, willeth-is what Knows:
Which, duly tending upward in its turn,
Grows into, and again is grown into
By the last soul, that uses both the first,
Subsisting whether they assist or no,
And, constituting man's self, is what Is-
And leans upon the former, makes it play,
As that played off the first; and, tending up,
Holds, is upheld by, God, and ends the man
Upward in that dread point of intercourse,
Nor needs a place, for it returns to Him.
What Does, what Knows, what Is; three souls, one man.
As may be expected, therefore, these three parts of man's
nature are fully recognized in Freemasonry, each of the three degrees
representing one the First degree, the Body (the material world or world of
sense); the Second, the Mind; and the Third, the Spirit, the Ego, of which the
other two are ministers. Abundant proof of this is to be found in the symbolism
of Freemasonry, and it is supported by the opinion of the ablest Masonic
writers. This distinction may be alluded to in each of the three divisions of my
lecture.
As has been mentioned above, the Pursuit of Happiness is
the "chief point" of Freemasonry as well as the aim of life as presented by
Philosophy, according to the ancient Greek moralists. All mankind, in every age,
from the darkest period of barbarism to the most civilized epoch the world has
ever seen, have been striving after happiness. They may differ in their
definition of the term, as well as the means by which they can attain their
object; but we may take it for granted that ultimately they have happiness in
view in all their schemes for the conduct of their lives.
Among savages, the gratification of their passions and
desires, without regard to future consequences, seems to them the "highest
good." This is also true, to a certain extent, in the case of children.
Philosophy, generally, and Freemasonry have nothing to do with that stage of
human existence, except in so far as it might be called a preparation period;
for the whole life of man may be said to be preparation for something higher the
period of darkness for the E. A., the E. A. for the F. C. and so on. It is,
therefore, necessary that, before proceeding further and higher, the human being
should be "duly and truly prepared."
It is not to be expected that a child or a savage can be
prepared at once to receive all the instruction necessary to the complete
development of his three-fold nature. He must advance by steps, from the
simplest to the most complex, from the concrete to the abstract. There is no
doubt that the idea of Mind, still more of Spirit, comes later than the
knowledge of the Body and other objects that can be perceived by the Senses.
Preparation, therefore, for education along the lines of such knowledge as can
be derived only from natural objects must be incomplete. Hence our candidate's
preparation is in the First degree confined to the left side. The symbolism of
the left side is well known. That side has always been regarded as the side of
less honour that the right, and, consequently, is appropriately used to
represent the Sensational part of man's nature, while the right side connotes
the Rational side.
Hence it is not difficult to conceive that Freemasonry, if
it is concerned at all with Philosophy, should make the First degree to
exemplify the Sensational, and the Second, the Rational School of Philosophy-the
two great schools of thought which have split thinkers into two opposing camps,
from the earliest times to the present day. Both systems agree that happiness,
in one form or another, is the great aim of man, and that the life according to
nature is virtue, because it leads us right to the end for which we were
destined by nature, viz., happiness. But they differ in their doctrines
respecting happiness and nature and virtue. Both agree that within certain
limits the appetites, passions and desires may be gratified, but the Sensational
school maintained that the limit was necessary for prudential reasons only, the
Rational that happiness springs from the limitation and subjugation of the
passions.
The connection between the First degree and the Sensational
School will be apparent if we recollect that "refreshment" in the old days was
not a mere banquet to be held or not held, after the ceremonies of the evening
were over, in a different room, but that it was an integral part of those
ceremonies, solemnized by the placing on the refreshment table of the Lights of
Masonry, by the prayers of the Master and the other ceremonies of "opening," but
"mingled with social mirth, and the mutual interchange of fraternal feeling." It
may be regarded, therefore, as a rite emblematical of the liberty of man to
gratify his appetites, desires and passions subject to the check of Temperance
and Prudence, the two Cardinal Virtues of the South and North, which we may
personify as standing unseen and silent on each side of the table, one behind
and one facing the Junior Warden. That check is represented also by the Common
Gavel, the symbol of Temperance, which must be used on the rough ashlar before
the Square of Morality can be made to fit its angles and faces.
I will not tax your patience by dwelling on the similarity
between the Second degree and the Rational School of Philosophy. But I may
remind you that happiness according to the latter consists in the limitation and
subjugation of the passions, while the emphasis laid by the former on Morality
and Virtue and the subjugation of the Passions seems to establish the parallel.
The Second degree also lays special stress on the study of Geometry representing
Mathematics which subject was regarded by the old Greek philosophers
particularly Pythagoras as the symbol of Pure Reason. In Architecture Geometry
is the science which determines the form of a structure, and which is more
concerned about that than about the substance or matter of which it is composed.
The form symbolizes the limit, and the materials, the appetites and passions,
the matter, in the Second degree, being completely subordinated to the former,
as has been shown to be the case in the tenets of the Rational School.
But Masonry does not, like some of the old Philosophies,
maintain the irreconcilable opposition of mind or soul and matter. The oblong
squares of the Entered Apprentice and the Fellow Craft show that each degree
taken by itself is incomplete. It is only when each is blended with the other
that perfection is reached, as is shown in the "perfect square" of a Master
Mason, which is formed by the union of the other two squares. This is one of
many proofs in our symbolism that the Third degree is the summation of the other
two with the addition of further lessons on the Nature of God and Immortality.
The refreshment table of Freemasonry is symbolical not only
of our liberty, within the bounds of Temperance and Prudences to partake of the
material blessings lavished on us by God, but it is also an emblem of a
figurative table provided with materials for the satisfaction of our mental and
moral appetites. The viands are the thoughts of great and good men either
presented to us in books or by word of mouth, and the satisfaction we derive
from moral and virtuous actions.
Freemasonry has set limits to prevent our abuse of these
blessings; but in placing before us material as well as mental and spiritual
food, it effectually rebukes those who look on physical gratification, even
within lawful limits, as sinful, and who seek to obtain God's favour by neglect
and contempt of His temple, the human body.
"Let us not always say,
'Spite of this flesh today
I strove, made head, gained ground upon the whole!'
As the bird wings and sings,
Let us cry, 'All good things
Are ours, nor soul helps flesh more, now, than flesh helps
soul!'"
FREEMASONRY AS EDUCATION
Plato states that "the aim of Education is to develop in
the body and in the soul all the beauty and all the perfection of which they are
capable."
The question before us now is, Does Freemasonry interest
itself in the subject of Education, and, if so, does the aim of the Education
suggested by Freemasonry resemble the aim of Education as defined by Plato? I
think there can be no doubt that the question must be answered in the
affirmative. Freemasonry expressly deals with the development of Body and Soul
and leaves nothing in the matter of the education of its votaries that can be
improved upon; for it works in conformity to Nature, and in the order of Nature
in the matter of Education as in all other things in which it concerns itself.
In order to comprehend, then, its system, let me remind you
that the First degree is the degree of the material universe. The first step,
therefore, in Masonic Education is education through the senses. In the earlier
stages of a man's life, he takes cognizance only of such knowledge as can be
acquired through the senses. Nothing is real to him unless he can touch, taste,
smell, hear or see it. The most natural and, therefore, the most scientific
method of teaching the young is through the senses. The concrete must precede
the abstract. Such an education would be directed especially to the enlargement
and refinement of the receptive powers; of those powers, above all which are
directly relative to fleeting phenomena the powers of sensation and emotion.
What is called "practical education" the training of the
hand and eye to obey the directions of the mind; aesthetic education occupied
very largely with those aspects of things which affect us pleasurably through
the senses, including art and the finer sorts of literature; education of the
heart dealing with the love of Nature, animate and inanimate, above all, love
and charity towards our fellow men, which latter is the special lesson of an E.
A., and love to God, from Whom flows every good and perfect gift: all these,
without stretching the meanings of the symbolism, are inculcated in the first
degree of Freemasonry.
The candidate in the Second degree has made a further
advance. Abstract studies are set before him, having for their object the
development of all his intellectual faculties, the moral and spiritual elevation
of his character, and the further acquisition of truth and knowledge. Cut I must
remind you, here, that no degree stands by itself. Each "grows into and is again
grown into" by the other two. you must not understand, therefore, that mind and
intellect are not trained in the First degree, but that they are further greatly
developed in the Second.
The beautiful symbolism of the Winding Stairs represents a
synopsis of the Masonic system of education.
The first three steps I take to mean a mere reminder, such
as occurs, again and again, throughout all the ceremonies of the lodge, that
three parts, Body, Soul and Spirit, constitute the nature of Man; and they are
intended simply as an introduction or key to the Educational scale which
commences with the flight of five steps.
The first flight, then, refers to the five senses, and
alludes to the Education through the Senses, suggested in a former part of this
discussion.
The second flight of seven steps, referring to seven purely
abstract studies, is symbolical of Pure Reason, and shows an upward advance in
the candidate's intellectual progress.
But where is the third member of the triad in this ascent,
which the first three steps, according to the interpretation given above, has
led us to look for? To answer this we must ask another question, "What has been
the goal or aim of the candidate during his long and arduous pilgrimage?" To
which question there is only one answer, "The Truth." He does not yet find it;
but high up and suspended in the distance he descries the letter "G." a mere
initial, a glimmering hope that his labour has not been in vain, and that he has
at last seen, faintly indeed and indistinctly, an indication of the object of
his search. He has still far to go, he still has a rough and rugged road to
travel; but his Faith is now buoyed up by Hope, and he knows that he will reach
the goal if he continues true to his purpose.
There is another aspect of the Winding Stairs which has
struck me as beautiful and worthy of your consideration. If we imagine a spiral
line drawn round a conical hill, it will appear to be like a number of circles
narrowing in diameter, or growing closer to the centre the higher they rise,
till, at the top, the circumference disappears in the centre. So man, by labour,
virtue, and faith in God, may ascend, step by step, in his progress through
life, drawing nearer and ever nearer to Him, till finally, his earthly
pilgrimage over, his liberated spirit comes before His Holy Presence, and is
lost in the Light and Warmth of His infinite Intelligence and His inexhaustible
Love.
FREEMASONRY THE "HANDMAID OF RELIGION"
There is probably no society in this world more imbued with
the religious sense than the Fraternity of Freemasons. Questions of Morality and
Religion are freely and reverently discussed by them in their lodges, and
lectures on subjects bearing on the conduct of human life are listened to by
them with an interest and patience which shows that they are animated not so
much by fraternal courtesy as by sincere desire for self-improvement. Nor is
that to be wondered at when one considers the reverence which every member of
the Craft pays to the ceremonies of the lodge and to the excellent principles
which are always inculcated therein. An examination, therefore, into the
principles of Freemasonry which bring about this religious inclination among
Masons, which my experience assures me exists, is my purpose at this stage of my
lecture.
In the first place, a belief in God and Immortality is
required of every applicant for admission into a lodge. That is necessary for-
two reasons. First, as the name of God is so frequently invoked in our
assemblies, and as all our ceremonies and lectures tend to impress on our mind
His wonderful government of the world and our dependence on Him, the presence in
our midst of an atheist who would certainly not sympathize with, if he did not
actually scoff at our proceedings, would prove a source of discord in a society
so dependent on harmony as its "strength and support."
Another reason for requiring of an applicant a belief in
God, is that without such belief he would lack the very foundation on which the
lessons of Freemasonry are based, and would, consequently, finding himself out
of sympathy with our beliefs, either cease to associate himself with the
Fraternity, or, keeping up a nominal connection with it, lose no opportunity of
belittling the importance of our work, and of designating our symbolical
teaching as puerile and unworthy of the serious attention of any thoughtful man.
Thus he would not only derive no benefit himself, but would be likely to create
prejudice against us in the eyes of the profane. This he might be able to do
without violating the letter of his obligation.
The preparation for and symbolism of each of the three
degrees has, of course, the same significance when Freemasonry is discussed from
the point of view of its being ancillary to Religion, as it had when we were
dealing with its Philosophical and Educational sides. You will, therefore, not
require further explanation if, as I proceed, I refer to the Degree of Nature,
the Degree of Mind and the degree in which both the former are united into one
Degree of Perfection.
But, before proceeding to discuss this part of my subject I
propose to deal briefly with symbolisms which might be classified under each of
those three heads, but which it is more convenient to take by themselves, as
they throw light on what is to follow. And the first of these that I shall speak
about is the three knocks of the candidate seeking admission to a lodge open on
any degree. The first knock refers to the fundamental necessity of prayer. The
subject of prayer is the first lesson given the E. A. on his entrance into the
lodge; prayer is taught by example, in each of the Degrees; and prayer was the
last act of H. A. B. before his tragic death. "Ask and ye shall receive" is the
interpretation of the first knock, and that command, with its gracious promise,
is, further, beautifully symbolized on the Tracing Board of the E. A. The story
of Jacob's dream is familiar to you all and need not be told here. But I shall
give you what seems to be the Masonic significance of it. The ascending angels
bear to heaven the prayers and petitions of men, and the descending angels bring
back the answers from God in the form of bounties and blessings.
The second knock, we are told, means "Seek, and ye shall
find." Here is a direct injunction to search for Truth. That search is the
paramount duty of every Freemason; in fact it is the sole object of all the
teachings of Freemasonry.
"Knock and it shall be opened to you."
If with all your hearts you prayerfully and truly seek Him,
your admittance into the Grand Lodge Above will not be denied. Your search will
then be rewarded; you will find the Lost Word; in God's holy presence you will
discover the Truth.
Sacrifice, of which the altar is a symbol, is also one of
the requisites of Freemasonry. All that a Mason has property, even life--must be
given up for the "protection of innocence and virtue, and for the defense of
Truth."
The symbolism of the Sun is perhaps the most important
vehicle for the conveyance to our minds of Divine Truth. The Sun is the pattern
for the imitation of the Worshipful Master, because it is symbolical of certain
attributes of the Deity Love and Intelligence, Order and Harmony. The warmth of
the Sun is emblematical of Love, and his light of Intelligence or Mind. The
three Lesser Lights are said to represent the Sun, Moon and Worshipful Master.
The Sun symbolizes the attributes of God, Love and Intelligence. The Moon, which
reflects the light, but not the warmth, of the Sun Intelligence. The Worshipful
Master, Man, the most perfect of His works.
The Sun also represents the Immanence of God. Its warmth
pervades the Earth and is necessary not only for the comfort, but also for the
life, of all organic creatures. In like manner God is everywhere. In the
beautiful words of Mrs. Browning:
"Earth is crammed with Heaven
And every bush and tree
Afire with God. But only he
Who sees takes off his shoes."
His love is unfailing even to the lowest organism He has
made; and His intelligence is manifested in all the works of His hands, and acts
in the formation of a frost crystal as certainly and as beautifully as in the
growth of a blade of grass. "This deity," quotes Tagore from the Upanishad, "who
is manifesting himself in the activities of the universe, always dwells in the
heart of man as the supreme soul. Those who realize Him through the immediate
perception of the heart attain immortality."
One word more about Sun symbolism. The point within the
circle is the astronomical symbol of the Sun. The Sun is represented by the
central point, the circumference represents his rays. The compasses is the
instrument used for describing circles, the pivotal point representing the
central Sun, and the other point Light. Thus, in the Fellow Craft degree, when
one point has been elevated above the square, the meaning seems to be that a
certain measure of intellectual and moral light has been vouchsafed to the
candidate. But when the pivotal point is also placed above the square, he has
received the pure light and warmth of Masonry all the knowledge of the Truth
that "it is possible for him to obtain in a lodge of Master Masons."
But the most important assistance which Freemasonry lends
to Religion is when it teaches the Craftsman that the existence of God can be
deduced from His works.
And, first, Freemasonry shows that God is manifested in
Nature, which is His creation. "The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the
Earth showeth forth His handiwork." The works of our greatest poets are full of
this theme. Nay, even savages, in their own rude way, see a god in every
manifestation of nature. It is not wonderful, therefore, that Freemasonry should
say that "contemplating these objects" (of nature) "we are led to view with
reverence and admiration the wonderful works of Creation, and adore their Divine
Creator." All religions and most philosophies agree in the necessity of a First
Cause, or God. Freemasonry teaches us to study Nature, to admire its beauties,
to comprehend its wonderful harmony, to appreciate the marvellous adaptation of
every created thing to its environment and the purpose for which it was created,
and reverently to worship the Maker and Creator of all things.
Thus, and far too briefly, I have laid before you the
argument which deduces the Cause from the Effect in the material world. By our
objective consciousness we try to trace the Divine in Nature. But there is a
higher consciousness-the subjective-which deals with the Mind, and which traces
the Divine in Man. This part of my subject might also be presented to you under
the heading: "God as comprehended by the individual mind."
"Are the intelligence of God and the intelligence of man of
the same character ? Intelligence itself seems to constrain us to answer this
question in the affirmative. To suppose that the supreme intelligence has
nothing whatever in common with the human intelligence, is to suppose that one
of them is an intelligence, and that the other is no intelligence at all. It is
to dissolve the very ground on which we conceive both of them as intelligences.
This truth, then, in regard to the constitution of the human mind, and of all
minds, seems to be a necessary axiom of reason. In all intelligence there is an
essential unity of kind, however small the point of unity may be. . . . This
unity constitutes the very bond, and the only bond, between the Creator and the
creature. Deny this connection between the divine and human reason, and you
destroy the very possibility of religion." The preceding sentences, taken from
the philosophical works of Professor Ferrier, are, in short, the summary of his
argument for the connection between all finite minds and the infinite mind of
the Creator. The mind of Man, who, compared with the rest of Creation, is
physically insignificant, is the most wonderful phenomenon that exists in the
Universe. It traces the paths of comets and planets, and predicts their
appearance at any position in the sky to a fraction of a second; it calculates
the distances from the Earth and from each other of the most remote fixed stars;
it even can tell their weights, specific gravity, and the constitution of the
solid and gaseous matters of which they are composed. It harnesses the lightning
and the cataract and forces them into the peaceful service of humanity. No
object is too minute or too immense for its comprehension. And its steady and
daring progress in the past from one pinnacle of knowledge to another makes the
forecast of its further and greater triumphs logical and certain.
The achievements of the human mind are not confined,
however, to the discoveries of scientific truth. Too great homage cannot be paid
to the mighty minds of the men to whom such triumphs are due. But the unveiling
of the workings of the soul by poets, philosophers and other men of letters is
further and even greater testimony to the majesty of the human intellect. Well
might the great world-poet exclaim:
"What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how
infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how
like an angel! in apprehension how like a god!"
Man, endowed with mental faculties which enable him to
comprehend the laws by which the Universe is governed and the harmony of
Creation, cannot fail, by comparison with the processes of his mind, to believe
that the natural objects whose secrets it has been able to discover, are
governed and regulated by a mind similar in nature to his own, and only
differing in degree. He perceives that other human minds are like his own, and
that mind is an indissoluble bond of union between man and God. Wordsworth, in "Tintern
Abbey," not only brings out the thought of union between God and Man, but also
emphasizes the bond of union between Nature and God, which I have already
discussed. Man, he says, has:
"A sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean, and the living air,
And the blue sky, and the mind of man,-
A motion and a spirit that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things."
God is thus revealed in Nature, and God is thus revealed in
Man. But there is another revelation recognized by Freemasonry in every degree
namely, the V. O. T. S. L. "the inestimable gift of God to Man as a guide to his
daily faith and practice." The religion of a Freemason is left to his own
conscience, but the sacred writings are always open in his lodge, a silent, but
eloquent, witness that Freemasonry is not only not indifferent to religion, but
that she expects every craftsman to be a religious man. In fact, she mentions
the "irreligious libertine" as a man who has no right to the privileges of the
Craft.
These are some, only, of the many arguments which prove
Freemasonry to be the Handmaid of Religion. Could any mistress be better served?
IMMORTALITY
We have given much time to the contemplation of the lessons
of the South and West. Have we no message from the North? Yes, indeed! The place
of darkness is a region not to be afraid of, but rather to be regarded with
affection and gratitude. For it is the place of "sleep and his brother, death."
"Now blessings light on him who first invented sleep!" says
Sancho Panza in Don Quixote, "It covers a man all over, thoughts and all, like a
cloak; it is meat for the hungry, heat for the cold, and cold for the hot. It is
the current coin that purchases all the pleasures of the world cheap, and the
balance that sets the king and the shepherd, the fool and the wise man, even."
What better eulogy could be written on Sleep than that? It
is rightly associated with refreshment in the first division of the
twenty-four-inch Gauge.
But, some one may say, "Sleep is a blessing, I grant you,
but how about Death? After sleep comes waking; but Death means the leaving all
that is near and dear to men, and the severing of every tie which binds them to
earth. Death is the end." Is it? If it is, then is the teaching of Freemasonry
vain; vain is the teaching of Religion. But we Freemasons are taught that Death
is not the end. Though all things are dark, and the knell of low-twelve is
sounding in our ears, though our brother's mangled body is lying covered only by
the rubbish of the temple; though our loving hands remove him from the grave
where he was "indecently interred," and the evidence of our nostrils gives
unmistakable evidence of physical dissolution, we know that all is well with
him, for the G.A.O.T.U. has taken him by the hand, and raised him to take his
place in another lodge a real lodge of Perfection where he is surrounded by the
dear ones who have preceded him there, and where he awaits the arrival of those
whom he dearly loved and by whom he was dearly loved, with perfect confidence,
for he knows the Truth. He has found the Master Mason's Word
----o----
PART IV ACTION OF STATE AND CHURCH AUTHORITIES AGAINST
FREEMASONRY
FROM THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA
CURIOUSLY enough, the first sovereign to join and protect
Freemasonry was the Catholic German Emperor Frances I, the founder of the
actually reigning line of Austria, while the first measures against Freemasonry
were taken by Protestant Governments: Holland, 1735; Sweden and Geneva, 1738;
Zurich, 1740; Berne, 1745. In Spain, Portugal and Italy, measures against
Masonry were taken after 1738. In Bavaria Freemasonry was prohibited 1784 and
1785; in Austria, 1795; in Baden, 1813; in Russia, 1822. Since 1847 it has been
tolerated in Baden, since 1850 in Bavaria, since 1868 in Hungary and Spain. In
Austria Freemasonry is still prohibited because as the Superior Court of
Administration 23 January, 1905, rightly declared, a Masonic association, even
though established in accordance with law, "would be a member of a large
(international) organization (in reality ruled by the 'Old Charges,' etc.,
according to general Masonic principles and aims), the true regulations of which
would be kept secret from the civil authorities, so that the activity of the
members could not be controlled" (Bauhutte, 1905, 60). It is indeed to be
presumed that Austro-Hungarian Masons, whatever statutes they might present to
the Austrian Government in order to secure their authorization, would in fact
continue to regard the French Grand Orient as their true pattern, and the
Brothers Kossuth, Garibaldi, and Mazzini as the heroes, whom they would strive
to imitate. The Prussian edict of 1798 interdicted Freemasonry in general,
excepting the three old Prussian Grand Lodges which the protectorate subjected
to severe control by the Government. this edict, though juridically abrogated by
the edict of 6 April, 1848, practically, according to a decision of the Supreme
Court of Administration of 22 April, 1893, by an erroneous interpretation of the
organs of adminstration, remained in force till 1893. Similarly, in Gngland an
Act of Parliament was passed on 12 July, 798, for the "more effectual
suppression of societies stablished for seditions and treasonable purposes and
or preventing treasonable and seditious practices." By this Act Masonic
associations and meetings in general were interdicted, and only the lodges
existing on 2 July, 1798, and ruled according to the old regulations of the
Masonry of the kingdom were tolerated, on condition that two representatives of
the lodge should make oath before the magistrates, that the lodge existed and
was ruled as the Act enjoined (Preston, "Illustrations of Masonry," 251 sqq.).
During the period 1827-34, measures were taken against Freemasonry in some of
the United States of America. As to European countries it may be stated, that
all those Governments, which had not originated in the revolutionary movement,
strove to protect themselves against Masonic secret societies.
The action of the Church is summed up in the papal
pronouncements against Freemasonry since 1738, the most important of which are:
Clement XII, Const. "In Eminenti," 28 April, 1738; Benedict
XIV, "Providas," 18 May, 1751; Pius VII, "Ecclesiam," 13 September, 1821; Leo
XII, "Quo graviora," 13 March, 1825; Pius VIII, Encycl. "Traditi," 21 May, 1829;
Gregory XVI, "Mirari," 15 August, 1832; Pius IX, Encycl. "Qui pluribus," 9
November, 1846; Alloc. "Quibus quantisque malis," 20 April, 1849; Encycl.
"Quanta cura," 8 December, 1864; Alloc. "Multiplices inter," 25 September, 1865;
Const. "Apostolicae Sedis," 12 October, 1869; Encycl. "Etsi multa," 21 November,
1873; Leo XIII, Encycl. "Humanum genus," 20 April, 1884; "Praeclara," 20 June,
1894; "Annum ingressi," 18 March, 1902 (against Italian Freemasonry); Encycl. "Etsi
nos." 15 February, 1882; "Ab Apostolici," 15 October, 1890. These pontifical
utterances from first to last are in complete accord, the latter reiterating the
earlier with such developments as were called for by the growth of Freemasonry
and other secret societies.
Clement XII accurately indicates the principal reasons why
Masonic associations from the Catholic, Christian, moral, political, and social
points of view, should be condemned. These reasons are: (1) The peculiar, "unsectarian"
(in truth, anti-Catholic and anti- Christian) naturalistic character of
Freemasonry, by which theoretically and practically it undermines the Catholic
and Christian faith, first in its members and through them in the rest of
society, creating religious indifferentism and contempt for orthodoxy and
ecclesiastical authority. (2) The inscrutable secrecy and fallacious
ever-changing disguise of the Masonic association and of its "work," by which
"men of this sort break as thieves into the house and like foxes endeavour to
root up the vineyard," "perverting the hearts of the simple," ruining their
spiritual and temporal welfare. (3) The oaths of secrecy and of fidelity to
Masonry and Masonic work, which cannot be justified in their scope, their
object, or their form, and cannot, therefore, induce any obligation. The oaths
are condemnable, because the scope and object of Masonrv are "wicked" and
condemnable, and the candidate in most cases is ignorant of the import or extent
of the obligation which he takes upon himself. Moreover the ritualistic and
doctrinal "secrets" which are the principal object of the obligation, according
to the highest Masonic authorities, are either trifles or no longer exist (Handbuch,
3rd ed., I, 219). In either case the oath is a condemnable abuse. Even the
Masonic modes of recognition, which are represented as the principal and only
essential "secret" of Masonry, are published in many printed books. Hence the
real "secrets" of Masonry, if such there be, could only be political or
antireligious conspiracies like the plots of the Grand Lodges in Latin
countries. But such secrets, condemned, at least theoretically, by
Anglo-American Masons themselves, would render the oath or obligation only the
more immoral and therefore null and void. Thus in every respect the Masonic
oaths are not only sacrilegious but also an abuse contrary to public order which
requires that solemn oaths and obligations as the principal means to maintain
veracity and faithfulness in the State and in human society, should not be
vilified or caricatured. In Masonry the oath is further degraded by its form
which includes the most atrocious penalties, for the "violation of obligations"
which do not even exist; a "violation" which, in truth may be and in many cases
is an imperative duty. (4) The danger which such societies involve for the
security and "tranquility of the State" and for "the spiritual health of souls,"
and consequently their incompatibility with civil and canonical law. For even
admitting that some Masonic associations pursued for themselves no purposes
contrary to religion and to public order, they would be nevertheless contrary to
public order, because by their very existence as secret societies based on the
Masonic principles, they encourage and promote the foundation- of other really
dangerous secret societies and render difficult, if not impossible, efficacious
action of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities against them.
Of the other papal edicts only some characteristic
utterances need be mentioned. Benedict XIV appeals more urgently to Catholic
princes and civil powers to obtain their assistance in the struggle against
Freemasonry. Pius VII condemns the secret society of the Carbonari which, if not
an off-shoot, is "certainly an imitation of the Masonic society" and, as such,
already comprised in the condemnation issued against it. Leo XII deplores the
fact, that the civil powers had not heeded the earlier papal decrees, and in
consequence out of the old Masonic societies even more dangerous sects had
sprung. Among them the "Universitarian" is mentioned as most pernicious. "It is
to be deemed certain," says the pope, "that these secret societies are linked
together by the bond of the same criminal purposes." Gregory XVI similarly
declares that the calamities of the age were due principally to the conspiracy
of secret societies, and like Leo XII, deplores the religious indifferentism and
the false ideas of tolerance propagated by secret societies. Pius IX
(Allocution, 1865) characterizes Freemasonry as an insidious, fraudulent and
perverse organization injurious both to religion and to society; and condemns
anew "this Masonic and other similar societies, which differing only in
appearance coalesce constantly and openly or secretly plot against the Church or
lawful authority." Leo XIII (1884) says: "There are various sects, which
although differing in name, rite, form, and origin, are nevertheless so united
by community of purposes and by similarity of their main principles as to be
really one with the Masonic sect, which is a kind of centre, whence they all
proceed and whither they all return." The ultimate purpose of Freemasonry is
"the overthrow of the whole religious, political, and social order based on
Christian institutions and the establishment of a new state of things according
to their own ideas and based in its principles and laws on pure Naturalism."
In view of these several reasons Catholics since 1738 are,
under penalty of excommunication, incurred ipso facto, and reserved to the pope,
strictly forbidden to enter or promote in any way Masonic societies. The law now
in force (Const. "Apostolicae Sedis," 1869 Cap. ii, n.24) pronounces
excommunication upon "those who enter Masonic or Carbonarian or other sects of
the same kind, which, openly or secretly, plot against the Church or lawful
authority and those who in any wny favour these sects or do not denounce their
leaders and principal members." Under this head mention must also be made of the
"Practical Instruction of the Congreg. of the Inquisition, 7 May, 1884, 'de
Secta Massonum' " (Acta Sanctae Sedis, XVIII, 43-47) and of the decrees of the
Provincial Councils of Baltimore, 1840: New Orleans, 1856; Quebec, 1851, 1868;
of the first Councils of the English Colonies, 1854; and particularly of the
Plenary Councils of Baltimore, 1866 and 1884 (see "Collect. Lacensis," III, 1875
and "Acta et decr. Concil. plen. Balt. III," 1884). These documents refer mainly
to the application of the papal decrees according to the peculiar conditions of
the respective ecclesiastical provinces. The Third Council of Baltimore, n. 254
sq., states the method of ascertaining whether or not a society is to be
regarded as comprised in the papal condemnation of Freemasonry. It reserves the
final decision thereon to a commission consisting of all the archbishops of the
ecclesiastical provinces represented in the council, and if they cannot reach a
unanimous conclusion, refers to the Holy See.
These papal edicts and censures against Freemasonry have
often been the occasion of erroneous and unjust charges. The excommunication was
interpreted as an "imprecation" that cursed all Freemasons and doomed them to
perdition. In truth an excommunication is simply an ecclesiastical penalty, by
which members of the Church should be deterred from acts fhst are criminal
according to ecclesiastical law. The pope and the bishops, therefore, as
faithful pastors of Christ's flock, cannot but condemn Freemasonry. They would
betray, as Clement XII stated, their most sacred duties, if they did not oppose
with all their power the insidious propagation and activity of such societies in
Catholic countries or with respect to Catholics in mixed and Protestant
countries. Freemasonry systematically promotes religious indifFerentism and
undermines true, i.e., orthodox Christian and Catholic Faith and life.
Freemasonry is essentially Naturalism and hence opposed to all supernaturalism.
As to some particular charges of Leo XIII (1884) challenged by Freemasons, e.g.,
the atheistical character of Freemasonry, it must be remarked, that the pope
considers the activity of Masonic and similar societies as a whole, applying to
it the term which designates the most of these societies and among the Masonic
groups those, which push the so-called "anti-clerical," in reality irreligious
and revolutionary, principles of Freemasonry logically to their ultimate
consequences and thus, in truth, are, as it were, the advanced outposts and
standard-bearers of the whole immense anti-Catholic and anti-papal army in the
world-wide spiritual warfare of our age. In this sense also the pope, in
accordance with a fundamental biblical and evangelical view developed by St.
Augustine in his "De civitate Dei," like the Masonic poet Carducci in his "Hymn
to Satan," considers Satan as the supreme spiritual chief of this hostile army.
Thus Leo XIII (1884) expressly states: "What we say, must be understood of the
Masonic sect in the universal acceptation of the term, as it comprises all
kindred and associated societies, but not of their single members. There may be
persons amongst these, and not a few, who, although not free from the guilt of
having entangled themselves in such associations, yet are neither themselves
partners in their criminal acts nor aware of the ultimate object which these
associations are endeavouring to attain. Similarly some of the several bodies of
the association may perhaps by no means approve of certain extreme conclusions,
which they would consistently accept as necessarily following from the general
principles common to all, were they not deterred by the vicious character of the
conclusions." "The Masonic federation is to be judged not so much by the acts
and things it has accomplished, as by the whole of its principles and purposes."
----o----
A MEANS
Masonry is a means, not an end; and the reception of a
degree, whether it be the first or last of a Rite, does not in itself make the
recipient any better than he was before. It simply is the medium for broadening
his knowledge of his duties, and the application of those duties in his daily
walk and conduct.
To put it in another way, the degrees in Masonry are but
working tools whereby the man who receives them may shape his course in life,
and he is to be judged by the manner in which he has made those tools
Serviceable and profitable in his own betterment and in assisting those around
him to he better and more useful. -The Junior Warden.
----o----
Example is the School of mankind, and they will learn at no
other. -Burke.
----o----
JERRY JACKSON JASON
"ONLY A MASTER MASON”
There ne'er was truer
Mason than Jerry Jackson Jason
He delighted in its
mystery, antiquity, and history;
But he ne'er could be
persuaded that he should be higher graded
And of more degrees possessor than the fundamental three.
It was argued he'd be
apter with the knowledge of the Chapter
That he'd prove a
bright exemplar in the character of Templar,
While the
Thirty-Second brothers told of roadway 'round the others.
But he left no doubt
or question as to higher grade suggestion,
Or, to being "arched"
or "knighted," or to any others plighted,
For a Master Mason simply he was satisfied to be.
They declared that he
was foolish, even obstinate and mulish
To thus decline
advancernent which for them had such entrancement
But to him the title
"brother" was the acme of all other,
And the Lodge supremest honor as he understood its plan.
Its symbols with their
teaching they were to him far-reaching,
Beyond their surface
seeming what hidden truths were gleaming
The wisdom-store of
sages transmitted through the ages,
Every angle with its
story, every line a ray of glory
In the marvelous
design linking human to divine,
And man to man in brotherhood whate'er his race or clan.
The mystery of the scroll was the temple of the soul;
Integrity must build it, virtue ornament and gild it;
Truth's shining presence light its hope sustain and love
unite it,
Wisdom raise the dome
above it faith uplift the turret tall.
Such was Masonry's
ideal, and he strove to make it real-
Sanctified by loving
deeds prompted by a brother's needs.
To his course the
plumb applying, by the square his actions trying,
As the master hand of
duty shaped his ashlar into beauty,
More and more its
surface glowed through the good which he bestowed,
Freer grew from
earthly blemish, fitter for the Living Wall.
Was there sick or
suffering Mason thither sped good Brother Jason,
And the sunshine of
his face brightened many a cheerless place,
While his words were
so assuring, they did more than drugs toward curing,
And disease full oft
was baffled and the threatening crisis passed.
But if all was
unavailing and the stricken one fast failing,
Then he took the
wasted hand, voiced the thought of better land,
Which the worthy would
set eye on through the strength of Judah's Lion,
In the Father's house
on high when life's burden was laid by -
On the listener's
fading sight there had dawned celestial light,
And on face with
rapture beaming death had set his seal at last.
To the dead as to the living willing service ever giving
Ever 'mong the faithful found who a brother’s grave
surround,
And the last sad tribute pay to the lifeless form of clay
With acacia-sprigs proclaiming that his spirit liveth
still.
To the widow, orphan,
friendless, his good deeds 'twould seem were endless,
And affairs of self as
naught when their wants vrere in his thought.
His, the words fresh
courage woke when there fell misfortune's stroke
His, the hand that
help extended and despairing ones befriended:
His, the work beyond
compare, tested by the plumb and square
His, the wage of
fadeless glory over which the angels thriil.
Yet they'd say of Brother Jason, "He is only Master Mason!"
And implying, by the stress, that his rank was thereby
less!
Less than theirs, degree-entangled and befeathered and
bespangled,
And befogged beyond perception of the true Masonic light.
Vain and thoughtless brethren these, valueless are mere
degrees;
'Tis the lessons they impart and their lodgment in the
heart,
Which, if rightly understood, prove the measure of their
good.
Though a thousand such there be, they can ne'er eclipse the
three;
And the faithful, zealous Mason, such as Jerry Jackson
Jason,
Stands supreme 'mid glare and glitter, peerless in his
apron white.
- Lawrence N. Greenleaf, P.G.M., Colorado.
----o----
Be cheerful always.
There is no path but will be easier traveled, no load but will be lighter, no
shadow on heart and brain but will lift sooner for a person of determined
cheerfulness. - Willitts.
----o----
CORRESPONDENCE CIRCLE BULLETIN No. 31
DEVOTED TO ORGANIZED MASONIC STUDY
Edited by Bro. H. L. Haywood
THE BULLETIN COURSE OF MASONIC STUDY FOR MONTHLY LODGE
MEETINGS AND STUDY CLUBS
FOUNDATION OF THE COURSE
THE Course of Study has for its foundation two sources of
Masonic information: THE BUILDER and Mackey's Encyclopedia. In another paragraph
is explained how the references to former issues of THE BUILDER and to Mackey's
Encyclopedia may be worked up as supplemental papers to exactly fit into each
installment of the Course with the papers by Brother Haywood.
MAIN OUTLINE:
The Course is divided into five principal divisions which
are in turn subdivided, as is shown below:
Division I. Ceremonial Masonry.
A. The Work of the Lodge.
B. The Lodge and the Candidate.
C. First Steps.
D. Second Steps.
E. Third Steps.
Division II. Symbolical Masonry.
A. Clothing.
B. Working Tools.
C. Furniture.
D. Architecture.
E. Geometry.
F. Signs.
G. Words.
H. Grips.
Division III. Philosophical Masonry.
A. Foundations.
B. Virtues.
C. Ethics.
D. Religious Aspect.
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