The Builder Magazine

August 1915 - Volume I - Number 8

 

REGENBERG STONEMASON'S REGULATIONS

(A NEW TRANSLATION FROM THE GERMAN)

BY BRO. F. W. KRACHER, OF THE DEPARTMENT OF GERMAN, STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

(The historic document herewith presented is a new translation, made especially for the National Masonic Research Society, of the oldest Regulations of the German Stonemasons--or Steinmetzen-- dating from 1459. The original German, as quaint as the English of Chaucer, may be found in Die Romanische and Gothische Architektur, by Max Hasak, published at Stuttgart 1902. Other documents of the kind fall chiefly in the time of the German Renaissance, and present nothing but unimportant extensions or modifications of the first Regensburg Regulation. They are mainly as follows:--the Strassburg Regulation of 1459, the Torgau of 1462, the Basle of 1497, the so-called Brothers' Book of 1563, and the Querfurt Regulation of 1574. Further, there were different records of the original Regulation, such as those of Vienna, of Admont and the Tyrol Regulation of 1480.

This interesting document brings up the question, so hotly debated in Masonic literature, as to the relation of the German Steinmetzen to the Guilds on the one hand, and to the Freemasons on the other. English writers, like Speth, go so far as to deny to the Stonemasons any esoteric lore, while German scholars, like Krause, Findel and Steinbrenner, insist that they were Freemasons. Of course this question cannot be discussed in an introductory note, but we shall have something to say about it in due time. Meanwhile, with this debatable question in mind, the Brethren will find these old Regulations a very profitable study if they will read them in the light of what Brother Gould has to say in his "Concise History of Masonry," (pp 42-62) and on the other side the discussions of Findel and Steinbrenner in their histories of the Craft.--The Editor.)

In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the mother Mary and also her saintly servants, crowned in honor of the holy quartet, be it stated that genuine friendship, harmony and obedience is the foundation of all virtues. For the common good and for the information of all princes, nobles, lords, cities, founders, and monasteries who are now erecting churches or other large buildings of stone or may erect such buildings in the future, this is written, so that each one may know his rights and privileges. It is also written for the benefit of all master masons and journeymen throughout the German lands, who are especially desirous to keep the Craft clean from all discord, jealousy, care, expense, and harm. Some of the regulations which the fathers had drawn up with the best intentions are being misused by both, masters and workers, and they no longer endeavor to adhere to the rules. To change this condition, delegations of master masons and workers met at Spyr, Strassburg, and Regensburg with power to act for the Craft. The old existing rules were renewed and somewhat purified, thereby bringing all peacefully together. After the regulations had been written down we solemnly promised not only to keep them ourselves but to enforce them in the future among the followers of the stonemason craft. The rules are as follows:

1. Whoever finds any of the rules in this regulation too severe or too lenient may, in accordance with the conditions of the time or the country, add to or subtract from them. Any change must neither disturb the arrangement nor the spirit of the original rules and must then be faithfully observed by all.

2. Any stonemason who has the desire to join our order, for which this book is written, must promise (swear) to keep all the separate rules of our regulation. Master masons shall be those who can erect a stone structure according to a plan. They do not have to do actual work with their own hands unless they so desire. Whether they are masters or journeymen, they ought to conduct themselves honorably, harm no one in his rights, and in case of necessity are to be punished in accordance with the rules laid down.

3. Buildings which are erected at present and where the workmen are paid by the day are, Strassburg, Cologne, Vienna, and Passan, also in the workshops belonging to the same. Day wages shall continue in connection with these buildings and in no way shall the contract system be used, so that no interruption in the work arises due to the change from the day labor system to the contract system.

4. In case of death of any stonemason employed on a regular building, it is permissible that any workman or master, capable of doing the work, apply for the vacancy. In this manner the supervisors of the work shall find a proper successor. The same rule applies also to a journeyman who understands stone masonry.

5. If a master should accept a second job, or any master who is not occupied accept a new job, it is their duty to start work by the day immediately so that no discredit may come to the craft. Should trustworthy parties lodge complaint against a master as to the work or the employment of a certain kind of labor, then he shall be tried and punished according to the rules. The complainant may not carry his case that far but simply demand that the master begin the work either by the day or contract. The master must then act according to the suggestion.

6. If a master in charge of some work dies and another master steps in his place and finds prepared stones either placed in position in the wall or not, he is not allowed to remove placed stones nor to discard loose ones. This is necessary so that employers may not be subjected to unnecessary expense, and that the master who did the work may not be criticised. Should the employer wish to remove stones it may be permitted as long as no danger to the structure arises therefrom.

7. A master shall not hire out his masons for any other work except such which is directly connected with the hewing of stones. He may use them for breaking stone, lime, or sand by the day or by the job without danger of reproach.

8. In case masons are needed either to hew stones or to set them, the master may shift them. Those so shifted are not subject to the rules set forth as long as they do it on their own accord and willingly.

9. Two masters shall not jointly supervise a job or a building unless it be a small building which can be finished within a year. Such a job may be undertaken with a partner.

10. If a master accepts a contract according to the submitted specifications he must not change anything. The work must be done according to the specifications which he submitted to the employers, cities, or to the country. This will prevent the weakening of any part of the work.

11. If there be any master or journeyman who attempts to force a master, who is conducting a job under these regulations, out of his position, he shall be tried. The same is to be done if one openly or secretly intrigues against any master without his knowledge. No master mason or journeyman shall associate with him, and no craftsman belonging to the order shall work for him as long as he is busy with the job wrongfully obtained. This is to continue until the one forced out of the job shall be reinstated and explanations given him by the committee of master masons appointed for this purpose by the order.

12. If any one should attempt to break stone without having previously served as a regular workman and acquired some shop training, his stones must not be accepted by anyone. In case some one should do so, then no journeyman must stand by him or go with him, so that employers are not given unnecessary expense thru such an unwise master.

13. No workman or master, neither parlierer (instructor) nor journeyman shall instruct anyone, not a stonemason, from any manual unless the instructor be a member of the craft.

14. No workman or master shall take any money from a journeyman for teaching him something concerning stone-masonry. No parlierer (instructor) or journeyman shall instruct for money. If one wishes to show or teach something to others he may do so step by step for fellow-workman's sake.

15. Any master having charge of a building may have three helpers, either master masons or journeymen. If he has more than one building he shall not have more than two helpers on the second building. Not more than five helpers shall be employed on both buildings 

16. No master or workman shall be taken into the order who does not receive the holy sacrament at least once a year, or who does not observe the Christian rules of conduct, or who gambles. In case such an unfit person did by chance get into the order, no master mason should have any association with him whatsoever. No workman should work for him unless he turns from his old ways and has been punished by those who are in the order.

17. No workman or master mason should be adulterous. Should one insist upon such a course, no journeyman or stonemason should work for him or associate with him.

18. If a fellow craft accepts work with a master who has not yet been raised to the rank of overseer in the order, he shall not be subject to a punishment. He may very well do so because each craftsman should seek advancement. The workman should keep the rules of the order although he is not working in a regulation shop or for a brother of the order. Should one take a wife unto himself and not work in a regulation shop but settle down in a city where he had to work at a craft, he will have to pay four pennies poll- tax but be free of any other tax, as long as he does not work in a regular shop.

19. In case a complaint is made by one master against another master that he acted against the rules of the order; or by a master against a craftsman, or by a craftsman against another, it shall be brought to a master who has been appointed to handle such cases. Both sides shall be heard, and then a day set when the case will be considered. During the time up to the trial no controversy whatsoever shall take place between master and worker until the case has been settled. The decision shall be given by masters, and this decision must be carried out. The case is to be tried where it arose by the master in whose jurisdiction it happened.

20. A "parlierer" shall respect his master and obey him willingly in everything pertaining to the craft. The same shall be done by the fellowcraft.

21. If a journeyman decides to travel on, he should depart from his master and the shop without any complaint against him, and leaving no debts, whatsoever, behind.

22. Any journeyman, in whatever kind of a shop he shall be employed, ought to be obedient to the "parlierer" and his master in everything pertaining to the craft.

23. And he shall not scold about the master's work secretly nor publicly, unless the master were to act contrary to the rules of the order.

24. Every workman who has received the power to enforce the rules of the order in all disputes touching upon stonemasons and masonry, has also the power to bring to trial and to decide upon punishment. All masters, parlierers, and craftsmen shall be obedient to him.

 25. Even though a craftsman has journeyed and worked as a stonemason and made advancement in the order, he should not be accepted by a master if this experience be less than two years, and if he only wanted to do a little work.

26. Masters and workers belonging to this order shall obey all the rules of this regulation. Should one or the other break any one of the rules he is not to be punished if he repents and promises to keep the rule in the future.

(To be continued.)

----o----

BUILD ME A HOUSE

Oh Soul build me a house of Dreams,

And roof it with the stars;

With walls of awe and azure beams,

And ether bolts and bars.

A house of Joy, Oh Life build me,

With windows vision-wide;

With friends of Mirth and Ecstasy

To neighbor on each side.

Oh Love build me a House of Hope

Where happiness dwells free,

And set on a sunny slope

Of my heart's hill for me.

Oh Faith build me a House of Prayer,

With words that cry unsaid,

And rear to heaven a perfumed stair

On which my dreams may tread.

Oh God build me a house of Rest,

And hallow it with sleep;

Be Thou the one celestial Guest

My happy house would keep.

Let music wake me in the night

When this old house is still,

And let me feel a Presence bright,

That all the place would fill.

--Edwin Liebfreed.

----o----

MAKE US SEE

Dear God and Father of us all,

Forgive our faith in cruel lies,

Forgive the blindness that denies.

Cast down our idols--overturn

Our bloody altars--make us see

Thyself in Thy Humanity."

--Whittier.

----o----

GLACIER PARK HYMN

Here wrought He in His might,

Temples of shade and light,

Altars of praise.

On snow-clad mountain crest,

In vales with verdure blest,

Each heart with peace at rest,

Its homage pays.

 

O! land of mighty form,

Sunshine and shifting storm,

Blest for all time;

By lakes of azure blue,

Glaciers of varied hue,

Our hearts to you are true,

Glacier, sublime.

--Clifford Trembly.

----o----

LOVE'S TRAPPIST

There is a place where lute and lyre are broken,

Where scrolls are torn and on a wild wind go,

Where tablets stand wiped naked for a token,

Where laurels wither and the daisies grow.

 

Lo: I, too, join the brotherhood of silence,

I am Love's Trappist, and you ask in vain,

For man, through Love's gate, even as through Death's gate,

Goeth alone, and comes not back again.

 

Yet here I pause, look back across the threshold,

Cry to my brethren, though the world be old,

Prophets and sages, questioners and doubters,

O world, old world, the best hath ne'er been told.

--From "Poems," by G. K. Chesterton.

----o----

 

THE ESTABLISHMENT AND EARLY FREEMASONRY IN AMERICA

BY BRO. MELVIN M. JOHNSON, G. M. OF MASONS IN MASS.

CHAPTER II Part 1

IN previous issues the writer has pointed out that Massachusetts is entitled to precedence as the founder of Masonry in America whether determined upon the first presence of Masons, or upon the first meetings of Lodges, or upon the first exercise of authority from the Grand Lodge of England. Attention has also been called to the beginnings of Masonry in Pennsylvania and to the acknowledgment at the time by Franklin and his associates in Philadelphia of the precedence of Massachusetts.

Within the next few years after Henry Price organized the Provincial Grand Lodge in Boston on June 30, 1733, regular Masonry was established in other colonies. With this spread of the institution this article will not attempt to deal except so far as it was fostered by, and emanated from, Price and his successors and tends to the historical establishment of their positions and authority for many years as Provincial Grand Masters for North America (with certain definite exceptions.)

1734

Reference has already been made to the extension by Grand Master Craufurd of Price's authority over all North America, and his immediate exercise of that authority by granting the petition of Benjamin Franklin and his associates.

1735-1738

In 1735-6 Price chartered a Lodge in Portsmouth, N. H. The original petition for this Charter, dated Feb. 9, 1735-6, is still preserved. On June 28, 1736, a petition was forwarded for the appointment of Brother Tomlinson to succeed Brother Price as Provincial Grand Master. I can find no copy of that petition. The Commission to Brother Tomlinson issued under date of Dec. 7, 1736, and arrived in Boston April 20, 1737. On St. John the Baptist's day in 1737, occurred the first public procession of the fraternity in America, Governor Belcher being in the line. The Masonry of South Carolina sprung from Massachusetts in 1735 Nova Scotia and the West Indies in 1738.

1738-1740

In 1738 Pennsylvania Masonry ceased utterly, being revived until 1749.

During the year 1738, Provincial Grand Master Tomlinson went to England by way of Antigua where he stopped long enough to establish  Masonry. On 31, 1739, he attended a meeting of the Grand Lodge of England.

This year also, on December 27, marked the beginning of the record pra of the First Lodge in Boston so far as it has been preserved. It is singular that the keeping of formal records did not sooner occur to these bodies founded in the early part of the eighteenth century, but such seems to be the case with all of them, both English and American. Careful as Franklin was about keeping a record of his personal affairs, he caused no record to be kept of the affairs of his Lodge save a financial record. Or at least if any were kept it has disappeared as effectually as Franklin's Commission.

Brother Tomlinson died in 1740 and the Provincial Grand Lodge was held by Thomas Oxnard as Deputy Grand Master until March 6, 1744, when he received his Commission as "Provincial Grand Master for North America in the Room of Our Bro. Robt. Tomlinson, Esq., Deceased."

In 1740 a Deputation was granted from Massachusetts for a Lodge at Annapolis and Bro. Erasmus James Phillips was appointed to act in Nova Scotia.

1741

Again it was publicly proclaimed that Massachusetts was the Mother of Masonry in America; For instance, on Oct. 23, 1741, Bro. Peter Pelham, Secretary of the First Lodge in Boston, in an address of congratulation to Gov. Wm. Shirley, made public claim that the First Lodge in Boston was the Mother Lodge of America.

Governor Shirley was Belcher's successor. The Masonic correspondence between these officials and the First Lodge in Boston is so interesting historically that I quote from the records of that Lodge as follows:-- Wednesday, September 23, 1741.

(At a regular meeting of the First Lodge in Boston, held) Wednesday, Sept. 23, 1741, our Rt. Worshipful Master recommended to the Brethren, that it was his opinion, some perticular order should be observed in toasting the health of our Rt. W: Bro: the Honble Mr. Belcher: and that a Committee might be appointed as soon as possable to wait upon him, with acknowledgments from the Lodge, of his past favours, and to return our thanks, etc.

Voted, that next after the G: M: the late Governor of this Province, is to be toasted in the following manner, viz: To our Rt. W: Bro: the Honble Mr. Belcher, Late Governour of N. E., with 3-3-3--9.

Voted, that Our Rt. W: Bro. T. Oxnard, D. G. M., Brors. Phillips, Rowe, Price, Hallowell, Forbes, McDaniel and Pelham, be a Committee to form a speech, and wait upon the Honble Mr. Belcher in behalf of this Society, and to make report of their proceeding the next Lodge.

On Fryday Septemr 25, 1741, the Committee appointed by this Lodge waited upon the Honble Mr. Belcher, etc., and made the following Speech:

Thrice Worthy Brother.

We being a Committee by the Mother Lodge of N. England held in Boston to wait on You, take this Opportunity to Acknowledge the many favours You have always shewed (when in Power) to Masonry in General, but in a More Especial manner to the Brethn of this Lodge, of which we shall ever retain a most grateful Remembrance.

As we have had your Protection when in the most Exhalted Station here, so we think it is Incumbent on us to make this Acknowledgment, having no other means to testify our Gratitude but this; And to wish for Your Future Health and Prosperity which is the Sincere desire of Us, and those in whose behalf We appear, and permit us to assure You we shall ever remain

Honoured Sir Your most Affectionate Brethn & Humble Servants. Peter Pelham, Secr. In behalf of the Committee.

To which, we receiv'd the following Answer: Worthy Brothers.

I take very kindly this mark of your Respect. It is now Thirty Seven years since I was admitted into the Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and accepted Masons, to whom I have been a faithful Brother, & a well-wisher to the Art of Masonry.

I shall ever maintain a strict friendship for the whole Fraternity; & always be glad when it may fall in my power to do them any Services.

J. Belcher.

Wednesday, October the 14th, 1741. Being Lodge Night, (it was) Voted, that a Committee be appointed to wait on his Excellency Governour Shirly to Congratulate him on his Advancement to the Governmt of this Province &c when it was propos'd, and agree'd that the following persons should form sd Committee, to act in behalf of this Society; Viz; Our Rt. W. Brors Thos. Oxnard, Forbes, Overing, Price, Hallowell, Jenkins, McDaniel, Phillips, Johonnot and Pelham, and to make report of their proceedings next Lodge Night.

On Friday October the 23d, 1741. The Committee appointed by this Lodge, waited upon his Excellency Willian1 Shirly Esqr and presented him with the following Address:

May it please your Excellency,

We being a Committee appointed by the Ancient and honorable Society of Free and accepted Masons of the MOTHER, LODGE of AMERICA held in Boston, presume to wait upon you with the utmost Sincerity, to congratulate your Advancement to the Government of this Province, and to assure your Excellency that our Desire is that your Administration may be successful and easy.

We have had hitherto the Honour of His Majesty's Governor being one of our ancient Society, who was ever a well-wisher & faithful Brother to the Royal Art of Masonry.

And as it has been the Custom for men in the most exalted Station to have had the Door of our Society's Constitutions always opened to them (when desired) we think it our Duty to acquaint your Excellency with that Custom, and assure you, that we shall chearfully attend your Excellency's Pleasure therein; and as we are conscious that our Society are loyal and faithful Subjects to His Majesty, so we may reasonably hope for your Excellency's Favour and Protection, which is the Request of

Your Excellency's  most obedient humble Servants, Peter Pelham, Secr.  in behalf of the Society.

To which His Excellency was pleas'd to return the following Answer:

Gentlemen:

I Return the Ancient and honourable Society my Thanks for their Address, and Invitation of me to the Mother Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of America; And they may rest assur'd that their Loyalty and Fidelity to his Majesty will always recommend the Society to my Favour and Protection.

W. SHIRLEY.

Voted, that the above Address to His Excellency Wm. Shirley Esqr. &c. with his Excellency's Answer, be printed in one of the Publick papers next Monday.

Wednesday, May the 25th, 1743. Being Lodge Night the following Brethren met.

The Rt. Worshipl Bro: H: Price M pro:  Bro: Benj: Franklin of Phila. etc.

Wednesday Augst 10th 1743. Being Lodge Night, Voted, that Bror. Jenkins, Charles, Hall, H: McDaniel, Phillips, & Price, take a proper opertunity to wait on Bro: Belcher, (our Late Governor,) with an Invitation from the Brethren, to give us the favour of his Company, at such time as he shall please to appoint.

 Thursday Feby 9th, 1743. (o. s.)

Being appointed for the Entertainment of the Honble Mr. Belcher (according to vote,) who attended with about Forty of the Brethren in Open Lodge; and a Handsome Supper was prepar'd, after which we took leave of Our Hond Brother in the most solemn manner. (He soon after sailed for England.)

Wednesday, Augst 26th, 1747. Being Lodge Night, Voted, That Our Rt. W: Bro Oxnard G. M., Brors Brockwell, Aston, Pelham, T. McDaniel and Secray be a Committee in behalf of the Lodge to Send a Letter of Congratulation to Our Honble Bror Belcher, upon his Advancement to, and Safe Arrival at his Government of the Jerseys.

Wednesday Sepr 9th 1747. Being Lodge Night. The Committee appointed to form a Letter of Congratulation to His Excellency Our Bro Belcher presented the same to the Lodge, which was to the acceptance of the Lodge. Voted therefore that the Secretary do forward the same as soon as may be, and the Commee have the Thanks of the Lodge for the same. It is as follows, Vizt

Thrice Worthy Brother !

It was with the greatest pleasure and the utmost Satisfaction We recd the News of your Safe Arrival at your Government of the Jerseys; And from a Just Sence of the distinguishing marks of your Esteem shewn to the Antient & Honble Society of Free and Accepted Masons when you fill'd the Chair of Government in this Province, (which upon all Occasions we doubt not but you would still Continue,) We cannot but hope the sincere and hearty Congratulations of Our Lodge on your present happy Accession may meet with favourable acceptance.

You have sufflciently distinguish'd your adherence to Our THREE GRAND PRINCIPLES in your Firm attachment to his Majesty's Person and Government with (with Joy we find) has preferr'd you to a second Commission (an uncommon Instance of Royal Favour) and as the weight of so great a Charge must be attended with many concerns, so we heartily wish a happy Concurrence of everything that may Render your Administration Satisfactory to your Prince, Advantageous to your People, and Easy to your Self; so that full of Days and full of honour (which but little Survives our Actions) you may finally meet with a reward of that Honour and Happiness which will be as Eternal as Inconceivable.

By Order of the Rt Worshipful the Provincial GRAND MASTER of North America, and the Rt Worshipful Master, Wards and Fellows of the LODGE held in Boston N England Sepr ye 3. in the Year of Masonry 5747 Annoque Domini 1747.

Chas. Pelham Secr.

(Reply to the above letter.)

 Wednesday Novr. 11th, 1747. Being Lodge Night. Our Rt Worshl Bro: Oxnard G: M: presented to the Lodge, a letter from His Excellency our Bror Belcher at the Jerseys, in Answer to the Congratulatory one sent him from the Lodge, which was most kindly Recd. and Order'd to be read by the Secretary, and is as follows, Vizt 

Rt. Worshl Brothers !

I have with much pleasure Receiv'd your respectful Congratulation of my Safe Arrival to this Government, dated from your Lodge in Boston ye 3 of Last Month. From the Testimonials I carry'd with me to London from your Lodge I was Receiv'd by the Rt HONOURABLE the GRAND MASTER; and at the Lodges where I attended as a WORTHY BROTHER; I shall always with great Alacrity show Respect and Kindness to any one that may fall in my way, who is a BROTHER of the Society of FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS; and I am the more Gratified in the Kings Repeated Grace and Favour as it does me double Honor in Clearing my Character from all Imputation, & setts me at the head of this fine Province, and may also Reflect some honour on the Society of FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS; that the King has so Publickly justified the Conduct of a Brother in his Administration of the Government of two of His Majesty's Provinces in New England for Eleven Years together.

I am much Oblig'd to the Brothers of your Lodge for their kind Wishes of my Welfare and Prosperity in the Arduous affairs of Government, but above all that they extend them to my Obtaining a reward of hor and happiness that shall be Eternal. I have been receiv'd by the Good People here with uncommon marks of Respect and kindess, which I shall return by all such Acts of Goodness in my Power, as may most of all contribute to their Interest, & to their quiet & Satisfaction.

May you Rt. WORSHL BROTHERS, and all and every one of your Lodge live long in much health and Ease, and in such other Circumstances of Life as you would wish for your Selves, and when this Life must be Exchang'd for One that will have no end, May you all be happy thro the Mercy of God in Jesus Christ Our only Lord and Saviour, Amen.

From Kingswood House in the City of Burlington (New Jersey) this Sixth day of Octobr in the year of Masonry 5747. Annoq. Domini 1747.

signed J. BELCHER.

To the Rt. Worshl Thos Oxnard Esqr. Provincial Grand Master of No. America

The Rt Worsl Master, Wards & Fellows of the Lodge of the Ancient and Honble Society of Free an Accepted Masons in Boston.

1743-1749

 Meanwhile Franklin was again visiting his Masonic Brethren in Boston. On May 25, 1743, he and Price attended the meeting of the First Lodge in Boston. Governor Belcher dined with the Brethren of the First Lodge Feb. 9, 1744, and soon after sailed for England bearing the tidings of Masonry in America and a letter from the Lodge which he read in person to the Grand Lodge held at the Devil Tavern, Temple Bar, London Sept. 26, 1744.

Of the Master's Lodge in Boston, Price was Master from its Constitution on Jan. 2, 1738, until his resignation in 1744. In 1746 Oxnard constituted a Lodge in Newfoundland.

In 1749 Franklin revived Masonry in Pennsylvania and, with full knowledge of the facts and the proper course of procedure, came again to Massachusetts for authority. In response, Thomas Oxnard, successor of Price, and duly commissioned Provincial Grand Master for North America, granted the rights and privileges for which Franklin petitioned. Thus, for the second time, Benjamin Franklin, leading Mason of Pennsylvania's earliest Masonic days, recognized the authority of Massachusetts and his need to apply to Massachusetts for authority to conduct Masonry in Pennsylvania. His authority under his Massachusetts commission was instantly recognized at home. In the same year Price accepted another election as Master of the Masters' Lodge in Boston, and a Lodge was chartered by Oxnard in Newport, R. I.

1750-1754

The Second Lodge in Boston was established Feb. 17, 1750, and Price accepted the chair, although he was retiring from business. He remained active in Boston's affairs, joining the Boston Episcopal Charitable Society the same year. August 12, 1750, Charters were granted from Boston to Brethren in Maryland and Connecticut, and, the preceding month, in Nova Scotia. October 7, 1751, another proclamation of the precedence of Massachusetts was made in a request to the Grand Master of England that all Deputations for any part of North America should be asked from Oxnard and his successors, "which some Lodges have not observ'd" though "Masonry in British America has wholly Originated from us."

In 1750 P. G. M. Oxnard also visited England. On April 10, 1752, Pennsylvania sent tangible evidence of her loyalty to Massachusetts as the fountain head, for Brother McDaniel appeared for the Lodge at Philadelphia, and paid for its constitution thirty-one pounds and ten shillings.

On Oct. 13, 1752, Lord Colville had gone to England, and on October 12 of the following year a letter was voted to be sent to him there. January 12, 1753, a Charter went from Boston to New London, Conn. On Feb. 4, 1754, we find Oxnard again acting officially as Provincial Grand Master of North America in a Charter granted by him to Middletown, Conn., and on July 12 Henry Price again assumed the East of the Grand Lodge after Oxnard's death.

 1754

When Oxnard died, the Provincial Grand Lodge in Boston, on Oct. 11, 1754, voted that a petition be sent to the Grand Master of England for the appointment of his successor, also to be Grand Master of North America. Its last paragraph is as follows:

"And Whereas Masonry Originated Here anno 5733, and in the year following Our then G. M. Price received order from G. M. Craufurd to Establish Masonry in all North America in Pursuance of which the Several Lodges hereafter mentioned have received Constitutions from us. We therefore Crave due Precedency, & that in order thereunto Our GM Elect, may in his Deputation be stiled GM of all North America, and your Petitioners as in duty Bound shall ever Pray."

This petition set out also the dates of the constitution of Lodges in other colonies subordinate to Price, including Pennsylvania, as follows:

5734 Philadelphia. 35 New Hampshire & South Carolina. 38 Antigua and Annapolis in Nova Scotia. 46 Newfoundland. 49 Rhode Island. 50 Hallifax in Nova Scotia. 50 Annapolis in Maryland. 53 New London in Connecticut. 54 Middletown in Connecticut. 52 New Haven in Connecticut.

The petition was signed by the following Brethren as a Committee, viz.:

Hugh McDaniel. Benjamin Hallowell. Chas. Brockwell.  James Forbes.  Robert Jenkins.  William Coffin.  Henry Leddell.

Is it conceivable that this petition did not truly represent the facts ? Henry Price was in the chair and not one word of suspicion has ever attached to him. Bro. Benjamin Franklin was present. The Brethren at that meeting and those who formed the Committee which drafted the petition were well acquainted with the history of Masonry in those times.

Of those who signed it:

McDaniel was made or admitted Jan. 30, 1735, and rose to D. G. M. in 1737 and was the accredited representative of Philadelphia to the Provincial Grand Lodge in Boston.

Hallowell was made or admitted Jan. 23, 1735, and rose to D. G. M. in 1753. Brockwell was a clergyman made or admitted Jan. 28, 1746, and rose to S. G. W. in 1753.

Forbes was made or admitted Nov. 20, 1735, and rose to D. G. M. in 1756.

Jenkins was made or admitted July 25, 1739, and rose to D. G. M. in 1757.

Coffin was made or admitted Aug. 8, 1744, and rose to S. G. W. in 1758.

Leddell was made or admitted Oct. 11, 1749, and rose to M. of the First Lodge in 1752 and of the Masters' Lodge in 1755.

They were all close associates of Henry Price and so constant in attendance upon Masonic functions that their names appear literally hundreds of times in the first volume of the printed Proceedings. Among those voting in favor of the resolution was apparently Benjamin Franklin himself. Of the others voting, Rowe was made or admitted July 23, 1740, and had been Master of the First Lodge in 1748; Leverett passed F. C. Oct. 11, 1749, having been made abroad, Junior Warden of the same in 1750; Williams made or admitted May 29, 1746, Junior Warden of the Master's Lodge in 1750; Byard, made or admitted May 11, 1748, Senior Warden of the First Lodge in 1750; Erving, Junior Warden of the same in 1753; Pelham, made or admitted Nov. 8, 1738, Junior Warden of the First Lodge in Boston in 1750; Tyler, made or admitted Feb. 11, 1749, Junior Warden of the Third Lodge in Boston in 1752; Gridley, made or admitted Jan. 22, 1745, was also present at the Grand Lodge, and while at this meeting was elected for nomination as Provincial Grand Master of North America. Ezekiel Price was Junior Warden of the Third Lodge in Boston in 1752; Stowe had been present at the Grand Lodge as early as 1753, though I have not his official Masonic record; and Holbrook was Junior Warden of the Second Lodge in Boston in 1752. Many of them rose to great public prominence and to exalted Masonic station. Will anyone contend that these brethren did not speak the truth, or that they did not know the facts about which they were talking? If so, they also discredit the intelligence of Benjamin Franklin, who was present and participated in the Proceedings of that meeting of Oct. 11, 1754, and who wrote the letters quoted heretofore.  No court in the world would decline to believe the evidence of the men named with their personal knowledge of the facts.

So desperate in argument has one Pennsylvania partisan become, however, that he not only ascribes Franklin's acts to unworthy political motives, but also quotes with apparent approval the words of a forgotten scurrilous writer of 1764 who calls Franklin "false and insidious," an "ungrateful incendiary," of no consideration, a vilifier, and other equally polite appellations. The impartial verdict of history has settled the integl ity of Franklin. It is to be regretted that any writer, to bolstel a weak position, finds it necessary to republish such a maudlin attack. There is equal contemporaneous evidence to discredit Washington and Lincoln and indeed every great man our country has known. Even our learned Brother in Philadelphia, who would have it believed that these Brethren had testified to what was not true, will hardly accuse Franklin of being prejudiced against Pennsylvania and in favor of Massachusetts. Nor can he so belittle the intelligence of Franklin as to have anyone believe Franklin did not know all there was to be known about the then Masonry in Philadelphia, or that Franklin would have remained present and yet non-protesting in the face of the solemnly declared claims of Massachusetts, if he did not know them to be in absolute accord with the facts. Franklin's letters of 1734 show that the knowledge came then to him and his participation in the meeting of 1754 shows that after twenty years of Masonic experience as the leading Mason of Pennsylvania, he still recognized that "Masonry Originated Here (i.e. Boston), anno 5733 and in the year following Our G. M. Price received orders from G. M. Craufurd to establish Masonry in all North America."

1755-1767

Explicit and first-hand testimony of one who knew whereof he spoke is the letter of Aug. 6, 1755, written by Henry Price himself to the Grand Secretary of Grand Lodge of England, desiring a Deputation pointing the noted Gridley as Provincial Grand Master. It is as follows:

Worthy & Dear Bro:--It was with the utmost pleasure I saw a Letter from you to the Honble Peter Leigh Esq. with his Deputation appointing him Grand Master of South Carolina the last year and whom I have had the pleasure of Seeing in our Lodges in Boston.

I would Inform you that as I rec'd my Deputation from the Right Honble Lord Montague in April 1733 Signed by Thos. Batson Esq. D.G.M. George Rook James Moor Smith Esq. G.W., made out by Bro. Reed late Grand Secretary for North America, which I held four Years and Constituted several Lodges, and was succeeded in the office by Bro: Tomlinson, and after him Bro: Oxnard who Dying it Reverted back to me again according to the Constitutions. Now with my consent all the Brethren in North America have made Choice of our Bro. Jeremy Gridley Esq. Counsellor at Law to be Grand Master for Three Years, and then the Brethren to have power to Continue him or apply for a new Grand Master, and as our numbers of Gentlemen increase here and we are the oldest (or first Constituted) Regular Lodge in America, We have made application to the Grand Master of England for our said Bro. Gridley, which application and Three Guineas we sent per Capt. John Phillips last Dec to our Rev. Bro. Entick Minster at Stepney desiring him to forward the affair, but we are surprised that we have not yet Rec'd the Deputation, nor a line from Bro Entick, whose Receipt we have for the Three Guineas p'd to him by the said Capt. John Phillips who using the London Trade may be now found at the new England Coffee House at Change Time.

 I Therefore beg the favour of you to make enquiry after the Money, and application Transmitted as aforesaid to Bro. Entick and as much as in you lies forw'd the affair, which I shall acknowledge as a great favour and will be a service to Masonry in These parts.

Masonry has had as great Success in America since my Settling here as in any part of the World (except England.) Here is not less than Forty Lodges sprung from my First Lodge in Boston. Therefore we desire that our Deputation may be made out for all North America or over all North America. I shall be glad of a few Lines from you even though you should have made out and forwarded our Deputation before this Reaches you; as I shall have sundry things to Communicate to you from Time to Time and cannot do it but by Letter to you, most of my old acquaintances of Masons being either Dead or Remov'd from London. I have some remote thoughts of once more seeing Lodon with all my Brethren in the Grand Lodge after Twenty Two years absence, In the mean Time I am

Sir! Your most affect and faithful Bro. and Humble Serv't

(Endorsed)

Boston New England

Copy of a letter

August 6, 1755.

Desiring J. Gridley's Dep.

 

MEMORIALS TO GREAT MEN WHO WERE MASONS

BY BRO. GEO. W. BAIRD, P. G. M., DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA|

IN August, 1783, the Continental Congress resolved, unanimously, to have an equestrian Statue erected of George Washington, in the Nation's Capital, and the resolution specified that Washington should be represented "in a Roman dress holding a truncheon in his right hand, and his head encircled in a laurel wreath." The resolution was never carried into effect. But in February, 1832, the House of Representatives resolved that "The President of the United States be authorized to employ Horatio Greenough, of Massachusetts, to execute, in marble, a full length pedestrian statue of Washington, to be placed in the centre of the rotunda of the Capitol: the head to be a copy of Houdon's * Washington, and the accessories to be left to the judgment of the artist."

While the legislators may have had an idea what a pedestrian statue was, artists and critics had not, and they had their jokes about the wording.

Mr. Greenough took up his residence at Florence, where he could get Carara marble, and where skilled assistance could be obtained, and there modeled and chiseled the statue, which, when completed, weighed about 21 tons.

In 1840 the Secretary of the Navy sent Captain Hull, in the famous old Frigate Ohio, to bring the statue to the United States, but, on arriving and examining the work, it was found that it was too heavy to be carried on deck (it would have capsized the ship), so captain Hull was obliged to write to Washington for permission to tear out his decks, to get the statue into the hold. As the mails were carried in sailing ships at that era, several months were consumed and it was finally determined to employ a Merchant ship for the purpose.

After several months delay the statue reached the Navy Yard at Washington, when it was discovered that there was no derrick there capable of lifting such a great weight, and, as Congress was not in session, and there being no money in the Treasury available for the purpose, it was necessary to await Congressional action, and still further time was required to build the derrick.

When this was accomplished, the Navy Yard gate not being large enough for the passage of the statue, it was determined to land it on large floats ("camels") and tow it via the canal to a point nearest the Capitol, and then skid it through the streets to its position. This was admirably done by Boatswain Waters. ** But when the statue had been lifted up the east stairs of the Building it was found the door was too small to admit it. Congress, however, supplied the funds to tear out the door framing and the statue was finally landed in the centre of the great rotunda.

The great artists of Italy, who had seen the statue had praised it so highly that its merit was accepted everywhere. The great sovereign people of the U. S., however, had become restive, and it was their privilege to find fault with something. The shape of the statue did not conform to the great vaulted dome above. The public was merciless in criticism. Mr. Greenough himself admitted that the contours were not pleasing. The public relieved itself in vulgar puns. One of these is attributed to a "Hoosier" who had visited the City for the first time, and had seen in the Patent Office (where the nucleus of a museum existed) the uniform and camp-chest of Washington. He walked around the statue and read the inscription on the three sides,

"First in War: First ill Peace: First in the hearts of his countrymen," and, turning to his companions said he had interpreted it all. He said "Washington is saying here's me sword, and me clothes is in the Patent Office."

The figure of Washington shows him handing his sword to Congress, and, with the other hand, pointing towards the Heavens, as if invoking aid and inspiration.

Smarting under the scoffs of an inconsiderate and perhaps the unlettered part of the public, Congress had the Statue moved out of the Building, about 500 feet to the eastward, where it remained until 1908 when it was placed in the Smithsonian Institution.

To an Artist, this piece of work is a dream: It has excited the admiration of connoisseurs of every Nation.

The words of Light Horse Harry Lee, uttered at the funeral of Washington, are appropriately sculptured in raised letters on the base, as quoted above, while, on the back of the chair, is engraved

Simulacrum istud

ad magnum Libertatis exemplum

nec sine ipsa duraturum

Horatius Greenough

feciebat.

Below the Rotunda there is a Crypt of immense proportions, to which place it was intended to remove the remains of General Washington, but it was never carried out.

George Washington was initiated in Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4, in Fredericksburg, Va., on the 4th of November, 1752, when in his 21st year. He was passed and raised in the same lodge. He became the charter Master of Washington Lodge, in Alexandria. He took an active part in Masonry while in the Field, when circumstances permitted. One of the records shows that "immediately after the close of the negotiations at Yorktown (the surrender of Lord Cornwallis) General Washington, General LaFayette, General Nelson and John Marshall went together to Lodge No. 9, in Yorktown and there, by their union, gave testimony to the beautiful tenets of Masonry." As Acting Master of Federal Lodge he laid the corner stone of the Capitol at Washington.

* Houdon was a member of the lodge Soeurs, in Paris.

** Mr. Waters was a member of Naval Lodge.

----0----

HUNGER

The Starving Men they walk the dust,

With hunger in their eyes.

To them a Lighted House is like

A Lamp in Paradise.

 

It is the window in the dusk,

That marks the drifter's coast;

It is the thought of love and light

That mocks the drifter most.

 

Now I have been a Starving Man

And walked the winter dusk;

And I have known how life may be

A Heaven and a Husk.

 

The Fainting Hands they pulled my sleeve,

And bade me curse the Light.

But I had seen a Rich Man's Face

That looked into the night.

 

A hungry face, a brother face,

That stared into the gloom,

And starved for life, and starved for love

Within the lighted room.

Dana Burnet. Harper's Magazine.

----o----

In one hundred years Europe will be either all Cossack or all Republic.

- Napoleon.

----o----

THE MASON I LIKE

The kind of Mason that I like,

Is one who always goes to Lodge

When not detained by reasons good -

And tries no duty there to dodge.

Who to himself is never false,

But keeps his moral record clean

Because too proud to court the base

He scorns the actions that are mean.

The kind of Mason that I like

Will strive to treat his brother right

And make his welfare, when he can,

The measure of his own delight.

Who helps him bear his daily load,

And shields him with a friendly hand;

That kind of Masonry we know,

The world will bless and understand.

The kind of Mason that I like

Will not forget to think of God

Nor fail to choose the shining way,

And follows where the good have trod.

To serve Him with a willing mind,

He builds his temple to the skies

Where light and love eternal reign:

This is the Mason that I prize.

- Neal A. McAulay.

----o----

THE FAITH OF AMERICA

Not in dumb resignation

We lift our hands on high;

Not like the nerveless fatalist

Content to trust and die.

 

Our faith springs like the Eagle

Who soars to meet the sun,

And cries exulting unto Thee,

O Lord, Thy will be done !

 

Thy will ! It bids the weak be strong,

It bids the strong be just;

No lip to fawn, no hand to beg,

No brow to seek the dust.

 

Wherever man oppresses man

Beneath Thy liberal sun,

O Lord, be there Thine arm made bare,

Thy righteous will be done.

- John Hay.

----o----

THE PLUMB

Build up your life like the temple of old

With stones that are polished and true;

Cement it with love, and adorn it with gold

As all Master builders should do:

Upon a foundation, well chosen and strong,

Build now for the ages to come:

Make use of the good, while rejecting the wrong -

And test all your work with the plumb.

- Neal A. McAulay.

 

WHENCE CAME FREEMASONRY?   WHO KNOWS?

THE BUILDER

BY BRO. J. W. NORWOOD, KENTUCKY

GREATLY to my surprise as a charter member of the National Masonic Research Society and a subscriber to "The Builder," I find in the April issue a broadside attack upon "The School of Natural Science," none he less unfortunate because cloaked with the language of ridicule and irony.

That it comes from the pen of so distinguished a Masonic journalist as Past Grand High Priest Dr. Wm. F. Kuhn of Missouri, associate editor of the Kansas City Freemason, surprises me still more. But supposing Bro. Kuhn to be a philosopher, he should not think it discourtesy if I paraphrase Shakespeare and suggest that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in his philosophy.

Not having the honor to be a member of the "Great School of Natural Science" any more than of Bernard Shaw School of Dramatists, or the Futurist School of Music, though proud to call myself a Friend of Man and of the Work, like Abou Ben Adhem, perhaps Dr. Kuhn will not consider me so biased as to ignore the following suggestions. [The editorial remarks concerning "TK" and the remarkable book "The Great Work" in the May issue of The Builder are much more in line with the spirit animating those engaged in Masonic research than Dr. Kuhn's article, and because of the disposition to be fair, evinced by the editor, I am emboldened to make these suggestions.]

First, how much real knowledge have we of the origin of Freemasonry? What does Dr. Kuhn or any of the Masonic writers he quotes, actually KNOW of the matter ? Do they not all confess the origin of Freemasonry to have been before their day and generation? How then, can he consistently assert so dogmatically that "no one will deny that the so-called philosophy was engrafted into Masonry with the evolution of the Royal Arch," in answer to the claim of the Great School that the Guilds of "Operative Masons" were but the refuge and not the origin of the Masonic system ?

If an historical discussion embracing the various legends of Masonry were entered into, probably many would be found to deny what Dr. Kuhn so positively asserts. Of late years, not even the historians of the Guild system, now almost extinct, have been able to prove their case to the satisfaction of all scholars. And then it is a matter of definition as to the meaning of Freemasonry, whether it is a mere social club or a system of morality. Also one might ask when or where the "Royal Arch" had its rise. There have been many degrees of the name, extending back thousands of years before the Christian era to the "Holy Royal Arch" of ancient Egypt.

Second, without knowledge of the subject, is it fair to condemn? Is it Masonic 

The reading of the "Great Work" and its companion books of the "Harmonic Series"--the text books of the Great School, gave the present writer unalloyed pleasure. They also challenged his belief in many statements contained therein.

Not desiring to deny matters of which he had no knowledge, there was only one course to pursue, without deliberately turning away and refusing to investigate what had been offered in the way of light upon some very dark subjects. As a Master Mason pledged to the search for Truth, he would have been false to his obligations not to have made some effort to prove or disprove matters of such alleged vital importance.

The result, so far, has been, that I have been unable to prove one single assertion made by the author of "The Great Work," false in any particular. Nor have I ever found any one else who has. I should be greatly pleased to discover any man or set of men who can do so.

On the contrary, a somewhat careful excursion into the realms of history, archaeology and comparative religion, has indicated the truth of those brief statements connecting the Great School with the origin of Freemasonry, so sneeringly flouted by Dr. Kuhn.

The author of the "Great Work" is a Freemason, a member of the same rites of which Dr. Kuhn is a member. He has not sought to impress the philosophy of the "Great School" upon Freemasonry nor to force the two into a companionship. In the sense the term is commonly used, the "Great Work" is not even regarded as a "Masonic Book."

Yet no more beautiful exposition of the Masonic tenets could be imagined than that contained in the works of this true friend of humanity. The very spirit of all that relates to Freemasonry, might be paraphrased in the words of Dr. Kuhn himself:

"I have always believed that Freemasonry was a very practical thing; a something that manifests itself, chiefly in a man's life; that it is a life and not a theory; practical living and doing, not dreaming and philosophizing. That it was a beautiful, every day practical system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols; not veiled to confuse or hide, but to make plain; not buried in symbols to obscure, but to fix indelibly, some plain, possibly homely truth."

The value of individual effort and personal responsibility is made plain without even the aid of symbols and ritual which beautify and make impressive the Fellowcraft degree. The living of a life in conformity to a "practical system of morality," is insisted upon as forcibly as ever done in a Masonic lodge. Dreaming and philosophizing are certainly not the basis of "The Great Work."

The Masonic beliefs in a Supreme Being and in a life after physical death are asserted to be scientifically true and proof is offered to all who will take advantage of it. And here comes the rub. Science hesitates and Religion denies. It almost seems as though Material Science will investigate before Religion is willing to admit the possibility that the "miraculous" is only "natural" after all.

But however strong the disbelief of the searcher after Truth, no true Freemason will ever dogmatize over his own assumed knowledge. There is but one road to Truth. Wherever it leads, whatever cherished delusions it overturns, the true Builder will follow it. If a thing is True, it cannot be otherwise and all the ridicule in the world will not make it so 

Every member of the National Masonic Research Society owes it to himself and to his membership in the Society, to investigate the claims of the "Great School," regardless of his prejudices or desires. If he can find one thing in the entire philosophy set forth in its text books, contrary to the principles of Freemasonry, he may be excused for dropping the matter and warning his fellows against it. If he should discover that the friends of the work are the truest friends of Freemasonry in this hard and cynical world, at a time when friends are most needed, he may find himself entered upon a road to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," that many have dreamed of, but few realized.

----o----

(Perhaps it will clear the air somewhat if we state, once more, the position of Dr. Kuhn and the Editor with regard to the Great Work, which Brother Norwood and some others seem to misunderstand. Several facts must be kept in mind if we are not to fall into hopeless confusion in our criticism and appreciation of the book, such facts as these:

First, the Great Work professes to be an exposition of the teachings of an ancient School of Natural Science which has existed from the beginning of time, having in its keeping records reaching back beyond the days of Moses, if not further, which school was the inspiration of Buddhism, early Christianity, and Freemasonry. Surely these are amazing statements, and yet not one item of evidence is offered in support of them. Some of us cannot accept such statements without facts to justify them on the authority of an anonymous author, and therefore we make request for proof. Truly that is reasonable if we are to seek for the truth, much less find it

Second, the Great Work purports to tell us the origin of Freemasonry in its chapter on the Lineal Key--and this is really our only interest in the book as students of the history of Masonry. Masonry, we learn, is, or was, until it turned out abortive, one of the efforts of the said Great School to instruct mankind and lead it into the light. Here again no evidence is set forth but only bare affirmation of a man who does not even sign his name--and many Masons seem willing to accept anything he says over against the labors and researches of their own historians. Brother Norwood says he has not proved the statements of TK false in any particular. Why not ask TK to prove that they are true, and save himself the logical difficulty of trying to prove a negative? If the origin of Masonry is obscure that is no valid reason for accepting the theory of TK, which is still more obscure.

Some of us, because we love Freemasonry, flatly refuse to accept any such account of its origin when no facts are forthcoming to prove it. No consider! This book calmly tells us that Masonry is only a makeshift substitute for something withheld by a mythical Great School, a faded sham, an echo, an imitation, if not a counterfeit--not the real truth that makes men free and fraternal, but a thing almost worthy of contempt alongside the alleged Great School. Indeed, Masonry is only used in this book as a kind of tail to fly the kite of the Great School in which the author is, apparently, an instructor. Seldom have we seen a book which so belittles the noble order of Freemasonry--not intentionally so, perhaps, but actually so none the less--and some of us resent it.

In these despites, we find Masons accepting the whole book as if it were a revelation. It is indeed strange. And this, too, without any evidence save the dicta of a man whom they never saw and whose name they do not know. If this is what is meant by Masonic Research, then we might as well set fire to our libraries and set sail into fairyland, the while we make contest as to who can spin the most extravagant fancy and call it history.

Third, the Great Work teaches a very noble and inspiring system of moral philosophy, and emphasizes the necessity of practicing it. With most of its ethical teaching we agree, though we would use different words to express it. (For example, much is said about "the constructive principle of the universe"--a large remark, truly--which we take to mean the principle on which the universe is constructed; since no one ever heard of a principle constructing anything, not even a sewing machine.) The reading of the moral thesis of the book will do a man good. It will bring him to pause and think if he is living a careless and unworthy life. It will compel him to realize that intelligent righteousness is the only solid basis of character, and inspire him to do justly and love mercy. But the value of its moral teaching does not prove that its historical statements are true--not at all. The two things are different, and the one does not prove the other.

Fourth, the author of the Great Work claims to have found, or rather learned, a process by which he not only can, but actually has, demonstrated scientifically the fact of life after physical death. The formula is not disclosed in the book, it being deemed indiscreet and dangerous to make it known; but the author offers to teach it to any one who approves himself worthy to receive it-- making himself, in this way, a kind of keeper of the keys to a knowledge of a future life. It may all be true. For ourselves, we are content to live by the ancient, high and heroic faith which Masonry teaches in her great and simple drama, and face the future as brave men have faced it before us.

Now surely Brother Norwood can understand, from this statement of our case, why we suggested that the Great Work should be read with discrimination and care, like all other books. He agrees that it is not a Masonic book, albeit written by a Mason, it is said, and professing to tell us the origin, or rather the decay, of Masonry. If we have dealt with this part of the book sharply, and not without satire, it is because it is an injury to the cause of Masonic Research. If we have not made the matter plain in this statement, then it is because we are hopelessly stupid and will not try it again.--The Editor.)

----o----

THE SECRET

A sunbeam fell across the way I trod.

"Whence do you come?" I asked; it said, "From God."

"Where do you go; what is your mission here ?" With radiant head

The sunbeam brighter shone. "I am the love Of life," it said.

----o----

"Death has no existence for the wise man: it is a phantom made hideous by the ignorance and weakness of the crowd. Change is the evidence of movement, and movement is life. The very corpse would not decompose were it dead; all the molecules which form it remain alive and are in motion to disintegrate. And you think that mind is the first to be dissipated and lives no more! You believe that thought and love can cease when the grossest matter never perishes!"

--Eliphas Levi

 

THE LANDMARKS OF MASONRY

BY BRO. SILAS H. SHEPHERD, WISCONSIN

THE "Ancient Landmarks" and "Landmarks of Masonry" are terms which appear throughout the literature of Masonry, and are the source of deep study by many Craftsmen who have devoted time, talent and genius to promote the best interests of our fraternity.

On the subject of "landmarks," as on the subjects of history and symbolism, there is a great diversity of opinion, both by Grand Lodges and by individuals, and the need of a comparison of ideas which are held by those who have made the subject a study was the cause which prompted us to compile this article.

"What is a landmark?" is a debatable question. It has been answered in part by definitions; it has also been answered by enumerating certain laws or customs which are considered landmarks by the authors of the compilations; it has also been considered a proper subject for legislation by some Grand Lodges and they have enacted laws as to what are to be considered landmarks in their jurisdiction.

After the organization of the Premier Grand Lodge in 1717, the "Charges of a Freemason" were extracted from the old manuscript copies and a set of thirty-nine "General Regulations" were adopted, the last of which reads in part as follows: "Every Annual Grand Lodge has an inherent power and authority to make new Regulations, or to alter these, for the real benefit of this ancient Fraternity: Provided, always, that the old Land-Marks be carefully preserved." This is the earliest mention of landmarks in connection with Freemasonry.

Neither at that time nor at any subsequent period can we find any enumeration of landmarks by the Grand Lodge of England, "Ancient," "Modern" or United.

On Oct. 19th, 1810, the Lodge of Promulgation resolved "that it appears to this Lodge, that the ceremony of Installation of Masters of Lodges, is one of the two Land Marks of the Craft and ought to be observed.

We are left entirely in the dark as to what they considered the other landmark. This is the only case where we have been able to find any attempt to say how many or what constituted a landmark until 1856 when the Grand Lodge of Minnesota adopted a list of twenty-six articles which had the force of landmarks, which was two years earlier than Bro. Albert Mackey enumerated his list which has been generally considered the first attempt to enumerate them.

We will give the definition of landmarks by several learned brethren.

"Of the nature of the Landmarks of Masonry, there has been some diversity of opinion among writers; but perhaps the safest method is to restrict them to those ancient, and therefore universal, customs of the Order, which either gradually grew into operation as rules of action. or if at once enacted by any competent authority, were enacted at a period so remote, that no account of their origin is to be found in the records of history." (Albert G. Mackey, Mas. Jur. page 15.)

"The very definition of Landmarks shows that an enumeration of them is scarcely possible. All we can know is that it is a law or a custom that has existed from time immemorial. If any universal usage exists, and has existed so long that its origin is unknown, it is a Landmark." (Josiah Drummond, Maine Masonic Text Book.)

"With respect to the Landmarks of Masonry, some restrict them to the O.B., signs, tokens and words. Others include the ceremony of initiation, passing and raising; and the form, dimensions and supports; the ground, situation and covering; the ornaments, furniture and jewels of a Lodge, or their characteristic symbols. Some think that the order has no landmarks beyond its peculiar secrets. (Geo. Oliver, Dict. Symb. Mas. )

"We assume those principles of action to be Landmarks which have existed from time immemorial, whether in the written or unwritten law; which are identified with the form and essence of the society; which, the great majority agree, cannot be changed, and which every Mason is bound to maintain intact, under the most solemn and inviolable sanctions." (Simons, Prin. of Mas. Juris.)

"Those fixed tenets by which the limits of Freemasonry may be known and preserved." (Dictionary of Freemasonry, Morris.)

"The Landmarks of Masonry are those ancient principles and practices which mark out and distinguish Freemasonry as such, and they are the source of Masonic Jurisprudence." (Lockwood's Mas. Law and Practice, Page 14.)

My idea of an Ancient Landmark is a rule or usage of the Premier Grand Lodge which can not be abrogated, without cutting off the offending Body from the Universal Craft." (W. J. Hughan.)

"A belief in God, oui Father; in the immortality of the soul; in the brotherhood of man; and in the necessary practice of all the moral and social virtue, were the essentials, our duty to God, our country, our neighbor and ourselves, was everywhere and universally inculcated. These we take to be the Landmarks of the Order." (John Q. A. Fellows, Proc. G. L. of La., 1889.)

"A 'Landmark' that cannot be established by the writings of the fathers, or other recognized authorities, to have been the rule or belief among Freemasons in 1723 and before, or that is not now generally accepted as such, can hardly be held as Landmark. (H. B. Grant, Const. G. L. of Ky., 1910.)

 "A Landmark, to be a Landmark, must command the universal respect and observance of all Masons." (T. S. Parvin, Iowa Proc. 1889, Page 106, cor. report.)

"The fundamental principles of the Ancient Operative Masonry were few and simple, and they were not called landmarks. Each lodge was independent of every other, and there was no superior authority over all. Each was composed of Apprentices and FellowCrafts. Each had its Master and Wardens, and these were elected by vote of all the members. The ancient charges show by what principles the relations of those of the fellowship to each other were regulated; and these may not improperly be said to have been the 'landmarks' of the Craft." (Albert Pike, Iowa Proc. 1888, Page 156, cor. report.)

"The Old Landmarks were, in fact, the secrets which existed amongst the Operative Masons in the days when they alone supplied the membership of the Craft." (W. B. Hextall, Ars. Q. C. XXV, Page 91.) "The Ancient Landmarks of Freemasonry, like all other landmarks material or symbolical, can only preserve their stability, when they reach down to sure foundations. When the philosophic student unearths the underlying rock on which our Ancient Landmarks rest, he finds our sure foundations in the triple dogma Georgia-- of the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man, and the Life to come. All laws, customs and methods that obtain amongst us and do not ultimately find footholds on this basis, are thereby earmarked as conventions and conveniences, no way partaking of the nature of Ancient Landmarks." (Chetwode Crawley, Ars. Q. C. XXIII. )

The Masonic Congress at Chicago in 1893 defined the landmarks thus:

"The Ancient Landmarks are those fundamental principles which characterize Masonry as defined by the Charges of a Freemason, and without which the institution cannot be identified as Masonry, combined with the essentials of the unwritten language by which brethren distinguished each other as Masons."

Having given a few of the definitions of landmarks by individual brethren and the collective opinion of the Masonic Congress at Chicago, 1893, which was very representative of Masonic scholarship in America, we will give what each Grand Lodge in the United States does or does not do in respect to landmarks.

Alabama--

Alabama recognizes as the landmarks the Old Charges of 1722 by Anderson.  Arizona--

Arizona is the only Grand Lodge on which we have no authentic information. We have searched the proceedings in vain to find what they hold to be the landmarks and have not been favored with a reply to our letter of inquiry.

Arkansas-- Arkansas has no enumeration of the landmarks.

California-- California-- California has no legislation on the subject of landmarks, but as a general proposition accepts Mackey's twenty-five.

Colorado. Colorado has never adopted a particular list of landmarks, having been governed by the old constitutions and those published in Mackey's Encyclopedia.

Connecticut-- Connecticut has adopted as its code the treatise known as "Lockwood's Masonic Law and Practice" and by inference holds to the specification of Landmarks contained therein.

Delaware-- No mention is made of Landmarks in the Constitution of 1909 and no list of landmarks appears in their code.

District of Columbia-- The District of Columbia accepts as the landmarks the twenty-five laid down by Mackey.

In the Masonic Code of 1905 is a valuable address on the "Outline of Masonic Law," by Geo. H. Walker, P. G. M.

Florida-- Florida has never taken any action on the subject of landmarks.

Georgia-- Georgia has no list of landmarks. Art. IV of the Constitution of 1909 reads: "The Grand Lodge shall have power as follows: To propose, enact and establish new regulations for the government of the Craft within its jurisdiction, and the same to alter, amend, explain or repeal, not contravening the ancient landmarks of the Order."

Edict 177 reads: "The Unwritten Law, the Immemorial Usages, the Landmarks and the like, of Masonry, are not repealed by the adoption of any Constitution and By-Laws, nor is it in the power of any man or body of men to change, alter or repeal these or any of them."

Idaho-- Idaho has no legislation defining or enumerating what landmarks are.

Illinois-- Illinois has no legislation defining landmarks. Illinois follows Robbins and Drummond on this subject.

Indiana-- No mention is made in the Indiana Constitution of Landmarks; and no list of landmarks appears in their code.

Iowa-- Iowa has no list of landmarks. The following is Sec. 5, Gen. Law: "The unwritten laws of this jurisdiction consist of the time honored customs and usages of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of general recognition, as they are found in the traditional and historic records of Freemasonry and adapted to the conditions and time in which we live, together with such rules for application as will perpetuate its integrity and usefulness, and not repugnant to its written laws."

Kansas-- Kansas does not consider the landmarks a subject for legislation. With their code they publish the "Bassett notes" containing list of landmarks by Mackey, Morris, Simons and Lockwood for the information of the brethren.

Kentucky-- The declaration at the beginning of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky 1908, reads: "The Grand Lodge of Kentucky acknowledges belief in God to be the great fundamental principle and Landmark of Masonry upon which our fraternity is erected."

The Ancient Charges of 1723 are printed on pages 200-205, and on pages 209 to 240 are the "Ancient Landmarks with supporting evidence," by H. B. Grant, 54 in number. (G. W. Speth reviewed them in Ars. Q. C. VII.)

Louisiana-- Louisiana Constitution of 1902, Sec. 4, second paragraph, considering the powers of the Grand Lodge reads: "It may make all laws and regulations necessary for the government of the lodges and brethren under its jurisdiction, and for the propagation and advancement of the true principles and work of Ancient Freemasonry, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution, the old Charges of Free and Accepted Masons of 1723 hereunto annexed, or the ancient usages and landmarks of the Order."

Edict 44 reads: "That the only written landmarks are those in the ancient Charges of the Craft, forming part of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge; and the unwritten, those contained in the ceremonies of initiation, and the ties which bind us together as Masons: Nor is it proper by legislation to make any new obligations with penalties attached, nor for a lodge to attempt, by resolution, to define the landmarks of the Craft."

----o----

FURTHER LIGHT IN MASONRY

As I look down the misty past

Through its vistas dim and weird and vast,

Through the centuries of life and joy

And the monuments of its employ,

My craving centers in the plea

For "further light in Masonry."

 

The stones were from the quarries raised,

And paths through mighty forests blazed.

The throbbing heart of labor then

Was in the patient days of men.

But much is vague, and hence my plea

For "further light in Masonry."

 

And as the craftsman learned the arts

Of the operative in all its parts,

And traveled to foreign lands away

To wages earn and skill display,

My heart goes with them in the plea

For "further light in Masonry."

 

And as those builders, great in heart

And in the world's then foremost art

Sought in themselves the nobler things

That brotherhood unfailing brings,

I catch their spirit in my plea

For "further light in Masonry."

 

And O, what minds conceived the plan

Of working out the art for man

From the symbols to the lessons taught

That have so long such blessings brought!

My wonder accentuates the plea

For "further light in Masonry."

 

And through it all their work so rare

Was guarded with such tender care

That centuries of dire unrest

 

Left all their landmarks at their best.

All this gives interest to my plea

For "further light in Masonry."

 

Than this, there is no richer field.

The quest, the rarest treasures yield.

And the rewards? O brother mine,

They may not all be known in time.

Let life be one insistent plea

For "further light in Masonry."

L. B. Mitchell, Michigan.

----o----

THOU LITTLE HEART

Is this wide world not large enough to fill thee,

Nor Nature, nor that deep man's Nature, Art ?

Are they too thin, too weak and poor to still thee,

Thou little heart?

Dust thou art, and to dust again returnest,

A spark of fire within a beating clod.

Should that be infinite for which Thou burnest ?

Must it be God?

--Mary Coleridge

----o----

DOUBT

Destiny has many disguises and many moods. Sometimes the unexpected leaps from its hiding place and strikes stunning blows right and left, like Orestes among the steers in Tauris, or a maniac let loose among sane men. But sometime Fate lurks in her lair, silent poring over the tablets of the future, and she notes all we say, scrawling 'Folly' against our wisest speeches and stamping 'So be it' under the carelessly spoken jest.

--F. Marion Crawford.

EDITORIAL

(The Builder is an open forum for free and fraternal discussion. Each of its contributors writes under his own name, and is responsible for his own opinions. Believing that a unity of spirit is better than a uniformity of opinion, the Research Society, as such, does not champion any one school of Masonic thought as over against another; but offers to all alike a medium for fellowship and instruction, leaving each to stand or fall by its own merits.)

PRAYER IN MASONRY

No Mason, we are told, ought ever to enter upon any great and important undertaking without first invoking the aid of Deity. Even so, but how few pause to consider how large a place prayer has in Masonry, and what this means for the culture of the soul. A Lodge is a temple; at its center is an altar of light; its rites are an allegory of human life. It is thus that Masonry is mystical, as music is mystical - like poetry, like love, like all else that makes it worth our time to live and look up at the stars. For mysticism is only a big word for the deep truth that the kingdom of heaven is within us. As well ask why birds sing and flowers grow as to ask why man prays. He cannot help it:

"Dream unto dream may pass:

Deep in the heart alone

Murmurs the Almighty One

His solemn undertone."

The first sermon of Emerson was about prayer, and it had three points. First, all men are always praying; second, all prayers are answered without fail; third, beware, then, what you pray for, lest it mean your undoing. These statements, if they seem startling at first sight, are none the less true, and they go down to the root of the matter. All men are always praying whether they know it or not. When a farmer sows his seed, by that act he makes prayer to the God of the harvest. If a man of science seeks truth, it is because he believes that truth exists and that it can be found. Unconscious oft, unsatisfied ever, his search is a prayer to the God of truth. The religion of a man is not what he professes, but what he lives out and acts upon from day to day. His life is his religion, and what he most desires is his unceasing prayer.

All prayers are answered without fail, since by a law of the mind we become what we pray for, seek after, and most desire. When we have a thing in mind it is not long before we have it in our hearts, if not in our hands. On the kind of asking a man does depends the quality of his manhood and the worth of his iife. If his unconscious prayer be solely for material things he will become a materialist, and learn, perhaps too late, that nothing fails like success. His prayer is not only answered, but the deed of transfer is recorded in his face, as the deed is also recorded on the face of him whose prayers have won for him a citizenship in the Kingdom of Light. As Elizabeth Browning said:

"In a mother undefiled

Prayer goeth on in sleep, as true

And pauseless as the pulses go;"

and its answer is recorded in a face written all over with the hieroglyphs of beauty, and in lines where smiles fall asleep when they are weary.

Hence the wise warning, so little heeded, to be careful what we pray for, especially in youth, for in old age it will come upon us. At last, there seems to fulfill itself for every man that adage of Goethe which, when we first read it, appears a mere paradox: "Of that which a man desires in youth, of that he shall have in age as much as he will." Aye, let a man be careful what he desires unconsciously today, for tomorrow he may get it, and the price he pays for it may mean the defeat and ruin of everything he consciously desired. Moral victory lies in teaching the deepest desires of our nature to serve the highest ends of life. Our characters are the sum of our answered prayers; they reveal today what we have been really asking, desiring, pursuing in the days that have passed; For what a man is speaks louder than what he says, and his reigning desire is an unceasing prayer the answer to which is inevitable.

Having one Father we are united, to the last man of us, forever. No man liveth unto himself, no man prayeth unto himself, not even when he enters the closet of his heart to pray to the Father in secret. Not my Father, but "our Father," must be his prayer, each one praying for all, and all for each one. For better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in life and death and the Beyond men are held together by ties of spiritual kinship and destiny. By the same token, no man may ever hope to find God save as he seeks Him in the great communion of humanity. This is the Prayer of Brotherhood, in which no man will wish to ask anything for himself that he does not ask, with equal fervor, for all his fellows. Only when he resolves to share the fate of his fellows, light or no light, heaven or no heaven, do the heavens open and the light of the Eternal shine round about him.

My Brother, let those who will go in quest of the secrets of Masonry to some remote Arcana of the Occult, but if we look into our own hearts we shall find its most precious mysteries, the while with clasped hands we offer our prayer at its Altar of Light, drawn together by our common need and necessity into a sweet, forgiving Charity, if so that we may be worthy of the mercy of God, having learned to be merciful to one another. Even so each may learn the sovereign Secret not only of Masonry, but of human life, and become initiates into that eternal mysticism which is the soul of all symbolism, as it is the strength and solace of all souls that struggle and aspire !

A number of Brethren have written to say that they cannot understand our "hostility to the philosophy of TK set forth in the Great Work." Why, God bless you, we have not so much as mentioned the philosophy of TK, except to praise it. With the central chapters of the book we have no quarrel at all, having learned its teaching long ago from Aristotle with his "perfecting principle in Nature," in harmony with which, as he taught, we must order our lives if we would live nobly and happily. That philosophy is no more peculiar to TK, save in his manner of stating it, than is the multiplication table, which was in use several years before he wrote the Great Work. Philosophy is one thing, history is another, and it ought not to be difficult to distinguish between them.. Of course it is unpleasant to be handcuffed, so to speak, and tied down to documents, but if we are to have any historical research we must deal with facts and proofs, and no amount of moral philosophy can relieve us of our labor. What we have done is to ask for proof of the astonishing statements made in the Great Work as to the origin and history of Masonry, not out of hostility to the writer or his book, but in behalf of the truth of history.

* * *

The Editor of the Occult Review has the kindness to say "that The Builder and The New Age are not in the same category, but there is nothing in English Masonic literature to compare with either." Such words, coming from so noble a scholar, are most encouraging, and we are happy to share them with the Brethren who edit the official organ of the Scottish Rite in its Southern Jurisdiction. We quote these words for the opportunity which they offer of expressing our appreciation of the attitude of the Masonic press, both at home and abroad, toward this Society, its journal, and its purpose and ideal. Almost without exception our Brethren of the press saw, at once, that The Builder is in no sense a rival of any Masonic publication, but has a field and program of its own, unique and vastly significant, the working out of which means an enrichment of Masonic journalism of every rite and jurisdiction. For this spirit of co-operation and good will we are profoundly grateful, and we sincerely hope that it will never in any way be marred.

* *  *

CORRESPONDENCE

Dear Brother: - The very interesting article in the June issue of "The Builder" by Bro. Kuhn, entitled "When the Almond Tree Blossoms," brings to the mind of many readers a deep and careful consideration of the meaning of the many beautiful metaphors in which the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes abounds.

The revised version of this beautiful chapter, as given in the article, demonstrates in a measure by its understanding of the meaning of the text, that there are different understandings of some of its metaphors, an apparent fact that I confess that I had never noticed before reading the article.

I refer in particular to that part of the 5th verse "and desire shall fail" which to my mind, and I have always heard it so considered, points out the time that comes with approaching old age when the circulation of the blood is less rapid, when the sensibilities are duller in many a delicate nerve, calloused or weakened by long action or debilitated by abuse, when the stiffening of muscles with the lapse of time leave a less desire for the sports and action of youth, when the appetite has grown more feeble as compared with the strong appetites of youth and childhood, when the fires of youth have cooled, those fires which potent manhood in its prime, shows with greatest vigor and which often seem uncontrollable.

These, to my mind, are the "desires" which fail, and which the writer of the beautiful lines had in mind and but poorly expressed in the revision when it says "and all stimulants fail" which introduces a new thought not in line with the rest, as a means of counteracting the failure of desire and other growing debilities, of which there is no suggestion elsewhere in the discourse which confines itself entirely to man's physical decay until "the dust shall return to the earth as it was."

I believe that I have expressed the meaning of this passage in a better way on page 122 of "Poems of the Temple."

"His hoary head, like Almond tree, conspicuous will seem

Among the congregation where perchance he may appear, Like the grasshopper so lively, now, almost as in a dream

He becomes a heavy burden and his path is dark and dream Then with his weakened faculties, and cooling of youth's fire

And his appetites and passions duller grown in later years, He has reached at last the period of the failure of desire

And his conduct, with the quiet mien of apathy appears."

It may be that in some instances the arrangement of the discourse into verses, mars the continuity of the thought, yet often a revision such as this, bringing in new words in places, with a different meaning from those of the text, presents the reader with a less beautiful idea than the words of the original text, especially when the new word chosen is not synonymous with the old word, and the word "stimulant" by no means represents the same idea as "desire" although it may sometimes be used to incite desire. and so may many other things.

Yours fraternally

Lewis A. McConnell, Michigan.

(We are grateful not only for this good letter, but also for the opportunity which it gives of calling attention to a volume of verse, entitled "Poems of the Temple," in which Brother McConnell has interpreted, often in beautiful and noble form, much of the spirit, symbolism, teaching and aspiration of Masonry. The poems deaf with the Landmarks of the Order, its Biblical imagery, its legendary history and lore, its symbols, its great and simple truths, its patriotic faith and passion. They breathe a spirit of faith and love and loyalty such as only one who has "labored on the Temple" can know, and those who read them will discover anew what it means to think of life, of duty, of God, of character, of immortality in terms of Masonic imagery and faith.)

* * *

RAKING IN THE RUBBISH.

My dear Sir: - I regret to say that, since reading your book, The Builders, my former enthusiasm for the Research Society has been jolted. I find to my surprise that in your book you only reiterate the Speculative Theories of alleged authorities on Freemasonry, and, like many of them, you confound the Spiritual Builders of Human Character with the temple builders in "physical material." Such an imputation seems to me ridiculous, and I cannot bring myself to believe that Socrates, Pythagoras, Jesus and the two Saints John were simply members of an ancient Bricklayer's Union, or skillful artisans, or architects of material edifices. To me they were Freemasons, building and teaching others to build the Temple of their own character, that is, each freeing his individual soul from evil passions, desires and tendencies, and thus preparing them as acceptable to the Craft before the Supreme Architect as just and upright Masons.

I still more regret your derogation of the Great Work as unmerited, prejudicial, and unworthy of a man of your high ideals and lofty aspirations. And, speaking from personal exnerience, I venture to say that anv earnest, sincere and unbiased Mason will find in the Great Work a more fruitful field of more practical knowledge, truth and wisdom in a single day, than a thousand prejudiced men could find in a thousand years searching among the obsolete theories and musty records of ill-informed authors. Your book is an elaborate compendium of what you found by hard labor in the Rubbish of the Temple. It will produce no better results than to lead members of the Fraternity deeper into the wilderness of man-made opinions. Unable or unwilling to prove its truth or demonstrate its fallacy, you reject a message that points out the way to "More Light." And thus, once more Intellectual Vanity triumphs over true Humility and Wisdom hides her face, ashamed of her fruitless appeals to the children of men.

Yours truly,

G. A. Walter, Chicago.

(We publish this letter, as an example of many others, to show that the Great Work and its propaganda means the belittlement of Masonry and an injury to the Fraternity. Here is a Brother who, from his serene height of imaginary knowledge, looks down upon men like Gould and Hughan - not to speak of ye humble editor and author - as rakers in the rubbish, the victims of vanity who leave a scrap-heap for a monument. Apparently he regards the history of organized Masonry - one of the great institutions of mankind - as contemptible and unworthy of study. What he means by Masonry, is hard to know. If every one who builds a beautiful character is to be reckoned a Mason - as this Brother reckons Socrates and Jesus - why not include the women also; our mothers, for example, so loyal in their faith, so lovely in their lives, whose hearts are homes of silent prayer? Of course, the purpose of Masonry is to teach men to build character, but such is also the purpose of the home, of the church, and of every human institution worthy of our honor. Masonry is unique only in the form in which it embodies the genius of the higher human life, and the method which it uses to promote it. As such it is a definite institution, having a history and an organization, the better to promote that spiritual building of character of which our Brother speaks; and we think that history and organization are worthy of respect. To be sure, Jesus did not belong to a Bricklayer;s Union - no, He was a carpenter - but we are quite sure that He would not sneer at a company of bricklayers, as our correspondent seems to do. Like the Great Work - whose heavenly wisdom he contrasts with man-made opinions - our Brother belittles the old operative Masons, not knowing, probably, that the order of Freemasons included the greatest artists and thinkers of the age; which fact he might learn from one of those "ill-informed authors" whom he affects to look down upon. Finally, we have not been guilty of any "derogation" of the Great Work and its author. For all the good the book has done we are grateful; but when it purports to give the origin of Masonry, we ask for proof. No doubt it is refreshing to dis