The Builder Magazine

March 1917 - Volume III - Number 3

 

MASONIC DEGREES IN ENGLAND

BY BRO. C. C. ADAMS, CANADA

EVERYTHING that Masonry has to teach is to be found in the three Symbolic Degrees, and it is generally recognized that the Grades and Orders which have grown up around Craft Masonry are not positively essential, but are useful insofar as they shed further light on the fundamental teachings. Most of these degrees are of modern origin, and their number is legion. Many have been organized and placed on the Masonic market by some enterprising Brother, who has made-them popular for a time, but when they were found to have no real value they quickly disappeared into that oblivion from which they had come.

 

There is no need to consider these Masonic mushrooms further, but there are a number of degrees outside the pale of the Symbolic Lodge which have a real utility, have spread over most of the civilized world, and have had an uninterrupted existence long enough to prove their real value.

 

At the present time, there are probably more of these degrees to be found in England than in any other English speaking country, and their organization and arrangement is very different to that in America, so that a short description of the systems of degrees in England may be of interest.

 

The York Rite of the United States and Canada, and the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, cover almost all the degrees now actively worked in North America, but in England the York Rite is unknown. All the thirteen degrees, with the exception of the Degree of Past Master, are worked in England, but they come under six different governing bodies, and are not organized into one system.

 

The Craft is governed by the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England, which came into existence at the Union of the Ancient and Modern Grand Lodges in 1813, and according to the Constitutions of this body "pure Ancient Masonry consists of three degrees and no more, viz.: those of the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft and the Master Mason, including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch." Consequently, outside St. John's Masonry, the only recognized Degree or Order is that of the Royal Arch.

 

The Grand Lodge holds communications every three months, the Officers being appointed annually. The jurisdiction is divided into Provinces and Districts, the former in England and Wales and the latter in other parts of the Empire. Each Province is ruled by a Provincial Grand Master who is appointed by the Grand Master. He selects his own Officers in his Provincial Grand Lodge, which usually meets annually. The government of a District is carried out in the same way by a District Grand Master. The boundaries of the majority of the Provinces coincide with those of the English counties; Lodges, however, in the city of London are not governed in this way, but are directly under the rule of the Grand Lodge. This system of government also obtains in the majority of other degrees.

 

Under this Constitution, the Apprentice is considered as a Mason and as well entitled to have a voice and to vote in the Lodge as any other member. For this reason, all routine work and general business is carried out in the First Degree. Lodges are opened first in the First Degree and then in the Second and Third Degrees successively, if required for ceremonial work.

 

The Master, Treasurer and Tyler of each Private Lodge are elected annually by the members. The Master appoints his Wardens and all the remaining officers.

 

The ceremonial work is, of course, essentially the same as that found in America. An interesting point in English Lodges is that the American form of Altar is unknown. The Greater Lights are placed on the pedestal in front of the Master.

 

The Holy Royal Arch is governed by the Supreme Grand Chapter which works in conjunction with the United Grand Lodge. Each Private Chapter must be attached to a Craft Lodge and carries the same number on the Register. The First Principal of the Chapter represents Z, the Second, H, and the Third, J. In the Ritual, the sequence of events is slightly different to that of America and the ceremony of "Passing the Veils" is omitted except in a few Chapters.

 

The Degree of Grand High Priest is not very widely known in Great Britain; it is conferred on installed Third Principals in the Order of the Holy Royal Arch, and is under the jurisdiction of the Grand Council of the Allied Degrees, and will be further considered in relation to that body.

 

The Mark Master's Degree is conferred on Master Masons under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons. This degree may be taken either before or after the Royal Arch. The Degree of Royal Ark Mariner is governed by the Grand Master of Mark Master Masons assisted by the Royal Ark Council, and is conferred only on Mark Masters. It appears to have had its origin in England about the end of the eighteenth century, and is little known outside that country. The time is symbolically that of the Deluge, and certain moral truths are inculcated.

 

Some years ago a proposition was made in the United Grand Lodge of England to recognize the degree of Mark Master. This was carried, but a great number of opposers to this innovation attended the following Quarterly Communication, with the result that the minutes of the previous meeting were not confirmed. Since then the question has not again been raised.

 

The Degree of Most Excellent Master is conferred by Councils of Royal and Select Masters, which also give the Degrees of Royal, Select and Super-Excellent Master. These degrees are conferred on members of the Order of the Holy Royal Arch who are also Mark Master Masons.

 

The Order of the Temple in England is governed by the Great Priory assisted by Provincial Priories. The bodies conferring the Order are entitled Preceptories, the ruler of each being a Preceptor. Although essentially the same as the American work, the English Ritual is not so elaborate and the clothing is simpler. The frock coat and hat are unknown in the British Isles, and members of the Order on all ceremonial occasions wear the white tunic and mantle and a crimson velvet cap. The Orders of the Temple and Malta can be conferred on Royal Arch Masons whether they have taken any other degrees or not. The candidate is first installed a Knight of the Temple and the Mediterranean Pass is conferred as a preliminary degree to the Order of Malta.

 

The Red Cross Degree is unknown by that name but is substantially the same as the Red Cross of Babylon, which is under the jurisdiction of the Grand Council of the Allied Degrees.

 

This completes the list of degrees of what is known as the York Rite in America. The next series for consideration is the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, or, as it is known in England, the Ancient and Accepted Rite, the title "Scottish" having been dropped by the Supreme Council some years ago. This system is very different to that under the two jurisdictions of the United States. Only five of the thirty-three degrees are conferred ceremonially, namely the 18th, 30th, 31st, 32d and 33d degrees. Chapters of Princes Rose Croix are chartered by the Supreme Council, and these bodies have power to confer the degrees from the 4d to the 17d in a short form, and the Degree of Sovereign Prince Rose Croix in full. This is the only degree conferred ceremonially by Rose Croix Chapters. There are no Consistories in this jurisdiction and the higher degrees are only conferred by the Supreme Council. Applicants for the 30d, which is the next conferred in full after the 18d, must have been members of the Order for three years at least, and installed as Most Wise Sovereign in the Chair of a Rose Croix Chapter. The degrees from the 19d to the 29d are conferred in short form on Candidates for the 30d. The Supreme Council select all members for the higher degrees, and the numbers are limited in the case of the 31d to 99 members, and in the case of the 32d to 63 members. The 33d is limited in a similar way and nine members of that degree constitute the Supreme Council.

 

The Degrees of Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine, Knight of the Holy Sepulchre and Knight of St. John the Evangelist are conferred in Conclaves of the Masonic and Military Order. Candidates for admission must be Master Masons and in the case of the two latter degrees, Royal Arch Masons. The supreme authority for this series is the Grand Imperial Conclave of England.

 

There is one other Masonic governing body of importance in England, namely, the Grand Council of the Allied Degrees, which has under its jurisdiction a very large number of side degrees. As in every country where the Craft has made great progress, a large number of honorary and side degrees have appeared in England from time to time. Some of these have been conferred in Lodges having no central authority, while others were communicated by one Mason to another. To give these degrees a common form of government this Grand Council was formed. It has under its jurisdiction over forty distinct degrees many of which are not now worked. Every Council under this obedience has authority to work the degrees of St. Lawrence the Martyr, Grand Tyler of King Solomon, Knights of Constantinople, the Red Cross of Babylon, Grand High Priest and Secret Monitor. The two former of these are, I believe, unknown in America, while the third is slightly known. The Degree of Grand Tyler of King Solomon is very similar to that of Select Master in the York Rite. The Red Cross of Babylon is substantially the same as the Red Cross Degree conferred as a preliminary to the Order of the Temple in American Commanderies. The Degree of Grand High Priest which is conferred on installed Third Principals of Royal Arch Chapters probably came from the United States, and the Rituals in the two countries are almost identical. The Degree of Secret Monitor is well known as a side degree in some parts of America. In addition to being conferred by Councils of the Allied Degrees in England, it is worked in more extensive form in Conclaves under the jurisdiction of the Grand Conclave of the Order of the Secret Monitor, which is a body quite distinct from the Grand Council of the Allied Degrees. Of the remaining degrees, under the obedience of the Grand Council, some are conferred by the Royal Kent Tabernacle and Council at Newcastle-on-Tyne, while the remainder are not now actively worked.

 

In England, there are now five Provincial Grand Lodges of the Royal Order of Scotland. The oldest of these is the Provincial Grand Lodge of London and the Metropolitan Counties and this only confers the Order and Knighthood on Masons of the 30d:

 

An article on this subject would not be complete without mentioning the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia which was put into form in 1866 by Robert Wentworth Little. This organization is not Masonic in its nature but requires Candidates to be Master Masons. Its ceremonies are hermetic in origin, and its object is purely literary.

 

Of the hundreds of Masonic degrees which have been found in England at different times, very many have fallen into disuse. There still exist, however, a great number, and it has been no easy problem to make sufficient mention of the more worthy ones and yet to keep this article within reasonable bounds. All over the world it is the same; the Craft is the immovable basis on which a superstructure of explanatory degrees is being built. Some of these are useful and take a firm hold, but others have no sufficient reason for their existence. They last for a time and then fall into the abyss and are forgotten.

 

----o----

 

THE LAMB-SKIN

 

BY BRO. J.N. SAUNDERS, G.M., KENTUCKY

 

The old Patriarch of Israel, as evidence of fatherly preference, clothed the son of his old age in a coat of many colors, but this token of his love for Joseph did but kindle the envious hatred of his brethren who tended Jacob's flocks.

 

You are now to be clothed, not in a coat of many colors--typical of life's changing fortunes, the bright spots and the dark emblematic of paternal love and fraternal hate; but you are to be clothed with the spotless lamb-skin, the emblem of innocence, the badge of purity, the Mason's distinctive garb.

 

Let its pure white fold be to you an incentive to purity of life. Let its strong, but pliant, texture encourage you in strength of manly character, and stimulate within you a ready willingness to conform your acts and desires to the good of our order, and the harmonious concurrence of the Craft.

 

The valiant Knight, that forth to battle rode, was clad in iron armor and bore a deadly lance, from the visor of his helmet he looked out upon a hostile throng, his sole endeavor to take that which no man can give.

 

As an Entered Apprentice you stand not among contending foes, but in the midst of brothers, firm, tried and true. The Mason's armor is the breast plate of righteousness, his weapon, offensive and defensive, the sword of truth; his helmet, virtue's crown. From his waist swings not the warrior's bloody sash, but the white leather apron, as pure and soft as a woman's cheek.

 

You'll be judged by the way you wear it,

You'll be measured by your life,

You'll be watched as you do battle

In life's ever-changing strife.

Bear you well the-part assigned you,

Keep your heart attune to love,

Let sweet Charity control you,

Lift your prayers to God, above.

Keep this lamb-skin pure and spotless,

Let your life be free from stain,

Let your hand be ever ready

To relieve a brother's pain.

God, our Father, will reward you

As you keep this garment clean,

Your brothers here will emulate

All your manly virtues seen.

Then let this lamb-skin, soft and white,

Entrusted to your keeping,

Be monitor to moral life

In wakeful hour, or sleeping.

In your full Masonic triumph

You will wear it with delight--

We'll wrap it round your lifeless form

When you're buried from our sight.

 

----o----

 

DEMOCRACY

 

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.

 

--Lincoln.

 

----o----

 

“WORSHIPFUL MASTER”

 

The appelation “Worshipful” Master is misleading in the minds of many. In fact the time was when the writer questioned very seriously whether such an appellation should ever be made to any man. It had the sound of irreverance and therefore sacrilegious and blasphemous. We thought it meant to say that the Worshipful Master of a lodge was equal with and deserving of holy reverence as his maker - God Almighty; that he was a creature to be worshipped by others. But we found out that we were mistaken in the plain, simple meaning of the term “Worshipful.” Our little dictionary says the term means “venerable.”

 

Following our former opinions one would sometimes become sadly disappointed in a “Worshipful Master” who would always remove his hat in calling the name of the Deity in the lodge room, but would “cuss like a sailor” at other times. Most of them are of the highest type of manhood. - Kansas City of Freemason.

 

----o----

 

THE GLEAM

 

In completed man begins anew a tendency to God. Prognostics told man’s near approach; so in man’s self arise august anticipations, symbols, types of a dim splendor ever on before in that eternal cycle life pursues. - Browning

 

----o----

 

********

 

----o----

 

TRAVEL SKETCHES

 

BY JOSEPH FORT NEWTON

 

EDINBURGH

 

"Edina, Scotia's darling seat--

All hail thy palaces and towers,

Where once beneath a monarch's feet

Sat Legislation's sovereign powers."

 

 NO sooner had the editor arrived in Edinburgh than he was arrested, in due and ancient form. Why it came about, and for what, and how he made his peace with the powers that be, such questions are irrelevant, immaterial, if not impertinent -- or words to that effect. His friends do not ask any explanation; his enemies, if he has any, would not accept any--and there you are. Therefore he adopts the wise policy of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, when they decided that "Mum" was the right word in such cases.

 

Anyway, it was late at night, which is a suspicious circumstance, and the streets were dim, as all city streets are in Briton in war-time. Lamps were shaded or turned low, and shadowy figures moved to and fro, each finding his way as best he could. Above, giant search-lights scanned the sky, darting like shining swords through the clouds, as if stabbing at airy enemies that drop death-dealing bombs on sleeping cities. Occasionally, there was a rift in the veil of cloud and the moonlight shimmered down over the old city like a fairy mist, soft as the summer air, filling the valleys with silvery light. It was an hour of enchantment.

 

From whatever side Edinburgh is approached, it is singularly picturesque, combining so happy a blend of hills and castles, of rocky peaks and lofty spires, as to command admiration. It is the most beautiful city that I ever saw. Whatever opinions may be held respecting its antiquity, all agree that its Castle Rock was fortified before the land fell under the sway of the Romans. It derived its name from King Edwin of Northumbria, whose name the Celtic residents moulded to fit their tongue as Dun-Edin--"the face of a hill." Where now one walks in Princess Street Gardens was once a bed of a lake, known as Nor' Loch. To describe the panoramic scene which displays itself from the summit of Arthur's Seat, or Castle Hills, baffles any words I have so far tamed or trained for use.

 

Everywhere one sees the name of Sir Walter Scott, whose life and genius are no small part of the tradition of the city he so much loved. His monument, on Princess street--designed by a young artist named Kemp, who died before he saw his dream realized in stone, as so many mortals do--is one of the most graceful memorials on earth. It is a cruciform Gothic spire, two hundred feet high, supported by four arches, beneath which is a statue of the gentle Wizard, with his favorite dog at his feet. Statuettes of the best known characters from his works adorn the buttresses of the monument, adding to its beauty and interest--all the dream of a self-taught genius who graduated from a country shop to design a memorial to match the fame of the man who vies with Burns as the greatest name of Scotland.

 

First we went to see the Castle, which took us-- "us," that is my dear, dear friend who journeyed with me as companion and guide--into the older part of town, with its lofty houses and numerous closes and pends, where dire poverty mixes with historical associations. Up High Street we climbed, alongside the Cathedral, and the old Parliament buildings, to the Esplanade where soldiers were drilling--as, later, we saw them practicing trench warfare and the use of the bayonet below the Holyrood Palace. The Esplanade was once a place of public execution; and here Lord Forbes, Lady Glammis, and some of the Reformers, as well as several persons accused of witchcraft, suffered death. At the Castle Moat, we found a guide, portly, rotund, with ponderous oratorical powers--until my friend asked to reign his eloquence a bit, and not to address us as if we two were an audience. He took it in good part, and for that relief we expressed much thanks in our tips.

 

All the while we wandered in that grim, gray fortress, with its battery, its armory, its ancient postern, its crown-room and royal apartments whose walls could tell tales to break the heart, I seemed to be walking in the far past. It was a unique sensation, so little was there to suggest the modern world, save a soldier now and then and the busy arts of war. No, we walked under the shadow of history. How remote from our time, how pathetic withal, the tiny Chapel of St. Margaret, the oldest building in Edinburgh, a gem of Norman architecture. The Castle is a fortress of the past, defending the history and tradition of a noble people whose vicissitudes have more than once touched the depths of tragedy.

 

"There, watching high the least alarms,

Thy rough, rude fortress gleams afar,

Like some bold vet'ran, grey in arms,

And marked with many a seamy scar."

 

From the Castle it is only a little way down High Street to St. Giles Cathedral, the first parish in the city, standing on a site dedicated to religion since the ninth century. How long that Tower has stood, through what "changes and chances," one of the glories of the old Town! What stormy scenes it has witnessed ! It is a Gothic pile, its windows rich in colored recital of sacred scenes; two row-s of pillars separating the nave from the aisles--the capitals of those at the east end being beautifully foliated, while the others are severely plain. Attached to the pillars in the nave are some of the old colors of the principal Scottish regiments. Above the arcades are two lines of clerestory windows, the glass of which contains representations of the city arms and those of the incorporated craftsmen of Edinburgh. The pulpit, of Caen stone, is carved with symbols of the six cardinal virtues, and the Font is a replica of that at Copenhagen by Thorwalden--an angel, holding a large shell. Noble of form, mellow with age, rich in associations pious and patriotic, it is a monument to the mighty faith of Scotland !

 

Further down High Street we paused at the home of John Knox, and then went on our winding way to Holyrood Palace where we wandered for an hour. Of course, we saw the birth place of Stevenson and-Scott, the University--now a vast hospital--and then back to the Old Waverley for lunch in time to catch the train for London, going down the East Coast via the cathedral towns, chief among them York, known and beloved by Masons as one of the capital cities of the Craft in the olden time.

 

----o----

 

THE APRON

 

BY BRO. H.A. KINGSBURY, CONNECTICUT

 

BUT few, if any, of the various symbols regarding which the  Masonic candidate is instructed carry with them a wealth of symbolic significance and interesting suggestion equal to that borne by that symbol which the candidate is given, and concerning which he is instructed, in his first degree--the Masonic Apron. The briefest study of its origin, its color, its material, and its shape, and of the various positions in which it is worn, cannot fail to give the student a better realization of the wonderful completeness and perfection of Masonic Symbolism.

 

The rite of investiture, and the significance of that rite, i.e., the appropriate preparation of the candidate for the ceremonies in which he is about to engage, come to us from far back in the world's history and they come "well recommended." The priests of the Israelites wore a linen apron. In the Persian Mysteries the candidate was invested with an apron. The Essenes always provided their novices with robes. And in the Scandinavian Rites the candidate received a shield.

 

In each of these instances the color of the investiture was, like that of the Masonic apron, white. The significance of that color has always been the same-- purity. That white is the symbol of purity could be illustrated by ,almost innumerable examples. Throughout the Scriptures are many illustrative references. The Egyptians decorated the head of their principal deity, Osiris, with a white tiara. The disciples of Pythagoras, in attendance at his school, wore garments of white when chanting the sacred hymns. In the early ages of the Christian Church a white garment was placed upon the recently baptised convert to denote that he had been cleansed of his former sins. Portal in his "Treatise on Symbolic Colors" refers to white as "a characteristic sign of purity."

 

The material of the apron--lambskin--is also of symbolic significance. The ritual states that the lamb has been, in all ages, an emblem of innocence. Examples of the truth of this statement are too common to call for notice here.

 

The significance of the shape of the apron can be, perhaps, best seen when this symbol is spread to its greatest extent, as illustrated in solid lines in the figure. In this position it leads to the contemplation of the Triangle, the Square, the Nine Significant Numbers, the Broached Thurnel, and the obelisks of Egypt. That it, by its flap, presents the Triangle, and, by its body, presents the Square, is obvious.

 

It presents one large figure, composed of two smaller figures, one having three sides and the other four sides; it is bounded by five lines and has six lines in all; the square has four angles and the triangle has three, making seven in all; it may be considered as a full front view of a solid (a side and a top face of which are indicated by dotted lines in the figure) composed of a cube surmounted by a rectangular pyramid, and this solid, as it stands on a support and with its bottom face concealed, presents eight faces and, as lifted from the support to expose all its faces, presents nine faces. Thus does the apron call attention to the Nine Significant Numbers, and hence, to the various philosophies of numbers.

 

Again, the solid suggested by the apron is the thurnel. The Broached Thurnel is, it is to be regretted, growing unfamiliar to many present-day Masons though it still appears upon the trestle board of the French Entered Apprentice. It is for the Entered Apprentice to try his Working Tools upon. Among English speaking Masons it has given place to the Perfect Ashlar.

 

Because of its shape--that of a rectangular parallelepiped surmounted by a rectangular pyramid - the solid suggested by the apron brings to mind the obelisks of Egypt. Thus the apron, by indirection, refers to the Pillars of the Porch, it being hardly open to question that those pillars found their suggestion in the obelisks erected, one at each side of the entrance, before Egyptian temples to symbolize the Northern and the Southern limit of the travel of the sun. From this point the student is led by an almost inappreciable step, to the consideration of Sun Worship, Circumambulation, the Egyptian Mysteries, the story of Osiris and his murder by Typhon, and kindred matters.

 

The positions in which the apron is worn are also significant. Considering its position as a whole, it is worthy of notice that that position is about the waist. Being so placed the apron not only divides the human body into two distinct parts--the upper intellectual portion and the baser lower portion--but also, and what is of more importance, it conceals the lower portion. So, symbolically, it reveals the nobler qualities of Man and conceals the baser, always doing in theory that which it ought always to do in practice.

 

Considering the apron with regard to the varied positioning of the flap and the body in the first, the second, and the third degree, it is plan to be seen that the symbolism in this connection is identical with that of the Square and Compasses. That is, there is here symbolically presented the gradual domination of the Material represented by the Square, by the Spiritual, represented by the Triangle.

 

This final lesson--that Masonry inculcates the overcoming of the Material by the Spiritual--is the greatest teaching of the apron. Indeed, in giving us this crowning symbolism, does not this simple, white lambskin apron, presented to each of us in the period of our first gropings for Masonic Light, give us the summation of all the Teachings of Masonry?

 

----o----

 

GEOMETRY OF GOD: A MASONIC SERMON

 

BY BRO. JOSEPH FORT NEWTON

 

"According to the measure of man, that is of the angel." Rev. 21:17

 

FEW realize the service of the science of numbers to the faith of man in the morning of the world. It was almost his first hint of law and order in life when he sought to find some kind of key to the mighty maze of things. Living in the midst of change and seeming chance, he found in the laws of numbers a path by which to escape the awful sense of life as a series of accidents in the hands of a capricious Power. Surely it was not unnatural that a science whereby men obtained such glimpses of unity and order in the world should be sacred among them, imparting its form to their faith. Having revealed so much, numbers came to wear mystical meanings in a way quite alien to our prosaic habit of thinking-- faith in our day having betaken itself to other symbols.

 

One of the first men to follow this hint was Pythagoras, of whom we know so little and would like to know so much. He was a lofty and noble figure, albeit half-hidden in myth, and only a few of his words have floated down to us. He saw in all the multiplicity of experience, to which Heraclitus had borne witness, a rhythmic march--a movement, but with disciplined step and the reasonable soul of music in it. One of his few sayings that remain sums up his vision: "All things are in numbers, the world is a living arithmetic in its development--a realized geometry in its repose." Take a snowflake and look at it under a glass, and you will see what filled that ancient thinker with wonder. It is an exquisite example of the geometry of God--squares, circles, triangles, pentagons, hexagons, parallelograms, more exact and delicate than the deftest hand could trace. Throw a stone into a still sheet of water, and immediately there arises an ever-widening series of concentric circles. The mountains in their strength stand fast forever, held in their places by a parallelogram of forces, and the stars swing round their vast orbits as noiselessly as a dewdrop is poised on a flower.

 

Such is the structure of the universe, and it is no wonder that Pythagoras saw in these signs and designs, everywhere present, the thought-forms of the Eternal Mind; else they would not be the natural, selfsought forms of matter. Nature is a realm of numbers, and the frolic architecture of a snowflake is a lesson in geometry. Music moves with measured step, using geometrical figures, and cannot free itself from numbers without dying away into discord. From Pythagoras this insight passed to Plato, whose opulent genius gave eloquent exposition to the Doctrine of Numbers. When asked by a pupil what God does, he replied, "God geometrizes continually," and he was often wont to say that Geometry, rightfully understood, is the knowledge of the Eternal. Over the porch of his Academy at Athens he inscribed the words, "Let no one who is ignorant of Geometry enter my doors," meaning that his teaching rested upon the science of numbers. What Plato and Pythagoras saw modern science confirms in myriad ways, as we may read, for example, in the researches of Henri Fabre. In the last chapter of his book on "The Cufic of the Spider," he wrote:

 

"Geometry, that is to say, the science of harmony in space, presides over everything. We find it in the arrangement of a fir-cone, as in the arrangement of an Epeira's living web; we find it in the spiral of a snail shell, in the chaplet of a spider's thread, and in the orbit of a planet; it is everywhere, as perfect in the world of atoms as in the world of immensities. And this universal geometry tells us of a Universal Geometrician, whose divine compass has measured all things."

 

How interesting it is, revealing the infinite ingenuity of the Divine imagination and the measured movements of its labors. Naturally we find hints of this science in the Bible, in which certain sacred numbers recur, indicating words, suggesting thoughts, and revealing truths. Nowhere is this more manifest than in the book of the Apocalypse, which, instead of being a series of clouded and confused visions, is a work of spiritual mathematics. In that book Three is the signature of Deity. Four indicates the world of created things. Seven denotes peace and covenant, while Ten is the symbol of completeness. Even numbers symbolize earthly things, odd numbers heavenly things, and the odd and even added unite the two. With this ancient science in mind, the vision of the City of God, with its geometrical design, takes a new meaning, albeit we should add to it the vision in the prophecy of Zachariah in which the young man is told that the holy city is not to be measured in cubits of human reckoning. Some hint of the paradox of the measurable and the immeasurable must have been in the mind of the Seer of Patmos, as if some one had asked him how our earthly cubits can form a calculus for that which knows not the gauge of time or space. Hence his parenthesis, to resolve the doubt, "according to the measure of man, that is, of the angel."

 

Man is a citizen of two worlds, but he has no skill to realize the world of spirit apart from the aid of the world of sense. If he asks, wistfully, about the life to come, the only answer is one expressed in the images and colors of the life that now is. As often as he tries to ponder, reverently, what is the essential nature of God, he finds himself thinking of the Eternal in terms of those moral qualities which he sees, dimly enough, in the noblest men. He cannot help himself; there is no other way for him to think. Truth, justice, mercy, goodness in man must be of the same nature as truth, justice and goodness in God, however they may differ in degree, else they mean nothing to us. Long ago Ovid said that "our measure is in our immortal souls," and our faith not less than our philosophy rest upon the fact that there is an angel in man, something akin to the Eternal, making our highest thought and vision valid. No doubt that was what Plato meant when he said that by the art of measurement the soul is saved-- that is, by measuring up to the Angel within us we attain to the truth; by reading the reality of life through the highest, we learn its meaning and value. If so, we have our marching orders and the path of attainment is made plain even to the humblest, and no one need err therein or lose his way.

 

Just as in nature, from snowflake to star certain designs are found everywhere--circles, cubes, triangles --so, among all races and in all ages, certain ideas, ideals, faiths and hopes are held and trusted. Socrates made the discovery--one of the greatest ever made--that humanity is universal. By asking questions. which was the business of his life, he found that when men, whether they be artists or artisans, think round a problem and go to the bottom of it, they disclose a common nature and a common system of truth. After this manner the concensus of human insight, thought and experience confirms the fundamental truths of faith, like a problem of geometry, and we are justified in taking these basic ideas as the thought-forms of the Eternal Mind reflected in the mind of man. There is also a moral geometry which works itself out in the same way, tested by age-long and sorrowful human experience. Every evil way has been so often tried, that when we see a lad start along a dark path of evil doing we know what the result will be. No prophet is needed to predict the final issue; it is a problem in geometry. As David Swing said, in his noble sermon on "The Idealist," writing in his calm and simple manner:

 

"Some speak of ideals as if they were mere dreams. On the opposite all high ideals are only life-like portraits seen in advance. It would be much more true to affirm that ideals are the most accurate results reached by the most painstaking calculations. It stands much in their favor that they have come not from the brains of the wicked, but from the intellects that were the greatest. The greatest men of each age have pleaded for Liberty, because only the greatest minds can paint in advance the picture of a free people. Many nations are in the dust and mire today, because they have no minds great enough to grasp a divine ideal. Instead of being a romance, a noble ideal is often the long mathematical calculation of a mind as logical as Euclid. Idealism is not the musings of a visionary; it is the calm geometry of life."

 

For the rest, let us consider in a practical way the geometry of manhood, its proportions and dimensions. Like the Holy City, which the Seer saw descending from heaven, its length and breadth and height must be equal, as Phillips Brooks taught in his great sermon on "The Symmetry of Life,"--which his church asked him to repeat ever so often. The basis of the triangle of character--that is to say, the length of a man, the extent of his influence and power, is a matter of morality. Purity is the first measure of a man. Lacking a certain simple, sturdy, homely moral quality, he is a man only by the accident of his shape, though he have the learning of Bacon, the grace of Chesterfield, and the eloquence of Webster. Morals are ever the boundaries of liberty and the primary dimensions of manhood. Honesty, purity, truthfulness--nothing can take their place, and without them religion is either a superstitution or a sham. A pure heart may sanctify a creed, but a creed, however true it may be, must bear moral fruit before it can sanctify a life. To give morality any other than the first place is to invert the order of life and upset all its values. It is the foundation of character and of society.

 

But a man may be moral, and yet mean. He may be clean, but cruel; righteous, but uncharitable; truthful, and yet narrow, bigoted and hard. He may throw a poor family out of his house for lack of rent, and in so doing be honest--and inhuman! If there is anything worse than the wrongs wrought by wicked men, it is the evil done by good men. That which gives beauty, breadth and mellowness to life, melting our morality into goodness, is sympathy. And so to purity we must add pity. Justice runs lengthwise of life, but mercy is width, and is an evidence of nobility, of refinement, of graciousness of spirit. Lacking it, we have a Calvin in the church consenting to the death of Servetus because of a difference of dogma, and a Jaubert in fiction pursuing like a sleuth hound the weary, tangled and sorrowful steps of Jean Valjean. Man is akin to the animal, but God put into his heart an alabaster box of pity out of which, when once it is opened, come the amenities of life, its courtesies, its graces, and those extensions of sympathy which it is the mission of culture, not less than of religion, to promote. And tolerance, too, since heaven is only a village if it is made of only those thinkers who come always to the truth. Blessed be this broad and sunny sympathy in which bigotry and cynicism melt away and reveal to us the measure of man, that is of the angel that is in him.

 

There is yet another measure of manhood, what William James called "that altogether other dimension of existence," so often forgotten in our day. Some, to be sure, regard it as a kind of fourth dimension, a thing which you may argue exists, but which we can never realize. Not so. No Mason, at least, can think so. It is a natural, normal development of man, without which his life lacks symmetry and is a thing unfinished and imperfect. Call it a mystical faith, if you will, from it we derive most of our ideal impulses, our aspirations that transcend the merely sensible and understandable world. From beyond ourselves comes that ray of white light which can brighten the pale moonlight into a glowing sunlight, give to the light of the sun a sevenfold brightness, and glorify all common things--as De Hooge lets the sunlight fall on the rubbish of a back yard and wakens in us a thrill of joy and wonder.

 

Men must seek the heights of being, must be tall of soul as well as broad, if they are to see life in the large. Altitude of mind gives new proportions and perspectives, and shows that many things of which men are wont to make much are insignificant, and that other things, like a cup of cool water offered a Brother, are of eternal moment. It is when we add this third dimension that we see that men, when measured by the Angel in him, is immeasurable. Man is the measure of all things, said an ancient sage; but man himself, in the higher reaches of his being, cannot be measured. He is like an inlet of the sea. Looking landward, it is limited; looking seaward, it is linked with the infinite. "I think God's thoughts after him," said Kepler, as he looked through his glass into the sky, which is true of all high human thinking, all noble living, all upwardleaping aspiration. Truly, He that made us hath set eternity in our hearts, and restless we are until we find our rest in reunion with His will in which is our peace.

 

Let us strive, then, to unite purity, pity and prayer in our lives, revealing the length and breadth and height of life. Also, let us judge life and our fellows by the Ideal of the Angel, that so, at last, when we are tested by the measure of the Angel--that is, by the Angel of Death--we may be found to have attained, in some degree, to the measure of the stature of true manhood. And by as much as we have failed, by so much let us trust the mercy of God which is without measure and knows no end--

 

For the love of God is broader

Than the measure of man's mind;

And the heart of the Eternal

Is most wonderfully kind.

 

----o----

 

PEACE AND WAR

 

Both peace and war are noble or ignoble according to their kind and occasion. No man has a profounder sense of the horror and guilt of ignoble war than I have. I have personally seen its effects, upon nations, of unmitigated evil, on soul and body, with perhaps as much pity, and as much bitterness of indignation, as any of those whom you will hear continually declaiming in the cause of peace. But peace may be sought in two ways. That is, you may either win your peace, or buy it--win it, by resistance to evil--buy it, by compromise with evil. You may buy your peace with silenced consciences. You may buy it with broken vows--buy it, with lying words--buy it, with base connivances--buy it, with the blood of the slain, and the cry of the captive, and the silence of lost souls-- over hemispheres of the earth, while you sit smiling at your serene hearths, lisping comfortable prayers evening and morning, and muttering continually to yourselves, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace; but only captivity and death, for you, as well as for those you leave unsaved--and yours darker than theirs.

 

I cannot utter to you what I would in this matter; we all see too dimly, as yet, what our great world-duties are, to allow any of us to try to outline their enlarging shadows. But think over what I have said, and in your quiet homes reflect that their peace was not won for you by your own hands; but by theirs who long ago jeoparded their lives for you, their children; and remember that neither this inherited peace, nor any other, can be kept, but through the same jeopardy. No peace was ever won from Fate by subterfuge or agreement; no peace is ever in store for any of us, but that which we shall win by victory over shame or sin--victory over the sin that oppresses, as well as over that which corrupts. For many a year to come, the sword of every righteous nation must be whetted to save or to subdue; nor will it be by patience of others' suffering, but by the offering of your own, that you will ever draw nearer to the time when the great change shall pass upon the iron of the earth--when men shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; neither shall they learn war any more. --Ruskin.

 

----o----

 

"FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER"

 

By Bro. E.R. Burkhalter, Iowa

 

(Brother Dr. Burkhalter was born in New York City, Dec. 21st, 1844; was graduated with the degree of A. B., from Princeton University in 1862; studied in the universities of Berlin and Heidelberg, 1864-5; and in the Union Theological Seminary, 1867-70; received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Lenox College, 1884, and from Princeton in 1895; the degree of Doctor of Laws from Coe College, in 1906, of whose Board of Trustees he has for many years been President; was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa from 1876 until 1914, and since that time has been pastor emeritus. He is a member of all the bodies of "York" Rite Masonry, in whose fellowship he is at once an inspiration and a benediction.

 

Every man finds in Freemasonry what he brings to it, and no one ever brought to its altar a clearer mind or a purer heart than this honored and beloved Pastor. His initiation was a notable event never to be forgotten, and the following testimony, recorded at our request, is as sincere as it is eloquent, and is an honor alike to its author and to the Order in whose fellowship he has found so much joy in the evening of his life. Ripe of mind, rich in character, radiant in faith, his alert and beautiful intellect saw the far-echoing meanings of Masonic symbolisms, and his genius for friendship responded devoutly to its appeal of Brotherly Love.

 

Such a testimony, we believe, will do much to melt such prejudice as may still exist against a Fraternity so benign in its teachings, so beneficent in its influence, and especially among men of the pulpit who too often look upon it with disfavor. Among young men, too, such words should mean much, coming from a man of consummate scholarship and exalted character; and to the whole fraternity it is a tribute as memorable as it is gracious. If these noble words touch the heart of the Craft, renewing its faith and rekindling its love, it will be joy enough for ye editor, to whom their author is both a father and a friend, whose love and fellowship are among the rarest gifts of the mercy of God. )

 

The Editor of The Builder has asked me to prepare for its columns an article along the lines of a contribution to a Masonic Experience Meeting. In good old days of yore it was the custom of the brethren in certain church gatherings to relate their experience for the comfort and edification of those present. As I have enjoyed a recent and to me at least, and also to my friend, the Editor of this periodical, a very interesting and marked Masonic Experience, I have been asked by him to tell it. I may say in passing, that whenever he makes of me any request, I am eager to fulfill it, for he is to me a friend more dearly beloved than he would perhaps dare to believe, though I should tell him most earnestly, and now especially that he is alas so soon to leave us, and go across the sea, and occupy and, as I believe, adorn the pulpit of City Temple, London, the foremost non conformist pulpit of the British Empire.

 

 But I am glad also to tell my simple story for the benefit of Masonry, hoping that it may bring gladness and cheer, warmth and fraternal love, into many a heart that may chance to read it.

 

I was raised to the Master's Degree in Crescent Lodge, Cedar Rapids, on the evening of December 14th, 1915. I was at that time just seventy-one years old, and had been for more than forty-five years a minister of the Presbyterian Church. For more than forty years I had been the minister of the same pastoral charge in this city of Cedar Rapids, and I had just been released from the active duties and responsibilities of that charge to become Pastor Emeritus. My relations to all the churches of my home city during the forty years of my ministry had been of unbroken and increasing joy and brotherly love, the most perfect unity and catholicity, so that I was prepared by my release from one particular charge to enter into relations of identification with all the Brethren.

 

I mention this simply because I believe it helps greatly to explain the full dimension of the experience which is now to be told. I may also, I trust, be permitted to say that another preparation for my entrance into the Lodge was brought about by a yearning for companionship caused by a deep bereavement which had recently fallen to my lot: the departure from earthly life of my beloved wife, my comrade for fortyseven years. I was lonely, and my whole soul was a-hungered. I entered the Masonic Lodge and found what I was longing for, but in a measure far beyond what I had imagined.

 

The abundant and significant use that is perpetually made in Masonry of parable and symbolism especially appealed to me and fascinated me. The Lodge seemed to be full of voices, telling me profoundly the greatest mysteries of life. As often as I returned to its convocations, and I came to be habitually there, I saw and I heard something new--something that had escaped me before. I simply sat in my place as chaplain, and I saw new meanings, or deeper ones, in every item of the Ritual, so that I marveled greatly.

 

But my chief experience was gathered at taking the first degree. First impressions are apt to be the most striking and most enduring. I was most profoundly moved by what was taught me concerning my poverty, my helplessness, my absolute need, and the propriety and well-foundedness of my trust in God. But I believe the great moment came to me when a hand was given me from one who called me "my brother." That moment marked an epoch in my life. I had often heard that word, "Brother," before. I had often had it applied to me; but never under similar circumstances, and I am sure that many who may read these words will understand me perfectly when I say that sometimes in life a word expressive of a relationship will come to present for some reason a meaning it was never dreamed to have before. The word was there before, the relationship it expressed was there before; but as we look back from the new experience it seems to us that neither the word nor the relationship had ever before been conceived. At that moment an overwhelming and overflowing sympathy possessed me. I felt rising within me, as it were, an ocean of fraternal love, which, as it rose, washed away one by one all lines and marks of subdivision, until they had all gone and for me forever passed away from sight and even from existence. As this ocean of brotherly love arose within me, it submerged one by one all the little lagoons made by sand or stones, until all was merged into one everlasting unity. At that solemn moment God and Humanity were seen in one, and to them I was asked to pledge my troth. I went forth that night from the lodge room, and discovered that I had had a new experience. I was not surprised to observe that the world now wore a new smile. The world of humanity now assumed a new aspect. It was simply the answer from without to what had been put within me.

 

But it may well be asked, Was there anything really new in this? Had I not known all this before? Yes, in a very important sense, yes. I had learned it all when a child at my mother's knee, where from a babe I had been taught the sacred writings. I had professed it from my first Christian discipleship. I had preached it thousands of times from the same pulpit, from my young manhood. I had seen it illustrated in many beautiful instances in lives around me. I may, I trust, be permitted to hope that I had been illustrating it in some small measure in my own life. But I am only telling the truth when I say, that from that moment of experience which I am now recording, I realized what the word "Brother" meant as I never realized it before. I saw man himself beneath all integuments, beneath all local, racial, national or other, distinctions, separated from all class differences and diversities of social condition. I saw man as man, and in every man, another child of my Father. Every man seemed to me as only my other self, as dear to me as myself could ever be.

 

All this I saw and felt as I had never seen and felt it before, and when I make this known, can any one be surprised that I feel a solemn and grateful zeal in telling it as having come to me on the occasion of my taking my obligation in the first degree of Masonry?

 

And with this experience there comes to my mind the natural enquiry, May it not be the purpose of the Author and Builder of the universe to make use of the order of Freemasonry as a great factor in promotion of His evident Desire to realize and complete the Brotherhood of man? What more simple, natural, and efficient method could be devised, to bring about this consummation so devoutly to be wished for?

 

Is not this a question for every Mason solemnly to consider? Is it not every Mason's prerogative and privilege to lay to heart the hope that he and his brethren throughout the whole world may contribute, "each his bit," to the construction of that temple of Humanity, which, inasmuch as it is the building of God, is the surest thing to come of all the buildings that are in process ?

 

And now as I look about the room in this experience meeting, I think I can observe a pardonable smile on the faces of not a few of my elder brethren at the enthusiasm of this youthful novice who has just been presented to them. But perhaps it may be possible that I, their youngest brother, may be employed to bring back again to my seniors in Masonry some of that strange ineffable Light which is so apt to fall back again into the Common day. I have seen that light. It is a part of that primeval ray which came into being with the first fiat of Creative will. He who in the beginning caused the Light to shine out of the Darkness hath shined into every true Mason's heart. Every true Mason has seen the glory. He who knows its precious value, will never willingly allow it to fade; but will diffuse it everywhere, and will thus have more of it within himself.

 

And now before I take my seat, being properly called to order as having consumed all the time becomingly alloted me in an experience meeting, let me record with extreme thankfulness the pleasure and profit I am continually receiving from the use of the working tools of a Master Mason, in their spiritual and symbolic sense. Every day does each one of these tools come into my hands for needful and useful employment, but especially do I enjoy the use of three of them: first, the Gavel to knock away the protruberances of the rough ashlar, and fit it to become a valuable constituent of that living Temple in process of erection for the Indwelling of Deity; secondly, the twenty-four inch Gauge, regulating the systematic use of the sacred time of which life is made; but principally the trowel, which one buries in that boundless cement of Love, made of the very substance of God Himself and to be applied to every piece of his work, to unite it in one indestructible wholeness with the labors of all his Brothers.

 

Who can think of such symbols and metaphors, without being conscious that he is being taught a method of living by the Great Master and Teacher of us all? Who can come in perpetual contact with such an atmosphere as belongs to a real Masonic Lodge, without feeling prompted to make use of its obligations and opportunities to the highest possible advantage to his Brethren and himself? The present writer is glad to testify that he has never in his life realized the power of the Beatitude, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after Righteousness," as he has realized it in a Masonic Lodge Room, while he has witnessed, and participated in, the Solemn Ritual.

 

The world is crying out at this tragical time for "Brotherhood." No word in our language strikes the ear and the heart with such sense of need and of desire. And the world is crying out for "Character" in each individual man. There is an imperative call for worth, for value, for merit. The demand-is for the real thing, not for any cheap imitation thereof.

 

I am persuaded that Masonry is marvelously fitted to realize individual character and universal world-wide Brotherhood. I do not argue for Masonry as against any other Institution. I would decline to enter into any discussion concerning it. I have only a zeal, and it is a fervent zeal, to say what I have said, in the way of positive and constructive testimony. And I send it forth in the confident hope that it will awaken echoes in other human hearts, which have known what I now know, and will call up voices which will not cease again to speak, until they have brought a conscious blessing to many lives, which love to feel the possession and the opportunity of our Common humanity.

 

*************

 

----o----

 

ARE YOU A MASON?

 

What ho, adventurous pilgrim, you who knocketh at our door

And fain would have a footing on our tesselated floor!

Now stand ye there, bold traveler, and with patience rest a while.

For before your journey's ended you'll go many a weary mile

The Master of the lodge must know and answer your request,

And from the East he'll duly send his message to the West.

So fear not, anxious pilgrim, as you stand waiting there--

For wee meet upon the level and we part upon the square.

 

And, Tyler, bare thy burnished blade; watch well the outer gate!

Beyond our guarded portal shall no cowan penetrate;

No scoffer and no renegade may hope to look within;

Our sacred rites and mysteries, there's just one way to win.

So, Tyler, stand with ready hand; the lodge well tyled must be;

The candidate must there await the Master's due decree.

But, Tyler, with thy guarding all, be this thy greatest care--

That we meet upon the level and we part upon the square.

 

Oh, Master we call Worshipful, in the station of the sun

God help thee finish well this day the work thou hast begun!

Lead thou the craftsmen faithfully. Thy compasses fail not.

Instruct us in the ancient arts the kings of old have taught.

But, Master, while the brethren in their lessons thou dost guide,

One master word must e'er be heard above all else beside

This, brethren, the commandment from the Master's sovereign chair--

That we meet upon the level and we part upon the square.

 

Are you a Mason, brother, are you true to every vow?

Then let's recall them, one by one, and let's renew them now.

To walk in paths of righteousness, erect and unafraid;

No brother wrong, and if we're strong, the weaker one to aid;

Rejoicing in our cable and delighting in its length

And, as God has made us able, exulting in our strength.

Then, brethren, are we Masons? Yes, we are if everywhere

We shall meet upon the level and shall part upon the square.

 

Are you a Mason, brother, a Mason blue and true

And do you by your brother as you'd have him do by you?

The world is full of Philistines and dealers in deceit;

Rogues, small and great, don't hesitate their brother man to cheat;

Are you a Mason, frater, and never such as these?

Aye, let us both repeat the oath we took upon our knees.

Are you a Mason, brother? Then together let us swear

That we'll meet upon the level and we'll part upon the square!

 

Ha, ye Hittites and Amalekites, who forever rail and mock

Shall ye triumph over Brotherhood, or shall it stand the shock?

Shall Love and Kindness rule the world or crooked courses lead?

Shall Scorn and ruthless Hate prevail, or Fraternity succeed?

My brethren, oh, my brethren, how shall we win our fight,

And how the sons of Darkness shall we vanquish with the Light?

By this sign we shall conquer--that we only shall be fair

And shall meet upon the level and shall part upon the square.

Are you a Mason? What reply, my brother, can you make?

Sincerely can you answer and no obligation break?

Yes, can you answer joyously and serenely hold your head

No rancor for the living and without remorse for dead?

Away with hollow platitudes! Off, every pretense strip!

And, brethren, let us give again the honest Mason's grip,

"I am, I am a Mason," with all loyalty declare,

As we meet upon the level and we part upon the square!

--Harry E. Andrews.

 

Written for and read to Eastgate Lodge of Los Angeles,

August 3, 1916.

 

----o----

 

CORRESPONDENCE CIRCLE BULLETIN---No. 6

 

Edited by Bro. Robert I. Clegg, Caxton Building, Cleveland Ohio

 

THE BULLETIN COURSE OF MASONIC STUDY

 

Division I. Ceremonial Masonry.

A. Lodge Foundations and Fundamentals.

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.

E. The Quest.

F. Mysticism.

G. The Secret Doctrine.

 

Division IV. Legislative Masonry.

A. The Grand Lodge.

1. Ancient Constitutions.

2. Codes of Law.

3. Grand Lodge Practices.

4. Relationship to Constituent Lodges.

5. Official Duties and Prerogatives.

B. The Constituent Lodge.

1. Organization.

2. Qualifications of Candidates.

3. Initiation, Passing and Raising.

4. Visitation.

5. Change of Membership.

 

Division V. Historical Masonry.

A. The Mysteries--Earliest Masonic Light.

B. Study of Rites--Masonry in the Making.

C. Contributions to Lodge Characteristics.

D. National Masonry.

E. Parallel Peculiarities in Lodge Study.

F. Feminine Masonry.

G. Masonic Alphabets.

H. Historical Manuscripts of the Craft.

I. Biographical Masonry.

J. Philological Masonry--Study of Significant Words.

 

AN EXTENSION OF THE FIRST TWO SUBDIVISIONS OF CEREMONIAL MASONRY.

 

(This detailed subdivision is presented in order that Study Clubs and Lodges undertaking to follow the "Bulletin Course" may see how we have the subject mapped out in advance. As the work progresses the remainder of the Outline will be similarly divided into groups of subjects, and, as in this instance, some of the references to Mackey's Encyclopedia will be included in the Outline itself. In many cases these topics will not be directly discussed in any of the articles presented; they are arranged for the convenience of those who wish to prepare additional papers.)

 

A. The Work of a Lodge.

1. The Lodge--Foundations and Fundamentals.

a. Masonic Halls, and Temples.

b. Lodge Rooms.

c. Orientation.

 

2. "Laws, Rules and Regulations." (Being only a brief summary of the authority which a Lodge has for being in existence, the conferring of degrees, etc.)

a. Grand Lodge Constitutions and By-Laws.

b. Lodge By-Laws.

c. Codified Law.

d. Landmarks.

e. Charter.

f. Dispensation.

g. Customs.

 

3. The Officers of a Lodge, and their Duties.

a. The Worshipful Master and his prerogatives.

b. The Senior and Junior Wardens.

c. The Secretary and Treasurer.

d. The Appointive Officers.

e. Past Masters, and other Past Officers.

 

4. Ceremonies of a Lodge.

a. Opening.

b. Closing.

c. Calling Off.

d. Calling On.

e. Due Form.

f. Dedications.

g. Installation.

h. Processions.

i. Refreshment.

j. Lodge Meetings.

(1) "Regular" -- "Stated."

(2) "Called" --"Special."

 

5. Recognition and Instruction.

a. "Esoteric" Masonry.

b. "Exoteric" Masonry.

c. Oral Instruction.

d. Modes of Recognition.

e. Tests and Test Oath.

f. Monitors.

g. Healing.

h. Grand Honors.

i. Impostors.

j. Cowan.

 

B. The Lodge and the Candidate.

1. Proposing and Recommending.

a. Petition for the Mysteries.

b. Presentation of the Petition.

c. Committee of Investigation.

d. Residence of the Candidate.

2. Election of a Candidate.

a. When it may be had.

b. The Ballot.

c. Black Balls, (cubes), and white balls.

d. The Lodge record of the ballot.

 

3. The Degrees.

a. Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason.

b. Initiation, in general.

c. Ritual.

(1) Uniformity of.

(2) The "Webb-Preston Work" in America.

d. Rites.

e. Side-Degrees.

 

(A brief summary of the authority which a Lodge has for being in existence, the conferring of degrees, etc. )

 

BY BROS. G.L,. SCHOONOVER AND R.I. CLEGG

 

WE have discussed the Lodge, from both the physical and spiritual  standpoints, and have traced a few of its roots down into the  barbaric human past, where fact loses itself in fiction, and only  here and there is a vestige of evidence left to guide us. We turn  now to a more practical phase of Masonic study-- a discussion of  the authority, precedent and custom which go to make up the  present-day procedure of the Masonic Lodge in its internal  workings.

 

It was Albert Pike who said "It is the Dead that govern. The Living  only obey. And if the soul sees, after death, what passes on this  earth, and watches over the welfare of those it loves, then must  its greatest happiness consist in seeing the current of its  beneficent influences widening out from age to age, as rivulets  widen into rivers, and aiding to shape the destinies of  individuals, families, states, the World; and its bitterest  punishment in seeing its evil influences causing mischief and  misery, and cursing and afflicting men, long after the frame it  dwelt in has become dust, and when both name and memory are  forgotten. We know not who among the Dead control our destinies.  What other men in the past have done, said, thought, makes the  great iron network of circumstance that environs and controls us  all. We would make or annul a particular contract; but the thoughts  of the dead Judges of England, living when their ashes have been  cold for centuries, stand between us and that which we would do,  and utterly forbid it. We would settle our estate in a particular  way; but the prohibition of an English Parliament, its uttered  thought when the first or second Edward reigned, comes echoing down  the long avenues of time, and tells us we shall not exercise the  power of disposition as we wish. We would gain a particular  advantage of another; and the thought of the old Roman lawyer who  died before Justinian annihilates the act, or makes the intention  ineffectual. This act, Moses forbids; that, Alfred. We would sell  our lands; but certain marks on perishable paper tells us that our  father or a remote ancestor ordered otherwise; and the arm of the  dead, emerging from the grave, with peremptory gesture prohibits  the alienation. . ." (1)

 

Thus it is in Masonry; the fundamentals of Masonic government have  been determined, the principles laid down. And by these  fundamentals the youngest Entered Apprentice, equally with the  oldest Nestor of the Fraternity, is and must be governed. It is  therefore needful, at the beginning of any Masonic study, that we  should briefly summarize the laws, rules and regulations which are  responsible for bringing a Lodge into existence, and to which it  looks for the authority to do its work.

 

We have, in the first instance, the Grand Lodge Constitutions, (2)  of each Grand Jurisdiction in the world. Elsewhere in this Course  of Study we shall consider the "Old Charges and Constitutions" (3)  upon which all Grand Lodge Constitutions are based. Each Grand  Jurisdiction, however, has its own fundamental Law, its  Constitution, in which its powers and limitations are clearly  defined, just as each state or Nation has its organic law in a  Constitution, or in declarations of governmental principles  occupying the same relation. As in most cases the Grand Lodges, in  publishing their Constitutions, (4) include the "Old Charges"  therewith, the student will have no difficulty in obtaining access.  to them. Almost without exception these volumes are supplied to all  Lodges. A single reading of them, in connection with the points  brought out in this paper, will suffice for the present.

 

In some Jurisdictions, Grand Lodge By-Laws have also been adopted,  and there are still other cases where the Decisions of Grand  Masters are published separately, and are available. Quite  generally, also, there is a Code of Law, which goes into details  regarding all the functions of both the Grand Lodge and the  Constituent Lodges. In some cases the decisions of Grand Masters  are periodically entered in these Codes as annotations, or comments  upon the particular sections of the Codified Law to which they  refer. The student must of necessity familiarize himself with the  particular manner in which his own Jurisdiction deals with these  problems, and as the work of investigation on his part proceeds, he  will find much of the underlying reason fol this or that law of  edict--a process involving much time and careful study. The series  of "Jurisprudence Studies" (5) appearing in THE BUILDER is directed  toward a comparative study of the various Jurisdictions, and he who  is interested in this sort of study will find a wealth of material  digested there.

 

The purpose of this paper, however, is to bring to the beginner  merely a statement of these fundamental laws, to the end that he  may better understand the functions of his Masonic government, of  which he is himself an integral part.

 

Of course each Lodge has its own methods of procedure, dictated by  a set of By-Laws adopted for the regulation of its particular and  private affairs, usually in strict conformity with the basic laws  laid down by the Grand Lodge for the sake of uniformity. These  By-Laws of the Lodge should be studied in detail, in order that  each Member may know for himself the routine of affairs, and  conform thereto with an understanding of the common need.

 

We come now to a mention of a much-discussed feature of Masonic  fundamentals, known to us as "Landmarks." Definitions of a Landmark  have been widely divergent. (6) Probably no two writers have agreed  entirely. Mackey defines Landmarks (7) as "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. Both the enactors and the time of the enactment have  passed away from the record, and the landmarks are therefore 'of  higher antiquity than memory or history can reach.'" Antiquity is  its essential element, and this, coupled with the belief that no  group of Masons, however eminent, or by whatever authority clothed,  could repeal it, gives to the term a very definite quality. In  spite of this, however, the authorities are not agreed upon any  definite list of the Landmarks of Masonry. (8) Mackey has  enumerated twenty-five, (9) and his list has the sanction of a  number of Grand Lodges, (10) yet other authorities consider that  many of those enumerated in his list lack the fundamental quality  which they consider essential, and restrict the list Still further.  The Landmarks, in spite of the haziness surrounding their  definition and authority, play an important part in Masonic  government, and will explain to the student as no other source of  authority will, the origin of and foundation for many of our modern  Masonic customs.

 

Landmarks are the characteristics of the Craft, those limits or  boundaries that make Masonry significant and different. Every Mason  is duly circumscribed by landmarks; directed by duty, warned by  law, guided by precept toward that haven of his hopes wherein the  weary find eternal rest. His conscience a continual spur to an  enlightened integrity he avoids vicious practices and pursues right  living, a citizen free to support all or any party or pal ties that  aim at beneficent public service. Instructed in the moral law,  bound rigidly by weighty claims to walk uprightly before God and  man, the true Mason labors zealously for these objects that unite  his brethren and will not willingly nor hastily, introduce among  them whatever may savor of strife. While he will urge liberty and  charity in all things doubtful or essential, yet first and last the  Freemason is for unity among the brethren in all things.

 

Customs, however, Masonically speaking, derive their authority from  other sources than the Landmarks. We shall find the roots of many  customs buried deep in symbolism, (11) and older by centuries than  any of the historical laws or regulations. And on the other hand,  comparative study of symbols and of rituals, too, so far as any  such have descended to us, show that the entire Masonic system is  a growth, having borrowed from the customs of successive  generations throughout its history. (12)

 

Initiation into all secret societies, ancient and modern, has  commonly been accompanied by ceremonies of impressive type. From  all times and from all peoples we draw most interesting  particulars. Curious as are the customs of the past they are  paralleled by the present. Compare the reception of the adult male  into the full measure of tribal life, and that of the grown girl  into society. The two have much in common. Ritual marks both. After  the ceremonial a stage is reached of most distinct nature, one not  again to be attained. Students consider it as having reference to  being born again; at the first birth to enter the world, at the  second to be born into full tribal or society activity. The "Coming  Out" as it is today known in certain social strata when young women  make their "debut" into society, is a survival of very old methods.  It marks the step by which transit is suddenly made from girlhood's  early youthful standing to the place of acknowledged maturity among  women. In the older countries she is presented at court and kisses  her sovereign's hand, her dresses are lengthened, her hair is put  up in a special style, jewelry is more freely worn, an  entertainment of some sort, a dance for example, is given in her  honor, and thus at a bound she passes the line of separation from  schoolroom restraint to whatever social distinction her especial  opportunities may afford.

 

So it is in all lands that a ceremonial has bounded as a landmark  the passage between ignorance, darkness and immaturity, and that of  enlightenment of the intellect, illumination and acceptance among  the elect. Think of the ceremony of Baptism and Confirmation among  modern churches. Consider the Rite of Circumcision among the Jews.  Read over the several references to the ancient mysteries to be  found in Mackey's Encyclopedia--a list is to be found on page 4 of  Part 3 of the Correspondence Circle Bulletin.

 

This also is worth careful study: Among some tribes of Southeastern  Australia, when the boys are assembled for their formal initiation  into manly positions and responsibilities, there is presented to  them an old man dressed in bark fiber and who lies down in a place  representing an open grave. He is then covered with earth and twigs  or branches, lightly but freely, and effectually concealing him  from the spectators. The person so buried holds in his hand a small  bush which extends upward and projects through and above the loose  mass of earth lying upon the body. Other similar bushes are stuck  into the ground round about. The candidates are then brought to the  edge of the grave and a song is sung. As the singing continues, the  bush held by the buried man begins to quiver and gradually is  shaken the more vigorously, freeing the man bit by bit. At last he  frees himself, starts up and springs forth from the grave.

 

Organization of the first Grand Lodge of which we possess the  particulars, the one Grand Lodge dating back a couple of centuries  this very year, was a union of operative and speculative lodges,  the Grand Master selected from the one type of lodge and the Grand  Wardens chosen from the other. A study of the earlier Grand Masters  shows one obvious fact: the brethren soon became accustomed to the  election of the most prominent persons obtainable. Titled  personages are freely found in the list of Grand Masters of the two  Grand Lodges which early in the last century became the United  Grand Lodge of England. If the circumstance proved the readiness of  the fraternity to prefer men of rank for official distinction it  also demonstrates that such men found something worth while within  the Craft to attract them.

 

Peculiarly illuminating is a study of the prerogative of the Grand  Master. (13) Although listed by Mackey as one of the Landmarks of  Masonry, it is so skilfully and at the same time definitely  interwoven with the Masonic system, as to make any summary of the  "laws, rules and regulations" of the Fraternity incomplete without  giving it special mention. Take for example the dissemination of  Masonry. It is accomplished by the formation, in one locality after  another, of new Lodges. And when a new Lodge is to be formed, it is  peculiarly the province of the then Grand Master of the particular  Jurisdiction in which the ambitious group of Masons reside, to  inquire into the conditions of the community, the character of the  Brethren desiring to form the new Lodge, and the probabilities of  its ultimate success. Convinced of the favorableness of the  surroundings, he issues a Dispensation (14) to the Brethren, by  name, (they having previously signified their choice of working  officers) and empowers them to meet as a Lodge, confer degrees,  etc., performing all the functions of a Lodge as such. By this, and  by no other means, has the dissemination of Masonry throughout the  greater portion of the world progressed. And not until the Lodge  has gone to work, and has proven its devotion to the cause of  Masonry, and laid the foundation for substantial success, is the  Grand Lodge consulted in the matter. Having proven itself worthy,  the Lodge is then, after a proper accounting of its doings, granted  a Charter, is so that it becomes entitled to a name and number, and  a place on the roll of "regular and well governed Lodges" of that  Jurisdiction. It, in turn, becomes amenable to the Grand Lodge  Constitution (with all the inherent powers of a Constituent Lodge  to participate in changing that Constitution within the limits  prescribed by the "Landmarks"), subjects itself to the Codified Law  and the Customs of Masonry, and sets up its altar of devotion to  our principles.

 

Such, in brief, are the salient features of the relationship of a  Lodge to the other Lodges of the world. By these general rules we  determine the "regularity" of a Lodge, wherever it may be located:  its allegiance to the Grand Master and Grand Lodge which gave it  birth, and the regular ancestors of that Grand Lodge, being the  distinguishing characteristics which entitle its members to  recognition by other Masons who trace their origin along similar  paths to the same source. 

 

REFERENCES.

 

1. Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, P.

2. Usually published with the Code.

3. If not found in your Grand Lodge Code, consult some of the Reprints of the Old Charges of 1723. Also N. M. R. S. Reproduction of the Roberts Constitutions of 1722 introduction by J. F. Newton being a discussion of the Old Charges as a whole.

4. See above under 2.

5. Commencing in the January, 1917, issue of THE BUILDER.

6. For list of Landmarks, see Shepherd Article, Vol. I, pp. 183 and 187, THE BUILDER.

7. Mackey's Encyclopedia, P. 421 et seq.

8. Findel's List, Vol. I, THE BUILDER, P. 40.

T.S. Parvin's List, Vol. I, THE BUILDER, P.38.

Chetwode Crawley's List, Vol. II, THE BUILDER, P. 217.

9. Encyclopedia, P. 422 et seq.

10. See 6 above.

11. Correspondence Circle Bulletin No. 2, accompanying Nov., 1916, BUILDER.

12. Ibid.

13. Prerogatives -- L.A. McConnell, Vol. II THE BUILDER,

14. Mackey's Encyclopedia.

15. Ibid.

 

PARTICULAR REFERENCES ON LANDMARKS.

 

Adherence of the Irish Craft and the "Ancients" to:--J. L. Carson.

Vol. II, THE BUILDER, P. 7.

With respect to Physical Qualifications--Geo. W. Warvelle.

Vol. II, THE BUILDER, P. 17.

Making a Mason at Sight--Wildey E. Atchison.

Vol. II, THE BUILDER, P. 47.

The, Spirit of the Landmarks--H. R. Evans.

Vol. II, THE BUILDER, P. 207.

Also "The Mother Lodge" (poem)--Kipling.

Non-Christian Candidates--Roscoe Pound and Massachusetts Committee.

Vol. II, THE BUILDER, P. 302.

Belief in a Supreme Being--Melvin M. Johnson.

Vol. II, THE BUILDER, P. 368.

References to "Laws, Rules and Regulations" found in Mackey's

Encyclopedia.

a. Grand Lodge Constitutions and By-Laws.

Grand Lodge.

b. Lodge By-Laws.

By-Laws.

c. Codified Law.

Laws of Masonry.

Legislation.

d. Landmarks.

e. Charter.

Chartered Lodge.

Constitution of a Lodge.

Regular.

f. Dispensation.

Lodge.

g. Customs.

Parliamentary Law.

 

----o----

 

THE MASTER

 

"And I, if I be lifted up . . will draw all men unto me."

--John 12-32.

 

The day was done, the work complete,

When he gathered the well used tools,

And rapidly walked down Nazareth's street,

Toward Kishon's gleaming pools.

"What Apprentice passed," a Pharisee asked.

"What, know you not," spake one

Who had watched the youth as he passed,--

"Why, 'twas Jesus, the Carpenter's Son."

 

On another day down the street he fared

Past Jerusalem's turrets and towers,

The work was leveled and plumbed and squared,

Brim-full were the shining hours.

"What Craftsman passed," asked a Sadducee

Who stood in a wayside khan.

A beggar replied, "Can you not see ?

Why, 'twas Christ, the Son of Man."

 

Stately and spacious in every part

Soared the Temple toward the sun,--

The columned temple of perfect art,

Of a life that was finished and run.

A Cross stood darkly against the sky,

Like a stain it shadowed the sod.

"What Master passed," asked one standing by,

"Why, 'twas Christ, the Son of God."

F. S. Thompson, Past Grand Orator,

Grand Lodge of Washington.

 

----o----

 

More sufferings have been inflicted by good men, from good motives, than by all the tyrants that have ever lived.--Lord Macaulay.

 

----o----

THE FOUR HIRAMS OF TYRE

 

BY BRO. A.S. MACBRIDE, SCOTLAND

 

INTRODUCTION

 

It will, no doubt, surprise many Masons, as well as non-Masons, to be told that there are four Hirams of Tyre mentioned in the scripture narrative of the building of King Solomon's Temple of Jerusalem. Recently the Revd. Br. Morris Rosenbaum, P. P. G. Chaplain, Northumberland; Hollier-Hebrew Scholar, University of London; called the attention of the Masonic fraternity to the views of Meir Lob Malbim, the famous Rabbi of Kempen, as shown in his Commentary on the books of Kings and Chronicles. The learned Rabbi maintains, that these books refer to two Hirams who were employed at the building of the Temple, and that many passages in these books are only reconcilable on that supposition. While considering this proposition and searching for information regarding it, some interesting indications became apparent, leading to the conclusion, that there are two Kings of Tyre, as well as two Artisans of Tyre, mentioned in the sacred narrative; and all called by the name of Hiram. Following up these indications and reviewing the whole subject, at full length, this article on "The Four Hirams of Tyre" is the result.

 

Let us then consider the two propositions indicated, viz : First, that in the narration of the building of King Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem, as given in the books of Kings and of Chronicles, two kings of Tyre, called Hiram, are mentioned. Second, that in the narration above referred to, two artisans of Tyre, called Hiram, are also mentioned.

 

I. THE TWO KINGS CALLED HIRAM

 

The first mention in the Bible of the name of Hiram is in II Samuel V. 2, where we read: "And Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons, and they built David an house." Referring to the same circumstance, we read in I Chronicles XIV. 1: "Now, Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and timber of cedars, and masons, and carpenters, to build him an house." In I Kings V. 1 we are informed: "And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; (for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father:) for Hiram was ever a lover of David." In II Chronicles 11. 3, it is recorded: "And Solomon sent to Hiram the king of Tyre, saying, as thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him an house to dwell therein, even so deal with me." After the Temple had been built, as we learn from I Kings IX. 10: "It came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord, and the King's house, . . that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not. And he said: What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day." (This word "Cabul" expresses contempt. According to Josephus, it means, "that which does not please.")

 

Let us try to arrange the circumstances here mentioned in chronological order. From II Samuel V. 5, and I Kings II. 11, we learn that David reigned thirtythree years in Jerusalem. It was in the early years of his reign there, that David received from Hiram, cedar trees, masons and carpenters to build his house. This was, in all probability, thirty years before the death of David and the crowning of Solomon. In the fourth year of Solomon's reign the building of the Temple was begun and Hiram, king of Tyre, sent his servants to assist in the work. Twenty years afterwards, Solomon gave Hiram, twenty cities in the land of Galilee. Such is an outline of the events connected with Hiram king of Tyre, as related in the Hebrew scriptures, and if we closely examine them the question will naturally arise: was the Hiram who sent cedar-trees, and masons and carpenters to David the Hiram of the twenty cities? If so, then when Solomon gave him the twenty cities, he must have reigned in Tyre for fifty-four or more, years; an almost incredulous length of reign in those days in the east. (This figure is arrived at as follows: from the building of King David's house to the crowning of King Solomon, 30 years: from the latter event to the beginning of the building of the Temple, 4 years: from the beginning of the Temple to the giving of the twenty cities, 20 years: In all 54 years.)

 

Co