The Builder Magazine
February 1923 - Volume IX - Number 2
"LET THERE BE LIGHT
A SHORT SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF CONFUCIUS
By The Editor
THE SECRET SOCIETIES OF CHINA
By Bro. Dudley Wright, England
AN ACCOUNT OF THE RELIGIOUS STRUGGLES OF
THE EARLY AMERICAN COLONIES
By Bro. Benjamin Wellington Bryant, California
THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF SUPREME COUNCILS
By Bro. Perry W. Weidner, Secretary General,
Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, U. S. A.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY
THE NATIONAL MASONIC RESEARCH SOCIETY
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA.
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THE NATIONAL MASONIC RESEARCH SOCIETY
The National Masonic Research Society was founded in 1914 at Anamosa, Iowa, under authority of the Grand Lodge of Iowa to serve as a national association for the dissemination of Masonic knowledge and for kindred activities. It is strictly non-commercial in its nature and aims only at the largest possible usefulness to Freemasonry. Its record thus far fulfills the prophecies of its founders, and justifies an ever larger hope for its future.
GENERAL OBJECTS
The encouragement of every form of Masonic reading, study, research, and authorship.
The collection and preservation of materials of value for Masonic study.
The publication of a journal devoted to the interpretation of the history, nature, and present day activities of all the Rites, Order and Degrees of Freemasonry.
The promotion and supervision of meetings for Masonic discussion and study.
The organization of Masonic Study Clubs and the publication of courses of study.
The publication and distribution of Masonic books.
The encouragement of individuals and groups devoted to private Masonic research.
Cooperation with all possible agencies in the creation of an adequate Masonic literature, and in the development of a competent Masonic leadership.
Service Grand Lodges and other sovereign Masonic bodies and responsible agencies in special surveys, reports, and investigations.
Assistance to lodges and other bodies in the formation of Masonic libraries, reading rooms, book clubs, etc.
For eight years and more the Society has been successfully carrying on the activities described in the above list, which is typical and not exhaustive. In so doing it has been assisted by Masonic officials, leaders, scholars, authors, and students in every state in the Union and in every country of the world, all of whom by this activity have been drawn closer to that which is the dream of every intelligent Mason - the Republic of Masonic thought and letters.
THE BUILDER
THE BUILDER is the official monthly journal of the Society which goes to each member as one of the privileges of his membership, and is not offered for sale to the general public, nor is it in the competitive commercial field. It is edited in the interests of sound, constructive policies and aims at creating among Masons a more heartfelt appreciation of Freemasonry, and at making the spirit and principles of Freemasonry prevail in the world. Every member of the Society is requested to cooperate with the board of editors by contributions and by constructive criticism.
MEMBERSHIP
Any Master Mason in good standing in any part of the world becomes eligible for membership upon signing the Society's application form, a copy of which will be furnished upon request. Each member is entitled to THE BUILDER, and to all other privileges of membership, among which are the following:
Questions about Freemasonry are answered, and any kind of Masonic information is furnished.
Study Clubs or other groups for Masonic study; or Masonic book clubs, or for special research, are organized and encouraged.
Addresses, or materials for addresses are furnished.
New or secondhand Masonic books are secured, sold, loaned, or purchased.
Architectural advice on the erection of Masonic edifices, or on the remodeling, decorating, or furnishing of lodge rooms is given.
Any Mason can be put in touch with any other Mason or group of Masons anywhere in the world.
Selected lists of Masonic books are recommended to individuals or to lodges.
FORMS OF MEMBERSIIIP
There is no joining fee, and all members receive THE BUILDER free.
1. Membership dues $2.50 per year. Membership may begin at any time.
2. Life members may commute dues for life by paying $50.00 at one time.
3. Fellows (engaged in actual research), $10.00 on notice of election.
4 Patrons, being Masons who shall have contributed $1000 or more to the objects of the Society, and shall be entitled to all its privileges for life.
For members in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Newfoundland, Mexico, Philippine Islands and Porto Rico, the dues are $2.50 per year; elsewhere $3.00 per year.
BOARD OF EDITORS
Editor-in-Chief - H.L.Haywood
Associate Editors
Louis Block, Iowa.
Robert I. Clegg Ohio.
Charles F. Irwin, Ohio.
Joseph Fort Newton, New York.
Alanson B. Skinner, Wisconsin.
Jacob Hugo Tatsch, California.
Dudley Wright, England.
Address all communications to
The National Masonic Research Society,
2920 First Avenue East, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
ALL, ARTICLES IN THIS MAGAZINE COPYRIGHTED, 1923,
BY
THE NATIONAL MASONIC RESEARCH SOCIETY
Entered as second-class matter January 2, 1915, at the post office at Anamosa, Iowa, under the Act of August 21, 1912. Application for transfer to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, pending.
Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on June 29th, 1918.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
FRONTISPIECE . ......Confucius
A SHORT SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF CONFUCIUS By The Editor
MASONIC EDUCATION IN IDAHO - Idaho Freemason
THE SECRET SOCIETIES OF CHINA - By Bro. Dudley Wright, England
THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF SUPREME COUNCILS By Bro. Perry W. Weidner, 33d, Secretary General, A. & A. S. R., Southern Jurisdiction, U. S. A.
WAS DR. JOHNSON A FREEMASON? (Continued from January Number) By Bro. Arthur Heiron, England
AN ACCOUNT OF THE RELIGIOUS STRUGGLES OF THE EARLY AMERICAN COLONIES By Bro. Benjamin Wellington Bryant, California
MEMORIALS TO GREAT MEN WHO WERE MASONS - STEPHEN GIRARD - By Bro. G. W. Baird, P. G. M., District of Columbia
THE STUDY CLUB - The Teachings of Masonry - Part XVIII, Schools of Masonic Philosophy - By Bro. H. L. Haywood, Iowa
Supplemental References
THE LOST WORD – Poem - By Bro. H. L. Haywood, Iowa
EDITORIAL - The Chinese Sages
Our Book List
THE LIBRARY - A Book on Chinese Masonry
Stephen Girard
THE QUESTION BOX - Uniform Work a Comparatively Recent Development
When the Stars and Stripes Were Made Official
Ravages of the Anti-Masonic Movement
Masonic Funeral Customs
CORRESPONDENCE - Rabbi Ben Leon's Model of the Temple
How Lodge Attendance Was Increased 100%
Concerning Brother Gabriel McGuire
Acknowledgment to Professor Philadelpheus.
Two More Research Societies
A Worshipful Master at Twenty-three
YE EDITOR'S CORNER
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A Short Sketch of the Life of Confucius
BY THE EDITOR
A MAJORITY of Chinese words are ideograms; they are a symbolical picture of the idea for which they stand. Confucius may be called the ideogram of China. In his own life he gathered up into a single focus the history and meaning of his nation so that he who understands the great teacher can understand the great empire.
Long before Confucius was born China had climbed to a very high level of civilization. That development may be said to have culminated in him; just why it should have stopped then we may be able to see as a result of the study of his life. That it did stop, there is no question, for the arrest of civilization in China is one of the most astounding of the phenomena of history, and utterly destroys the popular theory about necessary progress. "The compass was known," says one authority on the subject, "some twenty-six hundred years before Christ, but the Chinese never became a maritime nation. Gunpowder has been known in China some seventeen hundred years before Christ, but the Chinese have never become a warlike people. Paper was manufactured some two hundred years before Christ and the art of printing by block types was known two hundred years after Christ, that is, twelve hundred years before Gutenberg. Despite these advantages probably not over five per cent of the entire population of China could read and write in 1900, and Chinese writing has not advanced even to the alphabetic stage."
In Confucius' day China was not yet an empire but occupied only about one-sixth of its present area and was divided into some hundred and fifty separate states. Each state was ruled by a petty king or duke or marquis who in turn paid tribute to the more powerful rulers; in short, the ten or fifteen million of the Chinese were then living in a state of society very similar to that of feudal Europe. Just as there was culture in feudal Europe so in that ancient China art, music, literature and social etiquette were highly developed. But in the course of time all the political divisions and jealousies bit down deep into the people's life, and a period of decadence set in during which such conditions obtained as are impossible to describe.
When Confucius appeared it seemed that the breath of the creative spirit was blowing over the whole world. The Jews built their second temple and laid the foundations of that national religion which remained in full vigour down to Jesus' day; Buddha set rolling the wheel of his law over India; Pythagoras founded his so influential sect among the Greeks; and Confucius, own fellow countryman, Lao Tsze, created Taoism, a religion that numbers more adherents today among the Chinese than any other. But, as Mencius said, conditions were bad in ancient China: the central government was very weak and corrupt; polygamy of a debased type prevailed; murder was common, and everywhere it seemed that the ancient order was breaking down.
BIRTH OF CONFUCIUS
It was during the Chow dynasty, third in the history of the people, that Confucius was born, supposedly in the year 550 B.C. His real name was Chin K'ung, but this was later changed by his followers to Pu Tse K'ung, which means "The Master K'ung," a title that Jesuit missionaries latinized into "Confucius." No Chinaman ever sprang from a grander lineage than he. His father was a public official of great courage and such physical powers that if one were to describe some of his exploits a reader would not believe the tale. His name was Heih and he had nine daughters and one crippled son by his two wives. Desiring a more robust son he decided to marry again at seventy. So he sought out a friend in a neighbouring clan who had three marriageable daughters and asked for one of them. He was given the youngest, a girl of seventeen, and it was from this ill-assorted union that Confucius sprang. Heih died when the lad was three years of age, leaving the family in rather destitute circumstances so that Confucius himself afterwards explained his ability to do many things by saying that he had been obliged to do much work when a boy.
At fifteen Confucius was seized with a passion for learning, and steeped himself in writings of the poets and sages who had lived before him. At nineteen he was married, a son being born to him in his twentieth year. Of this boy little is known except that, like Buddha's son, he became an obscure member of his father's sect. Two daughters also more born to him and these also sank into oblivion as women almost always do in that land which has been so deficient in its appreciation of womankind.
At this time Confucius was appointed keeper of public stores and superintendent of parks, the latter as thankless a job as it is at the present time. His mother died when he was twenty-four, and her death almost broke the heart of her son, who mourned her in such a way as makes the one supremely human and likeable event in his history. For immemorial ages the Chinese had levelled the graves of their dead, but Confucius, conservative that he was, raised a large mound over his mother's grave in order, so he said, that whatever happened he would never lose sight of her resting place. For three years he mourned for her, not even playing his flute, to which he was devoted, during that whole period.
In his twenty-second year Confucius became a teacher, not of boys but of young men who desired instruction in the conduct of life. There is no question but that he proved to be one of the greatest pedagogs that ever lived, and he soon gathered a large company of students about him. Two members of a royal house were enroled in his circle after a time. During his visit to the court of these noble students Confucius had an interview with Lao Tsze, the founder of Taoism, and one of the greatest men that has ever lived, a mind so profound, endowed with such a genius for religion, that his writings, in many portions, sound as if they might have been written yesterday. But the pragmatic mind of Confucius was not equipped to understand a mystic like Lao Tsze and the two never drew very close together.
In 517 the state of Lu, in which Confucius resided, fell into such disorders that he and his disciples went elsewhere seeking a home. But, judged according to the standards of his time he was so peculiar and he held up so high a standard for men and monarchs, that nowhere was he warmly welcomed; so after many wanderings he and his friends returned to Lu where he remained a private teacher during the next fifteen years.
Becoming more and more influential he was finally made chief magistrate of a city and later on the minister of crime in a province. According to all accounts he was wonderfully successful in public office. He was so successful, indeed, that he made of his state the best governed in the land. At that a neighbouring province or two became jealous and alarmed, fearing that the state of Lu might grow to such strength as to absorb their territory. Accordingly the Marquis of Ts'i determined on a peculiarly Chinese method for weakening the strong state. Instead of declaring war on some pretext or other as a less crafty ruler would have done, he sent around a troop of beautiful dancing women and a number of fine horses to the ruler of Lu. Much to Confucius' disgust this potentate fell into the trap and soon forgot all the sage's counsels in his infatuation with the girls.
Very much chagrined and humiliated Confucius resigned his offices, gathered a group of disciples about him, and left the country. It is an open secret that he hoped his leaving would arouse the Marquis of Lu to send for his return, but that did not happen. The state soon lapsed into its old corruption.
IN VOLUNTARY EXILE
Confucius was fifty-six years of age when he embarked on this voluntary exile. He had been cherishing a Carlyle dream of a fatherly and kingly ruler and went everywhere seeking for such a man. For thirteen years he sought in vain, everywhere received with respect but nowhere given a position of power as the counsel of a sovereign, the post that he most desired. Many interesting events occurred during that itinerancy but there is not here space to tell of them.
After this wandering he returned to Lu and went again into private life, refusing the public offices that were then offered to him by the new Marquis. He contented himself with teaching his disciples, who now numbered some three thousand.
His wife had died many years before but he had ordered the young men and the family not to mourn for her. Confucius' family life evidently had meant little to him: there is even a tradition that he divorced his wife but no real proof for this has been discovered. He did not even mourn for the death of his son who died shortly after the last return to Lu. The death of a favourite disciple at this time, however, shook him profoundly.
He himself died in 478, being then 74 years of age. His passing was not such as to awaken in us either much reverence or admiration. One day he was seen by a disciple standing at a door leaning on his walking stick and crooning to himself:
"The great mountains must crumble
The strong beam must break,
The wise man must wither away like a plant."
To a disciple who overheard this lament he said, "No intelligent ruler arises to take me as his master. My time has come to die." Shortly thereafter he took to his bed in which he lingered for seven days. He made no signs of emotion, and seemed melancholy, embittered and disillusioned with life.
His disciples buried him with great pomp just outside the city of Kuihfow where his tomb may be seen to this day marked by a tablet on which is inscribed, "The resting place of the great perfection." His disciples built huts in be neighbourhood and lived three years mourning his passing. Some 40,000 or 50,000 of the sage's descendants still live in the neighbouring city.
News of his death went thru the whole empire, awakening the people, when too late, to a sense of their loss. They discovered that a truly great man had been living in their midst unappreciated. His sayings and the books that he had edited began to be circulated everywhere. To this day every applicant for official position in many parts of China must pass an examination in the Confucian classics. Confucius living sought in vain for recognition from his empire; Confucius dead passed into the spirit of his people where he today lives with growing power. Of such an influence as his one might write in the words which Emerson used of the memory of Burns:
"I am afraid heaven and earth have taken too good care of it to leave anything to say. The west winds are murmuring it. Open the windows behind you, and hearken to the incoming tide, what the waves say of it. His teachings axe the property and the solace of mankind."
HIS INFLUENCE
How did Confucius come to wield so wide an influence? I must confess that I have sought in vain for an answer to that question. He is to me the greatest puzzle I have ever studied. To an Occidental who has sat at the feet of such men as Lincoln and Emerson this eastern sage makes almost no appeal at all. They are flame and life; he is ice and a dead perfection. He had self control and a quiet kind of courage but in those qualities which appeal to the imagination he was almost wholly lacking. The accounts of his life tell how he dressed, and how he sat in all circumstances, and how he liked his rice cooked, and his meat cut, and what clothes he wore, and that he would not talk after he retired for the night. He was punctilious, was cautious in his own meticulous fashion, but of passion, of chivalry, of force and verve he had almost nothing. I know of no modern book so much like the story of Confucius as Herbert Spencer's Autobiography wherein the English sage devotes whole pages to the shape of salt cellars and the manner of carving a roast. There may have been passion and life behind the exterior; his long and passionate mourning for his mother and his fondness for music might seem to indicate that; but if there was, he reposed it and concealed it.
How he came to wield such an empire over so great a portion of the human race is still a mystery to us; but there is no question that he has been a power in the world, a greater influence, perhaps, than any other moralist who has ever lived.
When he appeared, as Mencius said, he found the existing order in danger of dissolution. How to preserve it against destruction became his life work. Not being a great original thinker, not having the insight into the roots of things himself, but being, according to his own words, "transmitter rather than creator," he naturally turned to the past. It was there, in the teachings of the ancient sages and in the deeds of the ancient rulers that he found his guidance. He did not write any books himself but gathered out of the past such matters as he felt would best conserve his nation, and he gave these in volumes to his disciples.
But in choosing from the ancient leaders he ignored all that might be of a religious element, and preserved only the secular. In religion he was apparently an agnostic, tho this is said with some reservation inasmuch as Confucianists themselves are divided on the question. But the very fact that his own followers cannot determine whether he believed in God or not shows that for him what we call religion was a matter of no great importance. To this day Confucianism is not in our sense a religion but a code of ethics of such a character that one may remain a Confucianist while believing in some other religion, as in the case with a multitude of Chinamen who are Confucianists and Taoists or Buddhists at the same time. His one concern was to make this life as healthy and happy as possible, improving the conduct of the people, and teaching them etiquette. In short, as Wu Ting Fang has put it, "Confucius' aim was to show how to go thru life like a courteous gentlemen."
His ideal of character he called "The Superior Man." Those who believe in Nietzsche's doctrine of the Superman will do well to ponder this fact. The first virtue of this Superior Man is to be loyalty, not loyalty to his own conscience or to his ideals but to the past, for all of Confucius' ideals are but the shadows of the dead. Of progress he had no conception. He was undoubtedly the world's greatest conservative.
CHINESE CONSERVATISM
It is this conservatism that has enabled China to maintain her integrity of race and nationality during all these centuries, for Confucius taught her to conserve her material wealth, her vitality, her scholarship, and her more.
To Confucius the state was a creation of nature no more to be changed than is the structure of the beehive. A benevolent despot was to rule over an obedient people Confucius hoped that if fatherly and strong rulers could be developed and if the people would prove loyal to them an ideal political government might sometime be developed. Indeed, he seemed to hold a dream of a kind of paternally socialistic state like that of Plato or of the old time communists. So important did politics seem to him that he gave it almost the value and dignity of a religion, a modern scholar saying that he would have served the world greatly had he done nothing more than "Sublimate statecraft."
He built his ideal of the state on the theory of the family because to him the family relationship lies at the basis of all social life. In this he was wise, far wiser than many of the impetuous reformers of our day, and there is no country where the relationships between brothers and sisters, parents and children, and the husband and wife are of a more enduring character than in China. There is much lacking in the finer qualities of the home, its poetry, its religious element and its spontaneous love; but in spite of these defects the Confucian family is enduring.
Much has been made of the fact that Confucius taught the Golden Rule; he did teach it in a negative form a world apart from the golden rule taught by Jesus. According to Jesus we are TO DO to others what we would that others would do to us; the Chinese sage taught that we are simply to refrain from doing evil to others. Of this, one writer who has long lived in China observes: "The Chinese are really addicted in a wonderful and commendable way to letting others alone; they are neither obtrusive or officious. But an act of pure chivalry is seldom to be beheld among the four hundred millions. Foreigners who have lived among them for tens of years have never seen a chivalrous soul dash out to rescue a suffering captive, nor save a stranger who was in peril."
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MASONIC EDUCATION IN IDAHO
Members of the National Masonic Research Society in general, and of Study Clubs in particular, will find an excellent statement of the general aims of Masonic education in the brief article printed below from the pen of the Chairman of the Educational Committee of Idaho, and republished here by permission of The Idaho Freemason. This journal made its appearance in June last under the competent editorial direction of Brother Frank G. Burroughs, Masonic Temple Building, Boise, Idaho. It carries a section devoted to Masonic education among its regular departments.
MASONIC EDUCATION
BY CHARLES W. MACK
More than anything else in the world there is need for education and enlightenment.
The activities of a Masonic Lodge in a community vary with the time in the life of a nation in which it exists, but at all times it should defend against all enemies the principles of liberty, justice and truth upon which it is founded. I feel that we are approaching a time when Masonic education will be needed by every Mason, and that the time for this education is now.
The one great aim of every Masonic lodge should be to bring the teachings of our Order to every man who joins our organization, and to teach him Masonry as it touches our daily lives. The ritual is a nucleus, or foundation, upon which to start our Masonic education, but that is not enough - it must be brought before us in a practical way, and in a way that it will reach and every man who enters our portals; it is necessary that we explain and bring out the lessons as given to us, and further, that by example in our daily lives, we demonstrate that we understand what we are taught, and that the high principles of our Order are doing for us what it is intended they should do.
Freemasonry's main objects are to make men friends, to refine and exalt their lives. If the questions that are troubling us today are to be settled, it must be in an atmosphere of mutual recognition and respect. A proper settlement can never be made in an air of hostility and mistrust. Our great Order can help furnish this required atmosphere.
Masonic education will not only explain and bring out the great lessons of our Order to our membership, but it will develop leaders in our organization, and will increase the interest in our lodges which will bring out attendance far greater in number and enthusiasm than has heretofore been thought of.
It is my wish and hope that every lodge in this State will have its Masonic educational meetings every month, following a course as outlined by the Grand Lodge, and that we shall have a Grand Lecturer who will be in the field the greater part of the year, instructing our lodges in the ritualistic work, as well as carrying out the educational program.
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Freemasonry is the subjugation of the human that is in man by the divine; the conquest of the appetites and passions by the moral sense and the reason; a continued effort, struggle and warfare of the spiritual against the material and sensual. - Albert Pike.
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THE SECRET SOCIETIES OF CHINA
BY BROTHER DUDLEY WRIGHT, ENGLAND
CHINA has, in all probability, as ancient a veridical record of the existence of organized secret societes as any nation. The soil for their growth is thoroughly congenial and, as one writer has expressed it, they "spring into life as weeds on a rubbish heap, wherever oppression and tyranny abound, and it has been by combinations of this character that the Chinese people have been able to resist the oppressions and demands of the mandarins."
The whole empire is honeycombed with these societies which include among their members persons in almost every rank of official and private life, although many are induced or even compelled to join from fear of vengeance if they refuse or in the hope of securing aid in time of distress, rather than from any wish to carry out the designs to which they pledge their assistance. Secret societies, says Kesson, "are entirely suited to the Chinese genius, which appears to delight in mysteries and enigmas and to confound language and ideas for the sake of being able to unravel them again. They are suited to a people in whose character there is nothing direct, but who seek the simplest ends by a ruse, or some needless piece of strategy."
The earliest notice of an aboriginal secret Chinese League is toward the close of the Han dynasty (circa second century B.C.) A secret society, recruited mainly from among Chinese litterateurs, was organized by three patriots solely for the purpose of defending the throne against "Yellow Cap" rebels. This association was known as the "Red Eyebrows," because its members marked themselves in that way before going into battle. The "Yellow Caps," however, were joined by the "Copper Steeds" and the "Iron Shins" and together they fought for and were successful in securing a change of government. The "Red Eyebrows" maintained their existence, although there is scarcely any farther trace of the League until the twelfth century.
In the fourteenth century a secret society, unquestionably meriting that title, entered the arena. It was a religious and, possibly, of a Buddhist character, seeing that the members adopted the title of the "White Lotus." It faded out of sight until the seventeenth century, when it is found lending its aid to a usurper who sought to wrest the throne from the Ming dynasty. Their united efforts were unsuccessful, but shortly afterwards the Ming dynasty succumbed to onslaughts of the Manchu invaders.
Many of the secret societies of China have originated with purely benevolent and philanthropic, objects, but, in time, the zeal of the members, sometimes from force of circumstances, has degenerated into political fanaticism and frequently the most important political changes in the empire have been due to their action.
The time of the greatest activity of the Chinese secret leagues or societies was from the beginning the eighteenth until the close of the nineteenth centuries, particularly from 1766 to 1795, during the reign of the Emperor Chien Lung, which period witnessed the rise of man of these association which the emperor sought vainly to suppress and exterminate.
On 8th January, 1845 the Legislative Council of Hong Kong pass the following decree:
"An Ordinance for the suppression of the Triad and other secret societies within the island of Hong Kong and its dependencies:
"Whereas the Triad Society and other secret societies prevalent in China exist among the inhabitants of the island of Hong Kong, and whereas these associations have objects in view which are incompatible with the maintenance of good order and constituted authority and with the security of life and property and afford by means of the secret agency increased facilities for the commission of crime and the escape of offenders:
"1. Be it therefore enacted and ordained by th Governor of Hong Kong with the advice of the Legislative Council thereof that from and after the passing of this Ordinance if any person or persons being of Chinese origin in the said island or its dependencies shall be a member or members of the Triad Society or other secret societies as aforesaid he, she, or they shall in consequence thereof be guilty of felony and being duly convicted thereof, shall be liable to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years, with or without hard labour, and at the expiration of such term of imprisonment, that such person shall be marked on the right cheek in the manner used in the case of military deserters and be expelled from the said island."
In 1889 a law was passed in the Straits Settlements for the suppression of Chinese secret societies, which led to the seeming disappearance of many of these inimical organizations, but there is reason to assume that the disappearance was apparent only and that the various units remained almost as active as formerly, but worked with greater caution and secrecy.
THE GREAT HUNG LEAGUE
By the laws of the various societies no Chinaman may belong to two societies at one and at the same time; if he is already a member of one and desires to join another, he must first sever his connection with the one of which he is already a member. The largest and most important organization, however, the Great Hung League, permits neither resignation nor secession, and the member, on initiation, takes an oath that he will never leave the society.
The following are extracts from section 255 of the Penal Code of China:
"All persons who, without being related or connected by intermarriage, shall by brotherhood or association among themselves, by the ceremonial of tasting blood and burning incense, be held guilty of the intent to commit the crime of rebellion; and the principal or chief leader of such association shall accordingly suffer death by strangulation after remaining for the usual period in confinement. The punishment of the accessories shall be less by one degree. If the brotherhood exceeds twenty persons in number, the principal offender shall suffer death by strangulation immediately after conviction; and the accessories shall suffer the aggravated banishment into the remotest provinces. If the brotherhood be formed without the aforesaid initiatory ceremonies of tasting blood and burning incense and according to the rules of its constitution be subject to the authority and direction of the leaders only, but exceed forty persons in number, then the principal shall still suffer death by strangulation, as in the first case, and the accessories a punishment less by one degree.
"If the authority and direction of the association is found to be vested in a strong youthful membership, that circumstance alone shall be deemed sufficient evidence of its criminality; and the principal shall accordingly suffer death by strangulation immediately after conviction; the accessories, as in the preceding eases, shall undergo aggravated punishment.
"If the association is subject to the authority and direction of the elder brethren, and consists of more than twenty but less than forty persons, the principals shall be punished with one hundred blows and sent into perpetual banishment to the distance of three thousand li. If the association under the last mentioned circumstance, consists of any number less than twenty persons the principal shall suffer one hundred blows and wear the cangue for three months; in both cases the punishment of the accessories shall be one degree less severe than that of the principals."
The cangue is a heavy wooden collar, taken off at night only if the sentence is a long one.
The sites for the Lodges are always carefully chosen with a view to concealment and are situated for the most part in obscure mountainous and wooded districts. The more inaccessible the spot the better suited for the meetings. Professor Schlegel once discovered the following description of the entrance to a Lodge in the Province of Shantung: "A stone road leads to the first pass called the Heaven-Screen Pass. Past this is the Earth-Net Pass. Next comes the Sun-Moon Pass, at which pass each brother is obliged to pay one mace and two candareens (about one shilling). After this pass comes a stone bridge over a river, which leads to the Hall of Fidelity and Loyalty, where are the shrines of the Five Ancestors, flanked on the right by a council-room and on the left by the court; here the Brother must produce his capital (three Hung cash) and his diploma. From this goes a long road along the mountain chain Hinling, guarded on the one side by the mountain and on the other by the sea. At the end of this road is the outside Moss Pass, called also the Pavilion of the Black River. Thirteen Chinese miles farther on is the Golden Sparrow frontier, so called on account of the name of the mountain at whose feet it lies. Past this are four buildings; over the front one are written the words 'To extend the Empire let Righteousness flourish.' The second one is called the Palace of Justice, with the civil entrance to the left and the military entrance to the right. The Lodge follows immediately." [See bibliography at end.]
BROTHERHOOD OF THE MYSTIC CROSS
The Suastica, or Brotherhood of the Mystic Cross, claims to have been founded in B.C. 1027, by Fohi, and to have been introduced into China in B.C. 975. It has three degrees, viz., 1. Apprentice; 2. Tao Sze, or Doctors of Reason; 3. Grand Master. Apprentices wear the Jaina cross worked on a blue ribbon; the Tao Sze, a cross of silver; and the Grand Masters one of gold. The initiate takes five vows: 1. to worship God daily, to obey the law, to walk in purity and truth, to assist the Brethren of the Order, and to obey all its rules; 2. to pursue wisdom, to eschew avarice, to be charitable, to assist the poor and necessitous, never to take furtively the property of another, directly or indirectly; 3. to be pure and chaste, abstinent, and studious; 4. to be sincere and never to deceive another, to be free from lying, to avoid affectation in language, duplicity, and calumny, never to flatter, never to drink to excess any intoxicating liquor; 5. to keep faithfully all the sacred vows.
The Pe-lin-kiao, or White Water Lily Society, claims to date from the reign of Ling-Ti, who was emperor in the second century of the Christian era. He was of a tyrannical disposition and is said to have beheaded several hundred literates, which caused the bringing into existence of this society, which was founded by three brothers named Chang, who equipped three powerful armies to overthrow the tyrant emperor. Demetrius Boulger is of opinion that this the original secret of China and the parent of all subsequent societies. The name "Water Lily" is said to have been chosen on account of the popularity of that plant. Huc says: "The poets have celebrated it in their verses, on account of the beauty of its flowers; the doctors of reason have placed it among the ingredients for the elxir of immortality; and the economists have extolled it for its utility." The members of the society assert that it was once prophesied that one of their number would be emperor of China, which probably accounts for the chiefs of the Order regarding themselves as commissioned by High Heaven to regenerate the Empire. In the early part of the eighteenth century the leaders were Wang-lung and a man named Fan-iu, and they had a following of twelve thousand. The first-named made himself master of the town of Shoo-chang-hien, but was soon driven thence, when he and many of his followers perished. Nothing more was heard of the society until 1777, when the members again rose in insurrection, but only again to be defeated. The heads of the leaders, including two women, were cut off and placed in cages for public inspection. The object of the society, behind its ostensible benevolent activities, was the overthrow of the Mentchoo-Tartar dynasty and the restoration of the Ming. The presiding Master was always given the title of Emperor and Son of Heaven, and he was invested with every imperial honour and dignity. After a plot to overthrow the dynasty in 1803 the members were accused of holding unorthodox opinions, of being possessed of magical powers, and of meditating treasonable practices. As a result of the order of suppression issued against them the society disappeared, but reappeared for a short time in a more formidable and extensive confederacy, known as the Society of Celestial Reason, but this was afterwards merged into the Triad Society. At the time of the kidnapping of Sun Yat Sen in London, in 1896, it was stated that he was not only an active member of the White Lily Society, but a prominent leader of that revolutionary society. As a matter of fact he was a member of the Triad Society or of the Hung League. Sir James Cantlie and C. Sheridan Jones in their Life of Sun Yat Sen refer to this matter in the following words:
"A powerful and widespread body, 'The Triad Society' has existed almost ever since the Manchus ascended the throne, but it consisted of men of philosophic ideas without the capability or courage to put their ideas into practice. It was not until Sun Yet Sen came to the front that the idea was given concrete shape and brought to practical issue: the old Triad Society, however, gave little direct help during the recent crisis, the members being afraid of action for they well knew what failure meant. In China the death penalty was ever at hand when reforms were even whispered, and it was only when Sun took his life in his hand and boldly declared his intention that any one was found courageous enough to denounce the throne openly."
In some of the rites and ceremonies of the White Lily Society there seem to be traces of a Nestorian form of Christianity. The mandarins often confounded Christian gatherings for meetings of this society and punished the members accordingly.
THE BLACK FLAGS
The Black Flags was another secret society opposed to the Manchu dynasty and their members were so successful in their propaganda in certain provinces that they established an imperium in imperio where they reigned virtually supreme and their flat was law. In 1888 a Chinaman in New York of the name of Lee You Du died. It was reported in the newspapers of the time that he had been a general of the Black Flag Order in China.
The Gee Hin Society is believed originally to have been an offshoot of the Black Flag Society. Brother J. Vopley Moyle in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, vol. vii., says that the society had certainly existed for several centuries and, like many other Chinese secret societies, was founded for the express purpose of overthrowing the Tartar rule and replacing the Ming dynasty on the throne of China. It has branches in Burma and the Straits Settlements. It is governed by three principals or headmen, who are elected for life, and who are assisted in the government by councillors. The routine business of the Lodge is left entirely to the secretary. In 1807 the number of members in Penang alone was estimated at 26,000 and the Society had at that time, in addition to Lodge premises, property worth over $20,000 invested in houses and lands in the province of Wellesley. In 1887 four members of this society were sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment for conducting an Agency for the introduction of members. The Straits Times of 17th September, 1889, contained a full report of the trial of a number of prisoners who were proved to be members of this, or of the Sam Tien secret society at Sarawak. The six leaders were shot; eleven active members who carried out the orders of the leaders and frightened, beat, and, in some cases, murdered non-members, were sentenced to receive six dozen strokes with a rattam, to have their heads shaved and to be imprisoned during the Rajah's pleasure. The following account of the initiation ceremony was given by a subpoenaed witness before the Commissioners appointed under the Penang Riots Enquiry Act of 1867:
"At eleven o'clock we were taken into the Kongsee House (Lodge) two by two, passing doors successively after certain questions were asked and answered at each door, two guards being stationed at each door.
"At each of the doors we were asked:
Q. Where do you come from?
A. From the East.
Q. For what do you come here.
A. We come to meet our Brethren.
Q. If the Brethren eat rice mixed with sand, will you also eat of it?
A. Yes, we will.
"The doorkeepers then showed us a broad-bladed sword and asked:
Q. Do you know what this is?
A. A knife.
Q. What can this knife do?
A. With it we can fight our enemies or rivals.
Q. Is this knife stronger than your neck?
A. My neck is stronger.
"Each candidate was told what answer to make and afterwards was allowed to enter. The secretary was standing on a table while another person was standing on the ground in front of him beside a tub of water. The secretary ordered this person to prick the third finger of the left hand of each candidate with a needle and the blood that trickled from it was allowed to drop into the tub of water. After this the candidate was made to pass under another and higher table behind the secretary and upon which there was a Joss (Chinese god) where the candidate received three cents, was told to go to a small charcoal fire at the back and step over it, the left foot first. Near by were three square blocks of granite, on which the candidate was made to step with the left and right foot alternately. After passing these blocks the candidate was conducted to a man who kept a kind of shop and took the three cents that had been given to the candidate, giving him in return some cigarettes, Sirth leaves, and sweetmeats. There the candidate waited until all the candidates came up, when all were led to the front of a Chinese altar with a Joss on it. All knelt, rose again, and each drank a little water from the tub in which had been dropped the blood from the fingers of all the candidates. After returning into a room the candidates returned to the altar where they saw the Secretary dressed like a Chinese priest. All the candidates knelt while the Secretary read in Chinese from numerous folds of red paper. When he had finished reading, a fowl's head was cut off and the Secretary then read the papers he had read, telling the candidates that if they did not obey the rules of the Society they would meet with the fate of the decapitated fowl."
The oath contained thirty-six articles, with penalties for transgression varying in severity from death to beating and fines. Members pledged themselves on oath to consider and treat the fathers and mothers of other members as their own; to rise and join the standard of the "true Lord" of China when he should appear; not to reveal the secrets of the society, nor to show its diploma or statutes to anyone; to relieve a member in distress; not to seduce a member's wife under penalty of death; not to refuse money to enable a member to escape from justice; not to cheat or rob a brother member, under the penalty of the loss of one or two ears. To ridicule a member on account of poverty entailed a punishment of thirty-six blows; to reveal the fact that a member smuggled opium meant the loss of both ears and 108 blows. Members were forbidden to marry the widows of other members, and a severe punishment awaited the member who left the society. The initiation fee in Penang was three dollars and in Burma twenty-four rupees. Mr. W. A. Pickering, writing in 1879, said that for many years there had been no Grand Master of this society, as no person dared come forward to undertake the onerous and responsible duties of the office, but each branch was under the direction of a General Manager, a Lodge Master, a Van Guard, and a Red Baton or Executioner, with a varying number of Councillors or District Head men, who carried out the orders of the Superior. This Society was evidently connected with the Triad Society and the Hung League.
(To be concluded)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hue...........................Chinese Empire.
Herbert A. Giles..............Historic China.
Herbert A. Giles..............The Civilization of China.
J. Kesson ....................Cross and Dragon.
Dr. Milne.....................Account of Triad Society (Journal R.A.S., vol. 1).
Pere Leboucq.................Associations de la Chine.
Lieut. Newbold................The Chinese Triad Society (Journal R.A.S., vol 6)
Sir George Staunton...........Translation of Penal Code of China
F. Brinkley...................China.
Demetrius Boulger.............History of China.
Gustav Schlegel...............The Hung League.
Cantlie and Jones.............Sun Yet Sen.
Chinese Repository, vols. 16 and 18.
Blackwood's Magazine, December, 1896.
Journal of American Folk Lore, vol. 3.
Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, September, 1852.
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THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF SUPREME COUNCILS
BY BROTHER PERRY W. WEIDNER, 33d,
Secretary General, the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, U. S. A.
THE THIRD International Conference of regular Supreme Councils of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite was held at Lausanne, Switzerland May 29 to June 2, 1922. The following Supreme Councils participated:
Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America
France
Spain
Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States
Belgium
Brazil
Peru
Portugal
Uruguay
Argentina
Cuba
Mexico
Republic Dominicana
Central America
Greece
Switzerland
Italy
Egypt
Netherlands
Serbia
From the Transactions of its labors the Supreme Councils seem to have done a constructive work in several matters.
First, they took notice of Spanish violation of territorial rights of Freemasonry in the United States. The delegates from the Southern and Northern Supreme Councils of the United States declined to participate in the Conference with Spanish delegates seated until Spain would acknowledge error and make some guarantees that this offense would be removed. A special commission was appointed by the Conference consisting of Ill.’. Brothers E. C. Day, 33d, and Perry W. Weidner, 33d, of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America; Barton Smith, 33d, and James I. Buchanan, 33d, of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction; and Ill.’. Brothers Auguste Barcia, 33d, and Manuel Portela, 33d, of the Spanish Supreme Council. At a conference held by these brethren on the subject it appears that the Spanish delegates were very desirous to meet the views of their American brethren and cordially concurred in presenting to the Conference the following:
To the International Conference of Supreme Councils, 33d:
The special commission of the Conference of Supreme Councils having investigated the complaint presented by the Supreme Councils of the Southern and Northern Jurisdictions of the United States about the invasion of their territory by the Supreme Council of Spain, requests the Conference to invite the Supreme Council of Spain to retire from their territory.
After this the Spanish brethren presented to the Conference the following statement, which was signed by all three of the delegates from the Supreme Council of Spain, the first of whom was Brother Auguste Barcia, at the present time Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Spain.
To the Assembled Conference of Supreme Councils at Lausanne, Switzerland: Illustrious Brethren:
The undersigned delegates of the Supreme Council of Spain to this Conference hereby solemnly declare at the earliest possible moment after their return to Madrid they will cause the Supreme Council of Spain to take immediate action to withdraw the charters of all Bodies claiming to be Masonic under its obedience within the territory of the States of the United States and the District of Columbia. We also solemnly promise that we will use all influence and power resting in us to secure like action by the Bodies in the same territory under the obedience of the Grand Orient of Spain. We also promise that we will not encourage or tolerate any action or attitude contrary to the wishes of the brethren of the United States of America relative to the Bodies under the obedience of organized Masonic authority in Spain, in the Island of Porto Rico, and the Phillippines.
(SIGNED) Auguste Barcia, 33d, G.’.M.’.L.'. G.'.O.'.E.'.
Manuel Portela, 33d
Jose Lescura, 33d
After this communication was received and accepted by the Conference upon the motion of Illustrious Brother Barton Smith, 33d, which was seconded by Illustrious Brother E. C. Day, 33d, the delegates from the Supreme Council of Spain were seated.
The International Conference also admitted to seat representatives from the newly organized Supreme Councils of Czecho-Slovakia and Poland, both of which were organized in 1922, and it resolved to hold the Fourth International Conference in the city of Buenos Ayres, in the Argentina, in 1927, upon dates set by and under the auspices of the Supreme Council of Argentina.
The Conference did another constructive work and made clear that regular Supreme Councils do not countenance irregularities. This is set out in the report of the section having to deal with such subjects:
To the International Conference of Supreme Councils, 33d:
The second section, having under consideration questions relating to the protection against any irregular and clandestine organization, submits the following resolutions:
1. RESOLVED, that in the opinion of this Conference every Supreme Council should be supreme, sovereign and free from the control or direction of any other body or organization in the method of selecting its members and officers, the duration of the term of office of its officers, the qualifications and regulations of membership in its subordinate Bodies, in its powers of legislation, and in the discipline of its members and subordinate Bodies throughout its entire Jurisdiction, subject to the rights of regular Grand Lodges which govern membership in the first three Degrees of Masonry, consistent with the landmarks and laws of Ancient Craft Masonry.
2. RESOLVED, that hereafter any Supreme Council granting or withdrawing recognition from any other Supreme Council shall immediately notify every other Supreme Council of such action and the reasons therefor; and if the withdrawal of recognition is approved by a majority of the Supreme Councils represented at this Conference, the Supreme Council from which recognition is withdrawn shall be debarred from participating in future International Conferences until the cause of the withdrawal of recognition has been removed to the satisfaction of a majority of the said Supreme Councils, and of the first Conference after said withdrawal of recognition.
3. RESOLVED, that hereafter any Supreme Council, other than those already represented at this Conference and the Conferences of 1907 and 1912, seeking representation at International Conferences of Supreme Councils shall satisfy the Conference that it is organized and is existing in harmony with the principles laid down in the Grand Constitutions and Regulations of 1762 and 1786, as those Constitutions and Regulations have been generally promulgated and remain in force.
4. RESOLVED, that in the opinion of the Conference Bodies of Free and Accepted Masons, or other persons who confer Degrees, perform Rites, or conduct the business of Scottish Rite Masonry, or the Supreme Council thereof, who are not either mentioned in the list of those invited to be present by delegates to this Conference or recognized now or hereafter as regular, by at least a majority of the Bodies in the list of invited and admitted or recognized Bodies, are irregular and clandestine, and no regular Scottish Rite Masons should, under any circumstances, hold any intercourse with any such irregular Body, or any member acting under it, or of any of its subordinate Bodies. And hereafter no Body shall be considered a Supreme Council in any country unless it shall have obtained recognition and established fraternal relations with every existing regular Supreme Council, within a period of four years from the date of its organization.
5. RESOLVED, that regular Supreme Councils recommend to all organizations at their regular obedience not to entertain any relation with irregular Bodies in accordance with the preceding paragraph and to this end each Supreme Council will communicate to all organizations at its obedience the list of all regular Supreme Councils and the present resolutions.
6. RESOLVED, that each Secretary-General, or other proper officer of each Supreme Council, forward to each of the other Supreme Councils by this Conference considered regular, a list of all Masonic Bodies, whether under the Scottish Rite of, otherwise, recognized as regular, and also a list, so far as possible, of all Bodies known to be regular.
7. We regret and deplore that many good men who would make good Masons and be a credit to the institution of Freemasonry have become members of irregular and clandestine organizations calling themselves Masonic. We advise all such men who are upstanding in character and morals to take immediate steps to become members of regular and internationally recognized Masonic Bodies, and recommend that when any such apply to regular Bodies that they be given courteous consideration and helpful assistance in accomplishing their worthy desire.
8. The petition for recognition of the Grand Orient of Denmark is covered by the rules adopted by the Conference and we therefore recommend that no action be taken by this Conference regarding such petition.
They also treated the subject of Italian Masonry by unanimous agreement in the following resolution:
To the International Conference of Supreme Councils, 33d:
The Committee of the second n begs to submit the following report:
After having read the communications concerning the Supreme Council of Italy received from the Supreme Council of Egypt and from Mr. Camera, relating to certain claims for recognition, and considering that the Supreme Council headed by M.’.P.’.Bro.’. Raoul V. Palermi is the only regular Supreme Council in Italy and is in such capacity duly recognized by all the Supreme Councils represented at this Conference, the Committee proposes to the Conference or Supreme Councils that no action be taken on the above said communications of the Supreme Council of Egypt and of Giovanni Camera,
and passed the following resolution which was presented by Ill.’. Bro.’. Leon M. Abbott, 33d, M.’.P.’. Gr.’. Comm.’. of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction:
RESOLVED, That the delegates to the International Conference pledge themselves to use every lawful and legitimate effort and influence within their power to establish universal and permanent peace among nations. That we heartily approve the efforts that have been and are Being made by the representatives of the various National Governments to bring about greater harmony and a better understanding and relationship among the peoples of the world.
The Ancient Constitutions of our Rite define the ends of our Society to be these: "the harmony, the happiness, the progress and the well-being of the human race taken as a whole, and of every individual man in particular." Our Rituals teach that these ends can be reached only through a practical application of the rule of brotherly love. We would, therefore, constantly remind each of the members of the Rite, wherever dispersed, of his duty and obligation to use his personal influence in his daily intercourse with all men to establish the sovereignty of this rule.
That we pledge ourselves to renew and make more effective our efforts to overcome hatred and bitterness, to destroy ignorance and superstition, and, through the light of education, to bring joy and peace into the hearts and lives of men of every tongue and race and creed.
It would seem from all the foregoing that the Supreme Councils are resolved to establish a close communion with all regular Masonic Bodies, discountenancing every other form of so-called Masonry.
The International Masonic Association, of a rather unreserved membership, and which claims to be devoted to universal Freemasonry, held its last conference at Geneva during October 1921. [See note.] It may be well to note the list of the Masonic Bodies that participated therein:
The Grand Lodge of New York, U. S. A.
Grand Lodge of Vienna.
Grand Orient of Belgium.
Grand Lodge of Bulgaria.
Grand Lodge of Spain.
Grand Orient of France.
Grand Lodge of France.
Grand Orient of Italy.
Grand Orient of Netherlands.
Grand Orient of Lusitania Unite of Portugal.
Grand Lodge of Switzerland Alpina.
Grand Orient of Turkey.
In reading the above list it will be observed that few of the above Bodies are in fraternal relations with the Grand Lodges of the United States of America and some of them are notoriously irregular and yet the Grand Lodge of New York, the Grand Orient of Belgium, and the Grand Lodge of Switzerland sat in conference with these irregular brethren and agreed to the following:
Art. 1. The object of the Association is:-
To maintain and develop existing relations between Masonic Grand Jurisdictions.
To create new relations.
Art. 2. The Association and each Grand Jurisdiction forbids itself all interference in the domestic affairs of other Jurisdictions.
Each Grand Jurisdiction is invited to exchange with associated Grand Jurisdictions its Programme of work and to promote opportunities of contact with a view to harmonizing and co-ordinating efforts held in common. Nevertheless the fact of membership in the Association does not imply an obligation to entertain direct relationship with other Grand Jurisdictions which are members.
Art. 3. All Grand Jurisdictions belonging to the Association must be composed of men exclusively,
and it is reported that, notwithstanding the last mentioned subject, one of the Bodies that sat in this conference has recognized so-called Co-Freemasonry and agreed to exchange guarantors of amity, although it limited visitation to their Bodies "strictly masculine," which seems at least rather odd. This action was done by the Grand Orient of France.
It does seem odd to many who follow closely the work of the Masonic Fraternity in the United States than an American Grand Lodge, knowing full well the effort that is being made on all sides in this country to keep Freemasonry clean and free from alliance with any irregular institutions, should participate in such a conference.
The action of the Grand Lodge of New York at its last communication was watched with interest and it appears that that great Body of Freemasons did not ratify the International Masonic Conference, nor did it even agree to a temporary membership. It seems that the Grand Lodge believed it had a monetary obligation, since it had representatives at the conference, which it felt constrained to meet as the following resolution will indicate:
The Geneva Conference (such payments not, however, to be construed as acceptance of membership in such Association nor to prejudice or forestall such future action in relation thereto as the Grand Lodge may deem ovine and proper) $1,000.
All regular Masonic Bodies would welcome a conference of all regular Symbolic Lodges of the world and it is believed that they themselves would be glad of the opportunity of having better understanding and of knowing each other better; but it is also believed that Grand Lodges keeping uppermost in their work the protection of the Craft, its rites and its landmarks, would neither favor nor countenance the association with any Masonic Bodies concerning which there is question as to their regularity or being a part of an association or conference which "does not imply an obligation to entertain direct relation with other Grand Jurisdictions which are members" - in other words an association without regard to regularity.
NOTE. - A full account of the meeting/of The International Masonic Association by Bro. Townsend Scudder of New York was published in THE BUILDER, April 1922, page 99.
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THE 1922 BOUND VOLUME OF THE BUILDER
Our bindery is finally caught up with back orders for the 1922 bound volume, and from now on the books will be shipped upon the day orders are received. Handsomely bound in golden rod buckram, the volume is an excellent addition to any library; and for those who prefer a leather binding, we have prepared a limited number in three-quarters morocco.
The bound copies of THE BUILDER should not be confused with ordinary files of magazines. Each month a part of the regular issue is especially prepared for binding, and at the end of the year assembled with a comprehensive index of fourteen pages. A volume of crisp, clean and neatly trimmed pages is thereby produced.
Increasing orders for complete sets of bound volumes clearly indicate that THE BUILDER is recognized as an excellent reference work. The articles appearing from month to month have more than an immediate interest: they are a contribution to the enduring literature of the Craft. A complete set of THE BUILDER is an encyclopedia of Freemasonry - a work which is augmented annually by a fresh volume.
Bound volumes of any year may be had at $3.75 for buckram binding and at $4.75 for three-quarters morocco, carriage charges prepaid.
If desired, subscribers may send in their complete files of any year in exchange for a bound volume of the same annual issue, an allowance of one dollar being made for such loose copies. Under this plan bound volumes in buckram cost only $2.75, plus return postage charges.
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WAS DR. JOHNSON A FREEMASON?
SOME PHASES OF HIS LIFE
BY BROTHER ARTHUR HEIRON, ENGLAND
CONTINUED FROM JANUARY NUMBER
"SAMUEL JOHNSON," A RARE NAME
IT IS STRANGE to note how parents, whose surname is "Johnson" scarcely ever christen their sons by the title of "Samuel."
A search through the official Directories reveals the fact that in the year 1922 there is no Barrister-at-law, Solicitor, Chartered Accountant, Medical Practitioner or Dental Surgeon bearing the name of "Samuel Johnson" practising in London, England or Wales; neither is there any clergyman of that name.
The London Telephone Directory for April 1922 also proves that there are only two named "Samuel Johnson" out of the long list of about 200,000 subscribers!
The Post Office Guide for 1920 discloses no such name; so it is a reasonable statement to make that there must have been very few by the name of "Samuel Johnson" in London in 1767; and still fewer those who admitted that they knew their Wapping as Dr. Johnson did in 1783.
DR. JOHNSON'S MELANCHOLY"
From childhood he was afflicted with a species of melancholia causing him at times great mental depression; his personal friend, Rev. George Strahan, Vicar of Islington, writing in 1785, described it as a "morbid melancholy," which Johnson often said was the infirmity of his life. In 1770 Dr. Johnson in a Prayer beseeches the Almighty to "Mitigate, if it shall be best unto Thee, the disease of my body and compose the disorders of my mind."
He was once found by Mrs. Thrale on his knees with a clergyman beseeching Divine help that his reason might be spared. There is no doubt that this "Melancholy" accounts for much of Johnson's irregular life and conduct and every allowance must be made for one so afflicted.
EXTRACTS FROM "BOSWELL"
1763, (aged 54). "He mentioned to me (Boswell) now for the first time, 'That he had been disirest with Melancholy, and for that reason had been obliged to fly from study and meditation to the dissipating variety of life.'"
1761 (aged 55). "About this time, he (Dr. Johnson) was afflicted with a very severe return of the hypochondriae disorder which was ever lurking about him." Dr. Adams said, "I found him in a deplorable state, sighing, groaning, talking to himself and restlessly walking from room to room." Dr. Johnson himself said, "I would consent to have a limb amputated to recover my spirits."
1765 (Easter). Dr. Johnson said "Since last Easter I have reformed no evil habit; my time has been unprofitably spent.... My memory grows confused and I know not how the days pass over me. Good Lord, deliver me!"
1782. Dr. Johnson (aged 72) wrote, "My health has been from my 20th year such as has seldom afforded me a single day of ease."
DR. JOHNSON'S ILL-HEALTH IN 1767
"His Devotional Records"
(Extracts)
1767, Aug. 2. "I have been disturbed and unsettled for a long time and have been without Resolution to apply to Study or Business, being hindered by sudden Snatches."
1767, Aug. 17. "By abstinence from wine and suppers, I obtained sudden and great relief, and had freedom of mind restored to me, which I have wanted for all this year, without being able to find any means of obtaining it."
Boswell says, "I received no letter from Johnson this year." (1767.)
"His Diary affords no light as to his employment at this time."
(Note: A "Samuel Johnson" was "Made a Mason!" in the "Dundee Lodge" No. 9 at Wapping on 11th June, 1767; was he not identical with Dr. Samuel Johnson of dictionary fame?)
1768, Sept. 18. Townmalling in Kent (at night), "I have now begun the 60th year of my life. How the last year (i. a, 1767) has past, I am unwilling to terrify myself with thinking."
"This day it came into my mind to write the history of my Melancholy; on this I purpose to deliberate, I know not whether it may not too much disturb me."
Now the above statements (or rather confessions) made by Dr. Johnson himself on Aug. 2nd and Aug. 17th, 1767, and on Sept. 18th, 1768, point clearly to the fact that he was at that period unfit to perform any study or business owing to a severe attack of "Melancholy" and it is suggested that in order to create a diversion to his disordered mind and body, he set out to "Explore Wapping" and whilst so engaged met some of our members and in that way was induced to join the Lodge, not so much that he had any keen desire to become a Mason, but because of his great love of tavern and club life, for a Mason's Lodge was renowned in those days for its good fellowship and social attractions.
THE DUNDEE LODGE BOOM
In 1767 the Lodge Room of the Dundee Lodge No. 9, at Wapping, would display the brethren seated at tables (covered with green cloth) set out on trestles in the middle of the room, on which were placed bowls of steaming punch, bottles of wine, rum, Hollands, brandy, sugar, lemons, nutmegs and glasses, and for the smokers "church-wardens," screws of tobacco (called "papers"), and pipe lights were also supplied; all for the delectation of members and visitors, for drinking and smoking in open Lodge and also in Grand Lodge too were then quite in order; full details of purchases of the above items and their cost appear in the Treasurer's books of "Old Dundee"! Songs and toasts (especially when the Lodge was "called off from labour to refreshment") were then the vogue; the Book of Constitutions of 1756 officially prints nine Masonic songs (including those belonging to the "Master," "Wardens," "Fellow Craft," and "Enter'd Prentice"), whilst in preunion days there was a list of over 100 Masonic Toasts to select from. (Note: Our Lodge still possesses its copy of this book of 1756 and the many thumbmarks and wine-stains plainly visible on the pages thereof, give ocular proof that our Master and Wardens actually sang these songs from same in the "Dundee Lodge" No. 9, at Wapping, in 1767.) These customs would surely interest a man of Johnson's bohemian tastes especially when suffering from an attack of his "Melancholy" and thus help to divert his thoughts from his mental sufferings. Bye-Law No. 30 (passed and added to the Rules of the "Dundee Lodge" in 1764) states that "Any Brother who is a Member of this Lodge who shall Behave Anyways Irregular on a Lodge Night, shall pay a Fine of Two Shillings for the Use of this Lodge, and shall Make Good All Damage that he may Do or Cause to be Done to any of the Furniture etc."
Johnson
