The Builder Magazine
January 1923 - Volume IX - Number 1
“LET THERE BE LIGHT”
FREEMASONRY IN CHILE
By Bro. George Lanzarotti, Chile
OUR NEW HEADQUARTERS
By The Editor
WAS DR. JOHNSON A FREEMASON?
By Bro. Arthur Heiron, England
THE AMEX-MASONIC CLUB
By Bro. Aubrey O. Bray, Arizona
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY
THE NATIONAL MASONIC RESEARCH SOCETY
ANAMOSA, 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
ALI, 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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January 1923
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FRONTISPIECE - H.L. Haywood
OUR NEW HEADQUARTERS - By The Editor
AN INTERPRETATION OF THE PLUMB LINE - By Bro. Channing Gordon Lawrence, New Brunswick
ST. LOUIS LODGE TRAVELS TO ALEXANDRIA, VA., TO CONFER MASTER'S DEGREE - Capital News Service
BROTHER SIR CHARLES WARREN, P.G.D., PAST DISTRICT GRAND MASTER, EASTERN ARCHIPELAGO - By Bro. Dudley Wright, England
FREEMASONRY IN CHILE - By Bro. George Lanzarotti, Chile
THE TRESTLE BOARD - By Bro. H.L. Haywood, Iowa
WAS DR. JOHNSON A FREEMASON? SOME PHASES OF HIS LIFE - By Bro. Arthur Heiron, England
GOVERNMENT TO ASSIST IN SHRINE MEET IN JUNE - Capital News Service
A BUILDER – Poem - Selected
MEMORIALS TO GREAT MEN WHO WERE MASONS - WILLIAM PINKNEY - By Bro. G. W. Baird, P. G. M., District of Columbia
THE AMEX-MASONIC CLUB - By Bro. Aubrey O. Bray, Arizona
WE BUILD! – Poem - George Sanford Holmes
FREEMASONRY’S RESPONSE TO THE CHALLENGE OF FORT BAYARD - By Bro. Francis E. Lester, P. G. M., New Mexico
THE STUDY CLUB - The Teachings of Masonry - Part XVII, Brotherly Aid - By Bro. H. L. Haywood, Iowa - Supplemental References - Our Study Club Plan
EDITORIAL
The Larger Meaning of the Thomson Trial
Masons and Schools
Illegal Wearing of Lodge Emblems
THE LIBRARY
A Unique Book on Freemasonry
Information Concerning "Ancient Freemasonry and the Old Dundee Lodge No. 18 – 1722-1920"
Two New Books on Freemasonry
"Le Livre du Maitre"
A Sociological Study of the Negro, with a Note on "Negro Masonry"
The Period of the Wars of the Roses
PUBLICATIONS WANTED, FOR SALE, AND EXCHANGE
THE QUESTION BOX
John Adams Not a Mason
The Comenius Society
Wants Truth About Templars
Why does THE BUILDER Copyright Its Articles?
How to Order Books from Publishers
Old Age and Freemasonry
Articles in THE BUILDER on King Solomon's Temple
Origin of "Shibboleth"
The Masonic Connections of President James Buchanan
Anent Negro Masonry
CORRESPONDENCE
An Old Masonic Pitcher
Governor Wise of Virginia
AN ANTI-MASONIC RESEARCH GROUP
YE EDITOR'S CORNER
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A Journal For The Masonic Student
Published Monthly by the National Masonic Research Society
VOLUME IX
NUMBER 1
January, 1923
TWO DOLLARS FIFTY CENTS THE YEAR
TWENTY-FIVE CENTS THE COPY
Our New Headquarters
BY THE EDITOR
BY THE time these words reach the reader we shall have moved into our new headquarters building at 2920 First Avenue East, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where, under ideal conditions and with a complete outlay of the most modern equipment, we shall undertake anew the tasks to which this Society was dedicated nine years ago, and which it formally undertook in January, 1915. Immediately behind the headquarters building stands an ideally equipped plant in which THE BUILDER will be printed and books published. In the headquarters building itself we shall have every imaginable convenience by way of offices, staff rooms, library, cafe, radio room, book room, stock room, mailing room, vaults, archives and everything else needed for the carrying on of our work. Members and their friends hereby are extended an urgent invitation to drop into the reception room for a visit over the headquarters building, of which we are sure they will feel very proud.
The Society will profit in many ways by this removal. It will now be near the postal center of the country and thereby have ideal mailing convenience. It will be in a railway center with easy access to trunk lines. And above all it will have as a near neighbor the Iowa Masonic Library, one of the greatest collections of Masonic books anywhere in existence, and manned by a staff of librarians always ready to lend their assistance to any enterprise of Masonic reading, study, or information whatsoever.
Meanwhile we are enlarging our own staffs and facilities to care for the rapidly expanding volume of our activities. Never before was the Society so healthy, its outlook so inspiring, or its friends so ready to con operate. Unless an accident intervenes - which God forfend - one or two more years should bring to complete fulfillment the dreams of its founders who, many years ago, foresaw its place and its possibilities.
Of the new developments within the Society during the past year two stand out as deserving especial notice. One is the successful outcome of an experiment of a new type of research by means of private groups, cooperating through the mails under the leadership of a group chairman, all the members of each group being bound together by their ability and their interest in some phase or problem of Masonry. Undertaken as an experiment two years ago this venture has proved so successful that three of these groups are now ready to publish books, and others will be similarly ready in six months or another year. The other outstanding development is of a piece with this, and makes possible its fulfillment. Through the instrumentality of the Society certain of the big publishers of the country are now preparing to issue a very extended program of Masonic books, a thing so sadly needed these many years. This means that in the course of time the Fraternity will have a literature worthy of it and adequate to its needs, and that the leaders of the Craft will have placed at their disposal the guidance and the information they have so long desired.
While writing these lines there has come to ye editor's desk a great sheaf of letters from members of the Society written in reply to a circular letter recently mailed out by Brother Wildey E. Atchison, who has labored so indefatigably and to such good purpose these past six years as our Assistant Secretary. It is a remarkable fact that of all these responses, while many contain constructive criticisms and suggestions, only one contains a real "knock": and as for the good will expressed by them all it has served to give every member of the staff of editors a new inspiration for the future. The majority who offer constructive criticisms ask that as much as possible all articles be not too long and written in a style not above the head of the average. This is good advice, and hereby respectfully passed on to our contributors.
It is a matter worthy of comment that a few of these brethren have written as if they were mere subscribers to a magazine and not members of a Society. This is their loss, because we are in strict truth a Society and have many things to give to our members in addition to THE BUILDER. A reader can learn what are all the prerogatives of membership by addressing an inquiry to headquarters. It is also worthy of comment that so many of these correspondents expressed approval of THE BUILDER for refusing to mix in controversies and for never publishing anything out of bitterness or ill will. Surely! what is Masonry for if it is not to teach men to subdue their passions, to live in the spirit of toleration, and to speak the truth with kindness! These letters also showed that THE BUILDER is being read by women of the household, and by many who are not in any way connected with the Fraternity. May the same continue! It should continue, and that not only with THE BUILDER but with all other Masonic periodicals and with the Fraternity as a whole, because men everywhere are in need of Masonry and of what it has to give to a world so sorely struggling.
Because of all these developments those members of the Society who labor at headquarters are in a happy mood and cheerful at the beginning of 1923, and wish for every member of the National Masonic Research Society family a God speed! for the New Year.
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AN INTERPRETATION OF THE PLUMB LINE
BY BROTHER CHANNING GORDON LAWRENCE, NEW BRUNSWICK
Here is a reading of the lesson of the plumb line that shows spiritual insight. Brother Lawrence is Grand Chaplain of New Brunswick; Worshipful Master of The Corinthians, No. 13; member of Royal Arch Chapter and of A. and A. S. R., etc.
Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more. -Amos VII, 7-8.
AMOS was one of the Prophets of Israel. We are accustomed to think of a prophet as one who predicts the course of events. Among the Hebrews the Prophet did occasionally predict, or foretell, the consequences that might be expected to follow upon evil living; or he foretold at times the help comfort that God would provide for His faithful people; but the characteristic function of the Prophet was not to foretell, but to tell forth. He told forth truths about God. The teaching of the prophet Amos has been preserved nearly three thousand years while myriads of other books have perished because it contains lessons that are of real worth and that are always of appropriate application.
Nearly all successful teachers have taught by means of illustration. They have used signs and symbols that were selected to impress upon the mind wise and serious truths. Jesus of Nazareth, whose life and teaching have profoundly influenced the whole trend of civilization, illustrated his lessons by means of parables. The parable was a short story drawn from everyday life. To many of the hearers it was no doubt a well-told story and nothing more. But in every parable a principle of morality or a spiritual truth was exemplified. The story partly concealed the truth from unworthy or unfriendly hearers; and it partly revealed it to those who had ears to hear or, in other words, to those who desired light on heavenly things.
The parable, as a means of illustration, was a development of later Hebrew thought. In the days of the Prophets teaching was frequently illustrated by means of the Vision.
The vision differed from a parable in that it represented the lesson taught as having been revealed directly to the prophet by God Himself. Thus when the prophet was convinced of the truth of a sufficiently important lesson and was certain of its divine character, he introduced it with such words as, "I saw the Lord standing beside a wall," or "I heard the Lord saying unto me," and so forth. We cannot suppose that wherever in the ancient writings the Prophets use such language they have been permitted with natural eyes to look upon God, or that with mortal ears they heard in audible tones the voice of God: they used these expressions "I saw," and "I heard," to make their teaching impressive.
But in this the prophets were in no sense guilty of deception or of misrepresentation. They told the truth just as you do when you often unconsciously follow their example. One day a peculiarly profound thought occurs to you, so unlike your usual trend of thought that it seems to have come to you from without; and you say, "I have had an inspiration." But what does that mean? Inspiration is literally a "breathing in." There has been breathed into your mind an idea, a thought, a suggestion from the great Spirit of Wisdom. You heard no audible voice but yet, it may be, God spoke to you as truly as He spoke to Amos or Hosea or Isaiah; as He speaks every day to men who keep their minds in harmony with God. The wireless telegraph was perfected in our time but the principle of its operation has been in use between earth and heaven since the Creation. Messages have always been coming from God to men and we call it inspiration. And messages go back from man to God and we call it prayer.
THE WALL
So the vision of Amos contains a lesson of profound importance which the prophet wished to communicate in a striking and impressive way. First we shall consider The Wall.
You see its successive layers, each stone hewn, and shaped and placed by the hands of a builder, each separate stone and each layer of stones all cemented together with mortar applied with a trowel. Its angles are right angles, its layers are horizontal, its sides perpendicular. And how did it come to be so? These are evidences of a Mind wise enough to design and to measure and lay out work. And beside the Wisdom that designed, there has been Strength sufficient to divest those blocks of their superfluous parts and lift them to their proper position. And deeper still we perceive the Beauty of manly courage and godlike faith that dared to attempt such an enterprise and trusted in the laws of Nature that the effort would not be in Vain.
In our speculative capacity let us think of that wall as representing the result of human endeavour, something that man designs and attempts and finishes, something that he builds, in imitation of the Creator whose image he bears. While we might with profit consider our great Fraternity, built up by our predecessors in the Craft so that now it is known and respected the world over, yet I prefer that we should at this time consider that wall as representing human character, mine or yours.
For character is the result of human effort continued from day to day. That which you most desire in the depths of your inmost heart is the plan by which you govern your building. Set your affection on things which are base and dark and unworthy and your character becomes a wall of unlovely type. Set your affection on things above, on the unseen values of eternity, on truth and light and justice, and the built-up wall of your character will proceed along lines that please the eye of the Master. The stones which enter into that wall are acts and words and thoughts. As a wise and skilful builder rejects some of the stones that are brought to him as unfit to have a place in his building, so you ought often to reject many a thought that is suggested, to refrain from repeating much that is told you and to abstain from many deeds which by the thoughtless and profane, are performed to our knowledge every day.
A wall of masonry is not just a chance accumulation of stones and mortar. It is a studied and carefully planned arrangement executed with attention to every detail. And just so, good character in man is not a wild and natural growth but is only developed under careful discipline, The standard of righteousness is as unvarying as the Plumb, Virtue is as exact as the angle of the Square, and our determination to be and true must be as continuous and unbroken as the level line which stretches far beyond the bounds space into the realms of eternity. Let no one suppose that it does not matter what he thinks, or how speaks, or what he does, for thoughts, words, and deeds are the building material of his character.
THE OVERSEER
So much for the wall. We note next that it was being inspected. "Behold the Lord standing beside a wall." Amos reminds us that He who made the worlds is interested in the work of His creatures. He comes having authority to examine and inspect the work which we present. Those of you who did military service in the memorable days of the Great War, remember how novel a thing to us the inspections of the army were. We were inspected in every conceivable way, our bearing and deportment, our dress, our sleeping apartments, our bodies, our food, and our correspondence. There seemed to be nothing that the army did not in some way look into. And he was a dull soldier who did not at least dimly guess that somewhere, not far away, is One who similarly looks into and sees the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The Lord stands beside every wall and though our thoughts, words and actions may be hidden from the eyes of man yet that All-seeing Eye whom the sun, moon and stars obey, pervades the inmost recesses of the human heart. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." He who allows himself to think lightly of God, who neglects to pay to T.G.A.O.T. the reverence and the adoration due to His Holy Name, is lacking in that wisdom which is needed to plan direct any truly great work. Look up, my brothers, into the starry sky, the canopy of heaven, and behold the myriads of planets all in motion and yet moving as they have for untold ages without collision or confusion. Study the order and the beauty apparent there. Think of the wisdom which carefully planned all their nice exactness. Think you that such a Master will be satisfied with careless, sloth or indifferent service?
His work as revealed in Nature alone necessitated an awful knowledge of the intricate relations of curved lines intersecting, of the laws of moving bodies, of the principles of ornamentation and of many a science and art that we may not even imagine. But our simple building is a matter of the relation of only two straight lines, one perpendicular and one horizontal: Yet it is a building that He will look into. Take heed that we build aright!
THE PLUMB LINE
There remains for our consideration the instrument by which the test was made. "Behold, the stood upon a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand."
From any given point an incalculable number straight lines may be drawn in any number of planes. They may extend east or west or north or south, or up or down, or they may lean in a thousand variations of each of these several directions: an immeasurable number of lines from that one point and every one of them is straight. But only one out of the thousands can be plumb! A great many are nearly plumb, but one, and only one, is strictly so. According to that one upright straight line will our work be tried.
When a wall gets out of the plumb it leans either out or in. And when it leans seams begin to show on the opposite side. And the seam is the visible sign to all who pass by that the wall is not so well built as it might have been. It may be still a very useful wall affording support, or shelter, or defense, but because it is not plumb it is not so good as it might have been. For a wall ought to stand according to the plumb. And the wall that leans ever so little is a reproach to the builder who ought to have kept it plumb.
In the wall of our character we are inclined to lean out or in. Inward in the way of selfishness, personal interest, love of gain and pride. Think too much of self and your wall begins to lean and the seams open on the outer side. And the tendency to please the world, rather than to please God, will draw your character away from the plumb in the other direction. One does not like to displease his neighbour and to avoid doing so he leans away from uprightness. Or he finds it trying and unpleasant to tell the truth when a little concession to popular fancy will bring popularity; a little flattery or praise. But lean ever so little and the seams come and grow. And men say that "So-and-so would be upright but for this or that; he is of perfect character only for this one flaw," - and so forth. And alas, you have not built Plumb.
A hard, hard thing it is to keep to that unerring line. We cast our eye down its length to see how often our work has varied from the plumb, and with much humility and many tears we look up to the Great Master and we trust that He, in His wisdom, knows that we desire to please Him. We can say truly that above all other lines we desire and prefer the plumb.
May God forgive me if I am wrong in this, but I believe that although our work shows many flaws, our walls far from perfect and the seams show on every side, yet the Great Master will know that we have tried to build aright. And may it not be that in another world with choicer stone to quarry and finer tools to work with and brighter Light to lead us, may not the Apprentice of this life be advanced to a higher degree of service?
There have been times in the history of philosophy as in the history of religion, when men have gone to an extreme in emphasizing the seriousness of life. But few, if any, are guilty of that fault today. We are rather in the way of becoming a materialistic and superficial people. Our grandfathers read through tremendous volumes of Shakespeare and Thackeray and Macaulay with interest and profit. We tire ourselves with the short stories of the magazine. They patronized and enjoyed the three-hour plays and operas of real worth. We troop in thousands afternoon and evening to the pictures and are content. We hustle frantically and nervously through the day in machines of the highest gear, along roads that are built for speed, leaving ourselves so little leisure for study or reflection that there is danger of "the attentive ear" and "the instructive tongue" becoming only figurative expressions and memories of the past. But as builders who serve a heavenly Master, we must not allow ourselves to be seduced by the ease-loving spirit of the age. There rests upon every Freemason a great responsibility. We, in our generation, guard certain great traditions of the past: we hold in trust sacred mysteries that we must pass on unchanged to those who are yet to come. And to keep ourselves worthy of this honourable duty we must adhere to the plumb in our several stations before God and man.
Above all things in our truly Masonic work we must avoid haste and carelessness, and in all our ceremonies and operations prepare ourselves thoroughly, proceed regularly, and continue persistently while the Light lasts, carrying out each detail with precision and giving to each the dignity and honour due to it as part of the plan of a Great Architect.
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ST. LOUIS LODGE TRAVELS TO ALEXANDRIA, VA., TO CONFER MASTER'S DEGREE
In the presence of a throng of Masons, who filled the lodge room of Alexandria-Washington Lodge, No. 22, of Alexandria, Va., the Worshipful Master and officers of George Washington Lodge, No. 9, of St. Louis, conferred the Master Mason's degree upon a member of their lodge. Thirty members of George Washington Lodge came to Alexandria for the purpose, and were the guests of the Alexandrians for a day, after which they returned home.
The world needs sentiment. Living as we do a life of hard, practical reality, with the daily chase for the daily meal the outstanding need of us all, we need those institutions which cherish and preserve sentiment.
And here is sentiment at its purest and best. When thirty men take a long journey for the sake of a revered name; when a lodge in St. Louis will travel to Alexandria, because the name of their lodge is George Washington, and George Washington the man was Master of Washington-Alexandria Lodge, they have moved, spiritually, a far greater distance, than actually, in the flesh. It is a fair example of the power of the Masonic Order over men's hearts; it is because Masonry has kept alive the sentiment and the beauty of an idea, rather than of a practical reality, that it has lived and grown and thrived.
The Masonic Order is not eleemosynary in character, though it practices charity; it is no mutual benefit organization, although it is mutually beneficial to its members; it is not a life assurance organization; it offers little if any material, practical assets to its membership. That it is of the greatest use to its members, and a high influence for good in all communities where Freemasons are (a fact which can not well be disputed), comes from its hold upon the hearts and minds of men; as in this instance of its power to make men take a long journey, in reverence and love for the traditions which cluster about the First President of the Union. - Capital News Service.
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On you, who Masonry despise,
This counsel I bestow;
Don't ridicule, if you are wise,
A secret you don't know;
Yourselves you banter, but not it;
You show your spleen but not your wit.
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BROTHER SIR CHARLES WARREN, P.G.D.
PAST DISTRICT GRAND MASTER, EASTERN ARCHIPELAGO
BY BRO. DUDLEY WRIGHT, ENGLAND
This paper eras written for THE BUILDER at our own request, in order that our readers might be made acquainted with one of the most illustrious names in modern Freemasonry. Bro. Warren's career, along with his unabated zeal for the Craft, furnishes us with one of the secrets of the great power of Freemasonry m Britain, where it is rightly considered an enterprise entitled to the guidance and support of the greatest in the realm.
BROTHER Sir Charles Warren, F.R.S., the first Master of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076, was born at Bangor, Wales, on 7th February, 1840, the son of Major-General Sir Charles Warren; and was educated at Bridgnorth, Cheltenham College, Sandhurst, and Woolwich. He entered the Royal Engineers as a Lieutenant when he was seventeen years of age, being gazetted as a Captain in 1869. He conducted the explorations in Palestine from 1867 to 1870, and in Our Work in Palestine, published in 1875, by the Palestine Exploration Society, the following tribute is paid to him:
"Let us finally bear witness to the untiring perseverance, courage, and ability of Captain Warren. Those of us who know best the nature of the difficulties he had to work against can tell with what courage and patience they were met and overcome. Physical suffering and long endurance of heat, cold, and danger were as nothing. So long as the interest in the history of modern Jerusalem remains, so long as people are concerned to know how sacred sites have been found out, so long will the name of Captain Warren survive."
Captain Warren had more or less a free hand for his important work in the Holy Land, his instructions being merely to keep as nearly as possible to the sacred area of the temple, outside, but not within, where he was permitted by a vizierial letter, to dig. Among other discoveries which he made was that of the underground passage connecting the palace at Jerusalem with the Haram area, while he also made explorations in the Tyropean valley among the remains of Solomon's bridge, by which the monarch crossed the valley from his palace on Zion to the temple on Moriah. In 1876 Brother Warren published his work on Underground Jerusalem, followed four years later by The Temple or The Tomb, and, in 1884, in conjunction with Captain Conder, he published Jerusalem.
In 1876, Brother Warren was appointed Special Commissioner to settle the boundary line of the Orange Free State and, in 1877, to perform the like service with regard to Griqualand West, for which he was thanked by the Government for his services and awarded the C.M.C. The following year, 1878, saw him engaged in the Griqua-Kaffir war, when he was wounded, awarded a medal, thanked by the Imperial Government and the Provincial Legislature, and made a Major and Lieutenant-General. He was in charge of the Diamond Field Force and afterwards of the Field Force in Bechuanaland. During the Zulu War he organized a volunteer force for the assistance of the Transvaal and Natal, acting in the capacity of Commander-in-Chief, becoming, in 1879, Administrator of Griqualand West. In 1880, he returned to England, and, in 1881, was appointed Instructor of Surveying at Chatham. In 1882 he returned to Egypt, when he served under Arabi, and was engaged in the special duty of restoring in the desert the authority of the Khedive, and in bringing to justice the murderers of Professor Palmer and his companions, whose bodies he recovered in 1882. For this purpose he entered the Arabian deserts without escort, accompanied by Lieutenants Burton and Haynes. In the same year he was appointed to a Colonelcy, being also awarded a medal and Medjidie third class. In 1883 he was made K.C.M.G., and, in 1884, he again proceeded to South Africa in command of the Bechuanaland expedition, and, for his services there, he was, in the following year, created G.C.M.G. On his return, in 1886, he was placed in command of the forces at Suakim, but was recalled in the same year to reorganize the London police force as Chief Commissioner, from which position he retired in 1888, being awarded the K. C. B. for his services. From 1889 to 1894 he commanded the troops in the Straits Settlements and, from 1895 to 1898, he was in command of the troops in the Thames district. His last appointment was in 1899 and 1900, when he was Lieutenant-General in command of the South African Field Force, when he was mentioned in despatches.
Brother Sir Charles Warren was initiated into Freemasonry in the Royal Lodge of Friendship, No. 278, Gibraltar, and was already a Past Master and Past First Principal of a Royal Arch Chapter when he undertook the Palestine Exploration. He was also a Past Master of the Charles Warren Lodge, No. 1832, Kimberley, South Africa, but he is best known to English speaking Freemasons as the first Master of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076. The warrant for this lodge was granted on 28th November, 1884, but after the application for the charter had been sent in, Brother Warren received his command to repair to Bechuanaland. He asked his cofounders to make another selection from among their number, but they did him the signal honor of preferring to await his return to England, with the result that the lodge was not consecrated until 12th January, 1886. He was appointed to the rank of Past Grand Deacon of England in 1887 and from 1891 to 1894 he was District Grand Master of the Eastern Archipelago.
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FREEMASONRY IN CHILE
BY BROTHER GEORGE LANZAROTTI, CHILE
Here is an article of greater interest than most. Would we had more like it! Aside from the contribution it makes to our knowledge of Freemasonry in South America it is a reminder, gentle but firm, of the fact that one should carefully consider the source of whatever he reads about Freemasonry in Central and South America. Brother Lanzarotti will be very glad to communicate with any Mason desiring further light on the subject. Address him care THE BUILDER.
MANY American Masons I have met have such mistaken ideas concerning Freemasonry in Chile that I have been moved to write these lines to correct, if possible, these wrong impressions.
Among some American brethren the opinion is prevalent that the Grand Lodge of Chile is based on the same principles as that of the Grand Orient of France. This statement has some foundation due to the fact that up to the year 1852 the native lodges existing in this country were under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Bordeaux; but since 1852, when the Grand Lodge of Chile was established, we have had no other connection with French Masonry than of being on friendly relations, the same as maintained with all the duly recognized Masonic powers of the world.
These brethren also believe that we have removed the Holy Bible from our altar, and that our organization is composed mostly, if not wholly, of atheists. This is far from the truth. We maintain the Holy Bible on the altar, and every candidate has to accept the principle of the S.G.A.O.T.U. before being accepted as a brother. There are many protestant pastors among the members of the Chilean lodges who no doubt would have retired if they had found in our meetings or rituals any inclination towards atheism. All the sessions in our lodges are opened and closed to the Glory of the S.G.A.O.T.U.
Another charge against our Institution is that it is believed to mix in politics; to this charge I will reply that our Constitution strictly prohibits our Fraternity from dealing in either political or religious matters! but as the majority of the Chilean Masons are also Chilean citizens, it is not to be wondered at that they will back up, as good citizens, the political parties that are more in harmony with their Masonic ideals.
To realize what has been performed by the Masons here, towards the uplift of the moral and physical condition of the Chilean people, it would be necessary to analyze the last six decades of the history of this country: one would then discover that the promoters of many enterprises that had the welfare of the nation in view were members of the Fraternity.
Regarding the spirit which prevails among the members, let me give you the following case. There is a lodge located in an isolated village; all its members are scattered around the country; the lodge meets twice a month; some of the members live as far as forty miles away from the Temple and have no other means to reach it than on horseback! and yet the attendance is never below eighty-five per cent of its total membership!
The Grand Lodge of Chile has jurisdiction over fifty-eight lodges; fifty-five of these are in Chilean territory and the other three on Bolivian soil. There are also ten Triangles, or Lodges of Instruction, which are expected to become duly constituted lodges within a short time. The principal work carried on by these bodies is the promoting of universal education, and although the obstacles to overcome are great, due to superstition and fanaticism on the part of the bulk of the people, this work is steadily carried forward, and the first ode of the Hymn of Victory will not be sung until illiteracy has disappeared in this young republic.
So I pray you not to be the echo of our eternal enemy, but please believe that the Fraternity at this end of the world is doing its best and as much, if not more, than in some other countries.
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Hail, Masonry! to thee we raise
The song of triumph, and of praise.
The Sun which shines supreme on high,
The Stars that glisten in the sky,
The Moon that yields her silver light,
And vivifies the lonely night,
Must by the course of Nature fade away,
And all the Earth alike in time decay;
But while they last shall Masonry endure,
Built on such Pillars solid and secure;
And at the last triumphantly shall rise
In Brotherly affection to the skies.
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THE TRESTLE BOARD
BY BROTHER H.L. HAYWOOD, IOWA
IN THE French town of Caudebec, which stands on the Seine River, is the grave of one "Guillaume Letellier, master mason of the church, who had the conduct of the works for thirty years and more, and erected the choir and chapels." On the grave stone of this long forgotten Masonic brother who was once a master builder is an inscribed drawing the plan of a building. It was the custom of builder in those days to have their tools engraved on their grave stones, just as knights and lords made use their heraldic devices. Brother Letellier chose to be remembered as one who made designs for buildings and therefore selected a building plan for his own during remembrances.
We do not need to be told how important in the work of Operative Masons was the making of a plan for a building. "What has the Master on his trestle board?" was a question often asked with keenest interest by the workman. And because of this importance the trestle board, which represented the whole labour of making plans, came to be used as a symbol, just as we found Brother Letellier using it as a symbol his own life's work. When Masons ceased to be Operative Masons, and turned their attention to the building of men in fraternal life, they retained the trestle board as a symbol.
The trestle board in Speculative Masonry is a symbol of that which we call an ideal. One should not be frightened by the use of this word. It does not refer to something visionary, or far away, or, as our slang expression has it, "highbrow." Quite the contrary!
Before we go on a journey we plan our travels, our railway connections, our stop-overs, and our destination. Before we undertake to erect a building we are so careful to have a plan that often we pay an expert to make one for us. It would be equally wise if each of us were to have a plan similarly for his own life. A plan for one's life is what we mean by an ideal. It is a plan for doing things.
Also, an ideal is a plan for improving actual conditions. If our lodge room were too small, or is badly ventilated, or inadequately lighted, or the members quarrel among themselves we might feel very unhappy because of such conditions: and some of us might put our heads together in an effort to better conditions. We would say, "Let us do this, and that, and the other thing, so that we can be happier in our lodge work." Such a plan for bettering unsatisfactory conditions would be an ideal. It is something that we would draw, to speak figuratively, on the trestle board of our lodge. Such an effort to better actual conditions would not be "high brow"; on the contrary it would recommend itself to men of sense and sagacity.
We Masons believe that condition could be improved in our human world. We are too busy to dream impossible dreams about mankind: we are too practical to wish to waste time and energy on unattainable aims. We do not try the fantastical. But we know there are some things to be improved by plain common sense efforts, and we are leagued together and solemnly sworn to assist in such endeavors. This program for improving conditions among men is what we mean by the Masonic ideal; it is what the Fraternity has drawn upon its trestle board.
For instance, we Masons believe that much of the unhappiness in the world is due to ignorance, and we believe that if all men were well educated they would be happier than they are. We Masons, therefore, wish to do all we can to uphold and improve the whole public school system, and to try to make it possible for all the children of all the people to have all the enlightenment that is possible under the circumstances. Brethren, let us each one as individual Masons put that down on our own private trestle board.
Another example. Those of us who are acquainted with any community know that men and women very seldomly live as happily with each other as well as might be. We are all bound up together. We are compelled to live in neighbourhoods. We must live together whether we choose it or not. Is it not wise, then, for us to learn how to live happily together? The effort to bring men and women into harmony with each other is the great aim of Brotherhood, and this practical, common sense, hard-headed effort to organize human neighbourhoods into human happiness, that is one of the great purposes of our Fraternity. It is on our trestle board.
A final example. Nations, like individuals and families, are also compelled to live together: there is no escape from that! But unfortunately, nations have not as yet learned how to live happily together. Ever so often they go to war, and then men and women suffer the most terrible unhappiness known to our race. How can we eliminate war and do away with national antagonisms is a difficult problem; the ways and means cannot be discussed here. But we men, we Masons, know that it can be done, and we are dedicated to the effort to do it. How to bring nations to live happily together, that also is on our trestle board.
None of these things are impossible dreams. The more experience and wisdom and common sense a man has, the more hard-headed he is, the more will he wish these things to be. They, and the other plans we have for improving conditions, will give us more prosperity, more money, more health, and more happiness. It is to such an ideal that Masonry is dedicated. Brethren, let us ourselves become dedicated also. Let us make such an ideal the symbol of our lives, just as did the good Master Mason, Brother Letellier, long ago!
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WAS DR. JOHNSON A FREEMASON?
SOME PHASES OF HIS LIFE
BY BROTHER ARTHUR HEIRON, ENGLAND
Dr. Samuel Johnson, the most picturesque figure in the history of English literature, and the hero of the world's greatest, biography, found the craft of writing English prose in the gutter, a profession for scamps like rag picking, and by his own character and ability lifted it to the dignity and power of a national art. His writings may sound pompous and unreal to us now but in their own day were a marvel and they wrought miracles in English, so that after these two hundred years one cannot move near him without coming under his spell. His place in history is ample warrant for the exhaustive and patient thoroughness with which Brother Heiron has undertaken to ascertain if he could have been a member of the Fraternity. As one reads this remarkable essay he finds Dr. Johnson growing very real and very human.
At the same time, and as a matter of even greater interest to the readers of these pages, Brother Reiron's study brings out into vivid colour a picture of the Craft as it was in the London of the early eighteenth century, at which period Speculative Freemasonry was as yet in its swaddling clothes. Brother Heiron is the author of "Ancient Freemasonry, and Old Dundee Lodge. 18 - 1722 - 1920," a review of which was contributed by ye editor to page 243 of THE BUILDER for Sep. 1921.
THE ABOVE query has often exercised the minds of thoughtful students, for there are so many ponderous phrases and involved sentences in our ritual more especially in the Masonic lectures) that bear the impress of the Johnsonian School, that even though we may not be able definitely to decide this question, it does seem fairly certain that at some time or other - Dr. Johnson (1709-1784) was a member of the Craft, it being quite clear now that several of his most intimate friends and associates were themselves Freemasons.
Although on various occasions brethren in England and the United States have asserted that he was a Craftsman, yet up to know no lodge has definitely claimed him as a member, but the records of the "Old Dundee" Lodge, No. 18 (English Constitutions) - which was No. 9 in 1755 and therefore one of the oldest lodges in the world, Constituted 1722-23 - prove that in 1767, a candidate named "Samuel Johnson" was "Made a Mason" and afterwards "Raised a Master" in their lodge room situate on the first floor of a building in Red Lion Street, Wapping, London, E., the freehold of which our ancient brethren had purchased in 1763.
Now, as it was not customary until 1784 for the addresses or descriptions of candidates to be written in the minute books or other records of the lodge, there is no certain proof at present as to who this man was, but the circumstances surrounding Dr. Johnson's life and habits at this period of 1767 are so strange and complex that many brethren believe the identity of this candidate with the author of the "Dictionary of the English language" to admit of but little doubt, and unless and until a satisfactory and complete "alibi" can be proved to the contrary, the evidence seems in favour of this suggestion.
The full story is told in detail in Chapter XIV of a History of Freemasonry in the 18th Century, published by Kenning & Son, London, in 1921 entitled "Ancient Freemasonry, and the Old Dundee Lodge No. 18 - 1722 - 1920" to which further reference may be made.
In order to appreciate this story one must try and understand the real man himself; it will therefore now be necessary to recall to memory various incidents in the life of Dr. Johnson that make manifest his bohemian disposition and the lighter side of his life that are not often investigated or discussed, for when he is quoted in these present days the motive seems chiefly an attempt to impress the reader with some witty or apposite saying of the learned sage.
But there is obviously another side of his character and disposition that deserves attention and this phase is very apparent in the Story of his life written by his devoted friend - one night almost say "slave" - , to wit, "James Boswell."
It will also be very essential to refer to his "constitutional melancholy" which Johnson said was the "curse of his life" and accounts for much of the irregular conduct so often alluded to by his biographer.
A Freemason of considerable repute and standing stated recently that he could not believe that a mam of Dr. Johnson's steady character and deep religious principles would have so lowered himself as to frequent a rough neighbourhood as Wapping undoubtedly was in 1767; he admitted however that he had not studied the details of Johnson's life and that his knowledge was merely confined to his literary work. To contradict this erroneous view this article has been written, in order partly to demonstrate that one who was so humorous and full of fun, so fond of club life, such a frequenter of taverns as Johnson was, is singled out just the type of man who could have loved to join a Freemasons' lodge, for in those far-off days a lodge much resembled a social Masonic club.
The full responsibility for the discussion of this subject however really rests with Dr. Johnson himself, for if he had not told the world in 1783 (through Boswell) that Johnson - was intimately acquainted with Wapping (then the Port of London) this story would never have seen the light of day; it certainly would not have originated from the musings of an innocent and unknown writer.
It is desired however at the outset most emphatically to state that in reproducing some of these episodes in Johnson's life, there is not the slightest desire to say anything that might wound the feelings of those who hold his memory in reverence nor any intention to derogate from the high position he holds in the general estimation as a teacher of moral truth and virtue. Great allowance has also to be made for the atmosphere in which Dr. Johnson lived: it was a coarse and rough age indeed and things happened then that would seem incredible in the London of 1922.
BOSWELL'S DIFFIDENCE
Boswell at one time felt doubtful as to publishing all he knew, and in 1768 he actually asked Johnson if he objected to his letters being published after his death. His answer was, "Nay, Sir, when I am dead, do as you will." Boswell further says: "When I delineate him without reserve, I do what he (Johnson) himself recommended both by his precept and example." Dr. Johnson himself said in 1777: "If a man professes to write a life, he must represent it really as it was"; and further, "that a man's intimate friend should mention his faults, if he writes his life."
Boswell in dedicating his immortal work to Sir Joshua Reynolds says in 1791: "I have therefore in this Work been more reserved, and though I tell nothing but the truth, I have still kept in my mind that the whole truth is not always to be exposed": and lastly on this point "Bozzy" wrote: "I will not make my tiger a cat to please anybody."
And now for the information of those who have had no opportunity to study the career of Johnson, a short sketch of his early history is now given; this may save some effort to the reader, for Boswell's "Life of Johnson" is a lengthy work, the popular edition two volumes containing nearly 1,300 pages of small print.
A FEW DETAILS OF JOHNSON'S PRIVATE LIFE
Samuel Johnson was born at Lichfield in Staffordshire in 1709, his father, Michael Johnson, being bookseller in that city.
Now Samuel possessed robust body and active mind but unfortunately also inherited a tendency to scrofula, which affected his eye sight, and still worse "a melancholy" which had much to do with his physical mental and sufferings so often referred to by Boswell; we are also told that when an infant only about two years old, he was taken to London and "touched by Queen Anne for the evil"; it is said that this was perhaps the last instance of the exercise of such Royal condescension.
His early education was received at two grammar schools; then in his nineteenth year he entered Pembroke College, Oxford, but after a residence of about three years left the University without taking a degree. His father dying in very poor circumstances in 1731, Johnson remarked, "I must now make my own fortune," and then commenced a hard struggle for existence.
HIS MARRIAGE
In 1735 (when only twenty-six years old) he married Mrs. Elizabeth Porter, the widow of a Birmingham mercer: she was nearly forty-seven (twenty years older than Johnson) but as he was almost penniless and she brought him a dowry of 800 pounds, this may perhaps have influenced his mind, for his lifelong friend, David Garrick, described this good lady as "very fat with a bosom of more than ordinary protuberance with swelled cheeks of a florid red, produced by thick painting and increased by the liberal use of cordials - flaming and fantastic in her dress and affected both her speech and general behaviour." There were no children born of this ill-assorted marriage but on the whole the quaint pair seemed to have been fairly happy for when she died in 1752, Johnson was much distress and on the anniversaries of her death it was his custom to remember her in prayer.
HIS SCHOOL
With the assistance of his wife's dowry he started a small school, for in the "Gentleman's Magazine" for 1736 there appeared the following advertisement: "At Edial, near Lichfield in Staffordshire, young gentlemen are boarded and taught the Latin and Greek languages by Samuel Johnson."
According to Boswell, he only had about three pupils, the chief one being the celebrated "David Garrick" (1716-1779). His scholars were not very dutiful, for we are told "the young rogues used to listen at the door of his bedchamber and peep through the keyhole that they might turn into ridicule his tumultuous and awkward fondness for Mrs. Johnson," whom he used to call "Tetty" a pet name for Elizabeth.
The school soon proved a failure and in 1737 Johnson (aged twenty-eight) started out for London accompanied by his pupil, David Garrick, both impecunious, each to try his fortune in the great metropolis. Garrick became the world famed actor, whilst Samuel Johnson raised himself by industry and ability to the foremost rank of authors and, thanks to Boswell, (wherever the English language is spoken) his name will now never die. Later in life Johnson referred to their mutual poverty at this period with these words: "when I came to London (in 1737) with two pence half-penny in my pocket, and thou, Davy, with three-half pence in thine." The above was virtually the only serious love affair in Johnson's life. Left a widower in 1752 (when only forty-three years old) he never essayed matrimony again but seemed content to live the solitary life of a single man, so that when our story from Wapping commences in 1767 he had been a widower for fifteen years. Johnson's views as regards the advantages or the reverse of married life were rather mixed; once he said of another: "He has done a very foolish thing, Sir, he has married a widow, when he might have had a maid"; and yet, he had married a widow himself! Boswell tells us that, "A gentleman who had been very unhappy in marriage, married immediately after his wife died. Johnson remarked 'it was the triumph of hope over experience!'"
JOHNSON AND SAVAGE
Johnson (aged twenty-nine) now commences life in London but unfortunately before long became friendly with one "Richard Savage," a dissipated and profligate man, well acquainted with the lower life of London, and who doubtless introduced Johnson to the frivolities of Wapping. They were both poor and Boswell says, "they (Savage and Johnson) were sometimes in such extreme indigence that they could not pay for a lodging, so that they have wandered together whole nights in the streets."
The following dates are here given:-
1709. Samuel Johnson born at Lichfield.
1755. "Dictionary of the English Language," by Samuel Johnson, A. M. (now first published).
1756. Johnson arrested for debt.
1762. An annual pension of 300 pounds granted to Johnson by the Tory Government under Lord Bute.
1763. Boswell (aged 23) first introduced to Johnson (aged 54), a forerunner of about 270 subsequent meetings.
1784. Dr. Johnsons death and burial in Westminster Abbey.
1791. Boswell's "Life of Johnson" published.
We now come to the story that hails from Wapping.
Extracts from Boswell's "Life of Johnson."
Dr. Johnson's Advice to Boswell (1783).
EXPLORE WAPPING
1783, April 12. Saturday. "I (James Boswell) visited him in company with Mr. Windham of Norfolk. He (Dr. Johnson) talked today a good deal of the wonderful extent and variety of London, and observed that men of curious inquiry might see in it such modes of life as very few could even imagine. He in particular recommended us to 'Explore Wapping,' which we resolved to do, and certainly shall."
BOSWELL AND WINDHAM VISIT WAPPING (1792)
Note. The first edition of Boswell was published in 1791 and contains the above last three words "and certainly shall," but in the second edition of 1793 these three words are omitted, and instead we have the following addendum, viz:
A footnote by Boswell states: "We accordingly carried our Scheme into execution in October 1792, but whether from that uniformity which has in modern times to a great degree spread throughout every part of the Metropolis or from our want of sufficient exertion we were disappointed."
Note the astonishment of Boswell. Evidently the learned Doctor had never before in their previous conversations referred to Wapping; it was clearly some private experience that Johnson had carefully kept to himself and now leaked out by accident for the first time. (It is obvious that he did not tell all his secrets to Boswell, thirty-one years his junior. Why should he?) Now Johnson died the next year (1784) but Boswell was so much impressed that he could not forget those words, and so in 1792 (nine years after this strange advise and eight years after Dr. Johnson's death) determined to investigate the matter for himself. He therefore made a special journey to Wapping with his friend Windham - doubtless in the day time - but without success.
Now at this period Wapping, situate not far below London Bridge, was the Port of London, many sailing vessels of from two to four hundred tons burthen laying at anchor there in the "Pool" in the River Thames. There were also about forty taverns in the neighbourhood ready to supply refreshment and amusements (dancing, bear-baiting, dog fights, cock-fighting, female pugilists, etc., etc.) for the large number of British and foreign sailors who were often detained in the Port for several weeks waiting for a return cargo to distant shores. It is however more than probable that if Boswell had penetrated at night - in charge of a suitable guide - into the purlieus of the place, he would have fully realized what Dr. Johnson referred to when he advised his two friends to "Explore Wapping" and also said, "that men of curious inquiry might see in it (Wapping) such modes of life as very few could even imagine." In more modern days Ratcliffe Highway, which adjoined Wapping, also had a very dangerous and unsavoury reputation.
[Note. The "Windham" above referred to was the Rt. Hon. William Windham, D.C.L. (1750-1810.) He was a distinguished statesman and scholar and in 1782 was elected M.P. for Norwich; and in 1794 under Mr. Pitt was appointed Secretary at War. He was an intimate and valued friend of Dr. Johnson, and was in close attendance on him during his last illness in 1784.
Boswell tells us: "Mr. Windham having placed a pillow conveniently to support him, he (Johnson) thanked him for his kindness and said, 'That will do, - all that a pillow can do.'" Windham was also present at the funeral of Dr. Johnson in Westminster Abbey, acting as one of the pallbearers.
This same James Boswell, who thus accompanied Windham on their visit of exploration to Wapping in 1792, was a Mason of high degree, having attained the rank of Deputy Grand Master of Scotland in 1776 and 1777.]
A "SAML. JOHNSON" MADE IN 1767 - EXTRACTS FROM MINUTE BOOKS OF "OLD DUNDEE"
1767, May 14. "Lodge Night. Bro. Dormer proposed Mr. Samuel Johnson ... to be made a Mason in this Lodge next Lodge Night, 2nd. and deposited 10s. 6d. [Brother Dormer was an old Past Master, I. 1746, and a pipemaker.]
May 28. "Lodge Night. Mr. Samuel Johnson was Accepted."
June 11. "Lodge Night. Agreeable to the proposal of Bro. Dormer, Mr. Saml. Johnson was Made a Mason for which Honour he paid Two pounds two." "Likewise Bro. Dormer proposed Bro. Johnson to be Raised a Master Mason next Lodge Night, 2nd. and Deposited 2s. 6d"
July 9. "Lodge Night. Agreeable to proposal of last Lodge Night, Bro. Johnson was Raised a Master, for which Honour he paid Five Shillings." [Note. Mr. Saml. Johnson is now a Master Mason and a member of the "Dundee Lodge," No. 9 (now No. 18) meeting at their own freehold in Red Lion Street, Wapping: it was not customary in 1767 for the addresses or description of candidates to be inserted in the lodge's books, and it is very doubtful if they were even mentioned in open lodge, the recommendation of an old Past Master being quite sufficient. If the candidate was respectable they were glad to have him, the extra fees meant that the supply of liquid refreshment would be increased, a dominant factor in those days.]
BRO. SAML. JOHNSON ATTENDED TWENTY-ONE TIMES
According to the Secretary's entries in the minute book, Bro. Samuel Johnson (whoever he was) made twenty-one attendances at the "Dundee Lodge" at Wapping, and was a member for three-and-a-half years; he paid his "Dues" and then ceased his membership Christmas 1770.
His twenty-one recorded visits were on the following dates, viz:
1767. June 11, June 25, July 9, December 2 (Feast Day).
1768. June 23, July 14, August 11, August 25 October 27, December 8, December 22.
1769. January 26, February 10, March 23, April 13, April 17, April 27, May 11.
1770. September 13, November 8, December 13.
These twenty-one dates have been careful checked as far as possible with the recorded movements of Dr. Johnson, and it seems clear to the writer that he could have been present at Wapping on the days referred to if it had been his desire so to do. On various occasions in 1768 and 1769 when Dr. Johnson was undoubtedly at Oxford or at Brightelmstone (Brighton) his presence at Wapping is not recorded in the lodge books; this may only be negative evidence but rather leads one to think that our member, "Samuel Johnson," was really identical with the learned Doctor himself. Of all this more anon.
(To be continued)
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GOVERNMENT TO ASSIST IN SHRINE MEET IN JUNE
Washington, D.C. - The Imperial Council Session of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of North America, which will occur in Washington in June, 1923, is expected to bring to the Capital City the largest crowd of sightseers which has ever invaded it. It is predicted, from requests for parking space for railroad ears, and reservations made in hotels, that more than three hundred thousand visitors will crowd Washington dung Shrine week.
Provisions for the comfort and safety is made in a joint resolution introduced n the Senate by Chairman Ball, of the Senate District Committee. This resolution appropriates $25,000 or so much of that sum as may be necessary for the maintenance of public order, the safety of the public, etc., during the annual session of the Imperial Council of the Mystic Shrine.
The convention will be held from June 3 to June 7, inclusive, but the appropriation covers the period from May 25 to June 10.
The resolution also appropriates funds for the erection of temporary public convenience stations, information booths, etc. The commissioners are to be authorized to make special police regulations for the occasion, to fix passenger fares, and otherwise control the public utilities that would be called into service. - Capital News Service.
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A BUILDER
Beneath his hand the tiered marble grew;
By day he wrought and night;
He reared the glistening white
In many-columned grandeur, strong and true,
To meet glad heaven's down-bending arch of blue.
But just when with delight
The craft began with might
To shape his dreams, he turned to structures new
The thronging, anxious workmen sought in vain
Their master everywhere;
His trestle-board was bare
Of all the high designs of heart and brain.
In dust, Time that unfinished labor rolls
Not stones, alas, but souls.
- Selected.
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MEMORIALS TO GREAT MEN WHO WERE MASONS -
WILLIAM PINKNEY
BY BRO. G. W. BAIRD. P.G.M., DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
WILLIAM PINKNEY, who was a member of Amanda Lodge, of Annapolis, Md., was Jiborn in that city in 1774. His parents were English and Loyalists but the boy, like so many other youths in similar circumstances, became staunchly patriot.
He commenced the study of law in the office of Samuel Chase in 1786, began his own practice in Harford County two years later, and became in time a remarkably able lawyer and orator of the old school. He was elected to be representative in the Maryland House of Delegates, and at the same period was made a state delegate to revise the Constitutions of the United States.
He married Miss Rodgers, at Havre-de-Grace, the sister of the famous Common core John Rodgers of the Navy. A large family was born of this union, and their descendants are much in evidence in the state of Maryland today. In person Mr. Pinkney was a handsome man, with "complexion fair, and light brown hair," and it is said that he had a pleasant voice, so pleasant that it materially assisted him in winning his hearers to his side.
While a member of the Maryland House of Delegates he attracted much attention through his able advocacy of the right of slave owners to manumit their own slaves. Until 1795 he served as a member of the Maryland Executive Council. Later he went as a delegate from Arundel County to the state legislature.
General Washington appointed Mr. Pinkney in 1796 a commissioner to England in accordance with the seventh article of Jay's treaty in order to settle with the British Government claims made by merchants of the United States for damages occurring through "irregular or illegal captures or condemnations"; and during this same period succeeded in establishing in the British courts the claim of the State of Maryland to own certain stock in the Bank of England.
Throughout these official labors in London a number of important questions came up concerning international law, such as the practices of prize courts, the laws of contraband, domicile, blockade, etc.; on these questions Mr. Pinkney submitted written opinions
which are to this day accepted as models of powerful rgument and judicial eloquence.
Soon after his return to the United States in 1804 he removed his residence from Annapolis to Baltimore, and in 1805 was appointed Attorney General of the state. In 1806 he was made commissioner with James Monroe, then minister to England, to treat with the British Government concerning the capture of neutral ships in time of war; these negotiations were partly responsible for the War of 1812. Mr. Pinkney was eminently successful in his share of the conduct of these negotiations and did not return home until 1811, when he was recalled at his own solicitation.
Upon his return he was elected to the senate of Maryland, but in the following December was appointed Attorney General of the United States. He took a prominent part in the demonstrations growing out of the War of 1812 and himself commanded a batallion which he raised for the defense of Baltimore. He was wounded severely in the Battle of Blandensburg.
In 1816 he served in the United States Congress as Representative and in 1816 - 1818 was made minister plenipotentiary to Russia and a special minister to Naples, at which latter place he undertook to secure indemnity for American merchants who had property confiscated: but in this mission he met with no success. Upon his return to the United States he was elected to the Senate and held that place until he died at Washington in 1822, at the comparatively early age of fifty-eight.
He was buried in Congressional Cemetery at Washington, which was the property of Christ Church (Episcopal). In this it was the custom at the time to erect little inexpensive slaloms of stone whenever a member of Congress died. On one of these little stones we may read:
"In memory of the Honorable William Pinkney, Senator of Maryland in the Congress of the United States. Died February 25th, 1822."
Time has so nearly obliterated the letters that this inscription is now very difficult to read. The writer would invite the attention of the Fraternity and of Patriotic Societies to the fading of these precious records, the very existence of which may soon be disputed by treasonous hyphenated foreigners who are already trying to re-write American history in their own interests.
The writer would also call attention to another point made clear in these memoirs. In the early days of the Republic, and in spite of constant friction with Great Britain, our envoys met with less friction and obstruction in England than in any other land.
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THE AMEX-MASONIC CLUB
BY BROTHER AUBREY O. BRAY, ARIZONA
Brother A. O. Bray, the author of the present article, has presented to us an interesting account of the formation of one of our Overseas Masonic Clubs. His recital reproduces so vividly the obstacles that presented themselves to so many of our clubs that what he says for the Amex Club will stand with minor modifications for many of the others. The Amex Club was one of our most vigorous and helpful clubs and ministered to scores of the Craftsmen.
On page 166 of THE BUILDER for last June I made an announcement concerning an effort being made by the National Masonic Research Society to secure and collate all possible data concerning Freemasonry in the World War. This work, the direction of which has been entrusted to me, is progressing rapidly. Every brother who possesses such information as that contained in the splendid article below should send the same to me.
Brother Bray is now an attorney in Tucson, Arizona. His affiliations are numerous: John El. Felts Lodge No. 29, Norwood, Georgia; Hubert Chapter No. 120 R.A.M., Warrenton, Georgia; Plantagenet Commandery No. 12, Milledgeville, Gal; Al-Sihah Temple, Macon, Gal; Square and Compass Club, College of Law, University of Southern California. Phi Alpha Mu (Masonic) Fraternity, University of Southern California; Corresponding Member, Quatuor Coronati Lodge, London. For further reference to the Amex Club see THE BUILDER, January 1922, page 5; April 1922, page 159.
Charles F. Irwin, Associate Editor.
