The Builder Magazine

August 1925 - Volume XI - Number 8

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Society of Operative Stone Masons; Its Links With Operative and Speculative Masonry of the Present Day - BY BRO. BERNARD H. SPRINGETT, L. R., England

How St. Alban's Abbey Came to Be Built - BY BRO. N.W.J. HAYDON, Associate Editor

Daniel Coxe and St. John's Lodge, Philadelphia - By BRO. DAVID MCGREGOR, New Jersey (Concluded from last month)

A Spanish American Masonic Lecture - Translated by BRO. J.W. CHAPMAN, New Mexico

A Brief Application of the York Rite to Daily Life - BY THE GRAND HIGH PRIEST, Texas

Great Men Who Were Masons - Jabez Bowen - By BRO.GEORGE W. BAIRD, P.G.M., District of Columbia

ONE - Gerald Nancarrow

Joseph Robbins' Famous Masonic Oration - WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR

 

EDITORIAL

PRESENT DAY GILD MASONRY

WHY HISTORY?

THE QUESTION OF REFRESHMENT

 

The Late Thomas R. Marshall

 

An Appeal to the Masonic Fraternity

 

THE POLITICAL IDEAL IN FREEMASONRY

 

GEMS FROM "MORALS AND DOGMA" - Selected by Charles Henry Smart, 32nd degree, Sec. of the Scottish Rite bodies, Nashville, Tenn.

 

A ROYAL ARCH PROBLEM

 

THE LIBRARY

THE MASTER BUILDER

THE CENTRE

WORLD REVOLUTION, THE PLOT AGAINST CIVILIZATION

HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY IN WYOMING

A GROUP OF BOOKS ABOUT MASONRY IN SCOTLAND

OM, THE SECRET OF ABHOR VALLEY

 

What to Read in Masonry - Jurisprudence, Constitutions, Monitors, Etc.

 

THE SECRETS OF ARCHITECTURE

 

THE QUESTION BOX and CORRESPONDENCE

THE ROYAL ORDER

NEGRO FREEMASONRY

THE MORGAN EPISODE

ANDREW JACKSON'S MEMBERSHIP

THE AMERICAN MASONIC FEDERATION; HIRAM ABIF AND THE BIBLE

"THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST" FOR SALE

 

YE EDITOR'S CORNER

 

----o----

 

The Society of Operative Stone Masons; Its Links With Operative and Speculative Masonry of the Present Day

 

BY BRO. BERNARD H. SPRINGETT, L. R., England

 

THE BUILDER is happy to publish this carefully considered study, submitted to it for that purpose by the author. The subject is one that has received much discussion, especially in England, where brethren have long been keenly interested in the origins of our Speculative Fraternity. Bro. Springett holds many Masonic honors, won for him by years of activities in many branches of the English Craft. On this side of the water he is widely and favorably known as the author of a fascinating book, "Secret Sects of Syria and the Lebanon."

 

AS probably most readers of THE BUILDER are aware, we have working in London today, as for many years past, a keen body of Freemasons, including many well-known Grand Lodge officers, who use a ritual supposed to have been invented, according to those who have no sympathy with us, by Clement Stretton, John Yarker and Dr. Carr, all keen searchers back into Masonic history. It is really a revival of what we have every reason to believe was worked by the members of at least one of the four old lodges who banded themselves together under Anthony Sayer in 1717 to form the first Grand Lodge.

 

While the landmarks of Speculative Masonry are identical with those of Operative Masonry, as everyone would expect to find them, in the latter many of the reasons for certain words and much of the floor work which Anderson retained are more clearly defined, and it is the usual thing for those who join us to find explanations for much that had previously been looked upon as unexplained symbolism.

 

In Scotland, all the older lodges show distinct traces in their minute books of having gradually changed over from Operative to Speculative--that is, from confining admission to pure Craftsmen to extending the benefits of initiation into Freemasonry, at first to a limited number of professional men, and continuing to increase the proportion of these latter, with the gradual extinction of the former. In 1708 no fewer than forty members of No. 1 Lodge of Edinburgh, generally known as St. Mary's Chapel, seceded from their Mother Lodge on account of the increasing number of admissions of men who were not Craftsmen, and formed a lodge of their own, "The Lodge of Journeymen, No. 8," from whose own history we get a very interesting insight into the work that was carried on by them, as handed down by tradition--certainly not taught by book. Up to 1840 this lodge insisted on one-tenth only of its members being non-Craftsmen, the remainder being purely "Wrights and Masons," the former signifying most of the trades other than stonemasons who would be engaged in the building trade, and it was from this portion of its members that the officers of the lodge were selected, with the exception of the Secretary, who was usually a lawyer. These officers consisted of a Warden, sometimes called also the Deacon, or "Deces," who presided over the lodge; a Box-master, or Treasurer, and one who was known as "The Eldest Entered Apprentice," who seems to have been elected annually from among the members of the lodge and to have taken a leading part in the initiation of candidates. The latter, as in all Operative lodges, had to undergo a rigorous examination as to their physical capacity, for which purpose they were stripped completely, and were then re-clothed in a long white garment, a practice still observed in most countries but our own.

 

In England and Ireland we have the Operative Stonemasons, pure and simple, holding their lodges all over the country, but especially in connection with stonequarries and where large edifices were under construction, employing a great many skilled craftsmen. These Stonemasons worked a very simple ritual, but allowed no one to join their ranks except through an initiation ceremony closely resembling that known to us today.

 

Owing to the doubts cast on Bro. Stretton's account of the ceremonial worked in the Mount Bardon quarries, near Leicester, I have spent quite a lot of time looking into this particular question, and have been able to satisfy myself, as well as many Masonic friends who previously had some doubts, that even to this day Operative Stonemasons are quietly working a ritual, greatly emasculated, it is true, since the advent of trade unionism, which they have clearly derived by oral transmission from medieval times.

 

Papers and books of account which have been kindly loaned to me by the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers, through their genial Secretary, Mr. George Hicks, show that at the commencement of the last century many such lodges were in existence. They worked a ritual somewhat resembling in many respects that of our own lodges--that is, as regards the admission of new members--that at first sight it might be taken for a crude imitation of our own ceremony of initiation, the result of some Operative Masons being also Freemasons in our established use of the word. But there seems no reason to doubt that both bodies derived their ceremonial from a common source, this being, in my opinion, the trade gilds of the Middle Ages, themselves deriving from Eastern ancestors.

 

I have been able to find records of 191 of these lodges in England and Wales, and I have had particulars of seventeen in Ireland. All of these were subject to the rules of a Grand Lodge, to which they elected delegates, with a certain number of District Lodges to act as intermediaries. These met quarterly, while the Grand Lodge met twice a year, for many years at Huddersfield, and afterwards at Manchester. But the greatest possible secrecy was always observed with respect to these lodges, which will account for so very little being known of them by the ordinary Mason, of whom they seem to have been extremely jealous, regarding him as the unqualified usurper of the name of a trade of which he knew nothing. With the coming of trade unionism, and the passing of the Act of 1838 prohibiting the holding of all unauthorized secret assemblies, mainly at the instigation of our then Grand Master, the Duke of Sussex, still greater secrecy and still simpler ritual resulted, and a skeleton form of the ritual, formerly imparted in the tap-room or the quarry, is, I am told by one who ought to know, now gone through quietly on the scaffold.

 

Mr. R. W. Postgate, in his valuable trade union work, The Builder's History, writes as follows:

 

"The various Acts passed between 1799 and 1810, under which all combinations were forbidden and heavy penalties for infraction from time to time enforced, drove those trades whose organisations did not disappear to more secret organisation. Some such as the London tailors, went in for a semi-military system. The Building Unions practised the oaths and initiations which played such a large part in their later history. Without, like some trades, seeking to extend their clubs beyond the limits of a small town they confined themselves to the little local clubs which were the predecessors of the modern Trade Union movements. These did not disappear. All over England and Scotland the skilled craftsman continued to hold the fort nightly meeting of his trade club at the public-house, and the records and rules of some of these clubs have survived. The old traditions were very strong, and the desire for mutual improvement, as men an as craftsmen, was very marked. The Falkirk Society excluded all lewd, disorderly and fractious persons, and drunkards swearers, and Sabbath-breakers. Other societies, such as the Newcastle Operative Masons, stressed the improvement effected in man's nature by association. In some case there was also a rule against the introduction of politics a destructive of harmony.

 

"The festive nature of these gatherings must not be forgotten. The Masons' Society and the two Carpenters' Societies which existed at Newcastle, had rules to the effect that twopence per night must be spent on beer by every member, while the first entries in the Preston Joiners' Cashbook. 1807--perhaps the oldest remaining Trade Union document--relate to the purchase of beer."

 

I am indebted to Mr Sidney Webb, a very prominent member of the late Labor Government, for giving me a clue to obtaining much valuable information as to these stonemasons' lodges and their ceremonial. Mr. Webb, with the assistance of his wife, wrote The History of Trade Unionism, which is very justly considered the standard work on the subject. In this he states:

 

"The Operative builders did not rest content with an elaborate constitution and code. There was also a ritual. The Stonemasons' Society has preserved amongst its records a manuscript copy of a 'Making Parts Book,' ordered to be used by all lodge of the Builders' Union on the admission of members. Under the Combination Laws, oaths of secrecy and obedience were customary in the more secret and turbulent trade unions, notably that of the Glasgow Cotton Spinners and the Northumbrian Miners. The custom survived the repeal, and admission to the Builders' Union involved a very lengthy ceremony, conducted by the officers of the lodge: the outside and inside Tylers, the Warden, the President, the Secretary, and the Principal Conductor, and taken part in by the candidates and the members of the lodge. Besides the opening prayer, and religious hymns sung at intervals, these 'initiation parts' consisted of questions and answers by the dramatis personae in quaint doggerel, and were brought to a close by the new members taking an oath of secrecy. Officers clothed in surplices, inner chambers into which the candidates were admitted, blindfolded, a skeleton, drawn sworn, battleaxes, and other mystic properties enhanced the sensational solemnity of this fantastic performance. Ceremonies of this kind, including what were described in Home Office Papers of 1834 as 'oaths of an execrable nature,' were adopted by all the national and general unions of the time. Thus, we find items 'for washing surplices' appearing in the accounts of various lodges of contemporary societies."

 

A similar ritual is printed in Character, Objects and Effects of Trade Unions, published in 1834, as used by the Woolcombers' Union. Probably, says Mr. Webb, the Builders' Union copied their ritual from some Union of Woolen Workers. I would prefer to think it was the other way about. The stonemasons' MS. contains, like the copy printed in the pamphlet just mentioned, a solemn reference to King Edward the Third, who was regarded as the great benefactor of the English wool trade, but whose connection with the building trade is not obvious. In a later printed edition of The Initiating Parts of the Friendly Society of Operative Masons, dated Birmingham, 1834, his name is omitted, and that of Solomon substituted, apparently in memory of the Freemasons' assumed origin at the building of the Temple at Jerusalem. "The actual origin of this initiation ceremony," continues Mr. Webb, "is unknown. John Tester, who had been a leader of the Bradford Woolcombers in 1825, afterward turned against the unions, and published in the Leeds Mercury of June and July, 1834, a series of letters denouncing the Leeds Clothiers' Union. In these he states "the mode of initiation was the same as practiced for years before the flannel weavers of Rochdale, with a party of whom the thing, in the shape of it then wore, had at first originated. A great part of the ceremony, particularly the death scene, was taken from the Odd Fellows, who were flannel weavers at Rochdale, in Lancashire, and all that could be well turned from the rules and lectures of the one society into the regulations of the others was so turned, with some trifling verbal alterations." In another letter he says that the writer of the "Lecture Book" was one Mark Ward.

 

The series of "Initiating Parts," or forms to be observed on admitting new members, which are preserved in the archives of the Stonemasons' Society, I have been able to borrow and make extracts from, at the same time getting some of the pages photographed in order to show where I have personally obtained the material for much of this article. They reveal a steady tendency to simplification of ritual. We have first the old MS. doggerel already described, copied most probably from a still older manuscript. The date of this present copy Bro. Wonnacott considers would be considerably anterior to the first printed ritual, which is dated 1834. This, whilst retaining a good deal of ceremonial, turns the liturgy into prose, and the oath into an almost identical declaration, invoking the dire displeasure of the society in case of treachery. A second print, which bears no date, is much shorter, and the declaration becomes a mere affirmation of adhesion. The society's circulars of 1838 record the abolition, by vote of the members, of all initiation ceremonies, in view of the parliamentary inquiry about to be held into trade unionism.

 

(To be concluded)

 

----o----

 

How St. Alban's Abbey Came to Be Built

 

BY BRO. N.W.J. HAYDON, Associate Editor

 

THE varying forms of the Legend of the Craft related in the old MS. Constitutions of the Freemasons, are all agreed that St. Alban introduced Masonry into England and was the builder of the first church at the place now called after him. Needless to say this account is not historical. However, the traditional connection should make the subject of this article by Bro. Haydon of especial interest to our readers.

 

 THE legend of the building of St. Alban's Abbey is particularly interesting as it is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, references to the Masonic Craft (Operative) in English literature, which is founded on evidence still to be seen after a lapse of many centuries. The first historian to whom we owe an account of this event is Roger de Wendover, a native of Buckinghamshire, who was Prior of Belvoir, a dependence of St. Alban's Abbey, and who died in 1237 A. D. He wrote The Flowers of History and gave us the tradition as it had come to him. The translation used here is that by J.A. Giles, D.C.L., as published in Bohn's Antiquarian Library.

 

A generation later, another learned monk of the same abbey, known as Matthew of Paris, compiled his Chronicles of English History, bringing the tale down to 1273 A.D., and incorporating the writings of his predecessor, so that at first later scholars were of the impression that he was responsible for the whole. The photograph reproduced on the next page shows a page of his manuscript.

 

The first printed edition of these "Chronicles" was produced, in Latin, in 1639 A. D. by Watts, under the title of Vitae Duorum Offarum, and the translation given here is made from that edition by one of the scholars attached to the British Museum; I am also indebted to the co-operation of the curator of the manuscript department, Professor J.A. Gilson, for becoming possessed of the photograph.

 

While it will appear on examination that the Watts' edition does not follow too closely on the heels of Matthew of Paris, the combination of this rendition with that contained in the Bohn publication covers the ground sufficiently to give us a reasonably complete story. Students of the history of our Ritual who are also Companions of the Chapter will no doubt be impressed with certain resemblances between the legend of the R. A. and that supplied by the learned Roger de Wendover.

 

THE STORY RELATED BY ROGER DE WENDOVER

 

"The same year (A.D. 793) while Offa, the most potent king of the Mercians, was residing at Bath, and was taking his rest on the royal couch after the labors of the day, he was admonished by an angel from heaven to disinter Alban, the Saint of God and first martyr of the English, or Britons, and to place his relics in a shrine more worthy of them.

 

"Anxious to obey the divine commands, the King straightway summoned Humbert, of Lichfield, archbishop of the Mercians, who with Ceowulf, bishop of Lindsey, and Unwona, bishop of Leicester, together with a great multitude of each sex and every age, met the King at Verolamium on a day appointed.

 

"As he was journeying thither, the King beheld a ray of light like a great torch sent down from heaven and illuminating the place of the sepulchre. This miracle, which was seen of all, confirmed their faith in the truth of the vision.

 

"Now the memory of the martyr had perished and the place of his burial been forgotten for about 344 years, for the pagan Saxons, Jutes, an Angles had driven out the Britons, burnt their towns and levelled their sacred places and churches, mercilessly destroying the face of the island from one sea to the other. At this time therefore, the church of the blessed Alban, described by Bede in his history of the English, had been utterly destroyed, with the other churches in the desolation of that country.

 

"After these things the King summoned a council of the province and consulted with all the primates about the privileging of a monastery in the place which had been consecrated by the blood of the martyr. They all were pleased with the King's design and, that these things might have a more worthy effect, they gave their counsel that the King should either send envoys, or in his own person, treat with the court of Rome about them. And the King undertook the laborious journey to the end that as the blessed Alban was the first martyr of the English, so his monastery should surpass in possessions and privileges all others in his kingdom.... At length arriving at Rome the King made his earnest petition to the chief pontiff, Adrian, both for the canonization of the blessed Alban and the founding of the monastery. The court yielded a ready compliance, the more so that the discovery of the martyr was the effect of divine revelation, confirmed the privileges the King desired, and adopted the monastery as a favoured daughter of the Rome See--'subject to our Apostolic See, without the intervention of King or Archbishop.'

 

"The King considered within himself how he could make recompense for such a gift, and the next day, going to the English school which flourished at Rome at that time, he made a grant to it for ever for the support of such of his kingdom as shall come there, of a penny from every family that had possessions to the value of thirty pence, and for this liberality he obtained that none of the English nation should suffer evil by way of doing penance. After making this grant the noble King returned home.

 

"He next summoned a council of nobles and bishops at Verolamium and conferred ample possessions on the blessed Alban and ennobled them with a multiplicity of liberties. He then brought together a convent of monks from the most religious houses to the martyr's tomb and set over them an Abbot named Willigod to whom he granted the monastery with all royal rights. Now the great King Offa reigned over twenty three provinces, which the English call 'shires' and from all these, the King granted the blessed Peter's penny, which the English call 'Romescot.' Moreover the most mighty King Offa conferred on Alban his own royal villa called Wunceslaw about twenty miles from Verolamium, with the land around it, as the King's writings testify which are to this day preserved in the Church aforesaid.'

 

THE STORY OF MATTHEW OF PARIS

 

From. "Vitae Duorum Offarum"

 

"After completing the arrangements for this endowment, the King made confession of all his sins (especially in having waged so many batiles) and the founding of the said monastery was accepted as his penance the King then returned home under the brightest auspices and with the fervent blessing of the Pope.

 

"The Monastery founded, and an Abbot and Convent placed there, Offa then summoned to Verolamium his council of bishops and magnates, and, with their unanimous consent and good will, conferred on the blessed Alban wide lands and innumerable possessions, with the idea that free hospitality should flourish there. For through that place there runs a highway and street used by those coming from the North and returning from the South, called Watling Street. And it seemed to him a thing of grace that all who passed through should find there a shelter provided for them of grace by his alms. Therefore he granted to the said place dedicated to the said monastery extraordinary privileges and liberties; and at the tomb he assembled a convent of monks from diverse religious houses, but chiefly from the house of Bec in Normandy; and he appointed as Abbot over them a man named Willegod, which being interpreted is WILLING GOOD. And he was, indeed, a man of good will, a scion of the royal race, and near of kin to King Offa. He had been present at the finding of the said Martyr, and had seen the rays of heavenly light that appeared, when his body was being found and raised out of the ground, and which disappeared after this had been accomplished, as though its mission had been fulfilled. He had therefore at once resolved to take the monastic habit and to devote his life to the service of God, and to so holy a martyr; and when the story became generally known, very soon after the body had been found, the King without delay began to build the Church. And he laid the first stone of the foundation, saying TO THE HONOR OF GOD ALMIGHTY, THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY GHOST, AND OF HIS MARTYR ALBAN, THE FIRST MARTYR OF MY WHOLE LAND. And then he knelt down and with closed hands and tears running down his cheeks, he continued:

 

PRAYER OF THE MOST CHRISTIAN KING OFFA FOR HIS WORK

 

"OH, LORD JESUS CHRIST, TO THEE, AND TO THEE, MARTYR ALBAN, AND TO THEE, WILLEGOD, I COMMIT THIS THY HOUSE, FAITHFULLY TO BE KEPT. A CURSE UPON ALL WHO OPPOSE OR DISTURB OR SPIRITUALLY DETRACT FROM IT. MAY ALL ITS BENEFACTORS RECEIVE REWARD ETERNAL. And to Willegod who was then already a monk, the King gave abundance of treasure and appointed him overseer of the fabric [construction] of the Church, and he granted him all regalities and liberties. And this the King took care to do before he set out on his journey across the Alps, not knowing what God might ordain concerning his life. But after his return in such happy circumstances he solemnly renewed and confirmed all these things, and he appointed the said Willegod Abbot in the presence of his son and heir EGFRID, and of Humbert, archbishop of Lichfield, and a number of other bishops and magnates of the land, for of a truth, he had found this same WILLEGOD most faithful in the keeping of his kingdom, which the King had committed to his son and to him, while he went to Rome. And he established a convent of monks from the most renowned houses as is above said, and at his own expense he constructed all the buildings, except the very oldest one (pristinium), which he found already made out of the old buildings of the Pagans. And in the same Church the most christian King Offa acting as steward and special keeper passed some years of lis life. And one day he ordered the charters, and all the instruments given and acquired, to be brought (and) placed them on the High Altar, 'that they might become consecrated in that Holy Place as a witness and a memorial to those who might come after him.'"

 

Bound up with the early history of this ancient building are two other matters which link it closely with items of great interest in the development of that system which has become our Speculative Masonry of today. There is, for example, the claim of some Masonic scholars that our M. M. Degree has become what it is as a result of the old English custom, wherein certain gilds regularly portrayed in dramatic form portions of the known Scriptures, for the benefit of an age when illiteracy was general.

 

Wm. Hone, in his book.on the English Miracle Plays (Ancient Mysteries Described, London, 1823), writes:

 

"The first trace of theatrical representations in this country is recorded by Matthew (of) Paris, who relates that Geoffrey, a learned Norman, master of the school of the Abbey of Dunstable, and afterwards Abbot of St. Alban's Priory, composed the play of St. Catherine, which was acted by his scholars. Geoffrey's performance took place in the year 1110, and he borrowed copes from the sacrist of the neighbouring abbey of St. Alban's, to dress his characters."

 

The other matter is connected with the name "Naymus Grecus" which has so long puzzled our antiquarians, and for which solutions are offered by Bros. C.C. Howard, of New Zealand, and S. Russell Forbes, in A.Q.C., Vols. IV and V, from which it appears that this old Master of Masons is mentioned in three of the early MSS. of our Ancient Charges, towit, the Cooke, 1430, the Lansdowne, 1560, and the Buchanan, 1660. Their writers refer to a "Curious Mason named Naymus Grecus" who came to France in the time of Charles Martel, and taught him the secrets of Operative Masonry. ("Curious" here means skilful.) This Charles Martel is one of the heroes of early French history, who turned back the conquering Saracens at Tours about 729 A.D., and as St. Alban's Abbey was built some sixty-five years later, it is reasonable to admit that the fathers of its builders, as well as their Operative instructors, would be acquainted with the stories that were growing up about the great deeds of Charles Martel, that were afterwards interwoven with the great poem, "The Song of Roland."

 

Although the date when King Offa visited Rome is in dispute, there is still evidence there of the Saxon colony he helped to establish, the streets are still named "borgo" from the Saxon word "burgh" and the old church "S. Spirito in Sassia" is still standing. At this time also there was in Rome a Greek colony with its church, formed of Greek exiles driven out about 760 A. D. by theological opponents, and the road on the south side of their church is still known as the "Via della Greca."

 

We may assume that during one of his several visits to Rome, Charlemagne, who was finally crowned Emperor there in 800 A.D., engaged the skilled Mason, Naymus, of the Greek colony in Rome, with his coworkmen to build his cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle. Thence Naymus passed either in the company of, or at the request of, King Offa, when the latter returned from his pilgrimage, to St. Alban's. As a result Operative Masonry was first organized in Eritain at this city, but was broken up by the Danish wars of the next century and then reorganized at York under Athelstan in 926 A.D.

 

This ingeniously constructed chain of events--of which I have given only an outline--received various historical criticisms from the learned brethren to whom it was offered, but, on the whole, they accept it as feasible. One serious objection, however, is made by Bro. Mattieu Williams, who holds that Greek architects, or workmen, or artists, had no influence on the early builders of Britain, since their own types are destitute of Gothic character, nor had he found any Greek names in Britain, though there are many in Southern France.

 

Of all the theories as to the source of Gothic architecture Bro. Williams finds only one probable, that it is Scandinavian, inasmuch as the pointed arch and the nave (navis--ship) derive from the customary tomb of the sea-king, his ship, which was hauled ashore a placed keel uppermost on the natural rock pillars of the craggy coasts of Norway. The track of the Vikings, and their descendants the Normans, is marked by Gothic structures, nearly all situated on islands or near the sea coast. English workmen built the cathedral at Stavanger, the second in age and importance in Norway, about 862 A.D., and from 900 to 1300 the literary center--with all that implies--of Northern Europe was Iceland, whose Skalds visited these Courts and have left honorable memories.

 

Of general interest as relics of our Operative ancestors are the accompanying pictures, one of which is taken from a fifteenth century wood cut--the scene is laid in Germany. It can be seen how the use of the wheel and crane had gradually improve the shape and efficiency of this mechanism. The masons are also shown as wearing aprons, which in the earlier drawing they do not seem to have. Further comparison, too, can be drawn between King Offa's Master of the Masons and the effigy of William Warmington (died 1427), a Master Mason (No. 4), who built Croyland Abbey. This is reproduced by Conder in his Hole Craft and Fellowship of Masons, who refers to it in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, Vol. V, p. 2.

 

An enlarged copy of the Offa photo was presented by the Toronto Society for Masonic Research to the Temple Board where they meet, and any other Temple Boards, or Societies for Research, that would like copies can be supplied as I have the negative.

 

ADDENDUM

 

The illustrations of parts of the abbey itself give one an idea of the immense amount of interest the building provides, for the lover of history and architecture, though these are only a very small part of the things worth noting in this structure.

 

The so-called shrine of St. Alban stands in the Saint's Chapel, just east of the great Reredos, or screen, behind the high Altar. The original shrine was small enough to be carried in processions on festivals, being made of precious metals, and has long since disappeared. Thousands of pilgrims from many countries have visited the spot depicted in this photograph (No. 5); for centuries it was one of the most favored places for pilgrims from France, who often made the journey under most unfavorable conditions, to leave an offering and to say prayers at the shrine, or tomb, as it has often been called, of St. Alban.

 

Many considered that the bones of the martyred Saint possessed curative qualities, and in the base of the present shrine holes can be seen in which cloths were placed, so as to be impregnated with the supposed curative powers. Many pieces of stone were chipped from the carving to be taken away home to heal those who could not make the journey to the shrine.

 

The Watching Loft, seen in the background, was built in 1400 A. D. to provide shelter for a monk who was appointed to protect the shrine from damage, and to receive the alms brought by the pilgrims. The steps to the loft are solid oak logs, and the lower part contains cupboards in which relics were once stored but are now used to preserve pieces of Roman pottery and other articles of interest.

 

At the first glance of the interior may be noticed the extreme plainness of the Norman work compared with other buildings of the same period, and this is explained by the fact that most of the material used by the Norman Masons consisted of Roman brick or tiles carried from Verulamium, just a few miles away, where an immense mass of such material was found on the spot where the town of Verulamium was burned by the Saxons after the Roman evacuation of Britain. The bricks not being amenable to carving, did not allow the Masons to display their usual beautiful work, and it necessitated the building of the arches and pillars in a very severe manner. The rough work was plastered over, any many frescoes were painted on the large square-shaped pillars in the nave. In the South Transept, the plaster has been removed in places in the triforium, where the edges of the Roman brick are seen in the Norman arches.

 

An interesting point in the same location as the above is the presence of ringed baluster shafts of Saxon work, being beyond doubt part of the original Church built by King Offa, 793 A.D. The Norman Masons were never so much enthused with their own work as to ignore the beauty of work done by their predecessors, and in several places the Saxon work has been incorporated in a Norman building, for example, the Celtic window, high up in the west end of Kilpeck Church, that wonderful little gem of Norman architecture.

 

On the exterior of the North Transept, we see by our illustration how the Norman builders used the Roman material. The white stones are flint gathered from the fields in the vicinity by the Normans.

 

The Reredos was completed in 1484, its only rivals being that of Winchester and Durham, and the similarity of design and workmanship makes one almost sure that both were the efforts of the same gild of workers or craftsmen. It is a superb piece of stone tracery.

 

I am indebted to Bro. H. J. Unwin, formerly of St. Alban's, for these final notes, and for the photos which are enlargements of his snapshots.

 

----o----

 

Daniel Coxe and St. John's Lodge, Philadelphia

 

By BRO. DAVID MCGREGOR, New Jersey (Concluded from last month)

 

Surely Franklin was sufficiently conversant with the eighth section of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of England, which he had recently published, to know just exactly what was meant by the term "rebel brethren"; if, as is claimed, he had not himself been a regular Mason at that time, it would have been a case of the pot calling the kettle black !

 

No one will doubt that Franklin had a sufficient command of the English language to use the proper words to convey his thoughts; therefore when he used the word privileges he meant exactly what it implies, viz., that they were then enjoying something that had been granted to them, not an inherent right assumed by them; and the granting of those privileges must have been by a person who had the authority to do so --none other than the Grand Master of England.

 

In making the request Franklin approached the matter as would any regular Mason, expressing his willingness to submit himself to higher Masonic authority wherever it existed, at the same time asserting the dignity of his own position in the words, "The Grand Master of Pennsylvania only yielding his chair when the Grand Master of All America shall be in place."

 

As to the extension of Price's jurisdiction, it is unfortunate that neither the newspaper notice of it in the Boston prints, nor the original document or even a copy of it can be found. Nor does the records of the Grand Lodge of England contain any reference to it, as they do in regard to Coxe's deputation. It is desirable to know whether or not it was limited territorially as were most all such deputations issued by the Grand Masters of England, so as not to include territory where Provincial Grand Masters had been already appointed.

 

FOR "ALL AMERICA"

 

This limitation has been ignored in Bro. Melvin M. Johnson's references to these deputations in his recently published Beginnings of Freemasonry in America, leaving the reader to infer that all deputations to the Provincial Grand Masters of New England, with the exception of Robert Tomlinson, were for All America unrestrictedly. We know this is not a fact. True, the newspaper's report of Price's deputation to Franklin as Provincial Grand Master of Pennsylvania in 1735 designates Price as "Grand Master of His Majesty's Dominions in North America", which on the face of it is not correct, as it was not within the province of the Grand Master of England to depute to any brother an authority of equal prestige to his own, that belonging exclusively to the Grand Lodge as a body, his powers being limited to the deputizing of Provincial Grand Masters, so that, as in all others emanating from that source, Price's deputation must have been for a Provincial Grand Mastership.

 

The omission of this qualifying prefex leads us to suspect that territorial limitations were also omitted-thus establishing a precedent that has become a regular habit among the historians of New England Freemasonry.

 

It was no doubt known to Grand Master Crauford that a self-perpetuating deputation had already bee issued for a Provincial Grand Master of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania; and it is highly improbable that he would have done anything to cause confusion or dissension among the brethren here by permitting the overlapping of jurisdictions.

 

In regard to this report which appeared in the Philadelphia Weekly Mercury as to Price's appointment for all America, it looks rather strange that such an important item of news failed to appear in Franklin's Philadelphia Gazette. It is scarcely conceivable that after making application for it, if it was received and accepted by Franklin, he would have neglected to give it all the publicity possible, in order that the "false and rebel brethren" of Philadelphia might be promptly informed, as it was to meet their criticisms that the deputation had been asked for. If Franklin did receive it, his refusal to publish it seems to indicate that Price had not been able to satisfy him fully as to his authority as Grand Master of All America as he had requested him to do. In fact, neither Price nor any of his successors ever had any authority delegated to them to appoint anyone to the office of Provincial Grand Master, the full extent of their deputations being the appointment of a Deputy Grand Master and Grand Wardens, also the issuing of warrants for the institution of subordinate lodges within the territory prescribed by their deputation; therefore if Price did issue such a deputation to Franklin he assumed an authority that belonged only to the Grand Master of England.

 

While even admitting that Price may have received some authority or order to extend his territorial jurisdiction, we are not prepared to admit, as claimed by Bro. Johnson, that its publication in a Philadelphia newspaper was "unequivocal evidence of the extension of Price's authority over all America, and Pennsylvania's recognition thereof". Surely he does not mean to suggest that Bradford's Weekly Mercury (a paper not in any way identified with Masonry, and one which earned for itself the appellation of being the first anti-Masonic paper in America) presumed to represent the Pennsylvania Masons, the only persons whose recognition could be considered in the matter! In fact, its non-appearance in Franklin's paper may rather be looked upon as an absolute refusal on the part of himself and those for whom he spoke to recognize it in any way.

 

GRAND LODGE MET AS USUAL

 

This much we know. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania continuing on the even tenor of its way, met on June 24, 1735, and elected a successor to the office of Provincial Grand Master for the fourth or fifth consecutive year. Had Franklin and the Grand Lodge accepted the deputation from Price dated Feb. 24, 1735, it is not likely that he would have been requested or even willing to retire from the chair, after serving but four months under the new dispensation. If Price's deputation meant anything to Franklin, it surely meant at least a full year of service under it.

 

In later years Price does not appear to have been so certain as to that extended deputation to All America; in one letter he said he had received it in 1735, instead of 1734; and when the Provincial Grand Lodge in Boston petitioned for a deputation to Jeremy Gridley to be "stiled Grand Master of All America," which they persisted in asking for on every opportunity, Price urged the granting of the comprehensive title in a letter to the Grand Master of England, under date of Aug. 6, 1755, in which he said he had received his deputation from the Right Honourable Lord Montague in April, 1733 (which was for New England only), "which I held for four years, and constituted several Lodges, and was succeeded in the office by Bro. Tomlinson" (whose deputation was also for New England only). No mention whatever was made of a deputation for "All America." Then he proceeded: "Now with my consent all the brethren in North America have made choice of our Bro. Jeremy Gridley, Esq., to be Grand Master for three years." The only lodge officially represented on that occasion outside of those in Boston, was the New London Lodge. Price was surely suffering from an attack of Bostonitis, in which the mental vision of the patient is so restricted that he believes that "The Hub" is the whole wheel !

 

Despite this request so strongly urged and endorsed. Gridley's deputation was, as usual, issued for "Provincial Grand Master of all such Provinces and places in North America, and the Territories thereof, of which no Provincial Grand Master is at present appointed".

 

Price's memory was evidently failing him when in 1768 he claimed in a letter to the Grand Master of England that "his deputation was the first that the Grand Lodge ever issued to any part of America". If he did not know better, he was sadly ignorant of what his protege and successor in Solomon's Chair, Jeremy Gridley, was fully cognizant of years before.

 

We find that when Jonathan Hampton applied to Jeremy Gridley in 1762 for a warrant to institute a lodge in Elizabethtown, N.J., Gridley refused to grant it until he was fully satisfied that Daniel Coxe did not still have jurisdiction over that Province; and it was only after Hampton had apprized him of the fact that Coxe had died before Gridley was appointed Provincial Grand Master, that he acceded to the request and granted a warrant for the second known lodge in New Jersey.

 

PRICE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE "ALL AMERICA IDEA"

 

The more modern and modified form of the claim that "The deputation to Price was the first to be transmitted across the seas", must now be also abandoned in view of what was proven in my previous article.

 

It is quite apparent that Price was largely responsible for the promulgation of this unrestricted "All American" idea; and as he advanced in years he became more and more obsessed with it, until he actually permitted himself to believe that no other deputation of equal Masonic authority was ever granted to an American. Of the actual existence of such deputations he was forcibly reminded by the Grand Secretary of England, who, in answer to a request that he [Price] be given proper priority in the records of the Grand Lodge of England, advised him that "no deputation which has been granted since your appointment, for any part of America can affect you, as their authority can only extend over those Provinces where no other Provincial Grand Master is appointed", as did his. This equality of jurisdiction in Provinces where no Grand Master existed, is clearly shown in the case of New Jersey, where within a few years lodges were instituted on warrants derived from three Grand Jurisdictions, New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania; New Jersey being then, Masonically speaking, a no-man's-land.

 

This obsession of Price goes beyond the bounds of charitable interpretation when, after having for the fourth time installed successors to himself in the office of Provincial Grand Master, he turns around and challenges the Grand Secretary of England to find that he had at any time resigned from the office of Grand Master of All America. Did he consider himself to be a Supreme Grand Master, exercising authority over and above the regularly appointed successors to himself as Provincial Grand Master where no Grand Master had been appointed?

 

While we are willing to draw the mantle of forget fulness over such evidences of mental aberration, we do not feel justified in accepting his claims as to his authority or the extent of his jurisdiction in the year 1734/5 but fully believe that he had no jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, where a Grand Lodge existed; nor had he any authority to appoint a Provincial Grand Master anywhere in America. The attempt to use Franklin's letters to Price, as proof of the irregularity of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, is utterly futile.

 

----o----

 

A Spanish American Masonic Lecture

 

Translated by BRO. J.W. CHAPMAN, New Mexico

 

THIS lecture was given in "The Worshipful Lodge, Condor No. 9," and published in The Rivista Masonica of Chile. It is interesting from at least two points of view. It indicates a number of evident ritual variations, and it also sets out quite clearly the ideals and aspirations of Masonry in that part at least of Spanish America.

 

As it is known, the Masonic practice is to teach by making use of symbols, which have been preserved and transmitted from remote times. Thus, when we reach the doors of the temple, we see objects which represent principles and ideas which are impressed on our minds.

 

The lodge meets in places called "temples," which are of rectangular form and extend from East to West. When we enter, our attention is called to two great columns, generally of bronze, whose chapiters, of Corinthian order, are decorated with pomegranates and lilies. These pomegranates signify to us that we must preserve a close and cordial union rather than isolation, and that the nucleus of ideas and doctrines have their beginning in these places, which we must shuck out from all parts, acquiring Knowledge and Virtue. These columns have the letter B on the left-hand one and J on the other, which we recognize is somewhat distinctive of the two first degrees.

 

Beyond in front of the entrance and in the East, is an elevated dais where sits the Worshipful Master, who presides and directs our steps. In the west is another dais, a little smaller than the first, where sits the Senior Warden, who pays our wage and preserves harmony among the workmen. In the south is installed the Junior Warden, in a seat similar to the other, who observes that labor is performed properly and profitably.

 

There are three columns which form the supports of the lodge, or, the three principal Lights which illuminate it, and represent Wisdom, Strength and Beauty; the first to conceive and direct; the second to realize; and the third to beautify and adorn the work.

 

THE BIBLE IS NECESSARY

 

In the center of the lodge is a small altar, triangular in form, with three lights, and on which rests the Bible, the symbol of that enlightenment which it gives to our minds, and the square and compasses; that one (the square) signifies that we must always think and act with rectitude, and this one (the compasses) that we must proceed with regularity in all our endeavors. So likewise here is encountered the Constitution, the fundamental law of organization and procedure of Symbolical Masonry.

 

At the left of the Worshipful Master and next to him is the Orator, the Counsel of the Lodge, who gives attention to the respectful and faithful application of the Constitution and regulations. At the right is the Secretary. A little below and on the left and right, are the Treasurer and the Dispenser of Alms, the latter being charged to heed and care for those who need the assistance of the lodge. In the middle of the temple in front of the Junior Warden, is the Master of Ceremonies, and opposite him is the Expert, who is learned in the ritual and in the requirements of Masonry. Finally, the entrance is guarded by the Temple Guard. Around the foot of the station of the Worshipful Master are the members of the lodge, who form the legal institution and permit it to function regularly.

 

THE CHAIN REPLACES THE CABLETOW

 

Decorating and encompassing the ceiling is a chain, emblematic of the intimate and fraternal union which reigns among Masons, in which everyone is a strong link attached to the other; a chain comprised of Masons of the world, one and all. At the west of the ceiling are a multitude of stars, which, as the East is approached, diminish in number and increase in size, so we are taught to enjoy the light of Truth and Wisdom.

 

The floor is laid out with black and white squares, and this represents the toleration which reigns among us concerning all opinions and creeds, notwithstanding there may be differences of opinion; and also, to remind us that all the actions of life have a diversity of appearance which we must interpret with reason before forming judgment.

 

In the East, at the foot of the station of the Worshipful Master, are two stones: the one on the left is unpolished, its sides are uneven, and is wholly unfitted for use in building. On the other side is the true edged stone, with its smooth surfaces, already prepared for the builders' use. The one is the symbol of our natural personality, filled from the beginning with imperfections and impurities, and which may be purified by the love of study and work, and by the constant practice of virtuous deeds, to which we are induced and bound by the Masonic obligations.

 

ALLEGORICAL PICTURES USED TO DECORATE THE LODGE

 

Some pictures decorate the walls of the place: in the East, at the right, is Minerva, Goddess of Wisdom; at the left is Hercules, emblem of Strength; and east of that one is Venus, symbol of Beauty: three conditions necessary for individual and collective progress.

 

Another mural picture represents a very fine sieve, which represents Masonry boldly selecting from the materials introduced, and from which are obtained those to be promoted to higher dignity. And another represents a magnificent uncompleted edifice. This is the palace of Knowledge and of Civilization, which Humanity is perpetually constructing but never completing.

 

One of the virtues which recommends itself to us most zealously is Work, and so it is said that Masons work tranquilly devoting ourselves to preparing sepulchres for vice, and to raising up temples to Virtue.

 

In return, according to our efforts, we receive our wage; and likewise, speaking symbolically, as we are employed with rough materials, we must use an apron, of white skin with a flap raised for better covering.

 

THE ENGLISH WORKING TOOLS ARE EMPLOYED

 

Also, it is said that we work in our degrees with chisel and hammer; and again, that we do not write except to trace out plans with marker or pencil. So it is necessary that we have a Master to teach us to use the implements and to oversee the work; and as he is a just and kind director, he wins our respect and appreciation, and on account of this we call him "Worshipful."

 

The Wardens aid the Master in inspecting our work, paying the wages, and encouraging us to perfect our rudimentary knowledge.

 

For this reason the apprentices, whom we arrange on the left of the lodge, are said to be in darkness and are not permitted to kindle a light from our side.

 

Masonic lodges are workshops where the laborers work freely and conscientiously, and who are divided into three classes or basic degrees: Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master.

 

THE DEGREES SIGNIFY THE THREE AGES OF MAN

 

These degrees have also other significances: they represent the three principal periods of the life of man.

 

That of Apprentice is equivalent to Childhood, that age in which all is seen and observed, and in which knowledge and experience is constantly acquired. Forsake the darkness for the light.

 

The second degree, or Fellowcraft, represents Manhood, that period in the life of a man which is complete without the impetuosity of youth and childhood, in which he begins to acquire practice in the use of his faculties and in the employment of the implements of his work, and finally reaches the way which he pursues to the end of life.

 

And the third degree, or Master, represents Maturity, and the full knowledge of skill to which it is dedicated, of the use of the working tools, and of the theories by which the laborer is instructed. It is knowledge of life, and of the pleasure, happiness and triumphs which it offers to us.

 

THE NUMBER THREE IS STRESSED

 

Already we will have perceived that all these symbols and instructions have three points of support or aspects. In addition, the triangle is the figure most used and respected in the Order.

 

It is said that this is the proper emblem of a complete philosophical system, especially of Freemasonry.

 

The triangle reminds us that we must unfold our personalities, parallel and harmoniously, according to natural philosophy, intellectually and morally, then we will approach an indestructible whole.

 

And this triple instruction repeats itself in the call for entrance into the lodge, in the steps which we must take, in the three great lights which illuminate, etc., etc.

 

It is curious to note the importance of trinity with us, Wisdom, Strength and Beauty have a certain equivalence with the Holy Trinity of the Catholics, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

 

THE PURPOSE OF MASONRY STATED

 

Finally, it is permitted to express the conception, which, through the medium of lectures and addresses by well-informed brethren, is and has been formed of Symbolic Masonry, and it is that which we pursue.

 

Masonry is an institution which has existed from remote times and in distant countries, and which has been formed of men eagerly desirous of Wisdom and Purification. Always it has held one essential basis, philosophy and progress. It searches for the truth with solicitude, and is tolerant of all opinions and doctrines, it conducts itself with circumspection, is submissive to harsh and rigorous analysis.

 

It has never been a religion, but has always pursued knowledge with a zeal almost religious; and the methods of instruction, in which the symbol is foremost, has a resemblance to many of the religions of the East and West.

 

Its purpose has ever been for mutual profit, and not, as some believe, to fight forcibly against the clergy.

 

Being an institution, essentially philosophical and reasonable, it has as its foundation liberty of conscience and freedom of inquiry. From these proceed, as result, its permanent and fundamental disputes with all religions and sects which attempt to muzzle human thought.

 

So has been preserved, across the centuries, the symbol of the Grand Architect of the Universe, to whom we render tribute of studying and of inquiring into the Supreme Law, the Power or the Great Principle, however we may desire to invoke Him, who directs and co-ordinates this vast and unceasing movement of matter in all of its infinite manifestations.

 

Prejudices limit freedom of inquiry; and these are essentially un-Masonic.

 

For the attainment of morality and intellectuality among our adepts, it has been, and is, one of the first principles of our Order to require physical perfection.

 

Anciently, candidates had to submit themselves to rigorous and very long tests, which sometimes continued for years, before they might be introduced into the Temple for initiation.

 

Now, we observe the life of the aspirant, and demand information more less strictly.

 

But we must call to mind and hold, dismissing all prejudices to the contrary, that the complete purification of the individual is a Masonic obligation, and an essential duty of a good Mason.

 

----o----

 

A Brief Application of the York Rite to Daily Life

 

BY THE GRAND HIGH PRIEST, Texas

 

THE Grand Chapter of Texas, R.A.M. alive to the need for a richer understanding of the magnificent mysteries of the chapter, eager to put every Royal Arch Mason into a more complete possession of its wealth of wisdom, has published for distribution among Texas brethren a little book bearing the above title, here published by permission of the Grand High Priest. It is a hint of what may be done by way of bringing home to a man in his own bosom, as something good to know and to have, the lore and wisdom of Masonry, than which nothing is more practicable.

 

MASONRY is the ocean of fraternity, and every Mason should strive to sail its broad expanse, because its profound solemnity and matchless beauty can never be appreciated by those who merely wade in the shallow waters at the shore. The tides of time have rolled mighty waves upon its bosom, and the storms of centuries have lashed the billows into foam upon its surface, but beneath there have remained, undisturbed and immutable, the principles of the Brotherhood of Man.

 

No Mason should deny himself the privilege of knowing at least the salient features of our Fraternity, and we owe it to the ancient and honorable institution to learn enough of its teachings to grasp their deeper significance, so that we shall not be gigglers in the Master's degree nor Shriners in the Royal Arch degree. If the Masonic bodies of all rites and branches will, during the next five years, be as diligent and efficient in making Masons as they have been during the past five in making members, our great Fraternity will be a tremendous power for good, a power made possible by numbers and knowledge, but not by numbers alone. A uniform does not make a soldier and a button does not make a Mason.

 

When the beginner in Masonry first starts his inquiry into the principles of the Fraternity, he should be advised of the necessity for bearing in mind at all times that the Temple, which plays so important a part in the lodge, is a symbol of the Temple on High, and that this symbolism also applies to the king and to the master builder, as well as to all in the Blue Lodge, or Symbolic, degrees. He should also be advised to disregard the history of Masonry in the beginning of his studies, since great confusion is certain to result, and he will waste his time. Unfortunately, our most scholarly historians are pleased to begin their history of Masonry at a time when it had already grown great in influence and hoary with age, having brought down through the centuries the traditions which have fascinated the Speculative Masons. Such a history of George Washington would date his birth at the time he was inaugurated President of the United States.

 

But the beginner does not need history; the degrees themselves contain earmarks of antiquity which will be convincing enough for the beginner. Teach him that the ritualistic work is only an index to Masonry, merely enabling him to read the symbols. Masonry is a picture of human life, real life as it was yesterday and as it is today, of man struggling between the fallacies of the senses and the infallibility of divinity, going down to the grave without seeing his life-work bloom in full fruition, then rising to immortality through the merits of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

 

Man's mortal existence is great subject, but Masonry deals with more than this, for it impregnates a part of each Degree with a little something which leads the mind of the thinker to something higher, to greater possibilities. One of the great lessons of the Fellowcraft's Degree is that a thorough, well-round education forces the thinker to recognize God; rationalistic in every sense, laying aside the Bible and teaching only the sciences and arts, yet leading to that important conclusion, and making this Degree the predicate for all that follows it in Masonry.

 

This profound system of thought, this marvelous cycle of symbolism, the beginning of which the Grand Lodge of Texas interprets in the York Rite, can be completed only in the York Rite. Unless a Mason proceeds further in the York Rite, he never sees the divine light which is promised him; he stumbles through life with a Substitute Word; he fails to recognize the priceless heritage for which he should work; he never learns of the greatest part that Masonry has play in history; he never knows the debt of gratitude which the world owes to our great Fraternity.

 

York Rite Masonry is a book of many chapters, each chapter dependent upon those preceding it; the actual life of man and his rewards are the golden threads which run through the entire story. The following lines are written with the hope that they may be assistance to members of our Fraternity in interpreting the Degrees to the young Masons, so that they may enter into the real spirit of the ceremonies, grasping their deeper meaning and enjoying the splendid lessons which they teach to the thinking Mason.

 

THE MARK MASTER'S DEGREE

 

The Mark Master's Degree is a part of the Fellowcraft's and is founded on the ancient custom of requiring each workman to place his mark upon his work. It teaches many lessons and is historical as well as philosophical. It teaches that the world demands substantial service which should measure up to certain standards, must pass the squares of certain authorities, and must bear our mark if we would take credit for it. This is a worldly lesson, yet there creeps into it the idea that the work of a Greater Artist may be accepted by most of us, whereas the supposed high authorities will reject it until it is redeemed by the highest authority. Think back on the Fellowcraft's Degree and study its prophecy on the work of this greater artist; if you do not know the Fellowcraft's Degree, you have no foundation for Masonry.

 

Although supposed to do so, a Mark Master may not record his mark in the lodge, but in daily life he has no option; it is recorded for him. The Book of Mark in the lodges is the Book of Life in the world; in one, his mark is what he says it is; in the other, it is what the people say it is; in the Book of Marks on high, it is probably exactly what he has made it by thoughts, words and actions. In the commercial world, the value of the trade mark is well understood. In humanity's clouded vision, where many a scar is mistaken for a stain, a man's reputation is his mark and it may be better or worse than he deserves. By his mark, the Mark Master shall be known and he should record it in the keystone which binds the arch, the stone which is the work of a greater artist, and it is surrounded by two circular lines, enclosing a mystic sentence, which is translated in plain English as follows: "The Master Builder of God's house reserves this space for me to register my pledge of faith."

 

This degree also teaches services and co-operation, and demonstrates that we can often assist a friend when we actually feel that we cannot; even the pass grip is a symbol of assistance and co-operation in getting up the steep places of life with the valuable qualities of character which go into our spiritual building. It also touches upon man's selfishness in claiming a greater reward than his fellow, overestimating the value of his own efforts and underestimating the other man's, but it shows that merit stands the test when referred to the wise and impartial judge.

 

A Mark Master is taught charity in the true sense of the word; charitable thinking is often more valuable than money. Common experience teaches us that men are prone to err and this Degree emphasizes that forgiveness, after suitable punishment, may enable a man to come again, regain what he has lost, perfect his life, and bring up good and square work. which is always acceptable.

 

THE PAST MASTER'S DEGREE

 

The Past Master's Degree is strictly a Blue Lodge Degree, and is frequently conferred upon the Master elect of a lodge in a convocation of Past Masters, none of whom are members of the chapter. From time immemorial, it has been the custom that none but those who had been elected to the East in a lodge, could be exalted to the Royal Arch Degree; this custom debarred thousands of deserving Master Masons from the chapter, or Capitular, Degrees. On this account the Past Master's Degree is conferred in the chapter and those who receive it become "virtual" Past Masters as distinguished from actual Past Masters.

 

After a Mason has heard the obligation and the ancient charges, rules and regulations, he gets an insight into lodge procedure which he has never had before; he learns the "whys and wherefores" of certain practices, such as either opening or closing the lodge in long form in order to give a part of the trial lecture; he also learns why Masters frequently make certain requirements that the written law does not demand. Correctly conferred, the Degree does much toward really qualifying a candidate to preside over a lodge, and is a wonderful assistance to one who has had no experience in presiding or parliamentary practice. Care should be taken to see that this instruction is given.

 

It also teaches lessons of a moral and symbolic nature. It demonstrates that there is a correct method of teaching, which will drive home a lesson after other methods have failed. School teachers should understand this principle, although they may not be Masons. It also teaches obedience to the law, something that a Master must recognize at all times, and it calls attention to the necessity for closely following set rules while striving to master a new vocation, science or art. A beginner in music, medicine or Masonry must give the strictest attention to certain rules and formulas if he would become a Master; having become a Master, he may vary from them, perhaps, but not as a beginner.

 

Masonry has a central theme which runs entirely through the York Rite, and the Past Master's Degree usually demonstrates that evil consequences may develop if we lose sight of a central thought. Some men possess splendid qualifications and are capable of excellent work, but they are in the clutches of some particular sin which prevents them from achieving success. "One thing thou lacketh," Jesus told the young ruler. The Past Master's Degree, like all other Degrees in the York Rite, deals with man in his actual life, and it teaches in a striking manner that a man may be well qualified in many particulars, and yet meet with failure because he overlooks or underestimates the importance of some one feature.

 

Whereas the Mark Master's Degree teaches that men have an individual responsibility although working in the masses, the Past Master's Degree brings out the thought that this responsibility increases in proportion to the power that is placed in one's hands, and that the truly great man, while occupying the highest place of power, bears this responsibility without forgetting for a moment that he is a brother to the lowliest. Although circumstances may lift a man to an exalted position, a haughty or arbitrary spirit is very unbecoming, since other circumstances may work his undoing and reduce him to the level of those about him.

 

THE MOST EXCELLENT MASTER'S DEGREE

 

The Most Excellent Master's Degree is still another picture of man in actual life, but it is founded on one of the high lights in history. As it is conferred in Texas, the candidate never gets anything out of it, because he does not comprehend it; he stands off to one side and watches the proceeding, but it is meaningless to him. If he takes time to study it after receiving it, he discovers that it is a congratulatory degree, a degree of rejoicing, thanksgiving and praise. The materialist, the strictest rationalist, can apply every feature of it to his own views, but into the Mason's mind again creeps that spiritual touch, a symbolic hint of something finer than clay, something beyond the finite. When we really understand this Degree we find that it has been conferred on us many times, and that we have helped confer it on others long before we received it in the lodge room. When the boy or girl masters the course in school and receives a diploma, it is the Most Excellent Master's Degree that is conferred upon them. In business, society or politics a man may plan his work, follow it to a successful termination and look back upon it with thanksgiving and praise to those who have helped him, and receive the Most Excellent Master's Degree. When a man marries the woman he loves he receives the degree, and when these two build their first home, how strikingly they confer it upon themselves; however humble that home may be, however dim the lights within, a fire churls down from heaven and illuminates the souls of these two who have set the capstone and finished the house.

 

THE ROYAL ARCH DEGREE

 

The most important Degree in Masonry, regardless of Rite, is called the Royal Arch, but in reality this name should be applied only to York Rite Masonry in its entirety, since it alone is the stupendous Royal Arch, the rainbow of hope set in the heavens, with one end resting upon Eden and the other on the crumbled ruins of the world.

 

Into the Royal Arch Degree is compressed more information, more food for thought, than any other degree, and its sheer greatness is shown by the variety of views of its votaries, each seeing it from his own angle, and its seriousness is impressed upon each in proportion to his natural ability and his knowledge of the Degree. Serious situations are not always so regarded by onlookers, whose ignorance of existing conditions prevents their appreciation of the seriousness; in one of the Great Nazarene's tense moments the rabble laughed. The Royal Arch Degree is still another picture of man in actual life--and the rabble still laughs.

 

One of the lessons of this Degree is that the greatest of rewards is due to loyal service, especially service which is rendered at a sacrifice, for that shows the heart of the man; vicarious suffering is worthy of the noblest rewards. No matter whether one's abilities be great or small, his service is valuable and his reward should be in proportion to his zeal and fidelity rather than according to the high or low plane in which the laborer toils. The reward given in this Degree should be studied from every angle by every Royal Arch Mason, and he should strive to master its full meaning; he can get a very clear and distinct idea of what Masonry really means to him by attempting to fix a value upon the Recovery; his whole idea of Masonry is involved in the value he places upon it.

 

The historical sides of this Degree should appeal to every candidate, whether he is able to follow its symbolism and philosophy or not, and he is invested with secrets, or traditions, of which he may be justly proud, since he finds a heritage worthy of any man, learning that he is the successor of men who did more than any other in preserving the very foundation stone on which our civilization rests, on which our nation must stand or fall, on which Masonry is founded and must stand throughout the ages.

 

In the life of every man there is a Babylonish captivity, but it is only the good man who hears the news of his release and hastens to offer his services in a noble and glorious undertaking without the hope of fee or reward; in the life of every man there is a long and weary journey on which he passes the ruins of other lives, the blighted hopes and shattered ambitions which stand out like stupendous rows of columns and obelisks, and from which he should derive a serious lesson; but the good Mason is justified in believing that he can pass the rough and dangerous places in that straight and narrow path, refreshing himself in an occasional oasis, finding time and opportunity to render thanks for his protection and deliverance, and finally reach the goal where, by the signet of eternal truth, he may pass the thin veil which hangs between the finite and the infinite.

 

The greatness of the Royal Arch Degree cannot be written nor can it all be told even behind tiled doors; perhaps its whole story can never be told; it touches not only those in the lodge room, city, state or nation, not only the world today, but it reaches back into the dim, distant past and likewise projects itself into the future until the universe shall be dissolved and time shall be no more.

 

THE COUNCIL DEGREES

 

With the possible exception of Ohio, the Grand Council, Royal and Select Masters of Texas is the largest Council Jurisdiction in the world. It controls three Degrees, but only two have ever been taught by the Committee on Work; these are the Royal Master's and the Select Master's.

 

After a Royal Arch Mason has devoted himself to thought on the Chapter Degrees, especially the last one, numerous questions present themselves to his mind, and he is unable to answer them; during the period in which he is pondering over these problems and trying so hard to solve them, he is "ripening" for the Council Degrees, for they explain the perplexing points of the Royal Arch Degree.

 

The Royal Master's Degree depicts a scene which took place before the events of the Master's Degree occurred, and the great artist of the Master Mason's Degree is the moving spirit of the Royal Master's Degree. On this account, the candidate wonders why the Council Degrees are conferred subsequent to the Chapter Degrees, but a little knowledge of the entire system will convince him that Texas confers the Council Degrees at the right place. If Masons were unwise enough to demand chronological sequence, the Council Degrees would necessarily be conferred before the Master Mason's Degree.

 

The Royal Master's Degree is a little gem and is perhaps the only Degree which makes the candidate wish they would turn right around and confer it on him again. It is in this Degree that the master builder delivers a discourse which is one of the most impressive and beautiful parts in all the ritualistic work of Masonry.

 

One passes the "circle of perfection" in the Select Master's Degree, which is one of great importance and relates a tradition that is always remembered by the candidates. When the important part of the Degree is reached the candidate is given a seat and the team proceeds to do the work. A person must see and hear it several times in order to grasp its full significance, but when it is understood the Select Master is in position to look back over the entire system of Ancient Craft Masonry and view the perfect whole.

 

THE COMMANDERY OF KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

 

There are no Degrees in the Commandery; they are called "Orders" and there are three of them, namely, the Order of the Red Cross, the Order of Malta, and the Order of the Temple. It is a useless waste of time to attempt to trace a lineal kinship between them and the knightly orders of the Crusades, but this could be done perhaps, if the Masonic historian were as credulous of medieval and modern history as he is of all things pertaining to King Tut. However, this is wholly unnecessary, because the Orders speak for themselves, and the Order of the Temple is the very capsheaf of Masonry.

 

Around the altar of the lodge the Gentile and Jew, the Hindu and Mohammedan, can fraternize in the Brotherhood of Man, acknowledging their dependence on the Most High and enjoying the blessed communion of "brethren who dwell together in unity." In the chapter and council the Jew and Gentile enjoy a closer relationship, since their philosophy and their theology have stood the test of time, and there is a harmony which must be experienced to be understood. But only the Christian can conscientiously pass the portals of the Commandery, because two of these Orders are founded on the deeds and customs of the knights of old, who were devout Christians, and since 1760 only Royal Arch Masons who were Christians have been eligible to knighthood

 

CHRISTIAN FREEMASONRY

 

The Order of the Temple is veritably the Christian's paradise for reflection, for here he can interpret Masonry conformably to his religious belief. Jesus Christ has no place in the lodge, chapter or council, and the Mason who tries to place Him there is a supreme egotist. If God, in His wisdom, saw fit to withhold the Christ from the world for four thousand years, it is not becoming in any Mason to deviate from the Divine Plan or attempt to improve upon it by forcing Jesus into Masonry until Masonry is prepared to receive Him. The lodge, chapter and council deal historically with events under the Mosaic dispensation, and not until the Mason has reached the Commandery is he symbolically entitled to the Christ. As men of old looked forward with longing eyes to the time when the Star should appear in the East, so should every earnest Christian Mason look forward to his entrance into the Commandery where he is entitled to a realization of his fondest hopes.

 

The Knight of the Order of the Temple, or Knights Templar, can look back upon the whole plan of Masonry with a clearer view; it seems to be a more vitalized and a more sacred system than ever before. He recalls the marvelous parallel of the Old Testament and the Fellowcraft's Degree, both a thousand years old when Jesus was born, the Old Book prophesying that there would come One upon the earth through whom all men must enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Fellowcraft's Degree telling us of a man, half Jew and half Gentile, a master builder, whose blood represented alike God's Chosen People and the Gentiles, who constructed the two large brazen pillars that were set up at the entrance porch and between which all men must pass into King Solomon's Temple, which was the symbol on earth of the heavenly temple. If the Christian's mind should be perplexed as to whom this man typifies, all doubt disappears when this master builder, this paragon of fidelity and integrity, falls without sin or blame and is borne almost in the direction of Calvary, and is raised from the tomb by him who symbolizes on earth the Great King on His heavenly throne.

 

When the devout Christian, who is likewise a zealous Mason and Knight Templar, looks back upon Masonry in a contemplative mood, he seems to see the footprints of the Creator in every avenue; the Divine hand seems to have fashioned each setting; he beholds each scene illuminated by a new light; each Degree has a new and deeper meaning. The Christian Mason closes his York Rite career with the Order of the Temple, a ceremony so solemn, so beautiful and impressive, so tender in allusion, so sublime in thought, that he never forgets it, never regrets, but enjoys it more and more as he advances in learning and experience; then, after a few years of earnest thought and patient study, he must guard against over-zealousness, or his reflections will bring him perilously near the conclusion that Masonry is a divine science.

 

CHAPTER STUDY CLUBS

 

For the past few years such a tremendous amount of Degree work has been required of the chapters that there has been but little, if any, time for most of the active workers to devote themselves to a study of the philosophy and symbolism of the Degrees. This has proven unfortunate, and it is high time that we get back to study. We should not only know what the Degrees mean, but we should teach the newly-made Companions.

 

We now have a vast army of recruits who have never been trained. In military circles such, as an army, would be considered valuable only because of its possibilities; it requires months of hard training to qualify a recruit as a soldier, and it also requires hard training to make real Masons out of young and untrained members.

 

There is hardly a chapter which would not profit very much by organizing a Study Club for the purpose of sounding Capitular Masonry to a profound depth, and High Priests will also find it advantageous to have a talk by some well-posted Companion each time the Royal Arch Degree is conferred. Every intelligent candidate will appreciate any effort which is made to give him more light on the work he has just taken and help him to understand its true significance.

 

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Great Men Who Were Masons

 

Jabez Bowen

 

By BRO.GEORGE W. BAIRD, P. G. M., District of Columbia

 

JABEZ BOWEN was one of the early members of St. John's Lodge at Providence which was organized in 1757. The date of his initiation is not known but he is said to have been made a Mason some months before the full age of twenty-one. In 1762 he was Junior Warden of his lodge, and again from 1766 to 1769, when for some reason the lodge became dormant for nine years. In 1778 the Grand Master of Massachusetts, John Rowe, authorized him to revive the lodge and to act as its Master. At the end of the following year he was re-elected and continued in this office by his lodge for a period of thirteen years, to 1791. Under his guidance the lodge seems to have flourished, and a new impetus given to Freemasonry in Providence. In 1791 the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island was formed and he was elected as the first Deputy Grand Master. This office he held until 1794 when he was elected Grand Master and was re-elected for six years in succession to this exalted office.

 

He was born in Providence June 2, 1739, his father being Ephraim Bowen and his mother Mary Penner, both descended from the best Puritan stock. He was educated in his native town and at Yale University. After graduating in 1757 he returned home and began the practice of law. His superior attainments and sterling qualities won him many friends and naturally resulted in his entrance into public affairs. In 1773 he was elected a member of the Town Council, then a much greater honor than it would be considered today, and in 1777 he was returned as a representative in the General Assembly, and a year later was chosen deputy governor to succeed the Hon. William Bradford. He was also appointed a judge of the Superior Court. the equivalent of the Supreme Court today. In 1786 he was chosen by the Legislature as a commissioner to represent Rhode Island in the Convention of States proposed to be held at Annapolis, and was a delegate to the convention at which the Constitution of the United States was adopted, and was very active in securing the support of Rhode Island in its favor. During Washington's administration he was Commissioner of Loans for his own state, a position of trust but not of emolument.

 

Among other activities in the public welfare he served as President of the Bible Society of Rhode Island, he was a member of a committee to take charge of the public schools, the first appointed by the town. He also took a great interest in Rhode Island College, now Brown University, an institution that has had so much influence in the development of the state. He was a member of the Board of Fellows in 1768, after which he became a Trustee and in 1785 was elected Chancellor, which office he held until his death.

 

The college conferred on him, in 1769, the degree of L.L.D., honoris causa, and in 1800 Dartmouth honored him in the same way.

 

He was a sincere and devout member of the First Congregational Church, and his earnestness in urging that the Bible was the rule and guide of our faith will endear him to the heart of all good Masons.

 

He married Sarah, daughter of Obadiah Brown Providence, who bore him seven sons and a daughter. After her death he married a second time, the daughter of Judge Leonard, of Raynham, Mass.

 

Governor Bowen had the reputation of being a man of remarkably even temper; he apparently let nothing disturb him, his mood was ever the same. In his old age he was as eager to learn as in his youth. He was a public spirited citizen as his record proves. He exercised a great and wholesome influence in the community because of his integrity, capacity and unselfish interest in the general welfare. The same qualities enabled him to contribute largely to the revival of the Masonic Order in Providence and the state generally. His interest in Masonry never flagged and to the last he was one of the most faithful and regular attendants at the meetings of his lodge. He was at good father and had the great happiness to see his children follow in his steps. He died May 7, 1815, full of years and honors, and was buried with Masonic rites in the burying ground of the First Congregational Church of which he had been for so long a member. A simple stone was placed over his grave, but it is now so weather worn that the inscription can with difficulty be read. True he was one of those of whom it can truthfully be said that his memorial should be in the hearts of his brethren, yet surely, for the honor of the Craft, a more fitting monument should be erected lest they forget.

 

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