{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_19049/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_19049","id":"gutenberg_19049","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19049","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Other","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Freemasons","Technology"],"text":"Produced by Brian Sogard, Jeannie Howse and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n/$\n    +--------------------------------------------------------------+\n    | Transcriber's Note:                                          |\n    |                                                              |\n    | Inconsistent hyphenation matches the original document.      |\n    |                                                              |\n    | A number of obvious typographical errors have been corrected |\n    | in this text. For a complete list, please see the bottom of  |\n    | this document.                                               |\n    |                                                              |\n    +--------------------------------------------------------------+\n$/\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n/$\nTHE BUILDERS\n\nA STORY AND STUDY\nOF MASONRY\n\nBY\nJOSEPH FORT NEWTON, LITT. D.\nGRAND LODGE OF IOWA\n\n\n_When I was a King and a Mason--\nA master proved and skilled,\nI cleared me ground for a palace\nSuch as a King should build.\nI decreed and cut down to my levels,\nPresently, under the silt,\nI came on the wreck of a palace\nSuch as a King had built!_\n                --KIPLING\n\n\nCEDAR RAPIDS IOWA\nTHE TORCH PRESS\nNINETEEN FIFTEEN\n$/\n\n\n\n\n/$\nCOPYRIGHT, 1914\nBY JOSEPH FORT NEWTON\n\n\n_First Printing, December, 1914_\n$/\n\n\n\n\n/$\nTo\nThe Memory of\nTHEODORE SUTTON PARVIN\nFounder of the Library of the Grand Lodge\nof Iowa, with Reverence and Gratitude; to\nLOUIS BLOCK\nPast Grand Master of Masons in Iowa, dear Friend\nand Fellow-worker, who initiated and inspired\nthis study, with Love and Goodwill; and\nto the\nYOUNG MASONS\nOur Hope and Pride, for whom\nthis book was written\nWith\nFraternal Greeting\n$/\n\n\n\n\nTHE ANTEROOM\n\n\nFourteen years ago the writer of this volume entered the temple of\nFreemasonry, and that date stands out in memory as one of the most\nsignificant days in his life. There was a little spread on the night\nof his raising, and, as is the custom, the candidate was asked to give\nhis impressions of the Order. Among other things, he made request to\nknow if there was any little book which would tell a young man the\nthings he would most like to know about Masonry--what it was, whence\nit came, what it teaches, and what it is trying to do in the world? No\none knew of such a book at that time, nor has any been found to meet a\nneed which many must have felt before and since. By an odd\ncoincidence, it has fallen to the lot of the author to write the\nlittle book for which he made request fourteen years ago.\n\nThis bit of reminiscence explains the purpose of the present volume,\nand every book must be judged by its spirit and purpose, not less than\nby its style and contents. Written as a commission from the Grand\nLodge of Iowa, and approved by that Grand body, a copy of this book is\nto be presented to every man upon whom the degree of Master Mason is\nconferred within this Grand Jurisdiction. Naturally this intention has\ndetermined the method and arrangement of the book, as well as the\nmatter it contains; its aim being to tell a young man entering the\norder the antecedents of Masonry, its development, its philosophy, its\nmission, and its ideal. Keeping this purpose always in mind, the\neffort has been to prepare a brief, simple, and vivid account of the\norigin, growth, and teaching of the Order, so written as to provoke a\ndeeper interest in and a more earnest study of its story and its\nservice to mankind.\n\nNo work of this kind has been undertaken, so far as is known, by any\nGrand Lodge in this country or abroad--at least, not since the old\n_Pocket Companion_, and other such works in the earlier times; and\nthis is the more strange from the fact that the need of it is so\nobvious, and its possibilities so fruitful and important. Every one\nwho has looked into the vast literature of Masonry must often have\nfelt the need of a concise, compact, yet comprehensive survey to clear\nthe path and light the way. Especially must those feel such a need who\nare not accustomed to traverse long and involved periods of history,\nand more especially those who have neither the time nor the\nopportunity to sift ponderous volumes to find out the facts. Much of\nour literature--indeed, by far the larger part of it--was written\nbefore the methods of scientific study had arrived, and while it\nfascinates, it does not convince those who are used to the more\ncritical habits of research. Consequently, without knowing it, some of\nour most earnest Masonic writers have made the Order a target for\nridicule by their extravagant claims as to its antiquity. They did not\nmake it clear in what sense it is ancient, and not a little satire has\nbeen aimed at Masons for their gullibility in accepting as true the\nwildest and most absurd legends. Besides, no history of Masonry has\nbeen written in recent years, and some important material has come to\nlight in the world of historical and archaeological scholarship, making\nnot a little that has hitherto been obscure more clear; and there is\nneed that this new knowledge be related to what was already known.\nWhile modern research aims at accuracy, too often its results are dry\npages of fact, devoid of literary beauty and spiritual appeal--a\nskeleton without the warm robe of flesh and blood. Striving for\naccuracy, the writer has sought to avoid making a dusty chronicle of\nfacts and figures, which few would have the heart to follow, with what\nsuccess the reader must decide.\n\nSuch a book is not easy to write, and for two reasons: it is the\nhistory of a secret Order, much of whose lore is not to be written,\nand it covers a bewildering stretch of time, asking that the contents\nof innumerable volumes--many of them huge, disjointed, and difficult\nto digest--be compact within a small space. Nevertheless, if it has\nrequired a prodigious labor, it is assuredly worth while in behalf of\nthe young men who throng our temple gates, as well as for those who\nare to come after us. Every line of this book has been written in the\nconviction that the real history of Masonry is great enough, and its\nsimple teaching grand enough, without the embellishment of legend,\nmuch less of occultism. It proceeds from first to last upon the\nassurance that all that we need to do is to remove the scaffolding\nfrom the historic temple of Masonry and let it stand out in the\nsunlight, where all men can see its beauty and symmetry, and that it\nwill command the respect of the most critical and searching\nintellects, as well as the homage of all who love mankind. By this\nfaith the long study has been guided; in this confidence it has been\ncompleted.\n\nTo this end the sources of Masonic scholarship, stored in the library\nof the Grand Lodge of Iowa, have been explored, and the highest\nauthorities have been cited wherever there is uncertainty--copious\nreferences serving not only to substantiate the statements made, but\nalso, it is hoped, to guide the reader into further and more detailed\nresearch. Also, in respect of issues still open to debate and about\nwhich differences of opinion obtain, both sides have been given a\nhearing, so far as space would allow, that the student may weigh and\ndecide the question for himself. Like all Masonic students of recent\ntimes, the writer is richly indebted to the great Research Lodges of\nEngland--especially to the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076--without\nwhose proceedings this study would have been much harder to write, if\nindeed it could have been written at all. Such men as Gould, Hughan,\nSpeth, Crawley, Thorp, to name but a few--not forgetting Pike, Parvin,\nMackey, Fort, and others in this country--deserve the perpetual\ngratitude of the fraternity. If, at times, in seeking to escape from\nmere legend, some of them seemed to go too far toward another\nextreme--forgetting that there is much in Masonry that cannot be\ntraced by name and date--it was but natural in their effort in behalf\nof authentic history and accurate scholarship. Alas, most of those\nnamed belong now to a time that is gone and to the people who are no\nlonger with us here, but they are recalled by an humble student who\nwould pay them the honor belonging to great men and great Masons.\n\nThis book is divided into three parts, as everything Masonic should\nbe: Prophecy, History, and Interpretation. The first part has to do\nwith the hints and foregleams of Masonry in the early history,\ntradition, mythology, and symbolism of the race--finding its\nfoundations in the nature and need of man, and showing how the stones\nwrought out by time and struggle were brought from afar to the making\nof Masonry as we know it. The second part is a story of the order of\nbuilders through the centuries, from the building of the Temple of\nSolomon to the organization of the mother Grand Lodge of England, and\nthe spread of the Order all over the civilized world. The third part\nis a statement and exposition of the faith of Masonry, its philosophy,\nits religious meaning, its genius, and its ministry to the individual,\nand through the individual to society and the state. Such is a bare\noutline of the purpose, method, plan, and spirit of the work, and if\nthese be kept in mind it is believed that it will tell its story and\nconfide its message.\n\nWhen a man thinks of our mortal lot--its greatness and its pathos, how\nmuch has been wrought out in the past, and how binding is our\nobligation to preserve and enrich the inheritance of humanity--there\ncomes over him a strange warming of the heart toward all his fellow\nworkers; and especially toward the young, to whom we must soon entrust\nall that we hold sacred. All through these pages the wish has been to\nmake the young Mason feel in what a great and benign tradition he\nstands, that he may the more earnestly strive to be a Mason not merely\nin form, but in faith, in spirit, and still more, in character; and so\nhelp to realize somewhat of the beauty we all have dreamed--lifting\ninto the light the latent powers and unguessed possibilities of this\nthe greatest order of men upon the earth. Everyone can do a little,\nand if each does his part faithfully the sum of our labors will be\nvery great, and we shall leave the world fairer than we found it,\nricher in faith, gentler in justice, wiser in pity--for we pass this\nway but once, pilgrims seeking a country, even a City that hath\nfoundations.\n\n/$\n                         J.F.N.\n\n_Cedar Rapids, Iowa_, September 7, 1914.\n$/\n\n\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS\n\n\n/$\nTHE ANTE-ROOM                                                 vii\n\n\nPART I--PROPHECY\n  CHAPTER I. THE FOUNDATIONS                                    5\n\n  CHAPTER II. THE WORKING TOOLS                                19\n\n  CHAPTER III. THE DRAMA OF FAITH                              39\n\n  CHAPTER IV. THE SECRET DOCTRINE                              57\n\n  CHAPTER V. THE COLLEGIA                                      73\n\n\nPART II--HISTORY\n\n  CHAPTER I. FREE-MASONS                                       97\n\n  CHAPTER II. FELLOWCRAFTS                                    127\n\n  CHAPTER III. ACCEPTED MASONS                                153\n\n  CHAPTER IV. GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND                          173\n\n  CHAPTER V. UNIVERSAL MASONRY                                201\n\n\nPART III--INTERPRETATION\n\n  CHAPTER I. WHAT IS MASONRY                                  239\n\n  CHAPTER II. THE MASONIC PHILOSOPHY                          259\n\n  CHAPTER III. THE SPIRIT OF MASONRY                          283\n\nBIBLIOGRAPHY                                                  301\n\nINDEX                                                         306\n$/\n\n\n\n\nPart I--Prophecy\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOUNDATIONS\n\n\n\n\n/#\n  _By Symbols is man guided and commanded, made happy, made\n  wretched. He everywhere finds himself encompassed with Symbols,\n  recognized as such or not recognized: the Universe is but one vast\n  Symbol of God; nay, if thou wilt have it, what is man himself but\n  a Symbol of God; is not all that he does symbolical; a revelation\n  to Sense of the mystic God-given force that is in him; a Gospel of\n  Freedom, which he, the Messiah of Nature, preaches, as he can, by\n  word and act? Not a Hut he builds but is the visible embodiment of\n  a Thought; but bears visible record of invisible things; but is,\n  in the transcendental sense, symbolical as well as real._\n\n  --THOMAS CARLYLE, _Sartor Resartus_\n#/\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\n_The Foundations_\n\n\nTwo arts have altered the face of the earth and given shape to the\nlife and thought of man, Agriculture and Architecture. Of the two, it\nwould be hard to know which has been the more intimately interwoven\nwith the inner life of humanity; for man is not only a planter and a\nbuilder, but a mystic and a thinker. For such a being, especially in\nprimitive times, any work was something more than itself; it was a\ntruth found out. In becoming useful it attained some form, enshrining\nat once a thought and a mystery. Our present study has to do with the\nsecond of these arts, which has been called the matrix of\ncivilization.\n\nWhen we inquire into origins and seek the initial force which carried\nart forward, we find two fundamental factors--physical necessity and\nspiritual aspiration. Of course, the first great impulse of all\narchitecture was need, honest response to the demand for shelter; but\nthis demand included a Home for the Soul, not less than a roof over\nthe head. Even in this response to primary need there was something\nspiritual which carried it beyond provision for the body; as the men\nof Egypt, for instance, wanted an indestructible resting-place, and so\nbuilt the pyramids. As Capart says, prehistoric art shows that this\nutilitarian purpose was in almost every case blended with a religious,\nor at least a magical, purpose.[1] The spiritual instinct, in seeking\nto recreate types and to set up more sympathetic relations with the\nuniverse, led to imitation, to ideas of proportion, to the passion for\nbeauty, and to the effort after perfection.\n\nMan has been always a builder, and nowhere has he shown himself more\nsignificantly than in the buildings he has erected. When we stand\nbefore them--whether it be a mud hut, the house of a cliff-dweller\nstuck like the nest of a swallow on the side of a canon, a Pyramid, a\nParthenon, or a Pantheon--we seem to read into his soul. The builder\nmay have gone, perhaps ages before, but here he has left something of\nhimself, his hopes, his fears, his ideas, his dreams. Even in the\nremote recesses of the Andes, amidst the riot of nature, and where man\nis now a mere savage, we come upon the remains of vast, vanished\ncivilizations, where art and science and religion reached unknown\nheights. Wherever humanity has lived and wrought, we find the\ncrumbling ruins of towers, temples, and tombs, monuments of its\nindustry and its aspiration. Also, whatever else man may have\nbeen--cruel, tyrannous, vindictive--his buildings always have\nreference to religion. They bespeak a vivid sense of the Unseen and\nhis awareness of his relation to it. Of a truth, the story of the\nTower of Babel is more than a myth. Man has ever been trying to build\nto heaven, embodying his prayer and his dream in brick and stone.\n\nFor there are two sets of realities--material and spiritual--but they\nare so interwoven that all practical laws are exponents of moral laws.\nSuch is the thesis which Ruskin expounds with so much insight and\neloquence in his _Seven Lamps of Architecture_, in which he argues\nthat the laws of architecture are moral laws, as applicable to the\nbuilding of character as to the construction of cathedrals. He finds\nthose laws to be Sacrifice, Truth, Power, Beauty, Life, Memory, and,\nas the crowning grace of all, that principle to which Polity owes its\nstability, Life its happiness, Faith its acceptance, and Creation its\ncontinuance--_Obedience_. He holds that there is no such thing as\nliberty, and never can be. The stars have it not; the earth has it\nnot; the sea has it not. Man fancies that he has freedom, but if he\nwould use the word Loyalty instead of Liberty, he would be nearer the\ntruth, since it is by obedience to the laws of life and truth and\nbeauty that he attains to what he calls liberty.\n\nThroughout that brilliant essay, Ruskin shows how the violation of\nmoral laws spoils the beauty of architecture, mars its usefulness, and\nmakes it unstable. He points out, with all the variations of emphasis,\nillustration, and appeal, that beauty is what is imitated from natural\nforms, consciously or unconsciously, and that what is not so derived,\nbut depends for its dignity upon arrangement received from the human\nmind, expresses, while it reveals, the quality of the mind, whether it\nbe noble or ignoble. Thus:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    All building, therefore, shows man either as gathering or\n    governing; and the secrets of his success are his knowing\n    what to gather, and how to rule. These are the two great\n    intellectual Lamps of Architecture; the one consisting in a\n    just and humble veneration of the works of God upon earth,\n    and the other in an understanding of the dominion over those\n    works which has been vested in man.[2]\n#/\n\nWhat our great prophet of art thus elaborated so eloquently, the early\nmen forefelt by instinct, dimly it may be, but not less truly. If\narchitecture was born of need it soon showed its magic quality, and\nall true building touched depths of feeling and opened gates of\nwonder. No doubt the men who first balanced one stone over two others\nmust have looked with astonishment at the work of their hands, and\nhave worshiped the stones they had set up. This element of mystical\nwonder and awe lasted long through the ages, and is still felt when\nwork is done in the old way by keeping close to nature, necessity, and\nfaith. From the first, ideas of sacredness, of sacrifice, of ritual\nrightness, of magic stability, of likeness to the universe, of\nperfection of form and proportion glowed in the heart of the builder,\nand guided his arm. Wren, philosopher as he was, decided that the\ndelight of man in setting up columns was acquired through worshiping\nin the groves of the forest; and modern research has come to much the\nsame view, for Sir Arthur Evans shows that in the first European age\ncolumns were gods. All over Europe the early morning of architecture\nwas spent in the worship of great stones.[3]\n\nIf we go to old Egypt, where the art of building seems first to have\ngathered power, and where its remains are best preserved, we may read\nthe ideas of the earliest artists. Long before the dynastic period a\nstrong people inhabited the land who developed many arts which they\nhanded on to the pyramid-builders. Although only semi-naked savages\nusing flint instruments in a style much like the bushmen, they were\nthe root, so to speak, of a wonderful artistic stock. Of the Egyptians\nHerodotus said, \"They gather the fruits of the earth with less labor\nthan any other people.\" With agriculture and settled life came trade\nand stored-up energy which might essay to improve on caves and pits\nand other rude dwellings. By the Nile, perhaps, man first aimed to\noverpass the routine of the barest need, and obey his soul. There he\nwrought out beautiful vases of fine marble, and invented square\nbuilding.\n\nAt any rate, the earliest known structure actually discovered, a\nprehistoric tomb found in the sands at Hieraconpolis, is already\nright-angled. As Lethaby reminds us, modern people take squareness\nvery much for granted as being a self-evident form, but the discovery\nof the square was a great step in geometry.[4] It opened a new era in\nthe story of the builders. Early inventions must have seemed like\nrevelations, as indeed they were; and it is not strange that skilled\ncraftsmen were looked upon as magicians. If man knows as much as he\ndoes, the discovery of the Square was a great event to the primitive\nmystics of the Nile. Very early it became an emblem of truth,\njustice, and righteousness, and so it remains to this day though\nuncountable ages have passed. Simple, familiar, eloquent, it brings\nfrom afar a sense of the wonder of the dawn, and it still teaches a\nlesson which we find it hard to learn. So also the cube, the\ncompasses, and the keystone, each a great advance for those to whom\narchitecture was indeed \"building touched with emotion,\" as showing\nthat its laws are the laws of the Eternal.\n\nMaspero tells us that the temples of Egypt, even from earliest times,\nwere built in the image of the earth as the builders had imagined\nit.[5] For them the earth was a sort of flat slab more long than wide,\nand the sky was a ceiling or vault supported by four great pillars.\nThe pavement, represented the earth; the four angles stood for the\npillars; the ceiling, more often flat, though sometimes curved,\ncorresponded to the sky. From the pavement grew vegetation, and water\nplants emerged from the water; while the ceiling, painted dark blue,\nwas strewn with stars of five points. Sometimes, the sun and moon were\nseen floating on the heavenly ocean escorted by the constellations,\nand the months and days. There was a far withdrawn holy place, small\nand obscure, approached through a succession of courts and columned\nhalls, all so arranged on a central axis as to point to the sunrise.\nBefore the outer gates were obelisks and avenues of statues. Such were\nthe shrines of the old solar religion, so oriented that on one day in\nthe year the beams of the rising sun, or of some bright star that\nhailed his coming, should stream down the nave and illumine the\naltar.[6]\n\nClearly, one ideal of the early builders was that of sacrifice, as\nseen in their use of the finest materials; and another was accuracy of\nworkmanship. Indeed, not a little of the earliest work displayed an\nastonishing technical ability, and such work must point to some\nunderlying idea which the workers sought to realize. Above all things\nthey sought permanence. In later inscriptions relating to buildings,\nphrases like these occur frequently: \"it is such as the heavens in all\nits quarters;\" \"firm as the heavens.\" Evidently the basic idea was\nthat, as the heavens were stable, not to be moved, so a building put\ninto proper relation with the universe would acquire magical\nstability. It is recorded that when Ikhnaton founded his new city,\nfour boundary stones were accurately placed, that so it might be\nexactly square, and thus endure forever. Eternity was the ideal aimed\nat, everything else being sacrificed for that aspiration.\n\nHow well they realized their dream is shown us in the Pyramids, of all\nmonuments of mankind the oldest, the most technically perfect, the\nlargest, and the most mysterious. Ages come and go, empires rise and\nfall, philosophies flourish and fail, and man seeks him out many\ninventions, but they stand silent under the bright Egyptian night, as\nfascinating as they are baffling. An obelisk is simply a pyramid,\nalbeit the base has become a shaft, holding aloft the oldest emblems\nof solar faith--a Triangle mounted on a Square. When and why this\nfigure became holy no one knows, save as we may conjecture that it was\none of those sacred stones which gained its sanctity in times far back\nof all recollection and tradition, like the _Ka'aba_ at Mecca. Whether\nit be an imitation of the triangle of zodiacal light, seen at certain\ntimes in the eastern sky at sunrise and sunset, or a feat of masonry\nused as a symbol of Heaven, as the Square was an emblem of Earth, no\none may affirm.[7] In the Pyramid Texts the Sun-god, when he created\nall the other gods, is shown sitting on the apex of the sky in the\nform of a Phoenix--that Supreme God to whom two architects, Suti and\nHor, wrote so noble a hymn of praise.[8]\n\nWhite with the worship of ages, ineffably beautiful and pathetic, is\nthe old light-religion of humanity--a sublime nature-mysticism in\nwhich Light was love and life, and Darkness evil and death. For the\nearly man light was the mother of beauty, the unveiler of color, the\nelusive and radiant mystery of the world, and his speech about it was\nreverent and grateful. At the gates of the morning he stood with\nuplifted hands, and the sun sinking in the desert at eventide made him\nwistful in prayer, half fear and half hope, lest the beauty return no\nmore. His religion, when he emerged from the night of animalism, was a\nworship of the Light--his temple hung with stars, his altar a glowing\nflame, his ritual a woven hymn of night and day. No poet of our day,\nnot even Shelley, has written lovelier lyrics in praise of the Light\nthan those hymns of Ikhnaton in the morning of the world.[9] Memories\nof this religion of the dawn linger with us today in the faith that\nfollows the Day-Star from on high, and the Sun of Righteousness--One\nwho is the Light of the World in life, and the Lamp of Poor Souls in\nthe night of death.\n\nHere, then, are the real foundations of Masonry, both material and\nmoral: in the deep need and aspiration of man, and his creative\nimpulse; in his instinctive Faith, his quest of the Ideal, and his\nlove of the Light. Underneath all his building lay the feeling,\nprophetic of his last and highest thought, that the earthly house of\nhis life should be in right relation with its heavenly prototype, the\nworld-temple--imitating on earth the house not made with hands,\neternal in the heavens. If he erected a square temple, it was an image\nof the earth; if he built a pyramid, it was a picture of a beauty\nshown him in the sky; as, later, his cathedral was modelled after the\nmountain, and its dim and lofty arch a memory of the forest vista--its\naltar a fireside of the soul, its spire a prayer in stone. And as he\nwrought his faith and dream into reality, it was but natural that the\ntools of the builder should become emblems of the thoughts of the\nthinker. Not only his tools, but, as we shall see, the very stones\nwith which he worked became sacred symbols--the temple itself a vision\nof that House of Doctrine, that Home of the Soul, which, though\nunseen, he is building in the midst of the years.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] _Primitive Art in Egypt._\n\n[2] Chapter iii, aphorism 2.\n\n[3] _Architecture_, by Lethaby, chap. i.\n\n[4] _Architecture_, by Lethaby, chap. ii.\n\n[5] _Dawn of Civilization_.\n\n[6] _Dawn of Astronomy_, Norman Lockyer.\n\n[7] Churchward, in his _Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man_ (chap.\nxv), holds that the pyramid was typical of heaven, Shu, standing on\nseven steps, having lifted the sky from the earth in the form of a\ntriangle; and that at each point stood one of the gods, Sut and Shu at\nthe base, the apex being the Pole Star where Horus of the Horizon had\nhis throne. This is, in so far, true; but the pyramid emblem was older\nthan Osiris, Isis, and Horus, and runs back into an obscurity beyond\nknowledge.\n\n[8] _Religion and Thought in Egypt_, by Breasted, lecture ix.\n\n[9] Ikhnaton, indeed, was a grand, solitary, shining figure, \"the first\nidealist in history,\" and a poetic thinker in whom the religion of\nEgypt attained its highest reach. Dr. Breasted puts his lyrics\nalongside the poems of Wordsworth and the great passage of Ruskin in\n_Modern Painters_, as celebrating the divinity of Light (_Religion and\nThought in Egypt_, lecture ix). Despite the revenge of his enemies, he\nstands out as a lonely, heroic, prophetic soul--\"the first _individual_\nin time.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE WORKING TOOLS\n\n\n\n\n/#\n  _It began to shape itself to my intellectual vision into something\n  more imposing and majestic, solemnly mysterious and grand. It\n  seemed to me like the Pyramids in their loneliness, in whose yet\n  undiscovered chambers may be hidden, for the enlightenment of\n  coming generations, the sacred books of the Egyptians, so long\n  lost to the world; like the Sphynx half buried in the desert._\n\n  _In its symbolism, which and its spirit of brotherhood are its\n  essence, Freemasonry is more ancient than any of the world's\n  living religions. It has the symbols and doctrines which, older\n  than himself, Zarathrustra inculcated; and it seemed to me a\n  spectacle sublime, yet pitiful--the ancient Faith of our ancestors\n  holding out to the world its symbols once so eloquent, and mutely\n  and in vain asking for an interpreter._\n\n  _And so I came at last to see that the true greatness and majesty\n  of Freemasonry consist in its proprietorship of these and its\n  other symbols; and that its symbolism is its soul._\n\n  --ALBERT PIKE, _Letter to Gould_\n#/\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\n_The Working Tools_\n\n\nNever were truer words than those of Goethe in the last lines of\n_Faust_, and they echo one of the oldest instincts of humanity: \"All\nthings transitory but as symbols are sent.\" From the beginning man has\ndivined that the things open to his senses are more than mere facts,\nhaving other and hidden meanings. The whole world was close to him as\nan infinite parable, a mystical and prophetic scroll the lexicon of\nwhich he set himself to find. Both he and his world were so made as to\nconvey a sense of doubleness, of high truth hinted in humble, nearby\nthings. No smallest thing but had its skyey aspect which, by his\nwinged and quick-sighted fancy, he sought to surprise and grasp.\n\nLet us acknowledge that man was born a poet, his mind a chamber of\nimagery, his world a gallery of art. Despite his utmost efforts, he\ncan in nowise strip his thought of the flowers and fruits that cling\nto it, withered though they often are. As a fact, he has ever been a\ncitizen of two worlds, using the scenery of the visible to make vivid\nthe realities of the world Unseen. What wonder, then, that trees grew\nin his fancy, flowers bloomed in his faith, and the victory of spring\nover winter gave him hope of life after death, while the march of the\nsun and the great stars invited him to \"thoughts that wander through\neternity.\" Symbol was his native tongue, his first form of speech--as,\nindeed, it is his last--whereby he was able to say what else he could\nnot have uttered. Such is the fact, and even the language in which we\nstate it is \"a dictionary of faded metaphors,\" the fossil poetry of\nages ago.\n\n\nI\n\nThat picturesque and variegated maze of the early symbolism of the\nrace we cannot study in detail, tempting as it is. Indeed, so\nluxuriant was that old picture-language that we may easily miss our\nway and get lost in the labyrinth, unless we keep to the right\npath.[10] First of all, throughout this study of prophecy let us keep\never in mind a very simple and obvious fact, albeit not less wonderful\nbecause obvious. Socrates made the discovery--perhaps the greatest\never made--that human nature is universal. By his searching questions\nhe found out that when men think round a problem, and think deeply,\nthey disclose a common nature and a common system of truth. So there\ndawned upon him, from this fact, the truth of the kinship of mankind\nand the unity of mind. His insight is confirmed many times over,\nwhether we study the earliest gropings of the human mind or set the\nteachings of the sages side by side. Always we find, after comparison,\nthat the final conclusions of the wisest minds as to the meaning of\nlife and the world are harmonious, if not identical.\n\nHere is the clue to the striking resemblances between the faiths and\nphilosophies of widely separated peoples, and it makes them\nintelligible while adding to their picturesqueness and philosophic\ninterest. By the same token, we begin to understand why the same\nsigns, symbols, and emblems were used by all peoples to express their\nearliest aspiration and thought. We need not infer that one people\nlearned them from another, or that there existed a mystic, universal\norder which had them in keeping. They simply betray the unity of the\nhuman mind, and show how and why, at the same stage of culture, races\nfar removed from each other came to the same conclusions and used much\nthe same symbols to body forth their thought. Illustrations are\ninnumerable, of which a few may be named as examples of this unity\nboth of idea and of emblem, and also as confirming the insight of the\ngreat Greek that, however shallow minds may differ, in the end all\nseekers after truth follow a common path, comrades in one great quest.\n\nAn example in point, as ancient as it is eloquent, is the idea of the\ntrinity and its emblem, the triangle. What the human thought of God is\ndepends on what power of the mind or aspect of life man uses as a lens\nthrough which to look into the mystery of things. Conceived of as the\nwill of the world, God is one, and we have the monotheism of Moses.\nSeen through instinct and the kaleidoscope of the senses, God is\nmultiple, and the result is polytheism and its gods without number.\nFor the reason, God is a dualism made up of matter and mind, as in the\nfaith of Zoroaster and many other cults. But when the social life of\nman becomes the prism of faith, God is a trinity of Father, Mother,\nChild. Almost as old as human thought, we find the idea of the trinity\nand its triangle emblem everywhere--Siva, Vishnu, and Brahma in India\ncorresponding to Osiris, Isis, and Horus in Egypt. No doubt this idea\nunderlay the old pyramid emblem, at each corner of which stood one of\nthe gods. No missionary carried this profound truth over the earth. It\ngrew out of a natural and universal human experience, and is explained\nby the fact of the unity of the human mind and its vision of God\nthrough the family.\n\nOther emblems take us back into an antiquity so remote that we seem to\nbe walking in the shadow of prehistoric time. Of these, the mysterious\nSwastika is perhaps the oldest, as it is certainly the most widely\ndistributed over the earth. As much a talisman as a symbol, it has\nbeen found on Chaldean bricks, among the ruins of the city of Troy, in\nEgypt, on vases of ancient Cyprus, on Hittite remains and the pottery\nof the Etruscans, in the cave temples of India, on Roman altars and\nRunic monuments in Britain, in Thibet, China, and Korea, in Mexico,\nPeru, and among the prehistoric burial-grounds of North America. There\nhave been many interpretations of it. Perhaps the meaning most usually\nassigned to it is that of the Sanskrit word having in its roots an\nintimation of the beneficence of life, _to be_ and _well_. As such, it\nis a sign indicating \"that the maze of life may bewilder, but a path\nof light runs through it: _It is well_ is the name of the path, and\nthe key to life eternal is in the strange labyrinth for those whom God\nleadeth.\"[11] Others hold it to have been an emblem of the Pole Star\nwhose stability in the sky, and the procession of the Ursa Major\naround it, so impressed the ancient world. Men saw the sun journeying\nacross the heavens every day in a slightly different track, then\nstanding still, as it were, at the solstice, and then returning on its\nway back. They saw the moon changing not only its orbit, but its size\nand shape and time of appearing. Only the Pole Star remained fixed and\nstable, and it became, not unnaturally, a light of assurance and the\nfootstool of the Most High.[12] Whatever its meaning, the Swastika\nshows us the efforts of the early man to read the riddle of things,\nand his intuition of a love at the heart of life.\n\nAkin to the Swastika, if not an evolution from it, was the Cross, made\nforever holy by the highest heroism of Love. When man climbed up out\nof the primeval night, with his face to heaven upturned, he had a\ncross in his hand. Where he got it, why he held it, and what he meant\nby it, no one can conjecture much less affirm.[13] Itself a paradox,\nits arms pointing to the four quarters of the earth, it is found in\nalmost every part of the world carved on coins, altars, and tombs, and\nfurnishing a design for temple architecture in Mexico and Peru, in the\npagodas of India, not less than in the churches of Christ. Ages before\nour era, even from the remote time of the cliff-dweller, the Cross\nseems to have been a symbol of life, though for what reason no one\nknows. More often it was an emblem of eternal life, especially when\ninclosed within a Circle which ends not, nor begins--the type of\nEternity. Hence the Ank Cross or Crux Ansata of Egypt, scepter of the\nLord of the Dead that never die. There is less mystery about the\nCircle, which was an image of the disk of the Sun and a natural symbol\nof completeness, of eternity. With a point within the center it\nbecame, as naturally, the emblem of the Eye of the World--that\nAll-seeing eye of the eternal Watcher of the human scene.\n\nSquare, triangle, cross, circle--oldest symbols of humanity, all of\nthem eloquent, each of them pointing beyond itself, as symbols always\ndo, while giving form to the invisible truth which they invoke and\nseek to embody. They are beautiful if we have eyes to see, serving not\nmerely as chance figures of fancy, but as forms of reality as it\nrevealed itself to the mind of man. Sometimes we find them united, the\nSquare within the Circle, and within that the Triangle, and at the\ncenter the Cross. Earliest of emblems, they show us hints and\nforegleams of the highest faith and philosophy, betraying not only the\nunity of the human mind but its kinship with the Eternal--the fact\nwhich lies at the root of every religion, and is the basis of each.\nUpon this Faith man builded, finding a rock beneath, refusing to think\nof Death as the gigantic coffin-lid of a dull and mindless universe\ndescending upon him at last.\n\n\nII\n\nFrom this brief outlook upon a wide field, we may pass to a more\nspecific and detailed study of the early prophecies of Masonry in the\nart of the builder. Always the symbolic must follow the actual, if it\nis to have reference and meaning, and the real is ever the basis of\nthe ideal. By nature an Idealist, and living in a world of radiant\nmystery, it was inevitable that man should attach moral and spiritual\nmeanings to the tools, laws, and materials of building. Even so, in\nalmost every land and in the remotest ages we find great and beautiful\ntruth hovering about the builder and clinging to his tools.[14]\nWhether there were organized orders of builders in the early times no\none can tell, though there may have been. No matter; man mixed thought\nand worship with his work, and as he cut his altar stones and fitted\nthem together he thought out a faith by which to live.\n\nNot unnaturally, in times when the earth was thought to be a Square\nthe Cube had emblematical meanings it could hardly have for us. From\nearliest ages it was a venerated symbol, and the oblong cube signified\nimmensity of space from the base of earth to the zenith of the\nheavens. It was a sacred emblem of the Lydian Kubele, known to the\nRomans in after ages as Ceres or Cybele--hence, as some aver, the\nderivation of the word \"cube.\" At first rough stones were most sacred,\nand an altar of hewn stones was forbidden.[15] With the advent of the\ncut cube, the temple became known as the House of the Hammer--its\naltar, always in the center, being in the form of a cube and regarded\nas \"an index or emblem of Truth, ever true to itself.\"[16] Indeed, the\ncube, as Plutarch points out in his essay _On the Cessation of\nOracles_, \"is palpably the proper emblem of rest, on account of the\nsecurity and firmness of the superficies.\" He further tells us that\nthe pyramid is an image of the triangular flame ascending from a\nsquare altar; and since no one knows, his guess is as good as any. At\nany rate, Mercury, Apollo, Neptune, and Hercules were worshiped under\nthe form of a square stone, while a large black stone was the emblem\nof Buddha among the Hindoos, of Manah Theus-Ceres in Arabia, and of\nOdin in Scandinavia. Everyone knows of the Stone of Memnon in Egypt,\nwhich was said to speak at sunrise--as, in truth, all stones spoke to\nman in the sunrise of time.[17]\n\nMore eloquent, if possible, was the Pillar uplifted, like the pillars\nof the gods upholding the heavens. Whatever may have been the origin\nof pillars, and there is more than one theory, Evans has shown that\nthey were everywhere worshiped as gods.[18] Indeed, the gods\nthemselves were pillars of Light and Power, as in Egypt Horus and Sut\nwere the twin-builders and supporters of heaven; and Bacchus among the\nThebans. At the entrance of the temple of Amenta, at the door of the\nhouse of Ptah--as, later, in the porch of the temple of Solomon--stood\ntwo pillars. Still further back, in the old solar myths, at the\ngateway of eternity stood two pillars--Strength and Wisdom. In India,\nand among the Mayas and Incas, there were three pillars at the portals\nof the earthly and skyey temple--Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty. When\nman set up a pillar, he became a fellow-worker with Him whom the old\nsages of China used to call \"the first Builder.\" Also, pillars were\nset up to mark the holy places of vision and Divine deliverance, as\nwhen Jacob erected a pillar at Bethel, Joshua at Gilgal, and Samuel at\nMizpeh and Shen. Always they were symbols of stability, of what the\nEgyptians described as \"the place of establishing forever,\"--emblems\nof the faith \"that the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and He\nhath set the world upon them.\"[19]\n\nLong before our era we find the working tools of the Mason used as\nemblems of the very truths which they teach today. In the oldest\nclassic of China, _The Book of History_, dating back to the twentieth\ncentury before Christ, we read the instruction: \"Ye officers of the\nGovernment, apply the compasses.\" Even if we begin where _The Book of\nHistory_ ends, we find many such allusions more than seven hundred\nyears before the Christian era. For example, in the famous canonical\nwork, called _The Great Learning_, which has been referred to the\nfifth century B.C., we read, that a man should abstain from doing unto\nothers what he would not they should do to him; \"and this,\" the writer\nadds, \"is called the principle of acting on the square.\" So also\nConfucius and his great follower, Mencius. In the writings of Mencius\nit is taught that men should apply the square and compasses morally to\ntheir lives, and the level and the marking line besides, if they would\nwalk in the straight and even paths of wisdom, and keep themselves\nwithin the bounds of honor and virtue.[20] In the sixth book of his\nphilosophy we find these words:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    A Master Mason, in teaching apprentices, makes use of the\n    compasses and the square. Ye who are engaged in the pursuit\n    of wisdom must also make use of the compass and square.[21]\n#/\n\nThere are even evidences, in the earliest historic records of China,\nof the existence of a system of faith expressed in allegoric form, and\nillustrated by the symbols of building. The secrets of this faith seem\nto have been orally transmitted, the leaders alone pretending to have\nfull knowledge of them. Oddly enough, it seems to have gathered about\na symbolical temple put up in the desert, that the various officers of\nthe faith were distinguished by symbolic jewels, and that at its rites\nthey wore leather aprons.[22] From such records as we have it is not\npossible to say whether the builders themselves used their tools as\nemblems, or whether it was the thinkers who first used them to teach\nmoral truths. In any case, they were understood; and the point here is\nthat, thus early, the tools of the builder were teachers of wise and\ngood and beautiful truth. Indeed, we need not go outside the Bible to\nfind both the materials and working tools of the Mason so\nemployed:[23]\n\n/#[4,66]\n    For every house is builded by some man; but the builder of\n    all things is God ... whose house we are.[24]\n\n    Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a tried stone, a\n    precious corner-stone, a sure foundation.[25]\n\n    The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of\n    the corner.[26]\n\n    Ye also, as living stones, are built up into a spiritual\n    house.[27]\n\n    When he established the heavens I was there, when he set the\n    compass upon the face of the deep, when he marked out the\n    foundations of the earth: then was I by him as a master\n    workman.[28]\n\n    The Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a\n    plumbline in his hand. And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what\n    seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord,\n    Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people\n    Israel: I will not again pass by them any more.[29]\n\n    Ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the\n    possession of the city.[30]\n\n    And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as\n    the breadth.[31]\n\n    Him that overcometh I will make a pillar in the temple of my\n    God; and I will write upon him my new name.[32]\n\n    For we know that when our earthly house of this tabernacle is\n    dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with\n    hands, eternal in the heavens.[33]\n#/\n\nIf further proof were needed, it has been preserved for us in the\nimperishable stones of Egypt.[34] The famous obelisk, known as\nCleopatra's Needle, now in Central Park, New York, the gift to our\nnation from Ismail, Khedive of Egypt in 1878, is a mute but eloquent\nwitness of the antiquity of the simple symbols of the Mason.\nOriginally it stood as one of the forest of obelisks surrounding the\ngreat temple of the Sun-god at Heliopolis, so long a seat of Egyptian\nlearning and religion, dating back, it is thought, to the fifteenth\ncentury before Christ. It was removed to Alexandria and re-erected by\na Roman architect and engineer named Pontius, B.C. 22. When it was\ntaken down in 1879 to be brought to America, all the emblems of the\nbuilders were found in the foundation. The rough Cube and the polished\nCube in pure white limestone, the Square cut in syenite, an iron\nTrowel, a lead Plummet, the arc of a Circle, the serpent-symbols of\nWisdom, a stone Trestle-board, a stone bearing the Master's Mark, and\na hieroglyphic word meaning _Temple_--all so placed and preserved as\nto show, beyond doubt, that they had high symbolic meaning. Whether\nthey were in the original foundation, or were placed there when the\nobelisk was removed, no one can tell. Nevertheless, they were there,\nconcrete witnesses of the fact that the builders worked in the light\nof a mystical faith, of which they were emblems.\n\nMuch has been written of buildings, their origin, age, and\narchitecture, but of the builders hardly a word--so quickly is the\nworker forgotten, save as he lives in his work. Though we have no\nrecords other than these emblems, it is an obvious inference that\nthere were orders of builders even in those early ages, to whom these\nsymbols were sacred; and this inference is the more plausible when we\nremember the importance of the builder both to religion and the state.\nWhat though the builders have fallen into dust, to which all things\nmortal decline, they still hold out their symbols for us to read,\nspeaking their thoughts in a language easy to understand. Across the\npiled-up debris of ages they whisper the old familiar truths, and it\nwill be a part of this study to trace those symbols through the\ncenturies, showing that they have always had the same high meanings.\nThey bear witness not only to the unity of the human mind, but to the\nexistence of a common system of truth veiled in allegory and taught in\nsymbols. As such, they are prophecies of Masonry as we know it, whose\ngenius it is to take what is old, simple, and universal, and use it to\nbring men together and make them friends.\n\n/P\n  Shore calls to shore\n  That the line is unbroken!\nP/\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[10] There are many books in this field, but two may be named: _The\nLost Language of Symbolism_, by Bayley, and the _Signs and Symbols of\nPrimordial Man_, by Churchward, each in its own way remarkable. The\nfirst aspires to be for this field what Frazer's _Golden Bough_ is for\nreligious anthropology, and its dictum is: \"Beauty is Truth; Truth\nBeauty.\" The thesis of the second is that Masonry is founded upon\nEgyptian eschatology, which may be true; but unfortunately the book is\ntoo polemical. Both books partake of the poetry, if not the confusion,\nof the subject; but not for a world of dust would one clip their wings\nof fancy and suggestion. Indeed, their union of scholarship and poetry\nis unique. When the pains of erudition fail to track a fact to its\nlair, they do not scruple to use the divining rod; and the result often\npasses out of the realm of pedestrian chronicle into the world of\nwinged literature.\n\n[11] _The Word in the Pattern_, Mrs. G.F. Watts.\n\n[12] _The Swastika_, Thomas Carr. See essay by the same writer in which\nhe shows that the Swastika is the symbol of the Supreme Architect of\nthe Universe among Operative Masons today (_The Lodge of Research_, No.\n2429, Transactions, 1911-12).\n\n[13] _Signs and Symbols_, Churchward, chap. xvii.\n\n[14] Here again the literature is voluminous, but not entirely\nsatisfactory. A most interesting book is _Signs and Symbols of\nPrimordial Man_, by Churchward, in that it surveys the symbolism of the\nrace always with reference to its Masonic suggestion. Vivid and popular\nis _Symbols and Legends of Freemasonry_, by Finlayson, but he often\nstrains facts in order to stretch them over wide gaps of time. Dr.\nMackey's _Symbolism of Freemasonry_, though written more than sixty\nyears ago, remains a classic of the order. Unfortunately the lectures\nof Albert Pike on _Symbolism_ are not accessible to the general reader,\nfor they are rich mines of insight and scholarship, albeit betraying\nhis partisanship of the Indo-Aryan race. Many minor books might be\nnamed, but we need a work brought up to date and written in the light\nof recent research.\n\n[15] Exod. 20:25.\n\n[16] _Antiquities of Cornwall_, Borlase.\n\n[17] _Lost Language of Symbolism_, Bayley, chap, xviii; also in the\nBible, Deut. 32:18, II Sam. 22:3, 32, Psa. 28:1, Matt. 16:18, I Cor.\n10:4.\n\n[18] _Tree and Pillar Cult_, Sir Arthur Evans.\n\n[19] I Sam. 2:8, Psa. 75:8, Job 26:7, Rev. 3:12.\n\n[20] _Freemasonry in China_, Giles. Also Gould, _His. Masonry_, vol. i,\nchap. i.\n\n[21] _Chinese Classics_, by Legge, i, 219-45.\n\n[22] Essay by Chaloner Alabaster, _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, vol. ii,\n121-24. It is not too much to say that the Transactions of this Lodge\nof Research are the richest storehouse of Masonic lore in the world.\n\n[23] Matt. 16:18, Eph. 2:20-22, I Cor. 2:9-17. Woman is the house and\nwall of man, without whose bounding and redeeming influence he would be\ndissipated and lost (Song of Solomon 8:10). So also by the mystics\n(_The Perfect Way_).\n\n[24] Heb. 3:4.\n\n[25] Isa. 28:16.\n\n[26] Psa. 118:22, Matt. 21:42.\n\n[27] I Pet. 2:5.\n\n[28] Prov. 8:27-30, Revised Version.\n\n[29] Amos 7:7, 8.\n\n[30] Ezk. 48:20.\n\n[31] Rev. 21:16.\n\n[32] Rev. 3:12.\n\n[33] II Cor. 5:1.\n\n[34] _Egyptian Obelisks_, H.H. Gorringe. The obelisk in Central Park,\nthe expenses for removing which were paid by W.H. Vanderbilt, was\nexamined by the Grand Lodge of New York, and its emblems pronounced to\nbe unmistakably Masonic. This book gives full account of all obelisks\nbrought to Europe from Egypt, their measurements, inscriptions, and\ntransportation.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DRAMA OF FAITH\n\n\n\n\n/#\n  _And so the Quest goes on. And the Quest, as it may be, ends in\n  attainment--we know not where and when: so long as we can conceive\n  of our separate existence, the quest goes on--an attainment\n  continued henceforward. And ever shall the study of the ways which\n  have been followed by those who have passed in front be a help on\n  our own path._\n\n  _It is well, it is of all things beautiful and perfect, holy and\n  high of all, to be conscious of the path which does in fine lead\n  thither where we seek to go, namely, the goal which is in God.\n  Taking nothing with us which does not belong to ourselves, leaving\n  nothing behind us that is of our real selves, we shall find in the\n  great attainment that the companions of our toil are with us. And\n  the place is the Valley of Peace._\n\n  --ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE, _The Secret Tradition_\n#/\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\n_The Drama of Faith_\n\n\nMan does not live by bread alone; he lives by Faith, Hope, and Love,\nand the first of these was Faith. Nothing in the human story is more\nstriking than the persistent, passionate, profound protest of man\nagainst death. Even in the earliest time we see him daring to stand\nerect at the gates of the grave, disputing its verdict, refusing to\nlet it have the last word, and making argument in behalf of his soul.\nFor Emerson, as for Addison, that fact alone was proof enough of\nimmortality, as revealing a universal intuition of eternal life.\nOthers may not be so easily convinced, but no man who has the heart of\na man can fail to be impressed by the ancient, heroic faith of his\nrace.\n\nNowhere has this faith ever been more vivid or victorious than among\nthe old Egyptians.[35] In the ancient _Book of the Dead_--which is,\nindeed, a Book of Resurrection--occur the words: \"The soul to heaven;\nthe body to earth;\" and that first faith is our faith today. Of King\nUnas, who lived in the third millennium, it is written: \"Behold, thou\nhast not gone as one dead, but as one living.\" Nor has any one in our\nday set forth this faith with more simple eloquence than the Hymn to\nOsiris, in the Papyrus of Hunefer. So in the Pyramid Texts the dead\nare spoken of as Those Who Ascend, the Imperishable Ones who shine as\nstars, and the gods are invoked to witness the death of the King\n\"Dawning as a Soul.\" There is deep prophecy, albeit touched with\npoignant pathos, in these broken exclamations written on the pyramid\nwalls:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    Thou diest not! Have ye said that he would die? He diest not;\n    this King Pepi lives forever! Live! Thou shalt not die! He\n    has escaped his day of death! Thou livest, thou livest, raise\n    thee up! Thou diest not, stand up, raise thee up! Thou\n    perishest not eternally! Thou diest not![36]\n#/\n\nNevertheless, nor poetry nor chant nor solemn ritual could make death\nother than death; and the Pyramid Texts, while refusing to utter the\nfatal word, give wistful reminiscences of that blessed age \"before\ndeath came forth.\" However high the faith of man, the masterful\nnegation and collapse of the body was a fact, and it was to keep that\ndaring faith alive and aglow that The Mysteries were instituted.\nBeginning, it may be, in incantation, they rose to heights of\ninfluence and beauty, giving dramatic portrayal of the unconquerable\nfaith of man. Watching the sun rise from the tomb of night, and the\nspring return in glory after the death of winter, man reasoned from\nanalogy--justifying a faith that held him as truly as he held it--that\nthe race, sinking into the grave, would rise triumphant over death.\n\n\nI\n\nThere were many variations on this theme as the drama of faith\nevolved, and as it passed from land to land; but the Motif was ever\nthe same, and they all were derived, directly or indirectly, from the\nold Osirian passion-play in Egypt. Against the background of the\nancient Solar religion, Osiris made his advent as Lord of the Nile and\nfecund Spirit of vegetable life--son of Nut the sky-goddess and Geb\nthe earth-god; and nothing in the story of the Nile-dwellers is more\nappealing than his conquest of the hearts of the people against all\nodds.[37] Howbeit, that history need not detain us here, except to say\nthat by the time his passion had become the drama of national faith,\nit had been bathed in all the tender hues of human life; though\nsomewhat of its solar radiance still lingered in it. Enough to say\nthat of all the gods, called into being by the hopes and fears of men\nwho dwelt in times of yore on the banks of the Nile, Osiris was the\nmost beloved. Osiris the benign father, Isis his sorrowful and\nfaithful wife, and Horus whose filial piety and heroism shine like\ndiamonds in a heap of stones--about this trinity were woven the ideals\nof Egyptian faith and family life. Hear now the story of the oldest\ndrama of the race, which for more than three thousand years held\ncaptive the hearts of men.[38]\n\nOsiris was Ruler of Eternity, but by reason of his visible shape\nseemed nearly akin to man--revealing a divine humanity. His success\nwas chiefly due, however, to the gracious speech of Isis, his\nsister-wife, whose charm men could neither reckon nor resist. Together\nthey labored for the good of man, teaching him to discern the plants\nfit for food, themselves pressing the grapes and drinking the first\ncup of wine. They made known the veins of metal running through the\nearth, of which man was ignorant, and taught him to make weapons. They\ninitiated man into the intellectual and moral life, taught him ethics\nand religion, how to read the starry sky, song and dance and the\nrhythm of music. Above all, they evoked in men a sense of immortality,\nof a destiny beyond the tomb. Nevertheless, they had enemies at once\nstupid and cunning, keen-witted but short-sighted--the dark force of\nevil which still weaves the fringe of crime on the borders of human\nlife.\n\nSide by side with Osiris, lived the impious Set-Typhon, as Evil ever\nhaunts the Good. While Osiris was absent, Typhon--whose name means\nserpent--filled with envy and malice, sought to usurp his throne; but\nhis plot was frustrated by Isis. Whereupon he resolved to kill Osiris.\nThis he did, having invited him to a feast, by persuading him to enter\na chest, offering, as if in jest, to present the richly carved chest\nto any one of his guests who, lying down inside it, found he was of\nthe same size. When Osiris got in and stretched himself out, the\nconspirators closed the chest, and flung it into the Nile.[39] Thus\nfar, the gods had not known death. They had grown old, with white hair\nand trembling limbs, but old age had not led to death. As soon as Isis\nheard of this infernal treachery, she cut her hair, clad herself in a\ngarb of mourning, ran thither and yon, a prey to the most cruel\nanguish, seeking the body. Weeping and distracted, she never tarried,\nnever tired in her sorrowful quest.\n\nMeanwhile, the waters carried the chest out to sea, as far as Byblos\nin Syria, the town of Adonis, where it lodged against a shrub of\narica, or tamarisk--like an acacia tree.[40] Owing to the virtue of\nthe body, the shrub, at its touch, shot up into a tree, growing around\nit, and protecting it, until the king of that country cut the tree\nwhich hid the chest in its bosom, and made from it a column for his\npalace. At last Isis, led by a vision, came to Byblos, made herself\nknown, and asked for the column. Hence the picture of her weeping over\na broken column torn from the palace, while Horus, god of Time, stands\nbehind her pouring ambrosia on her hair. She took the body back to\nEgypt, to the city of Bouto; but Typhon, hunting by moonlight, found\nthe chest, and having recognized the body of Osiris, mangled it and\nscattered it beyond recognition. Isis, embodiment of the old\nworld-sorrow for the dead, continued her pathetic quest, gathering\npiece by piece the body of her dismembered husband, and giving him\ndecent interment. Such was the life and death of Osiris, but as his\ncareer pictured the cycle of nature, it could not of course end here.\n\nHorus fought with Typhon, losing an eye in the battle, but finally\noverthrew him and took him prisoner. There are several versions of his\nfate, but he seems to have been tried, sentenced, and executed--\"cut\nin three pieces,\" as the Pyramid Texts relate. Thereupon the faithful\nson went in solemn procession to the grave of his father, opened it,\nand called upon Osiris to rise: \"Stand up! Thou shalt not end, thou\nshalt not perish!\" But death was deaf. Here the Pyramid Texts recite\nthe mortuary ritual, with its hymns and chants; but in vain. At length\nOsiris awakes, weary and feeble, and by the aid of the strong grip of\nthe lion-god he gains control of his body, and is lifted from death to\nlife.[41] Thereafter, by virtue of his victory over death, Osiris\nbecomes Lord of the Land of Death, his scepter an Ank Cross, his\nthrone a Square.\n\n\nII\n\nSuch, in brief, was the ancient allegory of eternal life, upon which\nthere were many elaborations as the drama unfolded; but always, under\nwhatever variation of local color, of national accent or emphasis, its\ncentral theme remained the same. Often perverted and abused, it was\neverywhere a dramatic expression of the great human aspiration for\ntriumph over death and union with God, and the belief in the ultimate\nvictory of Good over Evil. Not otherwise would this drama have held\nthe hearts of men through long ages, and won the eulogiums of the most\nenlightened men of antiquity--of Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato,\nEuripides, Plutarch, Pindar, Isocrates, Epictetus, and Marcus\nAurelius. Writing to his wife after the loss of their little girl,\nPlutarch commends to her the hope set forth in the mystic rites and\nsymbols of this drama, as, elsewhere, he testifies that it kept him\n\"as far from superstition as from atheism,\" and helped him to approach\nthe truth. For deeper minds this drama had a double meaning, teaching\nnot only immortality after death, but the awakening of man upon earth\nfrom animalism to a life of purity, justice, and honor. How nobly this\npractical aspect was taught, and with what fineness of spiritual\ninsight, may be seen in _Secret Sermon on the Mountain_ in the\nHermetic lore of Greece:[42]\n\n/#[4,66]\n    What may I say, my son? I can but tell thee this. Whenever I\n    see within myself the Simple Vision brought to birth out of\n    God's mercy, I have passed through myself into a Body that\n    can never die. Then I am not what I was before.... They who\n    are thus born are children of a Divine race. This race, my\n    son, is never taught; but when He willeth it, its memory is\n    restored by God. It is the \"Way of Birth in God.\" ...\n    Withdraw into thyself and it will come. _Will_, and it comes\n    to pass.\n#/\n\nIsis herself is said to have established the first temple of the\nMysteries, the oldest being those practiced at Memphis. Of these there\nwere two orders, the Lesser to which the many were eligible, and which\nconsisted of dialogue and ritual, with certain signs, tokens, grips,\npasswords; and the Greater, reserved for the few who approved\nthemselves worthy of being entrusted with the highest secrets of\nscience, philosophy, and religion. For these the candidate had to\nundergo trial, purification, danger, austere asceticism, and, at last,\nregeneration through dramatic death amid rejoicing. Such as endured\nthe ordeal with valor were then taught, orally and by symbol, the\nhighest wisdom to which man had attained, including geometry,\nastronomy, the fine arts, the laws of nature, as well as the truths of\nfaith. Awful oaths of secrecy were exacted, and Plutarch describes a\nman kneeling, his hands bound, a cord round his body, and a knife at\nhis throat--death being the penalty of violating the obligation. Even\nthen, Pythagoras had to wait almost twenty years to learn the hidden\nwisdom of Egypt, so cautious were they of candidates, especially of\nforeigners. But he made noble use of it when, later, he founded a\nsecret order of his own at Crotona, in Greece, in which, among other\nthings, he taught geometry, using numbers as symbols of spiritual\ntruth.[43]\n\nFrom Egypt the Mysteries passed with little change to Asia Minor,\nGreece, and Rome, the names of local gods being substituted for those\nof Osiris and Isis. The Grecian or Eleusinian Mysteries, established\n1800 B.C., represented Demeter and Persephone, and depicted the death\nof Dionysius with stately ritual which led the neophyte from death\ninto life and immortality. They taught the unity of God, the immutable\nnecessity of morality, and a life after death, investing initiates\nwith signs and passwords by which they could know each other in the\ndark as well as in the light. The Mithraic or Persian Mysteries\ncelebrated the eclipse of the Sun-god, using the signs of the zodiac,\nthe processions of the seasons, the death of nature, and the birth of\nspring. The Adoniac or Syrian cults were similar, Adonis being killed,\nbut revived to point to life through death. In the Cabirie Mysteries\non the island of Samothrace, Atys the Sun was killed by his brothers\nthe Seasons, and at the vernal equinox was restored to life. So, also,\nthe Druids, as far north as England, taught of one God the tragedy of\nwinter and summer, and conducted the initiate through the valley of\ndeath to life everlasting.[44]\n\nShortly before the Christian era, when faith was failing and the world\nseemed reeling to its ruin, there was a great revival of the\nMystery-religions. Imperial edict was powerless to stay it, much less\nstop it. From Egypt, from the far East, they came rushing in like a\ntide, Isis \"of the myriad names\" vieing with Mithra, the patron saint\nof the soldier, for the homage of the multitude. If we ask the secret\nreason for this influx of mysticism, no single answer can be given to\nthe question. What influence the reigning mystery-cults had upon the\nnew, uprising Christianity is also hard to know, and the issue is\nstill in debate. That they did influence the early Church is evident\nfrom the writings of the Fathers, and some go so far as to say that\nthe Mysteries died at last only to live again in the ritual of the\nChurch. St. Paul in his missionary journeys came in contact with the\nMysteries, and even makes use of some of their technical terms in his\nepistles;[45] but he condemned them on the ground that what they\nsought to teach in drama can be known only by spiritual experience--a\nsound insight, though surely drama may assist to that experience, else\npublic worship might also come under ban.\n\n\nIII\n\nToward the end of their power, the Mysteries fell into the mire and\nbecame corrupt, as all things human are apt to do: even the Church\nitself being no exception. But that at their highest and best they\nwere not only lofty and noble, but elevating and refining, there can\nbe no doubt, and that they served a high purpose is equally clear. No\none, who has read in the _Metamorphoses_ of Apuleius the initiation of\nLucius into the Mysteries of Isis, can doubt that the effect on the\nvotary was profound and purifying. He tells us that the ceremony of\ninitiation \"is, as it were, to suffer death,\" and that he stood in the\npresence of the gods, \"ay, stood near and worshiped.\" _Far hence ye\nprofane, and all who are polluted by sin_, was the motto of the\nMysteries, and Cicero testifies that what a man learned in the house\nof the hidden place made him want to live nobly, and gave him happy\nhopes for the hour of death.\n\nIndeed, the Mysteries, as Plato said,[46] were established by men of\ngreat genius who, in the early ages, strove to teach purity, to\nameliorate the cruelty of the race, to refine its manners and morals,\nand to restrain society by stronger bonds than those which human laws\nimpose. No mystery any longer attaches to what they taught, but only\nas to the particular rites, dramas, and symbols used in their\nteaching. They taught faith in the unity and spirituality of God, the\nsovereign authority of the moral law, heroic purity of soul, austere\ndiscipline of character, and the hope of a life beyond the tomb. Thus\nin ages of darkness, of complexity, of conflicting peoples, tongues,\nand faiths, these great orders toiled in behalf of friendship,\nbringing men together under a banner of faith, and training them for a\nnobler moral life. Tender and tolerant of all faiths, they formed an\nall-embracing moral and spiritual fellowship which rose above barriers\nof nation, race, and creed, satisfying the craving of men for unity,\nwhile evoking in them a sense of that eternal mysticism out of which\nall religions were born. Their ceremonies, so far as we know them,\nwere stately dramas of the moral life and the fate of the soul.\nMystery and secrecy added impressiveness, and fable and enigma\ndisguised in imposing spectacle the laws of justice, piety, and the\nhope of immortality.\n\nMasonry stands in this tradition; and if we may not say that it is\nhistorically related to the great ancient orders, it is their\nspiritual descendant, and renders much the same ministry to our age\nwhich the Mysteries rendered to the olden world. It is, indeed, the\nsame stream of sweetness and light flowing in our day--like the fabled\nriver Alpheus which, gathering the waters of a hundred rills along the\nhillsides of Arcadia, sank, lost to sight, in a chasm in the earth,\nonly to reappear in the fountain of Arethusa. This at least is true:\nthe Greater Ancient Mysteries were prophetic of Masonry whose drama is\nan epitome of universal initiation, and whose simple symbols are the\ndepositaries of the noblest wisdom of mankind. As such, it brings men\ntogether at the altar of prayer, keeps alive the truths that make us\nmen, seeking, by every resource of art, to make tangible the power of\nlove, the worth of beauty, and the reality of the ideal.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[35] Of course, faith in immortality was in nowise peculiar to Egypt,\nbut was universal; as vivid in _The Upanishads_ of India as in the\nPyramid records. It rests upon the consensus of the insight,\nexperience, and aspiration of the race. But the records of Egypt, like\nits monuments, are richer than those of other nations, if not older.\nMoreover, the drama of faith with which we have to do here had its\norigin in Egypt, whence it spread to Tyre, Athens, and Rome--and, as we\nshall see, even to England. For brief expositions of Egyptian faith see\n_Egyptian Conceptions of Immortality_, by G.A. Reisner, and _Religion\nand Thought in Egypt_, by J.H. Breasted.\n\n[36] Pyramid Texts, 775, 1262, 1453, 1477.\n\n[37] For a full account of the evolution of the Osirian theology from\nthe time it emerged from the mists of myth until its conquest, see\n_Religion and Thought in Egypt_, by Breasted, the latest, if not the\nmost brilliant, book written in the light of the completest translation\nof the Pyramid Texts (especially lecture v).\n\n[38] Much has been written about the Egyptian Mysteries from the days\nof Plutarch's _De Iside et Osiride_ and the _Metamorphoses_ of Apuleius\nto the huge volumes of Baron Sainte Croix. For popular reading the\n_Kings and Gods of Egypt_, by Moret (chaps. iii-iv), and the\ndelightfully vivid _Hermes and Plato_, by Schure, could hardly be\nsurpassed. But Plutarch and Apuleius, both initiates, are our best\nauthorities, even if their oath of silence prevents them from telling\nus what we most want to know.\n\n[39] Among the Hindoos, whose Chrisna is the same as the Osiris of\nEgypt, the gods of summer were beneficent, making the days fruitful.\nBut \"the three wretches\" who presided over winter, were cut off from\nthe zodiac; and as they were \"found missing,\" they were accused of the\ndeath of Chrisna.\n\n[40] A literary parallel in the story of AEneas, by Vergil, is most\nsuggestive. Priam, king of Troy, in the beginning of the Trojan war\ncommitted his son Polydorus to the care of Polymester, king of Thrace,\nand sent him a great sum of money. After Troy was taken the Thracian,\nfor the sake of the money, killed the young prince and privately buried\nhim. AEneas, coming into that country, and accidentally plucking up a\nshrub that was near him on the side of the hill, discovered the\nmurdered body of Polydorus. Other legends of such accidental\ndiscoveries of unknown graves haunted the olden time, and may have been\nsuggested by the story of Isis.\n\n[41] _The Gods of the Egyptians_, by E.A.W. Budge; _La Place des\nVictores_, by Austin Fryar, especially the colored plates.\n\n[42] _Quests New and Old_, by G.R.S. Mead.\n\n[43] _Pythagoras_, by Edouard Schure--a fascinating story of that great\nthinker and teacher. The use of numbers by Pythagoras must not,\nhowever, be confounded with the mystical, or rather fantastic,\nmathematics of the Kabbalists of a later time.\n\n[44] For a vivid account of the spread of the Mysteries of Isis and\nMithra over the Roman Empire, see _Roman Life from Nero to Aurelius_,\nby Dill (bk. iv, chaps. v-vi). Franz Cumont is the great authority on\nMithra, and his _Mysteries of Mithra_ and _Oriental Religions_ trace\nthe origin and influence of that cult with accuracy, insight, and\ncharm. W.W. Reade, brother of Charles Reade the novelist, left a study\nof _The Veil of Isis, or Mysteries of the Druids_, finding in the\nvestiges of Druidism \"the Emblems of Masonry.\"\n\n[45] Col. 2:8-19. See _Mysteries Pagan and Christian_, by C. Cheethan;\nalso _Monumental Christianity_, by Lundy, especially chapter on \"The\nDiscipline of the Secret.\" For a full discussion of the attitude of St.\nPaul, see _St. Paul and the Mystery-Religions_, by Kennedy, a work of\nfine scholarship. That Christianity had its esoteric is plain--as it\nwas natural--from the writings of the Fathers, including Origen, Cyril,\nBasil, Gregory, Ambrose, Augustine, and others. Chrysostom often uses\nthe word _initiation_ in respect of Christian teaching, while\nTertullian denounces the pagan mysteries as counterfeit imitations by\nSatan of the Christian secret rites and teachings: \"He also baptises\nthose who believe in him, and promises that they shall come forth,\ncleansed of their sins.\" Other Christian writers were more tolerant,\nfinding in Christ the answer to the aspiration uttered in the\nMysteries; and therein, it may be, they were right.\n\n[46] _Phaedo._\n\n\n\n\nTHE SECRET DOCTRINE\n\n\n\n\n/#\n  _The value of man does not consist in the truth which he\n  possesses, or means to possess, but in the sincere pain which he\n  hath taken to find it out. For his powers do not augment by\n  possessing truth, but by investigating it, wherein consists his\n  only perfectibility. Possession lulls the energy of man, and makes\n  him idle and proud. If God held inclosed in his right hand\n  absolute truth, and in his left only the inward lively impulse\n  toward truth, and if He said to me: Choose! even at the risk of\n  exposing mankind to continual erring, I most humbly would seize\n  His left hand, and say: Father, give! absolute truth belongs to\n  Thee alone._\n\n  G.E. LESSING, _Nathan the Wise_\n#/\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\n_The Secret Doctrine_\n\n\nI\n\nGod ever shields us from premature ideas, said the gracious and wise\nEmerson; and so does nature. She holds back her secrets until man is\nfit to be entrusted with them, lest by rashness he destroy himself.\nThose who seek find, not because the truth is far off, but because the\ndiscipline of the quest makes them ready for the truth, and worthy to\nreceive it. By a certain sure instinct the great teachers of our race\nhave regarded the highest truth less as a gift bestowed than as a\ntrophy to be won. Everything must not be told to everybody. Truth is\npower, and when held by untrue hands it may become a plague. Even\nJesus had His \"little flock\" to whom He confided much which He kept\nfrom the world, or else taught it in parables cryptic and veiled.[47]\nOne of His sayings in explanation of His method is quoted by Clement\nof Alexandria in his _Homilies_:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    It was not from grudgingness that our Lord gave the charge in\n    a certain Gospel: \"_My mystery is for Me and the sons of My\n    house_.\"[48]\n#/\n\nThis more withdrawn teaching, hinted in the saying of the Master, with\nthe arts of spiritual culture employed, has come to be known as the\nSecret Doctrine, or the Hidden Wisdom. A persistent tradition affirms\nthat throughout the ages, and in every land, behind the system of\nfaith accepted by the masses an inner and deeper doctrine has been\nheld and taught by those able to grasp it. This hidden faith has\nundergone many changes of outward expression, using now one set of\nsymbols and now another, but its central tenets have remained the\nsame; and necessarily so, since the ultimates of thought are ever\nimmutable. By the same token, those who have eyes to see have no\ndifficulty in penetrating the varying veils of expression and\nidentifying the underlying truths; thus confirming in the arcana of\nfaith what we found to be true in its earliest forms--the oneness of\nthe human mind and the unity of truth.\n\nThere are those who resent the suggestion that there is, or can be,\nsecrecy in regard to spiritual truths which, if momentous at all, are\nof common moment to all. For this reason Demonax, in the Lucian play,\nwould not be initiated, because, if the Mysteries were bad, he would\nnot keep silent as a warning; and if they were good, he would proclaim\nthem as a duty. The objection is, however, unsound, as a little\nthought will reveal. Secrecy in such matters inheres in the nature of\nthe truths themselves, not in any affected superiority of a few elect\nminds. Qualification for the knowledge of higher things is, and must\nalways be, a matter of personal fitness. Other qualification there is\nnone. For those who have that fitness the Secret Doctrine is as clear\nas sunlight, and for those who have it not the truth would still be\nsecret though shouted from the house-top. The Grecian Mysteries were\ncertainly secret, yet the fact of their existence was a matter of\ncommon knowledge, and there was no more secrecy about their\nsanctuaries than there is about a cathedral. Their presence testified\nto the public that a deeper than the popular faith did exist, but the\nright to admission into them depended upon the whole-hearted wish of\nthe aspirant, and his willingness to fit himself to know the truth.\nThe old maxim applies here, that when the pupil is ready the teacher\nis found waiting, and he passes on to know a truth hitherto hidden\nbecause he lacked either the aptitude or the desire.\n\nAll is mystery as of course, but mystification is another thing, and\nthe tendency to befog a theme which needs to be clarified, is to be\nregretted. Here lies, perhaps, the real reason for the feeling of\nresentment against the idea of a Secret Doctrine, and one must admit\nthat it is not without justification. For example, we are told that\nbehind the age-long struggle of man to know the truth there exists a\nhidden fraternity of initiates, adepts in esoteric lore, known to\nthemselves but not to the world, who have had in their keeping,\nthrough the centuries, the high truths which they permit to be dimly\nadumbrated in the popular faiths, but which the rest of the race are\ntoo obtuse, even yet, to grasp save in an imperfect and limited\ndegree. These hidden sages, it would seem, look upon our eager\naspiring humanity much like the patient masters of an idiot school,\nwatching it go on forever seeking without finding, while they sit in\nseclusion keeping the keys of the occult.[49] All of which would be\nvery wonderful, if true. It is, however, only one more of those\nfascinating fictions with which mystery-mongers entertain themselves,\nand deceive others. Small wonder that thinking men turn from such\nfanciful folly with mingled feelings of pity and disgust. Sages there\nhave been in every land and time, and their lofty wisdom has the unity\nwhich inheres in all high human thought, but that there is now, or has\never been, a conscious, much less a continuous, fellowship of superior\nsouls holding as secrets truths denied to their fellow-men, verges\nupon the absurd.\n\nIndeed, what is called the Secret Doctrine differs not one whit from\nwhat has been taught openly and earnestly, so far as such truth can be\ntaught in words or pictured in symbols, by the highest minds of almost\nevery land and language. The difference lies less in what is taught\nthan in the way in which it is taught; not so much in matter as in\nmethod. Also, we must not forget that, with few exceptions, the men\nwho have led our race farthest along the way toward the Mount of\nVision, have not been men who learned their lore from any coterie of\nesoteric experts, but, rather, men who told in song what they had been\ntaught in sorrow--initiates into eternal truth, to be sure, but by the\ngrace of God and the divine right of genius![50] Seers, sages,\nmystics, saints--these are they who, having sought in sincerity, found\nin reality, and the memory of them is a kind of religion. Some of\nthem, like Pythagoras, were trained for their quest in the schools of\nthe Secret Doctrine, but others went their way alone, though never\nunattended, and, led by \"the vision splendid,\" they came at last to\nthe gate and passed into the City.\n\nWhy, then, it may be asked, speak of such a thing as the Secret\nDoctrine at all, since it were better named the Open Secret of the\nworld? For two reasons, both of which have been intimated: first, in\nthe olden times unwonted knowledge of any kind was a very dangerous\npossession, and the truths of science and philosophy, equally with\nreligious ideas other than those in vogue among the multitude, had to\nseek the protection of obscurity. If this necessity gave designing\npriestcraft its opportunity, it nevertheless offered the security and\nsilence needed by the thinker and seeker after truth in dark times.\nHence there arose in the ancient world, wherever the human mind was\nalive and spiritual, systems of exoteric and esoteric instruction;\nthat is, of truth taught openly and truth concealed. Disciples were\nadvanced from the outside to the inside of this divine philosophy, as\nwe have seen, by degrees of initiation. Whereas, by symbols, dark\nsayings, and dramatic ritual the novice received only hints of what\nwas later made plain.\n\nSecond, this hidden teaching may indeed be described as the open\nsecret of the world, because it is open, yet understood only by those\nfit to receive it. What kept it hidden was no arbitrary restriction,\nbut only a lack of insight and fineness of mind to appreciate and\nassimilate it. Nor could it be otherwise; and this is as true today as\never it was in the days of the Mysteries, and so it will be until\nwhatever is to be the end of mortal things. Fitness for the finer\ntruths cannot be conferred; it must be developed. Without it the\nteachings of the sages are enigmas that seem unintelligible, if not\ncontradictory. In so far, then, as the discipline of initiation, and\nits use of art in drama and symbol, help toward purity of soul and\nspiritual awakening, by so much do they prepare men for the truth; by\nso much and no further. So that, the Secret Doctrine, whether as\ntaught by the ancient Mysteries or by modern Masonry, is less a\ndoctrine than a discipline; a method of organized spiritual culture,\nand as such has a place and a ministry among men.\n\n\nII\n\nPerhaps the greatest student in this field of esoteric teaching and\nmethod, certainly the greatest now living, is Arthur Edward Waite, to\nwhom it is a pleasure to pay tribute. By nature a symbolist, if not a\nsacramentalist, he found in such studies a task for which he was\nalmost ideally fitted by temperament, training, and genius. Engaged in\nbusiness, but not absorbed by it, years of quiet, leisurely toil have\nmade him master of the vast literature and lore of his subject, to the\nstudy of which he brought a religious nature, the accuracy and skill\nof a scholar, a sureness and delicacy of insight at once sympathetic\nand critical, the soul of a poet, and a patience as untiring as it is\nrewarding; qualities rare indeed, and still more rarely blended.\nProlific but seldom prolix, he writes with grace, ease, and lucidity,\nalbeit in a style often opulent, and touched at times with lights and\njewels from old alchemists, antique liturgies, remote and haunting\nromance, secret orders of initiation, and other recondite sources not\neasily traced. Much learning and many kinds of wisdom are in his\npages, and withal an air of serenity, of tolerance; and if he is of\nthose who turn down another street when miracles are performed in the\nneighborhood, it is because, having found the inner truth, he asks for\nno sign.\n\nAlways he writes in the conviction that all great subjects bring us\nback to the one subject which is alone great, and that scholarly\ncriticisms, folk-lore, and deep philosophy are little less than\nuseless if they fall short of directing us to our true end--the\nattainment of that living Truth which is about us everywhere. He\nconceives of our mortal life as one eternal Quest of that living\nTruth, taking many phases and forms, yet ever at heart the same\naspiration, to trace which he has made it his labor and joy to essay.\nThrough all his pages he is following out the tradition of this Quest,\nin its myriad aspects, especially since the Christian era, disfigured\nthough it has been at times by superstition, and distorted at others\nby bigotry, but still, in what guise soever, containing as its secret\nthe meaning of the life of man from his birth to his reunion with God\nwho is his Goal. And the result is a series of volumes noble in form,\nunited in aim, unique in wealth of revealing beauty, and of unequalled\nworth.[51]\n\nBeginning as far back as 1886, Waite issued his study of the\n_Mysteries of Magic_, a digest of the writings of Eliphas Levi, to\nwhom Albert Pike was more indebted than he let us know. Then followed\nthe _Real History of the Rosicrucians_, which traces, as far as any\nmortal may trace, the thread of fact whereon is strung the romance of\na fraternity the very existence of which has been doubted and denied\nby turns. Like all his work, it bears the impress of knowledge from\nthe actual sources, betraying his extraordinary learning and his\nexceptional experience in this kind of inquiry. Of the Quest in its\ndistinctively Christian aspect, he has written in _The Hidden Church\nof the Holy Graal_; a work of rare beauty, of bewildering richness,\nwritten in a style which, partaking of the quality of the story told,\nis not at all after the manner of these days. But the Graal Legend is\nonly one aspect of the old-world sacred Quest, uniting the symbols of\nchivalry with Christian faith. Masonry is another; and no one may ever\nhope to write of _The Secret Tradition in Masonry_ with more insight\nand charm, or a touch more sure and revealing, than this gracious\nstudent for whom Masonry perpetuates the instituted Mysteries of\nantiquity, with much else derived from innumerable store-houses of\ntreasure. His last work is a survey of _The Secret Doctrine in\nIsrael_, being a study of the _Zohar_,[52] or Hebrew \"Book of\nSplendor,\" a feat for which no Hebrew scholar has had the heart. This\nBible of Kabbalism is indeed so confused and confusing that only a\n\"golden dustman\" would have had the patience to sift out its gems from\nthe mountain of dross, and attempt to reduce its wide-weltering chaos\nto order. Even Waite, with all his gift of research and narration,\nfinds little more than gleams of dawn in a dim forest, brilliant\nvapors, and glints that tell by their very perversity and strangeness.\n\nWhether this age-old legend of the Quest be woven about the Cup of\nChrist, a Lost Word, or a design left unfinished by the death of a\nMaster Builder, it has always these things in common: first, the\nmemorials of a great _loss_ which has befallen humanity by sin, making\nour race a pilgrim host ever in search; second, the intimation that\nwhat was lost still exists somewhere in time and the world, although\ndeeply buried; third, the faith that it will ultimately be found and\nthe vanished glory restored; fourth, the substitution of something\ntemporary and less than the best, albeit never in a way to adjourn the\nquest; fifth, and more rarely, the felt presence of that which was\nlost under veils close to the hands of all. What though it take many\nforms, from the pathetic pilgrimage of the _Wandering Jew_ to the\njourney to fairyland in quest of _The Blue Bird_, it is ever and\nalways the same. These are but so many symbols of the fact that men\nare made of one blood and born to one need; that they should seek the\nLord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He is\nnot far from every one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our\nbeing.[53]\n\nWhat, then, is the Secret Doctrine, of which this seer-like scholar\nhas written with so many improvisations of eloquence and emphasis, and\nof which each of us is in quest? What, indeed, but that which all the\nworld is seeking--knowledge of Him whom to know aright is the\nfulfillment of every human need: the kinship of the soul with God; the\nlife of purity, honor, and piety demanded by that high heredity; the\nunity and fellowship of the race in duty and destiny; and the faith\nthat the soul is deathless as God its Father is deathless! Now to\naccept this faith as a mere philosophy is one thing, but to realize it\nas an experience of the innermost heart is another and a deeper thing.\n_No man knows the Secret Doctrine until it has become the secret of\nhis soul, the reigning reality of his thought, the inspiration of his\nacts, the form and color and glory of his life._ Happily, owing to the\ngrowth of the race in spiritual intelligence and power, the highest\ntruth is no longer held as a sacred secret. Still, if art has efficacy\nto surprise and reveal the elusive Spirit of Truth, when truth is\ndramatically presented it is made vivid and impressive, strengthening\nthe faith of the strongest and bringing a ray of heavenly light to\nmany a baffled seeker.\n\nEver the Quest goes on, though it is permitted some of us to believe\nthat the Lost Word has been found, in the only way in which it can\never be found--even in the life of Him who was \"the Word made flesh,\"\nwho dwelt among us and whose grace and beauty we know. Of this Quest\nMasonry is an aspect, continuing the high tradition of humanity,\nasking men to unite in the search for the thing most worth finding,\nthat each may share the faith of all. Apart from its rites, there is\nno mystery in Masonry, save the mystery of all great and simple\nthings. So far from being hidden or occult, its glory lies in its\nopenness, and its emphasis upon the realities which are to the human\nworld what light and air are to nature. Its mystery is of so great a\nkind that it is easily overlooked; its secret almost too simple to be\nfound out.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[47] Matt. 13:10, 11.\n\n[48] _Unwritten Sayings of Our Lord_, David Smith, vii.\n\n[49] By occultism is meant the belief in, and the claim to be able to\nuse, a certain range of forces neither natural, nor, technically,\nsupernatural, but more properly to be called preternatural--often,\nthough by no means always, for evil or selfish ends. Some extend the\nterm occultism to cover mysticism and the spiritual life generally, but\nthat is not a legitimate use of either word. Occultism seeks to get;\nmysticism to give. The one is audacious and seclusive, the other humble\nand open; and if we are not to end in blunderland we must not confound\nthe two (_Mysticism_, by E. Underhill, part i, chap. vii).\n\n[50] Much time would have been saved, and not a little confusion\navoided, had this obvious fact been kept in mind. Even so charming a\nbook as _Jesus, the Last Great Initiate_, by Schure--not to speak of\n_The Great Work_ and _Mystic Masonry_--is clearly, though not\nintentionally, misleading. Of a piece with this is the effort,\napparently deliberate and concerted, to rob the Hebrew race of all\nspiritual originality, as witness so able a work as _Our Own Religion\nin Persia_, by Mills, to name no other. Our own religion? Assuredly, if\nby that is meant the one great, universal religion of humanity. But the\nsundering difference between the Bible and any other book that speaks\nto mankind about God and Life and Death, sets the Hebrew race apart as\nsupreme in its religious genius, as the Greeks were in philosophical\nacumen and artistic power, and the Romans in executive skill. Leaving\nall theories of inspiration out of account, facts are facts, and the\nBible has no peer in the literature of mankind.\n\n[51] Some there are who think that much of the best work of Mr. Waite\nis in his poetry, of which there are two volumes, _A Book of Mystery\nand Vision_, and _Strange Houses of Sleep_. There one meets a fine\nspirit, alive to the glory of the world and all that charms the soul\nand sense of man, yet seeing past these; rich and significant thought\nso closely wedded to emotion that each seems either. Other books not to\nbe omitted are his slender volume of aphorisms, _Steps to the Crown_,\nhis _Life of Saint-Martin_, and his _Studies in Mysticism_; for what he\ntouches he adorns.\n\n[52] Even the _Jewish Encyclopedia_, and such scholars as Zunz, Graetz,\nLuzzatto, Jost, and Munk avoid this jungle, as well they might,\nremembering the legend of the four sages in \"the enclosed garden:\" one\nof whom looked around and died; another lost his reason; a third tried\nto destroy the garden; and only one came out with his wits. See _The\nCabala_, by Pick, and _The Kabbalah Unveiled_, by MacGregor.\n\n[53] Acts 17:26-28.\n\n\n\n\nTHE COLLEGIA\n\n\n\n\n/#\n  _This society was called the Dionysian Artificers, as Bacchus was\n  supposed to be the inventor of building theaters; and they\n  performed the Dionysian festivities. From this period, the Science\n  of Astronomy which had given rise to the Dionysian rites, became\n  connected with types taken from the art of building. The Ionian\n  societies ... extended their moral views, in conjunction with the\n  art of building, to many useful purposes, and to the practice of\n  acts of benevolence. They had significant words to distinguish\n  their members; and for the same purpose they used emblems taken\n  from the art of building._\n\n  --JOSEPH DA COSTA, _Dionysian Artificers_\n\n\n  _We need not then consider it improbable, if in the dark centuries\n  when the Roman empire was dying out, and its glorious temples\n  falling into ruin; when the arts and sciences were falling into\n  disuse or being enslaved; and when no place was safe from\n  persecution and warfare, the guild of the Architects should fly\n  for safety to almost the only free spot in Italy; and here, though\n  they could no longer practice their craft, they preserved the\n  legendary knowledge and precepts which, as history implies, came\n  down to them through Vitruvius from older sources, some say from\n  Solomon's builders themselves._\n\n  --LEADER SCOTT, _The Cathedral Builders_\n#/\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\n_The Collegia_\n\n\nSo far in our study we have found that from earliest time architecture\nwas related to religion; that the working tools of the builder were\nemblems of moral truth; that there were great secret orders using the\nDrama of Faith as a rite of initiation; and that a hidden doctrine was\nkept for those accounted worthy, after trial, to be entrusted with it.\nSecret societies, born of the nature and need of man, there have been\nalmost since recorded history began;[54] but as yet we have come upon\nno separate and distinct order of builders. For aught we know there\nmay have been such in plenty, but we have no intimation, much less a\nrecord, of the fact. That is to say, history has a vague story to tell\nus of the earliest orders of the builders.\n\nHowever, it is more than a mere plausible inference that from the\nbeginning architects were members of secret orders; for, as we have\nseen, not only the truths of religion and philosophy, but also the\nfacts of science and the laws of art, were held as secrets to be known\nonly to the few. This was so, apparently without exception, among all\nancient peoples; so much so, indeed, that we may take it as certain\nthat the builders of old time were initiates. Of necessity, then, the\narts of the craft were secrets jealously guarded, and the architects\nthemselves, while they may have employed and trained ordinary workmen,\nwere men of learning and influence. Such glimpses of early architects\nas we have confirm this inference, as, for example, the noble hymn to\nthe Sun-god written by Suti and Hor, two architects employed by\nAmenhotep III, of Egypt.[55] Just when the builders began to form\norders of their own no one knows, but it was perhaps when the\nMystery-cults began to journey abroad into other lands. What we have\nto keep in mind is that all the arts had their home in the temple,\nfrom which, as time passed, they spread out fan-wise along all the\npaths of culture.\n\nKeeping in mind the secrecy of the laws of building, and the sanctity\nwith which all science and art were regarded, we have a key whereby to\ninterpret the legends woven about the building of the temple of\nSolomon. Few realize how high that temple on Mount Moriah towered in\nthe history of the olden world, and how the story of its building\nhaunted the legends and traditions of the times following. Of these\nlegends there were many, some of them wildly improbable, but the\npersistence of the tradition, and its consistency withal, despite many\nvariations, is a _fact of no small moment_. Nor is this tradition to\nbe wondered at, since time has shown that the building of the temple\nat Jerusalem was an event of world-importance, not only to the\nHebrews, but to other nations, more especially the Phoenicians. The\nhistories of both peoples make much of the building of the Hebrew\ntemple, of the friendship of Solomon and Hiram I, of Tyre, and of the\nharmony between the two peoples; and Phoenician tradition has it that\nSolomon presented Hiram with a duplicate of the temple, which was\nerected in Tyre.[56]\n\nClearly, the two nations were drawn closely together, and this fact\ncarried with it a mingling of religious influences and ideas, as was\ntrue between the Hebrews and other nations, especially Egypt and\nPhoenicia, during the reign of Solomon. Now the religion of the\nPhoenicians at this time, as all agree, was the Egyptian religion in a\nmodified form, Dionysius having taken the role of Osiris in the drama\nof faith in Greece, Syria, and Asia Minor. Thus we have the Mysteries\nof Egypt, in which Moses was learned, brought to the very door of the\ntemple of Solomon, and that, too, at a time favorable to their\nimpress. The Hebrews were not architects, and it is plain from the\nrecords that the temple--and, indeed, the palaces of Solomon--were\ndesigned and erected by Phoenician builders, and for the most part by\nPhoenician workmen and materials. Josephus adds that the architecture\nof the temple was of the style called Grecian. So much would seem to\nbe fact, whatever may be said of the legends flowing from it.\n\nIf, then, the laws of building were secrets known only to initiates,\nthere must have been a secret order of architects who built the temple\nof Solomon. Who were they? They were almost certainly the _Dionysian\nArtificers_--not to be confused with the play-actors called by the\nsame name later--an order of builders who erected temples, stadia, and\ntheaters in Asia Minor, and who were at the same time an order of the\nMysteries under the tutelage of Bacchus before that worship declined,\nas it did later in Athens and Rome, into mere revelry.[57] As such,\nthey united the art of architecture with the old Egyptian drama of\nfaith, representing in their ceremonies the murder of Dionysius by the\nTitans and his return to life. So that, blending the symbols of\nAstronomy with those of Architecture, by a slight change made by a\nnatural process, how easy for the master-artist of the temple-builders\nto become the hero of the ancient drama of immortality.[58] Whether\nor not this fact can be verified from history, such is the form in\nwhich the tradition has come down to us, surviving through long ages\nand triumphing over all vicissitude.[59] Secret orders have few\nrecords and their story is hard to tell, but this account is perfectly\nin accord with the spirit and setting of the situation, and there is\nneither fact nor reason against it. While this does not establish it\nas true historically, it surely gives it validity as a prophecy, if\nnothing more.[60]\n\nAfter all, then, the tradition that Masonry, not unlike the Masonry we\nnow know, had its origin while the temple of King Solomon was\nbuilding, and was given shape by the two royal friends, may not be so\nfantastic as certain superior folk seem to think it. How else can we\nexplain the fact that when the Knights of the Crusades went to the\nHoly Land they came back a secret, oath-bound fraternity? Also, why is\nit that, through the ages, we see bands of builders coming from the\nEast calling themselves \"sons of Solomon,\" and using his interlaced\ntriangle-seal as their emblem? Strabo, as we have seen, traced the\nDionysiac builders eastward into Syria, Persia, and even India. They\nmay also be traced westward. Traversing Asia Minor, they entered\nEurope by way of Constantinople, and we follow them through Greece to\nRome, where already several centuries before Christ we find them bound\ntogether in corporations called _Collegia_. These lodges flourished in\nall parts of the Roman Empire, traces of their existence having been\ndiscovered in England as early as the middle of the first century of\nour era.\n\n\nII\n\nKrause was the first to point out a prophecy of Masonry in the old\norders of builders, following their footsteps--not connectedly, of\ncourse, for there are many gaps--through the Dionysiac fraternity of\nTyre, through the Roman Collegia, to the architects and Masons of the\nMiddle Ages. Since he wrote, however, much new material has come to\nlight, but the date of the advent of the builders in Rome is still\nuncertain. Some trace it to the very founding of the city, while\nothers go no further back than King Numa, the friend of\nPythagoras.[61] By any account, they were of great antiquity, and\ntheir influence in Roman history was far-reaching. They followed the\nRoman legions to remote places, building cities, bridges, and temples,\nand it was but natural that Mithra, the patron god of soldiers, should\nhave influenced their orders. Of this an example may be seen in the\nremains of the ancient Roman villa at Morton, on the Isle of\nWight.[62]\n\nAs Rome grew in power and became a vast, all-embracing empire, the\nindividual man felt, more and more, his littleness and loneliness.\nThis feeling, together with the increasing specialization of industry,\nbegat a passion for association, and Collegia of many sorts were\norganized. Even a casual glance at the inscriptions, under the heading\n_Artes et Opificia_, will show the enormous development of skilled\nhandicrafts, and how minute was their specialization. Every trade soon\nhad its secret order, or union, and so powerful did they become that\nthe emperors found it necessary to abolish the right of free\nassociation. Yet even such edicts, though effective for a little time,\nwere helpless as against the universal craving for combination. Ways\nwere easily found whereby to evade the law, which had exempted from\nits restrictions orders consecrated by their antiquity or their\nreligious character. Most of the Collegia became funerary and\ncharitable in their labors, humble folk seeking to escape the dim,\nhopeless obscurity of plebeian life, and the still more hopeless\nobscurity of death. Pathetic beyond words are some of the inscriptions\ntelling of the horror and loneliness of the grave, of the day when no\nkindly eye would read the forgotten name, and no hand bring offerings\nof flowers. Each collegium held memorial services, and marked the tomb\nof its dead with the emblems of its trade: if a baker, with a loaf of\nbread; if a builder, with a square, compasses, and the level.\n\nFrom the first the Colleges of Architects seem to have enjoyed special\nprivileges and exemptions, owing to the value of their service to the\nstate, and while we do not find them called Free-masons they were such\nin law and fact long before they wore the name. They were permitted to\nhave their own constitutions and regulations, both secular and\nreligious. In form, in officers, in emblems a Roman Collegium\nresembled very much a modern Masonic Lodge. For one thing, no College\ncould consist of less than three persons, and so rigid was this rule\nthat the saying, \"three make a college,\" became a maxim of law. Each\nCollege was presided over by a Magister, or Master, with two\n_decuriones_, or wardens, each of whom extended the commands of the\nMaster to \"the brethren of his column.\" There were a secretary, a\ntreasurer, and a keeper of archives, and, as the colleges were in part\nreligious and usually met near some temple, there was a _sacerdos_,\nor, as we would say, a priest, or chaplain. The members were of three\norders, not unlike apprentices, fellows, and masters, or colleagues.\nWhat ceremonies of initiation were used we do not know, but that they\nwere of a religious nature seems certain, as each College adopted a\npatron deity from among the many then worshiped. Also, as the\nMysteries of Isis and Mithra ruled the Roman world by turns, the\nancient drama of eternal life was never far away.\n\nOf the emblems of the Collegia, it is enough to say that here again we\nfind the simple tools of the builder used as teachers of truth for\nlife and hope in death. Upon a number of sarcophagi, still extant, we\nfind carved the square, the compasses, the cube, the plummet, the\ncircle, and always the level. There is, besides, the famous Collegium\nuncovered at the excavation of Pompeii in 1878, having been buried\nunder the ashes and lava of Mount Vesuvius since the year 79 A.D. It\nstood near the Tragic Theater, not far from the Temple of Isis, and by\nits arrangement, with two columns in front and interlaced triangles on\nthe walls, was identified as an ancient lodge room. Upon a pedestal in\nthe room was found a rare bit of art, unique in design and exquisite\nin execution, now in the National Museum at Naples. It is described by\nS.R. Forbes, in his _Rambles in Naples_, as follows:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    It is a mosaic table of square shape, fixed in a strong\n    wooden frame. The ground is of grey green stone, in the\n    middle of which is a human skull, made of white, grey, and\n    black colors. In appearance the skull is quite natural. The\n    eyes, nostrils, teeth, ears, and coronal are all well\n    executed. Above the skull is a level of colored wood, the\n    points being of brass; and from the top to the point, by a\n    white thread, is suspended a plumb-line. Below the skull is\n    a wheel of six spokes, and on the upper rim of the wheel\n    there is a butterfly with wings of red, edged with yellow;\n    its eyes blue.... On the left is an upright spear, resting on\n    the ground; from this there hangs, attached to a golden cord,\n    a garment of scarlet, also a purple robe; whilst the upper\n    part of the spear is surrounded by a white braid of diamond\n    pattern. To the right is a gnarled thorn stick, from which\n    hangs a coarse, shaggy piece of cloth in yellow, grey, and\n    brown colors, tied with a ribbon; and above it is a leather\n    knapsack.... Evidently this work of art, by its composition,\n    is mystical and symbolical.\n#/\n\nNo doubt; and for those who know the meaning of these emblems there is\na feeling of kinship with those men, long since fallen into dust, who\ngathered about such an altar. They wrought out in this work of art\ntheir vision of the old-worn pilgrim way of life, with its vicissitude\nand care, the level of mortality to which all are brought at last by\ndeath, and the winged, fluttering hope of man. Always a journey with\nits horny staff and wallet, life is sometimes a battle needing a\nspear, but for him who walks uprightly by the plumb-line of rectitude,\nthere is a true and victorious hope at the end.\n\n/P\n  Of wounds and sore defeat\n  I made my battle stay,\n  Winged sandals for my feet\n  I wove of my delay.\n  Of weariness and fear\n  I made a shouting spear,\n  Of loss and doubt and dread\n  And swift on-coming doom\n  I made a helmet for my head,\n  And a waving plume.\nP/\n\n\nIII\n\nChristianity, whose Founder was a Carpenter, made a mighty appeal to\nthe working classes of Rome. As Deissmann and Harnack have shown, the\nsecret of its expansion in the early years was that it came down to\nthe man in the street with its message of hope and joy. Its appeal was\nhardly heard in high places, but it was welcomed by the men who were\nweary and heavy ladened. Among the Collegia it made rapid progress,\nits Saints taking the place of pagan deities as patrons, and its\nspirit of love welding men into closer, truer union. When Diocletian\ndetermined to destroy Christianity, he was strangely lenient and\npatient with the Collegia, so many of whose members were of that\nfaith. Not until they refused to make a statue of AEsculapius did he\nvow vengeance and turn on them, venting his fury. In the persecution\nthat followed four Master Masons and one humble apprentice suffered\ncruel torture and death, but they became the Four Crowned Martyrs,\nthe story of whose heroic fidelity unto death haunted the legends of\nlater times.[63] They were the patron saints alike of Lombard and\nTuscan builders, and, later, of the working Masons of the Middle Ages,\nas witness the poem in their praise in the oldest record of the Craft,\nthe _Regius MS._\n\nWith the breaking up of the College of Architects and their expulsion\nfrom Rome, we come upon a period in which it is hard to follow their\npath. Happily the task has been made less baffling by recent research,\nand if we are unable to trace them all the way much light has been let\ninto the darkness. Hitherto there has been a hiatus also in the\nhistory of architecture between the classic art of Rome, which is said\nto have died when the Empire fell to pieces, and the rise of Gothic\nart. Just so, in the story of the builders one finds a gap of like\nlength, between the Collegia of Rome and the cathedral artists. While\nthe gap cannot, as yet, be perfectly bridged, much has been done to\nthat end by Leader Scott in _The Cathedral Builders: The Story of a\nGreat Masonic Guild_--a book itself a work of art as well as of fine\nscholarship. Her thesis is that the missing link is to be found in the\nMagistri Comacini, a guild of architects who, on the break-up of the\nRoman Empire, fled to Comacina, a fortified island in Lake Como, and\nthere kept alive the traditions of classic art during the Dark Ages;\nthat from them were developed in direct descent the various styles of\nItalian architecture; and that, finally, they carried the knowledge\nand practice of architecture and sculpture into France, Spain,\nGermany, and England. Such a thesis is difficult, and, from its\nnature, not susceptible of absolute proof, but the writer makes it as\ncertain as anything can well be.\n\nWhile she does not positively affirm that the Comacine Masters were the\nveritable stock from which the Freemasonry of the present day sprang,\n\"we may admit,\" she says, \"that they were the link between the classic\nCollegia and all other art and trade Guilds of the Middle Ages. _They\nwere Free-masons because they were builders of a privileged class,\nabsolved from taxes and servitude, and free to travel about in times of\nfeudal bondage_.\" The name Free-mason--_Libera muratori_--may not\nactually have been used thus early, but the Comacines were _in fact\nfree builders long before the name was employed_--free to travel from\nplace to place, as we see from their migrations; free to fix their own\nprices, while other workmen were bound to feudal lords, or by the\nStatutes of Wages. The author quotes in the original Latin an Edict of\nthe Lombard King Rotharis, dated November 22, 643, in which certain\nprivileges are confirmed to the _Magistri Comacini_ and their\n_colligantes_. From this Edict it is clear that it is no new order that\nis alluded to, but an old and powerful body of Masters capable of\nacting as architects, with men who executed work under them. For the\nComacines were not ordinary workmen, but artists, including architects,\nsculptors, painters, and decorators, and if affinities of style left in\nstone be adequate evidence, to them were due the changing forms of\narchitecture in Europe during the cathedral-building period. Everywhere\nthey left their distinctive impress in a way so unmistakable as to\nleave no doubt.\n\nUnder Charlemagne the Comacines began their many migrations, and we\nfind them following the missionaries of the church into remote places,\nfrom Sicily to Britain, building churches. When Augustine went to\nconvert the British, the Comacines followed to provide shrines, and\nBede, as early as 674, in mentioning that builders were sent for from\nGaul to build the church at Wearmouth, uses phrases and words found in\nthe Edict of King Rotharis. For a long time the changes in style of\narchitecture, appearing simultaneously everywhere over Europe, from\nItaly to England, puzzled students.[64] Further knowledge of this\npowerful and widespread order explains it. It also accounts for the\nfact that no individual architect can be named as the designer of any\nof the great cathedrals. Those cathedrals were the work, not of\nindividual artists, but of an order who planned, built, and adorned\nthem. In 1355 the painters of Siena seceded, as the German Masons did\nlater, and the names of individual artists who worked for fame and\nglory begin to appear; but up to that time the Order was supreme.\nArtists from Greece and Asia Minor, driven from their homes, took\nrefuge with the Comacines, and Leader Scott finds in this order a\npossible link, by tradition at least, with the temple of Solomon. At\nany rate, all through the Dark Ages the name and fame of the Hebrew\nking lived in the minds of the builders.\n\nAn inscribed stone, dating from 712, shows that the Comacine Guild\nwas organized as _Magistri_ and _Discipuli_, under a _Gastaldo_, or\nGrand Master, the very same terms as were kept in the lodges later.\nMoreover, they called their meeting places _loggia_, a long list of\nwhich the author recites from the records of various cities, giving\nnames of officers, and, often, of members. They, too, had their\nmasters and wardens, their oaths, tokens, grips, and passwords which\nformed a bond of union stronger than legal ties. They wore white\naprons and gloves, and revered the Four Crowned Martyrs of the Order.\nSquare, compasses, level, plumb-line, and arch appear among their\nemblems. \"King Solomon's Knot\" was one of their symbols, and the\nendless, interwoven cord, symbol of Eternity which has neither\nbeginning nor end, was another. Later, however, the Lion's Paw seems\nto have become their chief emblem. From illustrations given by the\nauthor they are shown in their regalia, with apron and emblems, clad\nas the keepers of a great art and teaching of which they were masters.\n\nHere, of a truth, is something more than prophecy, and those who have\nany regard for facts will not again speak lightly of an order having\nsuch ancestors as the great Comacine Masters. Had Fergusson known\ntheir story, he would not have paused in his _History of Architecture_\nto belittle the Free-masons as incapable of designing a cathedral,\nwhile puzzling the while as to who did draw the plans for those dreams\nof beauty and prayer. Hereafter, if any one asks to know who uplifted\nthose massive piles in which was portrayed the great drama of\nmediaeval worship, he need not remain uncertain. With the decline of\nGothic architecture the order of Free-masons also suffered decline, as\nwe shall see, but did not cease to exist--continuing its symbolic\ntradition amidst varying, and often sad, vicissitude until 1717, when\nit became a fraternity teaching spiritual faith by allegory and moral\nscience by symbols.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[54] _Primitive Secret Societies_, by H. Webster; _Secret Societies of\nall Ages and Lands_, by W.C. Heckethorn.\n\n[55] We may add the case of Weshptah, one of the viziers of the Fifth\nDynasty in Egypt, about 2700 B.C., and also the royal architect, for\nwhom the great tomb was built, endowed, and furnished by the king\n(_Religion in Egypt_, by Breasted, lecture ii); also the statue of\nSemut, chief of Masons under Queen Hatasu, now in Berlin.\n\n[56] _Historians His. World_, vol. ii, chap. iii. Josephus gives an\nelaborate account of the temple, including the correspondence between\nSolomon and Hiram of Tyre (_Jewish Antiquities_, bk. viii, chaps. 2-6).\n\n[57] _Symbolism of Masonry_, Mackey, chap. vi; also in Mackey's\n_Encyclopedia of Masonry_, both of which were drawn from _History of\nMasonry_, by Laurie, chap. i; and Laurie in turn derived his facts from\na _Sketch for the History of the Dionysian Artificers, A Fragment_, by\nH.J. Da Costa (1820). Why Waite and others brush the Dionysian\narchitects aside as a dream is past finding out in view of the evidence\nand authorities put forth by Da Costa, nor do they give any reason for\nso doing. \"Lebedos was the seat and assembly of the _Dionysian\nArtificers_, who inhabit Ionia to the Hellespont; there they had\nannually their solemn meetings and festivities in honor of Bacchus,\"\nwrote Strabo (lib. xiv, 921). They were a secret society having signs\nand words to distinguish their members (Robertson's _Greece_), and used\nemblems taken from the art of building (Eusebius, _de Prep. Evang._\niii, c. 12). They entered Asia Minor and Phoenicia fifty years before\nthe temple of Solomon was built, and Strabo traces them on into Syria,\nPersia, and India. Surely here are facts not to be swept aside as\nromance because, forsooth, they do not fit certain theories. Moreover,\nthey explain many things, as we shall see.\n\n[58] Rabbinic legend has it that all the workmen on the temple were\nkilled, so that they should not build another temple devoted to\nidolatry (_Jewish Encyclopedia_, article \"Freemasonry\"). Other legends\nequally absurd cluster about the temple and its building, none of which\nis to be taken literally. As a fact, Hiram the architect, or rather\nartificer in metals, did not lose his life, but, as Josephus tells us,\nlived to good age and died at Tyre. What the legend is trying to tell\nus, however, is that at the building of the temple the Mysteries\nmingled with Hebrew faith, each mutually influencing the other.\n\n[59] Strangely enough, there is a sect or tribe called the Druses, now\ninhabiting the Lebanon district, who claim to be not only the\ndescendants of the Phoenicians, but _the builders of King Solomon's\ntemple_. So persistent and important among them is this tradition that\ntheir religion is built about it--if indeed it be not something more\nthan a legend. They have Khalwehs, or temples, built after the fashion\nof lodges, with three degrees of initiation, and, though an\nagricultural folk, they use signs and tools of building as emblems of\nmoral truth. They have signs, grips, and passwords for recognition. In\nthe words of their lawgiver, Hamze, their creed reads: \"The belief in\nthe Truth of One God shall take the place of Prayer; the exercise of\nbrotherly love shall take the place of Fasting; and the daily practice\nof acts of Charity shall take the place of Alms-giving.\" Why such a\npeople, having such a tradition? Where did they get it? What may this\nfact set in the fixed and changeless East mean? (See the essay of\nHackett Smith on \"The Druses and Their Relation to Freemasonry,\" and\nthe discussion following, _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, iv. 7-19.)\n\n[60] Rawlinson, in his _History of Phoenicia_, says the people \"had for\nages possessed the mason's art, it having been brought in very early\ndays from Egypt.\" Sir C. Warren found on the foundation stones at\nJerusalem Mason's marks in Phoenician letters (_A. Q. C._, ii, 125;\niii, 68).\n\n[61] See essay on \"A Masonic Built City,\" by S.R. Forbes, a study of\nthe plan and building of Rome, _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, iv, 86. As\nthere will be many references to the proceedings of the Coronatorum\nLodge of Research, it will be convenient hereafter to use only its\ninitials, _A. Q. C._, in behalf of brevity. For an account of the\nCollegia in early Christian times, see _Roman Life from Nero to\nAurelius_, by Dill (bk. ii, chap. iii); also _De Collegia_, by Mommsen.\nThere is an excellent article in Mackey's _Encyclopedia of\nFreemasonry_, and Gould, _His. Masonry_, vol. i, chap. i.\n\n[62] See _Masonic Character of Roman Villa at Morton_, by J.F. Crease\n(_A. Q. C._, iii, 38-59).\n\n[63] Their names were Claudius, Nicostratus, Simphorianus, Castorius,\nand Simplicius. Later their bodies were brought from Rome to Toulouse\nwhere they were placed in a chapel erected in their honor in the church\nof St. Sernin (_Martyrology_, by Du Saussay). They became patron saints\nof Masons in Germany, France, and England (_A. Q. C._, xii, 196). In a\nfresco on the walls of the church of St. Lawrence at Rotterdam,\npartially preserved, they are painted with compasses and trowel in\nhand. With them, however, is another figure, clad in oriental robe,\nalso holding compasses, but with a royal, not a martyr's, crown. Is he\nSolomon? Who else can he be? The fresco dates from 1641, and was\npainted by F. Wounters (_A. Q. C._, xii, 202). Even so, those humble\nworkmen, faithful to their faith, became saints of the church, and\nreign with Solomon! Once the fresco was whitewashed, but the coating\nfell off and they stood forth with compasses and trowel as before.\n\n[64] _History of Middle Ages_, Hallam, vol. ii, 547.\n\n\n\n\nPart II--History\n\n\n\n\nFREE-MASONS\n\n\n\n\n/#\n  _The curious history of Freemasonry has unfortunately been treated\n  only by its panegyrists or calumniators, both equally mendacious.\n  I do not wish to pry into the mysteries of the craft; but it would\n  be interesting to know more of their history during the period\n  when they were literally architects. They are charged by an act of\n  Parliament with fixing the price of their labor in their annual\n  chapters, contrary to the statute of laborers, and such chapters\n  were consequently prohibited. This is their first persecution;\n  they have since undergone others, and are perhaps reserved for\n  still more. It is remarkable, that Masons were never legally\n  incorporated, like other traders; their bond of union being\n  stronger than any charter._\n\n  --HENRY HALLAM, _The Middle Ages_\n#/\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\n_Free-Masons_\n\n\nI\n\nFrom the foregoing pages it must be evident that Masonry, as we find\nit in the Middle Ages, was not a novelty. Already, if we accept its\nown records, it was hoary with age, having come down from a far past,\nbringing with it a remarkable deposit of legendary lore. Also, it had\nin its keeping the same simple, eloquent emblems which, as we have\nseen, are older than the oldest living religion, which it received as\nan inheritance and has transmitted as a treasure. Whatever we may\nthink of the legends of Masonry, as recited in its oldest documents,\nits symbols, older than the order itself, link it with the earliest\nthought and faith of the race. No doubt those emblems lost some of\ntheir luster in the troublous time of transition we are about to\ntraverse, but their beauty never wholly faded, and they had only to be\ntouched to shine.\n\nIf not the actual successors of the Roman College of Architects, the\ngreat order of Comacine Masters was founded upon its ruins, and\ncontinued its tradition both of symbolism and of art. Returning to\nRome after the death of Diocletian, we find them busy there under\nConstantine and Theodosius; and from remains recently brought to\nknowledge it is plain that their style of building at that time was\nvery like that of the churches built at Hexham and York in England,\nand those of the Ravenna, also nearly contemporary. They may not have\nbeen actually called Free-masons as early as Leader Scott insists they\nwere,[65] but _they were free in fact_, traveling far and near where\nthere was work to do, following the missionaries of the Church as far\nas England. When there was need for the name _Free-masons_, it was\neasily suggested by the fact that the cathedral-builders were quite\ndistinct from the Guild-masons, the one being a universal order\nwhereas the other was local and restricted. Older than Guild-masonry,\nthe order of the cathedral-builders was more powerful, more artistic,\nand, it may be added, more religious; and it is from this order that\nthe Masonry of today is descended.\n\nSince the story of the Comacine Masters has come to light, no doubt\nany longer remains that during the building period the order of Masons\nwas at the height of its influence and power. At that time the\nbuilding art stood above all other arts, and made the other arts bow\nto it, commanding the services of the most brilliant intellects and\nof the greatest artists of the age. Moreover, its symbols were wrought\ninto stone long before they were written on parchment, if indeed they\nwere ever recorded at all. Efforts have been made to rob those old\nmasters of their honor as the designers of the cathedrals, but it is\nin vain.[66] Their monuments are enduring and still tell the story of\ntheir genius and art. High upon the cathedrals they left cartoons in\nstone, of which Findel gives a list,[67] portraying with searching\nsatire abuses current in the Church. Such figures and devices would\nnot have been tolerated but for the strength of the order, and not\neven then had the Church known what they meant to the adepts.\n\nHistory, like a mirage, lifts only a part of the past into view,\nleaving much that we should like to know in oblivion. At this distance\nthe Middle Ages wear an aspect of smooth uniformity of faith and\nopinion, but that is only one of the many illusions of time by which\nwe are deceived. What looks like uniformity was only conformity, and\nunderneath its surface there was almost as much variety of thought as\nthere is today, albeit not so freely expressed. Science itself, as\nwell as religious ideas deemed heretical, sought seclusion; but the\nhuman mind was alive and active none the less, and a great secret\norder like Masonry, enjoying the protection of the Church, yet\nindependent of it, invited freedom of thought and faith.[68] The\nMasons, by the very nature of their art, came into contact with all\nclasses of men, and they had opportunities to know the defects of the\nChurch. Far ahead of the masses and most of the clergy in education,\nin their travels to and fro, not only in Europe, but often extending\nto the far East, they became familiar with widely-differing religious\nviews. They had learned to practice toleration, and their Lodges\nbecame a sure refuge for those who were persecuted for the sake of\nopinion by bigoted fanaticism.\n\nWhile, as an order, the Comacine Masters served the Church as\nbuilders, the creed required for admission to their fraternity was\nnever narrow, and, as we shall see, it became every year broader.\nUnless this fact be kept in mind, the influence of the Church upon\nMasonry, which no one seeks to minify, may easily be exaggerated. Not\nuntil cathedral building began to decline by reason of the\nimpoverishment of the nations by long wars, the dissolution of the\nmonasteries, and the advent of Puritanism, did the Church greatly\ninfluence the order; and not even then to the extent of diverting it\nfrom its original and unique mission. Other influences were at work\nbetimes, such as the persecution of the Knights Templars and the\ntragic martyrdom of De Molai, making themselves felt,[69] and Masonry\nbegan to be suspected of harboring heresy. So tangled were the\ntendencies of that period that they are not easily followed, but the\nfact emerges that Masonry rapidly broadened until its final break with\nthe Church. Hardly more than a veneer, by the time of the German\nReformation almost every vestige of the impress of the Church had\nvanished never to return. Critics of the order have been at pains to\ntrace this tendency, not knowing, apparently, that by so doing they\nonly make more emphatic the chief glory of Masonry.\n\n\nII\n\nUnfortunately, as so often happens, no records of old Craft-masonry,\nsave those wrought into stone, were made until the movement had begun\nto decline; and for that reason such documents as have come down to us\ndo not show it at its best. Nevertheless, they range over a period of\nmore than four centuries, and are justly held to be the title deeds of\nthe Order. Turning to these _Old Charges_ and _Constitutions_,[70] as\nthey are called, we find a body of quaint and curious writing, both in\npoetry and prose, describing the Masonry of the late cathedral-building\nperiod, with glimpses at least of greater days of old. Of these, there\nare more than half a hundred--seventy-eight, to be exact--most of which\nhave come to light since 1860, and all of them, it would seem, copies\nof documents still older. Naturally they have suffered at the hands of\nunskilled or unlearned copyists, as is evident from errors,\nembellishments, and interpolations. They were called _Old Charges_\nbecause they contained certain rules as to conduct and duties which, in\na bygone time, were read or recited to a newly admitted member of the\ncraft. While they differ somewhat in details, they relate substantially\nthe same legend as to the origin of the order, its early history, its\nlaws and regulations, usually beginning with an invocation and ending\nwith an Amen.\n\nOnly a brief account need here be given of the dates and\ncharacteristics of these documents, of the two oldest especially, with\na digest of what they have to tell us, first, of the Legend of the\norder; second, its early History; and third, its Moral teaching, its\nworkings, and the duties of its members. The first and oldest of the\nrecords is known as the _Regius MS_ which, owing to an error of David\nCasley who in his catalogue of the MSS in the King's Library marked it\n_A Poem of Moral Duties_, was overlooked until James Halliwell\ndiscovered its real nature in 1839. Although not a Mason, Halliwell\nwas attracted by the MS and read an essay on its contents before the\nSociety of Antiquarians, after which he issued two editions bearing\ndate of 1840 and 1844. Experts give it date back to 1390, that is to\nsay, fifteen years after the first recorded use of the name\n_Free_-mason in the history of the Company of Masons of the City of\nLondon, in 1375.[71]\n\nMore poetical in spirit than in form, the old manuscript begins by\ntelling of the number of unemployed in early days and the necessity of\nfinding work, \"that they myght gete there lyvyngs therby.\" Euclid was\nconsulted, and recommended the \"onest craft of good masonry,\" and the\norigin of the order is found \"yn Egypte lande.\" Then, by a quick\nshift, we are landed in England \"yn tyme of good Kinge Adelstonus\nday,\" who is said to have called an assembly of Masons, when fifteen\narticles and as many points were agreed upon as rules of the craft,\neach point being duly described. The rules resemble the Ten\nCommandments in an extended form, closing with the legend of the Four\nCrowned Martyrs, as an incentive to fidelity. Then the writer takes up\nagain the question of origins, going back this time to the days of\nNoah and the Flood, mentioning the tower of Babylon and the great\nskill of Euclid, who is said to have commenced \"the syens seven.\" The\nseven sciences are then named, to-wit, Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric,\nMusic, Astronomy, Arithmetic, Geometry, and each explained. Rich\nreward is held out to those who use the seven sciences aright, and the\nMS proper closes with the benediction:\n\n/P\n  Amen! Amen! so mote it be!\n  So say we all for Charity.\nP/\n\nThere follows a kind of appendix, evidently added by a priest,\nconsisting of one hundred lines in which pious exhortation is mixed\nwith instruction in etiquette, such as lads and even men unaccustomed\nto polite society and correct deportment would need. These lines were\nin great part extracted from _Instructions for Parish Priests_, by\nMirk, a manual in use at the time. The whole poem, if so it may be\ncalled, is imbued with the spirit of freedom, of gladness, of social\ngood will; so much so, that both Gould and Albert Pike think it points\nto the existence of symbolic Masonry at the date from which it speaks,\nand may have been recited or sung by some club commemorating the\nscience, but not practicing the art, of Masonry. They would find\nintimation of the independent existence of speculative Masonry thus\nearly, in a society from whom all but the memory or tradition of its\nancient craft had departed. One hesitates to differ with writers so\nable and distinguished, yet this inference seems far-fetched, if not\nforced. Of the existence of symbolic Masonry at that time there is no\ndoubt, but of its independent existence it is not easy to find even a\nhint in this old poem. Nor would the poem be suitable for a mere\nsocial, or even a symbolic guild, whereas the spirit of genial, joyous\ncomradeship which breathes through it is of the very essence of\nMasonry, and has ever been present when Masons meet.\n\nNext in order of age is the _Cooke MS_, dating from the early part of\nthe fifteenth century, and first published in 1861. If we apply the\nlaws of higher-criticism to this old document a number of things\nappear, as obvious as they are interesting. Not only is it a copy of\nan older record, like all the MSS we have, but it is either an effort\nto join two documents together, or else the first part must be\nregarded as a long preamble to the manuscript which forms the second\npart. For the two are quite unlike in method and style, the first\nbeing diffuse, with copious quotations and references to\nauthorities,[72] while the second is simple, direct, unadorned, and\ndoes not even allude to the Bible. Also, it is evident that the\ncompiler, himself a Mason, is trying to harmonize two traditions as to\nthe origin of the order, one tracing it through Egypt and the other\nthrough the Hebrews; and it is hard to tell which tradition he favors\nmost. Hence a duplication of the traditional history, and an odd\nmixture of names and dates, often, indeed, absurd, as when he makes\nEuclid a pupil of Abraham. What is clear is that, having found an old\nConstitution of the Craft, he thought to write a kind of commentary\nupon it, adding proofs and illustrations of his own, though he did not\nmanage his materials very successfully.\n\nAfter his invocation,[73] the writer begins with a list of the Seven\nSciences, giving quaint definitions of each, but in a different order\nfrom that recited in the _Regius Poem_; and he exalts Geometry above\nall the rest as \"the first cause and foundation of all crafts and\nsciences.\" Then follows a brief sketch of the sons of Lamech, much as\nwe find it in the book of Genesis which, like the old MS we are here\nstudying, was compiled from two older records: the one tracing the\ndescent from Cain, and the other from Seth. Jabal and Jubal, we are\ntold, inscribed their knowledge of science and handicraft on two\npillars, one of marble, the other of lateres; and after the flood one\nof the pillars was found by Hermes, and the other by Pythagoras, who\ntaught the sciences they found written thereon. Other MSS give Euclid\nthe part here assigned to Hermes. Surely this is all fantastic enough,\nbut the blending of the names of Hermes, the \"father of Wisdom,\" who\nis so supreme a figure in the Egyptian Mysteries, and Pythagoras who\nused numbers as spiritual emblems, with old Hebrew history, is\nsignificant. At any rate, by this route the record reaches Egypt\nwhere, like the _Regius Poem_, it locates the origin of Masonry. In\nthus ascribing the origin of Geometry to the Egyptians the writer was\nbut following a tradition that the Egyptians were compelled to invent\nit in order to restore the landmarks effaced by the inundations of the\nNile; a tradition confirmed by modern research.\n\nProceeding, the compiler tells us that during their sojourn in Egypt\nthe Hebrews learned the art and secrets of Masonry, which they took\nwith them to the promised land. Long years are rapidly sketched, and\nwe come to the days of David, who is said to have loved Masons well,\nand to have given them \"wages nearly as they are now.\" There is but a\nmeager reference to the building of the Temple of Solomon, to which is\nadded: \"In other chronicles and old books of Masonry, it is said that\nSolomon confirmed the charges that David had given to Masons; and that\nSolomon taught them their usages differing but slightly from the\ncustoms now in use.\" While allusion is made to the master-artist of\nthe temple, his name is not mentioned, _except in disguise_. Not one\nof the _Old Charges_ of the order ever makes use of his name, but\nalways employs some device whereby to conceal it.[74] Why so, when\nthe name was well known, written in the Bible which lay upon the\naltar for all to read? Why such reluctance, if it be not that the name\nand the legend linked with it had an esoteric meaning, as it most\ncertainly did have long before it was wrought into a drama? At this\npoint the writer drops the old legend and traces the Masons into\nFrance and England, after the manner of the _Regius MS_, but with more\ndetail. Having noted these items, he returns to Euclid and brings that\nphase of the tradition up to the advent of the order into England,\nadding, in conclusion, the articles of Masonic law agreed upon at an\nearly assembly, of which he names nine, instead of the fifteen recited\nin the _Regius Poem_.\n\nWhat shall we say of this Legend, with its recurring and insistent\nemphasis upon the antiquity of the order, and its linking of Egypt\nwith Israel? For one thing, it explodes the fancy that the idea of the\nsymbolical significance of the building of the Temple of Solomon\noriginated with, or was suggested by, Bacon's _New Atlantis_. Here is\na body of tradition uniting the Egyptian Mysteries with the Hebrew\nhistory of the Temple in a manner unmistakable. Wherefore such names\nas Hermes, Pythagoras, and Euclid, and how did they come into the old\ncraft records if not through the Comacine artists and scholars? With\nthe story of that great order before us, much that has hitherto been\nobscure becomes plain, and we recognize in these _Old Charges_ the\ninaccurate and perhaps faded tradition of a lofty symbolism, an\nauthentic scholarship, and an actual history. As Leader Scott\nobserves, after reciting the old legend in its crudest form:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    _The significant point is that all these names and Masonic\n    emblems point to something real which existed in some\n    long-past time, and, as regards the organisation and\n    nomenclature, we find the whole thing in its vital and actual\n    working form in the Comacine Guild._[75]\n#/\n\nOf interest here, as a kind of bridge between old legend and the early\nhistory of the order in England, and also as a different version of\nthe legend itself, is another document dating far back. There was a MS\ndiscovered in the Bodleian Library at Oxford about 1696, supposed to\nhave been written in the year 1436, which purports to be an\nexamination of a Mason by King Henry VI, and is allowed by all to be\ngenuine. Its title runs as follows: \"_Certain questions with answers\nto the same concerning the mystery of masonry written by King Henry\nthe Sixth and faithfully copied by me, John Laylande, antiquarian, by\ncommand of his highness_.\" Written in quaint old English, it would\ndoubtless be unintelligible to all but antiquarians, but it reads\nafter this fashion:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    What mote it be?--It is the knowledge of nature, and the\n    power of its various operations; particularly the skill of\n    reckoning, of weights and measures, of constructing buildings\n    and dwellings of all kinds, and the true manner of forming\n    all things for the use of man.\n\n    Where did it begin?--It began with the first men of the East,\n    who were before the first men of the West, and coming with it,\n    it hath brought all comforts to the wild and comfortless.\n\n    Who brought it to the West?--The Phoenicians who, being great\n    merchants, came first from the East into Phoenicia, for the\n    convenience of commerce, both East and West by the Red and\n    Mediterranean Seas.\n\n    How came it into England?--Pythagoras, a Grecian, traveled to\n    acquire knowledge in Egypt and Syria, and in every other land\n    where the Phoenicians had planted Masonry; and gaining\n    admittance into all lodges of Masons, he learned much, and\n    returned and dwelt in Grecia Magna, growing and becoming\n    mighty wise and greatly renowned. Here he formed a great lodge\n    at Crotona, and made many Masons, some of whom traveled into\n    France, and there made many more, from whence, in process of\n    time, the art passed into England.\n#/\n\n\nIII\n\nWith the conquest of Britain by the Romans, the _Collegia_, without\nwhich no Roman society was complete, made their advent into the\nisland, traces of their work remaining even to this day. Under the\ndirection of the mother College at Rome, the Britons are said to have\nattained to high degree of excellence as builders, so that when the\ncities of Gaul and the fortresses along the Rhine were destroyed,\nChlorus, A.D. 298, sent to Britain for architects to repair or rebuild\nthem. Whether the _Collegia_ existed in Britain after the Romans left,\nas some affirm, or were suppressed, as we know they were on the\nContinent when the barbarians overran it, is not clear. Probably they\nwere destroyed, or nearly so, for with the revival of Christianity in\n598 A.D., we find Bishop Wilfred of York joining with the Abbott of\nWearmouth in sending to France and Italy to induce Masons to return\nand build in stone, as he put it, \"after the Roman manner.\" This\nconfirms the Italian chroniclists who relate that Pope Gregory sent\nseveral of the fraternity of _Liberi muratori_ with St. Augustine, as,\nlater, they followed St. Boniface into Germany.\n\nAgain, in 604, Augustine sent the monk Pietro back to Rome with a\nletter to the same Pontiff, begging him to send more architects and\nworkmen, which he did. As the _Liberi muratori_ were none other than\nthe Comacine Masters, it seems certain that they were at work in\nEngland _long before the period with which the_ OLD CHARGES _begin\ntheir story of English Masonry_.[76] Among those sent by Gregory was\nPaulinus, and it is a curious fact that he is spoken of under the title\nof _Magister_, by which is meant, no doubt, that he was a member of the\nComacine order, for they so described their members; and we know that\nmany monks were enrolled in their lodges, having studied the art of\nbuilding under their instruction. St. Hugh of Lincoln was not the only\nBishop who could plan a church, instruct the workman, or handle a hod.\nOnly, it must be kept in mind that these ecclesiastics who became\nskilled in architecture _were taught by the Masons_, and that it was\nnot the monks, as some seem to imagine, who taught the Masons their\nart. Speaking of this early and troublous time, Giuseppe Merzaria says\nthat only one lamp remained alight, making a bright spark in the\ndarkness that extended over Europe:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    It was from the _Magistri Comacini_. Their respective names\n    are unknown, their individual works unspecialized, but the\n    breadth of their spirit might be felt all through those\n    centuries, and their name collectively is legion. We may\n    safely say that of all the works of art between A.D. 800 and\n    1000, the greater and better part are due to that\n    brotherhood--always faithful and often secret--of the\n    _Magistri Comacini_. The authority and judgment of learned\n    men justify the assertion.[77]\n#/\n\nAmong the learned men who agree with this judgment are Kugler of\nGermany, Ramee of France, and Selvatico of Italy, as well as Quatremal\nde Quincy, in his _Dictionary of Architecture_, who, in the article on\nthe Comacine, remarks that \"to these men, who were both designers and\nexecutors, architects, sculptors, and mosaicists, may be attributed\nthe renaissance of art, and its propagation in the southern countries,\nwhere it marched with Christianity. Certain it is that we owe it to\nthem, that the heritage of antique ages was not entirely lost, and it\nis only by their tradition and imitation that the art of building was\nkept alive, producing works which we still admire, and which become\nsurprising when we think of the utter ignorance of all science in\nthose dark ages.\" The English writer, Hope, goes further and credits\nthe Comacine order with being the cradle of the associations of\nFree-masons, who were, he adds, \"the first after Roman times to enrich\narchitecture with a complete and well-ordinated system, which\ndominated wherever the Latin Church extended its influence.\"[78] So\nthen, even if the early records of old Craft-masonry in England are\nconfused, and often confusing, we are not left to grope our way from\none dim tradition to another, having the history and monuments of this\ngreat order which _spans the whole period_, and links the fraternity\nof Free-masons with one of the noblest chapters in the annals of art.\n\nAlmost without exception the _Old Charges_ begin their account of\nMasonry in England at the time of Athelstan, the grandson of Alfred\nthe Great; that is, between 925 and 940. Of this prince, or knight,\nthey record that he was a wise and pacific ruler; that \"he brought the\nland to rest and peace, and built many great buildings of castles and\nabbeys, for he loved Masons well.\" He is also said to have called an\nassembly of Masons at which laws, rules, and charges were adopted for\nthe regulation of the craft. Despite these specific details, the story\nof Athelstan and St. Alban is hardly more than a legend, albeit dating\nat no very remote epoch, and well within the reasonable limits of\ntradition. Still, so many difficulties beset it that it has baffled\nthe acutest critics, most of whom throw it aside.[79] That is,\nhowever, too summary a way of disposing of it, since the record,\nthough badly blurred, is obviously trying to preserve a fact of\nimportance to the order.\n\nUsually the assembly in question is located at York, in the year 926,\nof which, however, no slightest record remains. Whether at York or\nelsewhere, some such assembly must have been convoked, either as a\ncivil function, or as a regular meeting of Masons authorized by legal\npower for upholding the honor of the craft; and its articles became\nthe laws of the order. It was probably a civil assembly, a part of\nwhose legislation was a revised and approved code for the regulation\nof Masons, and not unnaturally, by reason of its importance to the\norder, it became known as a Masonic assembly. Moreover, the Charge\nagreed upon was evidently no ordinary charge, for it is spoken of as\n\"_the_ Charge,\" called by one MS \"a deep charge for the observation of\nsuch articles as belong to Masonry,\" and by another MS \"a rule to be\nkept forever.\" Other assemblies were held afterwards, either annually\nor semi-annually, until the time of Inigo Jones who, in 1607, became\nsuperintendent general of royal buildings and at the same time head of\nthe Masonic order in England; and he it was who instituted quarterly\ngatherings instead of the old annual assemblies.\n\nWriters not familiar with the facts often speak of Freemasonry as an\nevolution from Guild-masonry, but that is to err. They were never at\nany time united or the same, though working almost side by side\nthrough several centuries. Free-masons existed in large numbers long\nbefore any city guild of Masons was formed, and even after the Guilds\nbecame powerful the two were entirely distinct. The Guilds, as Hallam\nsays,[80] \"were Fraternities by voluntary compact, to relieve each\nother in poverty, and to protect each other from injury. Two\nessential characteristics belonged to them: the common banquet, and\nthe common purse. They had also, in many instances, a religious and\nsometimes a secret ceremonial to knit more firmly the bond of\nfidelity. They readily became connected with the exercises of trades,\nwith training of apprentices, and the traditional rules of art.\"\nGuild-masons, it may be added, had many privileges, one of which was\nthat they were allowed to frame their own laws, and to enforce\nobedience thereto. Each Guild had a monopoly of the building in its\ncity or town, except ecclesiastical buildings, but with this went\nserious restrictions and limitations. No member of a local Guild could\nundertake work outside his town, but had to hold himself in readiness\nto repair the castle or town walls, whereas Free-masons journeyed the\nlength and breadth of the land wherever their labor called them. Often\nthe Free-masons, when at work in a town, employed Guild-masons, but\nonly for rough work, and as such called them \"rough-masons.\" No\nGuild-mason was admitted to the order of Free-masons unless he\ndisplayed unusual aptitude both as a workman and as a man of\nintellect. Such as adhered only to the manual craft and cared nothing\nfor intellectual aims, were permitted to go back to the Guilds. For\nthe Free-masons, be it once more noted, were not only artists doing a\nmore difficult and finished kind of work, but an intellectual order,\nhaving a great tradition of science and symbolism which they guarded.\n\nFollowing the Norman Conquest, which began in 1066, England was\ninvaded by an army of ecclesiastics, and churches, monasteries,\ncathedrals, and abbeys were commenced in every part of the country.\nNaturally the Free-masons were much in demand, and some of them\nreceived rich reward for their skill as architects--Robertus\nCementarius, a Master Mason employed at St. Albans in 1077, receiving\na grant of land and a house in the town.[81] In the reign of Henry II\nno less than one hundred and fifty-seven religious buildings were\nfounded in England, and it is at this period that we begin to see\nevidence of a new style of architecture--the Gothic. Most of the great\ncathedrals of Europe date from the eleventh century--the piety of the\nworld having been wrought to a pitch of intense excitement by the\nexpected end of all things, unaccountably fixed by popular belief to\ntake place in the year one thousand. When the fatal year--and the\nfollowing one, which some held to be the real date for the sounding of\nthe last trumpet--passed without the arrival of the dreaded\ncatastrophe, the sense of general relief found expression in raising\nmagnificent temples to the glory of God who had mercifully abstained\nfrom delivering all things to destruction. And it was the order of\nFree-masons who made it possible for men to \"sing their souls in\nstone,\" leaving for the admiration of after times what Goethe called\nthe \"frozen music\" of the Middle Ages--monuments of the faith and\ngratitude of the race which adorn and consecrate the earth.\n\nLittle need be added to the story of Freemasonry during the\ncathedral-building period; its monuments are its best history, alike\nof its genius, its faith, and its symbols--as witness the triangle and\nthe circle which form the keystone of the ornamental tracery of every\nGothic temple. Masonry was then at the zenith of its power, in its\nfull splendor, the Lion of the tribe of Judah its symbol, strength,\nwisdom, and beauty its ideals; its motto to be faithful to God and the\nGovernment; its mission to lend itself to the public good and\nfraternal charity. Keeper of an ancient and high tradition, it was a\nrefuge for the oppressed, and a teacher of art and morality to\nmankind. In 1270, we find Pope Nicholas III confirming all the rights\npreviously granted to the Free-masons, and bestowing on them further\nprivileges. Indeed, all the Popes up to Benedict XII appear to have\nconceded marked favors to the order, even to the length of exempting\nits members from the necessity of observance of the statutes, from\nmunicipal regulations, and from obedience to royal edicts.\n\nWhat wonder, then, that the Free-masons, ere long, took _Liberty_ for\ntheir motto, and by so doing aroused the animosity of those in\nauthority, as well as the Church which they had so nobly served.\nAlready forces were astir which ultimately issued in the Reformation,\nand it is not surprising that a great secret order was suspected of\nharboring men and fostering influences sympathetic with the impending\nchange felt to be near at hand. As men of the most diverse views,\npolitical and religious, were in the lodges, the order began first to\nbe accused of refusing to obey the law, and then to be persecuted. In\nEngland a statute was enacted against the Free-masons in 1356,\nprohibiting their assemblies under severe penalties, but the law seems\nnever to have been rigidly enforced; though the order suffered greatly\nin the civil commotions of the period. However, with the return of\npeace after the long War of the Roses, Freemasonry revived for a\ntime, and regained much of its prestige, adding to its fame in the\nrebuilding of London after the fire, and in particular of St. Paul's\nCathedral.[82]\n\nWhen cathedral-building ceased, and the demand for highly skilled\narchitects decreased, the order fell into decline, but never at any\ntime lost its identity, its organization, and its ancient emblems. The\nMasons' Company of London, though its extant records date only from\n1620, is considered by its historian, Conder, to have been established\nin 1220, if not earlier, at which time there was great activity in\nbuilding, owing to the building of London Bridge, begun in 1176, and\nof Westminster Abbey in 1221; thus reaching back into the cathedral\nperiod. At one time the Free-masons seem to have been stronger in\nScotland than in England, or at all events to have left behind more\nrecords--for the minutes of the Lodge of Edinburgh go back to 1599,\nand the _Schaw Statutes_ to an earlier date. Nevertheless, as the art\nof architecture declined Masonry declined with it, not a few of its\nmembers identifying themselves with the Guilds of ordinary\n\"rough-masons,\" whom they formerly held in contempt; while others,\nlosing sight of high aims, turned its lodges into social clubs.\nAlways, however, despite defection and decline, there were those, as\nwe shall see, who were faithful to the ideals of the order, devoting\nthemselves more and more to its moral and spiritual teaching until\nwhat has come to be known as \"the revival of 1717.\"\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[65] _The Cathedral Builders_, chap. i.\n\n[66] \"The honor due to the original founders of these edifices is\nalmost invariably transferred to the ecclesiastics under whose\npatronage they rose, rather than to the skill and design of the Master\nMason, or professional architect, because the only historians were\nmonks.... They were probably not so well versed in geometrical science\nas the Master Masons, for mathematics formed a part of monastic\nlearning in a very limited degree.\"--James Dallaway, _Architecture in\nEngland_; and his words are the more weighty for that he is not a\nMason.\n\n[67] _History of Masonry._ In the St. Sebaldus Church, Nuremburg, is a\ncarving in stone showing a nun in the embrace of a monk. In Strassburg\na hog and a goat may be seen carrying a sleeping fox as a sacred relic,\nin advance a bear with a cross and a wolf with a taper. An ass is\nreading mass at an altar. In Wurzburg Cathedral are the pillars of Boaz\nand Jachin, and in the altar of the Church of Doberan, in Mecklenburg,\nplaced as Masons use them, and a most significant scene in which\npriests are turning a mill grinding out dogmatic doctrines; and at the\nbottom the Lord's Supper in which the Apostles are shown in well-known\nMasonic attitudes. In the Cathedral of Brandenburg a fox in priestly\nrobes is preaching to a flock of geese; and in the Minster at Berne the\nPope is placed among those who are lost in perdition. These were bold\nstrokes which even heretics hardly dared to indulge in.\n\n[68] _History of Masonry_, by Steinbrenner, chap. iv. There were,\nindeed, many secret societies in the Middle Ages, such as the\nCatharists, Albigenses, Waldenses, and others, whose initiates and\nadherents traveled through all Europe, forming new communities and\nmaking proselytes not only among the masses, but also among nobles, and\neven among the monks, abbots, and bishops. Occultists, Alchemists,\nKabbalists, all wrought in secrecy, keeping their flame aglow under the\ncrust of conformity.\n\n[69] _Realities of Masonry_, by Blake (chap. ii). While the theory of\nthe descent of Masonry from the Order of the Temple is untenable, a\nconnection between the two societies, in the sense in which an artist\nmay be said to be connected with his employer, is more than probable;\nand a similarity may be traced between the ritual of reception in the\nOrder of the Temple and that used by Masons, but that of the Temple was\nprobably derived from, or suggested by, that of the Masons; or both may\nhave come from an original source further back. That the Order of the\nTemple, as such, did not actually coalesce with the Masons seems clear,\nbut many of its members sought refuge under the Masonic apron (_History\nof Freemasonry and Concordant Orders_, by Hughan and Stillson).\n\n[70] Every elaborate History of Masonry--as, for example, that of\nGould--reproduces these old documents in full or in digest, with\nexhaustive analyses of and commentaries upon them. Such a task\nobviously does not come within the scope of the present study. One of\nthe best brief comparative studies of the _Old Charges_ is an essay by\nW.H. Upton, \"The True Text of the Book of Constitutions,\" in that it\napplies approved methods of historical criticism to all of them (_A. Q.\nC._, vii, 119). See also _Masonic Sketches and Reprints_, by Hughan. No\ndoubt these _Old Charges_ are familiar, or should be familiar, to every\nintelligent member of the order, as a man knows the deeds of his\nestate.\n\n[71] _The Hole Craft and Fellowship of Masonry_, by Conder. Also\nexhaustive essays by Conder and Speth, _A. Q. C._, ix, 29; x, 10. Too\nmuch, it seems to me, has been made of both the name and the date,\nsince the _fact_ was older than either. Findel finds the name\n_Free_-mason as early as 1212, and Leader Scott goes still further\nback; but the fact may be traced back to the Roman Collegia.\n\n[72] He refers to Herodotus as the _Master of History_; quotes from the\n_Polychronicon_, written by a Benedictine monk who died in 1360; from\n_De Imagine Mundi_, Isodorus, and frequently from the Bible. Of more\nthan ordinary learning for his day and station, he did not escape a\ncertain air of pedantry in his use of authorities.\n\n[73] These invocations vary in their phraseology, some bearing more\nvisibly than others the mark of the Church. Toulmin Smith, in his\n_English Guilds_, notes the fact that the form of the invocations of\nthe Masons \"differs strikingly from that of most other Guilds. In\nalmost every other case, God the Father Almighty would seem to have\nbeen forgotten.\" But Masons never forgot the corner-stone upon which\ntheir order and its teachings rest; not for a day.\n\n[74] Such names as Aynone, Aymon, Ajuon, Dynon, Amon, Anon, Annon, and\nBenaim are used, deliberately, it would seem, and of set design. _The\nInigo Jones MS_ uses the Bible name, but, though dated 1607, it has\nbeen shown to be apocryphal. See Gould's _History_, appendix. Also\n_Bulletin_ of Supreme Council S. J., U. S. (vii, 200), that the\nStrassburg builders pictured the legend in stone.\n\n[75] _The Cathedral Builders_, bk. i, chap. i.\n\n[76] See the account of \"The Origin of Saxon Architecture,\" in the\n_Cathedral Builders_ (bk. ii, chap. iii), written by Dr. W.M. Barnes in\nEngland independently of the author who was living in Italy; and it is\nsignificant that the facts led both of them to the same conclusions.\nThey show quite unmistakably that the Comacine builders were in England\nas early as 600 A.D., both by documents and by a comparative study of\nstyles of architecture.\n\n[77] _Maestri Comacini_, vol. i, chap. ii.\n\n[78] _Story of Architecture_, chap. xxii.\n\n[79] Gould, in his _History of Masonry_ (i, 31, 65), rejects the legend\nas having not the least foundation in fact, as indeed, he rejects\nalmost everything that cannot prove itself in a court of law. For the\nother side see a \"Critical Examination of the Alban and Athelstan\nLegends,\" by C.C. Howard (_A. Q. C._, vii, 73). Meanwhile, Upton points\nout that St. Alban was the name of a town, not of a man, and shows how\nthe error may have crept into the record (_A. Q. C._, vii, 119-131).\nThe nature of the tradition, its details, its motive, and the absence\nof any reason for fiction, should deter us from rejecting it. See two\nable articles, pro and con, by Begemann and Speth, entitled \"The\nAssembly\" (_A. Q. C._, vii). Older Masonic writers, like Oliver and\nMackey, accepted the York assembly as a fact established (_American\nQuarterly Review of Freemasonry_, vol. i, 546; ii, 245).\n\n[80] _History of the English Constitution._ Of course the Guild was\nindigenous to almost every age and land, from China to ancient Rome\n(_The Guilds of China_, by H.B. Morse), and they survive in the trade\nand labor unions of our day. The story of _English Guilds_ has been\ntold by Toulmin Smith, and in the histories of particular companies by\nHerbert and Hazlitt, leaving little for any one to add. No doubt the\nGuilds were influenced by the Free-masons in respect of officers and\nemblems, and we know that some of them, like the German Steinmetzen,\nattached moral meanings to their working tools, and that others, like\nthe French Companionage, even held the legend of Hiram; but these did\nnot make them Free-masons. English writers like Speth go too far when\nthey deny to the Steinmetzen any esoteric lore, and German scholars\nlike Krause and Findel are equally at fault in insisting that they were\nFree-masons. (See essay by Speth, _A. Q. C._, i, 17, and _History of\nMasonry_, by Steinbrenner, chap. iv.)\n\n[81] _Notes on the Superintendents of English Buildings in the Middle\nAges_, by Wyatt Papworth. Cementerius is also mentioned in connection\nwith the Salisbury Cathedral, again in his capacity as a Master Mason.\n\n[82] Hearing that the Masons had certain secrets that could not be\nrevealed to her (for that she could not be Grand Master) Queen\nElizabeth sent an armed force to break up their annual Grand Lodge at\nYork, on St. John's Day, December 27, 1561. But Sir Thomas Sackville\ntook care to see that some of the men sent were Free-masons, who,\njoining in the communication, made \"a very honorable report to the\nQueen, who never more attempted to dislodge or disturb them; but\nesteemed them a peculiar sort of men, that cultivated peace and\nfriendship, arts and sciences, without meddling in the affairs of\nChurch or State\" (_Book of Constitutions_, by Anderson).\n\n\n\n\nFELLOWCRAFTS\n\n\n\n\n/#\n  _Noe person (of what degree soever) shalbee accepted a Free Mason,\n  unless hee shall have a lodge of five Free Masons at least;\n  whereof one to be a master, or warden, of that limitt, or\n  division, wherein such Lodge shalbee kept, and another of the\n  trade of Free Masonry.\n\n  That noe person shalbee accepted a Free Mason, but such as are of\n  able body, honest parentage, good reputation, and observers of the\n  laws of the land.\n\n  That noe person shalbee accepted a Free Mason, or know the secrets\n  of said Society, until hee hath first taken the oath of secrecy\n  hereafter following: \"I, A. B., doe in the presence of Almighty\n  God, and my fellows, and brethren here present, promise and\n  declare, that I will not at any time hereafter, by any act or\n  circumstance whatsoever, directly or indirectly, publish,\n  discover, reveal, or make known any of the secrets, privileges, or\n  counsels, of the fraternity or fellowship of Free Masonry, which\n  at this time, or any time hereafter, shalbee made known unto mee\n  soe helpe mee God, and the holy contents of this booke.\"_\n\n  --HARLEIAN MS, 1600-1650\n#/\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\n_Fellowcrafts_\n\n\nI\n\nHaving followed the Free-masons over a long period of history, it is\nnow in order to give some account of the ethics, organization, laws,\nemblems, and workings of their lodges. Such a study is at once easy\nand difficult by turns, owing to the mass of material, and to the\nfurther fact that in the nature of things much of the work of a secret\norder is not, and has never been, matter for record. By this\nnecessity, not a little must remain obscure, but it is hoped that even\nthose not of the order may derive a definite notion of the principles\nand practices of the old Craft-masonry, from which the Masonry of\ntoday is descended. At least, such a sketch will show that, from times\nof old, the order of Masons has been a teacher of morality, charity,\nand truth, unique in its genius, noble in its spirit, and benign in\nits influence.\n\nTaking its ethical teaching first, we have only to turn to the _Old\nCharges_ or _Constitutions_ of the order, with their quaint blending\nof high truth and homely craft-law, to find the moral basis of\nuniversal Masonry. These old documents were a part of the earliest\nritual of the order, and were recited or read to every young man at\nthe time of his initiation as an Entered Apprentice. As such, they\nrehearsed the legends, laws, and ethics of the craft for his\ninformation, and, as we have seen, they insisted upon the antiquity of\nthe order, as well as its service to mankind--a fact peculiar to\nMasonry, _for no other order has ever claimed such a legendary or\ntraditional history_. Having studied that legendary record and its\nvalue as history, it remains to examine the moral code laid before the\ncandidate who, having taken a solemn oath of loyalty and secrecy, was\ninstructed in his duties as an Apprentice and his conduct as a man.\nWhat that old code lacked in subtlety is more than made up in\nsimplicity, and it might all be stated in the words of the Prophet:\n\"To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God,\"--the old\neternal moral law, founded in faith, tried by time, and approved as\nvalid for men of every clime, creed, and condition.\n\nTurning to the _Regius MS_, we find fifteen \"points\" or rules set\nforth for the guidance of Fellowcrafts, and as many for the rule of\nMaster Masons.[83] Later the number was reduced to nine, but so far\nfrom being an abridgment, it was in fact an elaboration of the\noriginal code; and by the time we reach the _Roberts_ and _Watson_ MSS\na similar set of requirements for Apprentices had been adopted--or\nrather recorded, for they had been in use long before. It will make\nfor clearness if we reverse the order and take the Apprentice charge\nfirst, as it shows what manner of men were admitted to the order. No\nman was made a Mason save by his own free choice, and he had to prove\nhimself a freeman of lawful age, of legitimate birth, of sound body,\nof clean habits, and of good repute, else he was not eligible. Also,\nhe had to bind himself by solemn oath to serve under rigid rules for a\nperiod of seven years, vowing absolute obedience--for the old-time\nLodge was a school in which young men studied, not only the art of\nbuilding and its symbolism, but the seven sciences as well. At first\nthe Apprentice was little more than a servant, doing the most menial\nwork, his period of endenture being at once a test of his character\nand a training for his work. If he proved himself trustworthy and\nproficient, his wages were increased, albeit his rules of conduct were\nnever relaxed. How austere the discipline was may be seen from a\nsummary of its rules:\n\nConfessing faith in God, an Apprentice vowed to honor the Church, the\nState, and the Master under whom he served, agreeing not to absent\nhimself from the service of the order, by day or night, save with the\nlicense of the Master. He must be honest, truthful, upright, faithful\nin keeping the secrets of the craft, or the confidence of the Master,\nor of any Free-mason, when communicated to him as such. Above all he\nmust be chaste, never committing adultery or fornication, and he must\nnot marry, or contract himself to any woman, during his\napprenticeship. He must be obedient to the Master without argument or\nmurmuring, respectful to all Free-masons, courteous, avoiding obscene\nor uncivil speech, free from slander, dissension, or dispute. He must\nnot haunt or frequent any tavern or ale-house, or so much as go into\nthem except it be upon an errand of the Master or with his consent,\nusing neither cards, dice, nor any unlawful game, \"Christmas time\nexcepted.\" He must not steal anything even to the value of a penny, or\nsuffer it to be done, or shield anyone guilty of theft, but report the\nfact to the Master with all speed.\n\nAfter seven long years the Apprentice brought his masterpiece to the\nLodge--or, in earlier times, to the annual Assembly[84]--and on strict\ntrial and due examination was declared a Master. Thereupon he ceased\nto be a pupil and servant, passed into the ranks of Fellowcrafts, and\nbecame a free man capable, for the first time in his life, of earning\nhis living and choosing his own employer. Having selected a Mark[85]\nby which his work could be identified, he could then take his kit of\ntools and travel as a Master of his art, receiving the wages of a\nMaster--not, however, without first reaffirming his vows of honesty,\ntruthfulness, fidelity, temperance, and chastity, and assuming added\nobligations to uphold the honor of the order. Again he was sworn not\nto lay bare, nor to tell to any man what he heard or saw done in the\nLodge, and to keep the secrets of a fellow Mason as inviolably as his\nown--unless such a secret imperiled the good name of the craft. He\nfurthermore promised to act as mediator between his Master and his\nFellows, and to deal justly with both parties. If he saw a Fellow\nhewing a stone which he was in a fair way to spoil, he must help him\nwithout loss of time, if able to do so, that the whole work be not\nruined. Or if he met a fellow Mason in distress, or sorrow, he must\naid him so far as lay within his power. In short, he must live in\njustice and honor with all men, especially with the members of the\norder, \"that the bond of mutual charity and love may augment and\ncontinue.\"\n\nStill more binding, if possible, were the vows of a Fellowcraft when\nhe was elevated to the dignity of Master of the Lodge or of the Work.\nOnce more he took solemn oath to keep the secrets of the order\nunprofaned, and more than one old MS quotes the Golden Rule as the law\nof the Master's office. He must be steadfast, trusty, and true; pay\nhis Fellows truly; take no bribe; and as a judge stand upright. He\nmust attend the annual Assembly, unless disabled by illness, if within\nfifty miles--the distance varying, however, in different MSS. He must\nbe careful in admitting Apprentices, taking only such as are fit both\nphysically and morally, and keeping none without assurance that he\nwould stay seven years in order to learn his craft. He must be patient\nwith his pupils, instruct them diligently, encourage them with\nincreased pay, and not permit them to work at night, \"unless in the\npursuit of knowledge, which shall be a sufficient excuse.\" He must be\nwise and discreet, and undertake no work he cannot both perform and\ncomplete equally to the profit of his employer and the craft. Should a\nFellow be overtaken by error, he must be gentle, skilful, and\nforgiving, seeking rather to help than to hurt, abjuring scandal and\nbitter words. He must not attempt to supplant a Master of the Lodge or\nof the Work, or belittle his work, but recommend it and assist him in\nimproving it. He must be liberal in charity to those in need, helping\na Fellow who has fallen upon evil lot, giving him work and wages for\nat least a fortnight, or if he has no work, \"relieve him with money to\ndefray his reasonable charges to the next Lodge.\" For the rest, he\nmust in all ways act in a manner befitting the nobility of his office\nand his order.\n\nSuch were some of the laws of the moral life by which the old\nCraft-masonry sought to train its members, not only to be good\nworkmen, but to be good and true men, serving their Fellows; to which,\nas the Rawlinson MS tells us, \"divers new articles have been added by\nthe free choice and good consent and best advice of the Perfect and\nTrue Masons, Masters, and Brethren.\" If, as an ethic of life, these\nlaws seem simple and rudimentary, they are none the less fundamental,\nand they remain to this day the only gate and way by which those must\nenter who would go up to the House of the Lord. As such they are great\nand saving things to lay to heart and act upon, and if Masonry taught\nnothing else its title to the respect of mankind would be clear. They\nhave a double aspect: first, the building of a spiritual man upon\nimmutable moral foundations; and second, the great and simple\nreligious faith in the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of man, and\nthe Life Eternal, taught by Masonry from its earliest history to this\ngood day. Morality and theistic religion--upon these two rocks\nMasonry has always stood, and they are the only basis upon which man\nmay ever hope to rear the spiritual edifice of his life, even to the\ncapstone thereof.\n\n\nII\n\nImagine, now, a band of these builders, bound together by solemn vows\nand mutual interests, journeying over the most abominable roads toward\nthe site selected for an abbey or cathedral. Traveling was attended\nwith many dangers, and the company was therefore always well armed,\nthe disturbed state of the country rendering such a precaution\nnecessary. Tools and provisions belonging to the party were carried on\npack-horses or mules, placed in the center of the convoy, in charge of\nkeepers. The company consisted of a Master Mason directing the work,\nFellows of the craft, and Apprentices serving their time. Besides\nthese we find subordinate laborers, not of the Lodge though in it,\ntermed layers, setters, tilers, and so forth. Masters and Fellows wore\na distinctive costume, which remained almost unchanged in its fashion\nfor no less than three centuries.[86] Withal, it was a serious\ncompany, but in nowise solemn, and the tedium of the journey was no\ndoubt beguiled by song, story, and the humor incident to travel.\n\n\"Wherever they came,\" writes Mr. Hope in his _Essay on Architecture_,\n\"in the suite of missionaries, or were called by the natives, or\narrived of their own accord, to seek employment, they appeared headed\nby a chief surveyor, who governed the whole troop, and named one man\nout of every ten, under the name of warden, to overlook the other\nnine, set themselves to building temporary huts for their habitation\naround the spot where the work was to be carried on, regularly\norganized their different departments, fell to work, sent for fresh\nsupplies of their brethren as the object demanded, and, when all was\nfinished, again they raised their encampment, and went elsewhere to\nundertake other work.\"\n\nHere we have a glimpse of the methods of the Free-masons, of their\norganization, almost military in its order and dispatch, and of their\nmigratory life; although they had a more settled life than this\nungainly sentence allows, for long time was required for the building\nof a great cathedral. Sometimes, it would seem, they made special\ncontracts with the inhabitants of a town where they were to erect a\nchurch, containing such stipulations as, that a Lodge covered with\ntiles should be built for their accommodation, and that every laborer\nshould be provided with a white apron of a peculiar kind of leather\nand gloves to shield the hands from stone and slime.[87] At all\nevents, the picture we have is that of a little community or village\nof workmen, living in rude dwellings, with a Lodge room at the center\nadjoining a slowly rising cathedral--the Master busy with his plans\nand the care of his craft; Fellows shaping stones for walls, arches,\nor spires; Apprentices fetching tools or mortar, and when necessary,\ntending the sick, and performing all offices of a similar nature.\nAlways the Lodge was the center of interest and activity, a place of\nlabor, of study, of devotion, as well as the common room for the\nsocial life of the order. Every morning, as we learn from the Fabric\nRolls of York Minster, began with devotion, followed by the directions\nof the Master for the work of the day, which no doubt included study\nof the laws of the art, plans of construction, and the mystical\nmeaning of ornaments and emblems. Only Masons were in attendance at\nsuch times, the Lodge being closed to all others, and guarded by a\nTiler[88] against \"the approach of cowans[89] and eavesdroppers.\" Thus\nthe work of each day was begun, moving forward amidst the din and\nlitter of the hours, until the craft was called from labor to rest and\nrefreshment; and thus a cathedral was uplifted as a monument to the\nOrder, albeit the names of the builders are faded and lost. Employed\nfor years on the same building, and living together in the Lodge, it\nis not strange that Free-masons came to know and love one another, and\nto have a feeling of loyalty to their craft, unique, peculiar, and\nenduring. Traditions of fun and frolic, of song and feast and\ngala-day, have floated down to us, telling of a comradeship as joyous\nas it was genuine. If their life had hardship and vicissitude, it had\nalso its grace and charm of friendship, of sympathy, service, and\ncommunity of interest, and the joy that comes of devotion to a high\nand noble art.\n\nWhen a Mason wished to leave one Lodge and go elsewhere to work, as he\nwas free to do when he desired, he had no difficulty in making himself\nknown to the men of his craft by certain signs, grips, and words.[90]\nSuch tokens of recognition were necessary to men who traveled afar in\nthose uncertain days, especially when references or other means of\nidentification were ofttimes impossible. All that many people knew\nabout the order was that its members had a code of secret signs, and\nthat no Mason need be friendless or alone when other Masons were\nwithin sight or hearing; so that the very name of the craft came to\nstand for any mode of hidden recognition. Steele, in the _Tatler_,\nspeaks of a class of people who have \"their signs and tokens like\nFree-masons.\" There were more than one of these signs and tokens, as\nwe are more than once told--in the _Harleian MS_, for example, which\nspeaks of \"words and signs.\" What they were may not be here discussed,\nbut it is safe to say that a Master Mason of the Middle Ages, were he\nto return from the land of shadows, could perhaps make himself known\nas such in a Fellowcraft Lodge of today. No doubt some things would\npuzzle him at first, but he would recognize the officers of the Lodge,\nits form, its emblems, its great altar Light, and its moral truth\ntaught in symbols. Besides, he could tell us, if so minded, much that\nwe should like to learn about the craft in the olden times, its hidden\nmysteries, the details of its rites, and the meaning of its symbols\nwhen the poetry of building was yet alive.\n\n\nIII\n\nThis brings us to one of the most hotly debated questions in Masonic\nhistory--the question as to the number and nature of the degrees made\nuse of in the old craft lodges. Hardly any other subject has so deeply\nengaged the veteran archaeologists of the order, and while it ill\nbecomes any one glibly to decide such an issue, it is at least\npermitted us, after studying all of value that has been written on\nboth sides, to sum up what seems to be the truth arrived at.[91]\nWhile such a thing as a written record of an ancient degree--aside\nfrom the _Old Charges_, which formed a part of the earliest\nrituals--is unthinkable, we are not left altogether to the mercy of\nconjecture in a matter so important. Cesare Cantu tells us that the\nComacine Masters \"were called together in the Loggie by a grand-master\nto treat of affairs common to the order, to receive novices, and\n_confer superior degrees on others_.\"[92] Evidence of a sort similar\nis abundant, but not a little confusion will be avoided if the\nfollowing considerations be kept in mind:\n\nFirst, that during its purely operative period the ritual of Masonry\nwas naturally less formal and ornate than it afterwards became, from\nthe fact that its very life was a kind of ritual and its symbols were\nalways visibly present in its labor. By the same token, as it ceased\nto be purely operative, and others not actually architects were\nadmitted to its fellowship, of necessity its rites became more\nformal--\"_very formall_,\" as Dugdale said in 1686,[93]--portraying in\nceremony what had long been present in its symbolism and practice.\n\nSecond, that with the decline of the old religious art of\nbuilding--for such it was in very truth--some of its symbolism lost\nits luster, its form surviving but its meaning obscured, if not\nentirely faded. Who knows, for example--even with the Klein essay on\n_The Great Symbol_[94] in hand--what Pythagoras meant by his lesser\nand greater Tetractys? That they were more than mathematical theorems\nis plain, yet even Plutarch missed their meaning. In the same way,\nsome of the emblems in our Lodges are veiled, or else wear meanings\ninvented after the fact, in lieu of deeper meanings hidden, or but\ndimly discerned. Albeit, the great emblems still speak in truths\nsimple and eloquent, and remain to refine, instruct, and exalt.\n\nThird, that when Masonry finally became a purely speculative or\nsymbolical fraternity, no longer an order of practical builders, its\nceremonial inevitably became more elaborate and imposing--its old\nhabit and custom, as well as its symbols and teachings, being\nenshrined in its ritual. More than this, knowing how \"Time the white\ngod makes all things holy, and what is old becomes religion,\" it is\nno wonder that its tradition became every year more authoritative; so\nthat the tendency was not, as many have imagined, to add to its\nteaching, but to preserve and develop its rich deposit of symbolism,\nand to avoid any break with what had come down from the past.\n\nKeeping in mind this order of evolution in the history of Masonry, we\nmay now state the facts, so far as they are known, as to its early\ndegrees; dividing it into two periods, the Operative and the\nSpeculative.[95] An Apprentice in the olden days was \"entered\" as a\nnovice of the craft, first, as a purely business proceeding, not\nunlike our modern indentures, or articles. Then, or shortly\nafterwards--probably at the annual Assembly--there was a ceremony of\ninitiation making him a Mason--including an oath, the recital of the\ncraft legend as recorded in the _Old Charges_, instruction in moral\nconduct and deportment as a Mason, and the imparting of certain\nsecrets. At first this degree, although comprising secrets, does not\nseem to have been mystic at all, but a simple ceremony intended to\nimpress upon the mind of the youth the high moral life required of\nhim. Even Guild-masonry had such a rite of initiation, as Hallam\nremarks, and if we may trust the Findel version of the ceremony used\namong the German Stone-masons, it was very like the first degree as we\nnow have it--though one has always the feeling that it was embellished\nin the light of later time.[96]\n\nSo far there is no dispute, but the question is whether any other\ndegree was known in the early lodges. Both the probabilities of the\ncase, together with such facts as we have, indicate that there was\nanother and higher degree. For, if all the secrets of the order were\ndivulged to an Apprentice, he could, after working four years, and\njust when he was becoming valuable, run away, give himself out as a\nFellow, and receive work and wages as such. If there was only one set\nof secrets, this deception might be practiced to his own profit and\nthe injury of the craft--unless, indeed, we revise all our ideas held\nhitherto, and say that his initiation did not take place until he was\nout of his articles. This, however, would land us in worse\ndifficulties later on. Knowing the fondness of the men of the Middle\nAges for ceremony, it is hardly conceivable that the day of all days\nwhen an Apprentice, having worked for seven long years, acquired the\nstatus of a Fellow, was allowed to go unmarked, least of all in an\norder of men to whom building was at once an art and an allegory. So\nthat, not only the exigences of his occupation, but the importance of\nthe day to a young man, and the spirit of the order, justify such a\nconclusion.\n\nHave we any evidence tending to confirm this inference? Most\ncertainly; so much so that it is not easy to interpret the hints given\nin the _Old Charges_ upon any other theory. For one thing, in nearly\nall the MSS, from the _Regius Poem_ down, we are told of two rooms or\nresorts, the Chamber and the Lodge--sometimes called the Bower and the\nHall--and the Mason was charged to keep the \"counsells\" proper to each\nplace. This would seem to imply that an Apprentice had access to the\nChamber or Bower, but not to the Lodge itself--at least not at all\ntimes. It may be argued that the \"other counsells\" referred to were\nmerely technical secrets, but that is to give the case away, since\nthey were secrets held and communicated as such. By natural process,\nas the order declined and actual building ceased, _its technical\nsecrets became ritual secrets_, though they must always have had\nsymbolical meanings. Further, while we have record of only one\noath--which does not mean that there _was_ only one--signs, tokens,\nand words are nearly always spoken of in the plural; and if the\nsecrets of a Fellowcraft were purely technical--which some of us do\nnot believe--they were at least accompanied and protected by certain\nsigns, tokens, and passwords. From this it is clear that the advent of\nan Apprentice into the ranks of a Fellow was in fact a degree, or\ncontained the essentials of a degree, including a separate set of\nsigns and secrets.\n\nWhen we pass to the second period, and men of wealth and learning who\nwere not actual architects began to enter the order--whether as\npatrons of the art or as students and mystics attracted by its\nsymbolism--other evidences of change appear. They, of course, were not\nrequired to serve a seven year apprenticeship, and they would\nnaturally be Fellows, not Masters, because they were in no sense\nmasters of the craft. Were these Fellows made acquainted with the\nsecrets of an Apprentice? If so, then the two degrees were either\nconferred in one evening, or else--what seems to have been the\nfact--they were welded into one; since we hear of men being made\nMasons in a single evening.[97] Customs differed, no doubt, in\ndifferent Lodges, some of which were chiefly operative, or made up of\nmen who had been working Masons, with only a sprinkling of men not\nworkmen who had been admitted; while others were purely symbolical\nLodges as far back as 1645. Naturally in Lodges of the first kind the\ntwo degrees were kept separate, and in the second they were\nmerged--the one degree becoming all the while more elaborate.\nGradually the men who had been Operative Masons became fewer in the\nLodges--chiefly those of higher position, such as master builders,\narchitects, and so on--until the order became a purely speculative\nfraternity, having no longer any trade object in view.\n\nNot only so, but throughout this period of transition, and even\nearlier, we hear intimations of \"the Master's Part,\" and those hints\nincrease in number as the office of Master of the Work lost its\npractical aspect after the cathedral-building period. What was the\nMaster's Part? Unfortunately, while the number of degrees may be\nindicated, their nature and details cannot be discussed without grave\nindiscretion; but nothing is plainer than that _we need not go outside\nMasonry itself to find the materials out of which all three degrees,\nas they now exist, were developed_.[98] Even the French Companionage,\nor Sons of Solomon, had the legend of the Third Degree long before\n1717, when some imagine it to have been invented. If little or no\nmention of it is found among English Masons before that date, that is\nno reason for thinking that it was unknown. _Not until 1841 was it\nknown to have been a secret of the Companionage in France, so deeply\nand carefully was it hidden._[99] Where so much is dim one may not be\ndogmatic, but what seems to have taken place in 1717 was, not the\n_addition_ of a third degree made out of whole cloth, but the\n_conversion_ of two degrees into three.\n\nThat is to say, Masonry is too great an institution to have been made\nin a day, much less by a few men, but was a slow evolution through\nlong time, unfolding its beauty as it grew. Indeed, it was like one of\nits own cathedrals upon which one generation of builders wrought and\nvanished, and another followed, until, amidst vicissitudes of time and\nchange, of decline and revival, the order itself became a temple of\nFreedom and Fraternity--its history a disclosure of its innermost soul\nin the natural process of its transition from actual architecture to\nits \"more noble and glorious purpose.\" For, since what was evolved\nfrom Masonry must always have been involved in it--not something alien\nadded to it from extraneous sources, as some never tire of trying to\nshow--we need not go outside the order itself to learn what Masonry\nis, certainly not to discover its motif and its genius; its later and\nmore elaborate form being only an expansion and exposition of its\ninherent nature and teaching. Upon this fact the present study insists\nwith all emphasis, as over against those who go hunting in every odd\nnook and corner to find whence Masonry came, and where it got its\nsymbols and degrees.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[83] Our present craft nomenclature is all wrong; the old order was\nfirst Apprentice, then Master, then Fellowcraft--mastership being, not\na degree conferred, but a reward of skill as a workman and of merit as\na man. The confusion today is due, no doubt, to the custom of the\nGerman Guilds, where a Fellowcraft had to serve an additional two years\nas a journeyman before becoming a Master. No such restriction was known\nin England. Indeed, the reverse was true, and it was not the\nFellowcraft but the Apprentice who prepared his masterpiece, and if it\nwas accepted, he became a Master. Having won his mastership, he was\nentitled to become a Fellowcraft--that is, a peer and fellow of the\nfraternity which hitherto he had only served. Also, we must distinguish\nbetween a Master and the Master of the Work, now represented by the\nMaster of the Lodge. Between a Master and the Master of the Work there\nwas no difference, of course, except an accidental one; they were both\nMasters and Fellows. Any Master (or Fellow) could become a Master of\nthe Work at any time, provided he was of sufficient skill and had the\nluck to be chosen as such either by the employer, or the Lodge, or\nboth.\n\n[84] The older MSS indicate that initiations took place, for the most\npart, at the annual Assemblies, which were bodies not unlike the Grand\nLodges of today, presided over by a President--a Grand Master in fact,\nthough not in name. Democratic in government, as Masonry has always\nbeen, they received Apprentices, examined candidates for mastership,\ntried cases, adjusted disputes, and regulated the craft; but they were\nalso occasions of festival and social good will. At a later time they\ndeclined, and the functions of initiation more and more reverted to the\nLodges.\n\n[85] The subject of Mason's Marks is most interesting, particularly\nwith reference to the origin and growth of Gothic architecture, but too\nintricate to be entered upon here. As for example, an essay entitled\n\"Scottish Mason's Marks Compared with Those of Other Countries,\" by\nProf. T.H. Lewis, _British Archaeological Association_, 1888, and the\ntheory there advanced that some great unknown architect introduced\nGothic architecture from the East, as shown by the difference in\nMason's Marks as compared with those of the Norman period. (Also\nproceedings of _A. Q. C._, iii, 65-81.)\n\n[86] _History of Masonry_, Steinbrenner. It consisted of a short black\ntunic--in summer made of linen, in winter of wool--open at the sides,\nwith a gorget to which a hood was attached; round the waist was a\nleathern girdle, from which depended a sword and a satchel. Over the\ntunic was a black scapulary, similar to the habit of a priest, tucked\nunder the girdle when they were working, but on holydays allowed to\nhang down. No doubt this garment also served as a coverlet at night, as\nwas the custom of the Middle Ages, sheets and blankets being luxuries\nenjoyed only by the rich and titled (_History of Agriculture and Prices\nin England_, T. Rogers). On their heads they wore large felt or straw\nhats, and tight leather breeches and long boots completed the garb.\n\n[87] Gloves were more widely used in the olden times than now, and the\npractice of giving them as presents was common in mediaeval times.\nOften, when the harvest was over, gloves were distributed to the\nlaborers who gathered it (_History of Prices in England_, Rogers), and\nrichly embroidered gloves formed an offering gladly accepted by\nprinces. Indeed, the bare hand was regarded as a symbol of hostility,\nand the gloved hand a token of peace and goodwill. For Masons, however,\nthe white gloves and apron had meanings hardly guessed by others, and\ntheir symbolism remains to this day with its simple and eloquent\nappeal. (See chapter on \"Masonic Clothing and Regalia,\" in _Things a\nFreemason Should Know_, by J.W. Crowe, an interesting article by\nRylands, _A. Q. C._, vol. v, and the delightful essay on \"Gloves,\" by\nDr. Mackey, in his _Symbolism of Freemasonry_.) Not only the tools of\nthe builder, but his clothing, had moral meaning.\n\n[88] _Tiler_--like the word _cable-tow_--is a word peculiar to the\nlanguage of Masonry, and means one who guards the Lodge to see that\nonly Masons are within ear-shot. It probably derives from the Middle\nAges when the makers of tiles for roofing were also of migratory habits\n(_History of Prices in England_, Rogers), and accompanied the\nFree-masons to perform their share of the work of covering buildings.\nSome tiler was appointed to act as sentinel to keep off intruders, and\nhence, in course of time, the name of Tiler came to be applied to any\nMason who guarded the Lodge.\n\n[89] Much has been written of the derivation and meaning of the word\n_cowan_, some finding its origin in a Greek term meaning \"dog.\" (See\n\"An Inquiry Concerning Cowans,\" by D. Ramsay, _Review of Freemasonry_,\nvol. i.) But its origin is still to seek, unless we accept it as an old\nScotch word of contempt (_Dictionary of Scottish Language_, Jamieson).\nSir Walter Scott uses it as such in Rob Roy, \"she doesna' value a\nCawmil mair as a cowan\" (chap. xxix). Masons used the word to describe\na \"dry-diker, one who built without cement,\" or a Mason without the\nword. Unfortunately, we still have cowans in this sense--men who try to\nbe Masons without using the cement of brotherly love. If only they\n_could_ be kept out! Blackstone describes an eavesdropper as \"a common\nnuisance punishable by fine.\" Legend says that the old-time Masons\npunished such prying persons, who sought to learn their signs and\nsecrets, by holding them under the eaves until the water ran in at the\nneck and out at the heels. What penalty was inflicted in dry weather,\nwe are not informed. At any rate, they had contempt for a man who tried\nto make use of the signs of the craft without knowing its art and\nethics.\n\n[90] This subject is most fascinating. Even in primitive ages there\nseems to have been a kind of universal sign-language employed, at\ntimes, by all peoples. Among widely separated tribes the signs were\nvery similar, owing, perhaps, to the fact that they were natural\ngestures of greeting, of warning, or of distress. There is intimation\nof this in the Bible, when the life of Ben-Hadad was saved by a sign\ngiven (I Kings, 20:30-35). Even among the North American Indians a\nsign-code of like sort was known (_Indian Masonry_, R.C. Wright, chap.\niii). \"Mr. Ellis, by means of his knowledge as a Master Mason, actually\npassed himself into the sacred part or adytum of one of the temples of\nIndia\" (_Anacalypsis_, G. Higgins, vol. i, 767). See also the\nexperience of Haskett Smith among the Druses, already referred to (_A.\nQ. C._, iv, 11). Kipling has a rollicking story with the Masonic\nsign-code for a theme, entitled _The Man Who Would be King_, and his\nimagination is positively uncanny. If not a little of the old\nsign-language of the race lives to this day in Masonic Lodges, it is\ndue not only to the exigencies of the craft, but also to the instinct\nof the order for the old, the universal, the _human_; its genius for\nmaking use of all the ways and means whereby men may be brought to know\nand love and help one another.\n\n[91] Once more it is a pleasure to refer to the transactions of the\nQuatuor Coronati Lodge of Research, whose essays and discussions of\nthis issue, as of so many others, are the best survey of the whole\nquestion from all sides. The paper by J.W. Hughan arguing in behalf of\nonly one degree in the old time lodges, and a like paper by G.W. Speth\nin behalf of two degrees, with the materials for the third, cover the\nfield quite thoroughly and in full light of all the facts (_A. Q. C._,\nvol. x, 127; vol. xi, 47). As for the Third Degree, that will be\nconsidered further along.\n\n[92] _Storia di Como_, vol. i, 440.\n\n[93] _Natural History of Wiltshire_, by John Aubrey, written, but not\npublished, in 1686.\n\n[94] _A. Q. C._, vol. x, 82.\n\n[95] Roughly speaking, the year 1600 may be taken as a date dividing\nthe two periods. Addison, writing in the _Spectator_, March 1, 1711,\ndraws the following distinction between a speculative and an operative\nmember of a trade or profession: \"I live in the world rather as a\nspectator of mankind, than as one of the species, by which means I have\nmade myself a speculative statesman, soldier, merchant, and _artisan_,\nwithout ever meddling with any practical part of life.\" By a\nSpeculative Mason, then, is meant a man who, though not an actual\narchitect, sought and obtained membership among Free-masons. Such men,\nscholars and students, began to enter the order as early as 1600, if\nnot earlier. If by Operative Mason is meant one who attached no moral\nmeaning to his tools, there were none such in the olden time--all\nMasons, even those in the Guilds, using their tools as moral emblems in\na way quite unknown to builders of our day. 'Tis a pity that this light\nof poetry has faded from our toil, and with it the joy of work.\n\n[96] _History of Masonry_, p. 66.\n\n[97] For a single example, the _Diary_ of Elias Ashmole, under date of\n1646.\n\n[98] Time out of mind it has been the habit of writers, both within the\norder and without, to treat Masonry as though it were a kind of\nagglomeration of archaic remains and platitudinous moralizings, made up\nof the heel-taps of Operative legend and the fag-ends of Occult lore.\nFar from it! If this were the fact the present writer would be the\nfirst to admit it, but it is not the fact. Instead, the idea that an\norder so noble, so heroic in its history, so rich in symbolism, so\nskilfully adjusted, and with so many traces of remote antiquity, was\nthe creation of pious fraud, or else of an ingenious conviviality,\npasses the bounds of credulity and enters the domain of the absurd.\nThis fact will be further emphasized in the chapter following, to which\nthose are respectfully referred who go everywhere else, _except to\nMasonry itself_, to learn what Masonry is and how it came to be.\n\n[99] _Livre du Compagnonnage_, by Agricol Perdiguier, 1841. George\nSand's novel, _Le Compagnon du Tour de France_, was published the same\nyear. See full account of this order in Gould, _History of Masonry_,\nvol. i, chap. v.\n\n\n\n\nACCEPTED MASONS\n\n\n\n\n/#\n  _The_ SYSTEM, _as taught in the regular_ LODGES, _may have some\n  Redundancies or Defects, occasion'd by the Ignorance or Indolence\n  of the old members. And indeed, considering through what Obscurity\n  and Darkness the_ MYSTERY _has been deliver'd down; the many\n  Centuries it has survived; the many Countries and Languages, and_\n  SECTS _and_ PARTIES _it has run through; we are rather to wonder\n  that it ever arrived to the present Age, without more\n  Imperfection. It has run long in muddy Streams, and as it were,\n  under Ground. But notwithstanding the great Rust it may have\n  contracted, there is much of the_ OLD FABRICK _remaining: the\n  essential Pillars of the Building may be discov'd through the\n  Rubbish, tho' the Superstructure be overrun with Moss and Ivy, and\n  the Stones, by Length of Time, be disjointed. And therefore, as\n  the Bust of an_ OLD HERO _is of great Value among the Curious,\n  tho' it has lost an Eye, the Nose or the Right Hand; so Masonry\n  with all its Blemishes and Misfortunes, instead of appearing\n  ridiculous, ought to be receiv'd with some Candor and Esteem, from\n  a Veneration of its_ ANTIQUITY.\n\n  --_Defence of Masonry_, 1730\n#/\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\n_Accepted Masons_\n\n\nI\n\nWhatever may be dim in the history of Freemasonry, and in the nature\nof things much must remain hidden, its symbolism may be traced in\nunbroken succession through the centuries; and its symbolism is its\nsoul. So much is this true, that it may almost be said that had the\norder ceased to exist in the period when it was at its height, its\nsymbolism would have survived and developed, so deeply was it wrought\ninto the mind of mankind. When, at last, the craft finished its labors\nand laid down its tools, its symbols, having served the faith of the\nworker, became a language for the thoughts of the thinker.\n\nFew realize the service of the science of numbers to the faith of man\nin the morning of the world, when he sought to find some kind of key\nto the mighty maze of things. Living amidst change and seeming chance,\nhe found in the laws of numbers a path by which to escape the awful\nsense of life as a series of accidents in the hands of a capricious\nPower; and, when we think of it, his insight was not invalid. \"All\nthings are in numbers,\" said the wise Pythagoras; \"the world is a\nliving arithmetic in its development--a realized geometry in its\nrepose.\" Nature is a realm of numbers; crystals are solid geometry.\nMusic, of all arts the most divine and exalting, moves with measured\nstep, using geometrical figures, and cannot free itself from numbers\nwithout dying away into discord. Surely it is not strange that a\nscience whereby men obtained such glimpses of the unity and order of\nthe world should be hallowed among them, imparting its form to their\nfaith.[100] Having revealed so much, mathematics came to wear mystical\nmeanings in a way quite alien to our prosaic habit of thinking--faith\nin our day having betaken itself to other symbols.\n\nEqually so was it with the art of building--a living allegory in which\nman imitated in miniature the world-temple, and sought by every\ndevice to discover the secret of its stability. Already we have shown\nhow, from earliest times, the simple symbols of the builder became a\npart of the very life of humanity, giving shape to its thought, its\nfaith, its dream. Hardly a language but bears their impress, as when\nwe speak of a Rude or Polished mind, of an Upright man who is a Pillar\nof society, of the Level of equality, or the Golden Rule by which we\nwould Square our actions. They are so natural, so inevitable, and so\neloquent withal, that we use them without knowing it. Sages have\nalways been called Builders, and it was no idle fancy when Plato and\nPythagoras used imagery drawn from the art of building to utter their\nhighest thought. Everywhere in literature, philosophy, and life it is\nso, and naturally so. Shakespeare speaks of \"square-men,\" and when\nSpenser would build in stately lines the Castle of Temperance, he\nmakes use of the Square, Circle, and Triangle:[101]\n\n/P\n  The frame thereof seem'd partly circulaire\n    And part triangular: O work divine!\n  Those two the first and last proportions are;\n    The one imperfect, mortal, feminine.\n\n  The other immortal, perfect, masculine,\n    And twixt them both a quadrate was the base,\n  Proportion'd equally by seven and nine;\n    Nine was the circle set in heaven's place\n    All which compacted made a goodly diapase.\nP/\n\nDuring the Middle Ages, as we know, men revelled in symbolism, often\nof the most recondite kind, and the emblems of Masonry are to be found\nall through the literature, art, and thought of that time. Not only on\ncathedrals, tombs, and monuments, where we should expect to come upon\nthem, but in the designs and decorations of dwellings, on vases,\npottery, and trinkets, in the water-marks used by paper-makers and\nprinters, and even as initial letters in books--everywhere one finds\nthe old, familiar emblems.[102] Square, Rule, Plumb-line, the perfect\nAshlar, the two Pillars, the Circle within the parallel lines, the\nPoint within the Circle, the Compasses, the Winding Staircase, the\nnumbers Three, Five, Seven, Nine, the double Triangle--these and other\nsuch symbols were used alike by Hebrew Kabbalists and Rosicrucian\nMystics. Indeed, so abundant is the evidence--if the matter were in\ndispute and needed proof--especially after the revival of symbolism\nunder Albertus Magnus in 1249, that a whole book might be filled with\nit. Typical are the lines left by a poet who, writing in 1623, sings\nof God as the great Logician whom the conclusion never fails, and\nwhose counsel rules without command:[103]\n\n/P\n  Therefore can none foresee his end\n  Unless on God is built his hope.\n  And if we here below would learn\n  By Compass, Needle, Square, and Plumb,\n  We never must o'erlook the mete\n  Wherewith our God hath measur'd us.\nP/\n\nFor all that, there are those who never weary of trying to find where,\nin the misty mid-region of conjecture, the Masons got their immemorial\nemblems. One would think, after reading their endless essays, that the\nsymbols of Masonry were loved and preserved by all the world--_except\nby the Masons themselves_. Often these writers imply, if they do not\nactually assert, that our order begged, borrowed, or cribbed its\nemblems from Kabbalists or Rosicrucians, whereas the truth is exactly\nthe other way round--those impalpable fraternities, whose vague,\nfantastic thought was always seeking a local habitation and a body,\nmaking use of the symbols of Masonry the better to reach the minds of\nmen. Why all this unnecessary mystery--not to say mystification--when\nthe facts are so plain, written in records and carved in stone? While\nKabbalists were contriving their curious cosmogonies, the Masons went\nabout their work, leaving record of their symbols in deeds, not in\ncreeds, albeit holding always to their simple faith, and hope, and\nduty--as in the lines left on an old brass Square, found in an ancient\nbridge near Limerick, bearing date of 1517:\n\n/P\n  Strive to live with love and care\n  Upon the Level, by the Square.\nP/\n\nSome of our Masonic writers[104]--more than one likes to admit--have\nerred by confusing Freemasonry with Guild-masonry, to the discredit of\nthe former. Even Oliver once concluded that the secrets of the\nworking Masons of the Middle Ages were none other than the laws of\nGeometry--hence the letter _G_; forgetting, it would seem, that\nGeometry had mystical meanings for them long since lost to us. As well\nsay that the philosophy of Pythagoras was repeating the Multiplication\nTable! Albert Pike held that we are \"not warranted in assuming that,\namong Masons generally--in the _body_ of Masonry--the symbolism of\nFreemasonry is of earlier date then 1717.\"[105] Surely that is to err.\nIf we had only the Mason's Marks that have come down to us, nothing\nelse would be needed to prove it an error. Of course, for deeper minds\nall emblems have deeper meanings, and there may have been many Masons\nwho did not fathom the symbolism of the order. No more do we; but the\nsymbolism itself, of hoar antiquity, was certainly the common\ninheritance and treasure of the working Masons of the Lodges in\nEngland and Scotland before, indeed centuries before, the year 1717.\n\n\nII\n\nTherefore it is not strange that men of note and learning, attracted\nby the wealth of symbolism in Masonry, as well as by its spirit of\nfraternity--perhaps, also, by its secrecy--began at an early date to\nask to be accepted as members of the order: hence _Accepted\nMasons_.[106] How far back the custom of admitting such men to the\nLodges goes is not clear, but hints of it are discernible in the\noldest documents of the order; and this whether or no we accept as\nhistorical the membership of Prince Edwin in the tenth century, of\nwhom the _Regius Poem_ says,\n\n/$\n      Of speculatyfe he was a master.\n$/\n\nThis may only mean that he was amply skilled in the knowledge, as well\nas the practice, of the art, although, as Gould points out, the\n_Regius MS_ contains intimations of thoughts above the heads of many\nto whom it was read.[107] Similar traces of Accepted Masons are found\nin the _Cooke MS_, compiled in 1400 or earlier. Hope suggests[108]\nthat the earliest members of this class were ecclesiastics who wished\nto study to be architects and designers, so as to direct the erection\nof their own churches; the more so, since the order had \"so high and\nsacred a destination, was so entirely exempt from all local, civil\njurisdiction,\" and enjoyed the sanction and protection of the Church.\nLater, when the order was in disfavor with the Church, men of another\nsort--scholars, mystics, and lovers of liberty--sought its degrees.\n\nAt any rate, the custom began early and continued through the years,\nuntil Accepted Masons were in the majority. Noblemen, gentlemen, and\nscholars entered the order as Speculative Masons, and held office as\nsuch in the old Lodges, the first name recorded in actual minutes\nbeing John Boswell, who was present as a member of the Lodge of\nEdinburgh in 1600. Of the forty-nine names on the roll of the Lodge of\nAberdeen in 1670, thirty-nine were Accepted Masons not in any way\nconnected with the building trade. In England the earliest reference\nto the initiation of a Speculative Mason, in Lodge minutes, is of the\nyear 1641. On the 20th of May that year, Robert Moray, \"General\nQuarter-master of the Armie off Scottland,\" as the record runs, was\ninitiated at Newcastle by members of the \"Lodge of Edinburgh,\" who\nwere with the Scottish Army. A still more famous example was that of\nAshmole, whereof we read in the _Memoirs of the Life of that Learned\nAntiquary, Elias Ashmole, Drawn up by Himself by Way of Diary_,\npublished in 1717, which contains two entries as follows, the first\ndated in 1646:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    _Octob 16.4 Hor._ 30 Minutes _post merid._ I was made a\n    Freemason at _Warrington_ in Lancashire, with Colonel _Henry\n    Wainwaring_ of _Kartichain_ in _Cheshire_; the names of those\n    that were there at the Lodge, Mr. _Richard Panket Warden_,\n    Mr. _James Collier_, Mr. _Richard Sankey_, _Henry Littler_,\n    _John Ellam_, _Richard Ellam_ and _Hugh Brewer_.\n#/\n\nSuch is the record, italics and all; and it has been shown, by hunting\nup the wills of the men present, that the members of the Warrington\nLodge in 1646 were, nearly all of them--every one in fact, so far as\nis known--Accepted Masons. Thirty-five years pass before we discover\nthe only other Masonic entries in the _Diary_, dated March, 1682,\nwhich read as follows:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    About 5 p.m. I received a Summons to appear at a Lodge to be\n    held the next day, at Masons Hall, London. Accordingly I\n    went, and about Noone were admitted into the Fellowship of\n    Free Masons, Sir. William Wilson, Knight, Capt. Richard\n    Borthwick, Mr. Will. Woodman, Mr. Wm. Grey, M. Samuell Taylor\n    and Mr. William Wise.\n\n    I was the Senior Fellow among them (it being 35 years since I\n    was admitted). There were present beside myselfe the Fellowes\n    afternamed: [Then follows a list of names which conveys no\n    information.] Wee all dyned at the halfe moone Taverne in\n    Cheapside at a Noble Dinner prepared at the charge of the\n    new-accepted Masons.\n#/\n\nSpace is given to those entries, not because they are very important,\nbut because Ragon and others have actually held that Ashmole made\nMasonry--as if any one man made Masonry! 'Tis surely strange, if this\nbe true, that only two entries in his _Diary_ refer to the order; but\nthat does not disconcert the theorists who are so wedded to their\nidols as to have scant regard for facts. No, the circumstance that\nAshmole was a Rosicrucian, an Alchemist, a delver into occult lore, is\nenough, the absence of any allusion to him thereafter only serving to\nconfirm the fancy--the theory being that a few adepts, seeing Masonry\nabout to crumble and decay, seized it, introduced their symbols into\nit, making it the mouthpiece of their high, albeit hidden, teaching.\nHow fascinating! and yet how baseless in fact! There is no evidence\nthat a Rosicrucian fraternity existed--save on paper, having been\nwoven of a series of romances written as early as 1616, and ascribed\nto Andreae--until a later time; and even when it did take form, it was\nquite distinct from Masonry. Occultism, to be sure, is elusive,\ncoming we know not whence, and hovering like a mist trailing over the\nhills. Still, we ought to be able to find in Masonry _some_ trace of\nRosicrucian influence, some hint of the lofty wisdom it is said to\nhave added to the order; but no one has yet done so. Did all that\nhigh, Hermetic mysticism evaporate entirely, leaving not a wraith\nbehind, going as mysteriously as it came to that far place which no\nmortal may explore?[109]\n\nHowbeit, the _fact_ to be noted is that, thus early--and earlier, for\nthe Lodge had been in existence some time when Ashmole was\ninitiated--the Warrington Lodge was made up of Accepted Masons. Of the\nten men present in the London Lodge, mentioned in the second entry in\nthe _Diary_, Ashmole was the senior, but he was not a member of the\nMasons' Company, though the other nine were, and also two of the\nneophytes. No doubt this is the Lodge which Conder, the historian of\nthe Company, has traced back to 1620, \"and were the books of the\nCompany prior to that date in existence, we should no doubt be able to\ntrace the custom of receiving accepted members back to pre-reformation\ntimes.\"[110] From an entry in the books of the Company, dated 1665, it\nappears that\n\n/#[4,66]\n    There was hanging up in the Hall a list of the _Accepted\n    Masons_ enclosed in a \"faire frame, with a lock and key.\" Why\n    was this? No doubt the Accepted Masons, or those who were\n    initiated into the esoteric aspect of the Company, did not\n    include the _whole_ Company, and this was a list of the\n    \"enlightened ones,\" whose names were thus honored and kept on\n    record, probably long after their decease.... This we cannot\n    say for certain, but we can say that as early as 1620, and\n    inferentially very much earlier, there were certain members\n    of the Masons' Company and others who met from time to time\n    to form a Lodge for the purpose of Speculative Masonry.[111]\n#/\n\nConder also mentions a copy of the _Old Charges_, or Gothic\nConstitutions, in the chest of the London Masons' Company, known as\n_The Book of the Constitutions of the Accepted Masons_; and this he\nidentifies with the _Regius MS_. Another witness during this period is\nRandle Holme, of Chester, whose references to the Craft in his\n_Acadamie Armory_, 1688, are of great value, for that he writes \"as a\nmember of that society called Free-masons.\" The _Harleian MS_ is in\nhis handwriting, and on the next leaf there is a remarkable list of\ntwenty-six names, including his own. It is the only list of the kind\nknown in England, and a careful examination of all the sources of\ninformation relative to the Chester men shows that nearly all of them\nwere Accepted Masons. Later on we come to the _Natural History of\nStaffordshire_, by Dr. Plott, 1686, in which, though in an unfriendly\nmanner, we are told many things about Craft usages and regulations of\nthat day. Lodges had to be formed of at least five members to make a\nquorum, gloves were presented to candidates, and a banquet following\ninitiations was a custom. He states that there were several signs and\npasswords by which the members were able \"to be known to one another\nall over the nation,\" his faith in their effectiveness surpassing that\nof the most credulous in our day.\n\nStill another striking record is found in _The Natural History of\nWiltshire_, by John Aubrey, the MS of which in the Bodleian Library,\nOxford, is dated 1686; and on the reverse side of folio 72 of this MS\nis the following note by Aubrey: \"This day [May 18, 1681] is a great\nconvention at St. Pauls Church of the fraternity, of the free [then he\ncrossed out the word Free and inserted Accepted] Masons; where Sir\nChristopher Wren is to be adopted a Brother: and Sir Henry Goodric of\nye Tower and divers others.\"[112] From which we may infer that there\nwere Assemblies before 1717, and that they were of sufficient\nimportance to be known to a non-Mason. Other evidence might be\nadduced, but this is enough to show that Speculative Masonry, so far\nfrom being a novelty, was very old at the time when many suppose it\nwas invented. With the great fire of London, in 1666, there came a\nrenewed interest in Masonry, many who had abandoned it flocking to the\ncapital to rebuild the city and especially the Cathedral of St. Paul.\nOld Lodges were revived, new ones were formed, and an effort was made\nto renew the old annual, or quarterly, Assemblies, while at the same\ntime Accepted Masons increased both in numbers and in zeal.\n\nNow the crux of the whole matter as regards Accepted Masons lies in\nthe answer to such questions as these: Why did soldiers, scholars,\nantiquarians, clergymen, lawyers, and even members of the nobility ask\nto be accepted as members of the order of Free-masons? Wherefore their\ninterest in the order at all? What attracted them to it as far back as\n1600, and earlier? What held them with increasing power and an\never-deepening interest? Why did they continue to enter the Lodges\nuntil they had the rule of them? There must have been something more\nin their motive than a simple desire for association, for they had\ntheir clubs, societies, and learned fellowships. Still less could a\nmere curiosity to learn certain signs and passwords have held such men\nfor long, even in an age of quaint conceits in the matter of\nassociation and when architecture was affected as a fad. No, there is\nonly one explanation: that these men saw in Masonry a deposit of the\nhigh and simple wisdom of old, preserved in tradition and taught in\nsymbols--little understood, it may be, by many members of the\norder--and this it was that they sought to bring to light, turning\nhistory into allegory and legend into drama, and making it a teacher\nof wise and beautiful truth.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[100] There is a beautiful lecture on the moral meaning of Geometry by\nDr. Hutchinson, in _The Spirit of Masonry_--one of the oldest, as it is\none of the noblest, books in our Masonic literature. Plutarch reports\nPlato as saying, \"God is always geometrizing\" (_Diog. Laert._, iv, 2).\nElsewhere Plato remarks that \"Geometry rightly treated is the knowledge\nof the Eternal\" (_Republic_, 527b), and over the porch of his Academy\nat Athens he wrote the words, \"Let no one who is ignorant of Geometry\nenter my doors.\" So Aristotle and all the ancient thinkers, whether in\nEgypt or India. Pythagoras, Proclus tells us, was concerned only with\nnumber and magnitude: number absolute, in arithmetic; number applied,\nin music; and so forth--whereof we read in the _Old Charges_ (see \"The\nGreat Symbol,\" by Klein, _A. Q. C._, x, 82).\n\n[101] Faerie Queene, bk. ii, canto ix, 22.\n\n[102] _Lost Language of Symbolism_, by Bayley, also _A New Light on the\nRenaissance_, by the same author; _Architecture of the Renaissance in\nEngland_, by J.A. Gotch; and \"Notes on Some Masonic Symbols,\" by W.H.\nRylands, _A. Q. C._, viii, 84. Indeed, the literature is as prolific as\nthe facts.\n\n[103] J.V. Andreae, _Ehreneich Hohenfelder von Aister Haimb_. A\nverbatim translation of the second line quoted would read, \"Unless in\nGod he has his building.\"\n\n[104] When, for example, Albert Pike, in his letter, \"Touching Masonic\nSymbolism,\" speaks of the \"poor, rude, unlettered, uncultivated working\nStone-masons,\" who attended the Assemblies, he is obviously confounding\nFree-masons with the rough Stone-masons of the Guilds. Over against\nthese words, read a brilliant article in the _Contemporary Review_,\nOctober, 1913, by L.M. Phillips, entitled, \"The Two Ways of Building,\"\nshowing how the Free-masons, instead of working under architects\noutside the order, chose the finer minds among them as leaders and\ncreated the different styles of architecture in Europe. \"Such,\" he\nadds, \"was the high limit of talent and intelligence which the creative\nspirit fostered among workmen.... The entire body being trained and\neducated in the same principles and ideas, the most backward and\ninefficient, as they worked at the vaults which their own skillful\nbrethren had planned, might feel the glow of satisfaction arising from\nthe conscious realization of their own aspirations. Thus the whole body\nof constructive knowledge maintained its unity.... Thus it was by free\nassociations of workmen training their own leaders that the great\nGothic edifices of the medieval ages were constructed.... A style so\nimaginative and so spiritual might almost be the dream of a poet or the\nvision of a saint. Really it is the creation of the sweat and labor of\nworkingmen, and every iota of the boldness, dexterity and knowledge\nwhich it embodies was drawn out of the practical experience and\nexperiments of manual labor.\" This describes the Comacine Masters, but\nnot the poor, rude, unlettered Stone-masons whom Pike had in mind.\n\n[105] Letter \"Touching Masonic Symbolism.\"\n\n[106] Some Lodges, however, would never admit such members. As late as\nApril 24, 1786, two brothers were proposed as members of Domatic Lodge,\nNo. 177, London, and were rejected because they were not Operative\nMasons (_History Lion and Lamb Lodge, 192, London_, by Abbott).\n\n[107] \"On the Antiquity of Masonic Symbolism,\" _A. Q. C._, iii, 7.\n\n[108] _Historical Essay on Architecture_, chap. xxi.\n\n[109] Those who wish to pursue this Quixotic quest will find the\nliterature abundant and very interesting. For example, such essays as\nthat by F.W. Brockbank in _Manchester Association for Research_, vol.\ni, 1909-10; and another by A.F.A. Woodford, _A. Q. C._, i, 28. Better\nstill is the _Real History of the Rosicrucians_, by Waite (chap. xv),\nand for a complete and final explosion of all such fancies we have the\ngreat chapter in Gould's _History of Masonry_ (vol. ii, chap. xiii). It\nseems a pity that so much time and labor and learning had to be\nexpended on theories so fragile, but it was necessary; and no man was\nbetter fitted for the study than Gould. Perhaps the present writer is\nunkind, or at least impatient; if so he humbly begs forgiveness; but\nafter reading tomes of conjecture about the alleged Rosicrucian origin\nof Masonry, he is weary of the wide-eyed wonder of mystery-mongers\nabout things that never were, and which would be of no value if they\nhad been. (Read _The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception_, or _Christian\nOccult Science_, by Max Heindel, and be instructed in matters whereof\nno mortal knoweth.)\n\n[110] _The Hole Craft and Fellowship of Masons_, by Edward Conder.\n\n[111] _Ibid._, Introduction.\n\n[112] Whether Sir Christopher Wren was ever Grand Master, as tradition\naffirms, is open to debate, and some even doubt his membership in the\norder (Gould, _History of Masonry_). Unfortunately, he has left no\nrecord, and the _Parentalia_, written by his son, helps us very little,\ncontaining nothing more than his theory that the order began with\nGothic architecture. Ashmole, if we may trust his friend, Dr. Knipe,\nhad planned to write a _History of Masonry_ refuting the theory of Wren\nthat Freemasonry took its rise from a Bull granted by the Pope, in the\nreign of Henry III, to some Italian architects, holding, and rightly\nso, that the Bull \"was comfirmatory only, and did not by any means\ncreate our fraternity, or even establish it in this kingdom\" (_Life of\nAshmole_, by Campbell). This item makes still more absurd the idea that\nAshmole himself created Masonry, whereas he was only a student of its\nantiquities. Wren was probably never an Operative Mason--though an\narchitect--but he seems to have become an Accepted member of the\nfraternity in his last years, since his neglect of the order, due to\nhis age, is given as a reason for the organization of the first Grand\nLodge.\n\n\n\n\nGRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND\n\n\n\n\n/#\n  _The doctrines of Masonry are the most beautiful that it is\n  possible to imagine. They breathe the simplicity of the earliest\n  ages animated by the love of a martyred God. That word which the\n  Puritans translated_ CHARITY, _but which is really_ LOVE, _is the\n  key-stone which supports the entire edifice of this mystic\n  science. Love one another, teach one another, help one another.\n  That is all our doctrine, all our science, all our law. We have no\n  narrow-minded prejudices; we do not debar from our society this\n  sect or that sect; it is sufficient for us that a man worships\n  God, no matter under what name or in what manner. Ah! rail against\n  us bigoted and ignorant men, if you will. Those who listen to the\n  truths which Masonry inculcates can readily forgive you. It is\n  impossible to be a good Mason without being a good man._\n\n  --WINWOOD READE, _The Veil of Isis_\n#/\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\n_Grand Lodge of England_\n\n\nWhile praying in a little chapel one day, Francis of Assisi was\nexhorted by an old Byzantine crucifix: \"Go now, and rebuild my Church,\nwhich is falling into ruins.\" In sheer loyalty he had a lamp placed;\nthen he saw his task in a larger way, and an artist has painted him\ncarrying stones and mortar. Finally there burst upon him the full\nimport of the allocution--that he himself was to be the corner-stone\nof a renewed and purified Church. Purse and prestige he flung to the\nwinds, and went along the highways of Umbria calling men back from the\nrot of luxury to the ways of purity, pity, and gladness, his life at\nonce a poem and a power, his faith a vision of the world as love and\ncomradeship.\n\nThat is a perfect parable of the history of Masonry. Of old the\nworking Masons built the great cathedrals, and we have seen them not\nonly carrying stones, but drawing triangles, squares, and circles in\nsuch a manner as to show that they assigned to those figures high\nmystical meanings. But the real Home of the Soul cannot be built of\nbrick and stone; it is a house not made with hands. Slowly it rises,\nfashioned of the thoughts, hopes, prayers, dreams, and righteous acts\nof devout and free men; built of their hunger for truth, their love of\nGod, and their loyalty to one another. There came a day when the\nMasons, laying aside their stones, became workmen of another kind, not\nless builders than before, but using truths for tools and dramas for\ndesigns, uplifting such a temple as Watts dreamed of decorating with\nhis visions of the august allegory of the evolution of man.\n\n\nI\n\nFrom every point of view, the organization of the Grand Lodge of\nEngland, in 1717, was a significant and far-reaching event. Not only\ndid it divide the story of Masonry into before and after, giving a new\ndate from which to reckon, but it was a way-mark in the intellectual\nand spiritual history of mankind. One has only to study that first\nGrand Lodge, the influences surrounding it, the men who composed it,\nthe Constitutions adopted, and its spirit and purpose, to see that it\nwas the beginning of a movement of profound meaning. When we see it in\nthe setting of its age--as revealed, for example, in the Journals of\nFox and Wesley, which from being religious time-tables broadened into\ndetailed panoramic pictures of the period before, and that following,\nthe Grand Lodge--the Assembly on 1717 becomes the more remarkable.\nAgainst such a background, when religion and morals seemed to reach\nthe nadir of degredation, the men of that Assembly stand out as\nprophets of liberty of faith and righteousness of life.[113]\n\nSome imagination is needed to realize the moral declension of that\ntime, as it is portrayed--to use a single example--in the sermon by\nthe Bishop of Litchfield before the Society for the Reformation of\nManners, in 1724. Lewdness, drunkenness, and degeneracy, he said, were\nwell nigh universal, no class being free from the infection. Murders\nwere common and foul, wanton and obscene books found so good a market\nas to encourage the publishing of them. Immorality of every kind was\nso hardened as to be defended, yes, justified on principle. The rich\nwere debauched and indifferent; the poor were as miserable in their\nlabor as they were coarse and cruel in their sport. Writing in 1713,\nBishop Burnet said that those who came to be ordained as clergymen\nwere \"ignorant to a degree not to be comprehended by those who are not\nobliged to know it.\" Religion seemed dying or dead, and to mention the\nword provoked a laugh. Wesley, then only a lad, had not yet come with\nhis magnificent and cleansing evangel. Empty formalism on one side, a\ndead polemical dogmatism on the other, bigotry, bitterness,\nintolerance, and interminable feud everywhere, no wonder Bishop Butler\nsat oppressed in his castle with hardly a hope surviving.\n\nAs for Masonry, it had fallen far and fallen low betimes, but with the\nrevival following the great fire of London, in 1666, it had taken on\nnew life and a bolder spirit, and was passing through a\ntransition--or, rather, a transfiguration! For, when we compare the\nMasonry of, say, 1688 with that of 1723, we discover that much more\nthan a revival had come to pass. Set the instructions of the _Old\nCharges_--not all of them, however, for even in earliest times some of\nthem escaped the stamp of the Church[114]--in respect of religion\nalongside the same article in the _Constitutions_ of 1723, and the\ncontrast is amazing. The old charge read: \"The first charge is this,\nthat you be true to God and Holy Church and use no error or heresy.\"\nHear now the charge in 1723:\n\n/#\n  _A Mason is obliged by his Tenure, to obey the moral law; and if\n  he rightly understands the Art, he will never be a stupid Atheist\n  nor an irreligious Libertine. But though in ancient times Masons\n  were charged in every country to be of the religion of that\n  country or nation, whatever it was, yet it is now thought more\n  expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all men\n  agree, leaving their particular Opinions to themselves: that is,\n  to be Good men and True, or Men of Honor and Honesty, by whatever\n  Denomination or Persuasion they may be distinguished; whereby\n  Masonry becomes the Centre of Union and the Means of conciliating\n  true Friendship among persons that must have remained at a\n  perpetual distance._\n#/\n\nIf that statement had been written yesterday, it would be remarkable\nenough. But when we consider that it was set forth in 1723, amidst\nbitter sectarian rancor and intolerance unimaginable, it rises up as\nforever memorable in the history of men! The man who wrote that\ndocument, did we know his name, is entitled to be held till the end\nof time in the grateful and venerative memory of his race. The temper\nof the times was all for relentless partisanship, both in religion and\nin politics. The alternative offered in religion was an ecclesiastical\ntyranny, allowing a certain liberty of belief, or a doctrinal tyranny,\nallowing a slight liberty of worship; a sad choice in truth. It is,\nthen, to the everlasting honor of the century, that, in the midst of\nits clashing extremes, the Masons appeared with heads unbowed,\nabjuring both tyrannies and championing both liberties.[115]\nEcclesiastically and doctrinally they stood in the open, while\nRomanist and Protestant, Anglican and Puritan, Calvinist and Arminian\nwaged bitter war, filling the air with angry maledictions. These men\nof latitude in a cramped age felt pent up alike by narrowness of\nritual and by narrowness of creed, and they cried out for room and\nair, for liberty and charity!\n\nThough differences of creed played no part in Masonry, nevertheless it\nheld religion in high esteem, and was then, as now, the steadfast\nupholder of the only two articles of faith that never were invented by\nman--the existence of God and the immortality of the soul!\nAccordingly, every Lodge was opened and closed with prayer to the\n\"Almighty Architect of the universe;\" and when a Lodge of mourning met\nin memory of a brother fallen asleep, the formula was: \"He has passed\nover into the eternal East,\"--to that region whence cometh light and\nhope. Unsectarian in religion, the Masons were also non-partisan in\npolitics: one principle being common to them all--love of country,\nrespect for law and order, and the desire for human welfare.[116] Upon\nthat basis the first Grand Lodge was founded, and upon that basis\nMasonry rests today--holding that a unity of spirit is better than a\nuniformity of opinion, and that beyond the great and simple \"religion\nin which all men agree\" no dogma is worth a breach of charity.\n\n\nII\n\nWith honorable pride in this tradition of spiritual faith and\nintellectual freedom, we are all the more eager to recite such facts\nas are known about the organization of the first Grand Lodge. How many\nLodges of Masons existed in London at that time is a matter of\nconjecture, but there must have been a number. What bond, if any,\nunited them, other than their esoteric secrets and customs, is equally\nunknown. Nor is there any record to tell us whether all the Lodges in\nand about London were invited to join in the movement. Unfortunately\nthe minutes of the Grand Lodge only commence on June 24, 1723, and our\nonly history of the events is that found in _The New Book of\nConstitutions_, by Dr. James Anderson, in 1738. However, if not an\nactor in the scene, he was in a position to know the facts from\neye-witnesses, and his book was approved by the Grand Lodge itself.\nHis account is so brief that it may be given as it stands:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    King George I enter'd _London_ most magnificently on _20\n    Sept. 1714_. And after the Rebellion was over A.D. 1716, the\n    few _Lodges_ at _London_ finding themselves neglected by Sir\n    _Christopher Wren_, thought fit to cement under a _Grand\n    Master_ as the Centre of Union and Harmony, _viz._, the\n    _Lodges_ that met,\n\n    1. At the _Goose_ and _Gridiron_ Ale house in _St. Paul's\n    Church-Yard_.\n\n    2. At the _Crown_ Ale-house in _Parker's Lane_ near _Drury\n    Lane_.\n\n    3. At the _Apple-Tree_ Tavern in _Charles-street,\n    Covent-Garden_.\n\n    4. At the _Rummer and Grape_ Tavern in _Channel-Row,\n    Westminster_.\n\n    They and some other old Brothers met at the said _Apple-Tree_,\n    and having put into the chair the _oldest Master Mason_ (now\n    the _Master_ of a _Lodge_) they constituted themselves a Grand\n    Lodge pro Tempore in _Due Form_, and forthwith revived the\n    Quarterly _Communication_ of the _Officers_ of Lodges (call'd\n    the GRAND LODGE) resolv'd to hold the _Annual_ Assembly _and\n    Feast_, and then to chuse a Grand Master from among\n    themselves, till they should have the Honor of a Noble Brother\n    at their Head.\n\n    Accordingly, on _St. John's Baptist's_ Day, in the 3d year of\n    King George I, A.D. 1717, the ASSEMBLY and _Feast_ of the\n    _Free and Accepted Masons_ was held at the foresaid _Goose_\n    and _Gridiron_ Ale-house.\n\n    Before Dinner, the _oldest Master_ Mason (now the _Master_ of\n    a _Lodge_) in the Chair, proposed a List of proper Candidates;\n    and the Brethren by a majority of Hands elected Mr. Anthony\n    Sayer, _Gentleman_, _Grand Master of Masons_ (Mr. _Jacob\n    Lamball_, Carpenter, Capt. _Joseph Elliot_, Grand Wardens) who\n    being forthwith invested with the Badges of Office and Power\n    by the said _oldest Master_, and install'd, was duly\n    congratulated by the Assembly who paid him the Homage.\n\n    Sayer, _Grand Master_, commanded the _Masters_ and _Wardens_\n    of Lodges to meet the _Grand_ Officers every _Quarter_ in\n    _Communication_, at the Place that he should appoint in the\n    Summons sent by the _Tyler_.\n#/\n\nSo reads the only record that has come down to us of the founding of\nthe Grand Lodge of England. Preston and others have had no other\nauthority than this passage for their descriptions of the scene,\nalbeit when Preston wrote, such facts as he added may have been\nlearned from men still living. Who were present, beyond the three\nofficers named, has so far eluded all research, and the only variation\nin the accounts is found in a rare old book called _Multa Paucis_,\nwhich asserts that six Lodges, not four, were represented. Looking at\nthis record in the light of what we know of the Masonry of that\nperiod, a number of things are suggested:\n\nFirst, so far from being a revolution, the organization of the Grand\nLodge was a revival of the old quarterly and annual Assembly, born,\ndoubtless, of a felt need of community of action for the welfare of\nthe Craft. There was no idea of innovation, but, as Anderson states in\na note, \"it should meet Quarterly _according to ancient Usage_,\"\ntradition having by this time become authoritative in such matters.\nHints of what the old usages were are given in the observance of St.\nJohn's Day[117] as a feast, in the democracy of the order and its\nmanner of voting by a show of hands, in its deference to the oldest\nMaster Mason, its use of badges of office,[118] its ceremony of\ninstallation, all in a lodge duly tyled.\n\nSecond, it is clear that, instead of being a deliberately planned\neffort to organize Masonry in general, the Grand Lodge was intended at\nfirst to affect only London and Westminster;[119] the desire being to\nweld a link of closer fellowship and cooeperation between the Lodges.\nWhile we do not know the names of the moving spirits--unless we may\ninfer that the men elected to office were such--nothing is clearer\nthan that the initiative came from the heart of the order itself, and\nwas in no sense imposed upon it from without; and so great was the\nnecessity for it that, when once started, link after link was added\nuntil it \"put a girdle around the earth.\"\n\nThird, of the four Lodges[120] known to have taken part, only\none--that meeting at the Rummer and Grape Tavern--had a majority of\nAccepted Masons in its membership; the other three being Operative\nLodges, or largely so. Obviously, then, the movement was predominantly\na movement of Operative Masons--or of men who had been Operative\nMasons--and not, as has been so often implied, the design of men who\nsimply made use of the remnants of operative Masonry the better to\nexploit some hidden philosophy. Yet it is worthy of note that the\nleading men of the craft in those early years were, nearly all of\nthem, Accepted Masons and members of the Rummer and Grape Lodge.\nBesides Dr. Anderson, the historian, both George Payne and Dr.\nDesaguliers, the second and third Grand Masters, were of that Lodge.\nIn 1721 the Duke of Montagu was elected to the chair, and thereafter\nmembers of the nobility sat in the East until it became the custom for\nthe Prince of Wales to be Grand Master of Masons in England.[121]\n\nFourth, why did Masonry alone of all trades and professions live after\nits work was done, preserving not only its identity of organization,\nbut its old emblems and usages, and transforming them into instruments\nof religion and righteousness? The cathedrals had long been finished\nor left incomplete; the spirit of Gothic architecture was dead and the\nstyle treated almost with contempt. The occupation of the Master\nMason was gone, his place having been taken by the architect who, like\nWren and Inigo Jones, was no longer a child of the Lodges as in the\nold days, but a man trained in books and by foreign travel. Why did\nnot Freemasonry die, along with the Guilds, or else revert to some\nkind of trades-union? Surely here is the best possible proof that it\nhad never been simply an order of architects building churches, but a\nmoral and spiritual fellowship--the keeper of great symbols and a\nteacher of truths that never die. So and only so may anyone ever hope\nto explain the story of Masonry, and those who do not see this fact\nhave no clue to its history, much less an understanding of its genius.\n\nOf course these pages cannot recite in detail the history and growth\nof the Grand Lodge, but a few of the more salient events may be noted.\nAs early as 1719 the _Old Charges_, or Gothic Constitutions, began to\nbe collected and collated, a number having already been burned by\nscrupulous Masons to prevent their falling into strange hands. In\n1721, Grand Master Montagu found fault with the _Old Charges_ as being\ninadequate, and ordered Dr. Anderson to make a digest of them with a\nview to formulating a better set of regulations for the rule of the\nLodges. Anderson obeyed--he seems to have been engaged in such a work\nalready, and may have suggested the idea to the Grand Master--and a\ncommittee of fourteen \"learned brethren\" was appointed to examine the\nMS and make report. They suggested a few amendments, and the book was\nordered published by the Grand Master, appearing in the latter part of\n1723. This first issue, however, did not contain the account of the\norganization of the Grand Lodge, which does not seem to have been\nadded until the edition of 1738. How much Past Grand Master Payne had\nto do with this work is not certain, but the chief credit is due to\nDr. Anderson, who deserves the perpetual gratitude of the order--the\nmore so if he it was who wrote the article, already quoted, setting\nforth the religious attitude of the order. That article, by whomsoever\nwritten, is one of the great documents of mankind, and it would be an\nadded joy to know that it was penned by a minister.[122] The _Book of\nConstitutions_, which is still the groundwork of Masonry, has been\nprinted in many editions, and is accessible to every one.\n\nAnother event in the story of the Grand Lodge, never to be forgotten,\nwas a plan started in 1724 of raising funds of General Charity for\ndistressed Masons. Proposed by the Earl of Dalkeith, it at once met\nwith enthusiastic support, and it is a curious coincidence that one of\nthe first to petition for relief was Anthony Sayer, first Grand\nMaster. The minutes do not state whether he was relieved at that time,\nbut we know that sums of money were voted to him in 1730, and again in\n1741. This Board of Benevolence, as it came to be called, became very\nimportant, it being unanimously agreed in 1733 that all such business\nas could not be conveniently despatched by the Quarterly Communication\nshould be referred to it. Also, that all Masters of Regular Lodges,\ntogether with all present, former, and future Grand Officers should be\nmembers of the Board. Later this Board was still further empowered to\nhear complaints and to report thereon to the Grand Lodge. Let it also\nbe noted that in actual practice the Board of Charity gave free play\nto one of the most admirable principles of Masonry--helping the needy\nand unfortunate, whether within the order or without.\n\n\nIII\n\nOnce more we come to a much debated question, about which not a little\nhas been written, and most of it wide of the mark--the question of the\norigin of the Third Degree. Here again students have gone hither and\nyon hunting in every cranny for the motif of this degree, and it would\nseem that their failure to find it would by this time have turned them\nback to the only place where they may ever hope to discover it--in\nMasonry itself. But no; they are bound to bring mystics, occultists,\nalchemists, Culdees or Cabalists--even the _Vehmgerichte_ of\nGermany--into the making of Masonry somewhere, if only for the sake of\nglamor, and this is the last opportunity to do it.[123] Willing to\ngive due credit to Cabalists and Rosicrucians, the present writer\nrejects all such theories on the ground that there is no reason for\nthinking that they helped to make Masonry, _much less any fact to\nprove it_.\n\nHear now a review of the facts in the case. No one denies that the\nTemple of Solomon was much in the minds of men at the time of the\norganization of the Grand Lodge, and long before--as in the Bacon\nromance of the _New Atlantis_ in 1597.[124] Broughton, Selden,\nLightfoot, Walton, Lee, Prideaux, and other English writers were\ndeeply interested in the Hebrew Temple, not, however, so much in its\nsymbolical suggestion as in its form and construction--a model of\nwhich was brought to London by Judah Templo in the reign of Charles\nII.[125] It was much the same on the Continent, but so far from being\na new topic of study and discussion, we may trace this interest in the\nTemple all through the Middle Ages. Nor was it peculiar to the\nCabalists, at least not to such a degree that they must needs be\nbrought in to account for the Biblical imagery and symbolism in\nMasonry. Indeed, it might with more reason be argued that Masonry\nexplains the interest in the Temple than otherwise. For, as James\nFergusson remarks--and there is no higher authority than the historian\nof architecture: \"There is perhaps no building of the ancient world\nwhich has excited so much attention since the time of its destruction,\nas the Temple of Solomon built in Jerusalem, and its successor as\nbuilt by Herod. _Throughout the Middle Ages it influenced to a\nconsiderable degree the forms of Christian churches, and its\npeculiarities were the watchwords and rallying points of associations\nof builders._\"[126] Clearly, the notion that interest in the Temple\nwas new, and that its symbolical meaning was imposed upon Masonry as\nsomething novel, falls flat.\n\nBut we are told that there is no hint of the Hiramic legend, still\nless any intimation of a tragedy associated with the building of the\nTemple. No Hiramic legend! No hint of tragedy! Why, both were almost\nas old as the Temple itself, rabbinic legend affirming that \"_all the\nworkmen were killed that they should not build another Temple devoted\nto idolatry, Hiram himself being translated to heaven like\nEnoch_.\"[127] The Talmud has many variations of this legend. Where\nwould one expect the legends of the Temple to be kept alive and be\nmade use of in ceremonial, if not in a religious order of builders\nlike the Masons? Is it surprising that we find so few references in\nlater literature to what was thus held as a sacred secret? As we have\nseen, the legend of Hiram was kept as a profound secret until 1841 by\nthe French Companionage, who almost certainly learned it from the\nFree-masons. Naturally it was never made a matter of record,[128] but\nwas transmitted by oral tradition within the order; and it was also\nnatural, if not inevitable, that the legend, of the master-artist of\nthe Temple should be \"the Master's Part\" among Masons who were\ntemple-builders. How else explain the veiled allusions to the name in\nthe _Old Charges_ as read to Entered Apprentices, if it was not a\nsecret reserved for a higher rank of Mason? Why any disguise at all if\nit had no hidden meaning? Manifestly the motif of the Third Degree was\npurely Masonic, and we need not go outside the traditions of the order\nto account for it.\n\nNot content to trace the evolution of Masonry, even so able a man as\nAlbert Pike will have it that to a few men of intelligence who\nbelonged to one of the four old lodges in 1717 \"is to be ascribed the\nauthorship of the Third Degree, and the introduction of Hermetic and\nother symbols into Masonry; that they framed the three degrees for the\npurpose of communicating their doctrines, veiled by their symbols, to\nthose fitted to receive them, and gave to others trite moral\nexplanations they could comprehend.\"[129] How gracious of them to\nvouchsafe even trite explanations, but why frame a set of degrees to\nconceal what they wished to hide? This is the same idea of something\nalien imposed upon Masonry from without, with the added suggestion,\nnovel indeed, that Masonry was organized to hide the truth, rather\nthan to teach it. But did Masonry have to go outside its own history\nand tradition to learn Hermetic truths and symbols? Who was Hermes?\nWhether man or myth no one knows, but he was a great figure in the\nEgyptian Mysteries, and was called the Father of Wisdom.[130] What\n_was_ his wisdom? From such fragments of his lore as have floated down\nto us, impaired, it may be, but always vivid, we discover that his\nwisdom was only a high spiritual faith and morality taught in visions\nand rhapsodies, and using numbers as symbols. Was such wisdom new to\nMasonry? Had not Hermes himself been a hero of the order from the\nfirst, of whom we read in the _Old Charges_, in which he has a place\nof honor alongside Euclid and Pythagoras? Wherefore go elsewhere than\nto Masonry itself to trace the _pure_ stream of Hermetic faith through\nthe ages? Certainly the men of the Grand Lodge were adepts, but they\nwere _Masonic adepts seeking to bring the buried temple of Masonry to\nlight and reveal it in a setting befitting its beauty_, not cultists\nmaking use of it to exploit a private scheme of the universe.\n\nWho were those \"men of intelligence\" to whom Pike ascribed the making\nof the Third Degree of Masonry? Tradition has fixed upon Desaguliers as\nthe ritualist of the Grand Lodge, and Lyon speaks of him as \"the\npioneer and co-fabricator of symbolical Masonry.\"[131] This, however,\nis an exaggeration, albeit Desaguliers was worthy of high eulogy,\nas were Anderson and Payne, who are said to have been his\ncollaborators.[132] But the fact is that the Third Degree was not\nmade; it grew--like the great cathedrals, no one of which can be\nascribed to a single artist, but to an order of men working in unity of\nenterprise and aspiration. The process by which the old ritual,\ndescribed in the _Sloane MS_, was divided and developed into three\ndegrees between 1717 and 1730 was so gradual, so imperceptible, that no\nexact date can be set; still less can it be attributed to any one or\ntwo men. From the minutes of the Musical Society we learn that the\nLodge at the Queen's Head in Hollis Street was using three distinct\ndegrees in 1724. As early as 1727 we come upon the custom of setting\napart a separate night for the Master's Degree, the drama having\nevidently become more elaborate.\n\nFurther than this the Degree may not be discussed, except to say that\nthe Masons, tiring of the endless quarrels of sects, turned for relief\nto the Ancient Mysteries as handed down in their traditions--the old,\nhigh, heroic faith in God, and in the soul of man as the one\nunconquerable thing upon this earth. If, as Aristotle said, it be the\nmission of tragedy to cleanse and exalt us, leaving us subdued with a\nsense of pity and hope and fortified against ill fortune, it is\npermitted us to add that in simplicity, depth, and power, in its\ngrasp of the realities of the life of man, its portrayal of the\nstupidity of evil and the splendor of virtue, its revelation of that\nin our humanity which leads it to defy death, giving up everything,\neven to life itself, rather than defame, defile, or betray its moral\nintegrity, and in its prophecy of the victory of light over shadow,\nthere is not another drama known among men like the Third Degree of\nMasonry. Edwin Booth, a loyal Mason, and no mean judge of the essence\nof tragedy, left these words:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    In all my research and study, in all my close analysis of the\n    masterpieces of Shakespeare, in my earnest determination to\n    make those plays appear real on the mimic stage, I have\n    never, and nowhere, met tragedy so real, so sublime, so\n    magnificent as the legend of Hiram. It is substance without\n    shadow--the manifest destiny of life which requires no\n    picture and scarcely a word to make a lasting impression upon\n    all who can understand. To be a Worshipful Master, and to\n    throw my whole soul into that work, with the candidate for my\n    audience and the Lodge for my stage, would be a greater\n    personal distinction than to receive the plaudits of people\n    in the theaters of the world.\n#/\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[113] We should not forget that noble dynasty of large and liberal\nsouls in the seventeenth century--John Hales, Chillingsworth,\nWhichcote, John Smith, Henry More, Jeremy Taylor--whose _Liberty of\nProphesying_ set the principle of toleration to stately strains of\neloquence--Sir Thomas Browne, and Richard Baxter; saints, every one of\nthem, finely-poised, sweet-tempered, repelled from all extremes alike,\nand walking the middle path of wisdom and charity. Milton, too, taught\ntolerance in a bigoted and bitter age (see _Seventeenth Century Men of\nLatitude_, E.A. George).\n\n[114] For instance the _Cooke MS_, next to the oldest of all, as well\nas the _W. Watson_ and _York No. 4_ MSS. It is rather surprising, in\nview of the supremacy of the Church in those times, to find such\nevidence of what Dr. Mackey called the chief mission of primitive\nMasonry--the preservation of belief in the unity of God. These MSS did\nnot succumb to the theology of the Church, and their invocations remind\nus more of the God of Isaiah than of the decrees of the Council of\nNicaea.\n\n[115] It was, perhaps, a picture of the Masonic Lodges of that era that\nToland drew in his _Socratic Society_, published in 1720, which,\nhowever, he clothed in a vesture quite un-Grecian. At least, the\nsymposia or brotherly feasts of his society, their give-and-take of\nquestions and answers, their aversion to the rule of mere physical\nforce, to compulsory religious belief, and to creed hatred, as well as\ntheir mild and tolerant disposition and their brotherly regard for one\nanother, remind one of the spirit and habits of the Masons of that day.\n\n[116] Now is as good a time as another to name certain curious theories\nwhich have been put forth to account for the origin of Masonry in\ngeneral, and of the organization of the Grand Lodge in particular. They\nare as follows: First, that it was all due to an imaginary Temple of\nSolomon described by Lord Bacon in a Utopian romance called the _New\nAtlantis_; and this despite the fact that the temple in the Bacon story\nwas not a house at all, but the name of an ideal state. Second, that\nthe object of Freemasonry and the origin of the Third Degree was the\nrestoration of Charles II to the throne of England; the idea being that\nthe Masons, who called themselves \"Sons of the Widow,\" meant thereby to\nexpress their allegiance to the Queen. Third, that Freemasonry was\nfounded by Oliver Cromwell--he of all men!--to defeat the royalists.\nFourth, that Free-masons were derived from the order of the Knights\nTemplars. Even Lessing once held this theory, but seems later to have\ngiven it up. Which one of these theories surpasses the others in\nabsurdity, it would be hard to say. De Quincey explodes them one by one\nwith some detail in his \"Inquiry into the Origin of the Free-masons,\"\nto which he might also have added his own pet notion of the Rosicrucian\norigin of the order--it being only a little less fantastic than the\nrest (_De Quincey's Works_, vol. xvi).\n\n[117] Of the Masonic feasts of St. John the Baptist and St. John the\nEvangelist much has been written, and to little account. In\npre-Christian times, as we have seen, the Roman Collegia were wont to\nadopt pagan deities as patrons. When Christianity came, the names of\nits saints--some of them martyrs of the order of builders--were\nsubstituted for the old pagan gods. Why the two Saints John were chosen\nby Masons--rather than St. Thomas, who was the patron saint of\narchitecture--has never been made clear. At any rate, these two feasts,\ncoming at the time of the summer and winter solstices, are in reality\nolder than Christianity, being reminiscences of the old Light Religion\nin which Masonry had its origin.\n\n[118] The badge of office was a huge white apron, such as we see in\nHogarth's picture of the _Night_. The collar was of much the same shape\nas that at present in use, only shorter. When the color was changed to\nblue, and why, is uncertain, but probably not until 1813, when we begin\nto see both apron and collar edged with blue. (See chapter on \"Clothing\nand Regalia,\" in _Things a Freemason Ought to Know_, by J.W. Crowe.) In\n1727 the officers of all private--or as we would say,\nsubordinate--Lodges were ordered to wear \"the jewels of Masonry hanging\nto a white apron.\" In 1731 we find the Grand Master wearing gold or\ngilt jewels pendant to blue ribbons about the neck, and a white leather\napron _lined_ with blue silk.\n\n[119] This is clear from the book of _Constitutions_ of 1723, which is\nsaid to be \"for the use of Lodges in London.\" Then follow the names of\nthe Masters and Wardens of twenty Lodges, all in London. There was no\nthought at the time of imposing the authority of the Grand Lodge upon\nthe country in general, much less upon the world. Its growth we shall\nsketch later. For an excellent article on \"The Foundation of Modern\nMasonry,\" by G.W. Speth, giving details of the organization of the\nGrand Lodge and its changes, see _A. Q. C._, ii, 86. If an elaborate\naccount is wanted, it may be found in Gould's _History of Masonry_,\nvol. iii.\n\n[120] _History of the Four Lodges_, by R.F. Gould. Apparently the Goose\nand Gridiron Lodge--No. 1--is the only one of the four now in\nexistence. After various changes of name it is now the Lodge of\nAntiquity, No. 2.\n\n[121] _Royal Masons_, by G.W. Speth.\n\n[122] From a meager sketch of Dr. Anderson in the _Gentlemen's\nMagazine_, 1783, we learn that he was a native of Scotland--the place\nof his birth is not given--and that for many years he was minister of\nthe Scots Presbyterian Church in Swallow Street, Piccadilly, and well\nknown to the folk of that faith in London--called \"Bishop\" Anderson by\nhis friends. He married the widow of an army officer, who bore him a\nson and a daughter. Although a learned man--compiler of a book of\n_Royal Genealogies_, which seems to have been his hobby--he was\nsomewhat imprudent in business, having lost most of his property in\n1720. Whether he was a Mason before coming to London is unknown, but he\ntook a great part in the work of the Grand Lodge, entering it,\napparently, in 1721. Toward the close of his life he suffered many\nmisfortunes, but of what description we are not told. He died in 1739.\nPerhaps his learning was exaggerated by his Masonic eulogists, but he\nwas a noble man and manifestly a useful one (Gould's _History of\nMasonry_, vol. iii).\n\n[123] Having emphasized this point so repeatedly, the writer feels it\njust to himself to state his own position, lest he be thought a kind of\nmaterialist, or at least an enemy of mysticism. Not so. Instead, he has\nlong been an humble student of the great mystics; they are his best\nfriends--as witness his two little books, _The Eternal Christ_, and\n_What Have the Saints to Teach Us?_ But mysticism is one thing, and\nmystification is another, and the former may be stated in this way:\n\nFirst, by mysticism--only another word for spirituality--is meant our\nsense of an Unseen World, of our citizenship in it, of God and the\nsoul, and of all the forms of life and beauty as symbols of things\nhigher than themselves. That is to say, if a man has any religion at\nall that is not mere theory or form, he is a mystic; the difference\nbetween him and Plato or St. Francis being only a matter of genius and\nspiritual culture--between a boy whistling a tune and Beethoven writing\nmusic.\n\nSecond, since mysticism is native to the soul of man and the common\nexperience of all who rise above the animal, it is not an exclusive\npossession of any set of adepts to be held as a secret. Any man who\nbows in prayer, or lifts his thought heavenward, is an initiate into\nthe eternal mysticism which is the strength and solace of human life.\n\nThird, the old time Masons were religious men, and as such sharers in\nthis great human experience of divine things, and did not need to go to\nHidden Teachers to learn mysticism. They lived and worked in the light\nof it. It shone in their symbols, as it does in all symbols that have\nany meaning or beauty. It is, indeed, the soul of symbolism, every\nemblem being an effort to express a reality too great for words.\n\nSo, then, Masonry is mystical as music is mystical--like poetry, and\nlove, and faith, and prayer, and all else that makes it worth our time\nto live; but its mysticism is sweet, sane, and natural, far from\nfantastic, and in nowise eerie, unreal, or unbalanced. Of course these\nwords fail to describe it, as all words must, and it is therefore that\nMasonry uses parables, pictures, and symbols.\n\n[124] _Seventeenth Century Descriptions of Solomon's Temple_, by Prof.\nS.P. Johnston (_A. Q. C._, xii, 135).\n\n[125] _Transactions Jewish Historical Society of England_, vol. ii.\n\n[126] Smith's _Dictionary of the Bible_, article \"Temple.\"\n\n[127] _Jewish Encyclopedia_, art. \"Freemasonry.\" Also _Builder's\nRites_, G.W. Speth.\n\n[128] In the _Book of Constitutions_, 1723, Dr. Anderson dilates at\nlength on the building of the Temple--including a note on the meaning\nof the name Abif, which, it will be remembered, was not found in the\nAuthorized Version of the Bible; and then he suddenly breaks off with\nthe words: \"_But leaving what must not, indeed cannot, be communicated\nin Writing_.\" It is incredible that he thus introduced among Masons a\nname and legend unknown to them. Had he done so, would it have met with\nsuch instant and universal acceptance by old Masons who stood for the\nancient usages of the order?\n\n[129] Letter to Gould \"Touching Masonic Symbolism.\"\n\n[130] _Hermes and Plato_, Edouard Schure.\n\n[131] _History of the Lodge of Edinburgh._\n\n[132] Steinbrenner, following Findel, speaks of the Third Degree as if\nit were a pure invention, quoting a passage from _Ahiman Rezon_, by\nLawrence Dermott, to prove it. He further states that Anderson and\nDesaguliers were \"publicly accused of manufacturing the degree, _which\nthey never denied_\" (_History of Masonry_, chap. vii). But inasmuch as\nthey were not accused of it until they had been many years in their\ngraves, their silence is hardly to be wondered at. Dr. Mackey styles\nDesaguliers \"the Father of Modern Speculative Masonry,\" and attributes\nto him, more than to any other one man, the present existence of the\norder as a living institution (_Encyclopedia of Freemasonry_). Surely\nthat is going too far, much as Desaguliers deserves to be honored by\nthe order. Dr. J.T. Desaguliers was a French Protestant clergyman,\nwhose family came to England following the revocation of the Edict of\nNantes. He was graduated from Christ Church College, Oxford, in 1710,\nsucceeding Keill as lecturer in Experimental Philosophy. He was\nespecially learned in natural philosophy, mathematics, geometry, and\noptics, having lectured before the King on various occasions. He was\nvery popular in the Grand Lodge, and his power as an orator made his\nmanner of conferring a degree impressive--which may explain his having\nbeen accused of inventing the degrees. He was a loyal and able Mason, a\nstudent of the history and ritual of the order, and was elected as the\nthird Grand Master of Masons in England. Like Anderson, his later life\nis said to have been beclouded by poverty and sorrow, though some of\nthe facts are in dispute (Gould's _History of Masonry_, vol. iii).\n\n\n\n\nUNIVERSAL MASONRY\n\n\n\n\n/#\n  _These signs and tokens are of no small value; they speak a\n  universal language, and act as a passport to the attention and\n  support of the initiated in all parts of the world. They cannot be\n  lost so long as memory retains its power. Let the possessor of\n  them be expatriated, ship-wrecked, or imprisoned; let him be\n  stripped of everything he has got in the world; still these\n  credentials remain and are available for use as circumstances\n  require._\n\n  _The great effects which they have produced are established by the\n  most incontestable facts of history. They have stayed the uplifted\n  hand of the destroyer; they have softened the asperities of the\n  tyrant; they have mitigated the horrors of captivity; they have\n  subdued the rancor of malevolence; and broken down the barriers of\n  political animosity and sectarian alienation._\n\n  _On the field of battle, in the solitude of the uncultivated\n  forests, or in the busy haunts of the crowded city, they have made\n  men of the most hostile feelings, and most distant religions, and\n  the most diversified conditions, rush to the aid of each other,\n  and feel a social joy and satisfaction that they have been able to\n  afford relief to a brother Mason._\n\n  --BENJAMIN FRANKLIN\n#/\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\n_Universal Masonry_\n\n\nI\n\nHenceforth the Masons of England were no longer a society of\nhandicraftsmen, but an association of men of all orders and every\nvocation, as also of almost every creed, who met together on the broad\nbasis of humanity, and recognized no standard of human worth other\nthan morality, kindliness, and love of truth. They retained the\nsymbolism of the old Operative Masonry,[133] its language, its\nlegends, its ritual, and its oral tradition. No longer did they build\nchurches, but the spiritual temple of humanity; using the Square not\nto measure right angles of blocks of stone, but for evening the\ninequalities of human character, nor the Compass any more to describe\ncircles on a tracing-board, but to draw a Circle of goodwill around\nall mankind.\n\nHowbeit, one generation of men, as Hume remarks, does not go off the\nstage at once, and another succeed, like silkworms and butterflies. No\nmore did this metamorphosis of Masonry, so to name it, take place\nsuddenly or radically, as it has become the fashion to think. It was a\nslow process, and like every such period the Epoch of Transition was\nattended by many problems, uncertainties, and difficulties. Some of\nthe Lodges, as we have noted, would never agree to admit Accepted\nMasons, so jealous were they of the ancient landmarks of the Craft.\nEven the Grand Lodge, albeit a revival of the old Assembly, was looked\nupon with suspicion by not a few, as tending toward undue\ncentralization; and not without cause. From the first the Grand Master\nwas given more power than was ever granted to the President of an\nancient Assembly; of necessity so, perhaps, but it led to\nmisunderstanding. Other influences added to the confusion, and at the\nsame time emphasized the need of welding the order into a more\ncoherent unity for its wider service to humanity.\n\nThere are hints to the effect that the new Masonry, if so it may be\ncalled, made very slow progress in the public favor at first, owing to\nthe conditions just stated; and this despite the remark of Anderson in\nJune, 1719: \"Now several old Brothers that had neglected the Craft,\nvisited the Lodges; some Noblemen were also made Brothers, and more\nnew Lodges were constituted.\" Stuckely, the antiquarian, tells us in\nhis _Diary_ under date of January, 1721--at which time he was\ninitiated--that he was the first person made a Mason in London for\nyears, and that it was not easy to find men enough to perform the\nceremony. Incidentally, he confides to us that he entered the order in\nsearch of the long hidden secrets of \"the Ancient Mysteries.\" No doubt\nhe exaggerated in the matter of numbers, though it is possible that\ninitiations were comparatively few at the time, the Lodges being\nrecruited, for the most part, by the adhesion of old Masons, both\nOperative and Speculative; and among his friends he may have had some\ndifficulty in finding men with an adequate knowledge of the ritual.\nBut that there was any real difficulty in gathering together seven\nMasons in London is, on the face of it, absurd. Immediately\nthereafter, Stuckely records, Masonry \"took a run, and ran itself out\nof breath through the folly of its members,\" but he does not tell us\nwhat the folly was. The \"run\" referred to was almost certainly due to\nthe acceptance by the Duke of Montagu of the Grand Mastership, which\ngave the order a prestige it had never had before; and it was also in\nthe same year, 1721, that the old Constitutions of the Craft were\nrevised.\n\nTwelve Lodges attended the June quarterly communication of the Grand\nLodge in 1721, sixteen in September, twenty in December, and by April,\n1723, the number had grown to thirty. All these Lodges, be it noted,\nwere in London, a fact amply justifying the optimism of Anderson in\nthe last paragraph of the _Book of Constitutions_, issued in that\nyear. So far the Grand Lodge had not extended its jurisdiction beyond\nLondon and Westminster, but the very next year, 1724, there were\nalready nine Lodges in the provinces acknowledging its obedience, the\nfirst being the Lodge at the Queen's Head, City of Bath. Within a few\nyears Masonry extended its labors abroad, both on British and on\nforeign soil. The first Lodge on foreign soil was founded by the Duke\nof Wharton at Madrid, in 1728, and regularized the following year, by\nwhich time a Lodge had been established at the East India Arms,\nBengal, and also at Gibraltar. It was not long before Lodges arose in\nmany lands, founded by English Masons or by men who had received\ninitiation in England; these Lodges, when sufficiently numerous,\nuniting under Grand Lodges--the old Lodge at York, that ancient Mecca\nof Masonry, had called itself a Grand Lodge as early as 1725. The\nGrand Lodge of Ireland was created in 1729, those of Scotland[134] and\nFrance in 1736; a Lodge at Hamburg in 1737,[135] though it was not\npatented until 1740; the Unity Lodge at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1742,\nanother at Vienna the same year; the Grand Lodge of the Three\nWorld-spheres at Berlin in 1744; and so on, until the order made its\nadvent in Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.\n\nFollowing the footsteps of Masonry from land to land is almost as\ndifficult as tracing its early history, owing to the secrecy in which\nit enwrapped its movements. For example, in 1680 there came to South\nCarolina one John Moore, a native of England, who before the close of\nthe century removed to Philadelphia, where, in 1703, he was Collector\nof the Port. In a letter written by him in 1715, he mentions having\n\"spent a few evenings in festivity with my Masonic brethren.\"[136]\nThis is the first vestige of Masonry in America, unless we accept as\nauthentic a curious document in the early history of Rhode Island, as\nfollows: \"This ye [day and month obliterated] 1656, Wee mett att y\nHouse off Mordicai Campanell and after synagog gave Abram Moses the\ndegrees of Maconrie.\"[137] On June 5, 1730, the first authority for\nthe assembling of Free-masons in America was issued by the Duke of\nNorfolk, to Daniel Coxe, of New Jersey, appointing him Provincial\nGrand Master of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; and three\nyears later Henry Price, of Boston, was appointed to the same office\nfor New England. But Masons had evidently been coming to the New World\nfor years, for the two cases just cited date back of the Grand Lodge\nof 1717.\n\nHow soon Coxe acted on the authority given him is not certain, but the\n_Pennsylvania Gazette_, published by Benjamin Franklin, contains many\nreferences to Masonic affairs as early as July, 1730. Just when\nFranklin himself became interested in Masonry is not of record--he was\ninitiated in 1730-31[138]--but he was a leader, at that day, of\neverything that would advance his adopted city; and the \"Junto,\" formed\nin 1725, often inaccurately called the Leathern-Apron Club, owed its\norigin to him. In a Masonic item in the _Gazette_ of December 3, 1730,\nhe refers to \"several Lodges of Free-masons\" in the Province, and on\nJune 9, 1732, notes the organization of the Grand Lodge of\nPennsylvania, of which he was appointed a Warden, at the Sun Tavern, in\nWater Street. Two years later Franklin was elected Grand Master, and\nthe same year published an edition of the _Book of Constitutions_--the\nfirst Masonic book issued in America. Thus Masonry made an early\nadvent into the new world, in which it has labored so nobly, helping to\nlay the foundations and building its own basic principles into the\norganic law of the greatest of all republics.\n\n\nII\n\nReturning to the Grand Lodge of England, we have now to make record of\nridicule and opposition from without, and, alas, of disloyalty and\ndiscord within the order itself. With the publication of the _Book of\nConstitutions_, by Anderson, in 1723, the platform and principles of\nMasonry became matters of common knowledge, and its enemies were alert\nand vigilant. None are so blind as those who will not see, and not a\nfew, unacquainted with the spirit of Masonry, or unable to grasp its\nprinciple of liberality and tolerance, affected to detect in its\nsecrecy some dark political design; and this despite the noble charge\nin the _Book of Constitutions_ enjoining politics from entering the\nlodge--a charge hardly less memorable than the article defining its\nattitude toward differing religious creeds, and which it behooves\nMasons to keep always in mind as both true and wise, especially in our\nday when effort is being made to inject the religious issue into\npolitics:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    In order to preserve peace and harmony no private piques or\n    quarrels must be brought within the door of the Lodge, far\n    less any quarrel about Religions or Nations or State-Policy,\n    we being only, as Masons, of the Catholic Religion above\n    mentioned (the religion in which all men agree); we are also\n    of all Nations, Tongues, Kindreds and Languages, and are\n    resolved against all Politics as what never yet conduced to\n    the welfare of the Lodge, nor ever will. This charge has\n    always been actively enjoined and observed; but especially\n    ever since the Reformation in Britain or the dissent and\n    secession of these Nations from the communion of Rome.\n#/\n\nNo sooner had these noble words been printed,[139] than there came to\nlight a secret society calling itself the \"truly Ancient Noble Order\nof the Gormogons,\" alleged to have been instituted by Chin-Quaw Ky-Po,\nthe first Emperor of China, many thousand years before Adam. Notice of\na meeting of the order appeared in the _Daily Post_, September 3,\n1723, in which it was stated, among other high-sounding declarations,\nthat \"no Mason will be received as a Member till he has renounced his\nnoble order and been properly degraded.\" Obviously, from this notice\nand others of like kind--all hinting at the secrets of the Lodges--the\norder was aping Masonry by way of parody with intent to destroy it,\nif possible, by ridicule. For all that, if we may believe the\n_Saturday Post_ of October following, \"many eminent Freemasons\" had by\nthat time \"degraded themselves\" and gone over to the Gormogons. Not\n\"many\" perhaps, but, alas, one eminent Mason at least, none other than\na Past Grand Master, the Duke of Wharton, who, piqued at an act of the\nGrand Lodge, had turned against it. Erratic of mind, unstable of\nmorals, having an inordinate lust for praise, and pilloried as a\n\"fool\" by Pope in his _Moral Essays_, he betrayed his fraternity--as,\nlater, he turned traitor to his faith, his flag, and his native land!\n\nSimultaneously with the announcement that many eminent Masons had\n\"degraded themselves\"--words most fitly chosen--and gone over to the\nGormogons, there appeared a book called the _Grand Mystery of\nFreemasons Discovered_, and the cat was out of the bag. Everything was\nplain to the Masons, and if it had not been clear, the way in which\nthe writer emphasized his hatred of the Jesuits would have told it\nall. It was a Jesuit[140] plot hatched in Rome to expose the secrets\nof Masonry, and making use of the dissolute and degenerate Mason for\nthat purpose--tactics often enough used in the name of Jesus!\nCuriously enough, this was further made evident by the fact that the\norder ceased to exist in 1738, the year in which Clement XII published\nhis Bull against the Masons. Thereupon the \"ancient order of\nGormogons\" swallowed itself, and so disappeared--not, however, without\none last, futile effort to achieve its ends.[141] Naturally this\nepisode stirred the Masons deeply. It was denounced in burning words\non the floor of the Grand Lodge, which took new caution to guard its\nrites from treachery and vandalism, in which respects it had not\nexercised due care, admitting men to the order who were unworthy of\nthe honor.\n\nThere were those who thought that the power of Masonry lay in its\nsecrecy; some think so still, not knowing that its _real_ power lies\nin the sanctity of its truth, the simplicity of its faith, the\nsweetness of its spirit, and its service to mankind, and that if all\nits rites were made public today it would still hold the hearts of\nmen.[142] Nevertheless, of alleged exposures there were many between\n1724 and 1730, both anonymous and signed, and they made much ado,\nespecially among men who were not Masons. It will be enough to name\nthe most famous, as well as the most elaborate, of them all, _Masonry\nDissected_, by Samuel Prichard, which ran through three editions in\none month, October, 1730, and called out a noble _Defence of Masonry_,\nwritten, it is thought, by Anderson, but the present writer believes\nby Desaguliers. Others came later, such as _Jachin and Boaz_, the\n_Three Distinct Knocks_, and so forth. They had their day and ceased\nto be, having now only an antiquarian interest to those who would know\nthe manners and customs of a far-off time. Instead of injuring the\norder, they really helped it, as such things usually do, by showing\nthat there must be something to expose since so many were trying to\ndo it. But Masonry went marching on, leaving them behind in the\nrubbish of things forgotten, as it does all its back-stair spies and\nheel-snapping critics.\n\nMore serious by far was the series of schisms within the order which\nbegan in 1725, and ran on even into the next century. For the student\nthey make the period very complex, calculated to bewilder the\nbeginner; for when we read of four Grand Lodges in England, and for\nsome years all of them running at once, and each one claiming to be\nthe Grand Lodge of England, the confusion seems not a little\nconfounded. Also, one Grand Lodge of a very limited territory, and few\nadherents, adopted the title of Grand Lodge of _all_ England, while\nanother which commenced in the middle of the century assumed the title\nof \"The Ancients,\" and dubbed the older and parent Grand Lodge \"The\nModerns.\" Besides, there are traces of an unrecorded Grand body\ncalling itself \"The Supreme Grand Lodge,\"[143] as if each were trying\nto make up in name what was lacking in numbers. Strict search and due\ninquiry into the causes of these divisions would seem to show the\nfollowing results:\n\nFirst, there was a fear, not unjustified by facts, that the ancient\ndemocracy of the order had been infringed upon by certain acts of the\nGrand Lodge of 1717--as, for example, giving to the Grand Master power\nto appoint the Wardens.[144] Second, there was a tendency, due to the\ninfluence of some clergymen active in the order, to give a\ndistinctively Christian tinge to Masonry, first in their\ninterpretations of its symbols, and later to the ritual itself. This\nfact has not been enough emphasized by our historians, for it explains\nmuch. Third, there was the further fact that Masonry in Scotland\ndiffered from Masonry in England, in details at least, and the two did\nnot all at once harmonize, each being rather tenacious of its usage\nand tradition. Fourth, in one instance, if no more, pride of locality\nand historic memories led to independent organization. Fifth, there\nwas the ever-present element of personal ambition with which all human\nsocieties, of whatever kind, must reckon at all times and places this\nside of heaven. Altogether, the situation was amply conducive to\ndivision, if not to explosion, and the wonder is that the schisms were\nso few.\n\n\nIII\n\nTime out of mind the ancient city of York had been a seat of the\nMasonic Craft, tradition tracing it back to the days of Athelstan, in\n926 A.D. Be that as it may, the Lodge minutes of York are the oldest\nin the country, and the relics of the Craft now preserved in that city\nentitle it to be called the Mecca of Masonry. Whether the old society\nwas a Private or a Grand Lodge is not plain; but in 1725 it assumed\nthe title of the \"Grand Lodge of All England,\"--feeling, it would\nseem, that its inherent right by virtue of antiquity had in some way\nbeen usurped by the Grand Lodge of London. After ten or fifteen years\nthe minutes cease, but the records of other grand bodies speak of it\nas still working. In 1761 six of its surviving members revived the\nGrand Lodge, which continued with varying success until its final\nextinction in 1791, having only a few subordinate Lodges, chiefly in\nYorkshire. Never antagonistic, it chose to remain independent, and its\nhistory is a noble tradition. York Masonry was acknowledged by all\nparties to be both ancient and orthodox, and even to this day, in\nEngland and over the seas, a certain mellow, magic charm clings to\nthe city which was for so long a meeting place of Masons.[145]\n\nFar more formidable was the schism of 1753, which had its origin, as\nis now thought, in a group of Irish Masons in London who were not\nrecognized by the premier Grand Lodge.[146] Whereupon they denounced\nthe Grand Lodge, averring that it had adopted \"new plans\" and departed\nfrom the old landmarks, reverted, as they alleged, to the old forms,\nand set themselves up as _Ancient_ Masons--bestowing upon their rivals\nthe odious name of _Moderns_. Later the two were further distinguished\nfrom each other by the names of their respective Grand Masters, one\ncalled Prince of Wales' Masons, the other the Atholl Masons.[147] The\ngreat figure in the Atholl Grand body was Lawrence Dermott, to whose\nkeen pen and indefatigable industry as its secretary for more than\nthirty years was due, in large measure, its success. In 1756 he\npublished its first book of laws, entitled _Ahiman Rezon, Or Help to a\nBrother_, much of which was taken from the _Irish Constitutions_ of\n1751, by Pratt, and the rest from the _Book of Constitutions_, by\nAnderson--whom he did not fail to criticize with stinging satire, of\nwhich he was a master. Among other things, the office of Deacon seems\nto have had its origin with this body. Atholl Masons were presided\nover by the Masters of affiliated Lodges until 1756, when Lord\nBlessington, their first titled Grand Master, was induced to accept\nthe honor--their warrants having been left blank betimes, awaiting the\ncoming of a Nobleman to that office. Later the fourth Duke of Atholl\nwas Grand Master at the same time of Scotland and of the Atholl Grand\nLodge, the Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland being represented at\nhis installation in London.\n\nStill another schism, not serious but significant, came in 1778, led\nby William Preston,[148] who afterwards became a shining light in the\norder. On St. John's Day, December 27, 1777, the Antiquity Lodge of\nLondon, of which Preston was Master--one of the four original Lodges\nforming the Grand Lodge--attended church in a body, to hear a sermon\nby its Chaplain. They robed in the vestry, and then marched into the\nchurch, but after the service they walked back to the Hall wearing\ntheir Masonic clothing. Difference of opinion arose as to the\nregularity of the act, Preston holding it to be valid, if for no other\nreason, by virtue of the inherent right of Antiquity Lodge itself.\nThree members objected to his ruling and appealed to the Grand Lodge,\nhe foolishly striking their names off the Lodge roll for so doing.\nEventually the Grand Lodge took the matter up, decided against\nPreston, and ordered the reinstatement of the three protesting\nmembers. At its next meeting the Antiquity Lodge voted not to comply\nwith the order of the Grand Lodge, and, instead, to withdraw from that\nbody and form an alliance with the \"Old Grand Lodge of All England at\nYork City,\" as they called it. They were received by the York Grand\nLodge, and soon thereafter obtained a constitution for a \"Grand Lodge\nof England South of the Trent.\" Although much vitality was shown at\nthe outset, this body only constituted two subordinate Lodges, and\nceased to exist. Having failed, in 1789 Preston and his friends\nrecanted their folly, apologized to the Grand Lodge, reunited with the\nmen whom they had expelled, and were received back into the fold; and\nso the matter ended.\n\nThese divisions, while they were in some ways unhappy, really made for\nthe good of the order in the sequel--the activity of contending Grand\nLodges, often keen, and at times bitter, promoting the spread of its\nprinciples to which all were alike loyal, and to the enrichment of its\nRitual[149] to which each contributed. Dermott, an able executive and\naudacious antagonist, had left no stone unturned to advance the\ninterests of Atholl Masonry, inducing its Grand Lodge to grant\nwarrants to army Lodges, which bore fruit in making Masons in every\npart of the world where the English army went.[150] Howbeit, when\nthat resourceful secretary and uncompromising fighter had gone to his\nlong rest, a better mood began to make itself felt, and a desire to\nheal the feud and unite all the Grand Lodges--the way having been\ncleared, meanwhile, by the demise of the old York Grand Lodge and the\n\"Grand Lodge South of the Trent.\" Overtures to that end were made in\n1802 without avail, but by 1809 committees were meeting and reporting\non the \"propriety and practicability of union.\" Fraternal letters were\nexchanged, and at last a joint committee met, canvassed all\ndifferences, and found a way to heal the schism.[151]\n\nUnion came at length, in a great Lodge of Reconciliation held in\nFreemason's Hall, London, on St. John's Day, December 27, 1813. It was\na memorable and inspiring scene as the two Grand Lodges, so long\nestranged, filed into the Hall--delegates of 641 Modern and 359\nAncient or Atholl Lodges--so mixed as to be indistinguishable the one\nfrom the other. Both Grand Masters had seats of honor in the East. The\nhour was fraternal, each side willing to sacrifice prejudice in behalf\nof principles held by all in common, and all equally anxious to\npreserve the ancient landmarks of the Craft--a most significant fact\nbeing that the Atholl Masons had insisted that Masonry erase such\ndistinctively Christian color as had crept into it, and return to its\nfirst platform.[152] Once united, free of feud, cleansed of rancor,\nand holding high its unsectarian, non-partisan flag, Masonry moved\nforward to her great ministry. If we would learn the lesson of those\nlong dead schisms, we must be vigilant, correcting our judgments,\nimproving our regulations, and cultivating that spirit of Love which\nis the fountain whence issue all our voluntary efforts for what is\nright and true: union in essential matters, liberty in everything\nunimportant and doubtful; Love always--one bond, one universal law,\none fellowship in spirit and in truth!\n\n\nIV\n\nRemains now to give a glimpse--and, alas, only a glimpse--of the\ngrowth and influence of Masonry in America; and a great story it is,\nneeding many volumes to tell it aright. As we have seen, it came early\nto the shores of the New World, long before the name of our great\nrepublic had been uttered, and with its gospel of Liberty, Equality,\nand Fraternity it helped to shape the institutions of this Continent.\nDown the Atlantic Coast, along the Great Lakes, into the wilderness of\nthe Middle West and the forests of the far South--westward it marched\nas \"the star of empire\" led, setting up its altar on remote frontiers,\na symbol of civilization, of loyalty to law and order, of friendship\nwith school-house and church. If history recorded the unseen\ninfluences which go to the making of a nation, those forces for good\nwhich never stop, never tarry, never tire, and of which our social\norder is the outward and visible sign, then might the real story of\nMasonry in America be told.\n\nInstead of a dry chronicle,[153] let us make effort to capture and\nportray the spirit of Masonry in American history, if so that all may\nsee how this great order actually presided over the birth of the\nrepublic, with whose growth it has had so much to do. For example, no\none need be told what patriotic memories cluster about the old Green\nDragon Tavern, in Boston, which Webster, speaking at Andover in 1823,\ncalled \"_the headquarters of the Revolution_.\" Even so, but it was\nalso a _Masonic Hall_, in the \"Long Room\" of which the Grand Lodge of\nMassachusetts--an off-shoot of St. Andrew's Lodge--was organized on\nSt. John's Day, 1767, with Joseph Warren, who afterwards fell at\nBunker Hill, as Grand Master. There Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, Warren,\nHancock, Otis and others met and passed resolutions, and then laid\nschemes to make them come true. There the Boston Tea Party was\nplanned, and executed by Masons disguised as Mohawk Indians--not by\nthe Lodge as such, but by a club formed within the Lodge, calling\nitself the _Caucus Pro Bono Publico_, of which Warren was the leading\nspirit, and in which, says Elliott, \"the plans of the Sons of Liberty\nwere matured.\" As Henry Purkett used to say, he was present at the\nfamous Tea Party as a spectator, and in disobedience to the order of\nthe Master of the Lodge, who was _actively_ present.[154]\n\nAs in Massachusetts, so throughout the Colonies--the Masons were\neverywhere active in behalf of a nation \"conceived in liberty and\ndedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.\" Of the\nmen who signed the Declaration of Independence, the following are\nknown to have been members of the order: William Hooper, Benjamin\nFranklin, Matthew Thornton, William Whipple, John Hancock, Philip\nLivingston, Thomas Nelson; and no doubt others, if we had the Masonic\nrecords destroyed during the war. Indeed, it has been said that, with\nfour men out of the room, the assembly could have been opened in form\nas a Masonic Lodge, on the Third Degree. Not only Washington,[155] but\nnearly all of his generals, were Masons; such at least as Greene, Lee,\nMarion, Sullivan, Rufus and Israel Putnam, Edwards, Jackson, Gist,\nBaron Steuben, Baron De Kalb, and the Marquis de Lafayette who was\nmade a Mason in one of the many military Lodges held in the\nContinental Army.[156] If the history of those old camp-lodges could\nbe written, what a story it would tell. Not only did they initiate\nsuch men as Alexander Hamilton and John Marshall, the immortal Chief\nJustice, but they made the spirit of Masonry felt in \"times that try\nmen's souls\"[157]--a spirit passing through picket-lines, eluding\nsentinels, and softening the horrors of war.\n\nLaying aside their swords, these Masons helped to lay wide and deep\nthe foundations of that liberty under the law which has made this\nnation, of a truth, \"the last great hope of man.\" Nor was it an\naccident, but a scene in accord with the fitness of things, that\nGeorge Washington was sworn into office as the first President of the\nRepublic by the Grand Master of New York, taking his oath on a Masonic\nBible. It was a parable of the whole period. If the Magna Charta\ndemanded rights which government can grant, Masonry from the first\nasserted those inalienable rights which man derives from God the\nFather of men. Never did this truth find sweeter voice than in the\ntones of the old Scotch fiddle on which Robert Burns, a Master Mason,\nsang, in lyric glee, of the sacredness of the soul, and the native\ndignity of humanity as the only basis of society and the state. That\nmusic went marching on, striding over continents and seas, until it\nfound embodiment in the Constitution and laws of this nation, where\ntoday more than a million Masons are citizens.\n\nHow strange, then, that Masonry should have been made the victim of\nthe most bitter and baseless persecution, for it was nothing else, in\nthe annals of the Republic. Yet so it came to pass between 1826 and\n1845, in connection with the Morgan[158] affair, of which so much has\nbeen written, and so little truth told. Alas, it was an evil hour\nwhen, as Galsworthy would say, \"men just feel something big and\nreligious, and go blind to justice, fact, and reason.\" Although Lodges\neverywhere repudiated and denounced the crime, if crime it was, and\nthe Governor of New York, himself a Mason, made every effort to detect\nand punish those involved, the fanaticism would not be stayed: the\nmob-mood ruled. An Anti-Masonic political party[159] was formed, fed\non frenzy, and the land was stirred from end to end. Even such a man\nas John Quincy Adams, of great credulity and strong prejudice, was\ndrawn into the fray, and in a series of letters flayed Masonry as an\nenemy of society and a free state--forgetting that Washington,\nFranklin, Marshall, and Warren were members of the order!\nMeanwhile--and, verily, it was a mean while--Weed, Seward, Thaddeus\nStevens, and others of their ilk, rode into power on the strength of\nit, as they had planned to do, defeating Henry Clay for President,\nbecause he was a Mason--and, incidentally, electing Andrew Jackson,\nanother Mason! Let it be said that, if the Masons found it hard to\nkeep within the Compass, they at least acted on the Square. Finally\nthe fury spent itself, leaving the order purged of feeble men who were\nMasons only in form, and a revival of Masonry followed, slowly at\nfirst, and then with great rapidity.\n\nNo sooner had Masonry recovered from this ordeal than the dark clouds\nof Civil War covered the land like a pall--the saddest of all wars,\ndividing a nation one in arts and arms and historic memories, and\nleaving an entail of blood and fire and tears. Let it be forever\nremembered that, while churches were severed and states were seceding,\n_the Masonic order remained unbroken_ in that wild and fateful hour.\nAn effort was made to involve Masonry in the strife, but the wise\ncounsel of its leaders, North and South, prevented the mixing of\nMasonry with politics; and while it could not avert the tragedy, it\ndid much to mitigate the woe of it--building rainbow bridges of mercy\nand goodwill from army to army. Though passion may have strained, it\ncould not break the tie of Masonic love, which found a ministry on red\nfields, among the sick, the wounded, and those in prison; and many a\nman in gray planted a Sprig of Acacia on the grave of a man who wore\nthe blue. Some day the writer hopes to tell that story, or a part of\nit, and then men will understand what Masonry is, what it means, and\nwhat it can do to heal the hurts of humanity.[160]\n\nEven so it has been, all through our national history, and today\nMasonry is worth more for the sanctity and safety of this republic\nthan both its army and its navy. At every turn of events, when the\nrights of man have been threatened by enemies obvious or insidious, it\nhas stood guard--its altar lights like signal fires along the heights\nof liberty, keeping watch. Not only in our own land, but everywhere\nover the broad earth, when men have thrown off the yoke of tyranny,\nwhether political or spiritual, and demanded the rights that belong to\nmanhood, they have found a friend in the Masonic order--as did Mazzini\nand Garibaldi in Italy. Nor must we be less alert and vigilant today\nwhen, free of danger of foes from without, our republic is imperiled\nby the negligence of indifference, the seduction of luxury, the\nmachinations of politicians, and the shadow of a passion-clouded,\nimpatient discontent, whose end is madness and folly; lest the most\nhallowed of all liberties be lost.\n\n/P\n  Love thou thy land, with love far-brought\n  From out the storied past, and used\n  Within the present, but transfused\n  Through future time by power of thought.\nP/\n\n\nV\n\nTruly, the very existence of such a great historic fellowship in the\nquest and service of the Ideal is a fact eloquent beyond all words,\nand to be counted among the precious assets of humanity. Forming one\nvast society of free men, held together by voluntary obligations, it\ncovers the whole globe from Egypt to India, from Italy to England,\nfrom America to Australia, and the isles of the sea; from London to\nSidney, from Chicago to Calcutta. In all civilized lands, and among\nfolk of every creed worthy of the name, Masonry is found--and\neverywhere it upholds all the redeeming ideals of humanity, making all\ngood things better by its presence, like a stream underflowing a\nmeadow.[161] Also, wherever Masonry flourishes and is allowed to build\nfreely after its divine design, liberty, justice, education, and true\nreligion flourish; and where it is hindered, they suffer. Indeed, he\nwho would reckon the spiritual possessions of the race, and estimate\nthe forces that make for social beauty, national greatness, and human\nwelfare, must take account of the genius of Masonry and its ministry\nto the higher life of the race.\n\nSmall wonder that such an order has won to its fellowship men of the\nfirst order of intellect, men of thought and action in many lands, and\nevery walk and work of life: soldiers like Wellington, Bluecher, and\nGaribaldi; philosophers like Krause, Fichte, and John Locke; patriots\nlike Washington and Mazzini; writers like Walter Scott, Voltaire,\nSteele, Lessing, Tolstoi; poets like Goethe, Burns, Byron, Kipling,\nPike; musicians like Haydn and Mozart--whose opera, _The Magic Flute_,\nhas a Masonic motif; masters of drama like Forrest and Edwin Booth;\neditors such as Bowles, Prentice, Childs, Grady; ministers of many\ncommunions, from Bishop Potter to Robert Collyer; statesmen,\nphilanthropists, educators, jurists, men of science--Masons many,[162]\nwhose names shine like stars in the great world's crown of\nintellectual and spiritual glory. What other order has ever brought\ntogether men of such diverse type, temper, training, interest, and\nachievement, uniting them at an altar of prayer in the worship of God\nand the service of man?\n\nFor the rest, if by some art one could trace those invisible\ninfluences which move to and fro like shuttles in a loom, weaving the\nnetwork of laws, reverences, sanctities which make the warp and woof\nof society--giving to statutes their dignity and power, to the gospel\nits opportunity, to the home its canopy of peace and beauty, to the\nyoung an enshrinement of inspiration, and to the old a mantle of\nprotection; if one had such art, then he might tell the true story of\nMasonry. Older than any living religion, the most widespread of all\norders of men, it toils for liberty, friendship, and righteousness;\nbinding men with solemn vows to the right, uniting them upon the only\nbasis upon which they can meet without reproach--like those fibers\nrunning through the glaciers, along which sunbeams journey, melting\nthe frozen mass and sending it to the valleys below in streams of\nblessing. Other fibers are there, but none is more far-ramifying, none\nmore tender, none more responsive to the Light than the mystical tie\nof Masonic love.\n\nTruth will triumph. Justice will yet reign from sun to sun, victorious\nover cruelty and evil. Finally Love will rule the race, casting out\nfear, hatred, and all unkindness, and pity will heal the old hurt and\nheart-ache of humanity. There is nothing in history, dark as much of\nit is, against the ultimate fulfilment of the prophetic vision of\nRobert Burns--the Poet Laureate of Masonry:\n\n/P\n  Then let us pray, that come it may--\n    As come it will, for a' that--\n     .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .\n  That man to man, the world o'er\n    Shall brothers be, for a' that.\nP/\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[133] Operative Masonry, it should be remembered, was not entirely\ndead, nor did it all at once disappear. Indeed, it still exists in some\nform, and an interesting account of its forms, degrees, symbols,\nusages, and traditions may be found in an article on \"Operative\nMasonry,\" by C.E. Stretton (_Transactions Leicester Lodge of Research_,\n1909-10, 1911-12). The second of these volumes also contains an essay\non \"Operative Free-masons,\" by Thomas Carr, with a list of lodges, and\na study of their history, customs, and emblems--especially the\nSwastika. Speculative Masons are now said to be joining these Operative\nLodges, seeking more light on what are called the Lost Symbols of\nMasonry.\n\n[134] The Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland, it may be added, were\nself-constituted, without assistance or intervention from England in\nany form.\n\n[135] A deputation of the Hamburg Lodge initiated Frederick--afterwards\nFrederick the Great of Prussia--into the order of Masons at Brunswick,\nAugust 14, 1738 (_Frederick and his Times_, by Campbell, _History of\nFrederick_, by Carlyle, Findel's _History of Masonry_). Other noblemen\nfollowed his example, and their zeal for the order gave a new date to\nthe history of Masonry in Germany. When Frederick ascended the throne,\nin 1740, the Craft was honored, and it flourished in his kingdom. As to\nthe interest of Frederick in the order in his later years, the facts\nare not clear, but that he remained its friend seems certain (Mackey,\n_Encyclopedia_). However, the Craft underwent many vicissitudes in\nGermany, a detailed account of which Findel recites (_History of\nMasonry_). Few realize through what frightful persecutions Masonry has\npassed in many lands, owing in part to its secrecy, but in larger part\nto its principle of civil and religious liberty. Whenever that story is\ntold, as it surely will be, men everywhere will pay homage to the\nAncient Free and Accepted Masons as friends of mankind.\n\n[136] This letter was the property of Horace W. Smith, Philadelphia.\nJohn Moore was the father of William Moore, whose daughter became the\nwife of Provost Smith, who was a Mason in 1775, and afterward Grand\nSecretary of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and whose son was Grand\nMaster of Masons in Pennsylvania in 1796 and 1797 (_History of\nFreemasonry_, by Hughan and Stillson).\n\n[137] _Ibid_, chapter on \"Early American Masonic History.\"\n\n[138] _Benjamin Franklin as a Free Mason_, by J.F. Sachse. Oddly\nenough, there is no mention of Masonry by Franklin in his\n_Autobiography_, or in any of his letters, with but two exceptions, so\nfar as known; which is the more remarkable when we look at his Masonic\ncareer in France during the later years of his life, where he was\nactively and intimately associated with the order, even advancing to\nthe higher degrees. Never for a day did he abate by one jot his\ninterest in the order, or his love for it.\n\n[139] This injunction was made doubly strong in the edition of the\n_Book of Constitutions_, in 1738. For example: \"no quarrels about\nnations, families, religion or politics must by any means or under any\ncolor or pretense whatever be brought within the door of the Lodge....\nMasons being of all nations upon the square, level and plumb; and like\nour predecessors in all ages, we are resolved against political\ndisputes,\" etc.\n\n[140] Masons have sometimes been absurdly called \"Protestant Jesuits,\"\nbut the two orders are exactly opposite in spirit, principle, purpose,\nand method. All that they have in common is that they are both _secret_\nsocieties, which makes it plain that the opposition of the Latin church\nto Masonry is not on the ground of its being a secret order, else why\nsanction the Jesuits, to name no other? The difference has been stated\nin this way: \"Opposite poles these two societies are, for each\npossesses precisely those qualities which the other lacks. The Jesuits\nare strongly centralized, the Freemasons only confederated. Jesuits are\ncontrolled by one man's will, Freemasons are under majority rule.\nJesuits bottom morality in expediency, Freemasons in regard for the\nwell-being of mankind. Jesuits recognize only one creed, Freemasons\nhold in respect all honest convictions. Jesuits seek to break down\nindividual independence, Freemasons to build it up\" (_Mysteria_, by\nOtto Henne Am Rhyn).\n\n[141] For a detailed account of the Duke of Wharton and the true\nhistory of the Gormogons, see an essay by R.F. Gould, in his \"Masonic\nCelebrities\" series (_A. Q. C._, viii, 144), and more recently, _The\nLife and Writings of Philip, Duke of Wharton_, by Lewis Melville.\n\n[142] Findel has a nobly eloquent passage on this point, and it tells\nthe everlasting truth (_History of Masonry_, p. 378). His whole\nhistory, indeed, is exceedingly worth reading, the more so because it\nwas one of the first books of the right kind, and it stimulated\nresearch.\n\n[143] A paper entitled \"An Unrecorded Grand Lodge,\" by Sadler (_A. Q.\nC._, vol. xviii, 69-90), tells practically all that is known of this\nmovement, which merged with the Grand Lodge of London in 1776.\n\n[144] Nor was that all. In 1735 it was resolved in the Grand Lodge\n\"that in the future all Grand Officers (except Grand Master) shall be\nselected out of that body\"--meaning the past Grand Stewards. This act\nwas amazing. Already the Craft had let go its power to elect the\nWardens, and now the choice of the Grand Master was narrowed to the\nranks of an oligarchy in its worst form--a queer outcome of Masonic\nequality. Three months later the Grand Stewards presented a memorial\nasking that they \"might form themselves into a special lodge,\" with\nspecial jewels, etc. Naturally this bred discontent and apprehension,\nand justly so.\n\n[145] Often we speak of \"the York Rite,\" as though it were the oldest\nand truest form of Masonry, but, while it serves to distinguish one\nbranch of Masonry from another, it is not accurate; for, strictly\nspeaking, there is no such thing as a York Rite. The name is more a\ntribute of reverence than a description of fact.\n\n[146] _Masonic Facts and Fictions_, by Henry Sadler.\n\n[147] _Atholl Lodges_, by R.F. Gould.\n\n[148] William Preston was born in Edinburgh in 1742, and came as a\njourneyman printer to London in 1760, where he made himself conversant\nwith the history, laws, and rites of the Craft, being much in demand as\na lecturer. He was a good speaker, and frequently addressed the Lodges\nof the city. After his blunder of seceding had been forgiven, he was\nhonored with many offices, especially the Grand Secretaryship, which\ngave him time to pursue his studies. Later he wrote the _Freemason's\nCallender_, an appendix to the _Book of Constitutions_, a _History of\nMasonry_, and, most famous of all, _Illustrations of Masonry_, which\npassed through a score of editions. Besides, he had much to do with the\ndevelopment of the Ritual.\n\n[149] The history of the Ritual is most interesting, and should be\nwritten in more detail (_History of Masonry_, by Steinbrenner, chap.\nvii, \"The Ritual\"). An article giving a brief story of it appeared in\nthe _Masonic Monthly_, of Boston, November, 1863 (reprinted in the _New\nEngland Craftsman_, vol. vii, and still later in the _Bulletin of Iowa\nMasonic Library_, vol. xv, April, 1914). This article is valuable as\nshowing the growth of the Ritual--as much by subtraction as by\naddition--and especially the introduction into it of Christian imagery\nand interpretation, first by Martin Clare in 1732, and by Duckerley and\nHutchinson later. One need only turn to _The Spirit of Masonry_, by\nHutchinson (1802), to see how far this tendency had gone when at last\nchecked in 1813. At that time a committee made a careful comparative\nstudy of all rituals in use among Masons, and the ultimate result was\nthe Preston-Webb lectures now generally in use in this country. (See a\nvaluable article by Dr. Mackey on \"The Lectures of Freemasonry,\"\n_American Quarterly Review of Freemasonry_, vol. ii, p. 297.) What a\npity that this _Review_ died of too much excellence!\n\n[150] _Military Lodges_, by Gould; also Kipling's poem, _The Mother\nLodge_.\n\n[151] Among the articles of union, it was agreed that Freemasonry\nshould consist of the three symbolic degrees, \"_including the Holy\nRoyal Arch_.\" The present study does not contemplate a detailed study\nof Capitular Masonry, which has its own history and historians (_Origin\nof the English Rite_, Hughan), except to say that it seems to have\nbegun about 1738-40, the concensus of opinion differing as to whether\nit began in England or on the Continent (\"Royal Arch Masonry,\" by C.P.\nNoar, _Manchester Lodge of Research_, vol. iii, 1911-12). Lawrence\nDermott, always alert, had it adopted by the Atholl Grand Lodge about\nthirty years before the Grand Lodge of England took it up in 1770-76,\nwhen Thomas Duckerley was appointed to arrange and introduce it.\nDermott held it to be \"the very essence of Masonry,\" and he was not\nslow in using it as a club with which to belabor the Moderns; but he\ndid not originate it, as some imagine, having received the degrees\nbefore he came to London, perhaps in an unsystemized form. Duckerley\nwas accused of shifting the original Grand Masonic word from the Third\nDegree to the Royal Arch, and of substituting another in its stead.\nEnough to say that Royal Arch Masonry is authentic Masonry, being a\nfurther elaboration in drama, following the Third Degree, of the spirit\nand motif of old Craft Masonry (_History of Freemasonry and Concordant\nOrders_, by Hughan and Stillson).\n\n[152] It is interesting to note that the writer of the article on\n\"Masonry\" in the Catholic _Encyclopedia_--an article admirable in many\nways, and for the most part fair--makes much of this point, and rightly\nso, albeit his interpretation of it is altogether wrong. He imagines\nthat the objection to Christian imagery in the ritual was due to enmity\nto Christianity. Not so. Masonry was not then, and has never at any\ntime been, opposed to Christianity, or to any other religion. Far from\nit. But Christianity in those days--as, alas, too often now--was\nanother name for a petty and bigoted sectarianism; and Masonry by its\nvery genius was, and is, _unsectarian_. Many Masons then were devout\nChristians, as they are now--not a few clergymen--but the order itself\nis open to men of all faiths, Catholic and Protestant, Hebrew and\nHindu, who confess faith in God; and so it will always remain if it is\ntrue to its principles and history.\n\n[153] As for the chronicle, the one indispensable book to the student\nof American Masonry is the _History of Freemasonry and Concordant\nOrders_, by W.J. Hughan and H.L. Stillson, aided by one of the ablest\nboard of contributors ever assembled. It includes a history of Masonry\nin all its Rites in North, Central, and South America, with accurate\naccounts of the origin and growth of every Grand Lodge in the United\nStates and British America; also admirable chapters on Early American\nMasonic History, the Morgan Excitement, Masonic Jurisprudence, and\nstatistics up to date of 1891--all carefully prepared and well written.\nAmong other books too many to name, there are the _History of Symbolic\nMasonry in the United States_, by J.H. Drummond, and \"The American\nAddenda\" to Gould's massive and magnificent _History of Masonry_, vol.\niv. What the present pages seek is the spirit behind this forest of\nfacts.\n\n[154] For the full story, see \"Reminiscences of the Green Dragon\nTavern,\" in _Centennial Memorial of St. Andrew's Lodge, 1870_.\n\n[155] _Washington, the Man and the Mason_, by C.H. Callahan. Jackson,\nPolk, Fillmore, Buchanan, Johnson, Garfield, McKinley, Roosevelt, Taft,\nall were Masons. A long list may be found in _Cyclopedia of\nFraternities_, by Stevens, article on \"Freemasonry: Distinguished\nAmericans.\"\n\n[156] _Washington and his Masonic Compeers_, by Randolph Hayden.\n\n[157] Thomas Paine, whose words these are, though not a Mason, has left\nus an essay on _The Origin of Freemasonry_. Few men have ever been more\nunjustly and cruelly maligned than this great patriot, who was the\nfirst to utter the name \"United States,\" and who, instead of being a\nsceptic, believed in \"the religion in which all men agree\"--that is, in\nGod, Duty, and the immortality of the soul.\n\n[158] William Morgan was a dissolute, nondescript printer in Batavia,\nNew York, who, having failed in everything else, thought to make money\nby betraying the secrets of an order which his presence polluted.\nFoolishly misled, a few Masons had him arrested on a petty charge, got\nhim out of the country, and apparently paid him to stay out. Had no\nattention been paid to his alleged exposure it would have fallen\nstill-born from the press, like many another before it. Rumors of\nabduction started, then Morgan was said to have been thrown into\nNiagara River, whereas there is no proof that he was ever killed, much\nless murdered by Masons. Thurlow Weed and a pack of unscrupulous\npoliticians took it up, and the rest was easy. One year later a body\nwas found on the shore of Lake Ontario which Weed and the wife of\nMorgan identified--a _year afterward!_--she, no doubt, having been paid\nto do so; albeit the wife of a fisherman named Munroe identified the\nsame body as that of her husband drowned a week or so before. No\nmatter; as Weed said, \"_It's good enough Morgan until after the\nelection_\"--a characteristic remark, if we may judge by his own\nportrait as drawn in his _Autobiography_. Politically, he was capable\nof anything, if he could make it win, and here he saw a chance of\nstirring up every vile and slimy thing in human nature for sake of\noffice. (See a splendid review of the whole matter in _History of\nMasonry_, by Hughan and Stillson, also by Gould in vol. iv of his\n_History_.)\n\n[159] _Cyclopedia of Fraternities_, by Stevens, article,\n\"Anti-Masonry,\" gives detailed account with many interesting facts.\n\n[160] Following the first day of the battle of Gettysburg, there was a\nLodge meeting in town, and \"Yanks\" and \"Johnny Rebs\" met and mingled as\nfriends, under the Square and Compass. Where else could they have done\nso? (_Tennessee Mason_). When the Union army attacked Little Rock,\nArk., the commanding officer, Thomas H. Benton--Grand Master of the\nGrand Lodge of Iowa--threw a guard about the home of General Albert\nPike, _to protect his Masonic library_. Marching through burning\nRichmond, a Union officer saw the familiar emblems over a hall. He put\na guard about the Lodge room, and that night, together with a number of\nConfederate Masons, organized a society for the relief of widows and\norphans left destitute by the war (_Washington, the Man and the Mason_,\nCallahan). But for the kindness of a brother Mason, who saved the life\nof a young soldier of the South, who was a prisoner of war at Rock\nIsland, Ill., the present writer would never have been born, much less\nhave written this book. That young soldier was my father! Volumes of\nsuch facts might be gathered in proof of the gracious ministry of\nMasonry in those awful years.\n\n[161] _Cyclopedia of Fraternities_, by Stevens (last edition), article,\n\"Free Masonry,\" pictures the extent of the order, with maps and\ndiagrams showing its world-wide influence.\n\n[162] Space does not permit a survey of the literature of Masonry,\nstill less of Masonry in literature. (Findel has two fine chapters on\nthe literature of the order, but he wrote, in 1865, _History of\nMasonry_.) For traces of Masonry in literature, there is the famous\nchapter in _War and Peace_, by Tolstoi; _Mon Oncle Sosthenes_, by\nMaupassant; _Nathan the Wise_, and _Ernest and Falk_, by Lessing; the\nMasonic poems of Goethe, and many hints in _Wilhelm Meister_; the\nwritings of Herder (_Classic Period of German Letters_, Findel), _The\nLost Word_, by Henry Van Dyke; and, of course, the poetry of Burns.\n\nMasonic phrases and allusions--often almost too revealing--are found\nall through the poems and stories of Kipling. Besides the poem _The\nMother Lodge_, so much admired, there is _The Widow of Windsor_, such\nstories as _With the Main Guard_, _The Winged Hats_, _Hal o' the\nDraft_, _The City Walls_, _On the Great Wall_, many examples in _Kim_,\nalso in _Traffics and Discoveries_, _Puck of Pook's Hill_, and, by no\nmeans least, _The Man Who Would be King_, one of the great short\nstories of the world.\n\n\n\n\nPart III--Interpretation\n\n\n\n\nWHAT IS MASONRY\n\n\n\n\n/#\n  _I am afraid you may not consider it an altogether substantial\n  concern. It has to be seen in a certain way, under certain\n  conditions. Some people never see it at all. You must understand,\n  this is no dead pile of stones and unmeaning timber. It is a_\n  LIVING _thing._\n\n  _When you enter it you hear a sound--a sound as of some mighty\n  poem chanted. Listen long enough, and you will learn that it is\n  made up of the beating of human hearts, of the nameless music of\n  men's souls--that is, if you have ears to hear. If you have eyes,\n  you will presently see the church itself--a looming mystery of\n  many shapes and shadows, leaping sheer from floor to dome. The\n  work of no ordinary builder!_\n\n  _The pillars of it go up like the brawny trunks of heroes; the\n  sweet flesh of men and women is molded about its bulwarks, strong,\n  impregnable; the faces of little children laugh out from every\n  corner stone; the terrible spans and arches of it are the joined\n  hands of comrades; and up in the heights and spaces are inscribed\n  the numberless musings of all the dreamers of the world. It is yet\n  building--building and built upon._\n\n  _Sometimes the work goes on in deep darkness; sometimes in\n  blinding light; now under the burden of unutterable anguish; now\n  to the tune of great laughter and heroic shoutings like the cry of\n  thunder. Sometimes, in the silence of the night-time, one may hear\n  the tiny hammerings of the comrades at work up in the dome--the\n  comrades that have climbed ahead._\n\n  --C.R. KENNEDY, _The Servant in the House_\n#/\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\n_What is Masonry_\n\n\nI\n\nWhat, then, is Masonry, and what is it trying to do in the world?\nAccording to one of the _Old Charges_, Masonry is declared to be an\n\"ancient and honorable institution: ancient no doubt it is, as having\nsubsisted from time immemorial; and honorable it must be acknowledged\nto be, as by natural tendency it conduces to make those so who are\nobedient to its precepts. To so high an eminence has its credit been\nadvanced that in every age Monarchs themselves have been promoters of\nthe art, have not thought it derogatory from their dignity to exchange\nthe scepter for the trowel, have patronized our mysteries and joined\nin our Assemblies.\"\n\nWhile that eulogy is more than justified by sober facts, it does not\ntell us what Masonry is, much less its mission and ministry to\nmankind. If now we turn to the old, oft-quoted definition, we learn\nthat Masonry is \"a system of morality veiled in allegory and\nillustrated by symbols.\" That is, in so far, true enough, but it is\nobviously inadequate, the more so when it uses the word \"peculiar\" as\ndescribing the morality of Masonry; and it gives no hint of a\nworld-encircling fellowship and its far-ramifying influence. Another\ndefinition has it that Masonry is \"a science which is engaged in the\nsearch after divine truth;\"[163] but that is vague, indefinite, and\nunsatisfactory, lacking any sense of the uniqueness of the Order, and\nas applicable to one science as to another. For surely all science, of\nwhatever kind, is a search after divine truth, and a physical fact, as\nAgassiz said, is as sacred as a moral truth--every fact being the\npresence of God.\n\nStill another writer defines Masonry as \"Friendship, Love, and\nIntegrity--Friendship which rises superior to the fictitious\ndistinctions of society, the prejudices of religion, and the pecuniary\nconditions of life; Love which knows no limit, nor inequality, nor\ndecay; Integrity which binds man to the eternal law of duty.\"[164]\nSuch is indeed the very essence and spirit of Masonry, but Masonry has\nno monopoly of that spirit, and its uniqueness consists, rather, in\nthe form in which it seeks to embody and express the gracious and\nbenign spirit which is the genius of all the higher life of humanity.\nMasonry is not everything; it is a thing as distinctly featured as a\nstatue by Phidias or a painting by Angelo. Definitions, like delays,\nmay be dangerous, but perhaps we can do no better than to adopt the\nwords of the German _Handbuch_[165] as the best description of it so\nfar given:\n\n/#[4,66]\n    _Masonry is the activity of closely united men who, employing\n    symbolical forms borrowed principally from the mason's trade\n    and from architecture, work for the welfare of mankind,\n    striving morally to ennoble themselves and others, and\n    thereby to bring about a universal league of mankind, which\n    they aspire to exhibit even now on a small scale._\n#/\n\nCivilization could hardly begin until man had learned to fashion for\nhimself a settled habitation, and thus the earliest of all human arts\nand crafts, and perhaps also the noblest, is that of the builder.\nReligion took outward shape when men first reared an altar for their\nofferings, and surrounded it with a sanctuary of faith and awe, of\npity and consolation, and piled a cairn to mark the graves where their\ndead lay asleep. History is no older than architecture. How fitting,\nthen, that the idea and art of building should be made the basis of a\ngreat order of men which has no other aim than the upbuilding of\nhumanity in Faith, Freedom, and Friendship. Seeking to ennoble and\nbeautify life, it finds in the common task and constant labor of man\nits sense of human unity, its vision of life as a temple \"building and\nbuilt upon,\" and its emblems of those truths which make for purity of\ncharacter and the stability of society. Thus Masonry labors, linked\nwith the constructive genius of mankind, and so long as it remains\ntrue to its Ideal no weapon formed against it can prosper.\n\nOne of the most impressive and touching things in human history is\nthat certain ideal interests have been set apart as especially\nvenerated among all peoples. Guilds have arisen to cultivate the\ninterests embodied in art, science, philosophy, fraternity, and\nreligion; to conserve the precious, hard-won inheritances of humanity;\nto train men in their service; to bring their power to bear upon the\ncommon life of mortals, and send through that common life the light\nand glory of the Ideal--as the sun shoots its transfiguring rays\nthrough a great dull cloud, evoking beauty from the brown earth. Such\nis Masonry, which unites all these high interests and brings to their\nservice a vast, world-wide fraternity of free and devout men, built\nupon a foundation of spiritual faith and moral idealism, whose\nmission it is to make men friends, to refine and exalt their lives, to\ndeepen their faith and purify their dream, to turn them from the\nsemblance of life to homage for truth, beauty, righteousness, and\ncharacter. More than an institution, more than a tradition, more than\na society, Masonry is one of the forms of the Divine Life upon earth.\nNo one may ever hope to define a spirit so gracious, an order so\nbenign, an influence so prophetic of the present and future upbuilding\nof the race.\n\nThere is a common notion that Masonry is a secret society, and this\nidea is based on the secret rites used in its initiations, and the\nsigns and grips by which its members recognize each other. Thus it has\ncome to pass that the main aims of the Order are assumed to be a\nsecret policy or teaching,[166] whereas _its one great secret is that\nit has no secret_. Its principles are published abroad in its\nwritings; its purposes and laws are known, and the times and places of\nits meetings. Having come down from dark days of persecution, when all\nthe finer things sought the protection of seclusion, if it still\nadheres to secret rites, it is not in order to hide the truth, but the\nbetter to teach it more impressively, to train men in its pure\nservice, and to promote union and amity upon earth. Its signs and\ngrips serve as a kind of universal language, and still more as a\ngracious cover for the practice of sweet charity--making it easier to\nhelp a fellow man in dire plight without hurting his self-respect. If\na few are attracted to it by curiosity, all remain to pray, finding\nthemselves members of a great historic fellowship of the seekers and\nfinders of God.[167] It is old because it is true; had it been false\nit would have perished long ago. When all men practice its simple\nprecepts, the innocent secrets of Masonry will be laid bare, its\nmission accomplished, and its labor done.\n\n\nII\n\nRecalling the emphasis of the foregoing pages, it need hardly be added\nthat Masonry is in no sense a political party, still less a society\norganized for social agitation. Indeed, because Masonry stands apart\nfrom partisan feud and particular plans of social reform, she has been\nheld up to ridicule equally by the unthinking, the ambitious, and the\nimpatient. Her critics on this side are of two kinds. There are those\nwho hold that the humanitarian ideal is an error, maintaining that\nhuman nature has no moral aptitude, and can be saved only by\nsubmission to a definite system of dogma. Then there are those who\nlook for salvation solely in political action and social agitation,\nwho live in the delusion that man can be made better by passing laws\nand counting votes, and to whom Masonry has nothing to offer because\nin its ranks it permits no politics, much less party rancor. Advocates\nof the first view have fought Masonry from the beginning with the\nsharpest weapons, while those who hold the second view regard it with\ncontempt, as a thing useless and not worth fighting.[168]\n\nNeither adversary understands Masonry and its cult of the creative\nlove for humanity, and of each man for his fellow, without which no\ndogma is of any worth; lacking which, the best laid plans of social\nseers \"gang aft aglee.\" Let us look at things as they are. That we\nmust press forward towards righteousness--that we must hunger and\nthirst after a social life that is true and pure, just and\nmerciful--all will agree; but they are blind who do not see that the\nway is long and the process slow. What is it that so tragically delays\nthe march of man toward the better and wiser social order whereof our\nprophets dream? Our age, like the ages gone before, is full of schemes\nof every kind for the reform and betterment of mankind. Why do they\nnot succeed? Some fail, perhaps, because they are imprudent and\nill-considered, in that they expect too much of human nature and do\nnot take into account the stubborn facts of life. But why does not the\nwisest and noblest plan do more than half what its advocates hope and\npray and labor so heroically to bring about? Because there are not\nenough men fine enough of soul, large enough of sympathy, sweet enough\nof spirit, and noble enough of nature to make the dream come true!\n\nThere are no valid arguments against a great-spirited social justice\nbut this--that men will not. Indolence, impurity, greed, injustice,\nmeanness of spirit, the aggressiveness of authority, and above all\njealousy--these are the real obstacles that thwart the nobler social\naspiration of humanity. There are too many men like _The\nMaster-Builder_ who tried to build higher than any one else, without\nregard to others, all for his own selfish glory. Ibsen has shown us\nhow _The Pillars of Society_, resting on rotten foundations, came\ncrashing down, wounding the innocent in their wreck. Long ago it was\nsaid that \"through wisdom is an house builded, and by understanding it\nis established; and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with\npleasant and precious riches.\"[169] Time has shown that the House of\nWisdom must be founded upon righteousness, justice, purity, character,\nfaith in God and love of man, else it will fall when the floods\ndescend and the winds beat upon it. What we need to make our social\ndreams come true is not more laws, not more dogmas, not less liberty,\nbut better men, cleaner minded, more faithful, with loftier ideals and\nmore heroic integrity; men who love the right, honor the truth,\nworship purity, and prize liberty--upright men who meet all\nhorizontals at a perfect angle, assuring the virtue and stability of\nthe social order.\n\nTherefore, when Masonry, instead of identifying itself with particular\nschemes of reform, and thus becoming involved in endless turmoil and\ndispute, estranging men whom she seeks to bless, devotes all her\nbenign energy and influence to _ennobling the souls of men_, she is\ndoing fundamental work in behalf of all high enterprises. By as much\nas she succeeds, every noble cause succeeds; by as much as she fails,\neverything fails! By its ministry to the individual man--drawing him\ninto the circle of a great friendship, exalting his faith, refining\nhis ideals, enlarging his sympathies, and setting his feet in the long\nwhite path--Masonry best serves society and the state.[170] While it\nis not a reformatory, it is a center of moral and spiritual power, and\nits power is used, not only to protect the widow and orphan, but also,\nand still more important, to remove the cause of their woe and need by\nmaking men just, gentle, and generous to all their fellow mortals. Who\ncan measure such a silent, persistent, unresting labor; who can\ndescribe its worth in a world of feud, of bitterness, of sorrow!\n\nNo one needs to be told that we are on the eve, if not in the midst,\nof a most stupendous and bewildering revolution of social and\nindustrial life. It shakes England today. It makes France tremble\ntomorrow. It alarms America next week. Men want shorter hours, higher\nwages, and better homes--of course they do--but they need, more than\nthese things, to know and love each other; for the questions in\ndispute can never be settled in an air of hostility. If they are ever\nsettled at all, and settled right, it must be in an atmosphere of\nmutual recognition and respect, such as Masonry seeks to create and\nmake prevail. Whether it be a conflict of nations, or a clash of class\nwith class, appeal must be made to intelligence and the moral sense,\nas befits the dignity of man. Amidst bitterness and strife Masonry\nbrings men of every rank and walk of life together as men, and nothing\nelse, at an altar where they can talk and not fight, discuss and not\ndispute, and each may learn the point of view of his fellow. Other\nhope there is none save in this spirit of friendship and fairness, of\ndemocracy and the fellowship of man with man. Once this spirit has its\nway with mankind, it will bring those brave, large reconstructions,\nthose profitable abnegations and brotherly feats of generosity that\nwill yet turn human life into a glad, beautiful, and triumphant\ncooeperation all round this sunlit world.\n\nSurely the way of Masonry is wise. Instead of becoming only one more\nfactor in a world of factional feud, it seeks to remove all hostility\nwhich may arise from social, national, or religious differences. It\nhelps to heal the haughtiness of the rich and the envy of the poor,\nand tends to establish peace on earth by allaying all fanaticism and\nhatred on account of varieties of language, race, creed, and even\ncolor, while striving to make the wisdom of the past available for the\nculture of men in faith and purity. Not a party, not a sect, not a\ncult, it is a great order of men selected, initiated, sworn, and\ntrained to make sweet reason and the will of God prevail! Against the\nancient enmities and inhumanities of the world it wages eternal war,\nwithout vengeance, without violence, but by softening the hearts of\nmen and inducing a better spirit. Apparitions of a day, here for an\nhour and tomorrow gone, what is our puny warfare against evil and\nignorance compared with the warfare which this venerable Order has\nbeen waging against them for ages, and will continue to wage after we\nhave fallen into dust!\n\n\nIII\n\nMasonry, as it is much more than a political party or a social cult,\nis also more than a church--unless we use the word church as Ruskin\nused it when he said: \"There is a true church wherever one hand meets\nanother helpfully, the only holy or mother church that ever was or\never shall be!\" It is true that Masonry is not _a_ religion, but it is\nReligion, a worship in which all good men may unite, that each may\nshare the faith of all. Often it has been objected that some men leave\nthe Church and enter the Masonic Lodge, finding there a religious\nhome. Even so, but that may be the fault, not of Masonry, but of the\nChurch so long defamed by bigotry and distracted by sectarian feud,\nand which has too often made acceptance of abstract dogmas a test of\nits fellowship.[171] Naturally many fine minds have been estranged\nfrom the Church, not because they were irreligious, but because they\nwere required to believe what it was impossible for them to believe;\nand, rather than sacrifice their integrity of soul, they have turned\naway from the last place from which a man should ever turn away. No\npart of the ministry of Masonry is more beautiful and wise than its\nappeal, not for tolerance, but for fraternity; not for uniformity, but\nfor unity of spirit amidst varieties of outlook and opinion. Instead\nof criticizing Masonry, let us thank God for one altar where no man is\nasked to surrender his liberty of thought and become an\nindistinguishable atom in a mass of sectarian agglomeration. What a\nwitness to the worth of an Order that it brings together men of all\ncreeds in behalf of those truths which are greater than all sects,\ndeeper than all doctrines--the glory and the hope of man!\n\nWhile Masonry is not a church, it has religiously preserved some\nthings of highest importance to the Church--among them the right of\neach individual soul to its own religious faith. Holding aloof from\nseparate sects and creeds, it has taught all of them how to respect\nand tolerate each other; asserting a principle broader than any of\nthem--the sanctity of the soul and the duty of every man to revere, or\nat least to regard with charity, what is sacred to his fellows. It is\nlike the crypts underneath the old cathedrals--a place where men of\nevery creed who long for something deeper and truer, older and newer\nthan they have hitherto known, meet and unite. Having put away\nchildish things, they find themselves made one by a profound and\nchildlike faith, each bringing down into that quiet crypt his own\npearl of great price--\n\n/#[4,66]\n    The Hindu his innate disbelief in this world, and his\n    unhesitating belief in another world; the Buddhist his\n    perception of an eternal law, his submission to it, his\n    gentleness, his pity; the Mohammedan, if nothing else, his\n    sobriety; the Jew his clinging, through good and evil days,\n    to the one God who loveth righteousness, and whose name is \"I\n    AM;\" the Christian, that which is better than all, if those\n    who doubt it would try it--our love of God, call Him what you\n    will, manifested in our love of man, our love of the living,\n    our love of the dead, our living and undying love. Who knows\n    but that the crypt of the past may become the church of the\n    future?[172]\n#/\n\nOf no one age, Masonry belongs to all ages; of no one religion, it\nfinds great truths in all religions. Indeed, it holds that truth which\nis common to all elevating and benign religions, and is the basis of\neach; that faith which underlies all sects and over-arches all creeds,\nlike the sky above and the river bed below the flow of mortal years.\nIt does not undertake to explain or dogmatically to settle those\nquestions or solve those dark mysteries which out-top human knowledge.\nBeyond the facts of faith it does not go. With the subtleties of\nspeculation concerning those truths, and the unworldly envies growing\nout of them, it has not to do. There divisions begin, and Masonry was\nnot made to divide men, but to unite them, leaving each man free to\nthink his own thought and fashion his own system of ultimate truth.\nAll its emphasis rests upon two extremely simple and profound\nprinciples--love of God and love of man. Therefore, all through the\nages it has been, and is today, a meeting place of differing minds,\nand a prophecy of the final union of all reverent and devout souls.\n\nTime was when one man framed a dogma and declared it to be the eternal\ntruth. Another man did the same thing, with a different dogma; then\nthe two began to hate each other with an unholy hatred, each seeking\nto impose his dogma upon the other--and that is an epitome of some of\nthe blackest pages of history. Against those old sectarians who\nsubstituted intolerance for charity, persecution for friendship, and\ndid not love God because they hated their neighbors, Masonry made\neloquent protest, putting their bigotry to shame by its simple\ninsight, and the dignity of its golden voice. A vast change of heart\nis now taking place in the religious world, by reason of an exchange\nof thought and courtesy, and a closer personal touch, and the various\nsects, so long estranged, are learning to unite upon the things most\nworth while and the least open to debate. That is to say, they are\nmoving toward the Masonic position, and when they arrive Masonry will\nwitness a scene which she has prophesied for ages.\n\nAt last, in the not distant future, the old feuds of the sects will\ncome to an end, forgotten in the discovery that the just, the brave,\nthe true-hearted are everywhere of one religion, and that when the\nmasks of misunderstanding are taken off they know and love one\nanother. Our little dogmas will have their day and cease to be, lost\nin the vision of a truth so great that all men are one in their\nlittleness; one also in their assurance of the divinity of the soul\nand \"the kindness of the veiled Father of men.\" Then men of every name\nwill ask, when they meet:\n\n/P\n  Not what is your creed?\n  But what is your need?\nP/\n\nHigh above all dogmas that divide, all bigotries that blind, all\nbitterness that beclouds, will be written the simple words of the one\neternal religion--the Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, the\nmoral law, the golden rule, and the hope of a life everlasting!\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[163] _Symbolism of Freemasonry_, by Dr. Mackey.\n\n[164] _History and Philosophy of Masonry_, by A.C.L. Arnold, chap. xvi.\nTo say of any man--of Socrates, for example--who had the spirit of\nFriendship and Integrity, that he was a Mason, is in a sense true, but\nit is misleading. Nevertheless, if a man have not that spirit, he is\nnot a Mason, though he may have received the thirty-third degree.\n\n[165] Vol. i, p. 320. The _Handbuch_ is an encyclopedia of Masonry,\npublished in 1900. See admirable review of it, _A. Q. C._, xi, 64.\n\n[166] Much has been written about the secrecy of Masonry. Hutchinson,\nin his lecture on \"The Secrecy of Masons,\" lays all the stress upon its\nprivacy as a shelter for the gentle ministry of Charity (_Spirit of\nMasonry_, lecture x). Arnold is more satisfactory in his essay on \"The\nPhilosophy of Mystery,\" quoting the words of Carlyle in _Sartor\nResartus_: \"Bees will not work except in darkness; thoughts will not\nwork except in silence; neither will virtue work except in secrecy\"\n(_History and Philosophy of Masonry_, chap. xxi). But neither writer\nseems to realize the psychology and pedagogy of secrecy--the value of\ncuriosity, of wonder and expectation, in the teaching of great truths\ndeemed commonplace because old. Even in that atmosphere, the real\nsecret of Masonry remains hidden to many--as sunlight hides the depths\nof heaven.\n\n[167] Read the noble chapter on \"Prayer as a Masonic Obligation,\" in\n_Practical Masonic Lectures_, by Samuel Lawrence (lecture x).\n\n[168] Read a thoughtful \"Exposition of Freemasonry,\" by Dr. Paul Carus,\n_Open Court_, May, 1913.\n\n[169] Proverbs 24:3, 4.\n\n[170] While Masonry abjures political questions and disputes in its\nLodges, it is all the while training good citizens, and through the\nquality of its men it influences public life--as Washington, Franklin,\nand Marshall carried the spirit of Masonry into the organic law of this\nrepublic. It is not politics that corrupts character; it is bad\ncharacter that corrupts politics--and by building men up to spiritual\nfaith and character, Masonry is helping to build up a state that will\nendure the shocks of time; a nobler structure than ever was wrought of\nmortar and marble (_The Principles of Freemasonry in the Life of\nNations_, by Findel).\n\n[171] Not a little confusion has existed, and still exists, in regard\nto the relation of Masonry to religion. Dr. Mackey said that old\nCraft-masonry was sectarian (_Symbolism of Masonry_); but it was not\nmore so than Dr. Mackey himself, who held the curious theory that the\nreligion of the Hebrews was genuine and that of the Egyptians spurious.\nNor is there any evidence that Craft-masonry was sectarian, but much to\nthe contrary, as has been shown in reference to the invocations in the\n_Old Charges_. At any rate, if it was ever sectarian, it ceased to be\nso with the organization of the Grand Lodge of England. Later, some of\nthe chaplains of the order sought to identify Masonry with\nChristianity, as Hutchinson did--and even Arnold in his chapter on\n\"Christianity and Freemasonry\" (_History and Philosophy of Masonry_).\nAll this confusion results from a misunderstanding of what religion is.\nReligions are many; religion is one--perhaps we may say one thing, but\nthat one thing includes everything--the life of God in the soul of man,\nwhich finds expression in all the forms which life and love and duty\ntake. This conception of religion shakes the poison out of all our wild\nflowers, and shows us that it is the inspiration of all scientific\ninquiry, all striving for liberty, all virtue and charity; the spirit\nof all thought, the motif of all great music, the soul of all sublime\nliterature. The church has no monopoly of religion, nor did the Bible\ncreate it. Instead, it was religion--the natural and simple trust of\nthe soul in a Power above and within it, and its quest of a right\nrelation to that Power--that created the Bible and the Church, and,\nindeed, all our higher human life. The soul of man is greater than all\nbooks, deeper than all dogmas, and more enduring than all institutions.\nMasonry seeks to free men from a limiting conception of religion, and\nthus to remove one of the chief causes of sectarianism. It is itself\none of the forms of beauty wrought by the human soul under the\ninspiration of the Eternal Beauty, and as such is religious.\n\n[172] _Chips from a German Workshop_, by Max Mueller.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MASONIC PHILOSOPHY\n\n\n\n\n/#\n  _Masonry directs us to divest ourselves of confined and bigoted\n  notions, and teaches us, that Humanity is the soul of Religion. We\n  never suffer any religious disputes in our Lodges, and, as Masons,\n  we only pursue the universal religion, the Religion of Nature.\n  Worshipers of the God of Mercy, we believe that in every nation,\n  he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted of Him.\n  All Masons, therefore, whether Christians, Jews, or Mahomedans,\n  who violate not the rule of right, written by the Almighty upon\n  the tables of the heart, who_ DO _fear Him, and_ WORK\n  _righteousness, we are to acknowledge as brethren; and, though we\n  take different roads, we are not to be angry with, or persecute\n  each other on that account. We mean to travel to the same place;\n  we know that the end of our journey is the same; and we\n  affectionately hope to meet in the Lodge of perfect happiness. How\n  lovely is an institution fraught with sentiments like these! How\n  agreeable must it be to Him who is seated on a throne of\n  Everlasting Mercy, to the God who is no respecter of persons!_\n\n  --WM. HUTCHINSON, _The Spirit of Masonry_\n#/\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\n_The Masonic Philosophy_\n\n\n\"Hast any philosophy in thee, Shepherd?\"[173] was the question of\nTouchstone in the Shakespeare play; and that is the question we must\nalways ask ourselves. Long ago Kant said that it is the mission of\nphilosophy, not to discover truth, but to set it in order, to seek out\nthe rhythm of things and their reason for being. Beginning in wonder,\nit sees the familiar as if it were strange, and its mind is full of\nthe air that plays round every subject. Spacious, humane, eloquent, it\nis \"a blend of science, poetry, religion and logic\"[174]--a\nsoftening, enlarging, ennobling influence, giving us a wider and\nclearer outlook, more air, more room, more light, and more background.\n\nWhen we look at Masonry in this large and mellow light, it is like a\nstately old cathedral, gray with age, rich in associations, its steps\nworn by innumerable feet of the living and the dead--not piteous, but\nstrong and enduring. Entering its doors, we wonder at its lofty\nspaces, its windows with the dimness and glory of the Infinite behind\nthem, the spring of its pillars, the leap of its arches, and its roof\ninlaid with stars. Inevitably we ask, whence came this temple of faith\nand friendship, and what does it mean--rising lightly as a lyric,\nuplifted by the hunger for truth and the love for beauty, and exempt\nfrom the shock of years and the ravages of decay? What faith builded\nthis home of the soul, what philosophy underlies and upholds it? Truly\ndid Longfellow sing of _The Builders_:\n\n/P\n  In the elder years of art,\n    Builders wrought with greatest care\n  Each minute and hidden part,\n    For the gods see everywhere.\nP/\n\n\nI\n\nIf we examine the foundations of Masonry, we find that it rests upon\nthe most fundamental of all truths, the first truth and the last, the\nsovereign and supreme Reality. Upon the threshold of its Lodges every\nman, whether prince or peasant, is asked to confess his faith in God\nthe Father Almighty, the Architect and Master-Builder of the\nUniverse.[175] That is not a mere form of words, but the deepest and\nmost solemn affirmation that human lips can make. To be indifferent\nto God is to be indifferent to the greatest of all realities, that\nupon which the aspiration of humanity rests for its uprising passion\nof desire. No institution that is dumb concerning the meaning of life\nand the character of the universe, can last. It is a house built upon\nthe sand, doomed to fall when the winds blow and floods beat upon it,\nlacking a sure foundation. No human fraternity that has not its\ninspiration in the Fatherhood of God, confessed or unconfessed, can\nlong endure; it is a rope of sand, weak as water, and its fine\nsentiment quickly evaporates. Life leads, if we follow its meanings\nand think in the drift of its deeper conclusions, to one God as the\nground of the world, and upon that ground Masonry lays her\ncorner-stone. Therefore, it endures and grows, and the gates of hell\ncannot prevail against it!\n\nWhile Masonry is theocratic in its faith and philosophy,[176] it does\nnot limit its conception of the Divine, much less insist upon any one\nname for \"the Nameless One of a hundred names.\" Indeed, no feature of\nMasonry is more fascinating than its age-long quest of the Lost\nWord,[177] the Ineffable Name; a quest that never tires, never\ntarries, knowing the while that every name is inadequate, and all\nwords are but symbols of a Truth too great for words--every letter of\nthe alphabet, in fact, having been evolved from some primeval sign or\nsignal of the faith and hope of humanity. Thus Masonry, so far from\nlimiting the thought of God, is evermore in search of a more\nsatisfying and revealing vision of the meaning of the universe, now\nluminous and lovely, now dark and terrible; and it invites all men to\nunite in the quest--\n\n/P\n  One in the freedom of the Truth,\n    One in the joy of paths untrod,\n  One in the soul's perennial Youth,\n    One in the larger thought of God.\nP/\n\nTruly the human consciousness of fellowship with the Eternal, under\nwhatever name, may well hush all words, still more hush argument and\nanathema. Possession, not recognition, is the only thing important;\nand if it is not recognized, the fault must surely be, in large part,\nour own. Given the one great experience, and before long kindred\nspirits will join in the _Universal Prayer_ of Alexander Pope, himself\na Mason:\n\n/P\n  Father of all! in every age,\n    In every clime adored,\n  By Saint, by Savage, and by Sage,\n    Jehovah, Jove, or Lord!\nP/\n\nWith eloquent unanimity our Masonic thinkers proclaim the unity and\nlove of God--whence their vision of the ultimate unity and love of\nmankind--to be the great truth of the Masonic philosophy; the unity of\nGod and the immortality of the soul.[178] Amidst polytheisms,\ndualisms, and endless confusions, they hold it to have been the great\nmission of Masonry to preserve these precious truths, beside which, in\nthe long result of thought and faith, all else fades and grows dim. Of\nthis there is no doubt; and science has come at last to vindicate this\nwise insight, by unveiling the unity of the universe with overwhelming\nemphasis. Unquestionably the universe is an inexhaustible wonder.\nStill, it is a wonder, not a contradiction, and we can never find its\nrhythm save in the truth of the unity of all things in God. Other\nclue there is none. Down to this deep foundation Masonry digs for a\nbasis of its temple, and builds securely. If this be false or\nunstable, then is\n\n/P\n  The pillar'd firmament rottenness,\n  And earth's base built on stubble.\nP/\n\nUpon the altar of Masonry lies the open Bible which, despite the\nchanges and advances of the ages, remains the greatest Modern\nBook--the moral manual of civilization.[179] All through its pages,\nthrough the smoke of Sinai, through \"the forest of the Psalms,\"\nthrough proverbs and parables, along the dreamy ways of prophecy, in\ngospels and epistles is heard the everlasting truth of one God who is\nlove, and who requires of men that they love one another, do justly,\nbe merciful, keep themselves unspotted by evil, and walk humbly before\nHim in whose great hand they stand. There we read of the Man of\nGalilee who taught that, in the far distances of the divine\nFatherhood, all men were conceived in love, and so are akin--united in\norigin, duty, and destiny. Therefore we are to relieve the distressed,\nput the wanderer into his way, and divide our bread with the hungry,\nwhich is but the way of doing good to ourselves; for we are all\nmembers of one great family, and the hurt of one means the injury of\nall.\n\nThis profound and reverent faith from which, as from a never-failing\nspring, flow heroic devotedness, moral self-respect, authentic\nsentiments of fraternity, inflexible fidelity in life and effectual\nconsolation in death, Masonry has at all times religiously taught.\nPerseveringly it has propagated it through the centuries, and never\nmore zealously than in our age. Scarcely a Masonic discourse is\npronounced, or a Masonic lesson read, by the highest officer or the\nhumblest lecturer, that does not earnestly teach this one true\nreligion which is the very soul of Masonry, its basis and apex, its\nlight and power. Upon that faith it rests; in that faith it lives and\nlabors; and by that faith it will conquer at last, when the noises and\nconfusions of today have followed the tangled feet that made them.\n\n\nII\n\nOut of this simple faith grows, by inevitable logic, the philosophy\nwhich Masonry teaches in signs and symbols, in pictures and parables.\nStated briefly, stated vividly, it is that behind the pageant of\nnature, in it and over it, there is a Supreme Mind which initiates,\nimpels, and controls all. That behind the life of man and its pathetic\nstory in history, in it and over it, there is a righteous Will, the\nintelligent Conscience of the Most High. In short, that the first and\nlast thing in the universe is mind, that the highest and deepest thing\nis conscience, and that the final reality is the absoluteness of love.\nHigher than that faith cannot fly; deeper than that thought cannot\ndig.\n\n/P\n  No deep is deep enough to show\n  The springs whence being starts to flow.\n  No fastness of the soul reveals\n  Life's subtlest impulse and appeals.\n  We seem to come, we seem to go;\n  But whence or whither who can know?\n  Unemptiable, unfillable,\n  It's all in that one syllable--\n  God! Only God. God first, God last.\n  God, infinitesimally vast;\n  God who is love, love which is God,\n  The rootless, everflowering rod!\nP/\n\nThere is but one real alternative to this philosophy. It is not\natheism--which is seldom more than a revulsion from\nsuperstition--because the adherents of absolute atheism are so few, if\nany, and its intellectual position is too precarious ever to be a\nmenace. An atheist, if such there be, is an orphan, a waif wandering\nthe midnight streets of time, homeless and alone. Nor is the\nalternative agnosticism, which in the nature of things can be only a\npassing mood of thought, when, indeed, it is not a confession of\nintellectual bankruptcy, or a labor-saving device to escape the toil\nand fatigue of high thinking. It trembles in perpetual hesitation, like\na donkey equi-distant between two bundles of hay, starving to death but\nunable to make up its mind. No; the real alternative is materialism,\nwhich played so large a part in philosophy fifty years ago, and which,\ndefeated there, has betaken itself to the field of practical affairs.\nThis is the dread alternative of a denial of the great faith of\nhumanity, a blight which would apply a sponge to all the high\naspirations and ideals of the race. According to this dogma, the first\nand last things in the universe are atoms, their number, dance,\ncombinations, and growth. All mind, all will, all emotion, all\ncharacter, all love is incidental, transitory, vain. The sovereign fact\nis mud, the final reality is dirt, and the decree of destiny is \"dust\nunto dust!\"\n\nAgainst this ultimate horror, it need hardly be said that in every age\nMasonry has stood as a witness for the life of the spirit. In the war\nof the soul against dust, in the choice between dirt and Deity, it has\nallied itself on the side of the great idealisms and optimisms of\nhumanity. It takes the spiritual view of life and the world as being\nmost in accord with the facts of experience, the promptings of right\nreason, and the voice of conscience. In other words, it dares to read\nthe meaning of the universe through what is highest in man, not\nthrough what is lower, asserting that the soul is akin to the Eternal\nSpirit, and that by a life of righteousness its eternal quality is\nrevealed.[180] Upon this philosophy Masonry rests, and finds a rock\nbeneath:\n\n/P\n  On Him, this corner-stone we build,\n    On Him, this edifice erect;\n  And still, until this work's fulfilled,\n    May He the workman's ways direct.\nP/\n\nNow, consider! All our human thinking, whether it be in science,\nphilosophy, or religion, rests for its validity upon faith in the\nkinship of man with God. If that faith be false, the temple of human\nthought falls to wreck, and behold! we know not anything and have no\nway of learning. But the fact that the universe is intelligible, that\nwe can follow its forces, trace its laws, and make a map of it,\nfinding the infinite even in the infinitesimal, shows that the mind of\nman is akin to the Mind that made it. Also, there are two aspects of\nthe nature of man which lift him above the brute and bespeak his\ndivine heredity. They are reason and conscience, both of which are of\nmore than sense and time, having their source, satisfaction, and\nauthority in an unseen, eternal world. That is to say, man is a being\nwho, if not actually immortal, is called by the very law and necessity\nof his being to live as if he were immortal. Unless life be utterly\nabortive, having neither rhyme nor reason, the soul of man is itself\nthe one sure proof and prophet of its own high faith.\n\nConsider, too, what it means to say that this mighty soul of man is\nakin to the Eternal Soul of all things. It means that we are not\nshapes of mud placed here by chance, but sons of the Most High,\ncitizens of eternity, deathless as God our Father is deathless; and\nthat there is laid upon us an abiding obligation to live in a manner\nbefitting the dignity of the soul. It means that what a man thinks,\nthe parity of his feeling, the character of his activity and career\nare of vital and ceaseless concern to the Eternal. Here is a\nphilosophy which lights up the universe like a sunrise, confirming the\ndim, dumb certainties of the soul, evolving meaning out of mystery,\nand hope out of what would else be despair. It brings out the colors\nof human life, investing our fleeting mortal years--brief at their\nlongest, broken at its best--with enduring significance and beauty. It\ngives to each of us, however humble and obscure, a place and a part in\nthe stupendous historical enterprise; makes us fellow workers with the\nEternal in His redemptive making of humanity, and binds us to do His\nwill upon earth as it is done in heaven. It subdues the intellect; it\nsoftens the heart; it begets in the will that sense of self-respect\nwithout which high and heroic living cannot be. Such is the philosophy\nupon which Masonry builds; and from it flow, as from the rock smitten\nin the wilderness, those bright streams that wander through and water\nthis human world of ours.\n\n\nIII\n\nBecause this is so; because the human soul is akin to God, and is\nendowed with powers to which no one may set a limit, it is and of\nright ought to be free. Thus, by the logic of its philosophy, not less\nthan the inspiration of its faith, Masonry has been impelled to make\nits historic demand for liberty of conscience, for the freedom of the\nintellect, and for the right of all men to stand erect, unfettered,\nand unafraid, equal before God and the law, each respecting the rights\nof his fellows. What we have to remember is, that before this truth\nwas advocated by any order, or embodied in any political constitution,\nit was embedded in the will of God and the constitution of the human\nsoul. Nor will Masonry ever swerve one jot or tittle from its ancient\nand eloquent demand till all men, everywhere, are free in body, mind,\nand soul. As it is, Lowell was right when he wrote:\n\n/P\n  We are not free: Freedom doth not consist\n  In musing with our faces toward the Past\n  While petty cares and crawling interests twist\n  Their spider threads about us, which at last\n  Grow strong as iron chains and cramp and bind\n  In formal narrowness heart, soul, and mind.\n  Freedom is recreated year by year,\n  In hearts wide open on the Godward side,\n  In souls calm-cadenced as the whirling sphere,\n  In minds that sway the future like a tide.\n  No broadest creeds can hold her, and no codes;\n  She chooses men for her august abodes,\n  Building them fair and fronting to the dawn.\nP/\n\nSome day, when the cloud of prejudice has been dispelled by the\nsearchlight of truth, the world will honor Masonry for its service to\nfreedom of thought and the liberty of faith. No part of its history\nhas been more noble, no principle of its teaching has been more\nprecious than its age-long demand for the right and duty of every soul\nto seek that light by which no man was ever injured, and that truth\nwhich makes man free. Down through the centuries--often in times when\nthe highest crime was not murder, but thinking, and the human\nconscience was a captive dragged at the wheel of the ecclesiastical\nchariot--always and everywhere Masonry has stood for the right of the\nsoul to know the truth, and to look up unhindered from the lap of\nearth into the face of God. Not freedom from faith, but freedom of\nfaith, has been its watchword, on the ground that as despotism is the\nmother of anarchy, so bigoted dogmatism is the prolific source of\nscepticism--knowing, also, that our race has made its most rapid\nadvance in those fields where it has been free the longest.\n\nAgainst those who would fetter thought in order to perpetuate an\neffete authority, who would give the skinny hand of the past a scepter\nto rule the aspiring and prophetic present, and seal the lips of\nliving scholars with the dicta of dead scholastics, Masonry will never\nground arms! Her plea is for government without tyranny and religion\nwithout superstition, and as surely as suns rise and set her fight\nwill be crowned with victory. Defeat is impossible, the more so\nbecause she fights not with force, still less with intrigue, but with\nthe power of truth, the persuasions of reason, and the might of\ngentleness, seeking not to destroy her enemies, but to win them to the\nliberty of the truth and the fellowship of love.\n\nNot only does Masonry plead for that liberty of faith which permits a\nman to hold what seems to him true, but also, and with equal emphasis,\nfor the liberty which faith gives to the soul, emancipating it from\nthe despotism of doubt and the fetters of fear. Therefore, by every\nart of spiritual culture, it seeks to keep alive in the hearts of men\na great and simple trust in the goodness of God, in the worth of life,\nand the divinity of the soul--a trust so apt to be crushed by the\ntramp of heavy years. Help a man to a firm faith in an Infinite Pity\nat the heart of this dark world, and from how many fears is he free!\nOnce a temple of terror, haunted by shadows, his heart becomes \"a\ncathedral of serenity and gladness,\" and his life is enlarged and\nunfolded into richness of character and service. Nor is there any\ntyranny like the tyranny of time. Give a man a day to live, and he is\nlike a bird in a cage beating against its bars. Give him a year in\nwhich to move to and fro with his thoughts and plans, his purposes\nand hopes, and you have liberated him from the despotism of a day.\nEnlarge the scope of his life to fifty years, and he has a moral\ndignity of attitude and a sweep of power impossible hitherto. But give\nhim a sense of Eternity; let him know that he plans and works in an\nageless time; that above his blunders and sins there hovers and waits\nthe infinite--then he is free!\n\nNevertheless, if life on earth be worthless, so is immortality. The\nreal question, after all, is not as to the quantity of life, but its\nquality--its depth, its purity, its fortitude, its fineness of spirit\nand gesture of soul. Hence the insistent emphasis of Masonry upon the\nbuilding of character and the practice of righteousness; upon that\nmoral culture without which man is rudimentary, and that spiritual\nvision without which intellect is the slave of greed or passion. What\nmakes a man great and freed of soul, here or anywhither, is loyalty to\nthe laws of right, of truth, of purity, of love, and the lofty will of\nGod. How to live is the one matter; and the oldest man in his ripe age\nhas yet to seek a wiser way than to build, year by year, upon a\nfoundation of faith in God, using the Square of justice, the\nPlumb-line of rectitude, the Compass to restrain the passions, and the\nRule by which to divide our time into labor, rest, and service to our\nfellows. Let us begin now and seek wisdom in the beauty of virtue and\nlive in the light of it, rejoicing; so in this world shall we have a\nforegleam of the world to come--bringing down to the Gate in the Mist\nsomething that ought not to die, assured that, though hearts are dust,\nas God lives what is excellent is enduring!\n\n\nIV\n\nBede the Venerable, in giving an account of the deliberations of the\nKing of Northumberland and his counsellors, as to whether they should\nallow the Christian missionaries to teach a new faith to the people,\nrecites this incident. After much debate, a gray-haired chief recalled\nthe feeling which came over him on seeing a little bird pass through,\non fluttering wing, the warm bright hall of feasting, while winter\nwinds raged without. The moment of its flight was full of sweetness\nand light for the bird, but it was brief. Out of the darkness it flew,\nlooked upon the bright scene, and vanished into the darkness again,\nnone knowing whence it came nor whither it went.\n\n\"Like this,\" said the veteran chief, \"is human life. We come, our wise\nmen cannot tell whence. We go, and they cannot tell whither. Our\nflight is brief. Therefore, if there be anyone that can teach us more\nabout it--in God's name let us hear him!\"\n\nEven so, let us hear what Masonry has to say in the great argument for\nthe immortality of the soul. But, instead of making an argument linked\nand strong, it presents a picture--the oldest, if not the greatest\ndrama in the world--the better to make men feel those truths which no\nmortal words can utter. It shows us the black tragedy of life in its\ndarkest hour; the forces of evil, so cunning yet so stupid, which come\nup against the soul, tempting it to treachery, and even to the\ndegredation of saving life by giving up all that makes life worth\nliving; a tragedy which, in its simplicity and power, makes the heart\nache and stand still. Then, out of the thick darkness there rises,\nlike a beautiful white star, that in man which is most akin to God,\nhis love of truth, his loyalty to the highest, and his willingness to\ngo down into the night of death, if only virtue may live and shine\nlike a pulse of fire in the evening sky. Here is the ultimate and\nfinal witness of our divinity and immortality--the sublime,\ndeath-defying moral heroism of the human soul! Surely the eternal\nparadox holds true at the gates of the grave: he who loses his life\nfor the sake of truth, shall find it anew! And here Masonry rests the\nmatter, assured that since there is that in man which makes him hold\nto the moral ideal, and the integrity of his own soul, against all\nthe brute forces of the world, the God who made man in His own image\nwill not let him die in the dust! Higher vision it is not given us to\nsee in the dim country of this world; deeper truth we do not need to\nknow.\n\nWorking with hands soon to be folded, we build up the structure of our\nlives from what our fingers can feel, our eyes can see, and our ears\ncan hear. Till, in a moment--marvelous whether it come in storm and\ntears, or softly as twilight breath beneath unshadowed skies--we are\ncalled upon to yield our grasp of these solid things, and trust\nourselves to the invisible Soul within us, which betakes itself along\nan invisible path into the Unknown. It is strange: a door opens into a\nnew world; and man, child of the dust that he is, follows his\nadventurous Soul, as the Soul follows an inscrutable Power which is\nmore elusive than the wind that bloweth where it listeth. Suddenly,\nwith fixed eyes and blanched lips, we lie down and wait; and life,\nwell-fought or wasted, bright or somber, lies behind us--a dream that\nis dreamt, a thing that is no more. O Death,\n\n/P\n  Thou hast destroyed it,\n  The beautiful world,\n  With powerful fist:\n  In ruin 'tis hurled,\n  By the blow of a demigod shattered!\n  The scattered\n  Fragments into the void we carry,\n  Deploring\n  The beauty perished beyond restoring.\n  Mightier\n  For the children of men,\n  Brightlier\n  Build it again,\n  In thine own bosom build it anew!\nP/\n\nO Youth, for whom these lines are written, fear not; fear not to\nbelieve that the soul is as eternal as the moral order that obtains in\nit, wherefore you shall forever pursue that divine beauty which has\nhere so touched and transfigured you; for that is the faith of\nhumanity, your race, and those who are fairest in its records. Let us\nlay it to heart, love it, and act upon it, that we may learn its deep\nmeaning as regards others--our dear dead whom we think of, perhaps,\nevery day--and find it easier to be brave and hopeful, even when we\nare sad. It is not a faith to be taken lightly, but deeply and in the\nquiet of the soul, if so that we may grow into its high meanings for\nourselves, as life grows or declines.\n\n/P\n  Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,\n    As the swift seasons roll!\n    Leave thy low-vaulted past!\n  Let each new temple, nobler than the last,\n  Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,\n    Till thou at length art free,\n  Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!\nP/\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[173] _As You Like It_ (act ii, scene ii). Shakespeare makes no\nreference to any secret society, but some of his allusions suggest that\nhe knew more than he wrote. He describes \"The singing Masons building\nroofs of gold\" (_Henry V_, act i, scene ii), and compares them to a\nswarm of bees at work. Did he know what the bee hive means in the\nsymbolism of Masonry? (Read an interesting article on \"Shakespeare and\nFreemasonry,\" _American Freemason_, January, 1912.) It reminds one of\nthe passage in the _Complete Angler_, by Isaak Walton, in which the\ngentle fisherman talks about the meaning of Pillars in language very\nlike that used in the _Old Charges_. But Hawkins in his edition of the\n_Angler_ recalls that Walton was a friend of Elias Ashmole, and may\nhave learned of Masonry from him. (_A Short Masonic History_, by F.\nArmitage, vol. ii, chap. 3.)\n\n[174] _Some Problems of Philosophy_, by William James.\n\n[175] In 1877 the Grand Orient of France removed the Bible from its\naltar and erased from its ritual all reference to Deity; and for so\ndoing it was disfellowshiped by nearly every Grand Lodge in the world.\nThe writer of the article on \"Masonry\" in the _Catholic Encyclopedia_\nrecalls this fact with emphasis; but he is much fairer to the Grand\nOrient than many Masonic writers have been. He understands that this\ndoes not mean that the Masons of France are atheistic, as that word is\nordinarily used, but that _they do not believe that there exist\nAtheists in the absolute sense of the word_; and he quotes the words of\nAlbert Pike: \"A man who has a higher conception of God than those about\nhim, and who denies that their conception is God, is very likely to be\ncalled an Atheist by men who are really far less believers in God than\nhe\" (_Morals and Dogma_, p. 643). Thus, as Pike goes on to say, the\nearly Christians, who said the heathen idols were no Gods, were\naccounted Atheists, and accordingly put to death. We need not hold a\nbrief for the Grand Orient, but it behooves us to understand its\nposition and point of view, lest we be found guilty of a petty bigotry\nin regard to a word when the _reality_ is a common treasure. First, it\nwas felt that France needed the aid of every man who was an enemy of\nLatin ecclesiasticism, in order to bring about a separation of Church\nand State; hence the attitude of the Grand Orient. Second, the Masons\nof France agree with Plutarch that no conception of God at all is\nbetter than a dark, distorted superstition which wraps men in terror;\nand they erased a word which, for many, was associated with an unworthy\nfaith--the better to seek a unity of effort in behalf of liberty of\nthought and a loftier faith. (_The Religion of Plutarch_, by Oakesmith;\nalso the Bacon essay on _Superstition_.) We may deem this unwise, but\nwe ought at least to understand its spirit and purpose.\n\n[176] _Theocratic Philosophy of Freemasonry_, by Oliver.\n\n[177] \"History of the Lost Word,\" by J.F. Garrison, appendix to _Early\nHistory and Antiquities of Freemasonry_, by G.F. Fort--one of the most\nbrilliant Masonic books, both in scholarship and literary style.\n\n[178] _Symbolism of Masonry_, by Dr. Mackey (chap. i) and other books\ntoo many to name. It need hardly be said that the truth of the trinity,\nwhereof the triangle is an emblem--though with Pythagoras it was a\nsymbol of holiness, of health--was never meant to contradict the unity\nof God, but to make it more vivid. As too often interpreted, it is\nlittle more than a crude tri-theism, but at its best it is not so. \"God\nthrice, not three Gods,\" was the word of St. Augustine (_Essay on the\nTrinity_), meaning three aspects of God--not the mathematics of His\nnature, but its manifoldness, its variety in unity. The late W.N.\nClarke--who put more common sense into theology than any other man of\nhis day--pointed out that, in our time, the old debate about the\ntrinity is as dead as Caesar; the truth of God as a Father having taken\nup into itself the warmth, color, and tenderness of the truth of the\ntrinity--which, as said on an earlier page, was a vision of God through\nthe family (_Christian Doctrine of God_).\n\n[179] _The Bible, the Great Source of Masonic Secrets and Observances_,\nby Dr. Oliver. No Mason need be told what a large place the Bible has\nin the symbolism, ritual, and teaching of the Order, and it has an\nequally large place in its literature.\n\n[180] Read the great argument of Plato in _The Republic_ (book vi). The\npresent writer does not wish to impose upon Masonry any dogma of\ntechnical Idealism, subjective, objective, or otherwise. No more than\nothers does he hold to a static universe which unrolls in time a plan\nmade out before, but to a world of wonders where life has the risk and\nzest of adventure. He rejoices in the New Idealism of Rudolf Eucken,\nwith its gospel of \"an independent spiritual life\"--independent, that\nis, of vicissitude--and its insistence upon the fact that the meaning\nof life depends upon our \"building up within ourselves a life that is\nnot of time\" (_Life's Basis and Life's Ideal_). But the intent of these\npages is, rather, to emphasize the spiritual view of life and the world\nas the philosophy underlying Masonry, and upon which it builds--the\nreality of the ideal, its sovereignty over our fragile human life, and\nthe immutable necessity of loyalty to it, if we are to build for\neternity. After all, as Plotinus said, philosophy \"serves to point the\nway and guide the traveller; the vision is for him who will see it.\"\nBut the direction means much to those who are seeking the truth to know\nit.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF MASONRY\n\n\n\n\n/P\n   _The crest and crowning of all good,\n    Life's final star, is Brotherhood;\n    For it will bring again to Earth\n    Her long-lost Poesy and Mirth;\n    Will send new light on every face,\n    A kingly power upon the race.\n    And till it comes we men are slaves,\n  And travel downward to the dust of graves._\n\n    _Come, clear the way, then, clear the way:\n    Blind creeds and kings have had their day.\n    Break the dead branches from the path:\n    Our hope is in the aftermath--\n    Our hope is in heroic men,\n    Star-led to build the world again.\n    To this event the ages ran:\n  Make way for Brotherhood--make way for Man._\n\n    --EDWIN MARKHAM, _Poems_\nP/\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\n_The Spirit of Masonry_\n\n\nI\n\nOutside of the home and the house of God there is nothing in this\nworld more beautiful than the Spirit of Masonry. Gentle, gracious, and\nwise, its mission is to form mankind into a great redemptive\nbrotherhood, a league of noble and free men enlisted in the radiant\nenterprise of working out in time the love and will of the Eternal.\nWho is sufficient to describe a spirit so benign? With what words may\none ever hope to capture and detain that which belongs of right to the\ngenius of poetry and song, by whose magic those elusive and impalpable\nrealities find embodiment and voice?\n\nWith picture, parable, and stately drama, Masonry appeals to lovers of\nbeauty, bringing poetry and symbol to the aid of philosophy, and art\nto the service of character. Broad and tolerant in its teaching, it\nappeals to men of intellect, equally by the depth of its faith and its\nplea for liberty of thought--helping them to think things through to\na more satisfying and hopeful vision of the meaning of life and the\nmystery of the world. But its profoundest appeal, more eloquent than\nall others, is to the deep heart of man, out of which are the issues\nof life and destiny. When all is said, it is as a man thinketh in his\nheart whether life be worth while or not, and whether he is a help or\na curse to his race.\n\n/P\n  Here lies the tragedy of our race:\n  Not that men are poor;\n  All men know something of poverty.\n  Not that men are wicked;\n  Who can claim to be good?\n  Not that men are ignorant;\n  Who can boast that he is wise?\n  But that men are strangers!\nP/\n\nMasonry is Friendship--friendship, first, with the great Companion, of\nwhom our own hearts tell us, who is always nearer to us than we are to\nourselves, and whose inspiration and help is the greatest fact of\nhuman experience. To be in harmony with His purposes, to be open to\nHis suggestions, to be conscious of fellowship with Him--this is\nMasonry on its Godward side. Then, turning manward, friendship sums it\nall up. To be friends with all men, however they may differ from us in\ncreed, color, or condition; to fill every human relation with the\nspirit of friendship; is there anything more or better than this that\nthe wisest, and best of men can hope to do?[181] Such is the spirit of\nMasonry; such is its ideal, and if to realize it all at once is denied\nus, surely it means much to see it, love it, and labor to make it come\ntrue.\n\nNor is this Spirit of Friendship a mere sentiment held by a\nsympathetic, and therefore unstable, fraternity, which would dissolve\nthe concrete features of humanity into a vague blur of misty emotion.\nNo; it has its roots in a profound philosophy which sees that the\nuniverse is friendly, and that men must learn to be friends if they\nwould live as befits the world in which they live, as well as their\nown origin and destiny. For, since God is the life of all that was,\nis, and is to be; and since we are all born into the world by one\nhigh wisdom and one vast love, we are brothers to the last man of us,\nforever! For better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and\nin health, and even after death us do part, all men are held together\nby ties of spiritual kinship, sons of one eternal Friend. Upon this\nfact human fraternity rests, and it is the basis of the plea of\nMasonry, not only for freedom, but for friendship among men.\n\nThus friendship, so far from being a mush of concessions, is in fact\nthe constructive genius of the universe. Love is ever the Builder, and\nthose who have done most to establish the City of God on earth have\nbeen the men who loved their fellow men. Once let this spirit prevail,\nand the wrangling sects will be lost in a great league of those who\nlove in the service of those who suffer. No man will then revile the\nfaith in which his neighbor finds help for today and hope for the\nmorrow; pity will smite him mute, and love will teach him that God is\nfound in many ways, by those who seek him with honest hearts. Once let\nthis spirit rule in the realm of trade, and the law of the jungle will\ncease, and men will strive to build a social order in which all men\nmay have opportunity \"to live, and to live well,\" as Aristotle defined\nthe purpose of society. Here is the basis of that magical stability\naimed at by the earliest artists when they sought to build for\neternity, by imitating on earth the House of God.\n\n\nII\n\nOur human history, saturated with blood and blistered with tears, is\nthe story of man making friends with man. Society has evolved from a\nfeud into a friendship by the slow growth of love and the welding of\nman, first to his kin, and then to his kind.[182] The first men who\nwalked in the red dawn of time lived every man for himself, his heart a\nsanctuary of suspicions, every man feeling that every other man was his\nfoe, and therefore his prey. So there were war, strife, and bloodshed.\nSlowly there came to the savage a gleam of the truth that it is better\nto help than to hurt, and he organized clans and tribes. But tribes\nwere divided by rivers and mountains, and the men on one side of the\nriver felt that the men on the other side were their enemies. Again\nthere were war, pillage, and sorrow. Great empires arose and met in the\nshock of conflict, leaving trails of skeletons across the earth. Then\ncame the great roads, reaching out with their stony clutch and bringing\nthe ends of the earth together. Men met, mingled, passed and repassed,\nand learned that human nature is much the same everywhere, with hopes\nand fears in common. Still there were many things to divide and\nestrange men from each other, and the earth was full of bitterness. Not\nsatisfied with natural barriers, men erected high walls of sect and\ncaste, to exclude their fellows, and the men of one sect were sure that\nthe men of all other sects were wrong--and doomed to be lost. Thus,\nwhen real mountains no longer separated man from man, mountains were\nmade out of molehills--mountains of immemorial misunderstanding not yet\nmoved into the sea!\n\nBarriers of race, of creed, of caste, of habit, of training and\ninterest separate men today, as if some malign genius were bent on\nkeeping man from his fellows, begetting suspicion, uncharitableness,\nand hate. Still there are war, waste, and woe! Yet all the while men\nhave been unfriendly, and, therefore, unjust and cruel, only because\nthey are unacquainted. Amidst feud, faction, and folly, Masonry, the\noldest and most widely spread order, toils in behalf of friendship,\nuniting men upon the only basis upon which they can ever meet with\ndignity. Each lodge is an oasis of equality and goodwill in a desert\nof strife, working to weld mankind into a great league of sympathy and\nservice, which, by the terms of our definition, it seeks to exhibit\neven now on a small scale. At its altar men meet as man to man,\nwithout vanity and without pretense, without fear and without\nreproach, as tourists crossing the Alps tie themselves together, so\nthat if one slip all may hold him up. No tongue can tell the meaning\nof such a ministry, no pen can trace its influence in melting the\nhardness of the world into pity and gladness.\n\nThe Spirit of Masonry! He who would describe that spirit must be a\npoet, a musician, and a seer--a master of melodies, echoes, and long,\nfar-sounding cadences. Now, as always, it toils to make man better, to\nrefine his thought and purify his sympathy, to broaden his outlook, to\nlift his altitude, to establish in amplitude and resoluteness his life\nin all its relations. All its great history, its vast accumulations of\ntradition, its simple faith and its solemn rites, its freedom and its\nfriendship are dedicated to a high moral ideal, seeking to tame the\ntiger in man, and bring his wild passions into obedience to the will\nof God. It has no other mission than to exalt and ennoble humanity, to\nbring light out of darkness, beauty out of angularity; to make every\nhard-won inheritance more secure, every sanctuary more sacred, every\nhope more radiant![183]\n\nThe Spirit of Masonry! Ay, when that spirit has its way upon earth, as\nat last it surely will, society will be a vast communion of kindness\nand justice, business a system of human service, law a rule of\nbeneficence; the home will be more holy, the laughter of childhood\nmore joyous, and the temple of prayer mortised and tenoned in simple\nfaith. Evil, injustice, bigotry, greed, and every vile and slimy thing\nthat defiles and defames humanity will skulk into the dark, unable to\nbear the light of a juster, wiser, more merciful order. Industry will\nbe upright, education prophetic, and religion not a shadow, but a Real\nPresence, when man has become acquainted with man and has learned to\nworship God by serving his fellows. When Masonry is victorious every\ntyranny will fall, every bastile crumble, and man will be not only\nunfettered in mind and hand, but free of heart to walk erect in the\nlight and liberty of the truth.\n\nToward a great friendship, long foreseen by Masonic faith, the world\nis slowly moving, amid difficulties and delays, reactions and\nreconstructions. Though long deferred, of that day, which will surely\narrive, when nations will be reverent in the use of freedom, just in\nthe exercise of power, humane in the practice of wisdom; when no man\nwill ride over the rights of his fellows; when no woman will be made\nforlorn, no little child wretched by bigotry or greed, Masonry has\never been a prophet. Nor will she ever be content until all the\nthreads of human fellowship are woven into one mystic cord of\nfriendship, encircling the earth and holding the race in unity of\nspirit and the bonds of peace, as in the will of God it is one in the\norigin and end. Having outlived empires and philosophies, having seen\ngenerations appear and vanish, it will yet live to see the travail of\nits soul, and be satisfied--\n\n/P\n  When the war-drum throbs no longer,\n    And the battle flags are furled;\n  In the parliament of man,\n    The federation of the world.\nP/\n\n\nIII\n\nManifestly, since love is the law of life, if men are to be won from\nhate to love, if those who doubt and deny are to be wooed to faith, if\nthe race is ever to be led and lifted into a life of service, it must\nbe by the fine art of Friendship. Inasmuch as this is the purpose of\nMasonry, its mission determines the method not less than the spirit of\nits labor. Earnestly it endeavors to bring men--first the individual\nman, and then, so far as possible, those who are united with him--to\nlove one another, while holding aloft, in picture and dream, that\ntemple of character which is the noblest labor of life to build in the\nmidst of the years, and which will outlast time and death. Thus it\nseeks to reach the lonely inner life of man where the real battles are\nfought, and where the issues of destiny are decided, now with shouts\nof victory, now with sobs of defeat. What a ministry to a young man\nwho enters its temple in the morning of life, when the dew of heaven\nis upon his days and the birds are singing in his heart![184]\n\nFrom the wise lore of the East Max Mueller translated a parable which\ntells how the gods, having stolen from man his divinity, met in\ncouncil to discuss where they should hide it. One suggested that it be\ncarried to the other side of the earth and buried; but it was pointed\nout that man is a great wanderer, and that he might find the lost\ntreasure on the other side of the earth. Another proposed that it be\ndropped into the depths of the sea; but the same fear was\nexpressed--that man, in his insatiable curiosity, might dive deep\nenough to find it even there. Finally, after a space of silence, the\noldest and wisest of the gods said: \"Hide it in man himself, as that\nis the last place he will ever think to look for it!\" And it was so\nagreed, all seeing at once the subtle and wise strategy. Man did\nwander over the earth, for ages, seeking in all places high and low,\nfar and near, before he thought to look within himself for the\ndivinity he sought. At last, slowly, dimly, he began to realize that\nwhat he thought was far off, hidden in \"the pathos of distance,\" is\nnearer than the breath he breathes, even in his own heart.\n\nHere lies the great secret of Masonry--that it makes a man aware of\nthat divinity within him, wherefrom his whole life takes its beauty\nand meaning, and inspires him to follow and obey it. Once a man learns\nthis deep secret, life is new, and the old world is a valley all dewy\nto the dawn with a lark-song over it. There never was a truer saying\nthan that the religion of a man is the chief fact concerning him.[185]\nBy religion is meant not the creed to which a man will subscribe, or\notherwise give his assent; not that necessarily; often not that at\nall--since we see men of all degrees of worth and worthlessness\nsigning all kinds of creeds. No; the religion of a man is that which\nhe practically believes, lays to heart, acts upon, and thereby knows\nconcerning this mysterious universe and his duty and destiny in it.\nThat is in all cases the primary thing in him, and creatively\ndetermines all the rest; that is his religion. It is, then, of vital\nimportance what faith, what vision, what conception of life a man lays\nto heart, and acts upon.\n\nAt bottom, a man is what his thinking is, thoughts being the artists\nwho give color to our days. Optimists and pessimists live in the same\nworld, walk under the same sky, and observe the same facts. Sceptics\nand believers look up at the same great stars--the stars that shone in\nEden and will flash again in Paradise. Clearly the difference between\nthem is a difference not of fact, but of faith--of insight, outlook,\nand point of view--a difference of inner attitude and habit of thought\nwith regard to the worth and use of life. By the same token, any\ninfluence which reaches and alters that inner habit and bias of mind,\nand changes it from doubt to faith, from fear to courage, from despair\nto sunburst hope, has wrought the most benign ministry which a mortal\nmay enjoy. Every man has a train of thought on which he rides when he\nis alone; and the worth of his life to himself and others, as well as\nits happiness, depend upon the direction in which that train is going,\nthe baggage it carries, and the country through which it travels. If,\nthen, Masonry can put that inner train of thought on the right track,\nfreight it with precious treasure, and start it on the way to the City\nof God, what other or higher ministry can it render to a man? And that\nis what it does for any man who will listen to it, love it, and lay\nits truth to heart.\n\nHigh, fine, ineffably rich and beautiful are the faith and vision\nwhich Masonry gives to those who foregather at its altar, bringing to\nthem in picture, parable, and symbol the lofty and pure truth wrought\nout through ages of experience, tested by time, and found to be valid\nfor the conduct of life. By such teaching, if they have the heart to\nheed it, men become wise, learning how to be both brave and gentle,\nfaithful and free; how to renounce superstition and yet retain faith;\nhow to keep a fine poise of reason between the falsehood of extremes;\nhow to accept the joys of life with glee, and endure its ills with\npatient valor; how to look upon the folly of man and not forget his\nnobility--in short, how to live cleanly, kindly, calmly, open-eyed and\nunafraid in a sane world, sweet of heart and full of hope. Whoso lays\nthis lucid and profound wisdom to heart, and lives by it, will have\nlittle to regret, and nothing to fear, when the evening shadows fall.\nHappy the young man who in the morning of his years makes it his\nguide, philosopher, and friend.[186]\n\nSuch is the ideal of Masonry, and fidelity to all that is holy demands\nthat we give ourselves to it, trusting the power of truth, the reality\nof love, and the sovereign worth of character. For only as we\nincarnate that ideal in actual life and activity does it become real,\ntangible, and effective. God works for man through man and seldom, if\nat all, in any other way. He asks for our voices to speak His truth,\nfor our hands to do His work here below--sweet voices and clean hands\nto make liberty and love prevail over injustice and hate. Not all of\nus can be learned or famous, but each of us can be loyal and true of\nheart, undefiled by evil, undaunted by error, faithful and helpful to\nour fellow souls. Life is a capacity for the highest things. Let us\nmake it a pursuit of the highest--an eager, incessant quest of truth;\na noble utility, a lofty honor, a wise freedom, a genuine\nservice--that through us the Spirit of Masonry may grow and be\nglorified.\n\nWhen is a man a Mason? When he can look out over the rivers, the\nhills, and the far horizon with a profound sense of his own littleness\nin the vast scheme of things, and yet have faith, hope, and\ncourage--which is the root of every virtue. When he knows that down in\nhis heart every man is as noble, as vile, as divine, as diabolic, and\nas lonely as himself, and seeks to know, to forgive, and to love his\nfellow man. When he knows how to sympathize with men in their sorrows,\nyea, even in their sins--knowing that each man fights a hard fight\nagainst many odds. When he has learned how to make friends and to keep\nthem, and above all how to keep friends with himself. When he loves\nflowers, can hunt the birds without a gun, and feels the thrill of an\nold forgotten joy when he hears the laugh of a little child. When he\ncan be happy and high-minded amid the meaner drudgeries of life. When\nstar-crowned trees, and the glint of sunlight on flowing waters,\nsubdue him like the thought of one much loved and long dead. When no\nvoice of distress reaches his ears in vain, and no hand seeks his aid\nwithout response. When he finds good in every faith that helps any man\nto lay hold of divine things and sees majestic meanings in life,\nwhatever the name of that faith may be. When he can look into a\nwayside puddle and see something beyond mud, and into the face of the\nmost forlorn fellow mortal and see something beyond sin. When he knows\nhow to pray, how to love, how to hope. When he has kept faith with\nhimself, with his fellow man, with his God; in his hand a sword for\nevil, in his heart a bit of a song--glad to live, but not afraid to\ndie! Such a man has found the only real secret of Masonry, and the one\nwhich it is trying to give to all the world.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[181] Suggested by a noble passage in the _Recollections_ of Washington\nGladden; and the great preacher goes on to say: \"If the church could\naccept this truth--that Religion is Friendship--and build its own life\nupon it, and make it central and organic in all its teachings, should\nwe not have a great revival of religion?\" Indeed, yes; and of the right\nkind of religion, too! Walt Whitman found the basis of all philosophy,\nall religion, in \"the dear love of man for his comrade, the attraction\nof friend to friend\" (_The Base of all Metaphysics_). As for Masonic\nliterature, it is one perpetual paean in praise of the practice of\nfriendship, from earliest time to our own day. Take, for example, the\n_Illustrations of Masonry_, by Preston (first book, sect, i-x); and\nArnold, as we have seen, defined Masonry as Friendship, as did\nHutchinson (_The Spirit of Masonry_, lectures xi, xii). These are but\ntwo notes of a mighty anthem whose chorus is never hushed in the temple\nof Masonry! Of course, there are those who say that the finer forces of\nlife are frail and foolish, but the influence of the cynic in the\nadvance of the race is--nothing!\n\n[182] _The Neighbor_, by N.S. Shaler.\n\n[183] If Masons often fall far below their high ideal, it is because\nthey share in their degree the infirmity of mankind. He is a poor\ncraftsman who glibly recites the teachings of the Order and quickly\nforgets the lessons they convey; who wears its honorable dress to\nconceal a self-seeking spirit; or to whom its great and simple symbols\nbring only an outward thrill, and no inward urge toward the highest of\nall good. Apart from what they symbolize, all symbols are empty; they\nspeak only to such as have ears to hear. At the same time, we have\nalways to remember--what has been so often and so sadly forgotten--that\nthe most sacred shrine on earth is the soul of man; and that the temple\nand its offices are not ends in themselves, but only beautiful means to\nthe end that every human heart may be a temple of peace, of purity, of\npower, of pity, and of hope!\n\n[184] Read the noble words of Arnold on the value of Masonry to the\nyoung as a restraint, a refinement, and a conservator of virtue,\nthrowing about youth the mantle of a great friendship and the\nconsecration of a great ideal (_History and Philosophy of Masonry_,\nchap. xix).\n\n[185] _Heroes and Hero-worship_, by Thomas Carlyle, lecture i.\n\n[186] If the influence of Masonry upon youth is here emphasized, it is\nnot to forget that the most dangerous period of life is not youth, with\nits turmoil of storm and stress, but between forty and sixty. When the\nenthusiasms of youth have cooled, and its rosy glamour has faded into\nthe light of common day, there is apt to be a letting down of ideals, a\nhardening of heart, when cynicism takes the place of idealism. If the\njudgments of the young are austere and need to be softened by charity,\nthe middle years of life need still more the reenforcement of spiritual\ninfluence and the inspiration of a holy atmosphere. Also, Albert Pike\nused to urge upon old men the study of Masonry, the better to help them\ngather up the scattered thoughts about life and build them into a firm\nfaith; and because Masonry offers to every man a great hope and\nconsolation. Indeed, its ministry to every period of life is benign.\nStudying Masonry is like looking at a sunset; each man who looks is\nfilled with the beauty and wonder of it, but the glory is not\ndiminished.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nBIBLIOGRAPHY\n\n\n(The literature of Masonry is very large, and the following is only a\nsmall selection of such books as the writer has found particularly\nhelpful in the course of this study. The notes and text of the\nforegoing pages mention many books, sometimes with brief\ncharacterizations, and that fact renders a longer list unnecessary\nhere.)\n\nAnderson, _Book of Constitutions_.\n\nArmitage, _Short Masonic History_, 2 vols.\n\nArnold, _History and Philosophy of Masonry_.\n\nAshmole, _Diary_.\n\nAynsley, _Symbolism East and West_.\n\nBacon, _New Atlantis_.\n\nBayley, _Lost Language of Symbolism_.\n\nBreasted, _Religion and Thought in Egypt_.\n\nBudge, _The Gods of Egypt_.\n\nCallahan, _Washington, the Man and the Mason_.\n\nCapart, _Primitive Art in Egypt_.\n\nCarr, _The Swastika_.\n\n_Catholic Encyclopedia_, art. \"Masonry.\"\n\nChurchward, _Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man_.\n\nConder, _Hole Craft and Fellowship of Masonry_.\n\nCrowe, _Things a Freemason Ought to Know_.\n\nCumont, _Mysteries of Mithra_.\n\nDa Costa, _Dionysian Artificers_.\n\nDe Clifford, _Egypt the Cradle of Masonry_.\n\nDe Quincey, _Works_, vol. xvi.\n\nDill, _Roman Life_.\n\n_Encyclopedia Britannica_, art. \"Freemasonry.\"\n\nFergusson, _History of Architecture_.\n\nFindel, _History of Masonry_.\n\nFinlayson, _Symbols of Freemasonry_.\n\nFort, _Early History and Antiquities of Masonry_.\n\nGorringe, _Egyptian Obelisks_.\n\nGould, _Atholl Lodges_.\n\nGould, _Concise History of Masonry_.\n\nGould, _History of Masonry_, 4 vols.\n\nGould, _Military Lodges_.\n\nHaige, _Symbolism_.\n\nHastings, _Encyclopedia of Religion_, art. \"Freemasonry.\"\n\nHayden, _Washington and his Masonic Compeers_.\n\nHolland, _Freemasonry and the Great Pyramid_.\n\nHope, _Historical Essay on Architecture_.\n\nHughan, _History of the English Rite_.\n\nHughan, _Masonic Sketches and Reprints_.\n\nHughan and Stillson, _History of Masonry and Concordant Orders_.\n\nHutchinson, _The Spirit of Masonry_.\n\n_Jewish Encyclopedia_, art. \"Freemasonry.\"\n\nKennedy, _St. Paul and the Mystery-Religions_.\n\nLawrence, _Practical Masonic Lectures_.\n\nLeicester Lodge of Research, _Transactions_.\n\nLethaby, _Architecture_.\n\nLockyear, _Dawn of Astronomy_.\n\nMackey, _Encyclopedia of Freemasonry_.\n\nMackey, _Symbolism of Masonry_.\n\nManchester Lodge of Research, _Transactions_.\n\nMarshall, _Nature a Book of Symbols_.\n\nMaspero, _Dawn of Civilization_.\n\nMead, _Quests New and Old_.\n\nMoehler, _Symbolism_.\n\nMoret, _Kings and Gods of Egypt_.\n\nMorris, _Lights and Shadows of Masonry_.\n\nMorris, _The Poetry of Masonry_.\n\nOliver, _Masonic Antiquities_.\n\nOliver, _Masonic Sermons_.\n\nOliver, _Revelations of the Square_.\n\nOliver, _Theocratic Philosophy of Masonry_.\n\nPike, _Morals and Dogma_.\n\nPlutarch, _De Iside et Osiride_.\n\nPreston, _Illustrations of Masonry_.\n\nQuatuor Coronati Lodge, _Transactions_, 24 vols.\n\nRavenscroft, _The Comacines_.\n\nReade, _The Veil of Isis_.\n\nRogers, _History of Prices in England_.\n\nRuskin, _Seven Lamps of Architecture_.\n\nSachse, _Franklin as a Mason_.\n\nSadler, _Masonic Facts and Fictions_.\n\nSt. Andrew's Lodge, _Centennial Memorial_.\n\nSchure, _Hermes and Plato_.\n\nSchure, _Pythagoras_.\n\nScott, _The Cathedral Builders_.\n\nSmith, _English Guilds_.\n\nStevens, _Cyclopedia of Fraternities_.\n\nSteinbrenner, _History of Masonry_.\n\nTyler, _Oaths, Their Origin, Nature, and History_.\n\nUnderhill, _Mysticism_.\n\nWaite, _Real History of Rosicrucians_.\n\nWaite, _Secret Tradition in Masonry_.\n\nWaite, _Studies in Mysticism_.\n\nWatts, _The Word in the Pattern_.\n\nWright, _Indian Masonry_.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nINDEX\n\n\n/$\nAberdeen: lodge of, 161\n\n_Acadamie Armory_: 166\n\nAccepted Masons: 147;\n  earliest, 160;\n  not in all lodges, 160 _note_;\n  first recorded, 161;\n  and Ashmole, 162-4;\n  at Warrington, 164;\n  in the London Company, 165;\n  and the Regius MS, 166;\n  at Chester, 166;\n  Assembly of, 168;\n  quality of, 168\n\n_AEneas_: referred to, 44 _note_\n\n_Ahiman Rezon_: 216\n\nAlban, St: in Old Charges, 116;\n  a town, not a man, 117 _note_;\n  and the Masons, 120\n\nAmerica: advent of Masonry in, 206;\n  spirit of Masonry in, 222;\n  influence of Masonry on, 223\n\n\"Ancients, The\": and Moderns, 212;\n  Grand Lodge of, 216;\n  growth of, 217;\n  merged into universal Masonry, 221\n\nAnderson, James: his account of Grand Lodge of England, 180;\n  and the Old Charges, 186;\n  sketch of, 187 _note_;\n  on Masonic secrets, 192 _note_;\n  on growth of Masonry, 203;\n  publishes Book of Constitutions, 204\n\nAndreae, J.V.: quoted, 157;\n  his Rosicrucian romance, 163\n\nAnti-Masonic political party, 228\n\nApprentice, Entered: requirements of, 129;\n  moral code of, 130;\n  masterpiece of, 131;\n  degree of, 144\n\nArchitects: early, 14;\n  of Rome, 72;\n  initiates, 73;\n  honored in Egypt, 74;\n  College of, 82;\n  Comacine, 88;\n  churchmen, 114\n\nArchitecture: matrix of civilization, 5;\n  spiritual basis of, 6;\n  _Seven Lamps_ of, 7;\n  moral laws of, 8;\n  mysticism of, 9;\n  and astronomy, 77;\n  gaps in history of, 86;\n  Italian, 87;\n  and the Comacines, 88;\n  new light on, 89;\n  churchmen learn from Masons, 114;\n  Gothic, 120;\n  essay on, 136;\n  influence of Solomon's Temple on, 191;\n  no older than history, 241\n\nAshmole, Elias: Diary of, 162;\n  not the maker of Masonry, 163;\n  student of Masonry, 167 _note_;\n  and Walton, 259 _note_\n\nAssembly of Masons: at York, 117;\n  semi-annual, 118;\n  initiations at, 131;\n  before 1717, 167\n\nAtheist: does not exist, 261 _note_;\n  would be an orphan, 267\n\nAthelstan: and Masons, 116\n\nAtholl Masons: Grand Lodge of, 216;\n  power of, 217;\n  end of, 221\n\nAubrey, John: 166;\n  on convention of Masons, 167\n\nAugustine, St: and Masons, 116\n\n\nBabel, Tower of: 7\n\nBacon, Francis: 110;\n  his _New Atlantis_ and Masonry, 179 _note_, 190\n\nBenevolence: Board of, 188\n\nBible: Masonic symbols in, 32;\n  and Masonry, 265\n\n_Book of Constitutions_: 187\n\n_Book of the Dead_: 40\n\nBooth, Edwin: on Third degree, 197;\n  a Mason, 232\n\nBoston Tea Party: 224\n\nBrotherhood: in Old Charges, 133;\n  creed of Masonry, 134;\n  make way for coming of, 282\n\nBuilders: early ideals of, 12;\n  tools of, 26;\n  in China, 31;\n  forgotten, 34;\n  orders of, 74;\n  in Rome, 79;\n  of cathedrals, 87;\n  servants of church, 101;\n  of Britain, 113;\n  traveling bands of, 135;\n  rallying cries of, 191;\n  Longfellow on, 260\n\nBuilding: spiritual meaning of, 6, 7, 8;\n  ideal of, 15;\n  an allegory, 154;\n  two ways of, 158 _note_;\n  of character, 275\n\nBurns, Robert: 226;\n  a Mason, 232;\n  poet of Masonry, 233\n\n\nCantu, Cesare: on Comacines, 142\n\nCapart: quoted, 6\n\nCarlyle, Thomas: quoted, 4\n\nCathedral Builders: 87;\n  and Masons, 91;\n  greatness of, 121;\n  organization of, 136-7;\n  genius of, 158 _note_\n\nCathedrals: when built, 121\n\nCharity: and Masons, 134;\n  a doctrine of Masonry, 172\n\nChina: Masonry in, 30\n\nChristianity: and the Mysteries, 50, 51 _note_;\n  and the Collegia, 85;\n  and Masonry, 221 _note_, 251\n\nChurchward: on Triangle, 13 _note_;\n  on symbols, 20 _note_\n\nCircle: meaning of, 27\n\nClay, Henry: 228\n\nCleopatra's Needle: 33\n\nCollegia, the: 73;\n  beginning of, 80;\n  customs of, 81;\n  and the Mysteries, 82;\n  emblems of, 83;\n  and Christianity, 85;\n  and cathedral builders, 87;\n  in England, 112;\n  on the continent, 113\n\nColumn: Wren on, 9;\n  Osiris, 45;\n  \"brethren of the,\" 82\n\nComacine Masters: 87;\n  privileges of, 88;\n  migrations of, 89;\n  symbols of, 90;\n  tolerant of spirit, 101;\n  and Old Charges, 111;\n  in England, 113;\n  Merzaria on, 114;\n  and the arts, 115;\n  degrees among, 142.\n\nCompanionage: of France, 118 _note_;\n  and legend of Hiram, 149\n\nConder: historian of Masons' Company, 165\n\nConfucius: 30\n\n_Cooke MS_: 106;\n  higher criticism of, 107\n\nCowan: meaning of, 138 _note_\n\nCoxe, Daniel: 207\n\nCraft-masonry: morality of, 134;\n  lodge of, 135;\n  organization of, 136;\n  routine of, 138;\n  technical secrets, 147\n\nCromwell, Oliver: and Masonry, 179 _note_\n\nCross: antiquity of, 24;\n  of Egypt, 25\n\nCube: meaning of, 27\n\nCuldees: 189\n\n\nDa Costa: quoted, 72;\n  on Dionysian Artificers, 77 _note_\n\nDeacon: office of, 217\n\nDeath: old protest against, 40;\n  triumph over, 41;\n  wonder of, 278\n\nDeclaration of Independence, signed by Masons, 225\n\n_Defence of Masonry_: quoted 152\n\nDegrees in Masonry: 141;\n  among Comacines, 142;\n  of Apprentice, 144;\n  number of, 145;\n  evolution of, 149\n\nDe Molai: 101\n\nDe Quincey on Masonry, 179 _note_\n\nDermott, Lawrence: and Ancient Grand Lodge, 216;\n  industry of, 219;\n  and Royal Arch Masonry, 220 _note_\n\nDesaguliers, Dr. J.T.: \"co-fabricator of Masonry,\" 195;\n  sketch of, 195 _note_\n\nDiocletian: fury of against Masons, 85\n\nDionysian Artificers: 72;\n  builders of Solomon's Temple, 76;\n  evidence for, 77 _note_;\n  migrations of, 79\n\nDissensions in Masonry: bitter, 213;\n  causes of, 214;\n  led by Preston, 217;\n  helped the order, 219;\n  remedy for, 222\n\nDoctrine: the Secret, 57;\n  resented, 58;\n  open to all, 61;\n  reasons for, 63;\n  what it is, 68\n\nDrama of Faith: 39;\n  motif of, 41;\n  story of, 42;\n  in India, 44 _note_;\n  in Tyre, 76\n\nDruids: Mysteries of, 49\n\nDruses: and Masonry, 78 _note_\n\nDugdale: on formality in Masonry, 143\n\n\nEavesdroppers: their punishment, 138 _note_\n\nEgypt: earliest artists of, 9;\n  Herodotus on, 10;\n  temples of, 11;\n  obelisks of, 13;\n  Drama of Faith in, 41;\n  and origin of Masonry, 105, 109 _note_\n\nElizabeth, Queen: and Masons, 123 _note_\n\nEmerson, R.W.: 39, 57\n\nEuclid: mentioned in Regius MS, 105;\n  in Cooke MS, 107\n\nEvans: on sacred stones, 9\n\nExposures of Masonry, 210\n\n\nFaerie Queene: quoted, 155\n\nFaith: Drama of, 39;\n  philosophy of, 270\n\nFellowcraft: points of, 128;\n  rank of, 131;\n  degree of, 146\n\nFichte: a Mason, 232\n\nFindel: list of cartoons, 99 _note_;\n  on Apprentice degree, 145\n\nFrancis of Assist: quoted, 173\n\nFranklin, B.: on Masonic grips, 200;\n  Masonic items in his paper, 207;\n  Grand Master of Pennsylvania, 207;\n  his _Autobiography_, 207 _note_\n\nFrederick the Great: and Masonry, 205 _note_\n\nFree-masons: 87;\n  why called free, 88;\n  Fergusson on, 90;\n  Hallam on, 96;\n  free in fact before name, 98;\n  great artists, 99;\n  cartoons of the church by, 99 _note_;\n  early date of name, 104 _note_;\n  not Guild-masons, 118;\n  contrasted with Guild-masons, 119;\n  organization of, 136;\n  degrees among, 142-4\n\nFriendship: Masonry defined as, 240;\n  genius of Masonry, 284;\n  in Masonic literature, 285;\n  the ideal of Masonry, 288;\n  as a method of work, 291\n\nFergusson, James: 90;\n  on temple of Solomon, 191\n\n\nG: the letter, 159\n\nGaribaldi: 230\n\nGeometry: in Old Charges, 108;\n  Pythagoras on, 154;\n  and religion, 154 _note_;\n  mystical meaning of, 159\n\nGladden, Washington: quoted, 285\n\nGloves: use and meaning of, 137 _note_\n\nGod: ideas of, 22;\n  \"the Builder,\" 29;\n  invocations to in old MSS, 108, _note_;\n  Fatherhood of, 134;\n  the Great Logician, 157;\n  unity of, 176 _note_, 264;\n  foundation of Masonry, 261;\n  the corner stone, 262;\n  Masonry does not limit, 263;\n  wonder of, 267;\n  kinship of man with, 270;\n  friendship for, 284\n\nGoethe: 232\n\nGolden Rule: law of Master Mason, 133;\n  creed of, 256\n\nGormogons: order of, parody on Masonry, 209;\n  swallows itself, 211\n\nGothic architecture: 120;\n  decline of, 185\n\nGould, R.F.: on Regius MS, 106;\n  on York Assembly, 116 _note_;\n  on early speculative Masonry, 160\n\nGrand Lodge of all England, 218\n\nGrand Lodge of England: 173;\n  meaning of organization, 174;\n  background of, 176;\n  its attitude toward religion, 177;\n  organization of, 180;\n  Lodges of, 181;\n  facts about, 182;\n  usages of, 183;\n  regalia of, 183 _note_;\n  a London movement, 184;\n  leaders of, 185;\n  charity of, 188;\n  growth of, 202;\n  prolific mother, 204;\n  article on politics, 208;\n  rivals of, 213\n\nGrand Lodge South of Trent, 218\n\nGrand Master: office of, 182;\n  power of, 202\n\nGreen Dragon Tavern: 223;\n  a Masonic Lodge, 224\n\nGregory, Pope: and Masons, 113\n\nGrips: in the Mysteries, 47;\n  among Druses, 78 _note_;\n  among Masons, 140;\n  antiquity of, 149 _note_;\n  number of, 141;\n  Franklin on, 200;\n  an aid to charity, 244\n\nGuild-masonry: 98;\n  invocations in, 108;\n  not Freemasonry, 118;\n  truth about, 119;\n  morality of, 144\n\n\nHallam: on Freemasonry, 96;\n  on Guilds, 118\n\nHalliwell, James: and Regius MS: 104\n\nHamilton, Alexander: 225\n\nHammer, House of: 28\n\n_Handbuch_, German: on Masonry, 241\n\n_Harleian MS_: quoted, 126;\n  in Holme's handwriting, 166\n\nHermes: named in Cooke MS, 108;\n  and Pythagoras, 110;\n  who was he, 194\n\nHerodotus: on Egypt, 10;\n  referred to in Cooke MS, 107\n\nHiram Abif: 77 _note_;\n  not named in Old Charges, 109;\n  esoteric allusions to, 110;\n  legend of in France, 118 _note_;\n  and the Companionage, 149;\n  and the temple, 192\n\nHiram I, of Tyre: 75\n\nHistory: Book of in China, 30;\n  like a mirage, 100;\n  no older than architecture, 241\n\nHolme, Randle: 166\n\nHorus: story of, 42;\n  heroism of, 45\n\nHutchinson, William: on Geometry, 154 _note_;\n  on Christianity and Masonry, 251 _note_;\n  on Spirit of Masonry, 258\n\n\nIdealism: soul of Masonry, 269;\n  no dogma of in Masonry, 269 _note_;\n  basis of, 270\n\nIkhnaton: city of, 12;\n  poet and idealist, 14\n\nImmortality: faith in old, 39;\n  in Pyramid Texts, 40;\n  allegory of, 46;\n  in the Mysteries, 49;\n  creed of Masonry, 134;\n  held by Masons, 179;\n  how Masonry teaches, 277\n\n_Instructions of a Parish Priest_: 106\n\nInvocations: Masonic, 108 _note_\n\nIsis: story of, 42;\n  and Osiris, 43;\n  sorrow of, 45;\n  in Mysteries, 47\n\n\nJackson, Andrew: 228\n\nJesuits: and Masons, 210 _note_;\n  attempt to expose Masonry, 211\n\n\nKabbalah: muddle of, 67\n\nKabbalists: used Masonic symbols, 156, 157\n\nKennedy, C.R.: quoted, 238\n\nKipling, Rudyard: 232\n\nKrause: on Collegia, 79\n\n\nLegend: of Solomon, 75;\n  in Old Charges, 111;\n  of Pythagoras, 112;\n  of Masonry unique, 128\n\nLessing, G.E.: quoted, 56;\n  theory of, 179 _note_;\n  a Mason, 232\n\nLethaby: on discovery of Square, 10\n\nLiberty: and law, 7;\n  love of, 122;\n  of thought, 178;\n  civil and Masonry, 224;\n  in religion, 252;\n  of faith, 255;\n  philosophy of, 271;\n  Lowell on, 272;\n  of intellect, 273;\n  of soul, 274\n\nLitchfield, Bishop of: 175\n\nLocke, John: 232\n\nLodge: of Roman architects, 82;\n  of Comacines, 90;\n  a school, 129;\n  secrecy of, 132;\n  enroute, 135;\n  organization of, 136;\n  degrees in, 146\n\nLongfellow: quoted, 260\n\nLost Word: 67;\n  Masonic search of, 263\n\nLowell: on liberty, 272\n\n\nMackey, Dr: on Craft-masonry, 251 _note_;\n  definition of Masonry, 240\n\nMagnus, Albertus: 156\n\nMan: the builder, 6;\n  a poet, 19;\n  an idealist, 26;\n  akin to God, 270;\n  divinity of, 292;\n  thoughts of artists, 294;\n  ideal of, 297\n\nMarkham, Edwin: quoted, 282\n\nMarshall, John: 225\n\nMartyrs, the Four Crowned: 86;\n  honored by Comacines, 90;\n  in Regius MS, 105\n\n_Masonry Dissected_: 212\n\nMasonry: foundations of, 15;\n  symbolism its soul, 18;\n  in China, 30;\n  symbols of in obelisk, 33;\n  and the Mysteries, 53;\n  secret tradition in, 66;\n  and the Quest, 69;\n  and Solomon's temple, 79;\n  persecution of by Diocletian, 85;\n  and the Comacines, 90;\n  not new in Middle Ages, 97;\n  and tolerance, 100;\n  and the church, 102;\n  antiquity of emphasized, 110;\n  legend of, 111;\n  and Pythagoras, 112;\n  in England, 116;\n  in Scotland, 123;\n  decline of, 124;\n  moral teaching of, 128-134;\n  creed of, 134;\n  degrees in, 142-4;\n  not a patch-work, 149 _note_;\n  an evolution, 150;\n  defence of, 153;\n  symbols of in language, 155;\n  and Rosicrucianism, 164 _note_;\n  parable of, 173;\n  transformation of, 176;\n  and religion, 177;\n  theories about, 179 _note_;\n  democracy of, 183;\n  more than a trade, 185;\n  mysticism of, 189 _note_;\n  and Hermetic teaching, 194;\n  universal, 201;\n  rapid spread of, 204;\n  early in America, 206;\n  not a political party, 208;\n  parody on, 209;\n  attempted exposures of, 210-13;\n  growth of despite dissensions, 219-20;\n  unsectarian, 221 _note_;\n  in America, 223;\n  and the War of Revolution, 225;\n  and Morgan, 227-8;\n  and Civil War, 228;\n  in literature, 232 _note_;\n  defined, 239-40;\n  as friendship, 240;\n  best definition of, 241;\n  description of, 242;\n  has no secret, 244;\n  misunderstood, 245;\n  more than a church, 250;\n  crypt, 253;\n  temple of, 260;\n  philosophy of, 262;\n  and unity of God, 273;\n  its appeal, 283;\n  and friendship, 288;\n  spirit of, 289;\n  wisdom of, 295;\n  ideal of, 297.\n\nMasons: and Comacines, 90;\n  Hallam on, 96;\n  denied their due, 99 _note_;\n  culture of, 100;\n  and Knights Templars, 101 _note_;\n  first called free, 104;\n  persecuted, 122;\n  technical secrets of, 147;\n  customs of, 166\n\nMasons' Company: 104;\n  date of, 123;\n  and Accepted Masons, 165\n\nMason's Marks: 131 _note_\n\nMaspero: on Egyptian temples, 11\n\nMaster Mason;\n  and Fellows, 128 _note_;\n  oath of, 133;\n  dress of, 135\n\nMasterpiece of Apprentice: 131\n\nMaster's Part: 148;\n  in Third Degree, 193\n\nMaterialism: and Masonry, 268\n\nMazzini: 230\n\nMencius: 30\n\nMerzaria, Giuseppe: on Comacine Masters: 114\n\n_Metamorphoses_, by Apuleius: 51\n\nMontague, Duke of: elected Grand Master, 185\n\nMorgan, William: and Masonry, 227;\n  excitement about, 292 _note_\n\nMysteries, The: origin of, 46;\n  nobility of, 47;\n  teaching of, 48;\n  spread of, 49;\n  and St. Paul, 50;\n  corruption of, 51;\n  Plato on, 52;\n  and Masonry, 53;\n  temples of, 59;\n  Moses learned in, 76;\n  and Hebrew faith, 77;\n  and Masonic ritual, 110;\n  and the Third Degree, 196, 203\n\nMystery-mongers: 60;\n  fancies of, 164\n\n_Mystery of Masonry Discovered_: 210\n\nMysticism: 60 _note_;\n  of Hermetics, 164;\n  its real nature, 189 _note_\n\nMueller, Max: quoted, 253;\n  parable of, 292\n\n\n_Nathan the Wise_: quoted, 56\n\nNumbers: use of by Pythagoras, 48 _note_;\n  and religious faith, 153;\n  in nature, 154;\n  and mysticism, 159\n\n\nOath: in the Mysteries, 48;\n  in Harleian MS, 126;\n  of Apprentice, 129;\n  of Fellowcraft, 132;\n  of Master Mason, 133\n\nObelisks: meaning of, 13;\n  Masonic symbols in, 33\n\nOccultism: 60 _note_;\n  and Masonry, 164\n\n_Old Charges_: 102;\n  number of, 103;\n  the oldest of, 104;\n  higher criticism of, 107-9;\n  value of, 111;\n  and English Masonry, 116;\n  moral teaching of, 128-34;\n  collated by Grand Lodge, 186\n\nOldest Mason honored: 181\n\nOperative Masons: degrees of, 142;\n  and speculative, 144;\n  lodges of, 148;\n  and Wren, 167 _note_;\n  still working, 201 _note_\n\nOracles: Cessation of, 28\n\nOrient, Grand of France: not atheistic, 261\n\nOsiris: in trinity of Egypt, 23;\n  history of, 41;\n  and Isis, 43;\n  death of, 44;\n  resurrection of, 46;\n  in Tyre, 76\n\n\nPaine, Thomas: 225 _note_\n\nPayne, George: Grand Master, 187\n\nPhilosophy: \"blend of poetry, science and religion,\" 259;\n  of Masonry, 264-68;\n  of faith, 270\n\nPike, Albert: on symbolism of Masonry, 18;\n  on Regius MS, 106;\n  error of as to Guild-masonry, 158 _note_;\n  on symbolism before 1717, 159;\n  on Third Degree, 193;\n  on atheism, 261 _note_;\n  on old men and Masonry, 296 _note_\n\nPillars: origin of, 28;\n  meaning of, 29;\n  Isaac Walton on, 259 _note_\n\nPlott, Dr: on Masonic customs, 166\n\nPlutarch: on Square, 28;\n  an initiate, 42;\n  and the Mysteries, 46;\n  on Pythagoras symbol, 143\n\nPole Star: cult of, 24\n\nPolitics: and Masons, 179;\n  forbidden in Lodges, 208;\n  relation of Masonry to, 245, 248\n\nPompeii: collegium in, 83\n\nPope, Alexander: _Moral Essays_ quoted, 210;\n  a Mason, 263\n\nPopes, the: and Masonry, 113, 122;\n  bull of against Masonry, 211\n\nPrayer: in Masonry, 179, 244\n\nPreston, William: 182;\n  defeated, 218\n\n\"Protestant Jesuits\": Masons called, 210 _note_\n\nPyramids: wonder of, 13;\n  loneliness of, 28\n\nPyramid Texts: quoted, 40\n\n\nQuest, The: aspects of, 65;\n  analysis of, 67;\n  in Masonry, 69\n\n\nReade, Winwood: quoted, 172\n\nReconciliation, Lodge of: 221\n\n_Regius MS_: oldest Masonic MS, 104;\n  synopsis of, 105;\n  Pike on, 106;\n  Mason's points in, 128;\n  and Accepted Masons, 160\n\nReligion: of light, 14;\n  decline of, 176;\n  and Craft-masonry, 176;\n  and Grand Lodge of England, 250;\n  what is it, 251 _note_;\n  in which all agree, 255;\n  of nature, 258;\n  what we practically believe, 293\n\nRitual: Old Charges part of, 128;\n  growth of, 142-4;\n  evolution of, 219 _note_\n\nRome: secret orders in, 81;\n  college of architects in, 86\n\nRosicrucians: use Masonic symbols, 156, 157;\n  and Ashmole, 163;\n  distinct from Masons, 164;\n  and De Quincey, 179 _note_;\n  and Third Degree, 190\n\nRoyal Arch Masonry: 220 _note_\n\nRuskin, John: quoted, 7, 8;\n  on light, 14 _note_;\n  on the church, 250\n\n\nSt. John's Day: 181;\n  origin of, 183, _note_\n\nSayer, Anthony: first Grand Master, 182\n\nSchaw Statutes: 123\n\nSciences;\n  the seven, 195;\n  in Cooke MS, 108\n\nScott, Leader: quoted, 72;\n  on Cathedral Builders, 87;\n  on Comacines and Masonry, 111\n\nScott, Sir Walter: on the word cowan, 138 _note_;\n  a Mason, 232\n\nSecrecy: of the Mysteries, 48;\n  of great teachers, 57;\n  as to the arts, 74;\n  not real power of Masonry, 212;\n  reasons for, 243 _note_\n\nSecret Doctrine: 57;\n  objections to, 59;\n  open to all, 61;\n  reasons for, 63;\n  what is it, 68\n\n_Secret Sermon on the Mount_: 47\n\nSectarianism: Masonry against, 254\n\n_Seven Lamps of Architecture_: quoted, 7\n\nShakespeare: 155;\n  and Masons, 259 _note_\n\nShelley: 14\n\nSigns: in the Mysteries, 47;\n  Franklin on, 200;\n  and charity, 244\n\nSocrates: on unity of mind, 21;\n  and the Mysteries, 46\n\nSolomon: and Hiram, 75;\n  and the Comacines, 89;\n  in Cooke MS, 109;\n  sons of, 149\n\nSolomon: Temple of, 75;\n  style of, 76;\n  legends of, 77 _note_;\n  and Masonry, 79;\n  influence of on architecture, 191\n\nSpeculative Masonry: in Regius MS, 106;\n  growth of, 123;\n  meaning of, 144 _note_;\n  Lodges of, 148;\n  before 1717, 167\n\nSpenser, Edmund: Masonic symbols in, 155\n\nSquare: discovery of, 10;\n  in Pyramids, 13;\n  eloquence of, 26;\n  emblem of truth, 28;\n  in China, 30;\n  in obelisk, 33;\n  throne of Osiris, 46;\n  \"square men,\" 155;\n  an ancient one, 159;\n  of justice, 275\n\n_Staffordshire; Natural History of_, quoted: 166\n\nSteinmetzen, of Germany: 118 _note_;\n  degree of, 145\n\nStones: sanctity of, 28\n\nStuckely: Diary of, 203\n\nSwastika: antiquity of, 23;\n  meaning of, 24;\n  sign of Operative Masons, 201 _note_\n\nSymbolism: Carlyle on, 4;\n  early Masonic, 11;\n  Pike on, 18;\n  richness of, 20;\n  unity of, 21;\n  Mencius on, 30;\n  in Bible, 31;\n  of Collegia, 93;\n  of Comacines, 90;\n  in Masonry, 143;\n  of numbers, 154;\n  in language, 155;\n  in Middle Ages, 156;\n  preserved by Masons, 159\n\n\nTaylor, Jeremy: 175 _note_\n\nThird Degree: legend of, 149;\n  confusion about, 189;\n  purely Masonic, 193;\n  Pike on, 193;\n  not made but grew, 196;\n  and Ancient Mysteries, 196;\n  Edwin Booth on, 197;\n  and immortality, 277\n\nTiler: 135;\n  origin of name, 138 _note_\n\nTolstoi: 232\n\nTools of Masons: 26;\n  old meanings of, 29;\n  in Bible, 32;\n  kit of, 132\n\nTradition: of Solomon, 75;\n  of Masonry unique, 128;\n  of degrees, 144\n\nTriangle: probable meaning of, 13 _note_;\n  used by Spenser, 155\n\nTrinity: idea of old, 22;\n  in Egypt and India, 23;\n  not opposed to unity of God, 264 _note_\n\n\nUnity: of human mind, 21;\n  of truth, 58;\n  of God and Masonry, 176 _note_, 264\n\n_Universal Prayer_: quoted, 263\n\nUnsectarian: the genius of Masonry, 221, 250, 252, 253, 258\n\n\nWaite, A.E.: 38;\n  tribute to, 64;\n  on the quest, 65;\n  studies of, 66;\n  \"golden dustman,\" 67\n\nWar: and Masonry, 225;\n  Civil, 228, 229 _note_;\n  cause of, 287;\n  end of, 202\n\nWarren, Joseph: ardent Mason, 224\n\nWashington, George: a Mason, 225;\n  sworn into office by Mason, 226\n\nWatts, G.F.: 174\n\nWebster, Daniel: on Green Tavern, 224\n\nWeed, Thurlow: and Masonry, 227 _note_;\n  dirty trickster, 228\n\nWellington: a Mason, 232\n\nWesley, John: 175\n\nWharton, Duke of: traitor, 224\n\n_Wiltshire, Natural History of_: quoted, 166\n\nWren, Christopher: on columns, 9;\n  and Masonry, 167 _note_;\n  not trained in a Lodge, 186\n\n\nYork: Bishop of, 113;\n  Assembly of, 117;\n  old Grand Lodge of, 204;\n  Mecca of Masonry, 205;\n  revival of Grand Lodge of, 215;\n  no rite of, 216 _note_\n\n\nZoroaster: faith of, 22\n$/\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n/$\n    +--------------------------------------------------------------+\n    | Typographical errors corrected in text:                      |\n    |                                                              |\n    | Page  91: madiaeval replaced with mediaeval                  |\n    | Page  98: sybolism replaced with symbolism                   |\n    | Page 109: Proceding replaced with Proceeding                 |\n    | Page 163: Andrea replaced with Andreae                       |\n    | page 178: neverthless replaced with nevertheless             |\n    | Page 221: Christion replaced with Christian                  |\n    | Page 229: rembered replaced with remembered                  |\n    | Page 263: 'more fascinating that its age-long' replaced with |\n    |           'more fascinating than its age-long'               |\n    | Page 273: despostism replaced with despotism                 |\n    | Page 277: parodox replaced with paradox                      |\n    | Page 307: Academie Armory replaced with Acadamie Armory      |\n    | Page 310: Furgusson replaced with Fergusson (twice,          |\n    |           putting the index out of order)                    |\n    | Page 314: Muller replaced with Mueller                        |\n    |                                                              |\n    +--------------------------------------------------------------+\n$/","title":"The Builders: A Story and Study of Masonry","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":72191}