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/$ +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Transcriber's Note: | | | | Inconsistent hyphenation matches the original document. | | | | A number of obvious typographical errors have been corrected | | in this text. For a complete list, please see the bottom of | | this document. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+$/

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/$THE BUILDERS

A STORY AND STUDYOF MASONRY

BYJOSEPH FORT NEWTON, LITT. D. GRAND LODGE OF IOWA

_When I was a King and a Mason--A master proved and skilled, I cleared me ground for a palaceSuch as a King should build. I decreed and cut down to my levels, Presently, under the silt, I came on the wreck of a palaceSuch as a King had built!_ --KIPLING

CEDAR RAPIDS IOWATHE TORCH PRESSNINETEEN FIFTEEN$/

/$COPYRIGHT, 1914BY JOSEPH FORT NEWTON

_First Printing, December, 1914_$/

/$ToThe Memory ofTHEODORE SUTTON PARVINFounder of the Library of the Grand Lodgeof Iowa, with Reverence and Gratitude; toLOUIS BLOCKPast Grand Master of Masons in Iowa, dear Friendand Fellow-worker, who initiated and inspiredthis study, with Love and Goodwill; andto theYOUNG MASONSOur Hope and Pride, for whomthis book was writtenWithFraternal Greeting$/

THE ANTEROOM

Fourteen years ago the writer of this volume entered the temple ofFreemasonry, and that date stands out in memory as one of the mostsignificant days in his life. There was a little spread on the nightof his raising, and, as is the custom, the candidate was asked to givehis impressions of the Order. Among other things, he made request toknow if there was any little book which would tell a young man thethings he would most like to know about Masonry--what it was, whenceit came, what it teaches, and what it is trying to do in the world? Noone knew of such a book at that time, nor has any been found to meet aneed which many must have felt before and since. By an oddcoincidence, it has fallen to the lot of the author to write thelittle book for which he made request fourteen years ago. 

This bit of reminiscence explains the purpose of the present volume, and every book must be judged by its spirit and purpose, not less thanby its style and contents. Written as a commission from the GrandLodge of Iowa, and approved by that Grand body, a copy of this book isto be presented to every man upon whom the degree of Master Mason isconferred within this Grand Jurisdiction. Naturally this intention hasdetermined the method and arrangement of the book, as well as thematter it contains; its aim being to tell a young man entering theorder the antecedents of Masonry, its development, its philosophy, itsmission, and its ideal. Keeping this purpose always in mind, theeffort has been to prepare a brief, simple, and vivid account of theorigin, growth, and teaching of the Order, so written as to provoke adeeper interest in and a more earnest study of its story and itsservice to mankind. 

No work of this kind has been undertaken, so far as is known, by anyGrand Lodge in this country or abroad--at least, not since the old_Pocket Companion_, and other such works in the earlier times; andthis is the more strange from the fact that the need of it is soobvious, and its possibilities so fruitful and important. Every onewho has looked into the vast literature of Masonry must often havefelt the need of a concise, compact, yet comprehensive survey to clearthe path and light the way. Especially must those feel such a need whoare not accustomed to traverse long and involved periods of history, and more especially those who have neither the time nor theopportunity to sift ponderous volumes to find out the facts. Much ofour literature--indeed, by far the larger part of it--was writtenbefore the methods of scientific study had arrived, and while itfascinates, it does not convince those who are used to the morecritical habits of research. Consequently, without knowing it, some ofour most earnest Masonic writers have made the Order a target forridicule by their extravagant claims as to its antiquity. They did notmake it clear in what sense it is ancient, and not a little satire hasbeen aimed at Masons for their gullibility in accepting as true thewildest and most absurd legends. Besides, no history of Masonry hasbeen written in recent years, and some important material has come tolight in the world of historical and archĉological scholarship, makingnot a little that has hitherto been obscure more clear; and there isneed that this new knowledge be related to what was already known. While modern research aims at accuracy, too often its results are drypages of fact, devoid of literary beauty and spiritual appeal--askeleton without the warm robe of flesh and blood. Striving foraccuracy, the writer has sought to avoid making a dusty chronicle offacts and figures, which few would have the heart to follow, with whatsuccess the reader must decide. 

Such a book is not easy to write, and for two reasons: it is thehistory of a secret Order, much of whose lore is not to be written, and it covers a bewildering stretch of time, asking that the contentsof innumerable volumes--many of them huge, disjointed, and difficultto digest--be compact within a small space. Nevertheless, if it hasrequired a prodigious labor, it is assuredly worth while in behalf ofthe young men who throng our temple gates, as well as for those whoare to come after us. Every line of this book has been written in theconviction that the real history of Masonry is great enough, and itssimple teaching grand enough, without the embellishment of legend, much less of occultism. It proceeds from first to last upon theassurance that all that we need to do is to remove the scaffoldingfrom the historic temple of Masonry and let it stand out in thesunlight, where all men can see its beauty and symmetry, and that itwill command the respect of the most critical and searchingintellects, as well as the homage of all who love mankind. By thisfaith the long study has been guided; in this confidence it has beencompleted. 

To this end the sources of Masonic scholarship, stored in the libraryof the Grand Lodge of Iowa, have been explored, and the highestauthorities have been cited wherever there is uncertainty--copiousreferences serving not only to substantiate the statements made, butalso, it is hoped, to guide the reader into further and more detailedresearch. Also, in respect of issues still open to debate and aboutwhich differences of opinion obtain, both sides have been given ahearing, so far as space would allow, that the student may weigh anddecide the question for himself. Like all Masonic students of recenttimes, the writer is richly indebted to the great Research Lodges ofEngland--especially to the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076--withoutwhose proceedings this study would have been much harder to write, ifindeed it could have been written at all. Such men as Gould, Hughan, Speth, Crawley, Thorp, to name but a few--not forgetting Pike, Parvin, Mackey, Fort, and others in this country--deserve the perpetualgratitude of the fraternity. If, at times, in seeking to escape frommere legend, some of them seemed to go too far toward anotherextreme--forgetting that there is much in Masonry that cannot betraced by name and date--it was but natural in their effort in behalfof authentic history and accurate scholarship. Alas, most of thosenamed belong now to a time that is gone and to the people who are nolonger with us here, but they are recalled by an humble student whowould pay them the honor belonging to great men and great Masons. 

This book is divided into three parts, as everything Masonic shouldbe: Prophecy, History, and Interpretation. The first part has to dowith the hints and foregleams of Masonry in the early history, tradition, mythology, and symbolism of the race--finding itsfoundations in the nature and need of man, and showing how the stoneswrought out by time and struggle were brought from afar to the makingof Masonry as we know it. The second part is a story of the order ofbuilders through the centuries, from the building of the Temple ofSolomon to the organization of the mother Grand Lodge of England, andthe spread of the Order all over the civilized world. The third partis a statement and exposition of the faith of Masonry, its philosophy, its religious meaning, its genius, and its ministry to the individual, and through the individual to society and the state. Such is a bareoutline of the purpose, method, plan, and spirit of the work, and ifthese be kept in mind it is believed that it will tell its story andconfide its message. 

When a man thinks of our mortal lot--its greatness and its pathos, howmuch has been wrought out in the past, and how binding is ourobligation to preserve and enrich the inheritance of humanity--therecomes over him a strange warming of the heart toward all his fellowworkers; and especially toward the young, to whom we must soon entrustall that we hold sacred. All through these pages the wish has been tomake the young Mason feel in what a great and benign tradition hestands, that he may the more earnestly strive to be a Mason not merelyin form, but in faith, in spirit, and still more, in character; and sohelp to realize somewhat of the beauty we all have dreamed--liftinginto the light the latent powers and unguessed possibilities of thisthe greatest order of men upon the earth. Everyone can do a little, and if each does his part faithfully the sum of our labors will bevery great, and we shall leave the world fairer than we found it, richer in faith, gentler in justice, wiser in pity--for we pass thisway but once, pilgrims seeking a country, even a City that hathfoundations. 

/$ J. F. N. 

_Cedar Rapids, Iowa_, September 7, 1914. $/

TABLE OF CONTENTS

/$THE ANTE-ROOM vii

PART I--PROPHECY CHAPTER I. THE FOUNDATIONS 5

 CHAPTER II. THE WORKING TOOLS 19

 CHAPTER III. THE DRAMA OF FAITH 39

 CHAPTER IV. THE SECRET DOCTRINE 57

 CHAPTER V. THE COLLEGIA 73

PART II--HISTORY

 CHAPTER I. FREE-MASONS 97

 CHAPTER II. FELLOWCRAFTS 127

 CHAPTER III. ACCEPTED MASONS 153

 CHAPTER IV. GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND 173

 CHAPTER V. UNIVERSAL MASONRY 201

PART III--INTERPRETATION

 CHAPTER I. WHAT IS MASONRY 239

 CHAPTER II. THE MASONIC PHILOSOPHY 259

 CHAPTER III. THE SPIRIT OF MASONRY 283

BIBLIOGRAPHY 301

INDEX 306$/

Part I--Prophecy

THE FOUNDATIONS

/# _By Symbols is man guided and commanded, made happy, made wretched. He everywhere finds himself encompassed with Symbols, recognized as such or not recognized: the Universe is but one vast Symbol of God; nay, if thou wilt have it, what is man himself but a Symbol of God; is not all that he does symbolical; a revelation to Sense of the mystic God-given force that is in him; a Gospel of Freedom, which he, the Messiah of Nature, preaches, as he can, by word and act? Not a Hut he builds but is the visible embodiment of a Thought; but bears visible record of invisible things; but is, in the transcendental sense, symbolical as well as real. _

 --THOMAS CARLYLE, _Sartor Resartus_#/

CHAPTER I

_The Foundations_

Two arts have altered the face of the earth and given shape to thelife and thought of man, Agriculture and Architecture. Of the two, itwould be hard to know which has been the more intimately interwovenwith the inner life of humanity; for man is not only a planter and abuilder, but a mystic and a thinker. For such a being, especially inprimitive times, any work was something more than itself; it was atruth found out. In becoming useful it attained some form, enshriningat once a thought and a mystery. Our present study has to do with thesecond of these arts, which has been called the matrix ofcivilization. 

When we inquire into origins and seek the initial force which carriedart forward, we find two fundamental factors--physical necessity andspiritual aspiration. Of course, the first great impulse of allarchitecture was need, honest response to the demand for shelter; butthis demand included a Home for the Soul, not less than a roof overthe head. Even in this response to primary need there was somethingspiritual which carried it beyond provision for the body; as the menof Egypt, for instance, wanted an indestructible resting-place, and sobuilt the pyramids. As Capart says, prehistoric art shows that thisutilitarian purpose was in almost every case blended with a religious, or at least a magical, purpose. [1] The spiritual instinct, in seekingto recreate types and to set up more sympathetic relations with theuniverse, led to imitation, to ideas of proportion, to the passion forbeauty, and to the effort after perfection. 

Man has been always a builder, and nowhere has he shown himself moresignificantly than in the buildings he has erected. When we standbefore them--whether it be a mud hut, the house of a cliff-dwellerstuck like the nest of a swallow on the side of a cañon, a Pyramid, aParthenon, or a Pantheon--we seem to read into his soul. The buildermay have gone, perhaps ages before, but here he has left something ofhimself, his hopes, his fears, his ideas, his dreams. Even in theremote recesses of the Andes, amidst the riot of nature, and where manis now a mere savage, we come upon the remains of vast, vanishedcivilizations, where art and science and religion reached unknownheights. Wherever humanity has lived and wrought, we find thecrumbling ruins of towers, temples, and tombs, monuments of itsindustry and its aspiration. Also, whatever else man may havebeen--cruel, tyrannous, vindictive--his buildings always havereference to religion. They bespeak a vivid sense of the Unseen andhis awareness of his relation to it. Of a truth, the story of theTower of Babel is more than a myth. Man has ever been trying to buildto heaven, embodying his prayer and his dream in brick and stone. 

For there are two sets of realities--material and spiritual--but theyare so interwoven that all practical laws are exponents of moral laws. Such is the thesis which Ruskin expounds with so much insight andeloquence in his _Seven Lamps of Architecture_, in which he arguesthat the laws of architecture are moral laws, as applicable to thebuilding of character as to the construction of cathedrals. He findsthose laws to be Sacrifice, Truth, Power, Beauty, Life, Memory, and, as the crowning grace of all, that principle to which Polity owes itsstability, Life its happiness, Faith its acceptance, and Creation itscontinuance--_Obedience_. He holds that there is no such thing asliberty, and never can be. The stars have it not; the earth has itnot; the sea has it not. Man fancies that he has freedom, but if hewould use the word Loyalty instead of Liberty, he would be nearer thetruth, since it is by obedience to the laws of life and truth andbeauty that he attains to what he calls liberty. 

Throughout that brilliant essay, Ruskin shows how the violation ofmoral laws spoils the beauty of architecture, mars its usefulness, andmakes it unstable. He points out, with all the variations of emphasis, illustration, and appeal, that beauty is what is imitated from naturalforms, consciously or unconsciously, and that what is not so derived, but depends for its dignity upon arrangement received from the humanmind, expresses, while it reveals, the quality of the mind, whether itbe noble or ignoble. Thus:

/#[4, 66] All building, therefore, shows man either as gathering or governing; and the secrets of his success are his knowing what to gather, and how to rule. These are the two great intellectual Lamps of Architecture; the one consisting in a just and humble veneration of the works of God upon earth, and the other in an understanding of the dominion over those works which has been vested in man. [2]#/

What our great prophet of art thus elaborated so eloquently, the earlymen forefelt by instinct, dimly it may be, but not less truly. Ifarchitecture was born of need it soon showed its magic quality, andall true building touched depths of feeling and opened gates ofwonder. No doubt the men who first balanced one stone over two othersmust have looked with astonishment at the work of their hands, andhave worshiped the stones they had set up. This element of mysticalwonder and awe lasted long through the ages, and is still felt whenwork is done in the old way by keeping close to nature, necessity, andfaith. From the first, ideas of sacredness, of sacrifice, of ritualrightness, of magic stability, of likeness to the universe, ofperfection of form and proportion glowed in the heart of the builder, and guided his arm. Wren, philosopher as he was, decided that thedelight of man in setting up columns was acquired through worshipingin the groves of the forest; and modern research has come to much thesame view, for Sir Arthur Evans shows that in the first European agecolumns were gods. All over Europe the early morning of architecturewas spent in the worship of great stones. [3]

If we go to old Egypt, where the art of building seems first to havegathered power, and where its remains are best preserved, we may readthe ideas of the earliest artists. Long before the dynastic period astrong people inhabited the land who developed many arts which theyhanded on to the pyramid-builders. Although only semi-naked savagesusing flint instruments in a style much like the bushmen, they werethe root, so to speak, of a wonderful artistic stock. Of the EgyptiansHerodotus said, "They gather the fruits of the earth with less laborthan any other people. " With agriculture and settled life came tradeand stored-up energy which might essay to improve on caves and pitsand other rude dwellings. By the Nile, perhaps, man first aimed tooverpass the routine of the barest need, and obey his soul. There hewrought out beautiful vases of fine marble, and invented squarebuilding. 

At any rate, the earliest known structure actually discovered, aprehistoric tomb found in the sands at Hieraconpolis, is alreadyright-angled. As Lethaby reminds us, modern people take squarenessvery much for granted as being a self-evident form, but the discoveryof the square was a great step in geometry. [4] It opened a new era inthe story of the builders. Early inventions must have seemed likerevelations, as indeed they were; and it is not strange that skilledcraftsmen were looked upon as magicians. If man knows as much as hedoes, the discovery of the Square was a great event to the primitivemystics of the Nile. Very early it became an emblem of truth, justice, and righteousness, and so it remains to this day thoughuncountable ages have passed. Simple, familiar, eloquent, it bringsfrom afar a sense of the wonder of the dawn, and it still teaches alesson which we find it hard to learn. So also the cube, thecompasses, and the keystone, each a great advance for those to whomarchitecture was indeed "building touched with emotion, " as showingthat its laws are the laws of the Eternal. 

Maspero tells us that the temples of Egypt, even from earliest times, were built in the image of the earth as the builders had imaginedit. [5] For them the earth was a sort of flat slab more long than wide, and the sky was a ceiling or vault supported by four great pillars. The pavement, represented the earth; the four angles stood for thepillars; the ceiling, more often flat, though sometimes curved, corresponded to the sky. From the pavement grew vegetation, and waterplants emerged from the water; while the ceiling, painted dark blue, was strewn with stars of five points. Sometimes, the sun and moon wereseen floating on the heavenly ocean escorted by the constellations, and the months and days. There was a far withdrawn holy place, smalland obscure, approached through a succession of courts and columnedhalls, all so arranged on a central axis as to point to the sunrise. Before the outer gates were obelisks and avenues of statues. Such werethe shrines of the old solar religion, so oriented that on one day inthe year the beams of the rising sun, or of some bright star thathailed his coming, should stream down the nave and illumine thealtar. [6]

Clearly, one ideal of the early builders was that of sacrifice, asseen in their use of the finest materials; and another was accuracy ofworkmanship. Indeed, not a little of the earliest work displayed anastonishing technical ability, and such work must point to someunderlying idea which the workers sought to realize. Above all thingsthey sought permanence. In later inscriptions relating to buildings, phrases like these occur frequently: "it is such as the heavens in allits quarters;" "firm as the heavens. " Evidently the basic idea wasthat, as the heavens were stable, not to be moved, so a building putinto proper relation with the universe would acquire magicalstability. It is recorded that when Ikhnaton founded his new city, four boundary stones were accurately placed, that so it might beexactly square, and thus endure forever. Eternity was the ideal aimedat, everything else being sacrificed for that aspiration. 

How well they realized their dream is shown us in the Pyramids, of allmonuments of mankind the oldest, the most technically perfect, thelargest, and the most mysterious. Ages come and go, empires rise andfall, philosophies flourish and fail, and man seeks him out manyinventions, but they stand silent under the bright Egyptian night, asfascinating as they are baffling. An obelisk is simply a pyramid, albeit the base has become a shaft, holding aloft the oldest emblemsof solar faith--a Triangle mounted on a Square. When and why thisfigure became holy no one knows, save as we may conjecture that it wasone of those sacred stones which gained its sanctity in times far backof all recollection and tradition, like the _Ka'aba_ at Mecca. Whetherit be an imitation of the triangle of zodiacal light, seen at certaintimes in the eastern sky at sunrise and sunset, or a feat of masonryused as a symbol of Heaven, as the Square was an emblem of Earth, noone may affirm. [7] In the Pyramid Texts the Sun-god, when he createdall the other gods, is shown sitting on the apex of the sky in theform of a Phoenix--that Supreme God to whom two architects, Suti andHor, wrote so noble a hymn of praise. [8]

White with the worship of ages, ineffably beautiful and pathetic, isthe old light-religion of humanity--a sublime nature-mysticism inwhich Light was love and life, and Darkness evil and death. For theearly man light was the mother of beauty, the unveiler of color, theelusive and radiant mystery of the world, and his speech about it wasreverent and grateful. At the gates of the morning he stood withuplifted hands, and the sun sinking in the desert at eventide made himwistful in prayer, half fear and half hope, lest the beauty return nomore. His religion, when he emerged from the night of animalism, was aworship of the Light--his temple hung with stars, his altar a glowingflame, his ritual a woven hymn of night and day. No poet of our day, not even Shelley, has written lovelier lyrics in praise of the Lightthan those hymns of Ikhnaton in the morning of the world. [9] Memoriesof this religion of the dawn linger with us today in the faith thatfollows the Day-Star from on high, and the Sun of Righteousness--Onewho is the Light of the World in life, and the Lamp of Poor Souls inthe night of death. 

Here, then, are the real foundations of Masonry, both material andmoral: in the deep need and aspiration of man, and his creativeimpulse; in his instinctive Faith, his quest of the Ideal, and hislove of the Light. Underneath all his building lay the feeling, prophetic of his last and highest thought, that the earthly house ofhis life should be in right relation with its heavenly prototype, theworld-temple--imitating on earth the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. If he erected a square temple, it was an imageof the earth; if he built a pyramid, it was a picture of a beautyshown him in the sky; as, later, his cathedral was modelled after themountain, and its dim and lofty arch a memory of the forest vista--itsaltar a fireside of the soul, its spire a prayer in stone. And as hewrought his faith and dream into reality, it was but natural that thetools of the builder should become emblems of the thoughts of thethinker. Not only his tools, but, as we shall see, the very stoneswith which he worked became sacred symbols--the temple itself a visionof that House of Doctrine, that Home of the Soul, which, thoughunseen, he is building in the midst of the years. 

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _Primitive Art in Egypt. _

[2] Chapter iii, aphorism 2. 

[3] _Architecture_, by Lethaby, chap. I. 

[4] _Architecture_, by Lethaby, chap. Ii. 

[5] _Dawn of Civilization_. 

[6] _Dawn of Astronomy_, Norman Lockyer. 

[7] Churchward, in his _Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man_ (chap. Xv), holds that the pyramid was typical of heaven, Shu, standing onseven steps, having lifted the sky from the earth in the form of atriangle; and that at each point stood one of the gods, Sut and Shu atthe base, the apex being the Pole Star where Horus of the Horizon hadhis throne. This is, in so far, true; but the pyramid emblem was olderthan Osiris, Isis, and Horus, and runs back into an obscurity beyondknowledge. 

[8] _Religion and Thought in Egypt_, by Breasted, lecture ix. 

[9] Ikhnaton, indeed, was a grand, solitary, shining figure, "the firstidealist in history, " and a poetic thinker in whom the religion ofEgypt attained its highest reach. Dr. Breasted puts his lyricsalongside the poems of Wordsworth and the great passage of Ruskin in_Modern Painters_, as celebrating the divinity of Light (_Religion andThought in Egypt_, lecture ix). Despite the revenge of his enemies, hestands out as a lonely, heroic, prophetic soul--"the first _individual_in time. "

THE WORKING TOOLS

/# _It began to shape itself to my intellectual vision into something more imposing and majestic, solemnly mysterious and grand. It seemed to me like the Pyramids in their loneliness, in whose yet undiscovered chambers may be hidden, for the enlightenment of coming generations, the sacred books of the Egyptians, so long lost to the world; like the Sphynx half buried in the desert. _

 _In its symbolism, which and its spirit of brotherhood are its essence, Freemasonry is more ancient than any of the world's living religions. It has the symbols and doctrines which, older than himself, Zarathrustra inculcated; and it seemed to me a spectacle sublime, yet pitiful--the ancient Faith of our ancestors holding out to the world its symbols once so eloquent, and mutely and in vain asking for an interpreter. _

 _And so I came at last to see that the true greatness and majesty of Freemasonry consist in its proprietorship of these and its other symbols; and that its symbolism is its soul. _

 --ALBERT PIKE, _Letter to Gould_#/

CHAPTER II

_The Working Tools_

Never were truer words than those of Goethe in the last lines of_Faust_, and they echo one of the oldest instincts of humanity: "Allthings transitory but as symbols are sent. " From the beginning man hasdivined that the things open to his senses are more than mere facts, having other and hidden meanings. The whole world was close to him asan infinite parable, a mystical and prophetic scroll the lexicon ofwhich he set himself to find. Both he and his world were so made as toconvey a sense of doubleness, of high truth hinted in humble, nearbythings. No smallest thing but had its skyey aspect which, by hiswinged and quick-sighted fancy, he sought to surprise and grasp. 

Let us acknowledge that man was born a poet, his mind a chamber ofimagery, his world a gallery of art. Despite his utmost efforts, hecan in nowise strip his thought of the flowers and fruits that clingto it, withered though they often are. As a fact, he has ever been acitizen of two worlds, using the scenery of the visible to make vividthe realities of the world Unseen. What wonder, then, that trees grewin his fancy, flowers bloomed in his faith, and the victory of springover winter gave him hope of life after death, while the march of thesun and the great stars invited him to "thoughts that wander througheternity. " Symbol was his native tongue, his first form of speech--as, indeed, it is his last--whereby he was able to say what else he couldnot have uttered. Such is the fact, and even the language in which westate it is "a dictionary of faded metaphors, " the fossil poetry ofages ago. 

I

That picturesque and variegated maze of the early symbolism of therace we cannot study in detail, tempting as it is. Indeed, soluxuriant was that old picture-language that we may easily miss ourway and get lost in the labyrinth, unless we keep to the rightpath. [10] First of all, throughout this study of prophecy let us keepever in mind a very simple and obvious fact, albeit not less wonderfulbecause obvious. Socrates made the discovery--perhaps the greatestever made--that human nature is universal. By his searching questionshe found out that when men think round a problem, and think deeply, they disclose a common nature and a common system of truth. So theredawned upon him, from this fact, the truth of the kinship of mankindand the unity of mind. His insight is confirmed many times over, whether we study the earliest gropings of the human mind or set theteachings of the sages side by side. Always we find, after comparison, that the final conclusions of the wisest minds as to the meaning oflife and the world are harmonious, if not identical. 

Here is the clue to the striking resemblances between the faiths andphilosophies of widely separated peoples, and it makes themintelligible while adding to their picturesqueness and philosophicinterest. By the same token, we begin to understand why the samesigns, symbols, and emblems were used by all peoples to express theirearliest aspiration and thought. We need not infer that one peoplelearned them from another, or that there existed a mystic, universalorder which had them in keeping. They simply betray the unity of thehuman mind, and show how and why, at the same stage of culture, racesfar removed from each other came to the same conclusions and used muchthe same symbols to body forth their thought. Illustrations areinnumerable, of which a few may be named as examples of this unityboth of idea and of emblem, and also as confirming the insight of thegreat Greek that, however shallow minds may differ, in the end allseekers after truth follow a common path, comrades in one great quest. 

An example in point, as ancient as it is eloquent, is the idea of thetrinity and its emblem, the triangle. What the human thought of God isdepends on what power of the mind or aspect of life man uses as a lensthrough which to look into the mystery of things. Conceived of as thewill of the world, God is one, and we have the monotheism of Moses. Seen through instinct and the kaleidoscope of the senses, God ismultiple, and the result is polytheism and its gods without number. For the reason, God is a dualism made up of matter and mind, as in thefaith of Zoroaster and many other cults. But when the social life ofman becomes the prism of faith, God is a trinity of Father, Mother, Child. Almost as old as human thought, we find the idea of the trinityand its triangle emblem everywhere--Siva, Vishnu, and Brahma in Indiacorresponding to Osiris, Isis, and Horus in Egypt. No doubt this ideaunderlay the old pyramid emblem, at each corner of which stood one ofthe gods. No missionary carried this profound truth over the earth. Itgrew out of a natural and universal human experience, and is explainedby the fact of the unity of the human mind and its vision of Godthrough the family. 

Other emblems take us back into an antiquity so remote that we seem tobe walking in the shadow of prehistoric time. Of these, the mysteriousSwastika is perhaps the oldest, as it is certainly the most widelydistributed over the earth. As much a talisman as a symbol, it hasbeen found on Chaldean bricks, among the ruins of the city of Troy, inEgypt, on vases of ancient Cyprus, on Hittite remains and the potteryof the Etruscans, in the cave temples of India, on Roman altars andRunic monuments in Britain, in Thibet, China, and Korea, in Mexico, Peru, and among the prehistoric burial-grounds of North America. Therehave been many interpretations of it. Perhaps the meaning most usuallyassigned to it is that of the Sanskrit word having in its roots anintimation of the beneficence of life, _to be_ and _well_. As such, itis a sign indicating "that the maze of life may bewilder, but a pathof light runs through it: _It is well_ is the name of the path, andthe key to life eternal is in the strange labyrinth for those whom Godleadeth. "[11] Others hold it to have been an emblem of the Pole Starwhose stability in the sky, and the procession of the Ursa Majoraround it, so impressed the ancient world. Men saw the sun journeyingacross the heavens every day in a slightly different track, thenstanding still, as it were, at the solstice, and then returning on itsway back. They saw the moon changing not only its orbit, but its sizeand shape and time of appearing. Only the Pole Star remained fixed andstable, and it became, not unnaturally, a light of assurance and thefootstool of the Most High. [12] Whatever its meaning, the Swastikashows us the efforts of the early man to read the riddle of things, and his intuition of a love at the heart of life. 

Akin to the Swastika, if not an evolution from it, was the Cross, madeforever holy by the highest heroism of Love. When man climbed up outof the primeval night, with his face to heaven upturned, he had across in his hand. Where he got it, why he held it, and what he meantby it, no one can conjecture much less affirm. [13] Itself a paradox, its arms pointing to the four quarters of the earth, it is found inalmost every part of the world carved on coins, altars, and tombs, andfurnishing a design for temple architecture in Mexico and Peru, in thepagodas of India, not less than in the churches of Christ. Ages beforeour era, even from the remote time of the cliff-dweller, the Crossseems to have been a symbol of life, though for what reason no oneknows. More often it was an emblem of eternal life, especially wheninclosed within a Circle which ends not, nor begins--the type ofEternity. Hence the Ank Cross or Crux Ansata of Egypt, scepter of theLord of the Dead that never die. There is less mystery about theCircle, which was an image of the disk of the Sun and a natural symbolof completeness, of eternity. With a point within the center itbecame, as naturally, the emblem of the Eye of the World--thatAll-seeing eye of the eternal Watcher of the human scene. 

Square, triangle, cross, circle--oldest symbols of humanity, all ofthem eloquent, each of them pointing beyond itself, as symbols alwaysdo, while giving form to the invisible truth which they invoke andseek to embody. They are beautiful if we have eyes to see, serving notmerely as chance figures of fancy, but as forms of reality as itrevealed itself to the mind of man. Sometimes we find them united, theSquare within the Circle, and within that the Triangle, and at thecenter the Cross. Earliest of emblems, they show us hints andforegleams of the highest faith and philosophy, betraying not only theunity of the human mind but its kinship with the Eternal--the factwhich lies at the root of every religion, and is the basis of each. Upon this Faith man builded, finding a rock beneath, refusing to thinkof Death as the gigantic coffin-lid of a dull and mindless universedescending upon him at last. 

II

From this brief outlook upon a wide field, we may pass to a morespecific and detailed study of the early prophecies of Masonry in theart of the builder. Always the symbolic must follow the actual, if itis to have reference and meaning, and the real is ever the basis ofthe ideal. By nature an Idealist, and living in a world of radiantmystery, it was inevitable that man should attach moral and spiritualmeanings to the tools, laws, and materials of building. Even so, inalmost every land and in the remotest ages we find great and beautifultruth hovering about the builder and clinging to his tools. [14]Whether there were organized orders of builders in the early times noone can tell, though there may have been. No matter; man mixed thoughtand worship with his work, and as he cut his altar stones and fittedthem together he thought out a faith by which to live. 

Not unnaturally, in times when the earth was thought to be a Squarethe Cube had emblematical meanings it could hardly have for us. Fromearliest ages it was a venerated symbol, and the oblong cube signifiedimmensity of space from the base of earth to the zenith of theheavens. It was a sacred emblem of the Lydian Kubele, known to theRomans in after ages as Ceres or Cybele--hence, as some aver, thederivation of the word "cube. " At first rough stones were most sacred, and an altar of hewn stones was forbidden. [15] With the advent of thecut cube, the temple became known as the House of the Hammer--itsaltar, always in the center, being in the form of a cube and regardedas "an index or emblem of Truth, ever true to itself. "[16] Indeed, thecube, as Plutarch points out in his essay _On the Cessation ofOracles_, "is palpably the proper emblem of rest, on account of thesecurity and firmness of the superficies. " He further tells us thatthe pyramid is an image of the triangular flame ascending from asquare altar; and since no one knows, his guess is as good as any. Atany rate, Mercury, Apollo, Neptune, and Hercules were worshiped underthe form of a square stone, while a large black stone was the emblemof Buddha among the Hindoos, of Manah Theus-Ceres in Arabia, and ofOdin in Scandinavia. Everyone knows of the Stone of Memnon in Egypt, which was said to speak at sunrise--as, in truth, all stones spoke toman in the sunrise of time. [17]

More eloquent, if possible, was the Pillar uplifted, like the pillarsof the gods upholding the heavens. Whatever may have been the originof pillars, and there is more than one theory, Evans has shown thatthey were everywhere worshiped as gods. [18] Indeed, the godsthemselves were pillars of Light and Power, as in Egypt Horus and Sutwere the twin-builders and supporters of heaven; and Bacchus among theThebans. At the entrance of the temple of Amenta, at the door of thehouse of Ptah--as, later, in the porch of the temple of Solomon--stoodtwo pillars. Still further back, in the old solar myths, at thegateway of eternity stood two pillars--Strength and Wisdom. In India, and among the Mayas and Incas, there were three pillars at the portalsof the earthly and skyey temple--Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty. Whenman set up a pillar, he became a fellow-worker with Him whom the oldsages of China used to call "the first Builder. " Also, pillars wereset up to mark the holy places of vision and Divine deliverance, aswhen Jacob erected a pillar at Bethel, Joshua at Gilgal, and Samuel atMizpeh and Shen. Always they were symbols of stability, of what theEgyptians described as "the place of establishing forever, "--emblemsof the faith "that the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and Hehath set the world upon them. "[19]

Long before our era we find the working tools of the Mason used asemblems of the very truths which they teach today. In the oldestclassic of China, _The Book of History_, dating back to the twentiethcentury before Christ, we read the instruction: "Ye officers of theGovernment, apply the compasses. " Even if we begin where _The Book ofHistory_ ends, we find many such allusions more than seven hundredyears before the Christian era. For example, in the famous canonicalwork, called _The Great Learning_, which has been referred to thefifth century B. C. , we read, that a man should abstain from doing untoothers what he would not they should do to him; "and this, " the writeradds, "is called the principle of acting on the square. " So alsoConfucius and his great follower, Mencius. In the writings of Menciusit is taught that men should apply the square and compasses morally totheir lives, and the level and the marking line besides, if they wouldwalk in the straight and even paths of wisdom, and keep themselveswithin the bounds of honor and virtue. [20] In the sixth book of hisphilosophy we find these words:

/#[4, 66] A Master Mason, in teaching apprentices, makes use of the compasses and the square. Ye who are engaged in the pursuit of wisdom must also make use of the compass and square. [21]#/

There are even evidences, in the earliest historic records of China, of the existence of a system of faith expressed in allegoric form, andillustrated by the symbols of building. The secrets of this faith seemto have been orally transmitted, the leaders alone pretending to havefull knowledge of them. Oddly enough, it seems to have gathered abouta symbolical temple put up in the desert, that the various officers ofthe faith were distinguished by symbolic jewels, and that at its ritesthey wore leather aprons. [22] From such records as we have it is notpossible to say whether the builders themselves used their tools asemblems, or whether it was the thinkers who first used them to teachmoral truths. In any case, they were understood; and the point here isthat, thus early, the tools of the builder were teachers of wise andgood and beautiful truth. Indeed, we need not go outside the Bible tofind both the materials and working tools of the Mason soemployed:[23]

/#[4, 66] For every house is builded by some man; but the builder of all things is God . .. Whose house we are. [24]

 Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation. [25]

 The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner. [26]

 Ye also, as living stones, are built up into a spiritual house. [27]

 When he established the heavens I was there, when he set the compass upon the face of the deep, when he marked out the foundations of the earth: then was I by him as a master workman. [28]

 The Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more. [29]

 Ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city. [30]

 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth. [31]

 Him that overcometh I will make a pillar in the temple of my God; and I will write upon him my new name. [32]

 For we know that when our earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. [33]#/

If further proof were needed, it has been preserved for us in theimperishable stones of Egypt. [34] The famous obelisk, known asCleopatra's Needle, now in Central Park, New York, the gift to ournation from Ismail, Khedive of Egypt in 1878, is a mute but eloquentwitness of the antiquity of the simple symbols of the Mason. Originally it stood as one of the forest of obelisks surrounding thegreat temple of the Sun-god at Heliopolis, so long a seat of Egyptianlearning and religion, dating back, it is thought, to the fifteenthcentury before Christ. It was removed to Alexandria and re-erected bya Roman architect and engineer named Pontius, B. C. 22. When it wastaken down in 1879 to be brought to America, all the emblems of thebuilders were found in the foundation. The rough Cube and the polishedCube in pure white limestone, the Square cut in syenite, an ironTrowel, a lead Plummet, the arc of a Circle, the serpent-symbols ofWisdom, a stone Trestle-board, a stone bearing the Master's Mark, anda hieroglyphic word meaning _Temple_--all so placed and preserved asto show, beyond doubt, that they had high symbolic meaning. Whetherthey were in the original foundation, or were placed there when theobelisk was removed, no one can tell. Nevertheless, they were there, concrete witnesses of the fact that the builders worked in the lightof a mystical faith, of which they were emblems. 

Much has been written of buildings, their origin, age, andarchitecture, but of the builders hardly a word--so quickly is theworker forgotten, save as he lives in his work. Though we have norecords other than these emblems, it is an obvious inference thatthere were orders of builders even in those early ages, to whom thesesymbols were sacred; and this inference is the more plausible when weremember the importance of the builder both to religion and the state. What though the builders have fallen into dust, to which all thingsmortal decline, they still hold out their symbols for us to read, speaking their thoughts in a language easy to understand. Across thepiled-up debris of ages they whisper the old familiar truths, and itwill be a part of this study to trace those symbols through thecenturies, showing that they have always had the same high meanings. They bear witness not only to the unity of the human mind, but to theexistence of a common system of truth veiled in allegory and taught insymbols. As such, they are prophecies of Masonry as we know it, whosegenius it is to take what is old, simple, and universal, and use it tobring men together and make them friends. 

/P Shore calls to shore That the line is unbroken!P/

FOOTNOTES:

[10] There are many books in this field, but two may be named: _TheLost Language of Symbolism_, by Bayley, and the _Signs and Symbols ofPrimordial Man_, by Churchward, each in its own way remarkable. Thefirst aspires to be for this field what Frazer's _Golden Bough_ is forreligious anthropology, and its dictum is: "Beauty is Truth; TruthBeauty. " The thesis of the second is that Masonry is founded uponEgyptian eschatology, which may be true; but unfortunately the book istoo polemical. Both books partake of the poetry, if not the confusion, of the subject; but not for a world of dust would one clip their wingsof fancy and suggestion. Indeed, their union of scholarship and poetryis unique. When the pains of erudition fail to track a fact to itslair, they do not scruple to use the divining rod; and the result oftenpasses out of the realm of pedestrian chronicle into the world ofwinged literature. 

[11] _The Word in the Pattern_, Mrs. G. F. Watts. 

[12] _The Swastika_, Thomas Carr. See essay by the same writer in whichhe shows that the Swastika is the symbol of the Supreme Architect ofthe Universe among Operative Masons today (_The Lodge of Research_, No. 2429, Transactions, 1911-12). 

[13] _Signs and Symbols_, Churchward, chap. Xvii. 

[14] Here again the literature is voluminous, but not entirelysatisfactory. A most interesting book is _Signs and Symbols ofPrimordial Man_, by Churchward, in that it surveys the symbolism of therace always with reference to its Masonic suggestion. Vivid and popularis _Symbols and Legends of Freemasonry_, by Finlayson, but he oftenstrains facts in order to stretch them over wide gaps of time. Dr. Mackey's _Symbolism of Freemasonry_, though written more than sixtyyears ago, remains a classic of the order. Unfortunately the lecturesof Albert Pike on _Symbolism_ are not accessible to the general reader, for they are rich mines of insight and scholarship, albeit betrayinghis partisanship of the Indo-Aryan race. Many minor books might benamed, but we need a work brought up to date and written in the lightof recent research. 

[15] Exod. 20:25. 

[16] _Antiquities of Cornwall_, Borlase. 

[17] _Lost Language of Symbolism_, Bayley, chap, xviii; also in theBible, Deut. 32:18, II Sam. 22:3, 32, Psa. 28:1, Matt. 16:18, I Cor. 10:4. 

[18] _Tree and Pillar Cult_, Sir Arthur Evans. 

[19] I Sam. 2:8, Psa. 75:8, Job 26:7, Rev. 3:12. 

[20] _Freemasonry in China_, Giles. Also Gould, _His. Masonry_, vol. I, chap. I. 

[21] _Chinese Classics_, by Legge, i, 219-45. 

[22] Essay by Chaloner Alabaster, _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, vol. Ii, 121-24. It is not too much to say that the Transactions of this Lodgeof Research are the richest storehouse of Masonic lore in the world. 

[23] Matt. 16:18, Eph. 2:20-22, I Cor. 2:9-17. Woman is the house andwall of man, without whose bounding and redeeming influence he would bedissipated and lost (Song of Solomon 8:10). So also by the mystics(_The Perfect Way_). 

[24] Heb. 3:4. 

[25] Isa. 28:16. 

[26] Psa. 118:22, Matt. 21:42. 

[27] I Pet. 2:5. 

[28] Prov. 8:27-30, Revised Version. 

[29] Amos 7:7, 8. 

[30] Ezk. 48:20. 

[31] Rev. 21:16. 

[32] Rev. 3:12. 

[33] II Cor. 5:1. 

[34] _Egyptian Obelisks_, H. H. Gorringe. The obelisk in Central Park, the expenses for removing which were paid by W. H. Vanderbilt, wasexamined by the Grand Lodge of New York, and its emblems pronounced tobe unmistakably Masonic. This book gives full account of all obelisksbrought to Europe from Egypt, their measurements, inscriptions, andtransportation. 

THE DRAMA OF FAITH

/# _And so the Quest goes on. And the Quest, as it may be, ends in attainment--we know not where and when: so long as we can conceive of our separate existence, the quest goes on--an attainment continued henceforward. And ever shall the study of the ways which have been followed by those who have passed in front be a help on our own path. _

 _It is well, it is of all things beautiful and perfect, holy and high of all, to be conscious of the path which does in fine lead thither where we seek to go, namely, the goal which is in God. Taking nothing with us which does not belong to ourselves, leaving nothing behind us that is of our real selves, we shall find in the great attainment that the companions of our toil are with us. And the place is the Valley of Peace. _

 --ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE, _The Secret Tradition_#/

CHAPTER III

_The Drama of Faith_

Man does not live by bread alone; he lives by Faith, Hope, and Love, and the first of these was Faith. Nothing in the human story is morestriking than the persistent, passionate, profound protest of managainst death. Even in the earliest time we see him daring to standerect at the gates of the grave, disputing its verdict, refusing tolet it have the last word, and making argument in behalf of his soul. For Emerson, as for Addison, that fact alone was proof enough ofimmortality, as revealing a universal intuition of eternal life. Others may not be so easily convinced, but no man who has the heart ofa man can fail to be impressed by the ancient, heroic faith of hisrace. 

Nowhere has this faith ever been more vivid or victorious than amongthe old Egyptians. [35] In the ancient _Book of the Dead_--which is, indeed, a Book of Resurrection--occur the words: "The soul to heaven;the body to earth;" and that first faith is our faith today. Of KingUnas, who lived in the third millennium, it is written: "Behold, thouhast not gone as one dead, but as one living. " Nor has any one in ourday set forth this faith with more simple eloquence than the Hymn toOsiris, in the Papyrus of Hunefer. So in the Pyramid Texts the deadare spoken of as Those Who Ascend, the Imperishable Ones who shine asstars, and the gods are invoked to witness the death of the King"Dawning as a Soul. " There is deep prophecy, albeit touched withpoignant pathos, in these broken exclamations written on the pyramidwalls:

/#[4, 66] Thou diest not! Have ye said that he would die? He diest not; this King Pepi lives forever! Live! Thou shalt not die! He has escaped his day of death! Thou livest, thou livest, raise thee up! Thou diest not, stand up, raise thee up! Thou perishest not eternally! Thou diest not![36]#/

Nevertheless, nor poetry nor chant nor solemn ritual could make deathother than death; and the Pyramid Texts, while refusing to utter thefatal word, give wistful reminiscences of that blessed age "beforedeath came forth. " However high the faith of man, the masterfulnegation and collapse of the body was a fact, and it was to keep thatdaring faith alive and aglow that The Mysteries were instituted. Beginning, it may be, in incantation, they rose to heights ofinfluence and beauty, giving dramatic portrayal of the unconquerablefaith of man. Watching the sun rise from the tomb of night, and thespring return in glory after the death of winter, man reasoned fromanalogy--justifying a faith that held him as truly as he held it--thatthe race, sinking into the grave, would rise triumphant over death. 

I

There were many variations on this theme as the drama of faithevolved, and as it passed from land to land; but the Motif was everthe same, and they all were derived, directly or indirectly, from theold Osirian passion-play in Egypt. Against the background of theancient Solar religion, Osiris made his advent as Lord of the Nile andfecund Spirit of vegetable life--son of Nut the sky-goddess and Gebthe earth-god; and nothing in the story of the Nile-dwellers is moreappealing than his conquest of the hearts of the people against allodds. [37] Howbeit, that history need not detain us here, except to saythat by the time his passion had become the drama of national faith, it had been bathed in all the tender hues of human life; thoughsomewhat of its solar radiance still lingered in it. Enough to saythat of all the gods, called into being by the hopes and fears of menwho dwelt in times of yore on the banks of the Nile, Osiris was themost beloved. Osiris the benign father, Isis his sorrowful andfaithful wife, and Horus whose filial piety and heroism shine likediamonds in a heap of stones--about this trinity were woven the idealsof Egyptian faith and family life. Hear now the story of the oldestdrama of the race, which for more than three thousand years heldcaptive the hearts of men. [38]

Osiris was Ruler of Eternity, but by reason of his visible shapeseemed nearly akin to man--revealing a divine humanity. His successwas chiefly due, however, to the gracious speech of Isis, hissister-wife, whose charm men could neither reckon nor resist. Togetherthey labored for the good of man, teaching him to discern the plantsfit for food, themselves pressing the grapes and drinking the firstcup of wine. They made known the veins of metal running through theearth, of which man was ignorant, and taught him to make weapons. Theyinitiated man into the intellectual and moral life, taught him ethicsand religion, how to read the starry sky, song and dance and therhythm of music. Above all, they evoked in men a sense of immortality, of a destiny beyond the tomb. Nevertheless, they had enemies at oncestupid and cunning, keen-witted but short-sighted--the dark force ofevil which still weaves the fringe of crime on the borders of humanlife. 

Side by side with Osiris, lived the impious Set-Typhon, as Evil everhaunts the Good. While Osiris was absent, Typhon--whose name meansserpent--filled with envy and malice, sought to usurp his throne; buthis plot was frustrated by Isis. Whereupon he resolved to kill Osiris. This he did, having invited him to a feast, by persuading him to entera chest, offering, as if in jest, to present the richly carved chestto any one of his guests who, lying down inside it, found he was ofthe same size. When Osiris got in and stretched himself out, theconspirators closed the chest, and flung it into the Nile. [39] Thusfar, the gods had not known death. They had grown old, with white hairand trembling limbs, but old age had not led to death. As soon as Isisheard of this infernal treachery, she cut her hair, clad herself in agarb of mourning, ran thither and yon, a prey to the most cruelanguish, seeking the body. Weeping and distracted, she never tarried, never tired in her sorrowful quest. 

Meanwhile, the waters carried the chest out to sea, as far as Byblosin Syria, the town of Adonis, where it lodged against a shrub ofarica, or tamarisk--like an acacia tree. [40] Owing to the virtue ofthe body, the shrub, at its touch, shot up into a tree, growing aroundit, and protecting it, until the king of that country cut the treewhich hid the chest in its bosom, and made from it a column for hispalace. At last Isis, led by a vision, came to Byblos, made herselfknown, and asked for the column. Hence the picture of her weeping overa broken column torn from the palace, while Horus, god of Time, standsbehind her pouring ambrosia on her hair. She took the body back toEgypt, to the city of Bouto; but Typhon, hunting by moonlight, foundthe chest, and having recognized the body of Osiris, mangled it andscattered it beyond recognition. Isis, embodiment of the oldworld-sorrow for the dead, continued her pathetic quest, gatheringpiece by piece the body of her dismembered husband, and giving himdecent interment. Such was the life and death of Osiris, but as hiscareer pictured the cycle of nature, it could not of course end here. 

Horus fought with Typhon, losing an eye in the battle, but finallyoverthrew him and took him prisoner. There are several versions of hisfate, but he seems to have been tried, sentenced, and executed--"cutin three pieces, " as the Pyramid Texts relate. Thereupon the faithfulson went in solemn procession to the grave of his father, opened it, and called upon Osiris to rise: "Stand up! Thou shalt not end, thoushalt not perish!" But death was deaf. Here the Pyramid Texts recitethe mortuary ritual, with its hymns and chants; but in vain. At lengthOsiris awakes, weary and feeble, and by the aid of the strong grip ofthe lion-god he gains control of his body, and is lifted from death tolife. [41] Thereafter, by virtue of his victory over death, Osirisbecomes Lord of the Land of Death, his scepter an Ank Cross, histhrone a Square. 

II

Such, in brief, was the ancient allegory of eternal life, upon whichthere were many elaborations as the drama unfolded; but always, underwhatever variation of local color, of national accent or emphasis, itscentral theme remained the same. Often perverted and abused, it waseverywhere a dramatic expression of the great human aspiration fortriumph over death and union with God, and the belief in the ultimatevictory of Good over Evil. Not otherwise would this drama have heldthe hearts of men through long ages, and won the eulogiums of the mostenlightened men of antiquity--of Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Euripides, Plutarch, Pindar, Isocrates, Epictetus, and MarcusAurelius. Writing to his wife after the loss of their little girl, Plutarch commends to her the hope set forth in the mystic rites andsymbols of this drama, as, elsewhere, he testifies that it kept him"as far from superstition as from atheism, " and helped him to approachthe truth. For deeper minds this drama had a double meaning, teachingnot only immortality after death, but the awakening of man upon earthfrom animalism to a life of purity, justice, and honor. How nobly thispractical aspect was taught, and with what fineness of spiritualinsight, may be seen in _Secret Sermon on the Mountain_ in theHermetic lore of Greece:[42]

/#[4, 66] What may I say, my son? I can but tell thee this. Whenever I see within myself the Simple Vision brought to birth out of God's mercy, I have passed through myself into a Body that can never die. Then I am not what I was before. .. . They who are thus born are children of a Divine race. This race, my son, is never taught; but when He willeth it, its memory is restored by God. It is the "Way of Birth in God. " . .. Withdraw into thyself and it will come. _Will_, and it comes to pass. #/

Isis herself is said to have established the first temple of theMysteries, the oldest being those practiced at Memphis. Of these therewere two orders, the Lesser to which the many were eligible, and whichconsisted of dialogue and ritual, with certain signs, tokens, grips, passwords; and the Greater, reserved for the few who approvedthemselves worthy of being entrusted with the highest secrets ofscience, philosophy, and religion. For these the candidate had toundergo trial, purification, danger, austere asceticism, and, at last, regeneration through dramatic death amid rejoicing. Such as enduredthe ordeal with valor were then taught, orally and by symbol, thehighest wisdom to which man had attained, including geometry, astronomy, the fine arts, the laws of nature, as well as the truths offaith. Awful oaths of secrecy were exacted, and Plutarch describes aman kneeling, his hands bound, a cord round his body, and a knife athis throat--death being the penalty of violating the obligation. Eventhen, Pythagoras had to wait almost twenty years to learn the hiddenwisdom of Egypt, so cautious were they of candidates, especially offoreigners. But he made noble use of it when, later, he founded asecret order of his own at Crotona, in Greece, in which, among otherthings, he taught geometry, using numbers as symbols of spiritualtruth. [43]

From Egypt the Mysteries passed with little change to Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome, the names of local gods being substituted for thoseof Osiris and Isis. The Grecian or Eleusinian Mysteries, established1800 B. C. , represented Demeter and Persephone, and depicted the deathof Dionysius with stately ritual which led the neophyte from deathinto life and immortality. They taught the unity of God, the immutablenecessity of morality, and a life after death, investing initiateswith signs and passwords by which they could know each other in thedark as well as in the light. The Mithraic or Persian Mysteriescelebrated the eclipse of the Sun-god, using the signs of the zodiac, the processions of the seasons, the death of nature, and the birth ofspring. The Adoniac or Syrian cults were similar, Adonis being killed, but revived to point to life through death. In the Cabirie Mysterieson the island of Samothrace, Atys the Sun was killed by his brothersthe Seasons, and at the vernal equinox was restored to life. So, also, the Druids, as far north as England, taught of one God the tragedy ofwinter and summer, and conducted the initiate through the valley ofdeath to life everlasting. [44]

Shortly before the Christian era, when faith was failing and the worldseemed reeling to its ruin, there was a great revival of theMystery-religions. Imperial edict was powerless to stay it, much lessstop it. From Egypt, from the far East, they came rushing in like atide, Isis "of the myriad names" vieing with Mithra, the patron saintof the soldier, for the homage of the multitude. If we ask the secretreason for this influx of mysticism, no single answer can be given tothe question. What influence the reigning mystery-cults had upon thenew, uprising Christianity is also hard to know, and the issue isstill in debate. That they did influence the early Church is evidentfrom the writings of the Fathers, and some go so far as to say thatthe Mysteries died at last only to live again in the ritual of theChurch. St. Paul in his missionary journeys came in contact with theMysteries, and even makes use of some of their technical terms in hisepistles;[45] but he condemned them on the ground that what theysought to teach in drama can be known only by spiritual experience--asound insight, though surely drama may assist to that experience, elsepublic worship might also come under ban. 

III

Toward the end of their power, the Mysteries fell into the mire andbecame corrupt, as all things human are apt to do: even the Churchitself being no exception. But that at their highest and best theywere not only lofty and noble, but elevating and refining, there canbe no doubt, and that they served a high purpose is equally clear. Noone, who has read in the _Metamorphoses_ of Apuleius the initiation ofLucius into the Mysteries of Isis, can doubt that the effect on thevotary was profound and purifying. He tells us that the ceremony ofinitiation "is, as it were, to suffer death, " and that he stood in thepresence of the gods, "ay, stood near and worshiped. " _Far hence yeprofane, and all who are polluted by sin_, was the motto of theMysteries, and Cicero testifies that what a man learned in the houseof the hidden place made him want to live nobly, and gave him happyhopes for the hour of death. 

Indeed, the Mysteries, as Plato said, [46] were established by men ofgreat genius who, in the early ages, strove to teach purity, toameliorate the cruelty of the race, to refine its manners and morals, and to restrain society by stronger bonds than those which human lawsimpose. No mystery any longer attaches to what they taught, but onlyas to the particular rites, dramas, and symbols used in theirteaching. They taught faith in the unity and spirituality of God, thesovereign authority of the moral law, heroic purity of soul, austerediscipline of character, and the hope of a life beyond the tomb. Thusin ages of darkness, of complexity, of conflicting peoples, tongues, and faiths, these great orders toiled in behalf of friendship, bringing men together under a banner of faith, and training them for anobler moral life. Tender and tolerant of all faiths, they formed anall-embracing moral and spiritual fellowship which rose above barriersof nation, race, and creed, satisfying the craving of men for unity, while evoking in them a sense of that eternal mysticism out of whichall religions were born. Their ceremonies, so far as we know them, were stately dramas of the moral life and the fate of the soul. Mystery and secrecy added impressiveness, and fable and enigmadisguised in imposing spectacle the laws of justice, piety, and thehope of immortality. 

Masonry stands in this tradition; and if we may not say that it ishistorically related to the great ancient orders, it is theirspiritual descendant, and renders much the same ministry to our agewhich the Mysteries rendered to the olden world. It is, indeed, thesame stream of sweetness and light flowing in our day--like the fabledriver Alpheus which, gathering the waters of a hundred rills along thehillsides of Arcadia, sank, lost to sight, in a chasm in the earth, only to reappear in the fountain of Arethusa. This at least is true:the Greater Ancient Mysteries were prophetic of Masonry whose drama isan epitome of universal initiation, and whose simple symbols are thedepositaries of the noblest wisdom of mankind. As such, it brings mentogether at the altar of prayer, keeps alive the truths that make usmen, seeking, by every resource of art, to make tangible the power oflove, the worth of beauty, and the reality of the ideal. 

FOOTNOTES:

[35] Of course, faith in immortality was in nowise peculiar to Egypt, but was universal; as vivid in _The Upanishads_ of India as in thePyramid records. It rests upon the consensus of the insight, experience, and aspiration of the race. But the records of Egypt, likeits monuments, are richer than those of other nations, if not older. Moreover, the drama of faith with which we have to do here had itsorigin in Egypt, whence it spread to Tyre, Athens, and Rome--and, as weshall see, even to England. For brief expositions of Egyptian faith see_Egyptian Conceptions of Immortality_, by G. A. Reisner, and _Religionand Thought in Egypt_, by J. H. Breasted. 

[36] Pyramid Texts, 775, 1262, 1453, 1477. 

[37] For a full account of the evolution of the Osirian theology fromthe time it emerged from the mists of myth until its conquest, see_Religion and Thought in Egypt_, by Breasted, the latest, if not themost brilliant, book written in the light of the completest translationof the Pyramid Texts (especially lecture v). 

[38] Much has been written about the Egyptian Mysteries from the daysof Plutarch's _De Iside et Osiride_ and the _Metamorphoses_ of Apuleiusto the huge volumes of Baron Sainte Croix. For popular reading the_Kings and Gods of Egypt_, by Moret (chaps. Iii-iv), and thedelightfully vivid _Hermes and Plato_, by Schure, could hardly besurpassed. But Plutarch and Apuleius, both initiates, are our bestauthorities, even if their oath of silence prevents them from tellingus what we most want to know. 

[39] Among the Hindoos, whose Chrisna is the same as the Osiris ofEgypt, the gods of summer were beneficent, making the days fruitful. But "the three wretches" who presided over winter, were cut off fromthe zodiac; and as they were "found missing, " they were accused of thedeath of Chrisna. 

[40] A literary parallel in the story of Ĉneas, by Vergil, is mostsuggestive. Priam, king of Troy, in the beginning of the Trojan warcommitted his son Polydorus to the care of Polymester, king of Thrace, and sent him a great sum of money. After Troy was taken the Thracian, for the sake of the money, killed the young prince and privately buriedhim. Ĉneas, coming into that country, and accidentally plucking up ashrub that was near him on the side of the hill, discovered themurdered body of Polydorus. Other legends of such accidentaldiscoveries of unknown graves haunted the olden time, and may have beensuggested by the story of Isis. 

[41] _The Gods of the Egyptians_, by E. A. W. Budge; _La Place desVictores_, by Austin Fryar, especially the colored plates. 

[42] _Quests New and Old_, by G. R. S. Mead. 

[43] _Pythagoras_, by Edouard Schure--a fascinating story of that greatthinker and teacher. The use of numbers by Pythagoras must not, however, be confounded with the mystical, or rather fantastic, mathematics of the Kabbalists of a later time. 

[44] For a vivid account of the spread of the Mysteries of Isis andMithra over the Roman Empire, see _Roman Life from Nero to Aurelius_, by Dill (bk. Iv, chaps. V-vi). Franz Cumont is the great authority onMithra, and his _Mysteries of Mithra_ and _Oriental Religions_ tracethe origin and influence of that cult with accuracy, insight, andcharm. W. W. Reade, brother of Charles Reade the novelist, left a studyof _The Veil of Isis, or Mysteries of the Druids_, finding in thevestiges of Druidism "the Emblems of Masonry. "

[45] Col. 2:8-19. See _Mysteries Pagan and Christian_, by C. Cheethan;also _Monumental Christianity_, by Lundy, especially chapter on "TheDiscipline of the Secret. " For a full discussion of the attitude of St. Paul, see _St. Paul and the Mystery-Religions_, by Kennedy, a work offine scholarship. That Christianity had its esoteric is plain--as itwas natural--from the writings of the Fathers, including Origen, Cyril, Basil, Gregory, Ambrose, Augustine, and others. Chrysostom often usesthe word _initiation_ in respect of Christian teaching, whileTertullian denounces the pagan mysteries as counterfeit imitations bySatan of the Christian secret rites and teachings: "He also baptisesthose who believe in him, and promises that they shall come forth, cleansed of their sins. " Other Christian writers were more tolerant, finding in Christ the answer to the aspiration uttered in theMysteries; and therein, it may be, they were right. 

[46] _Phaedo. _

THE SECRET DOCTRINE

/# _The value of man does not consist in the truth which he possesses, or means to possess, but in the sincere pain which he hath taken to find it out. For his powers do not augment by possessing truth, but by investigating it, wherein consists his only perfectibility. Possession lulls the energy of man, and makes him idle and proud. If God held inclosed in his right hand absolute truth, and in his left only the inward lively impulse toward truth, and if He said to me: Choose! even at the risk of exposing mankind to continual erring, I most humbly would seize His left hand, and say: Father, give! absolute truth belongs to Thee alone. _

 G. E. LESSING, _Nathan the Wise_#/

CHAPTER IV

_The Secret Doctrine_

I

God ever shields us from premature ideas, said the gracious and wiseEmerson; and so does nature. She holds back her secrets until man isfit to be entrusted with them, lest by rashness he destroy himself. Those who seek find, not because the truth is far off, but because thediscipline of the quest makes them ready for the truth, and worthy toreceive it. By a certain sure instinct the great teachers of our racehave regarded the highest truth less as a gift bestowed than as atrophy to be won. Everything must not be told to everybody. Truth ispower, and when held by untrue hands it may become a plague. EvenJesus had His "little flock" to whom He confided much which He keptfrom the world, or else taught it in parables cryptic and veiled. [47]One of His sayings in explanation of His method is quoted by Clementof Alexandria in his _Homilies_:

/#[4, 66] It was not from grudgingness that our Lord gave the charge in a certain Gospel: "_My mystery is for Me and the sons of My house_. "[48]#/

This more withdrawn teaching, hinted in the saying of the Master, withthe arts of spiritual culture employed, has come to be known as theSecret Doctrine, or the Hidden Wisdom. A persistent tradition affirmsthat throughout the ages, and in every land, behind the system offaith accepted by the masses an inner and deeper doctrine has beenheld and taught by those able to grasp it. This hidden faith hasundergone many changes of outward expression, using now one set ofsymbols and now another, but its central tenets have remained thesame; and necessarily so, since the ultimates of thought are everimmutable. By the same token, those who have eyes to see have nodifficulty in penetrating the varying veils of expression andidentifying the underlying truths; thus confirming in the arcana offaith what we found to be true in its earliest forms--the oneness ofthe human mind and the unity of truth. 

There are those who resent the suggestion that there is, or can be, secrecy in regard to spiritual truths which, if momentous at all, areof common moment to all. For this reason Demonax, in the Lucian play, would not be initiated, because, if the Mysteries were bad, he wouldnot keep silent as a warning; and if they were good, he would proclaimthem as a duty. The objection is, however, unsound, as a littlethought will reveal. Secrecy in such matters inheres in the nature ofthe truths themselves, not in any affected superiority of a few electminds. Qualification for the knowledge of higher things is, and mustalways be, a matter of personal fitness. Other qualification there isnone. For those who have that fitness the Secret Doctrine is as clearas sunlight, and for those who have it not the truth would still besecret though shouted from the house-top. The Grecian Mysteries werecertainly secret, yet the fact of their existence was a matter ofcommon knowledge, and there was no more secrecy about theirsanctuaries than there is about a cathedral. Their presence testifiedto the public that a deeper than the popular faith did exist, but theright to admission into them depended upon the whole-hearted wish ofthe aspirant, and his willingness to fit himself to know the truth. The old maxim applies here, that when the pupil is ready the teacheris found waiting, and he passes on to know a truth hitherto hiddenbecause he lacked either the aptitude or the desire. 

All is mystery as of course, but mystification is another thing, andthe tendency to befog a theme which needs to be clarified, is to beregretted. Here lies, perhaps, the real reason for the feeling ofresentment against the idea of a Secret Doctrine, and one must admitthat it is not without justification. For example, we are told thatbehind the age-long struggle of man to know the truth there exists ahidden fraternity of initiates, adepts in esoteric lore, known tothemselves but not to the world, who have had in their keeping, through the centuries, the high truths which they permit to be dimlyadumbrated in the popular faiths, but which the rest of the race aretoo obtuse, even yet, to grasp save in an imperfect and limiteddegree. These hidden sages, it would seem, look upon our eageraspiring humanity much like the patient masters of an idiot school, watching it go on forever seeking without finding, while they sit inseclusion keeping the keys of the occult. [49] All of which would bevery wonderful, if true. It is, however, only one more of thosefascinating fictions with which mystery-mongers entertain themselves, and deceive others. Small wonder that thinking men turn from suchfanciful folly with mingled feelings of pity and disgust. Sages therehave been in every land and time, and their lofty wisdom has the unitywhich inheres in all high human thought, but that there is now, or hasever been, a conscious, much less a continuous, fellowship of superiorsouls holding as secrets truths denied to their fellow-men, vergesupon the absurd. 

Indeed, what is called the Secret Doctrine differs not one whit fromwhat has been taught openly and earnestly, so far as such truth can betaught in words or pictured in symbols, by the highest minds of almostevery land and language. The difference lies less in what is taughtthan in the way in which it is taught; not so much in matter as inmethod. Also, we must not forget that, with few exceptions, the menwho have led our race farthest along the way toward the Mount ofVision, have not been men who learned their lore from any coterie ofesoteric experts, but, rather, men who told in song what they had beentaught in sorrow--initiates into eternal truth, to be sure, but by thegrace of God and the divine right of genius![50] Seers, sages, mystics, saints--these are they who, having sought in sincerity, foundin reality, and the memory of them is a kind of religion. Some ofthem, like Pythagoras, were trained for their quest in the schools ofthe Secret Doctrine, but others went their way alone, though neverunattended, and, led by "the vision splendid, " they came at last tothe gate and passed into the City. 

Why, then, it may be asked, speak of such a thing as the SecretDoctrine at all, since it were better named the Open Secret of theworld? For two reasons, both of which have been intimated: first, inthe olden times unwonted knowledge of any kind was a very dangerouspossession, and the truths of science and philosophy, equally withreligious ideas other than those in vogue among the multitude, had toseek the protection of obscurity. If this necessity gave designingpriestcraft its opportunity, it nevertheless offered the security andsilence needed by the thinker and seeker after truth in dark times. Hence there arose in the ancient world, wherever the human mind wasalive and spiritual, systems of exoteric and esoteric instruction;that is, of truth taught openly and truth concealed. Disciples wereadvanced from the outside to the inside of this divine philosophy, aswe have seen, by degrees of initiation. Whereas, by symbols, darksayings, and dramatic ritual the novice received only hints of whatwas later made plain. 

Second, this hidden teaching may indeed be described as the opensecret of the world, because it is open, yet understood only by thosefit to receive it. What kept it hidden was no arbitrary restriction, but only a lack of insight and fineness of mind to appreciate andassimilate it. Nor could it be otherwise; and this is as true today asever it was in the days of the Mysteries, and so it will be untilwhatever is to be the end of mortal things. Fitness for the finertruths cannot be conferred; it must be developed. Without it theteachings of the sages are enigmas that seem unintelligible, if notcontradictory. In so far, then, as the discipline of initiation, andits use of art in drama and symbol, help toward purity of soul andspiritual awakening, by so much do they prepare men for the truth; byso much and no further. So that, the Secret Doctrine, whether astaught by the ancient Mysteries or by modern Masonry, is less adoctrine than a discipline; a method of organized spiritual culture, and as such has a place and a ministry among men. 

II

Perhaps the greatest student in this field of esoteric teaching andmethod, certainly the greatest now living, is Arthur Edward Waite, towhom it is a pleasure to pay tribute. By nature a symbolist, if not asacramentalist, he found in such studies a task for which he wasalmost ideally fitted by temperament, training, and genius. Engaged inbusiness, but not absorbed by it, years of quiet, leisurely toil havemade him master of the vast literature and lore of his subject, to thestudy of which he brought a religious nature, the accuracy and skillof a scholar, a sureness and delicacy of insight at once sympatheticand critical, the soul of a poet, and a patience as untiring as it isrewarding; qualities rare indeed, and still more rarely blended. Prolific but seldom prolix, he writes with grace, ease, and lucidity, albeit in a style often opulent, and touched at times with lights andjewels from old alchemists, antique liturgies, remote and hauntingromance, secret orders of initiation, and other recondite sources noteasily traced. Much learning and many kinds of wisdom are in hispages, and withal an air of serenity, of tolerance; and if he is ofthose who turn down another street when miracles are performed in theneighborhood, it is because, having found the inner truth, he asks forno sign. 

Always he writes in the conviction that all great subjects bring usback to the one subject which is alone great, and that scholarlycriticisms, folk-lore, and deep philosophy are little less thanuseless if they fall short of directing us to our true end--theattainment of that living Truth which is about us everywhere. Heconceives of our mortal life as one eternal Quest of that livingTruth, taking many phases and forms, yet ever at heart the sameaspiration, to trace which he has made it his labor and joy to essay. Through all his pages he is following out the tradition of this Quest, in its myriad aspects, especially since the Christian era, disfiguredthough it has been at times by superstition, and distorted at othersby bigotry, but still, in what guise soever, containing as its secretthe meaning of the life of man from his birth to his reunion with Godwho is his Goal. And the result is a series of volumes noble in form, united in aim, unique in wealth of revealing beauty, and of unequalledworth. [51]

Beginning as far back as 1886, Waite issued his study of the_Mysteries of Magic_, a digest of the writings of Eliphas Levi, towhom Albert Pike was more indebted than he let us know. Then followedthe _Real History of the Rosicrucians_, which traces, as far as anymortal may trace, the thread of fact whereon is strung the romance ofa fraternity the very existence of which has been doubted and deniedby turns. Like all his work, it bears the impress of knowledge fromthe actual sources, betraying his extraordinary learning and hisexceptional experience in this kind of inquiry. Of the Quest in itsdistinctively Christian aspect, he has written in _The Hidden Churchof the Holy Graal_; a work of rare beauty, of bewildering richness, written in a style which, partaking of the quality of the story told, is not at all after the manner of these days. But the Graal Legend isonly one aspect of the old-world sacred Quest, uniting the symbols ofchivalry with Christian faith. Masonry is another; and no one may everhope to write of _The Secret Tradition in Masonry_ with more insightand charm, or a touch more sure and revealing, than this graciousstudent for whom Masonry perpetuates the instituted Mysteries ofantiquity, with much else derived from innumerable store-houses oftreasure. His last work is a survey of _The Secret Doctrine inIsrael_, being a study of the _Zohar_, [52] or Hebrew "Book ofSplendor, " a feat for which no Hebrew scholar has had the heart. ThisBible of Kabbalism is indeed so confused and confusing that only a"golden dustman" would have had the patience to sift out its gems fromthe mountain of dross, and attempt to reduce its wide-weltering chaosto order. Even Waite, with all his gift of research and narration, finds little more than gleams of dawn in a dim forest, brilliantvapors, and glints that tell by their very perversity and strangeness. 

Whether this age-old legend of the Quest be woven about the Cup ofChrist, a Lost Word, or a design left unfinished by the death of aMaster Builder, it has always these things in common: first, thememorials of a great _loss_ which has befallen humanity by sin, makingour race a pilgrim host ever in search; second, the intimation thatwhat was lost still exists somewhere in time and the world, althoughdeeply buried; third, the faith that it will ultimately be found andthe vanished glory restored; fourth, the substitution of somethingtemporary and less than the best, albeit never in a way to adjourn thequest; fifth, and more rarely, the felt presence of that which waslost under veils close to the hands of all. What though it take manyforms, from the pathetic pilgrimage of the _Wandering Jew_ to thejourney to fairyland in quest of _The Blue Bird_, it is ever andalways the same. These are but so many symbols of the fact that menare made of one blood and born to one need; that they should seek theLord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He isnot far from every one of us; for in Him we live and move and have ourbeing. [53]

What, then, is the Secret Doctrine, of which this seer-like scholarhas written with so many improvisations of eloquence and emphasis, andof which each of us is in quest? What, indeed, but that which all theworld is seeking--knowledge of Him whom to know aright is thefulfillment of every human need: the kinship of the soul with God; thelife of purity, honor, and piety demanded by that high heredity; theunity and fellowship of the race in duty and destiny; and the faiththat the soul is deathless as God its Father is deathless! Now toaccept this faith as a mere philosophy is one thing, but to realize itas an experience of the innermost heart is another and a deeper thing. _No man knows the Secret Doctrine until it has become the secret ofhis soul, the reigning reality of his thought, the inspiration of hisacts, the form and color and glory of his life. _ Happily, owing to thegrowth of the race in spiritual intelligence and power, the highesttruth is no longer held as a sacred secret. Still, if art has efficacyto surprise and reveal the elusive Spirit of Truth, when truth isdramatically presented it is made vivid and impressive, strengtheningthe faith of the strongest and bringing a ray of heavenly light tomany a baffled seeker. 

Ever the Quest goes on, though it is permitted some of us to believethat the Lost Word has been found, in the only way in which it canever be found--even in the life of Him who was "the Word made flesh, "who dwelt among us and whose grace and beauty we know. Of this QuestMasonry is an aspect, continuing the high tradition of humanity, asking men to unite in the search for the thing most worth finding, that each may share the faith of all. Apart from its rites, there isno mystery in Masonry, save the mystery of all great and simplethings. So far from being hidden or occult, its glory lies in itsopenness, and its emphasis upon the realities which are to the humanworld what light and air are to nature. Its mystery is of so great akind that it is easily overlooked; its secret almost too simple to befound out. 

FOOTNOTES:

[47] Matt. 13:10, 11. 

[48] _Unwritten Sayings of Our Lord_, David Smith, vii. 

[49] By occultism is meant the belief in, and the claim to be able touse, a certain range of forces neither natural, nor, technically, supernatural, but more properly to be called preternatural--often, though by no means always, for evil or selfish ends. Some extend theterm occultism to cover mysticism and the spiritual life generally, butthat is not a legitimate use of either word. Occultism seeks to get;mysticism to give. The one is audacious and seclusive, the other humbleand open; and if we are not to end in blunderland we must not confoundthe two (_Mysticism_, by E. Underhill, part i, chap. Vii). 

[50] Much time would have been saved, and not a little confusionavoided, had this obvious fact been kept in mind. Even so charming abook as _Jesus, the Last Great Initiate_, by Schure--not to speak of_The Great Work_ and _Mystic Masonry_--is clearly, though notintentionally, misleading. Of a piece with this is the effort, apparently deliberate and concerted, to rob the Hebrew race of allspiritual originality, as witness so able a work as _Our Own Religionin Persia_, by Mills, to name no other. Our own religion? Assuredly, ifby that is meant the one great, universal religion of humanity. But thesundering difference between the Bible and any other book that speaksto mankind about God and Life and Death, sets the Hebrew race apart assupreme in its religious genius, as the Greeks were in philosophicalacumen and artistic power, and the Romans in executive skill. Leavingall theories of inspiration out of account, facts are facts, and theBible has no peer in the literature of mankind. 

[51] Some there are who think that much of the best work of Mr. Waiteis in his poetry, of which there are two volumes, _A Book of Mysteryand Vision_, and _Strange Houses of Sleep_. There one meets a finespirit, alive to the glory of the world and all that charms the souland sense of man, yet seeing past these; rich and significant thoughtso closely wedded to emotion that each seems either. Other books not tobe omitted are his slender volume of aphorisms, _Steps to the Crown_, his _Life of Saint-Martin_, and his _Studies in Mysticism_; for what hetouches he adorns. 

[52] Even the _Jewish Encyclopedia_, and such scholars as Zunz, Graetz, Luzzatto, Jost, and Munk avoid this jungle, as well they might, remembering the legend of the four sages in "the enclosed garden:" oneof whom looked around and died; another lost his reason; a third triedto destroy the garden; and only one came out with his wits. See _TheCabala_, by Pick, and _The Kabbalah Unveiled_, by MacGregor. 

[53] Acts 17:26-28. 

THE COLLEGIA

/# _This society was called the Dionysian Artificers, as Bacchus was supposed to be the inventor of building theaters; and they performed the Dionysian festivities. From this period, the Science of Astronomy which had given rise to the Dionysian rites, became connected with types taken from the art of building. The Ionian societies . .. Extended their moral views, in conjunction with the art of building, to many useful purposes, and to the practice of acts of benevolence. They had significant words to distinguish their members; and for the same purpose they used emblems taken from the art of building. _

 --JOSEPH DA COSTA, _Dionysian Artificers_

 _We need not then consider it improbable, if in the dark centuries when the Roman empire was dying out, and its glorious temples falling into ruin; when the arts and sciences were falling into disuse or being enslaved; and when no place was safe from persecution and warfare, the guild of the Architects should fly for safety to almost the only free spot in Italy; and here, though they could no longer practice their craft, they preserved the legendary knowledge and precepts which, as history implies, came down to them through Vitruvius from older sources, some say from Solomon's builders themselves. _

 --LEADER SCOTT, _The Cathedral Builders_#/

CHAPTER V

_The Collegia_

So far in our study we have found that from earliest time architecturewas related to religion; that the working tools of the builder wereemblems of moral truth; that there were great secret orders using theDrama of Faith as a rite of initiation; and that a hidden doctrine waskept for those accounted worthy, after trial, to be entrusted with it. Secret societies, born of the nature and need of man, there have beenalmost since recorded history began;[54] but as yet we have come uponno separate and distinct order of builders. For aught we know theremay have been such in plenty, but we have no intimation, much less arecord, of the fact. That is to say, history has a vague story to tellus of the earliest orders of the builders. 

However, it is more than a mere plausible inference that from thebeginning architects were members of secret orders; for, as we haveseen, not only the truths of religion and philosophy, but also thefacts of science and the laws of art, were held as secrets to be knownonly to the few. This was so, apparently without exception, among allancient peoples; so much so, indeed, that we may take it as certainthat the builders of old time were initiates. Of necessity, then, thearts of the craft were secrets jealously guarded, and the architectsthemselves, while they may have employed and trained ordinary workmen, were men of learning and influence. Such glimpses of early architectsas we have confirm this inference, as, for example, the noble hymn tothe Sun-god written by Suti and Hor, two architects employed byAmenhotep III, of Egypt. [55] Just when the builders began to formorders of their own no one knows, but it was perhaps when theMystery-cults began to journey abroad into other lands. What we haveto keep in mind is that all the arts had their home in the temple, from which, as time passed, they spread out fan-wise along all thepaths of culture. 

Keeping in mind the secrecy of the laws of building, and the sanctitywith which all science and art were regarded, we have a key whereby tointerpret the legends woven about the building of the temple ofSolomon. Few realize how high that temple on Mount Moriah towered inthe history of the olden world, and how the story of its buildinghaunted the legends and traditions of the times following. Of theselegends there were many, some of them wildly improbable, but thepersistence of the tradition, and its consistency withal, despite manyvariations, is a _fact of no small moment_. Nor is this tradition tobe wondered at, since time has shown that the building of the templeat Jerusalem was an event of world-importance, not only to theHebrews, but to other nations, more especially the Phoenicians. Thehistories of both peoples make much of the building of the Hebrewtemple, of the friendship of Solomon and Hiram I, of Tyre, and of theharmony between the two peoples; and Phoenician tradition has it thatSolomon presented Hiram with a duplicate of the temple, which waserected in Tyre. [56]

Clearly, the two nations were drawn closely together, and this factcarried with it a mingling of religious influences and ideas, as wastrue between the Hebrews and other nations, especially Egypt andPhoenicia, during the reign of Solomon. Now the religion of thePhoenicians at this time, as all agree, was the Egyptian religion in amodified form, Dionysius having taken the role of Osiris in the dramaof faith in Greece, Syria, and Asia Minor. Thus we have the Mysteriesof Egypt, in which Moses was learned, brought to the very door of thetemple of Solomon, and that, too, at a time favorable to theirimpress. The Hebrews were not architects, and it is plain from therecords that the temple--and, indeed, the palaces of Solomon--weredesigned and erected by Phoenician builders, and for the most part byPhoenician workmen and materials. Josephus adds that the architectureof the temple was of the style called Grecian. So much would seem tobe fact, whatever may be said of the legends flowing from it. 

If, then, the laws of building were secrets known only to initiates, there must have been a secret order of architects who built the templeof Solomon. Who were they? They were almost certainly the _DionysianArtificers_--not to be confused with the play-actors called by thesame name later--an order of builders who erected temples, stadia, andtheaters in Asia Minor, and who were at the same time an order of theMysteries under the tutelage of Bacchus before that worship declined, as it did later in Athens and Rome, into mere revelry. [57] As such, they united the art of architecture with the old Egyptian drama offaith, representing in their ceremonies the murder of Dionysius by theTitans and his return to life. So that, blending the symbols ofAstronomy with those of Architecture, by a slight change made by anatural process, how easy for the master-artist of the temple-buildersto become the hero of the ancient drama of immortality. [58] Whetheror not this fact can be verified from history, such is the form inwhich the tradition has come down to us, surviving through long agesand triumphing over all vicissitude. [59] Secret orders have fewrecords and their story is hard to tell, but this account is perfectlyin accord with the spirit and setting of the situation, and there isneither fact nor reason against it. While this does not establish itas true historically, it surely gives it validity as a prophecy, ifnothing more. [60]

After all, then, the tradition that Masonry, not unlike the Masonry wenow know, had its origin while the temple of King Solomon wasbuilding, and was given shape by the two royal friends, may not be sofantastic as certain superior folk seem to think it. How else can weexplain the fact that when the Knights of the Crusades went to theHoly Land they came back a secret, oath-bound fraternity? Also, why isit that, through the ages, we see bands of builders coming from theEast calling themselves "sons of Solomon, " and using his interlacedtriangle-seal as their emblem? Strabo, as we have seen, traced theDionysiac builders eastward into Syria, Persia, and even India. Theymay also be traced westward. Traversing Asia Minor, they enteredEurope by way of Constantinople, and we follow them through Greece toRome, where already several centuries before Christ we find them boundtogether in corporations called _Collegia_. These lodges flourished inall parts of the Roman Empire, traces of their existence having beendiscovered in England as early as the middle of the first century ofour era. 

II

Krause was the first to point out a prophecy of Masonry in the oldorders of builders, following their footsteps--not connectedly, ofcourse, for there are many gaps--through the Dionysiac fraternity ofTyre, through the Roman Collegia, to the architects and Masons of theMiddle Ages. Since he wrote, however, much new material has come tolight, but the date of the advent of the builders in Rome is stilluncertain. Some trace it to the very founding of the city, whileothers go no further back than King Numa, the friend ofPythagoras. [61] By any account, they were of great antiquity, andtheir influence in Roman history was far-reaching. They followed theRoman legions to remote places, building cities, bridges, and temples, and it was but natural that Mithra, the patron god of soldiers, shouldhave influenced their orders. Of this an example may be seen in theremains of the ancient Roman villa at Morton, on the Isle ofWight. [62]

As Rome grew in power and became a vast, all-embracing empire, theindividual man felt, more and more, his littleness and loneliness. This feeling, together with the increasing specialization of industry, begat a passion for association, and Collegia of many sorts wereorganized. Even a casual glance at the inscriptions, under the heading_Artes et Opificia_, will show the enormous development of skilledhandicrafts, and how minute was their specialization. Every trade soonhad its secret order, or union, and so powerful did they become thatthe emperors found it necessary to abolish the right of freeassociation. Yet even such edicts, though effective for a little time, were helpless as against the universal craving for combination. Wayswere easily found whereby to evade the law, which had exempted fromits restrictions orders consecrated by their antiquity or theirreligious character. Most of the Collegia became funerary andcharitable in their labors, humble folk seeking to escape the dim, hopeless obscurity of plebeian life, and the still more hopelessobscurity of death. Pathetic beyond words are some of the inscriptionstelling of the horror and loneliness of the grave, of the day when nokindly eye would read the forgotten name, and no hand bring offeringsof flowers. Each collegium held memorial services, and marked the tombof its dead with the emblems of its trade: if a baker, with a loaf ofbread; if a builder, with a square, compasses, and the level. 

From the first the Colleges of Architects seem to have enjoyed specialprivileges and exemptions, owing to the value of their service to thestate, and while we do not find them called Free-masons they were suchin law and fact long before they wore the name. They were permitted tohave their own constitutions and regulations, both secular andreligious. In form, in officers, in emblems a Roman Collegiumresembled very much a modern Masonic Lodge. For one thing, no Collegecould consist of less than three persons, and so rigid was this rulethat the saying, "three make a college, " became a maxim of law. EachCollege was presided over by a Magister, or Master, with two_decuriones_, or wardens, each of whom extended the commands of theMaster to "the brethren of his column. " There were a secretary, atreasurer, and a keeper of archives, and, as the colleges were in partreligious and usually met near some temple, there was a _sacerdos_, or, as we would say, a priest, or chaplain. The members were of threeorders, not unlike apprentices, fellows, and masters, or colleagues. What ceremonies of initiation were used we do not know, but that theywere of a religious nature seems certain, as each College adopted apatron deity from among the many then worshiped. Also, as theMysteries of Isis and Mithra ruled the Roman world by turns, theancient drama of eternal life was never far away. 

Of the emblems of the Collegia, it is enough to say that here again wefind the simple tools of the builder used as teachers of truth forlife and hope in death. Upon a number of sarcophagi, still extant, wefind carved the square, the compasses, the cube, the plummet, thecircle, and always the level. There is, besides, the famous Collegiumuncovered at the excavation of Pompeii in 1878, having been buriedunder the ashes and lava of Mount Vesuvius since the year 79 A. D. Itstood near the Tragic Theater, not far from the Temple of Isis, and byits arrangement, with two columns in front and interlaced triangles onthe walls, was identified as an ancient lodge room. Upon a pedestal inthe room was found a rare bit of art, unique in design and exquisitein execution, now in the National Museum at Naples. It is described byS. R. Forbes, in his _Rambles in Naples_, as follows:

/#[4, 66] It is a mosaic table of square shape, fixed in a strong wooden frame. The ground is of grey green stone, in the middle of which is a human skull, made of white, grey, and black colors. In appearance the skull is quite natural. The eyes, nostrils, teeth, ears, and coronal are all well executed. Above the skull is a level of colored wood, the points being of brass; and from the top to the point, by a white thread, is suspended a plumb-line. Below the skull is a wheel of six spokes, and on the upper rim of the wheel there is a butterfly with wings of red, edged with yellow; its eyes blue. .. . On the left is an upright spear, resting on the ground; from this there hangs, attached to a golden cord, a garment of scarlet, also a purple robe; whilst the upper part of the spear is surrounded by a white braid of diamond pattern. To the right is a gnarled thorn stick, from which hangs a coarse, shaggy piece of cloth in yellow, grey, and brown colors, tied with a ribbon; and above it is a leather knapsack. .. . Evidently this work of art, by its composition, is mystical and symbolical. #/

No doubt; and for those who know the meaning of these emblems there isa feeling of kinship with those men, long since fallen into dust, whogathered about such an altar. They wrought out in this work of arttheir vision of the old-worn pilgrim way of life, with its vicissitudeand care, the level of mortality to which all are brought at last bydeath, and the winged, fluttering hope of man. Always a journey withits horny staff and wallet, life is sometimes a battle needing aspear, but for him who walks uprightly by the plumb-line of rectitude, there is a true and victorious hope at the end. 

/P Of wounds and sore defeat I made my battle stay, Winged sandals for my feet I wove of my delay. Of weariness and fear I made a shouting spear, Of loss and doubt and dread And swift on-coming doom I made a helmet for my head, And a waving plume. P/

III

Christianity, whose Founder was a Carpenter, made a mighty appeal tothe working classes of Rome. As Deissmann and Harnack have shown, thesecret of its expansion in the early years was that it came down tothe man in the street with its message of hope and joy. Its appeal washardly heard in high places, but it was welcomed by the men who wereweary and heavy ladened. Among the Collegia it made rapid progress, its Saints taking the place of pagan deities as patrons, and itsspirit of love welding men into closer, truer union. When Diocletiandetermined to destroy Christianity, he was strangely lenient andpatient with the Collegia, so many of whose members were of thatfaith. Not until they refused to make a statue of Ĉsculapius did hevow vengeance and turn on them, venting his fury. In the persecutionthat followed four Master Masons and one humble apprentice sufferedcruel torture and death, but they became the Four Crowned Martyrs, the story of whose heroic fidelity unto death haunted the legends oflater times. [63] They were the patron saints alike of Lombard andTuscan builders, and, later, of the working Masons of the Middle Ages, as witness the poem in their praise in the oldest record of the Craft, the _Regius MS. _

With the breaking up of the College of Architects and their expulsionfrom Rome, we come upon a period in which it is hard to follow theirpath. Happily the task has been made less baffling by recent research, and if we are unable to trace them all the way much light has been letinto the darkness. Hitherto there has been a hiatus also in thehistory of architecture between the classic art of Rome, which is saidto have died when the Empire fell to pieces, and the rise of Gothicart. Just so, in the story of the builders one finds a gap of likelength, between the Collegia of Rome and the cathedral artists. Whilethe gap cannot, as yet, be perfectly bridged, much has been done tothat end by Leader Scott in _The Cathedral Builders: The Story of aGreat Masonic Guild_--a book itself a work of art as well as of finescholarship. Her thesis is that the missing link is to be found in theMagistri Comacini, a guild of architects who, on the break-up of theRoman Empire, fled to Comacina, a fortified island in Lake Como, andthere kept alive the traditions of classic art during the Dark Ages;that from them were developed in direct descent the various styles ofItalian architecture; and that, finally, they carried the knowledgeand practice of architecture and sculpture into France, Spain, Germany, and England. Such a thesis is difficult, and, from itsnature, not susceptible of absolute proof, but the writer makes it ascertain as anything can well be. 

While she does not positively affirm that the Comacine Masters were theveritable stock from which the Freemasonry of the present day sprang, "we may admit, " she says, "that they were the link between the classicCollegia and all other art and trade Guilds of the Middle Ages. _Theywere Free-masons because they were builders of a privileged class, absolved from taxes and servitude, and free to travel about in times offeudal bondage_. " The name Free-mason--_Libera muratori_--may notactually have been used thus early, but the Comacines were _in factfree builders long before the name was employed_--free to travel fromplace to place, as we see from their migrations; free to fix their ownprices, while other workmen were bound to feudal lords, or by theStatutes of Wages. The author quotes in the original Latin an Edict ofthe Lombard King Rotharis, dated November 22, 643, in which certainprivileges are confirmed to the _Magistri Comacini_ and their_colligantes_. From this Edict it is clear that it is no new order thatis alluded to, but an old and powerful body of Masters capable ofacting as architects, with men who executed work under them. For theComacines were not ordinary workmen, but artists, including architects, sculptors, painters, and decorators, and if affinities of style left instone be adequate evidence, to them were due the changing forms ofarchitecture in Europe during the cathedral-building period. Everywherethey left their distinctive impress in a way so unmistakable as toleave no doubt. 

Under Charlemagne the Comacines began their many migrations, and wefind them following the missionaries of the church into remote places, from Sicily to Britain, building churches. When Augustine went toconvert the British, the Comacines followed to provide shrines, andBede, as early as 674, in mentioning that builders were sent for fromGaul to build the church at Wearmouth, uses phrases and words found inthe Edict of King Rotharis. For a long time the changes in style ofarchitecture, appearing simultaneously everywhere over Europe, fromItaly to England, puzzled students. [64] Further knowledge of thispowerful and widespread order explains it. It also accounts for thefact that no individual architect can be named as the designer of anyof the great cathedrals. Those cathedrals were the work, not ofindividual artists, but of an order who planned, built, and adornedthem. In 1355 the painters of Siena seceded, as the German Masons didlater, and the names of individual artists who worked for fame andglory begin to appear; but up to that time the Order was supreme. Artists from Greece and Asia Minor, driven from their homes, tookrefuge with the Comacines, and Leader Scott finds in this order apossible link, by tradition at least, with the temple of Solomon. Atany rate, all through the Dark Ages the name and fame of the Hebrewking lived in the minds of the builders. 

An inscribed stone, dating from 712, shows that the Comacine Guildwas organized as _Magistri_ and _Discipuli_, under a _Gastaldo_, orGrand Master, the very same terms as were kept in the lodges later. Moreover, they called their meeting places _loggia_, a long list ofwhich the author recites from the records of various cities, givingnames of officers, and, often, of members. They, too, had theirmasters and wardens, their oaths, tokens, grips, and passwords whichformed a bond of union stronger than legal ties. They wore whiteaprons and gloves, and revered the Four Crowned Martyrs of the Order. Square, compasses, level, plumb-line, and arch appear among theiremblems. "King Solomon's Knot" was one of their symbols, and theendless, interwoven cord, symbol of Eternity which has neitherbeginning nor end, was another. Later, however, the Lion's Paw seemsto have become their chief emblem. From illustrations given by theauthor they are shown in their regalia, with apron and emblems, cladas the keepers of a great art and teaching of which they were masters. 

Here, of a truth, is something more than prophecy, and those who haveany regard for facts will not again speak lightly of an order havingsuch ancestors as the great Comacine Masters. Had Fergusson knowntheir story, he would not have paused in his _History of Architecture_to belittle the Free-masons as incapable of designing a cathedral, while puzzling the while as to who did draw the plans for those dreamsof beauty and prayer. Hereafter, if any one asks to know who upliftedthose massive piles in which was portrayed the great drama ofmediaeval worship, he need not remain uncertain. With the decline ofGothic architecture the order of Free-masons also suffered decline, aswe shall see, but did not cease to exist--continuing its symbolictradition amidst varying, and often sad, vicissitude until 1717, whenit became a fraternity teaching spiritual faith by allegory and moralscience by symbols. 

FOOTNOTES:

[54] _Primitive Secret Societies_, by H. Webster; _Secret Societies ofall Ages and Lands_, by W. C. Heckethorn. 

[55] We may add the case of Weshptah, one of the viziers of the FifthDynasty in Egypt, about 2700 B. C. , and also the royal architect, forwhom the great tomb was built, endowed, and furnished by the king(_Religion in Egypt_, by Breasted, lecture ii); also the statue ofSemut, chief of Masons under Queen Hatasu, now in Berlin. 

[56] _Historians His. World_, vol. Ii, chap. Iii. Josephus gives anelaborate account of the temple, including the correspondence betweenSolomon and Hiram of Tyre (_Jewish Antiquities_, bk. Viii, chaps. 2-6). 

[57] _Symbolism of Masonry_, Mackey, chap. Vi; also in Mackey's_Encyclopedia of Masonry_, both of which were drawn from _History ofMasonry_, by Laurie, chap. I; and Laurie in turn derived his facts froma _Sketch for the History of the Dionysian Artificers, A Fragment_, byH. J. Da Costa (1820). Why Waite and others brush the Dionysianarchitects aside as a dream is past finding out in view of the evidenceand authorities put forth by Da Costa, nor do they give any reason forso doing. "Lebedos was the seat and assembly of the _DionysianArtificers_, who inhabit Ionia to the Hellespont; there they hadannually their solemn meetings and festivities in honor of Bacchus, "wrote Strabo (lib. Xiv, 921). They were a secret society having signsand words to distinguish their members (Robertson's _Greece_), and usedemblems taken from the art of building (Eusebius, _de Prep. Evang. _iii, c. 12). They entered Asia Minor and Phoenicia fifty years beforethe temple of Solomon was built, and Strabo traces them on into Syria, Persia, and India. Surely here are facts not to be swept aside asromance because, forsooth, they do not fit certain theories. Moreover, they explain many things, as we shall see. 

[58] Rabbinic legend has it that all the workmen on the temple werekilled, so that they should not build another temple devoted toidolatry (_Jewish Encyclopedia_, article "Freemasonry"). Other legendsequally absurd cluster about the temple and its building, none of whichis to be taken literally. As a fact, Hiram the architect, or ratherartificer in metals, did not lose his life, but, as Josephus tells us, lived to good age and died at Tyre. What the legend is trying to tellus, however, is that at the building of the temple the Mysteriesmingled with Hebrew faith, each mutually influencing the other. 

[59] Strangely enough, there is a sect or tribe called the Druses, nowinhabiting the Lebanon district, who claim to be not only thedescendants of the Phoenicians, but _the builders of King Solomon'stemple_. So persistent and important among them is this tradition thattheir religion is built about it--if indeed it be not something morethan a legend. They have Khalwehs, or temples, built after the fashionof lodges, with three degrees of initiation, and, though anagricultural folk, they use signs and tools of building as emblems ofmoral truth. They have signs, grips, and passwords for recognition. Inthe words of their lawgiver, Hamze, their creed reads: "The belief inthe Truth of One God shall take the place of Prayer; the exercise ofbrotherly love shall take the place of Fasting; and the daily practiceof acts of Charity shall take the place of Alms-giving. " Why such apeople, having such a tradition? Where did they get it? What may thisfact set in the fixed and changeless East mean? (See the essay ofHackett Smith on "The Druses and Their Relation to Freemasonry, " andthe discussion following, _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, iv. 7-19. )

[60] Rawlinson, in his _History of Phoenicia_, says the people "had forages possessed the mason's art, it having been brought in very earlydays from Egypt. " Sir C. Warren found on the foundation stones atJerusalem Mason's marks in Phoenician letters (_A. Q. C. _, ii, 125;iii, 68). 

[61] See essay on "A Masonic Built City, " by S. R. Forbes, a study ofthe plan and building of Rome, _Ars Quatuor Coronatorum_, iv, 86. Asthere will be many references to the proceedings of the CoronatorumLodge of Research, it will be convenient hereafter to use only itsinitials, _A. Q. C. _, in behalf of brevity. For an account of theCollegia in early Christian times, see _Roman Life from Nero toAurelius_, by Dill (bk. Ii, chap. Iii); also _De Collegia_, by Mommsen. There is an excellent article in Mackey's _Encyclopedia ofFreemasonry_, and Gould, _His. Masonry_, vol. I, chap. I. 

[62] See _Masonic Character of Roman Villa at Morton_, by J. F. Crease(_A. Q. C. _, iii, 38-59). 

[63] Their names were Claudius, Nicostratus, Simphorianus, Castorius, and Simplicius. Later their bodies were brought from Rome to Toulousewhere they were placed in a chapel erected in their honor in the churchof St. Sernin (_Martyrology_, by Du Saussay). They became patron saintsof Masons in Germany, France, and England (_A. Q. C. _, xii, 196). In afresco on the walls of the church of St. Lawrence at Rotterdam, partially preserved, they are painted with compasses and trowel inhand. With them, however, is another figure, clad in oriental robe, also holding compasses, but with a royal, not a martyr's, crown. Is heSolomon? Who else can he be? The fresco dates from 1641, and waspainted by F. Wounters (_A. Q. C. _, xii, 202). Even so, those humbleworkmen, faithful to their faith, became saints of the church, andreign with Solomon! Once the fresco was whitewashed, but the coatingfell off and they stood forth with compasses and trowel as before. 

[64] _History of Middle Ages_, Hallam, vol. Ii, 547. 

Part II--History

FREE-MASONS

/# _The curious history of Freemasonry has unfortunately been treated only by its panegyrists or calumniators, both equally mendacious. I do not wish to pry into the mysteries of the craft; but it would be interesting to know more of their history during the period when they were literally architects. They are charged by an act of Parliament with fixing the price of their labor in their annual chapters, contrary to the statute of laborers, and such chapters were consequently prohibited. This is their first persecution; they have since undergone others, and are perhaps reserved for still more. It is remarkable, that Masons were never legally incorporated, like other traders; their bond of union being stronger than any charter. _

 --HENRY HALLAM, _The Middle Ages_#/

CHAPTER I

_Free-Masons_

I

From the foregoing pages it must be evident that Masonry, as we findit in the Middle Ages, was not a novelty. Already, if we accept itsown records, it was hoary with age, having come down from a far past, bringing with it a remarkable deposit of legendary lore. Also, it hadin its keeping the same simple, eloquent emblems which, as we haveseen, are older than the oldest living religion, which it received asan inheritance and has transmitted as a treasure. Whatever we maythink of the legends of Masonry, as recited in its oldest documents, its symbols, older than the order itself, link it with the earliestthought and faith of the race. No doubt those emblems lost some oftheir luster in the troublous time of transition we are about totraverse, but their beauty never wholly faded, and they had only to betouched to shine. 

If not the actual successors of the Roman College of Architects, thegreat order of Comacine Masters was founded upon its ruins, andcontinued its tradition both of symbolism and of art. Returning toRome after the death of Diocletian, we find them busy there underConstantine and Theodosius; and from remains recently brought toknowledge it is plain that their style of building at that time wasvery like that of the churches built at Hexham and York in England, and those of the Ravenna, also nearly contemporary. They may not havebeen actually called Free-masons as early as Leader Scott insists theywere, [65] but _they were free in fact_, traveling far and near wherethere was work to do, following the missionaries of the Church as faras England. When there was need for the name _Free-masons_, it waseasily suggested by the fact that the cathedral-builders were quitedistinct from the Guild-masons, the one being a universal orderwhereas the other was local and restricted. Older than Guild-masonry, the order of the cathedral-builders was more powerful, more artistic, and, it may be added, more religious; and it is from this order thatthe Masonry of today is descended. 

Since the story of the Comacine Masters has come to light, no doubtany longer remains that during the building period the order of Masonswas at the height of its influence and power. At that time thebuilding art stood above all other arts, and made the other arts bowto it, commanding the services of the most brilliant intellects andof the greatest artists of the age. Moreover, its symbols were wroughtinto stone long before they were written on parchment, if indeed theywere ever recorded at all. Efforts have been made to rob those oldmasters of their honor as the designers of the cathedrals, but it isin vain. [66] Their monuments are enduring and still tell the story oftheir genius and art. High upon the cathedrals they left cartoons instone, of which Findel gives a list, [67] portraying with searchingsatire abuses current in the Church. Such figures and devices wouldnot have been tolerated but for the strength of the order, and noteven then had the Church known what they meant to the adepts. 

History, like a mirage, lifts only a part of the past into view, leaving much that we should like to know in oblivion. At this distancethe Middle Ages wear an aspect of smooth uniformity of faith andopinion, but that is only one of the many illusions of time by whichwe are deceived. What looks like uniformity was only conformity, andunderneath its surface there was almost as much variety of thought asthere is today, albeit not so freely expressed. Science itself, aswell as religious ideas deemed heretical, sought seclusion; but thehuman mind was alive and active none the less, and a great secretorder like Masonry, enjoying the protection of the Church, yetindependent of it, invited freedom of thought and faith. [68] TheMasons, by the very nature of their art, came into contact with allclasses of men, and they had opportunities to know the defects of theChurch. Far ahead of the masses and most of the clergy in education, in their travels to and fro, not only in Europe, but often extendingto the far East, they became familiar with widely-differing religiousviews. They had learned to practice toleration, and their Lodgesbecame a sure refuge for those who were persecuted for the sake ofopinion by bigoted fanaticism. 

While, as an order, the Comacine Masters served the Church asbuilders, the creed required for admission to their fraternity wasnever narrow, and, as we shall see, it became every year broader. Unless this fact be kept in mind, the influence of the Church uponMasonry, which no one seeks to minify, may easily be exaggerated. Notuntil cathedral building began to decline by reason of theimpoverishment of the nations by long wars, the dissolution of themonasteries, and the advent of Puritanism, did the Church greatlyinfluence the order; and not even then to the extent of diverting itfrom its original and unique mission. Other influences were at workbetimes, such as the persecution of the Knights Templars and thetragic martyrdom of De Molai, making themselves felt, [69] and Masonrybegan to be suspected of harboring heresy. So tangled were thetendencies of that period that they are not easily followed, but thefact emerges that Masonry rapidly broadened until its final break withthe Church. Hardly more than a veneer, by the time of the GermanReformation almost every vestige of the impress of the Church hadvanished never to return. Critics of the order have been at pains totrace this tendency, not knowing, apparently, that by so doing theyonly make more emphatic the chief glory of Masonry. 

II

Unfortunately, as so often happens, no records of old Craft-masonry, save those wrought into stone, were made until the movement had begunto decline; and for that reason such documents as have come down to usdo not show it at its best. Nevertheless, they range over a period ofmore than four centuries, and are justly held to be the title deeds ofthe Order. Turning to these _Old Charges_ and _Constitutions_, [70] asthey are called, we find a body of quaint and curious writing, both inpoetry and prose, describing the Masonry of the late cathedral-buildingperiod, with glimpses at least of greater days of old. Of these, thereare more than half a hundred--seventy-eight, to be exact--most of whichhave come to light since 1860, and all of them, it would seem, copiesof documents still older. Naturally they have suffered at the hands ofunskilled or unlearned copyists, as is evident from errors, embellishments, and interpolations. They were called _Old Charges_because they contained certain rules as to conduct and duties which, ina bygone time, were read or recited to a newly admitted member of thecraft. While they differ somewhat in details, they relate substantiallythe same legend as to the origin of the order, its early history, itslaws and regulations, usually beginning with an invocation and endingwith an Amen. 

Only a brief account need here be given of the dates andcharacteristics of these documents, of the two oldest especially, witha digest of what they have to tell us, first, of the Legend of theorder; second, its early History; and third, its Moral teaching, itsworkings, and the duties of its members. The first and oldest of therecords is known as the _Regius MS_ which, owing to an error of DavidCasley who in his catalogue of the MSS in the King's Library marked it_A Poem of Moral Duties_, was overlooked until James Halliwelldiscovered its real nature in 1839. Although not a Mason, Halliwellwas attracted by the MS and read an essay on its contents before theSociety of Antiquarians, after which he issued two editions bearingdate of 1840 and 1844. Experts give it date back to 1390, that is tosay, fifteen years after the first recorded use of the name_Free_-mason in the history of the Company of Masons of the City ofLondon, in 1375. [71]

More poetical in spirit than in form, the old manuscript begins bytelling of the number of unemployed in early days and the necessity offinding work, "that they myght gete there lyvyngs therby. " Euclid wasconsulted, and recommended the "onest craft of good masonry, " and theorigin of the order is found "yn Egypte lande. " Then, by a quickshift, we are landed in England "yn tyme of good Kinge Adelstonusday, " who is said to have called an assembly of Masons, when fifteenarticles and as many points were agreed upon as rules of the craft, each point being duly described. The rules resemble the TenCommandments in an extended form, closing with the legend of the FourCrowned Martyrs, as an incentive to fidelity. Then the writer takes upagain the question of origins, going back this time to the days ofNoah and the Flood, mentioning the tower of Babylon and the greatskill of Euclid, who is said to have commenced "the syens seven. " Theseven sciences are then named, to-wit, Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric, Music, Astronomy, Arithmetic, Geometry, and each explained. Richreward is held out to those who use the seven sciences aright, and theMS proper closes with the benediction:

/P Amen! Amen! so mote it be! So say we all for Charity. P/

There follows a kind of appendix, evidently added by a priest, consisting of one hundred lines in which pious exhortation is mixedwith instruction in etiquette, such as lads and even men unaccustomedto polite society and correct deportment would need. These lines werein great part extracted from _Instructions for Parish Priests_, byMirk, a manual in use at the time. The whole poem, if so it may becalled, is imbued with the spirit of freedom, of gladness, of socialgood will; so much so, that both Gould and Albert Pike think it pointsto the existence of symbolic Masonry at the date from which it speaks, and may have been recited or sung by some club commemorating thescience, but not practicing the art, of Masonry. They would findintimation of the independent existence of speculative Masonry thusearly, in a society from whom all but the memory or tradition of itsancient craft had departed. One hesitates to differ with writers soable and distinguished, yet this inference seems far-fetched, if notforced. Of the existence of symbolic Masonry at that time there is nodoubt, but of its independent existence it is not easy to find even ahint in this old poem. Nor would the poem be suitable for a meresocial, or even a symbolic guild, whereas the spirit of genial, joyouscomradeship which breathes through it is of the very essence ofMasonry, and has ever been present when Masons meet. 

Next in order of age is the _Cooke MS_, dating from the early part ofthe fifteenth century, and first published in 1861. If we apply thelaws of higher-criticism to this old document a number of thingsappear, as obvious as they are interesting. Not only is it a copy ofan older record, like all the MSS we have, but it is either an effortto join two documents together, or else the first part must beregarded as a long preamble to the manuscript which forms the secondpart. For the two are quite unlike in method and style, the firstbeing diffuse, with copious quotations and references toauthorities, [72] while the second is simple, direct, unadorned, anddoes not even allude to the Bible. Also, it is evident that thecompiler, himself a Mason, is trying to harmonize two traditions as tothe origin of the order, one tracing it through Egypt and the otherthrough the Hebrews; and it is hard to tell which tradition he favorsmost. Hence a duplication of the traditional history, and an oddmixture of names and dates, often, indeed, absurd, as when he makesEuclid a pupil of Abraham. What is clear is that, having found an oldConstitution of the Craft, he thought to write a kind of commentaryupon it, adding proofs and illustrations of his own, though he did notmanage his materials very successfully. 

After his invocation, [73] the writer begins with a list of the SevenSciences, giving quaint definitions of each, but in a different orderfrom that recited in the _Regius Poem_; and he exalts Geometry aboveall the rest as "the first cause and foundation of all crafts andsciences. " Then follows a brief sketch of the sons of Lamech, much aswe find it in the book of Genesis which, like the old MS we are herestudying, was compiled from two older records: the one tracing thedescent from Cain, and the other from Seth. Jabal and Jubal, we aretold, inscribed their knowledge of science and handicraft on twopillars, one of marble, the other of lateres; and after the flood oneof the pillars was found by Hermes, and the other by Pythagoras, whotaught the sciences they found written thereon. Other MSS give Euclidthe part here assigned to Hermes. Surely this is all fantastic enough, but the blending of the names of Hermes, the "father of Wisdom, " whois so supreme a figure in the Egyptian Mysteries, and Pythagoras whoused numbers as spiritual emblems, with old Hebrew history, issignificant. At any rate, by this route the record reaches Egyptwhere, like the _Regius Poem_, it locates the origin of Masonry. Inthus ascribing the origin of Geometry to the Egyptians the writer wasbut following a tradition that the Egyptians were compelled to inventit in order to restore the landmarks effaced by the inundations of theNile; a tradition confirmed by modern research. 

Proceeding, the compiler tells us that during their sojourn in Egyptthe Hebrews learned the art and secrets of Masonry, which they tookwith them to the promised land. Long years are rapidly sketched, andwe come to the days of David, who is said to have loved Masons well, and to have given them "wages nearly as they are now. " There is but ameager reference to the building of the Temple of Solomon, to which isadded: "In other chronicles and old books of Masonry, it is said thatSolomon confirmed the charges that David had given to Masons; and thatSolomon taught them their usages differing but slightly from thecustoms now in use. " While allusion is made to the master-artist ofthe temple, his name is not mentioned, _except in disguise_. Not oneof the _Old Charges_ of the order ever makes use of his name, butalways employs some device whereby to conceal it. [74] Why so, whenthe name was well known, written in the Bible which lay upon thealtar for all to read? Why such reluctance, if it be not that the nameand the legend linked with it had an esoteric meaning, as it mostcertainly did have long before it was wrought into a drama? At thispoint the writer drops the old legend and traces the Masons intoFrance and England, after the manner of the _Regius MS_, but with moredetail. Having noted these items, he returns to Euclid and brings thatphase of the tradition up to the advent of the order into England, adding, in conclusion, the articles of Masonic law agreed upon at anearly assembly, of which he names nine, instead of the fifteen recitedin the _Regius Poem_. 

What shall we say of this Legend, with its recurring and insistentemphasis upon the antiquity of the order, and its linking of Egyptwith Israel? For one thing, it explodes the fancy that the idea of thesymbolical significance of the building of the Temple of Solomonoriginated with, or was suggested by, Bacon's _New Atlantis_. Here isa body of tradition uniting the Egyptian Mysteries with the Hebrewhistory of the Temple in a manner unmistakable. Wherefore such namesas Hermes, Pythagoras, and Euclid, and how did they come into the oldcraft records if not through the Comacine artists and scholars? Withthe story of that great order before us, much that has hitherto beenobscure becomes plain, and we recognize in these _Old Charges_ theinaccurate and perhaps faded tradition of a lofty symbolism, anauthentic scholarship, and an actual history. As Leader Scottobserves, after reciting the old legend in its crudest form:

/#[4, 66] _The significant point is that all these names and Masonic emblems point to something real which existed in some long-past time, and, as regards the organisation and nomenclature, we find the whole thing in its vital and actual working form in the Comacine Guild. _[75]#/

Of interest here, as a kind of bridge between old legend and the earlyhistory of the order in England, and also as a different version ofthe legend itself, is another document dating far back. There was a MSdiscovered in the Bodleian Library at Oxford about 1696, supposed tohave been written in the year 1436, which purports to be anexamination of a Mason by King Henry VI, and is allowed by all to begenuine. Its title runs as follows: "_Certain questions with answersto the same concerning the mystery of masonry written by King Henrythe Sixth and faithfully copied by me, John Laylande, antiquarian, bycommand of his highness_. " Written in quaint old English, it woulddoubtless be unintelligible to all but antiquarians, but it readsafter this fashion:

/#[4, 66] What mote it be?--It is the knowledge of nature, and the power of its various operations; particularly the skill of reckoning, of weights and measures, of constructing buildings and dwellings of all kinds, and the true manner of forming all things for the use of man. 

 Where did it begin?--It began with the first men of the East, who were before the first men of the West, and coming with it, it hath brought all comforts to the wild and comfortless. 

 Who brought it to the West?--The Phoenicians who, being great merchants, came first from the East into Phoenicia, for the convenience of commerce, both East and West by the Red and Mediterranean Seas. 

 How came it into England?--Pythagoras, a Grecian, traveled to acquire knowledge in Egypt and Syria, and in every other land where the Phoenicians had planted Masonry; and gaining admittance into all lodges of Masons, he learned much, and returned and dwelt in Grecia Magna, growing and becoming mighty wise and greatly renowned. Here he formed a great lodge at Crotona, and made many Masons, some of whom traveled into France, and there made many more, from whence, in process of time, the art passed into England. #/

III

With the conquest of Britain by the Romans, the _Collegia_, withoutwhich no Roman society was complete, made their advent into theisland, traces of their work remaining even to this day. Under thedirection of the mother College at Rome, the Britons are said to haveattained to high degree of excellence as builders, so that when thecities of Gaul and the fortresses along the Rhine were destroyed, Chlorus, A. D. 298, sent to Britain for architects to repair or rebuildthem. Whether the _Collegia_ existed in Britain after the Romans left, as some affirm, or were suppressed, as we know they were on theContinent when the barbarians overran it, is not clear. Probably theywere destroyed, or nearly so, for with the revival of Christianity in598 A. D. , we find Bishop Wilfred of York joining with the Abbott ofWearmouth in sending to France and Italy to induce Masons to returnand build in stone, as he put it, "after the Roman manner. " Thisconfirms the Italian chroniclists who relate that Pope Gregory sentseveral of the fraternity of _Liberi muratori_ with St. Augustine, as, later, they followed St. Boniface into Germany. 

Again, in 604, Augustine sent the monk Pietro back to Rome with aletter to the same Pontiff, begging him to send more architects andworkmen, which he did. As the _Liberi muratori_ were none other thanthe Comacine Masters, it seems certain that they were at work inEngland _long before the period with which the_ OLD CHARGES _begintheir story of English Masonry_. [76] Among those sent by Gregory wasPaulinus, and it is a curious fact that he is spoken of under the titleof _Magister_, by which is meant, no doubt, that he was a member of theComacine order, for they so described their members; and we know thatmany monks were enrolled in their lodges, having studied the art ofbuilding under their instruction. St. Hugh of Lincoln was not the onlyBishop who could plan a church, instruct the workman, or handle a hod. Only, it must be kept in mind that these ecclesiastics who becameskilled in architecture _were taught by the Masons_, and that it wasnot the monks, as some seem to imagine, who taught the Masons theirart. Speaking of this early and troublous time, Giuseppe Merzaria saysthat only one lamp remained alight, making a bright spark in thedarkness that extended over Europe:

/#[4, 66] It was from the _Magistri Comacini_. Their respective names are unknown, their individual works unspecialized, but the breadth of their spirit might be felt all through those centuries, and their name collectively is legion. We may safely say that of all the works of art between A. D. 800 and 1000, the greater and better part are due to that brotherhood--always faithful and often secret--of the _Magistri Comacini_. The authority and judgment of learned men justify the assertion. [77]#/

Among the learned men who agree with this judgment are Kugler ofGermany, Ramee of France, and Selvatico of Italy, as well as Quatremalde Quincy, in his _Dictionary of Architecture_, who, in the article onthe Comacine, remarks that "to these men, who were both designers andexecutors, architects, sculptors, and mosaicists, may be attributedthe renaissance of art, and its propagation in the southern countries, where it marched with Christianity. Certain it is that we owe it tothem, that the heritage of antique ages was not entirely lost, and itis only by their tradition and imitation that the art of building waskept alive, producing works which we still admire, and which becomesurprising when we think of the utter ignorance of all science inthose dark ages. " The English writer, Hope, goes further and creditsthe Comacine order with being the cradle of the associations ofFree-masons, who were, he adds, "the first after Roman times to enricharchitecture with a complete and well-ordinated system, whichdominated wherever the Latin Church extended its influence. "[78] Sothen, even if the early records of old Craft-masonry in England areconfused, and often confusing, we are not left to grope our way fromone dim tradition to another, having the history and monuments of thisgreat order which _spans the whole period_, and links the fraternityof Free-masons with one of the noblest chapters in the annals of art. 

Almost without exception the _Old Charges_ begin their account ofMasonry in England at the time of Athelstan, the grandson of Alfredthe Great; that is, between 925 and 940. Of this prince, or knight, they record that he was a wise and pacific ruler; that "he brought theland to rest and peace, and built many great buildings of castles andabbeys, for he loved Masons well. " He is also said to have called anassembly of Masons at which laws, rules, and charges were adopted forthe regulation of the craft. Despite these specific details, the storyof Athelstan and St. Alban is hardly more than a legend, albeit datingat no very remote epoch, and well within the reasonable limits oftradition. Still, so many difficulties beset it that it has baffledthe acutest critics, most of whom throw it aside. [79] That is, however, too summary a way of disposing of it, since the record, though badly blurred, is obviously trying to preserve a fact ofimportance to the order. 

Usually the assembly in question is located at York, in the year 926, of which, however, no slightest record remains. Whether at York orelsewhere, some such assembly must have been convoked, either as acivil function, or as a regular meeting of Masons authorized by legalpower for upholding the honor of the craft; and its articles becamethe laws of the order. It was probably a civil assembly, a part ofwhose legislation was a revised and approved code for the regulationof Masons, and not unnaturally, by reason of its importance to theorder, it became known as a Masonic assembly. Moreover, the Chargeagreed upon was evidently no ordinary charge, for it is spoken of as"_the_ Charge, " called by one MS "a deep charge for the observation ofsuch articles as belong to Masonry, " and by another MS "a rule to bekept forever. " Other assemblies were held afterwards, either annuallyor semi-annually, until the time of Inigo Jones who, in 1607, becamesuperintendent general of royal buildings and at the same time head ofthe Masonic order in England; and he it was who instituted quarterlygatherings instead of the old annual assemblies. 

Writers not familiar with the facts often speak of Freemasonry as anevolution from Guild-masonry, but that is to err. They were never atany time united or the same, though working almost side by sidethrough several centuries. Free-masons existed in large numbers longbefore any city guild of Masons was formed, and even after the Guildsbecame powerful the two were entirely distinct. The Guilds, as Hallamsays, [80] "were Fraternities by voluntary compact, to relieve eachother in poverty, and to protect each other from injury. Twoessential characteristics belonged to them: the common banquet, andthe common purse. They had also, in many instances, a religious andsometimes a secret ceremonial to knit more firmly the bond offidelity. They readily became connected with the exercises of trades, with training of apprentices, and the traditional rules of art. "Guild-masons, it may be added, had many privileges, one of which wasthat they were allowed to frame their own laws, and to enforceobedience thereto. Each Guild had a monopoly of the building in itscity or town, except ecclesiastical buildings, but with this wentserious restrictions and limitations. No member of a local Guild couldundertake work outside his town, but had to hold himself in readinessto repair the castle or town walls, whereas Free-masons journeyed thelength and breadth of the land wherever their labor called them. Oftenthe Free-masons, when at work in a town, employed Guild-masons, butonly for rough work, and as such called them "rough-masons. " NoGuild-mason was admitted to the order of Free-masons unless hedisplayed unusual aptitude both as a workman and as a man ofintellect. Such as adhered only to the manual craft and cared nothingfor intellectual aims, were permitted to go back to the Guilds. Forthe Free-masons, be it once more noted, were not only artists doing amore difficult and finished kind of work, but an intellectual order, having a great tradition of science and symbolism which they guarded. 

Following the Norman Conquest, which began in 1066, England wasinvaded by an army of ecclesiastics, and churches, monasteries, cathedrals, and abbeys were commenced in every part of the country. Naturally the Free-masons were much in demand, and some of themreceived rich reward for their skill as architects--RobertusCementarius, a Master Mason employed at St. Albans in 1077, receivinga grant of land and a house in the town. [81] In the reign of Henry IIno less than one hundred and fifty-seven religious buildings werefounded in England, and it is at this period that we begin to seeevidence of a new style of architecture--the Gothic. Most of the greatcathedrals of Europe date from the eleventh century--the piety of theworld having been wrought to a pitch of intense excitement by theexpected end of all things, unaccountably fixed by popular belief totake place in the year one thousand. When the fatal year--and thefollowing one, which some held to be the real date for the sounding ofthe last trumpet--passed without the arrival of the dreadedcatastrophe, the sense of general relief found expression in raisingmagnificent temples to the glory of God who had mercifully abstainedfrom delivering all things to destruction. And it was the order ofFree-masons who made it possible for men to "sing their souls instone, " leaving for the admiration of after times what Goethe calledthe "frozen music" of the Middle Ages--monuments of the faith andgratitude of the race which adorn and consecrate the earth. 

Little need be added to the story of Freemasonry during thecathedral-building period; its monuments are its best history, alikeof its genius, its faith, and its symbols--as witness the triangle andthe circle which form the keystone of the ornamental tracery of everyGothic temple. Masonry was then at the zenith of its power, in itsfull splendor, the Lion of the tribe of Judah its symbol, strength, wisdom, and beauty its ideals; its motto to be faithful to God and theGovernment; its mission to lend itself to the public good andfraternal charity. Keeper of an ancient and high tradition, it was arefuge for the oppressed, and a teacher of art and morality tomankind. In 1270, we find Pope Nicholas III confirming all the rightspreviously granted to the Free-masons, and bestowing on them furtherprivileges. Indeed, all the Popes up to Benedict XII appear to haveconceded marked favors to the order, even to the length of exemptingits members from the necessity of observance of the statutes, frommunicipal regulations, and from obedience to royal edicts. 

What wonder, then, that the Free-masons, ere long, took _Liberty_ fortheir motto, and by so doing aroused the animosity of those inauthority, as well as the Church which they had so nobly served. Already forces were astir which ultimately issued in the Reformation, and it is not surprising that a great secret order was suspected ofharboring men and fostering influences sympathetic with the impendingchange felt to be near at hand. As men of the most diverse views, political and religious, were in the lodges, the order began first tobe accused of refusing to obey the law, and then to be persecuted. InEngland a statute was enacted against the Free-masons in 1356, prohibiting their assemblies under severe penalties, but the law seemsnever to have been rigidly enforced; though the order suffered greatlyin the civil commotions of the period. However, with the return ofpeace after the long War of the Roses, Freemasonry revived for atime, and regained much of its prestige, adding to its fame in therebuilding of London after the fire, and in particular of St. Paul'sCathedral. [82]

When cathedral-building ceased, and the demand for highly skilledarchitects decreased, the order fell into decline, but never at anytime lost its identity, its organization, and its ancient emblems. TheMasons' Company of London, though its extant records date only from1620, is considered by its historian, Conder, to have been establishedin 1220, if not earlier, at which time there was great activity inbuilding, owing to the building of London Bridge, begun in 1176, andof Westminster Abbey in 1221; thus reaching back into the cathedralperiod. At one time the Free-masons seem to have been stronger inScotland than in England, or at all events to have left behind morerecords--for the minutes of the Lodge of Edinburgh go back to 1599, and the _Schaw Statutes_ to an earlier date. Nevertheless, as the artof architecture declined Masonry declined with it, not a few of itsmembers identifying themselves with the Guilds of ordinary"rough-masons, " whom they formerly held in contempt; while others, losing sight of high aims, turned its lodges into social clubs. Always, however, despite defection and decline, there were those, aswe shall see, who were faithful to the ideals of the order, devotingthemselves more and more to its moral and spiritual teaching untilwhat has come to be known as "the revival of 1717. "

FOOTNOTES:

[65] _The Cathedral Builders_, chap. I. 

[66] "The honor due to the original founders of these edifices isalmost invariably transferred to the ecclesiastics under whosepatronage they rose, rather than to the skill and design of the MasterMason, or professional architect, because the only historians weremonks. .. . They were probably not so well versed in geometrical scienceas the Master Masons, for mathematics formed a part of monasticlearning in a very limited degree. "--James Dallaway, _Architecture inEngland_; and his words are the more weighty for that he is not aMason. 

[67] _History of Masonry. _ In the St. Sebaldus Church, Nuremburg, is acarving in stone showing a nun in the embrace of a monk. In Strassburga hog and a goat may be seen carrying a sleeping fox as a sacred relic, in advance a bear with a cross and a wolf with a taper. An ass isreading mass at an altar. In Wurzburg Cathedral are the pillars of Boazand Jachin, and in the altar of the Church of Doberan, in Mecklenburg, placed as Masons use them, and a most significant scene in whichpriests are turning a mill grinding out dogmatic doctrines; and at thebottom the Lord's Supper in which the Apostles are shown in well-knownMasonic attitudes. In the Cathedral of Brandenburg a fox in priestlyrobes is preaching to a flock of geese; and in the Minster at Berne thePope is placed among those who are lost in perdition. These were boldstrokes which even heretics hardly dared to indulge in. 

[68] _History of Masonry_, by Steinbrenner, chap. Iv. There were, indeed, many secret societies in the Middle Ages, such as theCatharists, Albigenses, Waldenses, and others, whose initiates andadherents traveled through all Europe, forming new communities andmaking proselytes not only among the masses, but also among nobles, andeven among the monks, abbots, and bishops. Occultists, Alchemists, Kabbalists, all wrought in secrecy, keeping their flame aglow under thecrust of conformity. 

[69] _Realities of Masonry_, by Blake (chap. Ii). While the theory ofthe descent of Masonry from the Order of the Temple is untenable, aconnection between the two societies, in the sense in which an artistmay be said to be connected with his employer, is more than probable;and a similarity may be traced between the ritual of reception in theOrder of the Temple and that used by Masons, but that of the Temple wasprobably derived from, or suggested by, that of the Masons; or both mayhave come from an original source further back. That the Order of theTemple, as such, did not actually coalesce with the Masons seems clear, but many of its members sought refuge under the Masonic apron (_Historyof Freemasonry and Concordant Orders_, by Hughan and Stillson). 

[70] Every elaborate History of Masonry--as, for example, that ofGould--reproduces these old documents in full or in digest, withexhaustive analyses of and commentaries upon them. Such a taskobviously does not come within the scope of the present study. One ofthe best brief comparative studies of the _Old Charges_ is an essay byW. H. Upton, "The True Text of the Book of Constitutions, " in that itapplies approved methods of historical criticism to all of them (_A. Q. C. _, vii, 119). See also _Masonic Sketches and Reprints_, by Hughan. Nodoubt these _Old Charges_ are familiar, or should be familiar, to everyintelligent member of the order, as a man knows the deeds of hisestate. 

[71] _The Hole Craft and Fellowship of Masonry_, by Conder. Alsoexhaustive essays by Conder and Speth, _A. Q. C. _, ix, 29; x, 10. Toomuch, it seems to me, has been made of both the name and the date, since the _fact_ was older than either. Findel finds the name_Free_-mason as early as 1212, and Leader Scott goes still furtherback; but the fact may be traced back to the Roman Collegia. 

[72] He refers to Herodotus as the _Master of History_; quotes from the_Polychronicon_, written by a Benedictine monk who died in 1360; from_De Imagine Mundi_, Isodorus, and frequently from the Bible. Of morethan ordinary learning for his day and station, he did not escape acertain air of pedantry in his use of authorities. 

[73] These invocations vary in their phraseology, some bearing morevisibly than others the mark of the Church. Toulmin Smith, in his_English Guilds_, notes the fact that the form of the invocations ofthe Masons "differs strikingly from that of most other Guilds. Inalmost every other case, God the Father Almighty would seem to havebeen forgotten. " But Masons never forgot the corner-stone upon whichtheir order and its teachings rest; not for a day. 

[74] Such names as Aynone, Aymon, Ajuon, Dynon, Amon, Anon, Annon, andBenaim are used, deliberately, it would seem, and of set design. _TheInigo Jones MS_ uses the Bible name, but, though dated 1607, it hasbeen shown to be apocryphal. See Gould's _History_, appendix. Also_Bulletin_ of Supreme Council S. J. , U. S. (vii, 200), that theStrassburg builders pictured the legend in stone. 

[75] _The Cathedral Builders_, bk. I, chap. I. 

[76] See the account of "The Origin of Saxon Architecture, " in the_Cathedral Builders_ (bk. Ii, chap. Iii), written by Dr. W. M. Barnes inEngland independently of the author who was living in Italy; and it issignificant that the facts led both of them to the same conclusions. They show quite unmistakably that the Comacine builders were in Englandas early as 600 A. D. , both by documents and by a comparative study ofstyles of architecture. 

[77] _Maestri Comacini_, vol. I, chap. Ii. 

[78] _Story of Architecture_, chap. Xxii. 

[79] Gould, in his _History of Masonry_ (i, 31, 65), rejects the legendas having not the least foundation in fact, as indeed, he rejectsalmost everything that cannot prove itself in a court of law. For theother side see a "Critical Examination of the Alban and AthelstanLegends, " by C. C. Howard (_A. Q. C. _, vii, 73). Meanwhile, Upton pointsout that St. Alban was the name of a town, not of a man, and shows howthe error may have crept into the record (_A. Q. C. _, vii, 119-131). The nature of the tradition, its details, its motive, and the absenceof any reason for fiction, should deter us from rejecting it. See twoable articles, pro and con, by Begemann and Speth, entitled "TheAssembly" (_A. Q. C. _, vii). Older Masonic writers, like Oliver andMackey, accepted the York assembly as a fact established (_AmericanQuarterly Review of Freemasonry_, vol. I, 546; ii, 245). 

[80] _History of the English Constitution. _ Of course the Guild wasindigenous to almost every age and land, from China to ancient Rome(_The Guilds of China_, by H. B. Morse), and they survive in the tradeand labor unions of our day. The story of _English Guilds_ has beentold by Toulmin Smith, and in the histories of particular companies byHerbert and Hazlitt, leaving little for any one to add. No doubt theGuilds were influenced by the Free-masons in respect of officers andemblems, and we know that some of them, like the German Steinmetzen, attached moral meanings to their working tools, and that others, likethe French Companionage, even held the legend of Hiram; but these didnot make them Free-masons. English writers like Speth go too far whenthey deny to the Steinmetzen any esoteric lore, and German scholarslike Krause and Findel are equally at fault in insisting that they wereFree-masons. (See essay by Speth, _A. Q. C. _, i, 17, and _History ofMasonry_, by Steinbrenner, chap. Iv. )

[81] _Notes on the Superintendents of English Buildings in the MiddleAges_, by Wyatt Papworth. Cementerius is also mentioned in connectionwith the Salisbury Cathedral, again in his capacity as a Master Mason. 

[82] Hearing that the Masons had certain secrets that could not berevealed to her (for that she could not be Grand Master) QueenElizabeth sent an armed force to break up their annual Grand Lodge atYork, on St. John's Day, December 27, 1561. But Sir Thomas Sackvilletook care to see that some of the men sent were Free-masons, who, joining in the communication, made "a very honorable report to theQueen, who never more attempted to dislodge or disturb them; butesteemed them a peculiar sort of men, that cultivated peace andfriendship, arts and sciences, without meddling in the affairs ofChurch or State" (_Book of Constitutions_, by Anderson). 

FELLOWCRAFTS

/# _Noe person (of what degree soever) shalbee accepted a Free Mason, unless hee shall have a lodge of five Free Masons at least; whereof one to be a master, or warden, of that limitt, or division, wherein such Lodge shalbee kept, and another of the trade of Free Masonry. 

 That noe person shalbee accepted a Free Mason, but such as are of able body, honest parentage, good reputation, and observers of the laws of the land. 

 That noe person shalbee accepted a Free Mason, or know the secrets of said Society, until hee hath first taken the oath of secrecy hereafter following: "I, A. B. , doe in the presence of Almighty God, and my fellows, and brethren here present, promise and declare, that I will not at any time hereafter, by any act or circumstance whatsoever, directly or indirectly, publish, discover, reveal, or make known any of the secrets, privileges, or counsels, of the fraternity or fellowship of Free Masonry, which at this time, or any time hereafter, shalbee made known unto mee soe helpe mee God, and the holy contents of this booke. "_

 --HARLEIAN MS, 1600-1650#/

CHAPTER II

_Fellowcrafts_

I

Having followed the Free-masons over a long period of history, it isnow in order to give some account of the ethics, organization, laws, emblems, and workings of their lodges. Such a study is at once easyand difficult by turns, owing to the mass of material, and to thefurther fact that in the nature of things much of the work of a secretorder is not, and has never been, matter for record. By thisnecessity, not a little must remain obscure, but it is hoped that eventhose not of the order may derive a definite notion of the principlesand practices of the old Craft-masonry, from which the Masonry oftoday is descended. At least, such a sketch will show that, from timesof old, the order of Masons has been a teacher of morality, charity, and truth, unique in its genius, noble in its spirit, and benign inits influence. 

Taking its ethical teaching first, we have only to turn to the _OldCharges_ or _Constitutions_ of the order, with their quaint blendingof high truth and homely craft-law, to find the moral basis ofuniversal Masonry. These old documents were a part of the earliestritual of the order, and were recited or read to every young man atthe time of his initiation as an Entered Apprentice. As such, theyrehearsed the legends, laws, and ethics of the craft for hisinformation, and, as we have seen, they insisted upon the antiquity ofthe order, as well as its service to mankind--a fact peculiar toMasonry, _for no other order has ever claimed such a legendary ortraditional history_. Having studied that legendary record and itsvalue as history, it remains to examine the moral code laid before thecandidate who, having taken a solemn oath of loyalty and secrecy, wasinstructed in his duties as an Apprentice and his conduct as a man. What that old code lacked in subtlety is more than made up insimplicity, and it might all be stated in the words of the Prophet:"To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God, "--the oldeternal moral law, founded in faith, tried by time, and approved asvalid for men of every clime, creed, and condition. 

Turning to the _Regius MS_, we find fifteen "points" or rules setforth for the guidance of Fellowcrafts, and as many for the rule ofMaster Masons. [83] Later the number was reduced to nine, but so farfrom being an abridgment, it was in fact an elaboration of theoriginal code; and by the time we reach the _Roberts_ and _Watson_ MSSa similar set of requirements for Apprentices had been adopted--orrather recorded, for they had been in use long before. It will makefor clearness if we reverse the order and take the Apprentice chargefirst, as it shows what manner of men were admitted to the order. Noman was made a Mason save by his own free choice, and he had to provehimself a freeman of lawful age, of legitimate birth, of sound body, of clean habits, and of good repute, else he was not eligible. Also, he had to bind himself by solemn oath to serve under rigid rules for aperiod of seven years, vowing absolute obedience--for the old-timeLodge was a school in which young men studied, not only the art ofbuilding and its symbolism, but the seven sciences as well. At firstthe Apprentice was little more than a servant, doing the most menialwork, his period of endenture being at once a test of his characterand a training for his work. If he proved himself trustworthy andproficient, his wages were increased, albeit his rules of conduct werenever relaxed. How austere the discipline was may be seen from asummary of its rules:

Confessing faith in God, an Apprentice vowed to honor the Church, theState, and the Master under whom he served, agreeing not to absenthimself from the service of the order, by day or night, save with thelicense of the Master. He must be honest, truthful, upright, faithfulin keeping the secrets of the craft, or the confidence of the Master, or of any Free-mason, when communicated to him as such. Above all hemust be chaste, never committing adultery or fornication, and he mustnot marry, or contract himself to any woman, during hisapprenticeship. He must be obedient to the Master without argument ormurmuring, respectful to all Free-masons, courteous, avoiding obsceneor uncivil speech, free from slander, dissension, or dispute. He mustnot haunt or frequent any tavern or ale-house, or so much as go intothem except it be upon an errand of the Master or with his consent, using neither cards, dice, nor any unlawful game, "Christmas timeexcepted. " He must not steal anything even to the value of a penny, orsuffer it to be done, or shield anyone guilty of theft, but report thefact to the Master with all speed. 

After seven long years the Apprentice brought his masterpiece to theLodge--or, in earlier times, to the annual Assembly[84]--and on stricttrial and due examination was declared a Master. Thereupon he ceasedto be a pupil and servant, passed into the ranks of Fellowcrafts, andbecame a free man capable, for the first time in his life, of earninghis living and choosing his own employer. Having selected a Mark[85]by which his work could be identified, he could then take his kit oftools and travel as a Master of his art, receiving the wages of aMaster--not, however, without first reaffirming his vows of honesty, truthfulness, fidelity, temperance, and chastity, and assuming addedobligations to uphold the honor of the order. Again he was sworn notto lay bare, nor to tell to any man what he heard or saw done in theLodge, and to keep the secrets of a fellow Mason as inviolably as hisown--unless such a secret imperiled the good name of the craft. Hefurthermore promised to act as mediator between his Master and hisFellows, and to deal justly with both parties. If he saw a Fellowhewing a stone which he was in a fair way to spoil, he must help himwithout loss of time, if able to do so, that the whole work be notruined. Or if he met a fellow Mason in distress, or sorrow, he mustaid him so far as lay within his power. In short, he must live injustice and honor with all men, especially with the members of theorder, "that the bond of mutual charity and love may augment andcontinue. "

Still more binding, if possible, were the vows of a Fellowcraft whenhe was elevated to the dignity of Master of the Lodge or of the Work. Once more he took solemn oath to keep the secrets of the orderunprofaned, and more than one old MS quotes the Golden Rule as the lawof the Master's office. He must be steadfast, trusty, and true; payhis Fellows truly; take no bribe; and as a judge stand upright. Hemust attend the annual Assembly, unless disabled by illness, if withinfifty miles--the distance varying, however, in different MSS. He mustbe careful in admitting Apprentices, taking only such as are fit bothphysically and morally, and keeping none without assurance that hewould stay seven years in order to learn his craft. He must be patientwith his pupils, instruct them diligently, encourage them withincreased pay, and not permit them to work at night, "unless in thepursuit of knowledge, which shall be a sufficient excuse. " He must bewise and discreet, and undertake no work he cannot both perform andcomplete equally to the profit of his employer and the craft. Should aFellow be overtaken by error, he must be gentle, skilful, andforgiving, seeking rather to help than to hurt, abjuring scandal andbitter words. He must not attempt to supplant a Master of the Lodge orof the Work, or belittle his work, but recommend it and assist him inimproving it. He must be liberal in charity to those in need, helpinga Fellow who has fallen upon evil lot, giving him work and wages forat least a fortnight, or if he has no work, "relieve him with money todefray his reasonable charges to the next Lodge. " For the rest, hemust in all ways act in a manner befitting the nobility of his officeand his order. 

Such were some of the laws of the moral life by which the oldCraft-masonry sought to train its members, not only to be goodworkmen, but to be good and true men, serving their Fellows; to which, as the Rawlinson MS tells us, "divers new articles have been added bythe free choice and good consent and best advice of the Perfect andTrue Masons, Masters, and Brethren. " If, as an ethic of life, theselaws seem simple and rudimentary, they are none the less fundamental, and they remain to this day the only gate and way by which those mustenter who would go up to the House of the Lord. As such they are greatand saving things to lay to heart and act upon, and if Masonry taughtnothing else its title to the respect of mankind would be clear. Theyhave a double aspect: first, the building of a spiritual man uponimmutable moral foundations; and second, the great and simplereligious faith in the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of man, andthe Life Eternal, taught by Masonry from its earliest history to thisgood day. Morality and theistic religion--upon these two rocksMasonry has always stood, and they are the only basis upon which manmay ever hope to rear the spiritual edifice of his life, even to thecapstone thereof. 

II

Imagine, now, a band of these builders, bound together by solemn vowsand mutual interests, journeying over the most abominable roads towardthe site selected for an abbey or cathedral. Traveling was attendedwith many dangers, and the company was therefore always well armed, the disturbed state of the country rendering such a precautionnecessary. Tools and provisions belonging to the party were carried onpack-horses or mules, placed in the center of the convoy, in charge ofkeepers. The company consisted of a Master Mason directing the work, Fellows of the craft, and Apprentices serving their time. Besidesthese we find subordinate laborers, not of the Lodge though in it, termed layers, setters, tilers, and so forth. Masters and Fellows worea distinctive costume, which remained almost unchanged in its fashionfor no less than three centuries. [86] Withal, it was a seriouscompany, but in nowise solemn, and the tedium of the journey was nodoubt beguiled by song, story, and the humor incident to travel. 

"Wherever they came, " writes Mr. Hope in his _Essay on Architecture_, "in the suite of missionaries, or were called by the natives, orarrived of their own accord, to seek employment, they appeared headedby a chief surveyor, who governed the whole troop, and named one manout of every ten, under the name of warden, to overlook the othernine, set themselves to building temporary huts for their habitationaround the spot where the work was to be carried on, regularlyorganized their different departments, fell to work, sent for freshsupplies of their brethren as the object demanded, and, when all wasfinished, again they raised their encampment, and went elsewhere toundertake other work. "

Here we have a glimpse of the methods of the Free-masons, of theirorganization, almost military in its order and dispatch, and of theirmigratory life; although they had a more settled life than thisungainly sentence allows, for long time was required for the buildingof a great cathedral. Sometimes, it would seem, they made specialcontracts with the inhabitants of a town where they were to erect achurch, containing such stipulations as, that a Lodge covered withtiles should be built for their accommodation, and that every laborershould be provided with a white apron of a peculiar kind of leatherand gloves to shield the hands from stone and slime. [87] At allevents, the picture we have is that of a little community or villageof workmen, living in rude dwellings, with a Lodge room at the centeradjoining a slowly rising cathedral--the Master busy with his plansand the care of his craft; Fellows shaping stones for walls, arches, or spires; Apprentices fetching tools or mortar, and when necessary, tending the sick, and performing all offices of a similar nature. Always the Lodge was the center of interest and activity, a place oflabor, of study, of devotion, as well as the common room for thesocial life of the order. Every morning, as we learn from the FabricRolls of York Minster, began with devotion, followed by the directionsof the Master for the work of the day, which no doubt included studyof the laws of the art, plans of construction, and the mysticalmeaning of ornaments and emblems. Only Masons were in attendance atsuch times, the Lodge being closed to all others, and guarded by aTiler[88] against "the approach of cowans[89] and eavesdroppers. " Thusthe work of each day was begun, moving forward amidst the din andlitter of the hours, until the craft was called from labor to rest andrefreshment; and thus a cathedral was uplifted as a monument to theOrder, albeit the names of the builders are faded and lost. Employedfor years on the same building, and living together in the Lodge, itis not strange that Free-masons came to know and love one another, andto have a feeling of loyalty to their craft, unique, peculiar, andenduring. Traditions of fun and frolic, of song and feast andgala-day, have floated down to us, telling of a comradeship as joyousas it was genuine. If their life had hardship and vicissitude, it hadalso its grace and charm of friendship, of sympathy, service, andcommunity of interest, and the joy that comes of devotion to a highand noble art. 

When a Mason wished to leave one Lodge and go elsewhere to work, as hewas free to do when he desired, he had no difficulty in making himselfknown to the men of his craft by certain signs, grips, and words. [90]Such tokens of recognition were necessary to men who traveled afar inthose uncertain days, especially when references or other means ofidentification were ofttimes impossible. All that many people knewabout the order was that its members had a code of secret signs, andthat no Mason need be friendless or alone when other Masons werewithin sight or hearing; so that the very name of the craft came tostand for any mode of hidden recognition. Steele, in the _Tatler_, speaks of a class of people who have "their signs and tokens likeFree-masons. " There were more than one of these signs and tokens, aswe are more than once told--in the _Harleian MS_, for example, whichspeaks of "words and signs. " What they were may not be here discussed, but it is safe to say that a Master Mason of the Middle Ages, were heto return from the land of shadows, could perhaps make himself knownas such in a Fellowcraft Lodge of today. No doubt some things wouldpuzzle him at first, but he would recognize the officers of the Lodge, its form, its emblems, its great altar Light, and its moral truthtaught in symbols. Besides, he could tell us, if so minded, much thatwe should like to learn about the craft in the olden times, its hiddenmysteries, the details of its rites, and the meaning of its symbolswhen the poetry of building was yet alive. 

III

This brings us to one of the most hotly debated questions in Masonichistory--the question as to the number and nature of the degrees madeuse of in the old craft lodges. Hardly any other subject has so deeplyengaged the veteran archaeologists of the order, and while it illbecomes any one glibly to decide such an issue, it is at leastpermitted us, after studying all of value that has been written onboth sides, to sum up what seems to be the truth arrived at. [91]While such a thing as a written record of an ancient degree--asidefrom the _Old Charges_, which formed a part of the earliestrituals--is unthinkable, we are not left altogether to the mercy ofconjecture in a matter so important. Cesare Cantu tells us that theComacine Masters "were called together in the Loggie by a grand-masterto treat of affairs common to the order, to receive novices, and_confer superior degrees on others_. "[92] Evidence of a sort similaris abundant, but not a little confusion will be avoided if thefollowing considerations be kept in mind:

First, that during its purely operative period the ritual of Masonrywas naturally less formal and ornate than it afterwards became, fromthe fact that its very life was a kind of ritual and its symbols werealways visibly present in its labor. By the same token, as it ceasedto be purely operative, and others not actually architects wereadmitted to its fellowship, of necessity its rites became moreformal--"_very formall_, " as Dugdale said in 1686, [93]--portraying inceremony what had long been present in its symbolism and practice. 

Second, that with the decline of the old religious art ofbuilding--for such it was in very truth--some of its symbolism lostits luster, its form surviving but its meaning obscured, if notentirely faded. Who knows, for example--even with the Klein essay on_The Great Symbol_[94] in hand--what Pythagoras meant by his lesserand greater Tetractys? That they were more than mathematical theoremsis plain, yet even Plutarch missed their meaning. In the same way, some of the emblems in our Lodges are veiled, or else wear meaningsinvented after the fact, in lieu of deeper meanings hidden, or butdimly discerned. Albeit, the great emblems still speak in truthssimple and eloquent, and remain to refine, instruct, and exalt. 

Third, that when Masonry finally became a purely speculative orsymbolical fraternity, no longer an order of practical builders, itsceremonial inevitably became more elaborate and imposing--its oldhabit and custom, as well as its symbols and teachings, beingenshrined in its ritual. More than this, knowing how "Time the whitegod makes all things holy, and what is old becomes religion, " it isno wonder that its tradition became every year more authoritative; sothat the tendency was not, as many have imagined, to add to itsteaching, but to preserve and develop its rich deposit of symbolism, and to avoid any break with what had come down from the past. 

Keeping in mind this order of evolution in the history of Masonry, wemay now state the facts, so far as they are known, as to its earlydegrees; dividing it into two periods, the Operative and theSpeculative. [95] An Apprentice in the olden days was "entered" as anovice of the craft, first, as a purely business proceeding, notunlike our modern indentures, or articles. Then, or shortlyafterwards--probably at the annual Assembly--there was a ceremony ofinitiation making him a Mason--including an oath, the recital of thecraft legend as recorded in the _Old Charges_, instruction in moralconduct and deportment as a Mason, and the imparting of certainsecrets. At first this degree, although comprising secrets, does notseem to have been mystic at all, but a simple ceremony intended toimpress upon the mind of the youth the high moral life required ofhim. Even Guild-masonry had such a rite of initiation, as Hallamremarks, and if we may trust the Findel version of the ceremony usedamong the German Stone-masons, it was very like the first degree as wenow have it--though one has always the feeling that it was embellishedin the light of later time. [96]

So far there is no dispute, but the question is whether any otherdegree was known in the early lodges. Both the probabilities of thecase, together with such facts as we have, indicate that there wasanother and higher degree. For, if all the secrets of the order weredivulged to an Apprentice, he could, after working four years, andjust when he was becoming valuable, run away, give himself out as aFellow, and receive work and wages as such. If there was only one setof secrets, this deception might be practiced to his own profit andthe injury of the craft--unless, indeed, we revise all our ideas heldhitherto, and say that his initiation did not take place until he wasout of his articles. This, however, would land us in worsedifficulties later on. Knowing the fondness of the men of the MiddleAges for ceremony, it is hardly conceivable that the day of all dayswhen an Apprentice, having worked for seven long years, acquired thestatus of a Fellow, was allowed to go unmarked, least of all in anorder of men to whom building was at once an art and an allegory. Sothat, not only the exigences of his occupation, but the importance ofthe day to a young man, and the spirit of the order, justify such aconclusion. 

Have we any evidence tending to confirm this inference? Mostcertainly; so much so that it is not easy to interpret the hints givenin the _Old Charges_ upon any other theory. For one thing, in nearlyall the MSS, from the _Regius Poem_ down, we are told of two rooms orresorts, the Chamber and the Lodge--sometimes called the Bower and theHall--and the Mason was charged to keep the "counsells" proper to eachplace. This would seem to imply that an Apprentice had access to theChamber or Bower, but not to the Lodge itself--at least not at alltimes. It may be argued that the "other counsells" referred to weremerely technical secrets, but that is to give the case away, sincethey were secrets held and communicated as such. By natural process, as the order declined and actual building ceased, _its technicalsecrets became ritual secrets_, though they must always have hadsymbolical meanings. Further, while we have record of only oneoath--which does not mean that there _was_ only one--signs, tokens, and words are nearly always spoken of in the plural; and if thesecrets of a Fellowcraft were purely technical--which some of us donot believe--they were at least accompanied and protected by certainsigns, tokens, and passwords. From this it is clear that the advent ofan Apprentice into the ranks of a Fellow was in fact a degree, orcontained the essentials of a degree, including a separate set ofsigns and secrets. 

When we pass to the second period, and men of wealth and learning whowere not actual architects began to enter the order--whether aspatrons of the art or as students and mystics attracted by itssymbolism--other evidences of change appear. They, of course, were notrequired to serve a seven year apprenticeship, and they wouldnaturally be Fellows, not Masters, because they were in no sensemasters of the craft. Were these Fellows made acquainted with thesecrets of an Apprentice? If so, then the two degrees were eitherconferred in one evening, or else--what seems to have been thefact--they were welded into one; since we hear of men being madeMasons in a single evening. [97] Customs differed, no doubt, indifferent Lodges, some of which were chiefly operative, or made up ofmen who had been working Masons, with only a sprinkling of men notworkmen who had been admitted; while others were purely symbolicalLodges as far back as 1645. Naturally in Lodges of the first kind thetwo degrees were kept separate, and in the second they weremerged--the one degree becoming all the while more elaborate. Gradually the men who had been Operative Masons became fewer in theLodges--chiefly those of higher position, such as master builders, architects, and so on--until the order became a purely speculativefraternity, having no longer any trade object in view. 

Not only so, but throughout this period of transition, and evenearlier, we hear intimations of "the Master's Part, " and those hintsincrease in number as the office of Master of the Work lost itspractical aspect after the cathedral-building period. What was theMaster's Part? Unfortunately, while the number of degrees may beindicated, their nature and details cannot be discussed without graveindiscretion; but nothing is plainer than that _we need not go outsideMasonry itself to find the materials out of which all three degrees, as they now exist, were developed_. [98] Even the French Companionage, or Sons of Solomon, had the legend of the Third Degree long before1717, when some imagine it to have been invented. If little or nomention of it is found among English Masons before that date, that isno reason for thinking that it was unknown. _Not until 1841 was itknown to have been a secret of the Companionage in France, so deeplyand carefully was it hidden. _[99] Where so much is dim one may not bedogmatic, but what seems to have taken place in 1717 was, not the_addition_ of a third degree made out of whole cloth, but the_conversion_ of two degrees into three. 

That is to say, Masonry is too great an institution to have been madein a day, much less by a few men, but was a slow evolution throughlong time, unfolding its beauty as it grew. Indeed, it was like one ofits own cathedrals upon which one generation of builders wrought andvanished, and another followed, until, amidst vicissitudes of time andchange, of decline and revival, the order itself became a temple ofFreedom and Fraternity--its history a disclosure of its innermost soulin the natural process of its transition from actual architecture toits "more noble and glorious purpose. " For, since what was evolvedfrom Masonry must always have been involved in it--not something alienadded to it from extraneous sources, as some never tire of trying toshow--we need not go outside the order itself to learn what Masonryis, certainly not to discover its motif and its genius; its later andmore elaborate form being only an expansion and exposition of itsinherent nature and teaching. Upon this fact the present study insistswith all emphasis, as over against those who go hunting in every oddnook and corner to find whence Masonry came, and where it got itssymbols and degrees. 

FOOTNOTES:

[83] Our present craft nomenclature is all wrong; the old order wasfirst Apprentice, then Master, then Fellowcraft--mastership being, nota degree conferred, but a reward of skill as a workman and of merit asa man. The confusion today is due, no doubt, to the custom of theGerman Guilds, where a Fellowcraft had to serve an additional two yearsas a journeyman before becoming a Master. No such restriction was knownin England. Indeed, the reverse was true, and it was not theFellowcraft but the Apprentice who prepared his masterpiece, and if itwas accepted, he became a Master. Having won his mastership, he wasentitled to become a Fellowcraft--that is, a peer and fellow of thefraternity which hitherto he had only served. Also, we must distinguishbetween a Master and the Master of the Work, now represented by theMaster of the Lodge. Between a Master and the Master of the Work therewas no difference, of course, except an accidental one; they were bothMasters and Fellows. Any Master (or Fellow) could become a Master ofthe Work at any time, provided he was of sufficient skill and had theluck to be chosen as such either by the employer, or the Lodge, orboth. 

[84] The older MSS indicate that initiations took place, for the mostpart, at the annual Assemblies, which were bodies not unlike the GrandLodges of today, presided over by a President--a Grand Master in fact, though not in name. Democratic in government, as Masonry has alwaysbeen, they received Apprentices, examined candidates for mastership, tried cases, adjusted disputes, and regulated the craft; but they werealso occasions of festival and social good will. At a later time theydeclined, and the functions of initiation more and more reverted to theLodges. 

[85] The subject of Mason's Marks is most interesting, particularlywith reference to the origin and growth of Gothic architecture, but toointricate to be entered upon here. As for example, an essay entitled"Scottish Mason's Marks Compared with Those of Other Countries, " byProf. T. H. Lewis, _British Archaeological Association_, 1888, and thetheory there advanced that some great unknown architect introducedGothic architecture from the East, as shown by the difference inMason's Marks as compared with those of the Norman period. (Alsoproceedings of _A. Q. C. _, iii, 65-81. )

[86] _History of Masonry_, Steinbrenner. It consisted of a short blacktunic--in summer made of linen, in winter of wool--open at the sides, with a gorget to which a hood was attached; round the waist was aleathern girdle, from which depended a sword and a satchel. Over thetunic was a black scapulary, similar to the habit of a priest, tuckedunder the girdle when they were working, but on holydays allowed tohang down. No doubt this garment also served as a coverlet at night, aswas the custom of the Middle Ages, sheets and blankets being luxuriesenjoyed only by the rich and titled (_History of Agriculture and Pricesin England_, T. Rogers). On their heads they wore large felt or strawhats, and tight leather breeches and long boots completed the garb. 

[87] Gloves were more widely used in the olden times than now, and thepractice of giving them as presents was common in mediaeval times. Often, when the harvest was over, gloves were distributed to thelaborers who gathered it (_History of Prices in England_, Rogers), andrichly embroidered gloves formed an offering gladly accepted byprinces. Indeed, the bare hand was regarded as a symbol of hostility, and the gloved hand a token of peace and goodwill. For Masons, however, the white gloves and apron had meanings hardly guessed by others, andtheir symbolism remains to this day with its simple and eloquentappeal. (See chapter on "Masonic Clothing and Regalia, " in _Things aFreemason Should Know_, by J. W. Crowe, an interesting article byRylands, _A. Q. C. _, vol. V, and the delightful essay on "Gloves, " byDr. Mackey, in his _Symbolism of Freemasonry_. ) Not only the tools ofthe builder, but his clothing, had moral meaning. 

[88] _Tiler_--like the word _cable-tow_--is a word peculiar to thelanguage of Masonry, and means one who guards the Lodge to see thatonly Masons are within ear-shot. It probably derives from the MiddleAges when the makers of tiles for roofing were also of migratory habits(_History of Prices in England_, Rogers), and accompanied theFree-masons to perform their share of the work of covering buildings. Some tiler was appointed to act as sentinel to keep off intruders, andhence, in course of time, the name of Tiler came to be applied to anyMason who guarded the Lodge. 

[89] Much has been written of the derivation and meaning of the word_cowan_, some finding its origin in a Greek term meaning "dog. " (See"An Inquiry Concerning Cowans, " by D. Ramsay, _Review of Freemasonry_, vol. I. ) But its origin is still to seek, unless we accept it as an oldScotch word of contempt (_Dictionary of Scottish Language_, Jamieson). Sir Walter Scott uses it as such in Rob Roy, "she doesna' value aCawmil mair as a cowan" (chap. Xxix). Masons used the word to describea "dry-diker, one who built without cement, " or a Mason without theword. Unfortunately, we still have cowans in this sense--men who try tobe Masons without using the cement of brotherly love. If only they_could_ be kept out! Blackstone describes an eavesdropper as "a commonnuisance punishable by fine. " Legend says that the old-time Masonspunished such prying persons, who sought to learn their signs andsecrets, by holding them under the eaves until the water ran in at theneck and out at the heels. What penalty was inflicted in dry weather, we are not informed. At any rate, they had contempt for a man who triedto make use of the signs of the craft without knowing its art andethics. 

[90] This subject is most fascinating. Even in primitive ages thereseems to have been a kind of universal sign-language employed, attimes, by all peoples. Among widely separated tribes the signs werevery similar, owing, perhaps, to the fact that they were naturalgestures of greeting, of warning, or of distress. There is intimationof this in the Bible, when the life of Ben-Hadad was saved by a signgiven (I Kings, 20:30-35). Even among the North American Indians asign-code of like sort was known (_Indian Masonry_, R. C. Wright, chap. Iii). "Mr. Ellis, by means of his knowledge as a Master Mason, actuallypassed himself into the sacred part or adytum of one of the temples ofIndia" (_Anacalypsis_, G. Higgins, vol. I, 767). See also theexperience of Haskett Smith among the Druses, already referred to (_A. Q. C. _, iv, 11). Kipling has a rollicking story with the Masonicsign-code for a theme, entitled _The Man Who Would be King_, and hisimagination is positively uncanny. If not a little of the oldsign-language of the race lives to this day in Masonic Lodges, it isdue not only to the exigencies of the craft, but also to the instinctof the order for the old, the universal, the _human_; its genius formaking use of all the ways and means whereby men may be brought to knowand love and help one another. 

[91] Once more it is a pleasure to refer to the transactions of theQuatuor Coronati Lodge of Research, whose essays and discussions ofthis issue, as of so many others, are the best survey of the wholequestion from all sides. The paper by J. W. Hughan arguing in behalf ofonly one degree in the old time lodges, and a like paper by G. W. Spethin behalf of two degrees, with the materials for the third, cover thefield quite thoroughly and in full light of all the facts (_A. Q. C. _, vol. X, 127; vol. Xi, 47). As for the Third Degree, that will beconsidered further along. 

[92] _Storia di Como_, vol. I, 440. 

[93] _Natural History of Wiltshire_, by John Aubrey, written, but notpublished, in 1686. 

[94] _A. Q. C. _, vol. X, 82. 

[95] Roughly speaking, the year 1600 may be taken as a date dividingthe two periods. Addison, writing in the _Spectator_, March 1, 1711, draws the following distinction between a speculative and an operativemember of a trade or profession: "I live in the world rather as aspectator of mankind, than as one of the species, by which means I havemade myself a speculative statesman, soldier, merchant, and _artisan_, without ever meddling with any practical part of life. " By aSpeculative Mason, then, is meant a man who, though not an actualarchitect, sought and obtained membership among Free-masons. Such men, scholars and students, began to enter the order as early as 1600, ifnot earlier. If by Operative Mason is meant one who attached no moralmeaning to his tools, there were none such in the olden time--allMasons, even those in the Guilds, using their tools as moral emblems ina way quite unknown to builders of our day. 'Tis a pity that this lightof poetry has faded from our toil, and with it the joy of work. 

[96] _History of Masonry_, p. 66. 

[97] For a single example, the _Diary_ of Elias Ashmole, under date of1646. 

[98] Time out of mind it has been the habit of writers, both within theorder and without, to treat Masonry as though it were a kind ofagglomeration of archaic remains and platitudinous moralizings, made upof the heel-taps of Operative legend and the fag-ends of Occult lore. Far from it! If this were the fact the present writer would be thefirst to admit it, but it is not the fact. Instead, the idea that anorder so noble, so heroic in its history, so rich in symbolism, soskilfully adjusted, and with so many traces of remote antiquity, wasthe creation of pious fraud, or else of an ingenious conviviality, passes the bounds of credulity and enters the domain of the absurd. This fact will be further emphasized in the chapter following, to whichthose are respectfully referred who go everywhere else, _except toMasonry itself_, to learn what Masonry is and how it came to be. 

[99] _Livre du Compagnonnage_, by Agricol Perdiguier, 1841. GeorgeSand's novel, _Le Compagnon du Tour de France_, was published the sameyear. See full account of this order in Gould, _History of Masonry_, vol. I, chap. V. 

ACCEPTED MASONS

/# _The_ SYSTEM, _as taught in the regular_ LODGES, _may have some Redundancies or Defects, occasion'd by the Ignorance or Indolence of the old members. And indeed, considering through what Obscurity and Darkness the_ MYSTERY _has been deliver'd down; the many Centuries it has survived; the many Countries and Languages, and_ SECTS _and_ PARTIES _it has run through; we are rather to wonder that it ever arrived to the present Age, without more Imperfection. It has run long in muddy Streams, and as it were, under Ground. But notwithstanding the great Rust it may have contracted, there is much of the_ OLD FABRICK _remaining: the essential Pillars of the Building may be discov'd through the Rubbish, tho' the Superstructure be overrun with Moss and Ivy, and the Stones, by Length of Time, be disjointed. And therefore, as the Bust of an_ OLD HERO _is of great Value among the Curious, tho' it has lost an Eye, the Nose or the Right Hand; so Masonry with all its Blemishes and Misfortunes, instead of appearing ridiculous, ought to be receiv'd with some Candor and Esteem, from a Veneration of its_ ANTIQUITY. 

 --_Defence of Masonry_, 1730#/

CHAPTER III

_Accepted Masons_

I

Whatever may be dim in the history of Freemasonry, and in the natureof things much must remain hidden, its symbolism may be traced inunbroken succession through the centuries; and its symbolism is itssoul. So much is this true, that it may almost be said that had theorder ceased to exist in the period when it was at its height, itssymbolism would have survived and developed, so deeply was it wroughtinto the mind of mankind. When, at last, the craft finished its laborsand laid down its tools, its symbols, having served the faith of theworker, became a language for the thoughts of the thinker. 

Few realize the service of the science of numbers to the faith of manin the morning of the world, when he sought to find some kind of keyto the mighty maze of things. Living amidst change and seeming chance, he found in the laws of numbers a path by which to escape the awfulsense of life as a series of accidents in the hands of a capriciousPower; and, when we think of it, his insight was not invalid. "Allthings are in numbers, " said the wise Pythagoras; "the world is aliving arithmetic in its development--a realized geometry in itsrepose. " Nature is a realm of numbers; crystals are solid geometry. Music, of all arts the most divine and exalting, moves with measuredstep, using geometrical figures, and cannot free itself from numberswithout dying away into discord. Surely it is not strange that ascience whereby men obtained such glimpses of the unity and order ofthe world should be hallowed among them, imparting its form to theirfaith. [100] Having revealed so much, mathematics came to wear mysticalmeanings in a way quite alien to our prosaic habit of thinking--faithin our day having betaken itself to other symbols. 

Equally so was it with the art of building--a living allegory in whichman imitated in miniature the world-temple, and sought by everydevice to discover the secret of its stability. Already we have shownhow, from earliest times, the simple symbols of the builder became apart of the very life of humanity, giving shape to its thought, itsfaith, its dream. Hardly a language but bears their impress, as whenwe speak of a Rude or Polished mind, of an Upright man who is a Pillarof society, of the Level of equality, or the Golden Rule by which wewould Square our actions. They are so natural, so inevitable, and soeloquent withal, that we use them without knowing it. Sages havealways been called Builders, and it was no idle fancy when Plato andPythagoras used imagery drawn from the art of building to utter theirhighest thought. Everywhere in literature, philosophy, and life it isso, and naturally so. Shakespeare speaks of "square-men, " and whenSpenser would build in stately lines the Castle of Temperance, hemakes use of the Square, Circle, and Triangle:[101]

/P The frame thereof seem'd partly circulaire And part triangular: O work divine! Those two the first and last proportions are; The one imperfect, mortal, feminine. 

 The other immortal, perfect, masculine, And twixt them both a quadrate was the base, Proportion'd equally by seven and nine; Nine was the circle set in heaven's place All which compacted made a goodly diapase. P/

During the Middle Ages, as we know, men revelled in symbolism, oftenof the most recondite kind, and the emblems of Masonry are to be foundall through the literature, art, and thought of that time. Not only oncathedrals, tombs, and monuments, where we should expect to come uponthem, but in the designs and decorations of dwellings, on vases, pottery, and trinkets, in the water-marks used by paper-makers andprinters, and even as initial letters in books--everywhere one findsthe old, familiar emblems. [102] Square, Rule, Plumb-line, the perfectAshlar, the two Pillars, the Circle within the parallel lines, thePoint within the Circle, the Compasses, the Winding Staircase, thenumbers Three, Five, Seven, Nine, the double Triangle--these and othersuch symbols were used alike by Hebrew Kabbalists and RosicrucianMystics. Indeed, so abundant is the evidence--if the matter were indispute and needed proof--especially after the revival of symbolismunder Albertus Magnus in 1249, that a whole book might be filled withit. Typical are the lines left by a poet who, writing in 1623, singsof God as the great Logician whom the conclusion never fails, andwhose counsel rules without command:[103]

/P Therefore can none foresee his end Unless on God is built his hope. And if we here below would learn By Compass, Needle, Square, and Plumb, We never must o'erlook the mete Wherewith our God hath measur'd us. P/

For all that, there are those who never weary of trying to find where, in the misty mid-region of conjecture, the Masons got their immemorialemblems. One would think, after reading their endless essays, that thesymbols of Masonry were loved and preserved by all the world--_exceptby the Masons themselves_. Often these writers imply, if they do notactually assert, that our order begged, borrowed, or cribbed itsemblems from Kabbalists or Rosicrucians, whereas the truth is exactlythe other way round--those impalpable fraternities, whose vague, fantastic thought was always seeking a local habitation and a body, making use of the symbols of Masonry the better to reach the minds ofmen. Why all this unnecessary mystery--not to say mystification--whenthe facts are so plain, written in records and carved in stone? WhileKabbalists were contriving their curious cosmogonies, the Masons wentabout their work, leaving record of their symbols in deeds, not increeds, albeit holding always to their simple faith, and hope, andduty--as in the lines left on an old brass Square, found in an ancientbridge near Limerick, bearing date of 1517:

/P Strive to live with love and care Upon the Level, by the Square. P/

Some of our Masonic writers[104]--more than one likes to admit--haveerred by confusing Freemasonry with Guild-masonry, to the discredit ofthe former. Even Oliver once concluded that the secrets of theworking Masons of the Middle Ages were none other than the laws ofGeometry--hence the letter _G_; forgetting, it would seem, thatGeometry had mystical meanings for them long since lost to us. As wellsay that the philosophy of Pythagoras was repeating the MultiplicationTable! Albert Pike held that we are "not warranted in assuming that, among Masons generally--in the _body_ of Masonry--the symbolism ofFreemasonry is of earlier date then 1717. "[105] Surely that is to err. If we had only the Mason's Marks that have come down to us, nothingelse would be needed to prove it an error. Of course, for deeper mindsall emblems have deeper meanings, and there may have been many Masonswho did not fathom the symbolism of the order. No more do we; but thesymbolism itself, of hoar antiquity, was certainly the commoninheritance and treasure of the working Masons of the Lodges inEngland and Scotland before, indeed centuries before, the year 1717. 

II

Therefore it is not strange that men of note and learning, attractedby the wealth of symbolism in Masonry, as well as by its spirit offraternity--perhaps, also, by its secrecy--began at an early date toask to be accepted as members of the order: hence _AcceptedMasons_. [106] How far back the custom of admitting such men to theLodges goes is not clear, but hints of it are discernible in theoldest documents of the order; and this whether or no we accept ashistorical the membership of Prince Edwin in the tenth century, ofwhom the _Regius Poem_ says, /$ Of speculatyfe he was a master. $/

This may only mean that he was amply skilled in the knowledge, as wellas the practice, of the art, although, as Gould points out, the_Regius MS_ contains intimations of thoughts above the heads of manyto whom it was read. [107] Similar traces of Accepted Masons are foundin the _Cooke MS_, compiled in 1400 or earlier. Hope suggests[108]that the earliest members of this class were ecclesiastics who wishedto study to be architects and designers, so as to direct the erectionof their own churches; the more so, since the order had "so high andsacred a destination, was so entirely exempt from all local, civiljurisdiction, " and enjoyed the sanction and protection of the Church. Later, when the order was in disfavor with the Church, men of anothersort--scholars, mystics, and lovers of liberty--sought its degrees. 

At any rate, the custom began early and continued through the years, until Accepted Masons were in the majority. Noblemen, gentlemen, andscholars entered the order as Speculative Masons, and held office assuch in the old Lodges, the first name recorded in actual minutesbeing John Boswell, who was present as a member of the Lodge ofEdinburgh in 1600. Of the forty-nine names on the roll of the Lodge ofAberdeen in 1670, thirty-nine were Accepted Masons not in any wayconnected with the building trade. In England the earliest referenceto the initiation of a Speculative Mason, in Lodge minutes, is of theyear 1641. On the 20th of May that year, Robert Moray, "GeneralQuarter-master of the Armie off Scottland, " as the record runs, wasinitiated at Newcastle by members of the "Lodge of Edinburgh, " whowere with the Scottish Army. A still more famous example was that ofAshmole, whereof we read in the _Memoirs of the Life of that LearnedAntiquary, Elias Ashmole, Drawn up by Himself by Way of Diary_, published in 1717, which contains two entries as follows, the firstdated in 1646:

/#[4, 66] _Octob 16. 4 Hor. _ 30 Minutes _post merid. _ I was made a Freemason at _Warrington_ in Lancashire, with Colonel _Henry Wainwaring_ of _Kartichain_ in _Cheshire_; the names of those that were there at the Lodge, Mr. _Richard Panket Warden_, Mr. _James Collier_, Mr. _Richard Sankey_, _Henry Littler_, _John Ellam_, _Richard Ellam_ and _Hugh Brewer_. #/

Such is the record, italics and all; and it has been shown, by huntingup the wills of the men present, that the members of the WarringtonLodge in 1646 were, nearly all of them--every one in fact, so far asis known--Accepted Masons. Thirty-five years pass before we discoverthe only other Masonic entries in the _Diary_, dated March, 1682, which read as follows:

/#[4, 66] About 5 p. M. I received a Summons to appear at a Lodge to be held the next day, at Masons Hall, London. Accordingly I went, and about Noone were admitted into the Fellowship of Free Masons, Sir. William Wilson, Knight, Capt. Richard Borthwick, Mr. Will. Woodman, Mr. Wm. Grey, M. Samuell Taylor and Mr. William Wise. 

 I was the Senior Fellow among them (it being 35 years since I was admitted). There were present beside myselfe the Fellowes afternamed: [Then follows a list of names which conveys no information. ] Wee all dyned at the halfe moone Taverne in Cheapside at a Noble Dinner prepared at the charge of the new-accepted Masons. #/

Space is given to those entries, not because they are very important, but because Ragon and others have actually held that Ashmole madeMasonry--as if any one man made Masonry! 'Tis surely strange, if thisbe true, that only two entries in his _Diary_ refer to the order; butthat does not disconcert the theorists who are so wedded to theiridols as to have scant regard for facts. No, the circumstance thatAshmole was a Rosicrucian, an Alchemist, a delver into occult lore, isenough, the absence of any allusion to him thereafter only serving toconfirm the fancy--the theory being that a few adepts, seeing Masonryabout to crumble and decay, seized it, introduced their symbols intoit, making it the mouthpiece of their high, albeit hidden, teaching. How fascinating! and yet how baseless in fact! There is no evidencethat a Rosicrucian fraternity existed--save on paper, having beenwoven of a series of romances written as early as 1616, and ascribedto Andreae--until a later time; and even when it did take form, it wasquite distinct from Masonry. Occultism, to be sure, is elusive, coming we know not whence, and hovering like a mist trailing over thehills. Still, we ought to be able to find in Masonry _some_ trace ofRosicrucian influence, some hint of the lofty wisdom it is said tohave added to the order; but no one has yet done so. Did all thathigh, Hermetic mysticism evaporate entirely, leaving not a wraithbehind, going as mysteriously as it came to that far place which nomortal may explore?[109]

Howbeit, the _fact_ to be noted is that, thus early--and earlier, forthe Lodge had been in existence some time when Ashmole wasinitiated--the Warrington Lodge was made up of Accepted Masons. Of theten men present in the London Lodge, mentioned in the second entry inthe _Diary_, Ashmole was the senior, but he was not a member of theMasons' Company, though the other nine were, and also two of theneophytes. No doubt this is the Lodge which Conder, the historian ofthe Company, has traced back to 1620, "and were the books of theCompany prior to that date in existence, we should no doubt be able totrace the custom of receiving accepted members back to pre-reformationtimes. "[110] From an entry in the books of the Company, dated 1665, itappears that

/#[4, 66] There was hanging up in the Hall a list of the _Accepted Masons_ enclosed in a "faire frame, with a lock and key. " Why was this? No doubt the Accepted Masons, or those who were initiated into the esoteric aspect of the Company, did not include the _whole_ Company, and this was a list of the "enlightened ones, " whose names were thus honored and kept on record, probably long after their decease. .. . This we cannot say for certain, but we can say that as early as 1620, and inferentially very much earlier, there were certain members of the Masons' Company and others who met from time to time to form a Lodge for the purpose of Speculative Masonry. [111]#/

Conder also mentions a copy of the _Old Charges_, or GothicConstitutions, in the chest of the London Masons' Company, known as_The Book of the Constitutions of the Accepted Masons_; and this heidentifies with the _Regius MS_. Another witness during this period isRandle Holme, of Chester, whose references to the Craft in his_Acadamie Armory_, 1688, are of great value, for that he writes "as amember of that society called Free-masons. " The _Harleian MS_ is inhis handwriting, and on the next leaf there is a remarkable list oftwenty-six names, including his own. It is the only list of the kindknown in England, and a careful examination of all the sources ofinformation relative to the Chester men shows that nearly all of themwere Accepted Masons. Later on we come to the _Natural History ofStaffordshire_, by Dr. Plott, 1686, in which, though in an unfriendlymanner, we are told many things about Craft usages and regulations ofthat day. Lodges had to be formed of at least five members to make aquorum, gloves were presented to candidates, and a banquet followinginitiations was a custom. He states that there were several signs andpasswords by which the members were able "to be known to one anotherall over the nation, " his faith in their effectiveness surpassing thatof the most credulous in our day. 

Still another striking record is found in _The Natural History ofWiltshire_, by John Aubrey, the MS of which in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, is dated 1686; and on the reverse side of folio 72 of this MSis the following note by Aubrey: "This day [May 18, 1681] is a greatconvention at St. Pauls Church of the fraternity, of the free [then hecrossed out the word Free and inserted Accepted] Masons; where SirChristopher Wren is to be adopted a Brother: and Sir Henry Goodric ofye Tower and divers others. "[112] From which we may infer that therewere Assemblies before 1717, and that they were of sufficientimportance to be known to a non-Mason. Other evidence might beadduced, but this is enough to show that Speculative Masonry, so farfrom being a novelty, was very old at the time when many suppose itwas invented. With the great fire of London, in 1666, there came arenewed interest in Masonry, many who had abandoned it flocking to thecapital to rebuild the city and especially the Cathedral of St. Paul. Old Lodges were revived, new ones were formed, and an effort was madeto renew the old annual, or quarterly, Assemblies, while at the sametime Accepted Masons increased both in numbers and in zeal. 

Now the crux of the whole matter as regards Accepted Masons lies inthe answer to such questions as these: Why did soldiers, scholars, antiquarians, clergymen, lawyers, and even members of the nobility askto be accepted as members of the order of Free-masons? Wherefore theirinterest in the order at all? What attracted them to it as far back as1600, and earlier? What held them with increasing power and anever-deepening interest? Why did they continue to enter the Lodgesuntil they had the rule of them? There must have been something morein their motive than a simple desire for association, for they hadtheir clubs, societies, and learned fellowships. Still less could amere curiosity to learn certain signs and passwords have held such menfor long, even in an age of quaint conceits in the matter ofassociation and when architecture was affected as a fad. No, there isonly one explanation: that these men saw in Masonry a deposit of thehigh and simple wisdom of old, preserved in tradition and taught insymbols--little understood, it may be, by many members of theorder--and this it was that they sought to bring to light, turninghistory into allegory and legend into drama, and making it a teacherof wise and beautiful truth. 

FOOTNOTES:

[100] There is a beautiful lecture on the moral meaning of Geometry byDr. Hutchinson, in _The Spirit of Masonry_--one of the oldest, as it isone of the noblest, books in our Masonic literature. Plutarch reportsPlato as saying, "God is always geometrizing" (_Diog. Laert. _, iv, 2). Elsewhere Plato remarks that "Geometry rightly treated is the knowledgeof the Eternal" (_Republic_, 527b), and over the porch of his Academyat Athens he wrote the words, "Let no one who is ignorant of Geometryenter my doors. " So Aristotle and all the ancient thinkers, whether inEgypt or India. Pythagoras, Proclus tells us, was concerned only withnumber and magnitude: number absolute, in arithmetic; number applied, in music; and so forth--whereof we read in the _Old Charges_ (see "TheGreat Symbol, " by Klein, _A. Q. C. _, x, 82). 

[101] Faerie Queene, bk. Ii, canto ix, 22. 

[102] _Lost Language of Symbolism_, by Bayley, also _A New Light on theRenaissance_, by the same author; _Architecture of the Renaissance inEngland_, by J. A. Gotch; and "Notes on Some Masonic Symbols, " by W. H. Rylands, _A. Q. C. _, viii, 84. Indeed, the literature is as prolific asthe facts. 

[103] J. V. Andreae, _Ehreneich Hohenfelder von Aister Haimb_. Averbatim translation of the second line quoted would read, "Unless inGod he has his building. "

[104] When, for example, Albert Pike, in his letter, "Touching MasonicSymbolism, " speaks of the "poor, rude, unlettered, uncultivated workingStone-masons, " who attended the Assemblies, he is obviously confoundingFree-masons with the rough Stone-masons of the Guilds. Over againstthese words, read a brilliant article in the _Contemporary Review_, October, 1913, by L. M. Phillips, entitled, "The Two Ways of Building, "showing how the Free-masons, instead of working under architectsoutside the order, chose the finer minds among them as leaders andcreated the different styles of architecture in Europe. "Such, " headds, "was the high limit of talent and intelligence which the creativespirit fostered among workmen. .. . The entire body being trained andeducated in the same principles and ideas, the most backward andinefficient, as they worked at the vaults which their own skillfulbrethren had planned, might feel the glow of satisfaction arising fromthe conscious realization of their own aspirations. Thus the whole bodyof constructive knowledge maintained its unity. .. . Thus it was by freeassociations of workmen training their own leaders that the greatGothic edifices of the medieval ages were constructed. .. . A style soimaginative and so spiritual might almost be the dream of a poet or thevision of a saint. Really it is the creation of the sweat and labor ofworkingmen, and every iota of the boldness, dexterity and knowledgewhich it embodies was drawn out of the practical experience andexperiments of manual labor. " This describes the Comacine Masters, butnot the poor, rude, unlettered Stone-masons whom Pike had in mind. 

[105] Letter "Touching Masonic Symbolism. "

[106] Some Lodges, however, would never admit such members. As late asApril 24, 1786, two brothers were proposed as members of Domatic Lodge, No. 177, London, and were rejected because they were not OperativeMasons (_History Lion and Lamb Lodge, 192, London_, by Abbott). 

[107] "On the Antiquity of Masonic Symbolism, " _A. Q. C. _, iii, 7. 

[108] _Historical Essay on Architecture_, chap. Xxi. 

[109] Those who wish to pursue this Quixotic quest will find theliterature abundant and very interesting. For example, such essays asthat by F. W. Brockbank in _Manchester Association for Research_, vol. I, 1909-10; and another by A. F. A. Woodford, _A. Q. C. _, i, 28. Betterstill is the _Real History of the Rosicrucians_, by Waite (chap. Xv), and for a complete and final explosion of all such fancies we have thegreat chapter in Gould's _History of Masonry_ (vol. Ii, chap. Xiii). Itseems a pity that so much time and labor and learning had to beexpended on theories so fragile, but it was necessary; and no man wasbetter fitted for the study than Gould. Perhaps the present writer isunkind, or at least impatient; if so he humbly begs forgiveness; butafter reading tomes of conjecture about the alleged Rosicrucian originof Masonry, he is weary of the wide-eyed wonder of mystery-mongersabout things that never were, and which would be of no value if theyhad been. (Read _The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception_, or _ChristianOccult Science_, by Max Heindel, and be instructed in matters whereofno mortal knoweth. )

[110] _The Hole Craft and Fellowship of Masons_, by Edward Conder. 

[111] _Ibid. _, Introduction. 

[112] Whether Sir Christopher Wren was ever Grand Master, as traditionaffirms, is open to debate, and some even doubt his membership in theorder (Gould, _History of Masonry_). Unfortunately, he has left norecord, and the _Parentalia_, written by his son, helps us very little, containing nothing more than his theory that the order began withGothic architecture. Ashmole, if we may trust his friend, Dr. Knipe, had planned to write a _History of Masonry_ refuting the theory of Wrenthat Freemasonry took its rise from a Bull granted by the Pope, in thereign of Henry III, to some Italian architects, holding, and rightlyso, that the Bull "was comfirmatory only, and did not by any meanscreate our fraternity, or even establish it in this kingdom" (_Life ofAshmole_, by Campbell). This item makes still more absurd the idea thatAshmole himself created Masonry, whereas he was only a student of itsantiquities. Wren was probably never an Operative Mason--though anarchitect--but he seems to have become an Accepted member of thefraternity in his last years, since his neglect of the order, due tohis age, is given as a reason for the organization of the first GrandLodge. 

GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND

/# _The doctrines of Masonry are the most beautiful that it is possible to imagine. They breathe the simplicity of the earliest ages animated by the love of a martyred God. That word which the Puritans translated_ CHARITY, _but which is really_ LOVE, _is the key-stone which supports the entire edifice of this mystic science. Love one another, teach one another, help one another. That is all our doctrine, all our science, all our law. We have no narrow-minded prejudices; we do not debar from our society this sect or that sect; it is sufficient for us that a man worships God, no matter under what name or in what manner. Ah! rail against us bigoted and ignorant men, if you will. Those who listen to the truths which Masonry inculcates can readily forgive you. It is impossible to be a good Mason without being a good man. _

 --WINWOOD READE, _The Veil of Isis_#/

CHAPTER IV

_Grand Lodge of England_

While praying in a little chapel one day, Francis of Assisi wasexhorted by an old Byzantine crucifix: "Go now, and rebuild my Church, which is falling into ruins. " In sheer loyalty he had a lamp placed;then he saw his task in a larger way, and an artist has painted himcarrying stones and mortar. Finally there burst upon him the fullimport of the allocution--that he himself was to be the corner-stoneof a renewed and purified Church. Purse and prestige he flung to thewinds, and went along the highways of Umbria calling men back from therot of luxury to the ways of purity, pity, and gladness, his life atonce a poem and a power, his faith a vision of the world as love andcomradeship. 

That is a perfect parable of the history of Masonry. Of old theworking Masons built the great cathedrals, and we have seen them notonly carrying stones, but drawing triangles, squares, and circles insuch a manner as to show that they assigned to those figures highmystical meanings. But the real Home of the Soul cannot be built ofbrick and stone; it is a house not made with hands. Slowly it rises, fashioned of the thoughts, hopes, prayers, dreams, and righteous actsof devout and free men; built of their hunger for truth, their love ofGod, and their loyalty to one another. There came a day when theMasons, laying aside their stones, became workmen of another kind, notless builders than before, but using truths for tools and dramas fordesigns, uplifting such a temple as Watts dreamed of decorating withhis visions of the august allegory of the evolution of man. 

I

From every point of view, the organization of the Grand Lodge ofEngland, in 1717, was a significant and far-reaching event. Not onlydid it divide the story of Masonry into before and after, giving a newdate from which to reckon, but it was a way-mark in the intellectualand spiritual history of mankind. One has only to study that firstGrand Lodge, the influences surrounding it, the men who composed it, the Constitutions adopted, and its spirit and purpose, to see that itwas the beginning of a movement of profound meaning. When we see it inthe setting of its age--as revealed, for example, in the Journals ofFox and Wesley, which from being religious time-tables broadened intodetailed panoramic pictures of the period before, and that following, the Grand Lodge--the Assembly on 1717 becomes the more remarkable. Against such a background, when religion and morals seemed to reachthe nadir of degredation, the men of that Assembly stand out asprophets of liberty of faith and righteousness of life. [113]

Some imagination is needed to realize the moral declension of thattime, as it is portrayed--to use a single example--in the sermon bythe Bishop of Litchfield before the Society for the Reformation ofManners, in 1724. Lewdness, drunkenness, and degeneracy, he said, werewell nigh universal, no class being free from the infection. Murderswere common and foul, wanton and obscene books found so good a marketas to encourage the publishing of them. Immorality of every kind wasso hardened as to be defended, yes, justified on principle. The richwere debauched and indifferent; the poor were as miserable in theirlabor as they were coarse and cruel in their sport. Writing in 1713, Bishop Burnet said that those who came to be ordained as clergymenwere "ignorant to a degree not to be comprehended by those who are notobliged to know it. " Religion seemed dying or dead, and to mention theword provoked a laugh. Wesley, then only a lad, had not yet come withhis magnificent and cleansing evangel. Empty formalism on one side, adead polemical dogmatism on the other, bigotry, bitterness, intolerance, and interminable feud everywhere, no wonder Bishop Butlersat oppressed in his castle with hardly a hope surviving. 

As for Masonry, it had fallen far and fallen low betimes, but with therevival following the great fire of London, in 1666, it had taken onnew life and a bolder spirit, and was passing through atransition--or, rather, a transfiguration! For, when we compare theMasonry of, say, 1688 with that of 1723, we discover that much morethan a revival had come to pass. Set the instructions of the _OldCharges_--not all of them, however, for even in earliest times some ofthem escaped the stamp of the Church[114]--in respect of religionalongside the same article in the _Constitutions_ of 1723, and thecontrast is amazing. The old charge read: "The first charge is this, that you be true to God and Holy Church and use no error or heresy. "Hear now the charge in 1723:

/# _A Mason is obliged by his Tenure, to obey the moral law; and if he rightly understands the Art, he will never be a stupid Atheist nor an irreligious Libertine. But though in ancient times Masons were charged in every country to be of the religion of that country or nation, whatever it was, yet it is now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular Opinions to themselves: that is, to be Good men and True, or Men of Honor and Honesty, by whatever Denomination or Persuasion they may be distinguished; whereby Masonry becomes the Centre of Union and the Means of conciliating true Friendship among persons that must have remained at a perpetual distance. _#/

If that statement had been written yesterday, it would be remarkableenough. But when we consider that it was set forth in 1723, amidstbitter sectarian rancor and intolerance unimaginable, it rises up asforever memorable in the history of men! The man who wrote thatdocument, did we know his name, is entitled to be held till the endof time in the grateful and venerative memory of his race. The temperof the times was all for relentless partisanship, both in religion andin politics. The alternative offered in religion was an ecclesiasticaltyranny, allowing a certain liberty of belief, or a doctrinal tyranny, allowing a slight liberty of worship; a sad choice in truth. It is, then, to the everlasting honor of the century, that, in the midst ofits clashing extremes, the Masons appeared with heads unbowed, abjuring both tyrannies and championing both liberties. [115]Ecclesiastically and doctrinally they stood in the open, whileRomanist and Protestant, Anglican and Puritan, Calvinist and Arminianwaged bitter war, filling the air with angry maledictions. These menof latitude in a cramped age felt pent up alike by narrowness ofritual and by narrowness of creed, and they cried out for room andair, for liberty and charity!

Though differences of creed played no part in Masonry, nevertheless itheld religion in high esteem, and was then, as now, the steadfastupholder of the only two articles of faith that never were invented byman--the existence of God and the immortality of the soul!Accordingly, every Lodge was opened and closed with prayer to the"Almighty Architect of the universe;" and when a Lodge of mourning metin memory of a brother fallen asleep, the formula was: "He has passedover into the eternal East, "--to that region whence cometh light andhope. Unsectarian in religion, the Masons were also non-partisan inpolitics: one principle being common to them all--love of country, respect for law and order, and the desire for human welfare. [116] Uponthat basis the first Grand Lodge was founded, and upon that basisMasonry rests today--holding that a unity of spirit is better than auniformity of opinion, and that beyond the great and simple "religionin which all men agree" no dogma is worth a breach of charity. 

II

With honorable pride in this tradition of spiritual faith andintellectual freedom, we are all the more eager to recite such factsas are known about the organization of the first Grand Lodge. How manyLodges of Masons existed in London at that time is a matter ofconjecture, but there must have been a number. What bond, if any, united them, other than their esoteric secrets and customs, is equallyunknown. Nor is there any record to tell us whether all the Lodges inand about London were invited to join in the movement. Unfortunatelythe minutes of the Grand Lodge only commence on June 24, 1723, and ouronly history of the events is that found in _The New Book ofConstitutions_, by Dr. James Anderson, in 1738. However, if not anactor in the scene, he was in a position to know the facts fromeye-witnesses, and his book was approved by the Grand Lodge itself. His account is so brief that it may be given as it stands:

/#[4, 66] King George I enter'd _London_ most magnificently on _20 Sept. 1714_. And after the Rebellion was over A. D. 1716, the few _Lodges_ at _London_ finding themselves neglected by Sir _Christopher Wren_, thought fit to cement under a _Grand Master_ as the Centre of Union and Harmony, _viz. _, the _Lodges_ that met, 1. At the _Goose_ and _Gridiron_ Ale house in _St. Paul's Church-Yard_. 

 2. At the _Crown_ Ale-house in _Parker's Lane_ near _Drury Lane_. 

 3. At the _Apple-Tree_ Tavern in _Charles-street, Covent-Garden_. 

 4. At the _Rummer and Grape_ Tavern in _Channel-Row, Westminster_. 

 They and some other old Brothers met at the said _Apple-Tree_, and having put into the chair the _oldest Master Mason_ (now the _Master_ of a _Lodge_) they constituted themselves a Grand Lodge pro Tempore in _Due Form_, and forthwith revived the Quarterly _Communication_ of the _Officers_ of Lodges (call'd the GRAND LODGE) resolv'd to hold the _Annual_ Assembly _and Feast_, and then to chuse a Grand Master from among themselves, till they should have the Honor of a Noble Brother at their Head. 

 Accordingly, on _St. John's Baptist's_ Day, in the 3d year of King George I, A. D. 1717, the ASSEMBLY and _Feast_ of the _Free and Accepted Masons_ was held at the foresaid _Goose_ and _Gridiron_ Ale-house. 

 Before Dinner, the _oldest Master_ Mason (now the _Master_ of a _Lodge_) in the Chair, proposed a List of proper Candidates; and the Brethren by a majority of Hands elected Mr. Anthony Sayer, _Gentleman_, _Grand Master of Masons_ (Mr. _Jacob Lamball_, Carpenter, Capt. _Joseph Elliot_, Grand Wardens) who being forthwith invested with the Badges of Office and Power by the said _oldest Master_, and install'd, was duly congratulated by the Assembly who paid him the Homage. 

 Sayer, _Grand Master_, commanded the _Masters_ and _Wardens_ of Lodges to meet the _Grand_ Officers every _Quarter_ in _Communication_, at the Place that he should appoint in the Summons sent by the _Tyler_. #/

So reads the only record that has come down to us of the founding ofthe Grand Lodge of England. Preston and others have had no otherauthority than this passage for their descriptions of the scene, albeit when Preston wrote, such facts as he added may have beenlearned from men still living. Who were present, beyond the threeofficers named, has so far eluded all research, and the only variationin the accounts is found in a rare old book called _Multa Paucis_, which asserts that six Lodges, not four, were represented. Looking atthis record in the light of what we know of the Masonry of thatperiod, a number of things are suggested:

First, so far from being a revolution, the organization of the GrandLodge was a revival of the old quarterly and annual Assembly, born, doubtless, of a felt need of community of action for the welfare ofthe Craft. There was no idea of innovation, but, as Anderson states ina note, "it should meet Quarterly _according to ancient Usage_, "tradition having by this time become authoritative in such matters. Hints of what the old usages were are given in the observance of St. John's Day[117] as a feast, in the democracy of the order and itsmanner of voting by a show of hands, in its deference to the oldestMaster Mason, its use of badges of office, [118] its ceremony ofinstallation, all in a lodge duly tyled. 

Second, it is clear that, instead of being a deliberately plannedeffort to organize Masonry in general, the Grand Lodge was intended atfirst to affect only London and Westminster;[119] the desire being toweld a link of closer fellowship and coöperation between the Lodges. While we do not know the names of the moving spirits--unless we mayinfer that the men elected to office were such--nothing is clearerthan that the initiative came from the heart of the order itself, andwas in no sense imposed upon it from without; and so great was thenecessity for it that, when once started, link after link was addeduntil it "put a girdle around the earth. "

Third, of the four Lodges[120] known to have taken part, onlyone--that meeting at the Rummer and Grape Tavern--had a majority ofAccepted Masons in its membership; the other three being OperativeLodges, or largely so. Obviously, then, the movement was predominantlya movement of Operative Masons--or of men who had been OperativeMasons--and not, as has been so often implied, the design of men whosimply made use of the remnants of operative Masonry the better toexploit some hidden philosophy. Yet it is worthy of note that theleading men of the craft in those early years were, nearly all ofthem, Accepted Masons and members of the Rummer and Grape Lodge. Besides Dr. Anderson, the historian, both George Payne and Dr. Desaguliers, the second and third Grand Masters, were of that Lodge. In 1721 the Duke of Montagu was elected to the chair, and thereaftermembers of the nobility sat in the East until it became the custom forthe Prince of Wales to be Grand Master of Masons in England. [121]

Fourth, why did Masonry alone of all trades and professions live afterits work was done, preserving not only its identity of organization, but its old emblems and usages, and transforming them into instrumentsof religion and righteousness? The cathedrals had long been finishedor left incomplete; the spirit of Gothic architecture was dead and thestyle treated almost with contempt. The occupation of the MasterMason was gone, his place having been taken by the architect who, likeWren and Inigo Jones, was no longer a child of the Lodges as in theold days, but a man trained in books and by foreign travel. Why didnot Freemasonry die, along with the Guilds, or else revert to somekind of trades-union? Surely here is the best possible proof that ithad never been simply an order of architects building churches, but amoral and spiritual fellowship--the keeper of great symbols and ateacher of truths that never die. So and only so may anyone ever hopeto explain the story of Masonry, and those who do not see this facthave no clue to its history, much less an understanding of its genius. 

Of course these pages cannot recite in detail the history and growthof the Grand Lodge, but a few of the more salient events may be noted. As early as 1719 the _Old Charges_, or Gothic Constitutions, began tobe collected and collated, a number having already been burned byscrupulous Masons to prevent their falling into strange hands. In1721, Grand Master Montagu found fault with the _Old Charges_ as beinginadequate, and ordered Dr. Anderson to make a digest of them with aview to formulating a better set of regulations for the rule of theLodges. Anderson obeyed--he seems to have been engaged in such a workalready, and may have suggested the idea to the Grand Master--and acommittee of fourteen "learned brethren" was appointed to examine theMS and make report. They suggested a few amendments, and the book wasordered published by the Grand Master, appearing in the latter part of1723. This first issue, however, did not contain the account of theorganization of the Grand Lodge, which does not seem to have beenadded until the edition of 1738. How much Past Grand Master Payne hadto do with this work is not certain, but the chief credit is due toDr. Anderson, who deserves the perpetual gratitude of the order--themore so if he it was who wrote the article, already quoted, settingforth the religious attitude of the order. That article, by whomsoeverwritten, is one of the great documents of mankind, and it would be anadded joy to know that it was penned by a minister. [122] The _Book ofConstitutions_, which is still the groundwork of Masonry, has beenprinted in many editions, and is accessible to every one. 

Another event in the story of the Grand Lodge, never to be forgotten, was a plan started in 1724 of raising funds of General Charity fordistressed Masons. Proposed by the Earl of Dalkeith, it at once metwith enthusiastic support, and it is a curious coincidence that one ofthe first to petition for relief was Anthony Sayer, first GrandMaster. The minutes do not state whether he was relieved at that time, but we know that sums of money were voted to him in 1730, and again in1741. This Board of Benevolence, as it came to be called, became veryimportant, it being unanimously agreed in 1733 that all such businessas could not be conveniently despatched by the Quarterly Communicationshould be referred to it. Also, that all Masters of Regular Lodges, together with all present, former, and future Grand Officers should bemembers of the Board. Later this Board was still further empowered tohear complaints and to report thereon to the Grand Lodge. Let it alsobe noted that in actual practice the Board of Charity gave free playto one of the most admirable principles of Masonry--helping the needyand unfortunate, whether within the order or without. 

III

Once more we come to a much debated question, about which not a littlehas been written, and most of it wide of the mark--the question of theorigin of the Third Degree. Here again students have gone hither andyon hunting in every cranny for the motif of this degree, and it wouldseem that their failure to find it would by this time have turned themback to the only place where they may ever hope to discover it--inMasonry itself. But no; they are bound to bring mystics, occultists, alchemists, Culdees or Cabalists--even the _Vehmgerichte_ ofGermany--into the making of Masonry somewhere, if only for the sake ofglamor, and this is the last opportunity to do it. [123] Willing togive due credit to Cabalists and Rosicrucians, the present writerrejects all such theories on the ground that there is no reason forthinking that they helped to make Masonry, _much less any fact toprove it_. 

Hear now a review of the facts in the case. No one denies that theTemple of Solomon was much in the minds of men at the time of theorganization of the Grand Lodge, and long before--as in the Baconromance of the _New Atlantis_ in 1597. [124] Broughton, Selden, Lightfoot, Walton, Lee, Prideaux, and other English writers weredeeply interested in the Hebrew Temple, not, however, so much in itssymbolical suggestion as in its form and construction--a model ofwhich was brought to London by Judah Templo in the reign of CharlesII. [125] It was much the same on the Continent, but so far from beinga new topic of study and discussion, we may trace this interest in theTemple all through the Middle Ages. Nor was it peculiar to theCabalists, at least not to such a degree that they must needs bebrought in to account for the Biblical imagery and symbolism inMasonry. Indeed, it might with more reason be argued that Masonryexplains the interest in the Temple than otherwise. For, as JamesFergusson remarks--and there is no higher authority than the historianof architecture: "There is perhaps no building of the ancient worldwhich has excited so much attention since the time of its destruction, as the Temple of Solomon built in Jerusalem, and its successor asbuilt by Herod. _Throughout the Middle Ages it influenced to aconsiderable degree the forms of Christian churches, and itspeculiarities were the watchwords and rallying points of associationsof builders. _"[126] Clearly, the notion that interest in the Templewas new, and that its symbolical meaning was imposed upon Masonry assomething novel, falls flat. 

But we are told that there is no hint of the Hiramic legend, stillless any intimation of a tragedy associated with the building of theTemple. No Hiramic legend! No hint of tragedy! Why, both were almostas old as the Temple itself, rabbinic legend affirming that "_all theworkmen were killed that they should not build another Temple devotedto idolatry, Hiram himself being translated to heaven likeEnoch_. "[127] The Talmud has many variations of this legend. Wherewould one expect the legends of the Temple to be kept alive and bemade use of in ceremonial, if not in a religious order of builderslike the Masons? Is it surprising that we find so few references inlater literature to what was thus held as a sacred secret? As we haveseen, the legend of Hiram was kept as a profound secret until 1841 bythe French Companionage, who almost certainly learned it from theFree-masons. Naturally it was never made a matter of record, [128] butwas transmitted by oral tradition within the order; and it was alsonatural, if not inevitable, that the legend, of the master-artist ofthe Temple should be "the Master's Part" among Masons who weretemple-builders. How else explain the veiled allusions to the name inthe _Old Charges_ as read to Entered Apprentices, if it was not asecret reserved for a higher rank of Mason? Why any disguise at all ifit had no hidden meaning? Manifestly the motif of the Third Degree waspurely Masonic, and we need not go outside the traditions of the orderto account for it. 

Not content to trace the evolution of Masonry, even so able a man asAlbert Pike will have it that to a few men of intelligence whobelonged to one of the four old lodges in 1717 "is to be ascribed theauthorship of the Third Degree, and the introduction of Hermetic andother symbols into Masonry; that they framed the three degrees for thepurpose of communicating their doctrines, veiled by their symbols, tothose fitted to receive them, and gave to others trite moralexplanations they could comprehend. "[129] How gracious of them tovouchsafe even trite explanations, but why frame a set of degrees toconceal what they wished to hide? This is the same idea of somethingalien imposed upon Masonry from without, with the added suggestion, novel indeed, that Masonry was organized to hide the truth, ratherthan to teach it. But did Masonry have to go outside its own historyand tradition to learn Hermetic truths and symbols? Who was Hermes?Whether man or myth no one knows, but he was a great figure in theEgyptian Mysteries, and was called the Father of Wisdom. [130] What_was_ his wisdom? From such fragments of his lore as have floated downto us, impaired, it may be, but always vivid, we discover that hiswisdom was only a high spiritual faith and morality taught in visionsand rhapsodies, and using numbers as symbols. Was such wisdom new toMasonry? Had not Hermes himself been a hero of the order from thefirst, of whom we read in the _Old Charges_, in which he has a placeof honor alongside Euclid and Pythagoras? Wherefore go elsewhere thanto Masonry itself to trace the _pure_ stream of Hermetic faith throughthe ages? Certainly the men of the Grand Lodge were adepts, but theywere _Masonic adepts seeking to bring the buried temple of Masonry tolight and reveal it in a setting befitting its beauty_, not cultistsmaking use of it to exploit a private scheme of the universe. 

Who were those "men of intelligence" to whom Pike ascribed the makingof the Third Degree of Masonry? Tradition has fixed upon Desaguliers asthe ritualist of the Grand Lodge, and Lyon speaks of him as "thepioneer and co-fabricator of symbolical Masonry. "[131] This, however, is an exaggeration, albeit Desaguliers was worthy of high eulogy, as were Anderson and Payne, who are said to have been hiscollaborators. [132] But the fact is that the Third Degree was notmade; it grew--like the great cathedrals, no one of which can beascribed to a single artist, but to an order of men working in unity ofenterprise and aspiration. The process by which the old ritual, described in the _Sloane MS_, was divided and developed into threedegrees between 1717 and 1730 was so gradual, so imperceptible, that noexact date can be set; still less can it be attributed to any one ortwo men. From the minutes of the Musical Society we learn that theLodge at the Queen's Head in Hollis Street was using three distinctdegrees in 1724. As early as 1727 we come upon the custom of settingapart a separate night for the Master's Degree, the drama havingevidently become more elaborate. 

Further than this the Degree may not be discussed, except to say thatthe Masons, tiring of the endless quarrels of sects, turned for reliefto the Ancient Mysteries as handed down in their traditions--the old, high, heroic faith in God, and in the soul of man as the oneunconquerable thing upon this earth. If, as Aristotle said, it be themission of tragedy to cleanse and exalt us, leaving us subdued with asense of pity and hope and fortified against ill fortune, it ispermitted us to add that in simplicity, depth, and power, in itsgrasp of the realities of the life of man, its portrayal of thestupidity of evil and the splendor of virtue, its revelation of thatin our humanity which leads it to defy death, giving up everything, even to life itself, rather than defame, defile, or betray its moralintegrity, and in its prophecy of the victory of light over shadow, there is not another drama known among men like the Third Degree ofMasonry. Edwin Booth, a loyal Mason, and no mean judge of the essenceof tragedy, left these words:

/#[4, 66] In all my research and study, in all my close analysis of the masterpieces of Shakespeare, in my earnest determination to make those plays appear real on the mimic stage, I have never, and nowhere, met tragedy so real, so sublime, so magnificent as the legend of Hiram. It is substance without shadow--the manifest destiny of life which requires no picture and scarcely a word to make a lasting impression upon all who can understand. To be a Worshipful Master, and to throw my whole soul into that work, with the candidate for my audience and the Lodge for my stage, would be a greater personal distinction than to receive the plaudits of people in the theaters of the world. #/

FOOTNOTES:

[113] We should not forget that noble dynasty of large and liberalsouls in the seventeenth century--John Hales, Chillingsworth, Whichcote, John Smith, Henry More, Jeremy Taylor--whose _Liberty ofProphesying_ set the principle of toleration to stately strains ofeloquence--Sir Thomas Browne, and Richard Baxter; saints, every one ofthem, finely-poised, sweet-tempered, repelled from all extremes alike, and walking the middle path of wisdom and charity. Milton, too, taughttolerance in a bigoted and bitter age (see _Seventeenth Century Men ofLatitude_, E. A. George). 

[114] For instance the _Cooke MS_, next to the oldest of all, as wellas the _W. Watson_ and _York No. 4_ MSS. It is rather surprising, inview of the supremacy of the Church in those times, to find suchevidence of what Dr. Mackey called the chief mission of primitiveMasonry--the preservation of belief in the unity of God. These MSS didnot succumb to the theology of the Church, and their invocations remindus more of the God of Isaiah than of the decrees of the Council ofNicĉa. 

[115] It was, perhaps, a picture of the Masonic Lodges of that era thatToland drew in his _Socratic Society_, published in 1720, which, however, he clothed in a vesture quite un-Grecian. At least, thesymposia or brotherly feasts of his society, their give-and-take ofquestions and answers, their aversion to the rule of mere physicalforce, to compulsory religious belief, and to creed hatred, as well astheir mild and tolerant disposition and their brotherly regard for oneanother, remind one of the spirit and habits of the Masons of that day. 

[116] Now is as good a time as another to name certain curious theorieswhich have been put forth to account for the origin of Masonry ingeneral, and of the organization of the Grand Lodge in particular. Theyare as follows: First, that it was all due to an imaginary Temple ofSolomon described by Lord Bacon in a Utopian romance called the _NewAtlantis_; and this despite the fact that the temple in the Bacon storywas not a house at all, but the name of an ideal state. Second, thatthe object of Freemasonry and the origin of the Third Degree was therestoration of Charles II to the throne of England; the idea being thatthe Masons, who called themselves "Sons of the Widow, " meant thereby toexpress their allegiance to the Queen. Third, that Freemasonry wasfounded by Oliver Cromwell--he of all men!--to defeat the royalists. Fourth, that Free-masons were derived from the order of the KnightsTemplars. Even Lessing once held this theory, but seems later to havegiven it up. Which one of these theories surpasses the others inabsurdity, it would be hard to say. De Quincey explodes them one by onewith some detail in his "Inquiry into the Origin of the Free-masons, "to which he might also have added his own pet notion of the Rosicrucianorigin of the order--it being only a little less fantastic than therest (_De Quincey's Works_, vol. Xvi). 

[117] Of the Masonic feasts of St. John the Baptist and St. John theEvangelist much has been written, and to little account. Inpre-Christian times, as we have seen, the Roman Collegia were wont toadopt pagan deities as patrons. When Christianity came, the names ofits saints--some of them martyrs of the order of builders--weresubstituted for the old pagan gods. Why the two Saints John were chosenby Masons--rather than St. Thomas, who was the patron saint ofarchitecture--has never been made clear. At any rate, these two feasts, coming at the time of the summer and winter solstices, are in realityolder than Christianity, being reminiscences of the old Light Religionin which Masonry had its origin. 

[118] The badge of office was a huge white apron, such as we see inHogarth's picture of the _Night_. The collar was of much the same shapeas that at present in use, only shorter. When the color was changed toblue, and why, is uncertain, but probably not until 1813, when we beginto see both apron and collar edged with blue. (See chapter on "Clothingand Regalia, " in _Things a Freemason Ought to Know_, by J. W. Crowe. ) In1727 the officers of all private--or as we would say, subordinate--Lodges were ordered to wear "the jewels of Masonry hangingto a white apron. " In 1731 we find the Grand Master wearing gold orgilt jewels pendant to blue ribbons about the neck, and a white leatherapron _lined_ with blue silk. 

[119] This is clear from the book of _Constitutions_ of 1723, which issaid to be "for the use of Lodges in London. " Then follow the names ofthe Masters and Wardens of twenty Lodges, all in London. There was nothought at the time of imposing the authority of the Grand Lodge uponthe country in general, much less upon the world. Its growth we shallsketch later. For an excellent article on "The Foundation of ModernMasonry, " by G. W. Speth, giving details of the organization of theGrand Lodge and its changes, see _A. Q. C. _, ii, 86. If an elaborateaccount is wanted, it may be found in Gould's _History of Masonry_, vol. Iii. 

[120] _History of the Four Lodges_, by R. F. Gould. Apparently the Gooseand Gridiron Lodge--No. 1--is the only one of the four now inexistence. After various changes of name it is now the Lodge ofAntiquity, No. 2. 

[121] _Royal Masons_, by G. W. Speth. 

[122] From a meager sketch of Dr. Anderson in the _Gentlemen'sMagazine_, 1783, we learn that he was a native of Scotland--the placeof his birth is not given--and that for many years he was minister ofthe Scots Presbyterian Church in Swallow Street, Piccadilly, and wellknown to the folk of that faith in London--called "Bishop" Anderson byhis friends. He married the widow of an army officer, who bore him ason and a daughter. Although a learned man--compiler of a book of_Royal Genealogies_, which seems to have been his hobby--he wassomewhat imprudent in business, having lost most of his property in1720. Whether he was a Mason before coming to London is unknown, but hetook a great part in the work of the Grand Lodge, entering it, apparently, in 1721. Toward the close of his life he suffered manymisfortunes, but of what description we are not told. He died in 1739. Perhaps his learning was exaggerated by his Masonic eulogists, but hewas a noble man and manifestly a useful one (Gould's _History ofMasonry_, vol. Iii). 

[123] Having emphasized this point so repeatedly, the writer feels itjust to himself to state his own position, lest he be thought a kind ofmaterialist, or at least an enemy of mysticism. Not so. Instead, he haslong been an humble student of the great mystics; they are his bestfriends--as witness his two little books, _The Eternal Christ_, and_What Have the Saints to Teach Us?_ But mysticism is one thing, andmystification is another, and the former may be stated in this way:

First, by mysticism--only another word for spirituality--is meant oursense of an Unseen World, of our citizenship in it, of God and thesoul, and of all the forms of life and beauty as symbols of thingshigher than themselves. That is to say, if a man has any religion atall that is not mere theory or form, he is a mystic; the differencebetween him and Plato or St. Francis being only a matter of genius andspiritual culture--between a boy whistling a tune and Beethoven writingmusic. 

Second, since mysticism is native to the soul of man and the commonexperience of all who rise above the animal, it is not an exclusivepossession of any set of adepts to be held as a secret. Any man whobows in prayer, or lifts his thought heavenward, is an initiate intothe eternal mysticism which is the strength and solace of human life. 

Third, the old time Masons were religious men, and as such sharers inthis great human experience of divine things, and did not need to go toHidden Teachers to learn mysticism. They lived and worked in the lightof it. It shone in their symbols, as it does in all symbols that haveany meaning or beauty. It is, indeed, the soul of symbolism, everyemblem being an effort to express a reality too great for words. 

So, then, Masonry is mystical as music is mystical--like poetry, andlove, and faith, and prayer, and all else that makes it worth our timeto live; but its mysticism is sweet, sane, and natural, far fromfantastic, and in nowise eerie, unreal, or unbalanced. Of course thesewords fail to describe it, as all words must, and it is therefore thatMasonry uses parables, pictures, and symbols. 

[124] _Seventeenth Century Descriptions of Solomon's Temple_, by Prof. S. P. Johnston (_A. Q. C. _, xii, 135). 

[125] _Transactions Jewish Historical Society of England_, vol. Ii. 

[126] Smith's _Dictionary of the Bible_, article "Temple. "

[127] _Jewish Encyclopedia_, art. "Freemasonry. " Also _Builder'sRites_, G. W. Speth. 

[128] In the _Book of Constitutions_, 1723, Dr. Anderson dilates atlength on the building of the Temple--including a note on the meaningof the name Abif, which, it will be remembered, was not found in theAuthorized Version of the Bible; and then he suddenly breaks off withthe words: "_But leaving what must not, indeed cannot, be communicatedin Writing_. " It is incredible that he thus introduced among Masons aname and legend unknown to them. Had he done so, would it have met withsuch instant and universal acceptance by old Masons who stood for theancient usages of the order?

[129] Letter to Gould "Touching Masonic Symbolism. "

[130] _Hermes and Plato_, Edouard Schure. 

[131] _History of the Lodge of Edinburgh. _

[132] Steinbrenner, following Findel, speaks of the Third Degree as ifit were a pure invention, quoting a passage from _Ahiman Rezon_, byLawrence Dermott, to prove it. He further states that Anderson andDesaguliers were "publicly accused of manufacturing the degree, _whichthey never denied_" (_History of Masonry_, chap. Vii). But inasmuch asthey were not accused of it until they had been many years in theirgraves, their silence is hardly to be wondered at. Dr. Mackey stylesDesaguliers "the Father of Modern Speculative Masonry, " and attributesto him, more than to any other one man, the present existence of theorder as a living institution (_Encyclopedia of Freemasonry_). Surelythat is going too far, much as Desaguliers deserves to be honored bythe order. Dr. J. T. Desaguliers was a French Protestant clergyman, whose family came to England following the revocation of the Edict ofNantes. He was graduated from Christ Church College, Oxford, in 1710, succeeding Keill as lecturer in Experimental Philosophy. He wasespecially learned in natural philosophy, mathematics, geometry, andoptics, having lectured before the King on various occasions. He wasvery popular in the Grand Lodge, and his power as an orator made hismanner of conferring a degree impressive--which may explain his havingbeen accused of inventing the degrees. He was a loyal and able Mason, astudent of the history and ritual of the order, and was elected as thethird Grand Master of Masons in England. Like Anderson, his later lifeis said to have been beclouded by poverty and sorrow, though some ofthe facts are in dispute (Gould's _History of Masonry_, vol. Iii). 

UNIVERSAL MASONRY

/# _These signs and tokens are of no small value; they speak a universal language, and act as a passport to the attention and support of the initiated in all parts of the world. They cannot be lost so long as memory retains its power. Let the possessor of them be expatriated, ship-wrecked, or imprisoned; let him be stripped of everything he has got in the world; still these credentials remain and are available for use as circumstances require. _

 _The great effects which they have produced are established by the most incontestable facts of history. They have stayed the uplifted hand of the destroyer; they have softened the asperities of the tyrant; they have mitigated the horrors of captivity; they have subdued the rancor of malevolence; and broken down the barriers of political animosity and sectarian alienation. _

 _On the field of battle, in the solitude of the uncultivated forests, or in the busy haunts of the crowded city, they have made men of the most hostile feelings, and most distant religions, and the most diversified conditions, rush to the aid of each other, and feel a social joy and satisfaction that they have been able to afford relief to a brother Mason. _

 --BENJAMIN FRANKLIN#/

CHAPTER V

_Universal Masonry_

I

Henceforth the Masons of England were no longer a society ofhandicraftsmen, but an association of men of all orders and everyvocation, as also of almost every creed, who met together on the broadbasis of humanity, and recognized no standard of human worth otherthan morality, kindliness, and love of truth. They retained thesymbolism of the old Operative Masonry, [133] its language, itslegends, its ritual, and its oral tradition. No longer did they buildchurches, but the spiritual temple of humanity; using the Square notto measure right angles of blocks of stone, but for evening theinequalities of human character, nor the Compass any more to describecircles on a tracing-board, but to draw a Circle of goodwill aroundall mankind. 

Howbeit, one generation of men, as Hume remarks, does not go off thestage at once, and another succeed, like silkworms and butterflies. Nomore did this metamorphosis of Masonry, so to name it, take placesuddenly or radically, as it has become the fashion to think. It was aslow process, and like every such period the Epoch of Transition wasattended by many problems, uncertainties, and difficulties. Some ofthe Lodges, as we have noted, would never agree to admit AcceptedMasons, so jealous were they of the ancient landmarks of the Craft. Even the Grand Lodge, albeit a revival of the old Assembly, was lookedupon with suspicion by not a few, as tending toward unduecentralization; and not without cause. From the first the Grand Masterwas given more power than was ever granted to the President of anancient Assembly; of necessity so, perhaps, but it led tomisunderstanding. Other influences added to the confusion, and at thesame time emphasized the need of welding the order into a morecoherent unity for its wider service to humanity. 

There are hints to the effect that the new Masonry, if so it may becalled, made very slow progress in the public favor at first, owing tothe conditions just stated; and this despite the remark of Anderson inJune, 1719: "Now several old Brothers that had neglected the Craft, visited the Lodges; some Noblemen were also made Brothers, and morenew Lodges were constituted. " Stuckely, the antiquarian, tells us inhis _Diary_ under date of January, 1721--at which time he wasinitiated--that he was the first person made a Mason in London foryears, and that it was not easy to find men enough to perform theceremony. Incidentally, he confides to us that he entered the order insearch of the long hidden secrets of "the Ancient Mysteries. " No doubthe exaggerated in the matter of numbers, though it is possible thatinitiations were comparatively few at the time, the Lodges beingrecruited, for the most part, by the adhesion of old Masons, bothOperative and Speculative; and among his friends he may have had somedifficulty in finding men with an adequate knowledge of the ritual. But that there was any real difficulty in gathering together sevenMasons in London is, on the face of it, absurd. Immediatelythereafter, Stuckely records, Masonry "took a run, and ran itself outof breath through the folly of its members, " but he does not tell uswhat the folly was. The "run" referred to was almost certainly due tothe acceptance by the Duke of Montagu of the Grand Mastership, whichgave the order a prestige it had never had before; and it was also inthe same year, 1721, that the old Constitutions of the Craft wererevised. 

Twelve Lodges attended the June quarterly communication of the GrandLodge in 1721, sixteen in September, twenty in December, and by April, 1723, the number had grown to thirty. All these Lodges, be it noted, were in London, a fact amply justifying the optimism of Anderson inthe last paragraph of the _Book of Constitutions_, issued in thatyear. So far the Grand Lodge had not extended its jurisdiction beyondLondon and Westminster, but the very next year, 1724, there werealready nine Lodges in the provinces acknowledging its obedience, thefirst being the Lodge at the Queen's Head, City of Bath. Within a fewyears Masonry extended its labors abroad, both on British and onforeign soil. The first Lodge on foreign soil was founded by the Dukeof Wharton at Madrid, in 1728, and regularized the following year, bywhich time a Lodge had been established at the East India Arms, Bengal, and also at Gibraltar. It was not long before Lodges arose inmany lands, founded by English Masons or by men who had receivedinitiation in England; these Lodges, when sufficiently numerous, uniting under Grand Lodges--the old Lodge at York, that ancient Meccaof Masonry, had called itself a Grand Lodge as early as 1725. TheGrand Lodge of Ireland was created in 1729, those of Scotland[134] andFrance in 1736; a Lodge at Hamburg in 1737, [135] though it was notpatented until 1740; the Unity Lodge at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1742, another at Vienna the same year; the Grand Lodge of the ThreeWorld-spheres at Berlin in 1744; and so on, until the order made itsadvent in Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. 

Following the footsteps of Masonry from land to land is almost asdifficult as tracing its early history, owing to the secrecy in whichit enwrapped its movements. For example, in 1680 there came to SouthCarolina one John Moore, a native of England, who before the close ofthe century removed to Philadelphia, where, in 1703, he was Collectorof the Port. In a letter written by him in 1715, he mentions having"spent a few evenings in festivity with my Masonic brethren. "[136]This is the first vestige of Masonry in America, unless we accept asauthentic a curious document in the early history of Rhode Island, asfollows: "This ye [day and month obliterated] 1656, Wee mett att yHouse off Mordicai Campanell and after synagog gave Abram Moses thedegrees of Maconrie. "[137] On June 5, 1730, the first authority forthe assembling of Free-masons in America was issued by the Duke ofNorfolk, to Daniel Coxe, of New Jersey, appointing him ProvincialGrand Master of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; and threeyears later Henry Price, of Boston, was appointed to the same officefor New England. But Masons had evidently been coming to the New Worldfor years, for the two cases just cited date back of the Grand Lodgeof 1717. 

How soon Coxe acted on the authority given him is not certain, but the_Pennsylvania Gazette_, published by Benjamin Franklin, contains manyreferences to Masonic affairs as early as July, 1730. Just whenFranklin himself became interested in Masonry is not of record--he wasinitiated in 1730-31[138]--but he was a leader, at that day, ofeverything that would advance his adopted city; and the "Junto, " formedin 1725, often inaccurately called the Leathern-Apron Club, owed itsorigin to him. In a Masonic item in the _Gazette_ of December 3, 1730, he refers to "several Lodges of Free-masons" in the Province, and onJune 9, 1732, notes the organization of the Grand Lodge ofPennsylvania, of which he was appointed a Warden, at the Sun Tavern, inWater Street. Two years later Franklin was elected Grand Master, andthe same year published an edition of the _Book of Constitutions_--thefirst Masonic book issued in America. Thus Masonry made an earlyadvent into the new world, in which it has labored so nobly, helping tolay the foundations and building its own basic principles into theorganic law of the greatest of all republics. 

II

Returning to the Grand Lodge of England, we have now to make record ofridicule and opposition from without, and, alas, of disloyalty anddiscord within the order itself. With the publication of the _Book ofConstitutions_, by Anderson, in 1723, the platform and principles ofMasonry became matters of common knowledge, and its enemies were alertand vigilant. None are so blind as those who will not see, and not afew, unacquainted with the spirit of Masonry, or unable to grasp itsprinciple of liberality and tolerance, affected to detect in itssecrecy some dark political design; and this despite the noble chargein the _Book of Constitutions_ enjoining politics from entering thelodge--a charge hardly less memorable than the article defining itsattitude toward differing religious creeds, and which it behoovesMasons to keep always in mind as both true and wise, especially in ourday when effort is being made to inject the religious issue intopolitics:

/#[4, 66] In order to preserve peace and harmony no private piques or quarrels must be brought within the door of the Lodge, far less any quarrel about Religions or Nations or State-Policy, we being only, as Masons, of the Catholic Religion above mentioned (the religion in which all men agree); we are also of all Nations, Tongues, Kindreds and Languages, and are resolved against all Politics as what never yet conduced to the welfare of the Lodge, nor ever will. This charge has always been actively enjoined and observed; but especially ever since the Reformation in Britain or the dissent and secession of these Nations from the communion of Rome. #/

No sooner had these noble words been printed, [139] than there came tolight a secret society calling itself the "truly Ancient Noble Orderof the Gormogons, " alleged to have been instituted by Chin-Quaw Ky-Po, the first Emperor of China, many thousand years before Adam. Notice ofa meeting of the order appeared in the _Daily Post_, September 3, 1723, in which it was stated, among other high-sounding declarations, that "no Mason will be received as a Member till he has renounced hisnoble order and been properly degraded. " Obviously, from this noticeand others of like kind--all hinting at the secrets of the Lodges--theorder was aping Masonry by way of parody with intent to destroy it, if possible, by ridicule. For all that, if we may believe the_Saturday Post_ of October following, "many eminent Freemasons" had bythat time "degraded themselves" and gone over to the Gormogons. Not"many" perhaps, but, alas, one eminent Mason at least, none other thana Past Grand Master, the Duke of Wharton, who, piqued at an act of theGrand Lodge, had turned against it. Erratic of mind, unstable ofmorals, having an inordinate lust for praise, and pilloried as a"fool" by Pope in his _Moral Essays_, he betrayed his fraternity--as, later, he turned traitor to his faith, his flag, and his native land!

Simultaneously with the announcement that many eminent Masons had"degraded themselves"--words most fitly chosen--and gone over to theGormogons, there appeared a book called the _Grand Mystery ofFreemasons Discovered_, and the cat was out of the bag. Everything wasplain to the Masons, and if it had not been clear, the way in whichthe writer emphasized his hatred of the Jesuits would have told itall. It was a Jesuit[140] plot hatched in Rome to expose the secretsof Masonry, and making use of the dissolute and degenerate Mason forthat purpose--tactics often enough used in the name of Jesus!Curiously enough, this was further made evident by the fact that theorder ceased to exist in 1738, the year in which Clement XII publishedhis Bull against the Masons. Thereupon the "ancient order ofGormogons" swallowed itself, and so disappeared--not, however, withoutone last, futile effort to achieve its ends. [141] Naturally thisepisode stirred the Masons deeply. It was denounced in burning wordson the floor of the Grand Lodge, which took new caution to guard itsrites from treachery and vandalism, in which respects it had notexercised due care, admitting men to the order who were unworthy ofthe honor. 

There were those who thought that the power of Masonry lay in itssecrecy; some think so still, not knowing that its _real_ power liesin the sanctity of its truth, the simplicity of its faith, thesweetness of its spirit, and its service to mankind, and that if allits rites were made public today it would still hold the hearts ofmen. [142] Nevertheless, of alleged exposures there were many between1724 and 1730, both anonymous and signed, and they made much ado, especially among men who were not Masons. It will be enough to namethe most famous, as well as the most elaborate, of them all, _MasonryDissected_, by Samuel Prichard, which ran through three editions inone month, October, 1730, and called out a noble _Defence of Masonry_, written, it is thought, by Anderson, but the present writer believesby Desaguliers. Others came later, such as _Jachin and Boaz_, the_Three Distinct Knocks_, and so forth. They had their day and ceasedto be, having now only an antiquarian interest to those who would knowthe manners and customs of a far-off time. Instead of injuring theorder, they really helped it, as such things usually do, by showingthat there must be something to expose since so many were trying todo it. But Masonry went marching on, leaving them behind in therubbish of things forgotten, as it does all its back-stair spies andheel-snapping critics. 

More serious by far was the series of schisms within the order whichbegan in 1725, and ran on even into the next century. For the studentthey make the period very complex, calculated to bewilder thebeginner; for when we read of four Grand Lodges in England, and forsome years all of them running at once, and each one claiming to bethe Grand Lodge of England, the confusion seems not a littleconfounded. Also, one Grand Lodge of a very limited territory, and fewadherents, adopted the title of Grand Lodge of _all_ England, whileanother which commenced in the middle of the century assumed the titleof "The Ancients, " and dubbed the older and parent Grand Lodge "TheModerns. " Besides, there are traces of an unrecorded Grand bodycalling itself "The Supreme Grand Lodge, "[143] as if each were tryingto make up in name what was lacking in numbers. Strict search and dueinquiry into the causes of these divisions would seem to show thefollowing results:

First, there was a fear, not unjustified by facts, that the ancientdemocracy of the order had been infringed upon by certain acts of theGrand Lodge of 1717--as, for example, giving to the Grand Master powerto appoint the Wardens. [144] Second, there was a tendency, due to theinfluence of some clergymen active in the order, to give adistinctively Christian tinge to Masonry, first in theirinterpretations of its symbols, and later to the ritual itself. Thisfact has not been enough emphasized by our historians, for it explainsmuch. Third, there was the further fact that Masonry in Scotlanddiffered from Masonry in England, in details at least, and the two didnot all at once harmonize, each being rather tenacious of its usageand tradition. Fourth, in one instance, if no more, pride of localityand historic memories led to independent organization. Fifth, therewas the ever-present element of personal ambition with which all humansocieties, of whatever kind, must reckon at all times and places thisside of heaven. Altogether, the situation was amply conducive todivision, if not to explosion, and the wonder is that the schisms wereso few. 

III

Time out of mind the ancient city of York had been a seat of theMasonic Craft, tradition tracing it back to the days of Athelstan, in926 A. D. Be that as it may, the Lodge minutes of York are the oldestin the country, and the relics of the Craft now preserved in that cityentitle it to be called the Mecca of Masonry. Whether the old societywas a Private or a Grand Lodge is not plain; but in 1725 it assumedthe title of the "Grand Lodge of All England, "--feeling, it wouldseem, that its inherent right by virtue of antiquity had in some waybeen usurped by the Grand Lodge of London. After ten or fifteen yearsthe minutes cease, but the records of other grand bodies speak of itas still working. In 1761 six of its surviving members revived theGrand Lodge, which continued with varying success until its finalextinction in 1791, having only a few subordinate Lodges, chiefly inYorkshire. Never antagonistic, it chose to remain independent, and itshistory is a noble tradition. York Masonry was acknowledged by allparties to be both ancient and orthodox, and even to this day, inEngland and over the seas, a certain mellow, magic charm clings tothe city which was for so long a meeting place of Masons. [145]

Far more formidable was the schism of 1753, which had its origin, asis now thought, in a group of Irish Masons in London who were notrecognized by the premier Grand Lodge. [146] Whereupon they denouncedthe Grand Lodge, averring that it had adopted "new plans" and departedfrom the old landmarks, reverted, as they alleged, to the old forms, and set themselves up as _Ancient_ Masons--bestowing upon their rivalsthe odious name of _Moderns_. Later the two were further distinguishedfrom each other by the names of their respective Grand Masters, onecalled Prince of Wales' Masons, the other the Atholl Masons. [147] Thegreat figure in the Atholl Grand body was Lawrence Dermott, to whosekeen pen and indefatigable industry as its secretary for more thanthirty years was due, in large measure, its success. In 1756 hepublished its first book of laws, entitled _Ahiman Rezon, Or Help to aBrother_, much of which was taken from the _Irish Constitutions_ of1751, by Pratt, and the rest from the _Book of Constitutions_, byAnderson--whom he did not fail to criticize with stinging satire, ofwhich he was a master. Among other things, the office of Deacon seemsto have had its origin with this body. Atholl Masons were presidedover by the Masters of affiliated Lodges until 1756, when LordBlessington, their first titled Grand Master, was induced to acceptthe honor--their warrants having been left blank betimes, awaiting thecoming of a Nobleman to that office. Later the fourth Duke of Athollwas Grand Master at the same time of Scotland and of the Atholl GrandLodge, the Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland being represented athis installation in London. 

Still another schism, not serious but significant, came in 1778, ledby William Preston, [148] who afterwards became a shining light in theorder. On St. John's Day, December 27, 1777, the Antiquity Lodge ofLondon, of which Preston was Master--one of the four original Lodgesforming the Grand Lodge--attended church in a body, to hear a sermonby its Chaplain. They robed in the vestry, and then marched into thechurch, but after the service they walked back to the Hall wearingtheir Masonic clothing. Difference of opinion arose as to theregularity of the act, Preston holding it to be valid, if for no otherreason, by virtue of the inherent right of Antiquity Lodge itself. Three members objected to his ruling and appealed to the Grand Lodge, he foolishly striking their names off the Lodge roll for so doing. Eventually the Grand Lodge took the matter up, decided againstPreston, and ordered the reinstatement of the three protestingmembers. At its next meeting the Antiquity Lodge voted not to complywith the order of the Grand Lodge, and, instead, to withdraw from thatbody and form an alliance with the "Old Grand Lodge of All England atYork City, " as they called it. They were received by the York GrandLodge, and soon thereafter obtained a constitution for a "Grand Lodgeof England South of the Trent. " Although much vitality was shown atthe outset, this body only constituted two subordinate Lodges, andceased to exist. Having failed, in 1789 Preston and his friendsrecanted their folly, apologized to the Grand Lodge, reunited with themen whom they had expelled, and were received back into the fold; andso the matter ended. 

These divisions, while they were in some ways unhappy, really made forthe good of the order in the sequel--the activity of contending GrandLodges, often keen, and at times bitter, promoting the spread of itsprinciples to which all were alike loyal, and to the enrichment of itsRitual[149] to which each contributed. Dermott, an able executive andaudacious antagonist, had left no stone unturned to advance theinterests of Atholl Masonry, inducing its Grand Lodge to grantwarrants to army Lodges, which bore fruit in making Masons in everypart of the world where the English army went. [150] Howbeit, whenthat resourceful secretary and uncompromising fighter had gone to hislong rest, a better mood began to make itself felt, and a desire toheal the feud and unite all the Grand Lodges--the way having beencleared, meanwhile, by the demise of the old York Grand Lodge and the"Grand Lodge South of the Trent. " Overtures to that end were made in1802 without avail, but by 1809 committees were meeting and reportingon the "propriety and practicability of union. " Fraternal letters wereexchanged, and at last a joint committee met, canvassed alldifferences, and found a way to heal the schism. [151]

Union came at length, in a great Lodge of Reconciliation held inFreemason's Hall, London, on St. John's Day, December 27, 1813. It wasa memorable and inspiring scene as the two Grand Lodges, so longestranged, filed into the Hall--delegates of 641 Modern and 359Ancient or Atholl Lodges--so mixed as to be indistinguishable the onefrom the other. Both Grand Masters had seats of honor in the East. Thehour was fraternal, each side willing to sacrifice prejudice in behalfof principles held by all in common, and all equally anxious topreserve the ancient landmarks of the Craft--a most significant factbeing that the Atholl Masons had insisted that Masonry erase suchdistinctively Christian color as had crept into it, and return to itsfirst platform. [152] Once united, free of feud, cleansed of rancor, and holding high its unsectarian, non-partisan flag, Masonry movedforward to her great ministry. If we would learn the lesson of thoselong dead schisms, we must be vigilant, correcting our judgments, improving our regulations, and cultivating that spirit of Love whichis the fountain whence issue all our voluntary efforts for what isright and true: union in essential matters, liberty in everythingunimportant and doubtful; Love always--one bond, one universal law, one fellowship in spirit and in truth!

IV

Remains now to give a glimpse--and, alas, only a glimpse--of thegrowth and influence of Masonry in America; and a great story it is, needing many volumes to tell it aright. As we have seen, it came earlyto the shores of the New World, long before the name of our greatrepublic had been uttered, and with its gospel of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity it helped to shape the institutions of this Continent. Down the Atlantic Coast, along the Great Lakes, into the wilderness ofthe Middle West and the forests of the far South--westward it marchedas "the star of empire" led, setting up its altar on remote frontiers, a symbol of civilization, of loyalty to law and order, of friendshipwith school-house and church. If history recorded the unseeninfluences which go to the making of a nation, those forces for goodwhich never stop, never tarry, never tire, and of which our socialorder is the outward and visible sign, then might the real story ofMasonry in America be told. 

Instead of a dry chronicle, [153] let us make effort to capture andportray the spirit of Masonry in American history, if so that all maysee how this great order actually presided over the birth of therepublic, with whose growth it has had so much to do. For example, noone need be told what patriotic memories cluster about the old GreenDragon Tavern, in Boston, which Webster, speaking at Andover in 1823, called "_the headquarters of the Revolution_. " Even so, but it wasalso a _Masonic Hall_, in the "Long Room" of which the Grand Lodge ofMassachusetts--an off-shoot of St. Andrew's Lodge--was organized onSt. John's Day, 1767, with Joseph Warren, who afterwards fell atBunker Hill, as Grand Master. There Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, Warren, Hancock, Otis and others met and passed resolutions, and then laidschemes to make them come true. There the Boston Tea Party wasplanned, and executed by Masons disguised as Mohawk Indians--not bythe Lodge as such, but by a club formed within the Lodge, callingitself the _Caucus Pro Bono Publico_, of which Warren was the leadingspirit, and in which, says Elliott, "the plans of the Sons of Libertywere matured. " As Henry Purkett used to say, he was present at thefamous Tea Party as a spectator, and in disobedience to the order ofthe Master of the Lodge, who was _actively_ present. [154]

As in Massachusetts, so throughout the Colonies--the Masons wereeverywhere active in behalf of a nation "conceived in liberty anddedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. " Of themen who signed the Declaration of Independence, the following areknown to have been members of the order: William Hooper, BenjaminFranklin, Matthew Thornton, William Whipple, John Hancock, PhilipLivingston, Thomas Nelson; and no doubt others, if we had the Masonicrecords destroyed during the war. Indeed, it has been said that, withfour men out of the room, the assembly could have been opened in formas a Masonic Lodge, on the Third Degree. Not only Washington, [155] butnearly all of his generals, were Masons; such at least as Greene, Lee, Marion, Sullivan, Rufus and Israel Putnam, Edwards, Jackson, Gist, Baron Steuben, Baron De Kalb, and the Marquis de Lafayette who wasmade a Mason in one of the many military Lodges held in theContinental Army. [156] If the history of those old camp-lodges couldbe written, what a story it would tell. Not only did they initiatesuch men as Alexander Hamilton and John Marshall, the immortal ChiefJustice, but they made the spirit of Masonry felt in "times that trymen's souls"[157]--a spirit passing through picket-lines, eludingsentinels, and softening the horrors of war. 

Laying aside their swords, these Masons helped to lay wide and deepthe foundations of that liberty under the law which has made thisnation, of a truth, "the last great hope of man. " Nor was it anaccident, but a scene in accord with the fitness of things, thatGeorge Washington was sworn into office as the first President of theRepublic by the Grand Master of New York, taking his oath on a MasonicBible. It was a parable of the whole period. If the Magna Chartademanded rights which government can grant, Masonry from the firstasserted those inalienable rights which man derives from God theFather of men. Never did this truth find sweeter voice than in thetones of the old Scotch fiddle on which Robert Burns, a Master Mason, sang, in lyric glee, of the sacredness of the soul, and the nativedignity of humanity as the only basis of society and the state. Thatmusic went marching on, striding over continents and seas, until itfound embodiment in the Constitution and laws of this nation, wheretoday more than a million Masons are citizens. 

How strange, then, that Masonry should have been made the victim ofthe most bitter and baseless persecution, for it was nothing else, inthe annals of the Republic. Yet so it came to pass between 1826 and1845, in connection with the Morgan[158] affair, of which so much hasbeen written, and so little truth told. Alas, it was an evil hourwhen, as Galsworthy would say, "men just feel something big andreligious, and go blind to justice, fact, and reason. " Although Lodgeseverywhere repudiated and denounced the crime, if crime it was, andthe Governor of New York, himself a Mason, made every effort to detectand punish those involved, the fanaticism would not be stayed: themob-mood ruled. An Anti-Masonic political party[159] was formed, fedon frenzy, and the land was stirred from end to end. Even such a manas John Quincy Adams, of great credulity and strong prejudice, wasdrawn into the fray, and in a series of letters flayed Masonry as anenemy of society and a free state--forgetting that Washington, Franklin, Marshall, and Warren were members of the order!Meanwhile--and, verily, it was a mean while--Weed, Seward, ThaddeusStevens, and others of their ilk, rode into power on the strength ofit, as they had planned to do, defeating Henry Clay for President, because he was a Mason--and, incidentally, electing Andrew Jackson, another Mason! Let it be said that, if the Masons found it hard tokeep within the Compass, they at least acted on the Square. Finallythe fury spent itself, leaving the order purged of feeble men who wereMasons only in form, and a revival of Masonry followed, slowly atfirst, and then with great rapidity. 

No sooner had Masonry recovered from this ordeal than the dark cloudsof Civil War covered the land like a pall--the saddest of all wars, dividing a nation one in arts and arms and historic memories, andleaving an entail of blood and fire and tears. Let it be foreverremembered that, while churches were severed and states were seceding, _the Masonic order remained unbroken_ in that wild and fateful hour. An effort was made to involve Masonry in the strife, but the wisecounsel of its leaders, North and South, prevented the mixing ofMasonry with politics; and while it could not avert the tragedy, itdid much to mitigate the woe of it--building rainbow bridges of mercyand goodwill from army to army. Though passion may have strained, itcould not break the tie of Masonic love, which found a ministry on redfields, among the sick, the wounded, and those in prison; and many aman in gray planted a Sprig of Acacia on the grave of a man who worethe blue. Some day the writer hopes to tell that story, or a part ofit, and then men will understand what Masonry is, what it means, andwhat it can do to heal the hurts of humanity. [160]

Even so it has been, all through our national history, and todayMasonry is worth more for the sanctity and safety of this republicthan both its army and its navy. At every turn of events, when therights of man have been threatened by enemies obvious or insidious, ithas stood guard--its altar lights like signal fires along the heightsof liberty, keeping watch. Not only in our own land, but everywhereover the broad earth, when men have thrown off the yoke of tyranny, whether political or spiritual, and demanded the rights that belong tomanhood, they have found a friend in the Masonic order--as did Mazziniand Garibaldi in Italy. Nor must we be less alert and vigilant todaywhen, free of danger of foes from without, our republic is imperiledby the negligence of indifference, the seduction of luxury, themachinations of politicians, and the shadow of a passion-clouded, impatient discontent, whose end is madness and folly; lest the mosthallowed of all liberties be lost. 

/P Love thou thy land, with love far-brought From out the storied past, and used Within the present, but transfused Through future time by power of thought. P/

V

Truly, the very existence of such a great historic fellowship in thequest and service of the Ideal is a fact eloquent beyond all words, and to be counted among the precious assets of humanity. Forming onevast society of free men, held together by voluntary obligations, itcovers the whole globe from Egypt to India, from Italy to England, from America to Australia, and the isles of the sea; from London toSidney, from Chicago to Calcutta. In all civilized lands, and amongfolk of every creed worthy of the name, Masonry is found--andeverywhere it upholds all the redeeming ideals of humanity, making allgood things better by its presence, like a stream underflowing ameadow. [161] Also, wherever Masonry flourishes and is allowed to buildfreely after its divine design, liberty, justice, education, and truereligion flourish; and where it is hindered, they suffer. Indeed, hewho would reckon the spiritual possessions of the race, and estimatethe forces that make for social beauty, national greatness, and humanwelfare, must take account of the genius of Masonry and its ministryto the higher life of the race. 

Small wonder that such an order has won to its fellowship men of thefirst order of intellect, men of thought and action in many lands, andevery walk and work of life: soldiers like Wellington, Blücher, andGaribaldi; philosophers like Krause, Fichte, and John Locke; patriotslike Washington and Mazzini; writers like Walter Scott, Voltaire, Steele, Lessing, Tolstoi; poets like Goethe, Burns, Byron, Kipling, Pike; musicians like Haydn and Mozart--whose opera, _The Magic Flute_, has a Masonic motif; masters of drama like Forrest and Edwin Booth;editors such as Bowles, Prentice, Childs, Grady; ministers of manycommunions, from Bishop Potter to Robert Collyer; statesmen, philanthropists, educators, jurists, men of science--Masons many, [162]whose names shine like stars in the great world's crown ofintellectual and spiritual glory. What other order has ever broughttogether men of such diverse type, temper, training, interest, andachievement, uniting them at an altar of prayer in the worship of Godand the service of man?

For the rest, if by some art one could trace those invisibleinfluences which move to and fro like shuttles in a loom, weaving thenetwork of laws, reverences, sanctities which make the warp and woofof society--giving to statutes their dignity and power, to the gospelits opportunity, to the home its canopy of peace and beauty, to theyoung an enshrinement of inspiration, and to the old a mantle ofprotection; if one had such art, then he might tell the true story ofMasonry. Older than any living religion, the most widespread of allorders of men, it toils for liberty, friendship, and righteousness;binding men with solemn vows to the right, uniting them upon the onlybasis upon which they can meet without reproach--like those fibersrunning through the glaciers, along which sunbeams journey, meltingthe frozen mass and sending it to the valleys below in streams ofblessing. Other fibers are there, but none is more far-ramifying, nonemore tender, none more responsive to the Light than the mystical tieof Masonic love. 

Truth will triumph. Justice will yet reign from sun to sun, victoriousover cruelty and evil. Finally Love will rule the race, casting outfear, hatred, and all unkindness, and pity will heal the old hurt andheart-ache of humanity. There is nothing in history, dark as much ofit is, against the ultimate fulfilment of the prophetic vision ofRobert Burns--the Poet Laureate of Masonry:

/P Then let us pray, that come it may-- As come it will, for a' that-- . . . . . . . . That man to man, the world o'er Shall brothers be, for a' that. P/

FOOTNOTES:

[133] Operative Masonry, it should be remembered, was not entirelydead, nor did it all at once disappear. Indeed, it still exists in someform, and an interesting account of its forms, degrees, symbols, usages, and traditions may be found in an article on "OperativeMasonry, " by C. E. Stretton (_Transactions Leicester Lodge of Research_, 1909-10, 1911-12). The second of these volumes also contains an essayon "Operative Free-masons, " by Thomas Carr, with a list of lodges, anda study of their history, customs, and emblems--especially theSwastika. Speculative Masons are now said to be joining these OperativeLodges, seeking more light on what are called the Lost Symbols ofMasonry. 

[134] The Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland, it may be added, wereself-constituted, without assistance or intervention from England inany form. 

[135] A deputation of the Hamburg Lodge initiated Frederick--afterwardsFrederick the Great of Prussia--into the order of Masons at Brunswick, August 14, 1738 (_Frederick and his Times_, by Campbell, _History ofFrederick_, by Carlyle, Findel's _History of Masonry_). Other noblemenfollowed his example, and their zeal for the order gave a new date tothe history of Masonry in Germany. When Frederick ascended the throne, in 1740, the Craft was honored, and it flourished in his kingdom. As tothe interest of Frederick in the order in his later years, the factsare not clear, but that he remained its friend seems certain (Mackey, _Encyclopedia_). However, the Craft underwent many vicissitudes inGermany, a detailed account of which Findel recites (_History ofMasonry_). Few realize through what frightful persecutions Masonry haspassed in many lands, owing in part to its secrecy, but in larger partto its principle of civil and religious liberty. Whenever that story istold, as it surely will be, men everywhere will pay homage to theAncient Free and Accepted Masons as friends of mankind. 

[136] This letter was the property of Horace W. Smith, Philadelphia. John Moore was the father of William Moore, whose daughter became thewife of Provost Smith, who was a Mason in 1775, and afterward GrandSecretary of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and whose son was GrandMaster of Masons in Pennsylvania in 1796 and 1797 (_History ofFreemasonry_, by Hughan and Stillson). 

[137] _Ibid_, chapter on "Early American Masonic History. "

[138] _Benjamin Franklin as a Free Mason_, by J. F. Sachse. Oddlyenough, there is no mention of Masonry by Franklin in his_Autobiography_, or in any of his letters, with but two exceptions, sofar as known; which is the more remarkable when we look at his Masoniccareer in France during the later years of his life, where he wasactively and intimately associated with the order, even advancing tothe higher degrees. Never for a day did he abate by one jot hisinterest in the order, or his love for it. 

[139] This injunction was made doubly strong in the edition of the_Book of Constitutions_, in 1738. For example: "no quarrels aboutnations, families, religion or politics must by any means or under anycolor or pretense whatever be brought within the door of the Lodge. .. . Masons being of all nations upon the square, level and plumb; and likeour predecessors in all ages, we are resolved against politicaldisputes, " etc. 

[140] Masons have sometimes been absurdly called "Protestant Jesuits, "but the two orders are exactly opposite in spirit, principle, purpose, and method. All that they have in common is that they are both _secret_societies, which makes it plain that the opposition of the Latin churchto Masonry is not on the ground of its being a secret order, else whysanction the Jesuits, to name no other? The difference has been statedin this way: "Opposite poles these two societies are, for eachpossesses precisely those qualities which the other lacks. The Jesuitsare strongly centralized, the Freemasons only confederated. Jesuits arecontrolled by one man's will, Freemasons are under majority rule. Jesuits bottom morality in expediency, Freemasons in regard for thewell-being of mankind. Jesuits recognize only one creed, Freemasonshold in respect all honest convictions. Jesuits seek to break downindividual independence, Freemasons to build it up" (_Mysteria_, byOtto Henne Am Rhyn). 

[141] For a detailed account of the Duke of Wharton and the truehistory of the Gormogons, see an essay by R. F. Gould, in his "MasonicCelebrities" series (_A. Q. C. _, viii, 144), and more recently, _TheLife and Writings of Philip, Duke of Wharton_, by Lewis Melville. 

[142] Findel has a nobly eloquent passage on this point, and it tellsthe everlasting truth (_History of Masonry_, p. 378). His wholehistory, indeed, is exceedingly worth reading, the more so because itwas one of the first books of the right kind, and it stimulatedresearch. 

[143] A paper entitled "An Unrecorded Grand Lodge, " by Sadler (_A. Q. C. _, vol. Xviii, 69-90), tells practically all that is known of thismovement, which merged with the Grand Lodge of London in 1776. 

[144] Nor was that all. In 1735 it was resolved in the Grand Lodge"that in the future all Grand Officers (except Grand Master) shall beselected out of that body"--meaning the past Grand Stewards. This actwas amazing. Already the Craft had let go its power to elect theWardens, and now the choice of the Grand Master was narrowed to theranks of an oligarchy in its worst form--a queer outcome of Masonicequality. Three months later the Grand Stewards presented a memorialasking that they "might form themselves into a special lodge, " withspecial jewels, etc. Naturally this bred discontent and apprehension, and justly so. 

[145] Often we speak of "the York Rite, " as though it were the oldestand truest form of Masonry, but, while it serves to distinguish onebranch of Masonry from another, it is not accurate; for, strictlyspeaking, there is no such thing as a York Rite. The name is more atribute of reverence than a description of fact. 

[146] _Masonic Facts and Fictions_, by Henry Sadler. 

[147] _Atholl Lodges_, by R. F. Gould. 

[148] William Preston was born in Edinburgh in 1742, and came as ajourneyman printer to London in 1760, where he made himself conversantwith the history, laws, and rites of the Craft, being much in demand asa lecturer. He was a good speaker, and frequently addressed the Lodgesof the city. After his blunder of seceding had been forgiven, he washonored with many offices, especially the Grand Secretaryship, whichgave him time to pursue his studies. Later he wrote the _Freemason'sCallender_, an appendix to the _Book of Constitutions_, a _History ofMasonry_, and, most famous of all, _Illustrations of Masonry_, whichpassed through a score of editions. Besides, he had much to do with thedevelopment of the Ritual. 

[149] The history of the Ritual is most interesting, and should bewritten in more detail (_History of Masonry_, by Steinbrenner, chap. Vii, "The Ritual"). An article giving a brief story of it appeared inthe _Masonic Monthly_, of Boston, November, 1863 (reprinted in the _NewEngland Craftsman_, vol. Vii, and still later in the _Bulletin of IowaMasonic Library_, vol. Xv, April, 1914). This article is valuable asshowing the growth of the Ritual--as much by subtraction as byaddition--and especially the introduction into it of Christian imageryand interpretation, first by Martin Clare in 1732, and by Duckerley andHutchinson later. One need only turn to _The Spirit of Masonry_, byHutchinson (1802), to see how far this tendency had gone when at lastchecked in 1813. At that time a committee made a careful comparativestudy of all rituals in use among Masons, and the ultimate result wasthe Preston-Webb lectures now generally in use in this country. (See avaluable article by Dr. Mackey on "The Lectures of Freemasonry, "_American Quarterly Review of Freemasonry_, vol. Ii, p. 297. ) What apity that this _Review_ died of too much excellence!

[150] _Military Lodges_, by Gould; also Kipling's poem, _The MotherLodge_. 

[151] Among the articles of union, it was agreed that Freemasonryshould consist of the three symbolic degrees, "_including the HolyRoyal Arch_. " The present study does not contemplate a detailed studyof Capitular Masonry, which has its own history and historians (_Originof the English Rite_, Hughan), except to say that it seems to havebegun about 1738-40, the concensus of opinion differing as to whetherit began in England or on the Continent ("Royal Arch Masonry, " by C. P. Noar, _Manchester Lodge of Research_, vol. Iii, 1911-12). LawrenceDermott, always alert, had it adopted by the Atholl Grand Lodge aboutthirty years before the Grand Lodge of England took it up in 1770-76, when Thomas Duckerley was appointed to arrange and introduce it. Dermott held it to be "the very essence of Masonry, " and he was notslow in using it as a club with which to belabor the Moderns; but hedid not originate it, as some imagine, having received the degreesbefore he came to London, perhaps in an unsystemized form. Duckerleywas accused of shifting the original Grand Masonic word from the ThirdDegree to the Royal Arch, and of substituting another in its stead. Enough to say that Royal Arch Masonry is authentic Masonry, being afurther elaboration in drama, following the Third Degree, of the spiritand motif of old Craft Masonry (_History of Freemasonry and ConcordantOrders_, by Hughan and Stillson). 

[152] It is interesting to note that the writer of the article on"Masonry" in the Catholic _Encyclopedia_--an article admirable in manyways, and for the most part fair--makes much of this point, and rightlyso, albeit his interpretation of it is altogether wrong. He imaginesthat the objection to Christian imagery in the ritual was due to enmityto Christianity. Not so. Masonry was not then, and has never at anytime been, opposed to Christianity, or to any other religion. Far fromit. But Christianity in those days--as, alas, too often now--wasanother name for a petty and bigoted sectarianism; and Masonry by itsvery genius was, and is, _unsectarian_. Many Masons then were devoutChristians, as they are now--not a few clergymen--but the order itselfis open to men of all faiths, Catholic and Protestant, Hebrew andHindu, who confess faith in God; and so it will always remain if it istrue to its principles and history. 

[153] As for the chronicle, the one indispensable book to the studentof American Masonry is the _History of Freemasonry and ConcordantOrders_, by W. J. Hughan and H. L. Stillson, aided by one of the ablestboard of contributors ever assembled. It includes a history of Masonryin all its Rites in North, Central, and South America, with accurateaccounts of the origin and growth of every Grand Lodge in the UnitedStates and British America; also admirable chapters on Early AmericanMasonic History, the Morgan Excitement, Masonic Jurisprudence, andstatistics up to date of 1891--all carefully prepared and well written. Among other books too many to name, there are the _History of SymbolicMasonry in the United States_, by J. H. Drummond, and "The AmericanAddenda" to Gould's massive and magnificent _History of Masonry_, vol. Iv. What the present pages seek is the spirit behind this forest offacts. 

[154] For the full story, see "Reminiscences of the Green DragonTavern, " in _Centennial Memorial of St. Andrew's Lodge, 1870_. 

[155] _Washington, the Man and the Mason_, by C. H. Callahan. Jackson, Polk, Fillmore, Buchanan, Johnson, Garfield, McKinley, Roosevelt, Taft, all were Masons. A long list may be found in _Cyclopedia ofFraternities_, by Stevens, article on "Freemasonry: DistinguishedAmericans. "

[156] _Washington and his Masonic Compeers_, by Randolph Hayden. 

[157] Thomas Paine, whose words these are, though not a Mason, has leftus an essay on _The Origin of Freemasonry_. Few men have ever been moreunjustly and cruelly maligned than this great patriot, who was thefirst to utter the name "United States, " and who, instead of being asceptic, believed in "the religion in which all men agree"--that is, inGod, Duty, and the immortality of the soul. 

[158] William Morgan was a dissolute, nondescript printer in Batavia, New York, who, having failed in everything else, thought to make moneyby betraying the secrets of an order which his presence polluted. Foolishly misled, a few Masons had him arrested on a petty charge, gothim out of the country, and apparently paid him to stay out. Had noattention been paid to his alleged exposure it would have fallenstill-born from the press, like many another before it. Rumors ofabduction started, then Morgan was said to have been thrown intoNiagara River, whereas there is no proof that he was ever killed, muchless murdered by Masons. Thurlow Weed and a pack of unscrupulouspoliticians took it up, and the rest was easy. One year later a bodywas found on the shore of Lake Ontario which Weed and the wife ofMorgan identified--a _year afterward!_--she, no doubt, having been paidto do so; albeit the wife of a fisherman named Munroe identified thesame body as that of her husband drowned a week or so before. Nomatter; as Weed said, "_It's good enough Morgan until after theelection_"--a characteristic remark, if we may judge by his ownportrait as drawn in his _Autobiography_. Politically, he was capableof anything, if he could make it win, and here he saw a chance ofstirring up every vile and slimy thing in human nature for sake ofoffice. (See a splendid review of the whole matter in _History ofMasonry_, by Hughan and Stillson, also by Gould in vol. Iv of his_History_. )

[159] _Cyclopedia of Fraternities_, by Stevens, article, "Anti-Masonry, " gives detailed account with many interesting facts. 

[160] Following the first day of the battle of Gettysburg, there was aLodge meeting in town, and "Yanks" and "Johnny Rebs" met and mingled asfriends, under the Square and Compass. Where else could they have doneso? (_Tennessee Mason_). When the Union army attacked Little Rock, Ark. , the commanding officer, Thomas H. Benton--Grand Master of theGrand Lodge of Iowa--threw a guard about the home of General AlbertPike, _to protect his Masonic library_. Marching through burningRichmond, a Union officer saw the familiar emblems over a hall. He puta guard about the Lodge room, and that night, together with a number ofConfederate Masons, organized a society for the relief of widows andorphans left destitute by the war (_Washington, the Man and the Mason_, Callahan). But for the kindness of a brother Mason, who saved the lifeof a young soldier of the South, who was a prisoner of war at RockIsland, Ill. , the present writer would never have been born, much lesshave written this book. That young soldier was my father! Volumes ofsuch facts might be gathered in proof of the gracious ministry ofMasonry in those awful years. 

[161] _Cyclopedia of Fraternities_, by Stevens (last edition), article, "Free Masonry, " pictures the extent of the order, with maps anddiagrams showing its world-wide influence. 

[162] Space does not permit a survey of the literature of Masonry, still less of Masonry in literature. (Findel has two fine chapters onthe literature of the order, but he wrote, in 1865, _History ofMasonry_. ) For traces of Masonry in literature, there is the famouschapter in _War and Peace_, by Tolstoi; _Mon Oncle Sosthenes_, byMaupassant; _Nathan the Wise_, and _Ernest and Falk_, by Lessing; theMasonic poems of Goethe, and many hints in _Wilhelm Meister_; thewritings of Herder (_Classic Period of German Letters_, Findel), _TheLost Word_, by Henry Van Dyke; and, of course, the poetry of Burns. 

Masonic phrases and allusions--often almost too revealing--are foundall through the poems and stories of Kipling. Besides the poem _TheMother Lodge_, so much admired, there is _The Widow of Windsor_, suchstories as _With the Main Guard_, _The Winged Hats_, _Hal o' theDraft_, _The City Walls_, _On the Great Wall_, many examples in _Kim_, also in _Traffics and Discoveries_, _Puck of Pook's Hill_, and, by nomeans least, _The Man Who Would be King_, one of the great shortstories of the world. 

Part III--Interpretation

WHAT IS MASONRY

/# _I am afraid you may not consider it an altogether substantial concern. It has to be seen in a certain way, under certain conditions. Some people never see it at all. You must understand, this is no dead pile of stones and unmeaning timber. It is a_ LIVING _thing. _

 _When you enter it you hear a sound--a sound as of some mighty poem chanted. Listen long enough, and you will learn that it is made up of the beating of human hearts, of the nameless music of men's souls--that is, if you have ears to hear. If you have eyes, you will presently see the church itself--a looming mystery of many shapes and shadows, leaping sheer from floor to dome. The work of no ordinary builder!_

 _The pillars of it go up like the brawny trunks of heroes; the sweet flesh of men and women is molded about its bulwarks, strong, impregnable; the faces of little children laugh out from every corner stone; the terrible spans and arches of it are the joined hands of comrades; and up in the heights and spaces are inscribed the numberless musings of all the dreamers of the world. It is yet building--building and built upon. _

 _Sometimes the work goes on in deep darkness; sometimes in blinding light; now under the burden of unutterable anguish; now to the tune of great laughter and heroic shoutings like the cry of thunder. Sometimes, in the silence of the night-time, one may hear the tiny hammerings of the comrades at work up in the dome--the comrades that have climbed ahead. _

 --C. R. KENNEDY, _The Servant in the House_#/

CHAPTER I

_What is Masonry_

I

What, then, is Masonry, and what is it trying to do in the world?According to one of the _Old Charges_, Masonry is declared to be an"ancient and honorable institution: ancient no doubt it is, as havingsubsisted from time immemorial; and honorable it must be acknowledgedto be, as by natural tendency it conduces to make those so who areobedient to its precepts. To so high an eminence has its credit beenadvanced that in every age Monarchs themselves have been promoters ofthe art, have not thought it derogatory from their dignity to exchangethe scepter for the trowel, have patronized our mysteries and joinedin our Assemblies. "

While that eulogy is more than justified by sober facts, it does nottell us what Masonry is, much less its mission and ministry tomankind. If now we turn to the old, oft-quoted definition, we learnthat Masonry is "a system of morality veiled in allegory andillustrated by symbols. " That is, in so far, true enough, but it isobviously inadequate, the more so when it uses the word "peculiar" asdescribing the morality of Masonry; and it gives no hint of aworld-encircling fellowship and its far-ramifying influence. Anotherdefinition has it that Masonry is "a science which is engaged in thesearch after divine truth;"[163] but that is vague, indefinite, andunsatisfactory, lacking any sense of the uniqueness of the Order, andas applicable to one science as to another. For surely all science, ofwhatever kind, is a search after divine truth, and a physical fact, asAgassiz said, is as sacred as a moral truth--every fact being thepresence of God. 

Still another writer defines Masonry as "Friendship, Love, andIntegrity--Friendship which rises superior to the fictitiousdistinctions of society, the prejudices of religion, and the pecuniaryconditions of life; Love which knows no limit, nor inequality, nordecay; Integrity which binds man to the eternal law of duty. "[164]Such is indeed the very essence and spirit of Masonry, but Masonry hasno monopoly of that spirit, and its uniqueness consists, rather, inthe form in which it seeks to embody and express the gracious andbenign spirit which is the genius of all the higher life of humanity. Masonry is not everything; it is a thing as distinctly featured as astatue by Phidias or a painting by Angelo. Definitions, like delays, may be dangerous, but perhaps we can do no better than to adopt thewords of the German _Handbuch_[165] as the best description of it sofar given:

/#[4, 66] _Masonry is the activity of closely united men who, employing symbolical forms borrowed principally from the mason's trade and from architecture, work for the welfare of mankind, striving morally to ennoble themselves and others, and thereby to bring about a universal league of mankind, which they aspire to exhibit even now on a small scale. _#/

Civilization could hardly begin until man had learned to fashion forhimself a settled habitation, and thus the earliest of all human artsand crafts, and perhaps also the noblest, is that of the builder. Religion took outward shape when men first reared an altar for theirofferings, and surrounded it with a sanctuary of faith and awe, ofpity and consolation, and piled a cairn to mark the graves where theirdead lay asleep. History is no older than architecture. How fitting, then, that the idea and art of building should be made the basis of agreat order of men which has no other aim than the upbuilding ofhumanity in Faith, Freedom, and Friendship. Seeking to ennoble andbeautify life, it finds in the common task and constant labor of manits sense of human unity, its vision of life as a temple "building andbuilt upon, " and its emblems of those truths which make for purity ofcharacter and the stability of society. Thus Masonry labors, linkedwith the constructive genius of mankind, and so long as it remainstrue to its Ideal no weapon formed against it can prosper. 

One of the most impressive and touching things in human history isthat certain ideal interests have been set apart as especiallyvenerated among all peoples. Guilds have arisen to cultivate theinterests embodied in art, science, philosophy, fraternity, andreligion; to conserve the precious, hard-won inheritances of humanity;to train men in their service; to bring their power to bear upon thecommon life of mortals, and send through that common life the lightand glory of the Ideal--as the sun shoots its transfiguring raysthrough a great dull cloud, evoking beauty from the brown earth. Suchis Masonry, which unites all these high interests and brings to theirservice a vast, world-wide fraternity of free and devout men, builtupon a foundation of spiritual faith and moral idealism, whosemission it is to make men friends, to refine and exalt their lives, todeepen their faith and purify their dream, to turn them from thesemblance of life to homage for truth, beauty, righteousness, andcharacter. More than an institution, more than a tradition, more thana society, Masonry is one of the forms of the Divine Life upon earth. No one may ever hope to define a spirit so gracious, an order sobenign, an influence so prophetic of the present and future upbuildingof the race. 

There is a common notion that Masonry is a secret society, and thisidea is based on the secret rites used in its initiations, and thesigns and grips by which its members recognize each other. Thus it hascome to pass that the main aims of the Order are assumed to be asecret policy or teaching, [166] whereas _its one great secret is thatit has no secret_. Its principles are published abroad in itswritings; its purposes and laws are known, and the times and places ofits meetings. Having come down from dark days of persecution, when allthe finer things sought the protection of seclusion, if it stilladheres to secret rites, it is not in order to hide the truth, but thebetter to teach it more impressively, to train men in its pureservice, and to promote union and amity upon earth. Its signs andgrips serve as a kind of universal language, and still more as agracious cover for the practice of sweet charity--making it easier tohelp a fellow man in dire plight without hurting his self-respect. Ifa few are attracted to it by curiosity, all remain to pray, findingthemselves members of a great historic fellowship of the seekers andfinders of God. [167] It is old because it is true; had it been falseit would have perished long ago. When all men practice its simpleprecepts, the innocent secrets of Masonry will be laid bare, itsmission accomplished, and its labor done. 

II

Recalling the emphasis of the foregoing pages, it need hardly be addedthat Masonry is in no sense a political party, still less a societyorganized for social agitation. Indeed, because Masonry stands apartfrom partisan feud and particular plans of social reform, she has beenheld up to ridicule equally by the unthinking, the ambitious, and theimpatient. Her critics on this side are of two kinds. There are thosewho hold that the humanitarian ideal is an error, maintaining thathuman nature has no moral aptitude, and can be saved only bysubmission to a definite system of dogma. Then there are those wholook for salvation solely in political action and social agitation, who live in the delusion that man can be made better by passing lawsand counting votes, and to whom Masonry has nothing to offer becausein its ranks it permits no politics, much less party rancor. Advocatesof the first view have fought Masonry from the beginning with thesharpest weapons, while those who hold the second view regard it withcontempt, as a thing useless and not worth fighting. [168]

Neither adversary understands Masonry and its cult of the creativelove for humanity, and of each man for his fellow, without which nodogma is of any worth; lacking which, the best laid plans of socialseers "gang aft aglee. " Let us look at things as they are. That wemust press forward towards righteousness--that we must hunger andthirst after a social life that is true and pure, just andmerciful--all will agree; but they are blind who do not see that theway is long and the process slow. What is it that so tragically delaysthe march of man toward the better and wiser social order whereof ourprophets dream? Our age, like the ages gone before, is full of schemesof every kind for the reform and betterment of mankind. Why do theynot succeed? Some fail, perhaps, because they are imprudent andill-considered, in that they expect too much of human nature and donot take into account the stubborn facts of life. But why does not thewisest and noblest plan do more than half what its advocates hope andpray and labor so heroically to bring about? Because there are notenough men fine enough of soul, large enough of sympathy, sweet enoughof spirit, and noble enough of nature to make the dream come true!

There are no valid arguments against a great-spirited social justicebut this--that men will not. Indolence, impurity, greed, injustice, meanness of spirit, the aggressiveness of authority, and above alljealousy--these are the real obstacles that thwart the nobler socialaspiration of humanity. There are too many men like _TheMaster-Builder_ who tried to build higher than any one else, withoutregard to others, all for his own selfish glory. Ibsen has shown ushow _The Pillars of Society_, resting on rotten foundations, camecrashing down, wounding the innocent in their wreck. Long ago it wassaid that "through wisdom is an house builded, and by understanding itis established; and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled withpleasant and precious riches. "[169] Time has shown that the House ofWisdom must be founded upon righteousness, justice, purity, character, faith in God and love of man, else it will fall when the floodsdescend and the winds beat upon it. What we need to make our socialdreams come true is not more laws, not more dogmas, not less liberty, but better men, cleaner minded, more faithful, with loftier ideals andmore heroic integrity; men who love the right, honor the truth, worship purity, and prize liberty--upright men who meet allhorizontals at a perfect angle, assuring the virtue and stability ofthe social order. 

Therefore, when Masonry, instead of identifying itself with particularschemes of reform, and thus becoming involved in endless turmoil anddispute, estranging men whom she seeks to bless, devotes all herbenign energy and influence to _ennobling the souls of men_, she isdoing fundamental work in behalf of all high enterprises. By as muchas she succeeds, every noble cause succeeds; by as much as she fails, everything fails! By its ministry to the individual man--drawing himinto the circle of a great friendship, exalting his faith, refininghis ideals, enlarging his sympathies, and setting his feet in the longwhite path--Masonry best serves society and the state. [170] While itis not a reformatory, it is a center of moral and spiritual power, andits power is used, not only to protect the widow and orphan, but also, and still more important, to remove the cause of their woe and need bymaking men just, gentle, and generous to all their fellow mortals. Whocan measure such a silent, persistent, unresting labor; who candescribe its worth in a world of feud, of bitterness, of sorrow!

No one needs to be told that we are on the eve, if not in the midst, of a most stupendous and bewildering revolution of social andindustrial life. It shakes England today. It makes France trembletomorrow. It alarms America next week. Men want shorter hours, higherwages, and better homes--of course they do--but they need, more thanthese things, to know and love each other; for the questions indispute can never be settled in an air of hostility. If they are eversettled at all, and settled right, it must be in an atmosphere ofmutual recognition and respect, such as Masonry seeks to create andmake prevail. Whether it be a conflict of nations, or a clash of classwith class, appeal must be made to intelligence and the moral sense, as befits the dignity of man. Amidst bitterness and strife Masonrybrings men of every rank and walk of life together as men, and nothingelse, at an altar where they can talk and not fight, discuss and notdispute, and each may learn the point of view of his fellow. Otherhope there is none save in this spirit of friendship and fairness, ofdemocracy and the fellowship of man with man. Once this spirit has itsway with mankind, it will bring those brave, large reconstructions, those profitable abnegations and brotherly feats of generosity thatwill yet turn human life into a glad, beautiful, and triumphantcoöperation all round this sunlit world. 

Surely the way of Masonry is wise. Instead of becoming only one morefactor in a world of factional feud, it seeks to remove all hostilitywhich may arise from social, national, or religious differences. Ithelps to heal the haughtiness of the rich and the envy of the poor, and tends to establish peace on earth by allaying all fanaticism andhatred on account of varieties of language, race, creed, and evencolor, while striving to make the wisdom of the past available for theculture of men in faith and purity. Not a party, not a sect, not acult, it is a great order of men selected, initiated, sworn, andtrained to make sweet reason and the will of God prevail! Against theancient enmities and inhumanities of the world it wages eternal war, without vengeance, without violence, but by softening the hearts ofmen and inducing a better spirit. Apparitions of a day, here for anhour and tomorrow gone, what is our puny warfare against evil andignorance compared with the warfare which this venerable Order hasbeen waging against them for ages, and will continue to wage after wehave fallen into dust!

III

Masonry, as it is much more than a political party or a social cult, is also more than a church--unless we use the word church as Ruskinused it when he said: "There is a true church wherever one hand meetsanother helpfully, the only holy or mother church that ever was orever shall be!" It is true that Masonry is not _a_ religion, but it isReligion, a worship in which all good men may unite, that each mayshare the faith of all. Often it has been objected that some men leavethe Church and enter the Masonic Lodge, finding there a religioushome. Even so, but that may be the fault, not of Masonry, but of theChurch so long defamed by bigotry and distracted by sectarian feud, and which has too often made acceptance of abstract dogmas a test ofits fellowship. [171] Naturally many fine minds have been estrangedfrom the Church, not because they were irreligious, but because theywere required to believe what it was impossible for them to believe;and, rather than sacrifice their integrity of soul, they have turnedaway from the last place from which a man should ever turn away. Nopart of the ministry of Masonry is more beautiful and wise than itsappeal, not for tolerance, but for fraternity; not for uniformity, butfor unity of spirit amidst varieties of outlook and opinion. Insteadof criticizing Masonry, let us thank God for one altar where no man isasked to surrender his liberty of thought and become anindistinguishable atom in a mass of sectarian agglomeration. What awitness to the worth of an Order that it brings together men of allcreeds in behalf of those truths which are greater than all sects, deeper than all doctrines--the glory and the hope of man!

While Masonry is not a church, it has religiously preserved somethings of highest importance to the Church--among them the right ofeach individual soul to its own religious faith. Holding aloof fromseparate sects and creeds, it has taught all of them how to respectand tolerate each other; asserting a principle broader than any ofthem--the sanctity of the soul and the duty of every man to revere, orat least to regard with charity, what is sacred to his fellows. It islike the crypts underneath the old cathedrals--a place where men ofevery creed who long for something deeper and truer, older and newerthan they have hitherto known, meet and unite. Having put awaychildish things, they find themselves made one by a profound andchildlike faith, each bringing down into that quiet crypt his ownpearl of great price--

/#[4, 66] The Hindu his innate disbelief in this world, and his unhesitating belief in another world; the Buddhist his perception of an eternal law, his submission to it, his gentleness, his pity; the Mohammedan, if nothing else, his sobriety; the Jew his clinging, through good and evil days, to the one God who loveth righteousness, and whose name is "I AM;" the Christian, that which is better than all, if those who doubt it would try it--our love of God, call Him what you will, manifested in our love of man, our love of the living, our love of the dead, our living and undying love. Who knows but that the crypt of the past may become the church of the future?[172]#/

Of no one age, Masonry belongs to all ages; of no one religion, itfinds great truths in all religions. Indeed, it holds that truth whichis common to all elevating and benign religions, and is the basis ofeach; that faith which underlies all sects and over-arches all creeds, like the sky above and the river bed below the flow of mortal years. It does not undertake to explain or dogmatically to settle thosequestions or solve those dark mysteries which out-top human knowledge. Beyond the facts of faith it does not go. With the subtleties ofspeculation concerning those truths, and the unworldly envies growingout of them, it has not to do. There divisions begin, and Masonry wasnot made to divide men, but to unite them, leaving each man free tothink his own thought and fashion his own system of ultimate truth. All its emphasis rests upon two extremely simple and profoundprinciples--love of God and love of man. Therefore, all through theages it has been, and is today, a meeting place of differing minds, and a prophecy of the final union of all reverent and devout souls. 

Time was when one man framed a dogma and declared it to be the eternaltruth. Another man did the same thing, with a different dogma; thenthe two began to hate each other with an unholy hatred, each seekingto impose his dogma upon the other--and that is an epitome of some ofthe blackest pages of history. Against those old sectarians whosubstituted intolerance for charity, persecution for friendship, anddid not love God because they hated their neighbors, Masonry madeeloquent protest, putting their bigotry to shame by its simpleinsight, and the dignity of its golden voice. A vast change of heartis now taking place in the religious world, by reason of an exchangeof thought and courtesy, and a closer personal touch, and the varioussects, so long estranged, are learning to unite upon the things mostworth while and the least open to debate. That is to say, they aremoving toward the Masonic position, and when they arrive Masonry willwitness a scene which she has prophesied for ages. 

At last, in the not distant future, the old feuds of the sects willcome to an end, forgotten in the discovery that the just, the brave, the true-hearted are everywhere of one religion, and that when themasks of misunderstanding are taken off they know and love oneanother. Our little dogmas will have their day and cease to be, lostin the vision of a truth so great that all men are one in theirlittleness; one also in their assurance of the divinity of the souland "the kindness of the veiled Father of men. " Then men of every namewill ask, when they meet:

/P Not what is your creed? But what is your need?P/

High above all dogmas that divide, all bigotries that blind, allbitterness that beclouds, will be written the simple words of the oneeternal religion--the Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, themoral law, the golden rule, and the hope of a life everlasting!

FOOTNOTES:

[163] _Symbolism of Freemasonry_, by Dr. Mackey. 

[164] _History and Philosophy of Masonry_, by A. C. L. Arnold, chap. Xvi. To say of any man--of Socrates, for example--who had the spirit ofFriendship and Integrity, that he was a Mason, is in a sense true, butit is misleading. Nevertheless, if a man have not that spirit, he isnot a Mason, though he may have received the thirty-third degree. 

[165] Vol. I, p. 320. The _Handbuch_ is an encyclopedia of Masonry, published in 1900. See admirable review of it, _A. Q. C. _, xi, 64. 

[166] Much has been written about the secrecy of Masonry. Hutchinson, in his lecture on "The Secrecy of Masons, " lays all the stress upon itsprivacy as a shelter for the gentle ministry of Charity (_Spirit ofMasonry_, lecture x). Arnold is more satisfactory in his essay on "ThePhilosophy of Mystery, " quoting the words of Carlyle in _SartorResartus_: "Bees will not work except in darkness; thoughts will notwork except in silence; neither will virtue work except in secrecy"(_History and Philosophy of Masonry_, chap. Xxi). But neither writerseems to realize the psychology and pedagogy of secrecy--the value ofcuriosity, of wonder and expectation, in the teaching of great truthsdeemed commonplace because old. Even in that atmosphere, the realsecret of Masonry remains hidden to many--as sunlight hides the depthsof heaven. 

[167] Read the noble chapter on "Prayer as a Masonic Obligation, " in_Practical Masonic Lectures_, by Samuel Lawrence (lecture x). 

[168] Read a thoughtful "Exposition of Freemasonry, " by Dr. Paul Carus, _Open Court_, May, 1913. 

[169] Proverbs 24:3, 4. 

[170] While Masonry abjures political questions and disputes in itsLodges, it is all the while training good citizens, and through thequality of its men it influences public life--as Washington, Franklin, and Marshall carried the spirit of Masonry into the organic law of thisrepublic. It is not politics that corrupts character; it is badcharacter that corrupts politics--and by building men up to spiritualfaith and character, Masonry is helping to build up a state that willendure the shocks of time; a nobler structure than ever was wrought ofmortar and marble (_The Principles of Freemasonry in the Life ofNations_, by Findel). 

[171] Not a little confusion has existed, and still exists, in regardto the relation of Masonry to religion. Dr. Mackey said that oldCraft-masonry was sectarian (_Symbolism of Masonry_); but it was notmore so than Dr. Mackey himself, who held the curious theory that thereligion of the Hebrews was genuine and that of the Egyptians spurious. Nor is there any evidence that Craft-masonry was sectarian, but much tothe contrary, as has been shown in reference to the invocations in the_Old Charges_. At any rate, if it was ever sectarian, it ceased to beso with the organization of the Grand Lodge of England. Later, some ofthe chaplains of the order sought to identify Masonry withChristianity, as Hutchinson did--and even Arnold in his chapter on"Christianity and Freemasonry" (_History and Philosophy of Masonry_). All this confusion results from a misunderstanding of what religion is. Religions are many; religion is one--perhaps we may say one thing, butthat one thing includes everything--the life of God in the soul of man, which finds expression in all the forms which life and love and dutytake. This conception of religion shakes the poison out of all our wildflowers, and shows us that it is the inspiration of all scientificinquiry, all striving for liberty, all virtue and charity; the spiritof all thought, the motif of all great music, the soul of all sublimeliterature. The church has no monopoly of religion, nor did the Biblecreate it. Instead, it was religion--the natural and simple trust ofthe soul in a Power above and within it, and its quest of a rightrelation to that Power--that created the Bible and the Church, and, indeed, all our higher human life. The soul of man is greater than allbooks, deeper than all dogmas, and more enduring than all institutions. Masonry seeks to free men from a limiting conception of religion, andthus to remove one of the chief causes of sectarianism. It is itselfone of the forms of beauty wrought by the human soul under theinspiration of the Eternal Beauty, and as such is religious. 

[172] _Chips from a German Workshop_, by Max Müller. 

THE MASONIC PHILOSOPHY

/# _Masonry directs us to divest ourselves of confined and bigoted notions, and teaches us, that Humanity is the soul of Religion. We never suffer any religious disputes in our Lodges, and, as Masons, we only pursue the universal religion, the Religion of Nature. Worshipers of the God of Mercy, we believe that in every nation, he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted of Him. All Masons, therefore, whether Christians, Jews, or Mahomedans, who violate not the rule of right, written by the Almighty upon the tables of the heart, who_ DO _fear Him, and_ WORK _righteousness, we are to acknowledge as brethren; and, though we take different roads, we are not to be angry with, or persecute each other on that account. We mean to travel to the same place; we know that the end of our journey is the same; and we affectionately hope to meet in the Lodge of perfect happiness. How lovely is an institution fraught with sentiments like these! How agreeable must it be to Him who is seated on a throne of Everlasting Mercy, to the God who is no respecter of persons!_

 --WM. HUTCHINSON, _The Spirit of Masonry_#/

CHAPTER II

_The Masonic Philosophy_

"Hast any philosophy in thee, Shepherd?"[173] was the question ofTouchstone in the Shakespeare play; and that is the question we mustalways ask ourselves. Long ago Kant said that it is the mission ofphilosophy, not to discover truth, but to set it in order, to seek outthe rhythm of things and their reason for being. Beginning in wonder, it sees the familiar as if it were strange, and its mind is full ofthe air that plays round every subject. Spacious, humane, eloquent, itis "a blend of science, poetry, religion and logic"[174]--asoftening, enlarging, ennobling influence, giving us a wider andclearer outlook, more air, more room, more light, and more background. 

When we look at Masonry in this large and mellow light, it is like astately old cathedral, gray with age, rich in associations, its stepsworn by innumerable feet of the living and the dead--not piteous, butstrong and enduring. Entering its doors, we wonder at its loftyspaces, its windows with the dimness and glory of the Infinite behindthem, the spring of its pillars, the leap of its arches, and its roofinlaid with stars. Inevitably we ask, whence came this temple of faithand friendship, and what does it mean--rising lightly as a lyric, uplifted by the hunger for truth and the love for beauty, and exemptfrom the shock of years and the ravages of decay? What faith buildedthis home of the soul, what philosophy underlies and upholds it? Trulydid Longfellow sing of _The Builders_:

/P In the elder years of art, Builders wrought with greatest care Each minute and hidden part, For the gods see everywhere. P/

I

If we examine the foundations of Masonry, we find that it rests uponthe most fundamental of all truths, the first truth and the last, thesovereign and supreme Reality. Upon the threshold of its Lodges everyman, whether prince or peasant, is asked to confess his faith in Godthe Father Almighty, the Architect and Master-Builder of theUniverse. [175] That is not a mere form of words, but the deepest andmost solemn affirmation that human lips can make. To be indifferentto God is to be indifferent to the greatest of all realities, thatupon which the aspiration of humanity rests for its uprising passionof desire. No institution that is dumb concerning the meaning of lifeand the character of the universe, can last. It is a house built uponthe sand, doomed to fall when the winds blow and floods beat upon it, lacking a sure foundation. No human fraternity that has not itsinspiration in the Fatherhood of God, confessed or unconfessed, canlong endure; it is a rope of sand, weak as water, and its finesentiment quickly evaporates. Life leads, if we follow its meaningsand think in the drift of its deeper conclusions, to one God as theground of the world, and upon that ground Masonry lays hercorner-stone. Therefore, it endures and grows, and the gates of hellcannot prevail against it!

While Masonry is theocratic in its faith and philosophy, [176] it doesnot limit its conception of the Divine, much less insist upon any onename for "the Nameless One of a hundred names. " Indeed, no feature ofMasonry is more fascinating than its age-long quest of the LostWord, [177] the Ineffable Name; a quest that never tires, nevertarries, knowing the while that every name is inadequate, and allwords are but symbols of a Truth too great for words--every letter ofthe alphabet, in fact, having been evolved from some primeval sign orsignal of the faith and hope of humanity. Thus Masonry, so far fromlimiting the thought of God, is evermore in search of a moresatisfying and revealing vision of the meaning of the universe, nowluminous and lovely, now dark and terrible; and it invites all men tounite in the quest--

/P One in the freedom of the Truth, One in the joy of paths untrod, One in the soul's perennial Youth, One in the larger thought of God. P/

Truly the human consciousness of fellowship with the Eternal, underwhatever name, may well hush all words, still more hush argument andanathema. Possession, not recognition, is the only thing important;and if it is not recognized, the fault must surely be, in large part, our own. Given the one great experience, and before long kindredspirits will join in the _Universal Prayer_ of Alexander Pope, himselfa Mason:

/P Father of all! in every age, In every clime adored, By Saint, by Savage, and by Sage, Jehovah, Jove, or Lord!P/

With eloquent unanimity our Masonic thinkers proclaim the unity andlove of God--whence their vision of the ultimate unity and love ofmankind--to be the great truth of the Masonic philosophy; the unity ofGod and the immortality of the soul. [178] Amidst polytheisms, dualisms, and endless confusions, they hold it to have been the greatmission of Masonry to preserve these precious truths, beside which, inthe long result of thought and faith, all else fades and grows dim. Ofthis there is no doubt; and science has come at last to vindicate thiswise insight, by unveiling the unity of the universe with overwhelmingemphasis. Unquestionably the universe is an inexhaustible wonder. Still, it is a wonder, not a contradiction, and we can never find itsrhythm save in the truth of the unity of all things in God. Otherclue there is none. Down to this deep foundation Masonry digs for abasis of its temple, and builds securely. If this be false orunstable, then is

/P The pillar'd firmament rottenness, And earth's base built on stubble. P/

Upon the altar of Masonry lies the open Bible which, despite thechanges and advances of the ages, remains the greatest ModernBook--the moral manual of civilization. [179] All through its pages, through the smoke of Sinai, through "the forest of the Psalms, "through proverbs and parables, along the dreamy ways of prophecy, ingospels and epistles is heard the everlasting truth of one God who islove, and who requires of men that they love one another, do justly, be merciful, keep themselves unspotted by evil, and walk humbly beforeHim in whose great hand they stand. There we read of the Man ofGalilee who taught that, in the far distances of the divineFatherhood, all men were conceived in love, and so are akin--united inorigin, duty, and destiny. Therefore we are to relieve the distressed, put the wanderer into his way, and divide our bread with the hungry, which is but the way of doing good to ourselves; for we are allmembers of one great family, and the hurt of one means the injury ofall. 

This profound and reverent faith from which, as from a never-failingspring, flow heroic devotedness, moral self-respect, authenticsentiments of fraternity, inflexible fidelity in life and effectualconsolation in death, Masonry has at all times religiously taught. Perseveringly it has propagated it through the centuries, and nevermore zealously than in our age. Scarcely a Masonic discourse ispronounced, or a Masonic lesson read, by the highest officer or thehumblest lecturer, that does not earnestly teach this one truereligion which is the very soul of Masonry, its basis and apex, itslight and power. Upon that faith it rests; in that faith it lives andlabors; and by that faith it will conquer at last, when the noises andconfusions of today have followed the tangled feet that made them. 

II

Out of this simple faith grows, by inevitable logic, the philosophywhich Masonry teaches in signs and symbols, in pictures and parables. Stated briefly, stated vividly, it is that behind the pageant ofnature, in it and over it, there is a Supreme Mind which initiates, impels, and controls all. That behind the life of man and its patheticstory in history, in it and over it, there is a righteous Will, theintelligent Conscience of the Most High. In short, that the first andlast thing in the universe is mind, that the highest and deepest thingis conscience, and that the final reality is the absoluteness of love. Higher than that faith cannot fly; deeper than that thought cannotdig. 

/P No deep is deep enough to show The springs whence being starts to flow. No fastness of the soul reveals Life's subtlest impulse and appeals. We seem to come, we seem to go; But whence or whither who can know? Unemptiable, unfillable, It's all in that one syllable-- God! Only God. God first, God last. God, infinitesimally vast; God who is love, love which is God, The rootless, everflowering rod!P/

There is but one real alternative to this philosophy. It is notatheism--which is seldom more than a revulsion fromsuperstition--because the adherents of absolute atheism are so few, ifany, and its intellectual position is too precarious ever to be amenace. An atheist, if such there be, is an orphan, a waif wanderingthe midnight streets of time, homeless and alone. Nor is thealternative agnosticism, which in the nature of things can be only apassing mood of thought, when, indeed, it is not a confession ofintellectual bankruptcy, or a labor-saving device to escape the toiland fatigue of high thinking. It trembles in perpetual hesitation, likea donkey equi-distant between two bundles of hay, starving to death butunable to make up its mind. No; the real alternative is materialism, which played so large a part in philosophy fifty years ago, and which, defeated there, has betaken itself to the field of practical affairs. This is the dread alternative of a denial of the great faith ofhumanity, a blight which would apply a sponge to all the highaspirations and ideals of the race. According to this dogma, the firstand last things in the universe are atoms, their number, dance, combinations, and growth. All mind, all will, all emotion, allcharacter, all love is incidental, transitory, vain. The sovereign factis mud, the final reality is dirt, and the decree of destiny is "dustunto dust!"

Against this ultimate horror, it need hardly be said that in every ageMasonry has stood as a witness for the life of the spirit. In the warof the soul against dust, in the choice between dirt and Deity, it hasallied itself on the side of the great idealisms and optimisms ofhumanity. It takes the spiritual view of life and the world as beingmost in accord with the facts of experience, the promptings of rightreason, and the voice of conscience. In other words, it dares to readthe meaning of the universe through what is highest in man, notthrough what is lower, asserting that the soul is akin to the EternalSpirit, and that by a life of righteousness its eternal quality isrevealed. [180] Upon this philosophy Masonry rests, and finds a rockbeneath:

/P On Him, this corner-stone we build, On Him, this edifice erect; And still, until this work's fulfilled, May He the workman's ways direct. P/

Now, consider! All our human thinking, whether it be in science, philosophy, or religion, rests for its validity upon faith in thekinship of man with God. If that faith be false, the temple of humanthought falls to wreck, and behold! we know not anything and have noway of learning. But the fact that the universe is intelligible, thatwe can follow its forces, trace its laws, and make a map of it, finding the infinite even in the infinitesimal, shows that the mind ofman is akin to the Mind that made it. Also, there are two aspects ofthe nature of man which lift him above the brute and bespeak hisdivine heredity. They are reason and conscience, both of which are ofmore than sense and time, having their source, satisfaction, andauthority in an unseen, eternal world. That is to say, man is a beingwho, if not actually immortal, is called by the very law and necessityof his being to live as if he were immortal. Unless life be utterlyabortive, having neither rhyme nor reason, the soul of man is itselfthe one sure proof and prophet of its own high faith. 

Consider, too, what it means to say that this mighty soul of man isakin to the Eternal Soul of all things. It means that we are notshapes of mud placed here by chance, but sons of the Most High, citizens of eternity, deathless as God our Father is deathless; andthat there is laid upon us an abiding obligation to live in a mannerbefitting the dignity of the soul. It means that what a man thinks, the parity of his feeling, the character of his activity and careerare of vital and ceaseless concern to the Eternal. Here is aphilosophy which lights up the universe like a sunrise, confirming thedim, dumb certainties of the soul, evolving meaning out of mystery, and hope out of what would else be despair. It brings out the colorsof human life, investing our fleeting mortal years--brief at theirlongest, broken at its best--with enduring significance and beauty. Itgives to each of us, however humble and obscure, a place and a part inthe stupendous historical enterprise; makes us fellow workers with theEternal in His redemptive making of humanity, and binds us to do Hiswill upon earth as it is done in heaven. It subdues the intellect; itsoftens the heart; it begets in the will that sense of self-respectwithout which high and heroic living cannot be. Such is the philosophyupon which Masonry builds; and from it flow, as from the rock smittenin the wilderness, those bright streams that wander through and waterthis human world of ours. 

III

Because this is so; because the human soul is akin to God, and isendowed with powers to which no one may set a limit, it is and ofright ought to be free. Thus, by the logic of its philosophy, not lessthan the inspiration of its faith, Masonry has been impelled to makeits historic demand for liberty of conscience, for the freedom of theintellect, and for the right of all men to stand erect, unfettered, and unafraid, equal before God and the law, each respecting the rightsof his fellows. What we have to remember is, that before this truthwas advocated by any order, or embodied in any political constitution, it was embedded in the will of God and the constitution of the humansoul. Nor will Masonry ever swerve one jot or tittle from its ancientand eloquent demand till all men, everywhere, are free in body, mind, and soul. As it is, Lowell was right when he wrote:

/P We are not free: Freedom doth not consist In musing with our faces toward the Past While petty cares and crawling interests twist Their spider threads about us, which at last Grow strong as iron chains and cramp and bind In formal narrowness heart, soul, and mind. Freedom is recreated year by year, In hearts wide open on the Godward side, In souls calm-cadenced as the whirling sphere, In minds that sway the future like a tide. No broadest creeds can hold her, and no codes; She chooses men for her august abodes, Building them fair and fronting to the dawn. P/

Some day, when the cloud of prejudice has been dispelled by thesearchlight of truth, the world will honor Masonry for its service tofreedom of thought and the liberty of faith. No part of its historyhas been more noble, no principle of its teaching has been moreprecious than its age-long demand for the right and duty of every soulto seek that light by which no man was ever injured, and that truthwhich makes man free. Down through the centuries--often in times whenthe highest crime was not murder, but thinking, and the humanconscience was a captive dragged at the wheel of the ecclesiasticalchariot--always and everywhere Masonry has stood for the right of thesoul to know the truth, and to look up unhindered from the lap ofearth into the face of God. Not freedom from faith, but freedom offaith, has been its watchword, on the ground that as despotism is themother of anarchy, so bigoted dogmatism is the prolific source ofscepticism--knowing, also, that our race has made its most rapidadvance in those fields where it has been free the longest. 

Against those who would fetter thought in order to perpetuate aneffete authority, who would give the skinny hand of the past a scepterto rule the aspiring and prophetic present, and seal the lips ofliving scholars with the dicta of dead scholastics, Masonry will neverground arms! Her plea is for government without tyranny and religionwithout superstition, and as surely as suns rise and set her fightwill be crowned with victory. Defeat is impossible, the more sobecause she fights not with force, still less with intrigue, but withthe power of truth, the persuasions of reason, and the might ofgentleness, seeking not to destroy her enemies, but to win them to theliberty of the truth and the fellowship of love. 

Not only does Masonry plead for that liberty of faith which permits aman to hold what seems to him true, but also, and with equal emphasis, for the liberty which faith gives to the soul, emancipating it fromthe despotism of doubt and the fetters of fear. Therefore, by everyart of spiritual culture, it seeks to keep alive in the hearts of mena great and simple trust in the goodness of God, in the worth of life, and the divinity of the soul--a trust so apt to be crushed by thetramp of heavy years. Help a man to a firm faith in an Infinite Pityat the heart of this dark world, and from how many fears is he free!Once a temple of terror, haunted by shadows, his heart becomes "acathedral of serenity and gladness, " and his life is enlarged andunfolded into richness of character and service. Nor is there anytyranny like the tyranny of time. Give a man a day to live, and he islike a bird in a cage beating against its bars. Give him a year inwhich to move to and fro with his thoughts and plans, his purposesand hopes, and you have liberated him from the despotism of a day. Enlarge the scope of his life to fifty years, and he has a moraldignity of attitude and a sweep of power impossible hitherto. But givehim a sense of Eternity; let him know that he plans and works in anageless time; that above his blunders and sins there hovers and waitsthe infinite--then he is free!

Nevertheless, if life on earth be worthless, so is immortality. Thereal question, after all, is not as to the quantity of life, but itsquality--its depth, its purity, its fortitude, its fineness of spiritand gesture of soul. Hence the insistent emphasis of Masonry upon thebuilding of character and the practice of righteousness; upon thatmoral culture without which man is rudimentary, and that spiritualvision without which intellect is the slave of greed or passion. Whatmakes a man great and freed of soul, here or anywhither, is loyalty tothe laws of right, of truth, of purity, of love, and the lofty will ofGod. How to live is the one matter; and the oldest man in his ripe agehas yet to seek a wiser way than to build, year by year, upon afoundation of faith in God, using the Square of justice, thePlumb-line of rectitude, the Compass to restrain the passions, and theRule by which to divide our time into labor, rest, and service to ourfellows. Let us begin now and seek wisdom in the beauty of virtue andlive in the light of it, rejoicing; so in this world shall we have aforegleam of the world to come--bringing down to the Gate in the Mistsomething that ought not to die, assured that, though hearts are dust, as God lives what is excellent is enduring!

IV

Bede the Venerable, in giving an account of the deliberations of theKing of Northumberland and his counsellors, as to whether they shouldallow the Christian missionaries to teach a new faith to the people, recites this incident. After much debate, a gray-haired chief recalledthe feeling which came over him on seeing a little bird pass through, on fluttering wing, the warm bright hall of feasting, while winterwinds raged without. The moment of its flight was full of sweetnessand light for the bird, but it was brief. Out of the darkness it flew, looked upon the bright scene, and vanished into the darkness again, none knowing whence it came nor whither it went. 

"Like this, " said the veteran chief, "is human life. We come, our wisemen cannot tell whence. We go, and they cannot tell whither. Ourflight is brief. Therefore, if there be anyone that can teach us moreabout it--in God's name let us hear him!"

Even so, let us hear what Masonry has to say in the great argument forthe immortality of the soul. But, instead of making an argument linkedand strong, it presents a picture--the oldest, if not the greatestdrama in the world--the better to make men feel those truths which nomortal words can utter. It shows us the black tragedy of life in itsdarkest hour; the forces of evil, so cunning yet so stupid, which comeup against the soul, tempting it to treachery, and even to thedegredation of saving life by giving up all that makes life worthliving; a tragedy which, in its simplicity and power, makes the heartache and stand still. Then, out of the thick darkness there rises, like a beautiful white star, that in man which is most akin to God, his love of truth, his loyalty to the highest, and his willingness togo down into the night of death, if only virtue may live and shinelike a pulse of fire in the evening sky. Here is the ultimate andfinal witness of our divinity and immortality--the sublime, death-defying moral heroism of the human soul! Surely the eternalparadox holds true at the gates of the grave: he who loses his lifefor the sake of truth, shall find it anew! And here Masonry rests thematter, assured that since there is that in man which makes him holdto the moral ideal, and the integrity of his own soul, against allthe brute forces of the world, the God who made man in His own imagewill not let him die in the dust! Higher vision it is not given us tosee in the dim country of this world; deeper truth we do not need toknow. 

Working with hands soon to be folded, we build up the structure of ourlives from what our fingers can feel, our eyes can see, and our earscan hear. Till, in a moment--marvelous whether it come in storm andtears, or softly as twilight breath beneath unshadowed skies--we arecalled upon to yield our grasp of these solid things, and trustourselves to the invisible Soul within us, which betakes itself alongan invisible path into the Unknown. It is strange: a door opens into anew world; and man, child of the dust that he is, follows hisadventurous Soul, as the Soul follows an inscrutable Power which ismore elusive than the wind that bloweth where it listeth. Suddenly, with fixed eyes and blanched lips, we lie down and wait; and life, well-fought or wasted, bright or somber, lies behind us--a dream thatis dreamt, a thing that is no more. O Death, /P Thou hast destroyed it, The beautiful world, With powerful fist: In ruin 'tis hurled, By the blow of a demigod shattered! The scattered Fragments into the void we carry, Deploring The beauty perished beyond restoring. Mightier For the children of men, Brightlier Build it again, In thine own bosom build it anew!P/

O Youth, for whom these lines are written, fear not; fear not tobelieve that the soul is as eternal as the moral order that obtains init, wherefore you shall forever pursue that divine beauty which hashere so touched and transfigured you; for that is the faith ofhumanity, your race, and those who are fairest in its records. Let uslay it to heart, love it, and act upon it, that we may learn its deepmeaning as regards others--our dear dead whom we think of, perhaps, every day--and find it easier to be brave and hopeful, even when weare sad. It is not a faith to be taken lightly, but deeply and in thequiet of the soul, if so that we may grow into its high meanings forourselves, as life grows or declines. 

/P Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!P/

FOOTNOTES:

[173] _As You Like It_ (act ii, scene ii). Shakespeare makes noreference to any secret society, but some of his allusions suggest thathe knew more than he wrote. He describes "The singing Masons buildingroofs of gold" (_Henry V_, act i, scene ii), and compares them to aswarm of bees at work. Did he know what the bee hive means in thesymbolism of Masonry? (Read an interesting article on "Shakespeare andFreemasonry, " _American Freemason_, January, 1912. ) It reminds one ofthe passage in the _Complete Angler_, by Isaak Walton, in which thegentle fisherman talks about the meaning of Pillars in language verylike that used in the _Old Charges_. But Hawkins in his edition of the_Angler_ recalls that Walton was a friend of Elias Ashmole, and mayhave learned of Masonry from him. (_A Short Masonic History_, by F. Armitage, vol. Ii, chap. 3. )

[174] _Some Problems of Philosophy_, by William James. 

[175] In 1877 the Grand Orient of France removed the Bible from itsaltar and erased from its ritual all reference to Deity; and for sodoing it was disfellowshiped by nearly every Grand Lodge in the world. The writer of the article on "Masonry" in the _Catholic Encyclopedia_recalls this fact with emphasis; but he is much fairer to the GrandOrient than many Masonic writers have been. He understands that thisdoes not mean that the Masons of France are atheistic, as that word isordinarily used, but that _they do not believe that there existAtheists in the absolute sense of the word_; and he quotes the words ofAlbert Pike: "A man who has a higher conception of God than those abouthim, and who denies that their conception is God, is very likely to becalled an Atheist by men who are really far less believers in God thanhe" (_Morals and Dogma_, p. 643). Thus, as Pike goes on to say, theearly Christians, who said the heathen idols were no Gods, wereaccounted Atheists, and accordingly put to death. We need not hold abrief for the Grand Orient, but it behooves us to understand itsposition and point of view, lest we be found guilty of a petty bigotryin regard to a word when the _reality_ is a common treasure. First, itwas felt that France needed the aid of every man who was an enemy ofLatin ecclesiasticism, in order to bring about a separation of Churchand State; hence the attitude of the Grand Orient. Second, the Masonsof France agree with Plutarch that no conception of God at all isbetter than a dark, distorted superstition which wraps men in terror;and they erased a word which, for many, was associated with an unworthyfaith--the better to seek a unity of effort in behalf of liberty ofthought and a loftier faith. (_The Religion of Plutarch_, by Oakesmith;also the Bacon essay on _Superstition_. ) We may deem this unwise, butwe ought at least to understand its spirit and purpose. 

[176] _Theocratic Philosophy of Freemasonry_, by Oliver. 

[177] "History of the Lost Word, " by J. F. Garrison, appendix to _EarlyHistory and Antiquities of Freemasonry_, by G. F. Fort--one of the mostbrilliant Masonic books, both in scholarship and literary style. 

[178] _Symbolism of Masonry_, by Dr. Mackey (chap. I) and other bookstoo many to name. It need hardly be said that the truth of the trinity, whereof the triangle is an emblem--though with Pythagoras it was asymbol of holiness, of health--was never meant to contradict the unityof God, but to make it more vivid. As too often interpreted, it islittle more than a crude tri-theism, but at its best it is not so. "Godthrice, not three Gods, " was the word of St. Augustine (_Essay on theTrinity_), meaning three aspects of God--not the mathematics of Hisnature, but its manifoldness, its variety in unity. The late W. N. Clarke--who put more common sense into theology than any other man ofhis day--pointed out that, in our time, the old debate about thetrinity is as dead as Caesar; the truth of God as a Father having takenup into itself the warmth, color, and tenderness of the truth of thetrinity--which, as said on an earlier page, was a vision of God throughthe family (_Christian Doctrine of God_). 

[179] _The Bible, the Great Source of Masonic Secrets and Observances_, by Dr. Oliver. No Mason need be told what a large place the Bible hasin the symbolism, ritual, and teaching of the Order, and it has anequally large place in its literature. 

[180] Read the great argument of Plato in _The Republic_ (book vi). Thepresent writer does not wish to impose upon Masonry any dogma oftechnical Idealism, subjective, objective, or otherwise. No more thanothers does he hold to a static universe which unrolls in time a planmade out before, but to a world of wonders where life has the risk andzest of adventure. He rejoices in the New Idealism of Rudolf Eucken, with its gospel of "an independent spiritual life"--independent, thatis, of vicissitude--and its insistence upon the fact that the meaningof life depends upon our "building up within ourselves a life that isnot of time" (_Life's Basis and Life's Ideal_). But the intent of thesepages is, rather, to emphasize the spiritual view of life and the worldas the philosophy underlying Masonry, and upon which it builds--thereality of the ideal, its sovereignty over our fragile human life, andthe immutable necessity of loyalty to it, if we are to build foreternity. After all, as Plotinus said, philosophy "serves to point theway and guide the traveller; the vision is for him who will see it. "But the direction means much to those who are seeking the truth to knowit. 

THE SPIRIT OF MASONRY

/P _The crest and crowning of all good, Life's final star, is Brotherhood; For it will bring again to Earth Her long-lost Poesy and Mirth; Will send new light on every face, A kingly power upon the race. And till it comes we men are slaves, And travel downward to the dust of graves. _

 _Come, clear the way, then, clear the way: Blind creeds and kings have had their day. Break the dead branches from the path: Our hope is in the aftermath-- Our hope is in heroic men, Star-led to build the world again. To this event the ages ran: Make way for Brotherhood--make way for Man. _

 --EDWIN MARKHAM, _Poems_P/

CHAPTER III

_The Spirit of Masonry_

I

Outside of the home and the house of God there is nothing in thisworld more beautiful than the Spirit of Masonry. Gentle, gracious, andwise, its mission is to form mankind into a great redemptivebrotherhood, a league of noble and free men enlisted in the radiantenterprise of working out in time the love and will of the Eternal. Who is sufficient to describe a spirit so benign? With what words mayone ever hope to capture and detain that which belongs of right to thegenius of poetry and song, by whose magic those elusive and impalpablerealities find embodiment and voice?

With picture, parable, and stately drama, Masonry appeals to lovers ofbeauty, bringing poetry and symbol to the aid of philosophy, and artto the service of character. Broad and tolerant in its teaching, itappeals to men of intellect, equally by the depth of its faith and itsplea for liberty of thought--helping them to think things through toa more satisfying and hopeful vision of the meaning of life and themystery of the world. But its profoundest appeal, more eloquent thanall others, is to the deep heart of man, out of which are the issuesof life and destiny. When all is said, it is as a man thinketh in hisheart whether life be worth while or not, and whether he is a help ora curse to his race. 

/P Here lies the tragedy of our race: Not that men are poor; All men know something of poverty. Not that men are wicked; Who can claim to be good? Not that men are ignorant; Who can boast that he is wise? But that men are strangers!P/

Masonry is Friendship--friendship, first, with the great Companion, ofwhom our own hearts tell us, who is always nearer to us than we are toourselves, and whose inspiration and help is the greatest fact ofhuman experience. To be in harmony with His purposes, to be open toHis suggestions, to be conscious of fellowship with Him--this isMasonry on its Godward side. Then, turning manward, friendship sums itall up. To be friends with all men, however they may differ from us increed, color, or condition; to fill every human relation with thespirit of friendship; is there anything more or better than this thatthe wisest, and best of men can hope to do?[181] Such is the spirit ofMasonry; such is its ideal, and if to realize it all at once is deniedus, surely it means much to see it, love it, and labor to make it cometrue. 

Nor is this Spirit of Friendship a mere sentiment held by asympathetic, and therefore unstable, fraternity, which would dissolvethe concrete features of humanity into a vague blur of misty emotion. No; it has its roots in a profound philosophy which sees that theuniverse is friendly, and that men must learn to be friends if theywould live as befits the world in which they live, as well as theirown origin and destiny. For, since God is the life of all that was, is, and is to be; and since we are all born into the world by onehigh wisdom and one vast love, we are brothers to the last man of us, forever! For better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness andin health, and even after death us do part, all men are held togetherby ties of spiritual kinship, sons of one eternal Friend. Upon thisfact human fraternity rests, and it is the basis of the plea ofMasonry, not only for freedom, but for friendship among men. 

Thus friendship, so far from being a mush of concessions, is in factthe constructive genius of the universe. Love is ever the Builder, andthose who have done most to establish the City of God on earth havebeen the men who loved their fellow men. Once let this spirit prevail, and the wrangling sects will be lost in a great league of those wholove in the service of those who suffer. No man will then revile thefaith in which his neighbor finds help for today and hope for themorrow; pity will smite him mute, and love will teach him that God isfound in many ways, by those who seek him with honest hearts. Once letthis spirit rule in the realm of trade, and the law of the jungle willcease, and men will strive to build a social order in which all menmay have opportunity "to live, and to live well, " as Aristotle definedthe purpose of society. Here is the basis of that magical stabilityaimed at by the earliest artists when they sought to build foreternity, by imitating on earth the House of God. 

II

Our human history, saturated with blood and blistered with tears, isthe story of man making friends with man. Society has evolved from afeud into a friendship by the slow growth of love and the welding ofman, first to his kin, and then to his kind. [182] The first men whowalked in the red dawn of time lived every man for himself, his heart asanctuary of suspicions, every man feeling that every other man was hisfoe, and therefore his prey. So there were war, strife, and bloodshed. Slowly there came to the savage a gleam of the truth that it is betterto help than to hurt, and he organized clans and tribes. But tribeswere divided by rivers and mountains, and the men on one side of theriver felt that the men on the other side were their enemies. Againthere were war, pillage, and sorrow. Great empires arose and met in theshock of conflict, leaving trails of skeletons across the earth. Thencame the great roads, reaching out with their stony clutch and bringingthe ends of the earth together. Men met, mingled, passed and repassed, and learned that human nature is much the same everywhere, with hopesand fears in common. Still there were many things to divide andestrange men from each other, and the earth was full of bitterness. Notsatisfied with natural barriers, men erected high walls of sect andcaste, to exclude their fellows, and the men of one sect were sure thatthe men of all other sects were wrong--and doomed to be lost. Thus, when real mountains no longer separated man from man, mountains weremade out of molehills--mountains of immemorial misunderstanding not yetmoved into the sea!

Barriers of race, of creed, of caste, of habit, of training andinterest separate men today, as if some malign genius were bent onkeeping man from his fellows, begetting suspicion, uncharitableness, and hate. Still there are war, waste, and woe! Yet all the while menhave been unfriendly, and, therefore, unjust and cruel, only becausethey are unacquainted. Amidst feud, faction, and folly, Masonry, theoldest and most widely spread order, toils in behalf of friendship, uniting men upon the only basis upon which they can ever meet withdignity. Each lodge is an oasis of equality and goodwill in a desertof strife, working to weld mankind into a great league of sympathy andservice, which, by the terms of our definition, it seeks to exhibiteven now on a small scale. At its altar men meet as man to man, without vanity and without pretense, without fear and withoutreproach, as tourists crossing the Alps tie themselves together, sothat if one slip all may hold him up. No tongue can tell the meaningof such a ministry, no pen can trace its influence in melting thehardness of the world into pity and gladness. 

The Spirit of Masonry! He who would describe that spirit must be apoet, a musician, and a seer--a master of melodies, echoes, and long, far-sounding cadences. Now, as always, it toils to make man better, torefine his thought and purify his sympathy, to broaden his outlook, tolift his altitude, to establish in amplitude and resoluteness his lifein all its relations. All its great history, its vast accumulations oftradition, its simple faith and its solemn rites, its freedom and itsfriendship are dedicated to a high moral ideal, seeking to tame thetiger in man, and bring his wild passions into obedience to the willof God. It has no other mission than to exalt and ennoble humanity, tobring light out of darkness, beauty out of angularity; to make everyhard-won inheritance more secure, every sanctuary more sacred, everyhope more radiant![183]

The Spirit of Masonry! Ay, when that spirit has its way upon earth, asat last it surely will, society will be a vast communion of kindnessand justice, business a system of human service, law a rule ofbeneficence; the home will be more holy, the laughter of childhoodmore joyous, and the temple of prayer mortised and tenoned in simplefaith. Evil, injustice, bigotry, greed, and every vile and slimy thingthat defiles and defames humanity will skulk into the dark, unable tobear the light of a juster, wiser, more merciful order. Industry willbe upright, education prophetic, and religion not a shadow, but a RealPresence, when man has become acquainted with man and has learned toworship God by serving his fellows. When Masonry is victorious everytyranny will fall, every bastile crumble, and man will be not onlyunfettered in mind and hand, but free of heart to walk erect in thelight and liberty of the truth. 

Toward a great friendship, long foreseen by Masonic faith, the worldis slowly moving, amid difficulties and delays, reactions andreconstructions. Though long deferred, of that day, which will surelyarrive, when nations will be reverent in the use of freedom, just inthe exercise of power, humane in the practice of wisdom; when no manwill ride over the rights of his fellows; when no woman will be madeforlorn, no little child wretched by bigotry or greed, Masonry hasever been a prophet. Nor will she ever be content until all thethreads of human fellowship are woven into one mystic cord offriendship, encircling the earth and holding the race in unity ofspirit and the bonds of peace, as in the will of God it is one in theorigin and end. Having outlived empires and philosophies, having seengenerations appear and vanish, it will yet live to see the travail ofits soul, and be satisfied--

/P When the war-drum throbs no longer, And the battle flags are furled; In the parliament of man, The federation of the world. P/

III

Manifestly, since love is the law of life, if men are to be won fromhate to love, if those who doubt and deny are to be wooed to faith, ifthe race is ever to be led and lifted into a life of service, it mustbe by the fine art of Friendship. Inasmuch as this is the purpose ofMasonry, its mission determines the method not less than the spirit ofits labor. Earnestly it endeavors to bring men--first the individualman, and then, so far as possible, those who are united with him--tolove one another, while holding aloft, in picture and dream, thattemple of character which is the noblest labor of life to build in themidst of the years, and which will outlast time and death. Thus itseeks to reach the lonely inner life of man where the real battles arefought, and where the issues of destiny are decided, now with shoutsof victory, now with sobs of defeat. What a ministry to a young manwho enters its temple in the morning of life, when the dew of heavenis upon his days and the birds are singing in his heart![184]

From the wise lore of the East Max Müller translated a parable whichtells how the gods, having stolen from man his divinity, met incouncil to discuss where they should hide it. One suggested that it becarried to the other side of the earth and buried; but it was pointedout that man is a great wanderer, and that he might find the losttreasure on the other side of the earth. Another proposed that it bedropped into the depths of the sea; but the same fear wasexpressed--that man, in his insatiable curiosity, might dive deepenough to find it even there. Finally, after a space of silence, theoldest and wisest of the gods said: "Hide it in man himself, as thatis the last place he will ever think to look for it!" And it was soagreed, all seeing at once the subtle and wise strategy. Man didwander over the earth, for ages, seeking in all places high and low, far and near, before he thought to look within himself for thedivinity he sought. At last, slowly, dimly, he began to realize thatwhat he thought was far off, hidden in "the pathos of distance, " isnearer than the breath he breathes, even in his own heart. 

Here lies the great secret of Masonry--that it makes a man aware ofthat divinity within him, wherefrom his whole life takes its beautyand meaning, and inspires him to follow and obey it. Once a man learnsthis deep secret, life is new, and the old world is a valley all dewyto the dawn with a lark-song over it. There never was a truer sayingthan that the religion of a man is the chief fact concerning him. [185]By religion is meant not the creed to which a man will subscribe, orotherwise give his assent; not that necessarily; often not that atall--since we see men of all degrees of worth and worthlessnesssigning all kinds of creeds. No; the religion of a man is that whichhe practically believes, lays to heart, acts upon, and thereby knowsconcerning this mysterious universe and his duty and destiny in it. That is in all cases the primary thing in him, and creativelydetermines all the rest; that is his religion. It is, then, of vitalimportance what faith, what vision, what conception of life a man laysto heart, and acts upon. 

At bottom, a man is what his thinking is, thoughts being the artistswho give color to our days. Optimists and pessimists live in the sameworld, walk under the same sky, and observe the same facts. Scepticsand believers look up at the same great stars--the stars that shone inEden and will flash again in Paradise. Clearly the difference betweenthem is a difference not of fact, but of faith--of insight, outlook, and point of view--a difference of inner attitude and habit of thoughtwith regard to the worth and use of life. By the same token, anyinfluence which reaches and alters that inner habit and bias of mind, and changes it from doubt to faith, from fear to courage, from despairto sunburst hope, has wrought the most benign ministry which a mortalmay enjoy. Every man has a train of thought on which he rides when heis alone; and the worth of his life to himself and others, as well asits happiness, depend upon the direction in which that train is going, the baggage it carries, and the country through which it travels. If, then, Masonry can put that inner train of thought on the right track, freight it with precious treasure, and start it on the way to the Cityof God, what other or higher ministry can it render to a man? And thatis what it does for any man who will listen to it, love it, and layits truth to heart. 

High, fine, ineffably rich and beautiful are the faith and visionwhich Masonry gives to those who foregather at its altar, bringing tothem in picture, parable, and symbol the lofty and pure truth wroughtout through ages of experience, tested by time, and found to be validfor the conduct of life. By such teaching, if they have the heart toheed it, men become wise, learning how to be both brave and gentle, faithful and free; how to renounce superstition and yet retain faith;how to keep a fine poise of reason between the falsehood of extremes;how to accept the joys of life with glee, and endure its ills withpatient valor; how to look upon the folly of man and not forget hisnobility--in short, how to live cleanly, kindly, calmly, open-eyed andunafraid in a sane world, sweet of heart and full of hope. Whoso laysthis lucid and profound wisdom to heart, and lives by it, will havelittle to regret, and nothing to fear, when the evening shadows fall. Happy the young man who in the morning of his years makes it hisguide, philosopher, and friend. [186]

Such is the ideal of Masonry, and fidelity to all that is holy demandsthat we give ourselves to it, trusting the power of truth, the realityof love, and the sovereign worth of character. For only as weincarnate that ideal in actual life and activity does it become real, tangible, and effective. God works for man through man and seldom, ifat all, in any other way. He asks for our voices to speak His truth, for our hands to do His work here below--sweet voices and clean handsto make liberty and love prevail over injustice and hate. Not all ofus can be learned or famous, but each of us can be loyal and true ofheart, undefiled by evil, undaunted by error, faithful and helpful toour fellow souls. Life is a capacity for the highest things. Let usmake it a pursuit of the highest--an eager, incessant quest of truth;a noble utility, a lofty honor, a wise freedom, a genuineservice--that through us the Spirit of Masonry may grow and beglorified. 

When is a man a Mason? When he can look out over the rivers, thehills, and the far horizon with a profound sense of his own littlenessin the vast scheme of things, and yet have faith, hope, andcourage--which is the root of every virtue. When he knows that down inhis heart every man is as noble, as vile, as divine, as diabolic, andas lonely as himself, and seeks to know, to forgive, and to love hisfellow man. When he knows how to sympathize with men in their sorrows, yea, even in their sins--knowing that each man fights a hard fightagainst many odds. When he has learned how to make friends and to keepthem, and above all how to keep friends with himself. When he lovesflowers, can hunt the birds without a gun, and feels the thrill of anold forgotten joy when he hears the laugh of a little child. When hecan be happy and high-minded amid the meaner drudgeries of life. Whenstar-crowned trees, and the glint of sunlight on flowing waters, subdue him like the thought of one much loved and long dead. When novoice of distress reaches his ears in vain, and no hand seeks his aidwithout response. When he finds good in every faith that helps any manto lay hold of divine things and sees majestic meanings in life, whatever the name of that faith may be. When he can look into awayside puddle and see something beyond mud, and into the face of themost forlorn fellow mortal and see something beyond sin. When he knowshow to pray, how to love, how to hope. When he has kept faith withhimself, with his fellow man, with his God; in his hand a sword forevil, in his heart a bit of a song--glad to live, but not afraid todie! Such a man has found the only real secret of Masonry, and the onewhich it is trying to give to all the world. 

FOOTNOTES:

[181] Suggested by a noble passage in the _Recollections_ of WashingtonGladden; and the great preacher goes on to say: "If the church couldaccept this truth--that Religion is Friendship--and build its own lifeupon it, and make it central and organic in all its teachings, shouldwe not have a great revival of religion?" Indeed, yes; and of the rightkind of religion, too! Walt Whitman found the basis of all philosophy, all religion, in "the dear love of man for his comrade, the attractionof friend to friend" (_The Base of all Metaphysics_). As for Masonicliterature, it is one perpetual pĉan in praise of the practice offriendship, from earliest time to our own day. Take, for example, the_Illustrations of Masonry_, by Preston (first book, sect, i-x); andArnold, as we have seen, defined Masonry as Friendship, as didHutchinson (_The Spirit of Masonry_, lectures xi, xii). These are buttwo notes of a mighty anthem whose chorus is never hushed in the templeof Masonry! Of course, there are those who say that the finer forces oflife are frail and foolish, but the influence of the cynic in theadvance of the race is--nothing!

[182] _The Neighbor_, by N. S. Shaler. 

[183] If Masons often fall far below their high ideal, it is becausethey share in their degree the infirmity of mankind. He is a poorcraftsman who glibly recites the teachings of the Order and quicklyforgets the lessons they convey; who wears its honorable dress toconceal a self-seeking spirit; or to whom its great and simple symbolsbring only an outward thrill, and no inward urge toward the highest ofall good. Apart from what they symbolize, all symbols are empty; theyspeak only to such as have ears to hear. At the same time, we havealways to remember--what has been so often and so sadly forgotten--thatthe most sacred shrine on earth is the soul of man; and that the templeand its offices are not ends in themselves, but only beautiful means tothe end that every human heart may be a temple of peace, of purity, ofpower, of pity, and of hope!

[184] Read the noble words of Arnold on the value of Masonry to theyoung as a restraint, a refinement, and a conservator of virtue, throwing about youth the mantle of a great friendship and theconsecration of a great ideal (_History and Philosophy of Masonry_, chap. Xix). 

[185] _Heroes and Hero-worship_, by Thomas Carlyle, lecture i. 

[186] If the influence of Masonry upon youth is here emphasized, it isnot to forget that the most dangerous period of life is not youth, withits turmoil of storm and stress, but between forty and sixty. When theenthusiasms of youth have cooled, and its rosy glamour has faded intothe light of common day, there is apt to be a letting down of ideals, ahardening of heart, when cynicism takes the place of idealism. If thejudgments of the young are austere and need to be softened by charity, the middle years of life need still more the reënforcement of spiritualinfluence and the inspiration of a holy atmosphere. Also, Albert Pikeused to urge upon old men the study of Masonry, the better to help themgather up the scattered thoughts about life and build them into a firmfaith; and because Masonry offers to every man a great hope andconsolation. Indeed, its ministry to every period of life is benign. Studying Masonry is like looking at a sunset; each man who looks isfilled with the beauty and wonder of it, but the glory is notdiminished. 

 * * * * *

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(The literature of Masonry is very large, and the following is only asmall selection of such books as the writer has found particularlyhelpful in the course of this study. The notes and text of theforegoing pages mention many books, sometimes with briefcharacterizations, and that fact renders a longer list unnecessaryhere. )

Anderson, _Book of Constitutions_. 

Armitage, _Short Masonic History_, 2 vols. 

Arnold, _History and Philosophy of Masonry_. 

Ashmole, _Diary_. 

Aynsley, _Symbolism East and West_. 

Bacon, _New Atlantis_. 

Bayley, _Lost Language of Symbolism_. 

Breasted, _Religion and Thought in Egypt_. 

Budge, _The Gods of Egypt_. 

Callahan, _Washington, the Man and the Mason_. 

Capart, _Primitive Art in Egypt_. 

Carr, _The Swastika_. 

_Catholic Encyclopedia_, art. "Masonry. "

Churchward, _Signs and Symbols of Primordial Man_. 

Conder, _Hole Craft and Fellowship of Masonry_. 

Crowe, _Things a Freemason Ought to Know_. 

Cumont, _Mysteries of Mithra_. 

Da Costa, _Dionysian Artificers_. 

De Clifford, _Egypt the Cradle of Masonry_. 

De Quincey, _Works_, vol. Xvi. 

Dill, _Roman Life_. 

_Encyclopedia Britannica_, art. "Freemasonry. "

Fergusson, _History of Architecture_. 

Findel, _History of Masonry_. 

Finlayson, _Symbols of Freemasonry_. 

Fort, _Early History and Antiquities of Masonry_. 

Gorringe, _Egyptian Obelisks_. 

Gould, _Atholl Lodges_. 

Gould, _Concise History of Masonry_. 

Gould, _History of Masonry_, 4 vols. 

Gould, _Military Lodges_. 

Haige, _Symbolism_. 

Hastings, _Encyclopedia of Religion_, art. "Freemasonry. "

Hayden, _Washington and his Masonic Compeers_. 

Holland, _Freemasonry and the Great Pyramid_. 

Hope, _Historical Essay on Architecture_. 

Hughan, _History of the English Rite_. 

Hughan, _Masonic Sketches and Reprints_. 

Hughan and Stillson, _History of Masonry and Concordant Orders_. 

Hutchinson, _The Spirit of Masonry_. 

_Jewish Encyclopedia_, art. "Freemasonry. "

Kennedy, _St. Paul and the Mystery-Religions_. 

Lawrence, _Practical Masonic Lectures_. 

Leicester Lodge of Research, _Transactions_. 

Lethaby, _Architecture_. 

Lockyear, _Dawn of Astronomy_. 

Mackey, _Encyclopedia of Freemasonry_. 

Mackey, _Symbolism of Masonry_. 

Manchester Lodge of Research, _Transactions_. 

Marshall, _Nature a Book of Symbols_. 

Maspero, _Dawn of Civilization_. 

Mead, _Quests New and Old_. 

Moehler, _Symbolism_. 

Moret, _Kings and Gods of Egypt_. 

Morris, _Lights and Shadows of Masonry_. 

Morris, _The Poetry of Masonry_. 

Oliver, _Masonic Antiquities_. 

Oliver, _Masonic Sermons_. 

Oliver, _Revelations of the Square_. 

Oliver, _Theocratic Philosophy of Masonry_. 

Pike, _Morals and Dogma_. 

Plutarch, _De Iside et Osiride_. 

Preston, _Illustrations of Masonry_. 

Quatuor Coronati Lodge, _Transactions_, 24 vols. 

Ravenscroft, _The Comacines_. 

Reade, _The Veil of Isis_. 

Rogers, _History of Prices in England_. 

Ruskin, _Seven Lamps of Architecture_. 

Sachse, _Franklin as a Mason_. 

Sadler, _Masonic Facts and Fictions_. 

St. Andrew's Lodge, _Centennial Memorial_. 

Schure, _Hermes and Plato_. 

Schure, _Pythagoras_. 

Scott, _The Cathedral Builders_. 

Smith, _English Guilds_. 

Stevens, _Cyclopedia of Fraternities_. 

Steinbrenner, _History of Masonry_. 

Tyler, _Oaths, Their Origin, Nature, and History_. 

Underhill, _Mysticism_. 

Waite, _Real History of Rosicrucians_. 

Waite, _Secret Tradition in Masonry_. 

Waite, _Studies in Mysticism_. 

Watts, _The Word in the Pattern_. 

Wright, _Indian Masonry_. 

 * * * * *

INDEX

/$Aberdeen: lodge of, 161

_Acadamie Armory_: 166

Accepted Masons: 147; earliest, 160; not in all lodges, 160 _note_; first recorded, 161; and Ashmole, 162-4; at Warrington, 164; in the London Company, 165; and the Regius MS, 166; at Chester, 166; Assembly of, 168; quality of, 168

_Ĉneas_: referred to, 44 _note_

_Ahiman Rezon_: 216

Alban, St: in Old Charges, 116; a town, not a man, 117 _note_; and the Masons, 120

America: advent of Masonry in, 206; spirit of Masonry in, 222; influence of Masonry on, 223

"Ancients, The": and Moderns, 212; Grand Lodge of, 216; growth of, 217; merged into universal Masonry, 221

Anderson, James: his account of Grand Lodge of England, 180; and the Old Charges, 186; sketch of, 187 _note_; on Masonic secrets, 192 _note_; on growth of Masonry, 203; publishes Book of Constitutions, 204

Andreae, J. V. : quoted, 157; his Rosicrucian romance, 163

Anti-Masonic political party, 228

Apprentice, Entered: requirements of, 129; moral code of, 130; masterpiece of, 131; degree of, 144

Architects: early, 14; of Rome, 72; initiates, 73; honored in Egypt, 74; College of, 82; Comacine, 88; churchmen, 114

Architecture: matrix of civilization, 5; spiritual basis of, 6; _Seven Lamps_ of, 7; moral laws of, 8; mysticism of, 9; and astronomy, 77; gaps in history of, 86; Italian, 87; and the Comacines, 88; new light on, 89; churchmen learn from Masons, 114; Gothic, 120; essay on, 136; influence of Solomon's Temple on, 191; no older than history, 241

Ashmole, Elias: Diary of, 162; not the maker of Masonry, 163; student of Masonry, 167 _note_; and Walton, 259 _note_

Assembly of Masons: at York, 117; semi-annual, 118; initiations at, 131; before 1717, 167

Atheist: does not exist, 261 _note_; would be an orphan, 267

Athelstan: and Masons, 116

Atholl Masons: Grand Lodge of, 216; power of, 217; end of, 221

Aubrey, John: 166; on convention of Masons, 167

Augustine, St: and Masons, 116

Babel, Tower of: 7

Bacon, Francis: 110; his _New Atlantis_ and Masonry, 179 _note_, 190

Benevolence: Board of, 188

Bible: Masonic symbols in, 32; and Masonry, 265

_Book of Constitutions_: 187

_Book of the Dead_: 40

Booth, Edwin: on Third degree, 197; a Mason, 232

Boston Tea Party: 224

Brotherhood: in Old Charges, 133; creed of Masonry, 134; make way for coming of, 282

Builders: early ideals of, 12; tools of, 26; in China, 31; forgotten, 34; orders of, 74; in Rome, 79; of cathedrals, 87; servants of church, 101; of Britain, 113; traveling bands of, 135; rallying cries of, 191; Longfellow on, 260

Building: spiritual meaning of, 6, 7, 8; ideal of, 15; an allegory, 154; two ways of, 158 _note_; of character, 275

Burns, Robert: 226; a Mason, 232; poet of Masonry, 233

Cantu, Cesare: on Comacines, 142

Capart: quoted, 6

Carlyle, Thomas: quoted, 4

Cathedral Builders: 87; and Masons, 91; greatness of, 121; organization of, 136-7; genius of, 158 _note_

Cathedrals: when built, 121

Charity: and Masons, 134; a doctrine of Masonry, 172

China: Masonry in, 30

Christianity: and the Mysteries, 50, 51 _note_; and the Collegia, 85; and Masonry, 221 _note_, 251

Churchward: on Triangle, 13 _note_; on symbols, 20 _note_

Circle: meaning of, 27

Clay, Henry: 228

Cleopatra's Needle: 33

Collegia, the: 73; beginning of, 80; customs of, 81; and the Mysteries, 82; emblems of, 83; and Christianity, 85; and cathedral builders, 87; in England, 112; on the continent, 113

Column: Wren on, 9; Osiris, 45; "brethren of the, " 82

Comacine Masters: 87; privileges of, 88; migrations of, 89; symbols of, 90; tolerant of spirit, 101; and Old Charges, 111; in England, 113; Merzaria on, 114; and the arts, 115; degrees among, 142. 

Companionage: of France, 118 _note_; and legend of Hiram, 149

Conder: historian of Masons' Company, 165

Confucius: 30

_Cooke MS_: 106; higher criticism of, 107

Cowan: meaning of, 138 _note_

Coxe, Daniel: 207

Craft-masonry: morality of, 134; lodge of, 135; organization of, 136; routine of, 138; technical secrets, 147

Cromwell, Oliver: and Masonry, 179 _note_

Cross: antiquity of, 24; of Egypt, 25

Cube: meaning of, 27

Culdees: 189

Da Costa: quoted, 72; on Dionysian Artificers, 77 _note_

Deacon: office of, 217

Death: old protest against, 40; triumph over, 41; wonder of, 278

Declaration of Independence, signed by Masons, 225

_Defence of Masonry_: quoted 152

Degrees in Masonry: 141; among Comacines, 142; of Apprentice, 144; number of, 145; evolution of, 149

De Molai: 101

De Quincey on Masonry, 179 _note_

Dermott, Lawrence: and Ancient Grand Lodge, 216; industry of, 219; and Royal Arch Masonry, 220 _note_

Desaguliers, Dr. J. T. : "co-fabricator of Masonry, " 195; sketch of, 195 _note_

Diocletian: fury of against Masons, 85

Dionysian Artificers: 72; builders of Solomon's Temple, 76; evidence for, 77 _note_; migrations of, 79

Dissensions in Masonry: bitter, 213; causes of, 214; led by Preston, 217; helped the order, 219; remedy for, 222

Doctrine: the Secret, 57; resented, 58; open to all, 61; reasons for, 63; what it is, 68

Drama of Faith: 39; motif of, 41; story of, 42; in India, 44 _note_; in Tyre, 76

Druids: Mysteries of, 49

Druses: and Masonry, 78 _note_

Dugdale: on formality in Masonry, 143

Eavesdroppers: their punishment, 138 _note_

Egypt: earliest artists of, 9; Herodotus on, 10; temples of, 11; obelisks of, 13; Drama of Faith in, 41; and origin of Masonry, 105, 109 _note_

Elizabeth, Queen: and Masons, 123 _note_

Emerson, R. W. : 39, 57

Euclid: mentioned in Regius MS, 105; in Cooke MS, 107

Evans: on sacred stones, 9

Exposures of Masonry, 210

Faerie Queene: quoted, 155

Faith: Drama of, 39; philosophy of, 270

Fellowcraft: points of, 128; rank of, 131; degree of, 146

Fichte: a Mason, 232

Findel: list of cartoons, 99 _note_; on Apprentice degree, 145

Francis of Assist: quoted, 173

Franklin, B. : on Masonic grips, 200; Masonic items in his paper, 207; Grand Master of Pennsylvania, 207; his _Autobiography_, 207 _note_

Frederick the Great: and Masonry, 205 _note_

Free-masons: 87; why called free, 88; Fergusson on, 90; Hallam on, 96; free in fact before name, 98; great artists, 99; cartoons of the church by, 99 _note_; early date of name, 104 _note_; not Guild-masons, 118; contrasted with Guild-masons, 119; organization of, 136; degrees among, 142-4

Friendship: Masonry defined as, 240; genius of Masonry, 284; in Masonic literature, 285; the ideal of Masonry, 288; as a method of work, 291

Fergusson, James: 90; on temple of Solomon, 191

G: the letter, 159

Garibaldi: 230

Geometry: in Old Charges, 108; Pythagoras on, 154; and religion, 154 _note_; mystical meaning of, 159

Gladden, Washington: quoted, 285

Gloves: use and meaning of, 137 _note_

God: ideas of, 22; "the Builder, " 29; invocations to in old MSS, 108, _note_; Fatherhood of, 134; the Great Logician, 157; unity of, 176 _note_, 264; foundation of Masonry, 261; the corner stone, 262; Masonry does not limit, 263; wonder of, 267; kinship of man with, 270; friendship for, 284

Goethe: 232

Golden Rule: law of Master Mason, 133; creed of, 256

Gormogons: order of, parody on Masonry, 209; swallows itself, 211

Gothic architecture: 120; decline of, 185

Gould, R. F. : on Regius MS, 106; on York Assembly, 116 _note_; on early speculative Masonry, 160

Grand Lodge of all England, 218

Grand Lodge of England: 173; meaning of organization, 174; background of, 176; its attitude toward religion, 177; organization of, 180; Lodges of, 181; facts about, 182; usages of, 183; regalia of, 183 _note_; a London movement, 184; leaders of, 185; charity of, 188; growth of, 202; prolific mother, 204; article on politics, 208; rivals of, 213

Grand Lodge South of Trent, 218

Grand Master: office of, 182; power of, 202

Green Dragon Tavern: 223; a Masonic Lodge, 224

Gregory, Pope: and Masons, 113

Grips: in the Mysteries, 47; among Druses, 78 _note_; among Masons, 140; antiquity of, 149 _note_; number of, 141; Franklin on, 200; an aid to charity, 244

Guild-masonry: 98; invocations in, 108; not Freemasonry, 118; truth about, 119; morality of, 144

Hallam: on Freemasonry, 96; on Guilds, 118

Halliwell, James: and Regius MS: 104

Hamilton, Alexander: 225

Hammer, House of: 28

_Handbuch_, German: on Masonry, 241

_Harleian MS_: quoted, 126; in Holme's handwriting, 166

Hermes: named in Cooke MS, 108; and Pythagoras, 110; who was he, 194

Herodotus: on Egypt, 10; referred to in Cooke MS, 107

Hiram Abif: 77 _note_; not named in Old Charges, 109; esoteric allusions to, 110; legend of in France, 118 _note_; and the Companionage, 149; and the temple, 192

Hiram I, of Tyre: 75

History: Book of in China, 30; like a mirage, 100; no older than architecture, 241

Holme, Randle: 166

Horus: story of, 42; heroism of, 45

Hutchinson, William: on Geometry, 154 _note_; on Christianity and Masonry, 251 _note_; on Spirit of Masonry, 258

Idealism: soul of Masonry, 269; no dogma of in Masonry, 269 _note_; basis of, 270

Ikhnaton: city of, 12; poet and idealist, 14

Immortality: faith in old, 39; in Pyramid Texts, 40; allegory of, 46; in the Mysteries, 49; creed of Masonry, 134; held by Masons, 179; how Masonry teaches, 277

_Instructions of a Parish Priest_: 106

Invocations: Masonic, 108 _note_

Isis: story of, 42; and Osiris, 43; sorrow of, 45; in Mysteries, 47

Jackson, Andrew: 228

Jesuits: and Masons, 210 _note_; attempt to expose Masonry, 211

Kabbalah: muddle of, 67

Kabbalists: used Masonic symbols, 156, 157

Kennedy, C. R. : quoted, 238

Kipling, Rudyard: 232

Krause: on Collegia, 79

Legend: of Solomon, 75; in Old Charges, 111; of Pythagoras, 112; of Masonry unique, 128

Lessing, G. E. : quoted, 56; theory of, 179 _note_; a Mason, 232

Lethaby: on discovery of Square, 10

Liberty: and law, 7; love of, 122; of thought, 178; civil and Masonry, 224; in religion, 252; of faith, 255; philosophy of, 271; Lowell on, 272; of intellect, 273; of soul, 274

Litchfield, Bishop of: 175

Locke, John: 232

Lodge: of Roman architects, 82; of Comacines, 90; a school, 129; secrecy of, 132; enroute, 135; organization of, 136; degrees in, 146

Longfellow: quoted, 260

Lost Word: 67; Masonic search of, 263

Lowell: on liberty, 272

Mackey, Dr: on Craft-masonry, 251 _note_; definition of Masonry, 240

Magnus, Albertus: 156

Man: the builder, 6; a poet, 19; an idealist, 26; akin to God, 270; divinity of, 292; thoughts of artists, 294; ideal of, 297

Markham, Edwin: quoted, 282

Marshall, John: 225

Martyrs, the Four Crowned: 86; honored by Comacines, 90; in Regius MS, 105

_Masonry Dissected_: 212

Masonry: foundations of, 15; symbolism its soul, 18; in China, 30; symbols of in obelisk, 33; and the Mysteries, 53; secret tradition in, 66; and the Quest, 69; and Solomon's temple, 79; persecution of by Diocletian, 85; and the Comacines, 90; not new in Middle Ages, 97; and tolerance, 100; and the church, 102; antiquity of emphasized, 110; legend of, 111; and Pythagoras, 112; in England, 116; in Scotland, 123; decline of, 124; moral teaching of, 128-134; creed of, 134; degrees in, 142-4; not a patch-work, 149 _note_; an evolution, 150; defence of, 153; symbols of in language, 155; and Rosicrucianism, 164 _note_; parable of, 173; transformation of, 176; and religion, 177; theories about, 179 _note_; democracy of, 183; more than a trade, 185; mysticism of, 189 _note_; and Hermetic teaching, 194; universal, 201; rapid spread of, 204; early in America, 206; not a political party, 208; parody on, 209; attempted exposures of, 210-13; growth of despite dissensions, 219-20; unsectarian, 221 _note_; in America, 223; and the War of Revolution, 225; and Morgan, 227-8; and Civil War, 228; in literature, 232 _note_; defined, 239-40; as friendship, 240; best definition of, 241; description of, 242; has no secret, 244; misunderstood, 245; more than a church, 250; crypt, 253; temple of, 260; philosophy of, 262; and unity of God, 273; its appeal, 283; and friendship, 288; spirit of, 289; wisdom of, 295; ideal of, 297. 

Masons: and Comacines, 90; Hallam on, 96; denied their due, 99 _note_; culture of, 100; and Knights Templars, 101 _note_; first called free, 104; persecuted, 122; technical secrets of, 147; customs of, 166

Masons' Company: 104; date of, 123; and Accepted Masons, 165

Mason's Marks: 131 _note_

Maspero: on Egyptian temples, 11

Master Mason; and Fellows, 128 _note_; oath of, 133; dress of, 135

Masterpiece of Apprentice: 131

Master's Part: 148; in Third Degree, 193

Materialism: and Masonry, 268

Mazzini: 230

Mencius: 30

Merzaria, Giuseppe: on Comacine Masters: 114

_Metamorphoses_, by Apuleius: 51

Montague, Duke of: elected Grand Master, 185

Morgan, William: and Masonry, 227; excitement about, 292 _note_

Mysteries, The: origin of, 46; nobility of, 47; teaching of, 48; spread of, 49; and St. Paul, 50; corruption of, 51; Plato on, 52; and Masonry, 53; temples of, 59; Moses learned in, 76; and Hebrew faith, 77; and Masonic ritual, 110; and the Third Degree, 196, 203

Mystery-mongers: 60; fancies of, 164

_Mystery of Masonry Discovered_: 210

Mysticism: 60 _note_; of Hermetics, 164; its real nature, 189 _note_

Müller, Max: quoted, 253; parable of, 292

_Nathan the Wise_: quoted, 56

Numbers: use of by Pythagoras, 48 _note_; and religious faith, 153; in nature, 154; and mysticism, 159

Oath: in the Mysteries, 48; in Harleian MS, 126; of Apprentice, 129; of Fellowcraft, 132; of Master Mason, 133

Obelisks: meaning of, 13; Masonic symbols in, 33

Occultism: 60 _note_; and Masonry, 164

_Old Charges_: 102; number of, 103; the oldest of, 104; higher criticism of, 107-9; value of, 111; and English Masonry, 116; moral teaching of, 128-34; collated by Grand Lodge, 186

Oldest Mason honored: 181

Operative Masons: degrees of, 142; and speculative, 144; lodges of, 148; and Wren, 167 _note_; still working, 201 _note_

Oracles: Cessation of, 28

Orient, Grand of France: not atheistic, 261

Osiris: in trinity of Egypt, 23; history of, 41; and Isis, 43; death of, 44; resurrection of, 46; in Tyre, 76

Paine, Thomas: 225 _note_

Payne, George: Grand Master, 187

Philosophy: "blend of poetry, science and religion, " 259; of Masonry, 264-68; of faith, 270

Pike, Albert: on symbolism of Masonry, 18; on Regius MS, 106; error of as to Guild-masonry, 158 _note_; on symbolism before 1717, 159; on Third Degree, 193; on atheism, 261 _note_; on old men and Masonry, 296 _note_

Pillars: origin of, 28; meaning of, 29; Isaac Walton on, 259 _note_

Plott, Dr: on Masonic customs, 166

Plutarch: on Square, 28; an initiate, 42; and the Mysteries, 46; on Pythagoras symbol, 143

Pole Star: cult of, 24

Politics: and Masons, 179; forbidden in Lodges, 208; relation of Masonry to, 245, 248

Pompeii: collegium in, 83

Pope, Alexander: _Moral Essays_ quoted, 210; a Mason, 263

Popes, the: and Masonry, 113, 122; bull of against Masonry, 211

Prayer: in Masonry, 179, 244

Preston, William: 182; defeated, 218

"Protestant Jesuits": Masons called, 210 _note_

Pyramids: wonder of, 13; loneliness of, 28

Pyramid Texts: quoted, 40

Quest, The: aspects of, 65; analysis of, 67; in Masonry, 69

Reade, Winwood: quoted, 172

Reconciliation, Lodge of: 221

_Regius MS_: oldest Masonic MS, 104; synopsis of, 105; Pike on, 106; Mason's points in, 128; and Accepted Masons, 160

Religion: of light, 14; decline of, 176; and Craft-masonry, 176; and Grand Lodge of England, 250; what is it, 251 _note_; in which all agree, 255; of nature, 258; what we practically believe, 293

Ritual: Old Charges part of, 128; growth of, 142-4; evolution of, 219 _note_

Rome: secret orders in, 81; college of architects in, 86

Rosicrucians: use Masonic symbols, 156, 157; and Ashmole, 163; distinct from Masons, 164; and De Quincey, 179 _note_; and Third Degree, 190

Royal Arch Masonry: 220 _note_

Ruskin, John: quoted, 7, 8; on light, 14 _note_; on the church, 250

St. John's Day: 181; origin of, 183, _note_

Sayer, Anthony: first Grand Master, 182

Schaw Statutes: 123

Sciences; the seven, 195; in Cooke MS, 108

Scott, Leader: quoted, 72; on Cathedral Builders, 87; on Comacines and Masonry, 111

Scott, Sir Walter: on the word cowan, 138 _note_; a Mason, 232

Secrecy: of the Mysteries, 48; of great teachers, 57; as to the arts, 74; not real power of Masonry, 212; reasons for, 243 _note_

Secret Doctrine: 57; objections to, 59; open to all, 61; reasons for, 63; what is it, 68

_Secret Sermon on the Mount_: 47

Sectarianism: Masonry against, 254

_Seven Lamps of Architecture_: quoted, 7

Shakespeare: 155; and Masons, 259 _note_

Shelley: 14

Signs: in the Mysteries, 47; Franklin on, 200; and charity, 244

Socrates: on unity of mind, 21; and the Mysteries, 46

Solomon: and Hiram, 75; and the Comacines, 89; in Cooke MS, 109; sons of, 149

Solomon: Temple of, 75; style of, 76; legends of, 77 _note_; and Masonry, 79; influence of on architecture, 191

Speculative Masonry: in Regius MS, 106; growth of, 123; meaning of, 144 _note_; Lodges of, 148; before 1717, 167

Spenser, Edmund: Masonic symbols in, 155

Square: discovery of, 10; in Pyramids, 13; eloquence of, 26; emblem of truth, 28; in China, 30; in obelisk, 33; throne of Osiris, 46; "square men, " 155; an ancient one, 159; of justice, 275

_Staffordshire; Natural History of_, quoted: 166

Steinmetzen, of Germany: 118 _note_; degree of, 145

Stones: sanctity of, 28

Stuckely: Diary of, 203

Swastika: antiquity of, 23; meaning of, 24; sign of Operative Masons, 201 _note_

Symbolism: Carlyle on, 4; early Masonic, 11; Pike on, 18; richness of, 20; unity of, 21; Mencius on, 30; in Bible, 31; of Collegia, 93; of Comacines, 90; in Masonry, 143; of numbers, 154; in language, 155; in Middle Ages, 156; preserved by Masons, 159

Taylor, Jeremy: 175 _note_

Third Degree: legend of, 149; confusion about, 189; purely Masonic, 193; Pike on, 193; not made but grew, 196; and Ancient Mysteries, 196; Edwin Booth on, 197; and immortality, 277

Tiler: 135; origin of name, 138 _note_

Tolstoi: 232

Tools of Masons: 26; old meanings of, 29; in Bible, 32; kit of, 132

Tradition: of Solomon, 75; of Masonry unique, 128; of degrees, 144

Triangle: probable meaning of, 13 _note_; used by Spenser, 155

Trinity: idea of old, 22; in Egypt and India, 23; not opposed to unity of God, 264 _note_

Unity: of human mind, 21; of truth, 58; of God and Masonry, 176 _note_, 264

_Universal Prayer_: quoted, 263

Unsectarian: the genius of Masonry, 221, 250, 252, 253, 258

Waite, A. E. : 38; tribute to, 64; on the quest, 65; studies of, 66; "golden dustman, " 67

War: and Masonry, 225; Civil, 228, 229 _note_; cause of, 287; end of, 202

Warren, Joseph: ardent Mason, 224

Washington, George: a Mason, 225; sworn into office by Mason, 226

Watts, G. F. : 174

Webster, Daniel: on Green Tavern, 224

Weed, Thurlow: and Masonry, 227 _note_; dirty trickster, 228

Wellington: a Mason, 232

Wesley, John: 175

Wharton, Duke of: traitor, 224

_Wiltshire, Natural History of_: quoted, 166

Wren, Christopher: on columns, 9; and Masonry, 167 _note_; not trained in a Lodge, 186

York: Bishop of, 113; Assembly of, 117; old Grand Lodge of, 204; Mecca of Masonry, 205; revival of Grand Lodge of, 215; no rite of, 216 _note_

Zoroaster: faith of, 22$/

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