The Builder Magazine 

April 1922 - Volume VIII - Number 4 


The Masonic International Association 

BY THE EDITOR 

ON OCTOBER 19TH last, Masonic delegates from the Grand Lodge of New York, 
from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Turkey, 
Switzerland, and the Grand Lodge "To the Rising Sun" of Nuremburg, assembled at 
Geneva, Switzerland, and there, after six sessions, organized the Masonic International 
Association. Four other Grand Lodges, one of which was the Grand Lodge of 
Louisiana, wired regrets at not having delegates present. 


American Freemasonry was represented by three brethren from New York, Townsend 
Scudder, Wm. C. Prime and Arthur S. Tompkins. At our request Brother Scudder has 
sent us in brief the estimate which he has formed of the International Association. 


Brother Edouard Quartier la Tente, 33 d, who has labored through so many years to 
bring about a cooperation of the Masonic Powers of all lands, has received a recognition 
and reward for all his self-sacrificing efforts by being made Grand Chancellor of the 
new Association - a very high honor. THE BUILDER extends to Brother Quartier la 
Tente its congratulations, and prays for him many years of fruitful and successful 
service in his new office. 


Judge Scudder's summary of the accomplishments of the Conference follows: 


SIX NOTEWORTHY ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE GENEVA CONFERENCE 



1 . - The Conference established an agency through which all Grand lodges are enabled 
to deal with one another in their efforts to get at the truth concerning each other, thus 
facilitating their getting the facts upon which to base their several judgments of each 
other, instead of having to rely and act largely upon hearsay, as has been the case in the 
past. 


2. - Contact between jurisdictions is afforded without their being in diplomatic relations 
with one another, through their joint membership in the Association. Recognition and 
diplomatic relations will begin only when agreeable to those concerned. 


3. - The membership of Grand Lodges belonging to the Association must be composed 
of men exclusively. Thus Woman Masonry, as a part of the Order, is disposed of. 


4. - Members of the Association respect the territorial integrity and jurisdiction of each 
other member. Foreign lodges within our territory, chartered by legitimate Grand 
Lodges, acting, however, in hostility to our claims of territorial jurisdiction, will be 
eliminated. 


5. - Grand Lodges maintain each its sovereign independence. 


6. - The Association has no concern with matters other than those of its own 
organization and functioning. 


Of perhaps lesser importance are the following facts: 


a. - New York is one of the organizers and founders of the Association, the first 
Masonic international body in Symbolic Masonry in the history of the Fraternity. 



b. - It is one of the five Grand Jurisdictions entrusted with the management of the 
Bureau for the first three years of its life. 


c. - It controls the question of membership in the Association so far as the United States 
is concerned and thereby is in a position to eliminate recognition of clandestine bodies 
which in Europe heretofore have often, through ignorance, been recognized, and 
thereby have been enabled by pointing to such recognition to give themselves the 
semblance of legitimacy and use it to further their fraudulent financial schemes. 


d. - Membership in the Association is dependent upon subscribing to the principles 
enunciated. These, however, are not exclusive, but embrace those things upon which all 
can agree, leaving open for future accord and understanding matters not touched upon, 
they thereafter to be incorporated in the Declaration of Principles, as agreed from time 
to time. 


e. - Grand Lodges, and not individuals, are given prominence in the management and 
direction of the Association. Hereby is minimized the opportunity of competition for 
individual aggrandizement. The Grand Master for the time being, or the Grand Lodge 
over which he presides, determines who shall express its will on the advisory 
committee, when such Grand Lodge is an elected member of that committee. This plan 
of government dwarfs the individual and exalts the institution; it lessens the likelihood 
of any one individual attempting to pose as the head of freemasonry . The duration of 
his term in his representative capacity is beyond the control of the individual; it is 
entirely under the control of the Association and his Grand Lodge. These two would 
have to act in concert before any one man could gain ascendancy over the Association. 


DECLARATION OP PRINCIPLES 



The Masonic Grand Jurisdictions represented in Congress, with a view to making more 
effective their humanitarian and pacific mission, proclaim hereby constituted a Masonic 
International Association, the seat of which is Geneva. 


All Masonic Grand Jurisdictions which subscribe to the Principles, herein set forth, shall 
be eligible to membership. 


Inspired by the ideal shared by all, each Grand Jurisdiction in this Association retains its 
sovereignty, its traditions and its ritual. 


Freemasonry, founded on land marks philanthropic, philosophic and progressive, the 
basis of which is the acceptance of the principle that all men are brothers, has for its 
object the quest of Truth, the study and practice of morality, and of that which will lead 
to unity among men. 


It labors to better the condition of humanity from the material and spiritual standpoint as 
well as to lead it to a higher intellectual and social plane. 


It has for principles, toleration, respect for others and for self, liberty and conscience. It 
holds it to be its duty to extend to all members of the human family the bonds of 
fraternity, which unite Freemasons the world over. 


Freemasonry, deeming work to be one of the essential duties of man, honors equally 
those who toil with their hands and those given to intellectual pursuits. 


It is composed then of a society of upright men, free and faithful, who, bound together 
by the ties of liberty, equality and fraternity, labor individually and collectively to 
promote social progress, giving expression thereby to beneficence in its loftiest sense. 



Part I. Regulations and Statutes. 


Art. 1. - The object of the Association is: 


To maintain and to develop existing relations between Masonic Grand Jurisdictions. 


To create new relations. 


Art. 2. - The Association and each Grand Jurisdiction forbids itself all interference in the 
domestic affairs of all other jurisdictions. 


Each Grand Jurisdiction is invited to exchange with associated Grand Jurisdictions its 
program of work and to promote opportunities of contact with a view to harmonizing 
and coordinating efforts held in common. Nevertheless the fact of membership in the 
Association does not imply an obligation to entertain direct relationship with other 
Grand Jurisdictions which are members. 


Art. 3. - All Grand Jurisdictions belonging to the Association must be composed of men 
exclusively. 


Art. 4. - The Masonic International Association has for organization: 


1 st. The International Convention. 


2nd. The Advisory Committee. 



3rd. The Secretariat. 


Part II. Admission, Resignation, Exclusion. 


Art. 5. - The candidacy of a Grand Jurisdiction for membership in the Association 
cannot be considered, excepting it be seconded by three Grand Jurisdictions which are 
members. 


Among the Grand Jurisdictions sponsoring a candidacy must be included those 
members of the Association having their seat in the same territory as the candidate. 


Provided however that the endorsement by the Grand Lodge of New York of the 
candidacy of Grand Lodges in the United States shall be required. When, however, 
more than three American Grand Lodges shall have given their adhesion to these 
articles, the Grand Lodges of the United States which are members of the Association 
are authorized to select from among the Grand Jurisdictions of the United States which 
shall have subscribed to these articles, the Grand Jurisdictions which shall act as 
sponsors for candidates. 


Art. 6. - Each candidacy shall be submitted immediately to all member jurisdictions by 
notice of the Secretariat. The candidate shall be declared elected by the Advisory 
Committee if there shall not have been registered an objection thereto stating the reason 
within six months from the day when the Secretariat shall have sent out the notice 
aforesaid. 


The final admission shall be proclaimed by the Congress. 



Art. 7. - Each jurisdiction may withdraw freely from the Association if it has met its 
financial obligations. The Secretary forthwith shall notify each member jurisdiction of 
such withdrawal. 


Art. 8. - Expulsion may be decreed by the Congress where a jurisdiction shall have 
violated the provisions of these articles or the spirit of the declaration of principles. 


Part III. The International Congress. 


Art. 9. - The International Congress is the ruling agency of the Masonic International 
Association. Its jurisdiction is limited to questions only affecting the Association. 


It shall meet every third year and shall fix the place and the date of its next reunion. 


Each member Grand Jurisdiction casts one vote. 


No delegate can act as proxy for more than two members. 


Art. 10. - To constitute a quorum the congress must bring together half plus one of its 
membership. 


The congress shall determine the vote required to adopt a measure excepting in the 
matter of elections to membership and of expulsions of members which must be voted 
by two-thirds of the jurisdictions represented. 



Art. 1 1 . - In case of emergency and for serious matters the congress can be called in 
extraordinary session by the advisory committee on the demand addressed to the 
Secretariat by five Grand Jurisdictions. It will sheet in such a case at Geneva. Its order 
of business is limited to the matter which caused the reunion. 


Part IV. The Advisory Committee. 


Art. 12. - The advisory committee is named by the congress. It is composed of five 
Grand Masters or their representatives. 


Art. 13. - The Advisory Committee: 


A. Has in charge the execution of the resolutions of the congress. 


B. It takes the steps necessary to realize within the provisions of the regulations, the 
purposes of the Association. 


C. It audits the accounts of the Secretariat and submits them to member jurisdictions. 


D. It has power, in case of necessity, to authorize expenditures not provided for in the 
budget. 


Part V. The Secretariat (Bureau). 



Art. 14. - The Secretariat is subject to the authority of the congress and the advisory 
committee. 


Its office shall be at Geneva 


Art. 15. - The Secretary is elected by the Congress He is charged with the execution of 
the decisions of the congress and of the advisory committee. 


The Secretariat shall publish a quarterly and an annual bulletin. 


The Secretary is the Treasurer of the Association. He receives the dues of members and 
meets the expenses provided for in the budget. He shall incur no expense not provided 
for in the budget without the approval of the advisory committee to which he shall 
present annually an account of all receipts and disbursements and a tentative budget. 


Art. 1 6. - The Secretary shall receive the honorariums, the amount of which is 
determined by the congress. 


The management of the office staff is under his jurisdiction. 


The regular staff shall be members of a legitimate Masonic body. 


The rent, lighting and upkeep of the offices of the bureau shall be at the expense of the 
Association. 



Art. 17. - In case of the resignation or the death of the Secretary, the vacancy shall be 
filled temporarily by the advisory committee. 


Part VI. Resources. 


Art. 18. - The income of the Association shall be derived from: 


A. The dues of members based on a sliding scale fixed by each congress: the maximum 
to be $1,000 the minimum to be $20. 


B. Subscriptions to the Bulletins and the sale of Masonic works. 


C. Gifts of all kinds. 


Part VII. Amendments. 


Art. 19. - All amendments to these statutes must be proposed six months in advance and 
adopted by the affirmative vote of a majority of two-thirds of the Grand Jurisdictions 
represented. 


Scale adopted by the congress as the basis of annual dues: 


Grand Lodges having 



From 1 to 2,000 members $ 20.00 

2.000 to 5,000 members $100.00 

5.000 to 10,000 members $150.00 

10.000 to 25,000 members $200.00 

25.000 to 50,000 members $250.00 

50.000 to 100,000 members $500.00 

100.000 to 200,000 members $750.00 

200.000 members and over $1,000.00 

The dollar is taken at its commercial value before the war. 

Budget (in Swiss Francs) for 1922. 

Receipts 

1. Dues Fr. $10,000 

2. Subscriptions to bulletin and sales of printed matter $7,000 

3. Donations $10,000 

Fr.27,000 


Expenses 



1. Office force Fr. 10,000 

2. Rent 800 

3. Secretary 12,000 

4. Translations 400 

5. General expenses 2,000 

6. Contingencies 1,800 
Fr. 27,000 

— o — 

Better than grandeur, better than gold, 
Than ranks and titles, a hundred-fold, 

Is a healthy body and a mind at ease, 

And simple pleasures that always please. 
A heart that can feel for another's woe, 
And share in his joy with a friendly glow. 
With sympathies large enough to hold 
All men as brothers, is better than gold. 

- Alex. Smart. 


— o — 



TRAVELLING CRALTSMEN 


BY BRO. E. ELLISON, CALIFORNIA 


UNTIL comparatively recent times no historical work on Freemasonry was considered 
complete without an account of the "Travelling Masons." We have been gravely assured 
by the writers on the subject, that Freemasonry in medieval times was an international 
association of church builders, incorporated under a charter issued by the pope, granting 
to the society a complete monopoly in the building of religious edifices. It was said that 
the mysteries of Gothic architecture, both operative and speculative (practical and 
theoretical), were the particular secrets of the corporation; and whenever a new 
cathedral or other religious house was contemplated requisitions for plans and 
specifications must be made to the headquarters of the body. When the plans were 
prepared and approved, orders for details of craftsmen were sent from headquarters to 
the subordinate lodges throughout Christendom; and from north and south, east and 
west, masons obeyed the summons and journeyed to the site of the proposed building, 
under the leadership of their overseers or wardens. 


On arrival at their destination, they made themselves known to the master builder by 
means of secret signs and tokens. Huts, or lodges, were then built, in which the 
workmen prepared the material for the structure in accordance with plans and 
specifications. In these lodges the craftsmen held their meetings, and here the mysteries 
of the craft were imparted to such profanes as had been found "worthy and well 
qualified." 


It was claimed, further, that under the terms of the charter, the fraternity was 
empowered to determine the wages and hours of labour of its members, as well as other 
conditions of employment. The craftsmen were not subject to the law of the land; but 
all charges or accusations against a member, whether made by a fellow or by a profane, 
were tried before the tribunal of the society which was clothed with complete judicial 
powers. 



But alas, the belief in the existence of an international corporation of builders has been 
shattered and swept into the dust by Robert F. Gould, together with many other 
venerable cobwebs which had gathered around the columns and arches of the Masonic 
edifice, thus preventing us from viewing the structure in the light of true history. 


Gould demonstrates conclusively that "International Freemasonry" in the Middle Ages 
is a fiction. Careful search in the archives of the Vatican has failed to bring to light the 
slightest evidence that the Masonic Craft has ever received any special horrors or 
favours from the pope; and the only basis for the belief in papal patronage seems to be 
that at various times popes and prelates issued bulls promising indulgences to persons 
who should make liberal donations of money, lands or labour, to churches in course of 
construction. 


Nor has anyone been successful in locating the headquarters of this "international 
society." True, the German Steinmetzen (Freemasons) were organized along more than 
local lines. In 1567 they formed a federation of craft societies in German lands and 
elected the workmaster of Strassburg cathedral their chief judge (Oberste Rychter); but 
the federation did not extend beyond the boundaries of Germany, and the authority of 
the central government did not at any time receive more than passing recognition. As a 
matter of fact, the real bond of union between the constituent bodies lay in their 
common objects and common craft usages. 


Gould has further shown that the general features of the Freemason's craft societies did 
not differ from those of other callings, and such differences as did exist were due to 
local conditions and the peculiarities of the trade. 


In the first place, the Freemasons' guilds were of later origin than those of other crafts. 
The former did not come into existence until architecture and building operations 
generally had become so refined as to necessitate specialization and subdivision of 
labour. Originally all masons, whether they worked in rough or squared stone (ashlar) 
or brick, as well as tilers, slaters and those working in the other component divisions of 
the building industry, were members of the same guild. As time passed the lines of 



demarcation between the different branches of the industry became more clearly defined 
with a consequent division of the organization. Finally, when the art of Gothic building 
had so far advanced that it became necessary to specially, train men as architects and to 
design and execute the delicate stonework and sculpture, a future division took place. 
The architects, designers and sculptors branched off from the mother society and 
organized separately. Their work was of the highest character, and became more art 
than a craft, requiring technical and science knowledge as well as great manual skill. 
Their profession stood at the head of the building trades, and became known as 
Freemasonry. 


Only a limited number of fellows were required; and in consequence we find masters, 
journeymen (fellow crafts) and apprentices members of the same guild; while in other 
trades, such as the masons' and carpenters' employing larger bodies of men, the 
journeymen at an early period withdrew from the masters and formed fraternities of 
their own. The apprentices, while they were members of the craft, were not eligible to 
membership in the guild. 


There were still other points of difference: The Freemasons were employed almost 
exclusively upon religious buildings. This brought their craft in close contact with the 
clergy, and from this association the Freemasons' societies received a deep religious 
imprint that is not apparent in those of other crafts. 

The profession of Freemasonry was held in high esteem in the Middle Ages. The 
Church was rich and powerful and displayed its wealth and taste in the construction of 
beautiful churches. In fact, church architecture was the only outlet for the genius of the 
people; all the intellectual forces of society seemed to converge in architecture and 
kindred professions; and the calling, therefore, attracted the best minds and the highest 
intellects of the times. All other knowledge was discouraged and condemned by the 
Church. 


Victor Hugo says that down to the time of the invention of printing the progress of 
humanity in art and science is recorded in a "book of stone" - Architecture! 



Gothic architecture commenced to decline after the Reformation. The power of the 
Church was broken; its right to levy contributions upon the people was taken from it; 
and the people found other means of satisfying their desire for knowledge, and to gratify 
their artistic tastes. 


Freemasonry as an operative art declined with the discontinuance of Gothic church 
building, and with it went the operative fraternities. In order to perpetuate the 
institution, the lodges admitted to membership men who had not been bred to the trade. 
In many cases these "accepted" brethren were men of learning and science, and through 
their influence the lodges were gradually transformed into "speculative", or 
philosophical societies, in which form they have come down to our times. 


As time passed, the old customs of the operative days fell into disuse and became only 
memories and traditions; and, later, more or less fantastic explanations of their meaning 
and purpose were invented, such as the legend of the "Travelling Masons." 


In order to get a clear view of the craft usages of our operative Masonic forefathers, we 
must look for their parallels in kindred crafts, such as the masons and carpenters, whose 
fraternities have had a continuous existence from the Middle Ages down to our own 
day. 


Gould, in his chapter on the German Steinmetzen (Freemasons), borrows freely from 
the carpenters and masons for illustration of Masonic customs. He conveys the 
impression that these societies, like their Freemasonic relatives, have become extinct. 
In reality they still exist, although now rapidly falling into decay, due to several 
reasons: the encroachment of modern trades-unionism; the fact that the state has 
assumed some of their benevolent and charitable functions; and, finally, because the 
stringent apprenticeship rules are being more and more relaxed. 


It is an immemorial custom in these crafts, when an apprentice has completed his 
service, to spend three years in travel from place to place, working for a time in each. 
The purpose of his journey is to familiarize himself with the methods employed in 



various places; to enable him to "see the world," and, finally, to prevent crowding the 
trade. In this pilgrimage the journeyman travels under the auspices and protection of his 
craft guild, or fraternity. 


Following are a few facts concerning these organizations with particular reference to the 
carpenter's trade, a body which claims to be the senior of the building trades guilds, and 
to have had a continuous existence from the early centuries of the Middle Ages. 


The name of the society is "Die Fremde Zimmergessellen." The translation of the name 
presents some difficulties. "Fremde" in German means either a foreigner or a stranger, 
or one absent from home. Considering the connection in which the word is here used, 
"travelling" is the nearest equivalent in English. The name therefore signifies the 
"Travelling Journeymen Carpenters." The name reminds us of that used by the 
journeymen's societies of France (Sons of Solomon) whose members called themselves 
"compagnons etrangers" (stranger companions). 


The headquarters of the German carpenters' fraternity is at Bremen, and its subordinate 
lodges are dispersed throughout Central Europe. A new lodge may be formed in any 
place upon the petition of not less than seven members; but only one lodge may be 
chartered in any one city or town. In the vernacular of the craft, the opening of a new 
lodge is described as "Opening the Book," so called from the "Brotherbook," a 
manuscript volume containing the statutes and regulations of the fraternity, without 
which no lodge can be legally held. The copy of the Brotherbook, therefore serves the 
purpose of a charter. Lodges are sometimes opened in remote foreign countries; for 
instance, in Jerusalem, 1900; in Paris, 1904, and at Liege, Belgium, 1914. 


The executive head of the fraternity is called Hauptaltgeselle (Chief Senior Fellow), and 
the General Secretary-Treasurer is called Hauptbuchgeselle. Local lodges are presided 
over by the Senior Fellow (Altgeselle); the Secretary is called Buchgeselle. These 
officers are elected for six months. In addition the local bodies have an appointive 
officer, who performs the joint duties of Steward and Doorkeeper. 



When the apprentice has been set free by his master, after three years' service, he applies 
for admission into the journeymen's fraternity. His application is presented by a 
member who has worked with him and who vouches for his character and 
qualifications. The application must be accompanied by a certificate from the master 
under whom the applicant has learned his trade. In certain states the law prohibits the 
apprentice from taking employment as a journeyman until he has made an essay, or 
masterpiece. In such case proof, of masterpiece must be furnished. If no objection is 
made, the application is approved, and the candidate is notified to present himself for 
initiation at the next meeting of the lodge. Should objection be made, the application is 
rejected without a ballot. 


After the lodge has been formerly opened the candidate is taken in charge by the 
member who presented his application, and who now acts as his sponsor. He is 
conducted to the Senior Fellow's station in the lodge. A number of questions are put to 
him by the Senior Fellow, and are answered for him by his sponsor. This dialogue 
refers to the importance and dignity of the craft, the objects of the fraternity, and in 
particular to the duty of the individual fellow to his brethren and to the craft. The 
candidate is asked whether he is willing to subscribe to these sentiments, and on his 
reply in the affirmative the obligation is administered, to the observance of which he 
pledges his word as a true man. He is then presented with "die Ehrbarkeit" (literally: 
Virtue), a black neckerchief, and is informed that this piece of attire is a symbol of 
manly virtue and the particular badge of the fraternity. He is instructed to wear it during 
all his waking hours, whether work or at play, and solemnly admonished never to 
disgrace it by word or act. 


In former times the fellows wore a distinctive livery, consisting of a short black velvet 
jack double rows of silver buttons, knee breeches of the same material, and black hat 
and shoes, together with the indispensable neckcloth. The livery has long since fallen 
into disuse, although the wearing of the "Ehrbarkeit" continues. It is still considered 
improper to wear shoes of any colour other than black, and the members have a special 
aversion to white hats. 


Then follows a lecture by the Senior Fellow in which the candidate is instructed in the 
rules and regulations of the fraternity, its customs and usages; how to conduct himself 
while travelling; how to present himself and make himself known to his brethren in 



foreign parts, etc. At stated times the Brotherbook is also read in the lodge. There is no 
mention of any grip or token; only a brief catechism to which we shall hereafter refer. 


The candidate is now a Junior Fellow (Junggeselle), and the ceremonies are concluded 
by draping his "ribbon" across the bar under the coat of arms of the craft, suspended 
over the Senior Fellow's station. This ribbon is of silk, about; six feet long by two 
inches wide, of any colour to suit the taste of the candidate; on one end is inscribed his 
name and the place and date of his birth; on the other, the date of his admission into the 
fraternity. The Senior Fellow orders the Steward to fill the "Harmony Tankard" 
(Vertragskanne), a large drinking vessel, which forms an indispensable part of the 
furniture of the lodge. The tankard is brought to the Senior Fellow, who dips his gavel 
in the beer and sprinkles a few drops of the liquid on the new-made brother's ribbon, 
and expresses the hope that the later will always live in amity and harmony with his 
brethren. The business of the lodge being concluded, the Senior Fellow calls off, and 
the health of the new brother is drunk, while the members join in singing their craft 
songs, of which they have many. 


I may mention here the peculiar form of salutation. A member is never addressed in 
lodge as brother or comrade; but always as "Ehrbarer Gesellschaft" (trusty fellowship). 
The form of address of the Senior Fellow is "Ehrbarer Altgeselle." 


The members remain standing "in order" during the entire meeting, heels together, toes 
pointing out, coat tightly buttoned and the hat held in the right hand over the left breast. 
This attitude is characteristic of the fraternity and is assumed on all occasions of craft 
business and ceremony. The Senior Fellow also presides standing, but with covered 
head. 


When the Junior Fellow is ready to travel, he applies to the lodge for clearance; but 
before it is granted must satisfy the Senior Fellow that he has parted with his master in 
friendship, that he is in fellowship with his brethren, and last but not least, that he is 
clear of debt. These matters being satisfactorily settled, he is given a clearance card, or 
"brief," as it is called, signed by the Senior Fellow and Secretary. The Senior Fellow 
again reminds the journeyman about to set out, that under the laws of the fraternity he is 



obliged to travel for three years; that at least once a year he must visit a city where a 
lodge is located, and work there not less than six weeks; that he should not remain in the 
same place longer than six months, and in no event more than one year; that he must not 
return to his birthplace, or the place where he learned his trade, during his wandering 
years, except to attend the funeral of a near relative, and in such case he should only 
remain over night. He is warned against keeping bad company and against incurring 
any debt, and urged to conduct himself in such a manner as to reflect credit upon the 
fraternity. 


The "traveler's" health is then drunk by his brethren with the wish for a pleasant journey 
and safe return. 


The lodge meetings are invariably held on Saturday night, and on the following day he 
sets out on his travels. In former times the brethren of the lodge accompanied him 
beyond the city gates with music and song, but this custom is now obsolete. He 
invariably journeys on foot, although there is no special inhibition against the use of 
speedier means of transportation. 


On arrival at his destination, he goes to the house of call (herberg). This is an inn 
frequented by his fellow craftsmen, where their lodge room is located. Some of these 
houses of call belong to the fraternity. He presents himself at the lodge door and knocks 
three times. He is received by the Senior Fellow, or some other brother detailed for the 
purpose. He assumes the posture already, described, and the following dialogue takes 
place: 


Senior Fellow: Your name! 
Fellow: (gives his name). 
Senior Fellow: Who are you? 



Fellow: A true and trusty (ehrbarer und rechtschaffer) Travelling Journeyman 
Carpenter, from . . . 

Senior Fellow: What do you desire? 

Fellow: Under favour and by your leave, (mit Gunst und Erlaubnitz), to ask the trusty 
(ehrbarer) Senior Fellow to furnish me employment for eight or fourteen days or as long 
as it may suit the master, and according to craft custom and usage. 

Senior Fellow: 'Tis well! (das ist loeblich! Literally: Praiseworthy; an obsolete 
expression). 

Senior Fellow: Your brief! 

Fellow: (presents clearance card). 

Senior Fellow examines the card and finding it in order says: Be at ease! (Macht 
commode!) 


The fellow lays aside his hat, unbuttons his coat and takes his seat. His name is entered 
upon the visitors' register, and he is told where he may apply for employment. He is 
then treated to a schnapps and a glass of beer. This ceremony is called "ausschenken"; 
literally, "drinking him out." He is next informed of the conditions of trade, wages, etc., 
and in turn he delivers the news of his travels. After this he is introduced to the landlord 
and landlady of the inn, whom thereafter he calls father and mother. If there is a 
daughter in the house, he calls her sister. 


His supper, night's lodging and breakfast are paid for by the lodge. 


If no one is present in the lodge room when he calls, he goes into the tap room of the 
inn, orders a stein of beer, and waits for some member to appear. When he recognizes 
an arrival by the black neckerchief, he strikes the table with his stein. The signal is 
immediately answered by the newcomer, who addresses his as comrade and inquires 
whether he can be of service. 



On the following Saturday he visits the lodge, but is not admitted until the meeting has 
been formally opened and the Senior Fellow has announced his arrival. He is then 
introduced to the brethren; thereafter he is recognized as a member of the lodge and 
entitled to take part in its proceedings. 


If no work is procured for him, and he is without funds, the lodge gives security for his 
board and lodging; but if he owes any debt, he is not granted clearance when he leaves 
town. Instead, he receives a letter addressed to the Senior Fellow of any lodge to which 
he may apply, informing him (the Senior Fellow) of the circumstance; and it is the duty 
of that official to arrange that a reasonable amount be remitted each pay day, until the 
debt is paid. 


Should he arrive at a town in which there is no lodge, he looks up some master who has 
been a member of the journeymen's fraternity and applies in the prescribed form. The 
master is authorized to tender such aid as the circumstances require, being reimbursed 
by the fraternity. 


If he should become involved in a quarrel or fight with a fellow member, or be accused 
of violating the laws or ethics of the craft, he is summoned to appear at lodge. He is 
examined by the Senior Fellow, who possesses power to hear and determine all 
questions of craft law and usage, and summarily to impose penalties upon the guilty 
brother. Even in grave cases the brethren are not asked to determine the guilt or 
innocence, or to assess punishment. The power of the Senior Fellow to try and punish 
is called domestic court (Stubenricht). The defendant has, however, the right of appeal 
from the decision of the Senior Fellow to the Chief Senior Fellow, and from the 
judgment of the latter to a commission composed of seven Senior Fellows, chosen from 
different parts of the jurisdiction. The commission is the supreme court of the order 
(Schiedgeticht). 


If the penalty imposed is a minor fine it is usually paid without question. Part of it is 
expended for drink, and the atonement is celebrated in convivial spirit. 



Should the fellow meet with an accident, or be overtaken by illness, medical care is 
provided at the expense of the lodge, if he is without means; and the Senior Fellow 
details brethren in their turn to nurse him until he is able to take care of himself, or until 
he dies. 


In event of death during his years of wandering, he is buried by the lodge. The 
fraternity has no regular burial service, this being performed by a clergyman; but the 
brethren follow the remains to the cemetery, wearing their work squares across the right 
shoulder. Twelve fellows act as pallbearers. As we read in the craft songs: 


"Who shall be pallbearers? 

Twelve sturdy Journeymen Carpenters." 


When the craftsman has completed his years of travel he may settle down in his 
hometown, or some other place to his liking, and is thereafter called a resident member 
(Einheimischer). But he does not relinquish his membership in the fraternity unless he 
becomes a master and goes into business for himself. But even as a master he is in 
close contact with the craftsmen's body, and is by custom bound to extend the hand of 
fellowship and do acts of courtesy to such members as may apply to him. 


Attention is here called to some peculiar mles of conduct followed by the members. 
Mention has already been made of the fact that the craftsman must not take off his 
black neckerchief while at work. If he finds it necessary to open his shirt collar, he 
simply opens the neckcloth and slips it down his bosom. It is considered bad form to 
work with sleeves rolled up; and it is regarded as highly improper for a fellow to go 
more than a house length from his lodging without coat or hat. 


We have already noted that the membership is divided into grades. The first, Junior 
Fellow, is conferred at initiation. From the time he commences travelling he is rated as 
a Fellow. After three years on the road he is recognized as an Old Fellow, and eligible 
to election as presiding officer of a lodge. No particular ceremony is connected with the 



last two "degrees," nor do they confer any distinction beyond that due to superior skill 
and experience. 


In the carpenter's calling the authority of the Senior Fellow does not extend beyond the 
lodge. In the shop or on the job every fellow is his equal. In this respect the craft 
differs from the Steinmetzen, whose foreman (parlier) in the shop became ipso facto the 
warden of the society. This is no doubt due to the fact that in the latter craft all grades 
were members of the 

same fraternity. 


Like the masons, the carpenters have their cowans. The latter call a travelling 
journeyman, who is not a member of the society, a "Vogtlander." The origin of the term 
is unknown, but it signifies one who is willing to work unusually long hours for low 
wages. 


In the reproduction of a clearance card issued by a lodge in Essen, 1904, note the seal, 
bearing the name of the fraternity around the outer edge, and the central design, 
composed of the coat of arms of the craft, viz.; A plane between the extended compass, 
crossed hatchets, two adjacent squares, and, at the bottom, a saw. 


Note also the legend printed around the outer border, which may be freely translated, as 
follows: 


"Who can become an apprentice? Any man. 

Who shall be fellow craft? He who can. 

Who shall be master? He who can design and plan. 
What should a Travelling Fellow be? A true man." 



It would be interesting to examine this ancient society historically but the means are not 
at hand. It is claimed that its Brotherbook is several centuries older than that of the 
Steinmetzen, which was adopted in 1567 and there seems no reason to doubt the 
statement. 


The fraternity at present has no legendary history, such as we find in the Ancient 
Charges of Freemasonry, but it is more than likely that in former times such history 
formed part of the secrets of the craft, and that it has either fallen into disuse or been 
forgotten during those periods when the government attempted to suppress this and 
similar organizations. During the "blood-and-iron" rule of Bismarck all secret societies 
and clandestine meetings were forbidden, and though this order did not completely 
destroy the body, the members had to exercise great care to prevent the police from 
breaking up their meetings and lodging the members in jail. 


Why the black neckerchief? Is it a symbol of mourning for some traditional founder or 
martyr of the craft? Is it not possible that the original significance of it has been lost or 
forgotten? How many seamen of today are aware of the fact that the black neckerchief 
universally worn by the enlisted men of all navies, was originally worn in mourning for 
Nelson, and that the three white stripes on the naval seaman's shirt collar are 
commemorative of the three great victories won by that great seaman? 


It is my hope that in the near future we shall have available a copy of the carpenter's 
Brotherbook, which will enable us to form a clearer idea of the inner workings of their 
craft fraternity. 


— o — 


MY CREED 



"To live as gently as I can, 

To be, no matter where, a man; 

To take what comes of good or ill; 

To cling to faith and honor still; 

To do my best and let stand 
The record of my brain and hand; 
And then, should failure come to me, 
Still work and hope for victory! 

"To have no secret place wherein 
I stoop unseen to shame or sin; 

To be the same when I'm alone 
As when my even deed is known, 

To live undaunted, unafraid 
Of any step that I have made; 

To be without pretense or sham, 
Exactly what men think I am." 

— o — 


A MASONIC MEDALLION OF 1516 



BY BRO. JOE L. CARSON. VIRGINIA 


We are indebted to the courtesy of Brother Joe Carson, of Riverton, Virginia, whose 
name is well known to our readers, for the privilege of publishing the illustrations 
presented herewith. This medallion is an item of considerable importance to antiquaries, 
since it is computed to be 405 years old. Thus far nothing has been published about it, 
so that it is hoped that among our own readers may be found those who may add 
something to the information furnished by Brother Carson, either by way of facts or of 
interpretation. 


Meanwhile a casual reader will find many points to challenge his speculative faculty by 
way of explaining the symbols and emblems exhibited in this rare old Masonic curio. 
What is the figure above the sun and moon in cut "A?" What signify the numbers 15 
and 16? Why five steps? What is the object that lies at the foot of the stair, and looks 
like a coffin? What is the "X" shaped figure at the immediate left of the Sun? What is 
the winged figure supposed to be in cut "B" ? 


Herewith are the explanatory paragraphs sent by Brother Carson: 


BELOW is the authenticated history of an old Masonic Medallion dated 1516, oval in 
form and beautifully carved with Masonic symbols and characters, found in the ruins of 
an old house in the townland of Derganyneville near Dromore in the county of Tyrone 
in the year 1912 by Mrs. Sarah Dowd, an old lady who lived beside the house in 
question as caretaker of a farm, the property of Mr. John J. Nelson, of Hackencon, 
Trillick County, Tyrone. The composition of the medallion is believed to be petrified 
oak, correct size 3 5-8 by 2 3-4 inches. 


Mrs. Dowd's statement given before the undersigned members of the Masonic Order is 
as follows: 



"About the end of the year 1912 a little girl, a niece of mine, and myself, were picking 
out some stones from amongst the partly fallen ruins of the kitchen of an old house in 
Derganyneville when there fell out also a flat oval piece of something like slate, of a 
dark color and with a small portion of chimney soot adhering to it. Being struck with the 
peculiar shape of the article I picked it up from amongst the rubble, and thinking it 
rather a curiousity, I brought it to my employer, Mr. John J. Nelson, and told him how I 
had found; Afterwards, on the 8th of July, 1921, 1 was asked to meet Mr. Nelson and 
some other gentlemen at the said ruins, which I did, and pointed out the exact place 
where I found the article." 


Mr. John J. Nelson's statement corroborates that of Mrs. Dowd, and he further states that 
after he had washed the soot and dirt off the medallion he recognized the carving as 
having something to do with Freemasonry, as although not a member of the Order 
himself, a Mason lodge met in his father's house when he was a young lad, of which his 
father was a Past Master, and the Master's chair with Masonic emblems carved thereon 
was for several years after his father's death and the winding up of the lodge, preserved 
in the family, but eventually became broken up and lost. Mr. Nelson kept the medallion 
in his private drawer for some years, when happening to turn it up while looking for 
some papers, he put it in his pocket and brought it to his old friend and neighbor, Mr. 
John R. Henderson, of Lisnahanna, Trillick, whom he knew to be a Freemason and 
whom he surmised, would be interested in it, which proved to be the case, for Mr. 
Henderson, or, we may now say, Brother Henderson recognizing its evident connection 
with early Masonry sent it by the hand of Brother Davis Graham, to Brother Robt. W. 
Wilson, then acting as Grand Secretary to the Provincial Grand Lodge of Tyrone and 
Fermanagh, who had it immediately photographed, and who also submitted it to several 
of the leading members of the Lodge of Research, who were all intensely interested in 
what they deem a rare and valuable Masonic curio. 


The authenticity of the foregoing history of the same is vouched hereby by us who were 
present at the interviews with Mrs. Dowd and Mr. Nelson, and at the taking of 
photographs of the spot and of the parties named herein on the 8th day of July, 1921 . 


(Signed) 



John R. Henderson, Trillick, P. M. Lodge 58, Trillick. 


David Graham, Enniskillen, P. M. Lodge 473, Enniskillen. 


James Henderson, Lisnahanna, Trillick, Dolph Lodge No. 80, Athena, Oregon, U. S. A. 


John Mercer, Enniskillen, Lodge 891, Enniskillen. 


Robert W. Wilson, Enniskillen, P. M. 


— o — 


MARTIN FOLKES, DEPUTY GRAND MASTER, 1724 


BY BRO. DUDLEY WRIGHT, ENGLAND 


THE CRAFT has always attracted to its ranks men of erudition and leaning, and one of 
the most honoured of such is that of Martin Folkes, Deputy Grand Master, 1724. It was 
perhaps fitting, in view of the interest he is said to have taken in Freemasonry and the 
influence he is reported to have had, that Martin Folkes should have been bom in Queen 
Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, the only home the Grand Lodge of England has known 
since it had a home of its own, the date of his birth being 29th October, 1690. He was 
the eldest son of Martin Folkes, an eminent lawyer and a bencher of Gray's Inn, 
described in the Gray's Inn Admission Register as of Rushbrooke, County Suffolk, and 
admitted 18th May, 1661. In 1695, Martin Folkes, senior, became Solicitor-General 
and, in 1697, Attorney-General to Catherine, Queen Dowager of Charles II. The 



mother was Dorothy, the second daughter of Sir William Hovell, Kt., of Hillington Hall, 
near Lynn, Norfolk. The family of Folkes is known to be of Staffordshire extraction 
and the first member of whom there is any record is William Fowke, as the name was 
anciently written, who was of eminence in Staffordshire in A. D. 1438. 


When a boy of nine years, Martin Folkes, the subject of this sketch, was sent to the 
University of Saumur, and his tutor, Cappel, the son of Lewis Cappel, a celebrated 
Hebraist, described him as "a choice youth of a penetrating genius and master of the 
beauties of the best Roman and Greek writers." Soon after, in February, 1706, at the age 
of seventeen, he was sent to Clare Hall, Cambridge, under the care of Dr. Laughton, 
where he made great progress in mathematics and other studies, and after gaining his 
baccalaureate, he proceeded to the degree of Master of Arts on 6th October, 1717. 


Some estimate of his progress at the University may be made from the fact that he was 
only twenty-three years of age when he was, on the 29th July, 1714, elected a Fellow of 
the Royal Society, his name having been accepted for nomination on the previous 13th 
of December. A little more than two years after his election - on 30th November, 1716 
- he was chosen as a member of the Council of the Society, an honour renewed annually 
until 1727, and, in 1722, an addition was made to the distinction by his appointment by 
the President, Sir Isaac Newton, as one of the Vice-Presidents. Folkes often presided at 
the meetings in the absence of his chief and on one occasion he was told by Dr. Jurin, 
the secretary, who dedicated to Folkes the 34th volume of the Transactions, that "the 
greatest man that ever lived (meaning Sir Isaac Newton) singled him out to fill the chair 
and to preside in the Society when he himself was so frequently prevented by 
indisposition, and that it was sufficient to say of him that he was 'Sir Isaac's friend.'" On 
the death of Sir Isaac Newton, in 1727, Sir Hans Sloane and Martin Folkes competed 
for the presidency, the latter being unsuccessful. In 1729 Folkes again became a 
member of the Council and, in 1732 and 1733, was asked by Sir Hans Sloane again to 
accept a Vice-Presidency, which he did, and, on 30th November, 1741, he succeeded 
Sir Hans Sloane as President. He presented the Society with a fine portrait of himself, 
painted by Hogarth. 


Folkes was married on 18th October, 1714, at St. Helen's, Bishopgate, to Lucretia 
Bradshawe, when he was described as "of Nafferton, Yorkshire" and his bride as "of St. 
Andrew's Holbom." Dr. Doran, in Their Majesties' Servants, writes: 



"At this period (about 1714) the stage lost a lady who was as dear to it as Queen Anne, 
namely Mrs. Bradshaws. Her departure, however, was caused by marriage, not by 
death; and the gentleman who carried her off, instead of being a rollicking gallant or a 
worthless peer, was a staid, solemn antiquary, Martin Folkes, who rather surprised the 
town by wedding young Mistress Bradshawe. The lady had been on the stage about 
eighteen years; she had trodden it from early childhood, and always with unblemished 
reputation. She had her reward in an excellent, sensible, and wealthy husband, to whom 
her exemplary and prudent conduct endeared her; and the happiness of this couple was 
well established. She won applause as the originator of the characters of Corinna in 'The 
Conspirator,' Sylvia in 'The Double Gallant,' and Arabella Zeal in 'The Fair Quaker.'" 


The author of the History of the English Stage also describes her as "one of the greatest 
and most promising genii of her time" and says that she was taken off the stage by Mr. 
Folkes "for her exemplary and prudent conduct." Unhappily many years before Martin 
Folkes' demise the wife became mentally unbalanced and had to become the inmate of 
an asylum. 


In 1719 Folkes was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, afterwards becoming 
a Vice-President. When Algernon, Duke of Somerset, for many years President of the 
Society, died on 9th February, 1750, Martin Folkes was immediately chosen to succeed 
him, in which office he was continued by the Charter of Incorporation, which was 
granted on 2nd November, 1751. It was Folkes himself who, in conjunction with Lord 
Chancellor Hardwicke, obtained a Charter of Incorporation for the Society. Prior to his 
election as President of this body, Oxford had conferred upon him the Doctorate of 
Civil Law, and Cambridge, his alma mater, the Doctorate of Laws, when on the 
occasion of a visit from the Chancellor, the Duke of Newcastle. It is said that when he 
was "capped" at Oxford, he returned them "a compliment in a Latin speech, admired for 
its propriety and elegance." 


Folkes was also an associate of the Egyptian Club and a member of a literary club, 
known as the Spalding Society. He was the patron of George Edwards, the naturalist, 
and gave some help to Theobald for his Notes on Shakespeare. At one time he had an 
ambition for Parliamentary honours, for he contested Lynn as a Whig in 1747. 



Dr. Robert Smith, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, 1736, and preceptor to 
William, Duke of Cumberland, was indebted to Folkes for some curious information 
which he embodied in his great work on Optics and acknowledged in his Preface to the 
quarto edition published in 1738. Folkes also edited C. Maclaurin's Treatise on 
Algebra. He was renowned as a numismatist and had a famous collection of coins and 
medals. On his travels through Italy he compiled a Dissertation on the Weights and 
Values of Ancient Coins. The only copies of his works in the British Museum are: 1, a 
Table of English Gold Coins from the 18th year of King Edward III, with weights and 
values, London, 1736, 4to. 2, A Table of English Silver Coins from the Norman 
Conquest to the present time, with weights, values, and remarks, 1745, 4to- 3, Tables of 
English Silver and Gold Coins, in three parts, 1763, published after his death. 


There are some interesting references to Martin Folkes, or to what may not 
inappropriately be described as "Martin Folkes and his Circle" in the Journal and Letters 
of John Byrom, the inventor of a system of shorthand and who dedicated to Folkes 
some verses entitled "A Humorous Account of the Epping Forest Robbery." Some of 
the more important are here reproduced: 


"1725, Tuesday, 9th February. Bob Ord came in while I was writing and I went to him 
to the Club in Paul's Church Yard, where were Mr. Brown, Derham, White, Glover, 
Heathcote, Graham, Foulkes, and another: we talked about the 'Religion of Nature 
delineated,' the character of which book I asked Mr. Brown." 


"1725. Tuesday, 9th March. Thence to the Club in Paul's Church Yard, where we had 
two barrels of oysters, one before and another after supper, Mr. Leycester, Glover, 
White, Bob Ord, Graham, Foulkes, Sloan, Derham, Heathcote, a talking gent. I had 
never seen there before; paid 2s. 6d. a piece. Mr. Brown they said had got the gout. We 
talked much of something and nothing, about Dr. Vincent's copying of letters, and I told 
them I was going to establish a Cabala Club that were guessers." 


"1725. Thursday, 11th March. When we were at dinner the Duke of Richmond and Mr. 
Foulkes [came in]. . . . The Duke of Richmond was very merry and good company; Mr. 



Foulkes just mentioned my having found out shorthand, but nothing more was said on it 
then. I came to the Society in the coach with the Duke of Richmond, Mr. Foulkes, and 
Mr. Sloan and we talked about Masonry and Shorthand." 


"1725. Tuesday, 6th April ... to Paul's Church Yard, where Mr. Leycester and I went, 
Mr. Graham, Foulkes, Sloan, Glover, Montagu. ... I had a scallop shell and Welsh 
rabbit. Mr. Leycester and I walked home together. There was a Lodge of Freemasons 
in the room over us, where Mr. Foulkes, who is Deputy Grand Master, was till he came 
to us. Mr. Sloan was for taking me upstairs if I would go: I said I would, and come back 
if there was anything I did not like and then he bid me sit down." 


"1725. Tuesday, 29th June. Mildmay and I went to the Sun in Paul's Church Yard, it 
was past ten when we came there; there were twelve of us only, Foulkes, Graham, 
Brown, Derham, Bob Ord, Sloan, Heathcote, Hauksbee, Dr. Anteney, and a stranger 
that Mr. Foulkes brought. . . . Mr. Foulkes said that Dr. Stukeley had said that he could 
read the Egyptian hieroglyphics as well as English," 


In June, 1725, the Duke of Richmond, then Grand Master, was created a Knight of the 
Bath, but was unable to attend the investiture in consequence of attack of smallpox. His 
proxy at the ceremony was Sir George Sanders, who was accompanied by Martin 
Folkes, then Deputy Grand Master and an intimate friend of the Duke, who furnished 
the Duke with a full account of the investiture. The Duke, acknowledging Folkes' letter 
eight days after its receipt, said: 


"I am very much asham'd when I think how long I have defer'd answering your two 
obliging letters, especially when I consider that I ought to have writ first to thanks you, 
as I do now, for the goodness you have had in letting us have your company here at 
Goodwood, but staying so little a while is but tantalizing us, for as soon as one had the 
pleasure of your acquaintance, your affairs oblig'd you to go. But next summer, if I 
return to Sussex, you will, I hope, remember your promise of staying some time with 
me, in being my Squire. I fear the fatigue you underwent, might hinder the pleasure of 
the entertainment. I wish it lay in my power to show you in a more essential way, how 
great a value and friendship I have for you. I have been guilty of such an omission that 



nobody less than the Deputy Grand Master can make up for me. ... 1 desire you would 
present my humble service to Mrs. Folkes. I hope she was entertained at the 
Instalment." 


In 1733, Martin Folkes went abroad with his family to Italy and remained abroad for 
about two years and a half. He was armed with letters of introduction from the Duke of 
Richmond and was warmly greet by the many friends of the Duke whom he met while 
upon his travels. Apparently Mrs. Folkes was not received with open arms by all and 
sundry, but possibly an explanation of this and of the following letter which Tom Hill, 
the Duke's steward wrote to the Duke on 20th July, 1733, is that the mental malady 
from which she afterwards suffered so acutely was then in manifestation. The steward's 
communication was as follows: 


"With much ado I obtain'd leave to transcribe the following account relating to Mrs. 
Folkes out of a letter that came from abroad, having first sworn no to tel the person that 
sent it. 


"'There is come hither a Lady with her husband, three children, and a monky, who are 
no more exempt from obedience to her, one than another, and all seemingly fellow- 
sufferers alike. I happen'd to be at a visit when she came in. In all my life did I never 
hear such an insupportable creature, nor so much nonsense in so small a space of time. 
You will be surpris'd when I tell you the husband is reckon'd as clever a man as any in 
England. His name is Folkes (Martin Folkes as she cals him) who used to be very much 
with the Duke of Richmond. The lady he married is very wel known in England. He 
designs making the tour of Italy and France, by which time I don't doubt but she wil turn 
out the most accomplisht of fine Ladys. She did think indeed of bringing a little dog 
and a cat to keep poor pug company, but that they could not possibly find more room in 
the coach. Such characters are no where to be met abroad, whatever they may be in 
England, and even there I never saw one come up to this.' 


"This is al that was read to me out of the letter. I could not help saying, what I fancy 
you'l join with me in, Poor Martin! In an evil hour didst thou take to thy bosom this 
Lady Mar-all." 



The Duke of Richmond gave Martin Folkes a letter of introduction to Princess 
Pamphili, in which he spoke of him as "a gentleman of very good family, and one of the 
leading savants of this kingdom." 


Similarly, in a letter to the Countess Celia Borromea, he wrote: 


"I may venture to say that this letter will be attended with one agreeable circumstance to 
your Excellency which is that of introducing one of the most learned and at the same 
time most agreeable men in Europe to you, besides this he is one of the most intimate 
and dearest friends I have in the world, which I am vain enough to hope will not lessen 
him in your Excellency's esteem. His name is Mr. Folkes: he is a member of our Royal 
Society and has been a great while our Vice-President, he was an intimate acquaintance 
of the great Sir Isaac Newton, for whose memory, as every man of learning must, he has 
the utmost veneration." 


There seems to be some confusion with regard to a medal either designed, or struck, by 
Martin Folkes, or struck in his honour. Hawkins, in his Medallic Illustrations, says of a 
medal, dated 1740: 


"In February 1740, James Anthony Dossier, a nephew of Jean Dossier, engraver to the 
Mint at Geneva, published proposals for executing several medals of famous men living 
in England. The set was to consist of thirteen medals and the subscription to be four 
guineas, but if sold singly, the price was 7s. 6d. each. The medal of Martin Folkes was 
first made. The dies were engraved in London, but the medaig were struck abroad, 
because no engines were allowed for that purpose in this country." 


According to Hawkins, however, there was a second medal, bearing the date of 1742, 
which he says: 



"Was executed at Rome, and, tradition says, by especial command of the Pope, 
unknown to Folkes whom it was intended to surprise during his visit to Italy. 
Freemasonry was originally named 'Lux' and is said to have existed from the Creation. 
Folkes' visit to Rome took place in 1733. It is much more probable that the medal was 
struck at Rome to show the high esteem in which Folkes was held in that city of 
antiquities and about the time he was elected a member of the French Academy. There 
is in the British Museum an early proof of this medal struck before the legends were 
added or the type of the obverse finished." 


The Papal tradition obviously is without foundation. Clement XII occupied the papal 
chair in 1733, and Benedict XIV in 1742, and both condemned the Masonic Order in 
unmistakable language, so that it is scarcely likely that either would sanction the issue 
of a medal in honour of so distinguished a Freemason. 


This medal by some means left the possession of the Folkes family, but, about 1890, it 
was recovered by Bro. Sir William Ffolkes, Bart., a lineal descendant, whose brother- 
in-law found it in a curiosity shop in Norwich. In the History of the Philanthropic 
Lodge, No. 107, King's Lynn, published in 191 1, it is stated that "Sir William Ffolkes 
has in his possession a bronze medal, which was stmck in honour of Martin Folkes by 
the Masons resident in Rome in the year 1742, and also an original letter from the Duke 
of Richmond to his Deputy, Martin Folkes, asking him to make his excuses for not 
attending to a report from a Charity Committee, and thanking him for an old record he 
had sent him, which he stated was really very curious, and a certain proof of Masons' 
antiquity by the Unbelievers. Martin Folkes constituted the Maid's Head Lodge, the 
earliest Lodge on the roll of Norfolk Freemasonry [No. 30 in the 1725 List, erased in 
1809.-D. W.] and his name appears in the first list of members in 1725." 


S. Russell Forbes says (Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, xiv) that Martin Folkes founded a 
lodge in Rome in 1742 and named it after Fabius Maximus. "He had a medal struck at 
the Papal Mint, engraved by Hamerain. On the obverse is his bust, and on the reverse a 
sphinx in the foreground, on the side of which is the crescent moon. Behind is the 
pyramid tomb of Caius Cestius, thus a rectangle is introduced twice, as two sides of the 
tomb are shown. At the northeast and northwest corners of the pyramid are two 
columns, so the tomb and column s might suggest the temple. In the south the sun 



shines in full splendor, above all is the motto, Sua sidera norant. At the base is Romae, 
A.L. 5742." 


On the 5th September, 1742, Martin Folkes had been elected a member of the French 
Academy, to fill the vacancy caused by the demise of the celebrated Halley, and, in the 
words of the Minute "the Academy thought it could not better repair the loss than by the 
election of M. Folkes in his place." The Minute also mentions in terms of high praise his 
communications to the Royal Society on the subject of Weights and Measures. 


Weld in his History of the Royal Society also says that "Martin Folkes was a man of 
extensive knowledge, who has, however, rendered more service to archaeology than to 
science; the latter being chiefly enriched by his work on the intricate subject of coins, 
weights, and measures." 


At the anniversary meeting of the Society in 1753, Martin Folkes resigned the 
Presidency, to the great regret of the Fellows, who immediately passed the following 
resolution: 


"Resolved: That the thanks of the Society be returned to Martin Folkes, Esq., their 
worthy President, for the many great services which they have received from him, both 
as Member and as President, of which they shall retain the highest sense. And that he 
be assured of the great concern which they feel that his ill state of health will not permit 
him any longer to discharge the office of President, which he has so many years filled 
with so much credit to himself and advantage to the Society." 


Dr. Stukeley's testimony, which appears in his Common Place Book, is of particular 
interest in view of a more lengthy, statement which appeared later from his pen. He 
thus alludes to the meetings held under Folkes' presidency: 



"They are a most elegant and agreeable entertainment for a contemplative person: here 
we meet, either personally or in their works, all the geniuses of England, or, rather of the 
whole world, whatever the heavens present. My custom is, when I return home and 
take a contemplative pipe, to set down the memoirs of what entertainments we have 
there." 


Martin Folkes was succeeded in the Presidency by the Earl of Macclesfield, who, from 
the time of his election to the Council evinced a warm interest in the Society. 


Weld, in summarizing the years of the Presidency of Martin Folkes, says: 


"It is but just to Mr. Folkes to state that he left the Society in a much more flourishing 
condition than when he was elected President; for, at the time of his resignation, their 
funded capital amounted to 3,000 pounds. A careful examination of the voluminous 
Minutes of the ordinary meetings, extending over the eleven years that he was in office, 
enables me to state that he was scarcely ever absent from the chair, and that the 
meetings were honoured by a greater number of visitors than usual, numbering 
frequently as many as thirty or forty. Indeed, so much inconvenience was occasionally 
experienced by the crowds desiring to be admitted, that the President was obliged to 
request the Fellows to exercise a little discretion in bringing visitors and to enforce the 
standing order precluding their admission until leave had been obtained from the 
Society in the usual manner." 


On the 26th September, 1753, Martin Folkes was seized with paralysis, as a result of 
which he was deprived of the use of his left side. In this unhappy situation he lingered 
on until 28th June, 1754, when a second stroke put an end to his mortal career. He was 
buried in Hillington Church near Fynn, in Norfolk, under a black marble slab in the 
chancel, with no other inscription than his name and the date of his death, in accordance 
with the provisions of his last will, dated September, 1751. He bequeathed 200 pounds 
to the Royal Society, in addition to a cornelian ring, on which was engraved the arms of 
the Royal Society, for the use of the President. He also bequeathed 400 pounds a year 
for life to his wife and he left, 12,000 pounds to each of his daughters. In 1792 a 
monument was erected to him in the south side of the choir of Westminster Abbey. 



Stukeley's Diary contains an entry dated 28th June, 1754, which reads as follows: 


"This mom, about four, dyed Martyn Folkes, of a repeated paralytic stroke. He had just 
finished his new house adjoining to his own in a most elegant manner, though always 
incapable of having the least enjoyment from it. He has remained for this three or four 
year a most miserable object of dereliction from that Deity which he supposed took no 
account of our actions and had not provided for an immortal part." 


It is singular that Dr. Stukeley should have waited until after Folkes' death before he 
ventured to attack him, but his entry in his Common Place Book is more lengthy and 
more spiteful. He there writes: 


"Martin Folkes has an estate of near 3,000 pounds got by his father-in-law. He is a man 
of no economy. Before at age he married Mrs. Bracegirdle off the stage. His mother 
grieved at it so much that she threw herself out of a window and broke her arm. His 
only son broke his neck off a horse back at Paris. His eldest daughter ran away with a 
bookkeeper and who used her very ill. Quarrelling with Sir Hans Sloane about the 
Presidentship of the Royal Society and being baffled he went to Rome with his wife and 
daughters, dog, cat parra, and monkey. There his wife grew religiously mad. He went 
to Venice and got a dangerous hurt upon his leg. Returning he was successor to Sir 
Hans Sloane, President of the Royal Society. Losing his teeth he speaks so as not to be 
understood. He constantly refuses all papers that speak of longitude. He chases the 
Council and officers out his junto of Sycophants that meet him every night at 
Rawthmilis coffee house, or that dine with him on Thursdays at the Miter, Fleet Street. 
He has a great deal of learning, philosophy, astronomy; but knows nothing of natural 
history. In matters of religion an errant infidel and loud scoffer. Professes himself a 
godfather to all monkeys, believes nothing of a future state, of the Scriptures, of 
revelation. He perverted Duke of Montagu, Richmond, Lord Pembroke, and very many 
more of the nobility, who had an opinion of his understanding; and this has done an 
infinite prejudice to Religion in general, made the nobility throw off the mask and 
openly deride and discountenance even the appearance of religion, which has brought us 
into that deplorable situation we are now in, with thieves and murderers, peijury, 
forgery, etc. He thinks there is no difference between us and animals; but what is owing 



to the different structure of our brain, as between man and man. When I lived in 
Ormond Street in 1 720, he set up an Infidel Club at his house on Sunday evenings, 
where Will Jones, the mathematician, and others of the heathen stamp, assembled. He 
invited me earnestly to come thither, but I always refused. From that time he has been 
propagating the infidel system with great assiduity and made it even fashionable in the 
Royal Society, so that when any mention is made of Moses or the deluge, of religion, 
Scriptures, etc., it generally is received with a loud laugh. In September, 1751, being of 
a very gross habit, great eater and drinker, he was seized with the cholic, which soon 
terminated in a hemiplegia. He has now been confined a twelvemonth in this miserable 
state, but so far from correcting his irreligious notions that he's grown worse if possible. 
In two years time he dyed in a deplorable manner. Two years after his daughters both 
married to indigent persons." 


There is some slight corroboration of his irreligious opinions in an entry in Byrom's 
Diary under date of 26th March, 1736, when he wrote: 


"Mr. Johnson talked about the Duke of Montague and I walked with him through the 
Strand and he said Martin Folkes talked strangely about religion." 


The editor of the book however adds: 


"Probably against religion as he had seen it exhibited in Rome and Florence, where he 
had resided two years and had lately returned (September, 1735) to England." 


Martin Folkes destroyed many manuscripts shortly before his death, some of which, it is 
thought, would have thrown light upon the early history of the organized Craft in 
England. His library was sold by Samuel Baker, of York Street, Covent Garden, W. C. 
The sale began on Monday, 2nd February, 1756, and continued for forty days. There 
were in all 5,126 items, the sum realized being 3,091 pounds 6s., which was a large sum 
in those days, although a great many items were withdrawn from the sale. 



The present family of Ffolkes descends from Martin Folkes' brother, William Folkes, 
barrister-at-law of the Inner Temple, agent to the Duke of Montague in Lancashire, who 
married, as his second wife, the only daughter and heiress of Sir William Browne, 
President of the Royal College of Physicians. There was only one child of this 
marriage, Martin Folkes, who changed the spelling of his name and styled himself 
Martin Browne Ffolkes after the death of his grandfather. He was created a Baronet on 
26th May, 1774. The present bearer of the title, Sir William Edward Browne Ffolkes, is 
the fourth Baronet and brother of the third Baronet, who had only one child, a daughter, 
now the wife of Lieut.-Col. the Hon. John Dawnay. The present Rector of Hillington - 
the Rev. F.A.S. Ffolkes, M.V.O., J.P., Chaplain in Ordinary to the King and Chaplain of 
the King's Own Norfolk Yeomanry-is a brother of the present Baronet. 


— o — 


THE JAMESTOWN FELLOW CRAFT CLUB 


THOUGH this is admittedly a commonplace, it is undeniably true, - that we live in a 
very busy time. The conditions of hustling modem life force us, whether we will or no, 
to fill our days and hours with a multitude of activities; and even then to leave undlone 
many desirable things. 


Very desirable, we believe, are our fraternal activities; yet even in these circles we find 
duplicated these same hustling conditions of all other phases of life. There are many 
lodges, and they all clamor for attention. Such attention as we give must be carefully 
bestowed. Careful attention we believe we have given to our Masonic organization; yet 
even here we find more or less of this overfilling of our available time. 


Within Masonic circles any new organization, even though auxiliary, may well be 
received with caution. Energy and attention needed for the main lines of Man sonic 
activity should not be lightly scattered and carelessly divided. Any new club must fully 
justify its existence if it is to be received, approved and made permanent. 



These conditions would seem to discourage the addition to our system of a new unit 
such as our Fellow Craft Club. This club, however, was the outgrowth of these very 
conditions, helping somewhat to meet their problems which we are facing. 


Among the undoubted problems is that of the gradual change in our lodges brought 
about by new needs. Our lodges, becoming larger and larger, must serve this larger 
membership. This growth in membership brings a constantly increasing number of 
petitions and candidates, and this necessitates more frequent meetings. The time of our 
busy officers, mortgaged to the degree work and the duties incident to a large 
membership, is hardly sufficient to meet the needs that are urgent. 


These needs, however, are merely the more insistent ones. Others arise from the fact 
that to a certain extent the lodge, standing less alone in the community than formerly, 
must compete with many other activities which are bidding for the attention of busy 
men. Many men, we must confess, are not interested for very long in the degree work 
alone, and their interest must be maintained by an emphasis on the social features which 
make gatherings of men attractive. 


Out of such conditions grew our Fellow Craft Club. It was formed primarily for the 
purpose of assisting the Master in his lodge work, and then for the purpose of doing 
some things which the Master could not find time to accomplish. The club was first but 
a small group of men with enthusiasm for our lodge. The work, once started, grew, 
revealing new possibilities for service which were met as they appeared. The by-laws 
(we were ambitious enough to believe we needed them) are simple, providing just 
enough organization to accomplish our purpose. The work, not the machinery, is 
emphasized. 


The by-lays state: "The object of this organization shall be to promote the welfare of 
Lodge. 



"Sect. 1, By assisting the officers of the lodge in the presentation of degrees, especially 
the Third degree. 


"Sect. 2, By assisting the Senior Deacon in welcoming and introducing visiting brothers. 


"Sect. 3, By providing means of entertainment and refreshments at such 
communications as the Worshipful Master shall direct." 


Certain requirements for membership are provided. The Junior Warden of the lodge is 
automatically the Club Leader, but emphasis is placed on the fact that the authority of 
the Worshipful Master is absolute in all the affairs of the club. Other useful matters are 
worked out in these by-laws. 


Our club is accomplishing several of its purposes. In connection with the degree work it 
furnishes and organizes men for the Fellow Craft team in the Third degree. For this 
work we have enough interested men so that it is possible always to have the necessary 
twelve. 


Not only for the Third degree, but for other meeting nights also, the club members have 
been appointed in rotation on reception committees, a past master when possible acting 
with them. This committee welcomes all who attend our meetings to make them feel 
that their attendance and interest are appreciated. Especial attention and appreciation are 
of course given to strangers. The stranger is introduced to those who may be at liberty, 
an examining committee is arranged if he is making his first visit, and after the 
examination he is placed in charge of some brethren who look to his pleasure during the 
rest of the evening. Every brother who is a member of another lodge is marked with a 
small bow of blue ribbon on his coat lapel. This badge, marking him a visitor and being 
automatically an introduction to every brother present, smooths the way for easy 
acquaintance and informal welcome. 



Particularly has the Fellow Craft Club taken responsibility for the social side of lodge 
life. Lunches and smokers following lodge meetings have been arranged and managed. 
At these affairs, delightful in their informality, there is often a speaker who for a few 
minutes speaks entertainingly, after which the men themselves either ask questions, 
continue the discussion, or indulge in general conversation. 


The club has arranged a few dances during the winter season. These have been simple 
and inexpensive, and have interested many who were not permanently attracted by the 
ritual work. 


This summer, indoor lodge activities being unseasonable, the club took the lead in the 
arrangements for a successful picnic in which all the appendant Masonic bodies of the 
city joined. 


The club has found it desirable, however, to preserve for itself organization enough to 
prevent the feeling that it is merely a group of committees. To this end the officers have 
arranged a monthly meeting for the discussion of plans and policies; and in connection 
with this meeting have introduced an initiation for the new members. The club being 
largely social, it has not been felt that the initiation need carry any very serious import. 
It is not even remotely suggestive of any Masonic degree work, that being too sacred to 
be trifled with. This little initiation employs amusing and entertaining features without 
degenerating into anything undesirable, yet closes with a dignified climax. Containing 
amusement and a little instruction, it has added greatly to the interest of the club. 


We find that the club has awakened and maintained an interest in many men by giving 
them something to do. It has scattered rather widely among them the social duties and 
responsibilities, as well as the incidental work of the lodge. Many men do not care to 
hold Masonic office. Many more are not fitted for the peculiar requirements of such 
responsibility. But almost every man being interested in his lodge, we find that most of 
them are glad to do the things which this club fosters. 



We are but beginning, and find that there is a large field of activity not yet touched. 
Many more things might with benefit be done. 


The many branches and forms of Masonic study and instruction remain for future 
development, which might with entire appropriateness be fostered by the Fellow Craft 
Club. 


The discussions following the regular meetings could be systematized, extended, and 
made more important. 


Subcommittees might well care for and handle the properties for the various degrees, 
thus saving time and making for general efficiency. 


Some work along dramatic lines would be valuable. College dramatic clubs have shown 
us how to make this work useful and pleasant, indicating a field where entertainment 
and valuable training are combined. As an approach to this work the club might develop 
degree teams to understudy the officers for the various degrees. This would give a taste 
of degree work to those who do not care to assume official responsibility, and would 
perhaps develop good material for officers. 


A committee of the club might bring to the meetings of the lodge those who are 
normally shut in by some handicap and so deprived of lodge life. 


The club could do much to keep in touch with every Mason resident in our city but 
belonging to a lodge elsewhere. This would extend Masonic courtesy in a very pleasing 
way. 



We have found that our work grows with experience, each new step determining the 
direction of further progress. 


In general our Fellow Craft Club has worked well. It has proved its worth and 
usefulness by adding to the efficiency of the lodge. By keeping itself strictly subordinate 
to the lodge it has not been subject to any of the criticisms which would justly condemn 
any competing or disturbing organization. It has kept its reason for being strictly in 
view, has tried to do its legitimate work, and has held itself strictly to the desires and 
plans of the Worshipful Master. It seems to us to have great possibilities for growth and 
extension and for added usefulness to our lodge. 


To summarize. The fact that we live in a very busy time, and that our lodges are 
growing rapidly, brings important problems! Any new organization must justify the 
time we give it by being useful. The Fellow Craft Club tries to help the Master to solve 
some of his problems by giving him active assistantance. It has a simple organization, 
and holds itself strictly subordinate to the Master. It furnishes a Fellow Craft team. It 
provides reception committees for communications, with especial reference to visitors. 
It arranges social affairs following meetings. It has arranged winter dances and a 
summer picnic. It has its own meetings, with a diverting initiation. It has interested men 
by giving them duties. Still further work remains to be done. 


— o — 


Pleasures are like poppies spread, 

You seize the flower, the bloom is shed, 
Or like the snowflake in the river, 

A moment white, then lost forever. 


- Robert Bums. 



o 


THE TEACHINGS OF MASONRY 


The following paper is one of a series of articles on "Philosophical Masonry," or "The 
Teachings of Masonry," by Brother Haywood, to be used for reading and discussion in 
lodges and study clubs. From the questions following each section of the paper the 
study club leader should select such as he may desire to use in bringing out particular 
points for discussion. To go into a lengthy discussion on each individual question 
presented might possibly consume more time than the lodge or study club may be able 
to devote to the study club meeting. 


In conducting the study club meetings the leader should endeavor to hold the 
discussions closely to the text of the paper and not permit the members to speak too 
long at one time or to stray onto another subject. Whenever it becomes evident that the 
discussion is turning from the original subject the leader should request the members to 
make notes of the particular points or phases of the matter they may wish to discuss or 
inquire into and bring them up after the last section of the paper is disposed of. 


The meetings should be closed with a "Question Box" period, when such questions as 
may have come up during the meeting and laid over until this time should be entered 
into and discussed. Should any questions arise that cannot be answered by the study 
club leader or some other brother present, these questions may be submitted to us and 
we will endeavor to answer them for you in time for your next meeting. 


Supplemental references on the subjects treated in this paper will be found at the end of 
the article. 



BY BRO. H.L. HAYWOOD, IOWA 


PART X - DEMOCRACY 


WHEN in the course of human events the mass of people living in a nation leam how to 
live together as a people, and devise means whereby to secure for themselves their 
rights as a people, and contrive political machinery and social institutions of such 
character as exist by and for the whole mass of individuals, that land may be said to be a 
democracy; for democracy may be described as a state of society in which the people as 
a whole control in their own collective interest the institutions and forces of the nation. 
No nation becomes democratic by first thinking out a theory of what democracy is and 
then, as an architect follows a blueprint, deliberately setting out to put the theory into 
practice; but they arrive at democracy very gradually and naturally, though not always 
without strife, by securing control of one thing and of another until they have control of 
everything, mad then manage everything so as to satisfy the needs and desires of the 
people as a whole. 


Some nations long for democracy, others are on the way to democracy, and others still 
may be said to possess it, albeit in no nation has it as yet become perfect. The most 
conspicuous among these last is, perhaps, our own country. It was the first great nation 
to adopt democracy whole-heartedly, and it has from the first never swerved from the 
path that leads to a more and more complete control of everything by the people 
themselves and in their own interests. Whether one should describe as democratic a 
nation that merely longs for it, or whether the name should be exclusively applied only 
to those nations which may be truly said already to possess it, must be left to the 
individual's opinion to decide. The use of words is one thing, facts are another. The 
organization of public life by and for the public - that is what we Americans all our 
hearts, unless we are renegades, and that is what we American Masons, with an equal 
whole-heartedness, believe the Masonic Fraternity to stand for. 



Do you find Brother Haywood's definition of democracy to be adequate? If not, how 
would you enlarge or modify it? How can a people ever be said to control their own life 
when always a minority, sometimes large, sometimes small, is opposed to the course of 
the majority? Is majority rule the same as democracy? Can you name a nation now 
existing which is trying to secure democracy? Name two nations now "on their way to 
democracy." Would you describe the soviet government of Russia as a democracy? 
What kind of a government did Alexander Hamilton wish us to have? What sort of a 
nation did Thomas Jefferson strive for? Were they both democrats? Do you believe that 
the mass of the citizenship of this nation is competent to manage its own affairs? A 
French writer (Fauget) describes democracy as "the cult of inefficiency." Do you agree 
with him? Or do you agree with President-Emeritus Eliot of Harvard University that 
democracy is the most efficient of governments ? 


Now it is self evident that there may be many means whereby the public as a public may 
come into control of its own social forces and institutions. How democracy is to be won 
and preserved is a question of political and social machinery, and that is a question that 
cannot concern us here because it belongs to politics. Suffice to say that it is possible 
for the people directly to manage their own institutions, as in some cities the price of a 
street car ride is determined by popular ballot, which is usually described as "direct 
democracy," and that it is also possible for the people to control their own institutions 
through elected representatives as is usually done among us, which method 

is called the "republican" or "representative" system. In our own nation we mix up the 
two methods very much and the United States might be properly described as a 
democracy in the form of a republic. 


What is meant by political science? What is sociology? What is economics? Give 
examples from your own knowledge of "direct democracy." Of "representative 
democracy." Can you explain the difference between the Democratic Party and the 
Republican Party on this question? 


The Study Club member may have been wondering why it should be necessary to 
include in this series a paper on democracy when the course includes two other papers 
on equality and liberty respectively. Well, it may be said in reply that while democracy 
includes equality and liberty, equality and liberty may exist without democracy, and that 



in our nation, and also I believe in our Fraternity, we strive for all three together. Liberty 
means that a man is free to develop and use the functions of his own nature without 
undue interference from others. Equality means that one man has the same fundamental 
nature as another man, and should have the same privileges to live; but it has often 
happened that a social structure has existed in which only a minority of the people have 
been permitted to enjoy either liberty or equality. In Athens, for example, a fraction of 
the populace was composed of citizens enjoying liberty while the great bulk of them 
were slaves, and in many parts of India, to cite an example of the other kind, all the 
individuals enjoy liberty but, owing to a very hard-and-fast caste system, they do not 
have equality. The democrat (this must not be confused with the member of the 
political party which employs that name) believes that liberty is a good thing for each 
individual and that therefore a state should guarantee it to all, and he also thinks that the 
state should Provide genuine equality for all. A state in which all the social forces and 
values are controlled by and for all the people, and which is so organized at the same 
time as to guarantee for all liberty and equality, may be thought of as the ideal toward 
which all true democrats are working. If it be true, as I think it is true, that Freemasonry 
is one of the mightiest forces working in that direction, we may all feel that no 
institution could be of more value to our nation than Freemasonry. 


We must be careful not to conceive of democracy being merely political. I should 
advance this as a criticism of James Bryce's definition in his recent treatise, already seen 
to be a great work, called "Modem Democracies." He says that "Democracy really 
means nothing more nor less than the rule of the whole people expressing their 
sovereign will by their votes." That is clearly a merely political definition. Democracy is 
oft something besides a "rule": it may be an expression of the popular life, as in what we 
call democratic art, like the "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman; and when it is a mle it 
may be exercised in quite other ways, as when social changes are brought about or 
prevented by the power of public opinion; and also it often happens that the mere 
unconscious growth and changing of a people may transform important conditions in a 
nation's life. 


Then, too, I think one should quarrel with Viscount Bryce's definition in that it ignores 
such things as social democracy, industrial democracy, and intellectual democracy. By 
social democracy we mean that social customs and conditions should be controlled and 
shaped by all the people in the interests of all the people. By industrial democracy we 
mean that industry shall be controlled by and in the interests of everybody; and by 
intellectual democracy we mean that there shall be no mere caste of thinkers as there 



was in Ancient Egypt but that everybody will use his brains and that science and 
scholarship exist for all and by all. The organizing of science and scholarship in public 
schools which function under the control of the state is an example of how the 
intellectual life may become genuinely democratic. How all these things may be 
accomplished or perfected is a question of ways and means, and belongs to those 
discussions in which we strive to discover what are the most perfect social mechanisms, 
and therefore do not come within our present province. 


It is wise for us to learn to look at the facts themselves, and do our own thinking by 
means of them, rather than to let ourselves be deceived by words. For oftentimes it 
happens that a nation may call itself a democracy or a republic and yet have not even a 
tithe of the reality for which these names stand. Mexico under Diaz may have had a 
very stable government but it was not a democracy, though Diaz and his grandees were 
careful to observe the formalities, and carried on "elections" every once in a while. 

Diaz called himself a "President" but in reality was a dictator. In England, on the other 
hand, there is a king and a royal house but everybody knows that the English people are 
quite as democratic as we are, because their great governing body is immediately 
responsible to the people, and is elected directly by the people. 


Can you tell in what ways some of our own social institutions are not yet democratic? 
What is a social institution? Name five. Do you believe that industry should be 
socialized, or brought under public control? Is this the same as Socialism? If not, in 
what way does it differ? How could industrial democracy be brought about? Can you 
name any country that calls itself a democracy which is really not? Name a democratic 
country that still has a king but is really democratic. Is Belgium a democracy? 


It may be safely said that Freemasonry is about the most democratic institution in 
existence. On its lodge floor men of all grades of rank, wealth and influence meet 
together in absolute equality, so that Presidents of the United States have sat on the side 
lines while some humble workman governed in the East. Its members are elected by 
secret ballot; its officers are chosen by ballot also; and it is governed by laws 
administered through representatives who must, once a year, give an account of their 



trust to the body of the membership. It is so organized that its responsibilities and 
privileges are equally distributed among the whole membership so that all share equally. 


The democratic nature of the Craft is shown by its actual conduct in history during the 
past two hundred years. It arose in England (I refer here to modern speculative 
Masonry as we now know it) when society in general hated and loathed the idea of 
democracy, and when men were broken up into social classes of such rigidity as really 
to constitute genuine castes; but in its lodges it gave to every man absolute freedom of 
thought and expression and it put into practice those methods of popular rule which we 
have now in our government. Since its reorganization in 1717 it has always thrown its 
weight, or at least with very few exceptions if any, on the side of popular rule. I had 
occasion recently to read every reference to Freemasonry in the Encyclopedia 
Britannica, and I was struck by the fact again and again that the Fraternity received 
mention almost every time as being one of the forces on the side of a revolt against 
tyranny in some country, as, for example, in Spain and in Belgium. We know how that 
a great many of the founders of our nation were active members of the Craft; how that 
the Declaration of Independence has been freely described, even by the profane, as a 
Masonic document; and how it can be accurately said that the Constitution of the United 
States is Masonry put into political practice; and we also know that Masons were very 
active in tormenting and carrying through the American Revolution. My friend and 
colleague, Cyrus Field Willard, of San Diego, California, has prepared a paper on "The 
Origin of the Scottish Rite" which is to be published in these pages, in which he shows 
that European Jews of great wealth were so anxious to see organized here a democracy 
in which they could have full citizenship and never be in danger of persecution that they 
poured vast sums of money into the coffers of the Revolutionary government; and that 
they made use of lodges, and organized many such, in order to carry on their work 
through Masonry. 


The teachings and principles of Freemasonry can never be realized in any state of 
society save a democratic one. How could there be equality for all in a nation ruled by a 
class, or a caste, or a clique of bureaucrats, or a set of multi-millionaires? How could 
liberty be guaranteed to every last man in a nation that did not govern itself through 
laws that apply equally to all, and are interpreted and executed by men chosen by the 
people and responsible to the people? In any other kind of government liberty and 



equality may be granted for a time as a privilege but there is never any way of knowing, 
as history itself so abundantly attests, when that privilege will be withdrawn. 


The foregoing mention of the Scottish Rite reminds one of Masonry's great book, Albert 
Pike's "Morals and Dogma." Those who have carefully read that wonderful work 
("those" should include every Mason, whether he be a member of the Scottish Rite 
Bodies or not) will recall how that liberty and equality sound through its pages over and 
over like a mighty bell, and how that the author interprets the whole of history as a vast 
conflict between the forces that make for tyranny and the forces that make for freedom. 
It is often asked why Scottish Rite Masonry makes such headway in Latin countries 
where Ancient Craft Masonry (the "Blue Lodge") stagnates: I believe the reply to be 
this, that Albert Pike and his co-founders of the Scottish Rite System organized a 
Masonry that may be readily translated into a people's yearning for political freedom. 
They read in its mighty palimpsest their own prayers for liberation; they find in it a 
power for emancipation; it is an irresistible force for the overthrow of thrones and 
dominions. 


But is must not be supposed that Freemasonry works for democracy only when it is 
engaged in some actual struggle, as it was during our Revolutionary period. Its silent 
and perpetual influences, quiet as the coming of the night, unostentatiously prepare in 
every Masons mind those thoughts and feelings which make toward democracy. It has 
become a commonplace with political thinkers that democracy cannot come to any 
people until they have prepared themselves for it. It is not a magic that acts 
independently of the citizenship; it is a thing that people themselves do if it be done, and 
it cannot be unless they learn how to do it, and until they desire it with a ceaseless 
desire. A great Order of more than two and one-half million members in this nation 
exercises an immeasurable influence toward a full and complete democracy by 
constantly instilling into its members those ideas and longings which inwardly prepare 
them for the fullest measures of equality and liberty. As the sun works so potently in 
the spring in developing the young seeds until a luxuriant vegetation breaks forth, so 
does the mighty Order that is dedicated to Light throw its fructifying warmth about the 
mind and heart of everyone of its children. And it does this ceaselessly. It knows no 
seasons: it has no winter. 



Democracy, I said, is not a kind of magic that works whether or no. It is not an 
infallibility. When the people govern themselves they do not escape mistakes nor are 
they miraculously freed from weaknesses and evils. The theory of democracy is that the 
people can leam to govern themselves only by governing themselves, just as an 
individual leams by experience and experiments. Therefore though the people, or let us 
say "we," may fail, time and again, that is no reason for despairing of democracy. 


In the foregoing section are mentioned a few ways in which Freemasonry is democratic; 
can you name others? Can you give examples of how Freemasonry has actually fought 
on the side of political liberty? Why can't a democratic institution like ours flourish in 
an undemocratic society? What is the principal idea in Pike's "Morals and Dogma"? 
What does that name mean? Has Freemasonry made you more democratic? How can 
one carry out the ideals of democracy in every day conduct? How would you change 
Masonry to make it more democratic? Could it be made more democratic? 


SUPPLEMENTAL REFERENCES 


Mackey's Encyclopedia-(Revised Edition): 


Free, p. 280; Free and Accepted, p. 281; Free Born, p. 281; Freedom, p. 281; Freedom, 
Fervency and Zeal, p. 282; Freeman, 282; Freemasonry, p. 283; Free Will and Accord, 
p. 284. Democratic rule implies the just collective government of themselves by free 
men. Just as Freemasonry has its peculiar strength in the free choice of its members to 
become initiates of their own accord and that they have the qualifications to do so r 
being themselves free bom and free men, so is the democracy formed of those united to 
govern themselves with due regard the personal liberty and equality of each. Only by 
knowledge of what is meant by Masonic freedom, liberty, and equality, may one best 
understand that democracy intended by the Freemason fathers of the Republic in the 
making of its Constitution. 


Scales, p. 666; Equality, p. 247. Both refer to the lesson of balance, and both ought to 
be considered in connection with the Level, p. 242. A just Masonic appreciation of 



these leads not to the anarchy recognizing no distinction, but to that brotherhood which 
rejoices unselfishly in our successful neighbour's referment. 


Belgium, p.102; Egyptian Mysteries, p. 232; Egyptian Priests, Initiation of the, p. 234; 
Grand Lodge (as a governing body), p. 306; Mexico, p. 482; Pike, Albert, p. 563; 
Scottish Rite, p. 671; Social Character of Freemasonry, p. 696. 


— o — 


OUR STUDY CLUB PLAN 


"The Bulletin Course of Masonic Study," of which the foregoing paper by Brother 
Haywood is a part, was begun in THE BUILDER early in 1917. Previous to the 
beginning of the present series on "Philosophical Masonry," or "The Teachings of 
Masonry," as we have titled it, were published some forty-three papers covering in 
detail "Ceremonial Masonry" and "Symbolical Masonry" under the following several 
divisions: "The Work of a Lodge," "The Lodge and the Candidate," "First Steps," 
"Second Steps," and "Third Steps." A complete set of these papers up to January 1st, 
1921, are obtainable in the bound volumes of THE BUILDER for 1917, 1918, 1919 
and 1920 and 1921. 


Following is an outline of the subjects covered by the current series of study club 
papers by Brother Haywood: 


THE TEACHINGS OF MASONRY 



1 . - General Introduction. 


2. - The Masonic Conception of Human Nature. 


3. - The Idea of Truth in Freemasonry. 


4. - The Masonic Conception of Education. 


5. - Ritualism and Symbolism. 


6. - Initiation and Secrecy. 


7. - Masonic Ethics. 


8. - Equality. 


9. - Liberty. 


10. - Democracy. 


11.- Masonry and Industry. 



12. - The Brotherhood of Man. 


13. - The Fatherhood of God. 


14. - Endless Life. 


15. - Brotherly Aid. 


16. - Schools of Masonic Philosophy. 


This systematic course of Masonic study has been taken up and carried out in 
monthly and semi-monthly meetings of lodges and study clubs all over the United 
States and Canada, and in several instances in lodges overseas. 


The course of study has for its foundation two sources of Masonic information, THE 
BUILDER and Mackey's Encyclopedia. 


HOW TO ORGANIZE AND CONDUCT STUDY CLUB MEETINGS 


Study clubs may be organized separate from the lodge, or as a part of the work of the 
lodge. In the latter case the lodge should select a committee, preferably of three "live" 
members who shall have charge of the study club meetings. The study club meetings 
should be held at least once a month (excepting during July and August, when the 
study club papers are discontinued in THE BUILDER), either at a special 
communication of the lodge called for the purpose, or at a regular communication at 



which no business (except the lodge routine) should be transacted - all possible time 
to be devoted to study club purposes. 


After the lodge has been opened and all routine business disposed of, the Master 
should turn the lodge over to the chairman of the study club committee. The 
committee should be fully prepared in advance on the subject to be discussed at the 
meeting. All members to whom references for supplemental papers have been 
assigned should be prepared with their material, and should also have a 
comprehensive grasp of Brother Haywood's paper by a previous reading and study of 
it. 


PROGRAM FOR STUDY CLUB MEETINGS 


1. Reading of any supplemental papers on the subject for the evening which may have 
been prepared by brethren assigned such duties by the chairman of the study club 
committee. 


2. Reading of the first section of Brother Haywood's paper. 


3. Discussion of this section, using the questions following this section to bring out 
points for discussion. 


4. The subsequent sections of the paper should then be taken up and disposed of in 
the same manner. 


5. Question Box. Invite questions on any subject in Masonry, from any and all 
brethren present. Let the brethren understand that these meetings are for their 
particular benefit and enlightenment and get them into the habit of asking all the 



questions they may be able to think of. If at the time these questions are propounded 
no one can answer them, send them in to us and we will endeavor to supply answers 
to them in time for your next study club meeting. 


FURTHER INFORMATION 


The foregoing information should enable study club committees to conduct their 
meetings without difficulty. However, if we can be of assistance to such committees, 
or any individual member of lodges and study clubs at any time such brethren are 
invited to feel free to communicate with us. 


— o — 


BY BRO. FRANK C. HICKMAN, MICHIGAN 


Oh time! immortal is thy life! 
Relentless thief 

The emblematic Scythe, thy Knife, - 
With which thou reap. 

Thy harvest is life's brittle thread, - 
Thou sever free, 

Whereby thou send us on to tread 



Eternity. 


Behold! what havoc thou hast made 
Mid'st Mortal man! 

Oh time! thou has't a cruel trade 
At thy command! 

If infancy arrive at youth, 

Without a Scratch, 

And youth succeeds to man, forsooth, 
With health to match, - 

Yet all too soon, thou Scythe of Time! 
Cut short our days, 

And we are gathered up in fine 
And sent our ways. 

— o — 

EDITORIAL 


THE PRIVILEGES OF YOUR N.M.R.S. MEMBERSHIP 



SEVERAL THOUSAND new members have flocked into our family since the war and 
many of these brethren, so there is some reason to believe, have as yet not discovered all 
the privileges and opportunities that accompany membership in the National Masonic 
Research Society. To the end that these brethren may be made to feel more at home, and 
that they may be made acquainted with their rights and prerogatives as members, they 
are invited to join in the little conference which we shall now hold among ourselves and 
for our own benefit. Ye editor will address the new members, as follows: 


When you joined our circle it was not by means of purchasing a subscription to THE 
BUILDER but by taking out membership in The National Masonic Research Society, 
and therefore you are entitled to much more than the twelve monthly numbers of the 
journal each year. 


The Society carries on a constantly increasing service by correspondence. This service 
covers the whole field of Masonic research, study, and reading, and of all the various 
activities that pertain to those interests. If you have any need at all for the Society's 
services do not hesitate to write to us about it. 


Do you have a talk to prepare and can't find any materials for it? Or, it may be, do not 
know how to go about preparing a talk on Masonry ? Let us help you. 


Do you wish to borrow or to buy a book on Masonry? Ask us. We are not always able 
to obtain books, either for loaning or for sale, but we do our best. We have a few books 
for sale ourselves. If a book can be purchased, and we do not have it on our lists, we 
shall tell you where you can get it. If you wish to borrow a book we shall help you find 
the loan of it when that is possible. If you are thinking of buying some books but wish 
first to consult us about their value, feel free to write about them. 


If you wish to start a Study Club in your lodge but do not know how to go about it we 
shall be very glad to help you. After assisting in the organization of several thousand we 



have learned much from experience, and this which we have learned we are here to 
share with you. 


If you are of a mind to undertake the study of Masonry privately and for your own 
individual benefit we shall be equally pleased to lend you whatever assistance you need 
toward outlining a list of titles, and in securing whatever materials you may find 
necessary. 


You are entitled to all these forms of service by virtue of your membership in the 
Society, and you must consider yourself at liberty to write to the Society at any time 
about anything. There will never be any charges whatsoever for such assistance as it is 
the Society's function to render. 


THE BUILDER is not a magazine in the strict sense of that term but a Journal, by the 
which is meant that its control and management is vested in the Society as a whole 
instead of in the hands of one man, or a group of men, and it exists to reflect the life of 
the Society and to minister to the needs of the Society. Each and every one of you is 
associated with the editor in the production of it. If you have something you consider 
worth publishing submit it; if there is room for it, and it is deemed worthy of print, it 
will be published. Every member has the right to contribute materials to THE 


BUILDER. 


If you are troubled by some difficulty in your reading about Masonry send your 
problem to the Question Box Editor. You will receive a reply as soon as it is possible to 
unearth the facts, and unless the Question Box Department is overcrowded the reply 
will appear there in due time over your initials. As soon as a reply is prepared you will 
receive a copy of it through the mails. 


If you have anything to say about the Society itself, or about THE BUILDER, or if you 
wish to address a word to the Fraternity at large, or make some comment on matters of 
the day that pertain to Masonry, prepare a letter for the Correspondence Department. 
Many letters are received and replied to that do not appear in that department, but all 



letters that deserve a wide notice or are worthy of permanent record, are published 
sooner or later, if it is possible to find the space. 


If you are the director of a Study Club and you are looking for an outline of studies for 
your club turn to the back numbers of THE BUILDER beginning with 1917. You will 
there find the beginnings of a complete course of such studies covering the entire Blue 
Lodge ritual. At the present time a second series is running on "The Teachings of 
Masonry." In order to meet the demand for the first series it is arranged to publish the 
same in book form some time during this year. This volume will be arranged as a text 
book for Study Clubs and will contain all the information and helps that any club will 
need under ordinary circumstances. 


If you have become interested in Masonic reading and study you should possess the 
bound volumes of THE BUILDER. Thus far seven such volumes have been issued. 
Each volume contains an index and there is a consolidated index covering all the 
volumes together for the first five years. These seven bound volumes comprise the 
largest and most accurate as semblage of articles and of information dealing with 
Masonry that can anywhere be obtained. THE BUILDER has already become an 
encyclopedia. 


If you have not already done so it will be worth your while to read very carefully the 
paragraphs on the inside front cover of THE BUILDER. 


And now a word about Masonic books. Many of our best works are published abroad, 
and it is often quite impossible to get them. Other works often quoted have gone out of 
print and therefore cannot be included in our book list. In that event we are always ready 
to refer a request for these titles to houses that deal in second-hand Masonic books. The 
titles included in our own list are not by any means the only ones that we should 
recommend; they are listed because it is possible to supply them promptly in quantities. 


If you encounter a book that we have not reviewed in The Library Department acquaint 
the editor with the fact. He is evermore on the lookout for all Masonic books that 



appear. If you know of a book that you believe we should include in our list write us 
about it. 


The National Masonic Research Society, including its journal, THE BUILDER, is not a 
commercial institution existing in order to pay dividends, but a Masonic service 
organization existing to render whatever help it can toward the enlarging and enriching 
of the life of the Masonic Fraternity, to the glory of which it is dedicated. 


If there are yet other questions that you have in your minds write to the editor about 
them. You are one of the family and you are urged to enjoy the freedom of the house. 


* * * 


THE HAND AND THE BRAIN 


Ever and anon one encounters in Masonic journals and in Masonic speeches a good deal 
of fault-finding with Masonic study and research on the ground that a "real" Mason, a 
"true" Mason, - the words are emphasized here to conform with the emphasis that is 
always given to them in such cases - is one who works hard in charity, in carrying the 
burdens of the lodge, and in putting into practice in the world outside the principles that 
he has been taught inside the lodge, mstead of being one who wastes his time reading a 
lot of Masonic books. Why make any such distinction? If that distinction is valid in 
Freemasonry is it not equally valid elsewhere, and for the same reason ? Then why send 
a boy to school to be taught mathematics, logic, history, poetry whereas he might be 
putting in his time at the more practical tasks of driving a delivery wagon or following 
the plow? Why should a man ever waste his time reading a book when it is well known 
that a book is a string of mere words, and there is so much actual work to be done in the 
world ? These will be considered ridiculous questions but they are not one whit more 
ridiculous than the attempt to draw a line of cleavage between Masonic study and 
Masonic practice, because a man needs use only one eye while he is abroad in the Craft 
to see that as a rule the men who do the most Masonic reading are the ones who do the 
most Masonic work. A statesman reads history in order that he may the better meet the 



problems of his own day. A professional man studies Latin in order that he may the 
better understand how to write a prescription or design a building. A physician studies 
anatomy, with all its thousand and one details of remote significance, in order that he 
may the more successfully diagnose the malady of a sick child. There is no conflict 
anywhere between right study and right practice, and there never has been. Men study to 
know in order the better to do. So has it always been, so is it now, so will it ever be. And 
so is it in Freemasonry. Those who study to know the history, the philosophy, the ritual, 
the symbolism, the jurisprudence, and the literature of the Craft are not idle dilettanti 
anxious to set up false claims to mentality, but men who are busy equipping the brain 
that it may all the more successfully direct the hand. 


* * * 


A GORGEOUS MASON 


Once in awhile, a long while, one encounters a production that is a classic in its own 
field. Expressing a fact or an idea in a manner that is adequate, delightful, and final, it 
takes its place at once among those things that we treasure and preserve. Ye editor 
believes that the paragraph which follows is to be so classified. He found it in the annual 
address of the Grand Master of Arkansas for 1920, Brother Louis Bauerlein, and the 
utterance speaks for itself, and that abundantly in every fashion. And what a picture it 
is! Were all Masons to be tricked out like the attractive specimen presented herewith 
what a spectacle would a lodge assembled present! A colony of flamingoes, a bevy of 
birds of paradise would be as tame as the cocoa mat that lies upon the porch! The 
watch-fob Mason, the jeweler's pride, let him look into this glass and see himself: 


"Visiting a certain lodge your Grand Master found the Worshipful Master much 
troubled because he had a visitor who could not prove himself. At the request of the 
Worshipful Master your servant went to the committee room and found a brother taking 
a cigarette from a silver case upon which was enameled the square and compasses. We 
remarked: 'That is a nice case.' The visitor replied: 'It cost me $7.00. 1 bought it when I 
took the third degree. I paid $40.00 for the degrees.' Question after question was asked 
and no answer could he give that would prove he had received anything for his $47.00. 



We noticed a pair of cuff buttons: on each was a keystone. We were informed that they 
cost $15.00 and he had purchased them when he was made a Royal Arch Mason and he 
further enlightened us that the Chapter degrees had set him back $25.00. Seeing a 
beautiful Knight Templar charm, your servant discovered that this charm together with 
the Commandery degrees had cost $250.00 more. Commenting upon a ring the visitor 
displayed as he lighted his cigarette brought forth the information that this ring and the 
Scottish Rite degrees had separated the visitor from three hundred American dollars, - 
and yet he could not work his way into a Blue Lodge! Seeing a button on his coat, we 
asked: 'How much did that cost you?' With a face lighted up with a smile the decorated 
brother replied: 'My wife gave me that when I joined the Shrine, but I paid $78.00 for 
the degree, which included the Fez.' We were glad to learn that the good brother had at 
least one piece of jewelry that cost him nothing, but the brother continued: 'The Shrine 
is the playground of Masonry and I am glad that I have all there is in Masonry and am at 
the top.' 


"Poor deluded man, he had paid $715 to get all there was in Masonry he remembered 
that, but not a word of the ritual, not a beauty, not a lesson. For his $715 he had gotten 
nothing. Money will not purchase the beauties of our mysteries. They must come 
through the heart and mind and not through the purse. Before you can see all the gems 
and beauties of our beloved Order revealed in their grandeur, you must have a vision." 


— o — 


THE LIBRARY 


A NEW BRIEF HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY 


"The Story of the Craft," by Wor. Bro. Lionel Vibert, author of "Freemasonry Before 
the Existence of Grand Lodges," etc. Published by Spencer & Co., 19 Great Queen 
Street, London, W. C. 2. For sale by the National Masonic Research Society at $1.35, 
postpaid. 



BY A HAPPY circumstance this book has appeared almost coincidentally with the 
installation of Brother Vibert in the East of of the Lodge Quatuor Coronati, Masonry's 
highest academic honor. Not since the days of the giants has any other man been more 
justly entitled to the position, for Brother Vibert has been these many years a faithful 
and diligent servant of that great research institution, and it would be impossible to 
discover another more thoroughly imbued with its tone, or more attuned to its methods. 
His earlier work, entitled "Freemasonry Before the Existence of Grand Lodges" and 
very well known, was a compend of the more important results of Quatuor Coronati 
researches in the field of early Freemasonry, and helped much to make available to 
laymen throughout the world the achievements of the scholars in that field. His new 
work, just off the press, is another essay in the same line, and quite as successful, which 
is praise enough. 


Of the Masons who feel an interest in Masonic history, and who desire to be intelligent 
in their Masonry as well as faithful, very few have either time or inclination to push 
their way through the great tomes of erudition in which lie buried whatever is known 
about the Craft: and these men, countless numbers of them, have been asking for 
something brief and simple that they may find time and ability to read. Also, there are 
many others, more advanced students, who, though they find opportunity to read a little, 
are utterly unable to keep pace with the latest developments in research, and are 
accordingly eager to have the field reviewed for them by some competent specialist. 
Brother Vibert's book, "The Story of the Craft," is designed to meet the needs of both 
these groups: it is brief (88 pages in all) and simple, and it is an authentic report (though 
not in the form of a report) of the results of Quatuor Coronati researches in the 
department of general Masonic history. 


Brother Vibert has an eye single to the facts in the case. In writing he was very 
evidently intent upon furnishing his reader a maximum of facts in a minimum of space. 
His condensation is almost Baconian, so that his pages are like conglomerate rocks, not 
beautiful to see, but pebbled through with hard bits of dry information. The reader may 
at times wish his author a little easier to follow, but for all that he will not be inclined to 
find fault. A scorn of verbiage, an absence of that windy rhetoric which so often inflates 
a ten page Masonic pamphlet (or what should be one) into a 200 page "book," is 
refreshing and rewarding. May the day come when all our writers will be as much 
interested in facts! A typical example of Brother Vibert's method of telling a long story 



in few words is found in his account of the rise and development of the "Antient Grand 
Lodge," as printed on page seventy-one of the book: 


"There now appeared in London a number of Irish Freemasons, men of very humble 
social standing for the most part, but Masons nevertheless, and following the usages that 
in their minds were associated with the Craft from time immemorial. Not only did they 
find the Grand Lodge (this refers to the "Modem" Grand Lodge. - H.L.H.) following 
different practices, but these Irish Masons were refused recognition by that body. 


"They thereupon, in 1751, took the strong step of forming a Grand Committee of their 
own, which in 1753 they made into a Grand Lodge, and they called themselves the 
Antients, to indicate that they stood for the tme tradition, and the original Grand Lodge 
they described as the Modems, in reference to the innovations it had introduced. 

Further, at this time the Grand Lodge at York, which had long since asserted, apparently 
without objection, that it alone was of great antiquity, was dormant. The Antients, 
therefore, also described themselves as 'York Masons,' meaning thereby no more than 
that they, like the Masons at York, preserved the tme traditions of the operative lodges 
and the Old Charges, which refer to an Assembly held at York by Edwin. The moving 
spirit in all this was Laurence Dermott, who was Secretary, and later on Deputy Grand 
Master, and in 1756 he issued Constitutions, under the title of ' Ah i man Rezon' (which 
has been explained as meaning 'faithful brother Secretary'). They also very soon had a 
peer as their Grand Master, and the circumstance that at a later date two Dukes of Atholl 
presided over them, the second being their last Grand Master before the year of the 
Union, (the Union of the Antients and Modems came in 1813. - H.L.H.) also led them 
to be known as the Atholl Grand Lodge. No doubt they attracted to themselves many 
who were dissatisfied with the original Grand Lodge and its methods, but it must be 
clearly understood that in its inception the Grand Lodge of the Antients was not a 
seceding but an independent body." 


In this excellently brief fashion Brother Vibert covers about the same ground as Gould's 
"Concise History" except - and this is somewhat a new departure in writing Masonic 
history - he ignores in beginning the long story of the ancient backgrounds of 
Freemasonry, in which usually are included accounts of the Ancient Mysteries, the 
Collegia, the Comacini, and all that. 



If any advance serious objections to Brother Viberf s volume it will be on the ground 
that he has too completely ignored the part played by organizations other than Operative 
Masons in the evolution of the Craft. As things now stand, so it will be urged, the 
features of Freemasonry that most appeal to the imagination are in many cases 
manifestly not of operative origin at all, but derive from occult fraternities and similar 
groups; and these elements have as necessary a place in even a brief resume of Masonic 
history as any account of builders' lodges and their work. To this Brother Vibert would 
very probably reply that he has undertaken only to tell the story of the institution as an 
institution, without reference to the ritual and philosophy and antiquities, and that 
everything cannot be told in only eighty-eight pages. 


The student, especially the beginner, who needs at hand a brief reference work in which 
to find dates, names, and facts, will have no cause to quarrel with "The Story of the 
Craft" on the ground of omissions, for it contains nearly all the more salient matters of 
fact. For my own part, I shall place the volume on the shelf with Gould's "Concise," and 
stand ready to recommend it to beginners in Masonic study and to Study Clubs 
whenever an opportunity presents. Among more recent publications Heiron's "Ancient 
Freemasonry and the Old Dundee Lodge, No. 18," "A Century of Masonic Working" by 
F. W. Golby, and "A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry" by A. E. Waite (all published 
by the same firm) should go along with it on the same shelf. And if anybody chances to 
ask me, "Do you like Viberf s new book?", I shall reply that I like it very well except 
that it does not have an index. Alas for all these English brethren who have formed the 
bad habit of publishing books without index ! 


H. L. Haywood. 


* * * 


THE BLOIS MASONIC CLUB 



"Masonry in the World War, a History of the Masonic Club of A. P. O. 726, A. E. F., 
Blois, France." Compiled by Brothers E. Q. Jackson, J. M. Eoughborough, and Mitchell 
Wilt. Price fifty cents. 


Among the many Masonic clubs organized in France by members of the A.E.F. the club 
at Blois was one of the most successful. Among the larger units of organization which 
constituted the A.E.F. and which helped mightily to put the Boches to sleep was the 
Service of Supplies, or, as it was familiarly known, the S.O.S. Under this service there 
existed at Blois a Casual Officers' Depot, American Post Office 726. The function of the 
C.O.D. was to reclassify wounded officers who were ready to return to service, also, 
green officers, just over who had not yet been assigned, were sent through the C.O.D. in 
order to be fitted into their places. To maintain a big institution such as the C.O.D. 
required many resident officers, commissioned and noncommissioned, and these were 
called "permanents." Among these "permanents" were, of course, a lot of Masons, and 
thereby hangs this tale. 


On the 15th of March, 1918, a number of these brethren held an informal meeting with 
a view to the organization of a Masonic Club. On March 22nd another meeting was 
held, and on March 29th a permanent organization was effected under the name "High 
Twelve Club." On May 3rd this name was changed to the "Masonic Club of A.P.O. 


726." 


But there is not space in which to carry the interesting story any farther. To that end the 
three brethren listed under the caption have compiled and written a paper-bound history 
of this club, and a good one it is, full of romance and information, and done in the very 
best style. In connection with the history of the club these brethren have furnished a list 
of brief biographical sketches of the brethren who worked in it and, what is still more 
important, a roster of the club arranged alphabetically according to states. Of these 
names there are more than nine pages, and every state seems to be represented. Those 
who in any way came into contact with the club at Blois will surely wish to have this 
book; so also will the Masonic reader who desires to keep in touch with the developing 
story of Freemasonry overseas. A copy may be obtained by writing to Brother E. Q. 
Jackson, 846 Fexington Avenue, New York. N. Y. 



"THE SAINT" 


"The Saint" by Antonio Fogazzaro. Translated from the Italian by M. Prichard-Agnetti, 
with an Introduction by William Roscoe Thayer. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, 1140 
Broadway, New York, N. Y., by special arrangements with G. P. Putnam's, New York 
and London. 


Jeanne was the "woman" who had belonged to Benedetto's past. Donna Rosetta was the 
wife of an "excellency," the Under-Secretary of State, and a hard-lipped cynical person, 
loving intrigues. The latter had dragged Jeanne off to see the notorious "non- 
concessionist," Cardinal Blank, on the pretext that he might be wheedled into using his 
influence in behalf of "the saint," Benedetto, who had been commanded to leave Rome 
within three days. When the Donna Rosetta returned to the carriage to her awaiting 
friend she, - but I shall let the author himself describe the scene. 


"As she enters the carriage she casts a little book at her feet, and, instead of speaking, 
rubs her lips vehemently against her perfumed handkerchief. Finally she says, with a 
shudder, that she was obliged to kiss the Cardinal's hand, and that it was anything but 
clean.... And he had given her a little book on the doctrines of hell and the inevitable 
damnation of Freemasons. It was this little book she had cast at her feet on entering the 
carriage." 


Donna Rosetta and Jeanne rode home with the little book about the inevitable 
damnation of Freemasons under their feet. 


This sarcastic little gleam lies upon the book like a blue ray from the moon through an 
angry sky. Is the sarcasm intended for us, for us Freemasons? or is the author making 
sport of the Cardinal whose hand "was anything but clean" ? It is hard to say. 



Oh! well, the little incident is indeed a little incident, and it has been described here 
because it is a point of contact between a famous novel and our Fraternity. 


Antonio Fogazzaro was bom at Vincenza in 1842, a district then under the immediate 
control of Austria. Having been bred to a liberal mind he was obliged to seek the Dee 
air of Piedmont, where Cavour labored titanically and (at last) successfully to steer the 
Italian people between the Scylla of the Red Revolutionaries headed by Mazzini, and 
the Charybdis of the Black Reactionaries, headed by the lean-handed gentry of the 
Vatican, to a constitutional free government. Law was Fogazzaro's vocation - he 
became a senator at last - but literature became his mistress, and it has been in her field 
that he has won himself his laurels, quite the greenest and brightest that any Italian 
novelist has worn since the days of the great Manzoni. In 1881 he published his first 
romance, "Malombra"; and in 1905 crowned his carreer with "II Santo," the volume 
now on the table. 


A few years ago a middle western preacher attracted some attention with a book on "If 
Christ Came to Chicago." It was a literary scheme for casting the Chicago morals into 
contrast against an ideal background, and it succeeded very well. "The Saint" is such 
another book, albeit on a much higher plane of literary excellence. "If a Saint came to 
Rome, to the Rome of the Vatican and the Quirinal," - that is the theme of "The Saint." 


Benedetto is a saint, so the author assures us. He is given the dress, the mien, and the 
vocabulary, and every other character in the book announces him as such. But alas! his 
actions and his speeches, some of the latter of which are quite long sermons, and even 
his death, do not give us readers that impression, unless it be that we shall be content 
with hearsay. Fogazzaro does not belong among the great literary creators. He was not 
able to let Benedetto himself, by word and by deed, reveal himself to us as a Saint; he 
was compelled to have us believe it on the author's word. 


In consequence of this lack of final creative power, the reader, for all his genuine 
interest in the exciting book, discovers it at bottom to be a sublimated melodrama. It is a 
moving picture panorama drifting across the vision wherein popes, monks, innkeepers, 



college students, gardeners, musicians, atheists, freethinkers, politicians, and a few 
lovely women move along from one interesting situation to another. After this 
panorama has passed it is forgotten; the characters have not remained behind in one's 
mind. 


Having said that "The Saint" does not belong among the greatest (where many of its 
admirers have placed it) it remains only to say that it is well within the next-to-the- 
greatest. It deals with a high theme; it compels one's interest; it has valorousness and 
vision. One is glad to have had the privilege of reading it. 


Senator Fogazzaro wrote the book as an ardent Roman Catholic of the more liberal 
school, who expressed himself as not afraid of the new mood of inquiry and 
examination which we call the scientific spirit, and who called upon the governors of 
the church to open the doors to this new spirit in order to prove to this generation the 
eternal vitality of Roman Catholic dogma. 


Alas and alas! the book has been placed on the Index ! 


* * * 


THE AMERICAN'S CREED 


"The Book of the American's Creed." The conditions under which this volume is 
circulated are described below. Issued by the American Creed Fellowship. 


"In 1916, Henry Sterling Chapin, of New York, conceived the idea of promoting a 
country-wide contest for the writing of a National Creed, which should be the briefest 



possible expression of American political faith, and at the same time embrace the 
fundamental things most distinctive in American history and tradition. 


"Early in 1917, the proposed contest was announced at a large gathering of 
representative American authors, artists, and editors. The American Press took up the 
challenge and a number of the great magazines published editorial articles wishing the 
plan success. 


"On behalf of the city of Baltimore, Mayor John H. Preston offered an award of $1,000 
for the winning creed." Committees were appointed, conditions were published, and the 
contest was on. The choice of the Committee on Award was announced to be the Creed 
submitted by William Tyler Page, who lives in a suburb of Washington, D. C., and who, 
by his researches in constitutional government, and by a fervent and devout study of 
American history, had saturated himself with the spirit of Americanism. 


Such, in quotation or in substance, is the account of the origin of the now familiar 
"American's Creed" as given in the latter part of "The Book of the American's Creed," 
the great little volume now under review. 


The nation immediately accepted the Creed, and all over the land school children by the 
million were reciting its stately simple sentences. Many patriots who saw what the result 
of this might mean to the nation conceived of the idea of perfecting an organization that 
might serve as a means of placing the Creed into the hands of every school child in the 
land. Out of this idea grew the "American's Creed Fellowship," the nature and function 
of which are so well described in the pages of "Educational Foundations," a pedagogic 
bi-monthly published at Cooperstown, New York, the old home of James Fenimore 
Cooper. 


Educational Foundations wishes to announce to its readers that The American's Creed 
Fellowship, has been created, and that it may, in due time, be incorporated by Congress. 
The qualifications for membership are as follows: 



"I desire to become a life member of The American's Creed Fellowship, and I herewith 
subscribe $1.00, for which I shall receive a Founder's Copy of 'The American's Creed' 
issued under the auspices of the historical and patriotic societies of America, the same 
containing the Creed, the story of its origin, and the basis for its phrases in the sayings 
of the Founders and Builders of the Republic. 


"I endorse The American's Creed as a summary of American political faith and 1 will 
lend my moral support to the use of the Creed throughout the Nation." 


Name 


Address 


Member of * 


Return slip and dues to The American's Creed Fellowship, 849 Park Ave., Baltimore, 
Maryland. 


* Please state membership, if any, in patriotic society or societies. 


(A letter worded as above may be sent in and the name will be transferred to the 
Fellowship card.) 


The Committee on Announcement has issued a pamphlet stating one great specific 
object of the Fellowship. Under the heading of "The American's Creed Fellowship" it 



states that "A call to the colors means a defense of American constitutional government 
'against all enemies, foreign or domestic.' Armies led by foreign foes must be repelled 
by force; but those misled by domestic enemies may best be won by education. 


"The American's Creed, as a comprehensive summary of our political faith, offers the 
simplest basis for explaining the principles of constitutional government. 


"Let us not only continue the teaching of The American's Creed in our schools, in peace 
as well as in war, but extend the use of it in citizenship work. 


"To forward this purpose, The American's Creed Fellowship has been organized. The 
Fellowship hopes to place 'The Book of the American's Creed' in the hands of the 
graduates of the grammar schools of the United States. 


"Each child is to be awarded the book on the sole condition that he or she can recite the 
Creed. Three objects will thereby be accomplished which have not yet been successfully 
combined in any patriotic endeavor. 


"(1) It will interest the child; (2) It will carry an effective message to the home; and (3) 
There will be almost no wastage of money or material. 


"The Fellowship offers a specially numbered Founder's Copy of 'The Book of The 
American's Creed' to every signer of a Fellowship card." 


The Committee on Publication consists of the following: Matthew Page Andrews, 
Porter Emerson Browner Henry Sterling Chapin, W. B. Chapman, Irvin S. Cobb, 
Hamlin Garland, Ellen Glasglow, Richard Gwinn, James H. Preston, Julian Street, and 



Charles Hanson Towne. Headquarters for correspondence and information are at 849 
Park Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland. 


Washington Headquarters are at the Offices of the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives. 


The book itself is a little jewel of pure English, of clear thinking, and of the 
bookmaker's art, sixty-six pages in length, and appropriately bound in blue. After 
printing The American's Creed it devotes 52 pages to an exposition of its every phrase; 
this is followed by an account of the manner in which the Creed came into existence; 
and the volume closes with a list "Of the Doctrinal Authorities Upon Which the 
American's Creed is Based." 


Every citizen in the United States should possess a copy of this book. Every pastor, 
school teacher, politician, publicist, and public speaker should read, mark, and inwardly 
digest it, for the like of it cannot elsewhere be found. And as for Masons, every member 
of the Fraternity from one coast to the other, should keep it ever at his hand. It is one of 
the clearest and most concise statements of the principles of the American government 
that has ever been written. 


PUBLICATIONS WANTED, FOR SALE, AND EXCHANGE 


We are constantly receiving inquiries from members of the Society and others as to 
where they might obtain books on Masonry and kindred subjects, other than those listed 
each month on the inside back cover of THE BUILDER. Most of the publications 
wanted have been out of print for years. Believing that many such books might be in the 
hands of other members of the Society willing to dispose of them we are setting apart 
this column each month for the use of our members. Communications from those 
having old Masonic publications will also be welcomed. 



Postoffice addresses are here given that those interested may communicate direct with 
each other, no responsibility of any nature to be attached to the Society. 


It is requested that all brethem whose wants may be filled through this medium 
communicate with the Secretary so that the notices may then be discontinued. 


WANTED 


By Bro. D. D. Berolzheimer, 1 Madison Ave., New York, N. Y.: "Realities of 
Masonry," Blake, 1879; "Records of the Hole Craft and Fellowship of Masons," 
Condor, 1894; "Masonic Bibliography," Carson, 1873; "Origin of Freemasonry," Paine, 


1811. 


y Bro. G. Alfred Fawrence, 142 West 86th St., New York, N. Y.: Proceedings of the 
Scottish Rite Body founded by Joseph Cemeau in New York City in 1 808, of which De 
Witt Clinton was the first Grand Commander, and which body became united, in 1867, 
with the Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic jurisdiction, A. & A. S. R. Also 
Proceedings of the Supreme Council founded in New York by De Fa Motta, in 1813, by 
authority of the Southern Supreme Council, of which he was Grand Treasurer-General, 
these Proceedings from 1813 to 1860. 


By Bro. Frank R. Johnson, 310 Dwight Building, Kansas City, Mo.: "The Year Book," 
published by the Masonic Constellations, containing the History of the Grand Council, 
R. & S. M., of Missouri. 


By Bro. Ernest E. Ford, 306 South Wilson Avenue, Alhambra, California; Ars Quatuor 
Coronatorum, volumes 3, 6 and 7, with St. John's Cards, also St. John's Cards for 
volumes 4 and 5; "Masonic Review," early volumes; "Voice of Masonry," early 
volumes; Transactions Supreme Council Southern Jurisdiction for the years 1882 and 



1886; Original Proceedings of The General Grand Encampment Knights Templar for 
the years 1826 and 1835. 


By Brother N. W. J. Haydon, 664 Pape Ave., Toronto, Ont., Canada: A set of Gould's 
History, six volume edition preferred. 


By Bro. E. A. Marsh, 820 Broad Ave. N. W., Canton, Ohio: "The Traditions of 
Freemasonry," by A. T. C. Pierson, published at St. Paul, Minn., 1866. 


By Bro. Silas H. Shepherd, Hartland, Wisconsin: "Catalogue of the Masonic Library of 
Samuel Lawrence," "Second Edition of Preston's Illustrations of Masonry." 


By Bro. H. H. Klussmann, 310 Monastery St., West Hoboken, N. J.: "Traditions of 
Freemasonry," by A.T.C. Pierson; "Illustrations of Masonry," by Preston. 


FOR SALE OR EXCHANGE 


By Bro. Silas H. Shepherd, Hartland, Wisconsin: "Stray Leaves from a Freemason's 
Note Book," by George Oliver. This volume also contains "Some Account of the 
Schism showing the presumed origin of the Royal Arch Degree." Univ. Mas. Lib. 
edition. Price $3.00. "Lights and Shadows of Freemasonry," by Robert Morris. (Fiction 
and anecdotes.) Price $3.50. 


— o — 


THE QUESTION BOX 



THE BUILDER is an open forum for free and fraternal discussion. Each of its 
contributors writes under his own name, and is responsible for his own opinions. 
Believing that a unity of spirit is better than a uniformity of opinion, the Research 
Society, as such, does not champion any one school of Masonic thought as over against 
another, but offers to all alike a medium for fellowship and instruction, leaving each to 
stand or fall by its own merits. 


The Question Box and Correspondence Column are open to all members of the Society 
at all times. Questions of any nature on Masonic subjects are earnestly invited from our 
members, particularly those connected with lodges or study clubs which are following 
our "Bulletin Course of Masonic Study." When requested, questions will be answered 
promptly by mail before publication in this department. 


SOLOMON'S TEMPLE ONCE MORE 


Some time ago I read a statement to the effect that prior to the seventeenth century there 
was no existence in our traditions or other literary matter of any claim for descent or 
other connection with the Temple of Solomon - that the appearance of this claim dates 
from the arrival of a learned Jew in England who appeared before the court of King 
Charles I with a model of the Temple and impressed his views as well on those who 
formed the Accepted part of the Order so that their influence caused his story to be 
incorporated into our legends. What evidence is there for this? 

N.W.J.H., Ontario. 


There is no evidence. The story is absurd and obviously is founded on the exhibition of 
the model of the Temple of Solomon designed by Gerhard Schott, rathsherr of 
Hamburg, and finished by him in 1694. On his death, his heirs found difficulty in selling 
the model at what they regarded as a just sum, but finally disposed of it to an 
Englishman. The date of 1717 for this transaction is given by Schott's biographer. It was 
exhibited in London for years and ultimately found its way back to Germany. In 1 890 it 
was in Dresden. (See Dr. Hagedom's letter, Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, vol. xiii, 1900.) 



As to a "learned Jew" appearing with such a story, he would have encountered even at 
the merry court of Charles I, Hebraists whose learning was quite equal to that of any 
student of the Hebrew language, whether bom to the tongue or not. It was English 
bishops who gave us King James' version of the Bible, and the Universities certainly 
would not forget Hebrew because King James did not live forever. If you will refer to 
THE BUILDER for September, 1920, page 3, you will find a summary of views on the 
legend of Hiram and its introduction into Freemasonry, written by Brother H. L. 
Haywood, that very fully covers the question, and you will be inclined to adopt Brother 
Haywood's conclusions. To this it might be added that the late Sir Walter Besant 
believed the legend to have come to us from the Alchemists, Rosicmcians and perhaps 
Gnostics, while, on the contrary, W. H. Rylands, the great Masonic authority of 
England, believed it was derived from the miracle plays of the Middle Ages. The 
researches of E. Conder, Jr., as published in the Ars Quatuor Coronatomm, went far 
later to convince Brother Rylands that it could not have originated in miracle plays, 
English, at any rate, but the field is still open to the investigator. 

D.E.W.W. 


* * * 


THE CARDINAL VIRTUES 


What are the Cardinal Virtues? Are they supposed to be based on the New Testament; if 
so, on what text or texts? 


D. S., Louisiana. 


The Cardinal Virtues were enjoined by the Greek and Roman sages long before the 
advent of Christ; therefore, though they are met with in one form or another in every 
part of the New Testament, they do not rest, for their sanction, upon any one or more of 
its texts. See the thoughtful comments on these Virtues, which are Temperance, 
Fortitude, Pmdence, and Justice, in Brother Oliver Day Street's article, THE BUILDER, 



August 1918, page 242. Cicero gives a characteristically Roman account of them in his 
De Inventione Rhetorica, Lib., II, cap. 63, 64; if you will consult that reference you will 
discover that these Virtues do not mean the same thing to us that they did to the 
Romans. The word "cardinal," in this connection, means "principal," or "pre-eminent," 
and oftentimes is applied to more than the conventional four, as, (the case is noted in 
Mackey's Encyclopedia) in the dome of Ascension of St. Mark's at Venice fifteen are 
given. It was Plato (see his Republic IV, 427) who first gave currency (or so it is 
supposed) to the four Virtues with the list of which we are so familiar, and it is said that 
St. Ambrose was the first Christian theologian to adapt the list to the Christian system of 
morals, though it was with misgivings and with a full understanding of the limited and 
arbitrary character of Plato's list. Roman Catholic theologians formed the habit of 
describing these Cardinal Virtues as "natural" in contradistinction to Faith, Hope, and 
Charity which they, for obvious reasons, described as "theological." Henry Sidgwick, in 
his "History of Ethics," goes thoroughly into all this (pp. 44, 133, etc., 6th edition). St. 
Augustine loved to work over all the old "pagan" ethical doctrines, especially the 
Cardinal Virtues, into the phraseology of Christianity and in this he has been followed 
by Christian theologians ever since. Thomas Aquinas, the master of all the Scholastics, 
preferred to follow the lead of Aristotle, the god of the Scholastics, in his interpretation 
of the Four, as will be found in the "Nicomachean Ethics," which is a volume you 
should consult if you are interested to pursue this subject very far. It is a curious fact 
that the melancholy and unfortunate Belgian sage, Arnold Geulinex, whose principal 
works were published posthumously, held that all virtues flow from the one supreme 
fount of the love of right reason; and that the cardinal virtues are diligence, obedience, 
justice and humility. It will be seen that there is no very fundamental importance in the 
arbitrary list that Plato gave us of the four Cardinal Virtues; other ethical thinkers have 
chosen other lisp, and so may we. One virtue so often leads to another that one could 
select almost any three, or any other number for that matter, and from those selected 
deduce a whole system of morals, and wholesome, perhaps, as well as whole. 
Nevertheless it remains true that when they are properly understood the orthodox four 
will furnish one with a pretty complete foundation structure for a good working moral 
system. In the Masonic system the Cardinal Virtues are referred to in the work of the 
First degree. 


* * * 


GILES FONDA YATES 



In a Masonic speech which I heard last Sunday the speaker mentioned a certain Yates 
with so much feeling that I was led to believe that this man must have been a figure in 
Freemasonry at one time. But I have never before heard of him. Can you guess who he 
might have been? 

D.S.W., Ohio. 


Your orator must have referred to Giles Fonda Yates - his name sounds like a line from 
some melancholy poem, does it not ? - who was so zealous and influential an apostle of 
the A. & A. Scottish Rite in the early days of that Order. Brother Albert Mackey was a 
close friend of Yates and writes of him with feeling, as you will discover if you will turn 
to the brief sketch in the Encyclopaedia, Volume II, page 864. In addition to what you 
will find there it may be said that Yates was for some years editor of the department 
called "Horae Esotericae" in the famous old "Freemason's Quarterly," which journal, as 
Dr. j.F. Newton has put it, died of too much excellence. Also, Yates was a tireless 
student of Indian lore, more especially of the secret societies and rites of those people, 
and he was for a number of years a sub-chief in one of the sections of the Mohawk tribe. 
Yates was bom in Schenectady, New York, in 1796; he died in New York City on 
December 13, 1869. For a brief time in the height of his Masonic career he was 
Sovereign Grand Commander. 


* * * 


GRAND OFFICERS OF THE ACACIA FRATERNITY 


Will you please give me the name and address of the Grand Secretary or the head of the 
Acacia Fraternity ? 


M. W. P., Maryland. 



The present officers of the Acacia Fraternity are: 


Grand President - Harry L. Brown, 1670 Old Colony Building, Chicago, 111. 


Grand Counsellor - Howard T. Hill, Box 1 , Manhattan, Kansas. 


Grand Treasurer - Carroll S. Huntington, 1428 Lunt Ave., Chicago, III. 


Grand Secretary - W. Elmer Ekblaw, 71 1 W. Nevada St., Urbana, 111. 


Grand Editor - T. Hawley Tapping, The Press, Grand Rapids. Mich 


* * * 


ARTHUR BRISBANE NOT A MASON 


Will you please advise me if Arthur Brisbane, editor of the Hearst newspapers, is a 
Mason? 


H.E.Y., Arizona. 



In reply to our personal inquiry Mr. Brisbane replied: "I wish to say that I am not a 
member of the Masons or of any other fraternal organization. I am plainly and simply a 
newspaper man." 


* * * 


"THE UNIVERSAL ENGINEER" 


I was very much interested to read Brother Pomeroy's article that appeared in THE 
BUILDER for March, and note that he speaks of a large engineering magazine 
published by Masonic Engineers. Can you please give me the name and address of the 
same ? 

G.L.P., Illinois. 


Gladly. The journal referred to, one of the best in the world, is "The Universal 
Engineer," which is described as the "Official Publication of the Universal Council of 
Engineers of the World." It is edited at 160 Nassau Street, New York City, and printed 
at Cooperstown, New York. The office of the Corporation is 784 Broad Street, Newark, 
N.J. 


* * * 


BOOKS ON CONFUCIUS 


I find it hard to discover good books on the life of Confucius, and would like to ask if 
you could furnish me with the title of a good one. 



W. H. T., Alabama. 


The best, perhaps, is "The Life and Teachings of Confucius" by James Legge, the great 
sinologist. It is volume I of the series called "The Chinese Classics: Translated into 
English, with Preliminary Essays and Explanatory Notes." The volume was published 
by Began Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., Dryden House, Gerard Street W., London, 
England, 1909. 


* * * 


HOSEA BALLOU A FREEMASON 


I have had it in mind to ask you for some time if Hosea Ballou, the founder of the 
Universalist Church, was a Freemason. I am a member of that denomination and find its 
teachings very much in harmony with those of the Order. Will thank you for this 
information. 


S. P. F., Illinois. 


Brother Hosea Ballou was admitted to Mount Lebanon Lodge, Boston, Massachusetts, 
on October 27th, 1817; was appointed its chaplain in the following December, and 
remained a loyal and consistent member of the Order until his death in 1862. Are you 
quite accurate in describing him as the founder of the Universalist Denomination ? 
Universalists themselves accord that honor to the English immigrant preacher, the 
Reverend John Murray, do they not? 



Ballou was bom in Richmond, New Hampshire, in 1771. After experimenting with 
churches in various centers he at last settled in Boston in charge of the Second 
Universalist Church, which office he held for thirty-five years, or until his death. He 
founded and edited two Universalist journals, and it is estimated that he wrote about 
10,000 sermons. His best known work was his "A Treatise on Atonement," issued in 
1 806. He was a great and good man, as much an ornament to Freemasonry as to 
Christianity. 


* * * 


LOST WISDOM 


Do you not think it possible that the world should utterly lose some things of great 
wisdom? Do you not believe that some of these things, once believed lost, are really 
preserved in Freemasonry? 


R.O.A., Pennsylvania. 


The world has lost many ideas, tmths, and sound philosophies. The writer was only 
yesterday reading some remains of the old Greek, Isocrates, who lived in the fourth 
century, B. C., and who was telling what he believed a real education should be; among 
his other specifications was this, that an educated man "as seldom as possible misses the 
golden mean." What is meant by the "golden mean"? How many know? Very few, 
because the idea is almost lost out of the world, though at one time it was a living part 
of the fabric of Greek everyday thought, and satisfied the minds of some of the noblest 
thinkers that the world has ever known, or ever will know. And in the future we shall 
hear less and less of the golden mean until there may come a time that the most learned 
will be puzzled to know what it signifies. It is possible that some of the symbols in our 
ritual are, as it were, fossiliferous deposits of ideas equally true and equally fruitful 
which have been forgotten, so completely forgotten, that we do not even possess clues 
to their meaning. If you believe yourself to have recovered some such forgotten tfuths 
still enshrined in Freemasonry why not tell us about it? 



HUBERT WORK, FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL 


Is the First Assistant Postmaster General a member of the Masonic Fraternity? 


W.H.L., Iowa. 


Hubert Work, First Assistant Postmaster General, is a member of Pueblo Lodge No. 17, 
A. F. & A. M., Pueblo, Colorado. 


* * * 


THE POPES THAT HAVE ISSUED BULLS AGAINST FREEMASONRY 


The question came up in a meeting of the Study Club of which I am secretary as to how 
many popes have issued bulls against Freemasonry. Can you kindly let me have the 
answer soon in order that I may report at the next meeting? 


D. R., Idaho. 


Here is the list with the date of the bulls, or first bulls. If there is an error in this list will 
the brother who detects it be sure to write to us ? 



Clement XII, 1738. 
Pius VIII, 1829. 
Benedict XIV, 1751. 
Gregory XVI, 1832. 
Pius VII, 1821. 


Pius IX, 1846. This pope attacked the Order in five different bulls. 


Leo XIII was the most tireless enemy the Order has yet encountered. He issued his first 
bull in 1882, then followed with others in the years 1884, 1890, 1894, and 1902. 


In countries where the pope maintained temporal power these bulls were effectual, and 
were often carried to the point of literal fulfillment, as witness the case of Spain, in 
which country many brethren underwent death, imprisonment, fines, and other 
sufferings for the sake of Freemasonry. Between 1780 and 1815 there were 19 cases in 
Spain; in 1816 there were 25 cases; in 1817 there were 14 cases; in 1818 there were 9; 
and in 1819 there were 7. 


* * * 


THE FUTURE LIFE 


Why is it that things we hear and read about the future life are often so vague? Can you 
tell me where I can find a book that deals with the teachings of the Bible on that subject 
in a definite and scientific manner? 



G. H., Maryland. 


Why so vague ? Because, in all probability, we know so little about the subject. The 
book you are after is "Eschatology; Hebrew, Jewish, and Christian," by R. H. Charles; 
published by Adam and Charles Black, London. The first edition was published in 
1 899. Dr. Charles is one of the most illustrious of all authorities on Eschatology, in 
which branch of theology the problems concerning the future life are usually classified. 
Dr. Charles has embodied some of the more important portions of his material in a 
smaller book called "Religious Development Between the Old and the New 
Testaments," published by Henry Holt and Company, New York, as volume No. 88 in 
The Home University Library of Modern Knowledge. Chapter V of this work, which 
deals with "Man's Forgiveness of His Neighbor - a Study in Religious Development" 
has become famous. It should be read by every Mason. 


* * * 


THE FAITH OF JACQUES G. BLAINE 


Please inform me if you can what was the religious holding of James G. Blaine, and 
who made the speech about "rum, Romanism, and rebellion." 


E.K.C., Ohio. 


The parents of James Gillespie Blaine were descended from North Ireland immigrants. 
His mother, Maria Gillespie, an intelligent and very charming lady, was a Roman 
Catholic, and secured a priest to perform her wedding ceremony. His father, a brilliant 
but somewhat unsteady man, was a Presbyterian of the old Covenanter type. Blaine 
himself grew up in a religious atmosphere, but was never a Roman Catholic, though it 



was passed about often during his political campaigns that he was a Roman Catholic in 
disguise; this canard was absolutely groundless, because, in his early life and while he 
was living at Augusta, Maine he united with the Congregationalist church, as you will 
learn from the biography written by Russell Conway. An accurate account of the 
famous "rum, Romanism, and rebellion" episode is given in the authentic biography by 
Stanwood, whose "History of the Presidency" should be read by every Mason for the 
sake of its excellent treatment of the anti-Masonic excitement. On page 289 of 
Stanwood's "Life of Blaine" (it was published in 1905 by Houghton, Miflin & 
Company) we may read: 


"But a still more untoward incident was to mark this visit to New York. On the 29th of 
October a large number of clergymen assembled to meet Mr. Blaine and to assure him 
of their support. Their spokesman was the Rev. Mr. Burchard, who made a brief address 
which closed with these sentences: 'We are Republicans, and don't propose to leave our 
party and identify ourselves with a party whose antecedents have been rum, Romanism, 
and rebellion. We are loyal to our flag; we are loyal to you.' Mr. Blaine apparently did 
not notice the alliterative clause, but it would have been difficult to rebuke the attempt 
to introduce a sectarian issue into the canvass, if he had been aware of it, without giving 
offense. His political adversaries at once took advantage of the unfortunate remark to 
detach from his support all whom they could persuade that the election of Blaine would 
be a blow at the Roman Catholic Church. Some of the most unscrupulous of his 
opponents represented the words as those of Blaine himself. It is said that leaflets 
ascribing the sentiments to him were distributed at the doors of Roman Catholic 
churches on the following Sunday. There is no doubt that the heedless remark caused 
him the loss of more than enough votes to have changed the result in New York and 
thus to have elected him President." 


* * * 


MASONRY AMONG THE CHIPPEWA INDIANS 



"Do you know whether any Chippewas are members of the Fraternity? There are quite a 
few Chippewas in the portion of Minnesota near the Red Lake Reservation who are 
educated." 


S.S.H., North Dakota. 


As to whether any of the Red Lake Chippewas, or more properly, Ojibway, belong to 
our own order of Free and Accepted Masons, I am unable to state, although this is not at 
all improbable. That is a question which the secretaries of the local lodges can best 
answer. As to the Indians being members of their own primitive Masonic order, yes 
indeed. 


Among the Ojibway the secret society known as the Midewin is highly developed, and 
possesses ceremonies, rituals, and rites of initiation and raising very similar to that 
described in my article "Little Wolf Joins the Mitawin," in the October, 1921, number of 
THE BUILDER; in fact, many students of ethnology believe that it is among the 
members of this tribe that the oldest form of the rites occurs. Unfortunately, although 
considerable time and money have been devoted to the study of this very organization 
among the Ojibway, the scientists who have hitherto done the work have not been 
Masons, and hence much of the most significant facts have escaped attention. The late 
Mr. W. J. Hoffman has written a monograph entitled "The Midewiwin or 'Grand 
Medicine Society' of the Ojibway," based largely on studies made among the Red Lake 
and Leech Lake Indians, and published in the Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of 
American Ethnology of Washington, D.C. in 1885-6. He, however, entirely failed to 
grasp the significance of what he saw and heard, and, if I remember correctly, got no 
inkling of the true meaning of the underlying ritual, or the myth of the death and 
resurrection of the ancient founder of the lodge. 


I have myself spent some time among some of the bands of Ojibway in Manitoba, 
Ontario, and Seewatin, in Canada, and obtained some data on the subject, but, as I was 
not then a Mason - or rather was only an Entered Apprenticed too, was blind to the 
facts. 



Here is a fine opportunity for an original piece of work for someone who has had Light, 
and who possesses the patience, tact, and diplomacy to get really close to the Indian. 


The Ojibways are a very numerous people, as North American Indian tribes go, there 
being some 20,214 in the United States, and many more in Canada, according to the 
census of 1910. Of these, some are civilized according to our ways, others are still very 
primitive. The conservative old-style bands all possess the Midewin or Midewiwin, and 
the old leaders possess birch bark scrolls upon which are written in mnemonic 
characters, or picture writing, symbols referring to the songs and ritual of the lodge, the 
meaning of which is known only to them. It must be remembered that not all the 
members of any tribe are brethren, and the rites are often as unknown to the majority of 
any given group as they are to us, also the non-members are quite as given to 
speculation of an erroneous nature as to what goes on in the lodge as are white non- 
Masons. To obtain information, go to headquarters, and, as information and 
membership is commonly bought by the Indians themselves from the officers on 
joining, it can sometimes be bought by a white man who has the confidence of the 
Indians, and in whose sincerity they firmly believe. 


Other tribes having a form of this primitive society to my knowledge are: The Cree, 
Potawatomi, Menomini, Sauk, Santee Sioux, Winnebago, Iowa, Oto, and perhaps the 
Ottawa. Formerly the Miami, Peoria, and perhaps other tribes of the Illinois confederacy 
had it, and the Ponca and Omaha had an aberrant form. Practically nothing is known of 
the rites among the majority of these tribes except that all those of Siouan stock - i.e., 
the Santee, Iowa, Winnebago, Oto, Ponca and Omaha, are much farther from Masonry 
as we know it than the others. The Iroquoian tribes, that is the Seneca, Cayuga, 
Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and the Wyandot, and perhaps others, have or have had, a 
different society which in some respects still more strongly resembles our Masonry. 

A.B.S. 


— o — 


CORRESPONDENCE 



INFORMATION WANTED 


All readers of THE BUILDER who have in their possession important (as they would 
consider it) books on Freemasonry that have never been reviewed or noticed in THE 
BUILDER are requested to send to the editor titles, authors, publishers, and publishers' 
dates. Please. 


* * * 


THE BUILDER would like to 
for themselves. Also, it would 
Clubs. 


hear from Study Clubs that have devised courses of study 
like to have the names of the secretaries of active Study 


* * * 


One of the editors of THE BUILDER would like to get in touch with brethren who have 
made a thorough, or systematic study of architecture; of architecture, that is, without 
necessary reference to Freemasonry. 


* * * 


Can anybody tell us where a complete set of the bound volumes of The American 
Freemason's Monthly Magazine may be obtained ? It was begun, we believe, in 1886, 
and was cried on for quite a while by J. F. Brennan. Albert Mackey was editor for a 
time. 



MASONIC COLLEGE FRATERNITIES 


I notice in the Question Box of the December number, in answer to brother L.I.F.'s 
question as to the number of Masonic college fraternities you state there are two, The 
Acacia, and Square and Compass. I knew of the Acacia but did not know of the Square 
and Compass - that is, as a fraternity. In many of the colleges and universities there are 
Masonic Clubs, usually designated as "Square and Compass Clubs." We have two here 
at the University of Southern California, one in the College of Law and one in the 
College of Liberal Arts. There is also a flourishing Masonic Club, but not called Square 
and Compass, at the University of Arizona, Tucson. The question of federating these 
different Clubs into some kind of general organization has been frequently discussed at 
the meetings of the local clubs here, and we have been hoping that some scheme would 
be put forward in the near future acceptable to all. What you say of the Square and 
Compass fraternity is true of these individual clubs, as far as I am acquainted with them, 
but so far as I knew they were still unfederated local clubs. Please advise me more fully 
on this point. 


There is now in process of organization at the University of Southern California the Phi 
Alpha Mu fraternity which will be a regular Greek letter fraternity but with membership 
open only to Masons and under the same restrictions as other Greek letter fraternities. It 
is hoped to make this the mother chapter and extend the fraternity to other colleges and 
universities. 


I also beg to call your attention to the Trowel Fraternity. There is a chapter in the Dental 
College of the University of Southern California here. The Bulletin of the Masonic 
Information Bureau of the University for the first semester has this item: "Trowel 
Fraternity, 4th year, consisting of 14 chapters - at present restricted to Dental Colleges 
and other professional allies. Local chapter consisting of about 45 members. Secretary 
and Treasurer - E.T. Dutkon, Dental College, 635 West Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles." 
I understand that the Trowel is not interfratemal, but do not know. 



THE BUILDER has been a source of great pleasure to me during the past year. The 
brethren who do not subscribe are certainly missing a lot. 


Aubrey 0. Bray, California. 


(Through an unfortunate misfiling of information ye editor cannot recover the 
information on which he based his statements concerning the Square and Compass 
fraternity. Will the brothers who sent him information get in touch with him again? 
Also, will any other brothers who have pertinent information about college Masonic 
fraternities send their data to THE BUILDER? Brother Bray has our hearty thanks for 
his letter. 


* * * 


THE A. E. F. MASONIC CLUB AT ABAINVILLE, MEUSE, FRANCE 


I send you a few words regarding A.E.F. Masonic Clubs. At Abainville, Meuse, about 3 
kilos from Gondrecourt, there was a Masonic Club. Brother Hale was the Salvation 
Army Secretary at Abainville and was vitally interested in our Abainville Club. After 
our meetings we generally adjourned to his Hut for refreshments. We had good times. 
Abainville was the center of the American Light Railway Repair and Assembling Shops 
and the Abainville Club was made up mostly of railroad men. The Club adopted for a 
pocket piece a two franc silver coin with the reverse ground off and the Square and 
Compass engraved in the centre with the words "Abainville Club No. E around the coin. 
When I was at Abainville there was no club at Gondrecourt: the men from that town 
came to Abainville The President at that time was a Medical (Dental) Officer attached, I 
believe, to the 22nd Engineers (Lt. Ry.) named Ross, (I am not absolutely certain as to 
that name.) We initiated with paddles officers and men and we had great times. Wish I 
had a copy of the ritual; if you could get one, it would be worth while. 



Out of 26 men in the Third Batallion Headquarters two officers and four men were 
members of the Club. 


Harry B. Formhals, Mass. 


* * * 


PRESENTATION OF A PAST MASTER'S JEWEL 


The following was deliverd on installation night by Brother C.L. Putnam when he 
presented the retiring Master with a Past Master's Jewel. Brother Putnam is one of our 
Past Masters. He does not claim the thoughts as his own, but the arrangement of them 
is, and I am taking the liberty of sending the same to you: 


My Brother: Your zeal for the institution of Masonry and the progress you have made in 
its mysteries, have pointed you out as a proper object of our favor and esteem. 


From the time, ten years ago, when you knocked at the door of the preparation room 
seeking admission into our order, your ambitious feet have trodden round after round of 
the ladder which leads to fame in our mystic circle, and even the purple of the Fraternity 
has rested upon your honored shoulders. 


You have labored with us more than seven years, honestly toiling, and encouraged and 
buoyed up by the promise that if you were faithful, you should receive the reward due a 
Master Mason. 



Behold! your temple is nearly completed, and we hope you have received your reward 
in the satisfaction of having done something for others. You have learned that a life of 
service to your fellow men is the only life worth living. 


Night after night for the past seven years or more you have been present in this lodge 
room. Not for the honor alone (although such ambition is truly laudable) of having it 
said that you were Secretary, Junior Warden, Senior Warden, or even Master of Alpine 
Lodge, with but the one idea of service; that of teaching the brothers the principles of 
Freemasonry which for centuries have made better men, better citizens, better fathers, 
better husbands. 


Your work has been well and faithfully done, and may the G.A.O.T.U. accept and 
approve your labors. 


The brethren of Alpine Lodge wish to express to you, through me, their love and 
appreciation for the service you have rendered. This jewel is a token of their esteem, and 
the distinguished emblem of a Past Master, which they hope you will wear with equal 
pleasure to yourself and honor to the Fraternity. 


Fred H. Jess, Iowa. 


* * * 


OUR GRAND LODGE OF SORROW 



(THE BUILDER is very glad indeed to give publicity to so worthy a cause as that 
described in the following communication. Readers may rest assured that the brethren 
behind this move know what they are about and are to be trusted to the full. The article 
by Brother Francis E. Lester, Grand Master of New Mexico, which appeared on page 14 
of THE BUILDER for January, gives one some conception of the kind of problem that 
confronts our brethren in the great Southwest.) 


It is the largest Masonic organization on earth, is our Grand Lodge of Sorrow. 


It has an average membership of 42,300. 


It loses an average of 4,700 members by death every year. 


It recruits that many members every year so that the average membership remains about 
the same. 


Its members never meet in the Grand Lodge and there are no subordinate lodges. They 
never applied for admission and can demit only by death. 


They labor unceasingly to rebuild the temple of their bodies ravaged by the fever of 
disease. They walk in the valley of the shadow of death. They are the Master Masons 
who have laid down or must soon lay down their working tools and seek the aid and 
comfort of their brethren. 


They are the Masons of America who are victims of tuberculosis. Among the 2,600,000 
members of the Craft, it is estimated that there are 42,300 suffering with this disease. Of 
this number 4,700 die annually. There are no Masonic Hospitals for their care and 
treatment. 



Their own lodges are, in most cases, financially unable to give them assistance over the 
year or more of time which would be required to arrest their disease under the most 
favorable conditions in a hospital or sanatorium. 


In many cases the lodge sends the patient to the Southwest for the benefit of the climate, 
with little money in excess of traveling expenses. Lodges in the Southwest are small in 
numbers and limited in funds. They cannot begin to care for the Master Masons asking 
for assistance. Free care and treatment can be secured only in hospitals in connection 
with poorhouses, and in some few Roman Catholic institutions. 


Who shall bear the burden of the care of the Mason without a lodge ? Does the Masonic 
Fraternity of America owe him any duty ? If so, how shall it proceed to administer relief 
? 


A committee, appointed by the Grand Lodge of Texas, to confer with similar 
committees to be appointed by the Grand Lodges of Arizona and New Mexico, three of 
the states affected by the migration of consumptive Masons, will attempt to fermulate a 
plan for the establishment of a hospital or sanatorium for the care of these brethren. The 
committee will welcome suggestions from any brethren, anywhere. Think on these 
things and give them the benefit of your study and experience. 


Address all communications to 


ROBERT J. NEWTON, Chairman, 
2130 River Ave., San Antonio, Texas. 



ANOTHER "OLDEST SECRETARY" 


Brother W. N. Grubb was made a Mason January 1,1879, in Ruth Lodge No. 64, 
Norfolk, Virginia, and one year afterwards was made secretary of his lodge. He has 
served in that capacity continuously ever since. He is still an active Mason and most 
effectual secretary after forty-two years and more. Doesn't that come near being a 
record? 


Oscar Lloyd Steinberg, Virginia. 


— o — 

THE PINE CONE 

BY BRO. H. L. HAYWOOD, IOWA 

Corrugated spire of seeds, 

Slender, tapering, brown as mst, 

O what mystic wonder breeds 
In this life you hold in trust! 

In these chambers stiffly set 
What a secret thou dost keep! 



Here will future time beget 
Towering brothers of the deep! 

Rondured columns of the pines, 
Bracing up the arching skies: 

Out of thee their vast designs 
From what miracles arise! 

Thou art dumb as any stone 
Yet from thee will one day spring 
Harp-like branches whence the tone 
Of the northern winds will ring. 

Thou art with such frailty bound 
As the merest child could spurn 
Yet thy sons will clasp the ground 
When our sons to dust return. 

Could we but thy secret read 
How 'twould start us with surprise! 
Life and death their fated screed 


Would unroll before our eyes. 



In thy humble withered pod 
Lieth what no language tells; 

All the secret lore of God 
Hides within thy narrow cells! 

— o — 

A good word is an easy obligation; but not to speak ill, requires only our silence, which 
costs us nothing. - Tillotson.