The Builder Magazine 

February 1924 - Volume X - Number 2 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

FRONTISPIECE - ERNEST A. REED 

WHAT A FELLOWCRAFT SHOULD KNOW 

A WOMAN OF NAPHTALI - By Bro. W. J. Barclay, Canada 

THE SECRET OF THE OLD OPERATIVE MASONS - W. Bro. P. A. Fenger, 
Denmark 

THE HOPI SUN SHIELD 

THE SEVEN - BRANCHED CANDLESTICK By Bro. C. C. Hunt, Associate Editor, 
Iowa 

A STRIKING INCIDENT IN ENGLISH FREEMASONRY - By Bro. Dudley 
Wright, Associate Editor, England 

AMONG THE CEDARS OF LEBANON: HOW "THE CEDAR GROVE" WAS 
ORGANIZED - By Bro. Walter Booth Adams, M. A. M. D., Syria 

THE INTERLACED TRIANGLES - By Bro. Dudley Wright. Associate Editor. 
England 

THE MAGIC WORD - By Bro. Jacob Hecht, Illinois 

GREAT MEN WHO WERE MASONS - ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON - By Bro. Geo. 
W. Baird, P. G. M., District of Columbia 

TEXAS GRAND CHAPTER REINSTATED 

THE STUDY CLUB - Chapters of Masonic History - Part X, How Operative 
Masonry Changed to Speculative Masonry. - By Bro. H. L. Haywood 



EDITORIAL 


Anti-Masonry Within the Craft 
Underground History 
The Bok Peace Plan 
Try a Lecture Bee 

THE LIBRARY 
Moonlight vs. Moonshine 
A Georgia Manual of Lectures 
Ben Lranklin in Liction 

THE QUESTION BOX AND CORRESPONDENCE 

Books About Public Schools 

Fifty - four Years an Active Mason 

Two Hundred Sixty - six Times a Treasurer 

Freemasonry's Greatest Danger 

Freemasonry as Defined by the G. L. of Illinois. 

The Oldest Masonic Twins ? 

An Egyptian Circumambulation 
"The Oriental Order of Masonry" 


Freemasonry and Advertising 



Another Version of "The Great Journey" 


YE EDITOR'S CORNER 


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What a Fellowcraft Should Know 


This article was written in response to a number of requests, most of which, strangely 
enough, have come during the past few weeks. It appears that in the scope of 
available Masonic literature the Second Degree has suffered from a certain 
unfortunate neglect. What follows is not in any sense designed to fill this gap, or to 
deal exhaustively with a rite deserving of a volume to itself, but a hint and a 
suggestion written in the hope that other scribes may be inspired to write on the same 
theme. It would be profitable and delightful to have in these pages several 
discussions of this noble degree. 


IN the old days of English Operative Masonry a man was first made an Entered 
Apprentice; after being bonded (or indentured) to a Master Mason for a period of 
some seven years he was then made a Fellow of the Craft By this is meant that he was 
instated a member of the lodge in full standing with every right enjoyed by all other 
Masons, and that he had become a master of his trade, or Master Mason, the two 
terms thereby meaning the same thing. From that time on he was free to travel where 
he wished in search of employment, to receive Master's wages (an Apprentice 
received no wages except his board and keep, and possibly something in the way of 
"findings," i.e., and apron, gloves, a few tools perhaps), and to become, if good 
fortune befell, an employer, or Master of workman, or perhaps to superintend the 
erection of some building. 



It is difficult at this far remove in time to know what manner of ceremony was 
employed at the entering of an Apprentice, but we may be sure that some kind of 
ritual was practiced for the Apprentice was made to listen to a traditional history of 
the Craft, such as have been preserved in our Old Charges; was made to take an oath 
(very simple in its form) to keep inviolate all the secrets of the trade and of the 
household of the master and his dame with whom he would live; and it is also 
probable that the Master of the lodge would give him certain bits of advice at the 
time, perhaps in the shape of what we should now call "lectures." Many Masonic 
historians have believed that no ceremony at all was used when this workman, freed 
from his bonds, was made a Fellow of the Craft, but it would appear reasonable to 
suppose that such a step, involving as it did so complete a change of status and having 
its own secrets, such as grips and words, some kind of ceremony was used. If this 
was the case then two degrees were employed by the old Operative Masons, the 
second being the Fellow Craft or Master Mason ceremony. 


After the formation of the first Grand Lodge of Speculative Masons in London, 1717, 
these two degrees (or the original one degree, if one prefers) were so amplified (why 
and by whom it is impossible to say) that at last they were re-divided into three 
degrees, a system that has since become so firmly established in the Craft that it will 
remain as long as Freemasonry endures. Our Second Degree, therefore, in its present 
form, dates from early in the eighteenth century, but that does not mean that the 
material built into it came then into the Craft for the first time, for such was not the 
case, as some of it must have existed before 1717. 


So much by way of history. It would be interesting to trace the degree's development 
from the time it left the hands of Desaguliers and his fellows, through Dunckerley, 
Hutchinson, Preston, Webb and the others, but that would leave no space for an 
exposition of the ideas embodied in its symbolism as it now stands, which is the 
present purpose. 


THE DEGREE OF MIDDLE LIFE 



From old monitors it is evident that the men who gave its present shape to the degree 
intended it to cover that part of a man's career which falls between his youth and this 
old age. The lodge symbolizes the world as a whole; the Apprentice the youth 
entering it, the Master Mason one about to leave it, the Fellowcraft a man in the 
heyday of his powers, equipped to carry its burdens and trained to do its work. 


This "work of the world"! this great enterprise of organized human life! How is it to 
be carried forward? Not by ignorance, surely, for it is the essence of ignorance to be 
helpless; neither can it be done by unskilled hands, for life is complicated and 
involves an endless amount of technique. No, it rests on the shoulders of those who 
have knowledge, skill, and experience, and such is the principal idea of the 
Fellowcraft Degree. It is the drama of education, the philosophy of enlightenment. 


As such it deserves far more attention than usually is accorded it if one may judge by 
lodge practices in general. Frequently there are not half as many brethren present in 
lodge as when the "first" or the "third" is exemplified, and in too many cases the 
paraphernalia used, the manner in which the work is "put on," and the general 
atmosphere of the occasion are such as to suggest that to the lodge the "second" is a 
kind of a half-way ceremony that doesn't deserve much thought or skill for its 
exhibition. The irony of such a thing cannot escape notice, because the Fellowcraft 
rite is dedicated, as even a tyro can see, to enlightenment, which is in itself one of the 
grand aims of the Order. Of all the degrees in the entire hierarchy of ceremonies, 
from the first degree until the last of the "Higher Grades," it would appear to be 
precisely that degree which should receive at the hands of the Craft its most loving 
care, its most anxious attention. It would not be an exaggeration to say that in itself it 
should more than repay any man for the effort and cost of his Masonic initiation, it is 
so wise in its teachings, so profound in its truths, and so useful to have in one's mind. 
To know and to practice it is to be made wise in the art of life, than which no other art 
can ever be half so important, or nearly so valuable. 


THE PILLARS AND THE PAVEMENT 



The great pillars that figure so prominently in its ceremonies are reminiscent of the 
two mighty columns that stood out in front of King Solomon's temple, not to support 
its roof but as symbolical reminders of truths and forces in government and in 
religion. Our earlier monitorialists made much of the names of these pillars, perhaps 
because they suggested the massive powers which, pillar-like, uphold the, universe, 
the vast scheme of things, with its immeasurable spaces and its multitudinous worlds. 
Before such a Power as that it is meet that a man bow down in worship, especially in 
order to have engraved inside his heart the truth that the Almighty Father is Himself a 
builder and a maker, and that the most godlike man is he whose life is the most 
constructive. 


From another angle of vision the pillars suggest the fact of birth, which has within it 
more and larger meanings than one will discover at first thought. One does not enter 
into a well-furnished manhood by chance, like a drunkard blundering through a 
doorway, but by virtue of labour and preparation: on the one side is the terrestrial 
globe, with its wisdom concerning the earth, its facts of sense, its physical existence, 
its manual tasks; and on the other the celestial globe, with its wisdom of the spiritual 
life, of the intellect, the conscience, and the imagination. 


The checkered pavement is most frequently explained as symbolizing the checkered 
nature of human life, especially in middle life, when the heat is intense, and the way 
is hard owing to the many burdens to be carried; but one has the feeling that to the 
early builders it may have had another suggestion. The makers of the cathedrals 
loved mosaic work, especially in Italy where the Cosmati family became famous for 
its ability to lay checkered floors, or inlay with colored metals and glass. According 
to some very old books and pictures (especially one by Holbein) the black and white 
checkered pavement when laid in a church or cathedral symbolized the eternity of the 
world, in contrast to which a man, as he walked across the earth, was very humble 
and very transient. There is more than a merely pious sentiment in this, for it is a part 
of wisdom to remember "that the sweet days die," that in a very little while the end 
will come when we must lay down our tools and call the work finished. The trestle 
board of one's life should be adjusted to that scale, for though the world is eternal, so 
that its white days and black nights stretch endlessly on, one's own strength soon 
vanishes, therefore he is well advised who attempts not more than he can do, or who 
learns not to waste the moments that are so precious out of a boyish delusion that 
there is always plenty of time ahead. 



OPERATIVE AND SPECULATIVE MASONRY 


The historical connection between Operative and Speculative Masonry is so familiar, 
and is explained so well in the lectures, that there is no need here to enlarge on the 
matter. It is good to remember that we are an Order of Builders. Our forefathers in 
the Craft wrought at buildings which to this day remain, many of them, in our midst 
to remind us of the majesty and loveliness of the architectural art. But we are 
builders of men; of ourselves first, and next of the world of manhood at large, helping 
each other the while as is meet that brothers do. It is easy to tear down, to criticize, to 
find fault, to destroy; it is a thing at which many beasts are expert; to construct, to 
erect, to preserve, that is more difficult, and nobler, requiring art and a mind that 
loves life with its values and its beautiful purposes. 


A true Freemason will not waste his time, or demean himself, by tearing down 
another's wall. He respects every man's temple, though it be erected to other gods 
than his own and carries in his heart a reverence for every attempt made by anybody 
whatsoever to raise toward heaven the palaces of our human dream. One is reminded 
here of Nehemiah's bugle-like sentence, "So builded we the wall!" Sanballat and his 
tribesmen were obstructionists, iconoclasts, tearers down, but Nehemiah and his 
fellow workers, fellows in the builder's craft, let them childishly throw stones and try 
to pull down the edifice; theirs was to build the wall of the Temple, and they did it. 


Freemasons are Builders of the Brotherhood. They are sworn and dedicated to make 
good will to prevail in all the relations of life, so that in society at large will be felt the 
same kindliness that makes a family circle so delightful. There is nothing merely 
sentimental in this; it is not a vague dream floating gossamer-like before our eyes, but 
an urgent necessity if the human race is ever to win its ways out of the hells in which 
it now suffers: it is the task of statesmen, the goal at which governments aim, and it is 
something which if we men do not do it will never be done. There appears to be 
something implacable in the nature of things, something that will not bend or swerve 
to suit our human fancy or to enable us to escape the consequences of our acts, but 
moves majestically onward, so that if we men live in hatred and ill will we must 
suffer the results. No arm is stretched down out of the sky; no wholesale miracle is 



performed; we must find a way to live happily together or else continue indefinitely 
to have within our lives all the agonies due to war, hatred and unkindness. 
Brotherhood is for the salvation of the race from its misery and pain; is there any task 
greater than that? 


THE WINDING STAIRS 


There were no winding stairs in Solomon's Temple, no stairs at all except for the steps 
that led to the little rooms in the outer walls, therefore the winding stairs in the 
Fellowcraft Degree are manifestly symbolical. This is made all the more obvious by 
the fact that the steps are divided into groups of 3, 5 and 7, a thing; undoubtedly 
inherited from the days when these numbers had for men a mystical significance that 
has perhaps escaped us. Concerning the definitely symbolical meanings of these 
things there will ever be a deal of debate, but there call be little difference or opinion 
concerning the general idea involved. Human life, if it is ever to achieve anything, if 
it ever arrives in the Holy of Holies, is, to quote the beautiful old words of Emerson, 
"an ascending effort." We can never rest on our oars. Always it is effort, effort, and 
then more effort, climb after climb, step above step. Something in the depths of our 
souls seems to demand it; the manner in which the world is built makes it necessary. 


These steps do not stand vertical or in a straight incline, but wind. It reminds us of 
one of the most sparkling books of recent years, a volume by Allen Upward called 
The New World, in which that learned English barrister works out a theory that all 
vital activity in this world is spiral in its pattern so that life itself winds about and 
about in its ascending effort. There is something more than fancy in this, if one may 
trust his own experiences, for in our development upwards towards more strength, 
wisdom and grace we now and again seem to return to some point from which we 
started except that we are above it, and therefore see our old truths in a new light. 


THE LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES 



Educators of the Middle Ages divided their curriculum into seven branches, in two 
groups, one of three and one of four, called respectively the trivium and the 
quadrivium: the former comprised usually grammar, rhetoric, and logic; the latter 
arithmetic, music, astronomy and geometry. It is this old-time arrangement of studies 
that remains in the degree to symbolize an effective schooling. There is no need to 
analyze this arrangement or to attempt to justify its use in this day and age; the main 
point is that in Freemasonry the Liberal Arts and Sciences symbolize an education. 


There is however this thing to be said about the medieval curriculum: it was a 
discipline in the humanities, and that is something worth thinking about. The 
tendency in schools nowadays is to give a student either a scientific course, so as to 
equip him for one of the technical professions, or else a course in business methods 
with a view to fitting him for office or factory. This is all well and good but it is not a 
complete education, and our educators will some day regret their surrender to the 
utilitarians who have demanded "a schooling that pays." Life is more than a 
profession, finer than a trade, it has ends and needs above and outside of these, 
important as they are. One has a religious and also an imaginative relationship with 
the universe which deserves to be developed and instructed; it is just as important to 
look upon the stars with the eye of reverence or as things of beauty as to measure 
their diameter or estimate their distances in space; the fields and hills are to be loved 
for their own sake, as well as to be converted into tillage and farmyards. There are 
such things as art, poetry, music, and worship, and these too are to have a place in 
school. Also it is necessary for a man to understand his own nature, and the nature of 
the men and women with whom he lives, a need satisfied by literature, painting, and 
music. Every labourer is a man first, with neighbours and a family, and a life to live; 
to give him nothing but a training in his craft is to rob him of his most precious 
birthright. The old ideal of the Liberal Arts, the humanities, is nearer the truth and 
need of things than any ultra-modern drill in scientific technique. We need to 
understand nature; yes; but we need quite as much to understand human nature. 


GEOMETRY AND THE LETTER G 


The first men in the world were childlike in mind to a degree difficult for us to 
imagine. The natural scheme of things must have puzzled them almost beyond 
endurance. What a medley it was! what a chaos! the simplest sequences of events, 



such as the succession of the seasons, was unknown to them so that they were like 
babes peering helplessly into the dark, unable to make it all out. To men living under 
such conditions the discovering of order, of number, of geometry must have broken 
with a surprise like the coming of a new religion. Little wonder that they made so 
much of numbers, calling them sacred and attributing to them all manner of secret 
and occult properties, as if the relations among the forces and substances of creation 
were the immediate operation of an Infinite Mind. If modern philosophy gives a 
different account of it that does not detract from the value of the old thinking. 


The rank and file of men, so it appears, have in the back of their minds a vague notion 
that matter in itself is a formless thing without character or structure, so that their 
picture of creation is that some outside Power took charge of the original chaos of 
brute stuff and impressed upon it shape and order in much the same manner that a 
clay modeller imposes upon a lump of dirt the likeness of a human face. According 
to this view there is no such thing as order in the nature of things; order is fugitive 
and transient, a something from without. But such is not the finding of modern 
science. There is no such thing as matter by itself, matter as an abstract entity; there 
are such things as water, air, gasses, wood, stone, metals, soil, etc., etc., and every 
such substance has a structure unimaginably complicated, so that order is in the 
nature of things. Geometry is a revelation of that order, a reducing to line and 
diagram of the everlasting relations among all the substances and properties of the 
universe. Can anything be more sublime than that? 


There is reason to believe that the Letter G stood for this precious science, though in 
our day and more particularly in American lodges it is a symbol of T.S.G.A.O.T.U. In 
either event, and in the last analysis, the significance is the same, because the Sacred 
Letter would have reference to that which is the Origin of the Orderliness of the 
universe. 


The God of Heaven and Earth is the beginning and end of all Masonic mysteries; it is 
from Him that we have come, it is unto Him that we go, and in all the journey 
between the canopy of His love is over us. The definitions of His nature, the 
description of His attributes may be left to the arguments of the theologians and the 
disquisitions of the metaphysicians; the fact of His existence admits of no argument; 
it is "sure as the most certain sure," the alpha and the omega of thought. 



The grandson of Thomas Henry Huxley in a book recently published argues that in 
our modern world men of scientific training are finding out a new approach to God; 
instead of trusting to vague reports from the past or to ancient traditions, they are 
examining, so he says, into the nature of life and the structure of the universe at first 
hand. If this be so the scientist will find God as surely as the saint, because He is 
there. 


We human beings are not intruders from another world, temporary pilgrims from 
some realm outside the universe; we are part and parcel of the universe, as much a 
part of the natural scheme of things as the blowing clover or the falling rain. There is 
but one system of reality; this is it; we are a part of it. The soul in us, the immortal 
spirit, our inmost thoughts and ideals belong as much to this system of reality as clods 
or boulders, so that in the very structure of the universe there is that out of which 
spirit can come, self-consciousness, thought, love, prayers, and dreams, so that the 
scheme of things is not a soulless mechanism, a pile of dirt, a flux of blind forces, but 
a Something that can bring souls into existence, and sustain them. The Letter G is 
inscribed on the forehead of creation, it is written on the tiniest atom. 


It is a mistake to suppose that education is a mere device to train a man in a 
handicraft, or a collection of pieces of information of more or less practical use; 
education leads at last to truth, and God is the truth about the universe. This is the 
real Holy of Holies, the true Inner Chamber into which, at the last, a Fellowcraft 
comes; and the vision he has there, the consolation, the strength and the confidence of 
everlasting life together make up the wages he receives. Such wages are life indeed, 
to earn which it is worth every man's most manly endeavour, and that at any price. 


WHAT A FELLOWCRAFT SHOULD KNOW 


This is what a Fellowcraft should know - the need, the nature, and the purpose of 
education, along with the attendant realization of the disastrousness of ignorance. A 
human being begins life in utter helplessness; he cannot even lift his head from the 
pillow. The same human being must at last become a man, full grown and equipped 



to do his own share of the work of the world, live his own life as a man should, and 
confront the universe as an intelligent being. The sum total of the influences that 
bridge this gap between helplessness and maturity is education; books, schools, 
teachers, and experience are means to that end. It is the conscious shaping of the 
processes of growth, the purposive direction of experience toward the end of a fully 
developed manhood that is the grand end and goal of every Mason who must needs 
be "enflamed with the study of learning, and the admiration of virtue; stirred up with 
high hopes of living to be brave men, and worthy patriots, dear to God, famous to all 
ages." 


— o — 


A Woman of Naphtali 


By Bro. W.J. BARCLAY, Canada 


Here is a tale of old times in language as beautiful as its theme, and so conceived as 
to enable us to recover the human scene out of which Hiram went to build Solomon's 
Temple in Jerusalem. Bro. Barclay is a native of Beith, Ayrshire, Scotland, but now 
a resident of Vancouver, B. C., Canada. During twenty years' experience as a 
journalist he contributed to many magazines, Masonic and otherwise. He was made a 
Mason in Glenwood Lodge, Souris, Manitoba; was W. M. of his lodge in 1903 and 
1904; is a member of North Vancouver Chapter, Royal Arch. Bro. Barclay 
contributes regularly to "The Square," a beautiful Masonic monthly published in 
Vancouver under the editorship of Bro. R.J. Templeton, whose work is winning an 
ever widening circle of attention. 


SHADED from the heat of the sun, an elderly woman reclined upon a couch on the 
marble verandah of a palace in the ancient city of Tyre, overlooking the entrance to 
its busy harbour. Near her, a dark-skinned slave girl stirred the air with a large fan of 
peacock plumes. Her gaze wandered over the comings and goings of the boats of 
fishermen, and over occasional merchant galleys returning from, or outward bound 



upon, those wonderful voyages of barter and adventure in far-off lonely seas, that 
made the mariners of Phenicia renowned throughout the ancient world. 


The wistful gaze of Nedoure, widow of Benaiah, centered upon a galley, deeply 
laden, making its way towards the city. She could faintly hear the crash of cymbals 
beating time for the double banks of rowers, and memories of the past - seldom, 
indeed, absent in these latter years - stirred more vividly than usual in her mind. 


Seven weary years had passed away since such a ship as this she was watching had 
toiled into the harbour, bearing homeward in its bosom the poor crushed body of her 
beloved husband, the victim of an unhappy accident. For more than a year he had 
been absent on the Island of Cyprus superintending the erection of a temple for the 
Phenician colony, for Benaiah of Tyre was a master builder who excelled in 
architectural knowledge and was skilled in the founding of brass and bronze. 


The lips of Nedoure moved inaudibly in prayer - not to Baal, or to Moloch, or even to 
the more beneficent Melcarthe, tutelary deity of Tyre. Her prayer was addressed to 
the great Jehovah of the Israelitish nation, for she was a woman of the Tribe of 
Naphtali: 


"Out of the abundance of Thy mercy, O God of my fathers, visit not the sins of their 
mother upon her children. Keep their hearts free from the pollution of idolatrous 
worship, that they may continue ever to follow in the light of Thy ways, as has been 
taught by Thy holy prophets." 


Until the death of her husband, the life of Nedoure had been a happy one; but never 
had she forgotten the anathemas hurled by the religious leaders of Israel upon those 
who married into an alien people, a practice which tended to weaken the tribal bonds 
of the great family of Jacob, and to forgetfulness of their faith in Jehovah. 



The Tyrians were a tolerant people. They were no addicted to any singular or 
unsocial form of worship. Their widespread commercial dealings led them to mingle 
with other nations without scruple or reluctance. Benaiah had never sought to change 
his wife's faith, and he had respected her anxious efforts to instil her own beliefs in 
the minds of their two children. The constant influence of a loving wife and fond 
mother had rather its reaction on himself. The creative principle which the 
Phenicians worshipped under the name of Baal; its antithesis, the destroying 
principle, which they worshipped as the fire god of Moloch; and the active, 
protecting, providential agency which regulated human affairs and was worshipped as 
Melcarthe, were recognized by his cultured mind as the probable agents of the dread 
Jehovah. 


SHE LIVES AMONG ALIENS 


Nedoure's happiness had been marred at times of introspection, when memory carried 
her back to the green hills of Naphtali. She felt she must ever remain on outcast from 
her own people, for they, had not looked with favour upon her marriage. She had 
continued faithfully to serve the God of Israel, but it was with a certain 
accommodation to her surroundings. Nor could she regard with satisfaction the future 
of her children, who were tied more closely to this land of idol worship - the land of 
their birth. A mist of tears welled into her eyes and a further prayer rose to her lips. 


The cheerful voice of her daughter, Elissa, woke the mother from her melancholy 
reverie: 


"Mother, dear, the dew of those far away fields in Naphtali thou hast so often told us 
about has fallen upon thine eyes." 


Then, turning to her brother, who had entered the verandah with her: 



"Kiss thou them dry, Hiram." 


The bearded face of her stalwart brother bent down to obey the playful command of 
his sister. 


"A mother's happiness is in the strength of her son, and in the beauty of a virtuous 
daughter." The maternal benediction of a mother of Tyre was the answer of Nedoure 
to the greeting of the loving mischievous pair who had so softly surprised her. Then, 
as she recalled the work upon which her son had been engaged that day, she asked: 


"Hast thou been successful with the great castings, Hiram?" 


"They are according to my highest expectations," he replied. 


"And when wilt thou lead thy lions to their new home?" broke in Elissa, in sisterly 
badinage. 


"When their coats shall have been groomed to a sufficient lustre by my artificers," 
answered Hiram, smilingly. And he added, "I will bargain with Megara that thou, 
Elissa, shalt be allowed to feed them every time they roar with the pain of hunger." 


The allusion was to a pair of colossal bronze lions that Hiram, son of Benaiah, had 
been commissioned by a wealthy merchant to erect as decorations on each side of the 
wide staircase that led to his palatial home. The foundry and workshops of Benaiah 
had continued to prosper under Hiram's management. But the artistry of the son had 
achieved a special distinction. The call upon his talents was constant for the 
beautifying of the temples of the gods and the luxurious homes of the merchant 
princes in that wonder city of commerce. 



"Where doth business call thee now, my son?" enquired Nedoure, the solicitude of the 
mother noting that he was dressed for some important occasion. 


"I know not, mother, if it be a matter of business. A messenger from my lord the king, 
whose name by his favour 1 bear, hath summoned me to his presence." 


"Thy father, as thou knowest, Hiram, was greatly favoured at the court. In his youth 
he had travelled in many lands and had gathered much knowledge. It was his gift to 
make live in words that which he had seen. Our lord delighted in his converse, and 
when thou wast born he bestowed his name upon thee, saying he would give it a 
double chance to live in the memories of men when the greatness of Tyre might be 
forgotten." 


"My poor sculptures will avail but little to merit such remembrance. Thou 
rememberest, mother, how my father once told us of the vast monuments that stand 
by the River of Egypt, a wonder to all beholders, but the names of their builders have 
been long forgotten." 


"The things of the heart, my son, are more enduring than mountains of stone. Fidelity 
to a trust reposed in us, even unto death, will continue in the hearts and memories of 
men unto the end of time." 


Nedoure rose and took her daughter by the hand. 


"When thou retumest, Hiram, thou shalt tell us why the King hath sent for thee. We 
are curious to learn with what new commission thy skill will be put to the test." 



Hiram took his departure, and mother and daughter entered the house. When they 
reached her apartments, Nedoure turned to her daughter: 


"An hour agone I watched a ship pass into the harbour that had a familiar look." 


"Oh, mother, has Mazaroth returned?" 


"I know not for certain, child. My mind was so full of thoughts of the past that at the 
time I was not reminded of him. If thy Mazaroth hath returned he will claim my 
consent to your marriage, and as yet my judgment wavers, for he is not of our faith. 
Nay, child, do not weep! Listen, and I will tell thee a tale of another young girl who is 
now grown old and weary." Elissa dried her tears. She sensed the tale she was about 
to hear would be the love story of her own mother. 


"In a fertile valley among the southern foothills of Lebanon," began Nedoure, after a 
pause to collect her thoughts, "dwelt this maiden with her father and an elder brother. 
It was a beautiful land that had been apportioned of old to the Tribe of Naphtali. In 
the distance could be seen the mighty crests of Lebanon cleaving the blue sky, with 
winter on their heads, spring upon their shoulders, autumn upon their sloping sides, 
and summer at their feet. Lor years the Kingdom of Israel had been torn with strife 
between the houses of Saul and David. At length David prevailed, and when he was 
crowned king at Hebron the elders of the people from among the twelve tribes were 
required to attend and render him their submission. Among the elders from Naphtali 
was the maiden's father, taking gifts to the king of com, wine, oil and fine linen. 


"On the return journey evil befell. In the midst of Israel there was one city left in 
possession of its firs inhabitants because of the covenant our father Abraham made 
with them when he purchased the Cave of Machpelah as a burial place. This was the 
city of Jebus. A band of marauders from thence attacked and scattered the little party 
of elders from the tribe of the north. The maiden's father was grievously wounded 
and left for dead by the roadside. It was the great highway by which the caravans of 
Tyre travelled to Egypt and to Elath on the Red Sea. Happily, such a caravan, 



returning to Tyre, found the wounded man. A young Tyrian builder, who had been to 
Egypt gathering knowledge of his art, was wondrously kind to him, binding his 
wounds and causing his servants to carry him on a litter. When their ways diverged, 
the young man and his servants separated from the caravan and brought the aged man 
safely to his home in the vale of Lebanon in the land of Naphtali. 


"The young Tyrian lingered in that hospitable home for many days. Sown in 
gratitude, watered with the eloquent language of the eyes, and warmed in the 
sunshine of a noble presence and pleasing address, the flower of love soon blossomed 
in the maiden's heart. The young man sought her father's consent to their marriage, 
but although he had learned to love the young man as a son, consent to the marriage 
of a daughter of Israel with a worshipper of strange gods was something to which he 
felt he could not agree. The maiden wept many bitter tears, and the young Tyrian 
departed with the old man's blessing, promising to return again. 


"Nearly a year passed away before he returned. In that time great changes had taken 
place in the maiden's home. Her aged parent had never recovered from his wounds, 
and was gathered in love and honour to his fathers. Her elder brother was now head 
of the household, and the maiden's position was very different from what it had been 
when her father lived. Disconsolate and full of sorrow, the return of the young Tyrian 
was most welcome to her in her loneliness. Her brother steadfastly refused his 
consent to their marriage, and in the end they fled to Tyre and were married according 
to Tyrian custom. 


"As thou wilt have guessed ere now, Elissa, the story is that of thy father and mother. 
Never lived a nobler man and kinder husband than he. Yet the laws of Israel are the 
commands of Jehovah. If I have offended Him in this, my tears and prayers have 
surely inclined Him towards compassion where love and duty did so conflict." 


The mother was silent. Elissa put her arms around her mother's neck and kissed her. 



"Now I understand, mother dear, thy reluctance to grant the prayer of Mazaroth. Let 
us hope the Most Holy Lord will show us that the ways of true love and obedience are 
not always divergent paths." 


"Grant it may be so, my daughter, but I have looked, and longed, and hoped for such 
vision for many years." 


HIRAM BRINGS NEWS 


Mother and daughter continued to talk for a long time together. They were at length 
interrupted by the announcement that Hiram had returned. Permission having been 
granted, he entered. It was evident from his subdued, serious manner, and from the 
glow in his dark eyes, that he was the bearer of important news. He crossed the room 
and knelt by his mother's side. 


Nedoure's face paled with foreboding that some misfortune had befallen. 


"What hath happened to thee, Hiram?" she asked, anxiously. 


"Wonderful tidings I bring, mother. Several ancient men of the Hebrew nation were 
with my lord, the King. They are bearers of a scroll from Solomon, their ruler, asking 
that a Tyrian architect be sent to erect a great temple to Jehovah at Jerusalem. My 
lord hath appointed me to undertake the work." 


"Thou! my son." 



"Even so, mother." 


"Thou art to build a temple to Jehovah at Jerusalem?" 


"The King hath so ordained." 


Nedoure regarded her son in silence as the full import of the announcement grew in 
her mind. Then returning colour suffused her features with maternal pride beyond the 
power of utterance. Embracing him as tears of happiness flowed softly down her 
cheeks, she found at length words with which to express somewhat of the fullness of 
her heart: 


"Blessed be the Name of the Lord! He honoreth the faithful among His servants. He 
justifieth those who put their trust in Him, for He hath delivered me from the reproach 
of all my people. Truly, Elissa, I see at last the vision of the two paths as one. Thou, 
Hiram, hast been reared to reverence and worship Jehovah, and thou hast the wisdom 
of building which is lacking in Israel. Seest not, my children, how the purposes of 
God are bong worked out in our lives?" 


The mother drew her daughter to her with a gesture of love: 


"Thou, too, shalt be happy, Elissa. My path hath been made straight, and mine eyes 
have been opened to the unfathomable ways of God's Providence in dealing with His 
children. Let us give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; His mercy endureth 
forever." 


— o — 



TO AN AGED BROTHER 


With folded hands you sit so quietly 
No inward seethe or outward moil I see; 

But facing toward the sunset and the stars, 

Serene you are, and helpful, too, to me. 

While still before me are the many years 
For health, for life, for love and happiness; 

Yet I, with fume and fuss, do soil the air 
With weak emotions and unquietness. 

Ah! teach me, dear old White Haired Friend, to walk, 
Ere life is dust, the calm and lowly ways; 

Not as a weakling, fretting toward the dark, 

But as a gentle servant through my days. 

- Gerald Nancarrow. 


— o — 



The Secret of the Old Operative Masons 


By Bro. P.A. FENGER, Denmark 


What is the "secret" of Freemasonry about which one hears so much? Nowadays we 
know it to be a secret in the heart, but time was, so Masonic historians believe, when 
it was a trade secret after the fashion of the secret processes that are today patented, 
copyrighted or otherwise protected by law. If so, the question remains, What was that 
trade secret? Learned works have been written in an attempt to answer the question, 
notable among which was a paper contributed to "Ars Quatuor Coronatorum" by 
Sidney Klein, to be found in Vol. XXIII, page 107. With these efforts to solve a 
problem of Masonic history the paper herewith is to be classed. Bro. Fenger is a 
consulting engineer of Copenhagen, Denmark, who has enjoyed first-hand 
opportunity to make a study of the matter dealt with. His essay was recommended for 
publication in these pages by Bro. F.J. W. Crowe, author of a number of important 
Masonic books, including the revision of Gould's "Concise History." 


THE characteristic feature of the four small London lodges which united in 1717 was 
a peculiarly severe oath of secrecy, so extraordinary and strict that those not initiated 
might well infer that the Masons were in possession of secrets of corresponding 
importance. The natural result of the presumed secret knowledge was a rapid 
increase in membership. However, as the secrets revealed in no way corresponded to 
the severity of the oath, there began a searching after and invention of mysteries of all 
kinds. 


These lodges had been operative crafts dating from the Gothic period, and the oath 
was probably formulated when these crafts were at their height. Is it possible that the 
Masons at that time had a trade secret; or did they only aim at segregating themselves 
as "a state within a state" in order to be free to keep justice and apportion their 
incomes without interference from others? 



The Constitution, of Anderson mentions geometry and architecture as the principal 
sciences of the Craft. In his paper, read Dec. 27, 1725, at the inauguration of the 
Grand Lodge of New York, Bro. Drake mentions geometry and architecture; yet in 
both cases these sciences are treated as open and no hint is made of Masons 
possessing any knowledge beyond that of well informed persons of their time. 


In elementary geometry the pupil is taught to construct a pentagon and, in connection 
therewith, also to divide a line according to the "golden cut" (sectio aurea). This 
geometric relation is expressed by the equation 

a/b = b/(a+c) which can be written as 


b = a(l+(sqrt(5))/2 = a X 1.618.... =aXq 


This relationship exists among any three consecutive members of a series of the form 


a/q( A 3) ; a/q( A 2) ; a/q; a ; a q( A 2); a q( A 3) 


Approximately the same relation is found in the following series of whole numbers in 
which each member is formed by addition of the two preceding ones 


3; 5; 8; 13; 21; 34; 55 


It is an acknowledged fact that the proportions of the "golden cut" throughout ancient 
times were considered to be of special merit, and that Greek sculptors believed 



themselves to have found them in the ideal human body. Likewise the architects of 
that age concerned themselves with this proportion. 


In the pentagram, a symbol of great importance among the Pythagoreans, this 
proportion exists among all the component parts. 


The "golden cut" was in itself not a secret but it can be maintained that in the ancient 
times mystic ideas were connected with it, and it should be noted that we possess no 
information regarding the practical use of the "cut" in architecture. Vitruvius seems 
purposely to avoid direct mention of its application. 


A MODERN INSTANCE 


About 1910 a violent dispute arose among the architects of Norway. The cathedral of 
Drontheim, erected about the year 1200, the most historic monument of the country, 
and for centuries a ruin, was to be re-erected in its original splendour; but the remains 
were so sparse and so low, that opinions regarding its original elevation, naturally, 
differed widely. 


There was perturbation when the historian, Macody Lund, asserted that the original 
design of the church could be re-constructed with certainty and exactness after a 
systematic geometric procedure. Having overcome the initial unanimous incredulity, 
this theory gradually gained adherents and its proponent finally succeeded, aided by 
subvention from his government, in setting forth his ideas and proofs in a voluminous 
treatise upon the subject. (See note 1) 


The author's principal aim was re-construction of the church in certain vertical 
proportions, the correctness of which he endeavoured to prove from faint traces in the 
ruin and by his geometric system, while his method and his opinion of the Gothic 
system is of common interest. 



His deductions are so long and intricate that we can only account for them here 
briefly. He maintains that Gothic architects based the ground plan of a church upon a 
system of large squares which, through division by four, were in turn sub-divided into 
smaller squares, so that in the ground plan all dimensions could be derived from the 
length of the side of the original square by division by 2. 


The Macody Lund system is a geometrical method which can be applied in different 
ways, so that dissimilar buildings of the same dimensions may be erected according 
to it. It must be admitted that when the architect has once settled upon the principal 
dimensions of the ground plan and the elevation, then he is no more entirely free in 
that the remaining details for the greater part naturally follow according to the rule 
but this restraint engenders the style. 


Not a small number of Danish architects agree with Macody Lund. Some have tried 
with success to design according to his system. They do not regard this system as 
merely a possible one, but rather the essential element - the backbone - of Gothic 
architecture. They ascribe the failure of modern Gothic buildings to the fact that the 
architects have designed with a free hand, ignoring the support and restraint of this 
system. 


If we agree with be supposition that the Gothic architects used such a geometrical 
system, then we must also agree with the two following: 


1 . Most of the artisans were initiated in this system. Each artisan was not necessarily 
acquainted with the chief dimensions of the great cathedral, the erection of which 
lasted more than a century, but the system was equally applied to details, such as 
windows, carved chair backs and reliquaries - objects entirely left to the execution of 
the artisans. 



2. Both the architects and the artisans have kept the system a secret. There are no 
written accounts extant (note 2) and it is not known that a textbook of dimensions has 
ever existed. The system has been kept so secret that to this day, its existence could 
be denied. As witnesses only the buildings remain on whose stones are carved the 
pentagrams. 


WAS THIS THE SECRET OF THE OLD CRAFTS? 


The Masonic Craft knew the Gothic system and esteemed it of great importance to 
keep it secret. 


The oath of secrecy which has been preserved is formulated so that it not only forbids 
members to reveal to the uninitiated what they may learn, but it also forbids them to 
write about it or to draw it, not even for their own use in the Craft. This is quite to be 
understood for indeed the system could hardly be revealed to a non-initiated merely 
through uncautiousness or loquacity. Nothing but a written explanation with 
drawings and examples of its use and importance - by its mere existence - could be of 
danger. 


About 1500 the building of Gothic churches ceased and other styles of architecture 
followed, in which the system was not used. The old customs of the Craft, including 
the oath of secrecy, were conscientiously preserved. Even if the older members might 
have mentioned the system sometimes, it was of no interest to the younger generation 
and naturally the system became quite forgotten, when the architects no longer gave 
instruction in it and the artisans no longer applied it. 


In London the period preceding 1717 was one of absolute stagnation with regard to 
building, and the four lodges united because their membership being so diminished, 
one lodge was insufficient to celebrate a festival in a befitting manner. 



Till now the members had preserved the customs and the oath, but in their minds the 
latter applied only to the ceremonies. The fact that the (Craft, two hundred years ago, 
had been in possession of a trade secret, at that time of the utmost importance, had 
entirely disappeared from memory and tradition, because their forefathers - true to 
their oath - had never confided it to paper. 


Note 1. - Bro. Macody Lund. Ad Quadratum. A/S Nelge Erickson Forlag, Kristiania 
1919. - English translation published by B.T. Batssford. See also: Macody Lund. 

Alb. Cammermeyers Forlag, Kristiania 1917. 


Note 2. - The only exception is: Beltrami. Annuali della fabbrica del duoms di 
Milano. 1877. 


— o — 


THE HOPI SUN SHIELD 


The symbolical rites and ceremonies of primitive man are still in use here and there in 
the world, some of them, as the following will show, at our very doors. The Hopi 
Indians are an agricultural people of Arizona who maintain their old religious usages, 
most of which are built up about the planting and reaping of their crops. Permission 
was granted to publish here an explanation of their principal symbol, The Sun Shield 
by the Fred Harvey Company of Kansas City. An examination of these paragraphs 
will show how the unsophisticated mind makes use of symbolism, a subject of never 
dying interest to Masons. 


The Hopi live in seven isolated towns perched on three almost inaccessible mesas in 
northeastern Arizona - a semidesert region with seemingly endless open spaces, 



where hardy desert plants do their best to cover the nakedness of the country. Along 
the creeks there are a few cottonwoods and on the mesas some juniper and pinyon 
trees, while in the sheltered places some rare and beautiful flowers are found. 


The occasional rainfall sinks almost immediately into the sandy wastes, so there are 
no flowing rivers in Hopi-land, and springs - the most valued of all the Hopi's 
possessions - are few and far between. 


Here in this land of little rain the Hopi have planted their fields, set up their altars, 
and with fervent supplication to their many gods have wrestled unceasingly with the 
desert for a living. Out of its rocks they have built their houses, with the fibers of its 
plants and skins of its animals they have clothed themselves; of its clay they have 
moulded their pottery and with its grasses woven baskets of wonderful design. 


The Hopi are solely an agricultural people; their very existence depends on the plants 
of the earth. Every spot on the desert where moisture lingers long enough to mature a 
crop of corn or beans or melons is cultivated and protected from seed time to harvest 
against the desert's ever - shifting sands - an eternal battle with nature, a never - 
ceasing prayer for rain! 


Such conditions naturally shape the religious beliefs of a primitive people, causing 
them to deify the elements. So the Hopi have their gods of wind and rain, of thunder 
and lightning; of sunshine and storm; of famine and plenty. 


In their ceremonials these mythical deities are represented by masked dancers, called 
Katcinas. The symbol representing each deity is painted on the masks and the dancers 
are thereby supposed to be transformed into the deities themselves, who act as 
intercessors between the people and their still higher gods. 



The Sun - Shield is used in the Soyaluna ceremony, which is celebrated during the 
month of December. In charge of the Soyal Fraternity, the largest religious 
organization in Hopi-land, this nine - days' ceremonial is a supplication to the Sun 
God to pause in his southern flight and return to the pueblos. Many Bahos or prayer - 
sticks are consecrated in the ceremony, after which they are put in corrals that their 
stock may increase, tied to fruit trees to produce bountiful crops, and placed in 
springs to insure an abundant water supply. 


The Sun - Shield is the most important symbol in the Soyaluna ceremony, for the Sun 
God is the All - Powerful deity of Hopi mythology. The colors in the shield have a 
symbolic meaning: yellow represents the north, green the west, red the south, white 
the east, and black the heavens. Thus is depicted the entire Hopi universe. 


— o — 


The Seven-Branched Candlestick 

By Bro. C.C. HUNT, Associate Editor, Iowa 


A BROTHER writes as follows: 


"Our Grand Chapter insists on the display of the seven-branched candlestick in the 
M.E. Degree in the Royal Arch. I have read carefully I Kings, II Chronicles and 
Josephus. I can find nowhere where it is mentioned in the Temple of King Solomon, 
but in front of the veil before the Holy of Holies the ten golden candlesticks 
connected by golden chains are mentioned. Josephus in Book VIII, Chapter 4, page 
79, tells of Nebuzaradan taking from the temple the golden candlesticks (plural). In 
the Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1 1th edition, Vol. XXVI, page 606, is mentioned ten 
golden candlesticks, properly lampstands. Page 607 of the same volume mentions 
one golden candlestick near the table for shewbread in the sanctuary. In the Royal 
Arch Degree a tabernacle is where the Council meets and naturally Zerubbabel would 



imitate as far as possible the seven-branched candlestick made by Moses by the 
command of God. 


"Now it strikes me that maybe this difference occurs from the fact that Solomon built 
a temple, whereas Moses and Zerubbabel only worshipped in a tabernacle. Can you 
enlighten me? Of course, what Grand Chapter orders must be done, but still it may be 
in error. Sorry to bother you with all this, but I would like to know how I stand. As 
far as the working of the M.E. Degree is concerned, it cuts very little figure. Mackey 
in his Encyclopedia says: 'In the tabernacle, the seven-branched candlestick was 
placed opposite the table of shewbread. What became of it between the time of 
Moses and that of Solomon is unknown, but it does not appear to have been present in 
the first Temple. In Masonry it seems to have no symbolic meaning, unless it be the 
general one of light.'" 


The use of the seven-branched candlestick in the Most Excellent Degree is correct 
according to the General Grand Chapter ritual, and has, I believe, an important 
symbolical reference in the work of that degree. The Temple plan followed that of 
the Tabernacle very closely. We are told in our Masonic work that the Tabernacle 
was the model for King Solomon's Temple. The Temple, of course, permitted greater 
elaboration than the Tabernacle, but the same general plan was followed. 


The directions for the Tabernacle were given to Moses in the mountain. (Exodus, 
Chapters 25 to 31.) These directions included the form by which the candlestick was 
to be made, and Moses was enjoined to see that he followed the pattern there given 
him. (Exodus 25: 40.) The actual work of making the candlestick was entrusted to 
Bezaleel (Exodus 31:2-8) and the office was duly performed by him. (Exodus 37:17- 
24.) The candlestick was to be placed on the south side of the table of shewbread 
(Exodus 26:35) and lighted by night only. (Exodus 30:8. 1 Samuel 3:3.) Caldecott 
says: "When the light of day was no longer able to find its way into the Temple, 
owing to the double doors and the partition, ten such candlesticks were made, of 
which five were placed on either side of the Holy Place." 



Schaff-Herzog's Encyclopedia says: 


"In Solomon's temple, instead of one candelabrum there were ten upon golden tables - 
five on the north and five on the south side of the Holy Place. The larger number 
fitted the larger space and the greater pomp of the worship (I Kings vii. 49). The 
Chaldaeans carried them to Babylon (Jer. lii. 9). In the second temple there was only 
one candlestick (Eccluc. xxvi. 17; 'as the clear light is upon the holy candlestick, so is 
the beauty of the face in ripe age'). Antiochus Epiphanes removed it (I Macc. i. 21), 
and Judas Maccabaeus restored it (Mace. iv. 49); and it remained in Herod's temple 
until the destruction of Jerusalem, when Titus carried it to Rome, and it figured in his 
triumphal procession and was sculptured upon his arch, although it would seem not 
altogether accurately (Joseph, War, VII. 5, 5). It was then deposited in the Temple of 
Peace. According to one account it fell into the Tiber from the Milvian Bridge during 
the flight of Maxentius from Constantine, Oct. 28, 312; but the usually accredited 
story is that it was taken to Carthage by Genseric, 455 (Gibbon iii. 291), recovered by 
Belisarius, transferred to Constantinople, and then respectfully deposited in the 
Christian Church of Jerusalem 533 (id. iv. 24). Nothing more has been heard of it." 
(Page 384.) 


Such, in brief, is the history of the golden candlestick. 


Referring to the letter of inquiry noted above, it would seem to be the opinion of the 
writer that the ten golden candlesticks of the Temple were different in form from that 
used in the Tabernacle, but such was not the case. In II Chronicles, 4:7, we find the 
statement, "He made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form." The revised 
version translates this "according to the ordinances concerning them." Another 
translation gives it "according to the form which they were commanded to be made 
by." The ordinances concerning them are found in Exodus 25:31-40, which gives the 
form used in the Tabernacle, and therefore the same form must have been followed 
for the candlesticks used in the Temple. It would also seem that there were ten tables 
of shewbread (II Chron, 4:8). 



In I Chronicles, 28: 15, reference is made to the "candlesticks of gold and their lamps 
of gold." - "Each candlestick and the lamps thereof." Notice the plural "lamps" with 
each candlestick. Notice also in II Chronicles 28: 16, reference to the tables of 
shewbread. Thus it will be seen that there is no reason why the seven-branched 
candlestick should not be used in the Most Excellent Degree as well as in the Royal 
Arch. It is not necessary to duplicate the elaborate furniture of the Temple in our 
Most Excellent Degree. The single table and candlestick of the Tabernacle and the 
second Temple has the same symbolism as the ten of the first Temple. 


There is no discrepancy in the references from the Encyclopedia Brittanica. The ten 
golden candlesticks mentioned on page 607 of Vol. XXVI refer to the Temple, 
whereas the single golden candlestick mentioned on page 607 refers to Zerubbabel's 
Temple. I might also say that the Jewish Encyclopedia claims that the reference to 
ten candlesticks in Jeremiah and in Kings is an interpolation. If that is the case it is 
probable that it is an interpolation in Chronicles, also. 


I do not agree with Mackey in stating that the candlestick has no symbolic meaning in 
Masonry. It is true that no symbolic meaning is attached to it in the ritual, but the 
very fact that it is used as part of the furniture of the degree indicates that it has the 
same symbolism there that it had in its place in the Temple, which is, that the seven 
lights represent the seven planets, which, regarded as the eyes of God, behold 
everything. The light in the center signifies the sun, the chief of the planets. The 
other six planets represented by the three lamps on each side of the central light are 
Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus was first recognized as a 
planet by Sir William Herschel in 1781 A. D. and the earth was looked upon as 
receiving light from the planets instead of being considered a planet itself. 


The seven-branched candlestick was especially holy, and it was forbidden to make 
copies of it for general purposes. For other purposes than that of its place in the 
Temple the branches must be five, six, or eight, etc., instead of seven. 


The fourth chapter of Zechariah gives a symbolical meaning to the seven-branched 
candlestick which is very appropriate to our chapter work. In fact, part of this very 



chapter is quoted in the work of the degrees. From this chapter, taken in connection 
with other passages from the Bible, it will be seen that the seven-branched candlestick 
represents a stone with seven eyes, and the seven lamps are the seven eyes of the 
Lord. With these eyes He sees the plummet in the hands of Zerubbabel. "They are 
the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth." (See also II 
Chron. 16:9.) 


It is not by might nor by power that Zerubbabel is to accomplish his great task of 
rebuilding the Temple, but by the spirit of the Lord overseeing his work through these 
eyes. In Revelation, the Lamb of God is likened to the seven-branched candlestick, 
"having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into 
all the earth." 


It has been thought by some that the words of Christ, "I am the light of the world," 
were suggested by the seven-branched candlestick of the Temple, but it is more likely 
that he was simply referring to the prophecies concerning the Messiah and of which it 
may be the candlestick was the symbol. How fitting it is that this candlestick, the 
symbol of the spirit of the Lord and the light of His countenance shining upon us 
through His eyes, beholding and encouraging us in the noble and glorious work of 
fitting ourselves as living stones for the spiritual building which is to be our eternal 
dwelling place, should have a place in the ceremonies of the Most Excellent Master's 
Degree, the sign which symbolizes the completion of that work and the dedication of 
the Temple to the service of the only true and living God! 


— o — 


A STRIKING INCIDENT IN ENGLISH FREEMASONRY 


WHEN a few months since it was announced that the Marquess of Zetland had 
resigned the office of Provincial Grand Master for North and East Yorkshire, which 
he had held since 1874, much anxiety was experienced by the members of the 
province, which, since its formation in 1817. Has been in the successive charge of the 



first, second and third Earls of Zetland, the last - named having been created first 
Marquess. Anxiety gave place to gratitude when it was announced that the Grand 
Master, the Duke of Connaught, had been pleased to appoint as successor to the 
Marquess his eldest son the Earl of Ronaldshay, thus preserving a succession 
unparalleled in the annals of English Masonic history. Although Lord Ronaldshay has 
succeeded to a position to which he might be considered entitled by heredity and 
tradition, his appointment has not been determined on these grounds alone. He 
possesses special qualifications for Masonic rulership. During the five years he was 
Governor of Bengal he was District Grand Master of an area greater than that of the 
United Kingdom and bad jurisdiction over brethren of varied races and religions. As 
long since as 1910 he was appointed Senior Grand Warden of England and last May 
he succeeded Lord Bolton as Grand Superintendent of Royal Arch Masonry in North 
and East Yorkshire. 


The ceremony was carried out by Lord Ampthill, Pro - Grand Master, who brought 
with him a personal message from the Grand Master who desired him to tell the 
brethren how warmly and gratefully he appreciated the services rendered by Lord 
Zetland, who for half a century had been not only a pillar of strength to Freemasonry 
but also one of the most conspicuous ornaments to their great society. They were 
fortunate in having had, said Lord Ampthill, such a Provincial Grand Master and, 
speaking as the representative of Grand Lodge, it was a source of pride that one who 
is so highly and justly esteemed should have been for so long a time among the 
principal rulers of the Craft in England. They thanked Lord Zetland for the services 
he had rendered to Freemasonry, by his earnestness and zeal, by his wisdom and 
justice, but, above all, by his high example in public and private life. Particularly did 
they hope that T.C.A.O.T.U. would spare him to see his son carrying on the traditions 
of his rule and those which his distinguished ancestors had maintained in the Craft for 
more than a hundred years, bringing those traditions to higher stages of progress, 
towards the realization of the ideals for which Freemasonry exists, and adding further 
lustre to the splendid and unequalled services to Freemasonry of the House of 
Dundas. 


Dudley Wright. 



"In its early history Freemasonry everywhere applied the unlimited resources of 
architectural skill to developing divine ideas through symbolized stone. Operative 
Masonry erected to God the grandest temples on earth, and filled them with aspiring 
pilasters and mystic arches. Freemasonry worked out in granite blocks the thoughts 
and aspirations of the middle ages. Popular imagination found its correct exponent 
and religion conveyed its most impressive lessons of faith and submission in these 
works of art. No other means could so accurately evoke that Christian emotional 
element underlying the rude and rugged character of social life at this period. The 
single object which presented itself to the Masonic architect was to find suitable 
expression for the heart yearnings and moral aspirations of the people. This purpose 
was pursued with a persistent zeal which resulted in art productions of wondrous 
beauty and uniformity. So long as architects realized the anticipations of the middle 
ages, so long as Freemasonry, through the erection of superb edifices, furnished an 
adequate outlet for national ideas, just that long Masonry continued to create 
extensive temples of worship, and preserved a vigorous existence as an operative 
science. When, however, popular thought found expression by means of printing 
presses, church architecture began immediately to retrograde and with it Operative 
Masonry rapidly declined, and then many of the abstruse and abstract principles of 
the building art were totally lost.” - Victor Hugo. 


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Among the Cedars of Lebanon: How "The Cedar Grove" Was Organized 


By Bro. WALTER BOOTH ADAMS, M.A., M.D., Syria 


Many of our readers will have in memory the delightful paper by Bro. Dr. Adams, 
published in this journal, April, 1923, page 108. When asked "to write some more," 
he responded with the following account of sociable activities among Masons, "their 
wives and sweethearts" in far away Syria. Members of the "Tall Cedars" will be 
especially interested to read how "The Cedar Grove" came to be established in sight 
of the Cedars of Lebanon. 



Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon, 
Down with me from Lebanon to sail upon the sea; 

The ship is wrought of ivory, the decks of gold, and thereupon 
Are sailors singing bridal songs and waiting to cast free. 

Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon 
The rowers there are ready and will welcome thee with shouts 
The sails are silken and scarlet, cut and sewn in Babylon, 

The Scarlet of the painted lips of women thereabouts. 

And there for thee is spikenard, calamus and cinnamon, 
Pomegranates and frankincense and flagons full of wine 
And cabins carved in cedar wood that came from scented Lebanon 
And all the ship and singing crew and rowers there are shine. 

Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon 
They're hauling up the anchor and but tarrying there for thee; 

The boatswain's whistling for a wind, a wind to blow from Lebanon 
A wind from scented Lebanon to blow them out to sea. 


-I.C. 



THE key of F seems to fit your song; while I am away up in G." I remarked to three 
custom house officers on the dock just as was embarking the last time to travel East 
again to my Syrian home. "The badge looks Masonic," I said, "the square and 
compasses are there on a blue field, but I don't understand that 'F' in place of the 'G'." 
All three officers opened their wallets and drew out their credentials as I did the same; 
and they explained that the "F" stood for "Federal." In other words, there were about 
500 Masons in the Federal service who were thus united in a club for mutual help and 
as "a play - ground" for themselves and their families. It was a new one to me. "The 
Syrian Grotto," whose badge I saw often, interested me for I have spent thirty - three 
years of my life in Syria; while the Crescent and Sword of "The Shriners" had been 
familiar to me long before I traveled East, this "play - ground of freezing point," as 
one called the thirty - two degrees. These associations of Masons I was familiar with, 
but "The Tall Cedars" I did not know of until a year ago when I was telling Judge 
Dawkins of Baltimore of our Cedar Grove while home on an excursion, and he 
remarked, "That is singular. I am a Tall Cedar," and he fished from his pocket a 
button bearing a cedar tree. And soon after we read of President Harding being 
received into "The Tall Cedars." Our name was quite independent of the association 
in America. We knew not of it when we organized. 


On my arrival in Syria, where I have taught in the medical school of The America 
University of Beirut since 1890, 1 had much amusement in putting certain questions 
to my Syrian colleagues whom I knew had been members of our Craft many years, 
whereas I had taken my obligations while on my furlough in the home land. But that 
is another story. My American friends, members of the Fraternity, were also pleased 
and surprised, for a little mental arithmetic will show that I am not as young as I used 
to be; but at any rate, as the women voters say, "I'm over 21." 


About ten days after our return we were invited to the summer home in Lebanon of 
one of the American residents of Beirut to celebrate his birthday. Soon after our 
arrival several other cars came and discharged their loads of professors, instructors, 
Near East Relief workers, and business men, with their wives, head nurses in the 
American hospital and other young ladies who were the daughters or sisters of 
Masons. We were a jolly party. We all soon found an appetite; for it was so great and 
delightful a change from the warm sea coast city to the delicious coolness of a 
Lebanon village 2500 feet above that beautiful blue sea. We followed our guide out 



into the garden where little tables were scattered about among the profusion of 
flowers, while overhead were hung strings of gay Japanese lanterns of many hues. 
Just as we were seated and thanks had been returned to the Great Giver of all, and our 
host had announced that it was "an automat banquet" and the men would wait on the 
ladies, the great, golden, full moon rose over a shoulder of one of Lebanon's peaks 
and shed her beauty on the scene. The ladies in summer dress, the flowers, growing 
and cut, the great and lesser lights, and the food, and perhaps more than all the 
comraderie and goodfellowship made it a memorable scene. 


As the latest initiate and one just back from the home land I was asked to make a 
speech. No Masonic banquet, at any rate no American one, would be complete 
without "a few remarks." So while chewing on the chicken salad and other good 
things I chewed on an idea that popped into my head while 1 fletcherized. It was this, 
and I proceeded to develop the idea when called to my feet: "This is too delightful an 
occasion not to be perpetuated. We have found ourselves and each other and the 
finding has been good. Let us 'do the American act' and organize, and so make this a 
regular thing on St. John's day in June and on the other St. John's day in December. 
Now since Beirut is included in the Lebanon, famous for its Cedars more than for 
anything else, and since many of us have enjoyed most delightful periods of 
refreshment in camping in the various groves of the Cedars of Lebanon, suppose we 
call our little informal, joyous association 'The Cedar Grove.' Let us have a chairman 
to summon the conclaves and a secretary - treasurer to manage the arrangements." 


The chairman has since been called "The Tall Cedar," and that happens to be now my 
office, and the secretary - treasurer is "The Little Cedar." And the ladies, bless 'em, 
we have called them "Cones" as they are borne on the branches of the trees and are 
the mothers of small cedars yet to be planted! A rising vote and it was made so, and 
we took some more ice cream all 'round! I can not make you realize the balmy 
coolness of that air, cool without any chill in it - unless you may live in California. 


THE SECOND CONCLAVE 



Our second conclave was in the same hospitable home, in the Christmas vacation this 
time. We made it a basket picnic, but our hostess also provided hot viands and coffee. 
How good it was to sit in a nearly complete circle before that blazing open fire! What 
roses they brought back in their cheeks those who in the afternoon had climbed to the 
top of Aleih rhountain! What appetites we had! How beautiful was the Christmas tree 
in the great bay window bearing a gift for each one of us! And the songs, the 
speeches, the stories! And the moon! Shone it ever so brightly as we glided down 
Lebanon to our homes in flivvers and automobiles over the beautiful Damascus road? 
That second conclave assured us that "The Cedar Grove" had taken root and was a 
living thing. 


The third conclave was last summer - an afternoon on the shore, a supper and a 
moonlight swim in the sea at Dubeiyeh, where are the waterworks that pump the 
supply to the city of Beirut. Mr. von Heidenstam - our half Swedish and half Scotch 
friend - and his English wife were our hosts in their beautiful garden by the sea. The 
tables were spread under arching trees with blooming rose bushes all about us and in 
our ears the Flashing fountain mingling its note with the murmuring sea. 


Several new saplings were planted in "The Grove" - in other words, we received 
some new members with a pretty ceremony into the association. 


The situation of Dubeiyeh is wonderful. We looked across St. George's Bay, where 
that chivalrous knight is said to have slain the dragon, to the ancient city of Beirut on 
a hilly promontory jutting some five miles out into the Mediterranean. "Ancient," I 
say, and it is. A clay letter from the governor of Beirut to the predecessor of the now 
world famous Tut Ankhamen was found at Tel el Amarna, Egypt, several years ago, 
and that letter was written 3500 years ago. How much older this city is than that we 
do not know. And behind the little town of Dubeiyeh rises the Dog River promontory 
on which are inscribed tablets with the names and achievements of various 
conquerors who have gone over that barrier on the coastal road from 
Nebuchadnezzar, yes, and Kings earlier than he, and Egyptian Pharaohs, and Arab 
conquerors, down to Lord Allenby in 1918 - his tablet is there, too. But I am dipping 
into archeology and am on the edge of history. My only excuse is that both are all 
about us, in the air we breathe in this land, whether we are at our ordinary avocations 
or at refreshment in "The Cedar Grove." 



o 


FREEMASONRY IN CIVIL WAR TIMES 


During the Civil War the Hartford and the little Albatross ran the blockade of Port 
Hudson, and took up the patrol of the Mississippi River between Vicksburg and Port 
Hudson, two strongly fortified points on the river. During that patrol the commanding 
officer of the Albatross, Lieutenant Commander John E. Hart, was killed in action. It 
was thought impossible to send his body either up or down the river, and his ship - 
mates did not want to bury his body in the river; so a flag of truce was sent ashore to 
the little town of Saint Francisville to search for brother Masons and to secure their 
good offices to give the dead captain a Masonic funeral. Two Masons, brothers 
named White, looked up the Master of the nearest lodge (S. J. Powell, afterwards 
Grand Master) who was serving in a cavalry regiment (Confederate) who, with a 
competent number, buried Captain Hart with Masonic honors. Service was also held 
in the Episcopal church. The body was buried in the Masonic lot, and the grave 
marked. Bro. Hart was a member of St. George's Lodge in Schenectady, N. Y. He 
entered the Naval Academy in 1841 and was graduated in 1845. 


Geo. W. Baird. 


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The Interlaced Triangles 

By Bro. DUDLEY WRIGHT, Associate Editor, England 



THE interlaced triangles - one of the emblems of the Holy Royal Arch - is one of the 
most ancient symbols in the world. It has been found on the Cave of Elephanta, on 
the great image of Deity; it is the Brahmanic symbol of "The Angel of the Presence"; 
the Hindus employed it as a means of protection; it was found at Ghunzee, on the 
wall of the temple; it was in common use among the Jews; it was employed in 
Gnostic symbolism; the Moslems used it on the coinage of Morocco, date Anno 
Hegira; it has been found on medallions in Normandy and Brittany; discovered on the 
breasts of Knights Templar, on their recumbent effigies in their priories; not long 
since it was found in a Galilean synagogue in Palestine of the Roman period; it is part 
of the ornamentation of some English cathedrals (notably Lincoln and Lichfield) and 
churches; and it has been discovered on innumerable monuments of bygone ages 
among all nations and religions. It is a common symbol in Asia at the present day. 
Drummond Hay describes it as an ornament in a Moorish harem in the form of a 
chandelier - a brass frame consisting of two intersecting triangles. He also found it in 
a synagogue, in front of the recess wherein the Ark was deposited, the lighted lamp 
being in a gigantic glass tumbler held within a brazen frame, formed to represent the 
two intersected triangles. 


To the Jew it was a symbol of the Sephiroth; to the Moslem, of the Deity; while to the 
Christian, it represented the Creator in the capacity of Mediator, working out the 
redemption of humanity under two natures. It appears in every religious system that 
came under Semitic influence and was used by the Kabbalists to illustrate their 
doctrine of Perfect Consciousness or Synthesis. Among the Jews also it was used as 
an amulet, the center being left blank for the inscription of a short prayer; it was 
essential for its efficacy that the diagram should be graven on parchment and, when 
completed, worn on the left side. It was said to be efficacious in fathering all 
business enterprises. It was also used by Jewish women as an amulet for protection in 
childbirth, in which case the Hebrew letters of the verse "For unto us a child is bom" 
were scattered promiscuously in five of the outer triangles, leaving the top right-hand 
triangle blank. It also protected the lying-in mother and her child against witchcraft, 
the evil eye and demons, and explicit directions for its use are given in the Book of 
Raziel, where its authorship is ascribed to Adam. 


Eliphas Levi calls it the "Seal of Solomon," but the Seal of Solomon is the pentalpha, 
or pentagram - five-pointed star, which tradition says Solomon employed in calling 
up demons. Levi did not mean this, for he describes the emblem to which he refers as 
"the interlaced triangles; the erect triangle of flame color, the inversed triangle 



colored blue. In the center space there may be drawn a Tau cross and three Hebrew 
yods, or a crux ansata or ankh, or the triple Tau of the Arch Masons. He who with 
intelligence and will is armed with this emblem has need of no other thing; he should 
be all-potent, for this is the perfect sign of the Absolute." It also appears as a magical 
implement in The Magus or Celestial Intelligencer, by Francis Barrett, published in 
1801. Bro. Rev. Stewart Stitt in his pamphlet on Maldivian Talismans says that "with 
the sun in the center of the circle (inscribed in the center) and the other six planets 
placed in a particular order on the points of the triangles, it was meant to signify the 
solar system. Each of the seven planets represented not only certain sounds, numbers, 
colors, mental qualities, and metals, but also the different features of the countenance 
of the One Ruler of that system, while the signs of the zodiac belonging to each, in 
their turn, represented the various organs of the body." 


THE JEWS CALL IT THE MAGEN DAVID 


Among the Jews the emblem is known as the Magen David, or the Shield of David, 
the word Magen meaning "shield," or protection; and one writer in a recent issue of 
the Jewish Guardian (London, England) - which has kindly given permission for the 
reproduction of the following illustration - backing his theory on Isaiah XI, 2, 
describes it as a heavenly sparkling star, representing the six potent qualities 
possessed by King Hezekiah. 


He says that when the prophecy of Isaiah was distorted by those who interpreted it 
wrongly, attempts were made to exterminate the sons of Jacob and the Hebrew 
religion; they were burnt at the stake together with their books containing their 
traditions. It was then that they were compelled to conceal the significant meaning of 
this emblem, the Magen David, with its six points, in order that it should survive in 
times of horror: thus that emblem has remained mysterious. Another writer suggests 
that it was the signature or seal of King David. It may be mentioned here that it was 
used as a seal, both to official and personal documents by Sir Robert Moray, the first 
known initiate into Freemasonry on English soil, which took place in the seventeenth 
century five years prior to the initiation of Elias Ashmole. 



The emblem was frequently engraven upon synagogues and sacred vessels until its 
use was prohibited by the late Chief Rabbi, Dr. Hermann Adler. It was adopted as a 
device by the American Jewish Publication Society in 1873; by the first Zionist 
Congress at Basle and its official organ; by a well-known firm of Palestinian wine 
merchants; by various Red Cross Societies; and by the Jewish quasi-Masonic Order 
of the Shield of David. 


The Jewish view of God which permitted no images of Him was and is opposed to the 
acceptance of any emblems or symbols and neither the Bible nor the Talmud 
recognize their existence. The Magen David is not mentioned in Rabbinical literature, 
says a writer in the Jewish Encyclopedia, and, therefore, probably did not originate 
within Rabbinism, which was the official and dominant Judaism for more than two 
thousand years. Yet a Magen David was discovered on a Jewish tombstone at 
Tarentum in southern Italy of a probable date of the third century C.E. Its first 
mention in a Jewish work is in the Eshkol-ka-hofer of Judah Hadassi in the twelfth 
century, and it there states that the sign called "David's Shield" is placed beside each 
of the names of the seven angels, Michael, Gabriel, etc. 


HEMMING IS QUOTED 


Hemming, in his Masonic Lectures, says that "the hexagon is composed of six 
equilateral triangles, is equal in all its relations, and retains the quality of being 
infinitely divisible into similar triangles, according to the geometrical projection 
observed in the divisions of the trilateral figure, and may, therefore, be considered as 
the most perfect of all multilateral forms. From a general inquiry it will result that the 
three most perfect of all geometrical diagrams are the equilateral triangle, the square, 
and the equal hexagon." 


La Pluche also says that "the second natural division of the circle is made by this 
radius, the measure of which, being transferred into the half circumference with the 
compasses, always cuts it into three, or, if transferred upon the whole circle, divides it 
absolutely into six equal portions, which is an introduction to a multitude of other no 
less certain divisions, and innumerable proportions between great and small figures." 



The hexad was considered by all nations as a sacred figure because of the creation of 
the world in six days. The six points of the interlaced triangles among the 
Pythagoreans denoted health and were described as "the consistence of a form." The 
two intersecting triangles were also regarded as emblems of creation and redemption, 
fire and water, prayer and remission, repentance and forgiveness, life and death, 
resurrection and judgment. It signified perfection of parts, because it is the only 
number under ten which is whole and equal in its divisions. Pliny and other ancient 
naturalists endeavoured in vain to assign a reason for nature's preference for a hexad 
in the crystal. It was an ancient symbol of marriage, because it was formed by the 
multiplication of three, the male; with two, the female number. 


— o — 


THE MAGIC WORDS 


ONCE upon a time there lived an Oriental Potentate who imagined himself afflicted 
with a fatal malady. At first the greater, then the lesser, doctors were summoned, each 
of whom, in succession, upon his failure to cure, was beheaded. Finally the obscure 
Dr. X was summoned; after an exhaustive examination he pronounced the malady 
indeed serious and all but incurable, yet there was one remedy that would cure - the 
Monarch must wear the shirt of a happy man. This seemed indeed simple but in fact 
proved most difficult; months and even years elapsed and yet no one was found who 
had not some shadow in his life. The search continued; at last a happy-go-lucky 
tramp was found - he knew not the meaning of care, sorrow, suffering or want. In 
triumph he was conducted before the Ruler, who cried, 'I must have your shirt' - then 
the rogue, with peals of laughter, replied, 'Majesty, I have none.'" 


A concrete thing is often beyond the reach of the poor. Not so with happiness, which 
is abstract; there is plenty to go around - the more that prevails the more there seems 
in reserve. Happiness is blithe and winsome and at every step she throws herself in 
our path, waiting for us to take her into our embrace. What a lovely creature and how 



ready is she to be wooed and won! Why then so difficult? Is hot the fault with 
ourselves? 


The miser exults in ecstasy at his hoarded gold; he thinks himself happy. May we not 
liken the miser's happiness to the coarse daub of the crude artist as compared to the 
finished work of genius? Is not the fault ours if we cannot win this beauteous bride? 

A bride in waiting for everyone, only you must know how to woo. You cannot win 
this prize by direct action; human history is strewn with the wreckage of those who 
have thus tried to win her. 


But there is a royal road; it is broad and straight and the carpet is soft and smooth. I 
have the wondrous secret; these are the magic words: Morality, Charity and Brotherly 
Love - look again and you will see they spell "HAPPINESS". 


Jacob Hecht. 


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Great Men Who Were Masons 
Robert R. Livingston 


By Bro. GEO. W. BAIRD, P. G. M., District of Columbia 


ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, better known as Chancellor Livingston, came from an 
old and famous family. His father was a very well known man, so also was his 
brother Edward, who was a politician of note and in 1 801 - 02 - 03 was District 
Deputy Grand Master of New York. Chancellor Livingston was Grand Master of the 



Grand Lodge of New York from 1784 until 1800 inclusive, this being the first Grand 
Mastership of the Grand Lodge of the state of New York strictly so - called, for the 
former Grand Body was in reality a Provincial Grand Lodge. Robert R. Livingston 
was but 38 years of age when he first became Grand Master. He had been Worshipful 
Master of the old Union Lodge under the English constitution in 1771, a lodge which 
appears to have suspended its labor during the War of the Revolution. 


Livingston was bom in New York in 1746 and died at Clermont, N. Y., March 26, 
1813. The state of New York placed a statue of him in the Capitol at Washington, D. 
C., as one of the two most representative citizens of the state; the other 1 being George 
Clinton. He was educated in Kings College, afterwards Columbia College, | where he 
graduated in 1765, and was admitted to the bar in 1773. He formed a partnership with 
the famous John Jay. For a time he held the office of recorder for New York, but 
resigned in order to take part in the War of the Revolution. He was elected a member 
of the State Assembly from Duchess County and later was elected a member of the 
United States Congress. He was placed on the committee to draw up the Declaration 
of Independence, the other members being Franklin, Jefferson, Adams and Sherman. 
In 1777 he was made Chancellor of the state of New York; upon this he resigned his 
seat in Congress, but was again elected to that body later. Under the United States 
Confederation he was for three years Secretary of Foreign Affairs. 


When Chancellor of the State, it was his good fortune to administer the oath of office 
to General George Washington, as first President of the new nation, at which time 
Livingston was Grand Master of Masons in the state of New York. In 1801 he was 
sent as Commissioner to Prance, when Napoleon I was first consul; it was one of the 
most interesting and critical periods in the history of France, but Livingston was an 
ideal representative of his country and acquitted himself with honor in his difficult 
position. 


At the moment when there was much desire on the part of the French to cultivate 
friendly relations with the American Republic, Fivingston opened the negotiations 
which resulted in the Louisiana purchase. It was a grand coup! Livingston's 
negotiations made it possible for our nation to come into possession of that immense 
territory west of the Mississippi River extending almost to the Sierras, and all this for 
only fifteen million dollars! This made it unnecessary to build the canal projected by 



President Washington from the Potomac to the Ohio River, for the Louisiana 
purchase gave the nation an outlet to the Gulf of Mexico. 


Livingston had a vision of the possibilities and future of the United States almost as 
clear and as far - reaching as that of Washington himself. It was this vision that 
inspired him to help finance Robert Fulton's steamboat schemes. Fulton first built a 
boat for experiment on the Seine River in France, but for want of sufficient kelsons 
the machinery broke through the bottom of the vessel; nevertheless the expossibilities 
of a steamboat and when Fulton tried again on the Hudson River, his experiment was 
a success. 


Livingston introduced merino sheep into this country with great success and was the 
first to utilize gypsum in the manufacture of fertilizer. He was a founder of the Fine 
Arts Academy and its first president. His essay on agriculture was received with eclat; 
his essay on sheep raising became a standard treatise. Because of such services and 
writings the regents of the University of the State of New York conferred on him the 
degree of LL. D. Livingston was one of the original members of the Order of the 
Cincinnati. The beautiful memorial shown in the accompanying illustration, in 
bronze, of life size, was presented to the Nation's Hall of Fame, in the National 
Capitol, and stands near that of George Washington. Its inscription describes 
Livingston as "the first Chancellor of his state, administered the oath of office to the 
first President of the United States, is the gift of New York." The sculptor was E. D. 
Palmer and the statue is called "one of the best in the Capitol." 


Livingston did a great and lasting work in building up Freemasonry in the state of 
New York. His Grand Mastership fell upon a critical period, just at the time when 
New York Masons were getting control of their lodge affairs in their own country, 
and when there was much misunderstanding, bitterness and strife. It was owing to his 
magnificent leadership that the Grand Lodge was able to weather many storms. A 
rather full account of Livingston's Masonic career will be found in History of 
Freemasonry in the State of New York by Ossian Lang, a very valuable and 
interesting book. 



O 


TEXAS GRAND CHAPTER REINSTATED 


In December last Bro. William F. Kuhn, General Grand High Priest, issued a 
Proclamation that will interest every Royal Arch Mason in the United States. It 
explains itself, and is here reproduced by permission of the General Grand High 
Priest: 


Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 7, 1923. To the Chapters and Grand Chapters under this 
Obedience: 


PROCLAMATION 


On April 15, A. D. 1923, 1, General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter 
of Royal Arch Masons of the United States of America, issued an Edict, severing 
fraternal relations with the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Texas, on 
account of invasion of the jurisdiction of the General Grand Chapter, "until the Grand 
Chapter Royal Arch Masons of Texas shall recall the charter issued to the chapter in 
the City of Mexico, Republic of Mexico." 


Whereas, the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Texas, at its annual 
convocation held on Dec. 3 -4, 1923, sustained the action of its M. E. Grand High 
Priest, J. H. Gartland, recalling the charter issued to Attest: Mexico City Chapter, No. 
414, and thus complying with the requirements of the Edict, therefore, 


I, General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter, do hereby take great 
pleasure in annulling said Edict, and to declare fraternal relations between the General 



Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the United States of America and the Grand 
Chapter Royal Arch Masons of Texas, restored. 


Grand High Priests of Grand Chapters and High Priests of Subordinate Chapters will 
govern themselves accordingly. 


I desire to express my sincere appreciation to the thirty - seven Grand Chapters 
which, through their Grand High Priests or through the action of the Grand Chapter 
direct, so promptly sustained the General Grand High Priest in the enforcement of the 
Edict, and thus maintaining the unity and authority of the General Grand Chapter, and 
converting the apparent rope of sand which has bound the Grand Chapters together, 
into a chain of steel whose links are mutual helpfulness, sympathy, willing assistance, 
and Capitular power and zeal. 


Given under my hand and seal this seventh day of December, A. D. 1923, A. I. 2453. 


Fraternally yours, 

William F. Kuhn, 

General Grand High Priest. 


Attest: 

Chas. A. Conover, 
General Grand Secretary. 


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WHAT MASONRY IS 


Masonry is not a toy to be played with, nor a pastime merely to be enjoyed, nor yet a 
society of like minded spirits organized that the idle moments of the day may be spent 
in pleasurable conversation or in the exchange of witticisms. Masonry is an attractive 
force which brings together in one body men of different occupation and attainments, 
from the different avenues of life, and unites them into a moving, active, creative, 
aggressive body, where as one they become a dynamic power for the intellectual, 
political, moral and spiritual elevation of the human race The Master Mason is not 
narrow in his vision, nor prejudiced in his view, nor small in his conception of his 
duty to God and his fellow man. He can see the virtues of others, the vices in his own 
heart, the transcendent beauty of a life of service and he can forget himself in the 
luxury of giving the best there is in him for the common welfare of his kind. And 
thank God we have Master Masons in the jurisdiction of Delaware. 


Geo. C. Williams, P.G.M., Delaware. 


— o — 


THE STUDY CLUB 


Chapters of Masonic History 
ByBro. H.L. HAYWOOD 


A pamphlet on "How to Organize and Maintain a Study Club" will be furnished free 
to those asking for it in any quantities up to fifty or one hundred. For further 
information address the National Masonic Research Society, 1950 Railway 
Exchange, St. Louis, Mo. The Society answers questions, lends books, clippings, 
etc., free of charge to clubs. Text books recommended are "Symbolical Masonry" 



and "Great Teachings of Masonry," both by H.L. Haywood, the former of which 
should be used in beginning. 


PART X. HOW OPERATIVE MASONRY CHANGED TO SPECULATIVE 
MASONRY: THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 


If my short study of Operative Masonry published last month I adverted briefly and in 
passing to the fact that in the days when Masonic lodges were most completely 
"Operative," or devoted to actual building activities, there was a certain element of 
non-Operatives in the membership, a thing made necessary by the conditions under 
which ecclesiastical buildings were erected. Oftentimes the work was under the 
general superintendency of a bishop or other church authority who, in the nature of 
things, would have to have the freedom of the lodge; at the same time there were 
employed educated clerks to take care of the books, and possibly also learned men to 
assist in working out some of the more technical problems. Where a cathedral was 
erected by a local corporation it was necessary that its representatives be given access 
to records and otherwise be permitted to have a share in directing the activities; also, 
it may be, men of high station entirely outside the Craft were occasionally, and for 
various reasons political or social, admitted to some kind of footing within the 
brotherhood. An example is furnished in the Cooke MS., of date about 1450, wherein 
it is said of "Prince Edwin" that "of speculative he was a master"; the meaning of this 
may be either that this dignitary was friendly for the Craft, or else that he knew 
something of the "geometry" which lay at the basis of all building design. In any 
event men were admitted to some kind of lodge membership who made no pretence 
of practising the art, a fact that need cause no surprise for it was quite in keeping with 
the principles and practices of the guilds. The acceptance of these non-Operatives 
may possibly have had some effect on lodge ceremonies. In the nature of the case 
such a brother could not take oath to keep the trade secrets about which he was to 
learn nothing; neither could he be required to produce a master's piece, as regular 
apprentices were, because he would not possess the skill. So little is known about 
this matter that one can only indulge his faculty for speculation, nevertheless it is of 
some consequence in one's effort to recover a picture of lodge usages in the olden 
days. The main point just here is that from earliest times it was not deemed unlawful 
or irregular for Operative lodges to accept on some kind of footing of membership 
non-Operative men; with this in mind it will be easier to understand how in later 



years non-Operatives became accepted in such numbers as at last to out-top 
Operatives altogether. 


OPERATIVE MASONRY DECLINED 


In the fifteenth century Operative Masonry began to decline; in the following century 
it almost went out of existence, and that chiefly owing to the Protestant Reformation 
in England. All gilds were suppressed by Henry VIII (see Statutes of 37 Henry VIII, 
c. 4, and I Edward VI, c. 14) and monastery corporations were dissolved, their funds 
being confiscated by the Crown. Cathedrals were no longer erected; in the eyes of the 
Puritans, who rapidly came to the front, they were monuments of the Papist religion 
and therefore deemed dangerous so that many of them were defaced or partly 
demolished; the same bitterness was directed against all other structures of a similar 
kind, so that the old lodges of Operative Masons, called originally into existence to 
erect such, found themselves without occupation. Some of them, so it is believed, 
turned their attention to the palatial homes for the rich country gentry, but most of 
them perished or else maintained a languid existence. 


Other influences operated to the same end. The civil wars left the country exhausted. 
New cities sprang up with new traditions, and some of the old centers of gild life 
passed into the background. At the same time, and owing to a dearth of labourers, 
foreign workmen were imported from France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy, 
and these had other customs and traditions. In the world of thought other revolutions, 
silent but powerful, took place, one of them giving rise to the foundation of the 
famous Royal Society, of which eminent members of the first Grand Lodge were 
members, some of them quite active. In other words the whole life of England 
underwent a profound change, so that such an organization as the Craft of 
Freemasonry had to change with it, and found itself in a set of circumstances quite 
different to those that had obtained in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. 


It is a fact of some significance that the number of non-Operatives accepted in 
membership appears to have increased as the Craft as a whole waned away; most of 
our writers have seen in this the connections of cause and effect, and there is no 



reason to suppose them in error. The oldest lodge minutes still extant in England date 
from the early eighteenth century; but in Scotland the records are much older, the 
minutes of Mother Kilwinning dating from 1642, Aberdeen from 1670. From those 
minutes, and from other old records, we learn that not only were non-Operatives 
early taken into membership by Scotch lodges but that they (the non-Operatives) took 
an active part in lodge affairs. Bro. Murray Lyon, whose History of the Lodge of 
Edinburgh has so long been a standard work, says that the first authentic record of a 
non-Operative being made a member of a lodge is of date June 8, 1600, when John 
Boswell, Laird of Auchinleck, is named among the brethren. Two years prior to that 
time, however, still another non-Operative must have been on the rolls because we 
know that in 1598 William Schaw, whom Lyoll believes to have been an honourary 
member, signed and promulgated two sets of statutes, or codes of laws, one for use by 
the Craft in general, the other for use by the lodge of Kilwinning. Schaw signed 
himself as "Master of the Work, Warden of the Masons." In July, 1634, Lord 
Alexander, Viscount Canada, Sir Anthony Alexander and Sir Alexander Strachan 
were admitted to the lodge of Edinburgh. As historian of the Scottish Craft par 
excellence, Lyon's words of comment in this connection are worth quoting: 


"It is worthy of remark that with singularly few exceptions, the non-Operatives who 
were admitted to Masonic fellowship in the lodges of Edinburgh and Kilwininng 
during the seventeenth century were persons of quality, the most distinguished of 
whom, as the natural result of its metropolitan position, being made in the former 
lodge. Their admission to fellowship in an institution composed of Operative Masons 
associated together for purposes of their Craft would, in all probability, originate in a 
desire to elevate its position and increase its influence, and once adopted the system 
would further recommend itself to the Fraternity by the opportunities which it 
presented for cultivating the friendship and enjoying the society of gentlemen, to 
whom, in ordinary circumstances, there was little chance of their ever being 
personally known. 


"On the other hand, non-professionals connecting themselves with the lodge by the 
ties of membership would, we believe, be activated partly by a disposition to 
reciprocate the feelings which had prompted the bestowal of the fellowship, partly by 
curiosity to penetrate the arcana of the Craft and partly by the novelty of the situation 
as members of a secret society and participants in its ceremonies and festivities." 



OLD SCOTCH LODGE RECORDS 


Hughan has given expression to the surprise felt by most of our scholars at the fact 
that lodge records should go so much farther back in Scotland than in England; he 
writes, "Why so many minute books are still preserved in Scotland, dating long 
before the institution of the Grand Lodge, even some from the seventeenth century, 
and yet scarcely any are found in England, seems inexplicable." Alnwick Lodge 
records go back to 1703. It appears that a non-Operative lodge existed at York, to 
judge by the records, as early as 1705. The extinct Haughfoot Lodge had a non- 
Operative majority with a ritual and ceremony as early as 1702. These entries show 
that non-Operative practices were in vogue years before the founding of the first 
Grand Lodge of Speculative Masonry in London, 1717. 


The earliest extant record of a man having been made, a non-Operative Mason on 
English soil is that of Robert Moray who was "made" at Newcastle, by members of 
the lodge of Edinburgh with the Scottish army, May 20, 1641. But the most famous 
of all the earliest non-Operative Masons by far was Elias Ashmole, made a Mason at 
Warrington Oct. 16, 1646. Ashmole was bom at Lichfield in 1617, was educated for 
the bar, became a captain during the Great Rebellion, was elected a Fellow of the 
Royal Society, had conferred on him the degree of M.D., was made Windsor Herald, 
and in addition to all these interests and activities denoted much time to a study of 
occultism, astrology, botany, history and various other subjects. His third wife was 
the daughter of his friend, Sir William Dugdale. An industrious collector of curios 
and objects of antiquarian value, he presented his collection to Oxford University, 
where it is still known as the Ashmolean Museum. He was author of a History of the 
Garter. His diary was first published in 1717, and then a second time, as a kind of 
appendix to Lilly's History of His Life and Times, in 1774. The diary contains two 
items concerning Freemasonry, as follows, spelling and punctuation as in the original 


(Ashmole MS. 1136) 
1646. [folio 19, verso] 



Oct. 16th. - 4:30 P. M. I was made a Free Mason at Warrington in Lancashire, with 
Coll: Henry Mainwaring of Kanincham in Cheshire. The names of those that were 
there of the Lodge; Mr. Rich Penket Warden, Jr. James Collier, Mr. Rich Sankey, 
Henry Tattler, John Ellam, Rich: Ellam and Hugh Brewer. 


After thirty-six years appears another extract that contains mention of the Mason's 
Company of London. It is here given in full: 


March 1682. [folio 69. verso] 


10th. - About 5 P.M. I reed, a Sumons to appe. at a Lodge to be held the next day, at 
Masons Hall London. 


1 1th. - Accordingly I went, and about Noone were admitted into the Fellowship of 
Free Masons. 


Sr. William Wilson Knight, Capt. Rich: Borthwick, Mr. Will: Woodman, Mr. Wm. 
Grey, Mr. Samuell Taylour, and Mr. William Wise. 


I was the Senior Fellow among them (it being 35 years since I was admitted). There 
were present besides my selfe the Fellowes after named. 


Mr. Tho: Wise Mr of the Masons Company this present yeare. Mr Thomas Shorthose, 
Mr. Thomas Shadbolt, Waindsford Esqr., Mr. Nich: Young, Mr. John Shorthose, Mr. 
William Hamon, Mr. John Thompson, and Mr. Will: Stanton. 



Wee all dyned at the halfe Moone Taveme in Cheapside, at a Noble Dinner, prepaired 
at the charge of the New-accepted Masons. 


THE MASON'S COMPANY 


The Mason's Company doubtlessly referred to in the quotation just above is the 
subject of an invaluable book by Edward Conder bearing the title Hole Crafte and 
Fellowship of Masons. This body of Masons was incorporated in 1410 - 1411 and 
received a grant of arms in the twelfth year of Edward IV 1472-1473) from William 
Hawkeslowe, Clarenceaux King of Arms. The city records of London show that this 
body must have been functioning as early as 1356 because rules for its guidance were 
formed in that year. In 1530 the name was changed to the "Company of 
Freemasons." Conder thinks there is good reason to believe that this Company began 
somewhere early in the thirteenth century. 


The interesting point here, in the light of our present purpose, is the fact that 
associated with this Mason's Company was another, and perhaps subsidiary 
organization, styled "The Accepcon" (Acception). It met in the same hall and was 
somehow connected, as one may learn from Conder: 


"Unfortunately no books connected with this Acception - i.e., the Lodge - have been 
preserved. We can, therefore, only form our ideas of its working from a few entries 
scattered through the accounts. From these it is found that members of the Company 
paid 20s. for coming on the Acception, and strangers 40s. Whether they paid a lodge 
quarteridge to the Company's funds it is impossible, in the absence of the old 
Quarteridge Book, to state. One matter, however, is quite certain from the old book 
of accounts commencing in 1619, that the payments made by newly accepted Masons 
were paid into the funds of the Company, that some or all of this was spent on a 
banquet and the attendant expenses, and that any further sum required was paid out of 
the ordinary funds of the Company, proving that the Company had entire control of 
the Lodge and its funds." 



It looks as if members of the Acception were not Operative Masons; if that was the 
case it is plain that non-Operative Masons were admitted on some footing as early as 
1619, and probably long before that. If this supposition be sound it follows that some 
kind of non-Operative, or Speculative Masonry, was in existence in the metropolis 
more than a century before the founding of the first Grand Lodge. Also it would 
appear that Ashmole was in attendance on the "Acception" at the time referred to in 
his second entry quoted above. On the strength of this fact some writers, Bro. A.E. 
Waite for example, have suggested that the seed from which our modern symbolical 
Masonry had its origin may have been planted there by such men as Ashmole, who 
were interested in symbolism, ritual, occultism and all such matters. 


That something was known of a society of Freemasons during the latter half of the 
century is proved by reference to such in a few books of the time. Randle Holme (the 
third of that name), in his Acadamie of Amorie, published in 1688, refers to the 
Freemasons in this wise: 


"I cannot but Honour the Fellowship of Masons because of its Antiquity; and the 
more, as being a member of that Society, called Free-Masons." 


Two years before the appearance of the Holme volume Dr. Robert Plot published the 
Natural History of Staffordshire, in which he referred to Freemasons in a vein 
somewhat satirical: 


"To these add the Customs relating to the County, whereof they have one, of 
admitting Men into the Society of Free-Masons, that in the moorelands of this County 
seems to be of greater request, than anywhere else, though I find the Custom spread 
more or less all over the Nation; for here I found persons of the most eminent quality, 
that did not disdain to be of this Fellowship. Nor indeed need they, were it of that 
Antiquity and honour, that is pretended in a large parchment volume they have 
amongst them, containing the History and Rules of the craft of masonry. 



"Into which Society when they are admitted, they call a meeting (or Lodg as they 
term it in some places), which must consist at lest of 5 or 6 of the Ancients of the 
Order, when the candidats present with gloves, and so likewise to their wives, and 
entertain with a collation according to the Custom of the place: This ended, they 
proceed to the admission of them, which chiefly consists in the communication of 
certain secret signes, whereby they are known to one another all over the Nation, by 
which means they have maintenance whither ever they travel: for if any man appear 
though altogether known that can shew any of these signes to a Fellow of the Society, 
whom they otherwise call an accepted mason, he is obliged presently to come to him, 
from what company or place soever he be in, nay, tho' from the top of a Steeple (what 
hazard or inconvenience soever he run) to know his pleasure and assist him; viz., if he 
want work he is bound to find him some; or if he cannot doe that, to give him mony, 
or otherwise support him till work can be had; which is one of their Articles." 


John Aubrey, a friend of Dr. Plot's and also an antiquarian, wrote the Natural History 
of Wiltshire at about the same time, on one pen copy of which he inscribed a 
memorandum that reads: 


"Memorandum. This day, May the 18th, being Monday, 1691, after Rogation Sunday 
is a great convention at St. Paul's Church of the Fraternity of adopted masons, where 
Sir Christopher Wren is to be adopted a brother, and Sir Henry Goodric of the Tower, 
and divers others. There have been kings that have been of this sodality." 


WAS WREN A MASON? 


This reference to Wren raises a question about which there has been a long continued 
debate. Was the famous architect, the builder of St. Paul's, and of London after the 
great fire, a Mason? Of course, he was an architect and therefore a member of the 
Craft in a general sense, but was he a member of a lodge? Gould devotes fifty-four of 
his most heavily shotted pages to prove that he was not, and that any statement to that 
effect is fable pure and simple. Bro. F. De P. Castells wrote a trenchant criticism of 
these pages in a splendid essay published in Transactions of the Authors Lodge, Vol. 



II, page 302. "We all admire Gould's erudition," he remarks; "his History is a 
monumental work. But in this matter he has shown himself more learned than wise, 
for he has placed himself in a false light, in which we see him as a carping critic, 
cavilling, parrying with facts, and casting doubt upon everything suggesting the 
thought of Wren being a Mason." Some will believe, perhaps, that Bro. Castells has a 
little overstated the matter, but that is neither here nor there; he rests his own case on 
four pieces of evidence; first, the Constitutions of 1738; secondly, an excerpt from the 
Postboy, a London paper which, in its announcement of Wren's death, refers to him as 
"that worthy Freemason"; thirdly, the Aubrey notation quoted above, and fourthly, 
Preston's statement to the effect that "Wren presided over the old Lodge of St. Pauls 
during the building of the cathedral." But what would appear to be the clincher in 
Bro. Castell's argument is given in his postscript, in which there is so much matter of 
interest that it may well be quoted in its entirety: 


"What precedes was delivered as a Lecture. Since then, however, having seen the 
records of the Lodge of Antiquity which Bro. Rylands has brought to light, I feel that 
the question is absolutely settled. The Lodge had once records that went back to 
1663. But when an Inventory was made in 1778, everything anterior to 1721 had 
disappeared. This is referred to in a Memorandum as 'the outrage,' because it was a 
case of misappropriation. Still, the few records now extant are ample to satisfy any 
one. Thus, the Minutes of a Meeting held on June 3, 1723, give the substance of what 
the Brethren had decided: 'The set of Mahogany Candlesticks presented to this Lodge 
by its worthy old Master, Sir Christopher Wren, ordered to be carefully deposited in a 
wooden case lin'd with cloth to be Immediately purchased for the purpose.' The 
reason for this was that as 'the worthy old Master' of the Lodge had died, they were 
anxious to preserve the candlesticks as precious mementos of his connection with the 
Lodge. There is also a Memorandum about a 'General Assembly of a greate Number 
of Free Masons Held on the 24th of June, 1721,' which is remarkable for including 
among those present 'Christopher Wren, Esq.,' the only son of the architect, whose 
name reappears in a similar way eight years later. Obviously the son was one of 
those who helped to bring the premier Grand Lodge into existence; thus we can 
understand that the father should have appointed him as his deputy when the 
Fraternity celebrated the Capestone in 1710. And yet Gould, when he wrote his 
History, did not know that anyone had ever claimed the son as a member of our 
Order! The question has been raised whether the original Lodge of Antiquity was one 
of Speculative Freemasons. The three Candlesticks afford good ground for 
presumption, but let the Members of the Lodge speak for themselves. In the Minutes 
of a Meeting on November 3, 1722, we read: 'The Master reported the proceedings of 
the Grand Lodge and Bro. Anderson's appointment to revise the old Constitutions. It 



was the Opinion of the Lodge that the Master and his Wardens do attend every 
Committee during the revisal of the Constitutions that no variation may be made in 
the Antient Establishment.' This zeal to maintain the old order enables us to affirm 
positively that the Grand Lodge of 1717 did not create Freemasonry, but simply re- 
organized the Fraternity." 


From these quotations and from the considerations of early Operative practices 
adverted to in the opening paragraphs of this paper it is evident that the element of 
non-Operative membership and principles was in the Craft from early times; and that 
a conservative interpretation of Masonic history would suggest that this element came 
in time, and that owing to changes without and within the Craft, to over-balance the 
Operative influence, resulting at last in a complete re-organization of the Fraternity. 
But according to a more radical view, which also needs to be considered, this non- 
Operative element could not, of itself and without extraneous assistance, have ever 
proved powerful enough to work the many changes that took place in the "revival" of 
1717. Other influence must have been at work, as this view holds, and that from 
outside the Craft, to cause such revolutionary changes as undoubtedly took place. 
Some of the arguments put forward by those holding this position deserve 
consideration. 


Very little is really known about the formation of the first Grand Lodge, but it appears 
certain that much friction was engendered among the "old members" and the 
independent old lodges by the radical changes that were made by the first Grand 
Lodge. This fact might mean that innovations in ritual and regulations were made 
and that this aroused the enmity of the "old brethren" who dreaded innovations; if so, 
it would show that new material was introduced from the outside, else there would 
not otherwise have been any dissatisfaction with the new order of things. 


THE TEMPLE SYMBOLISM 


It might be possible to offer the elaborate system of symbolism built up about King 
Solomon's Temple as a case in point just here. The oldest Masonic MS. does not trace 
Masonry back to King Solomon but far beyond him to Nimrod and to Euclid. In the 



Dowland MS., dated at about 1550, Hiram Abif is mentioned, but merely as one name 
among many. In 1611 the King James version of the Bible made its appearance in 
England and aroused an almost universal interest, particularly in the Old Testament 
accounts of Solomon and his Temple. Late in the same century and early in the 
following, this interest was so general that many models of the Temple were 
constructed and exhibited in populous centers, and handbooks describing them 
received general circulation, a thing that must have been peculiarly interesting to the 
old Masons, who had probably long cherished traditions concerning that historic 
edifice. When Anderson prepared the first edition of his Constitutions he 
incorporated in a foot-note a learned explanation of the name "Hiram Abif," a thing 
he would not have done had not his readers been already interested. The inference 
from these facts, thus briefly sketched, is that there had long existed in the Craft a 
germ of interest in Solomon's Temple; that this germ found itself in an environment 
favourable for development when interest in the matter became popular; and that this 
development found a place in the Ritual early in the eighteenth century in a form now 
thrice familiar. If this reading of the matter is well founded it follows that the Temple 
symbolism is a case of development inside the Craft due to external conditions. 


Those holding the view that the "revival" in 1717 was due largely to influence from 
outside sources point to Kabbalism, Knight Templarism, Rosicrucianism, Hermetism, 
etc., a consideration of all of which would require too much space; but even so, one 
other "outside" influence may be referred to now, for it has not received as much 
attention as it appears to deserve. I refer to the English club, which was so potent a 
social influence in the English life of the eighteenth century. Almost every man, rich 
or poor, belonged to one; there were drinking clubs, musical clubs, literary clubs, fat 
men's clubs, Odd Fellows' clubs, Chinese clubs, clubs for men with large noses, and 
for small, and every other imaginable form of organization for purposes of 
sociability. In a day when daily newspapers were nonexistent and books were scarce, 
these clubs were centers of gossip and general information as well as societies for the 
propagation of various "causes," all of which is embalmed forever in the essays of 
Addison, Steele, Goldsmith and the other immortals of the time. Did the early lodges 
of Speculative Masons come into existence in response to this need for clubs? The 
question needs a more thorough ventilation than it has yet received, because there is 
something to be said for it. Gould, it will be recalled, attributed Desaguliers' 
membership in the Craft to his desire for club life, and Bro. Arthur Heiron has shown 
how powerful was the club influence in eighteenth century Freemasonry in his 
excellent book Ancient Freemasonry and the Old Dundee Lodge. For my own part I 
do not believe in the "club theory" of the origin of Speculative Masonry, but the 
matter is offered here as an example of those theories which look toward outside 



influences as explaining the transformation of Operative Freemasonry into 
Speculative, and as a suggestion to students that they investigate a fascinating field. 


By way of conclusion it may be said that until more is known concerning the 
Transition Period it will be necessary for every Masonic reader to feel his way 
through the dark as well as he can, keeping his judgment on many matters in 
suspense, for as yet little is really known, and that is often enough conflicting; 
nevertheless and notwithstanding it would appear to some of us that what we do know 
shows an unbroken continuity between the old Operative Masonic lodges and the 
Institution which replaced them in 1717, and that in a large way the practices and 
principles of the medieval Masons were continued into Speculative Freemasonry; we 
still have Apprentices, Fellows and Masters; we still meet in lodges as of old, under 
the government of Masters and Wardens; we observe close secrecy, and make use of 
ceremonies of initiation divided into grades or degrees; holding it together, like a 
solid framework, is the emblematic and symbolical use of builders' tools and 
practices, and at the center of it all stands the most famous building in history and the 
most famous builder under such circumstances of drama and mystery as helps every 
Freemason the better to understand himself, and the world, and God, and the secrets 
of the life that is life indeed. 


SUPPLEMENTARY REFERENCES 


MACKEY'S ENCYCLOPEDIA (Revised Edition) 


Accepted, 10; Anderson, 57; Antiquity of Freemasonry, 66; Apprentice, Entered, 70; 
Ashmole, 81; Constitutions, 175; Cromwell, 186; Degrees, 203; Desaguliers, 207; 
Dunckerley, 223; Edwin, 230; Fellow Craft, 261; Free and Accepted, 281; 
Freemason, 282; Freemasonry, Early British, 283; Geometry, 295; Gilds, 296; 
Hermetic Art, 323; Innovations, 353; Kabbala, 375; Kilwinning, 381; Legend, 433; 
Lodge, 449; Mason, 471; Master Mason 474; Operative Art, 532; Points of 
Fellowship, 572; Progressive Masonry, 591; Scotland, 671; Speculative Masonry, 
704; Stone-Masons, 718; Symbolic Degrees, 752; Wren, 859; York 866. 



BOOKS CONSULTED 


Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, Author's Lodge Transactions, I, II, III. Constitutions of 
the Freemasons, Anderson. A Short Masonic History, Armitage. Natural History of 
Wiltshire, Aubrey. Grand Lodge of England, Calvert. Mackey's Revised History of 
Freemasonry, Clegg. Hole Craft and Fellowship of Masons, Conder. Evolution of 
Freemasonry, Darrah. Ahiman Rezon, Dermott. Club Makers and Club Members, 
Escott. History of Masonry, Findel. Concise History of Freemasonry, Gould. History 
of Freemasonry, Gould. Ancient Freemasonry and the Old Dundee Lodge, Heiron. 
Acadamie Armory, Holme. Masonic Sketches and Reprints, Hughan. Spirit of 
Masonry, Hutchinson. Medieval Architecture, Kingsley. History of the Lodge of 
Edinburgh, Lyon. Guild Masonry in the Making, Merz. History of Lodge Aberdeen, 
Miller. The Builders, Newton. Essay on the Usages and Customs of Symbolical 
Masonry in the 18th Century, Oliver. Preston's Masonry, Oliver. Tradition, Origin 
and Early History of Freemasonry, Pierson. Natural History of Staffordshire, Plot. 
Illustrations of Masonry, Preston. Freemasonry Before Existence of Grand Lodges, 
Vibert. Story of the Craft, Vibert. New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Waite. 
Freemasonry and the Ancient Gods, Ward. 


TRADE GILDS IN THE EAST 


Here is a note that may possibly add to the value of the Study Club article on Gilds, 
THE BUILDER, November 1 923 . 


"The workmen are united in gilds, which have existed since the Persian dominion, 
and are still regulated by Persian laws. These gilds, however, are not so exclusive as 
those in Georgia. The admission to the rank of Master is accompanied with the same 
kind of ceremonies. On occasion of certain solemnities and public processions, each 
trade is called on to act in its corporate capacity. Each has likewise to bear its share 
of the public burdens; thus, for instance, the Gild of Shoemakers has to provide the 
beds for the public hospital, the Gild of Tailors the seats, and so forth. The Armenian 
and Tartar artisans constitute separate gilds; A Tartar shoemaker told me that his trade 
was presided over by any old Master, who was elected, exercised jurisdiction, 



discharged the journeymen, and initiated them into the rank of Mastership, an honour 
which they received kneeling." 


The above is from a work entitled Transcaucasis, by Baron von Haxthausen, 
published in 1854. The author had special opportunities for studying the conditions 
of the region about Tiflis, inhabited by Armenians, Georgians, Persians, Tartars, etc. 
The theory, which is held by many, that the origin of Masonry was connected with 
trade gilds, gives some importance to the paragraph. There is evidence here that trade 
gilds are not exclusively European; they are found in the East, and pretty far East too, 
probably derived from Persia, for they date from the time when Persia ruled, and 
these gilds are governed by "Persian laws." These bodies are presided over by a head 
or "Master," and initiatory ceremonies are known and practised. 


N.W.J. Hay don, Canada. 


— o — 


I thank God that I belong to this great fraternity and can take upon myself the proud 
title of Master Mason. - Warren G. Harding. 


"Every honest occupation to which a man sets his hand would raise him into a 
philosopher, if he mastered all the knowledge that belonged to his craft.” - James 
Anthony Froude. 


— o — 


EDITORIAL 



Anti - Masonry Within the Craft 


A BROTHER has written to remind us that the Masonic Fraternity is rapidly 
approaching the centenary of the Anti-Masonic Crusade, and to suggest that the first 
quarter of the present century might be brought to a glorious conclusion in a crusade 
by Masonry against its own enemies, and thus make the twentieth century redress the 
wrong done by the nineteenth. The suggestion made by this lover of poetic justice is 
somewhat belated; the Fraternity, like the country, is already full of crusades; they 
roar past us to left and right like the charge of the Fight Brigade, and the spectacle, if 
we may parody the famous words about that charge, is war, but it is not splendid. At 
any rate, it is not splendid in the eyes of the governors and rulers of our Craft, who, in 
volume after volume of Grand Fodge Proceedings, are laboring to warn their brethren 
against the menace to Masonry in the growing carnival of propaganda, north, south, 
east and west, wherein brethren are trying their best to harness up the influence of 
Masonry to some movement that properly has nothing to do with it, or else are trying 
to lead Masonry itself into activities for which it never was intended. 


The worst part of it is that some of the best Masons in the country, believing that 
Masonry has a war on its hands, are falling a victim to the horrible fallacy that 
therefore all things are fair. You must fight the devil with fire, they say; it is a 
question of main strength and awkwardness, so one must not be too squeamish about 
methods; let us catch our foes by hook or crook, then knock their heads in by 
anything we can grab! 


If it were in order to start cracking heads these very brethren are the ones to deserve 
it. For all their zeal they are enemies of the Craft. Tike Samson they pull down the 
temple upon their own heads in their efforts to destroy their foes. The work of 
Masonry cannot be carried forward by un - Masonic methods. The habit of catching at 
every rumor that puts a foe in a bad light, of giving currency to unexamined gossip, of 
spreading baseless tales, is singularly unbecoming among men solemnly sworn to 
seek and to uphold the truth above all things. The mean trick of backbiting at brethren 
who hold different opinions about Masonic policies is not in accord with the vows of 
Masonic brotherhood. The propaganda that fans into flame the passions of race hatred 



is the absolute denial of the principles of a Craft that has written into its constitution 
the means "whereby Masonry becomes the center of union and the means of 
conciliating true friendship among persons that must have remained at perpetual 
distance." The men who seek once again to exaggerate the odious lusts of religious 
prejudice have forgotten that it is the very genius of Freemasonry to uphold "that 
religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves; that 
is, to be good men and true, or men of honor and honesty, by whatever denominations 
or persuasions they may be distinguished." Those who may countenance mobs, 
lynchings, riotings and tar and feathers should remember that "a Mason is a peaceable 
subject to the civil powers, wherever he resides or works, and is never to be 
concerned in plots and conspiracies." Freemasonry can never compound with the 
spirits of passion, prejudice, race hatred, or religious intolerance, and it is reassuring 
to find so many Grand Masters determined to see to it that individuals are made to 
understand this fact. 


The great majority of brethren who are persuaded to support any such activities act 
not out of a deliberate indifference to the principles of the Craft, but are misled, or 
else do not sufficiently understand Masonry; therefore the remedy always is, aside 
from the obvious duty of our officials to see that our laws are enforced, a larger 
measure of Masonic education, not in Masonic history or philosophy, but in the 
practice of the Masonic life. The Masonic ideal is one of the noblest in the world, and 
one of the truest; it is rooted in the everlasting realities. Wherever it is made to live in 
a man's soul it will of its own charm and strength keep him safe from disfiguring lusts 
and dividing passions. It possesses the expulsive power of all ideals to drive out those 
things which are its opposite. The one crusade for putting to rout all anti - Masonry is 
the combined effort of us everyone to make Masonry first of all prevail within our 
own hearts. 


* * * 


UNDERGROUND HISTORY 



A little while ago the PHILADELPHIA NORTH AMERICAN published an 
extensive editorial to commend the work of the fraternal secret societies of the United 
States. It is not anything unusual in the editorial itself that attracts attention, but the 
fact of the publication of any editorial at all on such a theme. Usually the daily press 
passes over any such discussions, except to record local lodge happenings, and in its 
general survey of social and political conditions ignores the influence of lodges 
altogether. The reasons are obvious. Everyone of these organizations stands for some 
cause sometimes very much feared or hated by other sections of the population, 
therefore as a matter of policy the dailies find any discussion of their aims, activities 
or influence a dangerous experiment, more so in that the members of some orders are 
so irritable whenever themselves or their enemies are discussed that a newspaper 
invites their censure if it finds fault with them and praises anything in the opposing 
camp. 


While such reasons may possibly excuse the privately owned dailies from discussion 
of the work of fraternities, it is difficult to understand why writers of histories, who 
have no axe to grind or jealousies to fear, should so seldomly pay attention to the 
work and influence of secret societies. But such is the case. The historians of Rome, 
the Gibbons', the Mommsen's, the Fererro's and the like, almost never refer to the 
Roman collegia or to the mystery cults, which is as if a future historian of the United 
States would overlook our churches and public schools. Similarly, historians of the 
Middle Ages calmly pass by the swarms of secret societies which flourished 
everywhere, honeycombing society beneath the surface like the catacombs; the 
Manicheans, Gnostics, Patari, Cathari, Albigensians, Troubadours, Culdees, Druids 
and all the other more or less secret brotherhoods do not figure in the standard works 
on the period which ignore everything that didn't occur in plain view or was left out 
of public documents. Even the gild system, which was a kind of government within 
the government, is frequently dropped into a foot - note or left out altogether in order 
to make space for the royal families, their amours and their wars. And as for the 
profane historians of architecture, they become so engrossed with the buildings that 
they quite forget to say anything about the builders. Historians of America have the 
same blind spot in their eyes; they devote pages to the details of a battle and nothing 
to the work of the scores of orders, most of them patriotic, which worked like a 
ferment in our early national life. By the same token we can expect that in the future, 
historians of the World War will be guilty of the same oversight; they will tell their 
readers nothing about the activities of American fraternities in lending aid and 
support to the government, nor will they explain why a few fraternities, our own 
among them, had so much influence at Washington in 1918. Nothing is more certain 



than that much history, some of it of the first consequence, has gone on underground, 
unrecorded in state papers or formal chronicles, and unreported in the public news. 


* * * 


THE BOK PEACE PLAN 


In an editorial published in THE BUILDER, December, 1923, page 377, members of 
the National Masonic Research Society were requested to express their opinion of the 
plan that might be adopted by The American Peace Award, for which Edward Bok 
offered prizes aggregating $100,000. A resume of the peace plan selected by the 
judges is summarized herewith, and a ballot form is added to be used by those who 
care to vote on the plan one way or another. This ballot may be clipped or copied and 
mailed direct to The American Peace Award. 


THE PLAN IN BRIEF 


Proposes 


I. That the United States shall immediately enter the Permanent Court of International 
Justice, under the conditions stated by Secretary Hughes and President Harding in 
February, 1923 


II. That without becoming a member of the League of Nations as at present 
constituted, the United States shall offer to extend its present co - operation with the 
League and participate in the work of the League as a body of mutual counsel under 
conditions which 



1 . Substitute moral force and public opinion for the military and economic force 
originally implied in Articles X and XVI. 


2. Safeguard the Monroe Doctrine. 


3. Accept the feet that the United States will assume no obligations under the Treaty 
of Versailles except by Act of Congress. 


4. Propose that membership in the League should be opened to all nations. 


5. Provide for the continuing development of international law. 


THE BUILDER 

1950 Railway Exchange, St. Louis, Mo. 


Do you approve the winning plan in substance? 


(Put an X inside the proper box) 


Yes 


No 



Please print 


Name 


Address 


City 


State 


Are you a voter ? 


Mail promptly to 

THE AMERICAN PEACE AWARD 
342 Madison Avenue, New York City 
If you wish to express a fuller opinion also 
please write to The American Peace Award 


— o — 


TRY A LECTURE BEE 



One of the fine old customs of the Order that has gone by the board but deserves to be 
revived is the "working of the lectures". Nowadays when we have no candidate we 
have no work, but the time was in our land when the working of the lectures was of 
more interest and importance than the initiating of candidates. This rehearsal of the 
lectures usually took place as the lodge was seated round a table. The Master put the 
questions; each brother in turn arose and gave the answer - if he could. 


Are you the Master of a lodge ? Why not set aside a night every month or every two 
months for this practice ? It should be a certain method for increasing the interest of 
the brethren, and for giving them all an opportunity to take some part. What a fine 
way for "brushing up" on the lectures! After a few evenings spent as just described a 
lodge could make use of some such method as employed in the old "spelling bees"; 
divide up to see which side might be able to answer the most questions correctly. The 
Master or some other brother could put the questions. 


We talk much about innovations in the work, and dread the danger of such things, 
usually on the assumption that an innovation is something added to the work as 
already practiced; but isn't it just as much an "innovation" to leave something out ? In 
ignoring the "working of the lectures" we have been guilty of a real innovation. 


A.L. KRESS 


— o — 


THE LIBRARY 


Moonlight vs. Moonshine 



MOONLIGHT SCHOOLS, by Mrs. Cora Wilson Stewart published by E. P. Dutton 
& Co.; may be purchased through National Masonic Research Society. Blue Cloth, 
194 pages, illustrated. Price, $2.00. 


IT is not often that Ye Booke Reviewer finds it possible with a clear conscience to 
give a volume such an unqualified hearty fervent send - off as this volume now in 
hand A man who can read it without laughter and tears is made of cast - iron, boiler - 
plate or some other of the base metals, and bad cess to him if such there be, which 
there probably isn't! It is a true tale made up of actual experiences in one of the most 
moving and dramatic movements since the signing of the Declaration of 
Independence. And the best part of it is that its author was herself the guide, 
philosopher and friend of the whole enterprise. 


Mrs. Cora Wilson Stewart was Superintendent of Schools of Rowan County, Ky., in 
1911. One day an incident occurred in her office, which she describes after this wise: 


"A few days later a middle - aged man came into the office, a man stalwart, intelligent 
and prepossessing in appearance. While he waited for me to dispatch the business in 
hand, I handed him two books. He turned the leaves hurriedly, like a child handling 
its first books, turned them over and looked at the backs and laid them down with a 
sigh. Knowing the scarcity of interesting books in this locality, I proffered him the 
loan of them. He shook his head. 


"'I can't read or write,' he said. Then the tears came into the eyes of that stalwart man 
and he added in a tone of longing, 'I would give twenty years of my life if I could.'" 
(Pages 11-12) 


After two other such incidents occurred it came to her mind, "Why not open our 
schools at night for these illiterate adults?" But roads were bad, often impassable, and 
the country was full of feuds, so that being abroad on a dark night was perilous 
business. Then it was she had the happy inspiration, "Why not open schools on 
moonlight nights?" That solved the problem. On Labor Day, 191 1, all the teachers in 



the county made a house - to - house canvass with a pressing invitation to every 
grown man and woman to enroll. 


"On Sept. 5, the brightest moonlight night, it seemed to me, that the world had ever 
known, the moonlight schools opened for their first session. We had estimated the 
number that would attend, and an average of three to each school, one hundred and 
fifty in the entire county, was the maximum set. 


"We waited with anxious hearts. The teachers had volunteered, the schools had been 
opened, the people had been invited but would they come? They had all the excuses 
that any toilworn people ever had. They had rugged roads to travel, streams without 
bridges to cross, high hills to climb, children to lead and babes to carry, weariness 
from the hard day's toil; but they were not seeking excuses, they were seeking 
knowledge, and so they came. They came singly or hurrying in groups, they came 
walking for miles, they came carrying babes in arms, they came bent with age and 
leaning on canes, they came twelve hundred strong!" (Pages 15-16) 


"Many of them learned to write their names the first evening and such rejoicing as 
there was over this event! One old man on the shady side of fifty shouted for joy 
when he learned to write his name. 'Glory to God!' he shouted, 'I'll never have to 
make my mark any more!” 


"Some were so intoxicated with joy that they wrote their names in frenzied delight on 
trees, fences, bams, barrel staves and every available scrap of paper; and those who 
possessed even meager savings, drew the money out of its hiding place and deposited 
it in the bank, wrote their cheeks and signed their names with pride. Soon letters 
began to go from hands that had never written before to loved ones in other countries 
and in far distant states, and usually the first letter of each student came to the County 
School Superintendent. In a movement full of romance and heroism, there is no 
incident more romantic or more delightful to record than the fact that the first three 
letters that ever came out of the moonlight schools came in this order: the first, from a 
mother who had children absent in the West; the second, from the man who 'would 
give twenty years of his life if he could read and write', and the third from the boy 



who would forget his ballads 'before anybody come along to set 'em down.' This 
answered the anxious question in our hearts as to whether the moonlight schools had 
met the need of those who had made the appeal." (Pages 19 - 20) 


Before the second year was opened a teachers' institute was held for the purpose of 
developing team play among the teachers inspired to try their hand in Moonlight 
Schools as a result of the first experiment conducted by Mrs. Stewart. The kind of 
stuff in those women is revealed by one report. 


"'I went to the school - house the first evening,' she said, 'and nobody came. I went the 
second and there was nobody there. I went the third, fourth and fifth and still no 
pupils. I said "I'm going to be like Bruce and the Spider, I'm: going to try seven 
times," and on the seventh night when I got to the schoolhouse I was greeted by three 
pupils. Before the term closed I had enrolled sixty - five in my moonlight school and 
taught twenty - three illiterates to read and write.'" (Page 34) 


As a means to inspire the grown - up students with a zeal for further progress the 
custom was adopted of giving prizes, on which occasion everybody gathered at the 
log school for a gala time. 


LEMONADE AND BIBLES 


“The newly learned gave an exhibition of their recently acquired knowledge. They 
read and wrote, quoted history and ciphered proudly in the presence of their world. 
They did it with more pride than ever high school, college or university graduates 
displayed on their commencement day. 


"They were next presented with Bibles, and as they came up one by one, some young 
and stalwart, some bent and gray, to receive their Bibles with gracious words of 
thanks, it was an impressive scene - and when the Jezebel of the community came 



forward and accepted her Bible and pledged herself to lead a new life forevermore, 
there was hardly a dry eye in the house. 


"Lemonade was a thing rarely seen in those parts, a treat indeed, so it was served as 
the final reward, not from a punch bowl, as it is served in most places, but from the 
most available thing to be found on Tabor Hill - a lard can. As they passed in line 
around the receptacle to be served, an old man rose in the back part of the house and 
said in a loud voice, 'Things certainly have changed in this district. It used to be that 
you couldn't hold meeting or Sunday - school in the house without the boys shooting 
through the windows. It used to be moonshine and bullets, but now it's lemonade and 
Bibles.'" (Pages 52 - 53) 


The noble women responsible for this war on ignorance next turned their attention to 
the whole state. "We even enlisted the politicians and put them to some use." After a 
time Governor James B. McCreary ( may his tribe increase) issued a proclamation 
giving the new movement his own high sanction and calling on all citizens to lend 
their support. 


Text books suitable for moonlight school purposes were difficult to find, therefore a 
little newspaper was at first devised; this was followed by a reader, with such lessons 
as carried a punch. Witness the following: 


"In Clay County, another of the mountain counties, a large crowd of men and women 
gathered for a contest. Among them was a tall, lank, under - nourished man, who rose 
and with a look at his wife that carried indictment read this lesson with peculiar 
emphasis: 


'God made man. 
Woman makes bread. 


It takes the bread 



That woman makes 


To sustain the man 
That God made. 

But the bread 
That some women make 
Would not sustain any man 
That God ever made.'" (Page 76) 


Along came the great war in 1917. Thirty thousand young Kentuckians filled 
registration cards who were unable to sign their own names. How teach them to read 
and write ? War is more dangerous to an illiterate than - to others because he cannot 
even read orders or take advantage of any other form of general intelligence. The 
story of how this situation was met is as thrilling as a chapter from Thuycidides, and 
it is a matter of regret that it cannot be reproduced here. 


The moonlight school movement spread from state to state like the contagion of a 
new religion, until at last the National Education Association established an Illiteracy 
Commission, of which Mrs. Stewart was appropriately made chairman. 


ILLITERACY IS A SHAME AND A CRIME 


"In all the decades," she writes, "prior to the one ushered in by 1910, there was not a 
state, county, city or school district which had as its purpose the absolute removal of 
illiteracy. When the startling announcement was made by the census-takers at the 
beginning of the new decade that five and a half million men and women in the 
Nation had confessed that they could not read or write, there was nowhere an 
expression of shame or pity or even of surprise. It was accepted as a thing inevitable 
- the waste product of an inefficient school system. Even the press, usually alert and 



looking for unusual conditions to exploit, found nothing worth featuring in these 
tragic figures." (Page 145) 


Among the governors, Henry J. Allen, of Kansas, became one of the most 
enthusiastic. On page 156 of Moonlight Schools he is quoted thus: 


"Two men met on a mountain pathway, and began to talk about how soon their 
county would be 'Cleared up.' They were not referring to weeds or underbrush or 
timber, to insects, reptiles or malarial fever. They were referring to elimination of 
illiteracy. Nothing just like it has found expression in any educational system, in any 
age; the sureness of faith of those who teach, the simplicity of their efforts, the 
general response. I have seen three generations studying the same books in one 
moonlight school. 'There are 2,442 illiterates in the county,' said a man to me in one 
of the counties in the Cumberland Mountains. 'It will take two years to wipe out 
illiteracy.' Think of the calm faith of it! I believe that the story of the moonlight 
schools is the most exalted and sacrificial that has been told in the educational effort 
of America." (Page 156) 


Illiteracy is not merely an inability to read and write; it is an inability to live happily, 
and that because, in our modern world, we depend so much on print for the 
management of our lives. 


"Life itself is more or less dependent upon the ability to read and write. In no place is 
disease so prevalent or life so menaced as in illiterate sections. During the influenza 
epidemic of 1918, doctors and nurses found themselves helpless in communities 
where illiteracy prevailed. The death - rate is high where illiteracy exists and infant 
mortality mounts to the topmost round. Here the precautions of sanitation are little 
known and practised, and innocent children pay the penalty with their lives. 'You say 
you have six children,' said an illiterate mother to an educated one, 'that nothing. I've 
buried twelve.'" (Page 169) 



From the very beginning of it the inspiration behind this whole movement, now of 
national importance, has been Mrs. Stewart herself, a woman of great soul, clear 
intelligence, in whom the divine fire burns with a singular selfishness. If ever a 
woman deserved a monument she does. 


* * * 


A GEORGIA MANUAL OF LECTURES 


MANUAL OF MASONIC LECTURES, by D. R. Brock. Bremen, Ga. Paper, 60 
pages, thirty-five cents postpaid; per dozen, $3.60; per hundred, $2.00. May be 
ordered from author. 


THE aim of the author was to put into cheap and handy form such lectures as are 
usually given in the monitorial portions of the work, along with appropriate poems, 
and other materials of a like character. Besides the pages of his own composition he 
selected out of the best lectures employed in his Grand Jurisdiction such as in his 
judgment were the best. It is therefore more or less representative of the monitorial 
work in Georgia. The author has prepared editions in other states by amending items 
here and there to suit local needs. 


* * * 


BEN FRANKLIN IN FICTION 


IN THE DAYS OF POOR RICHARD, by Irving Bacheller Published by Bobbs - 
Merill, Indianapolis. Cloth; 414 pages; price $2.00. 



Four three greatest Americans - Franklin, Washington, Lincoln - two are prominent 
in this book, and both of them were active Masons. The heart of Mr. Bacheller's tale 
is the Revolutionary period itself and it suffers, therefore, as a novel, by having its 
characters pushed away from the center, but they are living beings for all that, and a 
reader can rely on the truthfulness of the setting. Many famous personages move in 
and out as the story progresses from one excitement to another, of which Franklin is 
chief, then Washington, Howe, Benedict Arnold, Putnam, Hancock, Hamilton, 
Jefferson and a large choir besides of fighting men whose names, emblazoned so 
large across the red first page of our history as a nation, have come to be almost 
legendary, like the great names "in the tale of Troy divine." Mr. Bacheller is always 
aware of the moment and spaciousness of the period and never forgets, or permits his 
readers to forget, that they were heroes. Franklin himself was as heroic as any of 
them, and not at all the shopkeeper preaching a village morality as he is often 
depicted. Brethren who never grow weary of reading or hearing of Bro. Benjamin 
Franklin may safely add this historical novel to their Frankliniana. 


— o — 


The issue of THE BUILDER for October last is completely used up; will such 
brethren as have no further use for their copies send them to headquarters They can be 
put to good use. 


— o — 


THE QUESTION BOX and CORRESPONDENCE 


BOOKS ABOUT PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



Could you find room for a list of good books about the public school? I think that 
many Masons would find it of value. 


S.L.G., Iowa. 


It is difficult to select a representative list out of the hundreds of titles available; the 
following are chosen as being typical of all the various types of educational theory 
along with a few written from an antagonistic point of view. One of the most useful 
of all volumes to a Mason is a paper - bound book of 96 pages published for free 
distribution by the North Dakota Society for the Advancement of Education, by the 
Scottish Rite Bodies of that state under the authority of the Supreme Council, 
Southern Jurisdiction, it is entitled The School Bell. A number of copies have been 
sent to THE BUILDER to be given to such brethren as wish to use them. Anal your 
name and address if you need one. The other titles given herewith will be found, most 
of them, in any average public library. The Schools of Medieval England, A. F. 

Leach. History of Education, E.P. Cubberley. Readings in the History of Education, 

E. P. Cubberley. Secularization of American Education, S.W. Brown. Development 
of the Free Schools in the United States, A. R. Mead. Religious Freedom in American 
Education, published by the American Unitarian Association. Separation of the 
Church From the Public School, W.T. Harris in Proceedings of the National 
Educational Association, 1903 p. 351. Sectarianism in National Education, H.W. 
Crosskey. Bible and the Public Schools, W. H. Smythe. Progress of Education in the 
Century, Hughes and Klumm. Education and Social Movements, A. E. Dobbs. 
Cyclopaedia of Education edited by Paul Monroe. Text Book of the History of 
Education Paul Monroe. Our Colonial Curriculum, 1607 - 1776, Colyer, Meiweather. 
Catholic School System in the United States, Its Principles, Origin and Establishment, 
J. A. Burns. Growth and Development of the Catholic School System, J. A. Bums. 
Religious Education and Democracy, B. S. Winchester. A Social Theory of Religious 
Education, George A. Coe. Abelard, and the Origin and Early History of Universities, 
Gabriel Compayre. 



FIFTY - FOUR YEARS AN ACTIVE MASON 


I am sending you today a January 1923 number of THE BUILDER. I spent last winter 
in southern California and instructed my folks not to forward to me papers or 
magazines coming to my address here but to hold them for my return. I do not need 
two copies of this number and return one thinking that you may have a call for it in 
the future. 


Three years ago when I wished to have a volume of THE BUILDER bound by a 
bindery here I could not get a number that I had loaned to a brother and you could not 
furnish it, because your supply was exhausted. Thinking that this might happen again 
to some brother, I return this. I have eight bound volumes of THE BUILDER, less 
one number in one volume, and prize them highly. I am now in my eightieth year and 
may not be here to enjoy them much longer but I will leave what I have to my only 
son living in Chicago, 111., who is a 32d man. Have been a member 54 years in Jay 
Lodge, No. 87, Portland. Ind.. where I was made a Mason. 


Levi L. Gilpin, Indiana. 


The above letter is here printed not as offering new information on things Masonic 
but as an expression of the beauty of the Masonic spirit, which when it abides in a 
man's heart bears fruit in thoughtfulness, appreciation, and courtesy. Bro. Gilpin was 
one of the Masonic grandsires who came into this Society in its beginning. 


* * * 


TWO HUNDRED SIXTY - SIX TIMES A TREASURER 



One of the finest records of sustained heartfelt loyalty to Freemasonry is that of 
Brother John T. W. Ham, the venerable treasurer of his lodge in Dover, New 
Hampshire, where he was born July 1, 1838. He was prevailed upon by Brother Isaac 
P. Collins, Olean, New York, to tell his own Masonic history, which he does after this 
manner: 


"In 1863 I was made a Mason and the night I took my third degree I was elected 
treasurer, and am still holding that office. Later I was made a chapter and council 
member and was elected treasurer in each body; and yet still later was made a 
member of the commandery, and also its treasurer. I still hold that office in all bodies. 
In 1902 I was elected and received the 33d of which I am very proud. If I am not 
mistaken in my count I have been elected treasurer 266 different times." 


John T. W. Ham. 


The 33d is also proud of Brother Ham, and should be. A brother who remains at his 
post for sixty consecutive years in one town deserves that and all the other honors of 
the Craft. If all the high honors went to the brethren who actually do the work of 
Freemasonry there might be fewer to receive them, but there would be a great deal 
more work. 


* * * 


FREEMASONRY'S GREATEST DANGER 


In the Ye Editor's Corner of the October BUILDER this appears: "A brother has 
submitted this question: 'What is the greatest danger now facing Freemasonry? What 
would be your reply ? '" 



The question as stated leaves the reader in some doubt as to 


"Whether the beast that made the track 
Was going out or coming back." 


But presuming he means what danger does Freemasonry face, I would say, None! 


But there are those calling themselves Masons who, in the opinion of some more 
Masonically diligent, fact the twin dangers of apathy and ignorance. The place, we 
have been told, to seek for anything lost is at or near the point where the loss 
occurred. A certain symbolic loss occurred in the hall where the inquiring brother was 
raised. Let him persistently frequent that spot and his efforts to recover that which 
was lost will not go unrewarded, and apathy and ignorance being vanquished, we may 
safely hang 


"The sword in the hall 
The spear on the wall" 


and devote the eight hours apportioned to the service of God and man in seeing that 
our light (life) so shines that all men seeing our good works will be pleased to give to 
the great fraternity that commendation it so richly merits. 


J. H. Jones, Iowa. 



FREEMASONRY AS DEFINED BY THE G. L. OF ILLINOIS 


Attached to each petition used in the Grand Jurisdiction of Illinois is a statement 
concerning the nature and purposes of Freemasonry so adequate in its scope and so 
well phrased that permission was secured from Bro. Owen Scott, Grand Secretary, to 
reprint it here: 


To the Subscriber of the Attached Petition for the Degrees in Freemasonry 


As the exact nature of the institution of Freemasonry is unknown to you, it is deemed 
advisable that before signing the attached petition you should be informed on certain 
features and phases of that institution which may effect your decision to apply for 
membership therein. 


Freemasonry has in all ages required that men should come to its door entirely of 
their own free will, not as the result of importunity nor from feelings of curiosity, but 
from a favorable opinion of the institution, a desire for knowledge, and a sincere wish 
to be serviceable to their fellow creatures. 


Masonry is a system of morality based on the belief in the existence of God, the 
immortality of the soul, and the brotherhood of men; therefore no atheist can be made 
a Mason. It strives to teach a man the duty he owes to God, to his country to his 
family, to his neighbor, and to himself. It inculcates the practice of every virtue and 
makes an extensive use of symbolism in its teachings. It interferes with neither 
religion nor polities, but strives only after light and truth, endeavoring always to bring 
out the highest and noblest qualities of men. 


It should be clearly borne in mind that Freemasonry is not to be entered in the hope of 
personal gain or advancement. Admission must not be sought from mercenary or 
unworthy motives. Anyone so actuated will be bitterly disappointed. The aim of the 



true Freemason is to cultivate a brotherly feeling among men, and to help the 
distressed and Deleted extent of his ability. 


It cannot be too strongly emphasized that Freemasonry is not a benefit society, 
although the practice of charity is a fundamental virtue taught in Freemasonry. We do 
not pay so much a year to entitle us to draw sick pay, or other benefits, or to make 
provision for those we leave behind. There are other excellent societies founded for 
this purpose. 


Loyalty to one's country is an essential qualification in Freemasonry, and those only 
are acceptable who cheerfully conform to every lawful authority. Disloyalty in any 
form is abhorrent to the teachings of Freemasonry and is regarded as a serious 
Masonic offense. Freemasonry is not contrary to the beliefs of any man of upright 
heart and mind and has in it nothing inconsistent with his civil, moral or religious 
duties. 


* * * 


THE OLDEST MASONIC TWINS ? 


I am sending you herewith a photograph of Amasa and Anson Hungerford, twins 
belonging to the Masonic Order. If they live until May 25, 1924, they will become 
eighty years of age. Their home is at Belleville, N. Y. Are they not the oldest twins in 
the Order? 


J. Brodie Smith. 



AN EGYPTIAN CIRCUMAMBULATION 


Referring back to the subject of Circumambulation already discussed two or three 
times in THE BUILDER ( September 1923, January 1924) I have to add an item that 
will show how the rite is practiced in Egypt. The paragraph is quoted from Moslim 
Saints in Modern Egypt, by Winifred S. Blackman: 


"Having removed his or her shoes before entering the building, the visitor then walks 
from left to right round the catafalque erected beneath the dome, three, five, or seven 
times reciting meanwhile special passages from the Kuran. These perambulations 
accomplished, the servant of the sheikh takes a broom, kept for this special purpose, 
and carefully brushes out all the footprints in the interior of the building." 


Wm. Harvey McNairn, Canada. 


* * * 


"THE ORIENTAL ORDER OF MASONRY" 


Having encountered some references to a new "side degree" called "The Oriental 
Order of Masonry" organized by Rev. H. R. Coleman, of Kentucky, Ye Editor wrote 
to Bro. W. H. McDonald, editor of the Masonic Home Journal, Louisville, Ky. 
official organ of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, for information on the subject. Bro. 
McDonald very graciously replied in a letter that readers of THE BUILDER will care 
to see: 



Bro. Coleman is now about eighty - five years of age. He was Grand Chaplain of the 
Grand Lodge of Kentucky for about thirty years. He traveled in the old country, 
visited many lodges and added many degrees to his knowledge of Masonry and 
received the degrees of Palm and Shell which can only be conferred by the Sheik in 
Egypt. He was commissioned by the Sheik under the seal of Egyptian country as a 
Master for the Western Hemisphere. The signature and seal of the Sheik, I presume, 
are genuine. He also brought back with him many coins and tokens, a vast supply of 
shells already engraved, together with the signet ring made from soft iron with the 
star and crescent stamped thereon. 


Bro. Coleman is now a paralytic and is at the Old Masons' Home at Shelbyville, Ky., 
unable to get about. Just after the stroke came to him, he came to Louisville and with 
the assistance of some others conferred the degree upon the Grand Master, Grand 
Senior Warden, Grand Treasurer and some three or four of the Past Grand Masters 
and upon myself. To me he delivered all of his paraphernalia, regalia and placed upon 
my shoulders the mantle of the Order in North America or anywhere in the entire 
Western Hemisphere. I also have a commission as the Grand Master of North and 
South America, as well as Central America, but have not the time to devote to its 
propaganda. One thing I lack in the conference of these degrees is the knowledge of 
the Egyptian language. Bro. Coleman can, I presume, get it off pretty well. The 
degree should be given on a class of not less than five, as it takes that many to confer 
the degree. It is a very, very beautiful degree and if one travels in the Orient or in feet 
anywhere, it would come in awfully nice in the way of getting recognition from those 
of the Eastern Hemisphere. 


W.H. McDonald. 


* * * 


FREEMASONRY AND ADVERTISING 



What is the Masonic law about using the name "Masonry" in advertising? Is it un - 
Masonic? Is it illegal? I raise the question because a brother connected with a certain 
lodge nearby uses the square and compasses on his business cards; some of us believe 
it is forbidden. 


M. D. S., Colorado. 


You will find this subject dealt with in detail in your own Grand Lodge Proceedings 
for 1921 by Grand Master H. P. Burke. His statement is worthy of being printed in 
full: "By Section 296 of the Book of Constitutions, we have forbidden the use of 
Masonic emblems for advertising purposes, and the letter of the law is generally 
obeyed. There is, however, a general violation of its spirit by the indiscriminate use of 
the word Masonic in the same connection. Commercial concerns are using it, not only 
to attract attention to their business, but in a manner and with the purpose of 
conveying the impression that their enterprises are connected with, or approved by, 
the fraternity. Insurance and accident companies are the most notorious violators 
thereof. If the use of the square and compass, which at most can but imply an 
association, be forbidden, then certainly the use of the term Masonic, which asserts 
that association, should be banned. This section, by interpretation or amendment, 
should be made effective in all these eases, or be repealed. 


"In this connection, I call your attention to an instance in which a so - called 
Sanitarium Association, operating in this jurisdiction, was soliciting funds throughout 
the United States. I directed the Grand Secretary to advise other Grand Jurisdictions, 
through their Grand Secretaries, that this Association had no connection with 
organized Masonry in Colorado, and was operating without our approval.... 


"In many quarters there is to be observed an unjustifiable appetite for Masonic 
publicity. Newspaper advertisements of Masonic activities are lamentably frequent. 
What seems to me a particularly flagrant instance of this evil, in a locality where 
solicitation has been charged, is called to your attention by the submission of 
numerous newspaper clippings. These things are to be discountenanced, and ought to 
be discontinued. They constitute merely an indirect method of solicitation. All their 



effects are evil and all their tendencies destructive. No attempt should be made save 
'by the regularity of our own behavior' to popularize the Craft. We want no members 
who do not come of their 'own free will and accord,' 'uninfluenced by mercenary 
motives or the improper solicitation of friends.' The greatest danger which today 
threatens the fraternity is the danger against which its sages and leaders have warned 
it in Colorado and elsewhere from time immemorial - too much popularity. Our 
more active lodges should investigate petitions more carefully and select their 
material more judiciously. Their growth is too rapid to be always healthy. We should 
cease to worry about the enemy without. Now, as always, he is absolutely impotent to 
injure us. Freemasonry can only be torn down from within. 


"In view of what has been hereinbefore stated, and considering the apparent 
confusion in the Masonic world, the time seems ripe for the re - statement by this 
Grand Lodge of the following fundamental principles: 


" 1 - The government of the Grand Lodge is neither a monarchy, an oligarchy, nor a 
'pure democracy.' It is a representative, constitutional republic. Every attempt to graft 
upon it any of the distinguishing characteristics of the first three forms named is 
forbidden by the injunction against 'innovations upon the body of Masonry.' 


"2 - The Grand Lodge, which is but the entire body of the Craft in the Jurisdiction, 
acting through its duly chosen representatives, and restricted only by the landmarks, 
has the sole power and authority to determine what is and what is not 'Masonic,' and 
to fix the conditions under which a petitioner may enter Freemasonry, or, having 
entered, remain. Its only guide is its best judgment as to what is required by the good 
of the Craft, and from its decision there is no appeal. 


"3 - The only title to Masonic office is the best judgment of the brethren voting or 
the officer appointing, uninfluenced by improper solicitation and exercised with no 
consideration in mind but the highest good of the Craft. 



"4 - This fraternity, its activities, titles, ceremonies, symbols, and emblems, are not 
to be used for political or commercial purposes. It repudiates all solicitation for its 
degrees, all advertisement, all unseemly publicity. It tolerates no foreign meddling in 
its affairs. It interferes with no man's religion and will not concern itself with matters 
of political or legislative policy." 


The use of Freemasonry for advertising purposes in any way, shape or form is strictly 
un - Masonic and everywhere condemned inside the fraternity. Whether or not it is 
illegal depends on the laws of the state, and states differ much among themselves on 
such matters. 


* * * 


ANOTHER VERSION OF "THE GREAT JOURNEY" 


Always with the greatest interest I read the different articles of THE BUILDER and 
even if it may happen that I do not agree with the contents of one, as a former judge I 
acknowledge the rightness of the old rule "audio tar et alters pars"; but once in a 
while it looks to me that an article is so fundamentally wrong that almost 
involuntarily I feel inclined to protest or, if it should so prove, to learn if it is I who 
am wrong. 


This was the ease when in the September issue of THE BUILDER I had read an 
article called "The Great Journey." 


The author calls a certain journey which the candidate has to make: "the most 
impressive moment of the initiatory ceremony;" according to my view he could have 
taken a step further and called it: "the basis of our Masonic life." But I agree with him 
that very few Masons, even Master Masons, have paid much attention to this 
ceremony and that generally they are quite ignorant as to the meaning of it. 



The author remarks "that the interpretation of this rite is usually given as a symbolical 
representation of the great journey of life"; and further, "that there is nothing in this 
interpretation in itself, that flies against fact." But he adds "that we may be sure that 
there is far more to it than this" and this "more" later on he explains as "the 
harmonious adjustment of one to one's world." To prove the rightness of his theory 
the author draws attention to the feet that "circumambulation is very old and well nigh 
universal." He tells us that the Egyptians, the Jews and other people used 
circumambulation at solemn occasions and he tells of the marching habits of the 
North and South American Indians as part of their religious rites and he sums up by 
the theory that circumambulation is an imitating of the wandering of the sun over the 
sky from East to West. 


I believe that the author is wrong herein. What the author calls "circumambulation" 
was not a mere wandering, a solemn march, it was a dance. In his book, The Dance of 
Life, Havelock Ellis asserts: "Dancing and building are the two primary and essential 
arts - and dancing came first - dancing is the primitive expression of religion from 
the earliest human times we know of." 


Of course it is not easy for us, who have in mind the dance of the present time, to 
apprehend a walk or a march as a dance, but if we agree with Havelock Ellis in - 
what personally I do - that: "the significance of dancing lies in the feet that it is 
simply an intimate concrete appeal of a general rhythm, that general rhythm, which 
marks not life only but the Universe," then we can understand that the rhythmic 
marching around of the Faro Islanders to the singing of the ancient Northern ballads 
and that the stepping and jumping of the quaint German religious sect in the little 
town of Westphalia - to mention examples of the present days - are dances, though 
in a primitive crude form. 


According to my belief all of the different examples of circumambulation to which 
the author refers in the said article of THE BUILDER are religious dances and there 
is no connection between them and the circumambulation - or as I prefer to call it 
"the travel" - of the Masonic candidate at his initiation as Mason and for this reason 
I think that we had better look away from them. 



WE MUST KEEP OUR EYES OPEN 


Further, when the author remarks that the circumambulation - the travel - of the 
candidate is to be interpreted as "a symbolical representation of the great journey of 
life" 1 believe that the author is again mistaken and I rest my opinion on the feet that 
the candidate has to make the circumambulation - the travel - blindfolded. We do 
not walk blindfolded through life. On the contrary, from our boyhood we are taught to 
keep our eyes open - both practically and theoretically - in our wandering through 
life. The Masonic rites, even if often they are hard to understand and still harder to 
interpret, never allow an interpretation that does not agree with reality. 


Just the feet that the candidate is blindfolded during his circumambulation - his 
travel - shows that the travel is not a symbol of his travel through the outside, or 
profane world, but that it is a symbol of and an appeal to the candidate to make a 
travel through another world, almost more unknown to him than the darkest 
continent - to make the travel through his own interior self. Our forefathers who 
formed the Masonic rites knew that, however strange it sounds, we know ourselves 
less than we know our neighbor. We see the mote in our neighbor's eye but not the 
beam in our own. In blindfolding the candidate the lodge tries to force him to look 
into his own interior, to force him to learn to know himself. It is a feet that our ability 
of thinking is developed when we close our eyes to shut out impression from the 
outer world. 


Over the entrance to one of the Greek temples was cut "gnoti seauton," as a serious 
advice to the worshiper to examine himself to find out what and how he was before 
entering the temple to worship; and in the same way the lodge tries to teach us at the 
beginning of our Masonic life that the first thing we have to do is to examine 
ourselves to find out what in reality we are, as the knowledge thereof is necessary for 
and the foundation of our Masonic life. 


When we study to interpret the Masonic rites it looks to me that we must bear in mind 
the feet that the Masonic Order, as at present it is, had for original foundation real 



artisan guilds - whether we consider the Roman collegian, the fratres Comacini, the 
cathedral builders, or the German bauhiitten as the basis - which little after little 
changed character through the admittance of non - artisans, the accepted Masons, and 
that consequently in our interpretations we must first look to and examine the 
customs and the rites of those bodies. 


In several countries in Europe after the candidate has entered the lodge room the W. 
M. gives the order: "Let the candidate travel as a Mason." And then the S. W. takes 
him three times around the lodge room from W through N and E and S to W. and 
after the travel the S. W. gives the candidate a short lecture explaining the general 
idea of Masonry. Over here the W.M. does not expressly give such an order, but even 
if the candidate is not ordered to travel as Mason, in fact, does. Quite naturally the 
question rises, Does this Masonic ceremony spring from the rites of the operative 
Masons' guilds? Are the Masons travelling in a peculiar way? 


Yes, they do, or rather undoubtedly they did so in the olden time. I admit that I do not 
know whether the apprentice had to make any travel at his initiation, but I do not 
think so, according to what I have been told of the ceremonies; but what I have in 
mind are the travels of the apprentice, as soon as he had been promoted to fellowcraft 
- "Svend, Gesell." As soon as they had reached this rung of the professional ladder 
they started travelling from town to town looking for a job. Even if they got one in a 
town, usually they did not stay very long on it; almost always they were on the travel. 
Over here in this country where outside the larger cities brick buildings are not usual 
and where, as far as I know, the artisans' guilds never did exist, of course you never 
saw the travelling Mason; but in the old countries - in Scandinavia and Germany - 
especially before the times of the railroad in my boyhood very often I saw the 
travelling Mason "Gesell" on the road. Usually he had on his special working suit - 
the garb of his profession - the white moleskin pants, the short white cotton blouse 
covering his coat, and the white cap. 


WHY DO MASONS WEAR WHITE DRESS? 



By the way, it looks strange that the Masons should make use of a white suit for 
working dress, a suit that is so little practical for working purposes, as it gets dirty 
very fast. But do we not here have one of the old customs that is upheld, although the 
source from which it sprang long ago is forgotten ? From the oldest time known, 
building was worshiping the highest being and it is a feet that from time immemorial 
the worshiper, or at least that the person who was leading the religious ceremonies, 
the officiant, was dressed in white. Of course there is no rule without exception, but 
the exceptions can be explained. For instance the Mohammedan imam and Protestant 
minister do not make use of a white dress when they are officiating. The 
Mohammedan dons his most plain dress when he is going to worship, but this is not 
due to tradition but to an expressly pronounced order given by the founder of his 
faith. The Protestant, minister's black cassock I consider a protest against the white 
surplice of the Catholic Church. It looks to me to be possible that the Mason's white 
working dress, which still is in use in the old countries, had its origin from the 
primary viewpoint, that building is worshiping. 


Then the travelling Mason always had with him in a bag the different tools belonging 
to his profession - the trowel, the level, "waterpass," and so on. Contrary to most of 
the other artisans the Masons themselves owned their tools. The young Masons got 
them as soon as they were made fellowcrafts, "Gesell." 


In my boyhood I associated very much with the young Masons, who told me about 
the customs of their profession and I was told that the custom of travelling in the 
aforesaid way had been in use for centuries in the Scandinavian and German countries 
and especially in Germany, where the Mason gilds were blossoming to a far greater 
extent than in Scandinavia. And yet many of the expressions of the Masons' 
profession in Scandinavia are pure German. I have had no opportunity to examine the 
travelling customs of the English Masons, but I suppose that they were just the same 
as above told, as it looks that the customs as previously mentioned were international. 


Now to sum up. My viewpoint is that the Masonic rites are built up from and founded 
on the practices and customs of the actual working Masons, as these offered the 
opportunity of a deeper understanding and interpretation it was possible to underlay 
the different tools and the use of them a moral content and a moral teaching could be 
applied to the special travelling custom of the working Mason. 



For this reason I believe that the travel, which the candidate has to make, is to be 
interpreted in this way, that thereby the lodge will teach him to travel through his own 
interior being, that he may know himself; and to do this travel he is dressed in white 
as a worshiper of the highest being; and to have with him during the travel his tools - 
the trowel and so on - that he may be able to repair and to correct the faults and 
wants that he may find in himself. 


Although it is an old saying, "qui s’ excuse s'accuse," I can not help asking your 
pardon, that I have bothered you with this long letter which meanwhile is due to my 
interest in your paper. I need not draw, your attention to the feet that I am a foreigner, 
as my mistakes in the use of the English language show this, but I hope that you will 
make to yours the saying: "at desint hires tamen est laudanda voluntas." 


C. B. Olivarius, Michigan. 


To have a word from Judge Olivarius is a pleasure always, he is so deeply learned in 
Freemasonry and in the world and a man who, in spite of contact with crime and 
shame so many years on the bench, has retained a human outlook on life. A Dane by 
birth, he graduated from the University of Copenhagen and then took up law, which 
he practiced continuously until 1918. He was made a Mason in St. John's Lodge, 
Dagmar, under the Swedish Rite. He received his Apprentice Degree in 1891, and his 
Master's in about two years thereafter, which is in keeping with the policy of the 
Swedish Rite in setting long periods of time between the degrees; and in 1905 
received his eighth, or Templar Degree. Freemasonry has interested him so much that 
at every opportunity he has visited lodges in all parts of Scandinavia, in France, 
Belgium, Germany, etc. Knowing how it would interest readers of THE BUILDER 
we are now trying to persuade him to lay aside his modesty long enough to give us 
his observations and reminiscences of the Craft as it works in those foreign parts. 


One cannot find fault with his interpretation of the "Great Journey" except possibly 
on this one point, that in England where Speculative Freemasonry arose, and where 
our Ritual took shape, it was never the custom for a Mason out of his apprentice 



indentures to spend one or two years as a journeyman, travelling about in search of 
work, as was the ease in Continental lands; the custom was discouraged from a very 
early date, and in the fourteenth century was expressly prohibited. 


— o — 


YE EDITOR'S CORNER 


Some queer things turn up in the mail. One brother asked us to help him buy a Greek 
restaurant, why Greek he did not say; another importuned our assistance in raising a 
mortgage from his farm, which request we deemed the most complimentary ever 
received; one swain asked our assistance in meeting some attractive damsel; but the 
most richly treasured of all is a contribution from a budding poet. The verses have the 
w. k. King Solomon allusion and otherwise show earmarks of having come from an 
initiated: 


"The ladies dress like everything 
And make their charms so coyly peep 
That Solomon, when he was king 
Was dressed, I'm sure, about twice as cheap." 

* * * 


An old - time reader, who has long sat at our fireside, has asked, "Who is your 
favorite novelist of the present day?" Joseph Conrad for this scribe! Who is yours? If 
ever there was a greater yam than "Heart of Darkness" (in the volume called Youth) 
one would like to see it. 



Bro. Hynes has supplied us with a few more copies of the little booklet Story of the 
Monad. First come, first served. 


* * * 


The North Dakota Society for the Advancement of Learning, sponsored by the 
Scottish Rite of that state, have published a well printed and illustrated book called 
The School Bell for use by Masonic lodges, edited and compiled by Bro. Alfred G. 
Arvold. It is filled with solid information about public education in the United States 
A package of copies was sent to us for distribution gratis to such brethren as have 
need for them. Send name and address. One copy at a time.