The Builder Magazine 

January 1924 - Volume X - Number 1 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 

FRONTISPIECE - THE NATIONAL CAPITOL 

SPURIOUS, OR ASSOCIATED FREEMASONRY - By Bro. Sir Alfred Robbins, 
England 

THE LE PLONGEON THEORY OF FREEMASONRY - By Prof. Herbert J. 
Spinden, Massachusetts 

AN UNIQUE MASONIC MEETING IN FRANCE. 

FREEMASONRY AND TOLERATION IN THE COLONIES - By Bro. Benjamin 
Wellington Bryant, California 

THE COMACINE MASTERS: A REPLY - By Bro. W. Ravenscroft, England 

ENTERED APPRENTICE DEGREE WITH ITS GROUPS OF THREE - By Bro. 
Charles E. Boyden, North Dakota 

SIGNOR MUSSOLINI RECEIVES MASONS 

GREAT MEN WHO WERE MASONS - ADLAI EWING STEVENSON 

THE STUDY CLUB - By Bro. Geo. W. Baird, District of Columbia - Chapters of 
Masonic History - Part VIII, The Operative Masons - By Bro. H. L. Haywood 


EDITORIAL 

Freemasonry's Work in the World 


Masonic Service Association 



THE CORNERSTONE OF THE NATIONAL CAPITOL 


THE LIBRARY 

James Anderson and His Book of Constitutions 
Ammunition for Speech-Makers 
Bound Volume of THE BUILDER for 1923 
The English Ritual 

THE QUESTION BOX AND CORRESPONDENCE 

The Prentice Pillar 

Missouri "Blue Lodges" and Slavery 

Authentic Books on Folklore, etc 

Was Daniel Hunt First Knight Templar.. 

Lodges Not Involved in Oklahoma Trouble. 
Information Wanted Concerning Chart 
Lincoln, Farragut, Grant and Burr 
The American Lodge in London.... 

Commends Block's Article 
"How Do You Examine Visitors?" 

"The Greatest Danger" 


BOOKS WANTED 



YE EDITOR'S CORNER 


— o 


Spurious, Imitative, or Associated Freemasonry 


By Bro. SIR ALFRED ROBBINS, England 


THE BUILDER is privileged, through the intermediary kindness of Bro. Dudley 
Wright, to publish here the Installation Address delivered Nov. 8 last by Sir Alfred 
Robbins, when installed as Master of the famous Lodge of Research, Quatuor 
Coronati, No. 2076, London, England. This frank utterance from a Masonic 
statesman of the first rank will have all the wider hearing in this land in view of his 
approaching visit to our shores. He is a Past Grand Warden of the United Grand 
Lodge of England, President of the Board of General Purposes of that body, and a 
journalist of note. For all his many activities he has found time to take a keen and 
absorbing interest in Masonic research, more especially of latter day Masonry, as his 
present paper will testify. A magnificent address of his on "English and American 
Brotherhood; a league of Masons" was printed in THE BUILDER, July, 1918, page 
191. 


I CANNOT begin my inaugural address as Master of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge 
without acknowledging in all cordiality and with all sincerity the pleasure and pride 
that have been given me by acceptance of the position. 



To be chosen as chief officer for the year of a lodge which has contained some of the 
most eminent students of the immediate past, and has produced fruits of research of 
the highest importance to Freemasonry, is an honour to which an ordinary Mason 
hardly dares to aspire, and an honour for which, when conferred on him, he cannot be 
anything but deeply grateful. 


It has been the custom in this lodge for each succeeding Master on the night of his 
installation to address the brethren upon some subject of Masonic interest which, as a 
rule, has been one of research. Tonight I will follow that example, but with the idea 
of searching, not so much into the past as into the present of Freemasonry. Every 
historian in the Craft, I think, will agree with me in thinking that if our departed 
brethren had concerned themselves with various phases of its evolution, as that 
evolution proceeded and developed, we should have been spared today much 
speculation and error. I, therefore, propose to take as my theme on this occasion the 
problems presented to the Craft today by spurious, imitative or associated 
Freemasonry. In this regard, I do not think it necessary to deal specifically or at any 
length with those bodies that all of us would recognize as covered by the eighth in 
order of the summarised Antient Charges and Regulations which are promised to be 
supported by every Master-elect on his coming into the Chair. This clause gives a 
pledge to respect genuine and true brethren and to discountenance all impostors and 
all dissenters from the original plan of Freemasonry. All of us have a fairly clear idea 
of the bodies embraced in that category, but the organizations which are now to be 
subjected to review are those on the border-line. It was told me in my youth by an 
elementary science teacher that there was no difficulty, broadly speaking, in saying 
what was an animal and what was a vegetable; but the question became more difficult 
when one was asked exactly to place a sponge. It is with, what I may term the 
sponges of Freemasonry, that I wish now to deal - absorbent bodies, difficult to 
define, possibly having their uses in certain directions, but apt to become dangerous if 
allowed to spread with too great ease and rapidity. 


IT IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM 


This problem is not merely speculative. It may seriously affect the immediate future 
of the Craft in this country, as it already is doing our brethren in other countries in 
friendly relationship with ourselves. In our own jurisdiction, specifically according to 



the first clause in our Book of Constitutions, it is "declared and pronounced that pure 
Antient Masonry consists of three degrees and no more, namely, those of the Entered 
Apprentice, the Fellowcraft and the Master Mason, including the Supreme Order of 
the Holy Royal Arch." This extremely limited provision would seem to exclude from 
strict contemplation, not only Mark Masonry, but all those associated with our body 
which work what are variously termed, "the allied", "the higher" or the additional 
degrees. In point of practice we know that the exclusion is not of so rigid a kind. The 
Mark Degree, for example, along with its subordinate part, the Royal Ark Mariners, 
are informally acknowledged as kindred organizations by even strict Craftsmen. 

Many of our most excellent and eminent brethren are Knights Templar, or members 
of the Rose Croix, the Royal Order of Scotland, the Red Cross of Constantine, the 
Rosicrucian Society, the Order of the Secret Monitor and the Order of the Scarlet 
Cord. Some of our most eminent brethren belong to the Grand Council of Royal and 
Select Masters and the Grand Council of the Allied Degrees; while there is the 
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, with its nominal thirty-three degrees, the 
Supreme Council of which avoids conflict with our Grand Lodge by not working the 
first three. 


As long as brethren who own allegiance to those respective bodies have done nothing 
specifically to forfeit their allegiance to the United Grand Lodge of England, no 
objection is taken, but, by the Book of Constitutions, it is strictly enjoined that "No 
honourary or other jewel, medal device or emblem shall be worn in Grand Lodge or 
any subordinate lodge which shall not appertain to or be consistent with those degrees 
which are recognized and acknowledged by the Grand Lodge as part of pure and 
antient Masonry." In practice, this regulation prevents the wearing of any insignia in 
lodges which are not those of the Craft and Royal Arch, and strict action has been 
taken in the past on more than one occasion against brethren who have infringed this 
condition. In one instance this regulation was carried to such a length that it is to be 
found recorded in the Grand Lodge Proceedings for the Quarterly Communication of 
December, 1853, that the Grand Master (the then Earl of Zetland) stated that he had 
been under the painful necessity of removing from his position Bro. William Tucker, 
the Provincial Grand Master for Dorset "in consequence of his having thought proper 
to appear in his Provincial Grand Lodge in the costume and with jewels appertaining 
to what were termed 'higher degrees' and not sanctioned or acknowledged by Grand 
Lodge, and which militated against the universality of Freemasonry." He added that 
he felt much respect for Bro. Tucker personally, but the act was so completely at 
variance with the laws of Grand Lodge that it left him no alternative. The regulation 
was further emphasized by the Board of General Purposes at its meeting on 19th 
January, 1869, when a letter from a brother was read saying that he had seen Knights 



Templar's jewels worn in a lodge, and asking what course to pursue. The Grand 
Secretary - at that time Bro. John Hervey - was instructed to reply that such 
proceeding was at variance with the regulation of the Book of Constitutions. It will be 
seen, therefore, that, as far as the bodies under notice are concerned, the position of 
Grand Lodge is one of toleration, provided the other bodies do not attempt to pass 
over the border lines thus clearly laid down. 


THE MARK DEGREE IS CONSIDERED 


In the case of the Mark Degree, the question of its relation to the Craft has been 
definitely under the consideration of Grand Lodge, and it is important to recall how 
the question was viewed by some of the most skilled and experienced Masons of 
seventy years ago, represented on a special committee jointly appointed by the Board 
of General Purposes and Grand Chapter. That joint committee entered upon an 
inquiry and an investigation, as far as could be done by a body, some members of 
which had not been admitted to the Mark Degree, and it came to a unanimous 
resolution that, while the degree did not form a portion of the Royal Arch Degree and 
was not essential to Craft Masonry, there was nothing objectionable in it, or anything 
which militated against the universality of Freemasonry, and "that it might be 
considered as forming a graceful addition to the Fellowcraffs Degree." The Earl of 
Zetland, as Grand Master, approved and directed that the report of the committee 
should be laid before Grand Lodge, which then unanimously resolved, "That the 
Degree of Mark Mason or Mark Master is not at variance with the Antient Landmarks 
of the Order, and that the Degree be an addition to and form part of Craft Masonry; 
and, consequently, may be conferred by all regular warranted lodges, under such 
regulations as shall be prepared by the Board of General Purposes, approved and 
sanctioned by the M.W. Grand Master." This resolution seemed to settle the matter 
for all time, but, at the ensuing Quarterly Communication - that of June, 1856 - when 
the minutes of 5th March were read, and were proposed to be confirmed, an 
amendment was moved: "That such portion as relates to the subject of the Mark 
Masons be not confirmed," and this, after some discussion, was carried. The question 
has not been raised in active form since. 


The relationship of Grand Lodge to these other degrees, to which many of its 
members belong is, therefore, somewhat confused and, to that extent, unsatisfactory; 



but, speaking generally, an entente cordiale has been established in this jurisdiction 
which prevents friction or overlapping. When, however, any attempt has been made, 
directly or indirectly, to associate women with Freemasonry, Grand Lodge, within 
these past few years, has taken a strong line. At the Quarterly Communication of 3rd 
September, 1919, the report of the Board of General Purposes stated: "That the 
Board's attention is being increasingly drawn to the sedulous endeavors which are 
being made by certain bodies unrecognized as Masonic by the United Grand Lodge of 
England to induce Freemasons to join in their assemblies. As all such bodies which 
admit women to membership are clandestine and irregular, it is necessary to caution 
brethren against being inadvertently led to violate their obligations by becoming 
members of them or attending their meetings. Grand Lodge in 1910 approved the 
action of the Board in suspending two brethren who had contumaciously failed to 
explain the grave Masonic irregularity to which attention is now again called; and it is 
earnestly hoped that no occasion will arise for having again to institute disciplinary 
proceedings of a like kind." The problem came more precisely before Grand Lodge at 
the Quarterly Communication of 2nd March, 1921, when specifically Grand Lodge 
adopted a report of the Board, which recommended that there should not be granted 
the prayer of a petition presented on behalf of an "Honourable Fraternity of Antient 
Masonry" asking for recognition of that body which "modelled its constitutions and 
ritual upon those of the United Grand Lodge of England, departing therefrom only in 
one matter of the admission of women." In another form, the question was again 
presented to Grand Lodge six months later, when Grand Lodge agreed nemine 
contradicente to the declaration that "no Freemason is entitled to attend any non- 
Masonic meeting at which Freemasonry by direct implication is introduced, or to 
participate in any ceremony which is quasi-Masonic or is held under some pseudo- 
Masonic and unauthorized auspices." 


IMITATIVE MASONRY IS FEARED 


In yet a further way the matter came before Grand Lodge in that same year, 1921, and 
midway between the taking of the two decisions just recorded. In this case the Board 
of General Purposes emphasized "the necessity for the greatest caution being 
exercised by brethren in dealing with bodies which, from a Masonic point of view, 
are clandestine or irregular. Brethren who served their country in a special capacity 
during the war were being invited to attend an 'Order', the objects of which are stated 
to be 'good fellowship, harmony and benevolence'. While the body is not called 
Masonic, it officially states that there is a Grand Council composed of those who 



have passed the Chair, and that the Council grants charters and dispensations for the 
founding, opening and consecration of lodges. 'There is a ceremony of initiation, 
simple and impressive, while in each of such lodges is an altar,' while again, to quote 
from the authorized statement, 'the lodge is dressed and regalia worn by the officers, 
and in two lodges already formed are to be found Freemasons who take a great 
interest in the Society.' The claim made in the last sentence deserves serious 
consideration, and the greatest caution is enjoined upon brethren when invited to 
assemblies of the kind indicated." 


While other facts can be given from our recent history showing the jealous regard 
which is being taken by the authorities of Grand Lodge to prevent imitative 
Freemasonry from spreading to England, and strictly emphasizing the necessity for 
the closest scrutiny of bodies which demand any kind of Masonic test for entrants, it 
is not in our own jurisdiction alone that these troubles are to be found. As recently as 
1922, the Grand Lodge of Ireland caused an addition to be made to its regulations 
dealing with any society that requires Freemasonry as qualification for membership, 
and its decision on this subject is worth quotation in full: 


No member of any Lodge under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Ireland shall 
be a member of or attend any meeting of any body or society which requires 
Freemasonry as, a basis of or qualification for membership, except of such bodies as 
are included in the calendar published annually by the authority 

of Grand Lodge. 


If any lodge, or member of a lodge, shall give any information as to the standing of a 
member in reply to an inquiry from any such non-recognized body, it shall be deemed 
to be unMasonic conduct and may be dealt with accordingly. 


Members of lodges under the Grand Lodge of Ireland are forbidden to join or to 
belong to clubs or other bodies purporting to be or calling themselves Masonic, unless 
such clubs or bodies have been sanctioned by the Grand Master or the Deputy Grand 
Master, or if in a Masonic Province, by the Provincial Grand Master or his Deputy, or 
if abroad in a country under the jurisdiction of a Grand Lodge recognized by the 



Grand Lodge of Ireland, by such Grand Lodge. Such sanction may at any time be 
withdrawn without notice. 


OUTER-BODIES INCREASE IN AMERICA 


But it is when we cross the Atlantic that we find the greatest amount of trouble 
arises. I have already given a number of outer-bodies as existing in England to which 
no formal objection is taken, but the spread of such bodies in America is, in these 
times, so rapid, and their sporadic growth is so remarkable that it is difficult to keep 
in touch with even the names of these new organizations. We, in this country, know 
nothing, for example, of the Ancient Egyptian Order of Sciots, an organization 
popular throughout California, and in those American states west of the Rocky 
Mountains, and it is already possessed of a large number of members and steadily 
growing larger. We know as little of the composition of the Shrine, a body which has 
a large number of members in nearly all parts of the United States, and the Annual 
Sessions of which, in various of the greater American cities are occasions of much 
demonstration and rejoicing. There are the Tall Cedars of Lebanon, intended for men 
who are Masons and claim to have reached a considerable proficiency in the esoteric 
work, the strength of this body being mostly in the southeastern states. The Order of 
the Eastern Star, which is for women alone, association with which is forbidden by 
the United Grand Lodge of England to English Masons, has now an American 
membership of more than 400,000. 


But more striking even than these is the rapid growth in America during the past few 
years of orders intended only for boys and girls. In the comparatively young Order of 
De Molay for Boys, which is spreading with great speed in the United States, the 
candidate has to declare that he is a firm believer in the One Living and True God, 
and that his father either is or is not a Freemason, and he has to give the names of at 
least four Masonic relatives, and of four adult persons who have known him for three 
years; while nomination for membership must be made by either two members of the 
chapter he wishes to join, or by two Freemasons, and chapters for chapters can be 
issued only by a recognized Masonic body which promises to carry on the work. 
Instituted as recently as the spring of 1919, it seems to be outstripping in rapidity of 
growth the Order of the Builders for Boys, which is of about the same age, and was 
instituted by members of a Lodge of Perfection of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish 



Rite. The object of this body is declared to organize between the ages of fourteen and 
twenty-one sons of members of lodges of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, and 
their immediate or closest boyhood companions in order to aid in advancing their 
mental, moral, physical and spiritual up-bringing and development, but there can also 
become members such Master Masons "as are interested in the promotion and welfare 
of the Order, and as are necessary to exercise supervision and guidance for its conduct 
and maintenance." 


For the other sex has been instituted the Order of the Rainbow for Girls between 
fourteen and eighteen years of age, which is American in scope, and bears the same 
relationship to girls as the Order of De Molay does to boys. Claiming to "inculcate 
the love of God, home and country, putting special stress upon the American public 
school system, and political and religious liberty as guaranteed by the American 
Constitution." This order is for girls who are too young for membership in the Order 
of the Eastern Star, but for those of their elders who wish to proceed beyond the 
Eastern Star there is the Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem, eligibility for 
membership of which is good standing in the Eastern Star, though the body does not 
claim to be in any way connected with that Order. Its whole legend, it may be noted, 
is essentially Christian. 


ALARMED AT INCREASE OF SIDE DEGREES 


It is not an unnatural consequence of the jealousies and growth of these various 
imitative organizations that Craft Masonry in certain of the states is becoming 
alarmed at their rapid increase. One American Grand Master, who incidentally is 
strongly in favour of the Eastern Star and the De Molay Order for Boys, roundly 
denounces as "Masonic parasites" various other bodies which seek to make 
membership in Masonry a prerequisite to their own membership, and he most 
seriously has asked the attention of his Grand Lodge to the question of whether it 
would not be well to legislate against such a practice. Another Grand Master, when 
recently denouncing the attempts of various "miscellaneous organizations" basing 
their membership on Craft Masonry, to rush Craft Masons through a maze of higher 
degrees before, as he picturesquely says, "they are literally dry behind the ears," 
confesses his weakness when confronted with the present position. "We have not 
confidence enough in our own intelligence to attempt to furnish a remedy," he says, 



"but feel sure that someone will suggest one before long that will do good. We have 
scattered until our force is greatly weakened, and the time is right for the return of a 
consolidation of our activities. Could we abolish all save lodges and chapters, we 
would be the gainers, and some sweet day we may find it necessary to do just that." 


I could produce a whole volume of evidence from the various records of Masonic 
work in the United States to show how this sponge-like growth is spreading in 
American Masonry, and is threatening certain of the best interests of the Craft, but I 
have given sufficient testimony, I think, to satisfy our brethren that the price of 
Masonry, as of liberty, is eternal vigilance. While willing to believe that nothing but 
the highest motives are entertained by those who promote these outer organizations or 
those who patronize their mysteries and share in their assemblies, I am strongly 
convinced that the policy of constant and close watchfulness, up to now pursued by 
the United Grand Lodge of England, when dealing with outside bodies has been fully 
justified by its results, and is the only one that can truly uphold the dignity and high 
importance of Freemasonry as we ourselves know it, feel it and hope to transmit it 
pure and unsullied to our successors as we have received it. It is because of this belief 
that I have ventured to take this opportunity to lay before so influential a lodge, and 
so representative a body of its members and associates, certain facts bearing upon a 
question which I am sure will do something to stimulate research in a direction that, 
up to now, as far as England is concerned, has been strangely neglected by those who 
should watch with the closest earnestness the everchanging signs of the times. 


— o — 


The Le Plongeon Theory of Freemasonry 


By Prof. HERBERT J. SPINDEN, Massachusetts 
With an Introduction by The Editor 


INTRODUCTION 



Our fathers in Masonry will recall the stir occasioned in 1886 by the publication of 
Sacred Mysteries Among the Mayas and the Quiches, 1 1,500 Years Ago: Their 
Relation to the Sacred Mysteries of Egypt, Greece, Chaldea and India: Freemasonry 
in Times Anterior to the Temple of Solomon; written by Augustus Le Plongeon. The 
book was read with avidity at the time, as were all other volumes giving Freemasonry 
a fabulous origin, and even now the interest is not altogether abated if one may judge 
by the fact that inquiries concerning it come not infrequently to THE BUIEDER. 


Fe Plongeon know as well as anybody that Freemasonry in the form it now wears is 
not 12,000 years old or anything like it, and was more or less familiar with the 
theories concerning its origin now more or less current; he made the point, a hard one 
to sustain but not altogether unreasonable, that while the BODY of the Craft is of 
comparatively modern origin, its SOUF has been a long time in the world, meaning 
thereby that its principles and symbols, and the general groundwork of its ceremonies, 
are late reincarnations of practices of the Ancient Mysteries and similar world-old 
religious cults. The audacious theory in Fe Plongeon's book was that the Ancient 
Mysteries, such as were in use in Greece and Egypt, were originally founded in 
America, among the Mayas, and migrated from thence over an ancient land bridge 
that was broken when Atlantis was destroyed. He summed the argument up in a few 
words, to be found on page 22: 


"I will endeavour to show you that the ancient sacred mysteries, the origin of 
Freemasonry consequently, date back from a period far more remote than the most 
sanguine students of its history ever imagined. I will try to trace their origin, step by 
step, to this continent which we inhabit - to America - from where Maya colonists 
transported their ancient religious rites and ceremonies, not only to the banks of the 
Nile, but to those of the Euphrates, and the shores of the Indian Ocean, not less than 
11,500 years ago." 


On page 49 is another paragraph of similar import, interesting to read: 



"Seeking for the origin of the institution of the sacred mysteries, of which Masonry 
seems to be the great-grandchild, following their vestiges from country to country, we 
have been brought over the vast expanse of the blue sea, to this western continent, to 
these mysterious 'Lands of the West' where the souls of all good men, the Egyptians 
believed, dwelt among the blessed. It is, therefore, in that Country, where Osiris was 
said to reign supreme, that we may expect to find the true signification of the symbols 
held sacred by the initiates in all countries, in all times, and which have reached us 
through the long vista of ages, still surrounded by the veil, 'well-nigh impenetrable, of 
mystery woven round them by their inventors. My long researches among the ruins 
of the ancient temples and palaces of the Mayas have been rewarded by learning at 
the fountain-head the esoteric meaning of some at least of the symbols, the 
interpretation of which has puzzled many a wise head - the origin of the mystification 
and symbolism of the numbers 3, 5 and 7." 


The theory may be summed up in a few words, to - wit: The origin of Freemasonry is 
to be found in ancient rites and symbolisms, of which the Mystery cults were the best 
known examples; these cults originated in America; their rites and symbols have been 
inherited by Freemasonry; therefore Freemasonry began in America 1 1,500 years 
ago. The whole weight of this ingenious theory rests on the Le Plongeon account of 
early Maya civilization, and therefore is one to be properly referred to specialists in 
that field. 


Professor Herbert Joseph Spinden, of Peabody Museum, Harvard University, is such 
a specialist. He is one of the high authorities of the land on American archaeology, 
has made explorations among the ruined cities of Central America, and has written 
two books very interesting to read on the Maya subject - Maya Art, and Ancient 
Civilizations of Mexico and Central America. When asked by THE BUILDER for a 
statement concerning Le Plongeon's work from a scientific point of view he sent the 
paper published herewith. An excellent and very sympathetic account of Le 
Plongeon's career as an archaeologist, along with a detailed description of his most 
important finds, will be found in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, 
Oct. 21, 1874, under the caption, "Dr. Le Plongeon in Yucatan." Le Plongeon's book 
may be purchased through the National Masonic Research Society at $3.25 net. Prof. 
Spinden is not a Mason; all the more therefore are we appreciative of his courtesy in 
writing the critique herewith. 



I WOULD appreciate the opportunity to correct a misconception which has gained 
strong hold regarding the origin of ancient American civilization and its possible 
relations with the Old World. I realize that Le Plongeon's books have been an 
important factor in the spread of this erroneous idea and at the same time 1 do not 
wish to put myself in the position of making an attack upon him in any way 
unfriendly or unappreciative of his self-sacrificing struggles. 


I must say to begin with that I am not a Mason and, therefore, have no inside 
knowledge of the special symbolisms which are used in its ceremonies. The Masons, 
as their name implies, and their open history pretty clearly indicates, were builders 
and as such, they were first of all practical men. By this 1 do not mean to imply that 
they were not interested in ideals as well as results. Indeed it is always within the 
pride and practice of good craftsmanship to look beyond work to the things that work 
stands for in the emotional life of the social group. But I cannot think that practical 
builders, if given a chance, would distribute social frills and esoteric ceremonials and 
not distribute at the same time the machines, processes and constructions that were 
their solid and real existence. 


There were stone-workers in ancient America who erected some very interesting 
temples, embellished them with geometric designs and with the faces of grotesque 
gods who were believed to have jurisdiction over the sun and the rain. The evolution 
of their art is an open book to archaeologists. They invented a kind of corbelled vault 
but not a keystone vault. For the most part they built their walls with a veneer of cut 
stone and filling of lime mortar poured over broken limestone. They had the 
skyscraper instinct and satisfied it by putting their principal temples upon lofty 
pyramids and then erecting trellis-like walls on the roofs. Doubtless some of their 
methods and results might be matched somewhere in the Old World, although they 
clearly received independent development in the New. 


But - and here is the important point - they did not have metal tools, only Stone 
chisels. This is certainly true in Yucatan. In Peru and in western Mexico some 
copper and bronze chisels have been found, but no evidence that these were used in 
dressing stone is forthcoming. The First Empire of the Mayas, the highest period of 
civilization in the New World, passed without the use of metal. And yet here was a 
tremendous civilization on the artistic and economic side, a civilization that means 



vastly more to us today in the food that we eat and the clothes that we wear than do 
the civilizations of Greece or Rome. 


There were no draft animals in America, except the dog and llama, and there was not 
the slightest use of the wheel as a mechanical device. If some Master Mason had 
reached these shores before Columbus, wouldn't he have left a cart and a windlass? 
Would he have wasted a precious opportunity to benefit his fellowmen in the 
practical ways of trade? Would he have taught instead only the details of an esoteric 
cult, well enough as a ceremonial but shining like the moon with light reflected from 
a greater purpose? These are questions which I shall let some Mason answer; I would 
consider myself unfair and antagonistic to the Order - which I am not - if I dared to 
answer these questions in the way they have been answered by Augustus Le Plongeon 
and some of his disciples. 


Essentially the romanticists who argue that similarities in human culture necessarily 
mean contact degrade man instead of making his story of progress more wonderful. 
They picture man as having a retentive memory merely and not a creative mind, but 
the science of anthropology shows very clearly that men do have creative minds and 
that all the peoples of the world given certain opportunities and stimuli arrive at pretty 
much the same results. 


Nearly all persons who profess to believe that the rites of Freemasonry existed in 
ancient America seem to have been inspired by the writings of Augustus Le 
Plongeon, and especially by his Sacred Mysteries Among the Mayas and Quiches, 

1 1,500 Years Ago. Their Relation, to the Sacred Mysteries of Egypt, Greece, Chaldea 
and India Freemasonry in Times Anterior to the Temple of Solomon. This book was 
published over thirty-five years ago at a time when real knowledge of the ancient 
ruined cities of Central America was non-existent. Almost anything could be claimed 
without fear of successful contradiction, but even in those halcyon and vociferous 
days Le Plongeon was not able to gain converts to his strange and fantastic theories 
among persons familiar with the subject matter of art and history. Today it is easy 
enough to controvert his basic doctrine. He believed that the civilizations of Egypt, 
Assyria, India, etc., began in Central America, thus taking the opposite side from 
many other romanticists who have attempted to carry civilizations from the Old 
World to the New. 



Le Plongeon was one of the first to explore Chichen Itza, a mined city in northern 
Yucatan, and he excavated some interesting altars and ceremonial objects which we 
now know belong to a period between 1000 and 1300 A.D. He made romantic 
explanations of these things and also evolved what he called an alphabet, pretending 
to read passages in inscriptions by means of this alphabet. Now the world is very 
eager to recover the real message in Mayan inscriptions, and every suggestion has 
been subjected to searching tests. The course of Mayan history has been sharply 
outlined. We know that Chichen Itza was founded for the first time about 450 A.D. 
and abandoned shortly after 600 A.D. for a period of 260 years, after which it was 
reestablished. It was finally abandoned about eighty years before the coming of the 
Spaniards after a period during which Mexican overlords controlled the destinies of 
the city. But Le Plongeon says, "From Chichen this great civilization seems to have 
extended its influence to the remotest parts of the earth, and to have exercised its 
controlling power among far-distant and heterogeneous nations." But comparative 
chronology will not let us derive the origin of Egyptian culture from a city which was 
founded long after Egypt had passed into min. 


But lest there should be an attempt among some persons to reform the arguments of 
Le Plongeon on another base, let us look at some of the controlling facts as regards 
historical relations in ancient times between the New and Old Worlds. Man came 
into the New World as a savage with simple implements of the new-stone type, 
perhaps as much as 15,000 years ago and before any kind of civilization was 
developed anywhere in the Old World. The American Indian, as a whole, is 
physically closely allied to the rather primitive tribes of northeastern Asia. 
Nevertheless, he has natural characters which mark him off from other peoples. 


The languages of the ancient Americans are distinct from those of the Old World and 
are highly diversified. No legitimate proofs of linguistic characters between the 
eastern and western hemispheres have ever been accepted, if we omit the case of a 
small body of Eskimos who are recent invaders into Siberia from the American side. 
The cultures or habits of life of the American Indians are different from those of 
Europe or Africa. They had simple arts, such as basketry, flint chipping, etc., when 
they spilled into their new land across the Straits of Bering many thousand years ago. 
They did not bring in food supplies, for agriculture had not been invented anywhere at 
this time. Now the higher civilizations of America are all built directly upon food 



supply, in exactly the same way as the civilizations of the Old World are built upon 
food supply; but the plants domesticated in America were entirely unknown in 
Europe and Asia before the discovery of America by Columbus and similarly the 
domesticated plants of the Old World were unknown in the New. The only apparent 
exceptions to this statement are cotton, where independent species were domesticated 
in the two hemispheres and the common gourd which probably drifted by water 
around the world. 


There have been plenty of parallel developments in processes and constructions. 
Pottery was independently invented as was the loom. Many decorative designs were 
discovered over and over again, examples being such geometric forms as the swastika 
and the Greek fret, but all in all the most notable achievements of the East and West 
have been distinct. The Mayas were much ahead of the Old World nations in 
mathematics and astronomy. The Peruvians were the world's weavers and the 
sedentary American Indians in general were more successful as breeders of plants 
than were the peoples of the Old World. On the other hand, most domestic animals 
are of Old-World origin and most basic machines, such as the wheel and the screw 
were invented in the Old World and were entirely unknown in the New. 


The follower of the fantastic proofs of contact between America and the Old World 
before the momentous voyage of Columbus which were presented to explain 
comparative minor matters, has got to swim a very wide channel against a very strong 
tide. Speaking as a scientist who has gone deeply into the matter of art and ceremony 
and kept, I hope, an open mind to real proofs, I must say that nothing has come to 
light that indicates that Freemasonry was known in ancient America. The only 
possibility of its introduction would be through the Norsemen who had a slight 
trading contact with primitive tribes in Greenland and Labrador. There was no lost 
Atlantis to give a dryland connection and no proofs of lost Phoenician galleys or any 
of the other romantic devices have survived the white light of scientific research. 


— o — 


An Unique Masonic Meeting on the Battlefield in France 



The following account of a most unique event in the annals of the Craft has been 
collected from several sources and deserves to be put on perpetual record. The 
incident is not yet complete, but the main facts are as here stated. Through the 
courtesy of Brother Alexander Anderson, U.S.S. Maryland, the main incidents first 
came to our attention. The others came through correspondence with other 
craftsmen. So far as known this is the only occasion of its kind during the World 
War. It emphasizes the virility of the Institution and its adaptability to every 
circumstance. 

-C. F. Irwin. Associate Editor. 


DURING the World War the craftsmen on board the U.S.S. New Hampshire 
organized the "Granite Club", of which Brother Alexander Anderson was president. 
This club maintained the custom of entertaining all Masons of the army who traveled 
across the ocean east and west. During the winter of 191 8-1919, while transporting 
troops westward, they had occasion to hold a Masonic meeting in one of their 
wardrooms. In the company was Worshipful Brother Colonel Morris B. Payne, who 
related the following story: 


"On December 31, 1917, 1 was installed Master of Union Lodge, No. 31, A.F. & 
A.M., of New London, Conn. On that date I conferred the first three degrees on 
Colonel L.R. Burgess, commanding officer of the 56th Coast Artillery Corps. Shortly 
after my installation it became evident that my regiment would soon be ordered to 
France, so a number of Masons in the regiment petitioned the Grand Master of 
Connecticut to grant us a charter to take with us. This he did not care to do, and as it 
afterwards developed he used very good judgment, as the keeping of records and 
electing candidates in the field would have been practically impossible. He did, 
however, grant to me a special dispensation to confer the first three degrees of 
Masonry on ten members of the regiment who were elected but who had not been 
worked. Our work in the training area in France was so laid out that an opportunity to 
gather a lodge together did not occur until the regiment had moved into the zone of 
the armies. It then became apparent to me that I would have to do the work at once or 
possibly never do it. 



"The regiment detrained at a place called La Ferte on the Marne River, and from there 
went into temporary billets at Charly-sur-Marne, about six miles south of Chateau- 
Thierry. On the evening of August 8, 1918, 1 opened a lodge of Entered Apprentices 
in the Hotel-de-Ville (City Hall). The building was in a fair state of repair, 
notwithstanding the destruction in the immediate vicinity. By a liberal use of 
blankets over the openings we were able to operate with a fair amount of privacy. On 
this evening I conferred the First Degree on six candidates. The three lesser lights 
used were three very handsome silver candlesticks borrowed from the Catholic 
church in the village. 


"On August 9, 1918, 1 conferred the Second Degree on the same six candidates. For 
the lack of other equipment a good brother very artistically chalked the 3-5-7 steps 
and emblems on the floor. 


"On the evening of August 11,1 raised the six candidates and one other who had 
received his first two degrees in the States. The 26th (Yankee Division) was well 
represented, that outfit being located close by. The work was done perhaps not so 
smoothly as one would expect under more pleasant conditions, but I assure you that 
the candidates were not neglected. 


"The first candidate for the Third Degree will perhaps recall his experience as long as 
he lives. After he had met his third obstruction and had been moved to the west, the 
bugler outside sounded taps. This feature was a coincidence which made it just the 
more impressive. 


"A few days later I was ordered to put my guns into action. While moving into 
position we lost one of our most enthusiastic brothers, Brother Robert C. Fletcher, of 
Norwich, Conn. While our column was passing a crossroad the German artillery 
opened fire and Brother Fletcher received wounds that caused his death within a few 
moments. His loss was keenly felt by all who knew him, and it had the effect of 
raising the morale of my battalion to the point that nothing they could do would be 
enough to avenge the death of their comrade. 



"The officers in the lodge were Brother Major Harry Skinner, of Massachusetts, S.W.; 
Brother Major J. Eugene Nestor, Connecticut, J.W. (both P.M's); Brother Capt. 
Camille Mazeau, Connecticut, S.D.; Brother Lieut. J.A. Harvey, Connecticut, J.D.; 
the other officers changed from night to night as available. 


"During the Argonne battle I received dispensation to confer the degrees on several 
other candidates, but the opportunity never arrived." 


For an interesting continuation of this story, see the following letter received through 
the courtesy of Capt. E.Q. Jackson, New York City. This letter is one of a large 
number on his files from the Masonic Club of the American Camp at Blois, France. 


During May, 1918, this club advertised in the Paris edition of the New York Herald, 
inviting any Masons in the army to open communication with their club. The 
following letter was one of the replies: 


May 12, 1918. 
Battery E, 119 Reg., 
F.A., A.E.F. 

A.P.O. 711. 


Dear Mr. Oettinger: 



In looking through the Herald last night I saw your article concerning the Masons, 
and decided that you were the man that could perhaps help me. 


I consider myself a Mason; consider may sound rather odd, but here's how it is. My 
application was sent through by Major Morris B. Payne, and I received a receipt O.K. 
Then we left for "over here" just the day designated to go to New London (Union 
Lodge, No. 31) to take my degrees, so I was disappointed. However, the Major told 
me that I would probably be able to take them here, and I was figuring on that being 
quite a novelty. 


But he was temporarily transferred from our battery (56th C.A.C.) and then before he 
returned I was transferred to this battery. And I would like very much to be able to 
finish them. Today I received a copy of Craftsman and was surprised to see my name 
in the honour roll of the lodge, Major Payne being Worshipful Master,. His 
whereabouts are unknown to me an I decided on asking information from you. 


If you can suggest something, somehow or somewhere that I could do, or go, I would 
appreciate it very much. Thanking you very much, I remain, with best regards, 

Sincerely, 

Corp. Leslie V. Manchester. 


P.S. My home is in Norwich, Conn., and I was stationed at Fort H. G. Wright, just 
outside in the sound. 


Thus we have on record the opening of a Master Masons lodge in the very front of the 
battle line during the fierce month of August in 1918, and the conferring of the three 
degrees upon six of our American soldiers. 



O 


Freemasonry and Toleration in the Colonies 

By Bro. BENJAMIN WELLINGTON BRYANT, California 


This paper may with profit be read in conjunction with Bro. Bryant's contribution to 
THE BUILDER, February, 1923, page 50. THE BUILDER is not much in sympathy 
with those who seek to stir up religious strife and rancour, least of all with those who 
would introduce it into Freemasonry, nevertheless it believes that an impartial 
treatment of some subjects is valuable to the student, and therefore arranged with 
Bro. Bryant for these two able articles, along with others to follow. Those who may 
be interested to read an account of Roman Catholicism in Revolutionary America 
from the Romanist's point of view are advised to consult The Life and Times of John 
Carroll, published by The Encyclopedia Press, 119 East 57th street, New York City, 
1922. John Carroll was Archbishop of Baltimore. Chapters v, vi and vii deal with 
some points covered by Bro. Bryant, and are entitled thus: "The Catholic Church in 
the United States on the Eve of the Revolution," "Catholics in the American 
Revolution," "Carroll's Mission to Canada." Bishop Carroll was largely responsible 
for publishing a ban against Freemasonry in America. On page 780 of his biography 
occurs this peculiar statement: "To those who are aware that, two years previous to 
this ban on the Freemasons, the Ursuline Nuns of Nantes wrought a beautiful 
Masonic apron of satin, with gold and silver mountings, for George Washington, this 
regulation will appear curious." On page 781 is a long letter written by Carroll 
concerning Freemasonry and the Roman Catholic Church. 


"A Mason is obliged by his tenure to obey the moral law; and if he rightly 
understands the art, he will never be a stupid atheist nor an irreligious libertine. But 
though in ancient times Masons were charged in every country to be of the religion of 
that country or nation, whatever it was, yet it is now thought more expedient only to 
obligate them to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions 
to themselves; that is, to be good men and true, or men of honour and honesty, by 
whatever denominations or persuasions they may be distinguished; whereby Masonry 
becomes the center of union, and the means of conciliating true friendship among 
persons that must else have remained at a perpetual distance." 



Charge "Concerning God and Religion" in the first (Anderson's) Book of 
Constitutions. 


IN the year 1717, and during the reign of the first George of England, occurred the 
great event of modem Masonic history - the Revival of the Fraternity. This was far 
from being the least of the causes that contributed, during the subsequent half 
century, to the propagation of the ideals of human liberty and religious toleration, and 
to the undermining of despotism, both in the political and ecclesiastical sense. 


The charge "Concerning God and Religion," which was first published in Anderson's 
Constitutions of 1723, is one of the landmarks of human as well as Masonic progress; 
it is doubtful if the language contains a half dozen passages of equal length that have 
exerted more influence upon human thought. Sectarianism and bigotry cannot live in 
the midst of a group of men united in the bonds of "that religion in which all men 
agree," for such is the very foundation of universal brotherhood. A group of men in 
any community united on that basis must inevitably carry the ideal with them when 
they leave the tiled precincts of the lodge, and must exert a powerful influence upon 
the thought and action of all with whom they come in contact. Such a group must be 
an influential factor, through their own efforts and through the force of example, in 
the building of a fairer, nobler and more fraternal social and political stmcture. 


The only forces which have desired or dared to attempt the extinguishing of the light 
of Masonry have always been, and still are, those that work in behalf of political and 
religious despotism. Of these, the contest waged by the latter has been the more bitter 
even as its effects have been more baneful in cramping and distorting the minds of 
men. It is with the latter, far more than with the former, that our contest here in 
America has been waged from the beginning. Only too frequently history 
exaggerates the lesser struggles, waged on the battlefield and within legislative halls, 
and ignores or belittles the far more bitter and relentless, though less spectacular, 
struggle for the control of the minds and consciences of men. 



It is more than significant that the Masonic Fraternity stepped out of the shadows into 
the full glare of historical light just at the time when those forces of darkness had 
received a most important, if not a final cheek in England. Of Freemasonry prior to 
1717 we can catch only occasional unsatisfactory glimpses. How much of it existed 
and what was its influence must be left to conjecture. It is difficult to believe, 
however, that the religious clause in the Charges approved in 1722 represented a 
novel innovation or a sudden reversal of established customs. 


Much has been written of those men who stood in the front rank of English Masonry 
at this period. Doubtless much more could be said of their high character and broad 
vision. However, the present purpose is to endeavour to show the intimate 
connection of the Craft with the dissemination of the ideas of human liberty, religious 
toleration and popular education which have since become the foundation stones of 
our American institutions. 


The first Freemason on this continent of whom we have reliable historical record is a 
character fully in keeping with the high standards of worth which the Craft has ever 
sought to maintain, for it was no less a personage than Jonathan Belcher, Governor of 
Massachusetts Colony from 1730 to 1741. Bro. Belcher was made a Mason in 
England, whither he had gone to complete his education, in 1704. He returned to 
Massachusetts the following year. 


Mr. Samuel Oppenheim devotes several pages of history of his essay on The Jews 
and Masonry in the United States before 1810 to consideration of a tradition of a 
Masonic lodge held at Newport, Rhode Island, as early as 1656 or 1658. The 
evidence is meager, however, and there are some points in which it does not square 
with well substantiated Masonic history. On the other hand, reliable evidence has 
been found that a lodge met for a time in King's Chapel, Boston, in the year 1720. 
Melvin M. Johnson, Past Grand Master of Massachusetts, in an article published in 
THE BUILDER for May, 1915, states on the authority of Bro. Sachse, Librarian of 
the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, that confirmation of this fact may be found in the 
Library of the American Philosophical Society. 



The recorded history of the Fraternity of this continent began about the year 1730, 
both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania claiming the honour of priority. It is sufficient 
for us here that the Craft was established in both these colonies about that year. 
Thence it spread throughout the thirteen English-speaking colonies and attracted to its 
altars the best of many communities, men who were or soon came to be recognized as 
leaders in every field of public endeavour. It is an indisputable fact that prior to the 
Revolution a surprisingly large number of lodges had been chartered in the colonies. 


That our brethren of that early day were actively promoting the cause of public 
education is indicated by a fragment of correspondence quoted by Hayden in 
Washington and his Masonic Compeers. It is a portion of a letter from a German 
printer, Christopher Sowrs, of Germantown, to Conrad Weiser. In it bitter complaint 
is made of the activities of Benjamin Franklin and the Freemasons generally on 
behalf of the movement for free schools. Sowrs exclaimed: "The people who are the 
promoters of the free schools are Grand Masters and Wardens among the Freemasons, 
their very pillars." 


MASONS AS PIONEERS IN EDUCATION 


Another interesting sidelight on the subject of early Masonic interest in education is a 
resolution adopted by St. John's Lodge of Philadelphia under date of June 5, 1732, 
and believed by good authorities to be in the handwriting of Benjamin Franklin. It 
provides: 


" 1 . That since the excellent Science of Geometry and Architecture is so much 
recommended in our ancient Constitutions, Masonry being first instituted with this 
Design, among others, to distinguish the true and skillful Architect from unskillful 
Pretenders; total ignorance of this art is very unbecoming a Man who bears the 
worthy Name and Character of a Mason. 



"We therefore conclude, that it is the Duty of every Member to make himself, in some 
measure, acquainted therewith, as he would honour the Society he belongs to, and 
conform to the Constitutions. 


"2. That every member may have an Opportunity of so doing, the present Cash to be 
laid out in the best Books of Architecture, suitable Mathematical instruments, etc." 


The foregoing resolution with an account of its discovery may be found in the 
American edition of Gould's History of Freemasonry. (Vol. IV, p. 235.) 


Here we have indisputable evidence that the Masons of Philadelphia, both as 
individuals and as a Fraternity, were actively interested in free education. It was 
scarcely two score years later that the Massachusetts brethren at least gave equal 
proof of their devotion to the cause of human liberty by active participation in the 
stirring events which led to the outbreak of the Revolution. We cannot but be certain 
that much of the inspiration of the innumerable other workers in the field of human 
progress throughout the colonies was gained from Freemasonry. The Masonic names 
that appear among the Colonial and Revolutionary leaders leave no doubt on this 
score. Washington, Randolph, Pinckney, Patrick Henry, from Virginia; Adams, 
Hancock, Warren, Otis, Revere, from Massachusetts; Thornton, Bartlett, Sullivan, 
from New Hampshire; Livingston, Jay, Gouverneur Morris, from New York; Greene, 
from Rhode Island; Ethan Allen, from Vermont; Franklin, Rush, Robert Morris, "Mad 
Anthony" Wayne, from Pennsylvania - the list is too long for more extended notice. 
The reader's attention is directed to Hayden's Washington and his Masonic Compeers 
and to Madison Peters' Masons as Makers of America. 


Attention should also be drawn to the fact that the earliest Masonic centers, 
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, were the colonies where the most vigorous 
organized resistance to royal tyranny appeared; and these colonies furnished the most 
able and active of the Revolutionary leaders. Some significance may be attached to 
this circumstance. The value of a Masonic lodge to a community, not only as a 
disseminator of high ideals of citizenship, but also as a training school of popular 
government, cannot be questioned. Too little attention has been given to this phase of 



Revolutionary and early Constitutional history. The part played by the Fraternity in 
the establishment of American independence and in the building of a stable 
government in these United States is as yet scarcely realized. 


THE SOUL OF ULSTER 


Another factor that has received little attention, and which is closely allied to 
Masonry, is the great Scotch-Irish immigration during the half century preceding the 
Revolution. These people were of the only faction in that unhappy island who could 
possibly have lent their cordial support to Irish Masonry, and they came from the 
districts where it had made its first recorded appearance in Ireland. They must have 
brought with them much of the Masonic ideal, together with a stem realization of the 
age-long, bitter and relentless stmggle of ecclesiasticism against all that makes for 
liberty, toleration, education and fraternity. I have seen no work that gives a more 
clear and concise account of the conditions under which they had lived than Mr. 
Ernest Hamilton's The Soul of Ulster. While not a Masonic book, it is worth the time 
of every Mason to read it. 


Only too well those sturdy Scotch-Irish pioneers knew the lengths to which religious 
intolerance could be carried, and their influence counted for much in shaping a 
government here in America under which every sect and every citizen should be 
equal before the law, and in creating a Constitution that is a standing rebuke to any 
organization or individual seeking special privileges. It is estimated that upwards of 
half a million of these immigrants arrived prior to the Revolution. 


In 1775 there were approximately three million people in the thirteen colonies. Of 
these, not to exceed 25,000 were of the Roman faith. By far the greater majority of 
the Roman Catholic population resided in Maryland, the original "Catholic colony," 
and in Pennsylvania, where the Quakers extended to them a sort of negative 
toleration. There were some score or so of Roman Catholic priests. 



There seems to have been a strong disposition on the part of our fathers of 76 to 
extend to this small and apparently harmless minority, a greater measure of toleration 
than they had enjoyed at any time previously under the colonial governments. It is 
significant, however, that one of the complaints raised against the Mother Country 
just prior to the outbreak of hostilities was occasioned by the passage by Parliament 
of the Quebec Act. The Declaration of Rights of 1774 mentioned this act as one of 
the "infringements and violations of the rights of the colonists," and declared its 
repeal as "essentially necessary in order to restore harmony between Great Britain and 
the American colonies." 


"Also the act passed at the same session for establishing the Roman Catholic religion 
in the province of Quebec, abolishing the equitable system of English laws, and 
erecting a tyranny there, to the great danger (from so total a dissimilarity of religion, 
law and government) of the neighbouring British Colonies, by the assistance of 
whose blood and treasure the said country was conquered from France." 


The government of Canada was thus placed practically in the hands of the 
priesthood. It was most bitterly resented by the English speaking colonists, and was 
again referred to in the Declaration of Independence two years later. 


"For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighbouring Province, 
establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to 
render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule 
into these Colonies." 


Article XVI, of the Virginia "Declaration of Rights," adopted May 6, 1776, expresses 
a sentiment that is reminiscent of the clause "Concerning God and Religion" of 
Anderson's Constitutions: 


"That religion, or the duty we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, 
can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore 
all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of 



conscience; and that it is the duty of all to practice Christian forebearance, love and 
charity towards each other." 


These passages are important in illustrating the trend of thought in the colonies. The 
adoption of the Quebec Act by the English Parliament would seem to indicate that the 
party in power in Protestant Britain, realizing that the spirit of revolt was spreading 
through the English-speaking colonies, was seeking to placate the Catholic priesthood 
of Canada in order to enlist their aid in preventing the infection of rebellion from 
reaching the newly acquired French provinces. The Act served its purpose in Canada, 
but it only added fuel to the conflagration in the thirteen Protestant Colonies. 


The purpose of the act and its certain effect upon the Roman Catholics of Quebec 
must certainly have been understood in the colonies, as the resentment of the colonies 
must have been known at least to the priesthood of that province, yet, curiously 
enough, the Continental Congress, only a few months prior to the adoption of the 
clause quoted from the Declaration of Independence, sent a commission to Quebec in 
an effort to enlist the aid of that province in the struggle against the mother country. 
The members of the commission were Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Chase and Charles 
Carroll; the latter's cousin, John Carroll, a Jesuit priest and later the first Catholic 
Archbishop in the United States, went along as a priestly appendage to the party. 
Needless to say, their efforts came to naught. 


THE CONWAY CABAL 


During the progress of the Revolution the loyalty of a large percentage of the 
Romanist population to the American cause was far from being above question. The 
infamous "Conway Cabal" against Washington took its name from Major General 
Thomas Conway, a member of that church and one of the few non-Masons holding 
high commissions in Washington's army. Again, when the British, finding 
themselves hard pressed for soldiers to carry on the war, sought enlistments among 
the colonists, their principal, if not practically their only success, was among the 
Roman Catholic population. These were still under the domination of the Jesuits who 
not only distrusted the Masonic influences that were playing so large a part in the 



leadership of the patriot cause, but also hated our French allies for the stand taken by 
France in the suppression of the Society of Jesus. Hence they were only too ready to 
make common cause with England against their Protestant and Masonic neighbours. 


According to Bancroft's History of the United States Howe was able to form a 
regiment of Catholics in Philadelphia. Clinton also, by playing on their racial 
weaknesses and by flattery, allured many in New York to the support of the British 
cause. He raised a regiment for Lord Rawdon in which both officers and men were 
exclusively Irish Roman Catholics. Among them were nearly five hundred deserters 
from the Continental Army. Two regiments certainly represented no small 
percentage of the able bodied males among the 25,000 adherents of that faith in the 
colonies at the time. So much for the "Irish of the Revolution." 


By way of contrast the almost interminable list of Masons who were active supporters 
of the cause of independence speaks for itself. Much could be written of the work of 
the military lodges in the Continental Army, as well as of the numerous civil and 
military leaders who were members of the Fraternity. When Warren fell at Bunker 
Hill the Massachusetts brethren lost their Provincial Grand Master. The Sons of 
Liberty were largely officered by Masons, and their Boston headquarters, the Green 
Dragon Tavern, was also the home of St. Andrew's Lodge. It is a matter of record 
that on the night of the famous "Tea Party" the lodge was unable to work owing to 
lack of attendance. Paul Revere, who had been credited with the leadership of the 
band that boarded the tea ships, was at the time Junior Warden of St. Andrew's 
Lodge. Many of the other Revolutionary leaders who were Masons have already 
been mentioned. 


The number of Masons among the signers of the Declaration of Independence and 
among the members of the Constitutional Convention is too much in dispute for 
discussion in the limited space of this article, but enough is known with certainty to 
prove that the leading spirits of both conventions were members of the Craft. The 
immortal documents framed at those two conventions were made possible by, as they 
represented the spirit of Freemasonry in America. 



O 


The Comacine Masters: A Reply 


By Bro. W. RAVENSCROFT, England 


Historians know a great deal about the builder gilds of the Roman Empire and much 
about the gilds of the Middle Ages; but what about the extended period between the 
two? For a long time it appeared to be impossible to bridge this gap. It remained for a 
woman, Mrs. Lucy Baxter, writing over the pen name of "Leader Scott" in a volume 
entitled "The Cathedral Builders," to offer a theory with sufficient merit in it to attract 
general attention. Mrs. Baxter was followed by Bro. W.R. Ravenscroft, whose little 
book, "The Comacines, Their Predecessors and Their Successors," was published 
serially in THE BUILDER. An elementary sketch of the Comacine Theory was 
published in the Study Club department of THE BUILDER, October, 1923, page 
305. The contribution printed below was written by way of reply to the Study Club 
article, and should be read in conjunction therewith. Bro. Ravenscroft is one of the 
most delightful friends in the world who understands how to disagree without being 
disagreeable. 


IN the October 1923 number of THE BUILDER under the section set apart for the 
Study Club the editor has dealt with the question of Freemasonry and the Comacine 
Masters, and if one may be permitted to say so he has done this with frankness, 
fairness and friendly spirit and by not attempting to settle differences but by 
restricting himself to a statement of known facts and a brief sketch of theories 
regarding the Comacines and their relation to Freemasonry. He has opened the door 
for some further consideration of the subject. He concludes his article, however, by 
an expression of his opinion for which I am sure we are grateful because of the value 
we set upon anything he gives us in that, as in other directions. This permits one to 
venture on a similar expression. May I therefore, in a short effort, be allowed to carry 
on the study and divide what I have to say into four parts: 



1st. As to the facts about the Comacines. 2nd. As to opinions about them. 3rd. As to 
the connection between them and Speculative Masonry. 4th. As to Bro. Haywood's 
closing remarks. 


First then as to facts: 


It is amazing to read that Wyatt Pap worth should say "I believe they never existed," 
or that George Edmund Street should consider the "theory" of the Comacines 
altogether erroneous when we have such a mass of actual historic evidence before us, 
and when we can give documentary evidence and the names and dates of individual 
Comacine Masters and point to the scores of buildings they erected, still standing. 
Moreover, we have statements (not opinions) of Italian writers who have studied the 
subject; and last of all the numerous traditions which, although not direct evidence, 
are of some value. Neither Wyatt Papworth nor Street, however, are men to whom 
we should look for any reliable help in this direction, simply because the one was 
concerned chiefly in architectural history in general and could not have given the time 
or thought required to qualify for a statement on the Comacines and Freemasonry on 
which any reliance could be placed, while the other (Street) was distinctly a student of 
Gothic development and not an authority for the work of those days which preceded 
the birth of Gothic in Europe. I very much doubt if either seriously studied and 
investigated the subject on the spot or indeed sufficiently to make their evidence of 
any value. One might write a great deal more on this first point, for it seems to me it 
would be just as reasonable to doubt whether William the First ever conquered 
England as to question the existence or work of the Comacines. But I will only add 
that it is known as fact (the editor says "believed") that Comacine Masters and 
Craftsmen did work in the district of Como and that the reason for their continuing in 
that neighbourhood was, as the editor says, the twofold one of available quarries, and 
the rapid development of the Lombards from a semi-savage to a civilized people. 


Next as to opinions about the Comacines. Here I need only refer to those hostile, the 
chief of such being held, I suppose, R.F. Gould. This writer has, according to some, 
demonstrated conclusively a good many things, and amongst them the mythical 
character of the Comacines. Bro. E. Ellison of San Francisco last year contributed an 
article to THE BUILDER entitled "Traveling Craftsmen" (April 1922, page 102) in 
which he relies on the opinion of Gould; but in the November number of THE 



BUILDER of the same year Bro. Cyrus Field Willard, of California, effectually 
disposes of the position taken by Gould, and one cannot do better than refer to that 
article in order to show the weakness of Gould's opinion. Unfortunately I do not 
know what Dr. Milman has to say, but I am well aware that in England there are 
critics who, in their desire to trace everything that one would denominate "Comacine" 
to Byzantine origin, simply ignore the existence of the former or at least call it by 
another name. Not so Rivoira who places between these two influences that of 
Ravenna, and in a most consistent way shows their relation to each other. 


I pass on to the connection between the Comacines and Speculative Freemasonry, and 
here it seems necessary to make it clear that no claim based on proof has, so far as 
one knows, been made that in an unbroken line Speculative Masonry is clearly the 
direct outcome of the Comacine Gilds. 


What are the facts? 


That Comacine lodges did exist. There are records of them; buildings are still 
standing which are pointed out as their headquarters, e.g. one at Assisi referred to in 
my little book. They had a system of symbolism in many respects similar to that of 
Speculative Masonry. They were called to England over and over again and engaged 
in the erection of churches there. 


The architecture of those churches corresponded with that of their work in Lombardy 
in many striking details. And the symbolism expressed in stone in those churches 
also corresponded in many ways with that they had at home. So far as I know these 
are undisputed facts, and then, although of course of less weight, there are their 
traditions of King Solomon's Temple. Leaving that out, however, as nebulous, if 
some brethren would have us so regard it, I submit we have facts enough to show that 
in England there did exist "Masonic lodges" by whatever name they may be called. If 
it be challenged that this is all true except that the men who formed these lodges in 
England were not Comacines, one asks the question, Who then were they? Not men 
from Byzantium, not from Rome, not from Germany, but either from France or Italy; 
so the records read, so the architecture conforms, and I thi nk I am right in saying 



history gives no other gilds who would be at all likely to fill the place claimed for 
these men. 


Metzario professes to trace their existence through the later medieval times and 
claims for them the glory of Gothic architecture. Here I venture to think he is wrong 
and that the real fact was that the Comacine gilds merged into those of the Gothic 
Masters which were more wide spread in Europe than ever the Comacines had been. 
In a word these latter were lost in the larger movement which characterized the great 
Gothic building period. That their ritual and symbolism, probably with many 
modifications, passed on to the later gilds one claims as a fair inference and equally 
that our Speculative Masonry is largely based upon the practices of the later medieval 
gilds, thus forming a chain of several links, connecting the Comacine Masters with 
our Masonry of to-day, but beyond that one would not venture to dogmatize. 


Now as to Bro. Haywood's closing remarks. Here may I say that the delightful and 
courteous way in which he disagrees, is so attractive that one is fain to be thankful 
even for the disagreement. In the same spirit I would reply as follows: 


Bro. Haywood says my opinion that the Comacines held traditions of King Solomon's 
temple is open to two facts which tell heavily against me. One that most of these 
traditions are in the Scriptures and therefore available to anyone. To this I reply that 
the Scriptures were not available to anyone, only to the learned and chiefly to 
ecclesiastics. Hence the value of a body outside the church holding such traditions. 
Moreover, supposing they had been available to anyone that does not militate against 
their adoption or symbolic usage by any guild. They are open to anyone today yet we 
Masons appropriate them in a peculiar sense. 


The other argument against me, Bro. Haywood says, is that there is no known 
connection between the Comacine and Gothic gilds which latter developed in Europe, 
but found little development in Italy. I think the answer to this is given under my last 
heading in which I considered the decline of the Comacine gilds thus showing that 
there were not two schools running on contemporaneously and to this I might add that 
in England at least the growth of Gothic work out of Norman architecture through the 



transitional period and the previous growth of Norman work in England out of the so- 
called Saxon, evidences a connection and sequence which cannot be ignored. This 
being the case it is not to be expected that there should be any connection between 
these gilds except that of sequence. 


I have only now to thank the editor for the kind words in which he has referred to my 
researches and writings, and for the courteous spirit and unbiased manner in which he 
has set forth his conclusions. May I hope that, for further elucidation of whatever 
may remain obscure regarding the Comacines, any brother who can contribute 
information will do so seeing it is better (whether my theories hold good or are 
shaken) that the truth shall prevail. 


I hold no brief against stronger evidence. 


— o — 


"A TOAST TO OUR NATWE: LAND" 


Huge and alert, irascible yet strong, 

We make our fitful way 'mid right and wrong. 
One time we pour out millions to be free, 

Then rashly sweep an Empire from the sea! 

One time we strike the shackles from the slaves. 
And then, quiescent, we are ruled by knaves. 
Often we rudely break restraining bars, 

And confidently reach out toward the stars. 



Yet under all there flows a hidden stream 
Sprung from the Rock of Freedom, the great dream 
Of Washington and Franklin, men of old 
Who knew that freedom is not bought with gold. 

This is the land we love, our heritage, 

Strange mixture of the gross and fine, yet sage 
And full of promise, - destined to be great. 

Drink to Our Native Land! God Bless the State. 

- Robert Bridges, in Atlantic Monthly, January, 1902. 

— o — 

Entered Apprentice Degree With Its Groups of Three 

By Bro. CHARLES E. BOYDEN, Grand Lecturer, A.F. & A.M., North Dakota 

THE BUILDER, JANUARY 1924 

Now let our minds be clear and free 


To dwell a while on Masonry, 
Its basic principles forsooth, 



That we may grasp the Precious Truth 
Concealed in "Mystic Groups of Three" 
As visioned in the First Degree. 


THE left was said by ancient Masonic writers to be the weaker part of man and by 
analogy the Entered Apprentice Degree was pronounced the "weakest" part of 
Masonry; but the consensus of opinion among modem Masonic investigators lays 
more stress on the Entered Apprentice Degree as being basic and fundamental; the 
cornerstone of a moral and Masonic edifice. Upon this cubical stone of "Faith in God' 
the candidate for Masonic Light, at his entrance, places his tmst and commences to 
build the temple of character. 


Let us consider in detail these "Groups of Three" which in this degree are quite 
marked. Masonry is defined by many Masonic writers as being a system of morality, 
veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols, and the symbolism of the Entered 
Apprentice Degree is mainly calculated to impress upon the mind a high regard for 
the moral lessons to be derived from a study of the "groups of three" as presented in 
the lectures. 


The "Three Knocks," alluding to a certain text in scripture, "Ask and ye shall receive, 
seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you," was applied as 
follows: the candidate asked the recommendation of a friend to be made a Mason, 
through his recommendation sought initiation, knocked at the door of the lodge and it 
was opened unto him. How tme this allusion is to life. What we ask for and seek for 
in truth and set our affections upon, we naturally obtain. It is the law of the natural 
and spiritual world. 


The Three Great Lights are the Holy Bible, Square, and Compasses. The Holy Bible 
is to mle and guide our faith, the Square to square our actions, and the Compasses to 
circumscribe and keep us in due bounds with all mankind. The Holy Bible is 



dedicated to God, it being the inestimable gift of God to man; the Square to the 
Master, for it is the proper Masonic emblem of his office; and the Compasses to the 
Craft, for by a due attention to its uses they are taught to circumscribe their desires 
and keep their passions in due bounds. 


The Three Lesser Lights are the Sun, Moon and Master of the Lodge symbolical of 
the Divine Mastery over Nature, and the Mastery of Man over himself and the 
Animal Kingdom. 


In the Three Divisions of the twenty-four inch gauge we find eight hours for the 
service of God and the relief of a distressed worthy brother, eight for our usual 
avocation and eight for refreshment and sleep. In this material age we are apt to 
emphasize the latter two divisions of our time and neglect the former, "service to God 
and our fellow men." If Masons could only be impressed with this fair division of 
time, what happiness would follow! 


The Three Symbolic Supports of a lodge are Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty. The 
universe is the Temple of the Deity whom we serve; wisdom, strength and beauty are 
about His throne as pillars of His work, for His wisdom is infinite, His strength 
omnipotent, and his beauty shines forth through all His creations in symmetry and 
order. These pillars represent the three principal officers of the lodge. The 
Worshipful Master is supposed to have wisdom to open and govern his lodge; the 
Senior Warden to assist him in his arduous duties, and the Junior Warden, who in 
ancient times observed the sun at meridian height, which is the beauty and glory of 
the day, presides at the refreshment hour and sees that none convert the means of 
refreshment into intemperance or excess. 


Faith, Hope and Charity are the principal rounds of the mysterious ladder which 
Jacob in his vision saw extending from earth to heaven; the greatest of these is 
Charity, for our Faith may be lost in sight, Hope ends in fruition, but Charity or Love 
extends beyond the grave throughout the boundless realms of eternity. 



The Three ornaments of the lodge are the Mosaic Pavement, the Indented Tessel, and 
the Blazing Star. The Mosaic Pavement is a representation of the ground floor of 
King Solomon's Temple; the Indented Tessel, of that beautiful tessellated border or 
skirting which surrounded it. The Mosaic Pavement is emblematic of human life, 
checkered with good and evil; the Beautiful Border which surrounds it of those 
blessings and comforts which surround us, and which we hope to obtain by a faithful 
reliance upon Divine Providence, which is hieroglyphically represented by the 
Blazing Star. 


The Three Symbolic lights are to be found in the East, West, and South, while 
Darkness (the absence of light) is to be found in the North. Let us always be seekers 
after more light and avoid the abysmal Darkness, which is the state of a Soul on its 
journey through life without light to guide. 


The Three Immovable Jewels are the Square, Level and Plumb. The Square teaches 
morality, the Level equality, and the Plumb rectitude of life. 


The Three Movable Jewels are the Rough Ashlar, the Perfect Ashlar, and the Trestle 
Board. These jewels mark the line of culture and progress. The Rough Ashlar is a 
stone taken from the quarry in its rude and natural state. The Perfect Ashlar is a stone 
made ready by the hands of the workman to be adjusted by the working tools of the 
Lellowcraft. The Trestle Board is for the master workman to draw his designs upon. 
The rude stones have by work and discipline been transformed into beautiful and 
polished ones; so it is with our lives in Masonry; from rudeness to culture, from 
darkness to light, from slavery of bodily appetites to the mastery of our own minds 
and spirits, the very discipline necessary for progress. 


The Three Tenets of our profession are Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. By the 
exercise of brotherly love we are taught to regard the whole human species as one 
family - the high and low, the rich and poor. On this principle Masonry unites men of 
every country, sect and opinion. To relieve the distressed is a duty incumbent on all 
men but more particularly on Masons who are linked together by an indissoluble 
chain of sincere affection. Truth is a Divine attribute and the foundation of every 



virtue. To be good and true is the first lesson we are taught in Masonry. On this 
theme we contemplate, and by its dictates endeavour to regulate our conduct. 


Freedom, Fervency and Zeal were the characteristics of the Entered Apprentices in 
ancient times represented in the lodge by Chalk, Charcoal and Clay. There is nothing 
freer than Chalk, the slightest touch of which leaves a trace behind; there is nothing 
more fervent than Charcoal, to which, when well ignited, the most obdurate metals 
will yield; nothing more zealous than Clay, or our Mother Earth, which is Continually 
imparting for man's necessities, and constantly reminding us that as, from it we came 
so to it we must all sooner or later return. 


The Groups of Three set forth in the beautiful lectures and ceremonies of the Entered 
Apprentice Degree must become a part of the spiritual temple we are endeavouring to 
erect in our lives if we are to build characters that shall resist the temptations of our 
animal nature and permit us to continue our Masonic career unto the end of our 
material existence, that end which we hope will usher in the perfect day. 


In this article we have not attempted to consider the beautiful lessons to be derived in 
the presentation of the "Lambskin," or the request for a "Memento," nor have we 
alluded to the "Situation and Dedication" of Masonic Lodges, or even the "Four 
Cardinal Virtues." Each of these would demand separate articles, but we confined 
ourselves to the Groups of Three as set forth in this degree. The reader will find some 
Iteration of Phrases found in the Monitor, but we cannot too often be reminded of the 
valuable character of the lessons sought to be inculcated in these Groupings of Three. 


— o — 


How differently in Masonry! The hand that grasps a brother is the hand of charity, 
relief and truth. The arms that are stretched forth to minister consolation and comfort, 
are the strong arms of sympathy and brotherly love. The eye that sees the Masonic 
brother's signal of distress, and the ear that catches the words that accompany it when 
daylight has departed, are the willing eyes and ears that will hasten to a brother's 



relief and whisper words of cheer and hope and comfort, and like the good Samaritan, 
bind up his wounds and minister to his wants. 


- The Beeches Lodge, Toronto, Canada. 


— o — 


SIGNOR MUSSOLINI RECEIVES MASONS 
(By Courtesy of The Christian Science Monitor) 


THERE is a brief announcement in the papers that the President of the Council, 
Benito Mussolini, received at Palazzo Chigi a delegation representing the Order of 
the Scottish Rite. The Masons forming this delegation were: Grand Master Raoul V. 
Palermi, Comm. Cesare Mombello, Prof. Ernesto Villa, Comm. Dott. Tito Gualdi, 
Grand Uffieiale Dott. Pietro Villetti, Comm. Giovanni Nicolini, Comm. Vittorio 
Falorsi, Cav. Giovanni Giaealone, Capt. Marehese Navarra Viagiani. 


In the receipt of the journals it is said that Grand Master Palermi, speaking for the 
Scottish Rite Masons in Italy, expressed to Signor Mussolini the admiration of his 
Masonic brethren for the work which the Fascist Government had accomplished, 
pledging anew their unfaltering support of those ideals which inspire the Duce in his 
service to the patria and the people. Grand Master Palermi also registered his 
commendation of the new school reform, especially because of its emphasis on moral 
and religious values. Signor Mussolini in reply thanked the members of the 
delegation heartily for their words, expressing likewise his sympathy for their 
national order. The notice of this meeting is brief, but its significance should not be 
overlooked. 


EITHER MASONRY OR FASCISMO 



First of all, this is a complete right - about - face by Signor Mussolini in his attitude 
toward Masonry. Only a few months back he was saying clearly to all Italian Masons 
that they must choose between Masonry and Fascismo. If they were Masons, they 
could not be Fascisti; if they were Fascisti, they could not be Masons. Last July, 
speaking in Parliament in favor of his new electoral law, he referred to the Masons of 
Palazzo Giustiniani in most uncomplimentary terms. Four mouths later he receives 
officially this delegation of the Italian Scottish Rite and expresses his kindly feeling 
for the Order. 


One cannot read the inside of Signor Mussolini's mind, but one may infer what is 
transpiring in the thought of the Fascist Dictator. There are those who hold that this is 
simply another pass to gather in his support parties outside of Fascismo. He is 
experiencing considerable difficulty in his efforts to hold his own special Fascist 
forces united. While on the surface his ranks are intact, it is well known that very 
serious divisions exist. Because of bitter internal dissensions, not long since he was 
forced to decapitate his entire Fascist executive council. Subsequently he declared 
that Fascismo had been created to aid him in saving the patria. If by small polities it 
showed itself unworthy of this high calling, he would look elsewhere for the support 
necessary to rehabilitate the country. 


Some maintain that in receiving this delegation from the Scottish Rite he is giving 
tardy recognition to that branch of Italian Masonry which assisted him to secure 
control of the Government, and which since his assumption of power has thrown the 
weight of its organization solidly and consistently in support of his program. On his 
arrival in Rome, at the head of his troops, Grand Master Palermi was one of the first 
to shake his hand. As a matter of fact, Signor Palermi has been criticized severely in 
certain quarters for his so - called surrender to Fascismo. 


When Signor Mussolini arrived in Rome with his Fascist troops he found another 
special, well equipped army of Blue Shirts, calling themselves the Nationalists. Their 
chief was Luigi Federzoni. There were in the city at that time 20,000 to 30,000 of 
these young Nationalists, thoroughly organized and prepared for armed action. Signor 
Mussolini felt it the part of wisdom to unite, if possible, these Blue Shirts with his 



own Black Shirts. The Blue Shirts, being intensely Roman Catholic and therefore 
uncompromisingly hostile to Masonry, it was necessary for the Dictator, in order to 
secure his desired union of forces, to assume an attitude strongly antagonistic to the 
Masonic fraternity. This is the explanation given for his out burst against Masonry. It 
is current report that he now feels himself sufficiently strong to express his real 
sentiment for the Craft, which is one of genuine friendliness. The word is also being 
passed in well-informed circles that the Duce himself is a Mason, though officially 
this is denied. 


It is more or less evident that two principal considerations have induced the Fascist 
condottiero to modify his policy. First, he has no intention of allowing himself to he 
sewed up in a Vatican suck. For his own political reasons he supports strongly the 
rehabilitation of the Vatican power in Italy. Don Sturzo has gone quietly into his 
retreat. No word comes from him, but Don Sturzo still lives. At the opportune 
moment the hierarchy that ordered him to retire may easily summon him to assume 
again the leadership of the Roman Catholic forces on the field of battle. Signor 
Mussolini has begun the creation of the new units that will serve him in that day. 


In the second place, and this is perhaps the main reason for his change of policy 
toward Masonry, he is deeply concerned for his foreign policy. Fascismo has never 
been popular in France, England and America. And on the good will of one or more 
of these countries he must depend for any success he may achieve abroad. 


NATIONS LOOK ASKANCE AT FASCISMO 


In England and in America, Fascismo is unpopular because it is anti - democratic, to 
say nothing of its anti - constitutional actions. In France, its military threat is 
recognized. The highhanded occupation of Flume and the seizure of Gorfu have 
intensified this hostility, and aroused a great fear in all the Balkan states, as well as in 
the smaller countries of other parts of Europe. 



Signor Mussolini begins to realize the enormous influence of world - wide Masonry. 
At the same time, his eyes are opening to the feet that the Craft throughout the world 
is almost solidly against him. 


Lately there was convened in Paris an international congress of the Grand Orient. The 
dominant thought of this conference is summed up by Mr. Vandervelde in the 
following words: 


"Some recent happenings - the occupation of the Ruhr and the triumph of Fascismo 
- demonstrate the urgent necessity of an international union of all those who wish to 
defend democracy against nationalistic tendencies. This union can and must be 
established outside of all parties." 


A high official of the Scottish Rite organization in Italy was asked how he reconciled 
his unqualified support of Signor Mussolini with the Masonic fundamentals of liberty 
and brotherhood. His reply was: "Fascismo is the constitutional Government of Italy. 
We are loyal to that constitutional Government. Under this Government Italians are 
free to follow the legitimate pursuits of life, liberty and happiness!" 


The second question put to him was this: "How can you, a Mason, declare yourself in 
perfect accord with Signor Mussolini in his school reform, which places the schools 
of the country in the hands of the priests ? " He insisted that the schools of the country 
have not been handed over to the control of the Roman Catholic Church. "Private 
schools," he continued, "may now be organized on an equal footing with those of the 
State. Religious instruction is obligatory, but parents are free to accept or reject the 
priests as religious instructors of their children. Protestants and Jews and Liberals 
should see that this, their right, is exercised, and at the same time they should put 
forth the utmost effort to provide schools in which they may determine the character 
of the religious instruction." 


— o — 



Great Men Who Were Masons 


Adlai Ewing Stevenson 


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


BROTHER STEVENSON was bom in Christian County, Kentucky, in 1835, and 
received his early education in the schools of that county, and, later, attended Center 
College, where he was graduated with honor. He moved to Bloomington, 111., with his 
father's family, where he studied law, and was there admitted to the Bar. In 1859 he 
had a good practice in Metamora, 111. and was also later in chancery in the circuit 
court for a number of years. His methods were agreeable, fair and straight, and he 
won the confidence of the people. In 1 864 he was nominated by the Democratic party 
as a presidential elector. In the interest of General McClellen, the nominee of his 
party, he canvassed the state, speaking in about every county, town, and hamlet. He 
returned to Bloomington in 1869, and formed a law partnership with j. S. Ewing, 
which continued until the day of his death. The firm had a good practice with the state 
and federal courts. 


He was first nominated for Congress in 1874 and as the district had been "safely" 
Republican for so many years his chances were not regarded as good, and, besides 
that his opponent was Gen. McNulta, a soldier, lawyer and citizen above reproach. 
Though the campaign was a vigorous one it resulted in the election of Bro. Stevenson. 
He was in Congress during the Tilden-Hayes contest in 1876, a trying time, in which 
the people accepted the decision with loyalty and love of harmony. Stevenson was 
renominated for Congress a second time but was defeated. In 1878, however, he was 
again elected, and by an increased majority. He was a delegate to the National 
Democratic Convention in 1884, in Chicago, and, after the election of Mr. Cleveland, 
he was appointed first assistant post master general, the duties of which are probably 
more exacting than any in the Post Office Department. During this incumbency he 
afforded important assistance to the President in formulating the civil service, for, 
under the post office, there are more appointments than all the rest, and Bro. 



Stevenson was glad to make wise and fair rules, rules which would enable the 
department to retain men in office for their service more than for their politics. 


Mr. Cleveland soon learned to love Bro. Stevenson, as so many others did. He was 
elected Vice - President of the United States in 1893 and served during the second 
term of Mr. Cleveland, during which time his intimacy with the President continued. 
For some reason, never explained, the Vice - President has not been much in 
evidence, and Mr. Harding was the first President to invite his Vice - President to be 
one of the Cabinet. But there was evidently a bond of friendship between Mr. 
Cleveland and Mr. Stevenson which continued to the end. 


After the expiration of his term of office as Vice-President, Mr. Stevenson was sent to 
Europe to try to secure concurrent legislation on the bi - metal coinage. It was a 
delicate mission: touch a man's pocket or a nation's pocket and you are near his heart: 
a selfish interest is manifested that shows plainly the selfishness of the animal. 
Stevenson had such a nice way of smoothing people the right way that he met much 
favor. He was defeated for Vice - President in 1900, which terminated his political 
career. 


From the Grand Secretary in Illinois we learn that Bro. Stevenson was Master of the 
Lodge in Metamora, the lodge in which he received his degrees. He was, afterwards, 
Master of Lodge No. 43, in Illinois. He was never spoiled by prosperity: he was ever 
easy to approach, and he was ever ready to hear what a brother had to say to him. 


He married the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Lewis W. Green, president of Center 
College, at Danville, Ky., and had a son and three daughters. He was always regarded 
as an ideal citizen: temperate in every way, but convivial withal. His influence was 
gentle, persuasive rather than forceful, but felt all the same. He was a man of untiring 
energy, and was always ready in his law cases as in his politics. He was the same kind 
of a Democrat that Jefferson was: though he had more appointments under his office 
in the post office than any other Cabinet officer, he sought to reduce rather than add 
to the number of office bearers. 



Bro. Stevenson died in the Presbyterian Hospital, Chicago, 111., in June, 1914, and 
was buried in the lot with his wife in Evergreen Cemetery, at Bloomington, 111. The 
only memorial ever erected to his memory is the one in the gallery of the United 
States Senate, shown in the cut. This honor has been done to a few of the Vice - 
Presidents. 


"God hath made mankind one vast Brotherhood, Himself the Master, and the World 
His Lodge.” 


— o — 


THE STUDY CLUB 


Chapters of Masonic History 
By Bro. H.L. HAYWOOD, Editor 


PART VIII. THE OPERATIVE MASONS 


IT is now generally accepted by Masonic authorities that the modern fraternity of 
Freemasons had its origin among the builder guilds of England in the Middle Ages. 

A rapid survey of the gild system in general was published in this department in 
November; it is now in order to examine with more care the Masonic gilds 
themselves, with a view to gaining a picture (necessarily somewhat in the rough, and 
in outline) of the customs and manners of our Masonic forbears, a subject that is 
saved from being academic and dry by the fact that most of the rules, regulations and 
customs now in operation among us are traced to the early Operative Masons (as it is 
the habit to describe them), so that it is impossible for us to understand the Masonry 
of today apart from the Masonry of many centuries ago. 



The subject is admittedly difficult. "We possess no series of documents, nor even an 
approach to a series, sufficiently extensive to enable us to form any connected history 
of the ancient institutions of Masons and Freemasons. We have, in fact, no materials 
by which we can form any definite idea of the precise nature of those early societes." 
These words by Halliwell-Phillips, discoverer of the Regius Poem, the oldest and 
most precious of all Masonic MSS., were uttered in 1839; much has been added to 
our knowledge of Masonic history since then, indeed Masonic history strictly so- 
called did not come into existence for nearly a half century afterwards, but even so 
the statement remains substantially correct. Our sources are scattered as well as 
meager and often it requires great ingenuity to find any sources at all. Moreover, it 
should be borne in mind that the Freemasonry of England prior to 1717 was a 
developing and changing institution so that it varied much from place to place and 
time to time; it is an error to generalize too widely on the basis of some one fact. 


Also it is necessary that we challenge every writer on the subject to furnish us with 
his authorities and sources, and that he prove himself free from partisanship; a vast 
deal of the so-called "Masonic literature" which floats about the world is derived at 
second or third hand from uncritical writers who took their own theories from 
hearsay, or from an ignorant misinterpretation of known facts. The existence of a 
statement in some old book, even if it be a volume of "Constitutions" more or less 
officially sanctioned by Grand Lodge, is not by any means a token of its authenticity. 
The theories of the older writers - so long known and so often loved among us - the 
Anderson's, Preston's, Oliver's, Hutchinson's, and the rest, are after all theories only, 
and no more to be protected from the scrutiny of historical criticism than theories 
promulgated in our own day. 


The general sources from which authentic historians gather information concerning 
Operative Masonry may be roughly divided into seven or eight groups, tabulated for 
convenience's sake as follows: 


A. The general history of medieval architecture. A study of the building art 
throughout the Middle Ages, as it developed in Italy, Germany, Netherlands, France 
and England reveals much concerning the builders, so that one may often leam more 



about Masonry from a non-Masonic historian than elsewhere. Porter's Medieval 
History, in two volumes, is a case in point. 


B. The general history of the people of England. The gild life of the Middle Ages 
played as conspicuous a part in the life of the people as churches and schools do 
among on the history of the people helps us the better to understand the institutions in 
their midst. 


C. Statutes passed by various kings and parliaments to govern labourers. The 
Ordinance of Labourers, 1349, and the Statute of Labourers, 1350, are typical cases. 


D. Under the same general head might be included the gild returns, consisting of 
reports made by gilds to the government upon official demand. It is believed by some 
writers that the Regius MS., or Poem, was written in response to some such demand 
in order to furnish official information concerning the history and practice of the 
freemasons, late in the fourteenth century. 


E. The Old Manuscripts of the Craft, the earliest of which was the "Poem" just 
mentioned, usually dated as of 1390. These documents were written by credulous and 
miracle-loving men in an age when it was easier to believe marvels than not, so that 
as sources of history they are to be read with great care; but the application to them of 
the historical methods popularly known as the "higher" and the "lower" criticism 
yields results of rare value. 


F. Diaries, letters, lodge minutes, fabric rolls, etc. The records of the City Company 
of London, presented to the Craft by Edward Conder, and the old lodge minutes of 
Scotland are cases in point. 


G. General literature of the seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Sir Richard 
Steele mentions Freemasonry, so also Plot, Dugdale, etc. 



H. The relics from the past embedded in the present institution, like fossilized 
remains in a rock stratum, reminding one of the familiar lines of Bro. Rudyard 
Kipling, who, in writing them, may very well have had this point in mind: 


"I cleared me ground for a Palace such as a King should build. 
I decreed and cut down to my levels, presently, under the silt, 

I came on the wreck of a Palace such as a King had built." 


A careful analysis of the ritual, for instance, against the background of general 
Masonic history yields, in the right hands, safe and valuable findings. 


MANY PROBLEMS REMAIN OBSCURE 


It has been a huge task to develop these sources of possible information concerning 
our ancient history; the end is far from yet, so that a wise student will, as dear Horace 
Bushnell was wont to put it, "hang many subjects on pegs, as not disposed of yet." 
Many of the most important of our historical problems, such as the question as to the 
number of degrees before 1717, are still on the pegs, and will probably long 
manuscripts yet undiscovered, and numberless others not examined by Masonic 
scholars. 


The craft of the Operative Mason was not easy to learn, especially since there were no 
books, manuals and schools such as are now in use; a workman had to apprentice 
himself when a mere boy in order to learn the art at first hand in the dame school of 
experience. A compact organization was necessary (as it was in most other crafts) not 
only to protect trade secrets but also as a means of schooling. 



Oftentimes a Mason worked alone, moving on from place to place as work might 
require, and in accordance with the rules and regulations obtaining in the various 
communities, each of which had its own laws and "customs" - the latter usually 
recognized by the courts as having the weight of law. In such an instance Masonry 
could be practiced in a village in which was no lodge or guild. 


In many towns the Masons had their own gilds, like other crafts; in that event they 
conducted their work in the manner described in these pages in November. It is a fact 
worthy of remark that the gild Masons did not cut much of a figure in town life, being 
usually relatively of lesser importance as compared with gilds of the other crafts; and 
in some instances they were forbidden to have gilds at all, why it is not always easy to 
determine, though it is probable that much of the building of the average town was 
monopolized by the carpenters, for brick and stone structures did not come generally 
into use until a comparatively late period. "For instance, at Norwich, that town of 
churches, the Masons appear to have had no gild of their own in 1375, but to have 
been attached to the carpenters. In the Exeter plays the Masons share a play with the 
Goldsmiths; and at York they are joined with the Hatmakers, In 1604 we find a 
corporation at Oxford given a charter which includes Freemasons. Carpenters, 

Joiners and Slaters." (Vibert) 


It appears that the "lodge" was peculiar to the Masons, though it is probable that other 
crafts would sometimes have buildings or rooms of their own near a place of work, 
the carpenters, for example; but the lodge as an organization, a controlling body as 
well as the building, hut, or lean-to in which it met, belonged only to the builders. It 
was usually attached to the building under construction, but sometimes was a 
permanent structure, as at Aberdeen. In some instances, as at York and Westminster, 
permanent gangs of workmen were in constant attendance and probably used 
permanent rooms or buildings. The existence of a lodge wherein to assemble, admit 
apprentices and for it is mentioned in the Regius Poem among regulations governing 
apprentices who were forbidden to divulge what happened in the "logge". The Cooke 
MS. ordains that a Mason must "hele [conceal] the counsel of his fellows in lodge and 
in chamber", a wise rule that might at this late day be hung on lodge walls. 


WAS THERE "ONE BIG FRATERNITY"? 



Were all these various lodges and individual workmen governed by "one big 
fraternity" having jurisdiction over the entire Craft? It used to be a common opinion 
that such was the case, but all the facts subsequently unearthed point in the opposite 
direction, a conclusion well stated by Mr. Wyatt Papworth, in Transactions of Royal 
Institute of Architects: "All the documents have led me to believe that there was not 
any supreme gild in England, however probable the existence of such a body may 
appear. Thus the 'orders', supplied to the Masons in York Cathedral in 1352, give but 
a poor notion of there being then in that city anything like a gild or fellowship 
claiming authority in virtue of a charter, supposed to have been given to it by 
Atheistan in 926, not only over that city but over all England." R. F. Gould, who cites 
the above, concurs, and says, as regards the theory of one supreme gild, that it all the 
evidence we possess points in quite an opposite direction." The unity of the Mason 
trade was sustained like that of any other craft, by general laws, rules, regulations and 
customs adhered to throughout the land, and also, as explained in the first chapter of 
this series, by the nature of the work itself which, like technical occupations of the 
present day did not admit of wide variations in practice. Uniform control of all 
lodges from a central authority did not come until very late; it was not attempted until 
after the formation of Grand Lodge in London, 1717, and was not perfected until the 
organization of the United Grand Lodge of England, in the first quarter of the 
nineteenth century. 


A more difficult matter to make plain, but absolutely vital to an understanding of the 
subject, is the difference between gild Masons and Freemasons. Such data as we 
possess is both fragmentary and confusing, so that the best specialists have been 
unable to clear up all the problems involved. However, it seems pretty certain that 
there was always a rather wide division between the members of the local stationary 
gilds having a monopoly of building in each town, and the Freemasons employed to 
build cathedrals and other ecclesiastical structures. The gild Mason was bound down 
by local ordinances and was not permitted to work outside his own community, which 
fact will carry all the more force when it is remembered that in the Middle Ages 
towns were vastly more independent and self-centered than they are now, and more 
jealous of local laws and customs. But there was of course no steady work in any one 
town for men trained to work on cathedrals, a specialized form of architecture so 
difficult and requiring so much special knowledge that even at a loss to understand 
how the cathedral builders managed some of their problems. It is almost certain that 
these Masons were a class apart from the gild Masons, and that, unlike the gild 
Masons, they had rules and regulations of their own, and were permitted to adhere to 



the same wherever they might be at work, and whatever might be the ordinances 
binding on local Masons. It is also almost certain that Freemasonry, as it later on 
evolved into what we have come to call Speculative Masonry, originated among the 
cathedral building lodges and not among the gild Masons, though of course there 
must have been a certain amount of interaction and over-lapping as between the two; 
our Old Charges, our traditions, legends and our symbolism came down to us from 
the migratory lodges connected with ecclesiastical structures. It might not be possible 
to prove this theory to the satisfaction of a court of law, but all the available evidence, 
direct and indirect indicates as much. The point is of the utmost importance, not 
alone as regards history, but whenever we undertake to govern our present day Craft 
activities by the past. 


It was a difficult thing properly to govern a lodge of cathedral building Masons, not 
alone because of its essentially temporary character, but also from its having in hand 
the most stupendous work possible in the Middle Ages, involving the expenditure of 
large sums, the importing of workmen from abroad and the handling of masses of 
costly material. In such an undertaking all manner and types of men were employed, 
from the general overseer who would be an illustrious artist, down to the rough 
workmen and errand boys, a cosmopolitan group in which all classes would be 
represented, priests, bishops, gentlemen, freemen, bondsmen, serfs, necessitating a 
complex and highly developed system of government. The general control of such an 
enterprise would sometimes lie entirely in the hands of churchmen, sometimes wholly 
in lay hands, and often in a mixed group. 


LODGE OFFICERS WERE GOVERNING HEADS 


In charge of the work would be a general head, variously styled superintendent, 
overseer, architect, clerk of the works, keeper of the works, keeper of the fabric, 
director, ingeniator, etc. The presiding officer was called master, warden, deacon, 
president, as local customs might dictate; the keeper of funds was a box master or 
treasurer; in addition were other functionaries, such as book keepers, who naturally 
dropped entirely out of the form of organization when the Craft became speculative, 
for the officers of the operative lodges were chosen in view of the work to be done, 
and not as representing degrees or grades of a speculative science. It does not appear 



that a tiler was employed, though it is certain that some means was used to guard the 
door of the lodge. 


Members of the Craft were governed in accordance with a set of rules and regulations 
which each Mason was sworn to observe, versions of which are incorporated in the 
various Old Charges, the oldest, so it is believed, being that in the Cooke MS., dated 
as middle fifteenth century, and preserved with certain alterations in the constitutions 
still used by Grand Lodges; these rules were adjusted to the requirements of time and 
place, it may be supposed, but in general outline were faithfully preserved through 
many centuries. The "Orders for the Masons and Workmen," found in the Fabric 
Rolls of York Cathedral, furnish one a fair idea of the hours of work, working 
conditions, and general rules: 


"The first and second Masons, who are called masters of the same, and the carpenters, 
shall take oath that they cause the ancient customs underwritten to be faithfully 
observed. In summer they are to begin to work immediately after sunrise until the 
ringing of the bell of the Virgin Mary; then to breakfast in the fabric lodge (logium 
fabricae), then one of the masters shall knock upon the door of the lodge, and 
forthwith all are to return to work until noon. Between April and August, after 
dinner, they shall sleep in the lodge, then work until the first bell for vespers; then sit 
to drink till the end of the third bell, and return to work so long as they can see by 
daylight. In winter they are to begin work at daybreak, and continue as before till 
noon, dine, and return to work till daylight is over. On Vigils and on Saturdays they 
are to work until noon." 


It appears that from time to time assemblies were held, called also congregations, and 
in one MS. (the Pap worth) associations, in order that all lodges in a given district be 
kept in due order and under the control of the king's officers. The Old Charges make 
much of these, though only three assemblies are distinctly mentioned; the Regius 
refers to one called by King Athelstan and attended by great lords and burgesses; 
another version tells of an assembly held at Windsor when Edwin was made a Mason; 
and nearly all of them refer to assemblies at York. "Every master that is a Mason," 
says the Regius, "must be at the general congregation." It is probable that some of 
these meetings were called by craft officers, and others by the king's sheriff or other 
officers, in the latter case to see that the craft was strictly obeying the laws of the 



realm. The Cooke MS. makes it plain that attendance was obligatory on masters: 
"That every Master should be notified to come to his congregation, that he may come 
in due time unless excused for some reason. But those who have been disobedient at 
such congregations, or been false to their employers, or had acted so as to deserve 
reproof by the Craft, should be excused only by extreme sickness, of which notice 
was to be given to the Master that is principal of the assembly." There is no record of 
any nation-wide assembly, neither is it possible to be sure concerning when and 
where such meetings were held, or how long the custom continued; the records are so 
scant, and often so confusing, we cannot make sure of any point except that some 
manner of assembly was occasionally held. Some idea of the extent of territory 
covered by the authority of such a general assembly is suggested by the Old Charges, 
as in the Cooke, Grand Lodge, York, Sloane and others which make it fifty miles; the 
Harleian, ten miles; and still others, all of later date, five miles. As time went on and 
the towns and population of England increased, assemblies went altogether out of 
fashion; it may very well be that the idea of forming a "Grand Lodge" in London, 
1717, was suggested to "some old brother" by a reading of the Old Charges; we can at 
least be certain that the brethren at that time felt justified in taking their radical step 
by the fact that general assemblies "had been holden in old times." 


HOW MANY DEGREES WERE THERE? 


The Operative Masonic lodges did not employ degrees at all in our modern sense of 
the term but recognized grades of workmen and had regulations and, probably, 
ceremonies in accordance. A youth was made an apprentice when only twelve or 
fourteen years of age, therefore it is not probable that his admittance to the craft was 
attended with any very heavy ceremony, but it is certain that he was made to hear the 
Legend of the Craft, its rules and regulations, and was given an oath. After seven 
years he was passed to the other grade, and became a Master Mason or Fellow, the 
two being two terms for the same grade. Authorities are about evenly divided as to 
whether or not this advancement was attended by any kind of secret ceremony; the 
fact that apprentices are known to have been present at "the making of a master" 
would indicate that no such thing occurred; but the other fact of there being such a 
cleavage between the two grades would suggest that a master received some secrets 
never imparted to an apprentice. On the continent a workman journeyed about for 
two years or so after being made a Fellow of the Craft, but this was not the custom in 
England where, in the fourteenth century, it was expressly prohibited by law. All 
masters stood on the same level as regards rights, and privileges, but a few masters 



enjoyed the further honour of being selected to superintend the work, and they 
therefore stood on a still higher grade as regards position; but even so they possessed 
no secrets of the trade not held by the fellows. Wages varied from time to time, often 
being fixed by statute; usually the workmen received gloves, tunics, aprons, and 
sometimes board or food supplies, apprentices receiving nothing at all or else mere 
pittances in addition to room and board. 


At every fabric many workmen not members of the lodge were necessarily employed, 
of which we have abundant records; they were known as rough masons, cowans, 
rough setters, "masons without the word", wallers, plasterers, etc. It was strictly 
prohibited for any master mason to lay out plans or otherwise employ his trade secrets 
in the presence of these men, who were looked upon as "profane", or outsiders. Also 
- this is a fact of importance - it was necessary to give the "freedom of the lodge" to 
certain men connected with the works who were not trained Masons, a bishop it may 
be, having the whole work in charge, or a man especially skilled in geometry or other 
important items of "speculative" Masonry. In Scotland these brethren thus received 
into the lodge, but not as actual workmen, were known as "geomatic" or "gentlemen" 
Masons. Some of them were doubtless very learned men, and it is not a wild guess to 
suppose that a certain amount of the symbolism and esoteric "work" which at last 
evolved into the magnificent Ritual now employed may in the beginning have been 
due to the presence of these educated gentry. 


When the Craft was transformed into a speculative institution in the eighteenth 
century the ancient and probably very simple ceremonies employed by the Operative 
Masons were greatly changed and expanded, in some cases by the addition, one may 
believe, of materials from sources other than Operative Masonry; the one or two 
degrees were reorganized and a third was added, sometime after 1720. After this tri- 
gradal system became permanently established - a thing it was a long time doing, and 
after encountering opposition - it was adopted in Scotland, Ireland, and on the 
Continent, thus giving rise to the present world-wide Fraternity. It should be noted 
just here, and as a fact never to be forgotten by the student, that whereas many 
countries other than England had a system of Operative Masonry it was in England 
alone that Speculative Freemasonry developed; all the Speculative Freemasonry now 
in existence came originally from that one source. Attempts to explain our present 



day practices by reference to Operative Masonry in Germany, Italy, Spain and France 
are usually misleading. 


Secrecy was as vital to Masonry in these early times as it is now, and for similar 
reasons except in the matter of trade formulae, the possession of which had the same 
kind of money value to an Operative Mason that the possession of a patent carries 
with it now. Without a careful guarding of all that went on in lodge the whole system 
would have gone to pieces, architecture would have become a lost art, and the world 
have been vastly the poorer, a thing one could say with equal emphasis of Speculative 
Freemasonry, which keeps the doors shut to outsiders not because it has aught to be 
ashamed of, as it is the fashion in some quarters idly to assume, but because without 
its arcana it would soon cease to be anything more than a mere social club, of which, 
heaven knows, we already have an abundance. But whereas our secrets are moral and 
speculative, those held so carefully by our ancestors were of the trade variety, and had 
to do with methods of building and designing. I have already quoted a passage from 
the Regius Poem commanding the apprentice to "hele" (conceal) the "counsel of his 
fellows"; regulations of a similar import occur in all the other Old Charges, as witness 
this passage from the Harleian: "You shall not disclose your Master or Dame [the 
Master's wife] theire Counsell or secrets, which they have imputed to you, or what is 
to be concealed, spoken, or done, within the precincts of their house." This passage 
shows that Operative Masonic secrecy had its moral as well as its professional side. 

So is it amongst us; Speculative Freemasonry teaches that secrecy is a virtue to be 
practiced everywhere and always, and not merely a device for keeping outsiders in 
the dark as to lodge affairs, a wise admonition in a world so filled with people where 
the confidence that one reposes in his fellow needs to be kept in sacred trust. 


FREEMASONS DIFFERED FROM OTHERS 


The craft of the Freemasons differed in one all-important regard from that of almost 
every other gild, namely, that the work of their predecessors remained visibly in their 
midst. A tailor, a carpenter, a tinner could care little about the history of his craft, its 
traditions, or its ideals; why should he, for his work quickly perished and could leave 
behind it no enduring remains. With the cathedral builders it was otherwise. They 
were familiar with the work their fathers had done, loved and revered it, and found in 
it an open book of lessons, a well of inspiration, a house of doctrine. Accordingly, it 



was a matter of great moment to them to preserve the traditions of the past, its light 
and its lore, because they were themselves engaged upon fabrics that would last from 
generation to generation, and transmitters of an art as enduring as the stones wrought 
into buttress and wall. This one fact alone, it seems to me, ignoring all others, would 
almost make inevitable the development of a system of symbolism. Men who built 
churches had to think and practice religion, had to familiarize themselves with 
philosophy and know something of art, and all of these interests in that day of no 
printing presses and general illiteracy could be expressed in no other way than 
symbolical. Symbolism was the popular language, so that the sculptures on the 
facade of a cathedral were a book for the folk, a history of the world, a Bible to the 
eye. In such an age it would have been strange indeed if the artists who spoke to the 
people through symbols had not employed the same means of teaching their own 
apprentices and of preserving their own secrets. One needs only look at the 
photograph of the front of a cathedral to see that the men who made it were 
symbolically minded not to conceal their ideas but to express them; and that the 
mightiest thinkers of the period left behind them in symbols some of the richest and 
rarest ideas ever known, and often not to be otherwhere found. To interpret their 
symbols is not an antiquarian's game, like the piecing together of an old puzzle, but a 
legitimate work of the mind, endeavouring to translate into our own language and 
thought forms the truths learned by the Freemasons and taught by them in the one 
manner they knew; it is like the translating of a wise and ancient book from a dead 
language into a living. 


It was the Reformation that gave to Operative Masonry its death blow. Henry VIII, 
after dissolving the abbeys and monasteries, was seconded by Edward VI, who swept 
away the last vestiges of brotherhoods, fraternities and religious associations other 
than the church, both kings pocketing the money in the name of the privy purse. The 
monasteries had been the principal employers of the Operative Freemasons, and with 
the coming of an age of puritanism in thought, morals and art the cathedral building 
period came to a sad but not inglorious end. The rank and file of Operative Masons 
dropped out and completely lost interest in the Craft; only the more intelligent among 
the lighter grades of workmen continued to cherish the ancient traditions, to read the 
Old MSS., and to pore over the time-hallowed symbols. By the seventeenth century 
lodges began to become definitely speculative, or at least non-operative; and by the 
first quarter of the following century the whole system was reorganized from top to 
bottom, Operative Masonry passed away, except in isolated instances, and 
Speculative Masonry came in. But after all, and in the sequel, the world has been the 
gainer. Many of us are Masons who never held a trowel, continuing the hoary 
customs and keeping alive the ancient fire, not because we are superstitiously reverent 



of the past, but because in our inheritance from the Operative Masons we have a 
treasure of unsearchable riches by which one is enabled to become in his secret soul 
an unprofaned temple wherein a light dwells brought bona out the past by which we 
are helped to guide our feet along the twisted paths of life toward the high calling of a 
man, which is uprightness, honour and brotherliness. 


BOOKS CONSULTED IN PREPARING THIS ARTICLE 


A.Q.C., Antigrapha; Brewster, History of Freemasonry; Robert I. Clegg, Mackey's 
Revised History of Freemasonry; Edw. Conder, Records of the Hole Crafte and 
Fellowship of Masons; Dallaway, Master, and Freemason; Findel, History of 
Freemasonry; Fort, Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry; Fr. Funck- 
Brentano, The Middle Ages; R.F. Gould, Collected Essays on Freemasonry; R. F. 
Gould, Concise History of Freemasonry; R. F. Gould, The Four Old Lodges; R.F. 
Gould, History of Freemasonry; William Herbert, History of the Twelve Great Livery 
Companies; W.L Hughan, Old Charges of the British Freemasons; W.J. Hughan, 
Origin of the English Rite of Freemasonry; Lethaby, Medieval Art; Lethaby, 
Westminster Abbey and the King's Craftsmen; Murray D. Lyon, History of the Lodge 
of Edinburgh; Meredith, Economic History of England; J.F. Newton, The Builders; 
Frederick A. Paley, Manual of Gothic Architecture; Pierson, Traditions, Origin, and 
Early History of Freemasonry; Robert Plot, The Natural History of Staffordshire; A. 
K. Porter, Medieval Architecture; Wm. Preston, Illustrations of Masonry; Toulmin 
Smith, English Guilds; F.J. Snell, The Customs of Old England; Lionel Vibert, 
Freemasonry Before the Existence of Grand Lodges; Lionel Vibert, Story of the 
Craft; Paul Vinogradoff, English Society in the Eleventh Century; A. E. Waite, New 
Encyclopedia of Freemasonry; J.S.M. Ward, Freemasonry and the Ancient Gods; 
E.M. Wilmot-Buxton, A Social History of England: Robert Wylie, History of the 
Mother Lodge Kilwinning. 


THE OPERATIVE MASONS 


Supplementary References 



Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry (Revised Edition). Anderson. 57-58; 
Apprentice, 70-71; Architect, 75; Architecture, 75; Athelstan, 85; Builder, 123; 
Church, 151; Comacine Masters, 161-167; Company of Masons, 472; Congregations, 
174; Corporations of Builders, 123; Cowan, 183-184; Craft, 184; Craftsman, 184; 
Deacon, 197-198; Fellow, 261; Fellow Craft, 261-262; Gentleman Mason, 294; 
Geomatic, 295; Gloves, 299-300; Grand Fodges, 306-307; Hale, 313; Halliwell 
Manuscript, 616; Harleian, 317; Hutchinson, 342-343; Fodge, 449-451; Master, 473- 
476; Master of the Work, 476; Master Mason, 474-475; Middle Ages, 483; Oliver, 
527-529; Old Masonic Manuscripts, 464-467; Operative Art, 532; Operative 
Masonry, 532; Overseer, 540; Preston, 579-582; Regius Manuscript, 616; Revival, 
622-623; Ritual, 627; Sloane, 694-695; Stone-Masons of the Middle Ages, 718-722; 
Symbol, 751-755; Tiler. 786: Tyler, 811; Wages, 834; Warden, 835-836; York, 867- 
871. 


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HOW TOTORGANIZE A STUDY CFUB 


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. Fouis, 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.F. Haywood, the former of which should 
be used in beginning. 


— o — 


OUR WORK 



"If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if 
we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds, if 
we imbue them with principles, with the just fear of God and love of our fellow - 
men, we engrave on those tablets something which will brighten to all eternity.” - 
Daniel Webster 


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EDITORIAL. 


FREEMASONRY'S WORK IN THE WORLD AS SEEN FROM THE 
THRESHOLD OF 1923 


The year 1 923 came and went through a disorganized world in which millions needed 
bread while other millions spent days plotting how to kill their fellow men in the 
greatest possible numbers; but for all that, and in spite of many other things well nigh 
as bad the Masonic Fraternity moved forward, with peace as its mission and 
brotherhood as its method, to convince the world what folly it is for the human race to 
make war upon itself. Has the fact come home to you with sufficient force" While the 
heathen raged and nations whispered new plots among themselves, Freemasonry 
wavered not once. It has changed neither its course nor its aim, and does not intend 
to, let come what may. Its purpose is as benign as the will of God, and almost as 
certain, for it is God's purpose surely that we all us in this mighty world should learn 
richly to enjoy life and to live in amity one with another. The stars in their courses are 
fighting to that end, and men will sooner or later learn to keep step with the stars. The 
issue is inevitable and he is afflicted with a strange unwisdom who supposes 
otherwise. 


Governments perished in the Great War, and others, nearly all of them, have been 
obliged, or will be obliged, to readjust themselves to new conditions; so with 
churches, and so with nearly all institutions, but not so with our Craft. It was an 
English post - bellum statesman that declared Freemasonry to be "the despair of 



ecclesiastics and the wonder of politicians," who can't fathom the mystery of its hold 
upon men, or the genius of an organization that could pass through such a furnace 
with so little loss and so few things to regret. 


These sentences are not glittering generalities or idle dithyrambs but reports of fact 
easily patent to any one who will study the Proceedings for 1923 of all Grand Bodies, 
here or abroad. Our purposes, ideals or principles have nowhere been called in 
question; nobody has sounded retreat; nor has there been enough pessimism 
expressed to warrant notice. The Craft has moved ahead on its own path, breaking 
down the dead branches, making way for brotherhood. 


Masonic education stood at the focus of all American activities during 1923; it is 
become the most living thing inside the whole institution. Masonic education is not a 
luxury for a few learned pundits interested in Masonic archeology but a statesmanlike 
effort to make every brother more clearly aware of the meaning and mission of 
Masonry, and to enable every official in lodges, chapters, commanderies and 
consistories to become capable of carrying on his duties intelligently. Such an effort 
is practical in the strictest sense of the word, and destined sooner or later to multiply 
the power of Freemasonry many times over. 


Along with this there has been evident an unwonted concern for the future of the boys 
who, some of these days, will be petitioning for membership. The De Molay and the 
Order of Builders for Boys have both had Grand Lodge sanction in many parts of the 
land, or otherwise received serious attention. It appears that sooner or later the 
Masonic lewis, the son of a Mason, will have his own recognized status and place in 
the machinery of organization. 


The growing influence of Masonry entices many movements outside the pale to seek 
to make use of it for their own ends. Some of these non - Masonic organizations have 
been pretty widely discussed, and almost everywhere it has been made plain by 
official utterance that Freemasonry does not intend to repeat the errors of 1826 by 
getting itself snarled up with religious, political, or race propaganda that have no 
place in Masonry's program. 



ANCIENT CRAFT MASONRY HOLDS PRIORITY 


One of the knottiest problems before Grand Lodges has been the relationship of 
Higher Degrees and Side Orders to the structure of Symbolic Masonry. The priority 
of Ancient Craft Masonry has been everywhere pretty definitely upheld, but with a 
significant lack of bitterness. In only a few instances has there been shown an 
unbrotherly and impatient spirit in dealing with this situation. Sooner or later a way 
will be found to satisfy the social instincts without infringing upon the proper work of 
the lodge. As for the Higher Grades they make the claim for themselves that they 
exist to expand, exemplify, and enforce more fully the teachings of the Blue Lodge, 
and that in the work of the first three degrees is laid down the grand trestle board of 
Freemasonry, to depart from which would be an innovation too disastrous to be 
thought of. If this position is adhered to questions of detail and of harmonious 
adjustment of the mechanisms of organization will be taken care of as time goes on. 


Masonic jurisprudence continues to remain in an unsatisfactory state of affairs, not in 
principle alone but in practice. We need badly a few authentic manuals of practical 
jurisprudence brought down to date by the best jurisconsults in the Craft, a fact that 
need cause nobody to suppose that the older texts already generally in use are to be 
any the less valued. The rules of procedure satisfactory to the conditions of 1 900 are 
not adequate to meet the new complexities of 1923. There are some of us who pray 
that Bro. Melvin Johnson will be inspired to finish the work he already has under way 
in this field; he is capable of giving us a manual of authoritative and practicable 
value. May T.S.G.A.O.T.U. continue to strengthen his hands to that end! 


An example of the need of such a manual is shown in the debate over physical 
qualifications which occupied so much time in Grand Lodge sessions during 1923. 
That question is not yet settled and can't be until there is a more general agreement on 
first principles. One distinguished brother held that the Craft is still bound to the 
constitutions of 1390, another that we need pay no attention to the ancient rules; both 
were wrong but it would take a Nestor of wisdom to show what is right. All such 
attempts to smooth our relations with our own past bring clearly to the front how 
necessary it is that we thoroughly understand that past and what there is in it binding 



upon today. The history of Masonry is a live issue whenever the question of physical 
qualifications comes up for debate. 


The purpose of Freemasonry is as direct as sunlight and as easy to see. It is to help 
build the whole race of man into one world - wide brotherhood through the 
instrumentality of a fraternity of picked men placed under such favorable conditions 
as will best teach and inspire them concerning that grand aim. By the simple devices 
of ritual and of symbolism, of private dedication and collective enterprise, these men 
are prepared to be apostles abroad of the lessons learned in lodge, and they are shown 
that if each one will be a sincere and well trained workman in building his own 
manhood he will thereby become fitted to co - operate with all his fellows who 
together labor at the temple of the universal brotherhood. 


BROTHERHOOD IS AS RICH AS LIFE IS 


The gospel of brotherhood is as complex as the life of the world, as rich as the 
experiences of the race, but for all that there are in it a few shining principles which to 
know and to practice make plain all the rest. It is upon these that Freemasonry places 
its emphasis. There must first of all be truth in the whole man, inward and outward; 
lying, deception and hypocrisy are disastrous to brotherhood because in their very 
nature they disrupt the bonds that bind man to man. "Let there be light!" If there is 
not, darkness will lie in the heart, and on the streets, as well as upon the mind. Next 
after that comes toleration, which is a recognition of the fact that until now no man 
has captured the whole of truth, and that the search for truth is a task requiring the co 
- operation of all good men; therefore each must be left unfettered to work out his 
own contribution, so that toleration is a free collective action in the pursuit of truth, 
rather than the mush of concession, the fog of indifference that it is usually falsely 
supposed to be. 


For this it is necessary that liberty be secured. No man can contribute his thoughts if 
he be not permitted to think; or his deeds if he be not permitted to act; or his worship 
if he be not given liberty of religion; the slave has nothing to give, not even himself 
To make knowledge, truth, and good will prevail it is necessary that they be 



developed into the uses of fraternity, which is a consciously organized group of men 
devoted to a common purpose, and which issues in the practices of charity, mutual 
aid, and sociability. The solid ground under all this is the religion in which all good 
men agree, a free faith in the God of All, a firm belief that life is worth the living, and 
that the issues of existence run toward heights beyond our knowing. If we men are 
clods merely, or accidental off - scourings of a blind physical process, or trained 
animals, or ghosts walking in dreams, then nothing is worth while, brotherhood or 
anything else. It is this essential faith that holds the world together and furnishes their 
vitality to all the creeds and churches; it is this that underlies Freemasonry with all its 
works and hopes. 


All this is Freemasonry's work in the world, which, though it is as wide as the life of 
man and as deep as his most desperate needs, does not lose sight of the individual in 
the fog of vast general purposes. The fear expressed with some frequency that the 
attempt to awaken in the Craft a consciousness of its world mission will transform it 
into a kind of wholesale movement and break its ancient contacts with the private 
craftsman is groundless if only our leaders work with wisdom in organizing our 
activities; the best kind of social effort is that which comes quickest home to the 
individual. 


There is something in Freemasonry that quickens in a man like an ancient 
enthusiasm; something that draws him away from the hearth of a winter night to 
attend his lodge, something that sets him to dreaming dreams, that sends him forth to 
new crusades. What it is no man can tell. It is the secret that is holden from Masons 
themselves, a Divine Word hidden away in their hearts. But it is there and it is ever at 
work. To become its servant, to yield one's life to it, to let it rule in one's soul, that it 
is to be a Mason. Never in all the long reach of time has the world been more sadly in 
need of such a life. The very heartbreak and misery of these bloody days is a call to 
every Mason to stand true to the faith that is in him. 


THE MASONIC SERVICE ASSOCIATION 



The Masonic Service Association of the United States issues this month the first 
number of its new journal "The Master Mason," to be edited by Bro. Joseph Fort 
Newton, which fact in itself means that "The Master Mason" will at once take its 
place among the best Masonic periodicals in the world. THE BUILDER extends a 
hearty New Year's greeting to its new colleague, and wishes for it God speed and all 
manner of prosperity. 


The Association was organized as the result of a Conference of Grand Masters held in 
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Nov. 26, 1918, to serve as a general clearing house for inter - 
Grand Lodge activities so that in event of such another calamity as the World War the 
forty-nine Grand Lodges of the country would not find themselves rendered 
ineffective by a tangle of cross purposes or have their efforts wasted by over-lapping 
or duplication. At the same time it is carrying on a general Masonic educational 
program that is a statesmanlike enterprise so organized as to bring home to each lodge 
and individual the meaning and mission of Masonry. 


According to one of its recent bulletins there are now some thirty - three Grand 
Lodges in its membership, named as follows: Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, 
Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, 
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New 
Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, 
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Philippine Islands, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South 
Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. 


The advent of "The Master Mason" is one more harbinger of a new springtime in 
American Masonic literature. Time was when Masonic periodicals had to struggle for 
the mere right to exist, so paralyzing was the general apathy, so wide - spread the 
feeling that in some mysterious way a public discussion of Masonry might expose its 
secrets, as if secrets that could be exposed would be worth having! But times have 
changed. So many Masonic journals have come into existence during the past few 
years, and these have exhibited such a variety of excellences, that by now the Craft is 
being magnificently served by its magazines. May the good work never cease! There 
cannot be too many light - houses in our midst, not as long as there is so much 
darkness in the world. 



o 


THE CORNERSTONE OF THE NATIONAL CAPITOL 
(See frontispiece) 


The cornerstone of the National Capitol was laid by George Washington and a great 
company of Masons Sept. 18, 1793. Washington wore the apron and the regalia of a 
Past Master; the apron had been made for him by Marquise de Lafayette, the wife of 
Bro. General Lafayette, as was also the sash he wore. A silver plate was laid on the 
stone, bearing the following inscription: 


"This Southeast cornerstone of the Capitol of the United States of America, in the city 
of Washington, was laid on the 18th day of September, 1793, in the thirteenth year of 
the American Independence, in the first year of the second term of the presidency of 
George Washington, whose virtues in the civil administration of his country have 
been as conspicuous and beneficial, as his military valor and prudence have been 
useful in establishing her liberties; in the year of Masonry 5793, by the President of 
the United States, in concert with the Grand Lodge of Maryland, several lodges under 
its jurisdiction, and Lodge No. 22 from Alexandria, Virginia. 


"Thomas Johnson, David Stuart and Daniel Carroll, Commissioners; Joseph Clarke, 
R.W.G.M. Pro. Tern.; James Hoban and Stephen Hallate, Architects, and Collin 
Williamson, Master Mason.” 


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THE LIBRARY 



James Anderson and His Book of Constitutions 


THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE FREEMASONS CONTAINING THE HISTORY, 
CHARGES, REGULATIONS &. OF THAT MOST ANCIENT AND RIGHT 
WORSHIPFUL FRATERNITY, 1723, AN ABSOLUTE FACSIMILE REPRINT OF 
THE RARE FIRST EDITION, with a historical and analytical Introduction by Lionel 
Vibert, P. M., Quatuor Coronati Lodge, author of "Freemasonry Before the Existence 
of Grand Lodges," "Story of the Craft," etc. Published by Bernard Quaritch, Ltd., 1 1 
Grafton street, New Bond St., London, W. L., England. May be purchased through 
the Book Department of the National Masonic Research Society. Price 1 pound, Is, 
net. Limited edition. 


THE basis of jurisprudence as practiced by every American Grand Lodge is the Book 
of Constitutions, and that book is based, in the last analysis, on the original Book of 
Constitutions prepared by Dr. James Anderson and published by him in 1723. 
Accordingly Anderson and his book together comprise a subject on which it is 
necessary that every intelligent active Mason be correctly informed, all the more so in 
that there is abroad, even among Grand Lodge officials oftentimes, a woeful amount 
of misunderstanding on that theme. It is therefore a matter of general importance to 
everyone that at last we have assembled into one volume all that is thus far known 
about Anderson himself along with a photographic facsimile of his book, all produced 
with an apparatus of critical notes so complete as to render previous editions more or 
less obsolete. 


The book itself is a work of art, as are so many of the titles printed by Quaritch. It is 
nine by eleven and three quarter inches in size, and runs to about 150 pages all told. 
As a volume to signalize the bicentenary of the famous Anderson book it could not be 
improved upon. Its editor, Bro. Lionel Vibert, a P. M. of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge 
of Research, London, England, needs no word of introduction to readers of this 
journal all of whom will recall his essay on Anderson's Constitutions published in the 
August issue of 1923, and most of whom will have seen his two books, Freemasonry 
Before the Existence of Grand Lodges, and the Story of the Craft. He is editor of 
Miscellanea Latomornm, and author of a number of important treatises, one of the 



most notable being a study of the French Compagnonage which will be published, so 
it is hoped, in a future number of THE BUILDER. The Foreword is signed by E. H. 

D. - Bro. E. H. Dring, one may suppose. Of efforts at reproducing Anderson E. H. D. 
says: 


"Since Benjamin Franklin reprinted the book at Philadelphia in 1734 it has been 
reprinted many times, some of the modern editions purporting to be facsimile 
reprints. Inasmuch as these editions were all printed from type and no attempt made 
to reproduce the text 'line by line', even the most aspiring of these facsimiles only 
succeeded in printing a good readable text. The last attempt that was made was the 
edition issued at Wiesbaden in 1900, and this illustrates well the errors to which all 
typographical reprints are liable. On page 74, line 9, in the original there occurs the 
name 'Timson' which has been misread and printed in the reprint as 'Limson'. The 
basis of the present facsimile is photography and it is as perfect as present methods 
are capable of executing. It is extremely fortunate that Lionel Vibert, a Past Master of 
the Lodge of the Quatuor Coronati has been induced to write the Introduction. He has 
made a special study of Dr. James Anderson and his works and whether he has been 
successful in throwing new light on the subject must be left to the reader." 


Bro. Vibert's Introduction is a volume in itself. The first of its two portions is a sketch 
of Dr. Anderson's life insofar as the meagreness of knowledge makes that possible, 
along with an account of his Masonic career. The second portion is an elaborate 
analysis of the Constitutions based immediately upon the facsimile itself, and covers, 
for all its pithiness, a very large amount of ground. In the earlier part of that analysis 
is some explanation about Old Charges in general and a valuable explanation of uses 
of the word "constitutions" in Freemasonry. The analysis proper covers every feature 
of Anderson's book, frontispiece coat of arms, meaning of words, the various 
Charges, the Regulations, the Approbation, the songs, the list of Grand Masters (one 
of the most astonishing things ever produced by a Mason), the tri - gradal system of 
degrees, etc., and in addition thereto a contrast between the editions of 1723 and of 
1738, notes on the publishers Senex and Hooke, etc. 


Anderson's Constitutions of the Freemasons was originally a private venture which 
gained Grand Lodge sanction by a kind of accident, and it came into general use by a 
slow evolution. In its own time it almost escaped notice, at least by the general 



Masonic public. Yet, after a time it came to be to the Craft in general what the Old 
Charges were to lodges in the Operative period, and continues so to be in spite of the 
feet that since R. F. Gould, Anderson's work and Masonic record have been 
scrutinized with merciless severity, one of the results being that his attempt at writing 
a Masonic history has been discounted almost to the vanishing point. 


"Yet it would be difficult," writes Bro. Vibert, "to estimate its influence on the history 
of the Craft. Notwithstanding the way in which Grand Lodge received the work after 
its publication, it took its place as the official manual, so that the feet that it was not 
official but essentially a private affair was entirely lost sight of. It was taken by the 
Grand Lodge of Ireland as the model for their Book of Constitutions in 1730. It was 
reprinted verbatim for use in America by Franklin in 1734. It was pirated in London 
and later in Dublin by Smith in 1735. And its author's reputation was great enough to 
carry off the History he wrote for his second edition of 1738, and led the Craft for a 
century and a half to accept it and reprint it as a serious contribution to the subject. 
Today we value the Doctor's labours less highly, but the Constitutions of 1723 is 
nevertheless one of the most important records of the Craft. 


"Dr. Begemann undertook a detailed analysis of the text in the second volume of his 
Freimaurerei in England, being, I believe, the first to essay the task. My own paper on 
similar lines will be found in the Transactions of the Lodge of the Quatuor Coronati 
for 1923, vii. xxxvi, and it is mainly from the material there collected that this present 
introduction has been put together.” (Page lii.) 


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AMMUNITION FOR SPEECH - MAKERS 


TOASTS AND ANECDOTES, by Paul W. Kearney. Published by Edward J. Clode, 
New York; may be purchased through National Masonic Research Book Department. 
Blue cloth; 299 pages; $1.00 net. 



THERE is no earthly excuse for a man boggling a speech in lodge, not when there are 
so many helps available for budding orators. Here for instance is this Toasts and 
Anecdotes. It was not designed for the man who knows how, but for the fellow that 
doesn't, and it fills the bill for its purpose. Like Caesar's Gaul it is divided into three 
parts, the first of which is filled up with toasts for various occasions, most of which 
run somewhat after this manner: "To our ancestors. We forgive them and trust that 
they forgive us." Or this: "A health to our widows. If they ever marry again may they 
do as well." 


The second part is made up of a miscellany of verse and prose quotations from 
famous authors for use on appropriate occasions. Here is one chosen at random that 
might serve to give point to a Masonic talk: "Many men build as cathedrals were 
built, the part nearest the ground finished; but that part which soars toward heaven, 
the turrets and the spires, for ever incomplete." This is credited to Henry Ward 
Beecher. There are scores more of such character, each chosen for its fitness in 
speech - making. 


An excellent collection of historical anecdotes fills up section three, the best in the 
book. Two specimens will suffice: 


"John Marshall, pleading a ease before the bar, was once fined thirty dollars for 
contempt of court because of a slighting remark made about the presiding judge. 


"With a profuse apology and a low bow Marshall said: 'Your Honor, I have the 
greatest respect for this court and the judge who presides over it. I intend to carry out 
every wish of this court, sir, and I will therefore pay this fine immediately. 


"'As it happens, however, I have not the full amount of thirty dollars with me at the 
moment, and since no one in this court room knows me better than yourself, Your 



Honor, I must ask you to lend me that amount so that I may pay off this assessment at 
once.' 


"The judge cleared his throat and then recovered his wit. Turning to the clerk he said 
in his sternest voice: 'Clerk, remit that fine. The United States Government can better 
afford to lose thirty dollars than I!' . . ." 


"One day President Lincoln was driving in a carriage with a typical Southern 
gentleman when they passed an old colored man who bowed low and doffed his 
ragged hat. Lincoln smiled in acknowledgment of the greeting and tipped his own hat 
in return. 'Why,' asked his companion, 'should you tip your hat to a rigger?' 'Because,' 
answered Lincoln quietly, 'I prefer not to be outdone in courtesy by anyone.'" 


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THE BOUND VOLUME OF THE BUILDER FOR 1923 


ACCORDING to its usual custom the National Masonic Research Society has issued 
a bound volume of THE BUILDER for the past year. For the benefit of newcomers in 
our family it may be said that in this volume are included all twelve issues of the year 
without covers and bound up, with a complete descriptive index, in substantial 
manner. Brethren who make a point of securing each volume as it appears in order to 
keep their set complete are urged to order at once that they may not be disappointed 
by finding the supply exhausted. The supply of bound volumes for 1918 is so nearly 
gone that copies are now sold with complete sets only; owing to an unprecedented 
demand for it the volume for 1923 will soon be as scarce. Each bound volume retails 
for $3.75. The binding is goldenrod buckram. 


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THE ENGLISH RITUAL 


THE MASONIC RITUAL, Described, Compared and Explained, by J. Walter Hobbs, 
London - The Masonic Record, Ltd. 80 pages. Cloth. 


THIS little book, though written by one of our English brothers and dealing entirely 
with the English ritual, may well be read with pleasure and profit by American 
Masons. Its author expressly disclaims any attempt to present an exhaustive narration 
of the history and development of the ritual, yet he is convinced from long experience 
as Preceptor of several Lodges of Instruction that "there is a great need for 
enlightenment on the subject of the ritual," a sentiment to which we surely subscribe. 


In an interesting manner, Brother Hobbs takes up the purpose of the ritual, its growth 
and development in England, comparisons of current "workings," methods of 
instruction and uniformity. The limit of space he imposes on himself renders his 
account of the growth and development of the English ritual too sketchy to be of 
much value. Unlike the majority of American Grand Lodges, the Grand Lodge of 
England has never adopted or recognized any standard ritual. The author tells us the 
chief "workings" are Emulation, Stability, Westend, Oxford, Logic, West London, 
North London and Metropolitan. No doubt there are others, especially outside of 
London. He then devotes three chapters to a comparison of verbal differences among 
the first five of these. He makes no attempt to trace them back to show when or why 
these differences arose. In many instances he would find they had their genesis prior 
to the Union of 1813. 


Brother Hobbs is at his best in writing on the "Object and function" of the ritual. This 
chapter alone would commend the book. One paragraph especially is worth quoting 
here, for it sets forth what is, in our humble opinion, the true intent and purpose of 
freemasonry: 



"I am aware that the foregoing to some extent limits the purpose of Masonry to a right 
attitude of Man to Man, that is, to recover a lost Brotherhood. Such 1 believe it to be, 
but there are those who take the purpose to be a quest or search for that which was 
lost, and remains to be found, the knowledge of and union with the Deity. It may be 
so, I know not, but this I believe, that the task of every true man is to love his 
neighbor as himself, and the teaching of this by ritual, and the constant practice of 
that principle of Brotherhood will, of necessity, bring us nearer to the source of all 
Life and Light." 


We need an adequate literature which will bring us to know and understand our ritual 
and which will enable us to see something more in it than an elaborated Robert's 
"Rules of Order." Towards that end this little book is a most acceptable contribution. 


- A.L. KRESS 


— o 


THE QUESTION BOX 


THE PRENTICE PILLAR 


Please tell me what was the legend of "the Prentice pillar." F. H. B., Idaho. 


In all probability your question refers to the legend that has grown up about the pillar 
that stands in the south end of Roslyn Castle, Scotland. It is a fluted shaft, base and 
capital richly ornamented, with a garland twined about it. According to one version of 
the legend the plans, which had been sent from Rome, did not make clear the details 
of its construction; another version has it that a portion of the plans had become lost; 



in either event the Master Builder had to go to Rome. During his absence a skilful 
young apprentice carved out the pillar and had it in readiness for its place upon the 
return of the Master, who, seeing before him such a masterpiece, was so filled with 
jealousy that he killed the youth with a blow on the forehead from a setting maul. The 
boy was the son of a widow. The relevancy of this to a study of the legend of Hiram 
Abif is immediately apparent. This is but one of a large number of legends of human 
martyrdom or sacrifice in connection with great buildings, a subject dealt with in 
masterly style by George William Speth in his Builders' Rites, a book somewhat hard 
to obtain but well worth the trouble. 


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MISSOURI "BLUE LODGES" AND SLAVERY 


In reading James Ford Rhodes' History of the United States From the Compromise to 
1850 I came across this statement, which has aroused my curiosity: "In October 1854 
Blue Lodges were formed in Missouri. These were secret societies, with the methods 
and paraphernalia of an organization, whose members were bound together by secret 
oaths. Their purpose was to extend slavery into Kansas. Popular sovereignty meant to 
them the right of Missourians to vote at the territorial elections in furtherance of the 
design which had given rise to the Blue Lodges." I would appreciate very much if you 
could tell me if these Blue Lodges had their origin, or derived their name, from the 
Masonic Fraternity. 


W. B. B„ New York. 


Your inquiry, Bro. Bragdon, was referred to Mr. Rhodes himself, and to Bro. Albert 
K. Wilson, Grand Secretary, Kansas. The former replied in this wise: 



I fear that I cannot answer your question. It is over thirty years ago when I penned the 
words which you cite and when I had all the material of the subject before me. It is 
impossible for me to recover the same even if I were in my own library and knew 
where to make a search for it. But away from my library the task is hopeless. On a 
general proposition however I should say that the Blue Lodges of Missouri were in no 
way connected with the Masonic Fraternity. You know in 1854 there were 
abolitionists at the North who were Masons and a distinctly pro - slavery organization 
would have aroused objections on their part. 


James Ford Rhodes. 


Bro. Wilson's letter may also be given in full: 


I note your quotation from James F. Rhodes' History of the United States From the 
Compromise to 1850 and in reply will say that there is either a glaring error in the 
statement that in October 1854 Blue Lodges were formed in Missouri, or you have 
made a mistake in copying the excerpt. 


The facts are that the Grand Lodge of Missouri issued letters of dispensation and 
subsequently charters in 1854 for the establishment of our first three lodges in 
Kansas, and in 1855 two others. If, however, your quotation is correct, then I can give 
you no light on the subject as it deals exclusively with Missouri. If such a society was 
ever organized in that state I do not believe it entered into the early history of eastern 
Kansas, or at least there is no record of that kind concerning our state. So far as 
Kansas is concerned, I can say there were no spurious lodges organized in our 
territory and if any were created it was in some other jurisdiction. 


Albert K. Wilson, G. S., Kansas. 



The question therefore remains on the table. Can any reader throw further light on it? 
If so, let us have a word from you. 


— o — 


AUTHENTIC BOOKS ON FOLKLORE, ANTHROPOLOGY, ETC. 


I want a list of books to read on savage customs, religions, and ceremonies. I think we 
can learn much about Freemasonry's symbols and ritual in that field. 


W. J. H., New Jersey. 


Bro. Arthur C. Parker, Associate Editor, is an expert in that field; he recommends the 
following: Frazer, J. G., The Golden Bough, a Study in Myth, Magic and Religion (10 
vols).. Tylor, Edward B., Primitive Culture (2 vols.), John Murray, London. Gray, L. 
H., Editor, Mythology of All Races (13 vols.), Marshall Jones, 1916. Murray, Alex 
S., Manual of Mythology, Scribner. Encyclopaedia of Superstitions and Occult 
Sciences, J. H. Yewdall & Sons, Chicago and Milwaukee, 1903. Lang, Andrew, 

Myth, Ritual and Religion, Longmans, Green; Customs and Myth; Secret of the 
Totem. Muller, F. Max, Collected Works of F. Mane Muller, about 30 vole., 
Longmans, Green. Sumner, Folkways. Osborn, H. F., Men of the Old Stone Age, 
Scribner, 1918. Beddoe, John, Anthropological History of Europe, Paisley: Alex 
Gardner, 1912. E. W. Hopkins, Origin and Evolution of Religion, Yale University 
Press, 1923. Duckworth, W. L. H., Morphology and Anthropology, Cambridge 
University Press. 


Magazines: Journal of American Folklore, F. Boas, Editor, American Museum of 
Natural History, New York. The American Anthropologist, care American Museum 
of Natural History, New York. Folklore, British Folklore Society, London. 



o 


WAS DANIEL HUNT THE FIRST KNIGHT TEMPLAR? 


One of our brethren here is descended from Captain Daniel Hunt, who commanded 
the ship Louisa in the U. S. Navy about 1814 - 1816. The ship was registered at 
Portland, Maine. Now it is alleged that Daniel Hunt was one of the very first, and 
perchance the first, Knight Templar in America. I have only the family tradition at 
present for this, but the elderly brother who asked me to look into the matter claims 
that it is true, and I wonder if you can assist me in digging up the facts. The above is 
all the definite information I have to work on, as I do not know to what Blue Lodge 
Daniel Hunt belonged. Probably it was an English lodge, or it may have been a 
colonial lodge. If you can help me in any manner I shall appreciate it very highly. 


J. Edwin Walker, 

Editor, Georgia Lodge Tidings, 
P. O. Box 410, Atlanta, Ga. 


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LODGES NOT INVOLVED IN OKLAHOMA TROUBLES 


In order to reply to a number of inquirers a letter was addressed to Bro. Wm. M. 
Anderson, Grand Secretary, Oklahoma, to ask if the Masonic lodges in that state had 
been in any way involved in the troubles that circled about former Governor Walton. 
His response is here given in full: 



"Responding to your request of some days ago I am very glad to be able to state that 
the Masonic lodges in the state of Oklahoma have not been connected with the 
various troubles that have circled about Governor Walton." 


Wm. M. Anderson, Grand Secretary, Guthrie, Okla. 


— o — 


INFORMATION WANTED CONCERNING CHART 


Herewith I enclose you a photo taken from a print of an ancient chart which came into 
my possession some time ago. I should be pleased if any of our eminent research 
brethren can supply me with a descriptive reading of the same or any other 
information. The footnote reads as follows: 


"The original was brought from Jerusalem; now in the possession of Bro. Colonel 
Wilkins, Philadelphia. Entered under act Congress for the proprietor by Bro. W.H. 
Holbrook, New York." 


I would be extremely obliged if you could supply the following particulars, viz. : 


1 - A descriptive reading of the chart. 


2 - If I could possibly ascertain the address of Bro. Col. Wilkins. 



3 - If it is possible to ascertain the year these prints were made in New York and the 
number of copies made by Bro. W. H. Holbrook and also his address. 


Thanking you in anticipation for any information that you can give me in this matter. 


John Edward Milligan, 
60 Lime street, 
Liverpool, England. 


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LINCOLN, LARRAGUT, GRANT, BURR 


In the September number Brother Rose of New Jersey comments on "Great Men Who 
Were Not Masons." He is correct in stating that Lincoln was not a Mason; the Grand 
Master of Illinois at the time of the Lincoln funeral so stated, although the Grand 
Treasurer's report shows that the Grand Lodge had incurred expense on account of the 
funeral, supposedly for floral offerings. The Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of 
Illinois for 1 865 will serve as reference. 


As to Admiral Larragut. Grand Master Holbrook of New Hampshire, May 17, 1871, 
announced the death of this naval hero. The particulars as to which lodge held his 
membership is not stated. (Reference: Page LXII, Correspondence, Grand Lodge, 
Illinois, 1872.) 



Brother Rose might be interested to know that in 1859 Captain U.S. Grant petitioned 
Occidental Lodge, No. 163, of St. Louis, Missouri; he was elected, but never 
presented himself for initiation. (Page 152, Appendix Part I, Proceedings Grand 
Lodge, Illinois, 1909.) 


It would appear that Aaron Burr was also a Mason. The records show that he visited 
the Western Star Lodge, No. 107, on the register of Pennsylvania, and located at 
Kaskaskia, Illinois, the date of the visit being April 4, 1812. (Page 32, John C. 
Reynolds' "History of the M. W. Grand Lodge of Illinois.") 


G.A. Crayton, Illinois. 


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THE AMERICAN LODGE IN LONDON 


In 1909 the following foreign lodges were working in London: The Pilger Lodge, No. 
238, employing the German language, came under the jurisdiction of the Grand 
Lodge of England in 1779; La France Lodge, No. 2060, working in the French 
language, was consecrated in 1884; Loggia Italia, No. 2687, using Italian, was 
consecrated in 1897; L'Entente Cordiale Lodge, No. 2796, also working in the French 
language, was consecrated in 1899; the Deutschland Lodge, No. 3315, was 
consecrated in 1908. 


Inasmuch as these foreign lodges were all prospering and doing good work it 
occurred to a few of us here that there were a sufficient number of American Masons 
in London to warrant our founding an American lodge. As a result America Lodge, 
No. 3368, with twenty - one founders, all of them belonging to English lodges 
meeting in London, was consecrated on June 3, 1909. We did not expect a large 
membership, but felt that even so there was room for us and that we should be able to 



draw the American brethren together and probably find many good initiates. The 
World War, of course, prevented us from growing very rapidly during those awful 
years, nevertheless we met regularly, did our work, and initiated a few new members. 
Since 1918 we have had many additions to our roll, one of the most notable among 
whom being one of our American Vice-Consuls in London. Today we have an active 
membership of fifty - seven. The Rt. Hon. Lord Ampthill officiated as W. M. of our 
consecrating officers. Our consecrating officers are honorary members as well, and 
the list of which also includes the names of former President W. H. Taft; Hon. 
William B. Relish, P. G. M. of Ohio; Hon. John W. Davis, late Ambassador to the 
Court of St. James; Hon. Leonidas P. Newby, Grand Master of the Grand 
Encampment of Knights Templars, and also the names of the late Presidents 
Roosevelt and Harding. 


During the war we received a large number of American brethren as visitors from 
almost every jurisdiction in the United States' and we now have the privilege of 
welcoming to every one of our meetings American brethren of prominence. This 
enables us to keep in close touch with our brethren at home and we hope that all 
American brethren will visit us when in London. As far as our funds have permitted 
we have contributed to the English Masonic charities. During the war we sent out 
committees to visit the hospitals in England where there might be wounded Masonic 
brethren and we have in other ways done everything possible to give Masonic help 
and assistance to American brethren. 


F. C. Van Duzer, Secretary, 

114 Southampton Row, London, W. C. 1, 
London, England. 


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COMMENDS BLOCK'S ARTICLE 



In your November number of THE BUILDER, you issued a very interesting article, 
named "The Present Day Tendencies and Dangers in Freemasonry" by Bro. Louis 
Block. The article is not alone very interesting and instructive, but true in every sense 
of the word. Not alone have these thoughts occurred to me, but I have time and again 
voiced my sentiments regarding the deleteriousness of auxiliary branches to our Blue 
Lodges. I was made a Mason in May 1895, was Senior Deacon in '96, Junior Warden 
'97, Master in 1898 - 99, and District Deputy Grand Master of the 2nd Masonic 
District in 1900. During that period we had no Past Master Association, no Senior 
Deacons' or Fellowcraft Clubs, no Wardens' Associations, Square Clubs, Masonic 
Associations, etc., etc., as at the present day. In those days we did not initiate and 
raise by special dispensation ten and fifteen candidates in one night. During that 
period a candidate had to be proficient before being advanced. All instruction was 
given from mouth to ear. I well remember wandering the streets night after night 
receiving my lessons in that manner. Now everything is changed; abnormally so; 
now, some of our Masonic supply houses sell pamphlets at ten cents each, and cypher 
books with which candidates educate themselves in direct opposition to the vows that 
all such printed forms and matter would be ignored. I wish that every Master of the 
Brooklyn and New York lodges as well as lodges wherever found could be placed in 
possession of a copy of Bro. Block's article, and that it be read in lodge for the 
guidance and instruction of the brothers. I know of several instances of men 
becoming identified with the fraternity in order to become members of some social 
auxiliary ignoring all the beautiful teachings and doctrines of Blue Lodge Masonry, in 
fact hardly ever attending their lodges. Present conditions are much to be deplored 
and are becoming worse by the hour. The crucial question is not alone what should be 
done, but what must be done. 


Realizing the necessity that something must be done I would deem it an honor and 
pleasure to co - operate with Bro. Block in his endeavor to call the attention of the 
Craft to the feet that they are rapidly drifting onto the rocks of calamity through their 
foolish as well as insane hankering after "Jazz in Masonry", instead of adhering 
strictly, consistently and conscientiously to its tenets and doctrines. 


Philip Hertschaft, New York. 



Bro. Block's article has stirred up a great excitement, if one may judge from the many 
letters written to commend it. The above is typical of a score or more. Demands for 
extra copies of the November issue were so great as almost to exhaust the supply. 


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“HOW DO YOU EXAMINE VISITORS?" 


I see in your Ye Editor's Comer for October you ask for information as to "How do 
you examine visitors?" I will answer for our own lodge and I believe it is customary 
through this jurisdiction. First, we demand to see his receipt and we see that the seal 
of the lodge he claims to be a member is on same; he is then given the tiler's, or test 
oath. We then have to use quite a bit of judgment in regard to a ritualistic examination 
as we find quite a number who are what is termed msty. But we are rather particular 
in demanding that in all three degrees that they shall know certain grips, words, signs, 
especially a certain one in the last, and how it is given. This is about all I can describe 
to you here. Visitors should always have their receipts when coming to Florida. I will 
also state that we have a list of all "Regular Lodges". I feel satisfied that the above 
will be found pretty general throughout this jurisdiction. I have served on the 
examining committee for the past twenty years and examined brothers from almost 
every state in the Union and have had some queer experiences. 


Lew C. Stewart, Florida. 


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"THE GREATEST DANGER" 



I have just been scanning the pages of the October 1923 number and have come upon 
your "Corner" with the query "What is the greatest danger now facing Freemasonry?" 
While not very old either in years of natural life or in membership I have ever been a 
keen observer both in and out of the Craft and, since my discovery of your Society, 
somewhat of a student of the Fraternity. I therefore feel both the inclination and 
qualification to submit an answer. 


It is the membership itself which is the ONLY "great" danger. Doubtless, I think, a 
very different reply was either sought or anticipated, some reference to other 
antipathetic organizations or unwholesome "friendly" bodies which have come in for 
much notoriety. I had such things fully in mind when framing my reply and I submit 
that, after a careful analysis of their activities, I believe their influences are harmful to 
Freemasonry only in so far as our beautiful and wonderful Institution is cheapened 
and caused to deteriorate by a careless selection of our membership and by such poor 
membership engaging in antagonistic, controversial or animous activities. 


The old axiom "two wrongs never made one right" seems to apply. In all my readings 
regarding the early periods of both national and world - wide Masonic history I have 
failed to find precedent for the mental, moral and political atmosphere which seems to 
permeate to permeate the rank and file of the Craft today. We appear to have 
descended to the level of the too numerous "lodges" when we should have maintained 
the lofty position as a Profession in Social Science, admitting to practice only those 
worthy and well qualified, duly and truly prepared. 


Wm. Paul Babcock, New York. 


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BOOKS WANTED 



Vol. I, Ars Quatuor Coronatorum. 


Vol. XXXII, Ars Quatuor Coronatorum; both must be complete, and with St. John's 
Cards. 


"Records of the Hole Crafte and Fellowship of Masons," by Edward Conder. 


"Restorations of Masonic Geometry and Symbolry," by H. P. H. Bromwell. 


"History of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite," by Robert Folger. 


Send description and prices to Book Department, National Masonic Research Society, 
1950 Railway Exchange, St. Louis, Mo. 


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YE EDITORS CORNER 


Through a stupid typographical error the honored name of John Ross Robertson 
appeared in this Corner, November last, as "John Robertson Ross". Such things can 
happen, even in dry times. A Canadian brother has written to question the title "Sir" 
also used in the same item. My note was copied from a Canadian Grand Lodge 
Proceedings, but it may be in error. Will some Toronto brother speak up? 



The hoary problem, "How old is Ann?" (or is it Anne) must now take a seat in the 
rear. A new one is going the rounds of the devotee of "ye ancien scions of geometric" 
as witness my hand as follows: 


How many apples did Adam and Eve eat ? 


Some say Eve 8 and Adam 2 - a total of 10 orally. 


Now, we figure the thing out far differently: Eve 8 and Adam 8, also - total 16. 


On second thought we think the above figures are entirely wrong . 


If Eve 8 and Adam 82, certainly the total would be 90. 


Scientific men, however, on the strength of the theory that the antediluvians were a 
race of giants, reason something like this: Eve 81 and Adam 82 - total, 163. 


Wrong again. What could be clearer than if Eve 81 and Adam 812 the total was 893. 


We believe the following to be the true solution: Eve 814 Adam and Adam 8124 Eve 
- total, 8,938. 



Still another calculation is as follows: If Eve 814 Adam, Adam 81242 oblige Eve - 
total, 82,056. 


Submit answers to our Adam and Eve editor. The League of Nations will decide the 
winner. Entrants must be of mature age and unsound mind. 


* * * 


Word comes that Bro. Reynold E. Blight is now editor of The New Age. 
Congratulations, Bro. Blight, and power to your arm. 


* * * 


We need an article on The Order of the Cincinnati; would you care to make a study of 
the subject to that end? Let us have a word from you if you would. 


* * * 


Bro. Ossian Lang writes: "THE BUILDER is respected universal!, in Europe where 
Masonic journalism as you know has been moving on a considerably higher plane 
than has been the case in America. I heard words of commendation from our journal 
wherever it has become known." Thanks. Such words are encouraging. 



Over an entrance to the post office building that stands near the union station in 
Washington, D. C., are these words: "Messenger of Sympathy and Love - Servant of 
Parted Friends - Consoler of the Lonely - Bond of the Scattered Family - Enlarger 
of the Common Life." How true they are of the mail service' Would they not also be 
true in a certain sense of the Masonic Fraternity?