THE BUILDER APRIL 1917

AT REFRESHMENT
BY BRO. GEO. W. WARVELLE, ILLINOIS


I CONTINUE to hear complaints from certain quarters concerning the wasteful
extravagance in the matter of refreshments, together with suggestions as to
the good that might be accomplished if the money so expended were applied to
works of charity and pure beneficence. But, notwithstanding these oft repeated
admonitions from those who
stand on the watch towers of zion, the Craft jogs along in the
same old way and the banquet is still a potent factor in Masonic
life. And yet, this is strictly in keeping with the old
precedents; a faithful adherence to the old land. marks.

Freemasonry, in its inception, was strictly a convivial
institution, all reports to the contrary notwithstanding. In later
years it took on liturgic features,but the old customs, in large
measure, were continued and in modified forms are still practiced.
The custom of "refreshment" may be traced back to the mediaeval
Gilds, while the oldest records of the Masonic Fraternity, as a
speculative society, contain references to the feasting (including
drinking) at the craft meetings.

The seventeenth century has left many authentic references to the
conviviality which characterized the meetings in those days. Thus,
Plot in his history, when alluding to the Masons, says: "When any
are admitted, they call a meeting (or Lodge as they term it in
some places) and entertain with a collation according to the
custom of the place; This ended, they proceed to the admission of
them." Plot was not a Mason. Ashmole, in his diary, notes a
meeting he attended at London in 1682. Of this he says: "We all
dined at the Half-moon Tavern in Cheapside, at a noble Dinner
prepared at the Charge of the new accepted Masons." And so, it
will be seen that from very early times a feast was an important
part of a Masonic meeting.

It has been suggested, by some of the English scholars, that this
custom of a feast originated in the actual necessities of the
occasion; that many of the members of the early lodges came long
distances to attend the meetings and frequently on foot. Hence, it
was necessary that they should be provided with refreshment of
some kind either on their arrival or before setting out on their
return journey. You will see, therefore, that the J. W.'s call to
refreshment was not an empty formality in those days.

It would seem that in the old days the feast always preceded the
work, a custom that has not yet died out in England. And as in
nature the tendency is to constantly revert to earlier types, so
in human institutions we may observe the same phenomena. In many
localities the six o'clock dinner has taken the place of the
eleven o'clock banquet, while the old-time flow of post prandial
oratory has been eliminated. This was the custom of the Grand
Lodge of England far into the historic period, as witness the
minutes of the "assembly and feast" at Stationers Hall on June 22,
1721, when "after Grace said, they sat down in the antient manner
of Masons to a very elegant Feast, and dined with Joy and
Gladness." After this followed the regular business, and.then the
Grand Master ordered the Warden "to close the Lodge in good Time."
* * *

But the banquet is too firmly entrenched to be obliterated by any
shell fire the disciples of the new thought may pour upon it. The
Freemasons are still, even as in the old days, a social
brotherhood and the customs of the fathers will long continue,
notwithstanding the edict "The Banquet must go." From the dawn of
history we may find the custom in connection with fraternal
societies. It is not peculiar to Freemasonry. In fact, our Masonic
ancestors simply borrowed the custom from those who preceded them.
Long years ago, in ancient Greece, the banquet followed the
initiations into the mysteries, as witness the following, which I
quote from the "Golden Ass" of Apuleius:

"All the uninitiated having been sent away, the priest clothed me
in a new linen garment, and, taking my hand, let me into the
penetralia of the sanctuary. You will perhaps, ask, studious
reader, and be anxious to know, what was then done. What was done,
ask you? I would tell, if it were lawful to tell; thou shouldst
know, if it were lawful for thee to hear. But I will not detain in
long suspense you, who are, perchance, in a state of suspense with
religious anxiety. Hear, therefore, and believe, for the things I
narrate are true. I approached the confines of death, and, having
trod the threshold of Proserpine, I was earried back through all
the elements. At midnight, I beheld the sun glittering with clear
light; l approached the gods of Hades and of Heaven, and adored
them face to face. Thus have I related to you things, which,
although heard by thee, thou canst not know. . . After this, I
celebrated a most cheerful banquet in honor of my birth day into
these rites; pleasant was the banquet and lively the
entertainment."

I direct your special attention to the closing lines of the above
paragraph. They simply show that mankind and human nature are much
the same in all ages and all lands.
* * *

A few years ago Admiral Dewey is reported to have said, that he
attributed his robust health and length of days to these facts:
that he had entered the navy and kept away from public banquets.
Perhaps all of us cannot take the first part of his prescription,
and perhaps also, the real worth lies in the latter part of it.
Certain it is, that while the 12-inch gun may have slain its
thousands the deviled crab and the overripe lobster have laid low
their tens of thousands. It is not given to all of us to die in
behalf of a great cause. In fact, few of us care to die. But
everyone is privileged to incur indigestion and other gastronomic
ills, and this privilege the most of us insist in availing
ourselves of with remarkable persistence.

It is said, however, that the fatalities which mark the history of
public feeding do not constitute its worst reproach; that the
gleater harm consists in the undigested ideas which every well
regulated banquet is bound to liberate. Bad food and poor talk
make a combination that is fatal to the soundest human system.
Thus is it written:

Avoid the groaning board, my son,
The devilled crab, the Melbaed peach, 
But, deadliest of all, avoid
The after-dinner speech.


MASONIC JEWELS

Does the square that you wear mean the test by your God
Of the work that you do, and the word that you speak, 
Of the will of your mind, the thought of your heart,
Of the Past that is gone, of the Future you seek?

The Compass you wear, does it mean that you move 
Within the true bound appointed and sure, 
Restricted desire, pleasure defined, 
A yielding of self to the bonds that endure ?

The Triangle too--great emblem of Him 
Who is Maker, and Master, Beginning and End,-- 
Do you wear it to show that He is to you 
The Source and the Aim that all others transcend?

What means the gold trowel that hangs at your chain ? 
Does it tell of the mortar of Love that you spread?
Of the joint well cement with fine brotherly love?
Of the stones that now lie in the well-mortared bed?

If 'tis not so, then take the poor jewels away; 
The meaningless bauble will only deceive 
Yourself and the others you meet on your way 
As meaningless lies which none ever believe.
John George Gibson.

