THE BUILDER MAY 1919

CORRESPONDENCE CIRCLE BULLETIN -- No. 28

Edited by Bro. H. L. Haywood

THE BULLETIN COURSE OF MASONIC STUDY FOR MONTHLY LODGE MEETINGS AND
STUDY CLUBS

FOUNDATION OF THE COURSE

THE Course of Study has for its foundation two sources of Masonic
information: THE BUILDER and Mackey's Encyclopedia. In another
paragraph is explained how the references to former issues of THE
BUILDER and to Mackey's Encyclopedia may be worked up as
supplemental papers to exactly fit into each installment of the
Course with the papers by Brother Haywood.

MAIN OUTLINE:

The Course is divided into five principal divisions which are in
turn subdivided, as is shown below:

Division I. Ceremonial Masonry.

A. The Work of the Lodge. 
B. The Lodge and the Candidate. 
C. First Steps. 
D. Second Steps. 
E. Third Steps.

Division II. Symbolical Masonry.
A. Clothing. 
B. Working Tools. 
C. Furniture. 
D. Architecture. 
E. Geometry.
F. Signs. 
G. Words. 
H. Grips.

Division III. Philosophical Masonry.
A. Foundations. 
B. Virtues. 
C. Ethics. 
D. Religious Aspect. 
E. The Quest. 
F. Mysticism. 
G. The Secret Doctrine.

Division IV. Legislative Masonry.

A. The Grand Lodge. 
1. Ancient Constitutions. 
2. Codes of Law. 
3. Grand Lodge Practices. 
4. Relationship to Constituent Lodges. 
5. Official Duties and Prerogatives.

B. The Constituent Lodge.
1. Organization. 
2. Qualifications of Candidates. 
3. Initiation, Passing and Raising. 
4. Visitation. 
5. Change of Membership.

Division V. Historical Masonry.

A. The Mysteries--Earliest Masonic Light.
B. Studies of Rites--Masonry in the Making. 
C. Contributions to Lodge Characteristics.
D. National Masonry.
E. Parallel Peculiarities in Lodge Study. 
F. Feminine Masonry. 
G. Masonic Alphabets. 
H. Historical Manuscripts of the Craft. 
I. Biographical Masonry.
J. Philological Masonry--Study of Significant Words.

THE MONTHLY INSTALLMENTS

Each month we are presenting a paper written by Brother Haywood,
who is following the foregoing outline. We are now in "First Steps"
of Ceremonial Masonry. There will be twelve monthly papers under
this particular subdivision. On page two, preceding each
installment, will be given a list of questions to be used by the
chairman of the Committee during the study period which will bring
out every point touched upon in the paper.

Whenever possible we shall reprint in the Correspondence Circle
Bulletin articles from other sources which have a direct bearing
upon the particular subject covered by Brother Haywood in his
monthly paper. These articles should be used as supplemental papers
in addition to those prepared by the members from the monthly list
of references. Much valuable material that would otherwise possibly
never come to the attention of many of our members will thus be
presented.

The monthly installments of the Course appearing in the
Correspondence Circle Bulletin should be used one month later than
their appearance. If this is done the Committee will have
opportunity to arrange their programs several weeks in advance of
the meetings and the brethren who are members of the National
Masonic Research Society will be better enabled to enter into the
discussions after they have read over and studied the installment
in THE BUILDER.

REFERENCES FOR SUPPLEMENTAL PAPERS

Immediately preceding each of Brother Haywood's monthly papers in
the Correspondence Circle Bulletin will be found a list of
references to THE BUILDER and Mackey's Encyclopedia. These
references are pertinent to the paper and will either enlarge upon
many of the points touched upon or bring out new points for reading
and discussion. They should be assigned by the Committee to
different brethren who may compile papers of their own from the
material thus to be found, or in many instances the articles
themselves or extracts therefrom may be read directly from the
originals. The latter method may be followed when the members may
not feel able to compile original papers, or when the original may
be deemed appropriate without any alterations or additions.

HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR AND CONDUCT THE STUDY MEETINGS

The lodge should select a "Research Committee" preferably of three
"live" members. The study meetings should be held once a month,
either at a special meeting of the lodge called for the purpose, or
at a regular meeting at which no business (except the lodge
routine) should be transacted--all possible time to be given to the
study period.

After the lodge has been opened and all routine business disposed
of, the Master should turn the lodge over to the Chairman of the
Research Committee. This Committee should be fully prepared in
advance on the subject for the evening. All members to whom
references for supplemental papers have been assigned should be
prepared with their papers and should also have a comprehensive
grasp of Brother Haywood's paper.

PROGRAM FOR STUDY MEETINGS

1. Reading of the first section of Brother Haywood's paper and the
supplemental papers thereto.

(Suggestion: While these papers are being read the members of the
lodge should make notes of any points they may wish to discuss or
inquire into when the discussion is opened. Tabs or slips of paper
similar to those used in elections should be distributed among the
members for this purpose at the opening of the study period.)

2. Discussion of the above.

3. The subsequent sections of Brother Haywood's paper and the
supplemental papers should then be taken up, one at a time, and
disposed of in the same manner.
4. Question Box.

MAKE THE "QUESTION BOX" THE FEATURE OF YOUR MEETINGS

Invite questions from any and all brethren present. Let them
understand that these meetings are for their particular benefit and
get them into the habit of asking all the questions they may think
of. Every one of the papers read will suggest questions as to facts
and meanings which may not perhaps be actually covered at all in
the paper. If at the time these questions are propounded no one can
answer them, SEND THEM IN TO US. All the reference material we have
will be gone through in an endeavor to supply a satisfactory
answer. In fact we are prepared to make special research when
called upon, and will usually be able to give answers within a day
or two. Please remember, too, that the great Library of the Grand
Lodge of Iowa is only a few miles away, and, by order of the
Trustees of the Grand Lodge, the Grand Secretary places it at our
disposal on any query raised by any member of the Society.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The foregoing information should enable local Committees to conduct
their lodge study meetings with success. However we shall welcome
all inquiries and communications from interested brethren
concerning any phase of the plan that is not entirely clear to
them, and the services of our Study Club Department are at the
command of our members, lodge and study club committees at all
times.

QUESTIONS ON "THE OBLONG SQUARE" AND "DUE FORM"

From the following questions the Committee should select, some time
prior to the evening of the study meeting, the particular questions
that they may wish to use at their meeting which will bring out the
points in the following paper which they desire to discuss. Even
were but a few minutes devoted to the discussion of each of the
questions given it will be seen that it would be impossible to
discuss all of them in the period of time devoted to the study
meeting. The wide variety of questions here given will afford
individual committees an opportunity to arrange their program to
suit their own fancies and also furnish additional material for a
second study meeting each month if desired by members.

In conducting the study periods the Chairman should endeavor to
hold the discussions closely to the text and not permit the members
to speak too long at one time or to stray onto another subject.
Whenever it becomes evident that the discussion is turning from the
original subject the Chairman should request the speaker to make a
note of the particular point or phase of the matter he wishes to
discuss or inquire into, and bring it up when the Question Box
period is open.


I
In what particular does the Fellow Craft's approach to the East
differ from that of the Entered Apprentice ? What is the
significance of this variation ? Prior to the time of reading
Brother Haywood's article in this issue of THE BUILDER did you ever
try to discover the origin and meaning of the term "oblong square"?
If so, what did you learn concerning it?

What is Mackey's definition? What reference does he find in it ?
whence does he seek to trace this reference ? What inference does
Brother Haywood take from Mackey's deductions ?

II
What other interpretations are cited by Haywood? What objections
are advanced to these interpretations ? How are squares classed by
Brother Hunt? Do you agree with him in his deductions? If not, why
not? How is Brother Hunt's theory supported by Irwin ?

III
What theory does Brother Haywood advance as to the possible manner
in which the "oblong square" was handed down to us? What lesson
does he think the framers of our present-day ritual intended to
convey when they retained the phrase?

IV
Describe the "due form" assumed by the candidate in the Fellow
Craft degree. In certain jurisdictions whenever the signs are given
the brethren must also be "on the step" of that particular degree
at the same time. It is held that the signs cannot be properly
given unless this is done. The brethren thus place themselves in
"due form" to give the signs. Try this, and see if the body is not
thus brought into the proper position to facilitate giving the
signs properly Then try giving them without first being "on the
step." Possibly you will thereby discover the reason for practising
such "forms."

Define the words "form" and "formality." What is a "formalist"?
What is "formality"? Is "form" necessary in our every-day business
and social life? Is it necessary in Masonry? If so, for what
purpose? Why do we use the term "due form" ? Is a candidate
expected to comply with these "due forms"? What does his compliance
signify?

SUPPLEMENTAL REFERENCES

Mackey's Encyclopedia:

Form, page 269; Form of the Lodge, page 269; Oblong Square, page
526.

THE BUILDER:
Vol. I. - Formalists, p. 11.

Vol. II. - Oblong Square, pp. 62,127, 173, 221, 224, 228.

Vol III. - Due Form, May C. C. B. 3.

Vol. IV. - Due Form, June C. C. B. 3; Oblong Square, pp. 219, 237,
269.


SECOND STEPS
BRO. H.L. HAYWOOD, IOWA


PART III THE OBLONG SQUARE AND DUE FORM

I
HAVING discussed the approach to the East in its First degree
connections there is no need that we go into the matter here,
though the Fellow Craft's approach naturally falls into this place.
But there is one problem associated with this rite which we did not
touch upon in the earlier section, and as it occurs in both the
First and Second, it may be fitly studied here. I refer to the
Oblong Square. This has long been one of the standing puzzles of
Masonry, and that because "oblong square" seems a contradiction in
terms, and because no scholar has thus far traced its origin. What
it really means is still a mystery, though we may make our guess as
other students have done before us.

Mackey defines it as "a parallelogram, or foursided figure, all of
whose angles are equal, but two of whose sides are longer than the
others," (rectangle). Following Pierson he finds in it a reference
to the ground-plan of the lodge room and this, in turn, he seeks to
trace to the shape of the world as known to the Ancients. From this
point of view, we may infer, he saw in the candidate's adjusting
his feet to an (not the) angle of an oblong square an indication of
his willingness to stand to and abide by all the laws, rules and
regulations of the Craft.

II
Others have seen in the oblong square a reference to the try-
square, one of the working tools, when made "gallows" shape, with
one arm longer than the other. To this it may be objected, first,
that our working tool is properly a stone-mason's try-square with
the two arms of equal length and not divided into inches; and
secondly, that the "gallows" square interpretation cannot explain
the allusion to a "perfect square" in the Third degree.

Others, again, find in it a suggestion that the stones or bricks
used in a wall of masonry are almost never cubes, but bodies
longest in their horizontal dimensions, the better to overlap; they
say the candidate is to adjust himself to the oblong square because
he is himself to be builded into a wall that must stand while the
ages last. But this seems a far-fetched explanation, and, also,
does not explain the "perfect square" of the Master's Degree.

Brother C. C. Hunt, a member of the Masonic Research Committee of
the Grand Lodge of Iowa, has given another interpretation, one that
seems to me most reasonable:

"What then, is the oblong square of Freemasonry? I believe it to be
a survival in our ceremonies of a term once common but now
obsolete. My reading has convinced me that at one time the word
'square' meant right angled, and the term 'a square' referred to a
foursided figure, having four right-angles, without regard to the
proportionate lengths of adjacent sides. There were thus two
classes of squares, those having all four sides equal, and those
having two parallel sides longer than the other two. The first
class were called 'perfect squares' and the second class 'oblong
squares.' In time these terms were shortened to square and oblong
respectively, and that is the sense in which they are used at the
present time, so that when we speak of an oblong square, we are met
with the objection that if it is a square it cannot be oblong, and
if it is oblong it cannot be square. This is true in the present
sense of the term, but Freemasonry still retains the older
meaning."

In support of this, so far as America is concerned, at least,
Brother C. F. Irwin of Ohio, produced a letter written by a certain
Dr. S. P. Hildreth, of Marietta, Ohio, on June 8, 1819, in regard
to the fortifications near his city: "On the outside of the
parapet, near the oblong square, I picked up a considerable number
of fragments of ancient potter's ware." Brother Irwin contends that
if this term was thus in use in Ohio in 1819 it must have been in
use further east much earlier.

III
If oblong square was so used by Masons prior to the seventeenth
century it may be that the Speculatives received at that time (they
were accepted earlier but not in such numbers) brought with them,
as an inheritance from other orders of symbolism, the perfect
square; and it may be that the framers of our ritual meant to
signify that as the candidate in the preparatory degree is to try
himself by an oblong square, the Master Mason, as befits the adept
of perfection, must adjust himself to the perfect square. Thus
read, the symbolism as found variously in the three degrees, is
really a recognition of the fact that the Masonic life is
necessarily progressive.

IV
Of the obligation of the Fellow Craft there is no need to speak
inasmuch as the general topic of obligations was dealt with in an
earlier section; but it may be wise here to add to the previous
discussion a very brief comment on that "due form" in which the
oath is made. As the details are necessarily secret they must be
passed by, though it may be said that all the postures seem to be
arranged about the square, thereby suggesting that in order to keep
the covenant a candidate must be "square" through and through, and
in every limb of his body, so that not one faculty or organ shall
be permitted to violate those principles and secrets of Freemasonry
to which the candidate obligates himself.

In ordinary every-day life, we make a distinction between form and
formality. The man who overvalues the manner of doing things, or
who does not put his conscience into his forms, we call a
formalist, and that rightly. He may have the veneer of a gentleman
but the heart of a cad; he may perform the external functions of
morality but remain all the while like one of those white-washed
sepulchres of which Jesus speaks. Formality is pretense, mockery,
unreality. But our abhorrence of formalism must not blind us to the
necessity of form, for the manner of our behavior is itself a kind
of language and speaks with "the voice of the sign" about the
realities of character. I may love or admire you greatly but if I
do not express my regard through actions which you can understand
you may live and die in ignorance of it. We lift the hat, shake
hands, step aside for ladies, surrender our seats to the aged,
observe the propriety of dress, etc., and all because manners is so
essential a form of social communication that, as Emerson says, if
they were lost to the world some gentleman would be obliged to re-
invent them.

Now it needs to be observed that while Masonry must not become
formal lest it die, and while it must ever be as clean and natural
as the blowing clover and the falling rain, yet must it use forms,
and nowhere are they more manifestly needed than in taking the
obligation. In that connection as in others we call them due forms
because they are due to the Order in the nature of things, and they
are nothing other than the candidate's manner of expressing to his
brethren his whole-hearted determination to keep to the last letter
all the duties, principles and secrets to which he therein binds
himself.


