THE BUILDER September 1917

CORRESPONDENCE CIRCLE BULLETIN---No. 10
DEVOTED TO THE "STUDY SIDE OF MASONRY"
Edited by Bro. Robert I. Clegg

THE LODGE AND THE CANDIDATE

Part I, Proposing and Recommending

(Note. The following article is one of a series prepared by the
Editor for reading and discussion in Lodges and Study Clubs. This
series is based upon the Society's "Bulletin Course of Masonic
Study." Each month we present a leading article supplemented by a
list of references on the same subject. Commencing with this issue,
we also append a column of "Helpful Hints to Study Club Leaders,"
which we hope will assist those already doing this work, and
inspire others to do likewise. This innovation is in line with the
Society's policy of stimulating active Masonic study.

We recommend that Lodges and Study Clubs use the current paper at
their meeting one month after it is received. This gives time for
careful study by the members; it also permits the preparation of
additional papers from the references. In the original presentation
of this paper, if it is read a paragraph at a time, and fully
discussed as you proceed, you will find that each member will get
more out of it. By this plan, the leader can bring out the
important points listed under "Helpful Hints," as you go along, and
the discussion will perhaps be more to the point than otherwise.

The Bulletin Course may be taken up at this point as profitably as
elsewhere. The previous lessons may be considered review work.
Mackey's Encyclopedia and the bound volumes of THE BUILDER remain
the necessary references; others will from time to time be given;
rare references will be reprinted in THE BULLETIN. YOUR LODGE can
undertake systematic Masonic study with small expense in dollars,
but large returns to your membership, if you will let us assist
you. Our "STUDY CLUB DEPARTMENT" is organized for that purpose.

Address Geo. L. Schoonover, Secretary, Anamosa, Iowa.)

THE very word "candidate" has a special significance. It means one
clothed in white. As a symbol the color reference is striking,
representing as it does the stainless and unblemished. It is also
a reminder of the apron and all which that emblem teaches.

One who applies for the degrees of Masonry must do so of his own
free will and accord. He cannot be solicited to become a member. No
invitation in any form is offered to him. Of all the requirements
for a clear application this one is in the most rigorous class.

THE PETITION

A petition for the degrees is usually in brief form. It recites
that the petitioner has long had a favorable opinion of the
institution and if found worthy is desirous of being admitted a
member; that he believes in the existence of a Supreme Being; that
he has (or has not) before petitioned a Lodge of Free and Accepted
Masons for admission; that he has lived in the same locality since
the date he sets forth in the petition; states when and where he
was born; and also gives his occupation. To this document there is
appended his own signature and usually two Masonic endorsers.

Of course it is only to be expected that the endorsers of the
application are able of their own knowledge to verify some, if not
all, of the statements made in the document to which they have
attached their signatures. It is not altogether reasonable that as
witnesses their names are merely to be accepted as deposing that if
required they can prove the identity of the person signing the
statement.

CHANGES DUE TO NEW CONDITIONS

For a number of years there has been a tendency to elaborate the
forms of petition for the degrees and that the method of
investigation be extended and in general improved. That the
candidate shall be more thoroughly put upon record in certain
essential particulars is the object of these developments. Already
in this paper I have presented a simple form of application and now
I offer the clauses found in the application adopted in
Pennsylvania so far as these are affected by recent developments.

"Name in full.... Age..... years. Date of birth...... Occupation
(state specifically and in detail the character of the
occupation)...... Residence of petitioner (give street and
number).......... Where I have continuously resided since ...... My
former residences were at......for.....years, and
at......for.....years. Place of birth.......Name of employer ....
Date of signature...........Signed......

"I recommend the petitioner as worthy, and certify that I have been
personally acquainted with him for....years immediately preceding
this date.

"Date.....................Signed........

"I recommend the applicant as worthy, and certify that I have been
personally acquainted with him for.....years immediately preceding
this date.

"Date..................... Signed........

PRESENTATION OF THE PETITION

This petition accompanied with the fee stipulated by the bylaws of
the Lodge is presented at a communication of that body. If no
sufficient objection, orally or in writing, is addressed openly to
the Lodge or privately presented to the Master, the petition is
received and acted upon to the extent of appointing a Committee of
Investigation. The Committee makes suitable inquiries and reports
at a succeeding communication of a Lodge. Some difference of
opinion may easily arise as to what are "suitable" avenues of
investigation for the Committee.

COMMITTEE OF INVESTIGATION

Whether the endorsers know much or little about the petitioner does
not release the members of the Committee of Investigation from the
full share of responsibility for a thorough inquiry into the
worthiness of the applicant to receive the Masonic degrees in the
Lodge to which he has applied for this privilege.

THE ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

What are these essential requirements ?

The Ancient Charges exact only the broadest of faiths. "That
religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions
to themselves; that is, to be good men and true, or men of honor
and honesty, by whatever persuasions they may be distinguished;
whereby Masonry becomes the center of union, and the means of
conciliating true friendship among persons that must have remained
at a perpetual distance."

My own State (Ohio) interprets this in its Code as "No religious
test shall ever be required of any applicant for the benefits of
Masonry other than a steadfast belief in the existence and
perfection of Deity; and no lodge under this Jurisdiction shall
receive any candidate without the acknowledgment of such belief."
Of course the Ohio Code also accepts as law the foregoing excerpt
from the old Charges.

It is also provided by the same State Code that "At his reception
into the Lodge of Entered Apprentices, the candidate must be able
to respond of his own accord that in times of difficulty and danger
he trusts in God. The Masonic requirement is in the expression of
faith and trust--faith in God and trust in His protection-- and if
the candidate does not so respond he should be conducted from the
Lodge." The Code further recites that "Masonry is above
sectarianism and embraces all who acknowledge a belief in God."

Sundry other qualifications are not so universally insisted upon as
is the matter of religious faith, though even in that important
particular there are a very few instances where the rigor of the
situation is waived.

We are also informed by the old Charges that "The persons admitted
members of a Lodge must be good and true men, freeborn and of
mature and discreet age, bondmen, no women, no immoral or
scandalous men, but of good report."

At least one great Masonic jurisdiction no longer follows this
paragraph in its entirety. England uses "free" instead of
"freeborn."

Just what is "mature and discreet age" may be variously estimated.
Most jurisdictions specify twenty-one years as the minimum.
Exceptions have been known. The son of a Mason was of old known as
a Lewis and was privileged to become a member at an earlier age
than other applicants for the degrees.

Among the other regulations are that the candidates shall be of
good and honest parentage, and that they have "right and perfect
limbs and able of body to attend the said science."

Many hold that the individual must be judged by his own acts and
therefore this old stipulation as to legitimate birth no longer
obtains as tenaciously as of yore. There is also great difference
of opinion and of practice with regard to the matter of what is
sometimes called "physical perfection." One jurisdiction has gone
on record with the following: "A candidate for the degree of
Entered Apprentice should be able physically, as well as
intellectually, of himself and without exterior aid or assistance
from another, to receive and impart all the essentials for Masonic
recognition." It is obviously impossible here on the printed page
to specify in detail all that the candidate will be instructed as
to the requirements of Masonic recognition.

Some Grand Lodges are much more insistent than others as to the
extent of bodily imperfection that may prevail in order to
disqualify the applicant. It is usually held that the question only
arises before the candidate receives the Entered Apprentice degree.
Should he by some accident occurring subsequent to initiation
suffer mutilation, this is sufficient cause in eight United States
Jurisdictions for arresting his further advancement.

THE DOCTRINE OF "PHYSICAL PERFECTION"

The Grand Master of Alabama, in 1915, in his annual report dealt
with the physical and other qualifications after this wise:

"One of the first lessons taught the initiate is that 'it is the
internal and not the external qualifications of a man which
recommend him to be made a Mason,' and yet, we are prone to
overlook any little stain on the moral character, and waive any
defect in the mental ability of a petitioner which renders him
incapable of properly understanding or comprehending the principles
of our fraternity. We are not willing to sit in judgment upon the
intellectual attainments--or rather, the lack of them-- of one who
desires to connect himself with our ancient and honorable
institution, but we never overlook a stiff knee, nor waive the loss
of a foot, nor the first joint of a thumb. In so doing we deny
membership to many men of big brains and warm hearts; men of good
moral character; men whose mental ability and intellectual
attainments would be of great benefit to the craft and of greater
benefit to the world by reason of their association with us, and
their help in the great work in which we are engaged.

"The requirements that an acceptable petitioner shall be 'perfect
in member' comes to us from the days of operative Masonry when
there was, probably, good reason therefor, but has little to
recommend it now except its antiquity, and, as I view it, with so
little to recommend it, and so much to condemn it, it is time that
we modify it, even at the risk of shattering what might be termed
a landmark.

"I believe that intellectually, morally, and socially, the effect
upon the candidate and upon the craft would be beneficial if by
amending or modifying the present law concerning physical
perfection or qualifications we look more closely into the
intellectual, moral, and social qualifications of the petitioner,
and admit those who are worthy and well qualified from these
standpoints, and waive such slight physical requirements as now
prohibit the reception of a petitioner who cannot perfectly
exemplify our ritual. I therefore recommend:

"That our constitutions and edicts be so amended that the question
of physical qualifications for initiation or advancement be left to
the subordinate petitioned lodge, subject to the approval of the
Grand Master."

The suggestion bore fruit. An amendment adopted in 1916, reads as
follows:

"No subordinate lodge shall proceed to confer any or either of the
degrees of Masonry upon any person who is not a man, freeborn, of
the age of twenty-one years or upward, of good reputation, of
sufficient natural and intellectual endowment, with an estate,
office, occupation, or some other obvious source of honest
subsistence, from which he may be able to spare something for works
of charity and for maintaining the ancient dignity and utility of
the Masonic institution. If the petitioner be physically defective
by reason of deformity or being maimed, his eligibility shall be
determined by the lodge to which he has applied, and if determined
favorably to the petitioner he shall be eligible to receive the
degrees of Masonry when the action of the lodge has been approved
by the Grand Master in writing."

It is the law in Indiana that "The Grand Master may with the
consent of the Committee on Jurisprudence allow lodges to receive
and ballot on petitions for membership of those who can by the aid
of artificial appliances conform to the ceremonies of the order."

Since the adoption of this law in 1911, the average number of such
petitions has not exceeded eight in any one year. Indiana has a
membership of over seventy thousand Masons and therefore the ratio
of the "physically imperfect" is numerically very small. Probably
the method employed acts to some extent to deter or at least to
lessen the number of applications because of the official approval
required of those who are not influenced by the local personal
equation. They do not have an acquaintance with the applicants
other than is requisite to understand the extent of the bodily
defect. Hasty and ill-advised action would appear to be checked in
every way by the Indiana method.

A special form has been prepared for Indiana lodges which makes it
easy to compile and submit such data concerning every applicant as
will enable the Grand Master and the Committee on Jurisprudence to
pass intelligently upon the merits or the demerits of each case.

Says the Committee: "We must remember that we should not encourage
this class of applicants any more than we should solicit the
applicants who are physically perfect, nor should we encourage them
to believe that this amendment gives them an inalienable right to
the blessed privileges of our institution. Let them understand that
this is a favor to be bestowed only upon those whose mental, moral,
and social endowments have more than compensated for the loss they
have sustained in the physical."

In Massachusetts the law in reference to physical qualifications is
expressed thus: "If the physical deformity of any applicant for the
degrees does not amount to an inability to meet the requirements of
the ritual, and honestly to acquire the means of subsistence, it
shall constitute no hindrance to his initiation." Grand Master
Johnson interpreted the significance of this regulation to be that
"The physical defect of the candidate, whatever it may be, shall
not be such as to render him incapable of receiving and imparting
instruction, nor of performing any duties that may be required of
him in his capacity or vocation as a Mason. No such maim or defect
of the body as the loss of an eye, an ear, a finger, or other
member not essential to the discharge of his Masonic duties, or to
his personal maintenance, does any violence to the spirit and
original intent of this regulation, and, in the opinion of your
committee, no other construction can be put upon it consistently
with the higher demands of humanity, justice, and equality."

ADDITIONAL DATA FOR THE COMMITTEE

Some lodges in Ohio provide an additional series of questions in
order that investigating committees may be more thorough in
searching out the character and reputation of applicants for
membership. Sometimes these questions are printed on the backs of
the petitions or reports. Under the heading of "Qualifications of
Applicants" there is stated:

"Each committee shall, collectively if possible, visit the
Petitioner in his home and require him to answer the following
questions:

"Do you pay your debts ?
"Do you use profane or indecent language, gamble, associate with
improper persons, indulge intemperately in intoxicating liquors,
own or tend a saloon?
"If married, do you live with your family?
"Do you believe in the everliving and true God as revealed in the
Holy Scriptures?
"To what Organizations or Associations do you belong?
"The committee shall then ascertain from outside sources:
"If he is temperate in all his habits.
"If his neighbors, acquaintances and employers give him a good
character.
"If he is mercenary, narrow-minded, arbitrary, or a disturbing
element.
"If he is physically qualified to receive the degrees.
"If he has sufficient education to understand that Freemasonry is
to improve in knowledge, to cultivate the social virtues, and to
practice out of the lodge the great moral and charitable precepts
taught in it.
"If the Organizations to which he belongs would circumscribe or
prevent his usefulness in the Fraternity."

With the very broad scope of these queries there is nevertheless
omitted any mention of the provision to be made by the applicant
for the future welfare of those dependent upon him. The Grand Lodge
of New Zealand expects the applicant to satisfy the Committee of
Investigation regarding the insurance or other provision for the
family in case of the death or permanent disability of the
petitioner.

Among the recommendations of Grand Master Cotton of Missouri
submitted to his Grand Lodge during the annual communication of
1915 was one that suggested that committees of investigation be
required to answer the following questions with reference to
applicants for the degrees:

"Has the applicant resided in Missouri twelve months and in the
jurisdiction of the lodge six months?
"Is he mentally qualified and of proper age ?
"Is he strictly honest and truthful?
"Is he addicted to the intemperate use of intoxicating liquors ?
"Does he gamble?
"What is the character of his company and associates?
"Does he habitually use profane or indecent language?
"Has he licentious or immoral habits?
"Is he a law-abiding citizen?
"Do you consider him suitable material for 'a beautiful system of
morals"'?

Lodges in New Jersey have an application blank containing the
following directions and questions which the investigating
committee is in every case charged with the duty of having duly and
properly observed and answered:

"Brethren, you are appointed a committee to investigate the
character and eligibility of.....for membership in our lodge.

"The following information will guide you in performing your duty:
"He is in business at.... (employed by) ....located at...... He
resides at..........

"You will obtain from said petitioner full and correct answers to
the following questions:
"Names of parents.
"Names of brothers and sisters.
"Where has he resided during the past ten years ? (If more than one
place, give places and periods of residence.)
"Does he appear to possess sufficient intelligence to understand
and value the doctrines and tenets of our order?
"What are the names and addresses of all his employers for the past
two years, and the periods and nature of his several employments ?
"Is he married or single ?
"If married, is he living with his wife?
"If not living with his wife, state the reason for separation.
"Has he any children? If so, how many?
"What provision has he made for himself or his family in case of
his disability or death?
"Does he contribute to the immediate necessities of those who want,
and is it his purpose to practice charity so far as his
circumstances will permit?
"Has he ever been convicted of a crime? If so, state the
circumstances and result.
"Is he physically qualified to become a member of the order ?
"What three responsible persons, Masons preferred, have known him
the most intimately, and for the longest time?
"Said committee shall report the results of its investigation to
the lodge in the following form, which shall be properly filled in:
"Your committee appointed upon the petition of Mr......... would
report that they called personally upon such petitioner, and have
called or communicated by letter with persons named in answer to
questions five and fourteen, and have received the following
answers: (Give report of each person replying).

"From ....................
"From ....................
"From ....................

"We are satisfied that the answers in his statement contained
are.... true; that his life, conduct, morals, and general
reputation and standing in the community in which he resides are
such that he is ....qualified as a proper candidate for Masonry,
and that there are .....reasons to the knowledge of your committee
why the prayer of such petitioner should not be granted."

Details so elaborate may to many accustomed to the simpler forms
appear unnecessary. On the other hand it has in fact happened that
the wrong man has been under investigation and that the lodge has
thereby been constrained to vote improperly. In this instance the
two men were of the same name but not related and both resided
within the jurisdiction of the lodge to which an application was
tendered. The whole proceedings were subsequently officially
declared null and void. The Grand Master found that "The committee
did not report on the application placed in their hands nor did the
lodge vote on the petition of the man who applied." Accordingly
there was but the one thing to do and the lodge received the
following explicit instructions: "Let the committee do its duty,
make report on the proper man, and let the lodge vote on the proper
petition."

Iris Lodge, No. 229, of Cleveland, Ohio, uses the regulation blank
for the petitioner's application for membership. When this petition
is received the Secretary sends the applicant another printed blank
which he is to fill out and return. This latter blank bears the
name and address of the Lodge and of its Secretary an otherwise is
as follows:

"Dear Sir:--I am in receipt of your application to Iris Lodge. Will
you kindly supply answers to the following questions and return the
form to me in the enclosed envelope at your earliest convenience:

"Full Name ...................................... 
"Address ........................................
"Date of Birth....................................
"Place of Birth...................................
"How long have you lived in Cleveland............
"How long have you lived in Ohio.................
"Occupation .....................................
"If employed, give Employer's name...............
"Business Address ...............................
"Single, Married or Widower......................
"If married, how many in family..................
"Do you attend any Church........................
"If so, which.....................................
"Give Pastor's name..............................
"Do you belong to any Secret Societies............
"If so, which.....................................
"Give names of three men to whom you can refer, other than those
already on the petition:
"Name.........................Address
"Name.........................Address
"Name.........................Address
"Have you ever made application to a Masonic Lodge
before............
"Give any other information that will be of assistance to the
Committee."

The effect of the last line in the foregoing blank will be to
encourage the applicant to make a more thorough search through his
answers to the preceding questions and to supply additional data
where his first replies may have been scanty of particulars.

In all these investigations there is the object that a sense of
absolute confidence within the lodge must be satisfied. To attain
this end the candidate is called upon for all the necessary details
of these qualifications essential to Masonic raw material.
Systematization of the work of investigation simplifies the labors
of the Committees, produces uniformity of results, and do much to
provide that nothing of value has been over looked. When these much
to be desired results are obtained the lodge can then proceed to
ballot advisedly. Sure of its ground the lodge then builds upon
firm foundation the edifice Masonic, the worthy candidate being by
its labor fitted to the purpose of the Craft.

HELPFUL HINTS TO STUDY CLUB LEADERS

Proposing and Recommending.

Under this heading we consider all of the conditions surrounding a
candidate for the Mysteries of Masonry, his qualifications, and the
duties of the Lodge with respect to a proper consideration of his
petition. The following points should be thoroughly brought out in
the Club discussion. In addition, we append some questions dealing
with the more general policies of a Lodge which will serve, as we
think, to form in the mind of a student a correct opinion on these
matters.

a. What is a complete and legal Petition for the Mysteries of
Masonry ?
b. How does a Petition come before the Lodge ? What are the
successive steps which it must take before finally being acted
upon?
c. What are the duties of the Recommenders to a Petition ?
d. What are the duties of the Committee on Investigation?
e. Where must a candidate reside in order to petition a Lodge ?
What determines the jurisdiction of a Lodge? When and where is
jurisdiction referred to as "concurrent" ?
f. Discuss the doctrine of "Physical Perfection." What is the law
in your own State on the subject?
g. In the olden time Lodges were small, and the members knew all
candidates personally. How far do modern conditions justify a
Committee on Investigation in asking for additional information
regarding a candidate ? In cities and towns with a considerable
transient population would you regard the lists of supplemental
questions in this paper as justifiable?
h. Should the fact that a candidate has presented his petition to
a Lodge be kept from the general public ? Why ?
i. Impress the necessity of proper decorum in the ante-room and
preparation room. What should be the attitude of all the Brethren
of a Lodge toward a candidate whose name has been proposed?
j. Has not the Lodge the right to try to learn whether or not a
candidate will take Masonry seriously? Should the petitioner's
motives be included in the list of qualifications? What is meant by
"preparation in the heart" ?

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONS.

1. Which policy is best for Masonry, charging a high initiation
fee, say from $50.00 to $100.00, or a relatively low fee, from
$25.00 to $40.00?

a. Discuss the "human nature" element. Which do we value most,
things that cost us enough to demand sacrifice, or things which
cost us little ?
b. Is the establishment of a relatively high fee for the degrees in
any sense placing a "money value on Masonry" ?
c. How far may a Lodge be said to place its own valuation upon the
work which it does, when it establishes the fee to be charged?
d. Ought not every Lodge to place itself in such a financial
position that it can fulfill its charitable obligations to its
members ? What are these obligations ?
e. Ought not every candidate to be presented by the Lodge with
enough good Masonic literature so that he may come to a full
understanding of what Masonry is, and what it should mean to him ?

2. Discuss the question of Lodge Dues as related to the above.

3. Bring out the fact that, though the candidate is presently to
assume an obligation to the Lodge, the Lodge is also, through its
W. M., to assume the same obligation toward the candidate. This
being true, the Lodge MUST determine for itself the qualities of a
candidate which tend to make him either worthy or unworthy of the
mutual confidence imposed by initiation.

REFERENCES

Committee on Investigation, THE BUILDER, vol. II, (Cor.) p. 254.
Preliminary Statements of Candidate, THE BUILDER, vol.
Soliciting, THE BUILDER, vol. I, p. 40.
Qualifications, THE BUILDER, vol. I, pp. 126, 242, 248; vol. II,
pp. 17, 30, 239, 274, 277, 350; (Cor.) pp. 95, 160, 191, 318;
(Lib.) p. 27; (Q. B.) pp. 317, 381.
Old Constitutions of Freemasonry, 1722, p. 15
Newton's "The Builders," p. 127.
Mackey's Encyclopedia: Candidate, Esoteric Masonry, Monitor,
Proposing Candidates, Recommendation, Residence, Qualifications of
a Candidate, Jurisdiction of a Lodge, Physical Qualifications.
Mackey's Text Book of Masonic Jurisprudence, Book I, Chapter ii.
The student is also referred to the articles on "Physical
Qualifications" in this issue of THE BUILDER.

QUALIFICATIONS OF A CANDIDATE

WHAT IS FREEMASONRY?

It is a society of men of all classes in the social scale, all
nations, races, colours, and creeds.

They must be believers in one sole, personal God.

Further, of good position, i.e., following some reputable calling.
A usurer, a police-informer, the follower of any degrading
occupation, even though perfectly legal, such as a hangman, would
be an impossible candidate; because his presence would dishonour
the Craft, and he would be unfit to associate with gentlemen.

They must be of adequate means; that is, their income must be in
excess of their actual necessities. Freemasonry is always more or
less expensive, and we hold it a Masonic crime to devote to the
Craft what is required by one's family.

They must be of good repute or morals. This does not imply that
every candidate shall be absolutely faultless; but what is known of
him must be, on the whole, to his credit. The man of business whose
smartness borders on dishonesty; the boon companion whose
conviviality resolves itself into frequent excess; the man who is
often seen in doubtful company; the hotheaded disputant, whose
violence of temperament leads him to forget the respect due to his
adversary; these are not desirable members of the Craft, even
though their good qualities exceed their bad ones. And yet, if
carelessly admitted there is a likelihood that the Craft and its
lessons may do them great good.

On the other hand, the inveterate liar, the unclean liver, the
drunkard, the rowdy, the companion of rogues and vagabonds, the
fraudulent bankrupt, the gambler, the spendthrift, the betrayer of
innocence, the hypocrite and the niggard, are under no
circumstances fit and proper candidates for the privileges of
Freemasonry.

They must be Free. When Masonry was first established, serfs and
villains existed in the land. Such were not admitted to
apprenticeship in our lodges. In like manner we must not admit a
man who is not master of his own time and actions. But we apply the
restriction to his intellect also. A man bound down in the chains
of superstition, unable to take a free and manly view of matters in
general, the bondsman of priestcraft, of social laws and prejudices
of his business avocations even or a slave to his own passions, is
not a fit associate for Free men and Masons.

They must be sound men. When Masonry was chiefly composed of
operative Masons, a cripple was not admitted to apprenticeship; the
reason is obvious. We no longer insist upon soundness of limb,
provided the candidate can fulfill our requirements; but we
stipulate for mental soundness. A Mason must have a sound mind,
capable of reasoning, of instruction, of appreciating the beauties
of our ritual, of expressing himself clearly, of discriminating
between good and evil, the noble and the base.

They must be educated men. This does not imply a university career,
or even a board-school education. The best and truest and most
serviceable education is often acquired amongst one's fellow men in
the battle of life. That they must be able to read and write is
obvious. But they must have been educated to possess the most
valuable attributes of a gentleman. Not in the restricted and false
sense in which My Lord Tomnoddy would apply the word. Polished
manners and a good tailor neither make nor mar the gentleman.
Masons understand by the term a man who has learnt to be
considerate to all men, of a kind and chivalrous nature, who avoids
acts and words which pain his neighbors, honest in thought and
deed, the support of the weak, the vindicator of the oppressed.
Such a man, though his hands be horny, his boots clumsy, his gait
heavy and his H's misplaced, is a noble man, a friend to be
trusted, and will make a good Mason. If in addition he possesses
the grace and complishments of Lord Chesterfield, or the erudition
of Bacon, he will be doubly welcome; but the latter qualities,
without former, are as naught.

They must be of a charitable disposition. Charitable in giving of
their superabundance, charitable in sympathy with the distressed in
body and mind, charitable in thinking no evil of friend or foe. To
virtue ever kind, to faults a little blind.

Such should be the members of the Craft; this is the ideal which
every lodge should strive to attain. That in many cases we fall
lamentably short of this high ideal, must be attributed to the
imperfections of our human nature.

--From "What Is Freemasonry?" 
by G. W. Speth.

HELP TO MAKE YOUR LODGE A "LIVE LODGE"

Most of the Lodges that have been called off for the summer season
will call on again this month. The great number that are following
our Course of Study will resume their monthly study meetings with
the installment of the course in this issue of the Correspondence
Circle Bulletin. They will be better prepared than ever to
successfully conduct their meetings since the inauguration of the
new feature, "Helpful Hints to Study Leaders."

The facilities of the Study Club Department have been greatly
augmented and we are now in a better position than ever before to
answer the many questions that are being referred to us by Lodges
and Study Clubs. For the past ten months one of our clerks has been
employed in card-indexing the contents of all the Masonic books,
periodicals, Research Lodge transactions, Grand Lodge Proceedings,
Encyclopedias, etc., in the Library of the Society. Four of us have
been busy for several months on our "Clipping Bureau." In this
Bureau we are clipping and classifying under their proper titles
articles of every description contained in all the Masonic
periodicals coming to our exchange table. Our task will not be
completed for many months to come but we already have a vast fund
of information for reference purposes and the card-index system and
Clipping Bureau are both in excellent working order. When both of
these systems are practically completed (they will both be
constantly added to each month as new material is received from
other sources), we shall have the most complete reference system
that can be imagined, and the references on every conceivable
subject having to do with Masonry in any connection will be
instantly available. Every subject will have its individual
index-card and this card will show the volume and page of every
book in the Library in which allusion is made to the subject in
particular, be it but a single line or several chapters.

Take, if you please, the "Oblong Square" for a subject. We consult
our index-card and find immediately a list of every mention of the
subject that has been made in the many volumes of the "Ars Quatuor
Coronatorum," Mackey's Encyclopedia, MacKenzie's Encyclopedia, THE
BUILDER, NEW AGE, etc. We are also directed to the exact volume and
page of every other work on Masonry on our Library shelves wherein
anything ever appeared on this subject. We then take our folder
from our Clipping Bureau, containing all the clippings from the
Grand Lodge Proceedings and Masonic and other periodicals, and we
are in a position to give the individual member, Lodge or Study
Club referring to us a question on this subject, everything that
has been written about it.

In addition to these facilities, we have, by an order of the
Trustees of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, free and unlimited access to
every work on Masonry in the archives of the greatest Masonic
Library in the world, the Iowa Masonic Library at Cedar Rapids,
where are located two of the members of the Board of Stewards of
the National Masonic Research Society. Need we tell you any more of
our vast resources of Masonic reference?

Right here is where YOU, as a member of the Research Society, enter
into the proposition. Your own Lodge, which may not have yet taken
up this valuable and interesting feature in its meetings, is
entitled, through your membership in the Society, to the free
services of our Study Club Department and you will be conferring a
great favor upon your fellow-members of your Lodge by bringing this
matter before them.

You may not be in a position to take a leading part in the study
meetings yourself, but doubtless there are others among the
officers and members of your Lodge who have the time and the
inclination to do so if the matter is properly presented to them.
May we not depend upon you to do this, if you cannot do more? Talk
it over at the next meeting of your Lodge and then let us hear from
you, or if you are too busy, have your Master or some other Brother
write us for full particulars of our Study plan, and thus number
your Lodge among the many hundreds that are DOING THINGS and living
up to their obligations to their members.

BI-CENTENARY OF THE GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND
BY BRO. DUDLEY WRIGHT, ASS'T EDITOR LONDON FREEMASON

The fortunate habit, adhered to by the London Freemason, of
publishing portraits of Brethren elected to preside over some of
their London Lodges enables us this month to present to our Members
a likeness of Brother Dudley Wright, of London, whose graceful pen
has already adorned these pages. But for this publication, we could
not have done so, owing to the rules of the English Post Office
prohibiting the mailing of photographs to outside countries during
the war.

Brother Wright was installed as W. M. of Tuscan Mark Lodge No. 454
in London, on March 30, 1917, the brief summary of his acceptance
revealing a high conception of Masonry, and a devout sense of the
duties and responsibilities of the office. He occupies an eminent
position in English Masonry from a literary standpoint also, being
at the present time Associate Editor of the London Freemason. We
hope in due time, to be able to give to our readers a more extended
notice of this Brother, and also to explain more fully the position
of Mark Mason Lodges in England, this being a branch of Freemasonry
not represented in America.

Gibbon in his "History of Rome," in relating the story of the birth
of the future deliverer of that country--Nicholas Rienzi Gabrini--
says that from his parents, an innkeeper and a washerwoman, he
could inherit neither dignity nor fortune. The history of every
country and of many institutions teems with illustrations of the
manner in which gigantic structures have risen from the tiniest of
foundations. In the same way that before now a blow has caused a
revolution and mighty contests have arisen from trivial causes, of
which the history of the present day is presenting the most notable
illustration in all annals, so many of the great and solid
institutions which adorn the world had their origin almost in
obscurity.

Of these institutions, perhaps the most notable is the story of the
Grand Lodge of England. Its origin is known but the place of its
birth has passed away. The members of the original foundation had
ambitions, because they decided that "till they should have the
honour of a noble Brother at their head," their Grand Master should
be selected from among themselves. But the most sanguine of the
members of those four Lodges who assembled in the upper room of
"The Goose and Gridiron" in St. Paul's Churchyard--a room twenty
two feet long by fifteen feet broad--on the 24th June, 1717, could
not have glanced with prophetic vision across the vista of two
hundred years and seen those four constituent Lodges grow and
increase until they numbered nearly four thousand. But this
achievement, great as it is, is, however, one of the smallest links
in the Masonic chain forged in that upper room, a chain which now
encircles the globe. That Grand Lodge, organized "pro tempore in
due form," became the parent of the many hundreds of Grand Lodges
now existent in all parts of the earth.

From the earliest days of its history the Craft of Freemasonry has
attracted men of learning and of high attainments in science and
literature, and in the fourth year of the history of Grand Lodge,
the Duke of Montagu was installed as Grand Master amid the
rejoicings of the Brethren "who all expressed great joy at the
happy Prospect of being again patronised by noble Grand Masters as
in the prosperous Times of Free Masonry." From that time onward the
Grand Master's Chair has been occupied by a nobleman or a prince of
the royal house. The heads of the Craft have not, however, been
chosen merely for the sake of the titles which they bore, though
some importance may undoubtedly, in the earlier days, have been
attached to this factor. One of the founders and the first resident
of the Royal Society--the Fellowship of which has always been
regarded as the blue riband of learning-- was a member of the
Craft, and many of its prominent officials, particularly in the
early days of its history, have also been prominent members and
officers of the Grand Lodge of England. A similar relationship
existed, and, happily, still exists between the Grand Lodge and the
Society of Antiquaries.

But there are some utilitarians who will always persist in asking
the question Cui bono? What has Freemasonry done that could not
have been achieved by any other organization, say, a religious
body? Happily, religious strife and controversy are less poignant
in the present age than was the case two hundred years ago. There
is now discernible a tendency towards unification which must be
particularly cheering to those who have always maintained that in
the principles of Freemasonry may be found the common basic facts
of all religious systems. In India, where the caste system prevails
in its most rigorous aspect, the Craft has broken down all
barriers: the high-caste Hindu will fraternise and without question
eat with the Mussulman, the Buddhist, and the Christian, if they
are his Brethren. If Freemasonry had done no more than this, it
would have accomplished what many statesmen and missionaries would,
but a few decades ago, have regarded as a miracle and, in the same
breath, have declared that such miracles, at any rate, never
happen. It was that same longing, that same ardent desire for
unity, the begetter of strength, that led to the organization of
the Grand Lodge of England on the 24th June, 1717. The same
eagerness has led Brethren during the ensuing two hundred years--
particularly in 1813--to cast aside everything that was tending to
hinder the sublime achievement and preserve and maintain the
fundamental principle. There are doubtless not a few who, if asked
to say what had been the personal effect of Freemasonry, would make
answer in the words of the poet:

No one could tell me what my soul might be; 
I sought for God, and God eluded me;
I sought my brother out, and found all three.

But to the unobservant enquirer, who persists in putting the
question Cui bono? and who must see in order that he may believe,
the guide may point with pride to the great Masonic Institutions
which have arisen during the-two last centuries and which were
founded as a practical demonstration of the second Masonic
principle of Relief. He could well challenge his questioner to
produce their like as the result of less than two hundred years'
activity on the part of any organization--religious, social, or
philanthropic. He could also tell him--but then the instances would
be far too numerous to relate--of the hundreds, aye, thousands, of
aged Brethren, their wives and widows, whose declining years would
have ended in tragedy but for the practical sympathy of the members
of the Craft. He could point to the long roll of Girls and Boys who
have passed through the Institutions erected for their care and
support, many of whose names have been emblazoned, and some quite
recently, on the annals of fame; and then let both questioner and
questioned try to imagine what would have been their fate if
Masonry had not put forward a helping hand. Then point to the
record of relief granted by the Board of Benevolence, by the
numerous Provincial Charity Funds, by the innumerable Masonic
Institutions and Charity Funds of the Sister Grand Lodges of
Scotland, Ireland, the Overseas Dominions, Allied and Foreign
Countries and, at the same time, recollect that these are but some
of the offspring of that meeting in the little upper room of "The
Goose and Gridiron," St. Paul's Churchyard on the 24th June, 1717.
Last, but by no means least, tell the sceptical enquirer of the
wonderful work that has been accomplished in less than three years
the Freemasons War Hospital in the Fulham Road.

No less strenuous have been the efforts of heads of the Craft to
disseminate Truth, the third great principle of the Order, or,
adapting the words of Buckle, the historian, "to purify the very
source and fountain of our knowledge, and secure its future
progress, by casting off obstacles in the presence of which
progress is impossible." A mighty weapon which might have been used
for ill has been placed in the hands of the Grand Lodge of England,
but, surely, the fact that it has always been used for good must be
the reason for the strength of the Craft today. "Right not might"
has been the watchword in the past and will be the keynote of
future success. The fact that the Craft, through the Grand Lodge,
has always stood for the right accounts for its might. As Lewis in
his work "On the Influence of Authority in Matters of Opinion"
said: "It is of paramount importance that truth, and not error,
should be accredited; that men, when they are led, should be led by
safe guides; and that they should thus profit by those processes of
reasoning and investigation which have been carried on in
accordance with logical rules, but which they are notable to verify
for themselves." The wonderful growth and strength of Freemasonry
during two hundred years is in no small degree attributable to the
fact that the body militant has been under the direction of safe
guides, Brethren who have led by example and have not driven by
force. Regard has been paid more to the center than to the
circumference, to the foundation more than to the superstructure. 
Truth is one: 
And in all lands beneath the sun, 
Whoso hath eyes to see may see 
The tokens of its unity. 

There is a vast difference, in point of numbers, from the gathering
in that little upper room in "The Goose and Gridiron" on the 24th
June, 1717, and the huge assembly in the Royal Albert Hall on the
23rd June, 1917, but the principles for which both meetings were 
organized and held were the same. During two hundred years they
have been preserved inviolate. Exigencies of time and circumstances
have necessitated development in points of procedure but these have
involved no deviation from the original foundation. The center is
still where it was. The circumference is an ever-broadening one.
Freemasonry has never employed the argumentum ad hominem, but
rather, with a mind conscious of rectitude, which has enabled its
adherents to set at naught criticisms founded on a misunderstanding
or wilful falsification of its aims, has adopted as its motto
Respice finem and pursued unfalteringly its way.


