THE BUILDER DECEMBER 1917

FOR THE MONTHLY LODGE MEETING

CORRESPONDENCE CIRCLE BULLETIN---No. 12
DEVOTED ORGANIZED MASONIC STUDY
Edited by Bro. Robert I. Clegg


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 paper by Brother Clegg.

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 a 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. Study 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 Clegg 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. At the head of each installment will be
given a number of "Helpful Hints" consisting 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 Clegg 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 Committees 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 following each of Brother Clegg'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 Clegg's paper.

PROGRAM FOR STUDY MEETINGS
1. Reading of the first section of Brother Clegg'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 Clegg'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.

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.

HELPFUL HINTS TO STUDY CLUB LEADERS
by Bro. Robert I. Clegg

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 five 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 ten or twelve hours. 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 the 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 opened

QUESTIONS ON "PHYSICAL AND MENTAL PREPARATION"

1. What impressed you most on the night you took the First Degree?
Did your Lodge have a "preparation room" ? If so, in what condition
w as it ? Did members there present say anything to cause you to
lower your estimate of Masonry? If so, why? Have you been guilty of
frivolous talk to a new brother in the preparation room for the
first time ? "First impressions are the most lasting": what
impressions should make themselves felt on a candidate ? Do those
impressions help to shape his future Masonic activities ? How is a
young man prepared to enter college? the army? married life? Do the
same mental laws apply in all such cases ?

2. If entrance to Masonry were made more difficult would the Craft
mean more to its members ? Do you believe in "social clubs" in
lodges? If so, why? If not, why not? What is the relationship of
the social life to Masonry ? of amusements ? What is the function
of amusement in human life ? What is he difference between an
"amusement" and a "recreation"?

3. Have you ever thought of Masonry as a school? Does it have a
course of studies? What are they? What does Masonry teach ? Why is
that teaching difficult to understand ? Does the Second Degree make
you think of a school ? Why ? Can you tell how it came to have its
present character? Can Masonry today be made to perform an
educational function ? How? What is education? Would it be a good
thing to have schools for candidates in which they could be taught
the principles of the Order prior to initiation? How could that be
done in this country?

4. Has clothing a symbolical meaning ? Any kind of clothing ? Do
"clothes make the man" ? If not, why not ? What dictates the style
of dress? Is the present style custom a good one? What are the
advantages of changes of style in dress? Do you believe that Masons
should have a uniform in which to appear in public ? If not, why
not? Is the apron a part of a uniform ? What is its function ? Why
do Masons wear aprons in the Lodge room ? 

5. Why is darkness always thought of as a symbol of ignorance? Why
do we say "Darkest Africa"? Why is light associated with knowledge?
What is the meaning of the word enlightenment" ? How does Masonry
give enlightenment ? What is "the shock of enlightenment"? What is
its meaning?

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONS
1. Have you ever observed the effect on your own feelings of
wearing clothing (a uniform, for example), to which you were
unaccustomed ? What was the effect on your emotions when you found
yourself clothed for entrance into the Masonic Lodge? Did these
emotions help you in appreciating what followed ?

2. Do you know of groups of men who seem to be hoodwinked by
ignorance and prejudice ? Do you know if any political, social,
religious hoodwinks? What can Masonry do to remove such blinders?

3. Does a man ever need a cable-tow in his growth and development?
Should a man be held in restraint by his superiors until he is able
to govern himself ? Is the restraint under which a boy is kept by
his school teacher similar to the significance of the Masonic Cable
Tow?

4. Can a man get anything out of a business venture, or job, or a
college education, etc., who does not throw himself into it ? How
can a man expect to get anything out of Masonry if he puts no
energy into it? What is the cure for so-called "Masonic
Indifference" ?

5. What preparation must a man make to get into the army? into a
new job? into college? A man cannot enter into any new field of
experience until he is prepared: does Masonic Preparation symbolize
for you the laws governing all types of preparation? Is your mind
prepared to understand Masonry? Are you prepared to interpret it to
new Brethren?

PART I--PHYSICAL AND MENTAL PREPARATION

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF GREATEST CONSEQUENCE

THE first contact of the candidate and the Lodge is of greatest
consequence. First impressions are lasting. A candidate seldom if
ever forgets the conditions under which he first came to the Lodge.
Every detail stands out distinctly in his memory. Years pass and
many later incidents are effaced by time but the first experiences
remain with him almost as fresh and vivid as ever. All the more
responsible, therefore, is the burden upon those in authority that
the Lodge is first presented to the candidate, and he to it, in a
manner fully worthy of the occasion.

CANDIDATE'S FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF MASONRY

The candidate in entering the building and passing through the
Lodge parlors and anteroom to the preparation room should meet
nothing that will give him aught but the most appropriate
reflections. Naturally he is in a serious mood. He has asked for
membership in the most mysterious of societies and has been
summoned to appear for initiation. Nothing is known by him of what
is in store. That the ceremonies will be impressive and inspiring
may be taken for granted by him. So much at least he can guess from
the well-known reputation of the fraternity. An institution of such
prominence and permanence is likely to be neither dull nor crude in
what it does with the candidate.

With these elementary facts firmly fixed as our foundation let each
one of us frankly picture in our minds the circumstances under
which we first visited a Lodge. If there then occurred anything not
calculated to maintain the high regard of the candidate for the
fraternity the newcomer was not to blame for either the plan or the
surroundings. Whatever has occurred since our initiation in that
Lodge, as far as it concerns the reception of a candidate, is to
some extent a part of our personal responsibility.

CONDUCTING CANDIDATE TO LODGE

Let us proceed with the candidate to his Lodge. He may or may not
go alone. If he is taken there by some member of the brotherhood
let us hope most heartily that the guide is something more than
congenial. Discretion was never more needed. Light talk is out of
place. Other trivial acts are foolish if indeed they are not
positively wicked on the way to Lodge. Coming from the candidate's
home to his Lodge family of friends may there be no halt anywhere
along the road.

Assuming that nothing has interfered with the solemn and serious
reflections of the applicant for initiation while on his way to the
Lodge, we may enter the building and here under the very roof of
official Masonry we can sometimes discover conditions far from the
best for the purpose. We may present to him the spectacle of a card
room and one not too clean at that, or of a smoking room not too
free of fog and odor-- and the latter be it remembered is quite
objectionable to some people, and in order to avoid offense it is
well to bar all possibilities of unpleasantness until we are
certain there is absolutely no danger of offending.

For we must assume that now we are trying to make the best possible
impression in the most permanent manner. What we do must be
lasting, not blasting. At this moment the candidate takes the
impress from his surroundings as if he were wax but he is as marble
or brass to retain them.

PRESERVE THE STRENGTH OF THE RITUAL

Far be it from the intention of the writer of this paper to decry
or oppose the installation of Masonic clubs and of all the
attendant innocent pleasure that rightly accompany them. Games, the
reading of popular literature, and the enjoyment of tobacco are
without vice when pursued with due restrictions upon the user's
habits and with proper regard to the rights of others. In general,
is it not safe to say nevertheless, that these should not be mixed
up with the ritual ?

Before going further with our candidate in his journey toward an
American Lodge we may inquire as to how far this account of his
travel is in accord with the practice elsewhere at the present day
and how closely is it in agreement with the customs of the early
Freemasons. Some of the Lodges claiming to be following in other
lands the pioneer practices of the fraternity have sundry customs
of much interest. These are founded upon the very desirable purpose
that the first impression shall be as healthy as it is permanent.

Beginning long before the time set for the ceremonial, the
candidate is caused to travel far and near from one objective point
to another, receiving and conveying and delivering messages that
are calculated to impress him with a due sense of the labor and
zeal and knowledge required of a Mason.

Thus he continues during the day until footsore and weary, but
neither discouraged nor disheartened he finally arrives at the
Lodge room just in time for the remainder of the ceremony of
initiation. Under this system of ritualism the tests of sincerity
and devotion are severe as might be expected. They are distinctly
different from what are familiar to us but of course possess
peculiar merits of their own.

THE MASONIC SCHOOL

Masonry is a school. Character is taught. Everything that is done
has the one end, to engrave upon the candidate certain things never
to be erased. To do this deeply is the purpose of the ritual and
the duty of the ritualists. Candidates are students in the school
of Masonry listening to lectures and receiving instruction through
eye and ear.

When we teach a child to write and to figure we adopt certain well
established rules. We show him examples and we make him memorize
formulas. Then we cause him to do the things we have done, to do
for himself what he has seen and to obey when he has been told. We
explain the use of the plus and minus signs as well as of other
symbols. He soon sees that they are very handy because they group
a lot of explanation in a few simple signs.

The child is taught that position is of importance, his hands and
feet and body have all an influence on what he does and that while
they are directed by his mind and this in turn is an expression of
the work of his brain, the mind and particularly the memory
reflects what he has seen and what he was then doing. Childhood is
shown and told because we have found it advisable to appeal to as
many as possible of the senses at once in order to cause the more
lasting effect.

The thoughtful Mason will see the application of these truths.
Masonry employs all these approved resources of the teacher's art.
In the light of these reminders the use of our system of
instruction is clearly seen to be standing on solid and substantial
ground.

CLOTHING AS A SYMBOL

Reduced to its simplest expression the true clothing of a Mason is
the apron. Sometimes, as on the occasion of public processions,
white gloves are added to the street attire. In certain foreign
jurisdictions a sword is worn. Unless clothed befittingly as
becomes his Masonic advancement a member can not enter or take part
in Lodge labors.

There is unity in uniforms. Aside entirely from the symbolism of
clothing, of being clothed or unclothed, it is a fact that a body
of men is the more closely united when dressed alike in any
suitable clothing. Just as their garments are apparently of the one
piece of cloth so are they themselves parts of the one substance,
fragments fused by a common bond into unity and uniformed
accordingly.

Every Mason in the uniformity of his clothing, and the similarity
of the experiences with clothing through which he and his brethren
have passed, is thereby again reminded of the lessons taught by
these means.

LIGHT AND SIGHT, DARKNESS AND BLINDNESS

We learn that in the ancient mysteries the candidate first
encountered complete darkness and thence progressed toward more
enlightened conditions. To shut off the sense of sight is therefore
to repeat the initial experience in the mysteries of the ancients.

CABLE-TOW AND OBLIGATIONS

A tow-line enables a tug-boat to draw a ship after it. There is a
sense in which such a cable-tow connects the source of energy with
that which can not, for the time, be self-propelling. When a
stronger tie, bond or pledge is assumed, then the old material
connection can be cast aside. He that is bound to the brotherhood
by the abiding strength of love, devotion and light, needs no other
harness on his limbs.

CANDIDATE IS A FREE AGENT

We welcome not the unwilling. Neither reservation nor evasion or
reluctance may mark the applicant for the mysterious Masonic rights
and benefits. Uninvited he comes and upon him is no compulsion born
of us. No restraint from us relieves him of fullest responsibility.
He is free to act in man fashion, not as a child or slave.

INTENTIONS OF THE CANDIDATE

By a time-honored declaration the candidate announces his
intentions. This is done before witnesses. In some countries the
solemnity of the proceedings is increased by the use of a special
room for the purpose, called the Chamber of Reflection.

So much importance rightly belongs to this part of the proceedings
that all possible care may well be taken to have the announcement
of the candidate heard with all dignity and fervor. He asserts that
he has no unworthy motives, that he offers himself of his own
accord as a candidate and will conform to all the established
customs of the fraternity. There are other items of consequence but
these are contained in the various Monitors and Codes and need not
be repeated here.

The form of the declaration is very old and as usually given is
similar to what is found as far back as the era of Preston.

MENTAL AS WELL AS PHYSICAL PREPARATION

Too much care can not be devoted to the use of the preparation
room. This work is sometimes alloted to young and inexperienced
members of the Lodge. Then the case is bad enough. But it is very
much worse when the labor is undertaken by the indifferent or
negligent or flippant. If the Master and the other officers of the
Lodge will reflect that the better the candidate is physically and
mentally prepared the easier it is for them to make an impression,
then they will realize how they are affected by the shortcomings of
the Stewards.

It is proper here to assert that the true initiation of a candidate
begins long before he enters the Lodge room. There is in this fact
a lesson of deportment. Are we always cautious in what we say and
do? Not only before the candidate but ever before the brethren do
we need to maintain carefully the conduct of a real Mason.

SYMBOLISM OF THE PREPARATION AND ENLIGHTENMENT

To me this stage of the First Degree of Masonry is deeply
significant. There is a new birth. Out of the womb of the laboring
blindly-groping world there comes to the altar of friendship a
willing sacrifice. The old garb of ignorance is cast aside and the
clothing of knowledge is assumed. Eyes that were blind are opened
and he that was in darkness beholds the Eastern rays of the rising
sun. New duties are defined in the light of the dawning day. God,
country, neighbor, self--for each is to be held the balance true of
our faith, our patriotism, our service and our character.

REFERENCES FOR SUPPLEMENTAL PAPERS

The following articles to be found in Mackey's Encyclopedia and THE
BUILDER all have a bearing upon the subject treated in the
foregoing paper by Brother Clegg. Lodge and Study Club Committees
should decide upon those which they may wish to use and then assign
to some of their interested members the task of preparing and
presenting them as supplemental papers at the same meeting at which
Brother Clegg's paper is used.

Mackey's Encyclopedia:
Cable Tow; Declaration of the Candidate; Discalceation; Heart;
Hoodwink; Qualifications; Seeing; Shoe.
THE BUILDER:
Cable Tow, The, vol. 1, p. 215, (Q. B.); p. 276, (Cor.); p. 278,
(Cor.); vol. III, C. C. B. p. 5, this issue.
"Divested of all Metallic Substances," vol. III, p. 384, this
issue.
Metallic Tokens, vol. II, p. 205.
Preparing the Candidate, vol. II, p. 205.

THE CABLE TOW

(By R.W.Bro. S. Clifton Bingham, P. M.)

It has been said, and I think well said, that "Freemasonry is a
system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols."
Whilst I have heard many other definitions, and so probably have
you, I think all will agree that it correctly conveys to all our
minds in the fewest possible words the aim and object of our
fraternity. Some doubtless look upon it as a convivial organisation
only, but I rejoice to be able to say that the number of those
amongst us are steadily diminishing.

If we would understand the sublime teachings of Freemasonry it is
absolutely necessary that we should study the meaning conveyed to
us by the symbols brought forcibly before us at every meeting.
By such means alone can we hope to attain perfection and qualify to
become a stone in "that eternal mansion, that house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens."

A symbol has been defined as a visible sign by or with which a
spiritual feeling, emotion, or idea, is conveyed. Is not the level
to us always a symbol of equality? the plumb, of uprightness? the
square, of rectitude ?

If we carry ourselves back to the earlier years, when our system
was probably of a much simpler character than it is today, and when
comparatively few people had any degree of education, the only
method of conveying ideas to the large mass of people would be by
the use of symbols. The crown is to us a symbol of royalty; the
sceptre, of power. Indeed, what is our alphabet but a system of
symbols, the letters of which, combined in different ways, convey
to us different meanings. The symbol to which I intend particularly
to refer this evening is apparently in universal use amongst
Freemasons, viz., the cable tow. In the earliest rituals extant,
and the pretended exposures which were so numerous in the first
part of the eighteenth century, this symbol was invariably used in
preparation of candidates for our Order.

What is a cable tow? The word "tow" signifies, properly, a line
wherewith to draw. One dictionary I consulted defines it as "that
which tuggeth, or with which we tug to draw." A cable tow,
therefore, is a rope or line for drawing or leading. In one of the
earliest so-called exposures it is called "cable rope." In its
first inception the cable tow seems to have been used only as a
physical means of controlling the candidate, and such
interpretation is given in the E. A. degree. One writer says it is
emblematical of the dangers which surround us in this life,
especially if we should rashly stray from the paths of duty. It
will also remind the initiated to submit, while he is in ignorance,
to being guided by those whom he knows to be enlightened.

In the United States this symbol is used in each of the three Craft
degrees. In the E. A. exactly as we do; in the F. C. it is coiled
twice around his waist; and in the M. M. three times. This seems a
symbolic use of the symbol. I might here mention that my ignorance
of this use of the cable tow evidently caused me some doubt in the
mind of the worthy brother testing me at the door of a Lodge in the
States. The monitors says that the variation in the second and
third degrees are to symbolise the covenant with which all
Freemasons are tied, thus reminding us of the passage in the
writings of the prophet Hosea, "I drew them with cords of a man,
with bonds of love." Some of the brethren will recollect the use of
this symbol in other degrees.

Whence came the cable tow? That is a question somewhat difficult to
answer. Fellows, author of an interesting work on the mysteries,
says:--"The necks of the Druidical priests were decorated with gold
chains in the performance of their religious rites." In these is to
be seen the arch type of the cable tow or tow rope, worn about the
neck of the aspirant to Masonic secrets, which is the subject of
much ridicule amongst the uninitiated. Indeed, the fraternity
themselves do not seem to be aware of its true import. They are not
conscious that this humble badge is a testimony of their belief in
God, their dependence on Him, and their solemn obligations to
devote themselves to His will and service.

How long is it? How many of us have troubled to find out, and yet
if we carry our minds back to the solemn obligation we took as M.
Ms. we cannot overlook the point contained therein, "if within the
reach of my cable tow." Gadicke, a German writer on Freemasonry,
defines the length as three miles for an Entered Apprentice. I am
not in a position to argue this point, nor I expect are you. In
ancient times every adult had to present himself yearly before the
sheriff or chief authority of the county to renew his oath of
fealty to his liege lord and the King, nor were any excused from
this service except they were a considerable distance away; some
writers say over fifty miles, a very considerable journey in those
days.

The subject of the length of a cable tow was one of the questions
for discussion at a National Masonic Convention held in the City of
Baltimore, U. S. A., in the year 1842. Mackey says that after
considerable discussion on the matter of definition of "within the
scope of man's reasonable ability" was arrived at.

History tells us that the burghers of Calais, when that city was
besieged by the English under Edward, the Black Prince, came out in
procession with ropes round their necks in token of their
submission.

According to Grimm, quoted by Gould in his History of Freemasonry,
a cord about the neck was used symbolically in criminal courts to
denote that the accused submitted his life to the judgment of the
court. When used upon the person of a freeman it signified a slight
degree of subjection or servitude. You will remember also that when
Benhadad's servants after his defeat by Ahab approached the latter
King, asking for mercy, "they girded sackcloths on their loins and
put ropes on their heads." This with the remaining portion of the
verses, has been used by many Freemasons to prove the existence of
our Fraternity in those days. If we accept the reasoning, we could
hardly mistake the meaning of the ropes.

Its use amongst our operative brethren is referred to by Bro. W. J.
Shaw as follows:--"As a poetic symbol it has a special reference to
the idea of rescue and assistance, and as a form of expression it
has that significance in our Masonic rites. Upon the cable depended
the safety of the ship riding at anchor, the salvation of the man
overboard and in peril. On land it was also a means of aid and
rescue upon mountain and plain, and especially so in the use that
operative masons made of it in the construction of those
magnificent buildings with which they adorned Europe. Doubtless
from every great structure, in their work of decoration, men
dangled by ropes from dizzy heights, and were rescued from perilous
situations by means of the cable tow of some fellow workman.

Our obligation, therefore, simply is that, as the length of the
Freemason's cable tow, or long rope, is the measure of his means
and ability to aid and rescue, it is his aid and rescue his fellow
if within the reach of his means and ability.

We are told that the timber of the building of King Solomon's
Temple was felled in the forest of Lebanon and sent down in floats
by sea to Joppa. Necessarily these floats or rafts of timber must
have been towed and connected to the boats used for that purpose by
strong ropes or cables. The use to which such a cable would be put
would cause it to be known as a cable tow. Hence, possibly, the
expression "the length of my cable tow."

When the floats reached Joppa they would be released from the boats
and secured to the shore (which we are told was very precipitous)
by the same cables with which they had been towed. The expression
so familiar to us, "a cable tow's length from the shore," will be
brought to our thoughts at once.

In this connection the cable tow may be considered an apt symbol of
obedience--that is of obedience to the requirements of the
ceremonies of our Institution and the principles of morality and
virtue inculcated thereby. Obedience to the dictates of our Masonic
duty, which must be performed even under the most adverse
circumstances, and if need be without fee or reward, except that
gratifying test of a good conscience.

As the float by aid of the cable tow follows unduratingly the
course intended by those who row the boat, so should the seeker for
light attend to the truths revealed to him and faithfully follow
the instructions and heed the solemn admonition of those who are
guiding him into the Temple of Light and Truth.

Let us remember that while candidates are asked to yield a mere
blind obedience for the time, no unreasonable demands or
unintelligible requirements are made.

Does not the cable tow, by which metaphorically we lead our
candidates into the Temple, remind us that we too have duties to
fulfil ? Let it be to us a symbol of that love and affection with
which the Masonic Brotherhood seeks to draw the initiates from the
darkness of ignorance to the glorious light and liberty of our
Fraternity. In humble imitation of the Divine plan, let us
endeavour to draw our brethren by the tenderest chords of
affection, and bind them to us forever more by the sweetest bonds
of love.

You have heard the phrase used occasionally in one of our
ceremonies--"a two-fold cord is strong, but a three-fold cord is
not easily broken." I do not know if a cable tow is composed of
three principal strands or not, but if so the reference in both
instances surely is the three great principles of our Institution--
Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth.--Transactions of the Masters'
and Past Masters' Lodge, No. 130, New Zealand.


A CORRECTION

In the article "Evolution of the Operative into the Speculative
Craft," by Brother Wm. F. Kuhn, an error was made by the compositor
using a duplicate typeslug in place of one left out entirely in the
seventeenth line from the top of the inside column on page 341 of
the November BUILDER. It should read: "Dr. Desaguliers, above all
others, is the great figure who changed the operative into the
speculative craft. By birth, education, training, and in his
associations with the scientific and philosophical schools, he was
preeminently qualified for this work."


A SERIES OF ARTICLES ON FRENCH MASONRY

A Canadian Grand Master and an American Past Grand Master are now
at work compiling a series of articles for us on French Masonry
which will present the subject from two different angles--the
American and the Canadian. This series should be of vital interest
especially to our Canadian and American members who are now in the
service of King George and Uncle Sam and those who may be called
later. We expect to be able to publish the first of these articles
at an early date--possibly in the January BUILDER.

SEARCH AGAIN!
BY BRO. H. L. HAYWOOD, IOWA

A SEARCH FOR A NAME

MASONIC Research!" I write the words out slowly. I write them out
a second time and stare at them. "Masonic Research !" What a
formidable forbidding sound they have ! They conjure up pictures of
sallow bookworms burrowing about in mildewy libraries; or dyspeptic
professors sitting up nights in a laboratory; or of some grimy
archeologist digging up the bones of Egyptian crocodiles; or maybe
they suggest some dapper young university graduate gathering data
for a brand-new factory efficiency system. There is no denying
these associations; they are there, and I do not wonder that many
good Masons of the common walks of life shy aside when a new
movement calling itself a "Research Society" comes along to bid for
their attention. Did we make a mistake in calling it a "Research"
Society? Perhaps we did; some of us thought so at the time, but
nobody, to save his life, though everybody used his think apparatus
to the limit, could conceive of another name that would fill the
bill.

A "research" Society it had to be--and consequently IS. Now the
task before us is to get abroad among our friends, and our
prospective friends, a new feeling about this word, a new
understanding of what it means when we use it. After all it is use
and not the dictionary that interprets our words to us, and it is
just the purpose of this little screed to say that we are using the
word "Research" in a very different sense to the uses described
above. What we mean by Research is not what the college professors
would mean by it.

"RESEARCH" THE ONE CURE FOR THE APATHETIC MASON

But even so, we are not committing crimes against the dictionary
for what is the dictionary derivation of the word? Does it not come
from "re" and from "search" and doesn't that mean "search again" ?
And what are we Masonic researchers but Masons who are making
"another search" in Masonry, digging up things we didn't know were
there, finding matters of fascinating interest which had been
hidden from us before? To the brother who has nosed about a little
bit in Masonry and has come to the decision that while its
teachings of brotherhood are very nice there is little in it to
interest him, we say "Search again," brother. To the man who thinks
he has "studied" it and has come to its limits, we say "Search
again"--there isn't any limit to Masonry except the sky. We say
that the one cure for all the indifference, the apathy, the
indolence, the "don't care a shuck" of the watch-fob Mason can be
remedied forever if we can get him to make another search in
Masonry.

METHODS OF "RESEARCH"

How can a Mason set about this task of making another search? There
are as many ways as there are men but there are a few methods which
anybody can use, and it will not be beside the mark to note two or
three of them. We will divide them into two classes; the use of
books, the not using books, and we will speak of the latter first,
as the high cost of books makes it more practicable to many of us.

"RESEARCH" WITHOUT BOOKS

Let us suppose that you are a busy man, with many interests outside
the Order, that you have an average education, and that you don't
care to read a lot about the subject. Can you indulge in Masonic
Research ? Try this plan. Go to Lodge at the next meeting when a
candidate is to be initiated; sit back in a comfortable chair and
watch every move that is made and listen to every word that is
spoken; and as you watch and listen keep saying to yourself, What
does that mean ? How can I put that meaning in my own plain words?
How can I make use of that when I get home, or when I get to work
tomorrow? What is the LIFE VALUE of this for me? When you are doing
that you are making another search in Masonry and you will be
surprised to find how the "work" will open up to you and reveal
surprising new meanings.

You can do another thing, you not-to-use-books researcher; you can
hunt around among your fellow Masons until you find a few who are
like you in a desire to get under the skin of the Ritual; then you
can get them off into a corner, or invite them down to your house,
and you can begin to ask THEM the question which you had before
been asking yourself. You can say to them, "What did you fellows
get out of this or that? Why do you think the candidate was taken
around three times? What is your reason for the manner in which he
is clothed? What means the Pot of Incense which was swung before
our eyes in the Third Degree lecture? You will be perfectly amazed
at the results, and so will your friends, for you will discover how
much fun it is to do Masonic Research with no other equipment than
one's own wits.

"RESEARCH" WITH BOOKS

Now let us suppose that you have grown bolder, and more determined
to get under the veils of Masonry; you venture to dip into a few
books; how will you go about that? The best plan is to begin by
reading a few short and simple works that deal with the subject as
a whole; Brother Newton wrote his "Builders" and Brother MacBride
wrote his "Speculative Masonry" for just such a purpose; and there
are many others. After you have gotten your aeroplane view you can
then lay out a little field for more special study. You will have
no difficulty in finding a field, for Masonry is as long and as
broad as the life of man. You can choose the history of the Order,
or its Symbolism, or its Philosophy, or its Jurisprudence, or you
can find enough to keep you busy for a life-time in studying the
biographies of great Masons--men like Albert Pike, and George
Washington, and Robert Freke Gould, and William Preston, and so on.

When you have chosen your special field it will be well to break
that into smaller parts and specialize on one of the parts. Thus,
if you elect to read the history of the Fraternity you can choose
to study the medieval gilds, or the Comacines, or, say, eighteenth
century Masonry in England.

INDUCE THE MASTER OF YOUR LODGE TO INAUGURATE "RESEARCH" MEETINGS

After you have discovered what fascinations such a course of
reading holds for you, you can again do what you did before; you
can hunt up a group of likeinded brethren and persuade them to go
with you to a little venture of forming a Study Club. If you do
that--but I mustn't go into all that would follow! Being an
enthusiast on the subject I would eat up all ae space in this
issue!

Or--better than that--you may be able to infect the Master of your
Lodge with your new-born enthusiasm and persuade him to make use of
an hour or more during your regular meeting in order to awaken the
membership to the fascinations of Masonic Resarch: "Research," I
say advisedly, for all this time you have been engaging in that
very thing, little as you may have realized it.

RESULTS TO BE DERIVED FROM "RESEARCH"

What will be the results of this adventure of making another search
in Masonry? There will be many little pleasant results, but there
will be two great results, and it is of these only that I have
space to speak.

For one thing, you will have unearthed the profound and exciting
interest that lies in Masonry. I once heard of a Tennessee
mountaineer who sold his little farm for forty dollars; he had been
able to hunt squirrels and rabbits over that farm but he had not
been able to make a living. So he sold it to a group of men, and
these men took more than a million dollars worth of marble out of
that mountainside inside of a year! Are not many Masons like that
man? They go rabbit hunting around over Masonry without ever
discovering the millions of dollars worth of marble that lies under
its surface. Your study will uncover to you all the unimaginable
riches of Masonry; it will reveal to you how interesting it is.

But there will be a still greater result than that! Masonry is not
a creed, or a mere set of antiquarian teachings, it is a vast
dynamo of power. The trouble with us all is that we have this
dynamo in our possession but we are not using it. We are like Hero
of Alexandria who toyed with steam, or like the alchemists who
played with electricity, without ever realizing what they had in
their hands. If ever we find a means whereby to set loose the
living power that lies in Masonry we will have performed a service
that will outrival anything ever done to man. Masonry is that full
of potentialities! And if this is ever done it will be done by the
men who are not contented to take a lukewarm interest in Masonry,
but who go ahead with the determination to "make another search"
into the vitals of the greatest and oldest Fraternity in the world.

PROGRESS OF THE STUDY PLAN IN INDIANA

Since September 1st and up to the time of going press with this
issue of the Correspondence Circle Bulletin, exactly one hundred
and ten Lodges in Indima have appointed "Research Committees" and
are taking up the "Bulletin Course of Masonic Study" as a part of
their monthly Lodge meetings.

As evidence of the practicability of the plan and so show what the
Indiana Masons think of it, we present the following letter from
the Chairman of Winslow Jodge No. 260:

"Winslow, Indiana. 

'Dear Brother:

"We have held our first 'Study Club' meeting. It was a success from
every angle. I enclose a copy of the notice of the meeting which
was sent out to our nembers and a goodly number responded.

"The undersigned, as Chairman of the Committee, conducted the
meeting and had no difficulty in answering all the questions,
although I am free to say that I did not know such lack of
knowledge of the Institution existed among the membership as made
itself apparent at this meeting. Men whom I thought had given some
study to the Fraternity asked questions that surprised me and they
were more surprised when they were answered.

"At the close of the meeting I asked an expression from every
member present and all expressed themselves as more than pleased
with the meeting, each agreeing that he had learned many things
about the Fraternity, its aims and purposes, that he had never
known before. I then announced the program for the November
meeting. Ten members were given places on the program and each was
eager to take the part assigned him and to find out all he could on
the subject assigned. All the work is along the lines laid out by
the National Masonic Research Society.

"I have the only stagger at a Masonic Library in town and before
eight o'clock Sunday morning I was besieged by members wanting into
my study to start their work.

"Every indication is that the 'Study Club' plan wil be a big thing
for our Lodge. The Committee is well pleased with its start and
will keep the ball rolling while the interest gains.
"With best wishes, I am,

Fraternally yours,
A. J. Heuring, Chairman."

