THE BUILDER, OCTOBER 1915

FOR THE MONTHLY LODGE MEETING

CORRESPONDENCE CIRCLE BULLETIN--NO. 21
DEVOTED TO ORGANIZED MASONIC STUDY
Edited by Bro. H. L. Haywood

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

FOUNDATION OF THE COURSE

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

MAIN OUTLINE

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

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

THE MONTHLY INSTALLMENTS

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

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

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

REFERENCES FOR SUPPLEMENTAL PAPERS

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

HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR AND CONDUCT THE STUDY MEETINGS

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

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

PROGRAM FOR STUDY MEETINGS

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

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

2. Discussion of the above.

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

4. Question Box.

MAKE THE "QUESTION BOX" THE FEATURE OF YOUR MEETINGS

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

FURTHER INFORMATION

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

QUESTIONS ON "SIGNS, TOKENS, WORDS, AND THE RITE OF SALUTATION"

I
Give examples of the use of secret modes of recognition in past
times. What does Gould say about the use of signs, grips, etc? Why,
do you suppose, are these "common features" of all secret
societies? In what way do they protect secrecy? Why should secrecy
be protected? Can you name any political, social, religious, or
literary clubs which employ secret modes of recognition? If so, why
do they use them? If not, why do they not use them? Chemists and
druggists employ arbitrary signs to stand for various formulae and
these are understood only by themselves. Are such signs analogous
to our own ?

II
What evidence is there to show that Freemasons used signs in old
times ? Why is the evidence so slender? Why were not these signs
published and explained ? What is the point of the quotation from
Ferguson ? Even if the early Operative Masons had been able to read
and write, could they have dispensed with their signs and grips? We
can all read and write: why have we not dispensed with them ?

III
Can you guess what the Scotch "Mason Word" may have been ? What was
the significance of "words" among Masons in other countries at that
time? How, and for what purpose, do we use words? Can you define a
"password"? What are its usages and advantages ? Does the army
employ passwords ? Why ? What other organizations do so ? In what
way is "Word" used in the third degree ? What is the meaning of
"The Lost Word" ?

IV

What is the "due-guard" ? Why was it invented and taken up by
American lodges ? What is the meaning of "an Americanism" as Mackey
employs the term?

In what way are grips and tokens different from pass words? Can you
give any examples of your own use of these outside the lodge room?
When we say we have given a friend "a token of our esteem" do we
use the word in its Masonic sense? Why are Masons entitled to use
secret modes of recognition? Can you give reasons not given in this
paper ?

VI
What is the meaning of "salutation"? How is it used in general
society? Is tipping your hat to a lady a salutation? Why does a
private salute an officer in the army? Give all the reasons you can
think of to explain why the candidate should salute the Wardens. In
what way do they represent the law and authority of the lodge?

VII
What is there in the principles of Masonry that has ever caused it
to be the champion of liberty ? Can you offer examples not given in
the paper? Can you tell the story of Masonry's part in the
Revolutionary War ? What great leaders in that day were Masons? Was
LaFayette a Mason? Washington? Franklin ? Where was the Bible
obtained on which Washington took his oath of office ? Can liberty
exist in a monarchy as well as in a democracy ? What is the
difference between "freedom" and "liberty"? Between "liberty" and
"independence"? Can a nation be independent without enjoying
liberty? Did Italy secure liberty when she gained independence from
Austria and France? What is a "free thinker"? Are Masons "free
thinkers" ? Why is law necessary to liberty ? What would become of
liberty if laws were destroyed ?

VIII
What does law do for us in our daily life ? Why should a man desire
to be free? What are the advantages of freedom? What are the
relations between liberty and authority ? Are they opposed to each
other? Why are Masons bound to uphold the dignity of law and order?
What is meant by "civil skepticism"? Does the habit of speaking
sarcastically of law and of courts help to uphold men's respect for
social order ? What should be a Mason's attitude toward the laws of
his own community? Suppose, as was the case in Italy, that Masonry
itself were declared unlawful, should a Mason under such
circumstances oppose the law ? If so, why ? In what way should such
opposition be different from lawlessness ? Is the desire to
substitute a good law for a bad law, lawlessness? How were the laws
of Masonry instituted ? How are they enforced? In what way do they
protect the liberty of each member? Would you say that the Masonic
organization is a constitutionalism or a democracy? What is the
difference?

SUPPLEMENTAL REFERENCES

Mackey's Encyclopedia:
Sign, p. 690; Significant Word, p. 691; Sign of Distress, p. 691;
Token, p. 789; Word p. 856.
THE BUILDER;
Vol. I--Shibboleth, p. 43; The Master's Word, p. 285.
Vol. II.--A Grip, p. 57; Masonic Signs, p. 253; Masonry and The
Mysteries, p. 19; The Three Grips, p. 30.
Vol. III--Aboriginal Races and Freemasonry, p. 96; Masonry Among
Primitive Peoples, p.39; Modes of recognition, June C.C.B., p. 2;
Secret Societies of Islam, p; 84; Sign, Token and Word, p. 207.
Vol. IV.--Voice of the Sign in this issue.

FIRST STEPS
BY BRO. H.L. HAYWOOD, IOWA

PART IX--SIGNS, TOKENS, WORDS, AND THE RITE OF SALUTATION

I
THE USE of signs, grips, words, tokens, etc., is very ancient and
universal. Some historians believe that a sign language was in use
before oral words were invented; whether that be true or not it is
certain that long after language was spoken and written these
secret methods of communication were in common use. The Spartans
always preferred gestures to words; the initiates of the Mysteries
were given a very elaborate system of passwords and grips; the
custom is even referred to in the Bible, as in the case where
Ben-Hadad saved his life by making a sign. Both the Essenes and
Pythagoreans communicated with each other by signs. In Rome whole
dramas were produced on the stage by gesture alone by the
Pantomimi, who anticipated the art of the movies. In medieval
monastelies the Monks were frequently taught a sign language "like
the alphabet." Brother R. F. Gould, whose essay on "The Voice of
the Sign" is a repository of such examples, writes that "signs and
passwords, I think, we may confidently assume, were common features
of all or clearly all secret societies from the earliest times to
our own."

Strangely enough there is no documentary evidence to prove that
Freemasons used signs earlier than the seventeenth century but all
analogy and all indirect evidence goes to show, of course, that in
common with other secret societies they employed that familiar
means of identification and recognition. Ferguson, in his "History
of Architecture," explains why we may be morally certain that the
medieval founders of our fraternity did make use of words, grips
and passwords just as we continue to do today:

"At a time when writing was unknown among the laity, and not one
Mason in a thousand could either read or write, it was evidently
essential that some expedient should be hit upon, by which a Mason
traveling to his work might claim the assistance and hospitality of
his brother Masons on the road, and by means of which he might take
his rank at once, on reaching the lodge, without going through the
tedious examinations or giving practical proof of his skill."

III

At one time in Scotland a man was made a Mason by merely having
conferred upon him the "Mason Word": what that word was we know
not, but it was probably something more than a "password"; among
Operative Masons in other countries "the word" seems always to have
been used in the last named sense. We continue to use passwords in
our speculative lodges and also, it should be noted, we have given
it a high symbolic meaning, as may be clearly seen in the legend of
the "Lost Word" in the third degree.

IV
"Due Guard," it is probable, was never used in English lodges but
came into use in this country. Mackey calls it "an Americanism." It
is a perpetual reminder of the obligation and is always used in
entering or retiring from a lodge.

V
Grips and tokens are signs of fellowship and recognition which may
be used both within and without the lodge room. How long they have
been employed among Masons it is impossible to know for manifestly
their nature and purpose has been such as to make written records
or explanations impossible; but we may feel sure that they have
been used ever since Masonry has been a secret society.

This custom of having secret modes of recognition among Masons has
often been misunderstood among the profane and sometimes derided,
as when a friend remarked to the present writer, "Masons are like
little children with their signs, grips and such nonsense." Had
this man understood the nature and purpose of the fraternity he
would have spoken differently. Words and grips are as necessary as
secrecy, and for the same reasons. Masonry is a world within
itself, and Masons are as a hidden race among men, so that there is
nothing more natural than that they should have a language of their
own. Moreover, modes of secret recognition are always on the side
of gentleness and charity for they often enable one brother to
assist another without the injury of self-respect through
publicity.

VI
After having taken the obligation and received the words and grips
the candidate is a real member of the lodge according to the
corresponding degree. The lodge formally recognizes this fact by
having the candidate conducted to the Wardens and Master who so
greet him; at the same time he is given a drill, as it were, in the
use of the modes of recognition he has just received.

But we are entitled to see more in the ceremony than this. Like
every other act of the candidate it has a symbolic meaning of great
value, if only we look beneath the surface. Salutation is a
two-sided act. The Wardens recognize the candidate as a brother,
the candidate recognizes the Wardens as the authorized
representatives and spokesmen for the lodge. He has now the freedom
of the lodge, but he is not free from the lodge; he holds his
rights as a member only under the Jurisdiction of the laws and
masters of the organization of which he has become a member. Are we
not privileged to see in this a fact of large significance, a fact
that helps us to understand the Masonic principles of liberty?

VII
Masonry has never given anything to the world more precious than
its influences toward liberty, not only the liberty of thought and
faith, but actual political and social liberty. It worked like a
leaven in France at the time of the Revolution; it was one of the
underground forces which made for independence and nationality in
Italy during the times of Mazzini and Cavour; and, as we all know,
it was a prime factor in our own Revolution. Albert Pike was but
giving voice to the Fraternity's achievements in actual history
when he wrote that Masonry "is devoted to the cause of Toleration
and Liberality against Fanaticism and Persecution, political and
religious, and to that of Education, Instruction and Enlightenment
against Error, Barbarism and Ignorance.

VIII
But to Masonry, and to all who understand its true nature, liberty 

is never freedom from but freedom in the law. This is nature's way,
and law is never saying else, if it really be law and not mere
custom, than e open path along which life walks to ample power. He
that keeps the laws of hygiene enjoys the vigor and liberty of
health; he that keeps step with the seasons and observes the
ritualism of seed-time and harvest will reap the usufruct of the
fields; he that thinks in the rhythm of the fact and evidence is
made free of the truth. It is our loyalty to just laws, whether
they be natural, social or political, that sets us free; it is our
keeping the rules of the game that yields us the joy and
spontaneity of the game.

All just civil laws partake of the same character, for their
purpose is to release us from the bondage of caprice, the dominance
of the brutal, and all tyranny, whether it be the tyranny of a
monarch or the majority; it is law that makes it safe for women and
children to go about the streets unprotected; law is the friend and
protector of the human race and guards our property, arbitrates our
quarrels, secures us the fruit of our toil, and, night and day,
stands watch above our lives. Always the best country is that where
the head is held high, the heart is open, the mind free, and men
walk in that true liberty which is "inbound in law."

If there is any danger lurking in our midst today it is that subtle
and insidious civil skepticism which flouts authority and makes
light of order. If these skeptics be rich they will seek to
prostitute the statutes of the land in support of ill-gotten gains;
if they be poor they will seek to fashion laws in order to wrest
that which they desire from those that have; and the anarchists, of
whom there are more in fact than in name, whisper that law is
itself is bondage and every authority a tyrant. Masonry teaches
that whatever evils there may be in present laws can only be
remedied by making laws more wise and just, not by denying the
necessity and beneficence of law itself, and that the cure for bad
authority is good authority. It is a significant fact in our
ritualism that the candidate is no sooner released from the cable
tow, which is the symbol of bondage, than he is required to salute
the Wardens in recognition of their authority.

THE VOICE OF THE SIGN
BY BRO. ROBERT FREKE GOULD, ENGLAND

IN the "Naturall Historie of Wiltshire," of which the last chapter
was written in 1686, John Aubrey informs us that the Freemasons
were then "known to one another by certayn Signes and watchwords,"
and Dr. Plot--writing in the same year-- mentions their "Secret
Signes" as being endowed with so singular an efficacy, that on the
communition of any one of them to a Fellow of the Society, he would
be compelled to come at once "from what company or place soever he
was in; nay, tho' from the top of the Steeple," to know the
pleasure of, and to assist his summoner. This whimsical conceit is
thus pleasantly alluded to in a pamphlet of 1723:

"When once a man his arm forth stretches, 
It Masons round some distance fetches; 
Altho' one be on Paul's great steeple,
He strait comes down amongst the people."

In the year last named (1723) there appeared the first of the long
series of Masonic catechisms, or (so-called) exposures of Masonry,
which has come down to us. It is almost certain that there were
earlier versions, but those of 1723 and 1724 styled respectively "A
Mason's Examination" and "The Grand Mystery of Freemasons
Discover'd," both of which are given at length in my history of our
Society, will amply serve to illustrate my purpose, which is to
establish that, in the popular estimation, at least, the gesture
language of the Freemasons constituted no mean portion of the
learning of that Fraternity. Of this, indeed, many other proofs
might be afforded, though I cannot pause to cite them, as I must
pass on to my general subject, to which the preceding observations
must be regarded as merely preliminary.

Krause was of the opinion that the Masons derived their custom of
having signs of recognition from the usage of the Monastic orders,
but in truth, the existence of signs can be traced back to the
remotest antiquity, or, in other words, so far into the past as
there is either written history or evidence to guide us.

It is laid down by Warburton in his famous "Divine Legation," that
"in the first ages of the world mutual converse was upheld by a
mixed discourse of words and actions; hence the Eastern phase of
'The Voice of the Sign,' and use and custom, as in most other
affairs in life, improving what had arisen out of necessity, into
ornament, this practice subsisted long after the necessity was
over; especially amongst the Eastern people, whose natural
temperament inclined them to a mode of conversation, which so well
exercised their vivacity, by motion; and so much gratified it, by
a perpetual representation of material images." Of this,
innumerable instances are afforded in the sacred writings, from
which we learn that the prophets of old, by certain actions
instructed the people in the will of God, and conversed with them
in signs.

As speech became more cultivated, this rude manner of speaking by
action was smoothed and polished into an apologue or fable. We have
a noble example of this form of instruction in the speech of
Jonathan to the men of Shechem, in which he upbraids their folly,
and foretells their ruin, in choosing Abimelech for their King.
This is not only the oldest, but, according to Warburton, the most
beautiful apologue of antiquity, and the same writer then proceeds
to show how nearly the apologue and instruction by action are
related, which he does by instancing the account of Jeremiah's
adventure with the Rechabites--an instruction partaking of the
joint nature of action and apologue.

But it is not only in Biblical history that we meet with the mode
of speaking by action. "Profane antiquity," says Warburton, "is
full of these examples; the early oracles in particular frequently
employed it, as we learn from an old saying of Heraclitus--that the
King, whose oracle is at Delphi, neither speaks nor keeps silent,
but reveals by signs."

The Pythagoreans used certain conventional symbols, by which
members of the Fraternity could recognize each other, even if they
had never met before, and that, in all the Ancient Mysteries the
initiated possessed secret signs of recognition is free from doubt.
In the "Golden Ass" of Apuleius, Lucius, the hero of the story is
initiated into the mysteries of Isis, but finds that it is also
expected of him to be instructed in those "of the Great God, and
Supreme Father of Gods, the invincible Osiris." In a dream he
perceives one of the officiating priests, of whom he thus speaks,
"He also walked gently with limping step, the ankle bone of his
left foot being a little bent, in order that he might afford me
some sign by which I might know him." In another work (Apologia),
the author of the "Metamorphosis" says:                           

"If anyone happens to be present who has been initiated into the
same rites as myself, if he will give me the sign, he shall then be
at liberty to hear what it is that I keep with so much care."

Plautus, too, alludes to this custom in one of his plays when he
says: "Give me the sign, if you are one of these votaries."

Chironomia, or the art of gesticulating, or talking with the hands
and by gestures, with or without the assistance of the voice, was
one of very great antiquity, and much practiced by the Greeks and
Romans, both on the stage and in the tribune, induced by their
habit of addressing large assemblies in the open air, where it
would have been impossible for the majority to comprehend what w as
said without the assistance of some conventional signs, which
enabled the speaker to address himself to the eye as well as to the
ear of his audience. These were chiefly made by certain positions
of the hands and fingers, the meaning of which was universally
recognized and familiar to all classes, and the practice itself
reduced to a regular system, as it remains at the present time
amongst the populace of Naples, who will carry on a long
conversation between themselves by mere gesticulation, and without
pronouncing a word. It is difficult to illustrate such a matter in
an article like this; but the act is frequently represented on the
Greek vases, and other works of ancient art, by signs so clearly
expressed, and so similar in their character to those still
employed at Naples, that a common lazzaroni, when shown one of
these compositions, will at once explain the purport of the action,
which a scholar with all his learning can not divine.

Says Disraeli:

"The Pantomimi of the Romans combined with the arts of gesture,
music and dances of the most impressive character. Their silent
language often drew tears by the pathetic emotions which they
excited: 'their very nod speaks, their hands talk, and their
fingers have a voice,' says one of their admirers. Montfaucon
(L'Antiq. Exp., v. 63) conjectures that they formed a select
fraternity."

To judge by two familiar anecdotes, the old mimes had brought their
art to great perfection. Macrobius says it was a well-known fact
that Cicero used to try with Roscius, the actor, which of them
could express a sentiment in the greatest variety of ways, the
player by mimicry or the orator by speech, and that these
experiments gave Roscius such confidence in his art that he wrote
a book comparing oratory with acting. Warburton tells a story of a
certain Asiatic Prince, entertained at Rome by Augustus, being,
among other shows and festivities, amused with a famous pantomime,
whose actions were so expressive that the barbarian begged him of
the Emperor for his interpreter between himself and several
neighboring nations, whose languages were unknown to one another.

The Spartans, indeed, (as we are told by Herodotus) preferred
converse by action to converse by speech, believing that action had
all the clearness of speech, and was free from all the abuses of
it. This historian, in his Thalia, informs us that when the Samians
sent to Lacedemon for succor in distress, their orators made a long
and laboured speech. When it was ended the Spartans told them that
the former part of it they had forgotten, and could not comprehend
the latter. Whereupon the Samian orators produced their empty
bread-baskets and said they wanted bread. "What need of words,"
replied the Spartans; "do not your empty bread baskets sufficiently
declare your meaning ? "

Of the Essenes, we are told by Porphyry, that "though meeting for
the first time, the members of this sect at once salute each other
as intimate friends"; and Matter informs us that the Gnostics
communicated by means of emblems and symbols.

A symbolic language appears to have existed in the old monasteries,
the signs not being optional, but transmitted from antiquity, and
taught like the alphabet. The Cistercian monks held speech, except
in religious exercises, to be sinful, but for certain purposes
communication among the brethren was necessary, so that the
difficulty was met by the use of pantomimic signs. Two of their
written lists or dictionaries are printed in the collected edition
of Liebnitz's works; they are not identical, but appear to be
mostly or altogether derived from a list drawn up by authority.
Disraeli tells us:

"That the Monks had not in high veneration the profane authors
appears by a facetious anecdote. To read the classics was
considered as a very idle recreation, and some held them in great
horror. To distinguish them from other books they invented a
disgraceful sign; when a Monk asked for a pagan author, after
making the general sign they used in their manual and silent
language when they wanted a book, he added a particular one, which
consisted in scratching under his ear, as a dog, which feels an
itching, scratches himself in that place with his paw--because,
said they, an unbeliever is compared to a dog. In this manner they
expressed an itching for those dogs Virgil or Horace."

A curious method of recognition, also relating to the monastic
orders, is thus pleasantly narrated by the same ingenious author:
"By the Monks it was imagined that Holiness was often proportioned
to a Saint's filthiness, and one of these heroes declares that the
purest souls are in the dirtiest bodies. On this they tell a story
of a Brother Juniper, who was a gentleman perfectly pious on this
principle. Indeed, so great was his merit in this species of
mortification, that a brother declared that he could always nose
Brother Juniper when within a mile of the monastery provided the
wind was at the due point."

Much to the same point are the remarks of a modern writer in his
reference to the habits of the priests of Diana, who were forbidden
to enter the baths, and he observes, "that in all religions
emanating from the East, personal dirtiness has ever been the
recognized outward and visible sign of inward purity--fully
exemplified in fakirs, dervishes, and medieval saints."

I shall next allude to a semi-monastical Association, the Komoso,
which, according to Japanese tradition, first came into prominent
notice at the time of the rise of the last or Tokugawa dynasty of
Shoguns--i. e., in the year 1603. Its history prior to that date is
unknown, but from then down to the year 1868, its existence was
fully recognized.

The Society (or Fraternity) was filled from the ranks of the
Samurai class alone, and entrance into it proved a means of refuge
for any person who had committed a deed of bloodshed, etc., which
rendered it necessary for him to flee away from the territory of
his feudal chieftain. Thus its numbers were recruited chiefly from
among those who had, under the influence of intoxication, or in
some other way than of malice aforethought, killed or wounded a
fellow clansman, a friend, or other person. None, however, was
admitted who had been guilty of any disgraceful crime held to be
unworthy of a Samurai--as, for instance, adultery, burglary, or
theft.

The chief lands of the Society were situated in the province of
Owari, a little to the east of the castle town of Wagoya, and
slightly removed from the high road (Tokaido). Here was the Honji,
or chief temple of the society, but there were also Matsuji, or
branch temples, in different parts of the country. Meetings were
held in these branch temples at various intervals, and troops of
Komoso were often to be seen entering some remote town or village
in different localities; but where or when they met was a profound
mystery, and the morrow's dawn saw them leaving the place as
silently as they entered it.

The Society was under the command of a Chief, elected by the
general votes of the members. Under him were the Assistant Chief,
Treasurer, and other officers; all chosen in a similar manner. The
Chief usually resided at the principle temple, and was invested
with wide powers. His style of living and general position are said
to have been equal to those of any Daimio. He had power of life and
death over all his fellows, and was only required to make a report
to the Government in the event of any Komoso being put to death by
his orders. The Assistant Chief might act in his stead whenever
such necessity arose.

Anyone desirous of entering the Society, used to go to the chief
temple stating his case, and giving the reason why he had left his
feudal lord's domain. He was then lodged in the temple while
private inquiries were set on foot to ascertain the truth of his
statement; if it was discovered that he had committed some unworthy
deed, he was rejected and dismissed, but if it appeared that his
offence of bloodshed was not premeditated, he was admitted into the
Society with all due rites and ceremonies. What these rites were is
unknown, but it is allowed that every candidate was bound by solemn
oath to conceal them.

The distinctive dress of the Komoso was white, consisting of the
loose Japanese Kimono and tight fitting trousers. The wide trousers
and upper mantle usually worn by the samurai class were never used.
They carried but one long sword. The hat was of bamboo, in shape
resembling a large inverted basket of circular form, with a small
aperture to enable the wearer to see freely. This hat was never
removed during a journey; it was worn, too, in lodging houses, and
even at meals. When sleeping, however, the Komoso might take it
off, and in the temples of the Society it could be laid aside at
will. A long staff and a flute completed their equipment, and
certain notes blown on the latter formed one of the signs by which
the members could make themselves known to their fellows.

The lands granted to the Society enabled its members to obtain
sufficient means of maintenance. On a journey they were assisted by
other Komoso, and often by outsiders also. If a Komoso met another
person similarly attired, he at once challenged him by signs, etc.,
to ascertain if he were a true member of the Society. In case of
failure to respond, such person was deemed to have assumed the garb
merely as a disguise (as was, indeed, often the case), and the true
Komoso was then held to be justified in seizing and confiscating
the clothing of the pretender. The white clothing was in the first
instance given to each man by the superior officers of the Society.
The Chief, when traveling, was always attended by a select band of
his followers and their journeys were performed on foot.

No women were admitted into the Society, and a man desirous of
entering it used therefore to leave his wife and family in the
charge of relatives or friends. A son was often admitted with his
father, but boys of tender age were on no account received.
Communication with the outer world was discountenanced, and it was
an exceedingly difficult matter for any uninitiated person to gain
access to a friend who had entered the Society. He was always
subjected to rigid examination at the temple, before various
members, ere he could be allowed to see his friend, and even then
the interview was but brief.

Those members who died were buried in the temple enclosures,
whenever this was practicable. The tombstones, so tradition has it,
always bore the true name of the deceased, and thus, in death, were
at last known the actual appellations of those who during their
lifetime, had wandered to and fro, homeless and unknown men. One of
the principal Komoso cemeteries is said to exist even now in the
neighborhood of Nagoya, and another to the east of Kioyoto; the
very site, however, of the latter is well nigh unknown, and it is
probable that the former has shared the fate of the chief temple to
which it was originally attached.

I pass over the shadowy and half-mythical Rosicruicans, the
Steinmetzen, the Companionage, and other Secret Societies and
fraternities, all of which may have and probably had their special
signs and modes of salutation and recognition, though we can only
speculate upon their possible existence, without getting much
nearer to what they really were. In a manuscript of the Order of
Gregorians, written in the last century, I find the following:

"The Sign Manual being given by the Grand, he shall give in charge
to the new Brother, that in all these cases (for fear of discovery)
he shd chuse rather to receive than give the Sign."

Signs and passwords, I think we may confidently assume, were common
features of all or nearly all secret societies from the earliest
times down to our own.

Boswell tells us:

"The inhabitants of Corsica, like the Italians, express themselves
much by signs. When I asked one of them if there had been many
instances of the General (Paoli) foreseeing future events, he
grasped a large bunch of hair, and replied, 'Tante Signore' (so
many sir)."

Among the aborigines of North America the language of signs has
attained a very high degree of development. Sir Richard Burton
says:

"A remarkable characteristic of the Prairie Indian is his habit of
speaking, like the deaf and dumb, with his fingers. The pantomime
is a system of signs, some conventional, others instinctive or
imitative, which enables tribes who have no acquaintance with each
other's customs and tongues to hold limited but sufficient
communication. An interpreter who knows all the signs which,
however, are so numerous and complicated, that to acquire them is
a labour of years, is preferred by the whites even to a good
speaker. Some writers, as Captain Stansbury, consider the system
purely Arbitrary: others, Captain Marcy, for instance, hold it to
be a natural language similar to the gestures which surd-mutes use
spontaneously. Both views are true, but not wholly true."

It is, however, among the Prairie Indians alone that gesture:
speech has arrived at such perfection, that it may properly be
called a language, and this--as we learn from Colonel Dodge-- for
the very sufficient reason that these tribes use it not only in
intercourse with people whose oral language they neither speak nor
understand, but for everyday intercourse among themselves. In their
own camps and families, this language is used so constantly that it
becomes a natural and instinctive habit; almost every man, even
when using oral language, accompanying his words by sign-pictures
conveying the same meaning. In this way wonderful facility and
accuracy of expression by signs is attained. Of this "Indian
pantomime," Tylor observes:

"Captain Burton considers it to be a mixture of natural and
conventional signs, but so far as I can judge from the one hundred
and fifty or so which he describes, and those I find mentioned
elsewhere. I do not believe that there is a really arbitrary sign
among them. There are only about half a dozen of which the meaning
is not at once evident, and even these appear on close inspection
to be natural signs, perhaps a little abbreviated or
conventionalized. I am sure that a skilled deaf and dumb talker
would understand an Indian interpreter, and be himself understood
at first sight, with scarcely any difficulty. The Indian pantomime
and the gesture language of the deaf and dumb are but different
dialects of the same language of nature."

Within comparatively a few years the attention of philologists has
been particularly directed to the sign language. Some authorities
assert that "all the tribes of North American Indians have had, and
still use, a common and identical sign language of ancient origin,"
which serves as a medium of converse from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of
Mexico. Others deny this. To learn it sufficiently well for
ordinary intercourse is no more difficult than to learn any foreign
language; to master it, one must have been born in a lodge of
Prairie Indians, and have been accustomed to its daily and hourly
use from his earliest to mature years.

Two expert sign talkers engaged in conversation will make every
sign with one hand so distinctly as to be understood. Two Indians,
each wrapped up in a blanket tightly held with the left hand, will
thrust the right from under its folds and engage in animated
conversation. So also when on horseback, though the left hand is
holding the reins, the conversation will not flag nor be
misunderstood.

On the other hand, however, a slight unintentional gesture may
entirely alter the meaning that an amateur sign talker is desirous
of conveying. Thus Baillie Grohman undertook to say to an Arapahoe:
"How has it come to pass that the bravest of the brave, the man of
all men, the dearest friend I have among the Arapahoes, has grown
such a flowing beard?" but only succeeded in informing the gentle
savage "that his face was like a young maiden's, and his heart that
of an old squaw."

The Arapahoes, who possess a very scanty vocabulary, can hardly
converse with one another in the dark, and like the Bushmen of
South Africa--who intersperse their language with so many signs
that they are only intelligible during daylight---when they want to
converse at night are compelled to collect round their camp fires.

A story is told by Burton of a man who, being sent among the
Cheyennes to qualify himself for interpreting, returned in a week
and proved his competence. All that he did, however, was to go
through the usual pantomime with a running accompaniment of grunts.

The first lesson is to distinguish the signs of the different
tribes, each of which has not only its distinctive name, but also
its sign, by which it is known and designated by all other Indians.
"It will be observed," says Burton, "that the French voyageurs and
traders have often named the Indian natives from their totemic or
Masonic gestures.

"The Pawnees (Les Loups) imitate a wolf's ears with the two
forefingers; the right hand is always understood unless otherwise
specified.

"The Arapahoes, or Dirty Noses, rub the right side of that organ
with the forefinger. Some, however, call this bad tribe the
Smellers, and make their sign to consist of seizing the nose with
the thumb and forefinger.

"The Comanches (Les Serpents) imitate by the waving of the hand or
forefinger the forward crawling motion of a snake.

"The Cheyennes, Paikanavos, or Cut Wrists, draw the edge of the
hand across the left arm, as if gashing it with a knife.

"The Sioux (Les Coupes-gorges) by drawing the lower edge of the
hand across the throat. It is a gesture not unknown to us, but
forms a truly ominous salutation, considering those by whom it is
practiced: hence the Sioux are called by the Yutas, Pampe Chyimina,
or Hand-Cutters.

"The Hapsaroke (Les Cerbeaux), by imitating the flapping of the
bird's wings with the two hands--palms downward---brought close to
the shoulders.

"The Kiowas, or Prairie-Men, make the sign of the prairie and of
drinking water.

"The Yutas, 'they who live on the mountains,' have a complicated
sign which denotes living in the mountains.

"The Blackfeet, called by the Yutas, Paike or Goers, pass the right
hand bent-spoon fashion, from the heel to the little toe of the
right foot.

Further tribal signs are given by Dodge, from whose description I
take the following:

"The Northern Arapahoes join the fingers and thumb of the right
hand, and strike the points on the left breast several times.

"The Apaches move the right hand in much the same way as a barber
strops a razor."

Among the miscellaneous signs may be cited those of "Hat Wearer,"
by which with apt gestures, the White Man is referred to, "Beard
Wearer," in like manner applied to Mexican, and "Black White Man"
to the Negro.

The sign of love is made by folding the hands crosswise over the
breast, as if embracing the object, assuming at the same time a
look expressing a desire to carry out the operation. This gesture,
Sir Richard Burton assures us, will be understood by the dullest
squaw.

The Indians, observes the same careful writer, like the Bedouin and
North African Moslems, do honour to strangers and guests by putting
their horses to speed, couching their lances, and other
peculiarities, which would readily be dispensed with by gentlemen
of peaceful pursuits and shaky nerves. If friendly, the band will
halt when the hint is given, and return the salute; if not, they
will disregard the order to stop, and probably will make the sign
of danger. Then--ware scalp!

"It is asserted by squaw men and others, in a position to know that
almost every tribe of Indians has its secret societies, which have
passwords, grips, and signs, as the Masons. Odd - Fellows. etc. I
have never been able positively to ascertain the truth or falsity
of this statement. Most of the Indians deny it, but from the grim
silence that falls upon an occasional old head-man, when asked
about it, I suspect it may be true."


The existence, among the Aborigines of North America, of
Fraternities bound by mystic ties; and claiming, like the
Freemasons, to possess an esoteric knowledge, is, I believe, fairly
well attested. DeWitt Clinton relates, on the authority of a
respectable native minister, who had received the signs, the
existence of-such a society among the Iroquois. The number of the
members was limited to fifteen, of whom six were to be of the
Seneca tribe, five of the Oneidas, two of the Cayugas, and two of
the St. Regis. They claim that this institution has existed from
the era of creation. The late Giles Fonda Yates, in his work on the
ceremonies of the Indian tribes, sought ingeniously, if not
satisfactorily, to discover a Masonic meaning in the Indian mystic
rites.

The experiment of bringing Indians and deaf mutes together has
often been tried during visits of Indians to the East, and they
always communicate readily, the signs being, of course,
ideographic. A very wonderful demonstration of the extent of
natural meaning in signs and expression was a test exhibition by
President Gallaudet, of the National Deaf Mute College, at
Washington, in which he related intelligibly to a pupil the story
of Brutus ordering the execution of his two sons for disobedience,
without making a motion with hand or arms, or using any previously
determined sign or other communication, but simply by facial
expression and motion of the head.

The best evidence of the unity of the gesture language (to quote
the words of Mr. Tylor), is the ease and certainty with which any
savage from any country can understand and be understood in a Deaf
and Dumb school. A native of Hawaii is taken to an American
institution, and begins at once to talk in signs with the children,
and to tell about his voyage and the country he came from. A
Chinese, who had fallen into a state of melancholy from long want
of society, is quite revived by being taken to the same place,
where he can talk in gestures to his heart's content.

Alexander von Humboldt has left on record his experiences of the
gesture language among the Indians of the Orinoco:

"'After you leave my mission,' said the good monk of Uruana, 'you
will travel like mutes.' This prediction was almost accomplished,
and not to lose all the advantage that is to be had from
intercourse even with the brutalized Indians, we have sometimes
preferred the language of signs."

Describing the Puris and Coroados of Brazil, Spix and Martius,
having remarked that different tribes converse in signs, and
explained the difficulty they found in making them understand by
signs the objects or ideas for which they wanted the native names,
go on to say how imperfect and devoid of inflection or construction
these languages are. Signs with hand or mouth, they say, are
required to make them intelligible. To say, "I will go into the
wood," the Indian uses the words "wood-go,' and points his mouth
like a snout in the direction he means.

Gesture-signs are mentioned by Captain Cook as forming an
accompaniment to spoken language among the Tahitians, who, he says,
"joined signs to their words, which were so impressive that a
stranger might easily apprehend their meaning.

Mr. W. Simson, in his "History of the Gipsies," says: "Not only
have they had a language peculiar to themselves, but signs as
exclusively theirs as are those of the Freemasons. The distinction
consists in this people having blood, language, a cast of mind, and
signs, peculiar to itself."

Mr. Laurence Oliphant tells us, "The Druses have secret signs of
recognition, and are in fact organized as a powerful political, as
well as secret society," and the same writer goes on to say, "among
the Ansariyeh there are two classes, as among the Druses--the
initiated and uninitiated,"--but the curious reader who may wish to
pursue the inquiry is referred to the account of the "Ansaireeh or
Nusairis of Syria," given in the "Asian Mystery," by the Rev.
Samuel Lyde.

Of the Todas of the Neilgherries, Sir Richard Burton says, "A
Brother Mason informs us that the Todas use a sign of recognition
similar to ours, and they have discovered that Europeans have an
institution corresponding with their own." Yet as the great
traveler goes on to say, "but in our humble opinion, next to the
antiquary in simplicity of mind, capacity of belief; and capability
of assertion, ranks the Freemason - it will but, perhaps, not to
lay too much stress on the alleged similarity between customs that
after all may, and probably do not, possess a single feature in
common."

Mr. Wilfrid Powell, who passed three years of his life among the
Cannibals of New Britain, thus describes the Duk-duk Society of
that island: "The Duk-duk is both a curse and a blessing his
people; he certainly keeps order and makes the natives raid to
commit any flagrant act of felony, but at the same time it
encourages cannibalism and terrorism

"There are secret signs between the initiated by which they know
each other from outsiders. It is curious how widely distributed is
this Duk-duk system in the north peninsula of New Britain. It is in
nearly every district, also in New Ireland, from the west coast
lying south of the Rossel mountains to Cape St. George, and how far
it may spread on the other side I cannot tell."

Dr. Milligan, speaking of the language of Tasmania, the habit of
gesticulation, and the use of signs to eke out monosyllabic
expressions, says that the Aborigines conveyed in a supplementary
fashion by tone, manner and gesture, many modifications of meaning,
which are otherwise expressed by ourselves.

With regard to the practice of uncovering the feet, Tylor says,
when we find the Damaras, in South Africa, taking off their sandals
before entering a stranger's house, the idea of conducting the
practice with the Ancient Egyptian custom, or of ascribing it to
Moslem influence, at once suggests itself, but the king off the
sandals as a sign of respect seems to have prevailed in Peru. No
common Indian, it is said, dared go shod along the Street of the
Sun, nor might anyone, however great lord he might be, enter the
house of the Sun with his shoes on, and even the Inca himself went
barefoot into the Temple of the Sun.

The custom (or as called by some Masonic authors, the rite) of
discalceation--i. e., the act of putting off the shoes as a sign
reverence, is frequently referred to in the sacred writings, and
Dr. Adam Clarke considered the custom of worshipping the Deity
barfooted to have been so general among all nations of antiquity,
that in his commentary on Exodus he assigns it as one of his
thirteen proofs that the whole human race have been derived from
one family.

The lowest class of salutation, says Tyler, which merely aim at
giving pleasant bodily sensations, merge into the civilities which
we see exchanged among the lower animals. Such are patting,
stroking, kissing, pressing noses, blowing, sniffing, and so forth.
The often-described sign of pleasure or greeting of the Indians of
North America, by rubbing each other's arms, breasts and stomachs,
and their own, is similar to the Central African custom of two men
clasping each other's arms with both hands, and rubbing them up and
down, and that of stroking one's own face with another's hand or
foot, in Polynesia; and the pattings and slappings of the Fuegians
belong to the same class. Darwin describes the way in which noses
are pressed in New Zealand, with details which have escaped less
accurate observers. It is curious that the Linnaeus found the
salutation by touching loses in the Lapland Alps. People did not
kiss, but put noses together. The Andaman Islanders salute by
blowing into another's hand with a cooing murmer. Charlevoix speaks
of an Indian tribe in the Gulf of Mexico who blew into one
another's ears; and Du Chaillu describes himself as having been
blown upon in Africa. Natural experiences of joy, such as clapping
hands in Africa, and jumping up and down in Tierra del Fuego, are
made do duty as signs of friendship or greeting.

There are a number of well known gestures which are hard to
explain. Such are various signs of hatred and contempt--for
example, lolling out the tongue, which is a universal sign, though
it is not clear why it should be so, biting the thumb, making the
sign of the stork's bill behind another's back (ciconiam facere),
and the sign known as "taking a sight," which was as common at the
time of Rabelais as it is now.

Shaking hands, it may be observed, is not a custom which belongs
naturally to all mankind, and we may sometimes trace its
introduction into countries where it was before unknown. The
Fijians, for instance, who used to salute by smelling or sniffing
at one another, have learned to shake hands from the missionaries.
The Wa-nika, near Mombaz, grasp hands, but they use the Moslem
variety of the gesture, which is to press the thumbs against one
another as well, and this makes it all but certain that the
practice is one of the many effects of Moslem influence in East
Africa.

Tylor lays down that gesture-language is a natural mode of
expression common to mankind in general and also that it is the
same in principle and similar in its details all over the world.
"It is true," he remarks, "that the signs used in different places
and by different persons are only partially the same; but it must
be remembered that the same idea may be expressed in signs in very
many ways, and that it is not necessary that all should choose the
same."

The "universelle longage of Maconnes" is named in the Leland-Locke
MS. as being among those secrets which "the Maconnes concele aud
hyde." This document has of late years been given up as apocryphal,
though it exercised no slight influence in its time. The original
was said to have been in the handwriting of King Henry VI., the
copy to have been made by John Leland, the antiquary, and the
annotations to have been the work of John Locke the philosopher.

In his alleged commentary Locke is made to say: "An Universal
language has been much desired by the learned of many ages. It is
a thing rather to be wished than hoped for." It is evident,
however, says Mackey, "that such a substitute for a universal
language has always existed among mankind. There are certain
expressions of ideas which, by an implied common consent, are
familiar even to the most barbarous tribes. An extension forward of
the open hands will be understood at once by an Australian savage
or an American Indian as a gesture betokening peace, while the idea
of war or dislike would be as readily conveyed to either of them by
a repulsive gesture of the same hands." "These are not, however,"
continues the same careful writer, "what constitute the signs of
Masonry." The words last cited are worthy of remembrance, and may
aid in dispelling many an illusion. The crop of "traveller's tales"
increases year by year, wherein as a common feature, appear either
the manifestation of the recognition of Masonic signs by Arabs of
the desert, native Australians, Bushmen, Afghans, and the like. In
the expressive pantomime of the gesture language an Indian, it has
been said, will by his signs, "talk all over," his whole body being
made use of to convey a message, but in all cases of the kind
whatever resemblances may appear to exist with our Masonic customs,
will, in the vast majority of cases, be fortuitous only, and fall
within the doctrine of "chance coincidences" a phrase very happily
coined by Mr. Hyde Clarke in 1864.


THE TRIANGLE OF THE WORLD

MASONRY--the thread of finest, purest gold 
That is woven from the loom of ages old 
Has lived to see its principles unfold.


FRATERNITY--the Truth worked out in man, 
The only thing that has or ever can 
Bring to him peace and wars forever ban.

DEMOCRACY--with love upon its throne-- 
The fruitage of the seed that has been sown 
Will make the world a sweeter, better home.
--Bro. L. B. Mitchell, Michigan.


By wisdom wealth is won!
But riches purchased wisdom yet for none.
--Bayard Taylor.

Success is counted sweetest 
By those who ne'er succeed.
--Emily Dickinson.

A word hurts more than a wound.
