THE BUILDER NOVEMBER 1919


CORRESPONDENCE CIRCLE BULLETIN No. 32
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 the Lodge. 
B. The Lodge and the Candidate. 
C. First Steps. 
D. Second Steps. 
E. Third Steps.

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

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

Division IV. Legislative Masonry.

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

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

Division V. Historical Masonry.

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

THE MONTHLY INSTALLMENTS

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

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

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

REFERENCES FOR SUPPLEMENTAL PAPERS

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

HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR AND CONDUCT THE STUDY MEETINGS

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

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

PROGRAM FOR STUDY MEETINGS

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

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

2. Discussion of the above.

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

MAKE THE "QUESTION BOX" THE FEATURE OF YOUR MEETINGS

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

FURTHER INFORMATION

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

QUESTIONS ON "THE WINDING STAIRS"

I
To what extent is the origin of the symbolism of the Winding Stairs
generally known ? Is it essential that we discover the exact facts
in order to intelligently pursue our present study ?

Have there ever been advanced Satisfactory answers concerning the
Source of the symbolism ? To what extent should discussion of the
origin be considered of value?

Do you agree with the contention of early scholars that there was
actually a winding stair of three, five and seven steps in
Solomon's Temple? What can you offer in support of such contention
? Could the semi-circular stairway at the Gate Nieanor where the
Levites chanted the "Psalms of Degrees" have been taken as the
prototype of our winding stairs? What is your opinion concerning
this theory, What does Sir Charles Warren say concerning the
Staircase?

What is the "Theological Ladder" ? When and by whom was it
introduced into the ritual? What was the symbolism of the
"Theological Ladder" ? Have we anything similar to it in our ritual
of the present day ? What does Brother Haywood say about this
interpretation ?

II
What is the theory of the Operative origin of the symbolism? Can
this theory be depended upon? If not, why not?

Since the origin of the Winding Stair symbolism cannot be
accurately traced, how should we view the use of the stairs in our
work?

III
What does the use of the mystical numbers suggest to you ? Of what
is the Winding Stair as a whole a symbol ?

What is Pike's theory concerning the number "15"? What would happen
should our present Symbolic arrangement of the Winding Stairs be
changed ? Would a change be of any material advantage?

Is the use of numbers in symbolism of modern origin ? Can you give
a reason for even numbers being used to denote earthly or human
things and odd numbers to suggest divine or heavenly truths? Has
this always been the ease? What was "the number of the beast" and
its interpretation? How were ancient temples usually approached ?
Why should we feel gratified that the symbolism of odd numbers is
retained in Masonry?

What is the "triad" or "ternary" ? How was it considered by
philosophers?

How does Brother Haywood explain the number "5"?

Of what is the number "7" the symbol? How was knowledge divided in
medieval times ? What does Gould say about the seven sciences?

IV

How can our ritual be made to be of assistance to us in our
everyday life ?

What is our most familiar explanation of the "three steps" ? How
does Masonry help the individual ? Should a Mason feel that he is
being left apart and alone in his endeavors to improve his physical
and spiritual condition ?

What great lesson is revealed to us in the five steps?

How is the group of seven steps interpreted? Is this teaching a
necessity ? Does Masonry approve ignorance ? Is the expression "I
have no time to read or study" one of yours ? How did Burritt,
Franklin, Livingstone and others secure their education? What grows
out of ignorance?

V
Do you believe that the human race is still progressing ? What must
we avoid in measuring progress ? In what manner alone can the human
race progress ? What are your answers to Brother Haywood's closing
questions?

SUPPLEMENTAL REFERENCES

THE BUILDER:

Vol. II. The Winding Stairway, p. 239.

Vol. IV. Symbolism of the Three Degrees, p. 266.

Mackey's Encyclopedia:

Legend of the Winding Stairs, p. 850; Middle Chamber, p. 483;
Winding Stairs, p. 850.

Mackey's Symbolism of Freemasonry:

Legend of the Winding Stairs, pp 210, 217, 218, 219, 225.

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum:

Vol. I, pp. 42, 57; vol. IV, p. 88; vol. XXIX, pp. 262, 299.

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

PART VII THE WINDING STAIRS

I
THE THREE, Five and Seven Steps have long been a puzzle to the
candidate and a problem to the Masonic scholar; in the present
connection there is no need that we go into the erudite debates
that have circled about the matter, for our main concern is with
that living and practical truth of which the stairs are a symbol.

Whence came this symbolism? To that question many answers have been
offered, some ingenious but none very convincing. Any discussion of
origin is valuable only as it throws light on the symbol itself.

Some scholars have contended, though not in recent years, that
there was a winding stair of three, five and seven steps in
Solomon's temple itself. It is thought that at the Gate Nicanor
there was a semicircular stairway leading from one court to
another, and that it was on the successive steps of this stair that
the Levites chanted the fifteen "Psalms of Degrees," specimens of
which remain in the Book of Psalms. But the archaeologists who have
learned most about the Temple as it actually existed, are generally
agreed that this stairway could not have been the prototype of the
three, five and seven steps as we find them in our Second degree.
Sir Charles Warren, as eminent in archeology as he was in Masonry,
writes that "there was a winding staircase, certainly, but this led
to little cells or chambers a few feet square in the thickness of
the Temple walls, in which the functionaries (Temple attendants)
kept their stores for the votive offerings." (A. Q. C. vol. 1, p.
42)

Other scholars have opined that the steps were originally the same
as the Theological Ladder, and had the same historical origin. This
Theological Ladder, which appears on our Tracing Board, and
represents by its seven rungs the three theological virtues of
Faith, Hope and Charity, and the four cardinal virtues of
Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice, was introduced into
the ritual, it is thought, by Martin Clare, in 1732. This ladder
was made to stand for the progress of the soul from the earthly to
the heavenly and it was looked upon as a Masonic type of a similar
symbol used in several of the Ancient Mysteries, (especially in
Mithraism) in Brahminism, etc., and it was generally held to be, in
its strictly Masonic form, a suggestion of that ladder which Jacob
saw in his vision, up and down which the angels came and went.
Inasmuch as this Theological Ladder symbolized progress, just as
does the Winding Stair, some argued that the latter symbol must
have come from the same sources as the former. This interpretation
of the matter may be plausible enough, and it may help toward an
interpretation of both symbols, but it suffers from an almost utter
lack of tangible evidence.

II
Other scholars of more modern views believe that the symbol may
have been devised by Operative Masons during the Saxon period in
England. It seems that the numbers three, five and seven were in
the air, so to speak, at that time, as is proved by Gould, who
gives examples to show that these numbers were grouped together in
laws, religious doctrines, superstitions, etc., "with startling
frequency," especially during the years 449-1066. But this latter
date, it will be seen, is some two centuries earlier than our
oldest Masonic record, consequently there can be no hope of tracing
the Winding Stair symbol to that time with any degree of accuracy.

Thus it is that we are thrown back upon conjecture; accepting that
alternative we may believe that the stairway was first used simply
because it was a necessary part of the symbolic temple of the
Second degree. Here were the pillars standing at the entrance on
the porch; yonder was the Middle Chamber, on a higher level; some
means of ascent was obviously needed to wet the candidate from one
to another.

III
But the difficulties in the way of accounting for the origin of the
symbol need not perplex us in searching for an interpretation, for
that is plain; the mystical use of numbers in the ascent suggests
to us that the climb itself is a divine task, worthy of the noblest
in man; the stair is as a whole a symbol of the progress of a man
from the low level of natural ignorance toward that high level of
spiritual power and insight symbolized by the Middle Chamber.

The number Fifteen itself can not have much mystical significance
because it is another one of those dreaded "American innovations"
which have given so much scandal to certain interpreters. In some
eighteenth century tracing boards the stair is composed of only
five steps, in others of seven. Preston divided them into 1, 3, 5,
7, 9 and 11, making 36 in all. The Hemming lectures, which replaced
Preston's at the time of the Union, struck out the group of 11
steps, thus reducing the number to 25. The American ritual, in
turn, further reduced the number to 15 by striking out the 1 and
the 9. Albert Pike was of the opinion that the 9 should have been
retained because he believed that the series 3, 5, 7 and 9 had a
very ancient and very precious meaning. "As long ago as the time of
Zarathustra," he writes, "the Irano-Aryan Soldier and King of
Bactria, 5,000 years or snore before our era, (this date is most
certainly wrong. H. L. H.) the Barecura, or bundle of twigs used in
the sacrifices, were bound by 3, 5, 7 and 9 twigs, and even then
the number 7 had a peculiar significance." I consider it a fine
thing that the architects of the House of The Temple at Washington,
which is a monument to Albert Pike quite as much as it is the
headquarters of the Scottish Rite of the Southern Jurisdiction,
have divided the steps that lead from the street to the entrance of
that noble building into groups of 3, 5, 7 and 9. But while it may
possibly be true that the original symbolism should have contained
the group of 9, the Winding Stair as it now exists in the Second
degree can never be changed; to do so would dislocate the entire
structure of the ritualism of the Second degree and it is doubtful
if the additional group would give us any additional meanings.

From ancient times numbers have been much employed in symbolism as
is proved by the records of all the ancient nations, philosophies,
and religions. For one reason or another, too complicated to
explain here, the even numbers were usually made to denote earthly
or human things while the odd numbers were revered as expressions
or suggestions of divine or heavenly truths. This was not always
the case for the early Christians used 888 as the number of Jesus;
but even they made 666 to stand for the human or demonic and 777 to
mean absolute perfection. It is now believed that the "number of
the beast" spoken of in the Book of Revelation, and given as 666 in
our Authorized version was really 616, which was the numerical
value of the words "Kaiser Theos," or "God Caesar," and referred to
the worship of the emperor. At any rate, with few exceptions,
number symbolism has always made the odd number to suggest that
which is divine or very noble and as such we may understand the use
of the odd numbers, 3, 5 and 7. An old Roman historian of
architecture notes that ancient temples were nearly always
approached by an odd number of steps because they led to the divine
precincts; we may rejoice that the builders of our symbolic temple
have also retained this symbolism because it is certain that there
is nothing more divine accessible to human feet than that which is
pictured for us in the Middle Chamber.

The Three, or triad, or ternery, is found scores of times
throughout the ritual, and it is bodied forth in the triangle, the
symbol of Deity. It would be impossible in the present space even
to hint at the wealth of instances in which the triad occurs in the
various symbolic systems of the past; we must satisfy ourselves
with the following paragraph from Pierson's "Traditions of
Freemasonry":

"The ternary is the first of unequal numbers. The triad, mysterious
number, which plays so great a part in the traditions of Asia, the
philosophy of Plato, the mysteries of all ages, an image of the
Supreme Being, includes in itself the properties of the two first
numbers. (that is, 1 plus 2, equals 3. H. L. H.) It was to
philosophers the most excellent and favorite number, a mysterious
type, revered by all antiquity and consecrated in the mysteries;
wherefore there are but three essential degrees among Masons, rho
venerate in the triangle the most august mystery  that of the
Sacred Triad, object of their homage and study."

Of the number 5 it is more difficult to speak. If we combine the
first even number, 2, and the first odd, 3, we have 5; if 2
represents the human, and 3 the divine, 5 would naturally suggest
a union of the two. It may also be that 5 won an early recognition
through being the number of the senses, even as our Monitor
suggests.

The number 7 usually stands for perfection, and it may not be
without meaning that in the V. S. L. it occurs, as one writer has
said, "an incredible number of times." During the medieval periods
knowledge was usually divided among seven branches of learning;
first was a group of three, called the trivium, and composed of
grammar, rhetoric, and logic; secondly was the quadrivium, which
comprised arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. It is
interesting to observe how our Monitorial interpretation of the
third group of steps preserves this old idea. Gould says that
during the same period these seven "sciences" were thought of as "a
number of steps leading to virtue, and finally to heaven."

IV
By this time you are probably beginning to ask yourself, What has
all this to do with Masonry? What is there in this that I can use
in my every day life? I hope you really have been asking this
question; if more Masons would always seek for the vital contact
between Masonry and the practical affairs and problems of
existence, the ritual would cease being the academic plaything
which it too often is; and I believe that in every symbol of the
work, even as in the present case, there is that which can be put
into immediate use, with the greatest benefit to the user; and
furthermore I believe that one need not stretch his imagination or
twist the ritual in order to do this.

Let us glance first at the group of three steps. The most familiar
explanation of this is that these represent the three degrees or
the three principal officers of the lodge. In either case the first
three steps suggest to the candidate that he is being helped on his
way by an organized-fraternity, represented by the degrees or the
officers, whichever it may be. Does not that have much to tell us?
Is not this one of the prime functions of Masonry? Instead of
leaving the individual to climb on alone it surrounds him with its
inspiration and its help just as the organized school stands back
of the child that begins the ascent to an education. No individual
Mason need fail in his attempt to lead the divine, the kingly,
life; a world-wide brotherhood, with its almost inexhaustible
resources, is at hand to help him. Have you ever kept that in mind
during dark days ? No Mason climbs alone, even from the start; the
entire Order, sensitive to his needs, and responsive to his call,
is ever ready to help him on and up.

If we glance at the next group of five steps we find another
teaching, equally valuable and quite as practicable, a teaching
that takes my breath away by its very boldness whenever I think of
it. Let us agree with the Monitor, that this group of steps now
represents to us (whatever it may have originally meant) the five
senses; in other words, our physical body with its organs,
functions and faculties. What does this mean ? Is it not this, that
the very body itself, when kept in control by thorough discipline
and when trained by education, may be a stepping stone toward the
highest life? This was an exceedingly bold teaching when first
promulgated, for it was at a time when religious teachers and
moralists were telling people that the body was evil in itself and
must be put under foot. Masonry does not despise the physical but
urges us to prepare it so as to serve as a stair-way toward the
noblest life.

The third group of seven steps is interpreted as referring to the
liberal arts and sciences; in other words, we are told that right
learning and culture of the mind will lead us up and on. This is a
teaching as badly needed now as ever because so many men tend to
make light of knowledge, or to excuse themselves for not having it.
But Masonry condemns this attitude, teaching us as it does in this
connection that ignorance is a sin. If we lay our prejudices aside
here and are brave enough to face the facts, I believe that we must
agree with Masonry. We may say that we have no time to read, or to
learn; the fallacy of this is proved by the number of men about us
who are as busy as we, yet manage to get an education in odd
moments. We may say that we have not the opportunities for securing
an education, that we can not go to school, or that we can not buy
books. We do not need to go to school; we can turn our bedroom into
a school and be our own teacher, like Elihu Burritt, or Benjamin
Franklin, or David Livingstone. Nor do we need to buy books; they
can always be borrowed from public libraries or from our friends.
When we remember how superstition, crime, fanaticism, disease,
poverty and kindred evils grow out of ignorance, we can well afford
to study again the lessons of the Winding Stairs.

V
The Winding Stairs, as a whole, is a symbol of progress. When is a
man progressing? Let Ruskin answer: "He alone is advancing in life
whose heart is getting softer, whose blood warmer, whose brain
quicker, whose spirit is entering into living peace." In spite of
the Great War, which recently dragged its bloody coils across the
world, we may still believe that the race progresses, that

"Step by step since time began
We see the steady gain of man."

But we must not fall into the error of measuring progress by merely
mechanical achievements as the custom is; the race as a race goes
forward only as mankind as a whole becomes possessed of those
qualities described by Ruskin. Do you not believe that Masonry has
a leading role to play in this real progress of mans Can you think
of a better recipe for advancement than Masonry's to unite with
others for co-operation, to control the passions and discipline the
faculties, to enlighten the mind, and to keep ever before one a
great ideal, as is suggested by the Holy of Holies? Are you giving
your private share to Masonry's contribution to world Progress?

THE TOMB OF HIRAM, KING OF TYPE

BY BRO. CHARLES B. SINDEN, BERMUDA

ANCIENT PHOENICIA or Tyre has bequeathed to the world many
interesting relics of a civilization long buried beneath the dust
of the ages, many of which are of special interest to our Masonic
Fraternity. Tyre and Joppa; two of her ancient cities, are names
well known, while her tombs, architecture, metal castings and
pillars hold for us more than a passing interest. The purpose of
this writing is to call attention to the tomb in the vicinity of
Tyre, which the natives call "Kabir-Hiram" or the Tomb of Hiram.

Hiram, King of Tyre, is a character familiar to all Masons. His
identity is clearly established in Sacred History as also by the
corroborative evidence of Josephus the Hebrew historian. Unlike
some stories of the other Hiram, knowledge of him is placed beyond
tradition. The son of Abibal, he was contemporary with, and a
friend of, both David and Solomon, Israelitish kings; the latter a
very important figure in Masonic lore. Early in David's reign he
supplied "cedar trees and carpenters and masons and they built
David a house." 2 Sam. 5:11. Forty years later Solomon applied to
his father's old friend and received an equally courteous response
for "Hiram sent to Solomon saying, I have considered the things
which thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire
concerning timber of cedar and concerning timber of fir . . . and
they two made a league together." 1 Kings 5. Josephus tells us that
the correspondence regarding these matters was in his day,
preserved in the archives of the Kingdom of Tyre.

The ancient Phoenicians seem to have been contented with tombs of
a quiet character ordinarily constructed beneath the surface in a
series of vaults without elaboration. They did, however, during
some periods probably remote, erect monuments to stand as permanent
memorials and at the same time to be attractive to the eye. Well
acquainted with Egypt they would be aware of her obelisks, pyramids
and lofty tombs; of the tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus the
famous Greek city of Asia Minor with its Ionic columns and pyramid,
then one of the seven wonders of the world; and of the tomb of the
Maccabees in Modin where "Simon also built a monument upon the
sepulchre of his father and his brethren and raised it aloft to the
sight, with hewn stone behind and before. Moreover he set up seven
pyramids, one against another, for his father and his mother and
his four brethren. And in these he made cunning devices, about the
which he set great pillars." 1 Macc. 13. It is not strange then,
that we find such a tomb as Renan describes in his "Mission de
Phenicie," viz., the Burdj-el-Bezzak, which was evidently
constructed to resemble the pyramids. It is situated near to Amrith
the ancient Marathus, and is an edifice built of large blocks of
stone and rising to a height of thirty-two feet above the plain.
Wit is thought that originally the cubic mass was surmounted by a
pyramidical roof, many stones from which were found scattered
around. The height of the monument would thus be increased to about
sixty-five feet.

The tomb, however, of most interest to Masons is that already
mentioned and which Robinson in "Researches in Palestine" names as
the "Tomb of Hiram." Renan says that the name is modern and no
great importance can be attached to it, but Prof. Rawlinson in his
"History of Phoenicia" declares the monument to be undoubtedly
ancient, perhaps as ancient as any in Phoenicia, whilst Perrot and
Chipiez in "Hist. de l'Art" conclude that "if the tomb does not
actually belong to the time of Solomon's contemporary and ally, at
any rate it is anterior to the Greco-Roman period." The tomb itself
according to Renan, is composed of eight courses or layers of huge
stones superimposed one upon another, some being twelve feet long
and seven broad and three deep. The four lower courses are almost
regularly one on top of the other while the fifth projects
considerably beyond the fourth, and the three remaining courses
slightly retreat as they rise after the style of a pyramid. The
effect is that of a stele or pillar, more than the usual type of
pyramid, the width at the top being only a trifle smaller than at
the base. The monument is a solid mass and a rectangular oblong or
"oblong square" fourteen feet long by eight and a half feet wide.
A flight of steps cut in the rock which forms part of the base in
the two lowest courses leads down to a sepulchral niche where
possibly once reposed the body of our Grand Master. This monument
has no inscription or figure of any kind engraved upon it which is
of course no evidence that it is not the tomb of the one to whom
tradition assigns it.

There may not be any especial advantage in seeking to prove this
tomb to be the identical last resting place of Hiram but at the
same time there is considerable interest and for a number of
reasons tradition may be correct. First, because tradition is
usually, possibly correct. Eastern people preserved a great deal of
history in this way which cannot be ignored because not written or
printed as our modern records. Then its situation near to Tyre
suggests unmistakably that it was erected to an important personage
of that city. Taking that together with its undoubted age we have
a substantial link in the chain of evidence. The lack of figures of
gods or goddesses on its surface supplied us with another point.
Hiram coming into contact with Solomon and learning of the True God
for whose Temple his workman and materials were furnished, would
probably have become a worshipper of Jehovah and thus no figures of
heathen deities would appear on his tomb as have been found on some
others. The "oblong square" may or may not be admitted as evidence
but it is of distinct Masonic interest. The rugged grandeur of the
tomb seems fitting to the character of this early king. Taking
these things together they form a piece of cumulative
circumstantial evidence in favor of assuming that the monument
described is in reality that of Hiram, King of Tyre.

WHAT CAN MASONRY DO FOR DEMOCRACY?

BY BRO GARY C. BURKE, J.G.W., IDAHO

Democracy stands for the idea of rule by the many, by the people.
Autocracy, the opposite idea, stands for rule by one man. These two
ideas are as opposite as the poles; as opposite as light and
darkness; as opposite as black and white. They can no more be
reconciled than darkness can exist beneath the mid-day sun; and
when once the idea of democracy was implanted in the heart of man
it could no more be removed than could an universe of darkness
extinguish a candle light. Hear what Abraham Lincoln has said of
this: "Two principles have stood face to face from the beginning of
time and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common
right of humanity and the other the divine right of kings."

How many of the problems, great and small, confronting our
government could be so much better settled, and how many
misunderstandings in doing so could be avoided, if we would
endeavor to exercise temperance in our attitude toward the other
man's viewpoint; if we would endeavor to give him credit for the
same honesty of purpose that we think we possess. How many more
good men and true could be enlisted in the ranks of those who
manage the affairs of our government if we would have the fortitude
to endure the annoyance and even the financial loss incident to a
more active participation in the affairs of government. What nobler
work can Masonry do than to teach its members that they should not
pussyfoot when men are needed to lead some great movement which
wilt make our country a better place to live in?

It has become the fashion to sneer at the "politician." I will not
enlarge upon this. you all know that it is true, and you all know
why. But let us have the justice to recognize the fact that the man
who aspires to office and who is elected to it, is just as good or
just as bad as the man who elects him. The American politician, the
American officeholder, is the reflection of the American people.
This may not be a pleasant thing to think about sometimes, but let
us be just and honest about ,it and set ourselves to remedy it. In
doing so we will be good Masons. In short, I would have Masonry
seek, in a practical way, to apply its teachings towards making
good citizens.

He who prophesies in this day is foolhardy. But I will say this:
Great changes are coming as a result of the war. Changes in the map
of the world, changes in men's views concerning government sin
places where no one dreamed a few years ago that any was possible.
Changes in men's views as to personal responsibility in government.
Many things that men have come to look upon as established forever
will stand in a different light in the future. I firmly believe
that all things must hereafter stand in the rays of the great
searchlight of Truth to determine their utility for aiding in man's
progress. And those things which do not bear well its scrutiny will
be discarded Masonry among them, if it does not measure up. Men in
future will be too much occupied with real, big things, to bother
with mere talk and theories. Keep this in mind democracy must have
men on fall. Masonry can make them, and it must, or fail.
