THE BUILDER, JUNE 1917

CORRESPONDENCE CIRCLE BULLETIN---No. 9
DEVOTED TO THE "STUDY SIDE OF MASONRY"
Edited by Bro. Robert I. Clegg

(Note: The following article is one of a series prepared by Brother
Robert I. Clegg for reading and discussion in Lodges and Study
Clubs. This series is based upon the N. M. R. S. "Bulletin Course
of Masonic Study" and consists of a leading article each month by
Brother Clegg to which is appended a list of references pertaining
to the same subject from which the members of the Lodges and Study
Clubs adopting our Course of Study may prepare additional papers
for reading and discussion at the same meeting at which Brother
Clegg's paper is used.

We recommend that the Lodges and Study Clubs use the current paper
at their study meeting one month later than its appearance in the
CORRESPONDENCE CIRCLE BULLETIN to give their members time for the
preparation of additional papers.

Members of the N. M. R. S. living in communities where the
"Systematic Study of Masonry" has not been taken up either in their
Lodge or in a Study Club are earnestly invited to correspond with
the Secretary's office and learn how easily the plan may be put
into operation in their own community.

The plan may be taken up at any stage of the Course. It is not
necessary to start with the first installment of the series. The
course is based upon a few books--Mackey's Encyclopedia and the
Bound Volumes of THE BUILDER--in order that Lodges and Study Clubs
may enter upon the work systematically, and at the least possible
expense.

Interested Masons are requested to write us for information. Our
"STUDY CLUB DEPARTMENT" is organized for the purpose of assisting
in the organization and conduct of the study of Masonry in Study
Clubs or as a long-neglected but necessary feature in monthly Lodge
meetings.)

THE WORK OF A LODGE -- RECOGNITION AND INSTRUCTION
By Bro. R.I. Clegg

It is a common saying that some person or another is on the
"inside." We mean that he is informed of whatever is going on.
Whatever the business may be it is known by the one on the
"inside." If on the other hand we say of any person that he is on
the "outs" with anybody we mean at least the very opposite of what
is understood by being on the "inside."

ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC MASONRY

There is just about the same degree of difference between being on
the "inside" and being on the "outs" as there is between Esoteric
and Exoteric Masonry. In fact the two words are derived from the
Greek language and mean nothing more than "Internal" and "External"
Masonry, and are related to each other as the flesh and the rind of
any fruit, the combination making up what is known to us under the
general name of Masonry.

We are told that the early teachers of philosophy divided their
courses of instruction into what was taught to the few and what was
imparted to the many. Their followers were divided therefore into
two classes according to the degree of initiation they had reached.
In the primary stages they received what was practically public
knowledge but later on they got an advanced education.

Of such was said to be the system of Pythagoras and he in turn is
asserted to have taken it from the practice of the priests of Egypt
whose instruction was twofold, the one given to the people in
general and the other limited to the inner circle of the priesthood
and those persons holding royal office or in line for such
positions. The ancient teachers of Greece used the same method, a
popular discussion for the people in general and a thorough and
intimate explanation for the enlightened few who were esteemed
worthy of more than elementary information.

From these old customs we Masons have inherited two channels of
instruction, the esoteric and the exoteric. The one relates to such
of our ceremonies as are of necessity withheld from the public, the
other pertains to such matters as may be disclosed. For instance
the method of initiating, passing and raising, is esoteric but the
laying of a cornerstone is exoteric. Instructions to the initiates
whereby they may become known to Masons as Masons are for obvious
reasons esoteric, but the general code of laws is exoteric. Much
that is taught is transmitted from mouth to ear only and this part
of the "ritual" or "work" is esoteric, but there is considerable
printed information also and this is of course exoteric.

ORAL INSTRUCTION

Masons are familiar with the way the details of the work are given
and received. Word by word the secrets are handed on from the
expert to the candidate. Given in this way they make a deep and
lasting imprint upon the memory. Nay more, they make an evident
impression upon the speakers themselves that is not always fully
understood. Have you not often seen a brother read a thing many and
many a time but seldom does he do it twice alike ? Now and again he
stumbles over a word that never before had troubled him. In fact he
must read carefully with his eyes closely attached to the book or
he goes astray. But note the "work" which he has got from an able
instructor or from intimate study of the way the ritual is
rendered. This has sunk into the mind and is a part of the brother.

The true Mason needs no changing passwords to protect his lodge
door, his knowledge is as himself. Not a garment easily dropped
from the wearer's body but indeed it is as his own flesh and blood,
his very bone and sinew. So near truly is Masonry to the Mason when
taught orally and well, from the mouth of the well-informed to the
listening ear of the receptive and intelligent.

We are also reminded by the oral method of communication of that
early time when books were few if not indeed unknown. Then the
memory was charged with holding the tenets of faith and the
foundations of philosophy. Here we see the real necessity for a
thorough symbolism if only as a means of helping the memory. A
symbol properly understood was as a page in a book, full of wisdom
for those holding the key and fully informed.

As the example of a loving mother lives in the child whose eyes
follow her in early training so does the sound of the instructive
tongue beget habits for good when Masonically heard. How important
it is that all Masonic work be well done, with all the effort of
goodwill energized by devotion. Prayerful is all Masonic labor.

MODES OF RECOGNITION

One of the oldest forms of recognition is that common between
soldiers where there is the exchange of a sign and a countersign,
the latter answering the former and thereupon the two persons, the
one the challenger and the other the challenged, satisfy each other
of their identities and standing. Signs to confirm the
understanding and to satisfy the doubtful are old as Holy Writ.
Back in the Old Testament is the rainbow of promise; that the Lord
was with Israel is shown by the calamities that befell the
Egyptians; Gideon asked and received a sign, and to confirm the
message of Samuel signs were afforded Saul. Profane history
likewise abounds with customs and incidents that by sign or word
show how from the one person to another there can be an open
expression conveying a message as if by words.

Here and there in what remains to us of the ancient mysteries, the
primitive Freemasonry, there are glints of light telling plainly of
the sign language. One of the old writers tells in fact that if
there be anyone present who has been initiated as was he, and will
give the sign, he would be told what had been kept as a secret. And
in another place he told of one who walked with a hesitating step
whereby those who knew the sign could recognize him.

Of such indeed are born the ages-old signs that lock in secrecy the
doings of Masonry and the meetings of Masons.

TEST AND TEST OATHS

Visitors to Masonic lodges must be prepared to undergo a thorough
examination of their claims. Some Grand Lodges require that at the
examination the visitor shall produce some evidence that the lodge
from which he hails is in good and regular standing as well as
himself. Such evidence is usually documentary in the form of a
Grand Lodge certificate signed by the Grand Secretary to the effect
that such and such a lodge has been duly constituted and so remains
upon the roster of regular lodges. A certificate that the visitor
himself has been properly initiated, passed and raised, is often
attached to the former document though it is sometimes found
detached. A receipt for the current dues is also to be expected if
it is intended to ascertain whether the visitor can show on paper
at least whether he remains free of all debts and claims up to
date.

Before going further, and it may be before going quite so far, a
test oath is administered to the visitor in which he asserts that
he is all that he ought to be. A series of questions are then asked
of him and upon the degree of satisfaction given the examining
committee depends the visitor's admission or exclusion from that
lodge.

Some curious instances are easily recalled as to the practice
followed in various lodges. A Past Master visiting one lodge was
long and critically examined in each and every detail of the
"work." So long and searching was the test that he inwardly chafed
over what seemed clearly to him a very grave doubt of his good
faith and his regular standing. But at length one other member of
the committee interfered with the assertion that he was satisfied
and he could see no reason for this minute probing into every petty
peculiarity known to the visiting brother. "But," said the
examiner, "I never before had the chance to find out all about the
work of the State from which he comes!" In this case he was not
finding out whether the visitor was a Mason. That was not his main
object. He was curious but not courteous.

Another equally unpardonable error was the case of a visitor who
reported that his examination was so delayed before it begun and so
slow before it concluded that it actually overtook the closing of
the lodge, the committee and the visitor being surprised at their
labors by the retiring brethren.

Cases are not rare where brethren have actually been timid at
undergoing what is sometimes an ordeal far from comfortable. One
traveling man for years visited no lodges because owing to his
information that all lodges were very strict, and owing too to the
fact that he left his home town immediately after receiving his
degrees, he fully realized his shortcomings, and therefore had not
the temerity to venture upon an examination. In one town he met an
old friend who invited him to go to lodge with him. He protested
his ignorance but was persuaded to go. He actually showed up well
at his examination and was encouraged to make a confidant of the
investigating committee, one of whom spent an hour or so in further
instructing him. He was very grateful and left with happy
anticipations of many future evenings with the brethren in the
towns along his route.

The committee have every right to thoroughly satisfy themselves
that the visitor is fully qualified from all Masonic points of
view. He is not entitled to the benefit of any doubt. It is indeed
far better that ten good Masons are forbidden to enter than that
one unworthy applicant is allowed admittance.

But the visitor is entitled to a kindly examination, a patient
hearing at the very least. He should receive no help in the
essentials a Mason should know but it is well for the Committee to
remember that the best of men do err and the wisest go astray. He
who has lost a tight rein upon Masonic memories for phrase and word
accuracy may yet be keen enough in his recollections of what took
place. Facts stick closer than mere phrases. When the visitor fails
on phrases he should be thoroughly tried otherwise before
rejection.

MONITORS

The Monitor is a book of instruction for the Mason. As usually
printed it contains such ceremonies as these approved for the
conduct of funerals. Sometimes the work also contains regulations
of one kind and another and there may further be brief historical
data. From the eighteenth century to the present time very many of
these useful guides for the craft have been prepared. They have a
very close family resemblance and are familiar to all Masons.

The authors of these books have had the difficult task of preparing
material to be readily memorized and at the same time complete.
Thus on the one side beset by the necessity for brevity and on the
other side anxious for thoroughness, the choice has been
troublesome. A comparison of the various monitors shows that the
"charges" for each of the three degrees are nearest akin, there
being little or no variation among those examined. The funeral
service is an easy second to the charges. In general it may be said
that the changes are in the way of additions. Many of these are
bracketed where the improving hand of the compiler had inserted
here and there some extension of the original thought. Perhaps the
greatest latitude is in what is known as the "Apron Lecture." Of
these there are many in prose and verse. Few if any of the latter
find their way into the standard monitors though not without much
merit in several instances.

HEALING

"Healing" is a Masonic word meaning to legalize. If for any reason
a person has irregularly received a degree then he must be healed
in some way approved by competent authority. Of course a person
receiving a part in some ceremony performed in a body without due
authority, as in a spurious or clandestine organization claiming to
be a lodge, is much worse off than he who has by some mere
technical blunder fallen short of full legal requirements in
getting a degree. In the latter case the trouble might be perhaps
easily enough corrected by giving the candidate an obligation to
cover the point in question, a pledge of faithfulness being perhaps
all that would be necessary. But in the other case the ceremony is
surely void and worthless, the only likely course would be to
formally renounce the condition set up by the ceremony and then in
a regular lodge receive the degree in due form. This would be done
under the direction of the authorized persons designated for that
purpose by the Grand Lodge. While it is true that the candidate may
have been innocent enough in his intentions such cases are always
to be handled carefully and no step should be taken that will not
in every way meet the scrutiny of the Masonic authorities. It is
better to be sure than sorry.

GRAND HONORS

Long ago there were two methods of giving the Grand Honors, one
being reserved for the lodge room and the other for use in public.
Both of these are of recent years seen at public ceremonies, in
fact the old public sign seems to be gradually edged out of the way
by the one so long given privately.

Of the one form of Grand Honors common to the lodge room nothing
need be said. It is too well known for description. Of the other it
is enough to remind the reader that it closely resembles the sign
given in the funeral ceremony. The arms are crossed on the breast,
the left uppermost, and the open palms of the hands sharply
striking the shoulders. The hands are then raised above the head
and the palms strike each other. Then the arms are brought quickly
down and the hands strike the thighs. This is done three times. It
will be recalled that the difference between this "three times
three" and that of the funeral ceremony is that the hands in the
latter instance are not brought together noisily. Grand Honors will
be found to differ in the various Jurisdictions. These of course
refer to my own home State of Ohio.

Here it may be said that while with us the common expression of
applause is the clapping of the hands, yet there are Masonic bodies
elsewhere where we are told the usual sound of approval is the
striking of the hand on the knee.

And here too may be mentioned the curious Masonic drinking customs
that to our English brethren are esoteric. The glass is held while
certain familiar Masonic signs of the first degree are made as well
as they can be under the circumstances and there is also the
inevitable three times three.

IMPOSTORS

What has been said of the tests of Masonry apply to the treatment
of imposture. From the earliest time the brethren have been warned
of impostors and as the old Constitutions tell us "You are
cautiously to examine a strange brother in such a method as
prudence shall direct you, that you may not be imposed upon by an
ignorant, false pretender, whom you are to reject with contempt and
derision, and beware of giving him any hints of knowledge." Such
was the practice in 1723 and it is a wise rule to follow at the
present day.

Impostors may be those who never received the work regularly. This
class of pretenders is as a rule handled easiest. Another and more
dangerous fraud is the expelled person who was once in good
standing. He is the one who has forgotten his papers or he has some
to which he has no valid claim or right. Several of the larger
cities have been victimized to the extent that this practice is no
longer profitable but the old game is still heard of from time to
time and the pests persist. These parasites should not be
encouraged by silent submission.

COWAN

The dictionaries fail us at this word. All sorts of sources and
meanings have been applied to it. It is purely Masonic and of an
age overlapping several centuries. Probably the most pertinent of
meanings is that of an "intruder." It certainly alludes to one
outside the pale of the craft, one classed with eavesdroppers and
spies, unauthorized and unwelcome. Mackey has collected many
promising allusions but the probability is that like many other
evidences of age to be found in our ceremonies this oldtime word
has been retained by the Craft when it has ceased to possess its
grip upon popular use. It is one more link that binds us to the far
remote past.

REFERENCES
Mackey's Encyclopedia:
Look up subjects under same title as sub-titles in above article.
The Builder:
Masonic Signs, Vol. II, p. 253.
Method of Instruction in Ireland, Vol. II, p. 8.
Oaths, Vol. II, Dec. C. C. B. p. 2 and pps. 94, 190 and 348.
Cowan. (See following article.)

COWAN

The craft was divided into several ranks or divisions in the old
Trade Incorporations. There were several classes of members. The
distinctions thus made appear hitherto to have been only partially
understood, and the light thrown upon them by the Minutes before us
is both interesting and important. The building trade permits of
specialization--indeed, good workmanship almost demands it,--and
the classification in olden times is still to a large extent the
classification adopted by the division of labour of the present
day.

In respect of the work itself there were the quarrier, the waller
or rough mason, the hewer, and the builder, and any workman might
devote himself to one or other of these as divisions of the trade
of construction in stone. Theoretically it was possible to have a
guild or fraternity for each, but practically the quarrier and
rough mason were looked upon as the labouring class, while the
builder and especially the hewer were looked upon as the skilled
artisans, and in more intimate relation to the designer or
architect, whose sphere they frequently trenched upon and occupied.

The hewer and builder were both masons par excellence, though the
hewer was specially the freemason "lathomos vocatos ffre maceons"
in contrast to "lathomos vocatos ligiers" (1396 vide Bro. Rylands
in Masonic Magazine, 1882). The English statute of 1459, II. Henry
VIII., C. XXII., shews that the rough mason or waller or builder
with unhewn stone and without lime, i. e., the Scottish cowan, was
a lower class tradesman according to the wages then fixed. This is
borne out by the English statutes 7 Henry VIII. C, V. 1515, and 2
and 3 Ed. VI. 1548.

It is abundantly evident * * * that this word cowan, or cowaner,
like most of the operative terms in masonry, is of Scottish origin.
Scotland is naturally a land of stone building, and it need not be
a matter of surprise that the employment of cowans was more
frequent in the Burgh of Canongate than the Burgh of Edinburgh. The
latter was a walled city. The former was a suburban community. The
latter delighted in closely huddled together houses and tenements.
The former was a wide area of houses with gardens and cultivated
ground attached. It was evidently in the former that the drystone
dyker and rough stone mason would be most in demand. The earliest
use of the word cowan in English masonry, operative or speculative,
appears to be in the Second Edition, 1738, of the Book of
Constitutions. It is possible that the equivalent in the MS.
Constitutions or elsewhere was layer or lowen, but this line of
enquiry has not been pursued.

The truth is that the word is an exact parallel in use and an
antithesis in meaning to "square." Square is an adjective, verb and
noun, and the person who makes a thing square can be called a
squarer. Cowan means round or hollow as an adjective, a hollow or
something hollow as a noun, and a cowaner is the hollow builder or
the man who uses round unsquared stones for building purposes,
whether walls or huts. In the west of Scotland the word has
received a collateral meaning colloquially in being applied to
large hollow fishing boats. Thus:--"When the Earl (Argyll) came to
Allangreg in this critical juncture he resolved to man out four
prizes he had got to sea and thirty cowans or fisher boats" etc.
(Woodrow's Hist. ii. 535.)

I have Professor Mackinnon's authority for saying that "The word
caban, later caban, is a well established word in Gaelic literature
with the meaning hollow, crevice, etc. In dialect the sound easily
becomes cobhan, co'an, the first a being short. In Gaelic 'air,'
like the English 'er,' indicates a personal agent, so that cowaner
is thus a very natural phrase for a hollow builder or drystone
diker." In Welsh the word takes the form of cwm, a combe or dingle.
There are several places in Dumfriesshire and Galloway called
cowan, caven and cavens. In Ireland there is County Cavan. The
original stem is Ku, to contain, whence come the Latin cavea, and
the English cave, Cam referring to a curved wheel, Camber a curved
surface, cameo, camera, and a whole host of words relating to
curvature or hollowness.--Bro. Alfred A. Arbuthnot Murray in Ars
Quatuor Coronatorum, Vol XXI.

"Cowan was used in Scottish masonry at a very early epoch to
signify a mason without the word, and it was imported to English
masonry apparently by Dr. Anderson in 1723 or later."
--Vibert, p. 11.

NOTICE TO ALL STUDY GROUPS

As it is the custom with nearly all Lodges throughout the United
States and Canada to "call off" during the months of July and
August, it has been deemed advisable for this reason to discontinue
the "Correspondence Circle Bulletin" in the July and August issues
of THE BUILDER. By so doing we shall not run ahead of the Lodges
and Study Clubs who are using the "Bulletin Course of Masonic
Study" and they will be enabled to take up their studies in
September just where they now leave them off.


MODERN MASONRY: 1717 AND 1917
BY BRO. JOHN LEWIN MCLEISH, OHIO

Sunday, June 24, 1917, St. John Baptist's Day, is the two hundredth
anniversary of Speculative or Modern Masonry. Then was established
the Mother of all Grand Lodges inchoating an invisible empire which
today girdles the globe. It was the consummation of an evolution in
the greatest of the world's brotherhoods which had had genesis long
before. The Speculative or Scholar Masons then relegated to the
background the old Operative or Practical Masons, who for
generations had transmitted among themselves by word of mouth,
under pledge of secrecy, the quaint, complex and curious philosophy
and secret doctrine of Freemasonry inherited from the Cathedral
Builders of medieval days, who themselves had it from the
Comacines, the lineal descendants of the old Collegia Romana, and
so on back into the dim dead past of Hittite predominance, if we
may believe the claims of Masonic Archaeologists and Historians--
Gould, Hughan, Ravenscroft, Findel, Rylands, Belzoni and others.

Since England gave birth to the Mother of all Grand Lodges, it is
there we must turn for the history of a transition which in the
passing of the centuries has made Masonry a World Force.

In England, during the last years of the seventeenth century, there
was upon the part of the Clergy both Protestant and Roman Catholic,
a marked tendency to play politics. Rather reluctantly the dominant
hierarchy, which was the Anglican (Episcopalian), had acquiesced in
the accession of James II to the throne. Their hesitancy seemed
justified, when in 1687 James issued a Religious Edict affording
ample opportunities for Catholic activities throughout his kingdom.
In consequence, the Anglicans declared against the House of Stuart
successfully.

Protestant William of Orange, the successor of James, contributed
another shock to the Anglicans. Instead of rewarding them by making
their denomination the official Religion of State, he proclaimed
universal religious tolerance. Under his new edict, it became
possible for a new element to enter--the Dutch Presbyterians,--so
forming a hypotenuse for a Clerical Triangle of Dissension--
Anglicans, Roman Catholics and Dutch Presbyterians. Each wished the
National Supremacy in England. All contributed to a verbal warfare
and indulged in intrigues of a most unchurchly character.

Now while these Churchmen quarreled among themselves, the plain
people who made up the backbone of the Nation were thinking. Quite
disgusted with the unreasonable assumptions of Clergy of all
Creeds, reluctantly concluding that their ghostly advisers were all
dogma-bound, narrow, selfish and top-heavy with pride, these plain
people needed only King William's Edict of 1695 permitting freedom
of the press, to loose their tongues and give the Intellectuals
free play.

A seed had been sown. The English people began to find themselves.
National life assumed a more moral tone. Superficiality and shams
gave way to an actual practice of moral and social virtues. The
plain people exerted themselves to relegate into fitting oblivion
the memory of the licentiousness which had characterized national
life under Charles II and James II, the predecessors of their new
monarch. An Age of Frivolity was supplanted by an Age of
Self-Respect.

The Spirit of the Times found ready expression through the
journalists and pamphleteers and those convivial conversationalists
who met men of all classes in the London Taverns, "the busy man's
recreation, the idle man's business, the melancholy man's
sanctuary, and the stranger's welcome; the broachers of more news
than hogsheads, more jests than news."

Masonic thought of the day found its outlet through Richard
Steele's "Tatler," Jonathan Swift's Satires, and Dr. Desaguilier's
Natural Philosophy. Perhaps Joseph Addison crystallized conditions
then existent in his famous sentence: "We have just enough religion
to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another."

It was as though to answer that very need that the "Gentle
Philosophie of Masonry," whose animating spirit is brotherly love,
took on a sudden impetus and was reincarnated as a Living Force in
National Life through the Great Revival of 1717. In the Masonic
Lodges of 1700 were to be found men of all Creeds and all Religious
Sects. Says Findel, a German Masonic historian,

"Originating from the Fraternity of Operative Masons, the Craft has
borrowed its emblems and symbols from the Building Corporations to
impart to its members moral truths and the rules of the Royal Art.
. . Freemasonry as it is understood at the present day, dawned into
existence. Retaining the spirit of the Ancient Brotherhood, their
fundamental laws and their traditional customs, yet all were united
in relegating Architecture and Operative Masonry to the station to
which they belonged, the customary technical expressions which are
excellently well suited to the Symbolic Architecture of the Temple,
were retained but figuratively withal, bearing a higher
significance."

The Report of the Proceedings of the First Grand Lodge of England
does not occupy much space. An official account written by Dr.
James Anderson says:

"1717--King George I. entered London most magnificently on Sept.
20, 1714, and after the rebellion was over, A. D. 1716, the few
Lodges at London, finding themselves neglected by Sir Christopher
Wren, thought fit to cement under a Grand Master as the Center of
Union and Harmony, viz. the Lodges that met,

"1. At the Goose and Gridiron Ale-House, in St. Paul's Churchyard.

"2. At the Crown Ale-House in Parker's Lane, near Drury Lane.

"3. At the Apple Tree Tavern in Charles St., Covent Garden.

"4. At the Rummer and Grapes Tavern in Channel Row, Westminster.

"They and some old Brothers met at the said Apple-Tree and having
put into the Chair the Oldest Master (now the Master of a Lodge)
they constituted themselves a Grand Lodge pro tempore.

"On St. John Baptist's Day, in the third year of King George, A. D.
1717, the Assembly and Feast of the Free and Accepted Masons was
held at the foresaid Goose and Gridiron Ale-House.

"Before dinner, the Oldest Master Mason (now the Master of a
Lodge), in the Chair, proposed a list of proper candidates: and the
Brethren by a Majority of Hands elected,

Mr. Anthony Sayre, Gentleman, Grand Master of Masons,

Mr. Jacob Lamball, Carpenter,

Capt. Joseph Elliot, Grand Wardens, who being invested with the
Badges of Office, and Power, by the said Oldest Master, and
installed, was duly congratulated by the Assembly, who pay'd him
the Homage."

While rather meagre in detail, this account is sufficient to give
us a mental concept of an event of unusual importance to Masons,
inasmuch as it paved the way for changes destined intimately to
affect the nature of the most influential of the World's Secret
Societies for years to come.

We can conjure up an imaginative picture of the scene, dominated by
such forceful personalities as Edward Strong, Anthony Sayer, George
Payne, John, Duke of Montagu, Dr. Desaguiliers, Thomas Morrice and
other prominent men of that period, some destined to become Grand
Masters. We can conceive in imagination the solemn procession of
those four old Lodges through the streets of London, the rich and
elegant attire of the Speculative Masons showing no more
resplendently than the plainer, simpler garb of the old Operatives,
because of the long, white Aprons then affected by the Craft. Nor
must we forget the Feast, some idea of which we may gather from a
Masonic Menu recorded by the historian Conder. Doubtless there were

"9 dishes of fowls, three in a dish.
"2 roasted and 1 boyled with oyster sauce.
"3 Yorkshire Hams.
"6 Geese, two in a dish.
"3 Turkeys.
"3 Chines.
"3 Dishes of Tongues and Udders.
"6 Dishes of Tarts.
"Wine:--12 Gallons of Red Port. 4 Gallons of White Port."

And need we add the self-satisfied testimony of one who attended
one of these early Grand Lodge Banquets ?

"We had a good dinner, and to their eternal honour, the brotherhood
laid about them very valiantly."

It is known that a caucus had previously prepared the several
transactions requisite to afford the Speculative element complete
control of this and succeeding Grand Lodges. It was realized by the
deeper thinkers like Payne, Desaguiliers and Anderson, that many
changes must be wrought to modernize the machinery of a very potent
force in national life. Through them it was arranged for a complete
overhauling of the Old Constitutions which had governed the
Operative Lodges of Freemasons for centuries. This was accordingly
done at the next session.

Dr. Anderson was ordered "to digest the Old Charges in a new and
better manner," a task in which he received valuable assistance
from both Payne and Desaguiliers. At the same time, many
"scrupulous Old Brothers" burned their ancient mss., and copies of
the Gothic Constitutions of old Operative Masonry, through excess
of zeal. Their idea was that the Secrets of Freemasonry might not
fall into the hands of the Profane, as all were and still are
styled who are not Masons.

When Dr. Anderson reported back to Grand Lodge the fruits of his
labors, fourteen brethren audited and approved them. His handiwork
known as the Constitution of 1723, in so far as it materially
widened the horizon of Freemasonry, can be considered as the most
important result of the Great Revival of 1717. It was the dividing
line between Ancient and Modern Masonry --the Operative and the
Speculative. Its most striking feature was to forevermore make
Masonry and Religious Tolerance synonymous. In consequence, since
1717 Masonry has had no quarrel with any religion of the world. In
the old Operative Charges there was a specific mandate to every
Mason "in every country to be of the Religion of that country
wherever it was." In this New Constitution, all Masons were
admonished "to keep the Religion in which all men agree, leaving
their particular opinions to themselves."

It is more than probable that the Speculative membership upon
securing control of the Order, wished to disarm once and forever
all opposition from any Church or Hierarchy. They aimed to promote
that Harmony, which is the strength and support of all
institutions, especially Masonry.

From recent bitter experience in England, they had witnessed the
destructive influence upon a Nation of a Quarrel of Creeds. They
had seen Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Presbyterian at swords'
points, to the great peril of Civil Government, the toppling of a
Dynasty and the unstable seat of its successor. They hoped that by
playing up to no particular Creed, that they might perpetually
disarm the antagonism of all. Another incentive impelling the
founders of Modern Masonry to substitute Monotheism for
Christianity as a requirement for admission behind the exclusive
doors of the Order, was to make eligible as brothers men of all
nations, a Universal Belief in the Supreme Being, the sine qua non
of Modern Masonry, per se eliminating Atheists and Irreligious.

Unfortunately, if the Old Landmarks or essence of Masonry were to
be retained, it was not then, and is not now possible to make
sufficient eliminations, to make our Institution persona grata to
one of the most powerful of the World Religions. That great
cardinal landmark of Masonry--SECRECY--sets up an insurmountable
barrier to a cardinal landmark of the Catholic Church--the
CONFESSIONAL. No true Mason can kneel at the Altar of Masonry, and
take the most solemn and binding obligations evolved by man, and
even pretend to answer the possible questions of the priest at the
Confessional.

Bro. Count Goblet D'Alviella adds three other reasons why Masonry
is unavoidably condemned by the Catholic Church, viz: "(1) in its
origin: the discarding of the obedience to the Church; (2) in its
purpose: the promotion of benevolence and morality independent of
religious differences; (3) in its pantheism and naturalism." This
probably best explains the early formal excommunications of Masonry
by the Bulls of Clement XVI in 1738, and Benoit XIV in 1751.

Of course, all well-informed Catholics know and admit that Masonry
in the United States, Great Britain and Germany at least, is made
up of tolerant, representative, law-abiding citizens, "picked men,"
quarreling with no religion, nor discussing Catholicism in their
lodges, much less seeking its overthrow. As is but natural, Masons
are staunch supporters of one particular institution essential to
that patriotism which is part of their philosophy--the Public
School. Aside from this little hobby, all their energies are given
to foster a spirit of brotherhood among men, peace among the
nations, and, greatest of all, Sweet Charity. The doors of Masonry
are as open to a worthy Catholic, as to a good Mohammedan, nor is
it the fault of Masonry that the priest says "Nay !"

Our Latin brethren of various countries, like France, Italy, South
America and Mexico, are often held up to us as fomentors of
revolution, and active participants in politics. There is a reason.
Let D'Alviella explain it. "It must not be forgotten that wherever
the Roman Church predominates, Freemasonry has to fight for its
very life, and Masons as such, have to protect themselves against
persecutions which threaten their private no less than their public
life. This ought to be kept in sight, when one sits in judgment
upon the anti-clerical dealings of Masons in Roman Catholic
countries."

Reverting to the New Constitution of 1723. The Old Brothers did not
take at all kindly to the elimination of Christianity as a
requirement for admission into Masonry. Nor did they like to see
their time honored old Gothic Constitutions set aside for Dr.
Anderson's more modern creation. As Rylands says: "To them it would
be a severance from one, perhaps the most treasured of their
ancient usages, in the use of the Roll of the Old Charges at the
making of a Mason."

There was ground for their dissatisfaction, for as Hughan says:
"The Charges are our title deeds and prove the continuity of the
Society through a very long period." However, the Speculatives had
their way: the Grand Lodge grew rapidly in authority and numbers.
The quality of the Masons of those early days was of the highest.

Just one attempt was made to manipulate the potential influence of
the Masonic Order for political purposes in England. The adherents
of the House of Stuart had never abandoned ah hope of ultimate
restoration. They scorned no means to undermine established
government in the country where they had once been dominant. Their
agents were at every Court of Europe. Liberal support was accorded
them by Catholic France and the Papal See, for upon the Stuart
success depended the future of English Catholicism as the religion
of the nation.

A most remarkable personality of this early eighteenth century
period was Philip, the young Duke of Wharton. Possessing a superior
education, a fascinating and debonair manner, and unusual
originality coupled with recklessness, with utter contempt for
public opinion and conventionality, this wealthy young rake and
profligate made friends wherever he went. He was guilty of many a
mad prank which would have been severely frowned upon if
perpetrated by one of lesser degree and influence. Having set
Dublin agog with his rakish performances, the Duke came to London,
at once taking Society by storm. Indeed for a time he was the most
talked of Lordling of His Majesty's domain. Being an astute
politician, he regarded with interest the growing power and
popularity of Freemasonry. At heart a sympathizer with the
Pretender, he was doubtless planning the future treachery which
wrecked an otherwise promising career.

An English authority, Rylands, advances what seems the most
probable explanation of the Duke's erratic conduct. "It appears to
me likely that Wharton imagined at a slightly later time, that it
would be possible to gain over the strong body of Freemasons, for
the Stuart cause, by his extraordinary power of fascinating all he
knew. For this purpose he became a Freemason and was ultimately
elected Grand Master in 1722."

It was on a St. John's Day when this youngest of Grand Masters
presided as toastmaster at a banquet, that he determined to sound
the brethren out by ordering the musicians to play that Stuart
slogan, "Let the King enjoy his own again!" only to hear the
orchestra abruptly silenced by the vociferous shouts of
disapproving Masons who were horrified at so flagrant an attempt to
inject politics into one of their Assemblies.

Another Masonic Faux Pas of the madcap Master was the spirited
defense he made of a Stuart adherent, Atterbury, Bishop of
Rochester, on trial for high treason. Wharton spoke long and
brilliantly in the House of Lords. At the next meeting of the Grand
Lodge he was roundly denounced. Philip, Duke of Wharton, never
again appeared before the august assembly of his Masonic brethren.

Filled with bitter resentment, the young Duke surreptitiously
inaugurated a new Jacobite movement intended to weaken and if
possible destroy Freemasonry by the greatest of all weapons,
ridicule. His fertile brain it was which conceived and founded, the
"Ancient Order of Gormogans" claiming Chinese antecedents and a
pedigree far antedating the Building of King Solomon's Temple. Nor
did he blush to borrow boldly many of the Masonic Symbols and
Emblems. Dominated by his peculiar personality this society started
in jest, waxed strong and was the forerunner of an even more
determined attempt by the Jacobites and Jesuits, in the nature of
another widely exploited society which flourished in 1741-2--the
"Scald Miserable Masons." Considerable money was expended by both
societies for magnificent pageants the tour de force of which was
burlesqueing the solemn processionals of the Freemasons. This led
to a custom which has never been abandoned. Masons except under
dispensation of the Grand Master, parade publicly only at funerals.
The Gormogans perished simultaneously with their creator, Wharton,
in 1731. Two great artists, Benoit and Hogarth, have immortalized
these anti-masonic organizations in their engravings.

The subsequent career of Philip, Duke of Wharton, was what one
might anticipate from so eccentric an individual. He vanished from
London. Trace of him was lost until Lord Mahon wrote from the
continent: "Lord North and the Duke of Wharton had lately gone
abroad and openly attached themselves to the Pretender's Party, and
now each separately renounced the Protestant and embraced the Roman
Catholic Faith."

The good-natured Stuart exile put up with Wharton's wildness until
patience ceased longer to be a virtue, when he sent him "upon a
mission to Spain." This was a polite and convenient way of exiling
him.

In his new environment, the Duke found a second wife. For a time
peace and quietude was his. Eventually his wanderlust again
asserted itself. He asked for and received from the Pretender a
liberal allowance, alleging that his open espousal of the Stuart
Cause had cost him wealth and standing in England. As this was
true, he received a liberal douceur of many thousand pounds. Upon
this he lived like a wastrel Prince in Belgium until so reduced
that he had to practice an unworthy subterfuge upon a Portuguese
friend to secure decent raiment. Broken in spirit and means, the
Duke hastened back to Spain to accept a commission in the Spanish
line. At the siege of Gibralter he sought to throw away his life by
exposing himself recklessly before the English defenses. Doubtless
the gallant gentlemen behind those ramparts recognized a former
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England; doubtless they
remembered their most solemn oath; not a shot was fired.

In 1731 Philip, Duke of Wharton, died of hasty consumption, alone,
abandoned by friends and foes alike. Of him the poet, Pope has
written:

"Wharton, the scorn and wonder of our days, 
Whose ruling Passion was the Lust of Praise: 
Born with whate'er could win it from the Wise, 
Women and fools must like him or he dies.

A rebel to the very King he loves, 
He dies, sad outcast of each Church and State, 
And harder still, flagitious yet not great: 
Ask you why Wharton broke through every rule ? 
'Twas all for fear the knaves should call him fool."

Gould attributes to Walpole this epitaph: "It is difficult to give
an account of the works of so mercurial a man, whose library was a
tavern, and women of pleasure his muses."

THE GREAT REVIVAL

It is to the Great Revival of 1717 that Modern Masonry owes its
unprecedented growth to almost unbelievable proportions. Today
behold the Invisible Empire. In the United States are nearly two
million Masons under forty-nine sovereign Grand Lodges. The Grand
Lodge of England controls 2578 subordinate lodges. In Canada eight
Grand Lodges control 100,000 Masons. In Germany are eight sovereign
Grand Lodges; in South America are six; in Australia six; in India
five; in the West Indies three; in Mexico five; in Liberia, Egypt,
Central America, Hungary, Servia and Italy, one each. The Craft is
potentially influential in Switzerland, Holland, Spain, Portugal
and Belgium. Out of the little movement of 1717 sprang the Grand
Lodge system which developed a universal force of vast
possibilities, once the sleeping giant awakens, once the Masonic
Fellowship of the Sons of Men is more firmly welded as an aftermath
of the World War.

"More ancient than any of the world's living religions," Masonry
today retains jealously many of its ancient landmarks which have
been handed down by word of mouth from time immemorial. As one of
our Masonic Philosophers has written, and as Masters still instruct
those who knock at the portals of the Lodge:

"Our ancient landmarks you are carefully to preserve, and never to
suffer any infringement of them or on any pretense to countenance
deviations from the established usage and customs of the Order....
If our secrets and peculiar forms constituted the essence of the
Art, it might with some degree of propriety be alleged that our
amusements were trifling and our ceremonies absurd. But this, the
skillful, well-informed Mason knows to be false."

Today Masonry is awaiting the ultimate call of Humanity, eager to
minister to the widows and orphans of those overseas brethren who
so bravely responded to the call of country; Masonry has already
wrought wonders in an eleemosynary way. Much Masonry can and will
achieve.

The brethren of the Invisible Empire are awakening to a fuller
realization that in a measure they are indeed responsible for their
fellow man's well-or-ill being.

Legions of true men, square men, men worthy and well qualified, men
duly and truly prepared, men humanitarian in their ideals, moral in
their code of life, tolerant of All Religions, are carrying into
actual daily performance that Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth
which makes Masonry a Very Vital Force, cemented by unfailing
belief in that religion in which all men do agree--The Fatherhood
of God, the Brotherhood of Man.

When the inevitable moment comes, and may it come soon, that the
Warring Nations cast aside their weapons, broken, spiritless,
crushed, yet not wholly despairing, the millions of the Invisible
Empire of Freemasonry will be found laboring side by side with
Other Great World Forces, to again promote Peace on Earth, Good
Will Towards Men, to help build up instead of to destroy, since
Masonry is a Constructive and not a Destructive Potentiality.

So Mote It Be.
