THE TEACHINGS OF MASONRY

BY BRO. H.L. HAYWOOD.  IOWA

THE BUILDER, OCTOBER 1922

PART XIV-UNIVERSALITY

IN ALL the lore of Freemasonry nothing more appeals to the imagination of the young initiate than the story of how travellers have found Freemasons among the wilds, and how our mysteries have been discovered amid the most ancient peoples, in old China, in Central America, "in Egypt 40,000 years ago." These stories are as romantic as Kipling's bloody tale, "The Man Who Would be King," which is itself a hint of the universal existence of the Craft, because they appeal to the imagination, and conjure up the picture of a Fraternity which has always existed, and now exists everywhere.  One must be on his guard against these stories, for it is fatally easy to fabricate them; if a man sets out to prove a theory he usually can dig up something somewhere to serve as evidence, like those

. . . "Learn'd philologists, who chase 
A panting syllable through time and space,
Start it at home, and hunt it in the dark 
To Gaul, to Greece, and into Noah's Ark."

But even so, many of the accounts of the universal diffusion of Masonic secrets and traditions are as well authenticated as anything we have, and are not to be despised, though a man be ever so high-brow a critic.  And though they are to have each and everyone a question mark placed after them, they nevertheless serve to give to one's mind a kind of composite picture of the Universality of Freemasonry, than which there is no nobler theme inside the pale of the Great Teachings which it is now our province to be studying.

I believe that it is safe to say that now, at this present moment, and as a matter of fact, Freemasonry is Universal, - and that for many reasons.

It may be that the body of Freemasonry, as we know it, came into existence only two hundred years ago; but the soul of Freemasonry, its spirit, many of its principles and its symbols, have been among men from a time since which the memory of man runneth not to the contrary.  In China, in the ruins of ancient Latin-American civilizations (I have just seen the carving of a Masonic apron - so it is interpreted by the authorities - on a plaque taken from a city of the Mayas that is several thousand years old, how many thousands I can't recall), throughout medieval Europe, among the so-called Dark Ages, in Ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt, and even in India, one may here and there encounter organizations, teachings, emblems, and symbols that are singularly like our own.  Some things in our Fraternity have evidently existed everywhere and always.

This diffusion through past times is only equalled by the cosmopolitanism of Masonry as it now is. If one travels in the far north, in Siberia or in Alaska, he may encounter a Masonic lodge. If he goes into the Sandwich Islands (as at Papeete) or to the last reaches of southern Australia, he may come upon a building bearing the square and compasses.  There are lodges in China and Japan, in the Malay Archipelago, in India, in the Balkans, and in the midst of Africa.  Masonry has its center everywhere: its circumference nowhere.

The evolution of the Craft reveals a steady progress from an institution that once was attached to one church and to one task to an institution that now over-reaches all the creeds as the sky over-arches the earth, and accepts the responsibility of a thousand tasks.  In that history one encounters an event which stands as a high light in the history of the human spirit, - the utterance "Concerning God and Religion" in the Constitutions of 1723 - and which is the noblest expression of the spiritual universality of the Order that we know.

"A Mason is obliged by his tenure, to obey the moral law; and if he rightly understands the Art, he will never be a stupid Atheist or irreligious Libertine.  But though in ancient times Masons were charged in every country to be of the religion of that country or nation, whatever it was, yet it is now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves: that is to be Good men and True, or men of Honour and Honesty, by whatever Denomination or Persuasion they may be distinguished; whereby Masonry becomes the Centre of Union and the Means of conciliating true Friendship among persons that must have remained at a perpetual distance."

Of this it has been well said that if "that statement had been written yesterday, it would be remarkable enough.  But when we consider that it was set forth in 1723, amidst bitter sectarian rancour and intolerance unimaginable, it rises up as forever memorable in the history of men! The man who wrote that document, did we know his name, is entitled to be held till the end of time in the grateful and venerative memory of the race.  The temper of the times was all for relentless partisanship, both in religion and in politics." In that famous Article the prophetic soul of Masonry, "brooding over years to come," anticipated the highest triumphs of the genius of tolerance which was yet to be, so that Crawley could well say that "in the eyes of the philosophical historian, the proudest boast of our society must always be, that in the Revival of our Craft A. D. 1717, we distinctively adopted the doctrines which found expression two generations later, in the Philanthropy of Howard and the humanity of a Wilberforee."

Of a piece with this famous pronouncement was the Act of Union in 1813.  During the long process through which the Fraternity was achieving its unity out of the particularism of the old days of transition it was inevitable that there should be misunderstandings, schisms, feuds, and jealousies: all these came to a head in 1750 or thereabouts in the open warfare between the rival Grand Lodges, the so-called "Modern" and the so-called "Ancient." For long it appeared that the Order, like the religious, political, and social institutions of the time, was merely talking about a unity and a universality that it had neither the will nor the power to bring into existence: but at last Freemasonry overcame its own internal feud, which had been as bitter as the rivalry between two churches, and thus demonstrated that men can do such things, if they but have the mind.

These two outstanding events, the Act of Union, and the adopting of the great paragraph concerning God and Religion, remain unto this day to inspire every Mason to believe that union is possible among men, however diverse they may be in interest and creed: more, they cheer and encourage because they demonstrate that it can be accomplished, and such a demonstration is worth more than many homilies.  So long as we have those two outstanding triumphs to look back to we need never lose hope for the ultimate unity of the whole Masonic world, and the whole non-Masonic world.  Union and universality, such things axe not mere visions, dreamed by poets in solitary cells.

Give as many examples as you can to show the antiquity of Masonry.  Do you believe that Freemasonry has everywhere and always existed? Who were the Mayas? Did the ancient Chinese have Freemasonry? Do the American Indians? Is it the same as ours, if so? How do you account for it? We have Masonic documents written more than 500 years ago: how widespread was Freemasonry then? Where and in what shape did it exist in the ancient world? In what countries now existing would you fail to find Freemasonry? Why is it shut out of Hungary and Russia? How long will it remain shut out? Why was it abolished in Poland? Do they have it in Bulgaria? in Serbia? in Jugo-Slavia?

Furthermore, the Fraternity as it now exists, with all its faults upon it, is, as I like to think, itself the great argument for the coming of unity among men.  For consider.  Men of all races, of all colors, of almost every creed, tongue, nation, and location are now, as an actual fact, Masons, and therefore bound to all the rest of us, however far away we may be in all those particulars, by a tie that is growing stronger every year.  Not always does that tie hold - the Great War broke it - but it is a tie nevertheless, and there will come a time when no war will be able to snap it in twain. If each one of us could see the world as God is able to see it, not at one point, and for a moment, and then in a most faulty fashion, but as a whole, calmly, clearly, understandingly, I am sure that we should see the Masonic Fraternity standing there among men as one of the noblest of all the noble things in that vision; like the moon breaking through the clouds on a stormy night would be its tender brotherhood and its constant yearning and striving for more brotherhood; and its refusal to be defeated or balked when brotherhood, for a time, fails or is broken.

We need not hesitate to acknowledge the many defeats which the ideal of Universality has suffered even in the house of its friends but every such fact, if we are to be true to things as they really are, must be confronted by this further fact, - That Universality in Masonry, for all its failures, is a living and therefore a shaping ideal.  One wishes that he might write those last words in some new way to make them dig deep into a reader's mind in order to avoid the pitfall of a too easy thinking of them.  An ideal is a force to be reckoned with, and not a dream hanging helpless in the void.  Masons believe in Universality; they strive for it; they shape things to bring it about; they make sacrifices in its behalf; they are always, in proportion as they truly understand their art, eager to let differences lie if so be that they can bring men closer to men. That being true there is no need ever to feel discouragement because the perfect day has not yet come; if we were all doing mere lip service to our ideal, pessimism might be justifiable, but not as long as we strive for universal brotherhood.

Moreover, it is wise for us, even when confronted by some apparent failure of Universality, to see that failure as it actually is, and not as it is hurriedly reported to be.  There is in point, for example, the long disagreement between the Grand Orient of France and the Grand Lodge of England, and other Grand Lodges in the world.  That break in Masonic fellowship is made use of by our enemies more than any other thing to heap sarcasm upon Masonic aspirations towards unity.  Well, that rupture is an unfortunate thing for all sides, view it how we may, but just what does it amount to? It amounts to this, that the Masons living under these two Grand Lodge systems cannot visit in each other's lodges, or approve one or two of each other's doctrines.  But there is no enmity.  Masons under the Grand Orient do not make war on English Masons. They do not hate each other. In all ways now possible they aid and assist each other. In all ways, save in those ways controlled by the lack of formal recognition, French Masons and other Masons live in amity and brotherhood.  Some day the breach will be healed, just as will the still wider breach existing between the lodges of Germany and lodges among the Allied Nations.

In carrying out their ideal there is no reason why Masons may not make free use of all the agencies now employed generally to further internationalism, understanding among peoples, and mutual intercourse.  The scientists have their congresses, business men have their conventions, statesmen their conferences: one may hope to see American Grand Lodges use these same instrumentalities in behalf of a better understanding among nations.  The Trowel is the working tool of the Master Mason; we must make use of it now more than ever, while a discordant and broken world lies about us.  It is unfortunate that certain of our leaders hesitate to use the Trowel lest they mar its shining surface, forgetting the while that it is to be used and not looked at.

In what way does the evolution of Masonry prove it to be universal in character? Can you describe the early part of the eighteenth century in England? Whom do you believe to have been responsible for the Article concerning God and Religion? Can you give an example of the bitter partisanship of those times in religion? What was the religious character of Operative Masonry? Why did it cut itself loose from any one religion? How did the "Ancient" Grand Lodge originate? Describe its feud with the "Modern." How was the Union brought about? If those two bodies were able to unite, could not churches unite? Do you believe that our Grand Lodges should resume fraternal relations with German Masonry? Does the tie now hold between English and Irish Masonry? How many races are there? Are they all represented in the Masonic family? Does the fact that Masonry can unite all prove anything as regards political relations, churches, etc.? If so, what?

What is an ideal? What is the relation between ideal and fact? Is a true ideal a "fact on the way"? In what way does Universality remain an ideal? Do you agree with the interpretation of the relations between the Grand Orient of France and of the English Grand Lodge given by Brother Haywood? Are you in favour of recognizing the Grand Orient? If not, why not? Do you hate French Masons because you do not agree with them? How can Masonry use the Trowel? What agencies are at hand which we might use to bring about better international relations? Should Masonry assist to bring about better political relations between countries? How and why?

The necessary implications of Universality, so it seems to me, are not enough understood.  Universality being a fact and a living ideal, certain things follow, and these it is well to consider.

It is evident that an Order which speaks a message to a world has found something that the world can understand and needs.  Its acts, its principles, and its symbols are a kind of great Esperanto which perpetually translates itself into the languages of all men everywhere.  Diverse as are the conditions under which men live, political, social, economic, and religious, men have certain common needs.  Just as it has ever been one of the great desiderata of statecraft to discover a common ground whereon nations might meet politically, so has it ever been one of the great hopes of men to find such a ground in morality, and in the human things of life.  It is evident that Freemasonry has made that discovery.  What it has to give is what men everywhere feel the need of, else it would remain, as almost all institutions do, a merely local and transitory thing.  The things that Freemasonry has to give are simple enough, and to us may be commonplace, but just as it required a great social genius to discover an alphabet, which children can learn and all men can use, so has it necessitated an equal genius to discover just those things, and their right combination, to meet the needs of men everywhere.  The fact that Masonry is everywhere welcomed as soon as it is discovered and its nature understood, gives us each one a heightened confidence in that which Masonry is.

Also, the Universality of Masonry implies that human nature is everywhere the same, which fact, though it may be familiar enough to most of us, is not by any means admitted by many of a different faith.  Socrates counted it a great day when he discovered that behind the varying languages and dialects and nodes of thought and expression all men had the same kind of mind: Spencer found himself in a new world of thought when he at last saw that "humanity is an organism." "Men change," said the wise Goethe, "but man remains the same." Racial distinctions, sex, colour, language, creeds, governments, these have broken our human family into diverse and often quarrelling groups: but while men change in language, in theories and in customs from generation to generation, there is that in man which does not change, either in time or place, a common humanity which ever remains the same, and stretches under the world, as the earth retains her unbroken identity beneath the many inequalities of her surface.  From the mist-hung distance of the remotest times down unto our own hour man has thought, loved, laboured, dreamed, prayed, hated, fought the while he has walked "the dim and perilous way of life." His spirit has sought goodness, truth, and beauty, and he has evermore craved the companionship of his fellows.  It is the misfortune of too many creeds, moralities and sects, be they political, social, or religious, that they cater to the accidental and temporary needs of men, and too often divide rather than unite our hard-driven struggling race.  It is the glory of Freemasonry that it speaks the revealing word to that in each of us which is universal, thereby helping to build in the midst of the years "an institution of the dear love of comrades" in which the mind is free to think, the hand to do, and the heart to love.  William Penn believed that death would remove our masks and that we would all then discover ourselves to be of one religion.  The Universality of Freemasonry lifts the masks of all differences and proves that we are now all united in our humanity, that God has made of one blood all nations that dwell upon the face of the earth.

In regards to morality and religion this seems especially true.  There is much in the morality of every people that cannot help being local and therefore temporary; and this is not to be held against it because a morality, if it function at all, must adjust itself to the details of life; but if an institution tie itself too rigidly to those local things in morality it cannot possibly function among another people, where conditions are so different.  Some men believe that all morality is purely local, made up of prejudices and accidents, and that there is no ethic everywhere valid.  Masonry contradicts this.  Masonry proves itself wiser than many other institutions, because it, in the words of Albert Pike, "is the universal morality, suitable to the inhabitants of every clime, to the man of every creed."

Freemasonry makes no attempts to adjudicate the religious quarrels of the race.  It does not take the position that there is one true religion among a great many religions wholly false, nor does it take the opposite position that all religions are equally indifferent.  Its position is entirely its own.  It takes the position that, letting religions be as they are, they one and all possess certain fundamentals everywhere alike, and it is on these fundamentals that Masonry takes its stand.  In a letter which a Deputy District Grand Master once wrote to George William Speth there occurred this sentence:

"I have just initiated Moung Ban Ahm, a Burman, who has so far modified his religious beliefs as to acknowledge the existence of a personal God.  The Worshipful Master was a Parsi, one Warden a Hindu, or Brahmin, the other an English Christian, and the Deacon a Mohammedan" Mr. Ahm believed in the existence of God, in the immortality of the soul, and in the brotherhood of man: that was sufficient.  He was not disturbed in whatever other beliefs he had because if a man holds to the three mentioned his religion can function inside the Masonic Fraternity.  And once in the Fraternity he could find no reason to quarrel with his brother the Brahmin, or his other brother the Christian, or his brother the Mohammedan, because in every case the doctrines peculiar to each were not called for in Masonic workings, and therefore such doctrines could have no chance to come into conflict.  Inasmuch as the only religious doctrines that operate in Masonry are belief in a personal God, in immortality, and in brotherhood, the man who holds them is, for Masonry, sufficiently equipped, and Masonry has no reason to find fault with whatever he may further believe: and because nearly all men in the world, be they ever so far removed from us in America, believe in those three great doctrines, and because Masonry builds upon them, Masonry may be said to have a genuine religious Universality.  And this, if you will consider a moment, is a very great thing: because prophets and leaders and teachers and religions without number have ever been searching for just such a foundation.

But even if early Masons had hit upon so universal a foundation for a Fraternity it would have availed little had they not at the same time devised a form of organization equally universal. It is worth while to consider this a moment, because it is almost never discussed.  History furnishes us with an illustration whereby it can be quickly considered for our present purposes.  Why was it that the Reformation, as launched by Luther, soon grew stagnant, and became a merely local German affair? It was because in Germany it was suffered to flow into the mould of German social life, and this mould not existing elsewhere, the Reformation was unable to function outside Germany.  The spirit and doctrines of the Reformation were there but Luther and his followers were notable to give them a vehicle wherein to travel into other countries.  Now it was the peculiar glory of Calvin that he was able to give the Reformation just such an organization as enabled him and his followers to take it anywhere.  They devised for it a vehicle that would serve as well in France as in Germany, and in Scotland as in France, and it was therefore owing to Calvin that the Reformation became, so far as the Western world is concerned, a universal thing.  Early Freemasonry might have been as true in principle and spirit as it now is and yet, for lack of vehicular means, have remained a local English sect, or club.  Fortunately it was not so, and that because our forbears possessed a genius for organization equal to that for thinking.

Freemasonry is not the only great institution in society, nor is it responsible for healing over all the divisions of the world, be they religious, political, social, economic, racial, or what not: but it has found a way to surmount those barriers in order to penetrate into every land, and that is sufficient for its purpose.  Because of this it has an unlimited future.

"There are works yet left for Freemasonry to accomplish greater than the twelve labours of Hercules." Many of these labours lie inside the Craft itself where there still remain many obstacles to internal Unity, and therefore to external Universality.  There are many Masonic rites in the field and these are not always working together as smoothly as they should.  There are Masonic bodies of the same rite that do not always agree, as is the case now among a few of the Grand Lodges of Mexico.  And, as already mentioned, the sundering of peoples by the late War has broken the unity of the Order.  It is a part of our task to heal over these divisions.  It is a part of our task to make Masonic unity prevail.

What does Masonry have to give that all men need? Do other institutions have it to give? In what sense is it true that men are everywhere the same? Do you agree with Spencer that "humanity is an organism"? What is Masonic morality? Why is it more universal in character than other moralities? What is the religion of Masonry? Why is it that the Masonic organization can everywhere function? Can you think of other organizations of which this is true?

THE BUILDER:

Vol. I (1915) - Masonry and World Peace, p. 27; War and the Mystic Tie, p. 210; The Relation of Masonry to the Liberation of Spanish America, p. 259.

Vol. II (1916) - Sectarianism and Freemasonry, p. 109; Edwin Markham - Poet of Brotherhood, p. 118; The Political Pseudo-Masonry of South America, pp. 147, 233; Masonry, Its Philosophy and Influence in War Time, p. 181; Discussing the Previous Question, p. 242; Toleration, p. 265; Non-Christian Candidates, p. 302; The Empire of Freemasonry, p. 306; Evidences of Symbolism in the Land of the Incas, p. 361; Indian Freemasonry p. 371.

Vol. III (1917) - Masonry Among Primitive Peoples, p. 18; The Fellowship of Masonry p. 41; Secret Societies of Islam, p. 84; Masonic World Unity, p. 87; Aboriginal Races and Freemasonry, p. 96; Toward Brotherhood, p. 141; Masonry - Its Patriotic Opportunity, p. 143; For Freedom and Fraternity, p. 167; Religion and Philosophy, p. 234; The Reception of the Flags, p. 198; Freemasonry in the Far East, p. 305; Masonry in Panama, p. 327.

Vol. IV (1918) - Internationalism and Freemasonry, pp. 43, 72; Military Lodges in Cuba, p. 54; Can We Build a Real Universal Masonry? p. 100; Freemasonry in France, p. 106; Unification in the Philippines, p. 179; English and American Brotherhood - A League of Masons, p. 192; "A League of Masons," p. 214; Masonry in Greece, p. 218; "Jerusalem Delivered," p. 301.

Vol. V (1919) - California's Recognition of French Masonry, p. 11; Alabama Grants Full Recognition to Grand Lodge and Grand Orient of France, and Swiss Grand Lodge "Alpina," p. 79; The Plan of Masonry, p. 266.

Vol. VI (1920) - Impressions of the Masonic Service Association Meeting, p. 22; The Common Good, p. 93; The Mystic Tie, p. 153; Cuban Viewpoint of World Freemasonry, p. 217; a Bird's-eye View of Masonic History, p. 236; A Survey of Masonry in Foreign Countries, p. 247; Masonry in Mexico, p. 264; Freemasonry Among the American Indians, p. 295.

Vol. VII (1921) - The Religious Teachings of Freemasonry, p.  82; Whence Came Freemasonry, p. 90; Practical Brotherhood, p. 102; Travelling In Foreign Parts, p. 190; Toleration and Freethinking, p. 196; Little Wolf Joins the Mitawin, p. 281.

Vol. VIII (1922) - Masonic World Unity, p. 55; American Indians in Freemasonry, p. 71; Masonic international Association, p. 99; Masonry and the World's Work, p. 131; Masonic Toleration, p. 137; Toleration and Freemasonry, p. 160.

Mackey's Encyclopedia-(Revised Edition):

Almighty, p. 408; Ancient Masons and Their Controversy with the Moderns, p. 55; Antiquity of Freemasonry, p. 66; Atheist, p. 84; El, p. 235; Freemasonry in France, p. 276; Freemasonry in Hungary, p. 342; Freemasonry in Poland, p. 574; Freemasonry in Russia, p. 655; Freemasonry in War, p. 836; God, p. 301 (The reader may also note to advantage the reference, on page 301, to the initials of the Hebrew words for Wisdom, Strength and Beauty, forming, when combined, the English name for Deity); Grand Orient of France and the Grand Lodge of England, p. 278; "I am that I am" (Eheyeh asher Eheyeh), p. 234; Jehovah, p. 363; Religion of Masonry, p. 617; Religious Qualifications, p. 619; Universality of Masonry, p. 817.

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